37 weeks

I AM  FULL TERM.. woo hoo!

If you wanted to recap on how I was doing with W at this time in pregnancy go Here
It's so hot right now

How Far Along: 37 weeks

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +18 lbs (from the drs apt this week)

Maternity Clothes: I have a few key pieces that I am mixing with my current wardrobe 

Stretch Marks: No

Best Moment this week: getting things done and spending time with W

Miss Anything: the ability to go. Like go do things without planning or not being able to do them by myself

Movement: yes, but move,nets have changed now that he is head down

Sleep: meh! Sleeping is overrated

Food: Fruit  

Anything Making you Queasy or Sick: Smells of meat 

Have you started to show:  Yes!

Gender predictions: baby boy 

Labor Signs: Some Braxton hicks, but nothing consistent 

Belly Button In or Out: Innie, but barely. Thank goodness for deep innie to begin with

Wedding ring on or off: I don't wear a ring anymore 

Happy or Moody: meh!  

Looking forward: Snuggling baby, I have been dreaming about him

~ Steph ~

36 weeks

One week til full term.. woo hoo!

If you wanted to recap on how I was doing with W at this time in pregnancy go Here
Baby is head down and measuring 7lbs 6 oz (89th %tile) from ultrasound today

How Far Along: 36 weeks

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +17lbs (from the drs apt this week)

Maternity Clothes: I have a few key pieces that I am mixing with my current wardrobe 

Stretch Marks: No

Best Moment this week: Started maternity leave this week.. yay never ending lists of things to do

Miss Anything: the ability to go. Like go do things without planning or not being able to do them by myself

Movement: yes, this baby moves so much more than Willow. 

I have noticed he moves more when I eat better

Sleep: meh! Sleeping is overrated

Food: Fruit and cold things 

Anything Making you Queasy or Sick: Smells of meat 

Have you started to show:  Yes!

Gender predictions: baby boy 


(This one shows a little more belly)

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button In or Out: Innie, but barely 

Wedding ring on or off: I don't wear a ring anymore 

Happy or Moody: meh!  

Looking forward: Snuggling baby, I have been dreaming about it 

~ Steph ~

32 weeks

Here is my 32week update

If you want to compare where I was with W around the same time, go Here

I started to take pictures without my shirt on because I like the way it looks.
I like that it shows my imperfections and flaws, but also the real me.

How Far Along: 32weeks

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +15lbs (from the drs apt this week)

Maternity Clothes: I have a few key pieces that I am mixing with my current wardrobe 

Stretch Marks: No

Best Moment this week: Getting ready for the baby shower, meeting with our doula and nesting (starting baby laundry) 

Miss Anything: being able to go do things like I use to without thinking about it such as hiking with 40 lb W, which I am starting to not tolerate 

Movement: yes, this baby moves so much more than Willow. I have noticed he moves more when I eat better

Sleep: I have been doing ok, but sometimes baby doesn't get the memo we need to sleep especially at night

Food: carbs especially when I eat super healthy

Anything Making you Queasy or Sick: Smells of meat 

Have you started to show:  Yes and I feel like I have doubled in size from last week to this week 
(see photos) 

At 

Gender predictions: baby boy 

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button In or Out: Innie

Wedding ring on or off: I don't wear a ring anymore 

Happy or Moody: mostly happy 

Looking forward: Snuggling baby, I have been dreaming about it 

~ Steph ~

26 weeks

Here we are again, another update.
Things are going well with no major complaints.
I really do love being pregnant

If you want to see how I was doing at the same stage preggos with W, go Here

How Far Along: 26 weeks

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +11lbs (from the drs apt this week)

Maternity Clothes: I have a few key pieces that I am mixing with my current wardrobe 

Stretch Marks: No

Best Moment this week: being on a staycation for a total of 3 weeks and spending 3 days at Disneyland last week

Miss Anything: being able to go do things like I use to without thinking about it such as hiking with 40 lb W, which I am starting to not tolerate 

Movement: yes, this baby moves so much , I feel like he is using my bladder as a trampoline 

Sleep: I have been doing ok

Food: salty everything 

Anything Making you Queasy or Sick: A big piece of meat like chicken or pork chops.. no thanks 

Have you started to show:  Yes, it's there

Gender predictions: baby boy 

Labor Signs: Nope 

Belly Button In or Out: Innie

Wedding ring on or off: I don't wear a ring anymore 

Happy or Moody: Happy and I have a lot of energy 

Looking forward: The baby shower and all the upcoming things to do before he gets here

~ Steph ~

22 weeks

Since you guys loved all the bump updates last time, here we go again.

I am using the same set of questions as last time for reference you can always go back and check on my pregnancy with W.

 

How Far Along: 22 weeks

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +7 lbs (from Drs apt this week) and I am measuring a week ahead as of right now and the last we checked baby was in the 92% tile

Maternity Clothes: I treated myself to some on my birthday but also living in my LLR leggings

Stretch Marks: Nope, not yet.

Best Moment this week: spending time with the fam and W starting school

Miss Anything:sushi

Movement: Yes this baby moves a lot

Sleep: meh! I have never been a good sleeper

Food: Loving salty food

Anything Making you Queasy or Sick: nope

Have you started to show: yup.

Gender predictions: IT'S A BOY!!

 

for comparison

 

Labor Signs: nope

Belly Button In or Out: Innie

Wedding ring on or off: I don't wear a ring anymore

Happy or Moody: Mostly happy

Looking forward: Everything. It is still early, but I am looking forward to it.

~ Steph ~

Updated

Hello world..

 here's what you missed in the last 5 months

For Halloween 2016, W was a rainbow ( I made the costume), P was partly cloudy with a chance of rain ( or he had his head in the clouds) and I was a thunderstorm ( not pictured)

 

W wearing my sisters dress from when she was a baby

 

 My batman princess :)

 

Biggest news of the new year, we made another baby coming June 2017. Look for updates.

 

Enjoying hiking and family days outside in the California sun

 

W being a big girl and exploring at the old LA zoo site

 

IT'S A BOY!!!

 

Little miss  carrying her baby on a hike.

And W started her first day of preschool. 

Looks like you are mostly up to date.  

~ Steph ~

.

Dear Willow: YOU ARE GOING TO BE TWO!

I can't believe it! 

Two years ago today I was feeling like such a cow

and now I look at the little girl you are becoming.

You are independent and strong willed.

Don't ever let anyone tell you that's a bad thing.

Credit: echo photography

Currently when I ask you how old you are,
 you say three and think it's so funny. Then you correct it to two. 

You have quite the personality already.

Credit: echo photography

Tickles, chunkies or gotchus are your favorite and you always demand more.

You are polite and usually say please and thank you.

I love you so much, my Willow Leigh.


~ Mom ~

oversharer: feeling lost part 2

So we left off with taking a village on this post here in case you missed it.
This is an over share post with feelings, so if thats not for you this post isn't for you either.

Since we have had W; we have moved closer to my parents, hired a maid, been going to a therapist, and recently I have joined a baby hiking group. 

A VILLAGE.

Yup! That's what I said. 

It's not just P and I making this work. 

I work 12.5 hours at night, so 14+ hours to get there and come home. If P is here he will watch W, but if he is at work (he works 20 days a month) my mom and dad will watch her. They are both retired and we dont know what we would do without them.

I have never been one to keep an maculate home.
This has caused several fights during the 10 years P and I have been together. Once W was born cleaning was no longer a priority and I just couldn't keep up. Although at first I felt like I failed at being mom because I couldn't do it all, I realized that I am just human and allowed P to hire a maid. I would not change it and now I have more time to worry about it.

Alright, the hard one.. a therapist. We have talked about going to therapy for YEARS. It's not that we are broken or that there is one thing wrong, we just want to make things better. At first we were going a lot and the communication between us became awsome and the fighting and frustration became less. We have both given up something in our marriage life and we are able to make things work for us.

In the last few months, as I wrote in the first post. I found a local hiking group where I can wear W, get our of the house, have mommy conversations and get exercise all at once. I love it and it has really changed how we do things.

Having these people in our lives has really been awsome and feeling lost I hope is a thing of the past.

oversharer: feeling lost

Hello people of the internet.
This post is another over share of emotional mommy thoughts. If this is not your cup of tea than skip over this post. Thanks.

(source)
Update: this was written about 6 weeks ago..

Somewhere in the time I had a baby I have lost myself.

These feelings have slowly taken over my daily train of thought. I don't want to be P's wife or W's Mom, I want to be Steph again. I want to feel like I am good enough or that thing I do ìwhen I do something I love. Lately that has not been the case. I have written this on mommy boards and it seems to be common and that I am not a lone. Don't get me wrong, I love being a wife, mom, daughter, etc., but sometimes you need your own thing.

I constantly get asked how I do it with working full time, being a stay at home mom part time and still keeping it all together. It definitely takes a village to keep this family up and moving.

Stay tuned for part 2 and what we are doing to keep it together.