32 week baby survey!

How Far Along: 32 weeks! 

(By now, your baby is taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.)

Size of baby: 16.7 inches long, 3.75 pounds (the size of a jicama-- but who really knows what that is.  On thebump.com it says she's the size of a squash!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I gained 0 pounds this week, so I'm still up 21 pounds.

Gender: A Sweet Baby GIRL!!  Emery Katherine!

Movement: Kyle's amazed that every time he puts his hand on my stomach he can feel her.  She truly moves around all the time.  It's usually more of a rolling feeling then a kicking.  Her hiccups are so cute, and happen at least once a day.

What I miss: Being able to sit or be on my feet without my back hurting. 

Sleep: Sleeping great, getting up once a night to use the bathroom.

Symptoms: Left rib and back hurting.  Also I'm becoming seriously emotional... Kyle is being such a great sport and is learning to adapt to the "roller coaster ride" as he likes to call it :)

Notes: I don't think she's head down yet.  I feel her on my left and right sides so I'm thinking she's transverse.  I'm starting to get a line down my tummy too, but still no stretch marks, yeah!

"To-do" items checked off our list: 

- Lacey and I painted the main wall behind the crib, I love it.

- I finished painting Emery's name banner, will post on this once it's officially done!

- Kyle and I posted all of our excess items that we don't have room for on craiglist finally.  Kyle's meeting so many people on Thursday to sell them!

- Kyle put in the shower walls and sheet rock!  It looks like an actual room now!

- Havier (the handyman that our townhome group uses) is mudding the sheet rock this week, it will be nice once this is done-- no more dust!

Cravings: Anything warm and hearty!  Still loving pizza :)

Best Moments this week: Having 2 snow days at home with Kyle to be able to clean the house and get to-do items checked off our list.

What we are looking forward to:  My Raleigh baby shower this weekend!  Crazy that this will be my last time in North Carolina before Emery comes!  While I'm in Raleigh, Kyle will be in Canada on a snowboarding trip with some of the guys from his family.  He's pumped!

Two Wordless Wednesdays in one post!

Puck loves it when it we bring out our snow gear!

All the books I've collected during this pregnancy.  Looking forward to getting more this weekend!

Holly's Baby Shower!

I have so many girlfriends who are pregnant right now, it's just such a blessing to go through this amazing experience together!!  My friend Holly, who I met in our Newlywed biblestudy, is due in February so we've enjoyed swapping tips and checking off to-do items together!  Holly and Chris are naming their baby girl, Bella Rose -- so sweet!

A couple of the n-wed ladies hosted a shower for her and it was so much fun!  Look at all Holly's gifts:

The food was amazing.  I need to get copies of all these recipes!

All of the n-wed (alumni) girls.  It's so neat how we've all stayed so close since we graduated the n-wed class through book club or other bible studies.

And of course we had to do a belly shot!

Congratulations again Holly and Chris, we are so happy for you both and can't wait to meet Bella Rose!

Snow Day in Atlanta!

Last night we got around 6 inches of snow in Marietta, the most we've ever had since living here!  It was coming down so hard last night, just beautiful!  We are supposed to get a wintery mix for the rest of the day, so we'll see how the roads are for going to work tomorrow.  But today we are enjoying an extra day at home!

You can't start off a snow day without drinking some hot chocolate and coffee!

We were in the middle of eating our bacon, egg & cheese biscuits (WOAH they were amazing) when we looked out the window and saw our neighbor in need of help getting out of the driveway.  She was stuck and trying to dig out her tires with the end of an umbrella... seriously.  Kyle closed his eyes and said "I'll be back" very unenthusiastically.

After digging tire tracks out for 2 hours and spreading salt she was finally able to make it to the top of the driveway.  All the roads are so slick though there was no point in even trying to get to her work.   

These are the pictures I took at the beginning of the day when the snow was all fluffy:

Kyle took a couple trips out with Chris, and then we posted so many things on craigslist to sell (HUGE "to do" item checked off!).  We ended up not going on a walk until around 5:00.  With a wintery mix of sleet coming down all day it weighed down the snow, and the roads are complete ice.  We walked in the grass, with Kyle holding on to my arm very tightly.  Don't worry I didn't fall!  It was really nice to get out in the cold weather!

I had to suck in with all my might to fit in this jacket.  Kyle cracked me up when he said "MAN that jacket is doing some WORK right now" hahaha.

We walked all the way up to the square, it was a ghost town!

Poor Tyson was sliding everywhere but loved being outside in the cold weather!

A very fun snow day for sure!  Hope you are all warm and snuggling with loved ones too!

Hiccups!

For the past 2 weeks at some point in the day Emery would move/kick/punch constantly for a couple minutes.  It is so steady like a heartbeat, happening every 3 seconds or so.  I finally caught up on my pregnancy book last night and she has BABY HICCUPS!  They aren't painful or annoying to babies like they are to adults, so it's nothing to fear, more just funny to experience and feel from the outside!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, so glad it's finally here!

Baked Chicken-Bacon Alfredo Recipe!

This recipe is one recipe I found here from Our Best Bites, and we just loved it.  It does take more time since there is some prep work by cooking the chicken and bacon, but it was worth it!

I do have to say, I felt like such a "chef" making my own alfredo sauce FROM SCRATCH.  It was actually really easy and tasted great, not to mention it's way healthier than what you can buy in the store!  Hope you guys enjoy it as well!

Baked Chicken-Bacon Alfredo

Ingredients: 
8 oz. penne or bowtie pasta

1 recipe Guiltless Alfredo Sauce (1 16-oz. jar would work in a pinch)

2 chicken breasts, grilled and chopped (about 2 c. chopped chicken)

6 oz. (1/2 package) cooked bacon, chopped

1 14-oz. jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1/2 c. chopped green onions (about 1 decent-sized bunch)

1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Salt and pepper, to taste

Guiltless Alfredo Sauce Recipe

Ingredients:

2 C low-fat milk
1/3 C (3 oz) low fat cream cheese
2 T flour
1 t salt
1 T butter
3 garlic cloves
1 C grated Parmesan cheese

Click here for instructions on making the sauce.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.  Prepare pasta according to package directions.

While pasta is cooking, prepare Guiltless Alfredo sauce. When pasta is done, drain and add to the sauce. Toss with chopped chicken, bacon, artichoke hearts, green onions, and 1/2 c. mozzarella. Season to taste.

Transfer mixture to an 8x8" baking dish and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 c. mozzarella cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until heated through and cheese is bubbly.

7 month belly shot!

How Far Along: 31 weeks! 

(She can turn her head from side to side, and her arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath her skin. She's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

Size of baby: 16 inches long and about 3.3 pounds (4 navel oranges)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I gained 0 pounds this week, so I'm still up 21 pounds.

Gender: A Sweet Baby GIRL!!  Emery Katherine!

Movement: All the time!  Since I'm past 30 weeks, my doctor wants me to count her movements/kicks everyday.  I have to make sure I can feel her 10 times in an hour, twice a day.  With how much she moves at night though I'm sure it'll only take 5 minutes to feel her 10 times!

What I miss: Being able to sit or be on my feet without my back hurting.

Sleep: Sleeping great, getting up once a night to use the bathroom.

Symptoms: Left rib hurts all the time, and my back gets real sore.  Just makes me rest which I'm fine with since I'm so tired at night now. (Only made it until 9:00 pm on New Years Eve!)

Notes: My stomach measured 30 weeks last week at my appointment so I'm right on schedule.  Also Emery's heartbeat was in the 140's, lower than usual but still sounded strong as ever.

"To-do" items checked off our list: 

- Emery's armoire is completely set up!  I bought lots of baskets for it, and have clothes organized by size hanging up, in the baskets, and the drawers.  I am so grateful for all the clothes we have from Tara & Brooke, I don't think I'm going to have to do any laundry!

Look at the socks & little shoes!

Drawer for bibs, hair bows and hats!

- Bought baskets for the changing table.

- Got the entire guest bedroom set up with newly painted nightstand and headboard.
- Kyle finished the furring strips and framing out the hot water heater wall, as well as the electrical work.
-Plumber came by and officially hooked up all the pipes.

Cravings: Italian and Mexican food.

Best Moments this week: Having such a productive weekend, and even being able to squeeze in a movie at home.  We haven't watched a movie in ages, it was a treat!

What we are looking forward to:  Another weekend in town to work on our projects.  Kyle has huge plans for the basement and Lacey's coming over to help hand paint the main wall in the nursery!

Here's the belly shot we took before church last weekend!  YEAH for being 7 months!

Only 9 more weeks to go!

Guest bedroom is done!

Our office in the basement has now completely transformed into the guest bedroom!  We had moved all the furniture down a couple weeks ago, but were waiting to paint the headboard and nightstand before we set it up.  The furniture is actually what my brother used all growing up, so we wanted to update it just a little!

Here is the "before pic" of the headboard:

Here is the "before pic" of the nightstand: 
(do you notice the corners where Puck had chewed on them?  Seriously what cat eats wood?)

Kyle sanded & puddy-ed them, and then I painted a coat of primer and 2 coats of our trim paint on them:

  And here is the finished room.  I love that we didn't even have to change anything that was on the walls or buy any bedding for this room.  The less work and money the better!

A close up of the nightstand being white with new knobs:

Please disregard the wrinkly duvet cover.  I'll get to steaming the wrinkles out at some point!

Nice to have that room checked off our list!  Now we just have to get the bathroom done so our guests can have their own private suite down there!

We are getting there!

We had such a productive weekend, I wish every weekend was 3 days!  Kyle made huge progress on our basement bathroom project so I wanted to update with pictures!

He finished the furring strips into the concrete wall and added insulation in between the boards.

 Next he framed out the walls that will enclose our hot water heater.  This made a huge difference as now you can really see where everything is going!

Kind of hard to see in this picture but all the walls are framed in!

Next was installing the bath fan.  The only option for venting it was to go out underneath our front porch.  This provided several challenges, one being that our deck is 8 inches off the ground and another being that Kyle had to cut a 4 1/2 inch hole through plywood, siding and a 2x10.  Thanks to a new tool that I gave him for Christmas he was able to do it no problem :)

The other challenging part of the installation was the electrical.  This bath fan has a light, fan, heater, and nightlight built in so there were lots of wires to connect.  After a little help with the wiring diagram from Tim the Tool Time Hammer he got it all hooked up, running like a champ!  Thanks again dad!

This was Kyle's first time really doing electrical work by himself, we were so excited to turn on all the switches and have them working perfectly!!

Great job Ky, so proud of you for taking on this huge project by yourself!!