Week 25

I had a doctor’s appointment this week, and met with a nurse practitioner since my doctor had to head over to the hospital last minute. I had a lot of questions for her and she was awesome and answered them all and made me feel at ease. Elliott is measuring just right and his heart rate was 150 like it has been the last two times. I was told I need to gain a tiny bit more weight, but I don’t have a huge appetite so.. we’ll see in a couple weeks where I’m at. I have been eating milk & cookies lately. :) I have no trouble falling asleep at night, and I’ve been going into bed around 830 and falling asleep around 10. I wake up between 530 and 630 every morning, without an alarm clock! I actually wake up feeling rested and haven’t been sore, and I haven’t even been using my wedge for my belly and pillow for my back. Yay!

Week 26

Elliott has been moving around quite a bit this week! He must be getting bigger and stronger. I feel him all of the time now throughout the day. One night it was constant, for about ten minutes. He had us laughing- it was the longest I felt him move at one time. So far my most favorite thing about being pregnant has definitely been feeling him move. Elliott had his first trip to the beach this week. He was kicking a good portion of the time, so I like to think he enjoyed it? ;) I now have a tan bump. We can’t wait to bring him for real next year.

CHOCOLATE CHIP LAVA COOKIES

I made these for dessert last night. They are extremely simple to make and pretty freakin’ delicious! The cookie dough recipe is perfect, and the extra melted chocolate just made it that much better. The cookies had no problem coming out of the muffin tin, they wiggled right out. After dinner we heated them in the microwave for a bit, then topped with some vanilla and coffee ice cream. I won’t lie- I also tried one when they first came out of the oven. :) Enjoy!

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 (11.5 oz) bag chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray a standard size muffin tin with cooking spray. Place 1/2 cup chocolate chips in a ziploc bag, and seal shut. Lay the bag flat in the microwave, spreading out the chocolate chips in a single layer. Microwave for 30 seconds. Remove bag and flip, microwaving for an additional 10-15 seconds until all the chips are softened. Set aside to cool.

2. With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until well combined. Meanwhile in a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Add to the wet ingredients and beat on low speed until just combined. Add the remaining chocolate chips and stir to combine.

3. Using half the cookie dough, scoop 1.5-2 tbsp of dough, flatten it out a bit, and place in the bottom of the muffin tin. Repeat for a total of 10 cookies. Cut a small tip in the corner of the ziploc bag, and gently squeeze a layer of chocolate over the cookie. Scoop and flatten the remaining dough and place on top of the chocolate layer. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, until the edges are just browned. As soon as they come out of the oven, run a knife around the edges to make for easy removing later. Cool completely before removing from the muffin tin, running a knife around the edge to help loosen.

Source: Kevin and Amanda

Week 24

This week went by so fast. I can’t believe I am already 24 weeks. Nothing too eventful has happened. Just working a lot. I started planning Jessie’s baby shower, which is Memorial Day weekend. Looking forward to that. :) I’ve had to pee so much lately, it’s getting quite annoying! Also, I think I’ve experienced some Braxton Hicks contractions, but I’m honestly not sure. I don’t know what those are supposed feel like. But it feels like a ton of pressure and then it goes away. It hasn’t happened too often. I originally thought it was just the baby in a weird tight pressure-y spot! I’ll ask my doctor. I’m just curious.

Week 23

This week was fun. We went to Providence one afternoon and Cody decided he wanted to take a ton of photos of me walking around, taking the photos on ‘burst’ mode. Then he put all of the photos together to make a film that came out pretty awesome, considering we had no ideas planned! It was fun to make and it’ll be nice for Elliott to see. We’re going to make another one pretty soon, which we actually have ideas for- geared more towards Elliott. :)

Jessie & I at our ‘photo shoot’ last week. Yes, we are wearing matching dresses. Our due dates are only TWO months apart. It’s been fun being pregnant together and it’ll be exciting having two new babies in the family!

21 Weeks

He is currently the size of a spaghetti squash and about one pound! He’s been moving around quite a bit. It makes me smile. He must be so cute in there squirming all around. The photo above shows a baby at 24 weeks.. that is what I picture when I think of him. The photo is from the only book I’ve really been keeping up with reading. It’s a week by week guide, and has been right on with a lot of the things that I’ve been experiencing. The past week I’ve had a little bit of cramping and growing pains. And my belly button hurts. My back hurts too, mostly when I wake up in the morning. I think i need to sleep with a pillow either behind me or wedged under my belly.. or both! My horrible posture doesn’t help, I’m sure!

20 Weeks

Spent yesterday morning outside with Mama Dukes, Maxi, and Baby. :) Max has been more clingy and affectionate than usual towards me. I wonder if he knows he’ll have a little playmate soon. I know animals can sense those sort of things. Like knowing when you’re feeling sick, and sad, and stuff. Hmm..

Well I’m still feeling awesome…. other than wanting an alcoholic beverage day after day! What is wrong with me?! I haven’t really had any serious cravings. But I constantly want Riesling and/or a margarita on the rocks with salt. Mmmm.

ANYWAY.. We already painted baby boy’s bedroom! Just need to add some finishing touches to the trim. He has some clothes hanging up in the closet. My mom bought us a crib the other day- and it’s scheduled to be delivered to our house tonight. We figured it’d take a while to come in and ship. So I guess we’ll probably have it set up within the next few weeks. Setting up the room and decorating over the next few months should be fun. :)

He has been moving around quite a bit today. :)

19 Weeks

Peanut is a HE! I hope he is exactly like his father. At the ultrasound appointment he weighed in at 9 oz. and 6 1/2 in. from head to bum. :) He is currently the size of a small cantaloupe! Starting at about 20 weeks they start measuring from head to toe, which in this case he’d currently be about 10 inches long. It’s amazing how I have something that big growing inside me.

I’ve been feeling him move around a lot more lately, yet still just light movement. I love it and I can’t wait until Cody can feel him too. It’s nice being able to say ‘him’ and ‘he’ now. :)

I’m sure this list will continuously change a million times by the time our baby is here. But our current #1 names are both on there. Less than 24 hours ‘til the gender revealing ultrasound. Eeeeee!! =)