Update

Hello all!!

Sorry I have been mildly non-exsistant for the last 4+ weeks.  Heres a little update on our babe.


Bree has been a dream. Most the time!
For the first 3 or 4 weeks we were at the doctor at least once a week. So I had a constant update on her weight and height.
At 6 weeks She is:

+ Last known she was 8lbs 5 oz and 21 inches long. She is growing way to fast.
+ She is now wearing mostly 0-3 Month clothes and some 3 Month.
+ We have caught a few glimpses of a smile and some what laughs.
+ She has gone through a growth spurt already
+ Last night she slept 7 hours and after some more food and a diaper change, another 4 hours! Momma loves that!

I cannot believe how fast time has gone, I need my baby to stop growing. I don't even want to think about going back to work in 4 weeks. I also have no clue how I am ever going to get myself and a baby out of bed and ready by 8:30! Any suggestions let me know!!!

2 - Weeks

We are so in love with our little Bree girl around here. She is so perfect. I can't believe that she is two weeks old! Time seems to be flying by. 

This little girl is the sweetest. There are nights where we think that she is getting the hang of sleeping good, and then she tricks us and is up every 2 hours the next night. Right now she is a little congested and hasn't been sleeping the best. Like up every hour, but we still love her! 

We are soaking up all the cute little grunts and coo's. Any chance I get, I play with her soft baby hair and hold her tiny little hands. I love seeing her little feet crossed at the ankles just like in all of her ultrasounds!

My phone is quickly filling up with pictures of the cute little faces she makes while she's sleeping as well as her bright eyes when she's awake! We miss daddy when he's gone to work but we love when he's home and can snuggle with him.

I still can't believe that I am lucky enough to be this little girls mom. We are so absolutely smitten by her! 

You are my sunshine

Introducing our newest little addition.

Little Bree has been nothing short of perfection since she was born on February 4th. We are completely in love!

Letter to the babe

Hey Little one,




You are still in my belly and at times this makes me one onrey momma bear. But then you start to move around and I feel your little feet and I start to tear up because I know that its almost over. I think back to when I first felt you move. I was so excited that any little movement I felt in my belly I would put my hand there and see if it was you. Now I know without a doubt that it is you moving around, and I still love it!


I have spent so much time thinking about you. What you're going to look like, will you have dark hair or blonde like dad? Will you have a headful of hair like me or will you be a baldy like your dad was? Will you have brown or hazel eyes? Will you have olive skin or pale? What shape will your nose, ears and mouth be?


But I have also wondered what your personality will be like. I can tell a little already from the way you act in my belly. You love to be around people. Lots of people. Every baby shower you were moving like crazy. You love veggies, or maybe you hate them. Either way you start moving around like crazy when ever I eat them! I can tell you'll be a little sassy like me. Its okay, you'll fit in with your cousin Kyah quite well in that department.


I have thought about the person you will grow up to be! I hope that we will raise you to be an amazing woman. I hope that you have a good heart and that you make friends with everyone, but at the same time I hope that you have good judgement when it comes to people. Know who to trust and know who will be out to hurt you.

I love you already baby girl. I cannot wait to meet you and smother you with kisses! Know that dad and I love you more than anything and we are sooooooo excited to meet you, even though you obviously have other plans! Please don't wait too much longer!!!

Love,
Mom

37 weeks + sneak peak of nursery

Due Date:  February 7th
Gender:  Girl
Symptoms: I have started getting some cramps especially after I've been up cleaning for a while or walking around. I'm sort of excited to start getting contractions so I know that things are starting! I think I'll need a little bit of a warning before all this craziness starts. I don't know if this is a symptom but this child has had her feet stuck in my ribs so those are so tender along with my back. She is certainly gaining weight and when she moves she will sometimes sit on my sciatic nerves.

Movement:  Her movement is definitely slowing down but when she sticks a foot out or her booty I can't help but sit and poke it. I had a pregnant break down last week when she started dancing around in there, I know for sure I'm going to miss feeling her inside. I'm trying to soak it all up while I can!
Weight Gain: We are now going to the doctor every week so I happened to glance down at my chart while they were weighing me and I have gained 26 lbs. I'm really quite proud of myself!

Cravings: Veggies. I've wanted nothing but healthy foods, which I am sensing is a good sign. I also have no desire to cook right now.
Aversions: Nothing that I can think of.

Fitness:  For me I'm to the point that walking down stairs to get breakfast and back up stairs to get ready is a major work out. I washed Sky last night and ended up having Jake finish it off because I was too exhausted.
Sleep:  There isn't much sleep still going on here. The good news is that its not the babe waking me up, its usually because of heartburn or that I have to go to the bathroom. Or I wake up randomly and sit up in bed forever trying to fall back to sleep.



At my baby shower last weekend everyone made their guess when this babe was going to make her way into the world. The majority of people said February 1st. Lets hope that this babe agrees with everyone else! She can come a week early if she wants!

Case Baby Shower

Hello friends! I am back from being.. no where. I really have no excuses, I've just been a lazy pregnant lady! I am finally getting around to sharing with you guys the pretty baby shower that my mom and sisters threw for me in November.

Yes. We did have it pretty early, I was only 28 weeks. But we wanted to have one before life got crazy with the holidays. So I started scheming with my older sister, Ashley, about what I wanted this baby shower to look like. I had looked around and fell completely in love with the idea of it being dainty and 100% feminine. 

They made my dream come true. I loved all of the china and everything floral. My sisters and all my friends that came are pretty awesome! Baby Girl H got so spoiled! 

The lovely hostess's!

**Hello Little One Print

2nd Trimester Favorites

If you missed my first post of my 1st Trimester Favorites you can go and see that here.


Today I'm going to share with you some of my favorites throughout my 2nd trimester. I felt like this second trimester went by so much faster than the first, and I know the third will be so slow (so I've heard). I grew so much in this trimester, but fortunately, I was still in all of my pre-pregnancy clothes for more than half the time. Now I am in maternity clothes 80% of the time. The other 20% is either sweats or no clothes.. just being honest :)

2nd Trimester Favorites by aprilh1692 featuring a chevron throw pillow

Chevron throw pillow / Old Navy Maternity Low Rise Leggings - Heather charcoal / Lip treatment / Victoria s Secret body moisturizer / Bubble bath / Conair Standard Size Heating Pad

-Pregnancy Pillow-
I have taken this pillow with me everywhere! We just recently went to Las Vegas on our second 'babymoon', kind of, but this guy came right along with us! One of Jakes cousins let me borrow her pregnancy pillow, and I will forever praise her at her feet and shower her with gifts! I don't know how I ever slept through the night without one! Jake does get jealous that I get in bed and snuggle right up to it, but he's just not as squishy and fluffy and comfy feeling as that beloved pillow, sorry love! I could write a whole post about that pillow, I could sing from the mountain tops about it! I'm in love! Do yourself a favor... buy the pillow!




-Life Saver Peppermints-
As I mentioned in my first post, I was sick well into my second trimester. Like it didn't stop until I was about 25-26 weeks and even then I still have some off mornings. So these babies are in every purse, drawer, and pocket of everything I own. When my flashes of nausea come on I just pop one in and BAM! It's gone!




-DoTerra Peppermint Beadletts-
Along with the peppermints for nausea, I got heartburn sooo bad once I hit 20 weeks. It doesn't matter what I eat I get heartburn, and bad. My doctor told me to take tums and if I didn't help or I still got it everyday then we would start on prevacid. That would require me to take it everyday to stop the production of the acid that's causing the painful heartburn. I really didn't want to be on any medicine everyday for it so I was looking for something, anything else to help. So I started swallowing one of these puppies after I ate and it took my heartburn away so much faster than the tums ever did. Again, I have these in my purse and on my bedside table so they're always right where I need them!




-Maternity Leggings-
I bought these leggings from Old Navy not too long after I found out I was pregnant. I wear these all the time, they are so comfy for lounging in or you can dress them up and wear them out for date night. I literally am either in leggings, or my maternity jeans (from old navy- and are equally comfortable)




-Lotion-
I put lotion on this ever growing belly night and morning. I did buy some vitamin E oil to start using when I started this journey but I've read so much about stretch marks and such that it is in your genetics, and also how quickly you gain weight. So yes, the oil can help you out but I figure as long as my skin is well moisturized it should stretch pretty well. Knock on wood - no stretch marks yet.




-Heating Pad-
For as long as I can remember we've had a heating pad in our house. I have had a bad back since a 6th grade cheer incident, and this little lady having her growth spurts have had an impact on my poor little back. It has been so nice to lay with it on my back to make it feel better. It is also nice to have for sore legs after a night full of leg cramps! Now in my third trimester it has been nice to lady this puppy on my ribs when she gets stuck in there for the majority of the day.




-Bubble Bath -
 When I first told people I was pregnant, I was told a billion times that I would take a ton of baths. I thought they were pretty crazy. I like baths but they aren't my go to. Well.. I have changed my ways. They are so relaxing and it is the perfect way to sooth all of my sore muscles after a long day. I sit at a desk all day and it makes my ribs really sore, so I have taken a lot of baths in the past few weeks our water bill may have sky rocketed! :) whoops! I am now also adding a BIG HUGE TUB to my Christmas list! We had one in our hotel room in Park City and in Las Vegas, I cried a little inside because I had to leave that huge tub!








Is there anything that helped you that I should be incorporating into my life??

The downhill - bumpdate

This last weekend we got our pictures taken for our Christmas card, and she also did some fun maternity pictures! I cannot believe that my belly is as big as it is! I cannot wait to hold that sweet little babe in my arms! I'm so glad that Jake is a good sport and took these pictures! I can't wait to get the rest of them back and I will show them to you then!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

how far? 30 Weeks and 3 days!!!!! We are on the count down now people! Less than 10 weeks until we meet this little girl! It just hit me this past week that I could be having a baby in the next 6 or 7 weeks. Hopefully she'll cook a little longer, but still!
So MAMA'S if you have any tips on what I should be packing in my hospital bag I would love to hear them!

maternity clothes? Oh bessy YES! Every time I get a new article of clothing I just think why didn't I do this earlier?? I caved and bought two pairs of dress pants for work from Old Navy and I don't want to ever take them off. They are SO comfy! I bought these and these. If I could wear cropped dress pants to work, I so would've bought the red ones!! AH!

sleep? Its starting to not become a thing. I've started waking up at least once a night, mostly because I have to pee BUT!!! our bed is so tall and I have to slither out of it  and with my maternity pillow where it is I can't so I just fall back asleep.

best moment of the week? This child moving as much as she has! Right now as I type she is seriously bouncing around in there like its no big deal! Also she's getting big enough that we've started guessing what is sticking out. Elbows, feet, her sweet little bum! I really can't wait for her now, I am getting way too excited.

weird pregnancy moment? Everything is so weird at first and then becomes pretty awesome afterword. It is still weird for me to be sitting at my desk at work and know that my belly is moving all around, I'm still just waiting for a customer to comment on it! 

size of baby? according to apps and such she is about 3lbs!

food cravings? My 'morning sickness' is starting to come back a bit so in the mornings all I want is toast. Come lunch time I am craving all sorts of stuff, today its a corndog from Disney land.

what am I looking forward to? The two baby showers in January that are in the works! I couldn't be more excited. Also to just hold this little babe!

stretch marks? NO! Thank goodness! I am not finished growing yet though. I figure that I will see some pop up here in the next few weeks. I am still grateful that I haven't seen anything thus far!

nursery? Yes! It is almost finished! We just got finished painting the dresser that Jake and his mom used when they were younger! I will sometimes get stressed out a bit about it not being finished and have to realize that she wont be using it for the first few months anyways!

My life now revolves around my sore body

28 weeks.

How did we make this far so quickly, but also so slowly! It gets to Monday and I think 'this week is going to Dddrrrraaaaagggg.' and then all the sudden I'm another week along! This little girl is moving around like crazy and I swear never sleeps! That's going to be so fun! I love wearing clothes that I can rub my belly, because I love feeling for a foot or hand pushing against my tummy. Its my favorite and what we did the whole time during sacrament on Sunday.




My ribs are starting to hurt from her moving around and sitting in an uncomfortable chair all day. Speaking of, maybe if I write it here I'll remember to bring a blanket to sit on, and buy a foot hammock to put my feet up instead of on my heater. 




Heartburn is present anytime I eat anything that is considered food, but mints and tums are in my purse, desk at work, and beside table. I'm hoping she has a lot of hair. With the mane I've got I would cry if she really ended up not having any hair. I have also had it in my mind that she would have dark hair like me, until I talked to Jake's aunt, who also has dark hair, was telling me how blonde her kids were. So now I have no clue what to think about her hair!




Cheese and Pickles are still my go-to snack. Mostly cheese. MMmm.. and crackers. Now I want a lunchable.


Jake says that my life revolves around food right now. Its true. Especially if it turns out to be nothing like I planned. Fried mushrooms with no ranch?! Who even does that!? Needless to say I was in a bad mood the rest of the night.




I have been doing my best to cook at home lately. Since the morning sickness has finally (hallelujah) left me, I am scared of the weight I could gain if I kept eating out like I was. Not to mention it wasn't the healthiest, so I've changed my ways. I have been quite proud of myself and all the things I have made!




End crazy pregnant woman rant! Happy November! Is it Christmas yet?


P.s. Momma question for you moms, did you use a changing tale? I have a dresser that I planned to use as a changing table but I'm not sure how much I would actually use it!

1st Trimester Favorites

Now that I am nearing the 3rd (and FINAL) trimester, I figured I could gather together a list of things that I have loved during my first 2 trimesters. I also have a few blogger friends who are just recently finding out that they are pregnant, so hopefully giving a little bit of my input will help them to have a more comfortable pregnancy.

First Trimester by aprilh1692 featuring beyond yoga pants

-Cold Cereal-
It didn't matter what kind, but this was the one thing that I could keep down most mornings/afternoons, and it is a big comfort food for me. I have just recently gotten over my morning sickness, so I have had my fair share of cereal!






-Tomato Soup-
The brand doesn't matter, but just like the cereal, it was a big comfort food and I craved it all the time! It was so strange because usually anything acidic makes your upset stomach worse, but it calmed mine down. Along with Ritz crackers. Yum! Also, am I the only one that makes it with a can of milk instead of water?? It's something my mama did and it makes it so creamy!




-Stretchy Pants -
These are a must. Good thing I have my BIG stash of sweats and stretchy pants that I didn't have to go buy any! I would come home from work and seriously be in stretchy pants within 3 minutes! In the first trimester you just feel so bloated and yucky that its stretchy pants or no pants!




-Zofran-
Starting at week 6 I was so sick every morning. It was rough because we were going camping every weekend and that's not the place I wanted to be sick. So my first appointment I asked for something because I couldn't keep anything down. I'm surprised I kept it a secret at work for as long as I did with the nausea that I had! The thing that worked for me the best was the dissolvable generic brand of Zofran. I would wake up at 6:30 and swallow it like a pill and fall back asleep so it had time to work in my system without me being awake!






- Peppermints -
I tried anything and everything to help my nausea but nothing worked until I got these. Even on the days that my Zofran wouldn't work very well these would cure what ever was left making me sick. I have had this in my purse and desk at work well into my second trimester as well.




-Lip Balm-
Towards the end of my first trimester my face and lips got SO dry!! Burts Bee's is my all time favorite lip balm (thank you Jake) and I had this on my person at all times!




-Prenatals -
I started out with the gummies, mostly because that's what I had been taking the whole time before I got pregnant. But once all that fun morning sickness set in those things made me so sick!!! So I switched to 1 A Day Womens- Prenatals. They are just 2 pills one DHA and the other is the multivitamin, it does have a yucky after taste to it but it doesn't make me sick like the gummies did.




-water. Water. WATER!-
It's obviously that you should be drinking water but when you're pregnant you need even more water. You are making a baby from scratch so your body is working overtime and a lot of the time if you are feeling sick, tired, or bloated you can drink more water and start feeling better. The suggested amount of water is so high that I have gotten so sick of it but in my trimester lemon water helps and its tastes better than just straight up water.

Baby H Nursery Dream

I have been working on the babes nursery since before we knew she was growing. I have been collecting furniture to redo and put in the future nursery. Now that we're here, its time to put my pinterest dream to life. At first I really wanted to do a woodland theme and make it so cute with little baby animals. It all started to shift when I was helping my sister find ideas for my baby shower. The nursery has now taken a turn and has become girlie and dainty and everything GIRL!

here are some of the things that I believe NEEDS to be in the nursery. 

Can you believe she'll be here in just over 13 weeks? (that sounds like a lot but to a 26 week pregnant lady, that no time at all!)

This print is a must in a girls room, lets be honest!

I have been so in love with these baskets! I want a billion of them!!!

source

I was given a beautiful old lamp shade frame, making a crystal chandelier. 

source

I love the wall decals to go behind the crib. 

source

I love this to brighten up the space! I really just love everything about them. 

source

I fully intend to have some sort of a gallery wall above one of the dressers in her room. Yes, you read that right, one of the dressers. She is a girl. She will need all the storage she can get!

source

And you can bet your bottom dollar there will be a mirror above the changing table (dresser). There was nothing I loved more when my niece was young was making faces at her in the mirror. 

Speaking of dressers, my mother-in-law has her dresser that she had when she was a  little girl, which she later used in the nursery when Jake was a baby, and is now letting me have it. I am wanting to do ombre drawers like this to add more color and femininity to the room. I am in love with those crystal knobs though! *Swoon*

I cannot wait for this little girl to come, but for now I guess I'll continue to work on this nursery. 

Oh little one

**My absolute favorite gift Jake gave me for my birthday!**

There are a lot of things about motherhood that scare me. Not sleeping, not showering, being exhausted all the time. I have babysat my niece many times, when she was a baby as well as her little toddler-self now, and I am exhausted after a few hours. I am trying my hardest to not think about the whole pushing a human out of me and keep praying for some wizard to come around and magically take her out of my belly!

Remember this post I wrote about the pro's and con's of pregnancy? Well.. ever since I've felt this little girl move, all of the bad stuff hasn't mattered. I'm starting to see how people forget the bad stuff about their pregnancy. It has been so fun to watch my belly move as she dances around! Any time she starts moving I stop what I'm doing and feel her kick away at my hands, she's such an active little girl. I am so excited to go to our ultrasound tomorrow and see how much she's grown in the past 4 weeks. She has measured right on since the beginning of my pregnancy, which makes me fear we will end up being a little overdue.

But this little girl is already so spoiled. There are so many things that I go to buy but I know that we're already taken care of in those areas. Her nursery is almost complete, minus a changing table (I have my eye on this one) and all we need are all the decorations I have been eyeing on Etsy! oh that will be the death of me.

Baby H will have a name one day. We have a list that needs to be narrowed down and there are some influences that wont let us set on one until we see her. How do you feel about that? Did anyone tell you what you should do with your babies name??





A letter to you

Dear Baby Girl,


I have been dying since I found out you are a girl. I knew that if we had a girl that our bank account would be running on the lower side, but I have been trying my best to not spend near as much.


Can I just tell you how much I love feeling you move?? You gave me a scare this week when I didn't feel you for a few days and I had dreams about needing to go to the ER, but then you started dancing around again which made me feel so much better. And you're daddy is so in love with you! He talks about getting the house ready for you and how excited he is to have you. He got to feel you last night and its pretty great to be able to share that with him.

Your grandparents are getting very excited to meet you! They all love you a lot!

There are a lot of people who love you and have given you the cutest little clothes, and this is just the beginning. You are going to be quite the fashion queen!!!!

We get to see you in about a week and a half and I can't wait to see how much you've grown! Just keep cooking and we'll see you in a little bit.


We love you so very much!


Love -- Mom

Happiness is in the air

This past week has been a good one! In the pregnancy world, in the working world, IN THE COOKING WORLD. I made dinner twice this week!!! That's a record for now! But here are some other things that are really pretty great.

+ A lovey, cuddly Husband.
+ Having breakfast for dinner!
+ Going birthday shopping knowing I wont be able to buy any clothes, and finding clothes that will fit my whole pregnancy (knock on wood!)
+ Holding hands in public.
+ Fall colors showing
+ Wearing scarves
+ FEELING BABY GIRL MOVE!!! I even felt a kick on my hand, and she hasn't kicked enough times in a row since for Jake to feel.
+ Stake Conference so I can skip out on teaching and spend the weekend with my family!
+ Buying PINK fabric, and finding out its on sale!
+ rain, Rain, and more RAIN!
+ a cuddly puppy and lays with me in the mornings.




What would be on your happy list?