I love weekends!!

Like any teacher, I live for weekends! And my kids that I have this year are wonderful, and I enjoy seeing them each day, but it is nice to have a break to decompress. Saturday was full of fun. We got up early to hit up the Woodbridge neighborhood garage sale. Unfortunately, a lot of people had that idea and we ended up striking out. I bought a super cute pajama set for $0.75 and a Bumbo from our next door neighbors (who were also having a garage sale) for $10! Then I met up with a friend that I used to go to church with for lunch and we had a great time catching up. Michel and I went out for dinner, and just had fun having a laid-back day.

Today, Michel and I enjoyed a wonderful day at church seeing our friends. In Sunday School, our teacher is starting a new series on parenting and I am so excited to learn about how to be a godly parent raising a godly child. I really love Sunday afternoons because they are almost always fun, lazy days! Even Ninja likes lazy days. He and I had been playing (I tossed his squirrel and he would either jump and catch it or run after it). After about 10 minutes or so, this is what our play session turned into:

He looks very vicious :)

For dinner tonight, Michel decided to make us a home-made pizza. I don't think I've ever had one that was home-made, so I'm pretty excited to try it out! Here's my awesome man hard at work in the kitchen :)

This is why I love my weekends :)

Baby Z: Week 17

Photobombed by my cat!!

How far along are you? 17 weeks

How far are you measuring? Right on track!

How big is your baby? About 5 inches long, and weighs about 5 ounces

What major developments is your baby going through right now? The skeleton of the baby is changing from soft cartilage to bone; umbilical cord is growing thicker

Heartbeat: 171 bpm

Total weight gain/loss: +5.5 lbs

Maternity clothes: I'm wearing maternity clothes most of the time...I love them, they are so comfortable!

Stretch marks: No!

Sleep: I still get up 2-3 times a night to go to the bathroom, but I deal with it. It probably doesn't help that I'm guzzling water all day and all night (including the middle of the night), but I get so thirsty!!

Gender predictions: I'm not answering this since I have a pretty good idea what the sex of the baby is :) 

What I miss: Not much

What I'm most looking forward to: Gender sono on April 17th!!!

How are you feeling: Pretty good...I've just gotten over my third sinus infection (third one I've had since being pregnant that is), so I'm tired of continually getting sick, but I know that it could be much worse, so I'm trying not to complain :)

Happy Birthday, Uncle Jerry!

At the end of March, we all drove down to the tiny town of Brashear, TX to surprise my uncle for his 60th birthday party! My cousins had driven in from Missouri and College Station, TX. I don't get to see them all that often, so I was excited to celebrate my uncle's birthday while seeing my cousins. The weekend was a bit chillier than anybody expected. We were having a hot dog cookout complete with some s'mores! We had so much fun!!!

We were hiding in my uncle's welding shop and he had been told that he had a present from my cousins out in the shop that was too big to bring in the house. We jumped out and yelled, "surprise!" when he walked in.

The fire outside kept us warm, but my sister had been out of town at a women's church retreat, so Ryan was in charge of his kids, and didn't quite dress them warmly enough. Luckily, my aunt had some spare clothes around for them to wear :)

It may be a little big on him ;)

Karys looks happy under her blanket!

Some party guests: my cousin, Anna and her husband, David

My cousin, Dan, his wife, Erica, and Erica's mom, Vicky

And of course, the cutest partygoers every: 

Here's all of us! It really was a fun day/evening with everyone!!

He works hard for the money!!

Back in January, Michel took a test at work to promote from firefighter to driver. He studied from October - January for a couple hours almost every day. All of his hard work paid off because he got the second highest score on the test which meant he qualified for the promotion, and got it! I'm so proud of him! For whatever reason, the promotional ceremony didn't take place until late March, but oh well. Michel had to wear his dress uniform, and I was going to pin him, so we were both dressed up. I think we clean up pretty well :)

I got a couple of pictures of Michel while his fire chief was speaking well of all of his hard work. Doesn't he look handsome in his uniform??

I love you, Michel!!

Baby Z Week 15

**Too lazy to do a picture this week :)**

How far along are you? 15 weeks

How far are you measuring? Right on track!

How big is your baby? About 4 inches long and weighs about 2 ounces - about the size of an apple

What major developments is your baby going through right now? Baby is moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract which helps develop lung function

Heartbeat: 171 bpm

Total weight gain/loss: +5 lbs....doctor was very happy with it!!

Maternity clothes: I'm wearing maternity clothes about 70% of the time. I still have one pair of jeans I can wear without the Be Band, but even the Be Band is starting to get uncomfortable. I just don't like having my stomach squished in. Most of my shirts still fit, but there are a few that I can't wear. If I wear maternity jeans with the full panel I have to wear a maternity shirt to make sure they're long enough. I think whoever invented maternity pants is a genius, though! They're SOOOO comfortable!

Stretch marks: No!

Sleep: Whatever was making me uncomfortable to sleep on my stomach last week has resolved itself because this week it hasn't been a problem. I still get up 2-3 times a night to go to the bathroom, but I deal with it. It probably doesn't help that I'm guzzling water all day and all night (including the middle of the night), but I get so thirsty!!

Gender predictions: I'm not answering this since I have a pretty good idea what the sex of the baby is :) 

What I miss: Sleeping in during Spring Break! :)

What I'm most looking forward to: Summer vacation, finding out the sex, buying and decorating the nursery....so much!

How are you feeling: Great! Really can't complain about anything!

Body Pillows

So, I don't know if I'm popping out early, or if I'm on track, but I feel a bit fat lately. And I don't really feel like that until I put on regular clothes. I feel like I look fairly normal when I'm in my lazy clothes/workout clothes, but the minute I put on jeans and even my "fat pants" they're SOOO snug around my belly! I've only put on about 4.5-5 lbs since finding out that I was pregnant. The last time I went to the doctor she actually told me that she had wished I had seen a bigger weight gain, but I digress...just ranting for now :)

My true reason for this post is because I'm finding that it's getting more and more uncomfortable for me to lay on my stomach, or to put anything on my stomach (my laptop is what I'm thinking of, specificially). Michel and I went to Target to get a body pillow, but didn't find any. We did a search online and found that we can either just get a long pillow for like $15, or a Boppy body pillow that is kind of an 8-figure for about $45. So my question to any of you who have ever bought and used a body pillow is what did you get, and did you like it? I don't mind spending more money if it will keep me more comfy, but if an extra long pillow is all that I need I'll get that and save some money. Thanks ladies :)

Hello 2nd Trimester!!

How far along are you? 14 weeks

How far are you measuring? Right on track when I went to the doctor a few weeks ago...another appointment on Thursday!

How big is your baby? About 3 1/2 inches long and weighs about 1 1/2 ounces - about the size of a lemon

What major developments is your baby going through right now? Baby has learned how to make some expressions - including squinting, grimacing, frowning, and is learning how to suck his/her thumb if that ends up being their thing :)

Heartbeat: 171 bpm

Total weight gain/loss: Approx. +4.5 lbs

Maternity clothes: Not yet, but they're not too far away...I wear my Be Band with almost all of my pants. My shirts still fit, but I'm really just starting to look fat (in my opinion) rather than pregnant. Oh well...it won't be long before people can tell I am pregnant, and I haven't just let myself go :)

Stretch marks: No!

Sleep: I don't feel nearly as tired as I used to which is really nice. Of course, I've also been on Spring Break all week, and gotten a good 9-10 hours of sleep every night. We'll see what happens when I go back to work tomorrow :) Oh, and another thing I've noticed is that I'm starting to be uncomfortable sleeping on my stomach. I don't feel like I'm THAT big, but I notice I'm starting to favor sleeping on my side which I've NEVER done. I'm always a stomach sleeper. Oh, and now I get up 2-3 times a night to go to the bathroom. I've always gotten up once, but never more than that. The nights where I end up getting up 3 times a night always makes me feel tired the next day.

Gender predictions: I'm not answering this since I have a pretty good idea what the sex of the baby is :) 

What I miss: Nothing! It used to be my Sonic vanilla diet Coke, but my doctor told me that Coke Zero was a better alternative to Diet Coke (I don't know why). I didn't think I liked Coke Zero, but I am not a fan of a vanilla Dr. Pepper, so I gave a vanilla Coke Zero a try and LOVED it!! Well...maybe I do miss sleeping comfortably on my stomach. 

What I'm most looking forward to: Summer vacation, finding out the sex, buying and decorating the nursery....so much!

How are you feeling: Great! Wish Spring Break lasted into the summer :)