32 Week Pregnancy Update

• How far along are you? 32 weeks today!
• How big is the baby?   15.2-16.7 inches and 2.5-3.8 lbs... the size of a squash!
• Weight gain? 32 lbs as of my last prenatal appt.  I go again tomorrow, so I'm sure this number will be a bit higher.  
• Stretchmarks? No, but I am rockin' some sweet varicose veins on my right calf.  Awesome.  
• Belly button? Pretty sure it's in for the long haul.
• Cravings? Hot dogs with shredded cheese on a bun.  I know, what?!?!  I bought some 100% organic grass-fed beef hot dogs today at Trader Joe's so I could give in to my craving.  It was everything I had hoped it would be.
• Latest hormonal outburst? I can't think of a recent one... let me ask Chris and get back to you.  :)
• Vomiting? Only when my heartburn/indigestion gets super bad.  Sucks.  Big time.  
• Feeling prepared?  I asked Chris the other day if there was something I should be doing to prepare for this baby... I really feel like I have done nothing.  So I went ahead and put newborn diapers in our Amazon shipment for next month.  Crazy to think that we will be needing them next month already!
• Names?  I think we may have come to an agreement on first names.  No middle name for a girl yet..... 
• Sleep?  Most nights I sleep with 3 (THREE!!!) pillows behind me... just to keep dinner down.    
• Random pregnancy side effects?  My body hair doesn't really grow.  Same thing happened when I was pregnant with Wren.  Kinda nice to not have to shave my legs.  Cause if I actually needed to, it probably wouldn't be happening at this point anyway.
• Best moment this week? Wren got to feel the baby yesterday morning!  We were laying in bed at our hotel in Austin, and the baby had the hiccups (which seems to be happening more and more lately).  I put her hand on my belly, and she was able to feel the baby moving.  Not exactly sure how she felt about it.  I still don't think she gets that there is an ACTUAL BABY in my stomach.  When I ask her where the new baby is, she pats on my belly, but I don't know if she totally gets it.  We've been reading lots of books about babies and becoming a big sister... so we'll see.  She loves babies when she sees them in public, and she really loves her babies (in fact, she carries one around with her almost everywhere we go)... so I'm hoping that translates well into having a real baby at home all of the time.  
• THIS BABY WILL PROBABLY BE HERE NEXT MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

So yeah, crazy.

Know what else is crazy?

The month of October.

I feel like I have soooooo much to post about, but nothing seems to be getting blogged about.

Shoot.

I promise that I will get up pics from Mom and Sorcha's visit, the Halloween party, trick or treating, Wren's big girl bedroom, the dining room "makeover," our Austin trip, and a few other randoms I have saved in drafts.

Here are some pics from earlier in the fall when we took a walk back to the pond.

It was a....

...gate climbin'...

...stick findin'...

...shoulder ridin'...

...walk takin'...

...airplane watchin'...

...bug catchin'...

...good time!

Cutest Little Cheerleader

Picked up this cute little number at Marshall's last fall for like 12 bucks!

 

 

 

 

Now she just needs a Minnesota one, too!

Halloween party this weekend... woohoo!
Fingers crossed for good weather!
Can't wait to post pics.

Chris's 31st Birthday

Chris's 31st birthday was the beginning of September...
so, true to form, I am just finally blogging about it now.
Ha.
We celebrated with pizza and cake.
Is there really a better combo?
No.
Pretty sure there isn't.
Well, unless you throw a glass of Malbec in the mix...
which, for obvious reasons (actually just ONE reason in particular) I am unable to do.
So, for a pregnant woman, yes, pizza and cake is truly the best food pairing around.
ANYWAY.....

Here's our little cutie stinker making a card for her daddy.


She had lots of fun coloring with (and eating) the markers.

Daddy and Wren!

The cake I made for Chris.
Devil's Food Cake with Chocolate Orange Buttercream.
Yum.
You can find the recipe here.

My cutesy fam
:)

Even Macy came over for the celebration!

October is a crazy busy month for us here.
We just got back from a long weekend in Chicago...
Grandma O' and Sorcha are coming to visit this weekend.
Halloween party next weekend.
And lots and lots of things in between.
Whew.
I'm exhausted just thinking about it all....

Will try to post a pregnancy update soon!

Oh, and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to us today!
Four years of wedded bliss.
Ahhhhh.... time sure does fly when you are having fun!
:)

27 Week Pregnancy Update

Latest pregnancy update for ya....

• How far along are you?  27 weeks and 5 days
• How big is the baby?   The size of a rutabaga (Really, thebump.com?  A rutabaga?  That's the best comparison you can come up with?)... or 13.6-14.8 inches and 1.5-2.5 pounds.
• Weight gain? Dude.  I am up 29 pounds in 27 weeks.  And get this... I didn't put on any weight in the first trimester.  So that means I am throwin' down a double digit weight gain at every. single. appointment.  Just a tad disheartening.  The nurse practitioner I saw this last appointment wasn't concerned, fortunately.  I am actually weighing in at the same weight at 27 weeks with this pregnancy as I did when I was 27 weeks pregnant with Wren.  Hmmmm.. that means I'm well on track to pack on at least another 15.  That's crazy cause I already feel huuuuuuuuuuuuge.       
• Stretchmarks? At least I can proudly say "no" to this... for now anyway....
• Belly button? In and probably stayin' in.  Pretty sure that sucker doesn't come out.  
• Cravings? Breakfast food!  Throughout this whole pregnancy I have craved pancakes.  I have been craving all breakfasts foods lately.  In the past week I have made many, many egg sandwiches, bacon all kinds of ways... bacon on sandwiches, bacon with eggs, bacon straight up... blueberry muffins, pumpkin oatmeal, chocolate croissants, pumpkin pancakes, buttermilk pancakes, and pumpkin gingerbread waffles.  Over the last 27 weeks we have gone through an inordinate amount of maple syrup in this house (and, by the looks of it, apparently pumpkin, too).
• Latest hormonal outburst?  Ha, see here.
• Vomiting? No, but the heartburn I have is so bad that I feel like I could vomit after most meals.  Yuck.  So, yeah, just as I was rereading this post before publishing, I totally spewed all over the kitchen sink.  I have had heartburn so bad all day.  I try my best to combat it with papaya enzyme or tums, and usually it works.  Tonight, however, no dice.  I just couldn't keep it down.  Gross.  But hey, the heartburn is gone!  For now...   
• Feeling prepared?  Yep, I think so... on most days anyway.  We have started preparing Wren's big girl room for her.  It's pretty bare bones right now, but at least it's a room with a bed (and a closet full of Momma's craft supplies).  
• Names?  I think we are getting closer!  
• Sleep?  Some nights good, some nights not so good.  
• Random pregnancy side effects?  I feel like I'm a frickin' hot box lately.  I am always hot.  So that means EVERYBODY is hot.    
• Best moment this week?  Watching Wren take care of her baby.  It is so sweet to see her rocking, feeding, and loving on her baby.  She is going to be a great big sister!  :)

• Still wearing heels?  Oh, please.  I stopped wearing heels once Wren was mobile.  Wearing 3-inch stiletto heels while chasing after a toddler?  I don't think so.  Flats only for this girl.  

So, this is how I feel most days...


Jones doing his best impression of me...
or a flying squirrel...
or something.
Cats are weird.  

Hell Hath No Fury...

We tend to eat pretty healthy in our family, but let's be realistic here, we also have our fair share of treats... and once Halloween candy hits the stores, it is usually a candy free-for-all around the Tilson house.  Being pregnant during the month of October again, I have given myself even more leeway in the treats department.  I mean, come on, as any pregnant woman knows, Baby wants what Baby wants, no?  And my babies in utero tend to want sugar.  So what better way to satisfy both Baby and Momma than with a plethora of "fun-size" candy options?

I was absolutely delighted when Chris went to Sam's Club to pick up some Halloween candy today.  Sugar in bulk!  Woohoo!  Awesome husband thing to do, right?  Yeah, well, only if you get the RIGHT kind of candy, my dear.

Let me note that I feel like I am a bit of a candy bar connoisseur, especially around this time of year.  When the beginning of October rolls around, I am usually fantasizing about all kinds of tiny treats... the smooth creaminess of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, the delightful "snap" of a Kit Kat, the wonderful textural surprise of a Snickers, the delicious crunch of a Twix bar, oh and itty bitty bags of M&M's!  They are so cute and small I can eat like 5 of them guilt-free, right?  So imagine my surprise when my oh-so-sweet husband returns with a humongous bag of the worst candy I have ever seen.

Get this.

Butterfingers.
Nestle Crunch Bars.
Baby Ruths.
100 Grand Bars.

Yuck.

I apologize if one of your all-time favorites is on this list, but, in my opinion, this is the absolute worst pick of the lot.  I mean, come on!  Butterfingers get stuck in my teeth.  I have never been much of a fan.  Nestle Crunch Bars are like the boringest candy bar EVER.  They consist of a mediocre slab of chocolate (I prefer Hershey's chocolate over Nestle's, btw) with a few little "crispies" thrown in for texture.  Not my cup of tea.  Oh, and Baby Ruths?  AKA the candy bar that most closely resembles a human turd?  Um, no thanks, I will pass.  The one candy bar out of the mix that I can mildly tolerate is the 100 Grand.  But I can really only handle maybe one or two before I have flashbacks from high school band fundraisers where we sold king-size 100 Grand Bars for weeks on end.  I ate more 100 Grand Bars in 4 years of band than anyone probably should ever eat in a lifetime.  Plus, they are basically just a Crunch Bar beefed up on steriods.  So yeah, talk about sheer and utter disappointment when my super sweet smiling husband walks through the door with a bag filled with these atrocities.  I promptly went into full-on panic mode (hey, I'm allowed, I'm pregnant, hormonal, and basically an emotional mess these days, so just back off, would ya?).  I was immediately pissed off and thinking that he obviously doesn't even KNOW me if he thinks I'm going to eat any of that!... or worse, maybe he does know that I don't like any of those selections and that's why he picked it... so I won't eat it!  He thinks I'm fat!  Now I was super pissed off.  Or maybe he just picked out a bag that he really liked... but, hey, what about me here?  The sugar-binging, chocolate-craving, 27-week pregnant lady that NEEDS. CHOCOLATE. NOW.  What about me?!  

So yeah, any way you spin it, I was pissed.

I have been pouting about it all afternoon.

Seriously.

You know what they say... Hell hath no fury like a pregnant woman missing out on her chocolate-fix.... or something like that anyway.  :)

Side Note: I obviously know I am not fat, I am pregnant... wonderfully, beautifully pregnant...  but this was a completely irrational thought that did briefly run through my mind.  See statement above regarding "hormonal," "emotional," and "mess".

September Randoms

Sooooooo, it's October.
Wow.
Where did September go?
I know it's totally cliched to say how fast time flies as you get older, especially after you have kids, but MAN, it does go so fast!
Our October is pretty busy already.
...and November is filling up quicky, too.
And then Thanksgiving..
and Christmas....
AND THEN THE NEW BABY IS GOING TO BE HERE!
Crazy.
I will do a pregnancy update post this week.
I have an appointment tomorrow... I'm already at every other week appointments!
So yeah, update soon.
Until then, here are some random pictures from September.
I have been taking fewer pictures on our camera and lots more on my phone.
Chris and I both just got iPhone 5's... and I absolutely love it!
I am loving Instagram, too!
You can follow me!
@shaetilson
Ok.
Anyway... September pics.
Here...


Wren at the Hunter's Honey Farm Fall Festival

Of course, Baby is in tow.

We just released our Monarch butterfly!

With Sara at the zoo

The lions were so close to the fence!

Silly girl

Silly girls!

See that book she is reading?
Yeah, she carries that book everywhere with her lately.
And I mean EV-ERY-WHERE.
I read it to her at least a dozen times a day,
and she reads it to herself all day long.

Oh, and by the way, she has no pants or diaper on here.
Mid-diaper change and she decides she just HAS to read "Everywhere Babies"
With no pants... or diaper... in her stroller.
:)

Minnesota/Wisconsin Trip- Part 2

Part 2 of our trip starts off back in Minnesota again.
After dropping Chris off at the airport in Madison, Wren and I spent the night at Dad's and headed back to Lewiston the next day.
We spent the next 10 days chasing ducks, feeding chickens, snuggling kitties, petting puppies... all sorts of fun stuff!


Wren at Grandma O's classroom helping her get ready for students.

I think this was our second trip to the Farmers Market in Winona... eating a cookie, probably.

Feeding the chickens

She LOVED doing this!

Helping Grandma O' with chicken chores

I think she really enjoyed just playing with the chicken feed

Lovin' being a country girl!

Fuzzy socks like Aunt Sorcha!

Snack time at the play house

At Lark Toys

Waiting for a carousel ride

The Girls!

She's got her token to ride!

Carousel at Lark Toys

Playing around on a pogo stick

We took this cute guy home with us

This girl loooooves playing with babies

Grandma O' showing Wren how to blow bubbles

Wren trying!

At the Secret Pizza Farm!

Such a lovely day!

Waiting for our pizza

Everyone came!

What a fun place!

Pizza!!!!!

Heading home again

Awwwww....

Haha, Wren looks silly here.
At the Como Zoo with Kelly!

This giraffe was crazy!

Her favorite spot at the zoo... at the primate exhibit

She had a lot of fun watching these guys

This was the last picture of our trip... in Chicago!
...and then my camera died.

We ended up having a great time on our trip!
Wren slept well the whole time... which was one of my biggest worries.
I used a white noise maker on my Kindle during naps and bed time, and it worked like a charm!
 Wren did catch a bit of a bug for a few days while we were gone, but she still did great.
It was hard being away from Chris for so long, but I am really glad we made the trip back.
It was great to see everyone and be able to just relax rather than run around like crazy for 3 days.
We even made a day trip up to Minneapolis one day and saw 2 of my college roommates- Kelly and Anne.
It was sooooo good to see those girls!
I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked, but that's the way it goes sometimes.
Wren and I stayed in Lewiston until Friday afternoon, and then made the trip back to Baraboo that afternoon.
Chris's flight got in the next morning, so we spent that Friday afternoon/night hanging out with Dad and Barb.
Chris's flight got in on time (a little early, actually) and it was so good to see him!
10 days is a long time to not see each other!
Wren was pretty excited to see her Daddy again, too.
After picking him up, we decided to go home through Chicago and get lunch.
We ate at Fox & Obel and walked to Navy Pier after.
From Chicago, we only had about a 3 hour drive home.
And although we had a wonderful time visiting everyone, it was so nice to get home again!