All Kinds of Happy

30 weeks and a comparison

Published on January 8, 2018January 8, 2018 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

Since this blog is more for me then anyone else, this post is going to be similar to my 30 week post with Ada. I was super curious as to how many similarities we had going on from last time and as it turns out we are at almost EXACTLY the same place. Its really funny to see, but my weight gain is almost identical, the nesting and nursery stuff is the same and even my comparison picture is almost spot on! I can only hope that once this baby is here she is as awesome as Ada was. We always thought we got spoiled with how good she was and how great of a sleeper she was and joked that our second baby was going to curse us, but if she’s anything like her sister, I think we’ll be pretty lucky in few short months! So the answers in RED are from my First Pregnancy (word for word what I said) and the answers in BLUE are from this current pregnancy!

How far along? 30 weeks and counting / 30 weeks 2 days

Total weight gain/loss: Still up 24 lbs. / Up about 22 lbs.

Maternity clothes? Yes, and I’m usually in crisis mode finding something that fits that I haven’t worn 3 times in a week already. / Samsies. Mostly maternity clothes. I can still wear a few things that are not, but maternity fits better. I think I have more options in the winter because its easier to hide in big sweaters and sweatshirts.

Stretch marks? Nothing yet. / Ditto

Sleep: Still sleeping relatively well, tossing and turning a little bit, getting up to pee every now and then in the middle of the night, but can’t complain. / I guess I can say about the same, I’ve been very uncomfortable sleeping, tossing and turning a lot. I wake up feeling pretty stiff or with a sore back most days and usually get up to pee at least once. Once I’m up and moving everything loosens up again and I don’t feel like I haven’t gotten any sleep, so I guess we’re doing okay.

Best moment this week: This was a pretty average week I think, not really anything exciting. I guess I did get a few more things I ordered online for the nursery, and a few shower gifts came in the mail which is always exciting. / Same in terms of it being a pretty average week. Nothing crazy exciting. Have a doctors appointment tomorrow afternoon, so we’ll see if there are any new developments but I doubt it, I think it will be a quick in and out.

Miss Anything? Meh, I’ve made it this far, anything I miss is in my near future again at this point. / I had this same exact thought last week, I’ve made it 30 weeks I only have 10 to go, I can do without anything for that long. My answer is usually wine, but after the holidays, when I had a few small drinks, I had my fill and wasn’t really into it much anyway.

Movement: Movement is getting very strong, I can feel almost every move she makes, kicks are definitely like kicks now and not just a weird gas bubble in my tummy. Sometimes I think she is trying to flip and can’t, I’ll feel her head (always on my right) but sometimes really low and sometimes really high. / Its funny how identical I feel to this right now. Some wicked strong kicks and usually on my right side. Our last check she was still breech too. I get a lot of kicks behind my belly button, which I really hate. I feel like its her head on my right again too, sometimes really far over.

Food cravings: Pop! I can’t get enough and I have to really cut myself off because I can’t have that much caffeine, I think I just like the bubbles and the fact that it isn’t water, but that’s all I really want to drink. I also have had a bad thing for Snickers Ice cream bars. YUM! / I would say the same thing again. I’m into the whole pop thing really bad again. I have been the whole time, its really just that craving for something other then water. Ginger ale has been my savior with the amount of horrible heartburn I’ve had this time around and at least there isn’t any caffeine in that. I still have a pretty bad sweet tooth too even though I’m trying really hard after the holidays to get rid of all that crap. Otherwise not craving anything specific.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing. / I would say nothing again. The only difference I think is the extreme exhaustion that has gotten me feeling pretty awful a few times, but now that we’re slowing down I’ve been a lot better.

Gender prediction: Can’t wait to meet my little lady!! / SAME!!

Labor Signs: I’ve had some shooting pains on my sides that feel like running cramps once in awhile, usually simultaneously as she kicks me, but I asked the doctor about it and (of course its not labor pains) but she said its completely normal and the baby may in fact be kicking something. / No shooting pains, some running cramps when I walk a lot which feels like an actual side stitch when I’m out of shape. Braxton Hicks really bad again which is exactly how I was with Ada. And I’ve had some really bad tailbone pain where I could barely walk a few times, but it seems to come and go.

Belly Button in or out? In when I lay down and out when I stand up…. gravity I guess? / OUT, way out and never going back in I don’t think!

Wedding rings on or off? On / On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!! So much to look forward to right now! / I would definitely say the same, Happy with so much to look forward too. I will admit that I get a little moody at night. I get very sore and tired by the time I get home from work and therefore I start complaining a lot. I feel bad because Ada just wants me to get on the floor and play with her, and I’m so uncomfortable and tired that I brush it off and I’m trying really hard not to do that because these are my last few precious months of just us. Her whole world is about to be flipped upside down and she has no idea! I’m just so happy that she is so excited for the baby to come and not at all resentful (yet)!! Here is the sweetest picture of her, She just loves my big belly and this little baby so much, I could cry just thinking about them meeting for the first time!

Weekly Wisdom: I am doing a lot of reading now, on breastfeeding, preparing for a newborn, what I can do to make transitions and healing time smoother, trying to plan out freezer meals and stocking up for grocery shopping, I figured I have the time now and I won’t in a few weeks when I am trying to figure everything out. / I can say I have not done ANY of this, this time around. With it being #2 I know what to expect this time and I plan on doing whatever I can to make breastfeeding better and the transition of healing time better, but I think just knowing what to expect has me feeling more confident about all of it and way less worried. I’m definitely more ready to just say “it is what it is” when it comes to all that stuff because I know I can’t control everything. I do want to get ready with some freezer meals and grocery shopping soon, but I know I still have some time, so I’ll get there. Priorities the second time are definitely different.

Looking forward to: A busy upcoming week… my mom’s birthday dinner, a girls night out, Dan’s parents are coming into town to visit and the shower this weekend, so I’ll get to see a lot of family and friends this week! / Thankfully NOT another busy week, I am happy that our busiest weeks are behind us. This week I am looking forward to the fact that we have NOTHING to do! We have no plans this weekend, and we can spend quiet time home with just the three of us. I have hopes of wrapping up everything in the nursery and finishing the reorganizing of the playroom that I started. We’re getting a new Ikea wall/shelf organizer delivered today for the playroom so I plan to spend some time organizing toys and getting the age appropriate things put high on shelves where they need to be and some clear baskets and bins so the kids can see all the toys and things stop getting forgotten about.

And lastly, I threw on the same dress I wore in my 30 week picture with Ada. While here on the East Coast we’re experiencing the coldest weather in decades, I put on a summer dress! Its like the worst picture I could have picked from last time for a comparison as my hair is a mess and make-up non-existent, so don’t judge but you get the idea! Pretty comparable in size, I was kinda shocked! The only difference this time around is that I think my belly button is forming its own second bump.

We celebrated the Buffalo Bills going to the Playoffs this past weekend for the first time in 17 years!! Which means I was only 14 the last time the Bills made the playoffs so that was a pretty exciting time for Buffalo! We had to document this historic event with a family picture! Unfortunately, they lost to Jacksonville 3 to 10 in the most uneventful game ever, but we’re excited to have made it and “There’s always next year!” Something us Bills fans are pretty used to saying!

And lastly one of my new favorite pictures of Ada loving her sister some more! (In her Elsa dress of course) I couldn’t take a bump picture without her wanting to jump in it too. This is pretty much where you can find her all the time. Either kissing my belly or talking to it. I’m pretty sure her new sister is going to recognize Ada’s voice better then anyone else!

29 Weeks and the Holidays

Published on January 3, 2018 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

I posted 28 weeks right on time last week and since then we’ve celebrated Christmas, New Years and for the first time in 17 years, the Buffalo Bills going to the playoffs! So its been a very exciting 2 weeks!

I think I’m going to skip the survey again and just do some bullets. I feel like it was more interesting then the survey plus I have a lot to share with the holidays.

-29 weeks and 4 days today, we are almost to the big 3-0 Countdown. I feel like I’m so excited to be there that I’m jumping the gun and anyone who asks I just say I’m already 30 weeks, or that I only have about 8-10 weeks left (wishful thinking that she will come 2 weeks early like her sister did!)

-Christmas kicked my butt, I literally made myself sick on Christmas day night. Not sick, sick, but so exhausted that my whole stomach was tight and achy, I could barley stand on my two feet and my back felt like it was breaking in 9 places. We hosted Christmas Eve brunch, went to my parents for dinner, woke up at 5:30am Christmas Day with Ada and went non-stop all day getting ready and hosting a big dinner again, with our first guests arriving around 1pm and the last leaving close to 10pm. Dad had to do bedtime because I felt so awful and I made Ada watch her show and have her milk in my bed with me because I couldn’t move. It was not the way I wanted to end Christmas but I was glad I woke up feeling much better the next day.

-I got the best Christmas gift ever from my amazing husband, hopefully I can continue wearing it throughout this pregnancy! Ada calls it glitter, which I love!

-The tailbone pain that is setting in is REAL. It started way earlier with Ada, like it was one of my first pregnancy symptoms and it was bad enough to keep me from running a half marathon that I signed up to do, but it got better and was only mild compared to this. Its not constant now but when I have it, I can barely walk. I need to make sure I am getting up every 10-15 minutes so I don’t stiffen up.

-I’m trying to workout again. I know it feels like its too late to even bother, but I’ve kept the weight down a little, and I’m still starting to notice it in my face and arms so I thought if I could get some cardio in and some light upper body stuff, It would help in the long run. I’ve been giving myself the holiday excuse to eat like garbage and now that Its a new year I feel like its a good time to stop making excuses and eat better in general. I’ve stayed pretty active the whole time between chasing a 4 year old around, moving, traveling and the holidays that I don’t feel super out of shape, so I think I’m safe to ease back into a gentle routine.

-Braxton Hicks are getting worse (as I expected) they are not all that frequent yet but when when they come they are pretty intense.

-I’m sleeping like crap. I am so uncomfortable at night that I just toss and turn from side to side (a lot of its because of the tailbone). I fortunately don’t wake up feeling like I didn’t sleep at all, but I just can’t get comfortable. Ada has been sleeping good and she got her new “Ok to wake” alarm clock from Santa, so she’ll even stay in her bed until 7am, but I usually have to get up to pee at least once or twice myself anyway.

-Stealing from my survey a little bit: Best moment this week, I hung curtains and finished hanging the gallery wall in the nursery all by myself!! I was determined to get the last few things done in there, and my nesting was a bit crazy having so much time off between Christmas and New Years. I only have a couple things left to do for the baby’s new room. I’m working on reorganizing the playroom and our guest room too, so I ordered some stuff online that I am waiting for, then I think I’ll steal the shelf that’s in the play room now and reuse it for the nursery! See… the nesting stuff is bad! I told my husband to watch me, the day I went into labor with Ada I went on a cleaning frenzy, even vacuuming out the fridge. That seems to be my queue that the end is near! I’ll share nursery pictures when everything is done. This was my major project in the guest room, getting my craft closet organized since it got dumped on when we moved in.

-Baby is moving like crazy! Big aggressive movements now. She seems to be snug on my right side which I think is where Ada spent all her time. I think now that the bump is so big and Ada can see it more she’s grown more and more obsessed with her baby sister. Its so sweet! I cannot wait for the first time she gets to meet her in real life. Ada talks to her All.The.Time. She gives the baby a play by play of everything we are doing and cannot leave or enter a room without kissing and hugging my belly. She also just loves to lay her head on my stomach any time we are snuggling together, which at this point is so uncomfortable for me, but too cute to make her move #MomLife.

Here are a few favorite Christmas pictures….

My beautiful family, Can’t wait to have a 9 month old in my arms next Christmas!

Leaving milk and cookies out for Santa after we sprinkled the reindeer food on the front lawn!

The very best view on Christmas morning. I had those alcohol free mimosas flowing!

-Not only did I host Christmas (twice) but we also hosted my best friends baby shower and New Years Eve. both were much less stressful, and I really had fun opening my house up to all our friends for these special events. Here are a few favorite pics from those!

New Year countdown at 9pm with hopes they would go to sleep after! Ha!

The last picture is the best because she literally fell asleep on me like this at 11:54pm. She made it ALMOST to midnight and then had to sleep on me in such a way that it was almost impossible to get up to ring in the New Year 6 minutes later! Kids are A**holes like that!! She’s lucky I love her so much!

And that’s about it for baby news this week. We were mostly consumed with the holidays and now that its all over, I’m ready to slow down for a few weeks and ~~patiently~~ wait until this baby arrives. We’ll be finishing up the nursery and buying a few last things that we need. I’m working on a Big Sister hospital Bag/Gift for when Ada comes to meet her and I need to dig out some stuff from basement storage like the car seat, my pump, and other feeding supplies, some of which will need replacing. Next Doctors appointment is on Tuesday and as promised I want to try and do a side by side photo of 30 weeks pregnant with Ada and 30 weeks with this one!

Hope everyone else had a very happy Holiday and is ready to start fresh with a New year! We sure are happy to see 2018!!

28 Weeks -Third Trimester!!

Published on December 23, 2017January 3, 2018 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

Its Christmas time!! Christmas weekend, so I wanted to make sure I got this post done early before it got away from me. I didn’t do a 27 week update really because the only major changes have been that I started to feel the baby hiccup quite frequently. Cute, but nothing earth shattering! I’ve decided to switch it up this week and I’m just going to bullet point how things are going, I’m starting to feel bored with the survey!

To start off… Hello Third Trimester, I am so happy to see you. Even though its the worst part, (so close, yet so far away) I am welcoming the countdown of the final 12 weeks, I can’t believe we are here already!

-The nursery is almost complete, I’ve had fun getting that in order while I Christmas shopped. Probably should have waited until after Christmas to save myself some stress but I got some good deals on things at least!

-I am soo incredibly exhausted and run down, I’m treating myself to a massage this afternoon before the crazy weekend gets the best of me. The hard part of shopping and baking is done, but now the hosting begins. My body is starting to hate me by the end of the day, sore back and feet, but mostly the “I just don’t give a F**k” is coming out in full force. I’m trying to maintain my normal speeds and Pinterest mommy-ing and I just can’t do it. I’ve started to just simply not care what outfit Ada puts on in the morning and I’m letting her do her own 4 year old matching thing. If teeth get brushed and her hair gets combed I consider it a win. My Christmas wrapping is usually completed with ribbons, bows and cute tags, but this year, its wrapped half by me and half by Ada (she wants to help with everything- which is good and bad) so the fact that its taped closed completely is good enough for me, and the “to” and “from” is written in sharpie by Ada right on the box, still personalized but I’ve had to let go of my control and fortunately I’m okay with that. Below is how she is signing the packages and thinks its hilarious. My inner control freak was screaming while hearing her laugh at herself for doing it made it me shake it off and laugh with her.

-I think my shoes are starting to get tight on me. I didn’t notice this problem the first time I was pregnant because it was summer and I spent all my time in flip flops, but I’ve noticed normal sneakers and boots are feeling a bit snug lately.

-We have crammed in every last Christmas event into the last 2 weeks we’ve been home. We’ve visited Santa twice, did the Polar Express Train Ride, all our decorating, shopping, baking and Parties. We had to skip out on a couple parties because of conflicts and honestly I was thankful we didn’t have to try to squeeze more in. Here’s a few pics from those events.

This is Ada’s (and mine) favorite ornament from her first Christmas, she takes this pic for me every year!

My niece Savannah, Ada and me at the Niagara Falls Culinary Center

Ada told Santa what she wants for Christmas, notice her extra special Christmas outfit this year, cares given = zero!!

The Polar Express Train Ride, Ada’s favorite thing to do at Christmas time!

-The movements of baby girl are getting so much more intense. I can see my stomach moving from the outside and she manages to wedge herself under my ribs sometimes which I didn’t think was going to happen because she feels so low, but I guess she’s getting so big now that she’s just running out of space. I forgot how intense it gets towards the end.

-My appetite is somewhere in between I could eat all day everyday and I’m too tired to make dinner so I’ll just skip it. Ada was sick earlier in the week and didn’t want to eat anything, so we barely forced down some toast and buttered noodles, which meant I didn’t need to cook dinner and we were all on our own. But I’ll order a whole pizza for lunch at work and eat it by myself, so there’s that too!

-Ada completely melts my heart with how much she loves her baby sister already. When I got home from running errands this week, she came up and hugged my tummy and said “Mom I really missed the baby while you were gone”. She loves to lay her head on my stomach and rub the baby while talking to her through my belly button, which is where she thinks the baby hears her from.

-On the other end of the spectrum, Ada has tried my patience over and over again this week and between the holiday craze and my raging hormones I feel like I’m at my whits ends sometimes. I really thought I was doing well with the whole hormone thing, but getting out the door in the morning can test you to no end. Arguing over getting dressed, what’s for breakfast and even simple things like making sure she still has manners, is driving me nuts. I don’t know if she is testing me or I just have no patience.

-I’ve been curious how my size and weight compare this time with last time, so I read back on old blog posts with Ada. At 28 weeks last time I was up 24 pounds, last week’s doctors appointment I was only up 15, so shockingly I am doing better there. The movement is about the same, I noted hiccups starting at week 26 last time, and 27 weeks this time. And I mentioned that exhaustion was starting to really set in and how I needed to slow it down, I was blaming Christmas this time, but I guess we’re just to that point in general. I didn’t do a 28 week pic last week, but I did a 29 and 30, so in one of the upcoming posts I’ll try to do a side by side comparison to see where we’re at size wise! I think its pretty close!

For now, here’s how 28 weeks looks from my view and cheers to everyone for a very Merry Christmas!! Hope you all enjoy time with family and friends and that Santa is very good to you all. Happy Holidays!!

26 week update

Published on December 15, 2017 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

Not much new to report this week. Feeling VERY pregnant. Feeling very tired and excited for Christmas. The holiday rush is always exhausting under normal circumstances, now to be pregnant and to have missed a week and a half of holiday prep has had me a little stressed out thinking about what I still need to get done.

We had a doctors appointment this week, the fun glucose test was on the schedule. Nothing like crushing a whole can of orange pop in 5 minutes at 9:00am.

Luckily I passed that test with flying colors and I’m safe from the 3 hour one! Phew! Aside from having to sit and wait an hour after the drink, the appointment was a quick in and out with not much excitement. So I guess I’ll just jump into the survey for the week!

How far along? 26 weeks 5 days

Total weight gain/loss: According to the doctors scale I am up about 15 pounds. Not as bad as I thought.

Maternity clothes? Yes, wearing a lot of the same things over and over again since I feel like I’ve found the few pieces that I feel good in.

Stretch marks? Not yet, I just feel like my body is adapting so much differently this time around. Like it already knows what’s coming!

Sleep: Sleeping great again now that I have my bed back. Ada has had me up a few times recently, but we’re usually all quick to go back to sleep. She’s also been waking up super early lately, sometimes falling back to sleep in our bed which is a habit I never wanted to start. She doesn’t know it yet, but she is getting one of those “Ok to Wake” alarm clocks from Santa, so hopefully that will help the early wake up calls I’m getting.

Best moment this week: Just having a doctors appointment again I guess. I hadn’t been in 4 weeks, so its always nice to go in and hear the baby’s heart beat, talk to the doctor and be reassured that everything is looking good and we’re measuring spot on. I start going every 2 weeks now! Which means only one thing…. we’re getting closer!

Have you told family and friends: Yes

Miss Anything? Being able to eat whatever I want. We had a holiday dinner last night with my husbands old co-workers and the restaurant had some AMAZING food, but a lot of it was raw. Beef tar tar, sushi rolls, brie cheese. I wanted it all, but had to be careful about what I was picking. They also had the wine flowing and the host of this party has exquisite wine taste so I’m sure I missed out on some really good bottles.

Movement: Lots of movement, all the time. Getting sharp little elbows or knees to pop up once in awhile. She was moving so much the other night I just had to go to bed because it was getting to be a little much for me.

Food cravings: Ice cream sandwiches!!! I’m obsessed right now! I think I single handedly ate the entire box out of our freezer this week (and a couple nights I may have had more then one.) I’m sure that weight is going to catch up to me after this week, and now I’ve got the holidays to look forward to with this sweet tooth I have!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Spicy food gives me incredible heartburn. I’m not sure what else is causing the heartburn because I end up with it almost every night now. I just noticed that spicy food will almost always cause it right away! Its been way worse this pregnancy, this baby better come out with a full head of hair!

Have you started to show yet: Yes, and my waddle is starting to show up in full effect too. I try really hard when I walk around the office to make sure I’m walking straight.

Gender prediction: Girl, and so far so good sticking with our name choice!

Labor Signs: Just braxton hicks. My doctor went over all the conditions on these under which I am to call the office. Same drill as last time basically. They are pretty random, but if they become consistent or I get more then 5 in an hour and resting and water doesn’t help, I need to follow up. Scary that we’re to this point already!

Belly Button in or out? We know this answer, way out!

Wedding rings on or off? Still on

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, but a little stressed out. I still have a few Christmas gifts to finish up, and I have NO idea what I’m getting. I opted out of making a few of the things I was gonna do and instead ordered stuff online paying up the butt for shipping now because its last minute. Buuuut I think it saved me some stress of making gifts.

Looking forward to: Christmas!! Just 10 days away now! We’re hosting Christmas eve brunch with friends, Christmas day dinner and a baby shower for my best friend on the 29th. I think I also offered my house up for New Years Eve, so I’m a little concerned with all the hosting I have to do this year, but it will be lots of fun! I am soooo looking forward to having all our friends and family into our new home this holiday. I am so in love with our new house, and its already felt so homey to us, so welcoming everyone in for the holidays seems like an even more perfect way to make this house feel like home!

Here’s my 26 week bump picture and a few favorites of getting decorations up and the finished look of our new home all decorated for the holidays!

IMG_8922 2.JPG — The lighting is not the best on this picture and my photographer is only 3 ft. tall.

23, 24, & 25 Weeks!

Published on December 11, 2017December 11, 2017 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

I’m back! I’ve been MIA a couple weeks and I hate combining posts like this, but I fell really far behind because of our travels lately. We’ve been on the road since Thanksgiving, we decided on a spontaneous trip to Tampa to surprise Dan’s whole family the day after Thanksgiving, so we were gone for three days then got home late Sunday night and boarded a plane bound for California Wednesday morning. We’ve spent the last 9 days cruising the Cali coast and just got home so now I am playing catch up. I’m going to recap the trips we’ve taken over at my new blog adventurewiththemags.com so check that out soon to hear about those recaps.

As for baby news, I haven’t had a doctors appointment since before my last post, I go again tomorrow and have my glucose test! (Yuck!) Hopefully that goes well. The baby moves like crazy all the time and she either really liked taking off and landing in an airplane or really hated it, because she would go nuts, probably the cabin pressure changes or something, but we’ve had 8 flights in the last 2 weeks and I’d feel her going crazy every time.

I’m just going to post one survey questionnaire below and answer generally for the last three weeks, not much is different week to week right now, and I can probably sum it all up together. I do actually have bump pictures from every week though, I was actually pretty good about that! I have a lot of other great bump pictures as well, that’s one thing good about traveling is that I was taking lots of pictures!

I didn’t actually get an “official” bump pic for 23 weeks, we were in Tampa that week, we left the day after Thanksgiving but we enjoyed Thanksgiving at my parents house and then lots of Family time the next day when we left for Florida at 4am!

Ada giving her baby Sister some love on Thanksgiving, she loves talking to her!

Family photo at St. Pete’s, FL the day after Thanksgiving!

Here is the survey for the last 3 weeks and then I’ll have more pictures to share!

How far along? Officially 26 weeks and 2 days as I write this post, but recapping week 23, 24 and 25

Total weight gain/loss: Not sure, haven’t weighed myself and haven’t been to the doctor! I would say up a good amount by the size of this bump I have now!

Maternity clothes? Yes, mostly everything. A lot of my long sweaters and shirts are not maternity, but all pants, aside from leggings. Had a hard time finding stuff I could wear for vacation, all my maternity clothes from Ada were from summertime, but for some reason I just didn’t feel good in nearly anything, Mostly because of my belly button which I am so self conscious about.

Stretch marks? Nothing yet!

Sleep: Sleeping pretty good. Had a few very rough nights when we stayed with my sister in law in Cali and I had to sleep on a very uncomfortable pull out sofa. I woke up with bad back aches and just tossed and turned all night, partially because I was sleeping with Ada too and that girl dominates a bed! Now that we are home, I’m sleeping great again in my own bed, which I am obsessed with!

Best moment this week: Hard to say, over the last 3 weeks we’ve had some really great moments. I think surprising Dan’s family in Florida was at the top of the list, they really had no idea we were coming, (Which neither did we until the day before, lol) They were so surprised and happy to have us all together for the weekend! We had a lot of fun in Cali too, it was nice to have one last trip with just the three of us before our family changes forever!

Have you told family and friends: Yes

Miss Anything? I’m starting to miss just feeling comfortable and in shape, moving is hard, bending is impossible, stairs are exhausting, we did so much walking the last few weeks which was probably really good for me, but I’m just tired and achy all the time. I can’t wait to have my body back. Although I will say that I feel like this pregnancy is flying by. I seriously can’t believe we only have like 14 weeks left, which seems like a lot, but the weeks go by so fast!

Movement: Tons of movement all the time, starting to get the Braxton hicks more frequently and a little more intense. I think I said in my last post that they didn’t start with Ada until about 25 weeks, so we’re about the same this time, I think they started a little earlier though. I’ve seen some movement from the outside, but no alien like punches visible form the outside just yet, waiting for that as I know by the amount she moves, its coming!

Food cravings: No cravings, just really the same as always, see food want it, always hungry type things. Definitely more into sweets then I ever usually am, but with the holidays I’m just letting this one ride and taking advantage of the fact that I’ll have to lose the weight anyway, so just enjoy!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Got sick once on vacation actually in the most epic, public way possible. I’m not sure if it was pregnancy related, travel related, or maybe just exhaustion, but thankfully being pregnant gave me an excuse if (I mean, when) people saw me!

Have you started to show yet: Yes

Gender prediction: Its a girl and another major development over the last few weeks is that we are pretty set on a name for baby girl. We are once again keeping it a surprise until she is here. We’ve been flipping around a lot, so it wasn’t a positive thing, but I think we’ve made a decision that we are both really happy with!

Labor Signs: Just some Braxton hicks starting up, otherwise not yet!

Belly Button in or out? Out, way out! Visible through almost everything I wear. I usually wear a belly band folded over to create two layers, sometimes over my maternity jean band, and a tank top under my shirt just to keep things looking flat. I can still usually see it which make me crazy. Hasn’t been painful, but it has its moments. I really can’t wait to get this taken care of after the baby is born.

Wedding rings on or off? All rings are still on and still comfortable. Gives me hope that I haven’t gained too much weight yet.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Mostly happy, a little moody. Traveling through a different time zone with kids is rough and can test your patience, as can just traveling in general. Ada has been a little out of whack with all the traveling and I can’t blame her, she lives on routine, so its definitely been a tiring few weeks. I would say I’m more tired then moody. Now that we are home and in the Christmas spirit, we are all doing much better. I’m glad I’ve had so many distractions though between our trips and the holidays because it’s made the second trimester FLY by!

Looking forward to: 27 weeks next week and then we move on to the THIRD trimester! Looking forward to Christmas and a couple weeks of fun holiday parties and activities! We’re hosting my best friends baby shower at my house the week after Christmas and I’ve almost got the entire nursery set up complete, so I feel good about where we are with everything! Lots of fun in the next couple weeks!

Here are some bump pics for week 24 and 25 while we were in California!

The first picture was our first day of vacation and the second one is the last day! I feel like I look so much more relaxed in the second one, haha!

And just a few more pictures to share showing off some more bump love from Ada, me relaxing from our amazing balcony with a view and a cool silhouette we took on our last sunset in San Diego! Gotta love vacations!

Hope everyone is enjoying getting ready for the holidays! I’ll be back soon getting on track with posts again!

-Stephanie

Bump Update: 22 Weeks

Published on November 14, 2017November 14, 2017 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

22 weeks down and 18 to go, I love that the completed weeks is more then we have left now. I feel like we can start counting down instead of counting up! I skipped week 21 which is a bit unfortunate because I feel like the belly really popped last week. It was kinda big on Halloween, but now I feel “pregnant”!! Bending at the waist is really hard now and getting dressed takes the most energy of my entire day! Its these damn skinny jeans and sock weather that kills me. Other then my size, not much has changed. Still feeling really good, but very tired again and feeling lots of movement all the time. We’ll just jump into the weekly update so I don’t get too repetitive:

How far along? 22 weeks 3 days

Total weight gain/loss: Up about 11 pounds, really made a big jump in the last 2 weeks, I knew I really popped!

Maternity clothes? Yes. I’m getting to the point where I feel like nothing looks good on me. The weather suddenly changed from 65 degree days to 20 degrees, like overnight, so I’m wearing bigger, bulky sweaters which I feel like just makes me look bigger. I alternate between the two pair of maternity jeans I have and leggings as none of my other pants really fit anymore. And my belly button is so big that I’m very self conscious of it with fitted shirts, so that isn’t helping at all.

Stretch marks? Nothing yet. started using my cocoa butter cream again to make sure those stay away, if that helps at all?

Sleep: Sleeping great! I love my new bed so much!! We got a king sized bed which gives me so much more room then I’m used to, and the Leesa Mattress, is my absolute favorite mattress I’ve ever slept on!! Ada is sleeping good and I’m out cold all night long.

Best moment this week: Last weekend I got a ton of things done in the nursery. Ada helped me put the crib together and now that we know its a girl, we went through all the totes of Ada’s old clothes and started pulling out tons of our baby stuff. We also were referred to a pediatric cardiologist because our last sonogram wasn’t sure if they saw some fluid around the heart. But we had a nice long sonogram with them last week and he said everything looked great and he had no worry for anything out of the ordinary so that was very relieving! Here are a couple nursery pics!

Still pretty empty but all the big stuff is in place!

Have you told family and friends: Yes, everyone knows now I believe, its pretty obvious if they don’t!

Miss Anything? Wine! This is really the only thing I feel deprived of during pregnancy, everything else I can live without. I did find an alcohol free version of a blended red that wasn’t actually too bad, so this may be my saving grace during the holidays!

Movement: Tons! I feel it all the time, and there was so much movement during our anatomy sonogram that they couldn’t see everything they wanted to. Ada still hasn’t felt it, its like every time I’m feeling her move really good, I grab Ada to come feel it and it stops. She kicked so hard yesterday though that she shook my laptop, so I’m hoping Ada will be able to feel it, or even see it soon!

Food cravings: Not much in the line of cravings or aversions, I eat pretty normally. Probably more unhealthy (or more sugar) then I should but nothing out of the ordinary right now.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing!

Have you started to show yet: Very much so!

Gender prediction: Its a girl!! And I think (I think) we may have settled on a name this week. We’ve had about 4-5 names in the running as of late and I’ve been trying to use them in my head in different scenarios, like yelling it across the park or sending her to time out, and we agreed on a first and middle name just this week. We’ll see if that name sticks around.

Labor Signs: No but I’m starting to get that tight feeling every once in awhile that turned into braxton hicks last time. I read back on Ada and those started around 25 weeks last time I think, so its no surprise that I’m starting to feel that again. I have a weird intuition that everything is going to happen earlier then last time, including delivery! (or I can only hope).

Belly Button in or out? Out and like damn crater!!

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!

Looking forward to: Thanksgiving next week! And vacation the week after that! I’m so excited to start the holiday season this year and I’m a Thanksgiving person for that, I hate doing Christmas before that but I’m so ready to jump into the holidays. Maybe because I know its going to fly by and will bring us so much closer to meeting our new baby, or maybe because Ada is just SOO into Christmas this year that its making it all so much more exciting! We have a lot of fun parties and activities planned during the season, and I cannot wait to get it started!

Here’s the bump picture this week, Ada was my photographer, and she wanted in on the action after she took literally 1,000 pictures of me!

She dresses herself now! I love how she makes sure she matches 100%

Bump Update: 20 weeks

Published on November 1, 2017November 2, 2017 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

We are officially halfway there!! No post last week as I decided to launch Adventurewiththemags.com as a way to keep up with us in a little more generic way. I’ve started getting more followers on this blog which is awesome but this was a more personal way for some of our close family members who live out of town to keep up with us. So please head over to adventurewiththemags.com and check out our fun posts over there! I’ll still continue to update this blog though for now!

Half way! Woo hoo! Definitely feeling more pregnant all the time, but my energy level has been great and I’ve even started working out again. I’ve been keeping it simple, nothing to intense but enough to get my heart pumping and get some stretching and light weights in. Ada has been a great motivator as she loves “Doing Work Outs” with me. She usually gets me going and starts out, about 3 minutes in, she is done and then just likes to hang out around my feet getting in my way. But at least she gets me up.

Here’s the 20 week update!

How far along? 20 weeks 4 days

Total weight gain/loss: Up about 9lbs since I got pregnant. The good news about this though, is I’m only up about 5 lbs from my normal weight. I was floating around 5 lb less then I normally was before my appendectomy surgery in May. I lost about 10 lbs when I was down and out with that whole thing, I had gained 5 back after I started eating normally again, but was still less then where I usually am. So all in all, I’m okay with where I’m at right now!

Maternity clothes? Some. Still wearing the one pair of jeans I have and the other pair still fit with a rubberband, not sure how? I did order another pair that I should have this week. Mostly just wearing tanks and open sweaters. A couple long sleeve maternity shirts my sister gave me, but they actually make me look bigger then I am.

Stretch marks? Nothing yet. Nothing last time, so hoping I’m good on these.

Sleep: Sleeping great! My doctor instructed me to take benadryl at night time to help with the itchy legs I’ve been having, not sure if its just dry skin or hormone related, but its helped a ton and it also puts me right to sleep! Ada has also been sleeping great in the new house. Her bedroom is much farther away from me now, so I can’t hear every move she makes which I think helps a lot. She’s just had a bad cold the last week, so I’ve heard the coughing, but for the most part she hasn’t been waking up.

Best moment this week: Getting more finishing touches on the house! I feel like we are nearly 100% moved in. We got a lot of stuff hung up on the walls this weekend. We got a new TV for the living room and even the garage is pretty cleared out of boxes. We don’t have much to do anymore and it feels really good. I’ll probably start focusing more on the nursery in the next couple weeks while I still am feeling really good.

Have you told family and friends: I think almost everyone knows. Almost everyone I work with knows by now I think. Its pretty obvious, however I did tell someone last week who said he had no idea, but he’s a man, they aren’t as observant about these things!

Miss Anything? Been good lately actually. Went out with friends on Saturday night for grown up night and everyone got pretty drunk, it was a little tough not being able to drink with everyone, but then they all woke up Sunday morning with terrible hangovers and then I didn’t feel so bad about it!

Movement: Lots of movement, I can feel it all the time. I’ve started feeling kicks from the outside but its very sporadic and moves around a lot. Dan was able to feel her the other night for the first time when she was going crazy. We were laying in bed around 11pm and she was kicking so much. Dan felt it a few times. I’ve tried to get Ada to feel it but she isn’t patient enough to wait, she also thinks she always feels it, even when its nothing. I think it’ll be another couple weeks before its strong enough for her to really feel.

Food cravings: Pepper jack cheese slices. Weird. But that’s really it right now, I don’t crave it but I open up the fridge and see it and I’ll eat half the bag of cheese in one sitting!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing. Have had a few headaches this week but nothing major.

Have you started to show yet: Yes.

Gender prediction: It’s a girl!! I think this is the first post I’ve openly been able to write it, aside from our gender reveal post!

Labor Signs: Nope. I’m curious to read back and see when the braxton hicks started with Ada. I remember getting them a lot through the pregnancy and I feel like they started somewhere in my second trimester.

Belly Button in or out? Out, unfortunately. But at least it hasn’t been causing me too much pain lately.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Pretty Happy! Happy to be moved and settled in. Halloween was yesterday so its almost officially the “Holiday Season” which I think will make the rest of this pregnancy go by faster. I am feeling tired again a lot lately, but I think its because we’re just always on the go. The new house is much bigger, so I feel like I’m constantly walking all over the place and going up and down the stairs is exhausting, which so is chasing after a 4 year old. I feel like I never just sit still and even in the evenings, I don’t just sit and relax on the couch, there is always something I feel like I should be doing. When I do sit down, I usually falls asleep in about 5 minutes.

Looking forward to: Our vacation to California in a few weeks. We leave at the end of the month and I’ve spent the last week or so making sure all our plans are finalized and our flights and hotels are booked. So that’s got me excited again! We booked it back in August so its been so far away that I booked flights and then forgot about it. I booked one hotel but we decided on a different one so I’ve had to make some changes. But we cannot wait to go and relax on our last trip as a family of THREE!

Here’s the 20 week Bump Picture, and my half assed attempt at a last minute “costume” yesterday for Halloween (if you can call it a costume at all).

And I can’t mention Halloween without showing off a couple cute pics of my Princess Poppy!

Baby #2 Gender Reveal: It’s a……..

Published on October 24, 2017November 2, 2017 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

The wait is over, we finally confirmed that we are having a…………….

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We decided to do a little photo shoot with her the night after we found out. She’s wanted a baby sister all along, but then all of a sudden the last couple weeks she decided she wanted a baby brother like her friends. This was her reaction to the news!!

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Yeah she was set on having a brother and cried for about a half hour that she didn’t want it to be pink! She wanted blue and a baby brother! She’s coming around now, but it took awhile, lol. Dan wanted a boy too, I guess I was the only one ready for round 2 of girls!

Here are a few more pictures we took that night! We’re so lucky to have an amazing photographer in our family that I can call on whenever. Dan’s cousin Ashley does an amazing job every time and I cannot thank her enough for capturing these pictures!

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Maternity (25)

Maternity (30)

Maternity (35)

Maternity (36)

Maternity (41)

Maternity (44)

So another girl it is! I get to reuse a lot of things and probably saved a lot of money! Better luck next time to Dan and Ada on that boy! 🙂

Bump Update: 18 Weeks

Published on October 19, 2017November 2, 2017 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

Had our 18 week doctor appointment yesterday morning with the anatomy scan (ultrasound) and we were able to confirm a gender! YAY! I officially know this information and I am keeping this secret until we tell all our family! Tonight we are doing our gender photo shoot with Dan’s cousin who is our AMAZING photographer! So hopefully she can get a couple pictures back to us by Friday. My sister’s 30th birthday is this Friday and we offered to host a little birthday party/gender reveal. So we’ll share with them Friday evening and then we’ll send the photos around to Dan’s family, since 50% of them live out of town. Once we share with them, I’ll probably (finally) make it Facebook official and then I will share our news on the blog! This is how we’re telling my family on Friday night, our secret is revealed inside…

So that’s how its going down! For now, I’ll share how 18 weeks has been… CrAzY!! We finally moved into the new house, so my stress level has decreased tremendously. It was a crazy weekend while we put our life back together and its an ongoing work in progress to move things around and figure out where we want everything. I’ve been on my feet for like 15 hours a day the past 5 days, but we’re finally at a point where I can relax a bit.

I’ll go right into my weekly updates:

How far along? 18 weeks, 5 days

Total weight gain/loss: About 7 pounds

Maternity clothes? Not much at all really

Stretch marks? No

Sleep: Sleeping amazing! So exhausted by the end of the day that I just crash! We also have a king sized bed in the new house and ordered the Leesa Mattress, which I am LOVING! The first few nights, I slept good, but it just didn’t feel like my bed. Now that I’m getting more used to it I’ve realized that I fall asleep in about .5 seconds and I’m out cold all night, until Ada wakes me up around 6am, which has been getting earlier and earlier. Fortunately its just giving us more time to get ready in the morning, which isn’t a bad thing!

Best moment this week: I’m torn between saying moving into the new house and finding out the baby’s gender! Such a great week so far, and even more excited to tell everyone else the gender, having a lot of fun with it this time around!

Have you told family and friends: Yes, I think nearly everyone knows. Still not sure who at work knows and who doesn’t though. I feel like its pretty obvious, but some people at work are much younger then me and aren’t as perceptive to it I don’t think.

Miss Anything? I’ve been too busy to notice a lack of anything this week, plus our realtor bought me a nice bottle of alcohol free champagne to celebrate our closing and that surprisingly has done a good job of fooling me that its wine!

Movement: Lots more movement. Hard to notice when I am super busy and on my feet, but when I slow down and relax on the couch or in bed at night I can feel it. The baby was moving SOO much at our sonogram yesterday that the tech couldn’t get some of the pictures that she wanted. I was able to see it kicking and thrashing all over the place, which was so cool! I think Ada and Dan will be able to feel it soon too!

Food cravings: Not really anything right now.

Anything making you queasy or sick: I’ve been feeling good again this past week, no headaches, thankfully. Been able to just get done the things that needed to get done and now we can settle into a normal routine again.

Have you started to show yet: Yes, have a little round bump. Still able to wear normal clothes but when I do wear a maternity shirt I look WAY more pregnant. I was curious as to how I compare bump wise to last time around so I did a side by side at the end!

Gender prediction: It’s a …. Coming soon!

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? Out

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! So happy to know what our growing family is going to look like soon! Happy to be in our new forever home and to start making awesome memories right inside these walls and in our beautiful backyard.

Looking forward to: Revealing the gender to everyone!! Everyone is so excited for us and I love hearing what everyone’s guesses are while we know our little secret! Its so much fun to reveal the news to everyone separately this time, instead of with one big party. I was able to plan a few different surprises to share and its been so much fun!!

So before we share the news here on the blog, I’ll leave with a sono picture from yesterday and my first bump picture in the new house (Ada took this photo, so its from a low angle and she cut my head off a little. I need to get her a stool for picture taking, otherwise she did a good job!) Stay tuned for the gender reveal!

And here’s a fun side by side I did. I thought I was a little smaller with number 2, but it turns out I think I’m about the same. The picture is bigger (and closer) in number 2’s picture, and maybe I’m a tad bigger, but its pretty close!

18 weeks compared

Bump Update: 17 Weeks

Published on October 11, 2017October 17, 2017 by stephaniemags2 Comments

17 weeks and counting…. The good news is that I haven’t had a headache in almost a week now, (at least not one bad enough to have to take anything). I’ve been managing them with one cup of coffee a day! Maybe its coincidence and maybe its caffeine, either way, its working, so we’re going to keep this up for a little while. Not to mention I’ve just simply needed the caffeine to function. If I want to get anything done in the evenings after 5pm I need it.

We are only 2 days away from closing on the house!!! I know you are probably just as excited to hear me stop talking about it! The current house is about 90% packed up now, we’ve cancelled all our utilities at the old house effective this weekend and have everything switched to the new place! That was a full time job in and of itself to get accomplished! My patience level right now sits at about a 5 out 10, so it takes very little to send me over the edge. Just ask my husband!

So here’s what else is going on in week 17!

How far along? 17 weeks 4 days

Total weight gain/loss: Not sure, scale is still in a box!

Maternity clothes? Same answer as last week

Stretch marks? No

Sleep: Same as usual, Ada sleeps, I sleep. I feel like I’ve been in a deeper sleep then usual lately. If I do get woken up I’m usually startled, and out cold until my alarm goes off. I haven’t even been hearing Dan come into bed lately, which is so unusual for me.

Best moment this week: We closed on the sale of our house yesterday! We’re renting back from the purchasers for the week until we close on our new place Friday and then we have the weekend to get out. So glad this week is finally here!

Have you told family and friends: Yes, most everyone close to us knows. I’ve told a few more co-workers as it happens to come out. Still not something that comes up all that frequently!

Miss Anything? Wine! (again) With all the stress of moving, It wold be really nice to just sit back and have a glass of wine in the evening. I think it could have helped this past weekend when I went over the edge about a few things!

Movement: Yes! Feeling little flutters more frequently now. Still very subtle and not that often. This past weekend is when I think it picked up a notch and I started noticing it more, not to be mistaken with gas or anything else now.

Food cravings: Still if see something then I want it. Really wanted a coke float yesterday, so I made one. Not much else is on the craving list. I made a ton of precooked meals last week that I could just throw in the oven in toss away baking sheets, and consume on paper plates, so that I could start packing dishes and pots and its seriously been the best thing I’ve ever done! (I might do a post about it!) I’ve had all these meals this week that I could have ready within 10-30 minutes of walking in my house and I don’t have to make a mess or take up time cooking. Plus we’ve had leftovers to take to lunch, so we’re saving money on eating out. My pregnant self and my moving self has loved this!!

Anything making you queasy or sick: I’ve felt really good this week. Tired, but I haven’t felt sick at all. Its been really awesome to wake up everyday feeling like myself again, an anxious to move and a little less patient version of myself, but not a sick one.

Have you started to show yet: Yes, my belly is growing. Looking and feeling pregnant, but I’m not sure a stranger would say anything yet for fear of offending me in case I just put on a little weight. Luckily, I have put on weight but for good reason! 🙂

Gender prediction: Next week!! My sister also turns 30 next week and we’re having a little get together at our new house to celebrate and I promised her a little gender reveal party as well at that time! SO excited!

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? Both. haven’t had too much pain this week, only once in awhile, but nothing unbearable.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: I’ve been a bit moody, but I’ll blame it on the stress of moving. It doesn’t take much to tick me off, and I had a few moments this weekend where I needed to step away from everything to cool off. I feel bad being short with Ada when its other things stressing me out, she doesn’t understand. I also just feel bad in general that we’re not able to give her as much attention as I normally would. She does a great job playing and entertaining herself while we are busy loading boxes and PODs, but when she says “Mom, can you play with me?” she breaks my heart. I want nothing more then to sit down and play, but the clock is ticking on getting the house packed and I try to keep my perspective and take a few minutes to sit down and color with her, or slow down and sit a little while longer at the table with her while she finishes dinner. She’s only this little for a short time, and I die a little inside when I think about when she won’t want me to play with her, or even in about 5 months when my attention is not solely on her anymore but also a little baby! Another reason why this move cannot come soon enough and we can get back to normal living.

Looking forward to: See my last sentence above! We need a little normalcy for awhile before our world gets flipped upside down again. I am so looking forward to being settled in, we’re so close now I can taste it!

No bump pic this week since I totally forgot and its what delayed me from posting this sooner. But here are just a couple from our chaotic life right now.

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