What's in a name? Baby Name Reveal!

Andy and I had both the boy and girl name picked before we found out what we were having. Funnily enough we've had the boy name set for years and the girl name kind of came together after piecing together the few girl names we agreed on. Then right before we found out we were pregnant we were walking through our church's Sunday school classrooms and saw a picture created by a little girl with the exact same name we were kicking around. We were hooked after that.

 So without further ado, our daughter's name is......

And we will call her Anna Grace. Well we will introduce her as Anna Grace. Andy has already nicknamed her Gracie, my office calls her AG, and I, for some random reason, think Aggs is a cute nickname. (How perfect if she went to Texas A&M?) We have a short, one syllable last name, so I think she can carry the double name. Obviously we'll see what develops over time, but for now a double name it is.

Anna - Hebrew - Means Gracious, Merciful

Grace - Latin - Charm 

It's been a little weird to actually write her name on daycare and doctors forms and then it was a real reality check when we started receiving gifts with her name and monogram on them. I love it, but boy does it make it official.

We can't wait to welcome Anna Grace to the world, well in a couple months. She already has us wrapped around her little finger and we could not be more in love.

32 Weeks

How Far Along? 32 Weeks

Size of Baby: Head of lettuce (19 in, 3.9 lbs)

Gender:  Baby Girl, name reveal coming tomorrow!

Maternity Clothes:  I am loving all my new maxi dresses from Pink Blush Maternity, and I’m even more excited that I’ll be able to wear them while nursing too. I’m going to try to put off buying anything else maternity at this point, but we’ll see if I can survive without any shorts.

Nursery: We are waiting until the last shower before we start buying all the last minute essentials. I’m ready to have this room done though.

Movement: Funny story, I woke up last Friday and swore I hadn’t felt baby move all night. I had a little freak-out session until she started moving and grooving again. Since then she has been moving non-stop. She loves to really push around when I sit down and when I lay down for bed. I really would love to know what position she is in so I know what body part is poking what.

Symptoms: My feet and hands let me know when I’ve overdone by swelling, which I’m not loving. It all depends on the weather and the day if I can wear my wedding rings or if I have to switch to a different ring that a usually wear on my right hand, which is a half size bigger. My lower back can get a little achy by the end of the day, but nothing a little whining to Andy can’t fix. ;) I'm a little forgetful, as you can see above I totally forgot to up on my ring and jewelry this morning. And while this isn't really a symptom, my baby hairs are out of control. I'm using way more hairspray in the morning to keep them at bay than ever before. I love that my hair is getting thicker, but know it's only a matter of time before it falls out. Boo!

Sleep: I’m definitely sleeping lighter than normal, if that makes any sense. Usually once I’m asleep, nothing wakes me up. But lately I wake up every time I turn over or hear our dog move around the house. I’m hoping it’s just a couple day phase.

Cravings: Nothing in particular, just liking food in general. I’m trying to keep fruit in the house so I will snack on that instead of carbs. But really, who wants fruit over carbs?

What I Miss: Andy is flying to Kansas City, MO this weekend to be in a wedding of a close family friend. We decided for me not to go for a couple different reasons, mainly because I’ll be by myself for most of the time since Andy will have wedding party duties and the ceremony doesn’t start until really late and we knew I would be exhausted before it even started. (And let’s not even think about what a plane ride would do to my swelling ankles and hands.)  I hate missing a big event like a wedding, but we didn’t want to chance anything.

P.S. I know it’s technically safe for me to still fly. This is just what worked for us.

Best Moment This Week: I cashed in my birthday present of a prenatal massage on Friday and can I just tell you it was amazing! I could have lain there all day long. The fact that I could be on my stomach for a long period of time was worth the price all by itself. If you ever need a present for a pregnant lady I highly recommend a prenatal massage. 

I also really enjoyed celebrating Andy and I's 3rd wedding anniversary yesterday. We got a couple slices of cake from the same place we bought our wedding cake and watched our wedding video. The pregnant lady may have cried a little harder than usual this year, but I love reliving that perfect day.

Looking Forward To: I have my last baby shower tomorrow with all of my coworkers that should be really fun. I also have my 32 week appointment and I’m hoping they can give me an idea of baby girls positioning.

Three Years

Three years ago you and I became we.

Three years ago we promised to love each other forever and ever. 

Three years ago we turned a seven year friendship into a love story.

Three years ago I could have never imagined how good life could be.

We have a beautiful home.

We have a precious puppy. 

And we have the greatest gift of all coming in just two months. 

To say I love you is not enough.

Happy 3rd Anniversary Andy!

31 Weeks

How Far Along? 31 weeks and 1 day

Size of Baby: Coconut (18 in, 3.2 lbs)

Gender:  Baby Girl (I swear I’ll post her name next week)

Maternity Clothes: Oh yes! I ordered a couple maxi dresses off of Pink Blush Maternity and I’m obsessed with them.  You can tell that I’ve been in event season lately with all the garnet and black clothes, but I promise to show off my new finds soon.

Nursery: We received our crib rail cover and curtains this week and I’m so in love with them. Once everything is put together I’ll do a nursery post.

Movement: Little girl has been super active lately. We were sitting in church on Sunday and I had the program resting on my belly and she was kicking it all over the place. Andy thought it was the coolest/weirdest thing ever. Her favorite time is right when I lay down in bed in the evenings. You can see her squirm all over the place. She also has a tendency to push one of her appendages pretty forcefully directly under my right ribs and up between my ribs. And when I say forcefully it’s enough so that I’ll try to push back on them to make her stop. It’s not painful, just super uncomfortable. One of these days I feel like we will be able to make out a hand or foot.

Symptoms: I pay dearly if I stand too long during the day with super swollen feet and ankles; thankfully they go down once I prop them up. I can tell my energy level is dropping quickly at the end of the night. After dinner and walking Camden in the evenings I am ready to crawl in bed.

Sleep: Still really good, although I feel like I could sleep in every morning despite getting 8+ hours each night. (Gosh I hate answering that question, because I’m scared to jinx myself.)  

Cravings: I’m still loving Rita’s Italian Ice and was able to convince Andy to go twice since my last post. Something about the frozen custard and flavored ice just feels like the ultimate guilty pleasure at the moment.

What I Miss:  I’m pretty happy at the moment.  

Best Moment This Week:  We had our preparation for birth class on Saturday and it was better than I expected. It was taught by a labor and delivery nurse who had two young children, so she could speak from both a nurse and a patient perspective. It was a little surreal to take the tour of the hospital at the end of the class. I had the “oh gosh, this is really going to happen and you have no/to very little say about when and how it happens”. My inner-planner was not happy.

Looking Forward To: My mom is throwing a little baby shower for me this weekend. I’m excited to see some friends and to show them the nursery so far. I also am cashing in my pre-natal massage that Andy got me. After standing for way too long at an event on Tuesday my legs are aching and I can’t wait. Is it weird that I’m mostly looking forward to being able to lie on my stomach for a long period of time?

Five on Friday

Link up with the ladies of Five on Friday: Darci, April, Natasha, and Christina

ONE
Unless you have been living under a rock you know that Lilly Pulitzer for Target is launching on April 19th. I realize some people aren't thrilled about it, but I'm pretty excited. I can't really decided if I'm going to try my hand at buying any clothes, simply because I can't fit into any of it right now. However I do have my eye on a couple key pieces.

TWO
I'm reading A Spoonful of Sugar: A Nanny's Story by: Brenda Ashford and I'm really enjoying it. I'm getting some really good tips on parenting (spend less money and more time with your child) and love the historical view of World War Two era England.

THREE
I went to a really fun event last night call Time For Art. A couple young professional groups in Columbia hosted an art auction, but instead of bidding for pieces with money, you bid with promised service hours. It's such a cool idea and if I knew I had an length of free time in the coming months I totally would have gone for a couple pieces, alas I think my time will be spoken for.

FOUR
My mom made this recipe recently and, while its not much to look at, it was so tasty. I highly recommend this copycat recipe for Outback Steakhouse's Alice Springs Chicken.

FIVE
Also on the food front, have you tried the Balsamic Vinegar and Basil Triscuits? They are so good. I have topped them with leftover pizza sauce, pepperoni, and cheese for lunch the last couple of days and it's so satisfying. Might be a quick appetizer to remember for football season.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

30 Weeks

How Far Along? 30 weeks, 1 day! Can I just say that 30 weeks pregnant seems unreal to me. I remember feeling sooo pregnant at 15 weeks and now I look back at that week’s update and think “you've got nothing going on yet”. So funny. But to say you have 10 weeks or less left is no joke. It’s crunch time people. We’re having a baby!

Size of Baby: Butternut squash (17in, 3.1 lbs.) I really would love a personal estimate of her size but it doesn’t look like they are going to do another ultrasound unless something is wrong.

Gender:  Sweet baby girl. I’ve got a name reveal post coming very soon. ;)

Maternity Clothes: I’ve had some fairy godmothers taking care of my wardrobe this week, aka my mom and mother-in-law. My in-laws came to town and brought me two maternity dresses, which are amazing and will definitely come in handy for church, for which I have NOTHING to wear anymore. Then I was talking to my mom and she said she just picked up a couple shirts for me. Yay for not having to do it myself! I’ve been way more interested in looking at baby clothes lately, but I’m trying not to purchase things since there is no telling what size baby will be or how quickly she will grow.

Nursery: Nothing new to report, but I am itching to get it done.

Movement: Oh yes. It’s been a little tricky for anyone else to catch her moving, but when she does move it’s with a little force now. She is still swimming around and I feel her all over, however the doctor yesterday said she agreed that we are pretty sure baby is head down.

Symptoms: This week brought the wonderful symptom of swelling. I think the high heat temperatures (it hit 90 in SC last week) are what triggered it. I got home after having dinner with some friends, where we sat outside and on barstools (BAD IDEA), to find my ankles and toes super puffy. I’ve been sitting with my feet up pretty much every night since and I’m looking into compression socks. Anyone have any other suggestions on how to prevent/fight the swelling?

Sleep: Still sleeping pretty well. I’ve had a couple nights where I’ve had to tinkle once in the night, but other than that sleep is great.

Cravings: After I had Rita’s Italian Ice last week I’ve been craving it. I’ve put it off so far, but I’m not sure how long that will last. I made puppy dog eyes at Andy all last night about going until we figured out the store was already closed. That didn’t stop me from wanting it though.

What I Miss:  This is such a nitpicky thing to miss, but I miss quick bathroom breaks. Between the full panel pants, the tank top that I wear under everything now, and the *um, cough, um* limited visibility it definitely takes a bit longer per visit.

Best Moment This Week: Andy and I had a great day trip to Greenville this weekend. We had lunch with friends and celebrate another friend’s baby shower. It was great to see all my girlfriends and fun to have some alone time just Andy and I before baby comes.  We also took an Infant CPR class last night and it was really informative. While Andy has been CPR certified before, I’ve never had official training. Lots of great tips and I totally recommend if your hospital offers a CPR class to take it. 

Looking Forward To: Not sure I’m actually “looking forward” to this, but we are taking our second baby class at the hospital this weekend, “Preparation for Birth”. It sounds a little intimidating and overwhelming, however I’m trying to be as prepared as possible, for an event I know you really can’t prepare for. Wish us luck!

My Maryland Baby Shower

On the 1st of March my sweet mother-in-law and sister-in-law threw me a baby shower in Annapolis, MD. I had been in DC for work, so they conveniently scheduled it while I was already in the area. My mom drove up with me, since Andy had to work that weekend, and it was so nice to catch up with all his family and friends.

My mom, me, my MIL, my SIL

On the morning of the shower we woke up to an ice storm. Umm, raise your hand if you grew up in South Carolina and have no idea how to drive in snow and ice. Me, right here! Thankfully people up there salt their roads and I just drove slowly and carefully during the 45 minute drive. We still had a large crowd at the shower and I was so thankfully that so many people braved the weather just to spend the afternoon with me.

The shower was held at Reynolds Tavern and we had high tea. I think I've mentioned before how much I love tea houses and I was excited to try out a new one.

 

Then came present opening time. Please excuse all my crazy faces, clearly I was pretty excited about everything. The hosts came up with the great idea for everyone to bring book for the nursery and I love having a great selection all ready for baby girl.

 

Excuse this face, this blanket was handmade by one of baby girl's great-grandmothers and I was in awe.

 

Cutest little painted rocking chair

 

One of my favorite hymns

 

Daddy's team, this was one of many Raven's themed outfits.

 

Honestly this is one of my favorites! I can't wait to see baby and pup together.

We had such a great time and everyone was so incredibly generous.  Andy and I had so much fun sitting in the nursery going over all the gifts and talking about the shower the next day.