12.31.2012

2012 Recap

2012 has been an amazing and exciting year for both me and Kevin!

We started the year off with a UNC Tarheels basketball game.

We went to the circus for the first time together.

We went to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, TN with Kev's family. It was the first time we've all taken a trip to the mountains together and we had so much fun we decided to make it an annual tradition.

I celebrated my 22nd birthday. 

I finished my first year of teaching! 
(sorry no picture!)

We celebrated our first wedding anniversary. 

We went to the beach for a week this summer with Kevin's family. 
In fact, we went to the beach in June, July, & November!



We found out we were having a baby!

& that she was a girl!

All in all, it's been a fantastic year and I can't wait to see what 2013 has in store for us and our newest addition to the family (:



12.27.2012

21 Weeks



Pregnancy Highlights


How far along? 21 weeks

Baby Size: She's about the size of a banana


Total weight gain: Still somewhere between 3-5 pounds


Maternity clothes? Still no but I did go buy more jeans last weekend and broke down and bought a bigger size so I could wear them longer 

Stretch marks? No but I'm still relying on the cocoa butter

Sleep:  Thanks to being a teacher that's out on Christmas break... my sleep is amazing! haha

Best moment this week:  Celebrating Christmas with the family knowing that next year is going to be so very different

Miss Anything? Nope, I'm perfectly content with how things are 

Movement: She squirms around all the time! 

Food cravings: Lucky Charms and milk (:

Anything making you queasy or sick: Well for the first time during this pregnancy, I really thought I was going to be sick. It happened Christmas morning and I chalk it up to the fact that in a period of twenty minutes, I'd drank two glasses of orange juice, a large glass of homemade hot chocolate, and ate a cinnamon roll. I'll chalk it up to the sugar I practically inhaled that my body is very unused to!

Gender: A girl!

Labor Signs:  None

Symptoms: Still just indegestion


Belly Button in or out? In


Wedding rings on or off?  On

Mood: Happy as usual!

Looking forward to: Beginning to decorate Harper's nursery! We've finally picked out her bedding after the original bedding we had picked out was out of stock everywhere! 

12.18.2012

20 Weeks




Pregnancy Highlights


How far along? 20 weeks

Baby Size: She's about the size of a small cantaloupe


Total weight gain: Two weeks ago I'd gained 3 pounds, so I'm guessing somewhere between 3 and 5. 


Maternity clothes? Not yet. 

Stretch marks? Nope but I've been applying cocoa butter more often since my belly seems to be growing each night!

Sleep:  I've been exhausted lately due to my low iron levels so I've been getting lots of sleep. By lots, I mean anywhere from 10-12 hours a night :P

Best moment this week:  Feeling Harper squirm around in there!

Miss Anything? Being able to take medicine that actually worked! 

Movement: I can feel her squirming whenever I'm laying down!  It's the most amazing feeling in the world! 

Food cravings: Nothing particular but I've found my love for sweet tea again!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Just this awful headache I've had for three days! 

Gender: A girl!


Labor Signs:  None

Symptoms: Indigestion and exhaustion

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off?  On

Mood: Happy as usual!

Looking forward to: Going to see Harper again on Thursday. We're having to have another ultrasound because two weeks ago, she wouldn't let the doctors see her face! She's gonna be just like her daddy...stubborn as all get out when it comes to her picture being taken!

12.11.2012

Week 19



Pregnancy Highlights


How far along? 19 weeks

Baby Size: Baby Holt weights 0.7 oz according to our last ultrasound! She's about the size of a mango according to all of my pregnancy apps on my phone. 


Total weight gain: Sure enough I've gained 3 pounds (: It's amazing how three weeks out of the gym will put the pounds on you! haha


Maternity clothes? Still none!

Stretch marks? Not yet! 

Sleep:  Back to sleeping like a baby!

Best moment this week:  Finding out that Baby Holt is a healthy baby girl!

Miss Anything? I miss being skinny haha 

Movement: Just a few flutters. 

Food cravings: All things fried! 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nah

Gender: A girl!


Labor Signs:  None

Symptoms: Still indegestion!

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off?  On

Mood:  Happy as can be (:

Looking forward to: Decorating the nursery!

12.10.2012

Baby Holt is a ...


Girl!

We are so blessed to be having a healthy baby girl. 
My only hope is that she looks just like her daddy...
dark skin and a head full of black hair!
(:

*Pictures from our gender reveal party are to come soon!




12.05.2012

Gender Predictions


Tomorrow is the BIG day! 
We'll finally know if Baby Holt is a he or a she. 

Up until this week, I thought I could go my entire pregnancy without knowing if Baby Holt was a girl or boy. I know, I know! People look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them that but I'm just as shocked as you and the rest of them are. Growing up, I always thought I'd be dying to know what I was having the moment I found out I was pregnant. However, I found that quite the opposite was true. As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I no longer cared if I had a boy or girl. I was just happy to be having a baby. But now that the day is almost here, I'm getting pretty excited to find out if Baby Holt is indeed a he or a she and I'm not sure that I could go the whole time without knowing.  Though when asked what I hope it is, I still say I don't care because I'm just happy that God blessed me with the ability to have a baby and that's the honest truth. I'd love to have a daughter and a son so either works for me. I suppose I'll be able to tell you what I'd like to have the second go round (: But we'll see. I haven't gotten the first one here yet so whose to say there will be another. haha

Anyways, in lieu of tomorrow's events, I decided to look up a few old wive's tales...even though none of them are proven to have any absolute truth. But it's still fun!


What the old wive's tales say

Is the heartbeat above or below140?
Above... The first time we went, Baby Holt's heartbeat was around 174 and the second time it was at 153. 

Are you craving sweet or salty?
Salty without a doubt! This baby loves pizza and McDonald's french fries! I'd say thats a boy's diet if I've ever heard of one!

What does the Chinese Gender Chart say? 
Girl

Are you having morning sickness, yes or no?
I got nauseated at the beginning but I never threw up. So I guess that would qualify as a no. Though some doctors say that if nausea is still considered morning sickness so depending on how you take it this could mean yes

Do you have headaches, yes or no? 
For about two weeks, I had them almost everyday. But I didn't have them before or after so I'm not sure what this qualifies as but for the heck of it, I guess we'll say yes

Do you sleep on the right or left side? 
Ha this makes me laugh because I toss and turn all night so I can't really give you an honest answer. But if I had to narrow it down, I'd say I typically sleep more on the left

Are you carrying the baby high or low?
I guess you could say high. However, the doctor told me due to the fact that I have a tilted uterus and very tight abs, the baby would be carried high because it didn't have a choice. So you might as well disregard this question. lol


What my class says
Earlier this week, I had my class cast their votes for what they thought Baby Holt was going to be. In the end, the vote was 4 for a girl and 18 for a boy.  I have a very smart class so we'll see if the majority was correct (:

What the hubby says

Up until last week, the hubby was sure that we were having a girl. When asked why he thought that it was a girl he always had one of two responses. One was "I just do" and the other was, "Well it's just me and Bryan so since Mom had two boys, we'll end up having all girls". I just laughed and told Kevin just because his parents had two boys didn't mean we wouldn't end up with a boy. It took him awhile but he finally changed his mind and announced to me at dinner a few weeks ago that he now thought we were having a son though again he didn't know why he thought that. 

What I think

When I was about five or six weeks pregnant, a friend of mine and I were talking as we were walking out of TJ Maxx. As we headed to the car, a thought out of no where popped into my mind. It was the strangest thing because we hadn't even been talking about Baby Holt but the thought that I was having a son came out of no where. With that said, I've thought Baby Holt was a boy since about the beginning. 

However, there have been a few times when I've questioned if I believe it's a girl. For instance, when I've dreamed about Baby Holt, it's been a little girl that looks just like her Daddy. And something else that really makes me think I may be wrong is that the day my mother-in-law was going to tell her coworker that I was expecting, her coworker told her that she'd had a dream that my mother in law was holding a little girl in the hospital that had a head full of black hair. It was the strangest thing considering she had no idea Janet was fixing to be a grandmother. 


So for the most part, I'm thinking Baby Holt is a boy but a small part of me thinks Baby Holt might be a girl afterall. But regardless, we'll see tomorrow! 


In the meantime, leave me your prediction (:


12.04.2012

Week 18




Pregnancy Highlights


How far along? 18 weeks

Baby Size: About the size of a sweet potato


Total weight gain: I'm not sure! We'll find out Thursday. I'm guessing maybe about 3 pounds?!

Maternity clothes? Still none!

Stretch marks? Not yet!

Sleep:  Pretty good. I'm trying to wean myself from sleeping on my stomach and trying to make myself go back to sleeping on my side. It's really hard though!

Best moment this week:  Finally having the energy to get our house cleaned and decorated for the holiday season!

Miss Anything? Just having more energy to do stuff!

Movement: Every now and then I feel like I feel a few flutters but I'm not sure.  Everyone keeps saying that when they start moving I'll know for certain so who knows if what I think I'm feeling is what I actually am feeling.

Food cravings: Noting particularly. 


Anything making you queasy or sick: Nah. (thank you Jesus!)

Gender:  I think BOY! We find out on Thursday!

Labor Signs:  None

Symptoms: Heartburn! My word this baby better have lots of hair when he/she comes out! haha

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off?  On

Mood: Excited!

Looking forward to: Finding out what Baby Holt is on Thursday and then telling everyone at the gender reveal party!

12.03.2012

A Little Monday Inspiration


Mondays are always hard so let me share an inspirational story to get you through your day. I promise it's worth the three minutes and fifteen seconds it takes to watch it. 

FYI, make sure you have a tissue at hand or at least nearby.
You'll need it (:





12.01.2012

Twas the month before Christmas...


 FIRST CHRISTMAS CARD


 Cleverly done!!!
 Twas the month before Christmas
 When all through our land,
 Not a Christian was praying
 Nor taking a stand.
 Why the PC Police had taken away
 The reason for Christmas - no one could say.
 The children were told by their schools not to sing
 About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.
 It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say
 December 25th is just a ' Holiday'.
Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit
 Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!
 CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-Pod
 Something was changing, something quite odd!
 Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa
 In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.
As Targets were hanging their trees upside down
At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.
At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears
You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.
Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty
Are words that were used to intimidate me.
At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter
To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.
And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith
Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace
The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded
The reason for the season, stopped before it started.
So as you celebrate 'Winter Break' under your 'Dream Tree'
Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.
Choose your words carefully, choose what you say
Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS,
not Happy Holiday!
Please, all Christians join together and
wish everyone you meet
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Christ is The Reason' for the Christ-mas Season!