{Baby Holt #2} 38 Weeks

I had all intentions of only doing bumpdates each month with Boston but since our little guy could arrive any day, I thought I'd do an update these last few weeks to remember my final days of pregnancy. So here's what's been happening at 38 weeks... 

How Far Along: 38 weeks. 
Weight Gain: As of last Thursday, I've gained 31 pounds even. Since we're snowed in again this week, my guess is by Thursday I'll have put on an extra 3-4 pounds between last week's appointment and this week's. I can't say no to all of the snacks! haha
Cravings/ Aversions: This baby boy loves some sweets. I've never been much of a sweet eater prior to this pregnancy but my motto right now is "Give me all the cookies!". Last week we picked up some sugar cookies from the Walmart deli and I may or may not have ate the whole container in about three days. 
Exercise: That's still a big no. 
Stretch Marks: I noticed over the weekend that I had one stretch mark on my side. Not too bad considering this baby is about to pop out. But whose to say I won't have plenty of them when my belly deflates after birth. 
Maternity Clothes: Still just wearing my two pairs of maternity jeans. Otherwise, I'm living in the usual tunic tops, sweaters, hoodies, and stretchy pants.  Wedding Rings On/Off: They're still on. Though I've been debating taking them off since I know when I go in to deliver the fluid from the IV's will cause me to swell and I'm not sure I want to worry about keeping up with my rings at the hospital. 
Sleep: I have no problem falling asleep these days. I can pretty much lay my head on the pillow and I'm out. However, I am getting up multiple times a night to potty and sometimes I have a hard time getting back to sleep. But on the bright side, it's preparing me for middle of the night feedings. 
Movement: This little guy's movements are definitely slowing down but it doesn't really worry me as I know he's running out of room. 
Gender: Boy. 
Symptoms: The acid reflux is definitely taking it's toll. It's a hundred times worse at night. I try not to eat past 7pm each night, sleep sitting up, and try to limit my liquid intake to just water and it's really not helping. The doctor suggested using essentials oils in my water so a trip to Whole Foods is in order soon. I'm not sure how much more of this I can take. But considering I've been having contractions pretty frequently, I don't suppose I'll have much longer to go. 
Best Moment This Week: Finding out that I'm 3cm dialated and 60% effaced. The midwife said to get ready because this little guy was getting his eviction notice before the 40 week mark. Though I'm trying to not get too excited. I still have some things I should work on before he arrives and I'm not quite sure I'm ready for him to make his appearance. But if he's anything like his sister, he's just faking us out and he'll hang around until after 40 weeks despite the progress he's made thus far. 
Looking Forward To: Meeting our little guy in just a few weeks... or less!

{Confessions} Pregnancy Edition

Let me preface this post by saying that I am so, so, so very thrilled that my lovely friend Jessica over at The Newly has started a weekly link up for confessions. Because let's be real, us gals always need the opportunity to get a few things off of our chest. I mean, who doesn't? So without further ado, let's get this 'fess session started.

I confess...

{1} That despite the fact I'm ready to meet our little guy, I secretly wish he'd hang in there a bit longer. I'm sort of dreading the long nights with a newborn and even longer days with a toddler who isn't going to be too appreciative of our newest family addition. 

{2} I've yet to install Boston's car seat in mine or Kevin's car. I keep telling myself a family member can bring it to us if he comes early. 

{3} Same goes for our hospital bags. I have things laid out at random places in the house and all my toiletries are packed in my make up bag but I've yet to put everything in a suitcase. But again, I keep telling myself someone else can throw it in a bag and bring it to the hospital if need be. That's what best friends are for and all (; 

{4} I had a minor meltdown over the fact that Kevin is going to be working non stop the next few weeks and I've yet to clean out Boston's closet which means we still have baby shower gifts sitting in our living room. Will they still be there when Boston gets here? Probably. Because, you know, toddlers don't allow for time to clean out closets. 

{5} It seems that when you're pregnant and already walking a thin line of mental breakdown everything can go wrong. Our dryer isn't working right, Kevin went to the doctor thinking he may need back surgery, and we may/may not have a major leak in the main drain on our second floor. I'm almost afraid to ask if anything else might go wrong this week...

{6} I confess that as excited as I was to wear regular clothes this entire pregnancy, I'm starting to hate my pikos, leggings, and tunics that I have in rotation as much as I hated my maternity clothes with Harper. They may just have to go in a donate pile when all is said and done. But we'll see. 

{7} Since I'm starting to resent my current wardrobe, I have my eyes on a few new pretties. I already pulled the trigger on this pretty pale pink number and I'm currently debating tossing this lace beauty in my cart as well.

{8} I've downloaded about 20 books onto my kindle and haven't started a single one in hopes that I can find time to read them during my time at the hospital and during my maternity leave. Is that wrong?

{9} Blame it on pregnancy but I finally grew a backbone and may or may not have been a bit rude to a seller on ETSY. Three weeks ago, I paid for a custom order to have the most adorable onesie and hat made for Boston and a coordinating shirt and matching monogrammed hair bow for Harper. My intention was to have the two of them sport their new shirts and accessories during our fresh 48 session at the hospital. When I requested my order, the lady assured me she could have it done in 4 days. Fast forward 2 weeks later and it's yet to ship and she hasn't responded to my four emails. By the fifth one I was so ill I reported her to ETSY. Now I'm in limbo as to what to do about their outfits...Do I find someone to make one and risk it not being here in time or just pick out another outfit that isn't half as cute... Womp, womp, womp. 

And that's all I have for today. I tried to round it out to ten things but you know... pregnancy brain and all has my mind all messed up (; 

See you ladies tomorrow for our usual Five on Friday!

Boston's Baby Sprinkle

A couple of weekends ago, my sweet friend and business partner, Stacey, threw Kevin and me a baby shower, or sprinkle if you will, for our little guy. The party was held at our house and despite having to reschedule it due to snowy weather we had quite the turn out. 
The Food 

The Dessert

Guests got to "sprinkle" their own cupcakes.

Harper approved (; 

The Favors
Guests grabbed umbrella shaped treats on their way out in case it were to "sprinkle" on their way home. 
The Presents We were so blessed to have so many items purchased off of our baby registry; as well to receive so many other adorable items we hadn't requested. I mean seriously, just look at some of the elephant goodness Boston received :P

Best Friends <3 b="">

It was the perfect celebration for our little guy. Now if he'll just hurry up and get here so we can put all of these goodies to use! Just 20 days or less :P

{Weekend Recap} Gender Reveals & Super Bowl Parties

After taking an unexpected blogging break over the past couple of weeks, thanks to my computer crashing, I'm finally back today with a recap of our weekend. So let's just jump right in shall we...
Friday With my due date fast approaching, I worked later than usual Friday afternoon. Since I intend to return to work before the school year ends, but haven't decided when yet, I've been meeting with parents to update them on their child's progress thus far in the school year so they know what they need to continue to work on until I come back in May/June. With that being the case, I stuck around an hour or so later than usual Friday meeting several parents for conferences. Thankfully they went well, but took much longer than I had anticipated. So is the case sometimes but it felt good to mark off some more to-do items before Boston arrives. 
Friday night Kevin headed back into work leaving Harper and I to another night by ourselves. While Harper played, I worked on straightening up the house and getting it cleaned up. Around 7, my dad called with dinner plans which meant Harper and I took full advantage of a free meal with my parents and best friend, B, who always tags along. She's just part of the family these days. Dad likes to refer to her as his foster child (; 
Saturday Saturday morning, I woke up bright and early having not been able to sleep much the night before due to a cold and acid reflux; which is not a good mixture I tell you. Instead of dwelling on it though, I set out to tackle a few more projects I've got left to do before our little guy arrives... like clean out his closets and drawers! While Harper played in her playroom and watched a few too many episodes of Mickey in her bedroom, I managed to get all of Boston's drawers organized with his precious little clothes, accessories, blankets, bibs, and burp cloths. Now to just tackle the closet this week. Prayers please because that's going to be a job!
After lunch on Saturday my mother-in-law came over to watch Harper so I could help throw a gender reveal party for one of my best friends and her husband. A few weeks prior to the party, Olivia sent me an envelope from her doctor's office with the baby's gender, and asked me to plan a party. As the co-owner of Cupcakes & Confetti, this was no problem at all and I was honored to be the only person to know Baby Shreve's gender beforehand.

With Justin being your typical man's man and Olivia being into all things glitter, I decided a Guns & Glitter themed gender reveal couldn't be more perfect for the two of them and I was totally right. They loved it and so did everyone else! Here's some pictures from the event.

For the reveal, I spray painted two water guns black and loaded them with tempura paint and water. Olivia and Justin used the water guns on a canvas they plan to hang in their little BOY's room. It turned out perfect if I say so myself (;

Sunday Our Sunday morning started out with a cuddle session in bed. Best way to start any day in my book. 

Shortly after 7:30 we managed to get up and moving. I whipped up Harper some blueberry pancakes, while I indulged in a gravy biscuit. After cleaning up, we laid around on the couch watching Paw Patrol and Mickey. I prefer not to let Harper watch so much tv but these days my energy is low and Harper loves when I hold her while we watch television, so I'll make an exception. After all, watching her excitement when Boston wiggles around while she lays on my belly, makes it worth it anyways.

After missing a few weeks of church due to bad weather and having company stay with us, we made it a top priority to attend yesterday and it felt amazing to be back. When the service was over we headed to my parents' house for the usual Sunday lunch. We hung around until close to 3 then I headed to Greensboro with my sister to do a little winter clearance shopping while Kevin took Harper to hang out with his parents. 
And of course, like every other American, we spent our evening last night watching the Super Bowl. This year, we opted out of hosting a Super Bowl party and ended up attending one with Kevin's cousins. It was rather small but couldn't have been more perfect... that is unless Carolina would have won. But hey, at least we had the best season we've had in years!

All in all it was a great weekend and I'm already counting down the days until this upcoming one :P 

{Baby Holt #2} 9 months.

How Far Along: 36 weeks. 
Weight Gain: As of my appointment last week, I've gained an even 30 pounds. Fingers crossed I can keep it under 35 by the time this little guy gets here!
Cravings/ Aversions: This month I haven't really had an appetite. Most nights I skip dinner because I'm not hungry or I simply don't know what I want to eat. The one thing I have pretty much stuck to this month is Mexican food and pancakes. Weird, right?
Exercise: Ha! What's that?!
Stretch Marks: None so far. I've started applying lotion every few days just for the simple fact that my skin is getting dry due to this NC weather so hopefully that'll keep them at bay. 
Maternity Clothes: Just two pairs of maternity jeans. Otherwise, I'm still wearing my low-rise pants, tunic tops, cardigans, long tanks, and swing dresses. The styles these days work great for prego gals!
Wedding Rings On/Off: Still wearing them. I took them off for a few days this month thinking my fingers might start swelling soon but since they didn't, I decided to put them back on and just keep an eye out. 
Sleep: I'm definitely starting to feel tired more often. Each day around noon and 4pm, I feel like I can barely keep my eyes open and it's all I can do to fight through it. Yet, when night time rolls around, I'm wide awake and can't wind down. 
Movement: This month our little guy started moving more during the day than he ever has before. Not sure if it's simply because he's ran out of room so every movement I feel thanks to being sucker punched in the ribs, lungs, or bladder. We did have a little scare this month when he refused to cooperate at the doctor's office and wouldn't move. I ended up being sent right away to have a stress test done and as soon as I was hooked up to the monitors, he went CRAZY! He was not a fan of being confined to all those bands around my belly. 
Gender: Boy. 
Symptoms: Major acid reflux. Some days I feel like I'm a fire-spitting dragon; whereas others it makes me cough so much I sound like a smoker. Either way, it's the one symptom I'm looking forward to disappearing once this pregnancy is over. Also this month I've been having contractions pretty much daily. Sometimes I barely feel them whereas others I'm sort of panicking that I've yet to pack my hospital bag because I'm wondering if he's coming early!
Best Moment This Month: Celebrating our little guy with two baby showers. I'll share all about those soon!
Looking Forward To: Meeting our little guy this month! (: