Dear Hadley,

You are officially into double digits! I can’t believe I am the mom of a 10 month old.  I probably think or say about 5 times a day, “can’t she just stay this way forever?” or “does she HAVE to grow up?!”. The stage you are in right now is SO. MUCH. FUN. I never want it to end!

Literally the day after I posted your 9 month post, you started full-out crawling (as opposed to the hybrid army/spider crawl you did for a while), and you have not looked back since. You are lightning fast, and if I walk from one room to the next even for just a second, you are right behind me…my little shadow! You continue to pull up on everything within your reach, and are really “cruising” (someone just told me that is what it’s called)—walking around everything while holding on, going from the table to the couch to the chair to the jumperoo to the recliner. You do a great job walking while holding on to our hands, and it is one of your favorite things to do. You are also standing by yourself now for short periods…and you get so excited when you do it that you start clapping and that makes you lose your balance and have to sit down. Pretty darn cute. :) No signs of taking any steps yet, but I feel like you are getting closer and closer… I am not sure I am ready for that! Again—time: please slow down!

You are (knock on wood…) a great eater. Even the two foods you had earlier decided you weren’t a fan of, bananas and avocados, you love now! The only thing I can think of that you do not like are tomatoes, which you just tried for the first time last night. Your face was hilarious…but we are going to keep trying them! You love meal time, and those are my favorite times of each day. You are so happy, so curious to try each new food, and you love to feed yourself (AND Ralph…….) and get excited when you try something that you like. You have decided that you are pretty much over all the million purees I have made you…but I am still trying to feed them to you to use them all up! You usually only put up a fight for a few seconds and then give in; you just keep trying to grab the spoon and feed to yourself. Miss Independent…just like your mama!

Your favorite word is (still) Dada. You say it all the time. To your Daddy, me, Ralph, the pizza delivery guy…whoever. We have this conversation at least 15 times a day: 

Me: “Hadley, say Mama.”

Hadley: “Dada.”

Me: “No, MA MA MA MA”

Hadley: “DAA DAA DAAA DA.”

Me: Sigh.

Your Daddy finds this hilarious. One day soon, can you PLEASE just say it for me? Pretty please?! :) You also will proudly say “all done!” when you are finished eating, and it is seriously cute. “Heeeey” is another favorite, and “bye bye”, both while waving (though you never do it when I ask you to say it to someone… only when you want to!). You love to repeat sounds or noises that I make (all but Mama, of course) and I love to hear you having conversations with yourself. Whatever you are saying, you are saying it with conviction! I love hearing you discover your voice and new noises you can make!

Lately, tons of people have asked me, “is she always this happy?!”. I always say, “I hate to say it, because what if I jinx it, but yes!”. It’s true, sweet pea…you are one happy girl. You grin, clap and belly laugh for everyone you meet—I can’t tell you how many people have told me “she just made my whole week!”. It is so sweet to see you lighting up so many others’ lives the way that you do ours. People also always tell us how expressive your little face is! You know how to work those little eyebrows and come up with the cutest, most hilarious expressions. You keep us laughing all the time!

I never knew that being a stay-at-home mom could keep me so busy (and tired)!! We are having a blast, though, and I wake up each day excited to see what new thing you do or what way you are going to make me smile and laugh. You bring me so much joy, I sometimes feel like my heart is literally going to burst…I am in a constant state of euphoria with you. You are my best friend, already! (And I would say I am yours, too…though you sure do have a special place in your heart already for your Daddy). I am so proud to be your mom and I cannot wait for our relationship to develop even more as you grow.

We are almost to a year (!!!) old. I don’t know where the time has gone, but I don’t want to blink, because before I know it my baby girl is not going to be a baby anymore! It makes me tear up just to type that. I am so proud of the sweet, beautiful baby girl you already are and I can’t wait to be here for every step of the way as you continue to grow into an amazing little girl!

Happy 10 months, gorgeous. Your Daddy and I love you to the moon and back!

Love, 

Mommy

P.S. We did your 10 month photo shoot yesterday on NC State’s campus. Your Daddy and I had so much fun taking you around campus to all the places we used to go during our time there. In fact, the belltower right behind where you are sitting in one of the pictures above is where your Daddy so nervously sweetly asked me to marry him almost exactly 6 years ago. As we walked around, we talked about how much we were sure things would change “before Hadley goes there”… you are going to want to be a fellow Wolfpacker, right?!?! (I promise we will love you no matter what! ;-))

Yesterday was a momentous occasion for our sweet Hadley…it was her first NC State football game/tailgating experience! Those who know us well know that, as NC State alumni, our group of friends take tailgating very seriously. We love to go all out with the food/setup and we have a great time every.single.game. whether or not State wins the game (let’s be honest… many times we don’t). Anyway, I was a little nervous about how H would do being out there all day (we started tailgating at 1…the game wasn’t until 6) and how it would all work with nap time, food, etc., so we brought in reinforcements (Jon’s parents) for the first game JUST in case she didn’t do well. The plan was that if she decided she wasn’t going to cooperate, Jon’s mom and I would head home with H and his dad and him would go on to the game. Anyway, I am happy to report that Hadley is a Wolfpacker through and through—she did great! :) 

Tailgating was fun as usual. It was a beautiful day for tailgating and some NC State football!

H even has her own miniature NC State tailgating chair… ;)

H’s tailgating food of choice was carrots. :) 

Our tailgating food was this pig. YUM.

We enjoyed hanging out and tried our best to stay cool in the shade…it was HOT!

H had fun with her Papaw!

Around 3:30, Hadley was noticeably sleepy, so I decided to put her in her carseat in the back of the car, with all the air vents blowing directly on her. I rocked her for just a couple of minutes and she was O-U-T… she ended up taking about an hour and a half nap. Major success!

Jon’s winning streak at cornhole finally came to an end thank goodness because I was tired of hearing him brag. ;) 

The Harrington boys sure did make some excellent pork. I am serious, y’all. SO GOOD!

Finally, it was time to go into the game. We had to wake H up to go in, but she was in a great mood. By the way…real men (and the best daddies!) rock baby bjorns. Love.

We had to pause to take our first family pic outside Carter-Finley. Crazy that this was us last year at this time…my how things have changed!

Once we got to our seats…H was loving it. She was squealing at the top of her lungs, and clapping when the crowd cheered. She handled it all better than I could have ever hoped. 

Hadley hung out with Mamaw and snacked on her puffs while watching the Wolfpack dominate. ;)

Toward the end of the game, Jon’s cousin Meg came by to see us! So glad that we got to see her, that she was pulling for the BEST team… and Hadley LOVES her! 

Had to snap one more pic of our little family of wolfpackers. :)

Finally, someone was getting verrrrry sleepy, so it was time for us to head home. 

This was just the first of many NC State games to come for sweet H. I am so thankful and happy that she enjoyed it as much as we did!

-S

I seriously just had to check the calendar to see how many weeks I am, I would have sworn it was 34, but nope…35 (and a half, actually)! Crazy. This has been a fabulous week full of family, friends and FOOD!

As I said on Friday, we had a fabulous Thanksgiving with our families on Thursday and Friday…but our Thanksgiving celebrations did not end there. On Saturday, I cooked and prepared for our friends to get here all day, while Jon went to cheer on NC State against Maryland in our last home game of the season.  The Wolfpack were down 41-14 mid-way through the third quarter, so I gave up and turned the TV to a DVRed show instead… only about 30 minutes later, I got a text from my Mom that said “Jon didn’t leave the game early, did he?”. I thought this was strange, but I texted Jon to ask him if he had, and then turned the TV back on to see that State was then only down by one touchdown. I was shocked! Just about that time, I heard the garage door opening…Jon had come home early from the game. He walked in and I screamed “WHY ARE YOU HERE?!”  He said “I know, I can’t believe it”…he had come home early since we were getting killed so bad and he knew that I probably needed help preparing for everyone to come over. Long story short, we watched the end of the game on TV together and were amazed that the Pack pulled out the win with a score of 56-41, and this means we are going to a bowl game! :) This also means that the Wolfpack finished 7-5 and Jon did not lose his bet to Jeff, which means keg party at Jeff’s! My vote is that he has it any time January or later. ;)

The crew started arriving to our house (all in very good moods because of NC State’s win, I might add) between 5:00 and 6:00, and as always, we deep fried a turkey.  We had some minor complications, which resulted in Jon running to Lowe’s to get a new fryer (the one we had had been on its last leg for a while anyway), so we ended up not eating until about 8:00, and by that time everyone was starving! The food was delicious, though, and I got the ultimate compliment: “This meal is better than my family’s meal.”  When I’m going against someone’s Grandma and Mama’s cooking and still getting that kind of compliment, I call that winning!  Here are a couple of pics I took of (some of) the food:

We all ate until we could barely move, then we played (our favorite) Catch Phrase for a while… which was hilarious, as usual. I love our friends! Thanks to everyone who came, we love you all so much!

Sunday was spent not doing much of anything. I don’t think I have ever been so tired, so Ralph and I pretty much spent the day on the couch while Jon did some work around the house…I just looked through my phone and found a pic that Jon took yesterday afternoon while Ralph and I were napping…we were o-u-t! (And yes, that’s a normal sleeping position for Ralph…ridiculous, I know.)

I think that catches up on the rest of our Thanksgiving break. It went by TOO fast, as usual, but it was fabulous. It’s hard to believe that we have less than a month until Christmas, and right at a month until Hadley is here! Ahh!  Here is the 35 week update:

Size of Baby A: A honeydew melon.

She is about 18 inches long and weighs around 5.25 lbs. So big!

Developments This Week: At this point, all of her major organs should be nearly complete. Her kidneys are completely developed and her liver is functional and capable of processing waste products. Her main job over the next few weeks is just to put on weight.

Weight Gain So Far: 22 lbs, based on my home scale. Seems to me like I should have gained more than that in the last week based on how much I ate at our 3 different Thanksgiving meals, but I’ll get the official count at our doctor appointment on Monday!

Cravings: Still Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses, and chocolate milk. Can’t get enough of either. Also, pineapple… I ate almost a whole one this morning for breakfast. Whoops!

Aversions: None.

Symptoms: More back pain, which has been more like spasms and sharp, shooting pains that go all the way down my legs. Still heartburn, going to the bathroom way too often (6 times in 9 hours on Sunday night!), and just being tired. 

Movement: Still going strong. I was telling someone at work today that the movements used to be cute and exciting, but now they are so hard and sometimes painful that I would say that the excitement is gone. I hate feeling like that, because I feel like I should be happy and excited during every moment of the pregnancy, but sometimes a knee or elbow in the ribs just hurts! The movements are getting much stronger and more deliberate, and I’m feeling less of the cute little flutters and flips these days. I know it is all worth it and that it means she is growing bigger and stronger in there!

What I Miss: Normal, uninterrupted sleep. I know that I will likely never have it again, but I am definitely missing it right now!

Things I am Thankful For: I blogged about this on Friday…soooo many things. Very blessed!

What I’m Looking Forward To: Decorating our house for Christmas, and having a new little stocking to hang up this year. :) Our hospital tour this Thursday at WakeMed Cary…we will get to see the Women’s Pavilion and Birthplace, and get an idea of what to expect when we go there for the big day! Also, of course our baby girl’s arrival…which could be any time in the next few weeks!

Bump Growth: I feel like it is doubling by the week.

Tiny sneak peek of the nursery in that pic… all that we are waiting on now is our curtains, and then I will blog about it, promise! :)

Next Doctor Appointment: December 5. This is the last of our 2-week appointments, then we start going every week!

That’s all for today, folks. Hope everyone has a great week…cannot believe it is almost December already!

-S

Not sure how it is already time for another weekly update, but somehow, it is! This is going to be a combo weekend recap/weekly update since I was just too tired to write last night. So sit tight, this could be a long one! ;)

Like I said late last week, I had the day off from work on Friday because we were moving offices (just moving to a bigger space in the same building, one floor down), so that was pretty awesome. I probably should have used my time a little more wisely, but I did manage to get all of the rest of the baby things from our showers washed and put away AND I cleaned the downstairs, so the day definitely wasn’t a waste—I just had to take a lot of breaks (I’d say I averaged a 30-45 minute break every hour, lol) because my back and my legs (?!) were killing me from standing up. Friday night, when Jon got home from work, we picked up Justin & Kathryn for dinner at the new Mellow Mushroom in Cary (YUM). It was great to catch up with them—it had been a couple months since the last time we saw them, so we were glad to get to hang out for a little while, even though the conversation (as always) turned to politics with Jon and Justin and that never turns out well…Kat and I just ignored them and they ended up deciding that they can still be friends even though they disagree about pretty much everything politically. ;) We called it a night pretty early, after getting as much of the food ready for tailgating as I could when we got home…I knew the 6:30 a.m. alarm was going to come REALLY early the next day!

Saturday was a great day. I mean, a really GREAT day…barring the fact that we had to get up so early, I guess. NC State played UNC in football at 12:30 on Saturday, so we met up bright and early with the crew at 8:30 a.m…and we were actually on time, for once! I forgot to take my camera to the game (sad face), but Jeff and I and some of the girls cooked up a delicious breakfast feast: fruit, sausage and cheese muffins, blueberry muffins, and biscuits, and sausage, bacon and eggs all on the grill. YUM. It was pretty chilly in the morning, but a little bit later on, when we were in the sun (and our seats were in the sun the whole game, thank goodness) it actually was very nice and comfortable. In case you live under a rock, the Wolfpack shut out the Tarholes 13-0. It was an awesome game and it was so nice for everyone to actually be in a good mood after the game was over instead of cussing our defense, coaches, etc. for being so terrible. I will share a couple of photos that some friends and I snapped with our phones during and after the game…gotta love the not-so-subtle messages displayed on our big screen after the game was over:

And we had to get a friend (thanks Nikki!) to snap one of us with Hadley at her first (of hopefully many!) NCSU beatdown of the Tarheels:

Aaaand I’ll just share a couple more pictures because it really was THAT good of a day!

The NCSU girls at the tailgate-Ana, Me, Brooke, Brittney, Ashley and Nikki:

And my favorite pic-the whole group, 5 in a row!!!

After the game, Jon and I came home long enough to change clothes and to let Ralph out, then we headed back to Raleigh. We met my sister, Miki and family at Sammy’s for dinner and then headed over to Reynolds Coliseum to watch my cousin Kristen (she is the youngest cousin on my Dad’s side) and the Newton-Conover Lady Red Devils compete in the State Championship volleyball game.  I played volleyball some growing up, but I hadn’t been to watch a game probably since I graduated high school…and boy, I forgot how intense those games are! The LRDs won the match in just 3 games—they dominated! Jon left the game saying that he really hopes that Hadley is tall and wants to play volleyball, because we had so much fun watching the game. Congratulations to my sweet cousin Kristen, we are so proud of you and are so glad we came to watch! Here are a few pics I took of Kristen and her team at the game (just want to point out, she’s just a freshman!):

We went to bed early on Saturday night and thanks to the time change, ended up sleeping for 11 hours—it was glorious. Sunday was a busy day as well. We went to church, and then straight to Clayton for a baby shower for our friends Ben & Kristen Thomas (Ben was a groomsman in our wedding and is one of Jon’s best friends from high school), who are expecting a baby boy just 11 days after our due date—he is due January 10! On a hilarious note, the shower’s theme was UNC. I mean, UNC decorations everywhere-plates, cups, napkins, decorations, cupcakes, and even a UNC basketball for all the guests to sign. Jon said that if NC State had not won on Saturday, he might have cried if he had to be around all that UNC stuff the day after—but I have to admit, it was a little bit sweet for us to see all that after the beating they received the day before… but we were nice and didn’t rub it in TOO much to Ben at the shower. ;) They got some super cute stuff at the shower, and we had such a good time with everyone! We are so excited that our kids will be so close in age and get to grow up together.

After the shower, since we were already halfway there anyway, I talked Jon into going by the outlets in Smithfield so that I could try to find something to wear to our shower this coming weekend. I ended up buying a non-maternity dress that I hope will still fit when this weekend rolls around—but we’ll see, because the belly seems to be growing at a record speed as of late. If it doesn’t fit on Saturday, I may be making a last-minute trip to the mall. We ate dinner out and headed home, and took it easy for the rest of the night…we were exhausted after literally not stopping all weekend. 

I think that catches up on all the weekend happenings… as for today, I had my 32 week checkup at the doctor this morning. First of all, on the way to the doctor, I had a major pregnancy brain moment and drove THREE exits past the exit for my doctor’s office…major fail. When I got there, there were approximately 15 people there waiting, which I knew was a bad sign. I ended up waiting 45 minutes before I got called back, and then another 15 minutes once I was actually in the room.  The nurse pricked my finger to check my iron, and she told me that my level was 35.4, slightly below “normal” which I think she said was 36. Dr. Brannon said, though, that 35.4 was not low enough for me to be considered anemic, but he recommended that I just buy some over-the-counter iron pills and take one every other day. Easy enough!

The baby’s heart rate was strong and steady, and Dr. Brannon told me to “keep being boring”…everything looked great. I asked him if he could tell if her head was down yet, and he felt with his hands and said that she was not yet, but that there was still plenty of time for her to turn and that there is only a 3% chance that she won’t turn before delivery, so not to worry. I also asked him if he could guess what the chances are that she’ll come before Christmas, since the due date is December 30th. He said it was too early to tell, so he’d say it’s 50/50 now, but to definitely not make any plans (as if we were planning to, anyway). He did say that he would be in town and on call that whole week of Christmas, so that made me feel good because of course I am hoping that he will be able to deliver her! Anyway, it was another smooth appointment and I agree with him—I hope I can keep being “boring” and that these last 7.5 weeks go by smoothly (though not too quickly!). 

Ok, I think I’m officially caught up.  Now for the weekly stats:

Size of Baby A: A large jicama. Um, what? Not sure who came up with that comparison, but here’s a pic to compare:

She is about 16.75-17 inches long and weighs around 3.75-4 lbs!

Developments This Week: She is really plumping up and will gain almost half her body weight by the time I deliver. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (a lot of it, if heartburn is any indication). 

Weight Gain So Far: Official doctor’s office scale count: 17.5 lbs! Dr. Brannon said he’d like for me to be at 25 by the time I deliver, so I’m right on track for that if I gain a pound a week from here on out. It still doesn’t make it any easier to see those numbers on the scale… I’m seeing the 130s now for the first time ever and it freaks me out every time! All for a very good reason though! :)

Cravings: Chocolate milk, I can’t get enough of it. Halloween candy, still. Also, salads with grilled chicken…random, I know. 

Aversions: None!

Symptoms: The heartburn has really gotten out of control. Also, I said this on my Facebook status a few days ago, but I really would like to take back the complaining I did about feeling bad/tired during the first and second trimesters because the third is NO joke. I really didn’t know tired until now…and I’m sure it’s going to get worse over the next few weeks. Also, I got up a record number of times to pee last night—5 times in 9.5 hours. Every time I woke up, I thought to myself, “seriously?!?!” I know it sounds like I am, but I really am not complaining… I feel like I have had it so easy compared to lots of other people, even with the throwing up every day in the beginning. And I only have to make it 7.5 more weeks, that is nothing! :)

Movement: One of my pregnancy apps says that my amniotic fluid has maxed out at this point—which means that I likely have more baby than fluid now. This explains why the jabs and kicks are feeling stronger than ever…there is less fluid to cushion the blows. Sometimes they take me so much by surprise that if I’m talking, I have to stop because it takes my breath away. I still love feeling it, though. Also feeling a lot of hiccups! My nephew, Caleb, got to feel that this weekend and he thought it was pretty cool. ;)

What I Miss: Being able to shave my legs, comfortably. There just isn’t an easy way to do it anymore, unfortunately… probably just means that I’ll do it even less than normal (sorry Jon). 

Things I am Thankful For: Our friends. Everyone at the tailgate on Saturday was so sweet (as always) about the baby and told us how excited they are for our baby shower, even the boys. I love them! Also, especially thankful for Sarah and Dan (and JJ and David!) and all the hard work they they have put into our baby shower… Sarah has told me nothing at all so I can’t wait to see what all she has up her sleeve!

What I’m Looking Forward To: Getting our nursery furniture in (we are definitely getting it on Friday, my parents are bringing it when they come!).   Also, our baby shower with all our friends in Raleigh THIS WEEKEND! I can’t believe it is already almost here.

Bump Growth: I feel like it has doubled in the last week! Jon is working late, so he isn’t here to take the pic, so here is a pic that I sent to Bekah today when she made her weekly request (note the NC State RED that I wore today…and please ignore the bathroom shot):

Next Doctor Appointment: November 21.

I think that’s all, folks. Told ya it’d be a long one! I’m not trying to wish the time away, but I really can’t wait until this weekend, with our parents coming into town, furniture coming in, and shower with all of our friends. It’s going to be great!!! Wishing everyone a great week!

-S

I got home a bit later than normal tonight because I had a recruiting dinner in Durham (Maggiano’s, yum!), so tonight’s post will be short and sweet…just wanted to share some pics from this past weekend (NC State game and quick visit with Jamie). The weather was beautiful and we had a great time with our friends! And I FINALLY made an effort to actually be in the pictures… I have very few pictures with me in them since I’ve actually been showing, so I’m going to try to do better!

The food…hotdogs, hamburgers, chicken, and beef-wrapped jalapenos and pineapple

Newly engaged Aunt Bekah and Uncle Kyle

Me and my beautiful little sis!

Jon was trying to do the Wolfpack sign for little miss Hadley ;)

My love and me…Hadley’s 3rd State football game

Me with the birthday boy…Happy 30th Jeff!

Some of the girls…Brittney, Ashley and me (helloooo belly)

Jon and Kyle playing some cornhole

Bek and I playing cornhole (I am terrible, for the record)

Bekah wanted to do a little photo shoot…me at 28 weeks!

As if there was any doubt…!

And finally, a quick visit with my bff Jamie after the game…28 weeks and 18 weeks!

That’s all for tonight, kids… heading to bed! I will try to write an update on our recent car drama tomorrow!

-S

Blogging while doing a fantasy football draft…this is an exercise in multi-tasking. It’s preparing me for when the baby gets here I suppose! I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend… we did, it just wasn’t long enough, as usual! Since I’m still running behind on my weekly updates, I’m going to turn this post into a Labor Day weekend recap/23 week update.

Last week was pretty busy at work, so I don’t have a whole lot to update! Our glider came in, and when Jon went to pick it up, only the glider had shipped, not the ottoman. We Jon got the glider put together, but is going to go by and pick up the ottoman sometime this week…can’t wait to get it so I can test out the whole thing! So, so far, in the nursery, we have: the glider, the crib mattress, and a super cute butterfly mobile that Jon picked out from Pottery Barn Kids. I just cannot wait for our furniture to come in so we can start to see it all come together!

This past Friday night, I got off work early (woo hoo!) and headed to the grocery store to get our tailgating food/supplies. I have recently started clipping coupons (I’m just doing it to save a few bucks, I am not going to be one of those people on “Extreme Couponing” on TLC) and ended up saving over $30 on everything, so I call that a success! I spent Friday afternoon and evening prepping food and making sure I had all my ducks in a row. We went to bed semi-early to rest up for the first day of football season 2011! :)

We both got up early (8 a.m) on Saturday; Jon had to mow, and I had to finish getting all the food together. We met up with our tailgating crew around noon (ok, ok, 12:30…but I tried to be on time) and headed out to Carter Finley! It was a beautiful day, sunny, but HOT, so I tried to stay in the shade as much as possible. The food was delish (if I do say so myself), but I feel like I just ate, and drank water/gatorade all day! I literally drank 10 bottles of water during the tailgate…so as a result, I feel like I should have my own personal port-a-potty this season! ;) The boys (that is what I refer to our friends as—there were two other girls there on Saturday and about 20 boys) were all so sweet about the baby; they all asked me questions and told us how happy they were for us. Aaaaand of course they gave Jon and me both a hard time—several of them calculated how old they would be by the time Hadley is 18 (RUDE!)—since they will probably STILL be single then, hahahaha! We had a blast tailgating, hanging out and catching up with everyone…and I didn’t get annoyed with not being able to have a beer, not even once! I’ll post some pictures from the tailgate later this week once I get them uploaded. For now, here’s one that I took with my phone during the game…we were excited for football!

The first half of the game was rough for NC State—we were all just thinking, “grrrreaaat, here we go again.” Such is the life of a NC State fan, though, I suppose! Mike Glennon looked decent, but our offensive line left a LOT to be desired. Luckily we pulled it together somewhat in the 2nd half and we beat Liberty 43-21. I think that Hadley enjoyed her first (of many!) NC State game, as she pretty much kicked from the time I sat down in the stadium until the game was over! Jon also gave her a high five every time we scored, which was cute. :)

As much fun as we had all day Saturday, my feet unfortunately did NOT! That’s right, I guess I experienced my first “real” pregnancy symptom other than barfing every day for 3 months on Saturday evening. When we were walking back to the truck after the game was over, I told Jon that I was getting terrible blisters on my feet, which was so odd because I was wearing shoes that I wear all the time and they had NEVER given me blisters! When I got home, I realized why. My feet were sooo swollen! Proof:

Ouch. I thought it was WAY too early for that, at only 5 months! But, my googling told me otherwise, I read that a lot of women start noticing it around 5 months, especially in the hot summer months and when they are on their feet for a long time (check, and check!). I WAS on my feet most of the evening Friday night and pretty much ALL day on Saturday, in the heat, so I’m sure that is what did it. Next time I will have to remember to sit down every once in a while to keep that from happening.

Sunday morning, we got up, packed a bag, and headed to the lake to spend the rest of our Labor Day weekend with my family. Zack and his family and Miki and hers were all there, so we had a full house! We played on the lake Sunday afternoon, then had a yummy dinner on the grill with everyone plus my sweet Granny and Paw Paw. Sunday night, while I was laying on the couch and Hadley started doing her nightly routine of kicks/flips, Bekah got to feel her kick! It was cute, she squealed when she felt it. Miki had hoped to feel it, too, but unfortunately the baby did not want to cooperate before she went to bed.

Unfortunately, Monday was cloudy/rainy, but the boys finally got some brush burned that my Dad had been trying to do all summer but couldn’t because the water was too high—and the girls stayed inside and relaxed (Bekah, Miki and Kelley worked on a puzzle…and even I got sucked in toward the end even though puzzles are NOT my idea of fun). It was a very low-key day and I got some much-needed lounge time as well as time with my precious nephews and nieces (who are so excited about Miss Hadley, it is so cute!).

I think that catches up on the weekend’s events. Here are the more interesting? 23 week stats:

Size of Baby A: A large mango. She is almost a foot long and weighs in at a little over a pound!

Developments this week: She is becoming more and more active (no kidding, I feel her all the time), and my pregnancy apps all say that I should be able to see the movements on the surface of my skin soon…but I have been seeing that for a couple of weeks now! Also, blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and her hearing is becoming moore keen. She can hear what I hear, but not at the same level (sounds and voices are muffled by the muscles and tissues around my belly, the placenta, and the amniotic fluid). That means she can hear me singing and talking to her! :)

Weight Gain So Far: Per my scale at home, 7 lbs. Not sure I trust it, though, because the whole time it has read less than the doctor’s office scale. We’ll see the official count at our appointment next Monday! I have a feeling it may be more than that, but we’ll see.

Cravings: Right now, Utz cheese balls. I could seriously eat a whole bag of these things at a time, but I try to limit myself.

Aversions: None.

Symptoms: Frequent bathroom trips. Face breakouts, teenager style. And feet swelling this week! So glamorous.

Movement: So much movement, and I love it. I am feeling like I have someone else with me all the time now, and it’s the coolest thing. I am so glad Bekah got to feel an actual kick, you could see her hand pop up when Hadley kicked!

What I Miss: My normal bras. I have officially gone up a size so far, and I hate spending money on them because they are so expensive! Jon is not complaining, though, haha. (Sorry Dad).

Things I am Thankful For: Our tailgating crew, some of the best friends we could ask for! Jon and I were the first (and really only!) of the group to get married, and are the first (and probably also the only for a long while…we hope, lol) to get pregnant, but they are all so excited for us and were so sweet to me, telling me that I looked cute even though I felt big, hot and uncomfortable. I really love those boys!

What I’m looking forward to: (Added this one this week because we have so much to look forward to!) Our doctor appointment on Monday. Also our 3D/4D ultrasound on September 24 and our first shower, thrown by the fabulous Kirby women, on September 25!

Bump Progress: My sister, Miki, told me thanks for wearing my 2-piece bathing suit to the lake on Sunday because it made her feel a lot better about herself. Rude. And last night, while I was lying in the couch, I heard my mom say to Bekah while giggling, “Look at Steph’s belly”. When I asked her what that was supposed to mean, she said “Well, you said you wanted to LOOK pregnant, and you officially do!” I would say this means I have officially “popped”. ;) I hope this means the maternity clothes I bought a couple of weeks ago will be fitting soon!

Next Doctor Appointment: September 12, a week from yesterday!

Hope everyone has a great short week. Just finished my fantasy draft, and Team Victorious Secret (the defending champs, I might add) is ready to dominate, even though Jon just reminded me that the playoffs will likely be right around the time that I’ll be giving birth. Hope WakeMed Cary has good wireless internet! ;)

-S

Seeing these boys (and also the girls who aren’t in the pic)…

Eating yummy food at tailgating…

Seeing what Mike Glennon has to offer the Wolfpack…

Enjoying this view on Sunday and Monday…

Some QT with my other “baby”…

Spending time the whole fam damily…

and FINALLY seeing Bek’s bling in person!

I’m REALLY needing Friday to hurry up and be over. It’s going to be a great weekend! Hope everyone has a happy and safe Labor Day weekend!

-S

Just looking at that picture gives me chills! As I said in yesterday’s post, college football officially starts this weekend.  T-minus 5 days until the first NC State home game… we have been counting down now for months! Jon and I have season tickets (and lifetime rights) to the State games…we, along with several of our friends, went in and got 14 seats total (all together) in the “new” (ok, not so new anymore) end zone when they closed in that side of the stadium. This will be our sixth season with these seats, and we love it!

We take tailgating VERY seriously in our group. With Jeff as the grill master, and with me handling the sides… we eat WELL. Here are a few pics from last season, which we will of course be trying to top this year:

Beer can chickens

Buffalo chicken dip, the boys’ favorite

Loaded potato skins

Chicken breast, veggies, and corn on the cob

YUM. Looking at those pictures makes me even more starving than normal. I am currently brainstorming ideas of food to make this season… so if anyone has any good tailgating-friendly recipes, please send them my way! :)

It is so hard for me to believe that this is our last childless football season! Jon is excited to have a DD for the entire season (I seriously should have planned this better), and I hope I’ll be able to refrain from being annoyed be patient with everyone this year even though I’ll just be drinking good ol’ H20…the good news is, I can’t get iced!

Next year, we will have another member of our wolfpack (yep, Hangover reference there), as we will have Hadley in tow! Both sets of grandparents have offered to come up for the games to help with her; I’m sure for her first season we will just be bringing her out to tailgate for a little while, but she won’t actually go into the games (don’t want her to overheat or for it to be too loud, she will only be 8 months old!). It will be fun to see how all our friends are with her, and I’m already excited for all the photo ops. As you can probably already imagine, she actually already has several NC State outfits already, and I’m sure this is just the beginning:

Aaaand she has several more. :) It is hard for me not to buy every NC State baby-related item I run across, but people keep telling me to be patient and to remember that I am having baby showers here in a couple of months! I’m already envisioning Hadley meeting Mr. & Mrs. Wuf for the first time and growing up as big of a Wolfpack fan as her Mama & Daddy! Jon has said a few times “Well by the time Hadley is at State…”, and I have to ask him, “What makes you so sure she’s going to go to State?”. He says she has no choice! (I would be ok with anywhere except for UNC, haha.) ;)

I’m looking so forward to seeing all of our tailgating crew this weekend…some of them, it has been a while! I think the menu for this weekend is looking like either pork chops or chicken, veggies, mac & cheese, & grilled corn on the cob… with plenty of appetizers (don’t worry boys, there will be buffalo chicken dip) since we’re meeting up at noon and the game doesn’t start until 6.  Absolutely cannot wait! 

-S