33 Weeks Pregnant

I am right about 33 weeks pregnant! 7 more weeks to go. This pregnancy has really gone by quickly. I like being pregnant during the holidays because once you hit Labor Day in September there are so many things to look forward to. Family camping, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and all of our birthday's in January. In February and March, we have 2 weddings, a couple of showers/bachelorette parties, and a few other fun things. I feel like the baby's due date (March 16th) will just creep up on us in no time! The soon to be nursery is a disaster but I've finally decided to go with gray and yellow. I picked out a bumper from Target.com and went to buy it today and it's sold out online. Bummer.

Everyone says that we'll love having a spring baby! The weather is starting to warm up and we won't be cramped indoors with a newborn. I am really excited to meet our baby but super scared too! I'm hoping that the delivery goes smoothly and my epidural won't run out this time! :) Here are a few updates to keep track of how I've been feeling.

Movement: 

This little guy is quite the mover. He is constantly kicking, rolling, and poking me. Sometimes his little kicks really hurt! I've been trying to have Braylen feel the baby move and he has said that he can feel him but I'm not sure if he's just saying yes! He's had the hiccups a few times too. 

Weight Gain:

30 pounds. I gained almost 50 with Braylen so I'm assuming this will happen again. Bah!

Sleep:

I've never been the greatest sleeper but lately I have been feeling very rested. I like to drink more water during the night, rather than the day which doesn't help. Guy says that I am snoring like crazy but that doesn't bother me! :)

What I Miss:

Being able to sleep on my back and my stomach. Wearing normal clothes. Not having a chubby face! Being able to run and use the elliptical. I know some people are able to do those things, I just always feel so weird doing it. Being able to hold Braylen all the time. :( I know that he's 4 now! But I LOVE holding him. I still do sometimes (my doctor said that I can!). 

Cravings:

Ice cubes, chocolate, cottage cheese, and ice cream. I could actually eat just about anything right now. My first trimester, I had to force myself to walk into the grocery store. I couldn't stand food! And eating healthy? Forget about it. No grilled chicken, veggies, fruits, bread...I had a baked potato everyday for about 7 weeks. I am so thankful to be passed that stage! 

Symptoms:

Back pain, heartburn and indegstion, restless legs, and I'm starting to feel more swollen. Other than that, I've been feeling great! Oh, I do have a dose of "pregnancy brain." Last week Guy and I had a lunch date at Frisch's :) and after I used the restroom, I sat down at the table and told him about this email I read earlier that day. He said you literally just told me about that while we were walking into the restaurant. "I did?" He said yes, you just told me that story. "Oh........." I completely forgot that I already told him. Wow. I'm getting a double dose of memory loss because I'm pregnant AND tomorrow I'm turning 30. Fun!

Sports Wreaths

This year I decided to try my hand at a few homemade gifts. I drew my mom's name for our family's gift exchange, and after browsing on pinterst, I came across a UK wreath that was so cute! The wreath was being sold from a shop on Etsy for $50! I wasn't sure if I could do it but I decided to try! I made one for my mom and an LSU one for Guy's mom.

I loved how they turned out! The difference btw mine and the ones off Etsy are that she uses wooden initials for the schools. I just used foam lettering, which was pretty difficult to cut but it served its purpose. I think I made the LSU too large but for my first time, it came out pretty good.

I would really love to start making them more and offer them for sale! If you are interested in an order, let me know!

Happy 4th Birthday!

**This was supposed to post yesterday on Braylen's actual birthday!

Today is Braylen's 4th birthday! He is growing up so very quickly and I keep telling him to slow down. :) He says "but mom, I'm going to be a big brother!" Today we are having a little party with some friends and family! He has requested a train party this year. One year ago, we had a Mickey Mouse party. How quickly time has gone.

Last year's party!

Braylen brings so much joy to our lives! We are so thankful for him and thankful that God brought him into our family, during a time that was so unexpected. It's hard to imagine life without him.

Things that Braylen loves right now:
1) Being silly-he's actually quite hilarious.
2) Saying "mom (or dad), I love you so, so, so much." and then saying "gross" when we kiss him.
3) Playing drums to the Beatles with Guy. He plays them on beat.
4) Playing basketball and baseball.
5) Beating everyone in Candylane, Go fish, and running up the stairs.
6) His new Vtech mobigo.
7) Miss Tami and Miss Eli- his preschool teachers at Kid's Academy. He LOVES preschool and last week he was Star of the Week.
8) Wrestling.
9) Helping us cook in the kitchen.
10) Playing with trains.
11) Listening to Veggie Tales and singing every single song.
12) Talking to his baby brother in mommy's belly (Braylen has named him Potty Pootie and Rudolph).
13) Telling us EVERYDAY that he "wishes he could go camping with Gretta."

Happy 4th Birthday Braylen! 

We love you so, so, so much! 

Christmas 2011: The One with All the Singing

Christmas came and went. And I barely had time to wrap our gifts. I didn't even send out cards this year. I'm still debating on whether or not I should send a Happy New Year Card. I am pretty bummed that I ran out of time to send them.

One of the christian radio stations in Cincy starts to play Christmas music the day after Halloween. I am one of those people who loves early Christmas. So anytime, Bray and I were in the car (without Guy because he is not one of those people!), we would listen to Christmas music. After about a month into it, Braylen could sing about 90% of the songs played. He loves it! And he's still singing Christmas music (1-13-12). Today it's been Silent Night. He doesn't quite know every word but he makes up his own version. Last year we sang Jingle Bells for about 10 months as his bedtime song.

My sister's family was able to spend a week with us this year and we were so excited to be with them. Little Kaleb is growing so quickly and he is as cute as ever. I can't stand that they are so far away. Kaleb literally smiles all the time and the Lord is already using him to bring joy to those around him.

Guy's aunt and uncle from New Orleans also stayed with the Domec's for a few days this year. It was so nice to visit with them! Aunt Lee is an awesome seamstress and always comes up with creative gifts for the family. Last year she made us Christmas pillowcases (which I'm still using) and this year she made table linens. Super crafty!

CHRISTMAS OVERLOAD!

Braylen is pretending to be Santa with a bundle of toys in his pack

Highlights: 

*Being with family and friends for about 6 days straight surrounding Christmas day.

*Going to Fountain Square and Braylen and Guy being the last ones to ride the horse trolley before they closed. 

*Watching Braylen "sing" during his preschool performance. Actually, out of all the classes he was the ONLY one to cry and run to his parents. That was a fun night. He perked up and I promised that if he sang he could have candy. 

*Seeing Awaited at Crossroads. It was amazing! 

*Guy having 10 days off from work! 

*Braylen understanding what Christmas is all about

*Knowing that this time next year, we will be a family of 4! 

Playing Catch Up

For the past month and a half we have not had wifi. And our macbook is weird and it wouldn't let me connect through the cable...so I haven't been able to or had the time to go to Panera and upload pictures/work on the blog/sell things on ebay/keep up with our budget/you get the picture. Does anyone know how to use icloud by the way? I have pictures that say photostream on my phone but I'm not sure where they are streaming to. They don't seem to be on my computer.

Anyways. Here are two fun things that happened that I just didn't want to miss writing about.

**Thanksgiving.
We missed my sister's family and baby Kaleb while they stayed in Charlotte, but we enjoyed seeing both sides of my family and spending the day with the Domec's. We always see a movie on Thanksgiving night with my dad's side and for the past 2 years, they have picked a kid friendly movie so that Braylen can come with us. This year we saw the Muppets and it was really cute! Pretty funny too. My mom's side usually has our get together the day after or on Saturday and I am so thankful for that because we don't have to rush out of there. We ended up staying for a while at my aunt's house, ordered pizza, and watched the UK game. This year we made Caramel-Pecan Pie with homemade pie crust and Braylen helped us. He loves being in the kitchen. My mom usually makes this pie and it is soooo good. We also made Pumpkin Cake and it is always delicious.

**Babymoon to New Orleans
We like to visit Guy's family once or twice a year down in New Orleans so we snuck in a trip on the first weekend of December. Braylen stayed with grammy and poppy (Guy's parents) so it was a nice trip just the two of us. One last little getaway before we become a family of 4. We flew standby which is always a nightmare but we eventually made it down there. We enjoyed seeing family, cute baby Ava, and eating much food as possible. :) One of my favorite places to eat down there is called Zea's. It was especially good now that I'm further along in my pregnancy and everything tastes delicious. But the real reason for our visit was to go to a Saint's game!!! One of my good friends from high school's husband is on the coaching staff for the Saints! Seriously. She is that cool.  She offered to get us tickets to a game and we were like, um yes please!

My love for the Saints is obviously because I am married to Guy, but I really do like this team. When Katrina hit and wrecked the city a few years ago, it had an impact on Guy's family too. His grandma stayed with them for months as well as another couple who stayed for a few weeks. After everything "settled" down, the Saints actually won the Super Bowl and it was so amazing. It was like a huge victory for the city! It was really emotional for everyone connected to Katrina. We took a last minute trip to New Orleans a week after they won the Super Bowl and the city was seriously crazy! People were so excited! And it was during Mardi Gras so we saw Drew Brees in one of the parades.

*If you've never gone to Mardi Gras, you should totally go! It is so much fun! It is so not like "girls gone wild" unless you visit Bourbon Street-which we never go to. 

So back to the game. Kelly graciously offered us tickets and told us that we could go on the field for pre-game warm ups! Wow. I am pretty sure that if no one was watching, Guy would have ran sprints around the field out of pure joy and excitement. It was awesome being so close to the players and coaching staff. Even the owner came by and rubbed my belly. :) He said you've got something poking out of there. Can you believe the owner actually says hello to the fans?  Mike Brown, take some notes! We took some amazing pictures and had the best time.

The Saints killed the Lions and after the game, we went to the post-game after party! The families of the players and coaching staff are invited and you needed a special bracelet to get in. We saw a few of the players and Drew Brees wife and Coach Peyton's wife (or ex-wife....drama.). When we were leaving the parking lot in Kelly's car a few people actually stopped us for an autograph because they thought there was a player in our car. Oh I forgot to mention that I almost met Will Ferrell. He just didn't hear me yelling his name.

We had the best time! It was a perfect, much needed trip for the two of us. I am so thankful to be married to my best friend!

 On the field! 

Will Ferrell! So close to meeting him! Not sure what I would have said. I love you? You're hilarious? 

Pierre Thomas!

Drew Brees!