17 weeks

How far along? 17 weeks and Baby Beam is the size of a turnip.

Total weight gain: Holding steady at 2 lbs if the gym scale is correct.  I'll have to wait until next week to see what I way in at the doctor's office.  

Working out? Keeping up with my normal workouts this week.  I did push ups the other night and felt so tight in my abdomen.  It's a weird feeling for me.  

Maternity clothes?  Still in regular clothes but definitely needing some stretch to them.  I tried to wear a pair of maternity jeans the other night and it just wasn't working for me.  I don't need them yet so they felt so weird and were falling off.  I did, however, feel like my normal jeans were more comfortable when unbuttoned with a hair tie around the button :)

Sleep:  I've started sleeping with a pillow between my knees as sleeping on my side is not comfortable for me.  

Best moment this week:  Had to be girls night with some church friends.  We ate Mexican food (guacamole of course) and chatted all things babies for a good 3 hours. They were kicking us out of the restaurant, and we still stood around in the parking lot for another 30 minutes talking!  I love the community in my church.

Cravings:  Nothing to wild this week really.  I'm trying to cook more than I did last week aka I didn't cook at all last week!  Eek! but not really craving anything hard core this week..

Symptoms:  More dry skin so I'm lathering on the coconut oil & shea butter cream that my mom gave me.

Looking forward to:  All the elements coming together for my nursery.  I've ordered some bigger items and can't wait for them to come in so I can start putting it all together.  

Ok so when I decided to do bump updates, I had in my mind that I would do all these cute pictures with the same shirt and a chalkboard all done up, but in real life I'm lucky to get a picture.  So here is this week's bathroom selfie after a workout.  Just keeping it real around here :) 

16 weeks

Don't mind my bathroom selfie

How far along? 16 weeks and Baby Beam is the size of an avocado which is fitting since I've eaten so many avocados/so much guacamole this pregnancy.  Baby loves avocados!

Total weight gain: hmm haven't weighed myself again yet, but I'm definitely in the "fat" stage where you look bigger in the stomach but not sure if it's pregnancy related or eating too much.

Working out? I've been doing well with my workouts this week.  I really feel like consistently working out is helping my body not hurt as it stretches and grows.

Maternity clothes?  I found some maternity jeans on sale at Motherhood this weekend, but don't feel the need to wear them yet.  I wanted to get a pair just in case so I don't wake up one morning and have nothing to wear because I no longer fit in my regular pants.  So far though, I'm still in normal clothes.

Sleep:  Sleep is still coming easily for me aside from Bear waking me up when we had storms this week.  He doesn't like the thunder and needs to be right next to me if it is storming.

Best moment this week:  Can I say it's been knowing that I'm having a little boy??  I still feel like I'm living on cloud 9.  We are just so excited to know and begin to start preparations!

Cravings:  Italian, Mexican.. cookies.. I've been indulging in leftover cookies quite bit this week.  Thank goodness I brought them to work to share so I wouldn't eat them all!

Symptoms:  Really I haven't had any pregnancy symptoms this week except perhaps dry, itchy skin which is an old wive's tale that means boy ;) 

Looking forward to:  Getting to start on the nursery!  We are planning on cleaning out the guest room and moving things out to make that the nursery which involves turning our current office into another guest bedroom.  So much to be done! 

It's a ?????

Brian and I were able to find out the gender of Baby Beam this past Thursday so we threw a gender reveal party on Saturday!  Brian's parents came up for the party and Sharon was such a big help with decorating, cleaning, and all kinds of party prep!  We had a cookies and milk theme since Brian drinks milk all the time.  He did insist on having blue milk since chocolate milk wasn't "boyish" enough for him.  We announced by pouring the color milk from an opaque milk bottle in front of our friends and family.  It was such a wonderful evening celebrating with loved ones!

Friends signed which "team" they were on so I can attach the photo there and put these in my baby book that I do not have yet.

Family pic in front of the mantle.  Bear had to get in on our pictures after a while..

The milk is BLUE!

We are THRILLED to be having a baby boy!

The Old Wives' Tales were mostly correct for me.
Thanks to my mom for drawing my creepy Old Wife up in the corner.

These friends were so confident we were having a boy they brought us a boy gift!

The creepy Old Wife is photobombing this pic!

TEAM BLUE
Yes, Brian and I both thought boy from the beginning which is why we are in this picture :)

TEAM PINK

So thankful for this woman and all her help with the party!

The office manager at my doctor's office wanted to make Brian and I some treats for our gender reveal!
How sweet was that? She made chocolate covered strawberries, pretzels and Oreo pops that
we brought out after we announced the gender

These two..

Our babies are due 10 days apart!  Talk about a crazy January :)

Seriously Bear cannot handle not being a part of the party

The four of us!

Love this pic and these people!

and one more with Bear included :)

15 weeks

How far along? 15 weeks and Baby Beam is the size of a navel orange

Total weight gain: 2 lbs!  I finally weighed myself!

Working out? Due to a birthday party and having family in town, I only worked out once this week.  Eek!

Maternity clothes?  Nothing yet, but I think I'm going to go look for some maternity pants this weekend for when I do need them.

Sleep: Last night was the first night that I had trouble sleeping.  I think it had more to do with 3 cups of coffee yesterday and a restless puppy dog than the baby though.

Best moment this week:  Finding out the gender of baby Beam!!!!  I was so nervous that I literally felt sick to my stomach for the first time during this pregnancy, but we were able to find out with 95% certainty :)

Cravings:  Mexican food.. mostly guacamole.  I seriously just had chips and guacamole for dinner one night this week.  And cheese!  I'm all about cheese these days.

Symptoms:  I've had a weird cough some this week and heartburn like crazy.  I just pop those Tums like crazy!

Looking forward to:  Our gender reveal party this weekend!  Brian's parents are coming up for it, and we will FaceTime my family in for it.  My sweet friend Karis made all my printables again for our cookies and milk themed party.  Will baby Beam be a he or she, we shall see!

14 weeks

How far along? 14 weeks and Baby Beam is the size of a lemon

Total weight gain: I planned on weighing myself at the gym and forgot again.. 

Working out? 2-3 times a week still with Stephanie.  I've loved that I haven't had to give up working out due to sickness so praise The Lord for that blessing.

Maternity clothes?  Nope, but I am feeling like I'm starting to show a bit lately. 

Sleep: No problems with sleeping except that waking up is so hard to do.

Best moment this week:  Eating Chuy's chips and salsa at a friend's birthday party for their one year old?  I know I know.. typical pregnant lady when my best moments are spent around food!  But really it hit the spot and I got to catch up with my friend too.

Cravings:  Well I'm back on the veggie sub from Subway train again.  Literally had the best experience at Subway by my office yesterday.  Super clean, fresh, delicious ingredients and the employees were the sweetest.  I'll be going back!  And this has been the first full week of being able to drink coffee again :) yay!  

Symptoms:  Still fighting the congestion and drainage.  Yuck I know!  But my swollen lymph node is finally going away. 

Looking forward to:  My parents being here this weekend!  But at the same time I'm not excited that they will be moving my brother back into the dorms.  I've actually enjoyed him staying with us and will miss him.  Plus who else will take super flattering pictures of me like this when I'm trying to not have lazy eyes in my pictures? Just keeping it real :)

And on that same note of keeping it real, I'll be 15 weeks tomorrow, but it takes me almost a full week to get a blog post and bump picture up these days! Happy Friday folks!

13 weeks

How far along? 13 weeks and Baby Beam is the size of a sweet peach

Total weight gain: Well my scale is broken so unless I have a doctor's appointment, I have no clue on this one. 

Working out? 3- 4 times a week.  I've been doing more cardio and actually love the results I'm seeing.  Working out with a partner makes cardio so much more bearable for me (thank you Steph). 

Maternity clothes?  Not yet  

Sleep: I'm still sleeping well mostly.  Haven't had to break out the big pillow yet :) Somehow I doubt Brian and Bear will be happy to share the bed with a giant pillow so I'm putting that off as long as I can.

Best moment this week:  Planning our babymoon trip with Brian!

Cravings:  Nachos and guacamole like crazy!  I've eaten Mexican food four or five times this week.  And I've been wanting peanut M&Ms and Kit-Kats too, but only given in two times on those cravings.  I am not liking chicken at all right now especially rotisserie chicken!  Ick!  We are only doing beef recipes at my house right now.

Symptoms:  This week I have been congested and have had headaches pretty frequently from progesterone. On a good note, I'm not as tired as I have been.  I've been able to workout and still have enough energy to cook dinner. 

Looking forward to:  I will sound like a crazy pregnant lady by saying this, but I have been most looking forward to going to the Melting Pot with my girlfriends this week.  I might have been stalking the Melting Pot's Instagram pictures and drooling the past couple of nights in anticipation (insert lip smacking emoji here)