31 weeks: harper's photo shoot

Alpha Mom Reports:
Your Baby:

• Blah blah blah 3.3 pounds, bag of oranges, sock full of nickels, etc.
• Enjoys yawning, sucking his or her thumb, kicking mom in the diaphragm.
• Turn-offs include: getting the hiccups, really loud noises and you trying to do all that boring “sleeping” at night.

You:

• Can totally round down your answer to “two months” when people ask you how much longer you have to go. DO NOT focus on the crazy week-to-month-ratio math at this point in pregnancy, particularly when there are breakable, smashy objects within reach.
• May be weirdly and inexplicably congested all the time. I, for one, appear to be allergic to my pillow. This is also prime time for pregnancy colds, as the toll on your body and immune system is getting higher by the week. Take it easy, slow down, take your vitamins and try try try to get enough sleep.
• Can now play everybody’s favorite game, Guess The Body Part That’s Sticking Out Next To My Belly Button! Elbow or heel? Head or butt? Did I seriously just maybe feel my baby’s BIG TOE?

I can't believe we have 2 months (max) to go. And then...all of a sudden...I just won't be pregnant anymore...weird. I feel like I've been pregnant FOREVER and only for a split second at the same time. I bet it will be like marathon training when it's over...even though it's not always fun or comfortable, I'll miss it when it's gone because I know I'm doing something super cool and the uncomfortableness and un-fun-ness of it all is SO worth it. I can't believe she will be HERE so soon...when we can hold her and see her and start to learn her personality. I'll miss my little partner in crime though, that's for sure. I love sharing every bit of my day with her. She is my workout buddy, my sing-along-with-the-radio buddy & even keeps me company through the night when I'm tossing and turning. I feel like she shares in my joy and laughter and also my sadness and tears. What a bond...


but i'm getting ahead of myself...we still have about 2 months to hang together.

we went to the doctor this week & everything is still great...actually "perfect" to use my OB's words :) doesn't get much better than that! 

the other big event of this week was our maternity photo session with the sweet and talented Jordan Palmer! She was so great to work with and after just one short hour (thank goodness, because it was COLD!), we had a whole collection of great pictures. I couldn't be happier with them! here are our faves:

xoxo,

K & Harper

30 weeks: shower # 2

 From Alpha Mom: 

Your Baby:

• Weighs about three pounds and is 17 inches long. Since most full-term babies are between 20 and 22 inches long at 40 weeks’ gestation, your baby will pack on more pounds than inches in the 10 weeks or so.
• Is starting to get a little crowded in there, but still has room to wiggle and roll and punch and kick.
• Despite all the movement, it’s still damn near impossible to tell what position your baby is in for sure (head down, breech, transverse, etc.), but it’s also still too early to be worrying about it. MOST babies settle into a head-down position around 36 weeks, and some still manage to flip themselves around after that.

You:

• May feel like you’re gestating a pissed-off housecat rather than a chubby wittle baby at this point, with some movement and kicks causing ACTUAL PHYSICAL PAIN. Some women experience kicks so sharp and unnerving they mistake them for uterine contractions, even if they’ve already been through pregnancy and labor and should really know better.

Harper is still practicing her gymnastics routine in there...no pain though. In fact, I was sitting in a meeting this week and noticed one of my male co-workers staring at my stomach with a weird look on his face....I looked down to realize H was kicking so hard that my scarf was moving and it looked like i had an alien trying to escape my belly. awkward!

I've still been feeling really great and I'm loving the fact that here I am in my 30th week and still able to workout pretty strong. Kickboxing, spinning, body pump, elliptical, yoga...it's all good. Of course I'm keeping a watchful eye on my heart rate & listening to my body.

We had another shower this weekend hosted by friends. I'm so lucky to have these girls in my life! I love that H will grow up surrounded by such great women and I pray that she will have friends as wonderful as I've been blessed with. Admittedly, I went a little overboard taking pictures but the decor was BEYOND adorable!! check it out:

nutella-filled cupcakes? pink rock candy? smores pops? heaven!

everyone wrote sweet wishes/pieces of advice for Harper that I can put in her baby book
(note to self: GET BABY BOOK! :\)

allison & nicole



Abby (2nd note to self: do not stand next to your tiniest friend in your 3rd trimester!)

Mia & Rhonda



Sharon & Rachelle



Hostesses with the Mostesses: Steph & Abby

As you can see, H and I are lucky girls to be surrounded by such love!

xoxo,
K & Harper

29 weeks: showered with love



Me & my sista



Here's where we're at according to Alpha Mom:

Your Baby:

• Is big and strong enough to resemble a sinister alien thrashing around your abdomen, as my husband kindly pointed out recently, upon noticing a rouge pointy elbow jabbing up and down around my belly button.
• Is sucking up every drop of calcium you can provide as his or her bones continue to harden and become more…uh…bone-like.
• DID I MENTION THE POINTY JABBING? WITH THE SHARP LITTLE BONES?

                                                                          You:

• Might start noticing a resurgence of first-trimester-type symptoms like heartburn and other gastrointestinal issues. Things are getting a BIT crowded in there, and the lack of room means slower digestion and more gas and constipation and woe.
• Are gaining weight. I don’t know or care to look up what the “recommended” amount is at this stage, but most likely you are starting to notice a steady upward movement of that little thingie on your doctor’s scale. If you’ve been using pregnancy as a dietary sweet tooth free-for-all, now might be a good time to start reining it in and focusing on healthy foods and portions instead of “BABY NEEDS CAKE AND A TUB OF FROSTING ON THE SIDE.”

...yup, sounds about right! Harper has given up soccer for full on gymnastics routines and the lovely nurse (eye roll) at the doctor this week had me get on the scale TWICE because (& I quote!) she could just "not believe I had gained THAT much weight since the last time". well believe it, sweetie. in my defense, it was cold out so I had an extra 2 layers of clothes on AND it was the Monday after Thanksgiving! sheesh.


Harper's first shower was this weekend! yipee!!! it was so nice and great to see everyone but a little overwhelming too. I remember feeling this way at our wedding showers too...I just don't love the extra attention. And I really REALLY don't like opening gifts in front of people so that was slight torture but I shouldn't complain one bit because we are SO BLESSED because I think it took me a solid two hours to open all the great gifts our family and friends got for us.

Great Aunts Cindy & Midgie and Cousins Liz, Rose & Kay :)






Honorary Grandma Michele, Grandma Sheryl (she wants to be called Mia), Great Granny Betty & Aunt Caitlin

Great Aunts JudyAnne & Terry and Cousins Joan & Erica

Great Aunt Corrine & Aunt Christina

 

The wonderful hostesses! My mama & her beautiful sisters.

hostess gifts - Cowgirl cookies via Pinterest

From here on out our schedule is PACKED with events, holiday parties & things to do. I have no idea how we're going to get it all done before Harper gets here!!! (freaking out a little....)

xoxo,
K & Harper

28 weeks: Giving Thanks

Harper & Gus @ the Twilight premier!

Alpha Mom reports...

Your Baby:

• Continues to get a longer and fatter by the day. Shocking, I know. His or her weight has actually doubled in the past month alone, which is why you’ve probably gotten comments about “popping” recently.
• Weight is around 2.5 pounds right now, which (if you’re like me, gazing in horror and your inside-out belly button and spidery stretch marks) might sound a little frightening, since the baby clearly needs to gain a LOT MORE WEIGHT before he or she is fully cooked, and oh my God, how in the world is anything bigger going to fit in there?

You:

• Are either feeling like this pregnancy will NEVER end, or that 12 more weeks is simply not nearly enough time to prepare. Or you might feel both ways, changing your mind one minute to the next.
• Must move furniture and fold clothes and organize the linen closet and replace the bathroom vanity and finally get rid of that sooty stain on the marble fireplace and yes, DARLING, these are all essential tasks that MUST be completed before the baby gets here, DO NOT ARGUE WITH ME, NOW GO HANG UP SOME SHELVES.

...Ha! so I guess that nesting instinct I was talking about last week is par for the course.

and Kelle strkes again (she should start paying me as a sponsor...just sayin'). in this post, she talks about raising her daughters to be genuinely THANKFUL.


What does it mean to be thankful though? If it were as easy as asking my child to scribble some words on a thank-you card, I'd stock up on stationery and tuck "grateful child" under my belt of parenting successes. Gratitude is abstract--a more difficult word to define to a child than a simple noun that accompanies a colorful picture on a flash card.


I am happiest when I am most grateful--when I am aware of my surroundings and what exactly it is about this very moment that makes me feel content. Sending a thank-you card might encourage me to express gratitude to someone else, but really? Gratitude is a way of life rather than a lesson on a check-off list of attributes we hope our children will acquire. And the best way to teach it to your children is to live it.


If I asked Lainey to explain gratitude, she'd be stumped. But if I asked her to tell me what her favorite thing about today was, she'd pause and smile while she thought, and then she might begin by describing how cold the ocean was when she stepped past the foamy line that married sand with sea.


I'd listen while her memory unleashed, and I'd smile when it detoured to related stories of what we experienced today--how her friend made her laugh, how the watermelon at lunch tasted so sweet, how the shells we found today were prettier than usual--iridescent and fully intact.


And I think that's what gratitude really is--recognizing every bit of wonder in our surroundings, from the seagulls that swoop in the background at the beach to the extra sprinkles that are generously spooned on scoops of vanilla when we venture out for ice cream.

amen.

that's what i want for Harper...for her to grow to be appreciative, to be happy, to be grateful.

2 big things this week...the Twilight premier (as evidenced above) & THANKSGIVING! we had a nice, low-key turkey day spent with family & delicious food (of course).

With the extra down time, I got all crafty...hey it's the closest thing I can get to that "nesting" stuff right now!

heart shaped cinnamon rolls a la pinterest
(just practicing for fun holiday/birthday breakfasts!)

pennant banner for Harper's nursery
(although after we got the bedding in, I realized the pink is WAY off...
oh well, cute anyway!)

cute little hershey kiss acorns

In preparation for a cute little baby in our home, we invested in a new camera (LOVE!!!!) so we've had fun taking pictures of our cute little kids we have now :)

miss maggie may

jackson brown...he clearly was not as excited about the game as I was!
what a bitter sweet victory....the UT/A&M game has been an important tradition shared on Thanksgiving for....well....all my life. so sad to see it go.  

~Here's to celebrating gratitude & practicing it on a daily basis~

xoxo,

K & Harper

27 weeks: world's best behaved unofficial flower girl

27 weeks @ Christina & Matt's wedding

Week 27 Updates, courtesy of Alpha Mom:

Your Baby:

• Hey! Remember when I told you your baby was as big as a gummy bear? Oh, about 19 or 20 weeks ago?
• Now imagine a two-pound, 15-inch-long gummy bear. Yep.
• Eyelids (which have been fused since 11 or 12 weeks) can now open and close.

You:

• Are officially in the third trimester! Feel free to celebrate/panic at will.
• May notice more of that pesky round ligament pain as your belly gets harder and bigger and rounder, or as it starts to dip down a little bit, looking a little less perky and cute than it did a few weeks ago.
• Depending on your baby’s position, the kicks and movements might be a little painful. Feet up under your ribcage, jabs to the cervix, random body parts of mystery poking you way off to the side, where you didn’t even think those little appendages were long enough to reach.

This week, we celebrated the marriage of 2 very special people:

christina + matt

 It was a lovely wedding and a wonderful weekend spent with family. Harper was a trooper and we only got tired at the very end.

the beautiful bride

cousins ashley & mikaela

Harper was added to the guestbook :)

We're just movin' right along....I'm starting to get anxious because we don't have a lot of things for Harper yet. I guess that's that "nesting" instinct. I need to be patient!

xoxo,

K & Harper

26 weeks: making memories



26 weeks @ Christina & Matt's Rehearsal Dinner

 What up, Alpha Mom?

Your Baby:

• Is almost two pounds. Celebrate this milestone with a two-pound box of chocolates. You know, in order to really get a good VISUAL.
• Remember those early bubbly butterfly kicks? Yeah. Those have been replaced by something akin to a rabid mongoose flippin’ out inside a burlap sack.
• If you DO occasionally feel smaller, rhythmic movements in your belly, it’s probably your baby hiccuping. Babies actually get hiccups from late in the first trimester on, but most women don’t pick on them the second trimester or later.
• All five senses are fully developed. Whoa.

You:

• Are in the last and final week of the second trimester! (At least according to the books I’ve chosen to listen to — some mark the beginning of the third trimester as week 27, while some make you wait until week 28. Look, we’re all big and lumpy and ridiculously cranky, let’s get this final trimester STARTED.)
• Of course, the end of the second trimester also marks the end of the so-called “honeymoon” phase of pregnancy, as the final three months can get awfully uncomfortable. Back and joint pain, swollen ankles, restless nights and Braxton-Hicks contractions, ahoy!
• You’ll gain about 1/2 inch in belly/fundal size EVERY WEEK from this point on, oh mah gah. I guess I should stop being so smug about those pre-pregnancy lowrise jeans I’ve been wearing (with just a little help from my trusty rubber band).
• The books say we’ve gained about 16-22 pounds, so long as we’ve been following a “nutritious and sensible diet plan.” Bite me, books.

am i uncomfortable? sure. but i swear it's really not THAT bad. i can't wait to have my old hip joints back again. and the big belly sure does make painting my toenails interesting...but i can certainly do this for 3 more months. i know it's going to get "worse" towards the end but really, i didn't expect pregnancy to be a cake walk so i'm happy overall. i'll take it.

so instead of talking about aches and pains or silly stuff like that, i want to talk about something that makes me ridiculously, smile-to-yourself-in-public-like-a-crazy-person happy...and that is the thought of making traditions and memories with our little girl. with the start of the holiday season, this has been on my mind a lot lately. i notice things differently now.

we just celebrated our last pre-Harper Halloween. Sure the dressing up in crazy costumes and drinking and parties have been fun, but from here on out it will be about her. and that's just fine with me! what will she want to be for halloween each year as she grows up? i can't wait to watch "it's the great pumpkin, charlie brown" with her as we carve pumpkins and dump candy into bowls.

then there's thanksgiving....baking pumpkin bread, spending time with family as the weather cools, teaching Harper what it means to be THANKFUL and live a life of gratitude...

and christmas...oh christmas! where do i even START?!

i was driving to work this week and an ad for the Nutcracker came on the radio. within a few seconds, i found myself tearing up at the thought of taking my little girl to the Nutcracker every year.

(http://www.kellehampton.com/2011/06/first-position.html.)

...baking cookies for santa, celebrating advent and teaching her the Christmas story, church candlelight service with Harper in a fancy new dress, christmas morning complete with bed head and big ol' mugs of coffee for cody & i as we watch our girl's eyes light up with excitement.....oh yes. i can see it now :)

my girl, Kelle (yeah, we're on a first name basis....) was talking about this just the other day. in her post (you can read the whole thing here) she says, "The story my kids will tell someday depends on me. I am writing their book, and I want their childhood chapters full of traditions and stories and memories of the comforts of home." yep, i can't wait for THAT.

so, here's to our last pre-Harper Holidays....all the cheesy holiday-related things cody has gotten out of over the years by using his adult reasoning are about to be overruled - sorry babe, but get ready for all the peanuts holiday specials, cookie baking extravaganzas & treks out for real christmas trees you can handle!

xoxo,
K & Harper

25 weeks: the name game

well...blogger is being stupid and is not allowing me to post pictures...c'est la vie.

Whatcha got for us this week, Alpha Mom?

Your Baby:

• Weighs about 1 1/2 pounds and is 13 1/2 inches long.
• Is growing more hair, with a distinctive color and texture and everything.

You:

• Have a uterus the size of a soccer ball.
• Have probably noticed a decent increase in your belly size over the past few weeks — your fundal measurements (the length between your pubic bone and the top of your uterus) grew about an inch-and-a-half in the past four weeks alone.
• May start experiencing uterine contractions soon, if you haven’t already.

awwww...i wonder what color her hair is! blonde or brown? could go either way i guess. and wow, sounds like a lot going on with my uterus this week. soccer ball? well she certainly thinks it resembles a soccer ball because the kicks just keep on comin'!

ok enough of calling "her" "she" ...after much deliberation, discussion & spread-sheet-creation, we have decided on a name!!! a lot of people recommend not sharing the name ahead of time because others will give you their opinion (good, bad or otherwise) but frankly, i don't care. others have been giving their opinion about everything else so i'm pretty immune to it by this point. so without further ado...

we have not just decided upon, but we have fallen in love with the name.....Harper Grace :) 

and some more good news....we passed our glucose tolerance test! yahoo!

so things are sailing along pretty smoothly. the holidays are right around the corner so we have a busy few months ahead! life is good.

xoxo,
K & Harper

24 weeks: wogging right along...



25 weeks with my beautiful cousin, Joan
(missed a 24 week photo opp...but it's an early 25 weeks so I'll take it)



so what's up this week, Alpha Mom?

Your Baby:

• Is just about a foot long now. I believe it is a tradition to consume a foot-long sub sandwich or hot dog in your baby’s honor at this point. I also believe I just made that up.
• Is still very skinny looking, with translucent skin, but this will all start changing soon.
• Is officially at the edge of viability, and most hospitals would automatically attempt every possible life-saving option if your baby were to be born now.

You:

• Will undergo the glucose screening test at some point between now and 30 weeks to check for gestational diabetes. It’s done at a routine prenatal visit and involves chugging down an incredibly sickly-sweet beverage. Then you wait an hour and give a blood sample. And then you get someone else to drive your ass home, because you will be 1) passed out cold from a sugar crash or 2) howling in pain from a headache or 3) both. I brought a book to pass the time but fell asleep 20 minutes after the shot of sugar and woke up drooling on my husband, and I felt like crap for hours afterwards. But I passed! (A positive screen does not necessarily mean you have GD; it just means you have to get a whole OTHER, more-monitored test.)
• Are probably noticing more aches and pains as we come to the final couple weeks of the second trimester, particularly in your lower back, hips and other joints.
• Sciatica! Eeeeeeeeeee! Stopit!

Yup...sounds about right. Although I feel like I'm getting bigger by the MOMENT, I can't believe she's a FOOT long! We can definitely feel her kicks from the outside now and you can see them too which is funny.

Running & certain kicks in kickboxing are starting to get pretty uncomfortable for obvious reasons:

My hips get pretty sore when I run, which I would assume is normal. But I'm sad to report my running days may be numbered until February because each time I go out for a run, the more uncomfortable it gets. Plus my running has turned more into wogging (waddle/jogging as my friend Lynsi calls it) to compensate for said sore hips and a growing little girl. I'll keep it up as long as I can but I'm grateful for spin class and the elliptical because those seem to give me no trouble at all.

On Friday, I took the dreaded glucose test. For whatever reason, I was stressing this one BIG time! And of course, being a Friday, I had to wait until Tuesday afternoon for the results! Ugh. Silver lining? the test was done just in time for me to be able to have a big ol' slice of wedding cake on Saturday ;)





The drink wasn't nearly as bad as people describe it....there was no puking or fainting that some people warn you about...not even close. The first few sips I thought were actually pretty tasty! But that much sugar on an empty stomach was blech about 15 minutes into the test. Not a big deal though...

Saturday we enjoyed a wonderful wedding reception to celebrate Joan & Travis's wedding. It was great to see some family and catch up & the food was SO GOOD (priorities...).

what a ham.



don't see these guys NEARLY enough


So another great week flies on by...week 25 was a big one. I'm sure you're chomping at the bit to see how my glucose screening test went. Plus....we've picked a name!! stay tuned :)

Love,
K & baby