How far along are you? 32 weeks (approximately 8 months)

Size of Baby: Size of a large jicama (3.75 lbs)

Favorite Maternity clothes this week? Dresses and flats

Stretch marks? No

How’s your Sleep? Good! I really have to give credit to myself for getting some exercise in everyday because I know that’s why I’ve been able to sleep so heavy every night.

Favorite moment this week? The realization that the house is almost ‘complete’ and ready for baby Ally to arrive. We have a few pieces of ikea furniture to put together and some other things in the nursery to get hung but it’s really a nice feeling to know that it will all be completed before she arrives. I have to admit I was feeling a little uneasy about how it was all going to come together but I’m happy now. And at one point, before she arrives, we also plan to update Bode’s room too with some fresh paint and furniture rearranging but if it doesn’t happen till after she arrives that will be okay too!

Do you miss anything? Wine!

Do you have any Food cravings? Chocolate and breakfast foods

Anything making you Nauseas? No, but I do have ‘morning sickness’ symptoms everyday around 3-5pm.

Mood? Good, but I can definitely say we’ve had a lot of up’s and down’s over the past few months with Bode. I think he’s starting to feel that change is coming and that he won’t be the baby anymore. He has been asking Matt to rock him like a baby and then afterwards says ‘Bode is a big boy’. And he has definitely tried to test our limits with everything from bedtime to eating out to getting dressed, which has really been hard to manage especially when we have places to be. I just have to stop myself from getting upset and get down to his level to listen to him and show him that he will always be my little man. Even writing this makes me a little emotional because he is just growing up so fast. I spent more time this week playing with him after work and less time cooking dinner and cleaning the house. I want him to know that he is my number one priority right now, and that a new baby doesn’t replace his role in the family it only strengthens it. Of course, I’m saying this about a 2 ½ year old that could probably care less but when I look back at this post a few years from now I’ll probably be thinking to myself, ‘Wow, do you remember when Bode was like that?’… This is probably the best way I can document those memories.

What are you looking forward to? Not having to get dressed every day for work… this was the first week where I’ve really had a hard time finding clothes to wear each and everyday. Less than a month to go and then (as Matt says), I can go in hibernation before the baby arrives.
I’m also looking forward to professional (maternity/family) pictures this week since I feel like I just can’t get a good picture from anyone these days… Maybe I’m being too critical but 99% of pictures I take make me look like huge!!! Yay I know I’m pregnant but I swear the pictures don’t equal what I see in the mirror or even on the scale, I can’t say I’m one of those Mommy’s that makes pregnancy ‘look good’, good thing I’ve got less than 2 months to go!

***please excuse my messy bathroom, it’s one of the only full length mirrors I’ve got around here!

(Sorry no picture this week…)

How far along are you? 31 weeks

Size of Baby: The size of 4 oranges (approximately 3.3lbs)

Favorite Maternity clothes this week? Summer dresses

Stretch marks? No

How’s your Sleep? Great! I actually got a little motivated to really push myself to work out in the morning every day and since I started that last week my sleep has been really good.

Favorite moment this week? I had another doctor appointment this week which is always a highlight, and from now on my appointments will be every 2 weeks instead of every 4 weeks. I can’t believe how crazy it is to think that we’ve already reached that milestone in the pregnancy! And only 6 weeks till I’m considered ‘full-term’, I sure hope I get a little time to relax on maternity leave before she arrives because I can only imagine how crazy things will get with 2 kiddos in the house vs. 1.

Do you miss anything? All my clothes… I counted that I only have about 7 business casual outfits that still fit so I’ll be wearing the same thing very often each week at work. And with only 5 weeks of work left, there’s no reason for me to go do any new shopping.

Do you have any Food cravings? Sweets

Anything making you Nauseas? No

Mood? Good, since I have been finding the energy to workout everyday I think it’s been helping my overall mood.

What are you looking forward to? Continuing to work on my ‘to-do list’ before Ally arrives. My goal is to get 95% of it done before I go on maternity leave so I can use my time off to cook, exercise, and rest.

How far along are you? 30 weeks (less than 10 weeks till we meet our baby girl!)

Size of Baby:  Head of Cabbage

Favorite Maternity clothes this week? Dresses, we had perfect So Cal weather (high 70’s, low 80’s)

Stretch marks? No

How’s your Sleep?  Still hard to fall asleep with all the movement in my belly but I’ve been sleeping pretty heavy once I do fall asleep.  I probably get up once in the middle of the night but I can definitely tell my body is craving sleep because I’ve been getting almost 9 hours every night and I’m still exhausted.

Favorite moment this week? Bode noticing my belly more and even giving more kisses to his ‘sister’.  It’s actually funny how he all of a sudden noticed my belly more; although he hasn’t felt her kick yet I’ve been trying to get him to feel for it more lately.

Do you miss anything? Wine, after a fun girl’s weekend in Carlsbad it was rough not getting to unwind with a cocktail or two…

Do you have any Food cravings? Donuts (I might have to give into this one at least 1x this week)

Anything making you Nauseas? No, but I do have a little nausea in general in the afternoons so I make sure I’m eating small meals throughout the day.

Mood?  I’ve been really emotional lately, I think because the constant movement reminds me all day long how pregnant I am and its going so fast.

What are you looking forward to? Having a clean house again (LOL)!  I usually have someone come clean my house 1x/month and since we’ve been having construction going on to get this nursery up and ready it’s now 3 weeks past the date I would have had a clean house.  I have to admit it’s my favorite day of the month, and it’s so cute now when we get home Bode and I go check out every room in the house and he tells me “oooh, it’s so clean mama” with each room we view.  Next week I’ll finally have a clean house again!

As promised I have decided to reveal our baby girl’s name which was not easy!  We had already picked out Bode’s name when we were in college together around 2004, but we’d never really agreed on a baby girl name for some reason.  There are so many beautiful names out there but it had to be something that worked with our last name – Hank.  I definitely wanted a feminine name and not a name that could be mistaken for a male if it was written on paper.  My husband wanted a name that he could also shorten to give her a nickname, because I guess that’s what every ‘Coach’ err I mean ‘Dad’ wants.  After searching through thousands of names I came up with our top 5 baby girl names:

• Brielle
• Adeline
• Shaelyn
• Allyson
• Jordana

And it was an obvious choice from the beginning that we both agreed our favorite was Allyson or Ally (we had different opinions on our 2^nd favorite)… So without further ado, we look forward to introducing the newest addition to our family sometime in late May- Allyson Honor Hank.

How far along are you? 29 weeks

Size of Baby: Butternut Squash

Favorite Maternity clothes this week? Spandex as always but since the weather has warmed up a bit I have been wearing more bright colors and even peep toe flats vs. regular close-toed flats. But once again, as the week went on, I had to pull the boots back out of the closet because we got rain. Typical March weather, one day its beautiful, mid-70’s and a few days later its cold and rainy.

Stretch marks? No

How’s your Sleep? Starting to get harder since I’m getting so much movement from baby girl, which makes me feel nauseas. Once I fall asleep I am tossing and turning because its hard to get comfortable or I have restless leg syndrome. Usually drinking a large glass of water before bed helps with circulation but then I end up getting up a few times in the night to use the bathroom. Its a never ending cycle thats only going to get worse as I get closer to the due date.

Favorite moment this week? Having one day off this week for me, while everyone else was working or at daycare I finally got to do a few things that I haven’t been able to do because it’s hard to get to during the week or even on the weekends when I’m spending time with the family. Having ‘me’ days are essential when you become a Mommy!

Do you miss anything? While it’s usually wine, this week it was a nice cold beer since the weather was so beautiful… only a few more months till I can enjoy one!

Do you have any Food cravings? Chocolate – my new “go to” is a protein shake with chocolate hemp protein (I add 2 cup of fresh spinach, 1 banana, 1 cup almond milk, and 2 handfuls of ice cubes)

Anything making you Nauseas? Yes, baby girl’s movements since it feels like she is doing somersaults all day long. Its strange because I remember Bode doing a lot of kicking and punching but nothing like I’ve been feeling lately.

Mood? Good, I think it’s the warm weather and this weekend we even change the clocks to have longer days – so excited!!!

What are you looking forward to? Girls’ weekend in Carlsbad this weekend, probably the last one like this for a while since 3 out of the 4 of us are expecting our 2^nd child. No big plans just lots of gossip and girly fun!

And I’ve decided to reveal our baby girl’s name next week on my 30 week blog post…

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Sorry no picture this week…

How far along are you? 28 weeks (approximately 7 months)

Size of Baby: Chinese cabbage

Favorite Maternity clothes this week? Leggings and stretchy tight tops, which basically is anything super comfy!

Stretch marks? No

How’s your Sleep? Good. I was actually thinking about how much better my sleep has been this pregnancy vs. with Bode because it’s so much easier to sleep when it’s cold vs. hot outside!

Favorite moment this week? The realization that I only have 2 months left of work before maternity leave, definitely reassuring because its already starting to get hard to dress this bump every morning.

Do you miss anything? Back to missing sushi, I could seriously go for some sashimi.

Do you have any Food cravings? Sweets.

Anything making you Nauseas? No, but I have started getting afternoon ‘morning sickness’ again.

Mood? Well I guess it depends on what day of the week you ask but lately happy and relaxed.

What are you looking forward to? Having our nursery 100% completed. Just a few more finishing touches need to happen like new windows, paint, and shutters over the next few weeks and then I can start decorating… Plus I’m really anxious to reveal the name so hopefully that will happen in the next few weeks too!