Whew! What a week! Energy=Drained.

The week was definitely full of a lot of different adventures. I will just do a re-cap in pictures! I seem to have more energy and enjoy getting out of the house. That has been a rarity and I am enjoying it tremendously. I am sure the kids are too. 

Stella and I painted our toes. (She says "Peerrrr..... pooool")

 Potty Training is in full swing! We are working hard! Some poops and some pees already!

 On Friday we got to enjoy a play-date at the Campbell's with friends from church. Stella enjoyed playing and I enjoyed adult interaction!

 Stella was pinching the baby. So funny to watch her kiss and smack and pinch the baby!

 Friday Night Football Game: Go Braves! We looooved having the Schmidt's Creme Puff!

 CHEESE! (this was after she ate 3/4 of the creme puff)

 On Friday, I was blessed to hang out with Jamie! She is starting a new chapter in her life (WOOT WOOT) and I am so proud of her for making the changes she has! She even came to BW3s to watch the Steelers (lose) with me! So nice! Then, we decided to go to the Delaware All Horse Parade. Who would have known that this even existed. We have lived in Delaware for a few years, and this gem is so fun to watch. It kicks off the Delaware County Fair week, and I am looking forward to watching the horse races and the Little Brown Jug. Here are a few of the favorite horses. So many! 

 All Black! So cool. (I Should mention that it is non-motorized... all horse drawn or horse riders)

 Pretty sweet colors for horses!

 These riders were all dressed as KISS (So were the horses!)

 LOVING the PARADE! (kid=not impressed)

Little Nuggets pulling a carriage! (And Ronald McDonald)

 It is hard to tell, but this little horse was so cute, and his hair just flowed in the breeze! Adorable!

Hudson making Spin-Art at Lattes and Lollipops! They made it to the fridge! He was so proud. 

 We practiced swinging. Hudson wanted to learn and he did a GREAT job! Stella would just hang on her swing and sometimes push herself back and forth with her tippy-toes. It was actually hilarious in person! I should have videoed it! After work, John and I went to Target to get registered. I feel accomplished and ready to just add gender specific things when we find out if it is a girl or a boy.

Today, Stella was super tired in the AM. Very random and unlike her. I have run out of my nausea medicine and it has been quite the hassle trying to get it all organized with the pharmacy and the doctor. Long story short the Rx was made out for 2 pills a day... but I can take up to 4 a day if I need. Well... I ran out quicker than the insurance would like. So, I called the doctor, she fixed the Rx, and all is well. I went and got the medicine and took one as soon as I got water. WORD TO THE WISE: DO NOT run out of nausea medicine... even if you are weaning off of it. You will be sick! 

Today was not a pleasant day or energy filled. Stella just fell asleep randomly on the floor in the living room. She was a bit whiny, and watching cartoons (which is rare for her) and I look down and she is asleep? She slept. I played on Pinterest trying to not be sick. My stomach has calmed down a bit.. still a bit sick. I am hoping that taking the full dose tonight will put my life back in order! Gesh! 

Thanks for keeping up with me and John and little baby Edmonds. I have a doctors appointment next week. I will be sure to blog about it! 

-Alexis-

Week.15.Questions

How far along: 15 Weeks

Total weight gain: Not sure... I refuse to look at a scale! 

Maternity clothes: I officially bought 4 maternity shirts... I appreciate the way they look. 

Stretch marks: Still just one! But... that cocoa butter smells like a Hershey bar... makes me sick!

Sleep: Still sleeping. I bought a body pillow to help get comfy... it is a hinderance at this point...

Best moment of this week: This week I got a lot of baby shower details nailed down with family!

Miss anything: I miss eating a full meal. I can't seem to eat what I used to. (This should help with weight gain I suppose)

Movement: Nothing... I am hopeful! haha

Food cravings: Alissa bought me Snyder BBQ Chips and they were amazing! I also like a baked potato from Wendy's with butter, cheese, salt and pepper. :)

Anything making you queasy or sick: The Hershey smell of my cocoa butter lotion.

Have you started to show yet: I am led to believe so! It is still small, but a cute belly. 

Gender: No idea... BUT I re-read the "find out your baby's sex the first ultrasound" Pinterest post, and when we had our first ultrasound, I must have read it wrong. Placenta is on the baby's right... that means boy... we read it that it was a girl back then. SO, who knows! haha

Labor signs: nope. 

Belly button in or out: in.

Wedding rings on or off: on.

Happy or moody most of the time: I am happier! I must say I have noticed a dramatic change in my attitude toward any and all around me.  

Looking forward to: Registering at Target and Buy Buy Baby!

-Labor Day Weekend 2013-

Labor Day weekend in a nutshell was exhausting and awesome!

Saturday started with the dogs heading to the boarder and a day of cleaning the house and running errands. I love taking the dogs to the boarder and their reaction when we pick them up is amazing! They are so excited to see us. More on that at the end of the post. Saturday also brought the start of Buckeye Football! I am going to be honest... I was never a fan of college football, I am more of an NFL girl and love the Steelers, but last year John and I had the chance to go to a few Buckeye games and that changed my mind immediately! It was so exciting and you get so pumped up! So... we enjoyed the game in a clean house before we headed to a wedding!

We enjoyed a wonderful evening at John's co-workers' wedding reception. It was nice to relax and enjoy good food and company. We are so happy for Matt and Mike and the new journey they are embarking. And.. on a side note, cutest little favors ever... M&M's (Matt and Mike!) Adorable! We decided to head back to my hometown that night and just bite the bullet and drive.

Sunday was exciting because after we woke up, Alissa (my cousin) and I went to check out a potential baby shower location!!! I was excited because we have been playing around with the theme and I am ready to just get going! So... we went to check it out, decided it was perfect location and it matches the theme and weather of the shower date!

Perfect... Check out the blur of Miss Mia! hehe

We headed to Target to get a baby shower gift and look for more maternity shirts. Success! I am loving these shirts! I haven't had to get new bottoms yet... but it is quickly coming. Alissa is amazing. We are so similar in our tastes and liking things to be perfect. It could be viewed as a flaw, but we do not see it that way! Well, she is so in tune with me that she bought me potato chips that I was craving all week and hopeful she would have at her house with some dip... and she did! Snyder BBQ chips are not sold in central Ohio and it is beyond frustrating. They are my all-time favorite and she had them! Bought them for me at the store because she knew she loved them when she was pregnant with Mia and knew I would need them! Amazing and delicious I must add. After a quick lunch stop, John and I headed to PaPa's house to hang out around the fire. 

PaPa is my grandfather. He is a fire lover. He will sit and build a fire for the family and just keep it going and going. He loves it. He also loves cooking bacon and sausage over a fire. He is a man of little words, but hilarious! He cracks me up. I got to see my Aunt Nancy, Aunt Kim, Randy, PaPa, my dad, Barb, the Petersen family, Lydia, Jeremiah, Dena and Zooey, Shirley, Joyce, Louise, John and Uncle Louis. Uncle Louis is Papa's brother. Older by five years. He is celebrating his 89th birthday this month, so I told him we made him cake! (Aunt Kim makes an amazing HoHo cake, and we used that as a birthday cake) We sang Happy Birthday, and he loved it! How sweet is that! We hung out around the fire, smelled and were in love with Barb's homemade soap, ate green bean soup, talked about little baby edmonds, relaxed and enjoyed the time together until about 10-10:30, said our goodbyes and headed back to Alissa and Clayton's to go to bed!

PaPa and Me (and little baby Edmonds--you can see!) 

*PaPa does not smile for pictures, and usually has his tongue out!*

Uncle Louis and PaPa

*trouble makers with 'selective' hearing*

Monday morning came quickly. Alissa and I RAN (and when I say ran, we ran) to Victoria's Secret to grab the 7 for $26 underwear deal. Then, John and I were off to visit my mom and Dale (and the kittens). Dale and mom grilled and we had a delicious lunch. We got to hang out and Dale and John got to play football on the XBox. I always had cats growing up. John is really allergic, and I developed an allergy to cats when I moved away to college... but these kittens are ADORABLE! Lucy loves to cuddle. I just wanted to cuddle back! I did for a bit, washed my hands and I survived. It was a relaxing visit but we had to head back to get the pups!

The pups were so excited to see us! It gives us something to look forward to on the way home! Well... we have been watching Adi and always wonder how she interacts with other dogs. She can get rough with Aspen, but never hurt her. The woman told us that she is great with other dogs, but is protective of Aspen. It is kind of cute in a sisterly way! (Adi will not let the house out of sight if we try to take her for a walk and not Aspen... she just sits and walks home... they love each other!) After a weekend of boarding, our pups are pooped! Adi got out of the car, came inside, and passed out on the couch! Aspen walked around for a bit and is now passed out! Look at these faces!!

 -Aspen Noel-

-Adi Rose-

After such an eventful and exhausting weekend, I feel like snoozing just like the pups! 

Week 14 Baby -Bumps-

Well... week 14 came with a few bumps...

I have not been sick and I even forgot my medicine one night and WASN'T sick in the morning. I am going to start weaning myself off of them if I continue to feel good and not nauseous! Whew! What a relief.

Dress Debacle
I have been excited to wear a certain dress to the upcoming wedding. It shows my little baby edmonds baby bump, and it super cute and summery! On the plus side, I got it at Gabe's for $9.99 and it was from The Limited. Well... after I got completely ready (which includes make-up to match) I put on my new dress and ask John to help me zip it. It has a side zip with a seam, and we all know that it is impossible to get over a seam on your own. So... John is helping me as I squish my boobs as much as I can to help aid in the cause. They are currently gigantic, but in my head, I told myself that they would fit if I just got it zipped. Well... not so much. We tried for a while to get this dress zipped and my arm was ON FIRE from holding it up in the air. Then... John realized that the zipper was now broken and torn. WHAT?! This dress fits dang it! It has to fit! We tried to un-zip the dress. No such luck. WHY? So... in the end, I had to be CUT out of my dress. It was a sad day. (Also.. my make-up did not match the dress I ended up wearing to the wedding we were now late for) I am determined to fix the dress and wear it!

Cocoa Butter-Better?
When we registered at Babies 'R' Us this week, I bought cocoa butter to aide in the newest stretch mark development (on my boob). Well... I waited to use it until the day of the wedding. Well... no one told me I would smell like a Hershey BAR! It smells like chocolate. (I have since this post talked to others who said their cocoa butter did not have this smell... why does mine?) To be more accurate, it smells like the Hershey Chocolate Lip Smacker. It is not pleasant... but I must press on and help stop these stretch marks!

The culprit and The smell...

I am looking forward to week 15 and rockin' my new wardrobe... regardless if I smell like a Hershey Bar or not! 

-Alexis

-Babies 'R' Us Registering Excursion-

Well... this all started on Wednesday. I got to spend the day with my amazing friend Jamie. She got the day off work, so we went to Easton to just window shop, and hit up Buy Buy Baby to do a little 'walk through' of all the great things I get to register for! Stella joined us and she enjoyed a great time of shopping and some mini-gummi-bears. YUM! (Jamie and I enjoyed an array of gummi candies as well!) It was great to just hang out and walk around. I was hoping that all the walking would stretch out the legs and prevent leg cramps at night... it seemed to work! Well, after Buy Buy Baby, I was GAME on ready to register!

-Stella and her gummi-bears-

When I got home from work and so did John, I was dead set on registering. Buy Buy Baby was quite the drive for the time of night, so we decided we would start at Babies 'R' Us. Well... I already know in my head everything I want, it is just a matter of scanning and finding the right colors. John was game on too! Whew! We headed to Babies 'R' Us and I felt a little strange because everyone else who was preggo and registering were REALLY preggo. I mean, I am barely showing... I look fat. These women looked like they were 2cm already! Oh well... I would rather do it now, and not when I can barely walk! So we were ready and armed with a scanner. I protested that I would scan because John scanned ALL of our wedding registry. I wanted to have the fun job! I am carrying a baby... (*That is a GREAT line by the way*) So, we set off to register. No one tells you how many bottles, or nipples, or binkies to register for... so I just did a lot. I may have been over zealous, but what can I say... I was trigger happy! After we registered, we were exhausted but it just made me MORE excited to go to Buy Buy Baby and register for all the fun things I saw there! 

Thursday was fair day! We went to watch Mason (another child I nanny) show his horse and cheer him on at the fair. I can never turn down a chance for fair food! Duh! So, we headed to the fair! Mason did a great job! So proud of how hard he focused and worked. 

After we helped clean up and load the kiddos, we headed to the main drag to check out the food options. It was rather warm and nothing seemed to jump out at me. I decided against fair food that night... I may be regretting that decision as I type! Delaware County Fair and the Little Brown Jug are coming up soon, so I can always go get food there! I am a huge elephant ear fan!

Friday we decided we would have a date night. We love this little Mexican restaurant in downtown Delaware, so we went to enjoy some pollo loco and quesadillas. I think that little baby Edmonds is shrinking my stomach. I couldn't even finish the LUNCH portion, and I used to be able to eat the entire dinner portion! What is happening! We decided to head to Target to grab a wedding gift and check out any maternity clothes that would be on sale. Another thing no one tells you about when you get pregnant: How to buy maternity clothes!? Do they start in size again... for instance I am a little bit pregnant so do I get a small? Or do they adjust them based on your current size? Well... I figured it out and bought my first two maternity shirts! They are much more flattering than any other shirt I have right now... whew! I was starting to look a little yucky and not liking it! 

Let the Labor Day Weekend BEGIN!

Week.14.Questions

How far along: 14 Weeks

Total weight gain: I don't know specifically... I don't weigh myself.. the doc told me last week!

Maternity clothes: Still no maternity clothes. I may graduate to the rubber band trick soon. 

Stretch marks: I found one... not on my tummy, but the boob. classic.

Sleep: Still getting up to pee. I have been having CRAZY nightmares!

Best moment of this week: visiting the cabin and relaxing with the Dorsey Family

Miss anything: I still miss my energy and productiveness. 

Movement: Still nothing. I sometimes think I feel something, but John thinks I am crazy. 

Food cravings: Not a craving, but today I enjoyed a PB&J and that doesn't happen often. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: the nausea has subsided a bit.. but around 5pm, it returns... just in time for dinner. 

Have you started to show yet: I think you can tell. My sister in law said I look GOOD! I appreciated it. 

Gender: no idea.

Labor signs: NO!

Belly button in or out: In.

Wedding rings on or off: On. 

Happy or moody most of the time: Still pretty happy. I am back to being a bit tired lately. 

Looking forward to: A long weekend at home and seeing my daddio!

*Columbus Clippers- Ring Your Bell!*

Crazy Dreams and Nightmares

Well week thirteen brought a few strange dreams and a few nightmares. I had a dream that I was Ludacris's driver... really... Ludacris?! Where does that come from. Michelle was there too. She was actually driving and got us lost in Martins Ferry. We ended up in Wheeling and someone pulled a knife on Ludacris (I was with him, Michelle was somewhere looking for an ATM) and he pulled a bigger knife and made fun of the guy for being a wanna-be! HAHA Then I woke up.

The next night was not a good night. I woke up to a nightmare of a man first trying to rip me off at a gas station (thanks Facebook for all your scary posts) and then I told him to stop or I will get my gun (that was in my glove compartment) <on a side note... I do not own a gun>. I went to the Dorsey's house after getting my gas because he left me alone... and walking passed the security camera's, I saw his car drive in the driveway, and I couldn't find him. Good thing Alex was home, he got his gun. He took care of it. All I could think about was where should I hide?!  The next day, I asked Karmon where I could hide in her house in case of emergency. I have it all cleared up and squared away. No fear!

Regardless, these were the two that I really remember. There have definitely been more. I have no idea what the deal is, but pregnancy dreams I hear are crazy. I can't imagine them getting worse. Until I like spit out my baby or something along those lines. I have a few more weeks to go... I am not looking forward to the craziness!


And then... we all know that these crazy dreams and the constant peeing is only prepping me for the joy that is to come of my new baby waking me up every couple hours... I am nervous about my ability to maintain my composure. Good thing John is good at being kind with little sleep... me, it is a work in progress!