The third trimester begins

How far along?  29 Weeks!

Size of baby?  According to my personal sonographer, Elizabeth

  (not really), says that Baby W is 3.5 pounds already.  

 

Total weight gain/loss: *sheepishly* 20 pounds

Maternity clothes? Mostly.  Since it is spring, I'm still able to wear some skirts and dresses that aren't maternity.

Stretch marks?  None that weren't there before

Sleep:  pretty much the same - lots of getting up to pee and changing position due to be uncomfortable.

Best moment this week: When I came home from the doctor and showed Emmy and Caleb the ultrasound photos, Emmy said, "that's our girl!"  She is determined that it is a girl and seems to love the baby more and more every day.

Miss Anything? Ankles, my back not hurting, not feeling nauseous (yes, it is back - I think mostly due to heartburn), being able to move around freely without having to deal with moving around the belly and without abs, laying on my stomach - just to name a few.  

Granted, I don't want to seem unappreciative.  I know there are so many women who would love to be in my position and I do realize I'm very blessed.

Movement: All the time!

Food cravings: water - I've just been so thirsty.  And pretty much anything else that's not good for me!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Why yes.  I actually vomited today.  First time this pregnancy.  Emmy didn't really know what to think. 

Symptoms: nausea, sleepiness, heartburn, increased swelling

  

Labor Signs: Still having contractions, but they are very irregular. Other than that, my hemoglobin is low, my heart rate is high, and my blood pressure is at a record low (like 80s/50s-60s).  
 

Belly Button in or out? still in

Wedding rings on or off? On
 

Looking forward to: A little getaway with my hubby this weekend to celebrate our six year anniversary and then spending time with family next week for July 4th.

Belly photos taken my Caleb during our beach photo shoot.

Beach Bums

We spent last week at the beach with my parents.  Emmy has been talking about our yearly beach trip for two months, so she was rearing to to the water as soon as we got there.  

She had a blast.  She loved the water, the sand, playing with daddy, making sand castles, collecting seashells, looking for crabs...everything beach related. 

 

One evening we went out to the beach after taking naps and just explored.  This is the day that Emmy really started getting into searching for and collecting seashells.

 

She was so excited, so most of the photos I got were of her walking away from me.

 

Digging for the "good" shells.

 

I got tired of bending over to dig for shells, so I went to sit down on the dry sand and just watch and take pictures while Caleb and Emmy searched.  Whenever Emmy would find a different colored shell, she would run to me and laying them beside me for me to keep an eye on while she went back for more.

On our last night, we all went out to the beach before dinner for our second annual Steele family photo shoot.  It had been raining for a couple of hours before, but with it being our last day, I was determined to get photos on the beach (my dad and Caleb were not as determined, but they turned out to be such good sports).  We eventually decided to go out in the drizzling rain anyway.  I'm pretty happy with how the photos turned out, even with all the clouds.

 

Something was funny, but I can't remember what it was.

 

These two are so goofy together.

 

My pretty girl - two different edits

 

She's so active.  She would run into the water and then run back out screaming with excitement.

 

Our family of 3 (1/2)!

"3" is a Big Deal!

Today, my daughter turned three.  Three years doesn't sound like it should be that big of a deal, but when it comes to kids, there is a lot packed into such a short period of time.  

This year, we decided to have a big party since it will be her last birthday as an only child, daddy is home, and she "gets" the meaning of a birthday party this year.

Daddy requested that there be no pink, so Emmy and I decided to have a ladybug party.  I planned for about six weeks and even though it didn't turn out quite like I had imagined it would, it was great both Emmy and I were dog tired by the end of the day.

The cake was made by Caleb's best friend's girlfriend, Beth.  Not only was it very detailed, but it was delicious!

 

When it was time for us to sing "Happy Birthday" Emmy was so excited that she blew the candles out before the song was over.

 

And, maybe because she was just ready to devour some of the cake for herself.

 

after eating cake, Emmy got to open up her presents.  The "no pink" request didn't carry over onto the presents, but Emmy seemed to love it all and has been having a blast playing one toy and then the other all day long.

For part of her birthday present from Ama, she got her favorite, ring pops!  She just had to have a blue one and by the end of the party she had a blue mouth for all the photos.  I love her little thumbs up!

 

I was glad to have some great friends there to celebrate Emmy with us, Ashley, Katie Beth, Bethany, and Elizabeth.  I think it is so great that the love we have for each other, has been passed down to our children.

 

And, here is the blue mouth making an appearance again for a family photo.

 

 

As we were leaving, Porter and Emmy were playing.  She let him have a lick of her ring pop (gross, but we are trying to teach her about sharing, maybe we should be a little more specific about what is appropriate to share with others : )

 

Well, then Porter laid one on Emmy - just like she did to him last year on his birthday.  It was the sweetest thing, and great blackmail for when they are both older!

 

 

What a difference a year makes!

I love this girl so much and I can't believe God is blessing us with another.  The kid inside me has one awesome big sister!

Friday's Letters

Wow, Friday came back around really quickly!  Time flies when you're having fun!

Dear work, after FIVE glorious days away from you, I'm NOT looking forward to seeing you at 0645 tomorrow morning.  Dear Ashley, I really should have planned better and taken this weekend off to be with you for your birthday.  I'm sorry.  Happy Birthday! I love you.  Dear cars that I own, please stop needing to be fixed.  My pocketbook does not like you right now.  Dear sleep, where are you?