Brady's Bump- 23 weeks

Due Date: March 24, 2012
Weight gain: I gained 5 pounds this week (my appointment was on Monday, so I’m scared to see what I’ve gained since Thanksgiving!)
Maternity clothes: All the time from now until Brady gets here.
Sleep: Ok. I’ve been getting some bad calve cramps lately.
What I miss: Sleeping on my belly.
Movement: He kicks all the time (especially at night!)
Sex: BOY!!!! Brady James Seals
Food cravings: Butterfingers & hot chocolate
What I'm looking forward to: Being done with college so all I have to do is think about Brady!
Exciting stuff: I’ve got most of my Christmas shopping done!!!
What a great week it’s been! I love Thanksgiving. Monday, I got to visit with my wonderful friends, Paula & Dave. I never get to see them, so I had to go by and visit them while they were in Maud. I’m hoping we can get out to Dallas before too long. My grandmother from Houston came in on Wednesday. She stayed with us until Saturday. It was so much fun visiting and shopping with her. Wednesday night we had all the family over for Thanksgiving (Mexican food). It was a blast! I love getting everyone together and spending time together. Thursday, Mama Watson and I got to Texarkana around 10am to do a little Black Friday Christmas shopping. We’re not die-hard shoppers like my mom & sisters. They hit the sales at 10pm and didn’t get home until 4am..then were back at it again Friday around 10am. I don’t know how they managed to do that! I got my Christmas tree up and have the house all decorated. I’ve also got half of my present wrapped…so I’ve been pretty busy. I have a big project due Tuesday that I’ve been working on today…but I’m not too motivated. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m SO ready for graduation to get here!!!

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

I've had a wonderful Turkey Day. My grandmother from Houston came to town to celebrate Thanksgiving. Last night we had all of our family (Steven's side & my side) over for dinner. We had around 25-30 people, Mexican food, games, and a ton of fun. I love having everyone over! Today, we had 2 or 3 stops to make. I ate a lot, but hopefully not too much.

My heart is full of joy & happiness this year. I love this time of the year because it makes me stop and realize just how blessed I am. I serve and love an awesome God, who loves me so much that he sent his only son to die for me so I can live in Heaven one day. My God has blessed me with the most wonderful life...that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. I'm so thankful for my sweet and wonderful husband. Steven is so good to me. I don't know what I'd do without him. We're so excited and blessed to have Brady on the way. He'll be here before we know it!!! I'm so thankful this pregnancy has gone so well. I'm so thankful for a wonderful doctor. Dr. Bingham is my hero and I love her so much. I'm so blessed to have a wonderful and loving family who is always here for me when I need them. I'm blessed to live in a country where I have so many freedoms. I'm blessed to have wonderful friends. I'm thankful for my job. I'm thankful for the opportunity to further my education. I AM THANKFUL! There are so many more blessings in my life, I can't name them all...but I'm know I am a very blessed girl and I'm thankful!!

Brady's Bump- 22 weeks

Due Date: March 24, 2012
Weight gain: 16lbs, I lost a pound this last week
Maternity clothes: All the time from now until Brady gets here.
Sleep: Ok.
What I miss: Sleeping on my belly, and breathing through my nose…my sinuses are killing me.
Movement: He kicks all the time (especially at night!)
Sex: BOY!!!! Brady James Seals
Food cravings: Butterfingers & hot chocolate
What I'm looking forward to: Shopping & decorating
Exciting stuff: Thanksgiving is almost here!

Week 21 was a rough week. Unfortunately, I was plagued with a mild case of the stomach virus (beginning Sunday night). I’m so thankful I didn’t get as sick as a lot of people have gotten with this year’s stomach virus, but I felt yucky pretty much all week. I’d say I really only had it one maybe two days, but my whole digestive system has been out of wack ever since. Around Thursday, I started to get a runny nose again….so that just adds to the feeling puny. But, this week is a short work week (I work Monday and half-a-day Tuesday) so I’m really looking forward to a little break. I don’t know how much rest I’m going to get, between family get-togethers and Christmas shopping, but hopefully I can find some time for a little R&R during the five days off.

Speaking of Christmas shopping…I finally got started this weekend. I love shopping…it brings me so much joy and happiness. I hope during the Thanksgiving break I’ll be able to get a lot more done. Also, I can’t wait to put up my Christmas tree & decorate the house. I bought Brady’s stocking yesterday, so hopefully, I can find some time within the next few weeks to get started on it. I’d like to have it finished before Christmas. I know he won’t be here this year, but I KNOW I’m going to be way too busy next year so I’m going to go ahead to get it done!

Here's me sporting my "Does this shirt make me look fat" shirt.

Brady's Bump - 21 weeks

Due Date: March 24, 2012
Weight gain: 16lbs, gained 3 more pounds this week
Maternity clothes: I’m mostly wearing maternity clothes now.
Sleep: Alright…I’ve been pretty stressed this past week over my comps…so that kept me up a few nights. I can’t seem to get comfortable on my left side.
What I miss: sleeping on my belly…this week I also missed being able to drink alcohol!!! After I finished my comps Saturday, it would have been so nice to go have a Daiquiri.
Movement: He kicks all the time (especially at night!)
Sex: BOY!!!! Brady James Seals
Food cravings: Butterfingers & hot chocolate
What I'm looking forward to: Shopping & decorating
Exciting stuff: You can see my skin rise up when he kicks now (when I’m lying on my back). He’s a strong little thing! I love feeling him move…it just melts my heart!
What a stressful week this one has been!! I’m so glad to have my comps behind me so hopefully I can relax and take it a little easier. I still have some projects due before this semester is over, but I think the hardest part is behind me now (at least I hope so). I’m looking forward to starting my Christmas shopping this coming weekend and getting ready for Thanksgiving. I’m really excited about my 5 days off next week. I have to work Monday & Tuesday, but those won’t be too bad…we’ll just do fun art projects and watch Thanksgiving movies. I love the holidays…plus, not too much longer & I can put my Christmas decorations out!!!! I always wait until Thanksgiving is over. I’m trying to decide what I want to do for Brady’s stocking. I’m trying to decide between ordering all of us some cute monogrammed ones or making Brady one myself. My mom made my stocking and it’s always been so special to me…but I’m a girl, I don’t know if it will be so special to a boy to have a handmade stocking…and those things are a lot of work because I made Gavin on a few years ago. I’ve got to hurry up and decide so I can get them up soon!

Stressful Weekend Ahead

Tomorrow is the day I've been dreading since I signed up to start Grad School. I have to take my comprehensive exam in the morning at 9am. It's a four hour test with five essay questions all of which will cover all the classes I've taken these past few semesters. I've been studying for the past two-and-a-half weeks! I feel like I haven't had much of a life lately. I've neglected everything just to study for this test. I dread having to take it in the morning but I'm SO glad it's finally going to be over. I've pretty much done all I can do, so now it's time to just suck it up and do it. Then, I have to immediately get to work on a research paper that's due Sunday (yes, this Sunday) because I've put it off to study for this test! The good thing is that I have started it and if I just focus...it shouldn't take me too long to finish it. I don't think I've ever wished a weekend away before in my life, but I'll be so happy when this one is over.
So, it's time to start praying!!! :)

Brady's Bump- 20 weeks

Due Date: March 24, 2012
Weight gain: 13lbs, gained 2 more pounds this week
Maternity clothes: I could still wear some of my regular clothes…but I don’t want to stretch them out to the point I can’t wear them after I have Brady….so I’m mostly wearing maternity clothes now.
Sleep: pretty good, still snoring & using the restroom a lot this past week
What I miss: sleeping on my belly
Movement: He kicks all the time.
Sex: BOY!!!! Brady James Seals
Food cravings: Butterfingers!!!
What I'm looking forward to: Shopping & decorating

At my weekly appointment, Thursday, I got to have another sonogram. Brady is STILL a boy!!!! Nothing fell off since the last time we saw him. Haha He was great. Everything looked good. He’s a big boy. At 20 weeks fetus’ are suppose to be ~10.5 oz and at 19w5d he was measuring 13 oz….so my doctor said she’d keep an eye on his growth…especially when I get closer to the end. However, she’s very glad to see that he’s bigger and growing like he should be. He was breech; I sure hope he doesn’t try to stay that way very long. He opened his mouth so that was neat to see. It’s just crazy how much he’s grown since the first time I saw him at 5 weeks. All we saw at 5 weeks was a sack…you couldn’t even see him yet, he was so small at that point. Now he’s almost 1lb!!! My next sonogram won’t be until around 28 weeks just to check on him and make sure he’s still looking good. It’s so nice to be HALFWAY through this pregnancy. I have really enjoyed these past few weeks, especially feeling him move. I hate to wish this exciting time in my life away, but I’m just so ready to meet him & hold him in my arms.