29/30 week update

Well, I missed the 28 week update, so here's for playing a little catch up:)
We had our 28 week appt. two Thursday's ago, all is well, I was measuring 29 weeks, so hopefully this little girl will make her appearance more around July 5th like they are thinking, rather than the 12th? Any bets? Everything looked great and next week we get to take a peek at her to see what position she is in, so that is super exciting we will get to see her again before the 36 week appt. The nurse thought that her lil bootie was up on the right side of my stomach. So we shall see. I think she moves around still so who knows. We are now going to the Dr. every other week until 36 weeks. I feel/know she is growing away in there, because I had a little bit of cramping/discomfort last week, Dr. said due to everything trying to make room in this petite body for this lil girl, but it isn't really anything to complain about. This week I have felt great! I feel like my belly has gotten a little bigger, but she hasn't had another growth spurt since that 1st one.
Things have been busy and crazy around here. And leave it up to my creative brain to think of just one more project to do in the nursery. So I/we are working on that. I am very excited about it and think its going to turn out great! Pics to come!!!
Other than that, time is FLYING and July is going to be here before I know it.
Here are a few pics...
29/30 weeks

28 weeks

Baby Shower Numero Uno

This past weekend I was given my first baby shower! It was fabulous!!!!! It was so perfect and so great to see so many family and friends I hadn't seen in a very long time. A special thanks to all of you who came and a very special thanks to my Aunt Dinah for getting it all together! Matt and I are soooo incredibly blessed!


Aunt Dinah and I

This pregnant girls dream feast, fruits, veggies, and some sweets=)

Yum!

Some of the hostesses

Super cute diaper cake

Gigi (my mom) me, and Jojo (matt's mom)

My Nonie, me and Grandma Friemel

Sisters=)

Let the opening of the gifts begin...



one of three blankets my Nonie made

Sweet, adorable Charlie, so glad she could have a great time=)









Pack and play from the hostesses

Moms had to start playing...

Group of great friends from High School

All the loot=)

Again, a HUGE thanks to all of you who were there and for all the wonderful gifts for our sweet Cate Elisabeth, who is already sooo loved and blessed! She was kicking so much while I was opening the gifts so I know she is SUPER excited! Ten-ish more weeks to go=)

A serious reminder to you and whoever else you pass this along to

One of my best friends had a big scare this past Sunday night. When you have a minute, please read Ginger's post. A very serious reminder that you should have a carbon monoxide detector in your home if you have gas appliances, and while you're at it, make sure you check/test your fire alarms every 6 months!!!

Tasty Tuesday Recipe: Double Blueberry Muffins

This is one of my favorite muffin recipes, and super easy to make! Just keep an eye out for blueberries on sale, and everything else is a staple in your baking cabinet!!!

~8 tbsp, 1 stick unsalted butter softened

~1 cup plus 2tbsp sugar

~2 eggs

~1tsp vanilla extract

~2tsp baking powder

~1/4 tsp salt

~2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

~2 cups flour

~1/2 cup milk

~1/4 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 375. Grease a muffin tin or line the cups with paper liners. In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer), cream the butter until smooth. Add 1 cup of the sugar and mix. Add the eggs, vanilla, baking powder, and salt and mix. In a shallow bowl, mash 3/4 cup of the blueberries with the back of a fork. Add to the batter and mix.

With the mixer running at low speed, add 1/2 of the flour, then 1/2 of the milk, and mix. Repeat with remaining flour and milk. Fold in the remaining 1 3/4 cups whole blueberries by hand until well mixed. In a separate small bowl, mix the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with the cinnamon. ( I also put a little extra sugar and cin. in the actual batter and then also top with it=) Use an ice-cream scoop or large spoon to fill the muffin cups 3/4 full. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar over the muffins and bake until golden brown and risen, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool in the pan at least 30 minutes before turning out.

***According to my hubby, these are also DELISH in the evenings heated up with some vanilla ice cream to top it off!

More pics, and a video, why not?

Here we are at 27 weeks! This is the last week of the second trimester!

I think my rufflelie shirt makes my bump a tad larger than it actually is.. but oh well=) I thought ruffles hide things??

So a big change this week was of course adjusting to the growth spurt she had. She now weighs over 2 lbs!! And since she growing so much, her kicks and punches and movements are VERY pronounced. I can now feel her moving, kicking, etc. all the time, whether I am walking around, doing things around the house, etc. vs. before I could usually only feel her and notice it when I would sit still and pay attention. There are times where I am like "OK" already! But so so thankful I feel her moving around, having a peace that she is ok and happy in there, and enjoying every moment. Our nightly routine after my shower/bath consists of this: I sit and relax for a little while, catch up on all the Words games I have going, Bernie usually joins me, and we sit and watch her just move around and around. She is very active in the afternoons and evenings and I think her favorite workout will be kickboxing...check out the video below;)
I figured I would do some documentation and, think I am getting pretty good at self portraits, and taking video if the camera is near. So you just may be seeing more pics!




Just for those of you wondering...here is what "it" looks like=)

And now, for your viewing pleasure, it's kickboxing time! (doesn't seem to bother the Bernster sitting on my lap!)

"Whoa!"

I was really only going to post monthly belly shots, but since baby our girl seems to be having so many recent growth spurts, I wanted to document them for myself, and share with you all, just for giggles and giggles=) I've realized, that now it's pretty noticeable that I am pregnant and included, below the pics, are some of the "comments" I have recently received=)

6 months ~ 24 weeks

6.5 months ~ 26 weeks

Whoa!... RIGHT?? Seriously, what the heck is she doing in there?? The second pic was a self portrait, and closer up, but I honestly think in the past 3 DAYS she has had this little spurt. My belly feels super firm now, like I am carrying around a cantaloupe, and it doesn't budge. So beware if I see you and give you a hug, she's not moving! My suspicion of all this was confirmed last night when Matt got home, I showed him my belly, and he said "WHOA!" Affirmative!!!! She has grown and now I can really see it in the pics!

And now for some of the memorable comments...

"Congrats on the baby!" ~ female, complete stranger #1

"Whoa!" ~ my loving husband

"Would it be rude to ask you if you were pregnant?" ~ male, stranger #2

"Becky's growing!" - Jacquelyn

"There's definitely something in there! That's weird." ~ Brad

"You look way more pregnant in person!" ~ Melissa, Lila, and Ashley

"Is this your first child?" ~ male, stranger#3

"I wasn't going to ask, but I thought so!" neighbor, after I told her I was 6 months prego.

Also, here lately when I am out and about in public, I can see people looking down at my belly, trying to discern if I am pregnant or not. It's rather amusing to me. I feel like I need a shirt that says, "YES!" But at this rate, I'm sure "it", as I refer to as my belly, will be unmistakable very soon=)

T - 14 weeks!!!

Oh my goodness.. I can't say enough how much this pregnancy is flying by! Only 14 weeks, less than 100 days.. give or take... until we have the blessing to meet our sweet little girl. I can't believe it! And for those of you wondering, we are trying to finalize a name, we have one that we think is it, but for some reason, both of us are wondering, "what if we change our minds?!?!?!" So we will talk about it more this week and see. You may know soon, you may know the day she is born=)
According to the weekly baby updates, she is now 2 lbs! She has been very, VERY active lately, and I love it! I feel like last week my belly had a little growth spurt, and think I'm getting used to looking down and seeing this ball-o-belly=) In other news, we went to La Grange this past weekend and had a wonderful time with family, friends and celebrated Easter. We got to meet one of my friends newest little addition, Everett Zayne Cook, and he is so handsome! I have my first baby shower in 3 weeks, and am very excited about that. I am on a mission the next couple of weeks to finish all of the outside projects and planting I want done before it's too hot and I am too big to care. So wish me luck=)