Hey yall, hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday Week with their loved ones! I had a g-r-e-a-t holiday, filled with plenty of yummy food & surrounded by all my loved ones!

I am 30 weeks pregnant today! We're down to the 10 week count-down and I couldn't be more excited and nervous! 

I didn't do any black Friday shopping this year.. I had to work at 9am, and was in bed by 10pm the night before. It was FREEZING out & I was exhausted from a day of work & holiday festivities. Maybe next year.. : ) But on another note, I did go a little crazy with the cyber Monday deals! I finally got the breast pump that I've been eying for a few months and WE GOT OUR STROLLER & CARSEAT! I'm so excited for them to arrive. I also did a little Target shopping, not everything was on sale, but it was all so cute! So here are my baby buys for week 30!

 

1) Bright Starts Grab & Stack Blocks - They are soft, crunchy & have taggies on them. They're just so cute and my niece had something similar that she would go ga ga over.
2) Fisher Price Sugar Plum Bouncer - Down from 62.99 to 47.24 + I had 5 dollars in Babies R Us rewards so that made it 42.24 dollars. Win! I love the colors & how cuddly & soft it is. It also goes with the theme of butterflies that I want to have for her nursery. (Butterflies & poka dots, to be exact. I'm obsessed with poka dots right now)

3) Cloud B Sleep Sheep - I've heard so many good things about this little thing! And he's just oh so adorable. 

4) Butterfly Ceiling Hangings - Again with the butterflies! I just love this. Now, I was going to attempt to make my own, but I'm not very crafty and just shopping for the materials was overwhelming for my hormonal self.

5) Taggies Tags 'n Snuggles Mat - How adorable is this thing? I can't wait to place it right in the middle of her nursery. It's super plush & soft, and again has those taggies that babies love so much all around it.

6) Summer Infant Prodigy Travel System - We finally got out car-seat & stroller ordered! I'm so so happy 'cause that means we are so much closer to being ready to bring our baby girl home!! We chose to go with something neutral for the travel system. We're not made of money & it will be nice to be able to use the car-seat again for future babies. They grow out of the newborn one so quickly anyways. Why buy it twice if you don't have to?!

7) First Years BPA Free GumDrop Newborn Pacifiers - I'm so torn on whether or not we will even us pacie's but I like the idea of having them if we need them/choose to use them. These ones are the ones that I've heard the most about & most moms I've spoke to have really liked them. I like that they aren't just one huge circle like the other ones so it doesn't bother babies nose or take up half of their face. Haha. I think they're cute. 

8) Medela Pump In Style Advanced Breast Pump On-The-Go Tote - Last but not least for this week... my breast pump! 50 dollars off + free shipping + a 5 dollar coupon = great steal! I was so happy. I've been watching this pump for months, waiting to see if I could get it on a deal, and I did! Also, I used my Babies R Us card to purchase it, so I'll be getting reward $$$ next month to spend on more cute stuff for Gracie. : )

At 29 weeks & 6 days. My necklace kinda wondered off to the side there, lol.

Well, till next time mama's! xoxox

 I will be 28 weeks tomorrow, officially in my 3rd trimester!
So, I thought I would share the things that helped me through these past two trimesters and made life as a preggo a little easier/more comfortable... or at least as comfy as you can be growing a human being. ; )

1st and 2nd Trimester Favorites!

A) My Aveeno face wash cloths. Since becoming pregnant, my skin has gone bonkers! These are wonderful at removing my make up, moisturising my face and so much easier to use than face wash over the bathroom sink on those nights that I can barely keep my eyes open long enough to make it up the stairs to our bed.

B) My belly band! I had it in white, and it was actually a gift from a friend of mine who used it through her two pregnancies as well. It worked wonderfully! You know, the awkward stage where you've got baby 'pudge' but not an actual bump yet... and your pants just don't button/zip right. These just slip right over your pants & help hold them up without having to zip or button them. I also really liked how it smoothed out my sides & made me feel secure. I did get a lot of use out of this item (about 5 months worth) and I'm glad I had it. Of course, you will reach a point where pants with a zipper you can't zip just won't be comfortable anymore and have to move on to something else.

C) Tums. Yes, I complain about the taste and how much I dislike them, but the DO work and as much as I dislike eating them, I dislike my heartburn more! My favorites are the Smoothies in wild berry 'cause they kinda taste like candy. I keep a large bottle of these bad boys in my purse. They also have the added bonus of calcium. 

D) Preggie Pops! My honey bought these for me from Babies R Us but I've seen them at Motherhood & Walgreens as well. Used them mostly in my first trimester... but a few weeks into my second as well. I was SO nauseous 24/7 and these worked so so wonderfully. They actually made my nausea subside! Plus, they were delicious. My favorite were the sour raspberry.

E) BODY PILLOW. Get one. Just do it. Your hips, back, legs... they will all thank you for it. And even after you give birth to your little angel, you'll still be loving this thing, I can guarantee it. I got mine from Target for 10 bucks. Seriously, one of my best investments. And don't forget a cute & cuddle pillow case to go with it!

F) I'm not really into all the stretch mark lotions out there. 1 - I don't believe anything can prevent stretchmarks. They are genetic. 2 - Most of those creams don't smell or feel good to me. 3 - They're so over priced just 'cause they know people are willing to do anything to avoid the dreaded marks! That being said, I do believe that while they may not be avoidable, you can lessen the damage by keeping your skin extra moisturized so it's easier to stretch. And while it's stretching, it's gonna get itchy at times & I've heard that scratching your stretching tummy can make stretchmarks worse/deeper than they were to start with. ANYWHO, my favorite lotion for my tummy is Aveeno. I have sensitive skin, and this never irritates it. Also, it works so so well. My tummy is baby butt soft and so far (knock on wood) no marks have appeared. I know they will come in due time because I am susceptible to them, but as of now I'm enjoying my soft baby bump.

G) Ginger ale. Another nausea favorite. There were days where I couldn't even keep water down 'cause it would gag me, and this ginger ale was just the trick to help settle my tummy. (make sure it says made with real ginger)

H) Vitafusion Gummy Prenatals. I had a really hard time taking my prenatal pills because I was so nauseous and sick feeling all of the time during all of my first and most of my second trimester (nausea has actually started to come back now that I enter my third...) I was so happy when I found these! They were around 10 bucks at Walmart and taste like sour gummy worms. The only thing they don't have in them is iron (because they appeal to children as candy). I take iron on the side anyways, though. I take a slow fe iron that releases slowly so you don't get the icky constipation that is common with iron supplements.

I) Last but not least, my lovely VS yoga pants. You can really use any kind of yoga pants, but VS are my personal favorite. They seem to keep their shape a lot better than most I've had before and they're not as thin as most either. The flap also makes for a great maternity band once the bump gets bigger and they're just a great comfort all around. I live in these yoga pants & the VS leggins right now.

27 Weeks!

 

 

How far along? 27 Weeks & 4 days. (27 weeks 2 days in picture above)

Total weight gain: 14 lbs.

 

Maternity clothes?  Oh yes. Shirt pictured above is from Target's maternity clearance. I love how great it feels & stretches. I also bought a nice long sleeved sweater off the same wrack that is oh so comfy and cute looking over my bump. : ) Pants also need to be maternity nowadays... or yoga with the fold over flap flipped up. Haha.            

Stretch marks? Not yet. I say 'yet' because I am almost certain that I will get them eventually since I have old ones from puberty.

Sleep: So hard to come by! I fall asleep very quickly at first, but am up about an hour later because I either have to pee, am no longer comfortable in my position (also unable to switch positions while still asleep...) my hips hurt, back hurts or I can't breathe!  Then when I try to go back to sleep, it seems impossible. I am up so many times through out the night, it's quite irritating. I don't get nearly enough sleep for my busy days.

Best moment this week:  Watching baby girl move from the outside. Her movements have gotten so much larger and noticable. I love it so much. I still keep trying to capture it on camera, but she always stops as soon as I'm ready to hit record.. drats!
  

Miss Anything?  I miss going a day without aches & pains. But I'm also so happy to be going through this 'cause it means I get a precious baby girl at the end of everything.

Movement:  Oh yes. Plenty of it! She's very active early in the morning.. 3 or 4am. Then I believe she naps till around 8 or 9, because then she's all squirms, wiggles, kicks and rolls! : )     

Food cravings:  For a week there I was craving WAFFLES every single day. Thank the lord they didn't go straight to the number on the scale! Haha. This week it's root beer floats. Yum. I still love my milk, cheese and fruits too of course.

Symptoms:  Heartburn, body aches, head aches, acne (still! ugh) and bloat.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really.

Labor Signs:  No, no, no!

 

Are You Showing? Definitely.

Happy or Moody most of the time: I am one very happy camper these days. And oh so excited that we are closer and closer to the day we get to hold our baby girl in our arms.

Looking forward to:  Thanksgiving! My baby shower the weekend after Thanksgiving and of course CHRISTMAS, my favorite holiday everrr. And once we ring in the new year, we'll get to welcome our bundle of joy into this world shortly after. Ah, so much to look forward to.