Our baby girl is turning SEVEN months old in a week! I can not even believe how fast the time is zooming by. Right now I am sitting on the floor next to the couch working (using my lunch hour to write this up) while she is sitting up on the couch watching Signing Time and banging on the keyboard of Joe's old iPad case. She has been sitting up on her own for a couple of months and she finally rolled over by herself this past weekend. She loves baths and going on walks in the stroller. She also loves facing forward in the Ergo!

We ended up naming her Dylan Nicole. She was born on August 8 and 7:23AM. It was pouring rain on our way to the hospital 12 hours earlier but was clear and sunny that morning she came into the world. Natural labor and birthing was a MUCH different experience than I was expecting but I wouldn't take back any of it and I'm so thankful for our perfectly healthy, gorgeous baby girl.

We ended up closing on our house on June 30th and got the keys the first week of July so we spent the 4th of July here with paper plates, a tiny bbq and Joe's parents. It was simple but fun. Our neighborhood LOVES fireworks and they were visible from every side of the yard so it was exciting.

I am scared to death I am going to forget Dylan's little mannerisms so I take videos and photos of everything! I just wish there was some way to remember what it feels like to stroke her sweet head and brush my fingers through her hardly-there-hair. And what her tiny fingers feel like wrapped around mine. I even want to remember the feel of her little claw fingernails and toenails scratching me at night. Only a mother would say that I guess! Haha. I just fall more and more in love every single day. We are completely smitten.  

33 Weeks

We've spent the last couple of months house hunting. It has truly been the most stressful thing I've experienced in my grown up years so far. In 2 months we:

• walked through 30+ homes (at least; not counting the HUNDREDS we'd view online)
• offered on ten 
• changed our minds on one
• lost highest & best bidding wars on seven
• got beat out by one full cash offer
• finally found the right one for us!

If all goes well, we will be closing on our first home in 2 weeks! After some painting and cleaning, we're hoping to move in mid July and welcome our baby girl home the first week of August. 

22 weeks

We are halfway to meeting our baby girl! I feel super guilty for not doing those weekly photos with the little chalkboard writings/drawings of how big the baby is. Or even doing weekly photos in general. But to be completely honest, I don't feel like my tummy is changing enough to take a photo every week. And also, I am such a perfectionist that it would take me forever to write up the chalkboard each week so I'm just skipping that.

How far along: 22.5 Weeks

Gender: Girl! We found out on St. Patrick's Day!

Total weight gain: 12-ish LBS

Maternity clothes: I have a couple of maternity shirts, one pair of maternity stretch black capris (my favorite!). I also still wear some of my pre-pregnancy jeans as long as I can wear long shirts that cover the unzipped/unbuttoned part. I also have some stretchy dresses and skirts that have still been working. My feet feel bigger but not fatter, they are like longer or something. I've been trying forever to find maternity jeans that fit right but they are always either too long or too loose in the legs or too tight. Nothing has fit just right. So I'm waiting until I get a little bigger to see if some of the larger pairs can fit me. Also I've had to buy some new bras! Yikes!

Stretch marks: Nothing new (I had some old ones from growing/gaining weight in the past)

Sleep: Most nights are good. But I still looove sleeping in. Which has ONLY been during pregnancy. Usually I am very much a morning bird up before the sun, but I have to drag myself out every morning. Its awful. We have a huge king size bed but somehow it feels too small every night too. Probably because Joe and I have a thousand pillows and we both like to spread out. 

Miss Anything: Cookie dough & sushi. Oh my gosh. Miss those like crazy. I miss being able to wear some of the cute Banana Republic blouses I bought pre-pregnancy. They are crazy tight and I worry about ripping them now. :(

Movement: I can feel thumps and rolling throughout the day (in the mornings around 9AM, in the afternoons around 3PM and then always at night when Joe and I are laying there talking before we fall asleep, usually 10PM-ish). Last night, we felt some thumps from the outside! Super exciting. Only lasted a second but Joe got to feel one of them so that was pretty special. 

Cravings: Still no 'I have to have it!" cravings, but I'm having a harder time resisting foods I know I shouldn't eat. Like when I gave in and had some Quarterback Crunch from Baskin Robbins at 2 in the afternoon this week. There are also foods I love more than I used to. Like Beto's steak breakfast burritos. And meat in general. Oh and soda, which I used to hate but now I love taking sips whenever I can.

Symptoms: I am still a little stuffed up in the mornings. But fortunately, no swelling in my legs or face or anywhere else. Also no heartburn or anything like that either. I've been so lucky so far!

Belly button in/out: In

Mood: Ecstatic! I was so happy to find out we were having a girl. And now that she's moving regularly, everything feels so real. 

Looking forward to: My stomach looking more pointy and less round. 

Exercise: I love that I'm feeling good enough to get out and move. I have been doing some cardio at the gym a couple days a week and also taking Jackson on some long walks when its warm out. I'm looking for a good prenatal yoga video too.  

Nutrition: I still don't drink enough water and probably don't get enough protein but I try!  

Favorite moments this last week: Joe has Wednesdays off work so after he's done with class he comes home and we get to spend the afternoon/evening together. We have a little tradition where we get Cafe Rio and watch a show together and then go on a walk with Jackson. Usually the time flies but yesterday it went by really slow and I was super thankful. Also going on a double date with Lindsey and Michael this last weekend was fun. It was nice to get out and it was hilarious to watch our "boyfriends" up on stage pretending they were hypnotized because they were too nice to tell the hypnotist that they weren't under. 

Patches and Pregnancy

Since last summer I've been dealing with a stubborn swollen red cyst on my lower eyelid. Basically, there are oil glands in each eyelash follicle that help lubricate lashes. Sometimes the follicles get blocked and typically (in most people), it just resolves itself. Mine has taken 8 months, hours of hot compresses, 2 eye patches and 2 surgeries to finally (hopefully!) get back to normal. I've had to deal with a swollen bump that people stare at for almost a year! 

Pre-surgery on the left, Post-surgery on the right

I had an appointment this morning for a consultation with an occular-plastic surgeon to discuss my options for surgery on this thing. I figured I'd pop in, meet with her, set an appointment for the procedure and head back home to work. Instead, I ended up spending over six hours at the hospital, mostly waiting for various people/things but eventually walking out with a patch, a tingly painful right side of my face and several stitches (fortunately flesh colored & teeny!) under my eye.  

But I also walked out with a huge appreciation for so many people. 

My husband Joe, who listened while I complained and tried to explain the situation through lots of tears and sniffling, and calmly assured me everything would be okay and not to worry about the insurance or billing or any of other things I was crying about. 

My boss Robyn, who sympathetically said she was sorry I had to deal with everything and told me to not even think twice about basically missing a day of work when I originally told her I'd be gone an hour and who justified my crying by reminding me I'm pregnant and hormonal. 

My mom, who always answers the phone and makes me feel better just by being my mom. 

The amazing receptionist, technician and nurse in my doc's office who made me feel at home with jokes, assuring words, smiles and chatty conversation. 

And my doctor, who made the time to help me to today and calmly explained everything happening during my surgery as she did it and whose incredibly steady hands made me feel totally safe as she injected needle after needle and tool after tool in my eye. 

I am so blessed. 

While waiting an hour for my vision to return to normal, I took some pregnant selfies in my patch. 

I head back for a follow up appointment in 3 weeks and I'm hoping and praying for a speedy and perfect recovery so I can wear contacts and makeup again!