25 during 25 Update | | September - November Update

Ok so lately the blog has been all about baby bumps and nursery plans, but I figured that with my 26th birthday quickly approaching I should check in on this list and see where I'm at.  So without dragging this along any further, lets see how many things I need to do in the next two months! 

1. Run a 10k - DONE! 
2. Do a blog give-a-way
3. Write a guest post - YES!! Read more about Hannah and Cy Sneed right here! (Since this post, Cy and Hannah have started their next adventure in Florida at the High A level!)
4. Shoot a gun DONE! Over Thanksgiving, all the guys had their guns ready for hunting season, so we were able to test them out! I shot a hand gun and another gun, I'm not sure what it was called!! 
5. Go on a spontaneous trip  
6. See sunsets in 10 different cities - Athens, GA from inside Sanford Stadium |  Lynchburg, VA from the skyboxes at City Stadium | Myrtle Beach, SC from TicketReturn.com Field | Salem, VA | 
7. Do a girls weekend trip
8. Have a house party - hosting our annual Holiday Party on the 19th, so this should be checked off! 
9. Volunteer for Habitat for Humanity 
10. Buy a camera and learn how to use it
11. Go to a new state - Got a few new states in this past year - officially made at rip to Maryland.  Added Nevanda and Connecticut as well! 
12. Host a shower for someone  Loved being able to shower one of my best friends! Hope more showers happen in the future - wedding or baby!
13. Run a 5k in every month of the year, at least 5 of them being a race - runs- Jan | Feb | Mar | April | May | June | July | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov  Guess you can tell what I haven't been doing while pregnant!!! 
14. Buy a new computer
15. Write 5 thank you letters to companies that I use their products
16. Cash in a whole milk jar of coins to savings - jar is getting nice and juicy!
17. Tip 100% of my bill - DONE! Zinburger in Charlottesville, VA
18. Become CPR certified
19. Learn how to drive stick shift
20. Go to an NFL game - probably not going to happen. 
21. Do a 7-day smartphone detox - Planning on doing this the week of December 28- Jan 3! 
22. Mail care packages to each of my siblings
23. Send my nana flowers out of the blue. 
24. Take professional photographs with D.J. and Stryker - scheduled for Febuary with the beautiful and talented maternity photographer we have chosen!
25. Save $20 for every one of these that I complete - $140 in the milk jar with coins. 

So not too terrible, but I need to get a few more planned out before January 14th rolls around!

Weekending

It always seems like there is never enough time in the weekend to get everything accomplished. With crazy busy week schedules, D.J. and I still needed to get a few more things checked off our list before the holidays get here.

Friday night I racked in some extra cash and babysat while D.J. earned major points in the husband category.  I gave him the option of either painting the baby room or finishing up our Christmas shopping.  I'll let the picture tell you what he ended up doing...

THE NURSERY IS PAINTED!!! It's still coming along and have a long way to go, but progress is being made!

Saturday morning I took a 2 mile walk with my mom and delivered our neighbors Christmas cards.  My dad came over to take some measurements for the new and improved closet he is working on in the nursery.  Right now the closet is just a shelf up top and a rod, so I wanted to make it a little more storage-friendly. Something along these lines...

Saturday afternoon, my mom and I stopped by a jewelry party they were having to raise money for a friend that passed away earlier this fall.  I was hoping to find something for my mother-in-law, but I didn't see anything that I thought she would like...or more like I am too nervous she wouldn't like it! I scored these awesome earrings for myself though! 

We tried to do some Christmas shopping while D.J.'s car was getting cleaned, but all we founds was a blazer that Nana got D.J. for his birthday.  I do have to say, this guy cleans up pretty nicely!! 

Sunday came quick after what seemed like a crazy Saturday.  We went to church, relaxed, went to the annual Fashion Show at the school, holiday party at my aunts and FINALLY got a Christmas tree! Hope you all had a fabulous weekend and looking forward to the last week of kids at the school for me! 

Baby Brown - Week 24

How far along: 24 weeks!

Due date: March 27, 2016

Baby Size: eggplant - never had that before!

Weight gain: probably around 13-15 pounds up so far.

Maternity Clothes: thank goodness for maternity clothes.  I also had to get some new sports bras and have been wearing them a lot to work as well.  They are just so much more comfortable!

Stretch Marks: nope, but dry skin and winter is not helping my itchy skin! 

Sleep: is meh... not the best, but some nights I get lucky and sleep through the whole night.  Baby boy seems to be awake when I'm trying to go to sleep, so that's fun. Then when I lay on my side, I just feel like my belly is pulling down so hard.  I'm going to try and used a body pillow and see how that works.

Gender: BOY!!!

Name: yea, yea. I know I've been a bad blogger lately.  I promise to do a post on baby's name soon! 

Movement: I feel like we had a huge jump from week 22/23 to week 24.  Movements aren't just "flutters" or kicks anymore. They are full on flips, punches, elbow rolls, and belly jiggles from the outside.  The movements catch me off guard sometimes and make me feel like I'm on a rollercoaster. When he first started moving, I had to press hard on my stomach to feel it, now I don't have to touch it at all and can feel him in multiple places at once! It is seriously the coolest/strangest/amazing feeling I have ever experienced. 

Best moment this week: We had our 24 week doctors appointment on Friday last week.  Baby boy is still a boy and measuring in the 90th percentile! His arms and legs are two weeks ahead of my due date and the remaining measurements of the anatomy scan that the tech couldn't get last time look great! Healthy baby boy in there!

We also went to Richmond this past weekend and registered at Pottery Barn Kids and Target.  Registering is hard stuff.  I just registered for stuff and if it doesn't all match or look good when it comes together, I will return it and get the right stuff! 

Looking forward to: painting the nursery, showers, and CHRISTMAS!

Husband is: still super excited about having a boy.  In the ultrasound appointment, baby had his arms in a flex position and he was so proud that his boy is already big like daddy!

Food cravings: the norm - bagels, pop tarts, ice cream and added eggos into the list this week! 

Anything making you queasy or sick: pulled pork, Wise Onion Rings and red bull!

Labor Signs: nope! 

Missing Most: nothing that can't wait

Symptoms: does feeling like a whale count as a symptom??

Nursery: Trying to get the painting done this weekend and all the rest of the junk cleared out.  I think we came up with a plan for the dresser/changing table.  Growing up, I used the dresser below.  I think with a sand job, paint and some new handles, this baby would fit perfectly in his room! Thoughts?!

Belly Button in or out? flat and shallow

Wedding rings on or off? on, and haven't noticed any swelling.

Mood: I seriously love being pregnant.  I've had some mood swings though - stressed about baby's room, stressed about holiday shopping, registering.  But nothing a little ice cream can't fix!

Workouts: nothing... need to get back on this!

Baby Brown - Week 22 and 23

*you can see a little peek at the nursery color we are going with!

How far along: 22 and 23 weeks

Due date: March 27, 2016

Baby Size: a head of lettuce!

Weight gain: I think I've hit the 10+ pound mark.  The pounds have been coming on fast the pat few weeks.

Maternity Clothes: oh yes, and thanks to two sweet friends, I now have enough close to start having a "maternity wardrobe" and not wearing my regular clothes.

Stretch Marks: nope, but feeling some stretching.  Still lathering up every day.

Sleep: is so-so...waking up every night around 3 or so to tinkle and rotating back and forth between sides all night.  Poor husband is dealing with the sheets and covers being pulled in all directions and pretty much off the bed by the morning. 

Gender: BOY!!!

Name: we have a name and have told our families! I will do a separate post about the name soon :)

Movement: feeling him move all the time now! loving the night time movements right before I go to bed.  I find myself not wanting to fall asleep when he is being active.  DJ has a love-hate relationship with the kicking.  He still can't grasp the fact that there is a living baby in there kicking me from the inside out! 

Best moment this week: I found a super cute blanket, pillow and paint color for the nursery on Sunday after Thanksgiving at TJ Maxx.  Finally feel like I have a direction.

Looking forward to: Heading to Richmond this weekend to register at PBKids and Target, baby showers, the holidays, and moving forward on the nursery!

Husband is: being awesome.  He got the paint the other day, takes my bumpdate pictures when he is home, snuggles every morning with the babe and is busy coaching JV Basketball at the school with my brother.

Food cravings: bagels, pop tarts, fruit, water!! - I can tell when I don't drink enough water during the day.

Anything making you queasy or sick: other than pulled pork, my nose has been in OVERDRIVE this past few weeks.  So after my last bumpdate post, DJ got on me about not changing the pulled pork to anything else.  I haven't changed it because nothing has really sent me over the edge where I can't even think about that food....until the drive home from Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving.  DJ got Wise Onion Rings and a red bull from the gas station and I had my head out the window until he was finished.  I seriously thought I was going to throw up.  It was terrible.

Labor Signs: nope, and not thinking about this!

Missing Most: hot tubs, hot yoga, being able to sleep comfortably....

Symptoms: we did some walking in the woods over Thanksgiving and I finally figured out what "round ligament pain" was.  It almost feels like a cramp in my lower abs, but stretching at the same time.  Also having some serious lower back pain and just a big belly! 

Nursery: Here is the blanket and pillow I grabbed from TJ Maxx! With a little hint on his name :)

Belly Button in or out? in but definitely getting flatter.

Wedding rings on or off? on, but getting annoying at times.

Mood: Feeling great! Can't complain about anything!

Workouts: got a few walks in over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Questions for mamas: Did y'all get your babies anything for Christmas when they weren't even born?! 

Thanksgiving 2015

When I was growing up, we would go to the cabin my grandfather built by hand for every Thanksgiving.  We call it Camp.  Well, when my grandparents died and the family got so much bigger, we stopped going.  Until this year! It wasn't like the Thanksgivings back in the day, but just another generation of younger cousins. 

We left on Tuesday night and spent the night at D.J.'s parents house.  Wednesday morning we got up and left around 8 a.m. for Camp in Sigel, PA. We arrived around 2 p.m. or so and stayed until Saturday morning.  

There is no cell service at camp and just recently we got wi-fi.  We watch lots of football on Thanksgiving, play outside in the snow (when it's cold enough), and find ways to keep ourselves entertained!

My family is big into card games and we typically only play two games- Hand and Foot and a game we call "Oh Hell".  It's very similar to spades.

Thanksgiving morning we decided to try and get a family picture for my parents Christmas card.  Here's what we got...

And one with Nana! 

Then of course, I couldn't resist this wood stack and a picture with my baby daddy.  He was so proud of that heart he created with his hands! 

 And the rest of the crew that was at camp got their family photo as well. 

We ate lots of delicious food, played family football, celebrated D.J.'s birthday, Black Friday shopped from our computers and the smallest town ever, had lots of crazy stories told, and made lots of memories! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving with the ones you love most.  Now, onto the best season of all! CHRISTMAS!!! 

Family Photos 2015

Over the weekend, we took family pictures for the Christmas card. We had some great photos of the two of us in Tahoe, but we obviously had to have our first born pup in the photo, so we took some more this weekend.  My in-laws have a great house on this awesome park, so we took full advantage of this great spot again.

Here are some of our runner ups for the Christmas card this year!

Of course we have to have some outtakes in here as well - Stryker isn't as good as he seems in pictures!

Sweet baby Myla and Bryce loving the leaves. 

How cute is this photo?! Amy wasn't even planning on getting in pictures and she looks great!!t

Christmas cards were ordered today, so be on the lookout for those in another post soon!

Baby Brown - Week 21

How far along: 21 weeks

Due date: March 27, 2016

Baby Size: a banana (or a bok choy? what the heck is that?!) 

Weight gain: +7 to 10 pounds give or take

Maternity Clothes: yuppppp and not looking back! 

Stretch Marks: nope, still lathering up.

Sleep: starting to wake up in the middle of the night to have to pee.  

Gender: BOY!!!

Name: we have narrowed the list down and have a name, but aren't 100% sure if we are going to share until little boy makes his arrival! stay tuned :)

Movement: yep and loving every minute of it.  I find myself wishing it was happening more!

Best moment this week: finding a rug for the nursery and getting more of a grasp on what I want his room to look like.

Looking forward to: registering, holidays, baby showers, and so much more!

Husband is: calling the baby by name and already coming up with nick names :)

Food cravings: bagels, pop tarts, fruit, water!! 

Anything making you queasy or sick: ugh, don't even like to think of pulled pork!

Labor Signs: .........

Missing Most: hot tubs, hot yoga, being able to sleep comfortably....

Symptoms: nothing you wouldn't expect at 21 weeks preggo

Nursery: starting to get an idea on where I want this room to go.  I'm thinking neutrals (browns, tans, white) with accent colors of navy and orange. 

Belly Button in or out? in but definitely getting flatter.

Wedding rings on or off? on

Mood: Feeling great! Can't complain about anything!

Workouts: with starting to coach cheering last week, workouts have been few and far between.  I am telling myself that although I'm not getting to the gym, I am still getting lots of exercise and movement in!

Questions for mamas: best registry items. GO.