18 weeks

How far along? 18 and a half! 

Baby is the size of: A large mango...which sounds so freaking good. 

Total weight gain: Haven't checked since my appointment last week, but I'm guessing 10. I think I'm averaging about a pound a week. 
Maternity clothes? Nothing new. I wore two of my maternity shirts this week to work and am needing some more because my regular ones are getting a little short in the front lol     
Stretch marks?   Negative. I'm still rubbing on that cream, though! 
Sleep: Wonderfully! Finally accepting that 4am pee wake ups are a part of my life now. 
Best moment this week: Our 4d ultrasound/ gender reveal party! I am so thankful that our parents, siblings, and grandparents got to see the baby, and it was so amazing to have all of our closest friends and family together at the party. Too much fun! 
Miss Anything? Nothing new! No desire for alcohol anymore, thank God.     
Movement: Yes! YES YES YES!!! These aren't any flutterings or butterflies either. I'm talking straight up battements and round house kicks. I felt them during 5th period on Monday, and could even feel them from the outside, but I just assumed it was because I knew they were happening. Then after school I was choreographing and they started. I told Rhea, and she felt my tummy, not thinking she would actually be able to feel it, but she totally did! Now we have to just get Jake to, but a certain little baby gets shy every time he tries to feel. It is so exciting, though. It's happening A LOT, and every time it does it catches me off guard.   
Food cravings: Still spicy! Also chocolate milkshakes. Specifically from Campus.  
Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really. YAY!  
Gender: GIRL!!! Ah. I can't believe my dreams and instincts were right! We so excited for our beautiful Brielle to get here, with a wardrobe that is already almost as big as mine....and I haven't bought one thing yet. SPOILED!  
Labor Signs: No, obvi. 
Symptoms: Acne is slowly taking a chill pill. Other than that, not really! Minus the fact that I'm growing every day lol  
Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time: MOOOODDDY. Oops. Everything is just annoying the crap out of me. So sorry in advanced if I'm a brat to you for no apparent reason. I'm hoping it was just a bad week. 
Looking forward to: Our 20 (well 19) week scan on Tuesday. I love getting to see her this often. 

sugar & spice & everything nice.

Anybody who knows me knows my borderline unhealthy obsession with little boys. They're gross and weird and mischievous and everything else good. I grew up with four baby brothers, and even though I prayed for a sister during each pregnancy, after a while I grew to love army men, baseball, and bloody knuckles. Boys are simple and easy and fun.
Girls are unknown territory. I spend a decent amount of time around my baby girl cousins and niece, and they are the prettiest and sweetest things I've ever known. However, instead of asking me to pick them up and slam them on the couch, they want to play mommy and baby. When I make fun of them for having boogers hanging from their nose, they get their feelings hurt instead of laughing and wiping it off with their forearm. It's not that I like little boys more, it's just that little girls scare the crap out of me. They are so delicate and fragile and....well... sassy.
As I've documented on this blog, I had a feeling we were having a girl from pretty early on in the pregnancy. I don't know if it was the dreams, the sudden love for chocolate, or simply the fact that I'm about due for a girl in my life. Either way, I began mentally preparing myself for the possibility of having a daughter. The more I pictured it, the more comfortable I became. I mean, I'm all about ballet, and cute clothes and The Sound of Music. Seems easy enough.
Last weekend at our gender reveal party (which was so fun!) my heart stopped when I saw those baby pink balloons flying out of the cardboard box. I don't know why I was so shocked. I thought it was a girl all along. But all of a sudden, it hit me. We are going to have a little girl. A daughter. DAUGHTER. Jake and I were talking the other night before bed about how heavy that word suddenly seems. I don't even want to attempt to listen to John Mayer right now.
Now, even though I am still obsessed with stinky little boys, I can honestly say that I couldn't be more excited. Seeing the amount of love my husband already has for our precious baby girl is amazing. I know he would have been excited for a boy, but there is something about this girl that has him in a frenzy. It was precious to see how excited he was to show everybody that she looks like me, and how quickly he set her picture as his phone's wall paper. It's so fun to listen to his plans of taking her to The Nutcracker and introducing her to our favorite musicals. It will be fun to someday (if God's willing) watch Jake and our son playing catch in the front yard, but for now, I can't wait to see how well he will love our girl. Over the years of our relationship, we have, of course, had hard times and in our early years I would wonder if we would really make it through, but one thing I have NEVER questioned is Jake's unconditional love for me. I can't wait for him to show that to her, and I know he will be the best dad to a daughter.
We are naming our girl Brielle. It means 'God is my might.' We fell in love with the name over a year ago now, and after the circumstances early in the pregnancy, we decided that nothing would fit more perfectly. Leading up to the gender reveal, we flip flopped on boy names, but Brielle was always Brielle.
I can't wait to meet her. I can't wait to hear her cry and see all of those alien like images from her ultrasounds come to life. Jake and I always talk about how we just want to know everything about her. Will she love yellow and Audrey? Will she have my big mouth or Jake's sharp mind? Both? Oh gosh. She will obviously love to eat and ride the tube at Shaver, but everything else is so unknown and exciting. Is it February yet?
Until Brielle is here for us to snuggle and kiss and love, we will just continue to pray for and dream of this sweet miracle girl. God has already blessed her more than she will ever comprehend and I am so excited to see the plans He has for her. I pray she always knows how much she's loved and that God will always be her might.

17 weeks

                           

                                                  

How far along? 17 and a half! 

Baby is the size of: A sweet potato 

Total weight gain: 9 lbs!
Maternity clothes? Pretty much the same stuff. I went back to just using a rubber band on my pants, though because it is WAY to hot to have an extra layer of fabric on my belly.    
Stretch marks?   Negative. I'm still rubbing on that cream, though! 
Sleep: Really well recently. Waking up only once to pee, and finally don't feel like I'm sweating to death. Last night I woke up with a weird Charlie Horse on my side/back, though. I had to get up and stretch to stop it.  
Best moment this week: Going to the doctor and hearing the heartbeat! Last month I stressed myself out between appointments. A month is just so long to go without checking on the little booger. 
Miss Anything? The craving for sushi came in full force. The other day I searched #sushi on Instagram and just fantasized over the pictures. #desperate. Also choreographing and teaching dances makes me miss being able to move properly lol It was hard to try to teach a leap when I physically can't do one at the moment.    
Movement: I don't know!! Definitely either the baby or gas.   
Food cravings: SPICY!!! I can't get enough spicy!! 
Anything making you queasy or sick: Gatsby's dog food. gag. 
Gender: I just keep flip flopping!!! 
Labor Signs: No, obvi. 
Symptoms: The acne is still out.of.con.trol. and I'm more hungry than even. Hence the 9 lbs. 
Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time: Pretty happy! Even though I did just have a meltdown because I couldn't find my black cami. 
Looking forward to: Our gender reveal party on Saturday!!! People: Two days and we will know!!! AHHHH!!!!!  

15 weeks

How far along? 15 and a half! 

Baby is the size of: A navel orange!  

Total weight gain: I'm guessing 5 or 6? I need a good scale. 
Maternity clothes? Yes! I got two pairs of maternity skinny jeans last weekend. Best things ever. And so cheap!! I also got a maternity shirt, but it's too hot to wear it yet.   
Stretch marks?   Negative. I'm still rubbing on that cream, though! 
Sleep: Not the best. My snoogle (Jake and I call it my boyfriend) is still fabulous, but I've been getting up to pee every night at 3 and then have had a cold/sinus issues which makes breathing a bit difficult. 
Best moment this week: Two weekends ago we shared baby Yeager's story at our church, which was fun. It's always awesome to testify to how great our God truly is. Last weekend Jake and I had lunch with my stepmom and two littlest brothers. They had fun rubbing my belly and guessing whether they are getting a niece or nephew. 
Miss Anything? The alcohol cravings are subsiding. Thank God. But I really miss bleu cheese now :(    
Movement: The other night I felt butterfly-ish movements in my tummy, but I'm not sure if it was baby or not. Haven't felt them since. Looking forward to those squirms though!  
Food cravings: Fruit (as always). I'm dreading the end of summer and the fact that all these precious, juicy, delicious fruits will be taken away from me. Also spicy things! Salsa, spicy asian food, and buffalo wings. So weird. 
Anything making you queasy or sick: mostly frothy toothpaste still. bleh.  
Gender: Had ANOTHER girl dream, and Jake had his first girl dream, but I'm still going back and forth. we will know soooooon!  
Labor Signs: No, obvi. 
Symptoms: I can't believe I hadn't mentioned this before: ACNE! Omg. I have always less than perfect skin anyways, but now it's everywhere. I hate it. Also getting some round ligament pain. Especially after dancing.   
Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time: A little more moody lately. And when I say moody, I mean primarily to Jake. Poor poor boy.   
Looking forward to:  the weekend!