23 weeks - grapefruit

23 weeks - grapefruit!

Baby Ball is moving!! It's been so fun to feel him and be surrounded by family who get to feel him too!

This week was Christmas day so I couldn't go to the grocery store for the fruit, that's okay though.  We got a bear and 3 generations (4 in belly) to hold the letters. Me, my mom's mom, my mom, Dave's mom, my dad's mom.  Not the best pic in the woods and snow, but it works!

We also announced the name! Baby Ball will be named after his two grandfathers, Dave's dad and my dad, James Charles Ball. Doesn't sound like a baby name, but more like a CEO right??

I have no clue how much weight has been gains this past week, it's been filled with lots of yummy food and ice which means zero working out for the preggo.  At least we got a white Christmas!!

22 Weeks - Papaya

Baby Ball is the size of a Papaya this week!

He's growing and starting to finally move, which is so fun!! At our ultrasound today his little feet were above his head, how cute?!  I still am surprised each time I feel him move.  I'm up 15 pounds and that's one pound a week which is great!

On good news, my placenta is back where it should be, so we're good to go!! Yay!!!!!

This past week was busy, I was overwhelmed with the generosity of students and we went to Peter Pan as a gift from a student.  It was so nice to have a date night!! And Cathy Rigby was incredible!!

This past weekend we had a Christmas party filled with yummy food and good people, I love this season!  It's so fun to of course remember the reason for the season, and to spend great time with the people we love! 

We also celebrated an early Christmas together filled with all kinds of good maternity stuff.... lululemon and Toms, my favorite!! And for Dave he got his band saw, I had no idea how many fun things he can make with that!! On a side note about maternity.. Old Navy has the best sale section!!! (along with Target, where I got the cute dress from above!!)  Any other good stores I'm missing out on?  Afterall, Forever 21 and JC Penny got rid of their maternity section :(

How cute is little Callie?   I call her the 3rd child.. no pictures.. no stories...  poor 3rd dog.   She had this awful allergic reaction and the medicine made her depressed, hopefully she'll feel better soon!

And.. as far as house stuff goes, Dave built the beautiful buffet and I finally got a mirror for above it!  I LOVE it!!!!!!

Sorry for all the rambles!!  Pregnant brain?!

21 Weeks - Pomegranate

Well now we're OVER halfway there! Yay!!

21 Weeks - Baby Ball is the size of a pomegranate.  I have a special place in my heart for pomegranates because my junior year of college I spent a semester in Granada, Spain which means pomegranate. 

This week was busy!  My in-laws were in town and we had 3 Christmas parties!  On Friday night I fit into a cocktail dress that was from pre-pregnancy, woohoo!! Not sure if I could breathe all night, but I rocked the cocktail dress and heels.  At about 10pm my legs were done and we went home, but hey - it was fun while it lasted.

(the two pregnant Crossfit girls)

We also had 2 Christmas parties on Saturday night, my hubby went to the army one in the middle of the woods.... and I went to the Crossfit one.  The sweater dress is also not maternity, but there is NO hiding that outtie bellybutton!

This week apparently Baby Ball is eating lots of amniotic fluid and so his tastebuds will be similar to what I've been eating.  It's Christmas, which means lots and lots of sugary treats.  I've tried to sprinkle in the veggies too though.  Peppermint bark and pretzels with m&ms to name a few...

I'm so relieved that this week I met with my boss and so maternity leave is all figured out and Dave had some fun things at his job this week, so some of the nervous things for the Spring are starting to fall into place.

We're really anxious about the ultrasound on Tuesday, hoping it was just a full bladder! 

Last night we made the delicious Chicken Spedini and had a relaxing night of Christmas movies (the Texans were losing really bad..), but we had forgotten just how yummy our hometown favorite meal was!

I've gained 14 pounds as of 21 weeks, which is still just a pound a week so I'm happy about that!  Our Crossfit is starting a little CrossfitMom class for us preggo girls so we can be pushed the right amount! Very fun!

20 weeks - banana

20 Weeks - Banana

Little guy is the size of a banana this week! And.. we're halfway there! Yay!! And.. I feel HUGE!

Yesterday Kate Middleton announced that she was indeed pregnant, and then 20 different people  roceeded to tell me that as well.  Well, maybe not 20 but close.  We got married at the same time (Spring 2011) and are pregnant at the same time.  I do feel bad for her though with the awful morning sickness!!

On Friday we had our doctor's appointment and good news, Baby Ball is one healthy guy.  All of his organs are in the right spot and the right size, that's the best news ever.
One concern is the placement of my placenta.  I'm REALLY hoping that my bladder was just too full and so they couldn't see the bottom of the placenta.  My bladder was full and I looked like a mental patient just before the ultrasound because I was so uncomfortable and loopy.  On good news, the doctor didn't tell me to stop doing anything and we have another ultrasound in 2 weeks to see what's going on there.  So, I'll keep hoping and praying!  If you google placenta previa you see that 1 in 200 pregnancies have this.  A lot of them fix themselves and if not, then those mommas go on bed rest, c section, premature labor, etc.  But it's too early to tell right now.

As far as everything else in pregnancy goes, I'm feeling great!  I had some back pain last week but I switched my desk chair and that seems to have helped. 

I've gained 13 pounds so far which is on the upper end of where it should be, but that's okay.  I still feel good!  And the ice cream always tastes good.. :)  or the oreo truffle balls that I made this weekend!

Fingers crossed on the placenta and that the next few weeks are as easy as the last few weeks have been!

This weekend I worked a tiny bit on the nursery, here's the idea so far... more to come.  Basically, I don't like most bedding out there so I'd like to make my own theme.  My dad built me a wooden moose when I was little and Dave's family have had buffalo on their ranch for years.  So, it's a moose, bear, buffalo theme.

Dave and I were Christmas shopping this weekend and he found this... UGH... I guess it's going in little man's nursery...... hmm.

Oreo Truffle Balls

Yum, here is something that isn't about babies for a bit!

These are some of my favorite treats to bring to a Christmas party, they're so yummy and delicious!

You'll need

- 1 package oreos
- 1 package cream cheese
- 1 package vanilla or any flavor melting chocolate

I usually double the recipe.  You can freeze these ahead of time so they're ready when you need them!

Start by crushing the oreos.  I use a food proccessor and you don't need to separate them at all.

Mix crushed oreos with package of cream cheese.

Roll them into balls and refrigerate or freeze for a bit.

Melt the dipping chocolate.  Dip the oreo balls in that.

Refrigerate until you need them!  Yum!!!!

19 weeks - mango - gender reveal - new staircase - Thanksgiving

19 weeks - Baby BOY Ball is a mango!

Wow, what a week it has been!! 

To start with, we had our 18 week appointment on Wednesday and they tell you to go in with a full bladder and it will be a 50 minute appointment.  Do they know me?!!?  I started to literally go crazy and I thought I wasn't going to make the appointment because I couldn't take it any longer, worst experience ever!!!!

But.... then, we got to see the perfect little baby and it made it all worth it!  We got our envelope with either boy or girl and went to the bakery.  The bakery then filled the cupcakes with either pink or blue and we were back home by noon.  Dave and I both had to keep so much self control because we REALLY wanted to peek. 

We went and got my parents that night and went to dinner and by the time we were home from dinner we couldn't wait any longer.  Dad took pictures while we bit into BLUE cupcakes!!  I secretly wanted a boy and had thought it was a boy for most of the time, and we're thrilled!!

On Thursday my grandma and aunt came in and we let them bite into their cupcakes where they saw blue as well, lots of fun.

Thanksgiving was great, we started with an awesome workout at Crossfit then came home and cooked and had family and friends around, it was perfect!

On Friday we got to shop and find great deals and my dad and Dave worked on a project.  This is SOOO worth $200. 

Before it had white spindles..

and after, the new iron staircase!! LOVE it!!!

Before & After - $200 at Home Depot!

Grandma got a project of making baby blue cookies for the students at school too.  Now everyone knows that Baby Ball is a BOY!!

Saturday night we also went to the A&M game, when they played Missouri.  My husband went to Texas A&M, my sister and brother in law went to University of Missouri.. but A&M beat Missouri.  We all had fun.

Such an exciting week, not sure how to top that one :)

OH, and how cute are Buddy and Callie?

At Crossfit, where I talked about it here, I've changed back to deadlifts, but now doing them with a Kettlebell instead (45#)

First Trimester:

• I felt very weak and tired (no sickness) just pure exhaustion.  So I lowered the weight/intensity on everything.
• Continued to do all movements though.
• Took breaks to keep heart rate from getting too high.

Second Trimester (so far) at 19 weeks:

• Took breaks to keep heart rate from getting too high. Made sure I can talk during the WOD
• don't squat below 90 degrees (takes a lot to get used to)
• burpees - still do them, just much more controlled
• box jumps - do step ups instead
• broad jumps - I will sub those out, they're probably "too jumpy"
• Deadlifts - kettlebell (45#)
• double unders - my double unders are UGLY, and my doctor said not to do anything "too jumpy" so I've done singles instead because they're more controlled and efficient
• farmer carry - less weight or whatever is comfortable
• front squat - without being able to squat below 90 my form is awful on the front squat, so I've used a Kettlebell (goblet squat) and just don't squat the whole way
• goblet squats - do them, just not full depth
• handstand pushups - Can't do anything upside down (and I hate it/can't do them anyway), so I do seated dumbell push press
• KettleBell Swings - I had been doing 35 pounds, now I do 25 pounds.
• Lunges - still feel good, but I've heard these will get difficult
• overhead squats - attempt with less weight and not full depth
• power clean - do from hang position
• prowler push - I don't do this anymore, there's no way to keep your heart rate down during that
• Pullups - I could do a few kipping pullups pre-pregnancy, I then moved to purple band, then red band, and now I'm at blue band. 
• push press/shoulder press - still do, just less weight (about 75%) - which is 35/45 pounds rather than 55.. like I said, skinny weak girl to start :)
• pushups - still comfortable for me, recently switched to knees
• ring dips - maintained current band
• row - still do, just not for time
• run - still do, just no sprinting
• situps - the scale is knees to elbows, but I hate those so I'm doing russian twists
• slam ball - still do full depth, just slower and only 10 pounds
• snatches - attempt with less weight, hang position
• sumo deadlift high pull - use kettlebell and don't go full depth
• supermans - I do them on the GHD (and I actually do about 20 at the end of each class to strengthen my back)
• toes to bar - still attempting to do them, I can do a few in a row
• wall balls - still do, just not full squat
• wall climbs - nothing inverted (and let's be honest.. I hate being upside down), so I've done what looks like a backward inchworm

18 Weeks - Sweet Potato - Nursery Painted!

Baby Ball is the size of a sweet potato, and what perfect timing since it's Thanksgiving week!! 

I've been waiting for the 18 week appointment for the whole pregnancy and it comes tomorrow!! Yay, can't wait!  It's an exciting and nervous one all at the same time!

Dave was gone again this weekend and we have family coming into town so I had to get the nursery prepped with or without him so that somebody could stay in there over the holiday. 

So I finished painting the trim and wainscoting. (our house is from the 80s so the trim has this horrible pinkish tint).  You can tell, because the door is still pink..

Then picked out this gray color.  It's called Sparrow from Behr at Home Depot. I like coventry gray from Benjamin Moore but couldn't justify spending $50 on a gallon of paint versus $27 and Home Depot.  It has a little bit of a blue tint, which does NOT mean I'm voting for a boy, pink would look cute with it too!

Normally, Dave does all the rolling and I cut in, well, this weekend I got to do it all. I think it came out pretty well!

I then finished by painting the pink door and there you have it, the nursery!

Now.. what will the accent color be?!?! Gender reveal tomorrow on Thanksgiving, yay!!

We'll eat these cupcakes to see if they're filled with pink or blue?! and how cute is Baby Ball?

I'm still feeling great!  Crossfit hasn't changed much this week, still can do the same things as last week.  I've gained about 10 pounds total which is on the upper end of where I should be, but that's okay! 

Such an exciting week!!