25 Weeks - Cauliflower

25 Weeks - Cauliflower

Don't mind the workout clothes.. for once I was actually working out while wearing them, instead of just living in them. Lululemon Racerback tank is AWESOME for pregnancy and I hear that it goes right back to normal after too!

The past week has been a fun one, very productive, and got to see lots of friends after the holidays.

Dave has started on the changing table, we're doing a copy cat (except cuter) of the Ultimate Changing Table from Pottery Barn.

I'll definitely post pictures of the actual one soon.

Dave also made this adorable coat rack for our friend.  I think I want to start selling them, they're just too cute not to!

I made a baby blanket for Baby Ball, I got the tutorial from here.  I've made one with the minky dot material and it's soooo soft, but it's really expensive!  I went with fleece instead because it's easier to work with and it's a third of the cost.

After the baby shower for a friend, I got to see another friend's baby (does anyone else feel like the second you're pregnant, everyone you know is having babies or is a mom?!?!)  Anyway, he was SOO cute and it really made me want to meet Baby Ball right now!

We also had a friend's birthday at Lucky Strike, pregnant bowling was interesting, but very fun!  A great weekend with friends!

I'm also very proud of Dave!  He tested into the advanced group at Crossfit.  There's scaled, intermediate, and advanced.  You can only do the workout that's as high as you've tested into.  So along with a muscle up, this was another one of his goals.

The test included:

3 - 135 lb squat cleans with good form

3 - 95lb squat snatches with good form

5 - ring dips

5 - GHD situps

5 - chest to bar pullups

45 second handstand hold

If I could do even one of those I would be VERY happy!!  But... I haven't had to make any more adjustments with what I do while crossfit and pregnant.  I feel very strong right now actually!

Speaking of Crossfit, did anyone see Crossfit all over The Biggest Loser last night?! I would soo want to be on Bob's team!  No thank you on the treadmills!

And - the 4 pounds I gained over the 2 weeks of Christmas/New Years is now 2 pounds!  So, I'm back to my one pound a week! Yay!! I then gained a pound this week so it's 18 pounds total.

24 Weeks - Cantaloupe

24 Weeks - Cantaloupe

Last week we announced the baby name, James Charles Ball, after both our fathers.  Apparently when I tagged our parents on facebook it looked like the baby had 5 middle names...oops.  We've also had lots of questions of what we call him.  We think James, but some people are already saying Jim Chuck... oh no.

I remember when I was taking pictures with a little green olive, and now a cantaloupe??  One of my main pregnancy cravings has been fruit, so I'm thrilled that this week's cantaloupe will make some yummy breakfasts and snacks!  The other craving this week is pickled okra - yum - I can't get enough of it!!

Weight gain?  Over the past two weeks I think I've gained 4 pounds so that's a total of 19 in the 24 weeks.  I'm a little afraid of that number but hoping that since all I've done is eat and not exercise for Christmas and New Years that that number will soon change a bit!?

We had such a good time with family this past week.  On New Year's Eve Eve we had a fondue party.  It was so much fun!

Habers - New Years Eve Eve

Balls - New Years Eve Eve

Dave and me!

The whole crew!

Habers and Seiters - New Years Eve Eve

We then drove back on New Years Eve (in snow and rain the ENTIRE way with 2 dogs that were PERFECT!!) and made it in time for a friend's New Year's party.  Fun!  I got the oreo balls out of the freezer and they were a hit again.  Please don't notice that I have very few maternity clothes and am wearing the same thing in most pics..




                                        Actual New Years Eve at midnight!  With my non-alcoholic bubbly!

I read on a friend's blog about her 2013 fitness goals.  Obviously, I can't make any huge goals for the next few months but I can make some post baby goals.  Of course first and foremost it's to have a healthy pregnancy, delivery, and baby.  After that though, she said that she wants to do a muscle up.  Read about that here.  That's one impressive goal!!! So, Dave now has that same goal (if  a girl can do it he can too..) and I would like to be able to do a strict pullup.  I got a couple kipping pullups right before I got pregnant and so a strict pullup is a big goal!!  I'd also like to run a half marathon faster than before, sub 2.5 hours.  I can't really work on those goals right now, but I have them for the future and between now and then I'll continue to safely workout while pregnant!

Nursery?  Yay, the blinds are up in the nursery and we've picked bedding!  While fixing up our house we've now officially replaced every set of blinds in the whole house!  We're done!!

We did wainscoting in the nursery, painted it a pretty gray, and went with a moose, bear, buffalo theme.  So the bedding we chose is Dwell Studio Woodland.  It's neutral and has cute foresty animals on it! Super cute.


This week I hope to pick out a crib and get started!



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!!!!