I am unbelievably excited for Thanksgiving in one week! For the first time ever, Matt and I are hosting dinner in our home for both sides of our families! This is exceptionally special to us because the last (and only) time our families came together was for our engagement and wedding day! So you can imagine how much it means to us to not have to split this holiday with one side of the family!
I've been getting ready for this holiday for months now creating grocery and to do lists, pinning ideas, purchasing tablescape accessories and of course planning the gender reveal!
The moms and I are splitting up the menu for cooking so no one has to do all of it. I'll be taking on all the appetizers {baked brie, veggie tray, hot corn dip, etc.} the turkey, stuffing, green beans and dessert.
For the tablescape, I'm going to be working with burlap, deep reds and golds. I've purchased everything on sale {and with coupons} from World Market, Michaels and Party City. Here is some of my inspiration:
{1 / 2 / 3}
After dinner, Matt and I will surprise our family {and ourselves} with a gender reveal cake for dessert. We may even get really crazy and announce the baby name too {Matt really doesn't want to announce it until birth}!
{1 / 2 / 3}
Prior to dinner, we'll set up a little voting station for our family and provide some gender predicting Old Wives tales for fun. The cake will be cut for dessert {if we can wait that long!!!}!
Throughout the day there will be lots of football watching in our house and I'm sure that will continue after dinner too. We will also likely end up watching Elf on repeat since my sister and I are obsessed {we have the entire movie memorized, no joke}.
The next morning my mom and I are going to get up early, throw a Fiesta Breakfast Casserole in the oven and hit the mall for lots and lots of Black Friday shopping! Confession: this will probably come as a surprise to you, but I am probably the most aggressive person to Black Friday shop with. My sister and I have a tradition each year to shop together because we already know we will get into a fight and then get over it. But this year my sister and her hubby have to get back home early to move into their new home, so mom is bravely going to accompany me to purchase loads of maternity outfits, gender specific baby clothing, Christmas gifts and nursery furniture! I usually hate to shop 364 days of the year, but on Black Friday I become a crazy, laser-focused 4'11" shopper, whipping in and out of stores with a predetermined list of purchases. I don't stop to browse the window displays, say hi to people I know or go into stores I don't have on my list. See? Crazy person on a mission. So if you see me at South Park, I apologize in advance!
{Leftovers Printable}
On Saturday we'll celebrate my dad's birthday by packing the family up with tons of leftovers {pending availability} and seeing them off on their 8 hour drive back to Florida.
So that's the plan! I am so excited I can hardly contain myself!
As soon as I found out I was pregnant I started researching pregnancy pillows. This was one of the items that mommies warned me not to wait too long to purchase. Picking out a pillow was actually pretty overwhelming since they all seemed to offer just about the same things but the prices were all over the place. In the end, I decided to go with the Leachco Snoogle Pregnancy pillow and was very happy with my choice!
But then...
I was contacted by the Bump Nest to try out their pregnancy pillow and oh my goodness this pillow has changed my sleep completely. In fact, I didn't think a pregnancy pillow could be so different, not to mention cute!
Check out the pillow to pillow comparison here:
The biggest differences I noticed was the fabric and filling. The Bump Nest feels like tempurpedic foam, while the Leachco Snoogle feels like cotton filling.
My opinion? If you can splurge on the Bump Nest, I highly recommend forking over the extra cash for it. However, if you are desperate for good sleep and need an inexpensive pillow to get by with, try the Snoogle. Just my two cents...
How far along: 16 weeks!
Baby Size: The baby is a size of an avocado! (4 - 5 inches long, 3 - 5 oz)!
Weight gain: Up 1.5 pounds to 116.5.
Maternity clothes: I really need to purchase more of these but I am trying to hold out for Black Friday sales!
Stretch marks: Not yet. Using my creams every night!
Sleep: Almost every day this week I woke up between 4-6 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep. I think it's because I am too dang excited to sleep. I can't stop thinking about whether we are going to have a little girl or little boy!
Gender: So we had our appointment last Tuesday at My Sunshine Baby to find out the gender! For 45 minutes the U/S tech tried to get it but our little babe was being so shy and kept it's legs crossed the entire appointment! Finally the tech was able to get a quick peek after putting me in lots of positions, making me do exercises, drink water, eat chocolate, go for a walk, etc. She told us we could come back the next day to confirm it since she only got to quickly see it. Of course we took her up on that and she confirmed the original verdict! The answer is securely tucked away in a little red envelope and I am dying to rip it open and find out! I dropped it off at the baker and the cake has been ordered for Thanksgiving Day!
**If you haven't already, make sure you cast your vote in my sidebar for whether you think we're having a boy or girl!
All curled up!
Best moment this week: Seeing our baby at our Ultrasound appointment! Our baby's heartbeat came in at 152 bpm and 3 days later I had a prenatal check up and the heartbeat dropped to 140 bpm! Could it be a boy?!
Looking forward to: My second prenatal massage this weekend! As soon as we found out we were expecting Matt surprised me with a monthly prenatal massage package! Isn't he the sweetest?!
What I miss: Not much.
Movement: Not yet...but any day now I should be able to feel that first kick!
Food cravings: This week it's been pizza, cupcakes and ice cream. We are loving Dairy Queen these days for dessert. Hopefully those fruits and veggie cravings kick in soon...
Anything making you queasy or sick: Still saying NO to chicken.
Labor Signs: Will start answering this in about 26 weeks...
Symptoms: Uncontainable excitement.
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Mood: Anxious and happy to soon find out the gender!
Nursery: We started clearing out the guest room! The day after Thanksgiving we are hoping to start purchasing the larger items for the nursery. Any recommendations on cribs? I am clueless!
Workouts: Elliptical workouts 3 days this week.
Prayer for Baby:
Dear Lord, I pray for my baby's growth. As his or her face continues to develop, please cause everything to come together to form a beautiful child. If I am having a girl, I pray for her ovaries and eggs forming this week which will someday give her children. I also pray for her future husband, that You will bring a good, kind, loving, wise man into her life; and most of all, that he will be a man of God who loves You and follows Your Word. If I am having a boy, I pray for my son's future wife, that she will be a woman who loves my son and is a good and faithful wife; but most of all, that she is a woman of God who loves You and follows Your Word. Lord, your plans are so awesome and I thank you for blessing us with this baby. Amen.
"I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children are walking in the truth." - 3 John 4
