25 Weeks!

In an effort to have something written down to look back on, here we go with another little pregnancy recap! We reached the 25 week mark on Sunday and it feels like time is flying by. I'm finding it hard to believe my stomach is going to get any bigger, but this baby has a ways to go and will likely quadruple in weight before she is born (yikes!). We've spent the last few weeks purchasing things for the nursery and it's slowly coming together. We also went to Iceland for our babymoon and it was one of the best adventures together. While it wasn't as relaxing as a tropical beach vacation, we figured those would be easier to do someday with a baby than something like Iceland. It didn't disappoint and I'm still going through my pictures just as in awe as when we saw these things in real life (more to come on that soon).

Since we are hoping and preparing for a natural, medication free birth we've spent a lot of time recently exploring things like birth classes and doulas. We've also been reading different books about birth, and while I found it all fascinating before I was ever pregnant, it hits a new nerve knowing this will be something I go through in a few short months. I'm mostly excited but also YIKES! It's been a treat to see Aaron get super into it - sometimes we get happy-teary just talking about this new little life. Although yesterday at breakfast I did confess to him how I was a wee bit jealous at how he gets to look forward to the baby without the super intense task at hand (aka labor).

In other funny things, we now can SEE her kicking! It's truly like there's an alien living inside of you when you start seeing the kicks from the outside. I enjoy each and every kick but it's no joke when they tell you you'll be peeing all day every day. I was guilty of using a lot of toilet paper before but now it's like a roll a day over here! All in all, I've been pretty comfortable and am enjoying the ease of the 2nd trimester. I imagine that'll be changing quickly as I continue to grow into the heat of the summer. More updates to come!

We bought a new car! It's a 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe. Somehow this felt more adult than buying a house!

The bump! And more importantly - a gorgeous sunset on our walk last night!

Top of the Rock.

One of my favorite New York activities is visiting the observation deck at Rockefeller Center and I was lucky enough to go this week! The amazing city views never get old and it's a fun group outing when you're looking for some great pictures and outside time. While visiting the ONA office in New York, we took a field trip up to the Top of the Rock since a few people hadn't yet been - it was such a treat to spend time with my team and enjoy the city views at once. See a bit of our photo fun below!

See pictures from past visits here and here. 

A Weekend in Maine.

After our wonderful friendship weekend last May in Bucks County, Christine and I decided to make these trips an annual thing and this year we ventured to Maine! When we booked our trip in late January we were fed up with winter and had our sights set on sunny, blue-skied coasts, endless lobster rolls, and lighthouses for days. What we failed to think of in our winter misery was how far north Maine actually was! As it turns out, Maine is still pretty cold in May ;) Despite the weather woes, we had a wonderful weekend exploring the charming city of Portland, along with some other coastal towns farther north like Rockport. We did manage to eat all of the lobster rolls, found several great lighthouses, and happened upon a calf unveiling festival #onlyinmaine! Be sure to watch the video Christine complied as well here!

Thank you to The Press Hotel and The Samoset Resort for providing our lodging - we'll never stop talking about those Press Hotel mattresses and the Margherita pizza at Samoset!

21 Weeks!

I realized I hadn't yet written anything about being, you know, PREGNANT and I figured it would be fun to keep track of a few things. I tend to use this space as a way to document various life events and pregnancy is certainly a life event I wouldn't mind having documented somewhere. It's easy to forget the different parts as the weeks press on and I haven't been great about writing down the things I've experienced so far, but why not start half way through!

A quick recap seems in order as the first trimester is certainly an unforgettable one (as much as I'd like to). We found out I was pregnant on January 3 and it was definitely a bit of a surprise! I did as every good pregnant woman should do and ate sushi that night for dinner (don't worry, just shrimp tempura) and we pretty much just stared at each other in a stunned happiness of like, NOW WHAT DO WE DO? But seriously, no one really tells you what you're supposed to do after you find out this crazy news. I felt relatively normal that first week, but the next 7 or 8 weeks afterward I was nauseated and / or vomiting throughout the day. It's a great thing we lived in New York at the time because I ate a LOT of bagels during those first few months. The tough part was that we knew we were going to make the move back to Maryland soon and it was hard not feeling well while we tried to enjoy the last few months of living there.

Once we moved back to Maryland I was nearing the end of the first trimester and began to turn a corner and feel a lot better. It was also around this time that I was finally able to give this pregnancy some more thought space. During the first trimester people kept asking me about different things, and I did not have the space in my brain to even think about this huge life change. We had so much going on with moving, buying a house, figuring out job situations, and leaving New York that I just couldn't go there yet. It was such a gift that I started to feel better once we moved back as I was able to be more thoughtful about the pregnancy and preparing for everything to come.

The fun part really started a few weeks ago when I felt the first flutters / kicks and we found out we are having a GIRL. Unfortunately, Aaron couldn't come along for the anatomy scan so I asked the ultrasound tech to put the girl or boy outfit I brought into a box and we would open it together later on. We went to a favorite restaurant in DC and had one of the most unforgettable dates of our lives. Once again we sat together in stunned happiness as we'd both really hoped for a girl! Since then I've felt more connected to her (!) and it's been sweet to pray specifically for her little life and our growing family.