27 Week Bumpdate

How far along? 

27 Weeks!

 (I did a 5k!! Ok, I walked a 5K. But it was speed walk with some wives and they never slowed down, so neither did I.)

Baby size?

A cauliflower. Around 2 pounds and 14 inches!

Cravings?

Sweet stuff. Probably because I actually have allowed myself sweet treats more than I ever have before. So my body is getting used to it. And loving it. I try to substitute yogurt and granola and only having dessert on the weekends. 

Aversions?

None. Everything tastes good. Salads are even tasting really good! Thank goodness.

Symptoms?

I'm pretty achy in the hip/pubic bone/lower back region. It's mostly on my walks and when I get up after sitting or laying too long. Can't lay on my back or I get short of breath. Bathroom breaks constantly. Calf cramps have started. I apparently stretch my legs multiple times during my sleep and if I stretch with my toes pointed, a cramp catches me. But as soon as I flex my foot back its fine. Just surprises me at 2 am.

Mood? 

It's a day to day thing! You never know! Well, Nick never knows.

Looking forward to?

Doctor's appointment today at 1! Nick has the day off so he gets to go as well. We haven't listened to Carter's heartbeat recently so that will be fun as always. I'm supposed to have my glucose test today so I plan on bringing my kindle. Hopefully will be able to schedule our labor and delivery tour so that Nick can be there. 

I get to go back to Mississippi AGAIN in 2 weeks! 2 1/2 glorious weeks packed full of showers and family/friend time. Last time it'll be just me in Mississippi. Crazy!

What's new?

One of my best friend's Lauren (from Alaskan Adventures) had her sweet baby boy!! She probably won't be posting too much on her blog, but I bet she wouldn't mind you following her Instagram to see Baby Eli! He is beautiful and bringing them so much joy! Im loving the pictures and videos she sends me! Makes me really excited!

Nick this week?

Ran a leg in the Bomb Suit Relay at the EOD Warrior Dash yesterday which was Memorial Day! It was so much fun to watch them put on those suits and run a mile. It was a normal day in San Diego, so I'm sure the temp in that suit was outrageously hot.

 

Nursery Update?

My upholstered glider is ordered and should be here 6-8 weeks! Im excited to get it before Carter gets here so I can spend some quiet hours just rocking and praying over that room. Once the chair gets here, we will hang shelves and put some finishing touches on the rest of the room. Ive got a few things Ill be working on for his walls while we wait for the chair. While I was in MS, mom and I picked out fabric for the bedskirt so that's going to be made in the next month or so also! This week his nursery is a holding room for things I am selling in a garage sale this Saturday. Hopefully it'll be the last of the junk that is taking up unnecessary room in our closets. So ready for November so we can have actual storage in our new place!

That's it for this week! Carter is growing like a weed and getting close to my ribs. I'll be sore pretty soon, I'm sure! We love our little man and we are both having so much fun with this pregnancy. I love what its done to our marriage already!

Have a great Tuesday!

Victoria

Memorial Day Weekend

What a weekend! The busiest we have had in a while, I'd say. My legs won't let me off the couch so I figured I would post our pictures from the weekend.

I honestly do not remember what we did on Friday afternoon. That shows how exciting we can be......not! We picked up Rosie's little furry friend that we baby sat over the weekend and went to the bank! Woo hoo!

 (Rosie's BFF,  Jessie. Should have photoshopped the Copenhagen out, but that just wouldn't have been very honest, would it? ;) Love you, Nick!)

I can't WAIT to see how these will turn out! I bought some very nice, old frames from a garage sale last weekend for a total of $6. I have been slowly sanding and repainting these babies all weekend. I plan on filling some wall space as a little DIY project. Not completely sure how I want to end result but I will post whenever I finish!

 

Saturday, the weather was GLORIOUS. Ok, all weekend was. I DO live in Florida, ya know? ;) We rented YOLO boards from the base and spent the day on the water with friends. (If you are military, check with the rec center on base. You can rent these kinds of things for very cheap!) Nick and I have never tried YOLO boards, but we are hooked now! What I love is the calorie burn that comes along with it. I don't feel so guilty about our eating habits during the weekend if we do something like this! Oh and we got about 10 feet from dolphins!! Sooo much fun! 

 "Nick, will you take me for some FroYo after we YOLO??" Nick hates it when I speak in abbrevs!

That night we made our way to our favorite spot around Destin...Seaside! They had a free concert plus its just the prettiest place on Earth. We walked around all night reminiscing our engagement shoot! Go check out our little photo shoot on Jon Sharman's page here . Like I say over and over again, he is the best photographer out there! He is definitely more than a photographer to us though, he's our dear friend now!

Fun Fact: Seaside is where The Truman Show was filmed!

(Me and my tan man!)

Sunday we had a low key day. We went to a wonderful service at Niceville United Methodist! The youth pastor preached and we were so refreshed by his message on true generosity. Sunday night we had friends over and cooked out. We ate too much. Period. But it was soooo good! I love it when the guys in Nick's class come over. I get to use my southern hospitality and nice dishes on those "northern boys" ;). Love them! I also sat down and wrote a post about Memorial Day that you can check out here.

Today, we got spontaneous and rented jet skis. Harborwalk Village is apparently the place to be during the weekend (well, kinda weekend). Nick held on tight while I stole the biggest wave of the day. He said I got 4 feet in the air. Woo hoo for this safe mama!  I know I keep saying we had so much fun.....but we really did! No dolphins on this go round but we got to hang out around Crab Island and see all the big boats! We ended the night with burgers at Harry T's. It took all I had to not fall asleep on the way home. I'm now tucked into our couch and the only other place I'm going is to bed!

So, that was our long weekend, friends! I hope yours was relaxing and you are ready for the short week ahead!

P.S. Sorry for all the terrible quality IPhone pics! Just easier and I can actually get close to the water!

Victoria

Remember

I'm going to be that wife today. That military wife. I'm watching my husband clean off our back patio. The one that I have just shut the shades on so I don't have to see the thousands of leaves that have piled up (Sorry Nick!!). But I am thankful I get to watch him take care of our home today.

A few weeks back, I volunteered to help with childcare during the EOD Memorial. Just to fill you in on what this organization does, here is their description from their website.

"The EOD Memorial Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring the legacy of our fallen EOD Warriors by providing for maintenance and upkeep of the physical memorial at Eglin, AFB, FL, funding and facilitating the annual EOD Memorial Ceremony & Ball, and providing scholarships to family members of active duty, former, retired, and fallen members of the EOD Community."

 (You can view the Memorial Wall and all about this organization here)

That rainy morning, as I sat inside the room filled with children and wives of fallen EOD techs, it completely rocked my world. I think the world sees the romantic part of military life. They see YouTube videos of homecomings. They hear the music behind the videos. (All well and good, I'm so guilty of watching and boo hooing over the sweet moments of a soldier seeing his baby for the first time). But what the world doesn't see is that mom making the cross country trip to the Memorial with 3 babies in tow. Having to bring a friend to help with the kids while she holds it together as they call out her sweet husbands name during the ceremony. They don't see her having to go back home to a world of melt downs in the kitchen, of getting those children to school on time, of laying down at night just hoping she doesn't fall asleep too quickly, because that means another day of chaos is about to start. 

This morning, during the first moments of church, a Memorial Day video played. Afterwards, the lady with announcements asked all that had lost a loved one in war to stand. I thought I was going to make it through the day holding it together until that moment. Young and old stood. Fathers, mothers, children, sisters, and brothers have been lost. How blessed have I been to never have lost a loved one in war? I sit today and pray for my husband's safety. For protection over his life and his heart now and in the future.

This weekend, I pray you take time out of your day to remember these men and women who have fallen for your freedom. Especially for the families who don't have mommy or daddy coming home. I wanted to squeeze those babies at the Memorial. To take the future pain away from their innocent hearts. One day, the pain will be taken away. Our Savior will take us home. No more tears. As my favorite song says, "O Glorious Day!"

I'm thankful to be around men and women who serve our country this weekend. Tonight, we will be cooking out and have light conversations. But there is respect in all of it. Respect for the fallen ones and their families.

There is no greater love than to lay down ones life for ones friends.

 John 15:13 

Victoria