Hello third trimester!

First off, pregnancy lasts 40 weeks. Who in the world decided this was 9 months? Second, since when does 10 months fit nicely into 3 trimesters?

How far along? 28 weeks
Total weight gain:  27 lbs.
Maternity clothes? All maternity bottoms, some maternity tops
Sleep? What's this?? One week into the third trimester and my body refuses to get comfortable at night.  
Stretch marks? NOPE!! Thanks BioOil and Cocoa Butter!
Innie or outie? Still rocking an innie!
Best moment this week: My sweet husband going to the grocery store after work because my feet hurt so bad.
Miss Anything? Sleep! Also, being able to get in a really good work out oddly enough. 
Movement: He's so active! Again, one week into the third trimester and he is way more active throughout the day... and night.
Food Cravings: Still any type of delicious pastry/ baked good. Nature's Valley baked peanut butter oatmeal bars really help with this craving
Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really! The trash makes me gag, but that's about it!
Gender: Sweet Boy
Pregnancy Symptoms: Can't sleep and I easily get out of breath thanks to my lungs being squished inside of me.
Labor Signs: None
Wedding rings on or off? Still on
Happy or Moody most of the time: Moody, moody! I"m ready for him to be here... 12 more weeks.
Looking forward to: Our first shower and my husband getting home from a business trip!

Expectations vs. reality: Part 1

Before I was pregnant I had these thoughts and expectations about how my pregnancy would be. How I was going to do things different than other people, or how I would incorporate certain things I had read or heard. I think everyone does it to some degree, but I think we especially have these expectations as first time mothers. I'm not even going to go into my expectations about motherhood itself! I know for a fact they'll get blown out of the water those first few minutes our sweet boy is here. For now I want to share with you my three biggest expectations I had and how they've played out so far.

Expectation #1 "I'm going to eat so differently when I'm pregnant, I'll be so much healthier. It'll be easy since I've got another life to think about"

Reality-Dream on! If I thought I had any control over what sounded appetizing for my 10:00 snack then I would totally be munching on some carrots. However, when the only thing you want is something sweet, salty, and chewy all at the same time you better believe you're going to find the perfect treat to get you through your time of starvation. I have found ways to eat less candy and chocolate throughout the day by substituting peanut butter oatmeal bars or certain dry cereal for peanut butter cups and chips. But sometimes nothing will do but a delicious m&m mix from Braums or a Nutella roll up.

Expectation #2 "I'm never going to drink caffeine or artificially colored drinks. I'm not poisoning my baby with all of those chemicals."

Reality-  Now, I've never been the type of person who drinks soda daily and I can't stand coffee, so that's not part of my battle. I thought it would be easy to give up my weekly soda knowing I had a tiny human growing inside of me. Between the headaches and exhaustion of not sleeping well (and having to see 120 students each day) there are some days that I absolutely wouldn't be able to make it through without that delicious, dark drink from above. Judge me all you want, but I did my research 

and I know just how much Dr. Pepper I can safely have each day.

Expectation #3 "I'm going to exercise and stay active throughout my pregnancy. I might even be able to wear my regular pants with the help of a hair tie or bellaband we'll into this adventure."

Reality- I bought 5 pound weights, I used them a couple of days, and now they sit in the basket where we keep Josie's dog toys. I created a list of 5 easy exercises I found on line to do throughout your pregnancy and I did them maybe a week... and by week I mean work week...and by work week I mean one where you have a national holiday or take a sick day on Friday or something else prevents you from completing your full 5 days at work. I do try to walk about 20 minutes 3 times a week at school before my classes start, and I hope I can start taking Josie for more walks once the weather gets nicer. But on days like today, when my feet hurt so bad I didn't think I could make it out of the building and to my car, working out was not at the top of my list of things to do. My first trimester also kicked my butt and it was everything I could do to make it through teaching a full day, let alone be active after work. So this, paired with cold weather, no morning sickness, and craving any type of baked good/pastry has not helped me in the least stay in my normal pants. I said farewell to those four months ago! I have embraced the beauty of maternity pants and tights. Praise The Lord for stretchy pants. 

Praying for our boy

Check out the MOBSociety. Amazing site for moms of boys if you're ever looking for Godly advice on hard topics or a little encouragement when your littles (or bigs) are too much some days. I already read up on their website, but I know I will frequent it even more once our sweet boy is here and older! They also have these amazing prayers to pray for your boys. The verses are taken directly from the bible and changed to fit the specific prayers of boy moms. I've been wanting to pray specific prayers over "A" and these have been a great starting point!

Boy, oh Boy!

I realize it's been quite some time since my last blog post. Honestly, I just haven't been in the blogging mood and other things have taken my time and energy. I still love blogging and finding new blogs to read. And I love keeping up with all of the blogs I've been following. I've been meaning to post for a few weeks now so I'm excited to be back in the saddle!

So many things have happened in the almost year it's been since blogging. Not only did I survive the hardest teaching year/job I could ever imagine, I also got my dream teaching job! Me and my sweet husband celebrated our two year anniversary in July with a road trip to Destin, FL. This was probably one of the best vacations ever! We stayed right on the beach and ate delicious food every night. In August school started and it has just been a whirlwind of art supplies and students.

I've never had any real direction with my blog, it was always just something I experimented with.  However, with that being said Love-Lea Life is going to be changing quite a bit! Not only did I start a new teaching job last fall, but I also found out that I am going to be a mom!! And not just any mom, a boy mom! Needless to say this blog is going to turn into my letter to my sweet boy, myself, and any other moms out there who might need encouragement along the way. I'm about 25 weeks into this journey they call pregnancy and it has been absolutely amazing! Aside from my super crazy gag reflex I didn't have any morning sickness ( so sorry mamas if you did ) and there were only a few foods that I wasn't interested in. I'm really sad I haven't been documenting this more along the way, but growing a human is hard work! But I've been wanting to start this, so here it goes!

How far along? 25 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 20 lbs. Ugh, I know I'm growing a human, but seeing the numbers on the scale climb is depressing!
Maternity clothes? All maternity bottoms, some maternity tops
Sleep? Almost through the night! Besides going to the bathroom a couple of times and letting the dog out. 
Stretch marks? NOPE!! Thanks BioOil and Cocoa Butter!
Best moment this week: Passing my second glucose test! No Gestational Diabetes for me!
Miss Anything? My body... I know I still have a long way to go too. Also, cold meats.
Movement: He's so active! And then he freaks me out when he decides to take a nap and not move around like a crazy person
Food Cravings: Any type of delicious pastry/ baked good. Luckily I refuse to buy them and keep them in the house or I would have gained way more than 20 lbs by now. 
Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really! The trash makes me gag, but that's about it!
Gender: Sweet Boy
Pregnancy Symptoms: Going to the bathroom all the time, some headaches, broken out, and a few Braxton Hicks
Labor Signs: None
Wedding rings on or off? Still on
Happy or Moody most of the time: Moody, moody! I feel so bad for my students at school. But I'm pretty happy once I get home.
Looking forward to: Finishing our registries!

Also, I would like to add how much of a champ my sweet husband has been. I would not be able to go through this without all of his support and help around the house. I know he thinks I'm a crazy person most of the time ( mainly because he tells me), but he never hesitates to do the dishes or take me for ice cream, even if he thinks I tricked him into it, haha. He has helped make this pregnancy as wonderful as it has been! 

I peed on these sticks on September 9th and my life has never been the same!

 

How we told his parents and mine

Our boy at 20 weeks!! I can't believe how much I love this face already.