27 Weeks Bumpdate!

I hit the 27 Weeks mark on Friday and I am definitely starting to feel the effects of pregnancy! I have been pretty tired and find myself falling asleep at the weirdest times! It was 6:30pm last night! This week I have my glucose test and doctor's appointment! I am definitely not looking forward to having my blood drawn! I also am beginning to get lots of comments when I am out and about about my belly! At the gym, a sweet woman told me I looked cute! At church, a woman said, "Wow (followed by a 5 second pause) you look good!" I was really nervous about what she was going to say! I was even asked if the baby was due in a week or two. Uh, no I still have 3 months! It is amazing how this bump can solicit so many comments!

This past weekend we celebrated Easter at our church and then had brunch at the Officer's Club. I loved seeing all of the kids dressed up in their Easter outfits and I'm happy to report that Charlotte already has many options in her closet for next year! 

Easter Sunday 

On Thursday, we went to the Florida-Georgia Line Concert! When we found out they were coming to Hawaii, we were so excited! We do actually have a country music station here, but the Hawaiians don't really love country... it is all the military here that make up the fan base! The concert was awesome! We went to REAL gastropub before and got our southern food fix! Buffalo Chicken Deviled Eggs, Chicken and Waffles and Pretzel Bites with Beer Cheese to name a few! We actually found out that the owner of the restaurant is from Ft. Lauderdale. I'm so glad he has brought a taste of the south to Hawaii! 

With our friends Kelanie, Amanda and Brett!

Growing!

How far along? 27 Weeks

Total weight gain/loss: + 2 lbs (I guess I'm making up for not gaining as much early on!)
Maternity clothes: Oh yes! Got some use out of my belly band this weekend! Still wearing alot of regular clothes that allow for my belly! I told Kyle that is definitely getting less and less fun to get dressed!
Stretch marks? Nope!
Sleep? Slept so good last night! I told Kyle I didn't even have to get up to pee and he said I did. So, I guess I was just in that deep of a sleep. Sleep is mostly good. I do wake up on my back sometimes and it's super uncomfortable to try and move! I feel like I have an elephant in my belly!

Miss Anything? Besides the usual food, family and friends, not really! :)

Movement: Lots of movement and my belly is starting to move with the movement! I have been trying to get it captured on video! Maybe it will be in next week's bumpdate!
Food cravings? I have been so indecisive this week about food! Can't make any decisions about what I want to eat! Always craving my sugar though! Haven't had a donut in forever though!
Anything making you sick or queasy? Nope
Gender: Girl! :) No middle name yet... I thought we decided last night, but we are still trying!

Symptoms:  Lower back pain and BH contractions when I walk or work out
Labor signs? Not yet!
Belly button in or out? Looks like an outie in shirts, but it is holding on!
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or moody most of the time?  Happy
Worst moment this week:  Having a screw in my tire and having to get new tires! I know the car will be safe for Charlotte, but it always stinks to spend money on something like that!
Best moment this week: Having a low key weekend! Sometimes it is nice to just relax. Pre-pregnancy I have always been go, go, go, so this definitely an adjustment for me. But I know soon enough it will be back to that lifestyle caring for Charlotte and eventually chasing after her!
Looking forward to: Kyle's parents arrive on the island next Friday!
Baby info:  She's a cucumber or cauliflower?!?! They all say something different! This is the end of the 2nd trimester! She has doubled in weight in the past month! Wow!

26 Weeks Bumpdate

This past weekend we did our first hike here in Hawaii! There are so many different places to hike, but from the beginning I was a little worried that I would be climbing the side of a mountain and holding on for dear life. Well, it's not exactly like that! We were debating between Diamond Head and the Makapu'u Lighthouse Hike. I was told that that the Lighthouse Hike was paved and you could even take a stroller up it, so I figured this was a safe bet for me! Kyle wanted to do a sunrise hike, but we settled for leaving the house at 7am instead! I wake up early, but I really didn't want to be up at 5am! It was definitely smart to get there early because the parking lot was packed when we came back down! It was a beautiful hike with lots of great lookouts and picture opportunities! We even saw 2 whales off the coast! This is the end of the whale season, but we were lucky enough to see them! The hike was pretty steep at times, but I managed to make it up and back with no problem! It was about 2.5 miles roundtrip! The only problem- drinking water to stay hydrated and no bathrooms in site! That made it very uncomfortable for the walk down!  I was able to use my new camera and I absolutely love it!

Had to get my 25 Week bump pic in! :)

How far along? 26 Weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Easter weekend has put me back at my starting pregnancy weight! I have such a sweet tooth! Yikes:) So, it's all weight gain from here on out!
Maternity clothes: Yep! Still wearing some regular clothes too, just depends if they give way in the belly area! :)
Stretch marks? Nope! And from what I've heard, if your mom didn't have them, you will most likely not have them! Yay! But, still lathering up every night with coconut oil!
Sleep? Some nights I sleep good, others I don't! It is kind of a toss up. Definitely taking more naps in the afternoon if I can get Macey Jane to be quiet enough! She is quite the watchdog and likes to bark at all the little noises she thinks she hears! 

Miss Anything? I think while living here I will always miss food, pregnant or not! The food in Hawaii is just interesting and I am not really up for food adventures right now! 

Movement: Lots of movement, but still no visible movement from my belly. Kyle feels her all the time now!
Food cravings? Sweet Tart gummy bunnies, Icees and Rice Krispie treats! (Couldn't have Easter without Rice Krispie treats!)
Anything making you sick or queasy? Something made me feel really nauseous this week, but I can't remember for the life of me what it was! (pregnancy brain)
Gender: Girl! :) We are getting close to a middle name!

Symptoms: Lower back pain and complete lower body pain after running a 5k!
Labor signs? Not yet!
Belly button in or out? I don't have a complete outie yet, but it pretty much looks like that in shirts and dresses. It's more like a little hook right now! I don't know it will pop out or not. I guess time will tell!
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or moody most of the time?  Happy
Worst moment this week: Wishing time would hurry up! I'm ready for Charlotte to be here! However, I am trying to enjoy and cherish this time of freedom, because I know I won't have it back for a very long time!
Best moment this week: On a whim, I ran a whole 5K! It was a great feeling to accomplish that and I told Kyle maybe I can do a natural birth now! haha, ok maybe not! But, it reminded me that you can do anything you put your mind to! :)
Looking forward to: The Florida/Georgia Line concert with friends on Thursday, Kyle's family visiting in a couple of weeks and Babymoon in a month!
Baby info:  She's an eggplant still or cucumber according to some apps! :) She weighs 2 lbs and is 9 inches long! :) Her eyes are now open and she can blink (so cute)! 

25 Weeks Bumpdate!

Hit the 25 week mark and feeling really great! Last weekend we celebrated our anniversary at Hy's Steakhouse in Waikiki! Kyle and I both agreed it was our best meal yet since being in Hawaii!! On the menu was Shrimp Cocktail (my fav), table side Caesar Salad and Filet Mignon with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Creamed Spinach! The meal was so delicious! They even brought us a piece of homemade Cheesecake for our anniversary! But of course, we had to have the table side Bananas Foster too!!

On Sunday, we checked out Chad Lou's, a coffee shop in downtown Kailua, before church. My friend, Amanda, and I tried to go the previous weekend, but their oven was broken! They have delicious coffees and a great menu as well! It's an eclectic atmosphere too! 

After church, we were feeling adventurous so we decided to rent a kayak from the Marine Corp base and go kayaking! We grabbed some sandwiches and snacks from Whole Foods and set out on our journey, with Macey Jane in tow! We kayaked out to Flat Island off the coast of Kailua Beach! It was really fun! Our goal was to make it to the Mokes, but it was pretty windy and Macey Jane was getting wet and didn't really like it! 

How far along? 25 Weeks

Total weight gain/loss: down 3 lbs.
Maternity clothes: I ventured to Motherhood Maternity one day after work and was able to return some things that I got when we were in Virginia that were too big! Plus, Hawaii is so casual that I would have never been able to wear some of the stuff! Looking forward to wearing some of the outfits on our Babymoon next month!
Stretch marks? Nope!
Sleep? Ehh, ok. Got in a few naps this week, but on days that I can/want to sleep in, I can't! So frustrating! I'm trying to stock up on sleep because I know soon I won't be getting it! 

Miss Anything? I missed "home"/Florida/the South. I often think about our Jax house and our life there, especially being close to family, craft stores, Publix, to name a few! All those things you take for granted! However, it is crazy to think that we have been in Hawaii for 3 months already and only have about 15 months to go! Trying to enjoy all the time we have here!

Movement: Oh yes! She is flipping around and kicking like crazy! I love the constant reminder of her!
Food cravings? Starbursts (only pink and reds though!) and Icees (but I think that may be on the way out! They haven't tasted as good to me lately!)
Anything making you sick or queasy? No
Gender: Girl! :) Still no middle name for our princess! Poor thing! :( 

Symptoms: Nope. Had a pretty good week! Besides some lower back pain, I've felt really good!
Labor signs? Not yet!
Belly button in or out? Completely flat! In some shirts/dresses it looks like have an outie already!
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or moody most of the time?  Happy
Worst moment this week: Dealing with rescheduling our airline tickets for our babymoon. The airline went out of business and was supposed to reschedule us on another airline, but of course that was a lie.
Best moment this week: My family booked their next trip to come out and visit in February! We will be a party of 8 with 2 babies in tow, 1 toddler and 5 adults! I think we will need one of those passenger vans!!
Looking forward to: The Florida/Georgia Line concert in a couple weeks! :)
Baby info:  She's an eggplant! Ok, now I want eggplant parmesan! :) Her nostrils are beginning to open and her vocal chords are also developing! 

DIY: IKEA Bookshelves

If you have ever typed "nursery bookshelves" in your Pinterest search box, you have most likely come across the IKEA Bookshelf Tutorial! With limited space in Charlotte's nursery and knowing that she wouldn't be a total bookworm before the age of 1 when we leave Hawaii, I opted for a more temporary book storage than a full blown bookcase! My goal was to create a "reading corner" for her! 

So, I went to IKEA.com since we don't have an IKEA on the island and added 4 BEVKAM spice racks to my cart. Total cost? $15.00! What a deal! Then, I added in my shipping and billing info and my total was up to $75.00! What?!?! $60 for shipping for something that weighs 2 lbs. each?! Of course it was the middle of the night in Florida, so I sent an email to my mom, sister and mother in law begging them to make the trip to IKEA and bring them out to me in their suitcase when they visited! Thankfully my mom was going to be in the area, so she went to the crazy world of IKEA to get me the bookshelves! 

While my mom was here we did some touch up painting on Charlotte's closet and doors, so meanwhile I painted the bookshelves! 

The shelves come unfinished, but you can easily spray paint or paint with a white semi-gloss paint! It took about 3 coats to look good! 

The finished product! 

I am really happy with how the project turned out! The shelves were quite a pain to hang (sorry, Kyle) because they did not provide hardware to attach to the wall and the hooks were an awkward size. We still have 1 shelf left that I may use to store diapers, powder, etc!

Total Cost: 

$15.00 for 4 shelves 

$22.00 for 1 gallon of white semi-gloss

=$37.00 

That's less than the cost of one ledge from Pottery Barn Kids! 

24 Weeks Bumpdate

Wow! I am 6 MONTHS pregnant! How did this happen?!?! The time is surely flying and the weeks are beginning to blur together! This was an awesome week in our house for a few reasons! Kyle came back home from being underway, we celebrated 3 years of marriage, Charlotte's furniture was delivered and Kyle was home relatively early every night!! :) 

On Thursday night, we had our friends Adam and Kelanie over for dinner and to help us get Charlotte's furniture up the stairs. The delivery company won't bring the items up stairs because of liability, no matter how much you pay! Funny enough, Kyle and Adam both went to Trinity Prep in Winter Park for middle school and then Adam's family moved, but now we are both in Hawaii and live less than 2 miles away from each other! They have become great friends to us and we love hanging out with them!

We had a great dinner of Pork Tenderloin, Macaroni and Cheese (thanks to Kelanie) and Strawberry Salad! The Strawberry Salad is my favorite and I have to share the recipe with you! 

Strawberry Salad 

Baby Spinach or Spring Mix 

1 pint of Sliced Strawberries 

2 Avocados, cubed 

Toasted Almonds

Crumbled Goat Cheese 

Diced Red Onion 

You can use a balsamic or red wine vinaigrette, but our favorite is the Briana's Blush Vinaigrette! So happy that they carry this at the commissary!

After dinner, it was time to get this project moving! We didn't actually plan on assembling the crib that night, but Adam and Kelanie insisted and I wasn't going to stop them! :) So, they grabbed a few more drinks and got to work! They did a great job! Of course our little doxies, Maverick and Macey Jane were a huge help!

On Saturday, Kyle was up bright and early! I didn't even hear him get up, but when I woke up, our stroller was assembled! It looks great and I am so happy with it! We ended up getting the Britax B-Ready Stroller and B- Safe Car Seat! We love that they work seamlessly together (no adapters) and there is lots of storage underneath the seat! We received both of these awesome gifts at our baby shower and we absolutely love them! I also picked up a BOB Jogging Stroller over the weekend! We knew we wanted one for runs/walks, but with the salt air here, everything gets destroyed so we were thinking about buying used. I found one at Caterkids, a kid's consigment store, over the weekend. They are hot commodities here so once I saw the picture of it on Facebook, I hopped in the car to go get it! It's practically brand new! 

The weekend projects continued as Kyle worked on Charlotte's "reading corner" while I organized all of her clothes and put them in her dresser! She seriously has so much stuff! I'm going to do another post on the IKEA bookshelves! They turned out really cute! 

And now, onto my bump! I made this collage and you can really see my growth! I told Kyle, I can't remember my stomach being flat! Our little girl is growing, that is for sure! 

How far along? 24 Weeks

Total weight gain/loss:  No weight gain this week!  -5.5 total
Maternity clothes: Wearing lots of light dresses and shorts on days that I work. It's definitely getting warmer here!
Stretch marks? Nope!
Sleep? Slept well this week! I was asleep on the couch at 8pm one night!

Miss Anything? Sleeping on my back! 

Movement: Lots! Kyle finally held his hands on my belly long enough to feel her. We went to a movie tonight and I couldn't stop giggling because she was SOO active! I think she liked the noise. I kept grabbing Kyle's hand because I couldn't believe how much she was moving.
Food cravings? Sour Patch Watermelon Candies, Icees (they are my downfall), Greek Yogurt and Peanut Butter
Anything making you sick or queasy? No
Gender: Girl! :) I was actually told by a random stranger in Target that I was having a boy because I was carrying low. I was like nope, it's a girl in there (or that's what I've been told, hmmm! :)

Symptoms: Lots of kicks and thankfully BH contractions subsided this week!! Only had them a few times when walking. I also sigh alot, mainly because I get short of breath doing things. Kyle laughs, but I really can't help it!
Labor signs? Not yet!
Belly button in or out? It changed drastically between Thursday and Saturday. It will be an outie soon, I'm convinced!
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or moody most of the time?  Happy
Worst moment this week: Can't think of one! It was a great week! :)
Best moment this week: Seeing her nursery come together!! I smile every time I walk past her room!
Looking forward to: 1 month until Kyle's parents visit us! It will be good to see them and show them our new home!
Baby info:  She's an ear of corn and starting to develop blood vessels and white blood cells! She is also considered viable at this point! If my water were to break today, she would have a great chance with today's modern medicine! But we are happy to wait until her due date, even though we are dying to meet her!

3 Years!

Happy 3 Year Anniversary to us! Funny story about our wedding date... We actually planned to get married on March 26. We had the church, venue, caterer, save the dates sent and even coozies made! Sometime in October, I had a visit paid to my office by my florist and sponsor for the Rosalind Club. I was working for Arthur's Catering at the time. So instead of calling me, she planned to sit down with me and the owner of the catering company. The owner of my company told me we needed to have a meeting and to come into his office. I was terrified! What did I do wrong?!!? I had just gotten a gleaming review, what could we need to talk about? So, I sweated while I waited for him to come in to start the meeting. When he did come in, he wasn't alone, my florist/sponsor was there too. They told me to sit down. I think because they thought I was a bridezilla and that I would absolutely lose my cookies if my perfect wedding day was being ruined! But, I remained pretty calm! It was explained that over the summer vacation, my date was given away by the club because some paperwork was lost. When it was all said and done, we sent change the dates and all of our vendors were available the following weekend on April 2! Thank goodness! Come to think of it, I like April 2 better anyway, and my sweet nephew's birthday is April 1! Everything happens for a reason! 

We will celebrate on Saturday at Hy's Steakhouse in Waikiki! I am really looking forward to the table-side Banana's Foster! YUM! But of course, we have to celebrate at home too! Kyle was able to come home at a decent hour from work and we had a nice little dinner of steak, potatoes and asparagus! We can't forget the sparkling cider and yummy desserts! I got an assortment of minis from Whole Foods! The macaroons and cannoli were the best! They were pricy, but worth every penny! 

Every year, as tradition, we watch our wedding video. It's just the "cinematic" portion, so it is only about 20 minutes! It brings back so many memories of such a great day! During the video, I realized that next year we will be watching it with Charlotte! I can't wait until she is older and can talk about the video and ask us questions. Oh to wonder what she will think of her parents on their wedding day! I'm sure by the time she if a teenager she will think everything was so out of style! 

Kyle enjoying a scotch and my sparkling cider with strawberries
while we watch our wedding video!

Some of my favorite photos from our wedding day!

Thanks for all the anniversary wishes! :)