...Just Me and My Running Shoes...: February 2016

Monday, February 29, 2016

Weekend Review

Congratulations to everyone who completed races at the Rock n Roll New Orleans Marathon, Half, and 10K this past weekend!! I loved following along with all of the updates on social media! Can't wait for next year! :)

This past weekend was a really nice and relaxing one and I enjoyed every minute of it. No schedule and nowhere to be (except church on Sunday)...I was in heaven!

The weekend began early on Friday as we were let off work a few hours earlier than normal. I took a nap, hung out with Jason and the puppies, then began working on craft things for the baby's room! Oh yes, and who can forget Fuller House?! (I loved the show, by the way...all of the episodes were consumed by Saturday night!)

Silly girls!

Adding a little Disney baseball to the nursery...while watching Fuller House of course! :)

I am so excited over the baseball paper I found!! Love it! The Mickey, Donald, and Goofy silhouettes were framed in white frames and are waiting for display. I would like to have everything together before I begin hanging things in the room. I'm at a loss at what to put over the dresser...still trying to figure that one out in my head...

On Saturday, I pretty much stayed in my PJ's all day. Say what?! I haven't done that in...umm...ever...that I can remember! Despite my frumpy (yet comfortable) appearance, I got a lot of things accomplished around the house. Baby Seal's "accessories" are mostly together including the rocker/sleeper and car seat/stroller. The car seat base and mirror are installed in my car, his clothes and blankets are washed, and his bag is mostly packed. I do have my personal packing list written so that's next to accomplish!

This corner of his room is where I began and I'm about halfway done. Doing all of these tasks from a mostly seated position really slows me down!

Pixie seemed to enjoy his rocker/sleeper, although she only stayed in for a few minutes. Poor girl has been my guinea pig for a lot of his items! She's been a very good sport, though!

Madalynn, on the other hand, assumed that these fluffy polar bear chest straps were her toys. Of course. We've had lots of serious discussions about Madalynn's toys vs baby brother's toys. I think those discussions went in one ear and out the other, though...as you can clearly see. :) What fun adventures lie ahead...hah!

Guinea Pig exhibit #2. She wasn't as big a fan of the car seat as she was the rocker/sleeper. She still loves me, though! :)

I finished off Saturday evening by writing thank you notes! I do love thank you notes and feel like they are a dying tradition (sadly).

On Sunday morning, I stopped by our local CC's coffee house (Community Coffee...it's a southern staple) and had a king cake latte and about a third of this king cake cinnamon roll! I'd seen these cinnamon rolls on facebook and Mindy tagged me in a King Cake coffee picture the day before...so why not?! Besides, if I couldn't be in New Orleans, I figured I'd celebrate like I was there! :) It was fun to follow along with everyone's Rock n Roll NOLA progress while enjoying a taste of the city!

Oh yeah, and that cinnamon roll? It was the size of my hand!! I ate about a third of it, then brought the rest with me...it was huge! Definitely one of the best cinnamon rolls I've ever had!

After church, I took another nap then had dinner with friends. Overall, it was a fun and much needed (on the relaxing side) weekend!

Y'all, TOMORROW makes a month until Baby Seal's due date! I can't believe it!!

How was your weekend? Did you run any races? Hope you had a great one!! Happy Monday!

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Pregnancy Update: 34 Weeks

How many weeks are you now?
34 weeks, 6 days - I'm now on WEEKLY Doctor appointments! Y'all...how has the time flown by so fast?? I can't believe it's almost over!

Baby's size?
Pineapple per the What to Expect app.

Weight:
I gained back the pound I lost - total of 24 pounds gained so far! Right on track for the 25-35 pound weight range!

Symptoms:
This week, I really started "feeling" pregnant - I think the third trimester has finally hit me! I'm still enjoying being pregnant in general, though...and I'm no where near the stage of "get this baby out of me"! :)

Still having the occasional heartburn.

This week, my back has started to ache on a regular basis depending on how I'm sitting and the baby's position.

Really, the only way I feel 100% comfortable is when I'm lying down in my snoogle....which gives me more reasons to take naps...no problem or complaining here!

Still no ankle swelling or stretch marks and my BP has been on track this entire pregnancy! (So happy about both!)

I also received the Tdap vaccine on Tuesday afternoon. It caused arm soreness (actually, it's still sore) but no other side effects. My doctor recommended it for me as well as anyone who will be in close contact with the baby on a regular basis...like Jason. He attempted to get one on Tuesday too, but our insurance wouldn't cover both of us in the same day (so silly), so he will have to go back and try again soon. The main reason for receiving the vaccine is to prevent the spread of whooping cough to Brayden (which can be deadly to babies).

Cravings?
Peanut Butter and Jelly has been my lunch all week! :)

Also, I really really like peanut butter ritz crackers....yummmm...must be something with the peanut butter!

Aversions?
Broken record...still fish!

Sleep?
I find that I'm needing more hours per night although the sleep I'm getting now used to be sufficient. Even though I get a "full" night's sleep, I still wake up groggy. I'm definitely looking forward to sleeping in this weekend! I wake up every few hours to turn over but I fall right back asleep.

Purchases?
Yeah...so I shopped around at JCPenney online and couldn't help myself. They had a TON of Disney Baby stuff on clearance and although Baby Seal has a sufficient amount of smaller clothing, he doesn't have much in the larger sizes (18-24 months)....so I purchased a few things!

I also think I finally pieced together his coming home outfit! So excited!

Oh yes, and I ordered curtains for his room! I can't wait to get it all pieced together!

What I Miss:
Walking fast and being able to get somewhere in a hurry.

What I'm looking forward to:
Sleep this weekend (hopefully)!

Best Moment of the Week:
Hands down my baby shower! My friends and family BLEW my mind with everything they put together! Baby Seal also received pretty much everything he needs to begin his start in life....we are so blessed! I can't wait to share the official pictures with you guys!!

Until next week...thanks for following along! :)

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Disney at Christmas Day 5: Animal Kingdom

On our final day in Disney World, we definitely made the most of our park hopper passes! We began the morning at Animal Kingdom, took a short afternoon nap, had dinner at Fort Wilderness, took a bus to Hollywood Studios to say goodbye to the Osborne Lights one last time, then ended the evening in the Magic Kingdom for the Electric Light Parade and Wishes. All of that and I was in my second trimester of pregnancy! It was by far our highest mileage/step day of our trip walking wise....WHEW...I'm tired reading all of that!

If you're interested in the other aspects of our trip, here's previous recaps:

The morning spent at Animal Kingdom was a busy one! It took forever for us to get through bag check...insanity!

I loved seeing the Animal Kingdom tree all together! Last year during Mickey's Jingle Jungle 5K, this tree was located "behind the scenes" in several large pieces on big truck flats.

Our first stop was Everest for Jason to use his fast pass. I offered to let him use mine as well but he didn't want to go on a second ride. Oh well.

I might have enjoyed a pastry and some coffee while waiting! :)

I hadn't been to Animal Kingdom since the new Harambe area opened up! It was really nice and I loved the attention to detail. We did check out the menus in the Harambe Market but decided on our Yak and Yeti favorite instead.

With my being pregnant, we also happened to check out a few attractions we don't see on a regular basis...like Flights of Wonder!

It amazes me that the tour guide guy Cast Member is still there! Wonder how long he's been a CM? As long as I can remember, for sure...he's been at every Flights of Wonder I've ever seen dating back to 1999, I believe! (Edited to add...I found out that he's been a WDW CM for 26 years! Awesome!)

Our afternoon treat consisted of a Dole Whip! I was so excited to find that these were sold in Animal Kingdom!

Our last stop at Animal Kingdom was at the Festival of the Lion King!

This was my first time to see the Lion King in it's new theater in Africa and I loved the new location and setup!

After leaving Animal Kingdom, we returned to our resort for an afternoon rest. Our dinner reservations were at Trails End at Fort Wilderness, and we had plenty of time before we had to leave again! I am starting to love afternoon WDW naps! :)

We decided to take a bus to the MK, then a boat to Fort Wilderness which definitely turned out to be the best option! I LOVE LOVE LOVE watching the sunset over Bay Lake! So pretty!

I snagged a "first visit" button for Baby Seal from our resort lobby and wore it the rest of the evening! Corny, I know but it was fun!

Dinner was delicious as always and we will definitely be back! It's so worth the trip over to the campground if you haven't been in the past!

Well, that's enough for now. Since this day was rather long, I'm breaking this recap up into two parts.

Up next: Our evening at Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom!

Have you ever eaten at Trails End? What are your thoughts?

Monday, February 22, 2016

A Weekend to Remember!

Congratulations to everyone who completed the Princess Half Marathon and Glass Slipper Challenge this past weekend! I enjoyed following along with everyone's pictures and their fun times in the parks on social media! See you out there in 2017!

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This past weekend was a flurry of activity and flew by so fast! I know I say that about each weekend, but I honestly feel as if I blinked and it was over!

On Thursday night, I received a phone call from one of my best friends. Her due date is three weeks before mine...and well, let's just say her "surprise" arrived way sooner. She was practically in tears on the phone because my shower was Saturday and this was Thursday night. Her doctor advised her that they needed to go ahead and do a c-section the following day (Friday) at 37 weeks pregnant and it wasn't a good idea to wait until Monday, which meant she wouldn't be able to attend or help host the shower. I told her not to fret because I would much rather everyone safe and healthy over attending a shower!

So, instead of attending the final portion of our birthing classes with her, I went alone (which I was totally fine with) because Jason was working. Actually, I'm glad I went alone because so did all of the other ladies in the class!

This little gal was my companion for the evening!

On Friday, I couldn't hardly wait for work to end - I had a newborn to visit! As soon as I left, I picked cupcakes up from a local bakery to bring with me to the celebration!

As a bonus, I was one of the first ones to get to hold baby Caroline! I mean, I might be her future mother in law, right? (Hehe)

She was so sweet....and holding her only made me even more excited for my little boy to arrive!

I woke up early on Saturday morning and shot a text to my sister in law who was staying at my parent's house. I asked if she wanted to grab breakfast at a local cafe and she agreed!

On my way there, I spotted my little turtle friends for the first time this year (it was warm out and they were soaking up the sun)! I just hope the neighborhood kids leave them alone.

After breakfast, I brought my sister in law back to my parent's house and visited for a while before returning home to get ready for the shower! Eeek!

Y'all, I couldn't have been more pleased with the results of the shower! Our church recently experienced an internal flood, so everything is being conducted in our Children's Building (all services, classes, events, etc). This room is huge and I knew it would be a challenge to decorate, but all of the ladies in charge did an outstanding job!

I did ask a professional photographer friend of mine to take pictures so I didn't have to worry about my camera...as soon as I have them back, I'll share them with you guys!

The corsages were hand made by my sister in law and I loved them!! She did an excellent job! If you can't tell, our nursery theme is "Mickey Baseball"...I'm still working the decoration kinks out at the moment...

I taught these girls on Wednesday nights from 4th grade through their senior year in high school. One of them even made a special trip from Baton Rouge just for the shower! It was so good to see them again!!

After the shower was said and done, I kicked my feet up to relax while everyone cleaned and straightened up the room. It was rather funny....well, maybe they didn't think so but I did!

I also had cake...one of each!

We were SO blessed with everyone who came out to the shower and everything we received as gifts! The outpouring of love from our family and friends was incredible and I appreciate each and every person who took time out of their busy schedule to pop in and say hello! I can't wait to share the shower pictures with you guys!

That night, I immediately set to getting the baby's room straight.

It took until almost 1 a.m., but the photo below is the end result! Yay!

On Sunday, we had lunch at Izzos after church....it's like a Subway type restaurant but with a burrito theme....and it's messy!

One napkin for the lap and one for the bump! Thankfully, there were no mishaps! Yay!

Jason also spent a little time practicing his swaddling skills this weekend on our puppy. She's a Houdini and figured out how to escape from the first attempt!

He got it right the second time, though! (This is her MOMMA SAVE ME face!) Haha!

...and here we are at Monday once again! I hope you all have a fabulous week!!

What was your favorite part of the weekend?

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Pregnancy Update: 33 Weeks

How many weeks are you now?
33 weeks, 6 days

Baby's size?
Honeydew Melon per the What to Expect app.

Symptoms:
This week, baby hit a growth spurt in a big way. I felt "off" for several days and each time that happens, my bump grows noticeably bigger.

Baby Seal has also been head down since our 3D scan and now I'm feeling his hiccups up high. I also used to be able to feel something small like a foot at the top of my bump and now what I feel is much larger - either his head or his rear end. I sure hope he hasn't flipped head up. I know there's time for him to turn around again, but that window span is growing (literally) shorter and shorter by the day.

His kicks are also growing noticeably stronger and stronger - it's funny to watch my bump move as he moves!

The heartburn still comes and goes at times but I've learned to pinpoint the trigger foods. Thankfully, it hasn't been anything I can't live without so far!

Still no swelling or stretch marks although I check daily for both!

Cravings?
Cookies and Cream Hershey's Chocolate. YUM.
Also PB&J Sandwiches!

Aversions?

Same old same old - fish.

Sleep:

Sleep has been good! Still waking up once or twice per night to potty - usually just once unless I drink water way too late.

Purchases:
A baby bed mattress and the cutest Mickey Mouse shoes for our maternity pictures last weekend!

What I miss:
Sleeping on my tummy

What I’m looking forward to:

Our baby shower this weekend! I can't wait to share the pictures with all of you!

Best Moment of the Week:

So many fun moments took place this weekend - the baby's furniture is up, our maternity photo shoot went well, and I had an amazing maternity massage!!

Here's a sneak peek of the furniture so far:

I'll do a full reveal as soon as it's all together.

Also, I finished his hospital wreath!

That's all for now! Another week down, six more to go! Baby Seal will be here before we know it!

Have a great day!

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Disney at Christmas Day 4: Epcot

Continuing with our December Disney trip is our first "extra" day spent at Epcot! We originally booked this trip as a "long weekend" but decided to add 2 extra days to the end and defer our Princess trip due to being in the third trimester of my pregnancy.

Here's previous day recaps if you're interested!

Our day began at Epcot where we wandered through Future World and on to World Showcase. I was interested in seeing as much Epcot Christmas as possible!

An acapella group in front of the World Showcase fountain - they were great!

As we walked past Canada, we saw Goofy and a Cast Member acting...well, Goofy. It caught our attention because the CM kept asking Goofy about all of his friends. He then began knocking on the gate between Canada and and the UK. The gate began to open and Mickey appeared...along with Donald, Chip & Dale, and several other characters.

They all lined the alley way behind the gate for pictures. We started to walk away, but then realized that Donald (Jason's favorite) was back there AND he was in his "classic" outfit. Ok ok...we gave in.

...and we pretty much turned into 10 year olds. :D

Because all of these characters were hidden back in the alley way, the lines were crazy short.

We managed all of this in the span of 10 minutes!

Other characters were around, but we decided to continue on our way. After thinking about it, we realized that this was probably a training session because all of the CM's had those little "earning my ears" tags behind their badges. These characters were super interactive, too. It was a fun little experience!

Our next stop was for the Voices of Liberty. I love hearing these guys sing!

We also took a little time to explore the inside of the American Pavilion before continuing on our way.

At Germany, I had to stop and take my traditional picture in front of the water fountain!

We also enjoyed a snack of caramel popcorn! YUM!

We were able to ride a few things throughout the day like Soarin, Spaceship Earth, and the boat ride through Mexico. I offered for Jason to go on Test Track or Mission Space but he didn't want to go alone.