30 Week Bumpdate + My Baby Sprinkle

(dress here)

How Far Along? 30 weeks, 1 day! My last bump date was at 23 weeks - a lot has changed since then! I can't believe I'm only 7 weeks away from being full term and will soon have 2 kiddos...insert happy feelings with a side of a slight panic attack.

Size of Baby: A cantaloupe

Weight Gain: 17-18 lbs depending on the scale I go by, I can tell baby grew a lot the past few weeks! 

Maternity Clothes: Just waiting for this weather to be consistently warm so I don't need to squeeze into jeans and pants anymore! Bring on the stretchy maxis!

Stretch marks: None yet. I did want to note the linea nigra finally decided to show up. It's a lot lighter this time around than with Cam, but it's there.

Symptoms: Acid reflux round 2 - such a joy! It's been pretty bad the past few days. I just went back and read my bumpdate with Camden at this time, and it looks like that's when my acid reflux started with him too! I also have some broken veins in my right leg which looks really pretty when I wear dresses and shorts! Other than that, I feel good and my skin has never been clearer and my hair remains super thick (for both pregnancies actually-huge perks!) Oh, my belly button is definitely in a half popped position. Cam likes to pull up my shirt and poke it and laugh! ha! 

Cravings: Frozen cold treats of any flavor, please.

Gender: Boy! Any guesses on his name?

Mood: As it's getting closer and closer to my due date, I've been getting more excited to see Camden as a big brother and to meet this little guy! I'm definitely starting to get a little nervous too, though, about how we will adjust going from 1-2, but I still feel way more relaxed and laid back this pregnancy. 

Nursery: COMPLETE! Pictures will be up on the blog next week!

Movement: Everywhere and all the time! He's pretty active just like his big brother. 

Sleep: Eh, getting comfortable is more difficult and switching sides is a harder task but once I do fall asleep I sleep really well throughout the night. I go to bed early a lot because I'm trying to get as much sleep as I can before he comes!

Workouts: Running after/picking up Cam 20+ times per day + 1-2 "real" workouts per week :) 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope!

Best Moment This Week: My sprinkle (details below) and finishing up the nursery

Looking Forward To: We scheduled a 3D ultrasound next week, so I can't wait to see him and compare his features with Camden's 3D pictures that we had at the same point during my pregnancy with him. Really looking forward to sharing pics of his nursery, too!!



Now about my baby sprinkle! 

This past Sunday afternoon, two of my girlfriends threw the most generous and adorable nautical themed sprinkle to celebrate baby boy. I kept going back and forth about if it was necessary or not, but after my girlfriend Angela offered to host it at her house and we talked about keeping the invite list small (just close friends and family) I got really excited about celebrating baby boy #2!

The invitations they sent out were adorable - this picture doesn't really do them justice. In fact, I already have it framed in baby boy's room because it matches his decor perfectly. Since I didn't want people buying off of a registry for us, I love the line they included at the bottom about the gifts. I actually had to cut the last part of that line off to fit in the frame, but it read "Bring diapers, wipes, or a gift card for the essentials. Just little gifts to share in her joy!"

The menu consisted of warm ham and cheese sliders, a ton of bite sized appetizers, veggies, chip dips, crackers and cheese, and so on. We indulged in a half almond, half red velvet cake with ice cream for dessert! Normally I say the food was my favorite part for pretty much every event, but this time just spending the afternoon laughing and listening to a ton of crazy labor stories with my closest friends was by far my favorite part!

My mother in law, sister in law, and soon to be sister in law all drove in from Cleveland for it which was so nice of them.



For the favors, they filled these adorable bags with swedish fish (get it?) and attached cute little anchors on them.



Another one of my favorite details was the "message in a bottle", where they had everyone write baby (or us) a special note that we can put in his nursery. Camden has a jar with notes from his shower and I still love reading them, so it's really special to me that baby brother has his own notes too!

We received some of the cutest summer outfits, generous gift cards to Babies R Us and Target, diapers (so needed since I haven't bought any yet!), bibs, books, etc. And both sets of our parents gifted us the last of the larger items that we needed...his mattress (thank you parents!) and another camera for the baby monitor (thank you to my in-laws!) So sweet!

I didn't take enough pictures as I would have liked, but the whole day was really special and it was really nice to celebrate this baby. I can't wait to introduce him to all the awesome people in our life! And to Lindsay and Angela, you girls are the best. Thank you for always supporting me and for the most perfect baby sprinkle!

Dressing The Bump + My Favorite Non Maternity Finds

When it comes to buying maternity clothes, I try to get away with buying only a few must-have items. It's not that I hate maternity clothes (maybe I do a little bit) but I just don't like buying them and knowing that they might be worn only one more time, max. Just seems like a waste of money to me, so I'd rather try to find normal tops that will cover the bump that I can also wear when I'm not pregnant. 

 Right now it's easy to dress a bump without buying maternity clothes because elastic waistband shorts and flowy tops are the current trend! That's not to say I haven't bought anything maternity this second time around, though. I've bought a few essentials including some tank tops (these ones are my favorite), vneck short sleeve tops from Old Navy, a few maternity dresses (for my sprinkle this weekend!), and a few striped/plain 3/4 sleeve tops from ASOS (shop their maternity clothes here), which is probably my favorite place to get maternity items from (free shipping and returns!)

Now that summer is approaching (you ARE approaching...right? because I'm getting a little impatient) I know I will be living in soft, flowy dresses! I will say, I definitely prefer being towards the end of a pregnancy in the winter. Anyone else feel this way? You can just cover up in sweatshirts and leggings and don't have to worry about the heat at all. It was so nice! On the other hand, I know I will prefer having a newborn in the summer, so I don't have to be cooped up in the house with cabin fever.

Anyway, I've found some really cute things lately that have helped transition my growing bump into warmer weather, so I wanted to share for all my other fellow pregnant mamas! And I guess even for those of you who aren't pregnant because many of these are not maternity and are just really comfortable and cute...

Mossimo Chambray Shorts (these are everything-I will be living in them all summer. They run big so I was still able to get my normal size, small)

Boardwalk Pull On Shorts (another staple for me this summer! only $16, so many colors, I normally wear a 2 in these but sized up to a 4 for belly comfort, you could pair these shorts with this maternity striped swing top) Also love this fun pair.

 Bobeau Layered Stripe Tee (this isn't maternity-these style of tops are the ones that I buy the most to dress my bump...they are the best because they are long and flowy)

Favorite V-Tee (only $9, just bought 2 of these-they are wonderful for growing bellys (and normal midsections too :))

Lace Overlay Maternity Dress (get 25% off using the code bumpday) 

Ivory Abstract Print Maternity Dress

 New Look Maternity Stripe Tee (see all their tops here)

 As far as swimwear goes...I felt like I really needed to buy a maternity swimsuit because of Cam's weekly swim lessons this month, and for the times we go to the lake. I bought this one (which is only $37 so I didn't feel too bad about the purchase, it's very cute and flattering on) and I wear a bunch of coverups/tunics like this pom pom one. 

How do you like to dress your bump? Where are your favorite places to shop for them?

Colorado Travel Recap: Vail, Breck, Lake Dillon, St. Mary's Glacier

Ohhhh, hey there big beautiful mountains that make me semi depressed about living in flat Ohio. At least we have lakes here? We've got that goin' for us!

Time for round 2...

After exploring Denver, we woke up early and headed to Vail. Actually, that is a fat lie. We did not wake up early...we were hungover from our night out (#oldladiescanthang) but we did make it there and we did a hike so that counts for something. On the way, we stopped and hiked St. Mary's Glacier. It's more of a beginners hike (which ended up being good for the hangover situation, ha) but was still a great workout and has stunning views!

See what I mean? 

People were hiking to the very top of that glacier and cliff jumping into the water! I'll have to add that to my list for the next visit. ;)

After the hike it was a short drive to Vail and Vail was pretty much love at first sight for me. Walking around in Vail feels like you're in a painting, as weird as that is to say. It's just so charming! We stayed at Lodge Tower, which completely exceeded my expectations. The view from our room looking over all of Vail Village was on point! 

Vail Village was literally a 30 second walk from our hotel, so our time spent in Vail was just exploring, lots of shopping, and eating yummy food! I would go back in a heartbeat for just a relaxing long weekend trip. How could you not enjoy a town that looks like this? 

And I miss it already.

When in Vail, we enjoyed lunch/beers at Red Lion (live music!), coffee in the morning from Loaded Joe's, cupcakes from Mountain Cupcakes, and a yummy dinner at Tavern. All delicious! Complete with girl talk, many laughs, and losing my favorite Ray Bans somewhere in the village...

The two stops we made on our way back to Denver were to Breckenridge and Lake Dillon. We weren't planning on stopping at Breckenridge, but we had more time than we thought so we said what the heck, let's do it! And I'm so glad we did. We were only here very briefly, but it was nice to be able to see it. We shopped and took a gondola ride!

That picture from the gondola ride actually doesn't do the beauty much justice, if you can believe it. It was even more breathtaking in person!

Lake Dillon was on our way out and is a must-stop type of place. They have a little beach area that you can lay out, have a picnic, and do a lot of fun water activities like kayaking, paddleboarding, boating, etc! The views around the lake are STUNNING...

(I had to get that cute doggy in the pic!)

(this is not the top I was originally wearing-I bought this top in breckenridge and got cold so just threw it over top my other one)

We all loved it here. Great place to spend an afternoon!

Before we made it back to Denver, we stopped at Tommy Knocker Brewery in Idaho Springs for lunch. The atmosphere was really cool (food was good too-I had pork green chili for the first time, which I guess is a really popular thing in CO?), and we even got to try some pumpkin beer as they just added it to the menu for the fall season! 

Thank you CO for beautiful weather, an excellent stay, and convincing me that sometime in my lifetime I need to live by the mountains. Oh, and thank you to my cutie cousin Natasha for hosting an amazing girls trip that we will never forget! Anddd that's a wrap!

*If you're traveling to Denver (or any of these other areas we visited), feel free to email me for rec's or tips! As always, thanks so much to those who gave me suggestions as you played a role in making my trip so good! :)

Week 29 Bumpdate {Third Trimester!}

The details:

*Baby K is now the size of a squash!

*I'm up 18.5 lbs and am officially in the third trimester!! It occurred to me the other day that at this time next week I only have 7 weeks left until I'm considered full term.

*Craving Rita's Italian ice a lot lately (or any ICEE for that matter) and lots of sweets.

*Belly button still hasn't popped yet...

*Lots and lots of Braxton Hicks! 

*I PASSED my glucose test! Hooray! This was great news to get. I did also find out that dau that when they tested my blood that my platelet's are a little low (just below normal), so they will be monitoring them from here on out.

*Feeling really good overall (no back pain lately), working out is still keeping me sane, and I'm sleeping really well with no trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night! The sleep thing is funny though...once I get in bed, I'm out really quickly but it's the part about actually getting to bed that I'm having issues with. It's like a flip switched when I hit the third trimester and I feel like I have to constantly be doing something productive to prepare, so I've been going to bed later and later. Must work on forcing myself to go to bed earlier, and that the tasks will get done eventually!

Other important things to note:

*Enjoying: Baby kicks, being able to sleep well, getting all the baby items from our shower set up in his room! 

*Disliking: I will get some acid reflux here and there but it's not terribly bad. I've also felt a little more emotional/in a hurry to get things done more lately, like I said above.

*Random thoughts: I can finally see the end of our once massive to-do list! I remember making it at the very beginning of the pregnancy and adding to it here and there, and now there's only 3 things we need to get done. It feels really good!
*The labor and delivery tour that at the hospital we did was great! I'm glad we chose to do it this early on and that we are delivering where we are. It was really informative and I know it made both of us feel more prepared about when the time comes.
 *Our rock and play is set up...the pack and play is ready to be assembled...and we just got our car seat! I plan to do a big product registry post with my favorite items soon. 

*Looking forward to: Seeing our little man this time next week at our 3D/4D ultrasound appointment!! We haven't had an ultrasound since 19 weeks, so we absolutely cannot wait to see him again and how much he has grown!

As I mentioned yesterday, our couples "Baby Q" shower was this weekend! My girlfriends did the most amazing job! It was at a facility called The Barn, which is the same place I posted about this summer where we had my girlfriends bridal shower at. It was the perfect spot for a baby shower and went really well with the "Baby Q" theme! 

The food...oh my word, it was so delicious. I could've ate for hours ;) There were burgers, mac and cheese, baked beans, pasta salad, regular salad, dips, and more. Cupcakes for dessert and my girlfriend Rachel made the most adorable favors - homemade bbq sauce in little mason jars! 

There was also a big pitcher of apple cider sangria for the ladies (YUM! I definitely missed being able to have some of that!) and beer for the guys...

My best friend Lindsay printed out some of my weekly bumpdate pictures and used them in a banner going across the gift table with some baby onesies and socks, which I loved! Now I have some of my bumpdate pictures already printed out to put in a baby book! :)

Did I mention that I really enjoyed having Billy there with me?! It was so nice that he got to be a part of it and that some of his friends were there, too. 

It was a really great day and one that I know one day I will be telling Cam about!!