Maternity Clothing Fashion Show

I am writing this blog for two reasons 1) My brother's fiance reminded me of how absolutely awful I have been at blogging and 2) I went on a birthday maternity clothing shopping trip with my mom today which totally solicited a maternity clothing fashion show and some much needed belly pictures!

I am currently 29 weeks pregnant and the baby is for sure a little girl! I do not have a name picked out for sure but I really like Sophie and Eleanor (Ellie for short). I'm leaning more towards Eleanor because Sophie has been so popular in recent years but who knows what I will think after she is born. She definitely has an affinity for sugar; every time I eat anything sugary she will do somersaults in my belly for a good half hour.

As for me, I'm rarely ever feeling any morning sickness or headaches. I have started to get a little bit of heartburn and back pain but the medication (for heartburn) and the massage therapy (for back pain) that my doctor prescribed me is helping a lot! I am feeling quite large, even though I don't really look like I am 6 months pregnant... but it is definitely the biggest I have ever been! I got a job at Sterlings, a family owned restaurant here in the tri-cities, and have been trained and will be working breakfast and lunch at their new location (opening this Monday!!) I am still working on getting back into the winery but we'll see if that ever pans out. I definitely miss Terra Blanca and am going to have to visit soon!

Well, enough writing.. here's the fashion show!!

A VERY pretty dress I fell in love with from Motherhood Maternity and got a pretty good deal on after I spent way too much on work pants.










One of the shirts that mom bought me from Ross Dress for Less (we got everything around $10 per shirt)











Another one from Ross, the neckline is really pretty.. you just can't tell.. Mom was more concerned with the belly then showing off the shirts.










Another one from Ross












The back of another one from Ross, the front is below!












SUPER colorful!












A shirt mom had bought me for Christmas












A shirt that I bought myself while in Memphis at Target... showing off the bump!











One that I bought a while back from Ross and then broke the wooden ring that connects the straps to the back of the shirt... recently FIXED by handyman Alicia and some Krazy Wood Glue









Another shirt I bought from Ross a while back... bummed you can't really tell how cute the neckline is. It kind of reminds me of a tux shirt.










One mom bought me for Christmas, with help from Vicki, my brother's fiance











Standard black tee-shirt that I had to get for training at Sterlings

This is actually a shirt I bought prior to getting pregnant... after getting pregnant, I'm pretty sure it's a maternity shirt. Whoops!

Under Pressure

I honestly don't know how to write what I feel I need to in this blog. I want to explain everything but I don't feel like it's 100% my place to explain everything. So, brief synopsis.

On Friday, Colin and I decided that it was time to end our relationship. The pressure of having a baby and moving in together was too much for Colin to handle and too much for our young relationship to handle. I want to let everyone know that we gave it a shot. I know that Colin and I are both feeling like we failed our family, friends and, most importantly, our baby. We probably could have sucked it up and lasted a little while longer but we really needed to break up now so that we could do it and remain friends.

Colin and I decided that it would be best for me and the baby if I moved back home to Washington to be with my family and friends here. He, of course, is staying in Memphis for his job but is going to come visit our baby as much as possible.

I will still be posting on this blog, but not nearly as much, saying that I will be around most of the people that read this. But I will post belly pictures and important information.

For all of Colin's family and friends... I do want you to be in our child's life: the more love the better. If you have any questions for me or want to visit the baby when she comes into our world, I would love and appreciate it so much. Do not hesitate to call me or email me.

Colin and I will continue loving this baby and trying to create somewhat of a family. We care immensely about each other and even more about our child.

Thank you so much for being in our lives (Colin's, mine and our baby's)

23 Week Belly Photo!

I'm 23 weeks and the baby's getting bigger!!

Feeling the Reality

The past week has definitely had it's ups and downs but one major good time this week was when Colin felt our baby move the other day!

After watching the video that I posted the other day, Colin realized how small the movements were and how much it looks and feels like a muscle spasm rather than somebody kicking and punching. We were in bed the other night and I was feeling the baby move a lot so I put Colin's hand on my stomach. He felt a little movement and told me that he felt it. Here was our conversation post feeling a little movement...

Me: Are you freaking out?

Colin: Not really, it doesn't really feel like a baby. It just feels like a muscle spasm. I won't freak out unless it feels like a... Woah... that felt like a baby.

Although I'm sure it made him a little freaked out, it was so special to me that he felt our baby with me and that he could feel partially what I have been feeling.

Baby Movements

Hello all,

I have been feeling the baby move for the past couple weeks now and just a few days ago realized that I could see the baby move!! It is probably the craziest feeling that I have ever felt and it really freaked me out when I could actually see our little baby girl. Makes it WAY more real that the baby is actually there.

Anyway, so I decided that maybe you all would want to see it. Despite how camera shy our baby is, I finally got video proof of it on my iPhone. Click on the link below and you should be able to watch the video on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCIxdGcP3EU

The First

Hi all! First off, I miss you all!!!

As most of you know. I moved to Memphis, TN to live with Colin. We are living in a cute little one bedroom apartment on Mud Island. Mud Island is right outside downtown Memphis and practically in the Mississippi River. It is a very nice apartment complex and is in probably the safest part of Memphis. I moved here two Thursdays ago, on the 12th of January, with a lot of my stuff and Tartuff! (My cat, for you who haven't had the great experience of meeting her.)

Before moving, I had kept an eye out for restaurants that were hiring. I was super excited when I found one a couple weeks prior to moving on Craigslist that was right down the road from Colin and my apartment. I emailed them my resume but wasn't expecting much because I applied so early before I would get here. But, alas, they told me to come in and apply in person when I got here. My first day in Memphis and I got a serving position at Tugs: A Casual Grill. I started training on the Monday after I got to Memphis.

Tugs is this cute little pub type restaurant that serves a lot the people that live on Mud Island; we call these people Islanders! Although I'm making a lot less hourly, miss you Washington, I have made fairly decent tips so far and have been very happy to get to know my coworkers and the regulars that come in practically every day!

--The beautiful Mississippi River somewhere between our apartment complex and Tugs!--

Most of you are aware of the fact that I moved down here so that Colin and I can be together for our first baby! We are both very nervous and scared, yet excited to start this part of our lives together.

I had my first ultrasound at 10 weeks because I was moving to Memphis and my doctor, who is in Washington state, would not be able to ultrasound me again at 20 weeks. Well, turns out he could, so I also got an ultrasound the day before I moved. Turns out our baby is not a very cooperative one (I kind of saw this one coming) and was in the exact wrong position to get a good view of some very important parts, mainly it's heart and the area in which you find out if it's a boy or a girl! Although it was a little hard to see, the doctor was fairly sure that our baby's a girl!!! We are super excited since we both were secretly hoping for a girl. I will have another ultrasound at 28 weeks to make sure of the gender and get some better readings on the heart but we are calling the baby "she" for now.

-- I personally think 3D ultrasound pictures are weird looking, so I posted both so you could choose for yourself. Also, these are both from my 20 week ultrasound. I think the pictures from my 10 week ultrasound were better so I may post them later.--

I am 21 weeks along and my due date is June 1st. But we've already decided not to have the baby on June 1st because it's my mom's birthday and she'd be WAY too happy about that. So far the pregnancy has been pretty awful but not as bad as some have had it. I think that I've been going through just about the usual pregnancy issues: fatigue, morning (mid-day and night) sickness, headaches, and now I'm in the heartburn and overly emotional stage (Colin LOVES this one.. haha). And no, I haven't craved any weird foods or disliked any awesome ones.

Also, I know you'll all be excited to hear that I am JUST starting to show and will be posting pictures of myself with a pregnant belly in the next post, if I remember. I have also been able to feel our little baby move inside of me for the past three weeks or so. It is seriously the strangest feeling ever. Colin and I are trying our hardest to have him be able to feel it but our stubborn little child will not kick hard enough yet... I know there has to be legs on that baby because I saw them in the ultrasound! And they have to work because, let's face it, Colin's her dad.

In the first weekend that I was here Colin and I went searching (via Criagslist) for furniture for ourselves. Prior to me getting here, Colin was a complete bachelor and only had a dining room table, a bed, and two nightstands. I guess we had done a little bit of shopping before I got here but pretty much everything was in boxes. We now have a beautiful coffee table and end table (thanks to Ashley Furniture and Groupon for 50% off!!!), a dresser to put some of my clothes (the rest of which got put into the portion of our walk-in closet that I annexed), a super comfy couch, the perfect sized desk, a dresser for the baby and a crib (in pieces) to match! All I'm waiting on is my dad to drive through and drop off a bookcase, kitchen stuff, my instruments, and my books. After that, I think we are pretty much done moving me in, at least for the time being.

Well, thank you for reading this. I hope that it wasn't too long and I'm sure that the next one won't be NEARLY as long. Of course, I love you all very much and if you have any specific questions about the pregnancy and the baby, don't hesitate to ask!