24..25...26...

Ahh yes, there is a trend here. I keep forgetting to blog. Honestly, all the weeks are running together. I am currently in my last week days of the second trimester which is really hard for me to wrap my head around.

24 weeks

Baby Size: baby is as big as a cantaloupe

This was our first week at home just the two of us. We took full advantge. We decorated the house and put up the tree.

We also filled out our baby registries. I must say I am not a fan of registering. I hated doing it for our wedding and still wasn't very fond of it for our baby. But, it was fun to imagine getting to use all that stuff with our little guy in a few months. Who knew something so tiny would need so many things to survive. Don't even get me started on the things I learned that I personally will need post-baby. Ever heard of nipple butter? Yeah, I don't think it is used for fun.

25 weeks

Forgot to take a belly picture this week so the picture of us at Laura and Pen's wedding will have to do :)

Baby size: Cauliflower, about 13.5-14.8 inches and 1.5-2.5 pounds!

This week we celebrated our last wedding of 2015 and last one before Baby Rice arrives! It was for the final Boddie boy, Pen, and his new wife Laura. We had so much fun dancing the night away to an awesome band, The Janitors, and taking in the gorgeous views of Rose Hill Plantation. As always, a blast getting all our friends together under one roof and playing the cow bell ;)

This was also the week I broke down and admitted I was not sleeping well to Jared. His response, "I know, I noticed it a couple days ago so I ordered you a pregnancy pilliow from Amazon and should be here soon." Hello, husband and baby daddy of the year! He seriously is the greatest. This pregnancy pillow is ahh-mazing! It took me a few nights of shifting, finding the right position and getting over the fact that it felt like pillow jail but it has made a world of difference.

26 weeks

Baby size: head of lettuce. Which, I should probably eat more of but Baby Rice is just not a fan of vegetables, just like his daddy.

This week we are in Texas celebrating Christmas with Jared's side of the family. It has been busy since the minute we landed but I love every second of it!

I especially love all the time with this sweet sister-in-law aka built in friend of mine!

Day one was kids' Christmas. Our sweet family got us gifts for baby boy even though he's not technically here yet. He will certainly be decked out in Texas/Rice Man gear :) We had our annual meet up with Jared's old friends and went to see Star Wars.

Day two Jared's cousin got married. It was just a small civil ceremony followed by a family lunch. Then we met up with Gwyn and Neil at their new house for dinner.

Day three was shopping day which is Jared's favorite. Spending 2 hours in Best Buy is my nightmare but he loves it.

Day four (today) was Christmas Eve Eve where we did our immediate family gift exchange. My in laws got me set with a new fitbit and kindle. Jared also made me the sweetest most thoughtful gift, a mama coupon book for after Baby Rice's arrival. I'm telling you, Baby Daddy of the year.

Tomorrow is our traditional marathon Christmas Eve. The morning will be with my mother-in-laws side of the family. The evening is church and Christmas with my father-in-laws side of the family. It is a super long day but always so great to see all the family!

Then early Christmas morning we fly home to be with my family in Wilmington.

It is a whirlwind of a week but totally worth it. Can't believe our sweet little boy will be here next year for all the Christmas festivities!

21..22..23 weeks..oh my!

It has been pretty busy since we got back from Arizona and we have been playing catch up.

21 Weeks 

Unfortunately, we have been so busy since getting back from Arizona that we kept foretting to get the picture outside before the sun went down. Thus, we must settle for an indoor shot for the 21 week belly picture.

Baby Size: pomegranate or 10.5 inches and 12.7 ounces

Week Recap: nothing interesting happened this week. It was a lot of catching up at work and getting back in the swing of a routine. Baby boy is still moving a lot. Mama is still loving her sweets and will soon be regretting that at the doctor's appointment next week. A mix of maternity and pre-pregnancy clothes are making up my wardrobe.

22 Weeks

Baby Size: Papaya! Honestly, couldn't tell you what in the world a papaya tastes like, but baby boy is 10.5-11.8 inches and 12.7-20.8 ounces.

Total Weight Gain: brace yourself...16 pounds. Yes, SIXTEEN pounds. I gained 10 in just 4 weeks (insert shocked-face-emjoi here). For me, a person who has struggled with weight and body issues her entire life, this was a hard pill to swallow. I was quickly reassured by my husband and doctor that this is totally normal. Still it was difficuly for me to grasp especially since my plan was to only gain 25 total. I don't feel like I look 16 pounds heavier. Most of my gain has been belly and obviously my chest. I understand you gain weight with pregnancy however, this was a scale shock for me. I feel amazing and I am grateful that I get to experience such a beautiful thing. Quickly learning to love the weight while decreasing my ice cream intake and increasing pilates...

Maternity clothes: duh.

Best Moment This Week: of course nothing beats hearing our sweet baby's heart beat at our check up, but we also got to spend a weekend in Topsail Island with some of our best friends! 

We celebrated this guys 30th birthday! Hillman and I have been friends since high school and over 10 years. Well, now we are both married, one is 30 and one is pregnant. Oh life, you move so fast. 

Spent the weekend with these lovely folks eating oysters, enjoying Friendsgiving, and celebrating the birthday boy! 

The views from the house were unreal. I'm talking 360 degree water views. Hello dream vacation home. But let's be real, the picture is mainly to show off my cute husband and sweet Lillie bug.

Thanksgiving: 

Jared and I hosted at our home again this year for the third time. It was very low key and perfect for us. Very thankful for all the people above and the little turkey in my belly that will be joining us next year!

Sweet hubs with his turkey day set up outside

23 Weeks

Baby Size: Grapefruit! About 10.5-11.8 inches and 12.7-20.8 ounces

Sleep: still great! Having some crazy vivid dreams still.

Symptoms: I don't know if this is really a symptom or if I should attribute it to my increase in hormones. Well, I think I love my husband more everyday since I have been pregnant. I am literally bursting with love for him. I know it sounds weird (and cheesy) but knowing he helped/played a major role in giving me the greatest gift ever makes me just melt. I can't imagine what kind of puddle of love I will be be once I see my boys together.

Movement: all the time! I LOVE it! I think it is one of my favorite things about being pregnant. Plus I am way less anxious because his movement reassures me everything is ok.

Best Moment This Week: got my very first funny pregnancy comment from one of my patients. She said, "girl, did you swallow a watermelon?" Haha.

I survived being pregnant for an entire football season! Woohoo! We capped off tailgating/football season this weekend. Unfortunately, we had a sorry loss against the Tarholes but still had fun at the final tailgate of the year!

Now, on to basketball season...

20 weeks (in Arizona and Meixco)

Woohoo! Halfway there!

We hit 20 weeks last Friday while in Arizona and it has been an amazing week so far! 

It started with my beautiful cousin's wedding on Saturday. The ceremony was in this cute old little church in the middle of nowhere in Florence, Arizona. A very traditional Catholic ceremony and the first wedding I have ever been to where the groom actually fainted. Yes, fainted. He went stark white then...plop. He hadn't eaten anything that day from being so nervous (and they always worry about the brides). Passing out aside, the wedding was beautiful! The reception was held at this sweet little winery and  was Pinterest-perfect. Serisously, it looked like something straight from a magazine. Including the bride, she was stunning! 

Unfortunately, Jared had to leave on Sunday to go back to work. He has to save his PTO to be home with Baby Rice, so I guess I undertstand. Just stinks he will miss the family trip to Mexico, again. We will get him there one day. 

We got to Mexico on Monday evening and went straight to LaCurva for dinner. My Mexician food aversion is still there but the cheese quesadilla was just perfect to keep mama and Baby Rice content. The rest of the time here has been spent soaking up sun and catching up with family. It has been nice to unplug and relax. 

All the girl cousins at La Casa Del Capitan with a gorgeous view! 

Preggo on the beach. Embrace the bump!

All the cousins wearing (and holding) wedding swag. Sunglasses from mine & Jared's wedding and sandals from Katilin's wedding. 

Baby Size: Banana! About 6.5 inches and 10.2 ounces!

Total weight gain: last I checked it was only 7 pounds. However, with all this travel and eating I have been doing, I suspect more. Too afraid to weigh myself though haha 

Maternity clothes: still loving the maternity jeans and have a few staple items that fit great. This weather is so nice and easy to layer. Getting in a bathing suit was not easy. Luckily, my mom had a suit that fit me perfectly! 

Sleep: still great! Crazy dreams are common. I still have the 7am wake up call for the bathroom which didn't get the time change notice so that means I am up at 5am Arizona time... 

Symptoms: none really. Just loving feeling great still. Headaches are far and few between now! 

Movement: all the time!! I love it!! He is a movin' and a groovin' in my belly! What I love even more, Jared got to feel him and my brother too. I have felt him everyday since we got here. It has been amazing. 

Gender: Baby BOY!!!!! 

Best Moment This Week: my sweet wonderful gracious family threw me a surprise baby shower in Mexico!! I was so shocked. They showered me, Jared and baby boy with so many fun goodies. He is stocked up boooks and is already so loved :) Very thankful for my amazing family! 

Looking Forward To: speding another day in Mexico and a few more days with family in Arizona. Enjoying the time off of work. Trying to relax and not check my work email, too much...Also looking forward to seeing my hubby on Sunday evening! 

Baby Rice Gender Reveal!

When we first started planning this I pictured a balloon or a piñata, maybe a cake. However, my visions were totally blown out of the water. It started one weekend at a tailgate when I was joking with Jared and friends that we should do our gender reveal at half time at an NC State football game. Jared had always joked about proposing at half time so I thought it would be cool to do something like that for the baby. But what happened was so.much.better. A friend of a friend works for the Wolfpack club and she suggested having mr and/or ms Wuf come to our tailgate to reveal the gender. I was sold and totally in love with the idea!

Thus, the best gender reveal ever was born. Thanks to my wonderful friend Emily who coordinated most of it :) we knew that either mr or ms Wuf would be coming to our tailgate! Obviously, mr Wuf meant boy and ms Wuf meant girl. I mean, is there a better way for two alumni to find out the sex of their future Wolfpacker? I think not.

We decorated the tailgate area to make it feel like a traditional gender reveal. Just no baby blue (aka Carolina blue). 

So Baby Rice is a...

BOY!!!!!!!!!!!

I was beyond (happily) surprised! I was almost 100% sure it was going to be a girl. Not that I wanted a girl or that there were signs pointing to girl. Just a feeling. I don't think I have seen a more proud moment on my sweet husband's face. He yelled "ITS A BOY" so loud I think the entire tailgate knew we were having a boy! I was so happy to see him so so SO excited. It was a really special :)

Getting to share that intial moment of surprise with our family and friends was so much fun!

To even more of our surprise, Mr. And Ms. Wuf both came to the tailgate!! They made sure only Mr. Wuf was a part of the reveal but pulled Ms. Wuf in for lots of fun photo ops. They are truly like celebrities to me so it was such an honor to have them be a part of this. 

We have decided to keep the name to ourselves until his birthday. But I am so thrilled to be having a sweet Baby Boy Rice!

Side Note: today marks the exact halfway point in this pregnancy! Woohoo to 20 weeks down! Best moment so far of 20 weeks, Jared finally got to feel our sweet baby boy kicking! His face was priceless! 

18 weeks!

Baby size: sweet potato!

Total weight gain: thankfully only 7 pounds so far! Confirmed by the scale at the doctor's office. Though it feels like much more... 

Maternity clothes: loving the full panel maternity jeans! So comfy. I just wish they didn't slide down as often. Hopefully that will stop oncce I get bigger. Finally found a pair of work maternity pants I like and I could live in them. 

Sleep: still amazing. Some days I am more tired than others. I was able to stay at the fair until 9:30 pm on Sunday which I hadn't done in a couple weeks. But boy do I love my sleep. Taking advantage of that now while I can :) 

Symptoms: headaches are getting less frequent. But still feel great. If it weren't for my increase in bra size and belly growth I wouldn't know I was pregnant... 

Cravings: Frostys! I could eat one every night. I think I am considering this my first real pregnancy craving considering I have sent Jared out multiple times now to just get a frosty. My doctor's response "there are worse things in life." I take that as the green light for a frosty at least every other night. 

Movement: I am pretty sure I am feeling those first little movements! At our scan they told me my placenta is towards my back so it would be normal for me to feel them this early. I would describe it kind of like popping popcorn.

Gender: since I am blogging late, we already know! But the gender reveal will be a post on its own

Best moment this week: I had two again this week... 

1. date night at the fair with the sweetest husband ever. I LOVE the fair. He just tolerates it. He took me on the last night it was in town so I could see the lights, ride the farris wheel and of course, eat fried food! He really is the greatest baby daddy. 

2. Our anatomy scan! We got the ok that the baby is healthy and growing right on schedule. Actually, measuring 3 days early, but they said that was completely normal for size and weight to flucutate during this time. All I know is this little 9 ounce tiny human growing in my belly is the most precious thing I have ever seen. I can't thank our wonderful ultrasound tech enough for getting some of the sweetest pictures of our little babe. I will treasure these.

The ultrasound tech said we had a very active baby. They were moving all around during the scan. But, she was able to get a solid picture of the gender! Jared ancd I told her from the beginning we didn't want to know. So, she had us close our eyes and wait while she took the pictures and wrote the gender down. She sealed it tight in the envelope for us to deliver and wait. She could tell us that she was sure it was one or the other. Thankful for cooperative baby that day! 

Signed, sealed, delivered. Now we just had to wait 48 hours to know the gender of our baby!