Third Trimester!

Today marks the day I'm officially in my third trimester, and I can honestly say this is the best I've felt all along.  Moreover, today has been a perfect autumn day.  

There's a chill in the air, which makes snuggling with my love a joy on this lazy morning. Then off he went to the grocery store, and I hopped in the shower. I got out to find a decaf Pumpkin Spice latte waiting for me on the counter.  It's truly the little things that remind me how much he loves me...like remembering that I'm trying to stick to decaf during this pregnancy!  Then husband made us delicious french toast for breakfast!  I am so, so blessed!  

We tag team cleaned the house, emptied the garbages, scrubbed two bathrooms, he cleaned the kitchen, did the laundry, and put away the groceries.  

Now it's 11:30, our home is spotless and cozy with candles burning.  He's watching football as I sit beside him, sipping British style tea, and writing...and feeling blessed beyond measure.  

Rain is falling steadily outside, and here we are, safe and snug in a home that we own, together, content, healthy, and joyful.  

Later today my mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law are coming to visit, and we're topping the evening off with one of our favorite little families, the Pecks.  Truly a wonderful day!  

Love, 

Katie

First day of the third trimester!

Final Week of my Second Trimester!

Happy Autumnal Equinox!

We love fall around here!  Today dawned cool and rainy with the sun peaking in and out behind the clouds between showers. It's a quintessential fall day!  And it happens to be the start of my last week of my second trimester! I've been looking forward to this fall with an extra measure of anticipation!  I'm so excited to start adding layers to my growing bump, and watching baby girl grow!

I'm up 21.5 pounds, and feeling great! As you can see: it's all gone to my face and front!

Isaac and I wanted to capture a few pictures of our family at this stage, and they turned out so well we decided to share them with you:

(I am LOVING my travel tripod and new prime lens!!!)

6 months!

As of today I'm 6 months pregnant, entering my seventh month of pregnancy! Wow!  I’m beginning to feel a little awkward during certain “normal” activities (getting up off the floor, rolling over in bed, sitting up from lying down), but otherwise I feel great!  The morning sickness has all but subsided now, though I haven’t been able to break the at least once a week vomit cycle. Oh well!

Baby girl has a name, but though we’ve called her by it a few times, I just can’t feel that it’s “hers” yet. I think I’m still waiting to meet her to have that “ah, yes, this name fits” moment. Until then (and because of this), we’ll continue to keep it under wraps.

She’s a bundle of activity for sure. She usually has her most active time around 9-11am, then has extremely active spurts when I eat, sit after a lot of activity, etc. She seems to love it when I’m swimming. I think it’s because my whole body relaxes, so in true form, she goes bananas and starts flipping, kicking, and breast-stroking along with mama!

She’s now got all her vital organs, though they need several more weeks of maturing before she’ll be ready to make her debut. She’s over a pound now (take that, scale! At least a pound and a half isn’t even ME!), and seems to be growing like a champ if my burgeoning belly is any indication!

I’m hungry all. the. time. All the time. It’s kind of crazy after being nauseous literally all the time. I’m having to, for the first time, have to think about not eating too many calories, which is a switch from the push to get enough calories for the first half of the pregnancy.

We now have a crib assembled in the middle of the office.  We haven’t reclaimed the closet which will be her nursery nook just yet, so it’s kind of a bear to maneuver, but it’s fun to see another reminder of her presence in the home!  We’re starting to have quite a little collection of baby things piling up, too! From hand me downs from her cousins (thanks, Sarah – it’s so fun to think of my children using the same toys and such your kids used!), and generous friends and other mamas with older tots, it’s becoming quite real!  I’ve even started to knit, weather permitting, and will add to her crib a special handmade blanket in the month or so to come!

Cabo San Lucas!

Isaac’s parents generously gifted us a free week at any of their time shares (or their affiliates), so we decided to take full advantage and head south – of the border, that is!  We’d hoped to go later in the year, perhaps late October, but baby girl had other plans, meaning we could move our plans up, or move them out.  We decided that a Baby Moon was in order.  I am so thankful we did!  Just two weeks before we left my morning sickness took a serious turn for the better and I was starting to feel genuinely good for days at a time! 

We left on Labor Day to return the following Monday.  An entire week with just my husband!  What a treat!!!  We arrived in Cabo and quickly realized this was not just any resort, it was the resort!  We’re talking 5 Star, 5 Diamond resort.  At least that’s what they kept telling us when we sat through the sales pitch, which was totally worth the 2.5 hours of our lives.  In exchange for telling them “no” for 2 hours straight, we got free snorkeling for both of us, a beautiful Sunset Cruise to the Arch, and a bottle of Tequila.  Still not sure what we’re going to do with the tequila…celebratory shots when the baby is born?  (kidding).

Part of our room and the view:

We spent a couple of afternoons strolling the markets, braved a tropical storm (and were rewarded for our efforts by seeing a sea turtle up close!), swam in several of the pools, drank wayyy too many strawberry lemonades, talked, laughed and generally enjoyed being together whether we were doing something or decidedly doing nothing at all.  

strawberry lemonade! Soooo much strawberry lemonade! 

Thankful for all-inclusive bracelets!

The resort was just beautiful!  And so lush! 

The people of Mexico were one of my favorite memories of the culture. They’re so much more friendly (or perhaps it’s because we were obviously strangers?) than you see in the states!  Everywhere we went we were greeted, Isaac was congratulated (as soon as they saw my belly), and the women would come up and rub my belly.  Being a personal space kind of gal with strangers, it was surprising to me how much I enjoyed the attention.  They were so sweet about it, talking about their own pregnancies and children, and it was obvious that family is paramount in Mexico.  It was all the more beautiful for the people there!!

The Pacific meets the Sea of Cortez right where we were staying! 

Another special moment was picking out a simple wedding band to wear for the duration of my pregnancy.  I knew that my ring would be too tight in the hot climate of Mexico, so I left it safely at home.  We walked around and admired many different rings, but settled on a simple (but not plain in my eyes) silver band.  Not only do I get to show off my marital status (I seriously felt so naked without my ring!), but I have a fun treasure to remind me of our wonderful vacation that I will continue to cherish and wear long after this little one is born and my fingers (hopefully!) return to normal size.

One of many geckos we saw:

Getting ready to snorkel & post-ocean swim (right):

 

Just for you, mom: 

I mean, really... We're here for the silver, right? ;)

Cabo Wabo! 

One of the only remnants of what was here before the resort:

Our sea turtle buddy: 

That we only got to see because no one wanted to go out in the tropical storm...  Everywhere we went hatches were battened, sandbags were laid, shops were closed...so we just wandered and enjoyed the extremity of the weather! 

Paradise in water (Isaac gets full credit for this shot!)

On the sunset cruise: 

Oh, I love him!!  The sunset cruise was incredible! We got to see the arch from all sides, watch the sea lion colony, then went down for the most amazing three course dinner, followed by traditional Mexican entertainment of dancing and singing. It was a blast! 

Thank you, Dave & Judy for the oh-so-generous gift of a once-in-a-lifetime vacation! 

It was a wonderful chance to grow even closer together!