2 more days until Florida

I cannot express how excited I am to go to Florida. I truly love that place. It's funny how I always said stuff like "If I move, I am NEVER coming back." And "Florida sucks people in, it's for retirement." Well, I'm ready to be back and I'm ready to move back. I think NC is pretty, but the people aren't friendly like Floridians and the weather is HORRIBLE here. The beach sucks (it's ice cold in the middle of summer) and I miss living 20 minutes away from a Walmart or Target.

We're leaving Friday and will be there for about 5 days. Saturday is my shower so if anyone reading wants to come, it's at 5pm at my mom's house. You can email me for directions :) I need baby stuff!! ha!

I am very tired. To the point of exhaustion.. I haven't felt like this in years and believe me, when you're this tired, you don't forget the feeling and emotions.. It's stuck with you for the rest of your life. (Mine, at least). I hope to recoop and recover from lack of energy. I'm sure a few hours on the beach next week will have some sort of healing affect!

I hope everyone has a good rest of the week and weekend. Happy Easter!!!

25 weeks, 15 to go!

I had my 6 month appointment today and to my surprise, I gained 5 pounds in the past 4 weeks. No wonder I am so tired and my back hurt so much (the growing hoo-ha's aren't helping either). I am back on schedule to working out again. Although it hurts to walk sometimes and lift my legs past 2" off the ground (it hurts my uterus.. weird, huh?), I am determined to get out at least 5 days a week, hopefully 7 days, and start walking at least 1 mile if not more. I do not want a huge baby, I do not want to get fat, I do not want gestational diabetes, I do not want an unhealthy baby, I do not want this weight to stay with me after Owen is born. I am bound and determined, even in the summer months, to get outside like I said - 5 days a week and walk at least 1 mile. Here's to the rest of my pregnancy and not gaining so much weight.

Here's my problem. First two trimesters (27 weeks starts my third so I'm saying most of my 2nd trimester here) I haven't had a craving for sweets. I have been so hungry the past two weeks and have baked non-stop. I am contributing to my weight gain, which totally sucks. My husband is going to be my accountability partner and help me get outside and walk and to help watch what I eat. I eat snack after snack at night. I crave sweets and lots of them at night. Now I guess I'll have to cut back on baking the brownies and cakes and really focus on the natural sweets I buy at the store - ton of oranges MMMMM, strawberries MMMM, apples MMMM, apricots! I maybe need to buy more yogurt and put more peanut butter in my life. I love dipping apples, bananas and celery in peanut butter. It's going to be really hard to stay away from sweets since it's really close to me (sad). Wish me luck and a little encouragement every now and again.

Well, here's my favorite picture of my boys this weekend at the range. First time daddy and Ayden went to the range and used Ayden's gun. :) It's my fav!

Pictures today - March 19. 6months

2 weeks until Florida!

Two weeks until Florida! I cannot wait! I am so glad Ayden's spring break is in April this year. We're able to come down to FL and get some warm sun that we've missed living here in the cold and dark NC.
So, on the agenda!
Shower -April 3 - 5pm at my moms
Easter - April 4
Monday - going to Foley to the Coach store (yay!)
Tuesday - LOTS OF BEACH and Peg Leg's. GIMME DEM OYSTERS!
Wednesday - LOTS OF BEACH and Mellow Mushroom with the Lowe's
Thursday - Hopefully we'll be there so I can grab lunch with my LLBFF, Jen!
Fri-Sun - back to NC and relaxing before work and school

Can't wait! Can't wait! Can't wait!

6 months has flown by!

Tomorrow, Monday, starts my 24th week. Owen is kicking and playing and moving all the time. I think we're going to use Liam as his middle name, but we'll see. I've been tired the past few days and hoping I don't start going to bed at 7:30 again. That sucked!! But, if I'm tired, I guess I'll have to do what my body is telling me.

Ayden is looking forward to having his brother here. At first he was upset that it was a boy but now he's really happy. He kisses my tummy every morning before I leave for work and always pulls up my shirt to see my belly. He's adorable :)

Two more weeks until we leave for Florida! I can't wait! I hope it's nice and sunny when we're there. Got the shower on the 3rd then Easter on the 4th. I love easter egg hunts! I think that was the best thing we use to do. I loved coloring the eggs and then finding them. Not sure if we'll go to rhuch or just hang out but I know that day will be filled with family.

I hope everyone has a good week! I am praying I have a good week and that my boys do as well. Hoping Todd can get the bathroom done so we can put the house on the market. I'd really like to sell and possibly move before the baby, but it's in God's hands.

My 50th post goes out to coupons and menus

I have decided, along with moneysavingmom.com, to do a menu for two weeks.. Plan it out, write Sunday through Saturday down and put down what you're going to eat. This is easy for me because we focus on dinners since we're all gone during the day and sammy's are our lunch staple. So, I have two weeks worth of 7-day dinners written down and I must say, this week I don't need 1 single ingredient. Week 2, I will use my coupons, pay with cash and buy only what's needed for week 2's menu. I do believe we will see dramatic reductions by doing this and I am so excited!

Todd is always proud of me if I save $1.00 or $50.00 at the grocery store - he's totally on board with me here.. and he's starting to realize that shopping for stuff that we need only combined with a sale is pretty rewarding.

An excellent site to go to as I mentioned earlier is www.moneysavingmom.com. SHE IS AWESOME!

Why don't you hop over to facebook and become a fan of wheat thins. I did and I was able to print two $1.00 off coupons that won't expire until May!

23 weeks already!

Wow, only 17 more to go before the baby is here! I can't believe how easy this is going.. I am so blessed to have a great pregnancy and support system. My husband is awesome and is caring; I really think this is the closest we've been since we first met. Things are going great! Ayden is sweet and loving as always and can't wait to meet his brother. He's going to be a great big brother!

Only thing I've been worried about since last night is I have an on-and-off painful side stitch, which would normally happen to a beginning runner.. Not sure if I should call the doctor yet so I'm going to give it a few more days and if it's still nagging me, I'm going to call in and get an appointment. I cleaned alllll day long yesterday and cooked so I'm thinking that is the cause, but I don't know. It'll be okay I'm sure. Not worried about it since nothing else is bothering me.

So I did a bad thing today. Made a dark chocolate cake with chocolate icing and had a super huge big piece of it but it was SO good! I want some more but it's almost bedtime and I'm trying to eat well so I don't get gestational diabetes. I was borderline with Ayden.. They (meaning online resources) say if a mother has gestational diabetes, she's likely to get a type of diabetes approximately 5 years after the baby is born. I already have hypoglycemia and will do everything in my power to NOT have diabetes. That would just suck.

I'm starting my part time/full time hours this week.. I'm praying everything goes well. I'm afraid the work load will not get easier but I'm only one person and I guess all I can say is that it's not my problem to worry about it - that's what managers are for.. mine so happens to not communicate or care about his workers. It will be a direct reflection of his leadership skills.. or lack thereof.

Anywho, I am about to get something to drink and hop in bed. I hope everyone has a great week! (Good luck to Chase on his FCAT this week!)