Food and Pregnancy.

Pretty much my whole life I've had a love-hate relationship with food. I love to eat it but hate that it makes me fat. Which I'm pretty much certain is the way every other person in the world feels about food. So it's good to know that I'm not alone there.

But I've always been able to maintain a healthy balance. I'm certainly not rail thin but luckily I also don't resemble a hippo. Plus I can eat pretty much everything I want and only fluctuate 5-7 pounds on any given day. And I've always been cool with that. Cake is greater than six-pack abs. At least in my opinion.

But now that I'm pregnant I am freaking out. I've seen women that I know get pregnant, gain weight, have the baby, and 1 year later be 25 pounds heavier than they were before they got pregnant. I'm not judging them... I'm positively certain that once you have a baby, all time and effort that you normally put into yourself goes on the back burner and let's be serious here... losing weight is HARD. But I also know I do not, under any circumstances, want to never be able to fit into my jeans ever again.  

I discussed this fear with a good friend of mine and her solution was this: Gain only the necessary 20 pounds during the pregnancy and continue being active after, and the pounds will just melt off. 

Ummm... right. 

I would love to pretend that all I'm craving right now is oranges and cauliflower but let's be serious. My cravings for pasta, and french fries, and frosties are so intense sometimes that I literally begin to feel nauseous until the craving is satisfied. 

Obviously, my friend has never been pregnant. 

Not to mention that when I do begin feel nauseous, the only thing that helps take the edge off is carbs. And I'm talking heavy carbs. I've tried to eat fruit and yogurt and other healthy alternatives, and they work... for like, 10 minutes... and then the feeling of of my stomach trying to escape through my throat comes back worse. And then I'll start to cry. And then Brandon will literally sprint at full speed to wherever need be and I find myself sitting on the floor with tears running down my face... eating a double cheeseburger. 

And as I'm taking every delicious bite.. I imagine myself looking like this:

No offense, Jessica Simpson... 

And I cry more.

My love-hate relationship with food is just beginning to get serious. 

Yikes. 

Our kid.

Sometimes I see pictures like these and think, "this will SO be Brandon and I's child..."

But then I remember that this kid will have BOTH of OUR genes in it. And then I realize our kid will be more like this: 

Yeah... that's about right... 

Baby Toes

For her:

 Or for him: 

These are melt-in-your-mouth adorable!

Quotes.

I saw both of these quotes on Pinterest and fell in love with them. These will DEFINITELY be going in Baby S's nursery. 

Not to mention, I really want to do another "art collage" for Baby S's room. Except maybe instead of just art, doing photographs of Brandon and I and the rest of our family. The more sentimental the better. I'd love to find old photographs of our parents and grandparents and my brothers and Brandon's sister and have these quotes surrounded by them. 

Very similar to this: 

I'm going to have to start hunting down old photos now because this will definitely be happening!

Nurseries I'm Loving

I'm not going to lie... one of the things I am looking forward to the most with this pregnancy is not only meeting Baby S but also decorating the nursery. I have been looking pretty intensely for the past few weeks for a few of my faves. Here are some of the most inspirational.

For a baby girl: 

For a baby boy: 

As you can see, I'm really trying to stay away from the traditional baby pink/baby blue nursery theme. I would really like a nursery that Baby S can grow into. Not to mention, one that may be able to become transgender down the road in case Brandon and I stay in this house and decide to have another wee one (ya know, two-bedroom-home problems). I find that it's easier for me to fall in love with boy nurseries than girl nurseries mainly because I'm quickly sickened by frills, lace, and the endless amounts of pink, pink, and more pink. Which is truly shocking considering I really do love frills, lace, and pink.

Basically... when Baby S is determine to be XX or XY, I am going to have my work cut out for me. :)

Well, hello baby bump! The pleasure is all mine!

Lookie, lookie at who decided to make an appearance! 

15 Weeks

I'm not going to lie.... I'm excited Baby S is finally poking out considering he/she is the size of an apple! Oh, how quickly Baby S is growing!! 

Not to mention.... the nausea that I've been experiencing from time to time is appearing to wane a bit. Thank heavens because that part was beginning to really wear on me. 

Brandon and I are getting super excited! We listen to his/her heartbeat daily... it's like a high every time we hear that little heart flutter. Which gets stronger every day. 

We're such proud parents! :)

Love It & Really??

Love It:

• Just KNOWING that I'm pregnant. That there's a little bean growing inside of me. That it has a heartbeat and has tiny little fingers and toes  and tiny little teeth. And in 6 months I'll be tickling and loving all over those little body parts. 
• How sweet Brandon is about everything. And how he refers to me as "you guys" now... as in "Hey babe, on your way home from work, can you guys pick up some milk?" A constant affectionate reminder that even though I'm barely showing, I still have another human growing inside of me.
• How fabulous our moms' have been. Both Brandon's mom and my mom have been ecstatic and, truth-be-told, it's really helped me forget about the anxiety I experience from time to time. I love hearing them talk about what they're going to do with their first grandbaby. It makes my heart happy. (My mom even bought Baby S's first toy... hence the pic above of the pup with the LSU hat on backwards... something she said reminded her of Brandon so much that she just had to get it. I personally love it.)
• Having Brandon remind me to take my prenatal vitamins. Every. Single. Day. It's so cute how concerned he is over whether Baby S and I are getting enough folic acid...
• Getting the emails from BabyCenter.com about my baby's weekly developments. You mean to tell me he/she's the size of a medium shrimp this week?! And then having Brandon proceed to call the Baby "our little shrimpie" for the entire week... until next week when it will be "our little lemon".

Really??:

• God's sense of humor. I remember telling a good friend once that morning sickness was "all in your head" and that I just knew that I would never experience it. Joke's on me. Feeling like legit donkey poop 70% of the day has not been awesome. 
• Peeing. All. The. Time. Seriously, I must pee like 30 times a day now. Swear.
• My insane emotions. Today I cried over a Jif commercial. Like hysterical bawling. Over a peanut butter commercial where a dad built his daughter a treehouse and so she made him a sandwich. Even just thinking about it now is making me tear up. My God, see what I'm talking about??!
• People finding out I'm pregnant and then telling me their dang horror stories! I don't want to hear that you were in labor for 32 hours or that you gained so much weight people didn't recognize you or that you didn't sleep for the first 6 months of the babies life! I'm doing everything possible to freak myself out, thank you very much... I don't need your help. 
• Insomnia. And this is no joke. I wake up every hour on the hour... and then it takes a full 30 minutes to fall back asleep. I wake up over every little noise... whether it's the A/C unit kicking on, Lola sneezing, or Brandon letting out a little snore. Doesn't matter... I'm up. And then I realize I have to pee. And then I might as well start knitting because I'm wide awake.