#ILoveMyBump

HUMP DAY-or BUMP DAY

After talking with my sister yesterday I realize not everyone wants to remember their PREGO days with pictures. I guess I have been extremely lucky because I am in love with my bump and want to show everyone. I have never felt that great about how my body looks...but these days I see myself differently. I am amazed how God made women and the way our bodies can take care of such a small human without doing anything. How strange to not be able to control something inside of you. All our lives we want to direct our own paths, choose the right school. get the right job, choose our life partners, and then all the sudden you have a little person growing inside of you and God is the only one in control. Makes me think that I should give him more control over the little things in life. He knows what he's doing. 

Baby Micah is moving a lot more these days. He likes to push out on the sides of the belly and I'm not going to lie it hurts a little bit. I can't be mad though because I'm sure he's got some long legs like his daddy and there's not much room in there. I had my 35 week doctor appointment yesterday and Doc says I am not dilated yet. I asked him if there is no change and it's the week of induction, if it's safe to go through with the process still. He says it's perfectly fine. I am having a few doubts about inducing before my body is ready, but my friend Katie told me about her girlfriend who made the same decision and still had a 9 pound baby!! So, if Micah is a little smaller than he would be a week later, I'm good with that!! 

I'm ready for a pool party... I am loving this weather and am in need of some swimming. I think it would be so fun to swim at 8 months prego. I hope to find a pool soon and hopefully have a bathing suit that can still cover my buttocks. LOL  What do you all think about pregnant women wearing a two piece? I'm not going to buy a new bathing suit for only a month...so I hope people don't mind. 

Have a great Wednesday everyone!!

LOVE YOU ALL!! 

One Happy Momma

Good Tuesday to YOU.

I'm so happy today. Just relishing in our family pictures. It makes me so happy to have a husband that understands how important pictures are to me. I know he doesn't enjoy taking them, but oh he's so good at faking it! I want to post all the pictures, but I'm going to wait till Erin edits a few of them. Here is one she edited today:

Craig is in Dallas until Thursday at a conference staying in a Hotel. I would have stayed with him, but Lotte isn't allowed. It's more work to find a dog sitter. So since I'm a loner, I had a prenatal massage yesterday and it was very relaxing. It was a gift to myself. She couldn't massage my lower back because I guess it could put me into labor and I definitely don't want that. Afterwards I went grocery shopping at Trader Joe's. I'm not too familiar with the store so I felt a little overwhelmed on where to go. It was fun to pick up some things just for me. No cooking this week. I spent around 65  dollars, which isn't too bad. I usually spend around 80 at Aldi for dinners for both Craig and I.
I tried a new type of smoothie today. Orange Julius with frozen bananas, oranges, almond milk, and vanilla extract, I also added my spinach and kale.
It's official I'm a waddle-er. I am waddling around everywhere and feeling the pressure. I tried to vacuum out my car today and it took everything I had and my back was killing me. I guess I have a month to waddle around and take advantage of people helping me do things.
Today is my TWIN SISTERS bday!!! I can't believe how time flies. I remember being in Myrtle Beach the other day celebrating their 30th. Now cheers to 31. Wow that seems impossible. I keep having to remember how old I am. I keep thinking I'm already 28...but still 27. Once you get past 25 it's hard to keep track. I wish I could celebrate with them, it's times like these when it's hard to be so far away.
Shout out to my sisters who are more like best friends HANNAH AND RACHEL- I love you!

Smile- it will make someones day : )
BUMP LOVE!

A Month Away

Good Monday Morning to YOU.

Busy, Busy, Busy. This weekend was one of the most busiest and fun weekends we have had since we moved here. Let's start with Friday. Craig got home early so we could go to the White Sox/Rangers game at Globe Life Park in Arlington. The Sox lost big time, but it was a lot of fun.

We had really good seats and this ballpark had the most variety of food that looked amazing. We want to go back just to try some more of the food. They are known for a hotdog called BOOMstick. Here it is.... (this might be hard for my mom to see)

BOOMSHAKALAKA- We had to eat it with a fork and knife obviously, but it was surprisingly tasty and hot. Don't worry, we didn't finish the whole thing. After the game the park had a firework show. It was a great night to be together and enjoy a ballgame.
The next morning we got up and got ready to drive to Houston for maternity pics. I cannot wait to show you all the pictures. They are absolutely amazing, however, I will start going through them today and try to pick some out to show you all. There are over 700 photos. haha. It was so nice to see my friend Erin and have her take pics for us. We got to walk around this place called Old Town Springs. A little town of antique stores and diners with some awesome old houses. Lotte was great, even though Petsmart chopped her up pretty bad, she still looked very cute in the photos.
On Easter Sunday we went to Ryan and Emily's church in Houston. Ryan or (Pastor Ryan) is the music minister/youth group leader there. It was so great to see Ryan in action and leading a congregation in music. Emily is about 26 weeks pregnant with her son and everyone at the church thought we were related. I don't know if it was because we were both pregnant or what. It was so nice to be with another prego for a day. Seriously all we talk about is prego stuff.. and babies. It's just a great time in life to be excited with someone who is going through the same things.
We went out to Red Robin for lunch. Here is a pic of all four of us.

And of course we had to take a bump picture before I left, because the next time I see them I will no longer have my baby bump.

We have exactly one month to go. May 22 everyone.. woohooo!!!  Stay tuned for some Hooker Maternity Photos to be posted soon!!!!

Have a great MONDAY!!

LOVE

GOOD Friday

Happy Good Friday.

It's so good to be alive today and remember Jesus was "Pierced for our transgressions: he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53:5  I feel so lucky to be living this life because I don't deserve any of it. God sent his one and only son to save the world. I can't imagine watching my newborn suffer and die to save the rest of the world. As a parent that hasn't even seen my child yet, I am emotional just thinking about it. I am so thankful that God forgives and gives each and every one of us grace that we don't deserve.
Yesterday I was talking to a friend about labor and how painful it looks. I said, "God really wanted us women to go through real pain to feel joy." God works in mysterious ways, and it made me think of many times in our lives we have to struggle and go through so much pain to find the joy on the other side. I'm sure every woman going through labor is thinking how they will never get through it. Afterwards when it's all over and they hold their little one, every single tear was worth it.
What if we looked at every struggle in life like labor. At first thinking this is going to feel never ending and that there's no way through it. As long as you hold on to God and the ones who love you there is JOY in the morning. Jesus had to endure so much pain to give us all eternal life and he knew the struggle was worth it. I have so many in my life who are struggling with emotional and mental pain. I want them to know that there is JOY on the other side. As humans we make mistakes and we don't deserve a perfect life. But if we go through these struggles with God by our side, he will give us immeasurable strength. He knows how we feel, and also has great plans in store for our lives as long as we keep him INVOLVED in our lives.
I have to remember who I am living for, because many days I live for myself and my husband and of course my little one. Thank goodness for GOOD FRIDAY to remind us of the one who we need to live for. I thank God for sending his son so that I could have my son and teach him about Good Friday .. and the grace of God our Father.

Love Love Love

It's a BOY

Good Thursday to YOU.

I'm sure if your reading this you already know Craig and I are having a boy, but how does everyone else know? Today while I was dropping off Lotte at Petsmart for her grooming appointment one of the ladies said to me,"Are you excited to have a boy?" I'm thinking...um do I know you? But this is not the first time this has happened. At the March Madness Music Festival while I was ordering food the lady at the counter said to me, "I know it's a boy, right?" So these are two incidents that I can remember specifics, but several times people have told me this. How do they know? I mean seriously. These people are so sure when they talk to me. I'm short and to me I look pretty big. I guess once I have more babies I will become a confident belly reader one day. I just don't know how these women can tell.  I guess I give off that boy glow : ) hah

Today I met up with a friend for lunch at Panera. I don't know why that place is always so popular. I mean I could go there everyday...but why? Are they putting something in the soup? When you really think about it, it's super expensive, you don't get that much food, and it's not like you couldn't make the same thing at home. It's almost like a Starbucks, you just have to go to Panera because well, its PANERA!! We headed over to T.J. Max afterwards and I found an exercise ball for $12.99. The childbirth class says these balls help during delivery, so of course I bought one. Also, the nurse said she used it to rock her baby and work out her abs at the same time. Sounds good to me.

This week Craig said he wanted salad so we have been trying different kinds. This one was delish:

Here is the recipe. But it's pretty much Mexican style salad .http://damndelicious.net/2014/01/03/bbq-chicken-salad/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bbq-chicken-salad
Also I made Chicken Salad and bought fresh croissants for lunch all week. YUM!!!

Tonight I'm going to make us a salad with ham and cheese like a Julienne Salad. Looks like tonight will be the last night of salads for the week. Craig got tickets to go to a White Sox game tomorrow night and I'm thinking we will probably not get salads at the game. HA I really hope they don't disappoint with the stadium food. 

Tomorrow is Friday ... woohoooo!! Get excited

LOVE YOU >..MUAH

Spring into it

HUMP DAY!!!

Spring is here...and we have decided to decorate our backyard with a little color. Red, Orange, Yellow... reminds me of my wedding colors. We also planted herbs, fruits, and veggies including green pepper, onions, corn, cucumbers, sugar baby watermelon's, and melons. Hopefully we might see a veggie or two before the bugs and animals get to them. 

For not wanting to take care of the lawn, Craig has really stepped up his game. He seems to love mowing the lawn, trimming, sawing and raking. He really likes the responsibility to keep up what's his. Even though we are renting it's good to know he will probably try even harder once we buy. This week has been a little chilly and got down to below freezing on Monday night. Hopefully these guys can pull through. I have to say today the high is 68 degrees and that sounds perfect to me. I don't mind it staying in the 60's because hopefully that means summer will be postponed for a little while. I want my family to be comfortable when they visit and I am really praying for 80 degrees and not 100!!

Well.. last night was our relaxation/meditation class and it was a lot of fun. Too bad many of the moves to help pain management during labor were not working for us since Craig is way taller than me. One move is like slow dancing and instead of draping my arms around his shoulders I was around his waist... which was not that comfy. 

Yesterday I started washing the bottles. I boiled the nipples and pacifiers and now trying to figure out where to put everything. Does anyone have any date suggestions before this little one comes? I don't want to regret not taking advantage of this time. 

We are going to Houston this weekend to take Prego pics and visit Ryan and Emily Morris on Easter. It really worked out well because Ryan is the Music Minister at his church and we get to be with family on Easter! Ry and Em are having a little boy in July, so we are all in the same boat. I also picked out a cute outfit for their little guy to give them : ) I can't help it, it's my job to shop right now. Let me say Target has really stepped up there game with baby boy clothes. Still the girl options are way better and cuter, but I will dress my man as best as I can. I will put him in sleepers and onsesies when we are home but I want to dress him like a little man..almost like a small old man. haha Here is some of his nice clothes:

The outfit on the left is either Craig's or his dad Gary's outfit when he was a baby. Can you believe it? It's so preppy and cute!! I can't believe Micah will be wearing something his dad and grandpa wore. Oh and yes the Guess overalls is seriously one of my FAV's. For this reason I hope God gives me a girl one day because I'm sure Craig will only let me dress Micah for so long. 

Anyways, today I will be looking for a pediatrician. I was given a recommendation and I hope he's in my insurance. 

Happpy HUMP DAY .. enjoy it!!

LOVE ALL OF YOU!!

KaChing

Good Tuesday Ya'll!

Yesterday I received confirmation that I won some MOOLAH!! This picture is from when we went to the March Madness Music Festival in downtown Dallas for the Final Four. Capital One was one of the sponsors at the free concert and they were giving away prizes if you tweeted a picture of yourself using the #hashtag KaChing. So both Craig and I tweeted pictures to enter (c'mon I would have tweeted it anyways) We waited for awhile to see if they would call us back to the booth, but nothing. 

A week later I got a tweet from Capital One saying I was a prize winner and to Direct Message them with my e-mail to find out what I won. I thought .. OK might as well. Then they messaged me back and said I won $1500 bucks. I guess I was more in disbelief than actual excitement. I followed their directions and they got my mailing address. Yesterday I got a package delivered needing me to fill out a W9 Form and a release form that had to be notarized by the bank. I couldn't believe it. I have never won anything, but if the next thing I see is a check in the mail WWOOHOOO. 

I think this baby is the luckiest thing that has ever happened to me and I haven't even met him yet. Needless to say I have been entering a whole lot more sweepstakes lately. Mostly with Fit Pregnancy. I am feeling a little bit more heavy these days. Can't seem to do normal things like sit up, get out of bed, bend over. These things seem to take more out of me and it's definitely a weird feeling. I had my 34 week appointment today. Here is my current bump picture:

I think Craig finally believes it's his baby since I am getting so big!! Doctor said Micah's head is down and everything looks good. My induction date is still scheduled for May 22nd and I'm so excited that Kim Mom and Gary Dad will be here for my delivery. I packed Micah several outfits just like I pack my own suitcase with several Pajama gowns. Is it weird that I'm thinking what I'm going to wear when we bring him home? I mean what will I fit in? 

We have a relaxation/meditation class tonight at the hospital and I'm looking forward to it. I hope Craig can focus on relaxation... he's not really the type to close his eyes and focus on his breathing. haha We will prolly be laughing most of the night.. but to me that's relaxing.

Anyways, this week is all about salads. Craig is on his diet kick, so that means I AM TOO!! Got a ton of stuff for salads and made Chicken Salad last night for lunches. Got to start the habit now before Micah is born so it's an easier transition once he's here. 

Have a great day!!

Love you all