Pregnancy Update: Weeks 21 - 23

I'm a little behind on my pregnancy updates, so I am posting 3 weeks' worth today! :)  We were in Costa Rica for Week 21.  It was a fun trip and I'll be sure to post more pics from that later.  The pregnancy really didn't affect the trip other than I couldn't do a couple excursions like zip lining.  But we were still able to hike the volcano and do lots of other fun stuff, so I didn't feel like I was missing out at all.  Here I am by one of the gorgeous beaches on the Pacific side.

Here is a bump pic by the Arenal Volcano.

As you may have seen a couple posts back, we found out during Week 22 that we are having a girl and had a lot of fun with the gender reveal party that we threw for our family and friends.

I'm feeling like a beached whale lately.  I can't imagine getting much bigger than this, but I know it's going to happen, haha.

Other than my expanding girth, I haven't felt too different from past weeks.  I have started to get lower back pain if I don't focus on my posture when I'm sitting or if I've been standing for too long.  It's annoying, but luckily hasn't been too bad.  I have gotten heart palpitations on occasion too, which is completely normal for pregnancy, but kind of scary to experience.  Another interesting thing is that I've been able to sleep through the night the past few weeks without having to get up to go to the bathroom.  I thought it got worse as the pregnancy went on (and maybe it will) but for now I am enjoying sleeping better.

On a possible TMI note, my chest has like doubled in size from pre-pregnancy ~ I swear.  It's ridiculous.  I had a couple button up tops that were flowy enough to fit over my belly, but unexpectedly I could not wear them because they were too tight in the chest area.  I never in a million years thought that I would ever have that problem! Haha :-p  

I have another doctor appointment today so I will report back on how that goes.  I have been really good about keeping my weight in check this month (and cutting back on the sweets, hehe) so hopefully everything will look good!

Past Pregnancy Posts:

Gender Reveal

Week 20

Week 19

Week 18

Week 16 & 17
Week 15
Pregnancy Announcement and Weeks 11-14


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#MonthlyMani: Autumnal Hues

I love fall.  It's such a great time of year.  Unfortunately we don't get much of a fall here in Texas and it takes forever for the temps to drop, but I can reminisce of how awesome fall was growing up in NY.  We're going up that way to visit family next month and it will be the first time I've been up there during the fall in awhile.  I'm very excited. :)

I think of oranges and yellows and burgundy - basically the colors that the leaves would change - when I think of fall.  I was thinking of trying a gradient effect on my nails so I grabbed a couple shades of orange and yellow.

{OPI Top Coat, Pure Ice Hot Tamale, OPI Hot and Spicy, Pure Ice Excuse Me}

 

I started with Hot Tamale as the base coat and then used the sponge to attempt to make a gradient effect on my nails.

Unfortunately the yellow didn't cover the orange, but I ended up with a cool matte look with the orange.

Since that didn't work, I went to Plan B, adding some gold (Ulta High Roller).

I like how they turned out even if it wasn't quite what I was going for.  It's a fun orange color.  I'm going to have to attempt doing a gradient again because it always looks cool in the pictures I see on Pinterest. :)

Check out the other ladies' fall nails:

Kristi from Alligator Toe

Piniel from Pins-Place

Justine from The Two Cent Chick

Kate from Into the Stratosphere

Miche from Buttons and Birdcages

Jacki and Lesli from Sistas from Cali

Marlena from Here, Pretty Kitty

Angie from hashtagRANDOM

Tracy-Ann from Mint Statement

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He or She? It's a...

He or She?  Pink or Blue?  That was the theme of our gender reveal party that we had over the weekend.  It was so fun getting together with family and friends to celebrate our little baby.  We decorated everything in pink and blue and I found the cutest plates and napkins at our local party store.

I tried to incorporate pink and blue into my outfit.  Marty just wore blue, although he swears he didn't think about it when he got dressed, haha.

We kept track of what everyone thought the gender would be.  The final tally ended up being about 75% votes for a boy!

I made the little bow and tie confetti above.  The candy bar idea below of coloring the HE in blue and the SHE in pink was from Pinterest.  How awesome is it that Hershey's bars fit in with the theme?

Pink and Blue grab bags.

We played a couple games.  The first was a quiz on how well everyone knew the old wives tales about pregnancy.  A majority of the tales indicated I would have a girl.

The second game was about interesting birth facts.  We split everyone into 2 teams: Team Blue vs. Team Pink!

Team Blue is above and Team Pink is below.  As you can see Team Blue vastly outnumbered Team Pink.

Team Blue ended up winning!  That for sure meant it would be a boy.  Plus, the majority couldn't be wrong, right?  Well, it was time to find out!  The big reveal was coming up!

On a side note, how cute is this picture?  Rudy is ready for a little human sibling!

I found a fun tutorial for making scratch off cards and decided to make that for the reveal!  I did both blue and pink cards and each card had 3 boxes that said either Boy or Girl.  Every card had a different combination and only one had all 3 boxes matching with the correct gender.  Once the person with the "winning" card revealed the correct gender, they yelled it out so the whole group would know!  It was fun that we had no idea who would find out the gender first!

Ready?  

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Here it is, the winning card!

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IT'S A GIRL!!!

{My attempt at confetti pics, ha}

...and the aftermath :)

Also, those blowing confetti pics you see sure are harder to pull off than I thought!  We'll have to work on that one. ;-)

We are so excited for our little girl!

Thanks for sharing this fun experience with us!  I can't wait to start planning the nursery. :)


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20 Weeks: Halfway Through!

I've officially reached the midpoint of the pregnancy.  How crazy is that?!  I will also find out next week what our little bambino's gender is!  I'm very excited about that.

Can you tell I'm a little tired in this pic?  We had just finished packing (by the way, we've been out of town all week down in Costa Rica!) when I remembered that I needed my hubby to take a pic for this post.  He was tired and grumpy and agreed to take one picture.  So, this is what I got, crazy hair and all, haha.  Oh well.  I should have a better pic for next week because hopefully it will be on a beach in Costa Rica! :)

I had a doctor appointment last week and everything was on target.  The baby's heartbeat was about 140 beats per minute.  If you believe that old wives' tale, then that would indicate a boy.  I know many friends where this was not true though!  In the spirit of full disclosure, I gained 10 pounds in the month and a half since my last appointment. :-/  Everything else looked good, but the doctor said I have to be careful that I don't keep gaining weight at that rate.  I have had a bigger appetite than usual lately (sometime days I feel like I'm always hungry), so I'll just have to be more mindful of that and continue to be consistent with my workouts.  I'm not really too worried about it.

I've had a few people tell me that I look small for 20 weeks, which is nice to hear, but I sure feel huge!  The doctor said my belly is measuring right where it should though.

Past Pregnancy Posts:

Week 19

Week 18

Week 16 & 17
Week 15
Pregnancy Announcement and Weeks 11-14


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Purple + Teal

I always like playing around with different color combos, and I really like this one!  Guess what - this is my first post wearing maternity clothes!  The shirt is maternity.  The jeans are my regular ones - I can still wear them using the rubber band trick! :)

Many of you know by now that I have a thing for impractically small clutches.  This is one of my favorites that my hubby got me for my birthday last year.  I love how it adds some edge to an outfit with the spikes and studs.

What I'm Wearing

Top ~ Motherhood Maternity (non-maternity option)

Jeans ~ WHBM

Shoes ~ Bakers (similar here, here, and these are fun!)

Necklace ~ ??

Bracelet ~ Guess (similar for under $5)

Clutch ~ Henri Bendel

Sunglasses ~ Oakley

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Sporty Fun

It's no surprise to most of you that I love sports - I talk about it here on the blog on occasion. While many times I will wear a jersey or sports themed t-shirt when watching a sports game at home or going to see one live, it's also fun to sometimes dress up in a sporty manner.  It can be a fun challenge to marry fashion with a sporty look. Those blinged out shirts/jerseys/hats are a good start (they are especially fun to do yourself), but I am taking this one step further.  I am going to create an outfit that you may not guess has a sporty purpose until the final addition of the baseball cap.

I know baseball season is coming to a close and playoffs start in less than a month, but that is the sport I'm showing this example for.  I'm doing an outfit based around my home team of the Houston Astros (even tho they didn't have the best season and aren't making it to the postseason; I have to root for the home team, ya know? :)  I selected this simple cap as my outfit inspiration.  (Link here)

It's simple, cute and has the Astros recognizable logo. I wanted to play up the orange and navy (which is a fun color combo!) and incorporate some white and then finish it up with some gold jewelry to give it that glam factor. Here is the outfit I came up with.

Orange peplum top - I selected this for its versatile look of flirty and feminine with a touch of sporty. 

Navy bow belt - I added a belt for a stylish factor and to give it another pop of navy.

White shorts and polka dot sneakers - These contribute to the sporty look we are going for.

Jewelry - The necklace, bracelet and earrings round out the overall look to give it more fashion appeal.  

Without the baseball cap you could look like you're going out on a date or to hang with friends. Add the baseball cap and it's an easy transition to the baseball stadium. 

What do you think?  Do you like this idea of adding more fashion to the sports world?  Would you like to see more like this on the blog?  Let me know!

By the way, Fanatics.com has a great selection of baseball caps (check them out here) and tons of other sports apparel. With baseball playoffs coming up, you should get your fave team's hat to wear when you cheer them on!  Or a new football cap for the start of the new season! :) 

Leopard and Feathers

Happy Labor Day friends!  How many of you took advantage of the awesome sales going on this weekend?  I wanted to get some more maternity wear but I am out of town.  Oh well, there will always be another sale. :)

I tell ya, dresses are my thing now.  That's about all I wear to work now.  It's funny how certain dresses with a well-placed belt and cardigan will completely hide my bump on a frontal view.  It's definitely still noticeable from the side!

I played off the lacy pattern on the dress with my ridiculously small purse. :)

What I'm Wearing
Dress ~ WHBM (kind of similar dress here with cool stripes and eyelet cutouts)
Belt ~ Steve Madden (similar)
Cardigan ~ WHBM
Purse ~ Victoria's Secret
Necklace ~ ?? (similar)
Bracelets ~ Stella & Dot and Guess (similar for under $5)
Shoes ~ Two Lips


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