30 Weeks

How far along? 30 Weeks!  Oh my goodness!  If things weren't starting to feel real, they definitely are now. 

Total weight gain/loss: 23 pounds. Gained 1 pound! Not too much gain'age from last week but I'm definitely popping out more!  Yeah for a belly!

Maternity clothes? I ordered a few maternity dresses to wear to my showers a long time ago and they just finally arrived which makes them kind of pointless since I already had 2 showers.  I figured I'd keep one or two in case I need them.  Other than that, still rocking my normal clothes (they're getting a lot tighter than I thought) with a few maternity items mixed in.  It does help that the weather is nice out and I can just wear flow'y dresses and shirts without much fuss.   

Stretch marks? No.  But things are starting to get bigger now so if they do come (please God no!) they'll probably show up within the next few weeks I'm told.

Sleep: I knocked over yet another water glass this past week.  Gosh I'm getting clumsier by the second.  But other than that, I'm sleeping fantastically.  I had more dreams of what Baby Koch is going to look like.  This time he was a red haired, blue eyed boy!  Dan said that can't be true. 

Best moment this week: Baby Koch and I felt so loved at his Roscoe baby shower this past weekend.  I just can't get over how generous and loving people are towards Dan and my son...and he's not even here yet!  Baby Koch is definitely going to be one spoiled little boy.  Everything is helping his room come together and helping us get ready for his arrival.  Baby Koch got two dressers for massive amount of clothes he received this weekend!  He even got his first crib and his stroller and car seat!  Pretty much all that is left is for our little man to get here.  (We're in no hurry though son.  Stay inside and keep growing big and strong until you're absolutely positive that you're ready to come out)  I absolutely loved seeing so many friends and family come out and celebrate Dan and my little man.  It meant so much to both of us to have everyone there.  We are so touched by all of your love and we appreciate all of what you guys do for us.  Your presence and generosity spoke love to us on so many levels.  Baby Koch is so lucky to have such an extensive loving community in his life.  Thank you all for loving us so much.  Every little present he received made me even more excited for his arrival.  I cannot wait to put him in every outfit, read him every story, sing him every song, play with him, bathe him, travel with him, put him to bed, and just love on him.  You guys made me one excited mommy-to-be!

Here's all the wonderful ladies that came out to celebrate Baby Koch.  Our wonderful family friend Renee hosted the beautiful shower. (Thank you again!) I'm so grateful for everyone there and Baby Koch and I felt so loved!  Thank you ladies for being such blessings to us!

My wonderful sisters!  They are so excited to be aunts and I couldn't be more excited to have them as aunts!

With our momma!  We are the luckiest girls in the entire world to have this woman as our mom!  I really can't get over why God chose to bless us with the most amazing woman in the world as our mom.  I've learned and am still learning so much from this woman.  She's the most giving, loving, hard-working, (hilarious), strong, and beautiful mom and best friend a girl could have.  She is going to be the perfect grandma to little Baby Koch. 

And I can't forget my other favorite picture of the day.  Here is my amazing Mother-in-Law and me celebrating her first grandson as well!  Mary is the sweetest and most loving woman I've ever met.  (She should also be sainted for raising her 4 boys)  Dan and I are so lucky to have parents like ours.  Baby Koch is going to have the most amazing grandparents ever!  

(Now here is a montage of pictures I took of my stuffed dog [yes I'm 24 and still have a stuffed animal that I might or might not still sleep with] testing out some of Baby Koch's new stuff...just to make sure they were safe and all)

 Fluffy (my dog) trying out Baby Koch's car seat.  He approved.  Now we can take our nugget home with us...whenever he gets here.

 Here's Fluffy demonstrating how safe Baby Koch will be in his new stroller.

And here's Fluffy demonstrating how relaxed Baby Koch is going to be in his swing.

And for kicks and giggles, I had to show you Baby Koch's awesome cow nightie he received this past weekend. He received a lot of amazing and adorable clothes but this cow nightie rang especially close to my heart.  Baby Koch will definitely be wearing this when we go home to Dan's family's dairy farm.  Way to cute!

Miss Anything? Not being such a klutz.  I realize I was never "graceful" but I wasn't this bad.  I think. Or maybe I'm just noticing it more.  Who knows.  I'm also missing margaritas...for no particular reason other than I want one.  I miss sleeping on my stomach and back just because I could. I also miss being able to stay up late.  I met up with some friends for drinks (lemonade and water for me of course)  this past week and it was getting late and I had to call it a night.  Gosh I get tired so easily.  How did I do this whole late night thing in college?

Movement: The hiccups have come in full force!  It's crazy!  He also flips, kicks, stretches, rotates, etc.  I still can't get over how crazy it is to see my stomach move when he moves.  It's kinda the coolest thing ever.

Food cravings: Well since I passed my Week 28 glucose test with flying colors, I've been craving sugary snacks. bahha!  Also, ice cream and milk.  My handsome hubby took me out to celebrate our anniversary and I got to indulge in lots of yummies!  We even shared a bowl of gruyere cheese and caramelized onion fondue as an appetizer and practically licked that bowl clean.  After a yummy dinner, he took me to a delicious ice cream place here in town so I could get my chocolate fix.  I ate a fantastic bowl of swiss chocolate ice cream with cookie dough and pecans (my favorite mix-ins).  I told Dan I'd share with him and he reminded me later that he didn't get a bite.  Whoops!  Guess that means we'll have to get some more so I can share this time.

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Eating too quickly triggered an unusual nausea reflex the other day.  I guess that was God's way of saying, "Maybe you should slow down dear.  Just because you have that plate of food in front of you, doesn't mean you should inhale it."  Fine.  Have it your way. 

Have you started to show yet:  My belly is starting to look more rounded.  I still think it looks like a B instead of a D but there's definitely no way to hide it anymore.  It's only taken 7 months. Ugh!  Yeah for a belly though!

Gender: Boy!

Labor Signs: No

Symptoms: Heartburn again!  Stop that please!  I just want to eat food and not feel acid in my throat.  What a cruel joke you are playing on me, body. Ugh!  Side pain, blah blah blah.  I could really do without the side pain. Baby Koch did take a few shots on my ribs this week.  Not cool kid!  The worst pain this week was my lower back pain. I've had just about enough of that.  I also mentioned that I'm becoming more and more of a klutz.  I can't tell you how many times I yelled at items in my kitchen to stop falling!  It's the worst when I'm emptying the dish washer.  Everything is escaping from my hands...on purpose I swear!  "You stupid fork!  Stop falling!  Now I have to wash you again!"  I'm about to the anger stage of throwing things (like a child...) because I get so frustrated with the routine dropping of items and having to bend over and pick them up again and again. Stupid gravity.  Another symptom is realizing how pale I am because as I'm getting bigger, I can start to see more veins on my body (not bad veins...just veins because you can literally see through my pastey white skin).  Gosh I needed to get more color this past summer.  Am I crazy for wanting to get a spray tan?  Probably.

Belly Button in or out? This sucker is never popping out.  Ever

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time:  When I'm not yelling at items for falling, I'm a very happy girl.  It was hard to not be happy this past week.  Baby Koch got hooked up at this past shower which is making putting his nursery together so much easier which makes me one happy mom-to-be.  I freaked out a bit a few weeks ago about not being prepared and his room not coming together quick enough but now those fears have temporarily subsided.  I'll probably have another freak out soon just because I'm weird like that. Our friends and family have been so generous and loving and I can't thank them enough for everything they've done for us.  Baby Koch is one lucky boy...and he's not even here yet!

Here's just part of Baby Koch's nursery.  We have a lot of organizing to do.  It's coming together though!  Seriously our kid is so blessed.  

Plus I'm happy to have celebrated my anniversary with my husband.  He even surprised me with flowers as I came back from Northern Illinois this past weekend (I might have made a pit stop to Edward's Apple Orchard to get this pregnant lady some amazeball apple doughnuts and apple cider.  I'm rather picky about my apple doughnuts and these are the best in the land.  You will not find any better....ever!).  For full anniversary gush'age you can read my previous post.  In short, I'm one blessed lady to have married this guy and he's one better off man to have captured this domestic goddess. We make a pretty good couple.

Looking forward to: Our next baby appointment (we have to start going once every two weeks now), our next baby class, but mostly I'm looking forward to my daddy coming down this weekend for an Unofficial Daddy's Weekend!  He's not only the most amazing dad in the entire world but he's by far the most fun.  Since Baby Koch is scheduled to make his appearance close to the actual Dad's Weekend, we thought tailgating and a football game would be out of the picture for then so we created an Unofficial Daddy's Weekend.  I can't wait to tailgate, eat brats, and cheer on the Illini!  (They'd better do better than they did last weekend against Arizona St.  Ugh!  That was horrible!)  I'm very excited for a fun-filled weekend of daddy/daughter/dan fun!  The only downside will be not being able to properly tailgate - adult style.  Next year Jackie.  It'll be okay.

I'm also looking forward to Fall which means my husband will be working on perfecting his Chili recipe yet again and I will have to serve as chief taste tester.  Yes!  Our home will start smelling like pumpkin and apples all the time!  And soon I'll be able to bring out my Fall boots, clothes, jackets, and all those other wonderful Fall things.  Plus the brown colors and emerald green hues look good on me.  A girl's gotta know her colors.  (Spring, btw, is not my time. ugh!)

Anything Else: Looking forward to the Fall TV schedule!  Bring on my Fall lineup!  DWTS (I'm rooting for Shawn Johnson and Gilles...for obvious reasons), Grey's Anatomy, Modern Family, The League, It's Always Sunny, The Big Bang Theory, Community, Duck Dynasty (if you haven't seen it...watch it!  One of the BEST shows on tv), Law and Order SVU, and How I Met Your Mother (I honestly thought last season was it's last...but I guess not!).  In the words of old ladies, "I like my stories!"