We're Pregnant! Archives - 2 Cats and Chloe

31 Weeks.

I had to take a break from blogging for the last month. Between all of the house decisions, the pregnancy chaos, the holidays and work… I ~~needed to~~ had to check out for a bit. Now, I cannot promise that I am back consistently quite yet, but I will give it a good shot.

With that being said, let’s do a pregnancy bumpdate! Because this pregnancy is flying by and apparently these are the times I need to capture and reflect upon later in life.

How far along: 31 Weeks! 9-ish more to go! Crazy right??

Gender: It’s a girl! Lorelei Elizabeth! We had such a fun gender reveal party a couple of months ago. I cannot wait to hang up the “reveal artwork” that our family created in her bedroom. (Also, when does a kid’s bedroom become his/her bedroom? Why is a nursery called a nursery and not a bedroom?)

Weight gain: At my last doctor appointment I was very surprised that I had lost 5 pounds. I was still clocking in at 30 pounds heavier than I was prior to being pregnant though. On January 3 I started a Whole30. Yes, while pregnant. And honestly, it was the best thing I could’ve done for myself this entire pregnancy. I am FINALLY feeling more like myself. My body THRIVES on clean eating. I wish I had just fought through the sickness and miserableness that were the first two trimesters for me - but the thought of veggies made me sicker. Would I recommend a whole30 while pregnant? We will discuss this later this week in a blog post all of it’s own. But before some of y’all go crazy on me for “dieting” while pregnant, I’m really not. Let me assure you that I am eating A TON of food - all.day.long.

Sleep: It’s just okay. Honestly, if the border collie pup would stop chasing the cat all night long, that would be really helpful. These last few nights I have woken up sleeping on my back - and it’s been marvelous. For some reason they say not to do that while knocked up. So I have been avoiding it. (Plus, I normally sleep on my sides anyway.) But more recently, my hips are screaming at me in the mornings. A bit of back-sleeping has made me feel more human.

Oh, and I have had to start taking afternoon naps when I have time. I feel like ~~life~~ sleep as I know it is officially over.

Best moment this week: While it was a bit weird, my family all went to a 3d ultrasound place this week. My mom and sister were over the moon excited. Michael, my dad and I were all kinda so-so about it. I did learn that Lorelei is still breach, she’s super content just chilling in my rib cage and she has the energy level of a slug, even after I drank two sweet fruit drinks! (Pray she flips…)

Additionally, another highlight of this week was celebrating my college roomie and her baby girl! She is approximately 2 weeks further along than me. You can’t help but wonder if our girls will be friends and/or potentially college roommates like we were!

Worst moment this week: Just trying to catch up. I’m completely overwhelmed with stuff. I just don’t feel like I can catch up. I feel like I spent the entire week juggling doctor appointments, meetings, work, cooking clean food and trying to catch some solid zzzz’s - but in the end, I do not feel like anything was actually accomplished. Again, I feel like life as I know it is officially over.

Miss anything: Cheese. Crazy right? I cut it out because of the whole30. Normally, by the end of a whole30 my body doesn’t crave anything I have cut out. This time, I’m beginning to wonder if baby needs more dairy than I have been giving her. Monday is the last day of the Whole30. I will be adding cheese back, minimally, next week.

Movement: Still very, very little. I learned that I have an Anterior Placenta. Guys and gals, I feel almost nothing! I seriously have a SLIGHT muscle spasm maybe once a day on my side… but that’s it. Part of me thinks it is because God knows that, while I think pregnancy is a beautiful thing, He knows I’m 95% freaked out by the fact that there is a tiny human inside of me. So He has given me what I can handle at this point… which is feeling very little.

What I’m Wearing: Now that I am almost done with a Whole30, I am actually able to fit into a few things that were super tight on me at Christmas. Sweet right? That being said, I’m still voluntarily wearing mostly leggings and dresses. They are both more comfy than pants.

I’m beyond thankful I work from home and do not have to have a complete work wardrobe too!

Cravings: Cheese and ice cream. (Both pregnancy approved. Neither whole30 approved.)

Symptoms: Thankfully, after 23ish weeks, the morning sickness finally hit the road with an occasional episode every now and then. At this point I would say that I’m feeling pretty great - but as I have already hinted at, I’m starting to get achy and sleepy.

Happy or Moody: Moody. But there’s a lot on my plate right now. And don’t even mess with me if I haven’t eaten. Pregnancy gives new meaning to the word Hangry.

Looking forward to: My baby shower next weekend! I am so excited to celebrate Lorelei with a bunch of amazing ladies!

December Confessions

by Susan

When in the world did 2015 decided to practically up and leave? How is it already the middle of December? (For the record, it is 75+ degrees here - which is far from normal - so mentally, I am still in enjoying late-summer / early-Fall.)

As I sat in my dark, dark batcave this morning - see picture above of our room at Nana’s house, in the middle of the afternoon, when it was bright and sunny OUTSIDE - I was simply in awe of the fact that it really is December. Christmas is less than two weeks away! TWO WEEKS! I have just a couple decorations out, Christmas Vacation hasn’t been watched more than twice, there are presents to wrap and still a couple more to buy!

Which got me thinking… maybe instead of a “Five on Friday” this week, I needed to do some sort of December Confessional. Partially because it’s Monday and not Friday. But also because let me be frank - I cannot be the only one who does the following:

Confession: I try to send out my Christmas cards really early. Why? Only partially to be ahead of the game. More so because I LOVE receiving Christmas cards and I figure, if I beat you to it, maybe you will remember to include me on your mailing list. Selfish? Yes, definitely. (Who doesn’t like getting real mail that isn’t a bill??) However, this year, since we are in such transition, I wanted to be sure to include all of our mailing address(es) too… So selfish, yeah… but I’m also trying to help you from getting a “Return To Sender” card next month.

Confession: I purchased “Ugly Christmas Sweaters” for my dogs. Yup. I’m that girl. But quite frankly, they love dressing up. While they may look terribly silly, these two border collies are thrilled to be so dressed up, festive or not.

2 cats & chloe: Christmas Lights Williamsburg VA

Confession: I wait until after Thanksgiving for all things Christmas, except music and movies. I start playing Christmas music, except for the occasional Nsync “Merry Christmas” that is allowed to play all year long, in early-November. I typically kick off the cheesy holiday flicks as soon as Hallmark Channel starts playing them! But everything else (decorations, cookies, cards, etc) waits until December. #RespectThanksgiving.

2 cats & chloe: December - all dressed up for holiday party

Confession: Last week I went to my first real business holiday party. As someone who works from home, runs my own businesses and rarely sees other human beings - it was nice to dress up, drag my husband along and attend the holiday party for one of my biggest clients. Even if we had to drive 4 hours there and 4 hours back in one night!

2 cats & chloe: Coffee on my front porch

Confession: I am beyond devastated that we will not be “Home for the Holidays” this year. Considering that we began packing up our home in Newport News, VA last January - I really did hope, deep down, that we would be in our new home by the end of the year. As my dad, our builder, told me last month - “Suz, it’s just not happening!” And then I cried, like any self-respecting, 6 months pregnant woman should do…

2 cats & chloe: Busch Gardens Christmas Town Germany

2 cats & chloe: Pregnant Suz at Christmas Town

2 cats & chloe: Busch Gardens Christmas Town England

2 cats & chloe: Family Selfie at Christmas Town in Williamsburg

Confession: Even though it isn’t easy, sometimes you just have to put the drama, home building crap and life aside… It took quite a bit of coordinating, but yesterday my family put our busyness aside and spent some quality time at Busch Gardens’ Christmas Town. (Nana didn’t join us because she preferred to watch the Duggars…) If you are in Virginia, I highly recommend you trek it to Williamsburg for a festive night of lights and entertainment at Busch Gardens! So much fun. So many twinkle lights!

2 cats & chloe: December Confessions Holiday Border Collie

Confession: I feel like every year the holidays come and go, quicker and quicker. As I get older, I find myself fighting to not get “lost in the motions” of the season. Am I alone in this? I cannot wait until Lorelei is here with us for Christmas next year. Will the magic return when there is a child in the house? What do you do to stay in touch with the reason for the season?

Do you have any December Confessions you need to get off your chest? Leave them in the comment section below!

Accessories are Key These Days: Firmoo Glasses that I Love!

by Susan

Someone recently asked me what I miss most now that I am pregnant. It’s not news to anyone that we ladies have to give up a lot when we are with child. My initial thought was immediately red wine. Followed by missing that overall “healthy” feeling. Then, due to spontaneous cravings, both were trumped with “Oh my god, it’s totally real sushi and rare tuna!”

The next morning I was getting dressed and I realized that the thing I think I miss the most now that I am pregnant, is fitting into all of my cute, fall clothes. On top of the fact that you are no longer in control of your body and you’re now larger than you’ve ever been in your entire life - it is even more difficult to feel confident when you now have a very limited wardrobe (when you’re not used to that at all). I’m currently rocking one pair of jeans and a couple pairs of leggings - along with several solid shirts, a few tanks and my go-to cardigan. Thank goodness I work from home and it really doesn’t matter what I look like most days! I don’t know how y’all do it! An entire new wardrobe for a mere nine, long months is not in our budget!

But I’ve quickly learned - it’s okay to have a few go-to solid pieces of clothing. The trick is to dress up the basic tee and cardigan with accessories. Accessories like my new pair of spectacles from Firmoo.com.

2 cats & chloe: dress up your baby bump with accessories

I have been trying to add a touch of “functional-glam” to all of my current outfits. You cannot really tell in these pictures (because my real camera is broken and because the rain wouldn’t let up enough for us to leave the front porch…) but this shirt has gold, glitter sparkles in it. Paired with a rose gold and coral necklace, gold earrings, a glitter watch and glasses that look like I’m ready to work - but have beautiful gold arms. Wait - are the sides of lenses called arms??

Whether you’re pregnant or not, if you’re looking for new glasses (to make you less blind or simply as a fashion accessory) I highly recommend Firmoo.com. This is my third or fourth pair of lenses from Firmoo. Why so many?? It’s not because they have broken… they are all still in great condition and used all the time! It is because they are inexpensive enough that I can have a few prescription pairs, not break the bank and then coordinate them appropriately with outfits.

I have the hubby believing that these glasses are merely for vision. But we all know, every little accessory counts when it comes to a completing an outfit!

The glasses I am wearing in this post are style number DBSN68048. Like I said, I really love this pair because it has the funky, nerdy look from the front with the touch of gold fanciness on the side.

Wanna learn more? You can try your own pair of Firmoo Glasses from their website! I also recommend that you check out their new arrivals page too! New frames are added daily! Also, for any 2 cats & chloe readers who haven’t tried firmoo yet, you can head over to this page for 15% off frames site wide!

And because no blog post is really complete without a selfie, photobombed by a border collie…

What accessory do you wear the most? What was your trick to accessorizing while pregnant?

Many thanks to Firmoo.com for giving me these new glasses. While they did send me new specs to review, the feelings I expressed about their company and this product were all my own.

Gender Reveal Party with Paint!

by Susan

I think there is a rule somewhere about how many photos are allowed in a blog post… I don’t know, maybe 5 or 6 tops? Well we are about to blow that rule out of the water.

Sunday afternoon 30 of our friends and family members drove from near and (mostly) far away to find out the gender of #BabyMagotes! Oh, and we cannot forget the 10-ish people who joined us online! They say it takes a village to raise a child… We are truly blessed to have such an amazing village of folks who care so much about us and our little baby!

And with that… I bring you a trillion pictures and the big blog announcement of #BabyMagotes’ gender!

As a professional event planner, I know every shindig needs a Plan A and a Plan B. Our Plan A included the back deck, a fire pit, tons of space for tons of guests, a canvas in the middle of the yard, sunshine and eggs filled with either blue or pink paint. Plan B? Well Plan B involved a cake with either pink or blue on the inside and a lot less space in the house… My parents knew how much Plan A meant to me, so when the forecast was terrible we tried to work around it!

The gal who made our wedding cake (Cake Delights in Virginia Beach, VA) made us an amazing gluten free gender reveal cake. When I told her about my Plan A, we decided a white cake with pink and blue paint splatters all over it would be 100% fitting! Don’t ya just love it?! At the very last minute I added the cake topper to match the other rustic decor I made for the party. I was simply obsessed. And if I had to go with Plan B, inside, in one room - this was exactly how I envisioned it! Along with a ton of other sweet treats, delicious food and the pink/blue rustic decor that my mom and I put together…

Easy, gender reveal treats included: Pink and Blue gum balls (from Target), M&Ms with nuts and no-nuts, trail mix with extra blue m&ms, puppy chow (or garbage, depending on what you call it) with extra pink m&ms and cute little pink and blue party cups (from Hobby Lobby) for guests to carry around their treats!

I made Gender Reveal gifts for all of our friends and family members who are not local or who were unable to make it to the party. There were quite a few extra so these then became party favors! (Detailed post on these later…)

In addition to the wine and beer for the non-preggos, we had blue hawaiian punch and pink lemonade. Not paleo but easy. And fit the pink and blue theme. I had clear plastic cups and colorful straws for guests to continue to show off their vote!

The Mommy’s Been Craving Buffet included nothing paleo, but almost everything gluten free! Buffalo chicken dip, a baked potato bar and toppings, veggies with ranch, chicken salad, fruit, chips and salsa… NOM.

Above is my college bestie who drove a total of four hours in the rain to be with me for this reveal.

Below, my previous neighbors who are my Newport News family! We miss them terribly and were so thrilled they were able to join us now that we live an hour away!

I was super impressed by my grandmother’s commitment to Team Pink. From head to toe she was wearing pink! Even her earrings! Way to go Narn!

This was a first attempt with Google Hangout for me. And I learned A LOT. Like tell everyone to put mute on their laptops! Apparently my online guests spent most of the time watching my cousin in Switzerland instead of the actual reveal! Whoopsie! But I was told that they were able to see the important parts! Above, J and her hubby in ATL. Below, my friend of 25 years, Cait and her husband-to-be, and actually #BabyMagotes’ Godparents (!!) in Charlotte! And then we had some family from Switzerland and several friends in Northern VA too!

Before we did the actual gender reveal, we took team pictures!

2 cats & chloe: Gender Reveal Party Team Pink Photo

My Plan A included eggs filled with either pink or blue paint. About an hour before the party my husband, college roomie and I filled them with paint and then glued pink and blue tissue paper on top of them so our guests could not see the color of the paint inside.

Plan A was supposed to take place outside, in the sunshine. But because of the rain, my dad generously opened his garage up for us to all cram into! We put the canvas just outside the door, underneath an umbrella. Then I reminded them all that they needed to throw the eggs HARD. (When I practiced this several weeks prior, the first time I threw a paint-filled egg, it didn’t crack at all! So in order to get the splatter, you gotta THROW IT!)

And then, it was time for the egg toss and actual reveal! Look closely at everyone’s facial expressions! These pictures are priceless!

I’d say, based on the pictures above, my folks were over the moon when the eggs revealed several shades of pink! I really wish my in-laws could’ve been there to enjoy this fun moment too!

(If a gender reveal with paint eggs is something you plan on doing, keep in mind that you can pick the half-broken eggs back up and toss them again! They still had quite a bit of paint left!)

Once the eggs were tossed and the gender was revealed, Michael and I shared that we are going to be naming our little girl Lorelei Elizabeth! I was so happy that, despite the rain, we still had the opportunity for our family to create this fun piece of art to go in Lorelei’s nursery.

Then, the gals of the fam celebrated the fact that there will be yet another strong, amazing woman in this family! Four generations in one picture!

And of course, we still ate the Plan B. 🙂

Many thanks to the family and friends who joined us in person and online to celebrate this sweet little girl who we are all anxious to meet! I cannot believe we are 21 weeks into this… we know it’s a she, and now she has a name! While I’m no where near ready, there’s no turning back now!

(Photo credit goes out to my amazing sister Leslie Benjaminson Photography!)

20 Weeks

by Susan

I have gone back and forth as to whether or not I should be sharing a Bumpdate or a House-Update with you this week! I decided, since it is Week 20 and we are officially at the half way point of this pregnancy, this week is worth documenting! I will have a house update for you next week because we have a ton of new things happening out on the job site!

2 cats & chloe: 20 week baby bump

How far along: 20 weeks - “Whoa, we’re half way there! Whoa, we’re living on a prayer!”

Gender: It’s still a secret! The only people who know are Michael, me and the gal who made our wedding cake! I think it is so fun that the same person who made our wedding cake is now making us a cake for our next big life event! Anyway, by this time next week, everyone will be in on our little circle-of-trust! We have our 20 week ultrasound on Wednesday to just double confirm everything and to make sure that #BabyMagotes is looking healthy!

Weight gain: In my last “Bumpdate” I vented about how much weight I had already gained… I am happy to report that my weight gain has balanced out a bit since then! I have yet to hit the 20 pound mark, praise God!

Sleep: After being on the road for most of last week, I realized how much I love my pregnancy pillow! #HomeIsWhereYourPillowIs!!

Best moment this week: It was a rough, rough week. I summarized it a bit on Saturday’s post if you need to catch up. Can I say it again, that the best part of the week was being reunited with my own bed and my giant, weird pregnancy pillow??

Worst moment this week: I would have to say trying to navigate through my emotions has been pretty terrible this past week. I felt lost somewhere in between mourning the loss of a family member, fighting off hormonal pregnancy emotions and then just giving in and ugly crying.

Miss anything: Weight lifting actually. I really wish I could just get back to the squatting and lifting heavy things that I was doing this past summer.

Movement: Nothing! I have felt a few gurgles that usually just turn out to be gas. TMI? His/Her heartbeat has been strong at every appointment, so I am really not worried yet. I think we will have much better insight on the situation after Wednesday’s ultrasound.

What I’m Wearing: I am loving my new maternity puffer vest! I just didn’t feel like myself in the fall without a puffer vest! It is a bit big still, but man, it totally screams “Suz!” I’ve also been trying to wear my normal t-shirts on warmer days, with a pregnancy tank underneath. (Like in the picture above.) I don’t think that will be possible for too much longer!

Cravings: Hot chocolate with peppermint and veggies covered in ranch. Aside from those though, potatoes and chic-fil-a fries are still my go-to’s. But again, I am happy to report that I have been craving more and more real, paleo, clean dinners recently! Get excited for the new recipe coming this week!

Symptoms: Acne. And it is terrible. One morning my face is clear, the next it looks like I have the skin of a teenage boy going through puberty! Also! While I am still quite nauseous, I haven’t puked in over a week! Huzzah!!!!

Happy or Moody: Moody. But what’s new with that??

Looking forward to: Being able to share his/her name and refer to him/her as a he or she in conversation next week!

31 Weeks.

December Confessions

Accessories are Key These Days: Firmoo Glasses that I Love!

Gender Reveal Party with Paint!

20 Weeks

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