Swimsuit Giveaway!

Want a chance to win an adorable swimsuit? Heather is having a giveaway over at her blog! If you don't win one, LimeRicki has given her a discount code, too! Just enter the code, HENDRICK as you checkout to receive a 10% discount. http://www.limericki.com/

Although I won't probably ever be able to wear one of these cute swimsuits this year I still LOVE them. I had one last summer and it fit so well compared to normal swimsuits. I had to return mine 3 times but it was easy and fast each time. I would recommend them to anyone!
 
**Also, this is just a side note that has NOTHING to do with swimsuits.
 
One of my girls from last year came up to me to ask about Chandler (as she does everyday).
 
It took her a few days to get his name down. :)
 
She asked me today if he has been kicking me. I told her not too much but that I was starting to feel him more. She said well be careful because my mom has all these marks on her tummy from where I kicked her! :)

20 weeks

Bummer. Kirby took a better picture last night but when I loaded it it was blurry so here we go.

Pregnancy Highlights for the Week:

How Far Along: end of 20 weeks, I guess. I had an appointment Monday and she said that at our ultrasound the due date was now August 1 but I didn't get to see my doctor so she kept the due date the same.

Fruit: He is the length of a BANANA this week!

Size: 6.5 inches, 10.5 ounces

Baby changes: He weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement.
He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. Awesome, huh?

Best Moment this week: We decided on a first name- Chandler. :) No middle name yet...but at least he has a name now!

Gender: BOY!

Movement: I have felt him more this week. Friday night he was moving around like a crazy person and Cody was actually able to feel him move a little.

Food Craving: Root Beer, Salad with Honey Mustard dressing

What I miss: Nothing I can think of this week!

Sleep: about the same

What I am looking forward to: feeling him more, finding nursery ideas

Symptoms: Not much. I did find out that the belly button pressure is totally normal around 20-22 weeks. She said that the placenta is moving above my belly button and that that is what the pressure is from. Who knew?

I never want to take this baby, pregnancy, life for granted. I am truly thankful to the Lord for giving us a child to raise for his glory. He is so good to us.

I did get asked this morning at Life Group, "How'd you get that baby in your tummy?" :)

19..more like 20 weeks

Here is another take it yourself picture. We almost didn't have one so I had to result to this. This has been 1 busy week. Cody took me to Dallas last weekend to see Dave Ramsey live at the Potter's House. It was a great trip and we got to spend time with Cody's parents.

Monday we had our Gender Reveal Party and found out we are having a BOY! I forgot to take a side picture for the blog that day. We are so excited and working on finding just the right name for him. Tuesday I got to celebrate my birthday with some of my friends. It was great to have some girl time together! I went to Dallas from Thursday to Sunday. I got to see the precious Day family and my family as well.

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 19 weeks (He measured 19 weeks 5 days on Monday (3.15) so I am not really sure what week he really is.  I have an appointment tomorrow so I am sure we will know more then.

Fruit: Mango (sorry I didn't get one this week, you'll have to imagine)

Size: About 6 in., 8.5 oz. (Although at our ultrasound she said he was weighing 12 oz.)

Baby changes: His brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. He weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom. His arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. His kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on hisscalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on his skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.

Best Moment this week: LOTS of thing. I guess the best was finding out that we are having a boy. No more guessing!

Gender: BOY!

Movement: I think I felt him for the first time on 3.12 but I have felt him flutter a few other times since then.

Food Craving: Honey Nut Cheerios, Chips and Salsa

What I miss: having more clothing choices, especially when it's cold

Sleep: waking up 1-2 times but still sleeping pretty comfortably

What I am looking forward to: deciding on a name

Symptoms: Really good. I have had some cramping feeling right around my belly button this week but other than that I feel great.

Gender Party Recipes

Below are recipes from our Gender Reveal Party. For more details look here. 

Blueberry Dump Cake

2 cans of blueberry

small can of crushed pineapple

1 yellow cake mix

butter

Pour the blueberries and pineapple in the bottom of a pan, then pour a yellow cake mix on top of that mixture. Melt 1 stick of butter and pour on top of the cake mix. Don't stir. Bake at 350 for about an hour.

Pink Party Salad

1 can strawberry pie filling

1 (8 0z.) cool whip

1 small can crushed pineapple (drain)

1 can eagle brand milk

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Mix all of that together and refrigerate a couple hours before you serve it.

Jello Squares

3 small boxes of Jello

(3 watermelon for pink, 3 blue raspberry for blue)

3 Knox Gelatin envelopes

1/2 pint heavy whipping cream

Mix the Jello and the Knox Gelatin together (this will be dry). Add 3.5 cups hot water. Add 1/2 pint heavy whipping cream. Stir.Pour in a 9x13 pan. Refrigerate. The cream will separate and go to the top. Cut and serve.

Raspberry Limeade

1 can of raspberry lemonade concentrate

1 bottle of cold, carbonated lime water

1 bottle of cold, carbonated raspberry water

Mix those ingredients and enjoy!

Coffee Punch (dyed blue)
3 cups strong coffee
2 cups sugar
1 pint cream or half and half
1 quart milk
2 t. vanilla

Dissolve sugar in hot coffee. Cool. Add other ingredients. Freeze. Remove from freezer about 30 minutes before party. Mix and serve very icy. This is a favorite punch of ours for baby showers...but we don't usually dye it.

Gender Reveal Party

It's a BOY!! We are so excited and were blessed to see our precious baby yesterday. We had so much fun finding out at our Gender Reveal Party. Thank you to all our sweet friends and family who took time out of their lives to celebrate with us! What a special memory for us.

A special thanks to Kirby, Heather, Kendra, Lindsay, Cindy and my parents for helping me with the party.

Heather has documented the event so well, I'm going to copy her post and not waste time rewriting it all out.

A gender party....

This fantastic idea can be pulled off in several formats, but I love how our sweet friends Cody and Chelsea crafted theirs. Because I thought this was one of the best ideas on earth, I asked them permission to share this fun idea.

Yesterday Cody and Chelsea got to find out the gender of their baby. What an exciting day! Instead of letting the sonographer tell them if their baby was a girl or boy, they had the sonographer write down the gender on a piece of paper and then seal it in an envelope.

After the ultrasound appointment, Cody and Chelsea gave the envelope to Kirby. I was so jealous she got this job, but Kirby handled her new "power" very well. She didn't call and taunt anyone. I would have. I would have called all our friends and said, "I know the gender...I know the gender." Kirby behaved way better than I would have.

Kirby made blue and pink cake balls completely covered in white icing, so the inside of the cake ball could not be seen. You can check out the recipe here.

Later yesterday evening lots of friends gathered at Cody and Chelsea's home. In front of all of us, Kirby handed Cody and Chelsea each a cake ball. The inside of the cake ball would either be blue or pink, telling the proud parents the gender of their sweet baby. Cody and Chels bit into the cake balls and saw that the cake was BLUE! A Boy!! It was so fun to be a part of this fun reveal and celebrate this new little boy alongside his parents. How wonderful of them to share this exciting moment with all of us.

Chelsea and Kirby came up with so many creative ideas to make this party fun.

All guests were asked to wear pink or blue to vote for the gender of their choice.

We took a blue picture and a pink picture.

There was a name suggestion jar. We wrote girl names on pink paper slips and boy names on blue paper slips. Chelsea and Cody's last name is Groves, so of course there were lots of names like, "Lemon, Orange, Walnut." Too funny.

And now for the food...all of it was blue or pink.
Loved it!
Pretzel rods dipped in white chocolate (colored blue and pink).


Blueberry Dump Cake
2 cans of blueberry
small can of crushed pineapple
1 yellow cake mix
butter

Pour the blueberries and pineapple in the bottom of a pan, then pour a yellow cake mix on top of that mixture. Melt 1 stick of butter and pour on top of the cake mix. Don't stir. Bake at 350 for about an hour.

Pink Party Salad
1 can strawberry pie filling
1 (8 0z.) cool whip
1 small can crushed pineapple (drain)
1 can eagle brand milk
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Mix all of that together and refrigerate a couple hours before you serve it.

Jello Squares
3 small boxes of Jello
(3 watermelon for pink, 3 blue raspberry for blue)
3 Knox Gelatin envelopes
heavy whipping cream

Mix the Jello and the Knox Gelatin together (this will be dry). Add 3.5 cups hot water. Add 1/2 pint heavy whipping cream. Stir.Pour in a 9x13 pan. Refrigerate. The cream will separate and go to the top. Cut and serve.

Raspberry Limeade
1 can of raspberry lemonade concentrate
1 bottle of cold, carbonated lime water
1 bottle of cold, carbonated raspberry water
Mix those ingredients and enjoy!

Coffee Punch (dyed blue)
3 cups strong coffee
2 cups sugar
1 pint cream or half and half
1 quart milk
2 t. vanilla

Dissolve sugar in hot coffee. Cool. Add other ingredients. Freeze. Remove from freezer about 30 minutes before party. Mix and serve very icy. This is a favorite punch of ours for baby showers...but we don't usually dye it.

For more fun...

Cody and Chelsea had the baby's ultrasound video playing on the TV during the party.

They had plenty of pink and blue balloons so we could suck the helium out of them and sound silly.

The balloons came in handy for being goofy in other ways too....

Kirby and I wish we looked like this pregnant. I never had a perfect, all belly pregnancy. I looked like a line backer from behind. Seriously.

Kirby announced we needed to take a miserable pregnant picture...


The picture below was snapped after I announced that the next picture we were taking was going to be of them delivering my baby.

How I love laughing with these girls. What sweet friends.
Aren't they gorgeous?

Kirby may or may not have had real live tee-tee on her clothes.

How fun was this party?

I'm so proud of these girls and their creative ideas....and I know we were all blessed beyond words to share Cody and Chelsea's special moment with them.

We love you Cody and Chelsea...and that sweet little boy Groves.

18 weeks

Yeah, I know this picture isn't the best but it was the best option. We have one of the oldest cameras ever... that will have to change soon, huh?

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 18 weeks

Fruit (well I guess vegetable this week): Sweet Potato

Size: About 5.6 in., 6.7 oz.

Baby changes: Busy flexing its arms and legs. Blood vessels are visible through the thin skin, and ears are now in their final position, but they are still standing out from its head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around the nerves.

Best Moment this week: My Birthday. It was such a great day. I took the day off from work. Cody made me breakfast tacos and gave me a really sweet card. He is taking me on a surprise trip this weekend for my birthday. I had Chick-Fil-A and Spoons with Kirby, Asher and McKlayne for lunch and a fun double date for dinner at Roadhouse! Yum. Also, I got many sweet phone calls/messages! Thank you to all my sweet friends and family for making my birthday so special.

Also, I got to work the next day and my wonderful friend Miranda had sent beautiful flowers to my school! My kids thought they were SO pretty! :)

Gender: Not yet.. Monday...don't forget to vote on the sidebar if you haven't!

Movement: Still nothing.

Food Craving: Honey Nut Cheerios, Decaf Cinnamon Dolce Latte, water with limes, chicken

What I miss: Making it through a whole day teaching without having to use the restroom a million times!

Sleep: Side sleeping is the best.

What I am looking forward to: Monday!

Symptoms: I feel so much better this week. Headaches are still almost daily but thankful for how great I am feeling.

Gender Vote/Name Suggestions

Is Baby G a boy or a girl??

Vote on the sidebar and leave a comment with your guess.
Also, we would love any name suggestions!  

17 weeks

The classroom picture today. Ash took some pictures for me today at school. I had to act like I wasn't taking a picture everytime someone walked by. :) I thought they would think we were a little strange!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 17 weeks

Fruit (well I guess vegetable this week): Onion

Size: About 5.1 in, 5.9oz

Baby changes: Our baby's skeleton is hardening, changing from rubbery cartilage to bone, and fat is finally accumulating around it. The umbilical cord is getting thicker and stronger, and those little fingers and toes are now topped by one-of-a-kind prints.

Best Moment this week: This week has felt long...I'm not gonna lie but my husband has done so much to ALMOST completely finish the kitchen. I came home one day to new under the cabinet lights. They are beautiful!

Gender: Not yet.. March 15 (coming soon!!) Poll coming soon!

Movement: Nothing yet, I've heard it should be soon!

Food Craving: Honey Nut Cheerios, Decaf Cinnamon Dolce Latte, Water with Lime

What I miss: Nothing that I can think of this week!

Sleep: I am starting to toss and turn more throughout the night. Seems like I still can't get enough though!

What I am looking forward to: feeling the baby move

Symptoms: more headaches...Is this normal?, sinus junk (blah)