26 Weeks!

Oh my goodness. I am so far behind. But I am still alive and baby and I are doing well.

I had a very rough four weeks and could hardly walk... so to be honest with you I just did not feel like taking pretty pictures of the bump for the blog. I regret that now, but at the time, I just couldn't do it.

The good news is, I seem to be on the up and up from the round ligament pain that had me in so much pain, so I am starting to feel normal again!

So now, for an update!

{May 8, 2013} I am 26 weeks pregnant!

WHOA! HELLO BUMP! (and hello belly button!!)

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 26 Weeks... trucking right along! 

Size of baby: Baby D is the size of a head of lettuce!

Maternity Clothes: Yes. That should be obvious with the picture above! Haha. I can still wear some regular tops but I am definitely only in maternity pants and shorts!

Gender: It's a sweet baby BOY!! 

Movement: Yes - lots of kicks! At 22 weeks exactly, D could feel him on the outside. It is so fun to feel him moving around in there. He had the hiccups yesterday morning for the first time and that was fun to feel, too!

Sleep: Honestly I was doing great until just a couple of days ago. I have been waking up a lot to change positions. But... I still feel thankful that I don't have insomnia or anything!

What I miss: Nothing!

Cravings: Sweets! As I write this I am headed off to my glucose test in a few minutes, and am nervous about that. I have gone low/no carb and low/no sugar yesterday and this morning and it has been TOUGH. I'm starving. Ha!

Symptoms: Nosebleeds and round ligament pain. I am not going to miss the nosebleeds when they are finally gone.

Favorite Moment This Week: Just being another week pregnant and feeling him move around a lot!

A Babymoon & Nursery Planning

Happy Tuesday, friends! I hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend. We spent the weekend with family and it was wonderful! I didn't take a single picture, though, so I have no pictures to share. Just use your imagination and picture a lot of food in front of me all weekend.

I'm getting back on track with my Week in Review videos (after some breaks for the gender reveal, etc.) and this week Mr. D and I are talking babymoons and nursery planning.

As you'll see, we want to take a babymoon... but we aren't really sure where to go or what to do. I would love your thoughts!

Yesterday, we went to Sherwin Williams to pick out paint colors for the nursery. Let me just say this... I think looking at paint colors made us even more confused. We are nowhere close to having a decision on nursery colors. I will update more on this as we get closer to a decision.

Enjoy the vlog!

A Question I Couldn't Answer

Before heading to Blissdom, I read a lot of posts that said, "be sure you know your elevator pitch."

I know what an elevator pitch is, and I've had my career elevator pitch mastered for awhile, so I thought it'd be a breeze to come up with an elevator pitch for my blog.

I was so busy packing and trying to order business cards in time that I honestly didn't give it a ton of thought. I figured I'd come up with it when I arrived at Blissdom.

Big mistake.

The first night, there was a Newcomer Meetup. I had no problem walking up to folks and saying hello, but the first time someone said, "So what is your blog about?"... I froze.

Um... what IS my blog about?!

I think I rambled on for awhile about how my husband and I have a dog and I'm pregnant and I video ourselves in random places like Costco. I'm sure it made absolutely NO sense to the poor blogger who asked the question.

Needless to say, I was pretty flustered myself, and realized I needed to get my act together before the next person asked me that question. I frantically tried to think what my blog is about. I couldn't think of anything. I've blogged for over three years and couldn't think of a single thing that I write about.

Finally, after fumbling around through a few more "what is your blog about?" conversations, I mastered it.

"My blog is a personal journal - my husband and I work together, we have a new puppy, and we're expecting a baby. I blog and I also do weekly videos (I vlog) about our week and film us having fun conversations or in random places having fun. I call them 'Week in Review' videos."

Aha. That seemed to make a lot more sense to people. I still had a few blank stares over the whole vlogging thing, but people seemed to get it for the most part.

But after listening to speakers such as Jon Acuff and Scott Stratten, I realized I need to be more intentional about my blog and it's purpose. As Jon Acuff said, I don't need to be able to see or control the finish line, but I do need to have some goals, and I just need to start.

I've had a lot of excuses over time about why I didn't vlog much this week, or didn't blog last week, or didn't take pictures, etc. I'm done with excuses. My first step is making a mission statement for my blog. I'm still working on this, but it feels good to know I'm headed down the right path.

If you ended up with a weird explanation from me at Blissdom about what my blog is about, I'm so sorry. I hope now that you're here, it all makes a little more sense. :)

20 Weeks

{March 27, 2013} I am 20 weeks pregnant!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 20 Weeks... Halfway there!! HOLLA! I feel so thankful. So, so thankful. There were so many days/months I thought I'd never get pregnant, much less be 20 weeks pregnant!

Size of baby: Baby D is the size of a banana (that seems huge to me!)

Maternity Clothes: Yes. Finally filling out the maternity tops but I am still able to wear some regular tops, too. A lot of people at Blissdom couldn't really see the bump or realize I was pregnant unless I was wearing a tighter top. And then BAM there's a bump! ;)

Gender: It's a sweet baby BOY!! 

Movement: Yes - in the form of bubbles! We are so eager to feel him kick from the outside. When did that happen for you?

Sleep: Still sleeping great. Amen.

What I miss: Nothing!

Cravings: Ice cold water, cereal, and chocolate. My cravings are pretty consistent.

Symptoms: None really, other than the nosebleeds, but as the weather improves a little, those seem to be improving too.  

Favorite Moment This Week: Going to BlissDom and winning a NURSERY! I was also very lucky to feel good during the trip. I had been nervous about traveling alone so far from home being pregnant, but all was good. I just needed a couple of quick power naps. :)

P.S. - I skipped my 19 week post in the chaos of trying to leave for Blissdom... but you can see pics of me at 19.5 weeks here!

Blissdom VLOG!

As promised (although a little late, sorry!) here is a little vlog I put together from some footage I got at Blissdom! I chose the wrong day to walk around with my camera when there wasn't as much going on - I wish I'd chosen a different day and had the chance to grab more folks to get on camera! Next year for sure - so be on the lookout if you're going next year! ;)

You can read my recap post with pictures here.

Enjoy!



PS - Be sure to check out:
Raechel Myers
Caroline G Shop
Kate

Bliss.

I'm sitting on the couch tonight feeling exhausted yet inspired. I spent the weekend at Blissdom (a blogging conference) in Dallas, Texas. If you are on twitter, you were probably inundated with Blissdom tweets this weekend, but it really was an amazing, inspiring weekend.

It was so fun to meet so many fellow bloggers at the conference. I've met some local bloggers in person, but most of those weren't at the conference, so it was definitely a unique experience to go and not really know anyone. I'm a pretty outgoing person, but it's still difficult to walk into a room and not really know anyone other than from twitter!

I was blown away by how incredibly kind and welcoming everyone was. I got lost in the Gaylord Texan Hotel with Monica and we were instantly friends. It was fun to meet people and make new friends around every corner. It was also fun to connect with twitter friends and further those relationships!

I had the most amazing roommates - Kate, Carrie, and Rebecca. I had met Kate and Carrie before, but didn't know any of these girls really well, and I can now say that we are all good great friends. These are three girls I'll be friends with for a long, long time. It's amazing how friendships can be built around a long weekend together in a small hotel room. We had a birthday party and shared a love for American Girl. We had great laughs and great conversations. It was like we were old friends who were reunited. I miss them already.

Kate, Carrie, Rebecca, and me

Rebecca actually spent most of the weekend selling her bags at the Handmade Market. Please go check out her bags and read her story. I know you'll love her - and her bags!

I also loved having dinner with these girls one night. These girls have such golden hearts and were so easy and fun to chat with. I think we could have stayed and talked all night!

Left to Right: Lindsey, Heidi, Leah, Megan, Me, April, Meredith, Katie, and Becky {photo by Lindsey}

One of my favorite ladies. Okay, BA! 

Kate, me, Carrie

I'm pretty sure Kate cringed on the inside when she saw my hair and makeup routines each day, but I got lucky on Saturday night when she did my hair! This is her Elegant Half Up With a Twist.

Being silly at the Maytag photo booth at Girls Night In: Raechel, Kacia, me, Kate, Carrie, Nicole

Sweet Hopsy drove to the hotel to visit with a few of us - she was smart enough to plan ahead and organized our time and meeting place! She even brought us a treat! I was way late because the toilet in our room was messed up {a long story...} but it was so good to spend time with these girls. 

Hopsy, Crystal, Erin, me, Katie, Megan, Meredith, & Lulu

And to top off the WHOLE thing...

I WON A NURSERY!

Can you even believe that?!?! Dr. Smiths was giving away a $2500 nursery and my friend Lindsey told me about it and told me to enter. And then I WON! Y'all - I've never won anything in my entire life. I apologize to all Blissdom attendees for the scene I made. I was just a little bit excited. Just a LITTLE. Can't wait to show you more as it all comes together in my own house!


I've been to a lot of seminars in my life as a lawyer, and I was so pleased with how Blissdom planned our time with plenty of free time to wander the halls to visit the Handmade Market and see the sponsors booths while connecting with new friends. The small group sessions were only an hour, which was perfect. The large group sessions were inspiring, which was exactly what I had hoped for.

I probably walked away the most fulfilled, though, from the conversations I had with fellow attendees. I was able to chat with bloggers who have been blogging for awhile, and I was grateful for the opportunity to talk with some fellow vloggers - Jenny, Carlie, and Kayli. Jenny made me feel like I'm not alone in feeling crazy when I talk to a camera by myself for ten minutes straight - and for that I will be forever grateful. :)

I'd say my two favorite speakers were Scott Stratten and Jon Acuff. I'm still digesting a lot of their talks and will probably write about my takeaways later. I do know that Jon Acuff brought tears to my eyes, though, when he said, "What do you do when there are no more excuses?" That is some good stuff to think about.

The Blissdom recap VLOG will be up on Tuesday so stay tuned!

Baby D is....

It's our gender reveal video!! We are SO THRILLED!!

Click here if you can't see the video below.