About Me

Hi! I'm Abby. My husband, Carl, and I are happily married since October 2007. Our little family of 2 (well, 3 if you count Chief, the dog) added one more in October 2011 when we welcomed Audrey Elizabeth, our first child into the world. Our life was forever changed. And to add to the joy and excitement, we added another daughter, Clara Marie, in May 2014. I wanted to create this blog originally to document all the milestones throughout my pregnancy with Audrey so we could remember that special time in our lives. And now I get to write all about Audrey and Clara and our life with these amazing "Larson Ladies", which is so much more fun!

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Wednesday, August 24, 2011

31 Weeks

We had a really eventful and fun weekend to end week 30 and bring in week 31.

Friday night we had pizza at Carl's parents house (yum!) and then went out shopping!  They wanted to purchase the glider and ottoman for us.  I'm so excited about this glider.  Remember a few weeks back when "the Carl's" had to take 2 trips from Buy Buy Baby to transport the crib and dresser?  Well, my Mom and I hung out in the glider section at Buy Buy Baby to wait for them and I just fell in love with this one particular upholstered glider.  It's the Braxton Glider and Ottoman by Best Chairs.  It's so comfortable!!!  And that's the one we chose to go with - Carl and his parents all took a turn sitting in it and comparing to the other gliders and we were all in agreement that was the one for us.  We decided to go with the same color and fabric on the floor model; it's a neutral "Buckwheat" color so we can use it in any room in the house.  Once we got the crib and dresser set up in the nursery, I started to think that we might not have any room in there for a glider.  We'll play around with the layout, but I'm thinking that the glider will probably fit best out in the loft.  I know this glider will last us a long long time... maybe even for a couple (?) more babies.  And if we decide not to use it for babies down the road, it would work great in any room in the house!  I'm so glad Joyce wanted to go this past weekend because it's going to take 8-12 weeks to come in!  We might be doing feedings on the couch if Audrey comes before the glider/ottoman does.  And then, as if that wasn't generous enough, they really wanted to buy us this really nice Canon video camera.  I mean, really nice.  It can take HD videos and also still shots.  I joked with Carl that we might regret having HD video on Christmas mornings when we're looking alert, awake, and at our utmost best.  Ha!  What a wonderful gift to us.  We'll definitely be able to capture a lot of Audrey's "first's".  So cool.

Audrey's grandparents are so generous!  Carl and I are so spoiled between both sets of our parents.  We really can't thank them enough for all their support and generosity.

Then Saturday, Carl golfed in the annual golf outing for the Martin J. Larson II Foundation.  I just read a Facebook post today that they had their biggest year yet raising over $31,900 for the Foundation!  This money goes to benefit different charities:  Lincolnway High School Scholarships, American Cancer Society, Multiple Sclerosis (in honor of Erik Larson who was diagnosed with MS), Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Foundation (in honor of Grandma Larson who passed away from this disease in 2008), and other local charities.  They always have a really great outing and I was sad to miss it this year.  The "celebrity" this year was Staley the Bear, the Chicago Bears mascot.
Staley
Photo courtesy of The Chicago Bears - http://www.chicagobears.com/staley/staleysbio.asp

As I mentioned, I had to miss the outing, but for very good reason.  Maci Whetstone (Crystal Wilkey Whetstone's daughter) turned 1 on August 18th and they had her birthday party on Saturday.  Take a look at how cute this little girl is.  The tutu just kills me.  And she was wearing a onesie that had the number 1 and Maci embroidered on it.  And of course the little headband with the flower.  I'm in love with this cute little girl.  She's so curious and laid-back.  So cute!



I didn't get any pictures of it, but she opened all her presents (and there were a TON of presents) and even had a cupcake.  Although, I'm pretty sure she didn't eat any of it... she basically crushed it between her fingers and smeared it all over her highchair.  So stinkin cute!  The party was so much fun, not only because I got to see Maci, but I got to hang out with my best friends, Crystal, Cynda, and Katie.  Katie and I see each other quite often because she lives up in Chicagoland and is engaged to Carl's best friend, Frank.  But I don't get to see Cynda and Crystal but every couple months.  And rarely do the 4 of us get to hang out.  And we took pictures this time... imagine that!  In these pictures, I'm 31 weeks and Cynda is 24 weeks pregnant - check out Cynda's baby bump!




Then Sunday we had our Birthing Class at Christ Hospital where we will be delivering.  (Can you believe that all this has happened in 1 weekend?  Seriously...)  I'll post a separate post about the Birthing Class.  It was a really great experience and really got us excited and geared up to have our baby and become parents!

Here is my update on how I am feeling at 31 weeks...
How far along:  31 (and a half!) weeks
Size of baby:  Audrey now weighs as much as four (4) navel oranges (about 3.5 pounds) and is over 16 inches long.  My updates tell me she's accumulating much-needed fat.
Total weight gain:  This question is really starting to bother me... :)  I've gained 27.5 pounds so far in this pregnancy.
Maternity clothes:  Nothing's really changed here... still wearing a lot of dresses.  I did wear my new full panel jeans from Target and I love them!  I got a lot of compliments on them when I wore them to work last Friday.  In fact, my boss told me that I was so lucky that I have gained weight only in my belly.  Ha!  I told her I thought it was an "optical illusion".  :)  That's how good these jeans are!  Still haven't gotten the support belt.  I just need to go to the maternity store and buy it, but I haven't been by there in awhile.
Gender:  Girl
Movement:  She's still really active!  I feel her at all different times of day, but I find I feel her moving around the most when I stop for the day and sit (or lay down) on the couch or in bed.
Sleep:  I've been really exhausted this week.  I fell asleep on Monday night around 8pm and slept through the entire night.  Then today, Wednesday, I left work early to come home and work from home in the afternoon.  I got my work done, but I was able to change into shorts and a t-shirt and even fell asleep for a short nap.  (Don't tell my boss!)  Not sure what's going on... maybe I just needed to catch up from this weekend?  I swear I'm taking my iron supplements!
What I miss:  Relaxing with a nice alcoholic beverage.  Especially being at Maci's party, Crystal and Katie popped open a bottle of Chardonnay.  Yum - there is nothing better than a cold glass of white wine on a nice hot summer day.
Cravings:  Today I didn't really feel that well, so I've just been craving carbs.  But that's really not unusual for me.  I haven't really had too many weird food cravings during this pregancy.  Carl said guys at work ask him if I have any spontaneous requests for him to rush out and get me food to satisfy my weird cravings.  Carl and I joked that it's no more than normal!  I do like my ice cream so I suggest that regularly.  :)
Symptoms:  Monday night, I was cooking dinner when I got home from work while Carl and Chief were out on a run.  All of a sudden, I got light headed and felt nauseous.  I got a tall glass of water thinking that would help and knew that eating would help too.  I finished my dinner, then I ran to the bathroom thinking I was going to throw-up.  Weird, right?  I wasn't even sick in my first trimester!  I didn't get sick, but I just felt really terrible.  Hence the falling asleep at 8pm and sleeping through the night.  When I woke up on Tuesday morning, I had a headache.  Not sure if that's all related?  And then today (Wednesday), I felt overall just crummy and run-down so I left work early and worked from home this afternoon.  Maybe I just really need to rest and get some more sleep?  Not sure, but hopefully I get over this soon!
Best moment this week:  Gosh, how can I decide one moment from all that happened this past weekend.  Let's just say it was a really fun weekend full of a lot of "best moments".  As far as the pregnancy goes, the Birthing Class was a big highlight for me (and I think Carl, too).  I'm so excited to deliver at Christ and really excited to become a mother to our Audrey.
Best husband quote of the week:  We were in the car with Joyce and Carl going from Buy Buy Baby to Best Buy and Carl was saying that I haven't been seeking a lot of attention during this pregnancy.  He thanked me for not being an "Attention [______]".  I'm not posting the actual word he used, but we all got a big laugh out of it and even joked that this was going to show up as my "husband quote of the week".

This next weekend is a big one... my first baby shower!  My cousin Keely is throwing this shower for me on Saturday, August 27th, at my Aunt Faye's house in Decatur.  We've already received some gifts in the mail from people who can't make it.  I'll be sure to take a lot of pictures and post about it next week!

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