New Blog: Bossy Jocie

Well the time has come for me to bid adieu to this blog to launch my brand new site, Bossy Jocie. 

Head on over to Bossyjocie.com and check it out and enter the giveaway for a $100 Amazon giftcard. 

This site will still be here for a few weeks but after that all links will be forwarded to the corresponding posts on Bossy Jocie. You'll like it that way anyway, promise. 

What are you still doing here? Go to Bossyjocie.com right now! Do it!!

28 Weeks Pregnant

How far along? 28 weeks.  

Maternity clothes? Yep.

Best moment this week: Our mini vacation to Colorado. The 6 hour each way drive wasn't my favorite but Evelyn had a blast with her aunts and uncles. It was a wonderful break for me to hang out in the sunshine and read while she was preoccupied playing. It took her a day, but she even warmed up to her Grandpa.

Miss anything? I miss having the energy to run around and be active and whatnot. I know I should be exercising but I'm just so tired all the time. When bending over is difficult, I don't really have a desire to do squats...you know?

Movement: Yep. I feel him rolling around more than specific kicks.

Food cravings: I'm not really craving anything right now.  

Anything making you queasy or sick: Only when I don't eat frequently enough which happens surprisingly often. I'm so stressed about eating healthy that it's almost easier to not eat than to try and figure out what to eat. And I know that's not good so then I stress a little more. One of those awful cycles.

Worst symptom: Indigestion. It's horrible, burning and unbearable. My midwife gave me some essential oils to help (peppermint, lemon, & digest zen) but they're a lot of work to use and they mostly taste nasty. I just want some drugs. Tums are out of the question because that could very well be the cause of my kidney stones. 

Have you started to show yet: Oh yeah. And this bump gets in the way of everything. Primarily bending down to pick things up. I have to squat weird and grunt. It's not an attractive sight. 

  Gender: It's a boy!  

  Belly Button in or out? Out. 

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or Moody most of the time: I still have my mood swings, but I think I've been more happy lately. I've got a good daily routine down and that really helps me stay focused instead of laying around thinking about how big and tired I am. It's a mix of daily chores, playing with Evelyn and working on my blog or reading or some other enjoyable task.

Looking forward to: Two exciting things are happening within the next week.
1) This Saturday, is the launch of my brand new website! I'm so stoked for you guys to see it!! But that means that this will be the last post on Lil' Georgia Peach. Make sure to stay tuned on my social media sites (instagram, fb, and twitter) so you'll be one of the first to see the big reveal and enter an awesome giveaway.
2) We're headed to Maryland for our anniversary vacay soon and I'm so pumped for the break. At the same time I'm a little stressed about all the work we'll be neglecting while we're gone. Hopefully we'll be able to relax.

Compare to Pregnancy 001

27 Weeks Pregnant

How far along? 27 weeks.  

Maternity clothes? Yep.

Best moment this week: I'm not gonna lie, the past two weeks have been pretty awful. The best moment would be finally getting some pain medication that worked. More on that at the bottom. 

Miss anything? My health. Exercise. Energy. 

Movement: he mostly moves at night. Sometimes it's so much that I can actually watch my belly move. That's pretty cool. He's an active little boy. 

Food cravings: I had a brief zebra cake kick but that didn't last too long.  

Anything making you queasy or sick: Why yes, kidney stones and bronchitis. 

Worst symptom: I think over the past couple days my belly really popped out. The second trimester comfort was cut short by illness and now I just feel like my body has been completely taken over and there is no room for me anymore. It's going to be a long 12 weeks.   

Have you started to show yet: Oh yeah. See above answer. 

  Gender: It's a boy!  

  Belly Button in or out? Out. 

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Moody. I feel so bad for anyone who has to spend any amount of time with me because I am not enjoyable to be around and I know it. And I'm sorry. 

Looking forward to: Getting my body back which isn't happening any time soon. Basically I'm just miserable. always. the end. 

As for the past couple weeks. It started innocently enough with a sore throat which turned out to be bronchitis. Just as I was getting over that I was faced with the most excruciating pain I have ever experienced in my life. And remember, I had a totally medicine-free childbirth.  Anyway, when a warm bath didn't help the intense stomach pain, Chris whisked me to our family doctor who gave me some pain meds. They didn't touch the pain. Not even a little bit. But they did make me throw up. So after an entire day of not keeping any food or water down we headed to the ER. Long story short, after a night in the hospital with an ultra sound, MRI, and some morphine that just made me sleepy but didn't help the pain, they sent me home with no official prognosis and suggested I go see my OB. 

This whole time I had suspected kidney stones but since a CT scan would be too dangerous during pregnancy they had no way of being sure. 

We got home around 6am and I slept until Chris woke me up to go to the OB. Keep in mind the pain had not let up and I had still had nothing to eat. 

It took my OB about 10 minutes to prescribe me a miracle pain killer. When I told him what the family practitioner had given me he scoffed and said that drug isn't processed by the kidneys therefore it would have zero effect on my excruciating pain. He had his nurse give me a shot of the meds that kicked in within 20 minutes and I FINALLY had some relief. 

A day later I passed one stone. The doctor told me that 5mm was the largest that I could feasibly pass. Mine was 8 mm. 

Fast forward to today, I still feel pretty mediocre. It's really put a damper on me doing anything besides laying around and my house is a disaster which is stressing me out and all I can think about is how easy and simple it was to be pregnant when I didn't have a toddler to also take care of. And also kidney stones...

25 Weeks Pregnant

How far along? 25 weeks.  

Maternity clothes? Yep.

Best moment this week: Getting to see our house actually start looking more finished. Drywall is nearly done, stucco is nearly done, I'm so pumped!

Miss anything: Sleeping comfortably. But I'm sick and I also miss not being sick cause this sucks. Between congestion and this human inside me I feel like I can't breath.

Movement:Yes, he is moving so much! I swear he like just woke up this week or something. Lots of kicking and rolling and jabbing. 

Food cravings: I have such a sweet tooth. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really. I can even eat a small amount of dairy now. 

Worst symptom: Tired, achey, and indigestion like no ones business.  

Have you started to show yet: Yep!

  Gender: It's a boy!  

  Belly Button in or out? Out. 

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or Moody most of the time: I'm so moody. Pretty much a hot mess. If you're my friend and you feel like I haven't been very friendly lately...I'm so sorry but all I do is get annoyed with everyone and complain and cry and then laugh for some reason. It's very confusing. 

Looking forward to: I know that I don't have a 9-5 job or anything but I'm super craving a vacation! I feel like we don't have weekends because Chris is always working on the house on weekends and I have a lot to think about with house stuff and blog stuff and baby stuff and Evelyn stuff and I just want a break.
We're headed to Maryland/NewYork/DC in April for our 5th anniversary and I'm so excited. Just one more thing to think about though...I need to start planning our trip. Or maybe I won't.

Compare to Pregnancy 001

24 Weeks Pregnant

How far along? 24 weeks.  

Maternity clothes? Absolutely. But in the pic above I'm wearing non maternity clothes which feels pretty good. 

Best moment this week: Spending time with Evelyn and getting to see the house make some serious progress! Drywall starts tomorrow!

Miss anything: Sleep. I need more than I am getting but I can't get myself to go to bed earlier than 10. Plus my back is so sore that it's hard to get comfortable. I have a love-hate relationship with my snoogle (preggo pillow) right now. Sometimes it's comfortable. And sometimes it's a big barrier between me and the bathroom in the middle of the night. 

Movement: I actually started feeling a lot more movement right after I complained to my midwife that I wasn't feeling much. 

Food cravings: All the sugar. So much sugar. And then more sugar. And pico de gallo. Probably together.  

Anything making you queasy or sick: Just ice cream and milk. 

Worst symptom: Tired, achey, and indigestion like no ones business.  

Have you started to show yet: Yep!

  Gender: It's a boy!  

  Belly Button in or out? Out. Which is weird cause with Evelyn it just got flat but with baby boy it's actually an outie. 

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Super moody. Like crazy moody with sudden mood swings. I feel bad for my poor husband. 

Looking forward to: The house being done! It's getting so close! The stucco will probably be done within a week or so as will the drywall and then it's time to pick trim and paint colors! Yay!!

Compare to Pregnancy 001

Evelyn's 18 month update

I know, I say this with every monthly update I do, but I cannot believe how fast Evelyn grows and develops. She learns new things on daily basis and mimics everything we say. It's adorable but also a little scary. Time to be careful about what we say, not that we use bad language but you never know what she could pick up.

18 month stats:

Weight: 21 lbs 29 %
Height: 32 in 44 %
Head:48 in 94 %

Eat:

Pancakes are always a win.

Her eating is still a mystery to me. She'll go a week eating mixed veggies for lunch and loving every last one and then one day she will throw the plate on the floor and demand something else. But since her vocabulary is still limited, that something else is usually, "cookie."

When we can't get her to eat Chris has developed this trick of having her smell the food, the lick it and then eventually try a bite. Or there is the classic airplane bite. She loves that so much that she fed Chris an airplane bite the other day, complete with sound effects.

Sleep:

Just napping with the kitty

She's been sleeping through the night for a while now. Nothing much has changed in that department. She takes one 2 hour nap a day. Not long enough to get anything done but it's a nice little break for me to reset.

Gotta have that 'bee'

She has to have her blanket ("bee") when she goes to sleep and a pacifier (dummy) and she wants a book read to her ("boo boo") and a song which she lets us know by humming or holding up all five fingers and saying, "quack" which means the 5 little ducks song. That and Old MacDonald are her favorites.

Play:

She loves her toy kitchen and makes food for her dolls and stuffed animals. She's still loves her car and pushing anything around in the little stroller. She doesn't really have favorite toys but she seems partial to balls. We have this big cardboard tube that we prop up on something and she likes putting balls inside and watching them roll out the other end.

She insisted on putting her jammies on the baby doll.

Her new favorite toy is her Barbie ("bobby") which I got on super clearance. I'm thinking the reason it was so cheap is because it was a bikini Barbie and maybe those don't sell well in Utah *chuckle*.

Evelyn's two most favorite places to play are outside in her sandbox and inside in the bathtub. The latter usually happens right after the former.

She LOVES being read to and has nicknames for her favorite books, Mickey is happy: "happy", Moo, Baa Lalala: "La la", The numbers book: "One!", Oh my Oh my Dinosaurs: "happy" (the first line is "dinosaurs happy."

Talk:
Her vocabulary has really grown in the last few months. She's learned new words (bear, money, highchair, cute, gone, done, lap, sit, push, show), new animal sounds (grr for a bear, doodle doo for a rooster, sss for a snake), but the most exciting part to me is how she's learning to put words together.

First it started as just, "Hi. Mom." and "Brush. Hair." and "Light. On."and "Tie. Wear." and "Whats that"
but now she has this little version of 'Where are you' that melts my heart. If she's looking for her blanket she'd call out in a sing song voice, "Bee. Areoo". It's so cute!! When she finds what she's looking for she says, there you are or "derooare.

Oh, and when we pull into the driveway once we've gotten home she says, "Home!"

Babyland General Hospital (Cabbage Patch land)

The Saturday before I left Georgia, my mom took Evelyn and I to the Babyland General Hospital. For those of you who have never heard of it, it's basically a huge toy store for Cabbage Patch dolls but it's set up like a hospital.

I used to love going when I was a kid. And when I was a little older than a kid. I've always loved dolls and the way they had it set up was so fun. You could walk through a baby nursery and the NICU. Then there was a whole schoolroom setup and playground scene. The main room was set up like an enchanted forest and had cabbage plants everywhere with babies growing out of them. There were twinkling lights and little fairies and a huge tree where a baby was born every time you visited. 

Since I was a kid, they built a new location and redid everything. I have to admit, I was kind of disappointed. Maybe it's because everything is better when you're a kid but I'm thinking it was mostly because they transformed it from a cool exhibit to basically a big toy store. You can still walk through some baby nurseries but they aren't staged...it's just a bunch of baby dolls in cribs.

The exterior of the new building is incredible!

The inside was less impressive compared to the old one.

They still had the tree and Evelyn got to watch a baby being born, but I'm not sure she knew what was going on.

One lucky person from the crowd gets to pick the new baby's name and gender.

During the "birth" a "nurse" spouts some labor puns that are pretty cheesy.

When all is said and done you can watch the baby's newborn tests from a window.

Evelyn still had fun. She loved running around and playing with the dolls and other toys they had for sale.

I even found one I wanted to get for her and it was on the cheaper end considering you could easily drop $80 in there without thinking. But I eventually realized that it was my inner child that wanted the doll more than Evelyn cared about it.

All in all it was a fun day and if you're visiting that part of Georgia with a doll-loving kid it'd still be worth it to stop by. But I wouldn't go too out of your way to get there unless you're cabbage patch doll obsessed.

For lunch we went to an Atlanta favorite, The Varsity. The closest restaurant to Babyland is Dairy Queen. If you drive a little further into Dawsonville you'll find The Varsity which has recently expanded from it's Atlanta location. There's a limited hotdog/hamburger menu but it's an Atlanta must. You could also hit the metro location and be overwhelmed by the lunch traffic.

No judgement here

It's kinda sad how easy it is to judge someone else and their situation when you've never been there. What's that phrase..hindsight is 20/20? Boy is that the truth.

Being a mother has definitely put my mom-judging in check. For instance, I used to hard core judge a mother at church who let her child run up to the stand multiple times during the service. Now, having had a daughter who loves to run up to the stand and yell and scream during the service, I don't judge so much.

I also used to slightly judge parents whose kids had messy hair or faces. Ha. I have no room to ever judge that ever. again.

Here's a short list of other ways I was way too judgey:

• Giving a kid too much sugar
• Letting a kid watch too much tv
• Getting chubby
• Having a gross messy house
• Going to the store in your pajamas
• Opening a food item that you have yet to purchase

Sister, I have been there and I will no longer judge you on any of those things. 

Yes, fine, play on the ipad. Just stop shouting ELMO repeatedly! Please!

Moms are hard enough on themselves as it is without worrying about who is judging them for what. I have some mom friends who feel like they have to justify their decisions or actions to me and my answer is ALWAYS, "don't even worry about it."

"Oh your child had sugar cereal for breakfast? Mine had a sugar cookie."

"All your child wants to do is watch TV? Mine loves Elmo!"

"You haven't showered in three days? Girl, let me hold your babies and you go take an hour to yourself."

The biggest thing people justify to me specifically is their birth choices. I think they think I'm judging them for not choosing a natural birth. Guess what? I'm so not. 

Listen, I did not have to birth your baby, you did. I do not have your body. I made my decision for me and my body and my baby and I absolutely LOVE hearing birth stories no matter how you got the kid out. I would never even utter a whisper of a thought that my labor was harder than yours. Labor is hard period. You got a human out of your body and that is something to be celebrated in whichever manner you did it. 

Now, in the same breath I'd be happy to tell you why I chose not to birth in a hospital and why I didn't want an epidural or a c-section. But if those things worked for you and your labor and your baby then that is all that matters. (I also won't preach my birth beliefs on you unless you ask.)

I will vow to you right now, that I will not judge you, mom friend. Whoever you are and wherever you may be. I won't judge your unkempt presence or your sugar laden child. I will not judge your messy house or your baby that just won't sit still. I won't judge your birth story or your decision to breast/bottle feed. I just want you to still be my mom friend. Deal?

23 Weeks Pregnant

How far along? 23 weeks.  

Maternity clothes? Absolutely. 

Best moment this week: I made it to the gym 6 days this week!! I'm exhausted but hopefully I can keep it up for a while. Oh but better than that: We bought a new mattress!!! I can't wait for it to come in. I'm so excited for a more comfortable sleeping situation.

Miss anything: Comfort. 

Movement: Yes, definite movement but no distinct kicks. 

Food cravings: All the sugar. So much sugar. And then more sugar. And pico de gallo. Probably together.  

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope! Oh except ice cream. Sad.

Worst symptom: I'm pushing past the exhaustion, it's still there but I'm trying to ignore it. I'm pretty much just sick of the random aches and pains.

Have you started to show yet: Oh yes. The belly has popped.

  Gender: It's a boy!  

  Belly Button in or out? Out-ish

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Mostly happy.

Looking forward to: The house being done and getting to decorate and buy new furniture and all that jazz.

Compare to Pregnancy 001

Our trip to Georgia

Visiting my family in Georgia was such a blast! The downside was that Chris was still in Utah and both my parents had to go to work everyday.

My days with Evelyn were spent trying to keep her from pulling the cat's tail or crying when the dog barked and visiting with my friends who still live in Georgia.

My evenings and weekends were reserved to spend time with my parents and let them get to know Evelyn a little better. But enough of my jabber. Take a look for yourself

^^Rocking an outfit I wore as an infant.

^^So polite at church

^^Fun at the park with Grammy

^^My friend's adorable daughter who is clearly obsessed with getting her picture taken

^^Watching TV with PeePaw

^^Playing with my second mom

Pregnancy anxiety

So how's this for a ridiculous pregnancy symptom, I have had the most intense anxiety that I can only attribute to pregnancy. I guess I get anxious sometimes about meeting new people or whether or not I look okay to go out in public but lately it's been a little more crazy than that.

Like when I was getting ready to go to Georgia. About a week before my flight I started stressing about everything you could imagine. I was hoping that I'd get an empty seat so I could bring Evelyn's carseat on because I knew otherwise I wouldn't get any sleep. So that was stress number one. I worried about it day in and day out even though there was NOTHING I could do about it.

I worried that I would forget something at home that I'd need, so I started making a packing list down to the specific shirts and pants and jewelry and make-up items. I worried that Evelyn would get sick. I worried that I wouldn't be able to get through security on my own. I worried that I'd have to get up and pee too often on the plane and have to take Evelyn with me in that teeny tiny bathroom. I worried about everything.

I was so anxious that I couldn't sleep at night or even nap during the day.

Well that all turned out fine but only a few days later, while in Georgia, a friend invited me to a concert. I obviously said yes because I love concerts and hadn't been to one in forever. But then the anxiety started.What if Evelyn freaked out when I left and wouldn't let my parents put her to bed and cried the whole time I was gone?

She got her own seat and fell asleep!

Well that's an easy fix. I'd just go late to the concert after I put her to bed. But the concert was in Atlanta so then I stressed about driving there. Then I stressed about walking from the parking lot to the venue alone, then about what I'd do with my coat, whether I'd have to shell out for the $4 mini water bottle, how many times I'd have to use the nasty bathroom, what if I got too hot and ruined the concert for my friend.... It was ridic.

Once again it kept me from sleeping and I eventually told her I couldn't go. It was only after this incident that I realized something was off. It was just a concert. No big deal. Why was I freaking out so much.

I freaked similarly before my flight back to Utah. I've also felt certain that I was breathing my last breaths several times when riding in the car with other people.

The only thing I can figure is that perhaps my pregnant state is making me feel more vulnerable than usual. That, and I probably have this motherly survival instinct that is making me take extra precautions before doing anything. It's a pregnancy symptom that I do not appreciate.

Has anyone else had this ridiculous pregnancy anxiety??

Valentine's Day Picnic

Poor Chris has been so overwhelmed with work and the house, that I told him to just relax about Valentine's Day this year. I wasn't expecting a romantic gift, a fancy date or anything else from him. I promised to take care of everything.

And it turned out to be one of the best Valentine's Days ever!

The Breakfast

I attempted a heart shaped breakfast with chocolate chip pancakes (with a cream cheese frosting topping) and bacon. Some turned out better than others. The bacon was sort of a miss. 

The Activities

After we cleaned breakfast up and got dressed it was time to make valentines. I helped Evelyn make some for her grandparents and Chris made one for me.

Evelyn was so cute and precise about where she put the stickers and heart cut outs. I was nervous that she would be too young to enjoy it but she loved it!

The day before, she helped me make some sugar cookies and then after card decorating we got to ice our cookies!

Evelyn was a bit young for this one but she sure enjoyed licking the frosting off afterwards.

My cookies turned out a little PG-13.

The Picnic

After Evelyn's nap, we headed out to a park close by and had a heart themed picnic. I made heart shaped sandwiches and cheese with crackers. The rest of the food was normal but delicious. I even threw in some treats for Chris.

Dessert was the best part. It was angel food cake, whipped cream and strawberries layered in jars.

Since Evelyn came along, our romantic picnic was more of a playground play date but it was gorgeous weather and still turned out to be a lot of fun.

The Gift

Our first Christmas together, Chris gave me a photo album titled: Our Adventure Book volume 1. He put in two pages himself but the rest were left empty for us to finish later. 

So I decided to fill the rest of the book. It was fun to do and a gift that we could both enjoy.

It was such a fun Valentine's Day, I'm glad we ended up spending it together as a family!