28 & 29 WeEKs

HELLO 3RD TRIMESTER!!!!! Holy crap that's hard to believe! A few things have changed in the last 2 weeks....Darin's been sick with a nasty cold that's been going around for about the whole 2 weeks, it's lingering now but we tried hard not to get me sick and so far it's worked, my gym days are down to 1 or 2 due to some pressure "down there". Walking is all I do at the gym and I try to keep it at a brisk pace but I can't walk fast enough right now, i'll stay active doing other things as much as I can and hopefully G will move a little out of the spot she's in and I can get back to the gym in December before I head to the states. I finished her quilt which looks pretty awesome :) i'd give myself a B+ if i was a teacher. I painted the crib one more coat and bought some gray paint for the wall I hope to do next week. That's all for me to set up before I leave.....when I come back i'll have a bunch of stuff to set up her room like her bedding, pillows, blankets, clothes, curtains, dresser and a bookcase....i'm looking forward to it though, it's my Christmas (in March lol) :) G has been on the move this week, it's super weird seeing her move instead of just poke and kick my belly, it seems to happen more when I lay on my left side and I got it on video the other day finally!!

This coming week is Thanksgiving and us American's love to celebrate and invite all of our local friends over for a HUGE dinner. Our friend Candice threw such a great Thanksgiving last year and she's doing it again this year but at our house!! I'm excited to help host, I have so much food I want to make (mostly desserts), and the list grows daily because of the show The Chew and their Thanksgiving episodes that have been on the last 2 weeks, everything looks so easy and yummy, I want it all!!

Prego Quirks, Symptoms & Info:

*feeling lots of movement and LOVE it!
*loving the decaf Dunkin Donuts coffee my mom brought!
*1 month countdown until I go to Florida for a few months!

27 wEEkS

As you know my parents were on their way to visit for an entire week!! I was so happy to get to spend some quality time with them and show them around Barbados. We (I mean, I) had a few plans for the week that included going to tour St. Nicholas Abby, paddle boarding, island touring, DIY day, trying new foods and lazy beach days....we got it all done needless to say :) Mom and dad left with lots of color to last them a little while back in Florida, they enjoyed the heat here but I know they were relieved to breathe the cool air back home. Besides all the fun things we did....I also had planned a DIY day, mainly a "fix things in my house" day (we all know Darin isn't that much of a handyman, sorry babe) because my dad is here and he's the best handy man I know! Got him to hang curtains, paint a crib, assemble the crib, move a tv from one wall mount to another room on the wall, moved a few mirrors around, hung some shelves in G's room, helped rig my couch cover, meanwhile everything is cement walls here so he even brought some screws and a drill bit because I wasn't sure I had the right materials :) My mom painted most of the crib because she loved the breeze on the porch so she was happy to sit outside and paint her heart away :) She also made dinners, random desserts and snacks while she was here (which was awesome!) My parents are so amazing, they love us unconditionally and want to help every way they can. Paddle boarding was so much fun! It was a little breezy but the water had great visibility (see turtles below). I love getting my parent's out of their comfort zone and making them do thing that they wouldn't normally do....I knew my dad would be up for it but I questioned my mom doing it, she did admit she came very close to NOT going but is glad she did and so am I, it was a moment in life when a daughter is so proud of her mother lol....seriously, if you know my mom you're probably as shocked at me and my dad were haha!! We had a few lazy beautiful beach days, relaxed with our noodles at some beaches and watched Darin body surf all afternoon at other beaches. One of the coolest things for them was probably the morning they left....they got to join me for one of my Dr. appointments! My Dr was so nice, he did a quick ultra sounds for them so they could see little Gemma and hear her heartbeat! It was nice to see our little one, now I know what are kicks and what are punches because of where she's moved to :) I fully enjoyed every moment of my parents visit, only wish they could of stayed longer but i'll be going to Florida in a short 6 weeks to have G so it won't be to long before I see them again. 

Gemma's room projects: 

Prego Quirks, Symptoms & Info:

*got 3 maternity shorts, they're pretty comfy....i like how they "hold" my belly, plus the buttons and waists of pants and other shorts aren't digging into me :)
*gained a whole 17 lbs!! YIKES!!
*feeling pokes and kicks a lot and LOVE it!
*love walking upstairs to peek in G's room and see it partially done....it's getting real!!! ahh!!

24, 25, 26 WeeKs

WOW....I thought I only missed 2 weeks but it's been 3!! Oopsie :) Last weekend I was in Orlando and the week before I was planning out my days for Orlando...making lists of stuff, what stores to hit up first, things I needed, what I wanted to bring back and to keep in Orlando for G...my mind goes a little nuts before I travel, even when it's a quick weekend trip. I also was training a new hire for the downtown store here so that's where most my days went. Anywho....about a month ago I got a message from my friends brother asking if i'd come to town and surprise his sister for her 30th birthday! I was happy to! Planning with her friend and brother for an entire month was interesting, but we got all the kinks worked out and it ended up being a huge surprise for her. We had shirts made and wore them around Disney to the food and wine festival on Saturday, then at night we went to dinner at Rocco's and her family and friends were there to surprise her too....she ended up crying, she was so happy to see her family all in one room (and she had a few tequila shots in Mexico at Epcot so i'm sure that helped with the tears haha). It was so nice to surprise people all weekend, I had to make sure she never found out so I didn't tell anyone (besides my family) that I was coming to town. Sunday my sister had a family lunch so she could introduce her new boyfriend to the family, it also worked out because Craig has a new girlfriend he introduced too and I showed up to surprise everyone and my family finally got to see my G belly! It was such a great afternoon at my aunt and uncles house, it's a comfy place and we have a lot of get togethers over there. I even got a surprise, Shelby was there from California!!! I was expecting Kay and Momma T but not Shelb so that was fun to see her. My family from Melbourne was there and some went bowling while Steph and I got to catch up shopping at Target that night, I haven't seen her or the boys in probably 3+ years, we think since Darin and I's wedding! Crazy how time flies! Monday I ran a few quick errands in the morning before picking up Mom Doty for a day of baby shopping and lunch! We found some really cute clothes and it makes me so excited to put them on little G! I've come to the conclusion 6 months is how long women should be prego for, 10 months is to long. I just want her to be here and play already. Even though her room isn't ready and probably won't be until we get home the end of February, i've collected a few things and started crafting! I recently got a sewing machine from the shop, so when I was in Orlando I found some great fabric for G's bedding. Mom T is making that but I decided to attempt a quilt, HA! It's amazing what you learn with youtube and blogs these days. I'm almost done but it's football Sunday so that will take up all of my day today :) I also made a "G" with a big cardboard letter and yarn, then added a little white felt flower I made, so cute!! My parent's come Wednesday so we have some fun things planned for this week and one of the days will be painting and assembling a crib and hanging shelves :) my dad likes handy work on vacation haha j/k, but I know he and my mom will be happy to help put some things together for their first grandbaby's room ;) 

***LESS THAN 100 DAYS TO GO!!***

23 WeeKs

Last stretch of the 5th month!! Darin is super super busy at work, he hasn't had a day off in a while, gets home after 7pm every night, eats dinner then ends up passing out on the couch around 9pm. He of course has Sundays but it's not enough time to catch up on anything before the week starts all over again, poor guy. Other than Darin being exhausted everyday, everything else is going great! I had a good week at the gym (love when I get a good week in), I bought a Keurig coffee maker and it's our new morning best friend! I even found Darin a special togo cup :) I bought a sewing machine too!! Nice condition and super cheap.....not sure what i'll make but after looking at Pintrest and Etsy all day it's inspiring me to make stuff, what kind of disasters they'll end up being? Who knows but i'm feeling crafty (jazz hands)! 

G had a few quiet days this week but she's come around to her normal schedule the last 2 days. I feel her in the morning for a bit then feel her at night when i'm sitting on the couch watching tv. She's active for about an hour then she's quiet. Every now and then i'll get a kick or a poke during the day but that's about it. I got her a crib last week, it's a lighter wood color so Darin's gotta sand it down for me and paint it white :) A friend of mine also gave me a bumbo seat, a high chair and a swing, so we now have a pile of stuff in the garage that seems to keep growing. I figure it's ok, the bigger the pile means hopefully the more we're prepared ;)

I've been keeping track in the same outfit for a few weeks to see the actual size change of the belly, I see some change but I think I was expecting a lot more so i'll keep doing it and see what comes in month 6! Sheesh, where did the time go? Seriously?

Prego Quirks, Symptoms & Info:

*I come home Dec 26th till G comes!!

*no food cravings still! (i don't think i'll ever understand that one, maybe next baby)

*no maternity clothes, just a belly band :)

*wish there were pumpkin patches here.....i miss that part of fall

21 & 22 wEEkS

Well......as you all guessed, we didn't last long. It was really hard having the envelope sitting here staring at us. If Darin was still on the fence about finding out, I think we would of made it a lot longer and possibly to the end but he HAD to know. Every time he was in the kitchen, if I heard a chip bag opening i'd have to look and make sure he wasn't messing with the envelope lol. So, we agreed to find out together, we did make it 4 days hahaha!! I asked my best Teya to help us surprise our families so it's not just a boring facetime call. She made a box and put the right color balloon in it so when it was opened it would float out, she's very crafty so I knew it would look great. She had instructions to not tell anyone what she was doing so when we facetimed our families they were expecting us to say something but then there was a knock at the door and they got all confused, I thought it was funny watching them all look at each other saying "did you hear that", "did someone knock", "is someone here", "is anyone expecting someone", hahaha we got them good!! Teya made sure to get it all on video and she took before and after pics too! Nobody cared what the baby's sex was but we made them all guess anyway....the Doty's were first, Mr. Doty said boy, Mrs said girl and they opened the box and were so happy to be having a 3rd grand daughter!! Next was the Zubli's, my sister said boy, brother said boy, mom said she didn't care and my dad went with girl because everyone else said boy, when they opened the box, my dad said "that's right!" lol, it was so fun watching our families be surprised, everyone is of course happy and super excited...ok now go buy stuff!!

This week has been very busy with friends babies. Two of my longest best friends had their babies and my cousin had hers too! Baby Samara Oct 3rd, Little Everlee Oct 4th and Handsome McKay Oct 5th. Needless to say I was glued to my phone for 3 days waiting for updates and pictures. All babies and mommas are happy and healthy and the 3 little babies are all such cuties, wish I was home to snug with all of them, but soon enough i'll get my fill :)   
                                                                 This is my Grammie and Poppie                   

                                This is my Oma and Opa

Prego Quirks, Symptoms & Info:

*IT'S A GIRL!!

*99% on our name

*started sleeping with a pillow between my legs (why didn't i do this before, it's so comfy!)

*more poking going on, sometimes it startles me and my legs jerk

*started picking out room colors and patterns