The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about 1 2/3 pounds and measures 14 inches (about the size of a scallion) from head to heel. If you're having a boy, his testicles are beginning to descend into his scrotum — a trip that will take about two to three days. www.babycenter.com (<---*Mike's making me be very careful to make sure this happens nice and smoothly for Clark!) Total Weight Gain: So, I weighed this morning (because that's the most accurate time to do it, right?) and I have gained 27 pounds! How is that possible? I have never been one to stress about how much I weigh--I usually base it more on how my clothes fit--but wow. I still have 14 weeks to go people! Starting to stress a little. I have a doctor's appointment next week, so pray for the doctor to be kind to me. :(
Maternity Clothes: Buttons are officially a thing of the past, and maternity/stretchy/elastic are in full swing! So glad I saved all my clothes from last pregnancy because they are coming in handy! I am also lucky (I guess that's the word) that I am pregnant at almost the exact same time of year, so they're all clothes for the right season.
Stretch Marks: Since I no longer can see the underside of my belly, I had Mike do a thorough check for me last night--and I'm still stretch mark free. HOWEVER..I have a feeling this baby will push my stomach to a much further stretch limit than Grace ever did! Fingers crossed!
Sleep: I'm sleeping fine. Since pregnancy helps with my slight insomnia and ensures that I'm nice and tired every night, I have been 'sleeping' great. It's the level of comfort that is becoming more and more compromised. Even though I have my body pillow and my king size bed, I just can't seem to get really comfortable at all. I toss and turn. I'm hot then cold. It's also been an adjustment because I'm usually a stomach sleeper, but I have converted to a back sleeper- which I know isn't great for a pregnant person. WELL, now that is no longer an option because the combination of back sleeping and my lingering congestion makes it impossible to breathe. ugh.
Best moment of this week: This past week was fabulous! Two weekends ago (July 6), my cousin got married in Lawn, Texas. (<--- Who knows where that is?) and it was a lovely wedding. The venue was really cool and the ceremony was beautiful. I also am partial to the ceremony because they used the arch that Landon built for his and Whitney's wedding. Super cool. Here's some good pics of the arch--and weddings!
Ross and Blake's wedding
Landon & Whitney's wedding
Enjoying the lovely weather!
Bolding family <3
I also have to do a little bragging. Here's a link to Landon & Whitney's wedding video. I LOVE it--and am a little jealous. ;) Wedding Video!
Also, Whitney is super-gracious and came over on one of her last days off before starting her new job and helped me paint a lot of the nursery furniture. I'll post pictures in the future once it's all painted and finalized, but not until then! We got all the furniture except the dresser painted, which is a huge step! Today, I'm going out and getting a few more supplies for the bedroom and the plan is to paint the room this weekend. Ugh. Anybody wanna come and do it for me? I'll have plenty of beer and encouraging words for you! If I haven't said so already, the game plan for the nursery (Mike's request) is to have a hunting theme. I'm totally fine with that, BUT it will be done my way. Don't be thinking that you're going to be seeing floor to ceiling camo---like Mike wanted. LOL. Is there such thing as hunting chic?
All last week, we were in Galveston! Patsy's boss is very generous and let's us stay at her beach house for free--so it is an easy/cheap/relaxing week! It was super fun, and it was Grace's first time at the beach. The first day or so, she didn't really know what to think about the gritty sand and salty water, but she warmed up pretty quick. She liked running out into the waves--my fearless baby--and playing in the sand with her cousins! By the third or fourth day, however, I think she had enough. She didn't want the sand all over her and every time we walked out onto the beach, she would point back towards the road and say 'away'! So, we also spent a good amount of time at the pool! 'Agua', 'swimming', & 'wet' are all very good words in Grace's vocabulary now!
First trip to the beach! Not sure what they liked better: the ocean or golf cart???
Hey! This isn't so bad!
Playing with cousin Nate
Daddy's the best to fight waves with!
Our daily routine really consisted of getting up, going to the beach/pool, having some lunch, naptime, beach/pool, & dinner. I'll have to reminisce on these days in a few weeks when I'm sitting in professional development getting ready for a new school year! Ah! While we were there, Clay had his 7th birthday. (Where has the time gone?!?) Upon his request, we had lunch at Rainforest Cafe. Every time we go there, Grace really loves it. We had to wait for quite a while, and we were running into her nap time- but she was still such a good girl!
Grace loved looking at the feesh!
I don't know how I captured this quirky face. Cutie pie!
We also spent one day heading down to the Strand (downtown shopping area in Galveston). We didn't have much of an agenda. We just planned on going down there and doing a little window shopping, which Mike loves! (sarcasm) He's always such a good team player though. We spent a good part of the afternoon down there, and even picked up Grace some new Tom's...hot pink glitter, of course.
Bolding men looking very excited about the day!
snapping some photos while waiting for some shoppers :)
I swear the week just flew by! Everybody was planning on leaving Sunday, but we left Saturday morning because we had to go pick up our dogs. We are so lucky because my parents so graciously offered (well... hesitantly agreed to) watch our dogs for the week and we had to go to Granbury to pick them up. Here's a video mom sent me of Rex just being Rex. Seemed like he settled in quite nicely!
It was quite obvious Grace was pooped from her vacation and had no problem lounging with Daddy while watching some Spongebob. She also had a good time running circles with Loli & Pop as you can see in the video!
Of course we did a little swimming, but then it was naptime in the swing!
Miss Anything? I have been craving a nice glass (or 5) of wine. Is it a coincidence that my women's Bible study group meets on the same night as half price wine night? Not sure...but I have been feeling a little left out. I have never been much of a wine-o, but with both of my pregnancies I have had mucho cravings. I know that people say it's no problem to have a small glass or two, but I just don't think it's worth it. If I sipped on a glass of wine right now, that would just ensure extreme fatigue and heartburn. No thanks! Other than that, I'm feeling good!
Movement: Still moving like crazy. We like to use my belly as a platform for things now. It will hold my cell phone, drink, Kindle, etc.., and it's always entertaining to watch it move around. You can really see all the movement this way!
Food Craving: Nothing new really. Just sweet!
Anything making you queasy or sick? I must be in that 2nd semester sweetness because I have felt really good lately. Besides my bulging belly, I pretty much feel completely normal. Lucky girl I am.
Labor Signs: nope
Symptoms: Like I said briefly before, breathing has become a little bit more of a struggle. Small things like laying down flat and getting off the couch make me winded. Pathetic. Update on my skin: I will say that my face is so super soft since starting my new regimen! I haven't noticed a huge difference in the brown spots on my face, BUT I'm also competing with the fact that I'm hormonally pregnant and it's summer time. However, one huge difference I've noticed is the eye cream. My under-eye circles & bags have definitely improved, so that's exciting! A step in the right direction! I have done a good job of being consistent, so I need to keep it up!
Belly button in or out? Out. Completely.
Wedding rings on or off? wedding band only--permanently. (For the next couple months anyway.)
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy. :) I've been feeling great lately and I still have a good 4 weeks of summer left. The summer has been flying by, but it's been great!
Looking forward to: Next weekend we're taking a long weekend to San Antonio to see some grandparents and go to SEA WORLD!! One of my favorite places on Earth! I can't wait to see Grace react to everything. While we were in Galveston, we saw a pod of dolphins right off the shore and it was so cool. Even though we weren't right up close to them, Grace was still whoa-ing. I'm also looking forward to the nursery being painted---not painting, but being painted!
Lilly Grace
It amazes me how much Grace grows up everyday! She's to the point now where I swear she says new words (correctly) every single day! Right now, we've mastered most of our colors and can name a few shapes. She's got down square, circle, triangle, star, heart, & ABC. Also, she has become a chatter box in the car. It is constant.
Sounds a little bit like this: Mommy! Cars! Another one! Mommy! Airpane! Bird! Another one! Over there! Mommy! Mommy! Cars! Another one! Mommy! Cars! Cars! Airpane! Shoes! Piggys! Eye! Mommy!
Potty training is coming along. Not very quickly, but we're trying! Emma, the babysitter, just rants and raves about how well Grace does at her house. Goes #1 all the time and occasionally even drops a #2! During the entire week in Galveston, we were only able to get her to use the potty one time. She tells us pee pee or poo poo and will walk to the bathroom, but once we put her on the potty she throws herself a nice little fit! So confused!! I know she's still kinda young and I just need to be patient and consistent, but it becomes a little stressful thinking about all the diapers I'm going to have to buy with two kids!!
I know I have talked about our little nighttime routine of me telling her I love her and then asking her who else loves her. WELL...now she can name pretty much everybody in both families! I do have to say that she always says Gikum first, and then Clay & Nate. I'll always say: "and who else?" and it's funny because she always says everybody with their pair. Mommy & Daddy. Loli & Pop. Landon & Whitney. Gikum & Gigi. Matt & Cessy. Robert & Jess. Mimi. Wish I could catch it on camera!
Some other new things she says now all the time are: 'Play', 'Toys', & 'Color'. I enjoy these because she can communicate with us better about what she wants. She also uses 'No' and 'Yes' perfectly, which is very helpful as well!
She also still rocks the 'Yes please', 'No thank you', 'Please', & 'Thank You'. Our polite little one! We're slowly working on 'I'm sorry' and 'ma'am' & 'sir'.
We still love having our nightly milk with Daisy!
We recently went pant shopping with Daddy and Grace just had to sneak a peak.
Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at about 1 1/3 pounds. Since he's almost a foot long (about the size of an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon. Total Weight Gain: Well, the time has come. I had my 24 week appointment this week on Monday, and I got my first 'look' from the doctor. I have officially reached the 20 lb. mark, and she had to just 'let me know' that this was a much bigger jump then last time. blahblahblah. I'm telling myself it's all muscle weight- right?
Maternity Clothes: I did a little Allen Outlet window shopping recently and am happy to say that there are some very 'pregnancy friendly' clothes out there right now. I got some awesome shorts from the Gap that are drawstring, but have pockets and look really cute with a tank top- which is my style must have in every color imaginable! I've also picked up a few cheap maxi dresses/skirts and am still staying true to my workout clothes- especially since we're starting the nursery!
Stretch Marks: For some reason, this last week I have been stretch mark paranoid. I keep thinking that I see the beginnings of stretch marks, so I'll lather on the Coconut Oil and obsessively check every hour ( <-- embarrassed to say), but then I'll look at another time and it looks fine. So, I think I'm still good- but who knows!
Sleep: For the most part, I've been sleeping really well and feel much more rested throughout the day. My problem is that I pass out early on the couch every night, and Mike insists that he tries everything he can to get me to go to bed but I'm dead to the world. Well, I usually wake up around 2-3 and go to bed- BUT the other night I went to bed around 2:30 and never fell back asleep. Finally, around 5--I got up, made some green tea, and did some yoga. Very good of me, huh? Definitely not the kind of person I usually am- thought I'd give it a try! It was actually really relaxing and quite nice. Don't know if it will become part of my regular routine, but maybe I turned a new leaf- you never know!
Best moment of this week: This past week or so has been great! I had my birthday (last one in the 20's!) and it was great! Even though it was in the middle of the week, the people around me did an awesome job of making it special for me! I got some extremely thoughtful gifts too! Mike got me laser hair removal- what what!! Landon and Whitney got me some VS perfume I've been wanting. Mom & Dad got me some VS yoga pants and a new necklace. Tom & Patsy got me a Michael Kors purse. Matt & Cecily got me a fossil wallet and initial earring studs- one 'C' & one 'G' (for Grace & Clark)- cute huh? I just loved them all! On birthday night, we went to dinner with Landon & Whitney and then went for fro-yo! Like I said- great day!
Also, I finished cleaning out the house and we had our garage sale. The garage sale was a total flop! I advertised on Craig's List and we put signs up all over the neighborhood, but barely any people came! A lot of the people told us that there were garage sales all over the place that day. *Note: later that day, we went to take our signs down and they were missing. Mike's convinced our 'competition' stole them! Ha! Well, the following Monday, I spent the whole day going to 'Once Upon A Child', 'Plato's Closet', 'Kid to Kid', & 'Half Price Books'. I made about $100 extra, so that puts my nursery budget at around $250. Ouch. Good news is- Mike and I stopped at a garage sale this last weekend and got a crib and changing table for $13! Awesome, huh?! Whitney & I did a little flea market shopping and paint shopping today, and will begin the furniture/room painting tomorrow---so get ready for some nursery pics! Here are some final pics of my organized house! The kitchen pantry and laundry room linen closet!
Miss Anything? I miss my normal energy level. Even though I feel much more rested than earlier in the pregnancy, I just feel sluggish and don't like it! A friend of mine from church told me about this book/ blog that she's reading that is all about an all natural diet & cleanse. She's trying it out for two weeks and is going to let me know how it goes. She loves the book/blog and says it makes perfect sense. It just talks about all the dangers and unhealthy effects of the food we eat and better options. She just told me about it today and has been on the 'cleanse' for like a week now and says she feels awesome. I'm going to read up on the blog and let you know what I decide. I've never been a very big 'granola' health nut, but I know I want my kids to have better eating habits then I do- plus keep us all nice and healthy! Why not? If anything, maybe if can just help me get some basic guidelines/ grocery lists/ recipes. Here's the link if you're interested in checking it out yourself! Summer Tomato
Movement: Nothing new here. Clark still moves all over the place. Mike has felt and seen him move multiple times now. This is pretty common, but he also loves the night time. When I finally sit down on the couch at night, it is party time for baby Bolding!
Food Craving: Still have an out of control sweet tooth! Right now, I'm obsessing over Dunkin Donuts iced coffee and Starbucks Frappuccinos (decaf of course)!
Anything making you queasy or sick? No specific food really, but I have been getting nauseous and light-headed quite often lately. I honestly think I'm just getting dehydrated. I've made it a point to always have a water bottle the last couple of days, and it has really helped.
Labor Signs: nope
Symptoms: Besides the fact that I have been feeling more sickly and having some minor stomach cramps on & off-- pretty much the same symptoms. I know I've mentioned my face turning into a hot mess, so I've adopted a new skin care regimen! The other weekend, I had an Arbonne party (I'm such a sucker and can't say no!) and what attracted me to the brand in the first place was all the natural ingredients the products have! I don't know anybody who has really used Arbonne, but I got a killer discount for throwing the party and need to try something! I'm just going to keep it real and show you some before pictures-- I'm mostly concerned with all the skin discoloration/ age & sun spots. I haven't broken out as bad this pregnancy, but my skin color is all out of whack!
Left Side
Right Side
My new regimen! Consistency is key!
Belly button in or out? Out.
Wedding rings on or off? wedding band only--permanently. (For the next couple months anyway.)
Happy or Moody most of the time: So happy. I just love the summer so much! Even though I'm crazy busy everyday, it's so nice having the time to do things that need to be done around the house- especially with a new baby on the way!
Looking forward to: Getting started on the nursery, 4th of July relaxation by the pool, my cousin's wedding this weekend, and a week at the beach!!! I am one lucky girl!
Some other stuff!
I'm happy to say that Grace has slowly overcome her ball obsession, and we're all very happy about that. Gymnastics & swim lessons have been really great the past week! She is really coming around and I can see her learning so much so fast! This week, however, the gym is closed for 4th of July and I missed the memo. Grace was seriously heartbroken. She just stood at the door and cried. Sooo, we went to the mall and played in the playground for a while.
CCCHHEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSEEE!!!!
Ready for swim school!!
This past weekend, my mom had a houseful of girls, so Dad headed to Dallas to hang with Landon and I. On Saturday, we went to Allen Celebration which was just a family festival for early 4th of July celebrations. It was a really fun/ well organized event. We got there pretty early (around 5:30), which meant we had a killer parking spot. That never happens at these things! Fireworks didn't start until about 10:15, so we had a lot of time to kill-- and with a 21 month old, nonetheless. Well, of course, Grace did awesome! They had some bounce houses, which she regulated. She seriously has no fear! She climbed some big slides and didn't even hesitate at the top. (Check out my youtube link for some video--super cute!) Candice's youtube!
The Boldings----for now!
Gettin' comfy and having a snack!
Loving on Daddy!
Headed to the bounce houses!
Having some lemonade with Pop.
We have also spent a lot of time at the dog park lately. The dogs have developed serious cases of cabin fever--I think they're ready for hunting season already! And...Daisy is starting to pack on a little weight--it must be sympathy weight for her pregnant mama. Besides giving the dogs some great exercise (this park has a large pond that Daisy can swim in and it keeps them nice and cool), Grace also loves going to visit all the 'puppies.' She's gotten to the point now where she recognizes the parking lot and immediately starts saying 'Puppies!' on repeat. (Also some good video of the pups on the youtube link!)
Three kiddos: Daisy, Grace, & Rex
I'm also super pumped that Landon and Whitney have a Bahama Bucks right by their house! I have been griping since the day we moved up here about how there's nowhere good to get a decent sno-cone! We stopped by the other day and I had myself a delicious half wedding cake/ half blue coconut--with cream! De-licious!
Some Grace updates: Miss thing is just growing like a weed and does something new everyday! Right now, she loves coloring and drawing with her sidewalk chalk. She can identify most of her shapes and letters A, B, & C. She also likes to sing a variety of songs in the car-- Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, ABCs, Itsy Bitsy Spider, & of course- "I Love You/ You Love Me" is a big hit! Her favorite song on the radio is 'Wagon Wheel'---she always sings the part of the song that goes "Hey, mama rock me." Cracks me up every time. She also has started perfecting "No, thank you" and "Yes, please". If anything, we'll have one polite child! I know I say it all the time, but Mike and I are just so grateful everyday to have Grace in our life--she is just a huge bundle of joy and happiness that we could never had imagined otherwise. She is so tender-hearted and loving--just breaks my hear all the time!! <3
