20 Weeks!

Update;
How Far Along: 20 weeks!
Size of baby: Baby Vander Velde is the size/length of a banana!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 10lbs!
Maternity Clothes: Yes. I am wearing my first ‘maternity’ top in this weeks picture. It’s an oversized sweater that I had when I was pregnant with Gavin! I really need to go shopping for some maternity clothes though. I have NONE (that I like) and I know I can’t keep wearing what I have been wearing, it just wouldn’t be pretty!
Gender: TOMORROW, TOMORROW, I can’t wait for TOMORROW! And to top it off it's my Birthday tomorrow, It's going to be a great day!
Movement: A ton of movement! On Sunday evening Dave and I were laying in bed watching Sunday Night Football and he got to feel a good 10+ kicks, this baby is VERY active! I hope the baby cooperates tomorrow during the ultrasound!
Sleep: Better and I actually feel more rested. But I am ready for bed at 7pm. I’m not sure if it’s because it gets so dark so early or what!
What I miss: My body before, even though I love being pregnant, I am not liking that I have to get all new bras and underwear because my breasts and butt feel like they are exploding! Other than that not too much. I have been getting used to laying on my back and side and it’s getting better! A good Body pillow would do the trick instead of me sleeping with 5 pillows!
Cravings: No specific cravings lately!
Symptoms: I still have lower back pain every so often, but it’s not as bad as last week! Other than that, I FEEL GREAT!
Best Moment of the Week: Movement and the anticipation of gender!

19 Weeks & Ladies Night

Update;
How Far Along: 19 weeks!
Size of baby: Baby Vander Velde is the size of a Large Heirloom Tomatoe!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 10lbs!
Maternity Clothes: Maternity Jeans and belly bands. I have not had to wear any maternity tops yet! This past week I did go through all of my maternity clothes that I wore with Gavin. It is crazy how styles change, some of the clothes were hideous looking! I don’t know what I was thinking.
Gender: We can’t wait to find out! Next Wednesday, November 17th!
Movement: Lots and Lots! I have been able to feel little flutters for about two weeks now but just in the last week we have been able to feel a lot of movement! When we go to bed at night Dave and I will lay there with our hands on my stomach and every night the baby goes crazy! I’m so glad Dave has been able to feel it already! Seems a lot earlier than I remember with Gavin but they say that is normal with a second child!
Sleep: A little better than usual. I’ve been having lower back aches this past week and it keeps me up at night sometimes.
What I miss: Lying on my stomach.
Cravings: No specific cravings lately, but certain food really hit the spot! I did go to the grocery store for one thing last week and came home with a 4 bags full of stuff including bologna & cheese for bologna & cheese sandwich, which I normally would NOT like! I CAN NOT go grocery shopping by myself!
Symptoms: lower back pain
Best Moment of the Week: Having Dave be able to feel the baby kick!
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Last night we had Ladies Night/Birthday Celebrations! We went to the Melting Pot for Ladies Night. This was my first time to the Melting Pot. We have never gone before because it is so expensive! BUT...If you go on Ladies Night it is only $16, or $25 if you do meat. It was really good and totally worth it! We had a lot of fun! Great conversations, with a lot of laughter! I have some great friends!

A great week leads to a great weekend!

It' s been a great couple of days! Wednesday we painted & baked! Well...I baked, and the best painter I know, my husband, painted! I made 6 dozen Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins & Dave painted our downstairs bathroom! When I went down to see how it was coming along I saw this;He's the sweetest ever!

Okay on to the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins - I can't get enough of these things lately! Last weekend my sister made them and I made her give me the recipe! They are so good! I thought I would share the recipe;

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

1-16oz can of Pumpkin

4 eggs

2 cups of Sugar

1 1/2 cups of Veg. Oil

3 cups of Flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

12 oz bag of Chocolate Chips

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin & oil until smooth. In a seperate bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon & salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet & mix well! Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper lined muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake at 400 degrees for 16-20 minutes (I did 16) or until muffins test done! I doubled this batch and got 6 dozen muffins!!

Last night I had at Thirty One Gifts party! Have you ever heard of it? I've never heard of it until recently when a friend started selling it! They sell some pretty neat things! It was a good excuse to have the girls over for a night too :) I gave all of the girls who came a little bag of...you guessed it - Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins!Today Gavin and I went to Open Gym in Deforest! It was HUGE. I've never seen so many toys, trikes, bikes, kids, & moms all in one place. It was a lot of fun and a great thing to do on this cold day! Tonight we are going over to Mom and Dad VV's to celebrate their 30th Wedding Anniversary! Their Anniversary is not for a couple of weeks yet but they are going away on vacation for two weeks for their Anniversary so we thought we would celebrate it before they left! I can't tell you how wonderful it is to have both sets of our parents still together! They are definate roll models!

18 Weeks

Update;

I know my belly looks smaller in this weeks picture compared to previous, it's the clothing! I am measuring exactly at 18 weeks!

How Far Along: 18 weeks!
Size of baby: Baby Vander Velde is the size of a Sweet Potato!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 10lbs! We had a 17+ week appointment yesterday and I've gained 5lbs in 4 weeks, not bad!
Maternity Clothes: Maternity Jeans and belly bands. I have not had to wear any maternity tops yet!
Gender: We can’t wait to find out! 2 weeks.
Movement: Lots of fluttering!
Sleep: Eh…not so good.
What I miss: Lying on my stomach at night!
Cravings: No specific cravings lately, but certain food really hit the spot!
Symptoms: tired!
Best Moment of the Week: Hearing the heartbeat at our appointment!

Happy Halloween!

We had a very nice and successful Halloween. Our Halloween festivities started on Thursday. We had a playdate Halloween Party and on Friday we went to a Halloween Hop! Here are pictures of those;

Trying to get a picture of a few of the kids!Gavin & Caleb!Trex & Pace! Two super cute owls!Pin the mouth of the pumpkin!Halloween HopNolan, Gavin & Lily!

Today Mom & Dad VV came over and hung out for a little bit, we had a bonfire, ate Taco Soup and relaxed with friends & family! Gavin got lots and lots of candy & really enjoyed handing the candy out to all of the trick-or-treaters. Here are pictures of our Halloween;

Gavin's Halloween treats from Grammy & Papa!

Coen & Gavin ready to go trick-or-treating!All done!