24 & 25 Weeks

24 WEEKS

Total Weight Gain/Loss?: 15lbs
Maternity Clothes?: Yep. I actually found a cute dress in my closet that wasn't a maternity dress and wore it. Only because I had a wedding to go to. Otherwise I wouldn't just be putting on dresses for the fun of it

Stretch Marks?: No, not yet

Feeling Sick?: Feeling pretty good. If I stand too long, then Ill get some back pain but it must just be from my back swaying so much with a big belly. Im not picking up Jane as much anymore either

Best Moment This Week: Went to see family in Charlotte

Food Cravings?: None that I can think of

Gender?: BOY

Labor Signs?: No thank goodness

Belly Button In or Out?: outie

Wedding Ring On or Off?:  On still

What I'm Looking Forward To?: Starting to get Jackson's nursery ready

Anything Else?: Just like last pregnancy, anything chemical (but mainly Windex, my Face Wash, and Coast or Dial Soap) smells SO GOOD to me. I could sit and smell it ALL day. I think I could also be on the My Strange Addiction show if I wanted to as well. When Im not pregnant, I think they smell good, but its amplified 100Xs when Im pregnant.

25 WEEKS

Total Weight Gain/Loss?: 16lbs

Maternity Clothes?: Yes. I need to start looking for some dresses for my brothers wedding. Ill be wearing a bridesmaid dress, but I need something for the showers and the rehearsal dinner. Don't want to get something thats too maternity like, maybe something I can wear while not pregnant as well. BUT Ill be 8 months pregnant so it will be hard to squeeze my belly into a smaller dress

Stretch Marks?: No

Feeling Sick?: Feeling good. Sleep is good too

Best Moment This Week: Starting to look for things for Jacksons room

Food Cravings?: Nothing special

Gender?: BOY BOY BOY

Labor Signs?: Nope

Belly Button In or Out?: outie

Wedding Ring On or Off?:  On 

What I'm Looking Forward To?: Passing my Glucose test next week!

Anything Else?: Im starting to get a cold. So far its been just a runny nose and a sore throat here and there. Sleep is still good which is usually non existent when I have a cold so thats good. Its been about 4 days now, I hope it leaves soon and none of the other family members get it

Until next time,
Jennifer

Christmas Activities

This was the third year in a row that we've done our yearly tradition of the 25 Days of Christmas. I started this when I was pregnant with Jane and its getting better and better as Jane is getting older each year. I can't wait to do it next year with Jackson. 

Basically, in November, I write out each and every day from December 1-25 and plan something special for each and every day. I look to see what fun things are going on around town and fill those in first. Then I fill in fun things that we want to do at home. Then most weekdays we would just watch a Christmas movie and eat popcorn and a special Christmas dessert. Of course, each year we've had to move around some things with other things coming up last minute, but overall, we get everything done and its so fun. It also helps to not forget anything since it seems like those 25 days fly by so quickly. 

Here is a recap in pics of some of the things we did. 

We went downtown to see the Christmas Tree Lighting. This wasn't that fun to be honest. There was a tiny stage and a big crowd, so Jane couldn't see anything on the stage. We ended up running around after her for a long long time. This was fine, but it seemed like it was never going to get dark for them to light the tree. They had different performers come on stage, but again, we couldn't see anything. Then when it finally got dark, all of the sudden all the lights came on. There was no countdown or anything. It was kind of anti-climatic. Oh well, you live and you learn.

Jane made her first gingerbread house. I of course helped a lot. I put all the icing down where I thought she should put a candy. Then she placed the candy down. She also ate a ton of the candy, but thats the point right?

Visiting Santa this year was interesting. We told her we were going and she was so excited. She could hardly eat her dinner because she just couldn't wait to see him. I walked up to Santa holding Jane and she starting chatting with him about his reindeer and giving him a high five. But as soon as I lowered her down onto his lap, she FREAKED OUT! I don't blame her...look at him. Not the best looking Santa Ive ever seen. Then I asked her to say cheese and she stopped crying, but had this blank look on her face. Then she started talking to Santa again, but very timid. Once she hopped off his lap though, she was all about him again. She waved bye, blew him kisses, and talked about him the rest of the evening.

This was our absolute favorite thing this year and it was the James Island Festival of Lights. My mom brought me to this when I was little too. Basically you just drive around and look at all the light displays. There were more than 2 million lights this year. Jane loved that she got to get out of her carseat and sit on my lap. She screamed each thing she saw and was so excited for each and every display. She loved it so much that we took her back the night of her birthday. That time we actually got out, had dinner, made a build a bear type stuffed animal (a zebra) saw more lights walking around, rode a carousel with Daddy, and ate popcorn. There was also smores and a train you could ride, but it was crowded for the smores and freezing for the train. Maybe next year.

Of course we picked out a tree and decorated it with Jane. She didn't quite get putting the ornaments on. She would just place them on the tree and then I would have to go behind her and hang them on.

It was too dark to get pictures of us picking out the tree, but this was cute of us...

The past two years Ive had professional pictures for our Christmas Cards. This year I was in a frenzy to even get them done, and I honestly thought about not doing them at all until I got this candid picture of Jane. I swear this isn't posed. She sat right infront of the tree with that hat on and read that Christmas book. I almost died. Then I made the cards.

Thats about it. We also drank hot chocolate while driving around the neighborhood to see other peoples lights, watched a TON of Christmas movies, and did a lot of shopping.

Love,
Jennifer

Christmas Day 2014

We had a great Christmas, and I want to tell y'all about it before its February. Story of my life on this blog huh? 

So, Mr. Hunt and I decided that we will be spending Christmas morning at our home from now on so that we can start our own traditions. Then after opening gifts we would go to see the rest of the family.

I also decided to keep the tradition that my family had where we don't put out any gifts under the tree until the kids go to sleep. So, when Jane went to sleep on Christmas Eve, there were no gifts. Then when she woke up, she saw this....

She also saw that Santa brought her tons of fun stuff including a kitchen!

Last year, Jane couldn't open any gifts so this was the first year that she enjoyed opening all her presents...and a few of Mr. Hunt's and mine as well. Every present that she opened, she also wanted to open and set up or play with right then. This made for a very slow opening process, but we enjoyed every minute of it. 

Once we were done opening up gifts, we ate some home made coffee cake. A cake we made for baby Jesus' birthday. Then we packed up and headed over to my parents house. Im sad that I didn't get any pictures there of us opening presents, but Jane got a TON more toys. Good thing we didn't bring any with us.
The next day, we drove over to Savannah to see the gingerbread houses. There were some really great ones and Jane was interested.

But she also liked all the HUGE trees in the lobby.

A week before Christmas, we celebrated Christmas with my Mom's side of the family. We always do some sort of gift exchange, the "kids" open gifts, and we eat. But our best tradition is the girl's picture and boy's picture. We've been taking these pictures every year on Christmas since before I was born. I hope to continue this tradition because its so great to see all the years gone by. My grandma has them hanging in her house. Its so great tot see all the new additions and how everyone grows so fast. We were missing a few girls and boys this year though.

Two days after Christmas we hopped in the car and drove to Augusta to have Christmas with Mr. Hunt's side of the family.

But first we went to visit Grandmama. Jane loves her so much!

Then we went over to Mr. Hunt's Aunt's house to open gifts and eat some yummy food. Its always great to get together with everyone even if its just a short afternoon trip.

We had a great Christmas this year. It was crazy to think that next year we will have a three year old and an eight month old.

Love,
Jennifer

Baby Boy's Name Reveal

I put a video up on my YouTube Channel for our baby boy's name reveal. Go check it out!!!

Baby Boy Name Reveal

Love,
Jen

Jane's 2nd Birthday Party

We had a very low key party for Jane this year. Main reasons were because we had JUST moved into our new house, we haven't met many new friends here yet in Charleston (ones with kids), and I figured this would be the last year that Jane really doesn't have an opinion on how her party goes (who comes and theme wise).

So, it ended up just being some close family members, but it was still a lot of fun and Jane loved it. Ever since moving back from Texas, Jane has become very close with her family and she loves them more than anything. Having them all in one spot and paying attention to just her was great in her book.

Anyway, we all just hung out, ate snacks, and had Jane open her gifts. Her party was the day after her actual birthday, which is also my little brothers birthday. He is so sweet. He will probably he "sharing" Jane's birthday forever, but he doesn't care one bit. We did sing to both of them when it came time to sing Happy Birthday.

It was a special magical birthday in fact because while he was turning 24, Jane was turning 24 months. So we made a 24 with the cupcakes. This picture below is going to become a tradition I believe. They shared a bite of cake last year too!

Love,
Jennifer

21-23 weeks

21 WEEKS

Total Weight Gain/Loss?: stayed at 10lbs this week which is good since my obgyn said only .5 to alb a week. I remember with Jane I started gaining more than that around this time, so we shall see
Maternity Clothes?: Yep. I thought one pair of maternity jeans was enough, but seems like I need more, only because I don't have enough long tops to cover my bum when I wear leggings. 

Stretch Marks?: No

Feeling Sick?: Nope, but Ive had some pretty bad back pain!

Best Moment This Week: Christmas of course!

Food Cravings?: nothing, but ate a ton of cookies and sweets this week

Gender?: Its a BOY

Labor Signs?: No

Belly Button In or Out?: Im going to say its an outie, even though it isn't poking through my shirts or anything....yet

Wedding Ring On or Off?:  Still on. I can't remember when I had to take it off with Jane

What I Miss?: I can't think of anything

What I'm Looking Forward To?: Starting to decorate little boys rooms

Anything Else?: Not much, just had a wonderful Christmas. Next year we will have a 3 year old and an 8 month old...holy cow!

22 WEEKS

Total Weight Gain/Loss?: 12lbs. Yeah I knew that was going to happen. I told you I ate a TON for Christmas. Thats my excuse
Maternity Clothes?: Yes, still finding it hard to ever find anything to wear. Good thing I don't have to dress up everyday. I end up staying in my pjs all day some days just so I don't have to try to find anything

Stretch Marks?: No, not yet at least

Feeling Sick?: Yes. Had some random nausea this week. Also my indigestion was back this week. Ugh, hope its not sticking around for the rest of the pregnancy!

Best Moment This Week: Spending the New Year with Mr. Hunt's side of the family

Food Cravings?: nothing

Gender?: Its a BOY

Labor Signs?: No, but braxton hicks are here to stay I think

Belly Button In or Out?: outie...kind of

Wedding Ring On or Off?:  On

What I'm Looking Forward To?: Starting the New Year with some organization 

Anything Else?: Seems like the weeks are flying by now

23 WEEKS

Total Weight Gain/Loss?: 14lbs. Yikes! My obgyn is NOT going to be happy with me. She said only alb a week at the MOST and Ive gained 4 in the last 2 weeks. Im still blaming the holidays. Hopefully with the New Year, I can get a schedule together to go walk or do some sort of exercise
Maternity Clothes?: Yes. I think Mr. Hunt is getting annoyed that Ive been stealing all his shirts

Stretch Marks?: No

Feeling Sick?: horrible back pain and cramping. It got kind of scary there for a day or two. The back pain is so bad I can hardly stand up straight. Hopefully it goes away soon

Best Moment This Week: Getting back into a routine after the holidays

Food Cravings?: none

Gender?: All boy

Labor Signs?: No

Belly Button In or Out?: outie

Wedding Ring On or Off?:  On

What I'm Looking Forward To?: Like last week, getting this house in order from moving and the holidays

Anything Else?: I have a dr appointment this week. Looking forward to checking up on little baby boy

See ya,
Jen

Jane turns 2

Jane turned TWO on December 19th. I was excited for this birthday because she actually kind of understood what a birthday was. She even already knew the birthday song from some birthdays that had come and pass before hers. For a week before her birthday, we would alway talk about it coming up and when it was finally here, I could tell she was really excited.

Her actual birthday was on a Friday so Mr. Hunt had to work. The good thing about her birthday being close to Christmas is that sometimes Mr. Hunt can be a little more linient with his work schedule since a lot of other people are taking off for the holidays, so he ended up taking the second half of the day off.

In the morning, we had an easel from Ikea all set up and ready for her to play with. We also wrapped some chalk and markers for her to use on it. She loved it right away of course. Then Mr. Hunt went off to work. Mr. Hunt and I also blew up a bunch of balloons just to have scattered around the family room for her to play with. Those were a bigger hit than the easel at first!

I cooked Jane some chocolate chip pancakes. Lucky for me, we usually eat waffles since they are easier, so when I mentioned pancakes, she thought she was getting actual cake for breakfast. Best Mommy Award right here for that one.

We also made our Christmas cookies on her birthday. Normally I would have done this earlier in December, but since our refrigerator took forever to come, we were just getting around to it. Jane loved it though. I, on the other hand, was so overwhelmed. It was hard to make cookies with a two year old.

Then Jane and I just hung out for awhile before lunch when Mr. Hunt came home. Mr. Hunt bought Jane a special gift this year and he was so excited for her to open it and use it that we did that right after lunch, before nap time.

He got her a jump-o-lene. Basically its a blow up looking pool thing that she can jump in. Its a lot safer than a trampoline, but this thing takes up so much space. Thank goodness for the upstairs bonus area. She of course loved that too, and I think Mr. Hunt loved it just as much, if not more.

Then we put Jane down for a nap so that we could get ready for the evenings activity. We took Jane BACK to the James Island Festival of Lights. When we took her the first time a few weeks before, it was just for a fun Christmas activity, but she LOVED it more than we could have expected so we knew we wanted to take her back for her birthday. You can look it up, but its bascially a display of a bunch of Christmas lights which Jane loved this year, even if it was just a few lights on the neighbors house. You drive through a 3 mile display, but you can also get out and there were some activities to do out of the car too.

So we drove through once, got out, ate dinner, built a zebra (kind of like build a bear, she picked out the zebra), ate kettle corn popcorn, watched others roast marshmallow, rode the carousel and got to ride her favorite which was the elephant, and then got back in the car and drove through the lights one more time. Jane got to sit in the front seat with me when we saw the lights. The place is so busy, you only got about 5 miles an hour and most people have their older children riding in the back of trucks and vans as well. Jane would get so excited with each display. She would jump up and down and scream out what she saw. I can't wait to take her back again next year.

That night, we didn't do anything special as far as a cake or anything since it was just the three of us and her birthday party was the next day. I think Jane had a wonderful birthday. Ill let you know about the party in the next post.

Love,
Jennifer