20 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

How far along: 20 weeks, 2 days

Size of baby: 10.5 ounces, 6.5 inches from head to bottom, 10 inches from head to heel (about the length of a banana)

Total weight gain/loss: Last week at my doctors appointment I had gained 15.5 lbs total.

Maternity clothes: Yes, for the most part I'm sporting maternity clothes. I still can pull off wearing some of my large shirts too.

Gender: A sweet little girl!

Movements: Baby girl is getting more active, Ryan actually felt her kicking around for the first time a few nights ago. I love that he can feel her moving around, it's just fun for him to feel a little piece of what I get to experience.

Sleep: I haven't been sleeping great, but I think it's mostly because we're moving and I wake up thinking about that in the middle of the night.

What I miss: Running, especially now that it's getting really nice outside.

Cravings: Nothing really.

Symptoms: Still feeling pretty good.

Best moment of the week: Having our ultrasound last Wednesday. It is so much fun to see the baby up on the screen and imagine what she's going to be like. I can't get enough it.

Drum Roll Please...

Well the future makeup of our family had been determined...it looks like Cameron is going to have a baby sister! We had our 20 week ultrasound on Wednesday and we're having another little girl! Poor Ryan is going to be outnumbered, but I think he's man enough to handle it! Plus, if you ask me he makes a really good "little girl daddy" so I think it fits us well.

Baby girl was doing great. She's healthy and all her measurements are right on track. It's always so fun to see the baby moving around on the screen during an ultrasound. Every time I find myself in awe that a little person with fingers and toes is inside of me...it's crazy.

We are really excited and look forward to seeing how this new little girl will change the dynamics of our family.

 Here's a picture of baby girl Volk!

And here's Miss Cameron playing around in my gown after the ultrasound, silly girl!

U2

Last Saturday we went to see U2 at INVESCO field. It was so much fun! The concert was supposed to be last summer, but Bono had surgery and they had to reschedule for this year. Needless to say, it was a long wait but we definitely enjoyed the show!

Cameron spent the night with Superpop and Granne, which worked out great for us because we didn't get home until 12:30 a.m. (I was so tired! I don't do that anymore, ha!)

The Fray opened for U2.

 Waiting for U2 to come on.

 Ryan's mom and dad.

 The show...you can see Bono, he's tiny on the right hand side of the picture.

The band leaving the stage.

Baby Finley

Nick and Annie had their baby on Wednesday afternoon, a little girl, Finely Marie Seeman. She is so incredibly sweet! I was so glad that Cameron and I were able to be there to help celebrate her birth. Annie pretty much dominated her labor and delivery. I think the whole thing took 5 hours start to finish! Not to shabby.

Unfortunately, Cameron and I had to cut our trip a little short. We were supposed to stay in Texas until this coming Wednesday, but we both got sick. YUCK! So I decided that it was probably best that we got home so that we didn't infect any of the Seeman's with our germs. It was going to cost me $250 to switch my flight to a new time (which seems a little outrageous) so I ended up booking a new flight using frequent flyer miles so we could come home Saturday night. Thank goodness we had some miles banked up.

Here are a few picture from the trip:

Waiting patiently for the baby to come.

 There she is, Miss Finley, 7 lbs 2 oz.

 Holding my niece for the first time, you forget how little newborns are!

Annie and Finely making faces at teach other.

The proud big brother, (actually this is probably the most interest Cole showed in the baby the hole time! HA I don't think he realized that she's not just a visitor, she's going to be around for awhile.)   

Cameron was fascinated by the baby, she just wanted to sit and watch her. I kept having to remind her she couldn't touch the baby!

 Cameron and I hanging out with Miss Finley.

Sweet baby girl.

Cameron had a blast playing with Cole while we were down there. She loved his backyard, his puppies and of course all his toys! I think she was sad when we had to leave.

 Hanging out in Cole's chair.

Mr. Cole and his BFF, Mr. Monkey. 

 Cameron giving Roxy a kiss, MUAH!

 Getting used to the feel of a golf club.

This was her favorite, she LOVED getting pushed around in this thing, it even had a horn she could push while she was "driving".

Papa bought Cole a new Big Wheels and Cameron thought she was pretty cool sitting on it.

 Two buddies enjoying a ride.

 She was a little small for this bike, but she thought it was fun anyway.

 This was the first morning we where there, they wanted to go outside and play so badly! Cute.

 Going down Cole's slide.

 Swinging next door.

 
It was a fun trip. I just wish it wouldn't have had to end so abruptly. I think I would have enjoyed a little more baby time. Oh well, I guess that just means we'll have to make another trip down to Texas soon.

On a slightly different note, Ryan sent me this the last night we were in Texas. Look how short our paper chain is getting! Moving day is getting closer. Yipeeee!



17 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

How far along: 17 weeks, 3 days

Size of baby: 5 inches, 5 ounces (about the weight of a turnip)

Total weight gain/loss: Not really sure and I'm not at home this weeks so I don't have my scale nearby to check. (And to be honest, after last time I'm not to anxious to get on the scale again! HA!)

Maternity clothes: I'm at the point where I need to wear either maternity clothes or very stretchy/forgiving normal clothes to be comfortable. Last weekend I had a little bit of a breakdown because I started to go through my closet to find something to wear and nothing fit! I feel like I've reached that point where I'm showing, but not enough that people look at me and know that I'm pregnant, so ultimately, I just feel chubby all the time. I know it's just part of the process, but yuck! I did go out Monday night and by several pairs of maternity capris and shorts because I realized that I didn't have any summer maternity pants. When I was pregnant with Cameron, my second and third trimesters were in the winter, so a lot of those clothes aren't going to work very well this time around.

Gender: Still don't know, but we will find out two weeks from today!

Movements: I've started feeling little flutters/flicks pretty low kind of between my hip bones. Since that is supposedly where my uterus has expanded to at this point, I figure that must be baby moving around. The movements haven't been very consistent yet, but there seems to be a bit of a pattern forming.

Sleep: I'm still not sleeping great, but it hasn't been completely horrible either.

What I miss: Not having to pee every five minutes!

Cravings: Haven't really had any cravings. My eating has been relatively normal, considering.

Symptoms: Still feeling pretty good.

Best moment of the week: I got to hold my newborn niece! She was born today at 12:33pm and was so little and perfect. Her name is Finley Marie, don't you love it?! My sister-in-law rocked her labor. It only took about 4 hours, then she pushed for 15 minutes or so and that was it...pretty awesome! I know this doesn't have anything to do with my pregnancy, but being around a brand new baby is such an incredible thing. It's exciting to think that Ryan and I will be going though the same process and welcoming our own new little baby into the world in just a few short months. I can't wait! (More to come about Miss Finley later, that's just a little preview for now!)

Mother's Day

We had a really nice Mother's Day on Sunday. While Cameron took her morning nap, we started to pack up our condo. We're still going to be there for a few more weeks, so we could only pack things that we really won't need—books, decorations, etc.—but it's amazing how those "few things" end up filling a lot of bins and boxes.

When Cameron woke up, we made a lunch and walked over to the park for a picnic. Cameron is begining to be a big fan of the playground. She loves swinging and going down the slide...and she LOVES all the other kids and doggies! She always makes friends. It makes me laugh because I'm so not like that. She is definitely her daddy's little girl. We're actually having to work on teaching her that it's not ok to go up and touch the other little kids, because they don't always like that! HA

Sunday night we went to Ryan's parents house for dinner. His grandparents were in town for the week from North Dakota. They haven't seen Cameron for a long time so it was fun to catch up with them.

That pretty much covers our day. I'm really blessed to have such a wonderful husband and little girl. Being a mommy is truly a gift! 

A Little Rock 'N Roll

Ryan dropped me off at the airport Sunday morning for my first solo getaway in a long time. I went to Memphis for 4 days for a work meeting and left Ryan and Cameron behind to fend for themselves. I was sad to leave, but I managed to get away without any tears (I know, I know, it's pathetic that I almost cried. I think that just comes with being a mom though).

When I got off the airplane I was greeted by tornado sirens, which was honestly kind of scary. The strangest thing was no one seemed to even notice that they were going off. People were just walking around outside like it was nothing. We eventually called the hotel lobby to ask if we were supposed to actually do anything about the sirens. They told us that they would sound the fire alarm if anything got really bad.  Luckily, the crazy weather passed without causing any problems to the Memphis area.

We stayed at The Peabody Hotel. I don't know if you're familiar with it or not, but they are famous for the ducks that swim around in the hotel lobby fountain. Every day at 11am they march the ducks down the elevator and into the fountain, and then at 5pm they march back up to their rooms on the top floor of the hotel. It's actually kind of a kick to see the ducks waddling around. It's amazing what will draw a crowd!

 The duckies

And another ducky

The meeting was scheduled Monday through Wednesday, and we managed to get some fun into those three days as well. On Monday night our group visited the Rock 'N Soul Museum. It showed a lot of the history of Rock and Roll which was pretty interesting. It was funny because most of it was before my time, but a lot of the people remembered it all happening.

 Rock 'N Soul Museum

 Where it all began...

Fancy guitars signed by famous people :)

Beale Street, (kind of like the Bourbon Street of Memphis)

Tuesday we went to Graceland and the Car Museum with a bunch of Elvis' cars. This was my personal favorite. I love walking through places like that and thinking about the history that took place there. The Graceland mansion was actually not as big as I was expecting. But the decorating definitely lived up to my expectations—nice and wild! 

The mansion

The piano room/living room

The dining room

The kitchen

The TV room

The jungle room

The racquetball court

A whole bunch of his gold and platinum records

Elvis himself

And, of course, the Pink Cadillac

From what I've been told, Ryan and Cameron survived alright at home by themselves! I had a few friends and my sister help watch Cameron while Ryan was at work during the day. I was so thankful that they were able to help out. It made everything much easier for us. They made sure to keep me posted via photos and videos throughout the week, which was awesome!

 Breakfast Monday morning

 A little time hanging out in the school bus

On a walk with Aunt Jenna

All and all, the week was a success. Although I think we were all ready to get back to "normal" when I got home. I know I was definitely ready to come home and see my honey and my little girl!