Scenes from Maine

We're in Maine!

We arrived on Saturday and were lucky enough to get to spend the afternoon in Portland with the Kilgallen family. We enjoyed some lunch and got in a lot of good playtime with Liam. Such a cutie and a smart little boy!

Beyond adorable

Sunday morning was spent at Memere's eating homemade bread and raspberry muffins. We had story time in the afternoon (I seriously read these out loud to the husband) with a few books Madre picked up for when baby girl comes to visit her Mem in Maine.

Love some Dr. Seuss

Later that night I convinced my sister to do my nails (totally milking the whole being pregnant thing)!

Free manis are the best

 

My brother's dog, Andy, absolutely loves Ray and always wants to be near him. Unfortunately for Ray, Andy thinks his feet are chew toys. 

Cuddle time on the couch

 

We've been eating pretty well while we've been in Maine and I feel like my bump is growing with every meal! 

Nothing better than fried toast made with Memere's bread

On Monday we felt like getting out so we headed up to Farmington in the afternoon to check out some shops. I found some new pjs for Ray but he said he didn't think he needed any new ones. Too bad because these ones are amazing!

Moose footie pjs for grown-ups!

 

Looking forward to more time with the family and turkey on Thursday! 



Baby Wotring - 22 Weeks!

Welcome to 22 weeks!

This week our little girl is close to 11 inches long (about the size of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 lb.  She's starting to look more like a newborn and has deep wrinkles all over her skin which by the time she arrives, will be filled in with a padding of fat. Inside her belly, her pancreas - essential for the production of some important hormones - is developing steadily. She's also becoming more and more active and even let her dad feel a few kicks this week!

Oh hey, 22 week belly! 

I didn't get to my usual "weekend recap" post earlier this week but we were pretty productive and started our baby registries! We made a trip to Target and started registering and set-up our Babies R Us registry online too. We had a fun time going up and down the baby aisles at Target talking about what we will need for baby girl (pretty much everything!) and I was proud of myself for resisting all the precious little girl holiday dresses. So fluffy and sparkly!

 One of my favorites! There was even a matching shrug for our little diva

Late last week I experienced some Braxton Hicks contractions and some lower back pain. At first it made me nervous because it was definitely uncomfortable and sorta came from nowhere. But after spending a little quality time with my friend Google, I determined what I was feeling was normal and within a day or two I was back to feeling pretty much like my old self.  I've gained 2 lbs over the last 2 weeks (right on track) bringing me to 9.5 lbs total.

Some major moodiness infiltrated the Wotring household during the early part of the week and try as I might, I had a hard time snapping out of it. After two long days (ask the husband....) which included a few trips to the gym (endorphins for the win), chocolate and girlfriend time, I finally kicked it to the curb though I reminded my poor husband it probably won't be the last of it and to stay on his toes ;)

We're off to Maine on Saturday to spend Thanksgiving with mi familia and to say I'm excited is an understatement!! Can't wait to see everyone, relax, eat lots of everything and hopefully get some snow!

Baby Wotring - 21 Weeks!

It has been such an exciting week since we found out we are having a little girl in March! It's been so wonderful to talk about our daughter instead of just saying 'the baby' and to really get thinking about what we will name her and how we'll decorate the nursery.

At 21 weeks our little girl weighs around three-quarters of a pound and is about 10.5 inches long -- the size of a carrot. Her eyebrows and eyelids are fully developed and my baby app tells me it's going to feel like she's practicing martial arts in there pretty soon as her kicks and jabs become stronger. It says around this point in pregnancy a mama may start noticing patterns in her baby's activity and I could not agree more. I always feel Little Miss moving around after breakfast and in the evenings before bedtime.

 21 week bump

Now that we know we are expecting a daughter, I'm feeling a lot more unprepared and anxious. I've never been a procrastinator (I'm the girl who started working on papers weeks before the due date in college) so this week has been full of researching cribs, car seats, strollers -- you name it I've been doing my homework. I've also spent some time going over sample registry lists I found online. Bless my best friend's heart, she spent about an hour going over one of them this weekend with me while we were down in Suffolk visiting. I jotted down lots of helpful notes and feel semi-ready for us to take a field trip to Babies R Us and start our registry.

Gift from Randi. Little scrapbook and month by month stickers to watch baby girl grow. 

The husband must think I'm crazy right now. Actually, I know the husband thinks I'm crazy!  Just about every night I came home from work this week and had a million things I wanted to tell him.

       "The mamaRoo swing sits low to the ground. Do you think we need to worry about 
       Brownie getting too close to the baby?"

       "What do you think about refurbishing a dresser for the nursery?"

       "Do you like the name.......?" (insert one of a dozen names) 

       "There are approximately five million diaper bags out there; how are we 
       going to choose?"

Raymond has been super patient with his control freak wife and suggested we sit down this weekend and make a schedule of things to do over the next couple months so I feel more at ease with getting some of the pressing items checked off our to-do list. So thankful for him proposing this idea and being understanding as I play the role of crazy pregnant lady!

Other than acting like a basket case, I felt really good this week and had three good workouts so far including my first trip to prenatal yoga which I really enjoyed! While we were down visiting Randi and her family, she hooked Little Miss up with a lot of great things like onesies, swaddle blankets, a pink piggy bank (gift Avery picked out), and lots more.

Stack of itty bitty onesies from Randi! 

Our newlywed friends Ashley and TJ came over this week for dinner and brought a gift including the cutest outfit for baby girl! Can't wait till she's here and can wear it!

Love the ruffles and matching bow on the jeans

Lots going on this week and even more to come over the next 19 weeks as we prepare for our baby girl!

Cook Time

We started off our weekend watching the season opener of George Mason University Men's Basketball at the Patriot Center.  GMU played American University and started off the season with a win despite a slow start and being down 14 (maybe more) early in the first half.

Final Score 63-60

My in-laws were recognized for their outstanding commitment to GMU and were presented with an award in the second half of the game.

WAY TO GO, DAN AND PATTY!

The rest of the weekend was spent down in Suffolk, VA visiting the Cook Family! Our last visit was in early-July for Randi's 30th birthday so it was great to catch-up and see the kids -- they've both grown so much in just a few months!

So stinkin' cute

Avery gave us a balloon and also picked out a gift for Baby Girl -- such a thoughtful little boy! We had fun playing with his train and Tinkertoys (Santa may have to bring some for Ray since he enjoyed them so much) and made a trip to the playground too. I tell ya, he's a busy little boy and wore me out after just a few hours but I loved every minute of our time with them. 

Randi and I spent the majority of the weekend talking everything baby and she helped me go through a sample registry list I found online and gave me some good advice when registering. She hooked us up with some great baby stuff too! 

Making herself at home in Avery's chair

Our time with the Cook Family went by way too fast, but as always, we had a fun time playing with the kids and catching up with the grown-ups! Ray and I both work tomorrow (but thank you veterans!!!) so we spent the remainder of our Sunday picking up the house, doing laundry, and prepping food for the week. Feeling prepared for a great week! 

Baby Wotring - 20 Weeks!

We made it to 20 weeks -- half way to meeting Baby Wotring!!

And our long awaited opportunity to find out Baby Wotring's gender this morning.

We are having a sweet little GIRL

I woke up before the alarm so anxious for our ultrasound appointment this morning. Thankfully we had an 8am appointment and there was barely a wait. After 20 or 25 minutes of pictures (which seemed like FOREVER) the ultrasound technician said she was confident in telling us we were expecting a little girl and I don't think Ray or I have stopped smiling since that moment.

Our little princess

We were able to get some good looks at her during the ultrasound which was wonderful! Little Miss was being stubborn for most of the appointment though making it difficult to get pictures of her heart and spinal cord. Finally after almost an hour and some walking around by momma, the technician was able to get the pictures she needed. According to the doctor, everything looked great which is most important and what we were hoping to hear! The technician commented on how active baby girl was and even remarked "she is an adorable baby." We like to think so, too!

After some excited calls to our families, Ray headed to work and I was off to my 20 week appointment. We listened to the heartbeat (excellent at 138 beats) and they told me I was measuring perfectly for 20 weeks.

At 20 weeks, Baby Girl Wotring is about the size of a banana and weighs around 10.5 ounces.  She's started to swallow a bit of amniotic fluid each day for nutrition.  During the ultrasound we got a peek at her with her mouth open and our nice technician told us it must be breakfast time for Little Miss.  Aside from some pressure in the pelvic area this week and a little round ligament pain, I felt great. No headaches or heartburn. As of today, I've gained 7.5 lbs and am mixing some maternity items with those regular tops and bottoms that still fit. There is no doubt I've been feeling Baby Girl movin' and groovin' lately too. All of a sudden the kicks and jabs have become unmistakeable!

Half way there -- 20 weeks

While we haven't met her yet, our little girl has already stolen our hearts and we cannot wait to meet her in five months! Now, please excuse me while I go browse for little sequin booties....

A Visit from the Doctor

We were lucky enough to have my cousin, Dr. Deane, in town for a visit this weekend!  Courtenay is currently up in the Bronx on her second of a three year medical residency. She's a busy lady these days so it was nice to get a chance to visit and catch up with my cousin!

Me and Dr. Deane 

Courtenay has been to the nation's capital a few times but we decided to spend the weekend playing tourist and check out a bunch of DC's finest attractions. After arriving bright and early on Saturday morning, we headed to the National Mall and did a walking tour of the monuments. We started down by the Washington Monument then headed to WWII before walking around the Tidal Basin to Jefferson and over to FDR.  Next up was a stop to see the new Martin Luther King Jr. monument. I've driven by it countless times since it opened earlier this year but I was glad to finally have the opportunity to see it up close. 

Moments after taking this picture I informed those kids it was disrespectful to be climbing on the monument. They promptly got down. 

Ray and Court at the Tidal Basin

We continued on to the Korean War Veterans Memorial before a visit to Mr. Lincoln and then to the Vietnam War Memorial. 

Beautiful fall day to tour

Love him

Korean War Veterans Memorial...quite possibly my favorite in DC

We ended the afternoon with a stop by the White House before heading to Capitol City Brewing Company for lunch. We were all starving by then and had managed to walk almost 21,000 steps according to my pedometer. 

While the husband went to a wrestling tournament at George Mason University that night, Court and I stayed in to have some dinner, relax and catch-up! The next morning we enjoyed a big brunch at home before venturing to Arlington National Cemetery and then to Old Town Alexandria to check out the shops and have a late lunch before saying our goodbyes. It was a short trip but we loved having Court here to visit and hope she comes back soon!!!