28 Weeks!

7 Months! How is that even possible? It is exciting to think about at times, and at times it scares me because I don't feel ready and want a little more time with Noah first. Ready or not, Baby Stillwell will be here in 12 weeks or less! Now for some highlights:

* I am all about gaining some weight now - thankfully mostly in the belly! I have gained around 11 pounds - give or take. I gained 35 pounds with Noah so I am either really going to start packing it on in the next few weeks or not gain as much this time - we shall see!
* I have had a few days where the thought of putting on anything but athletic pants seemed uncomfortable and I just wore them to work - maybe no one will know that I am not in yoga? :) I am mainly just sporting maternity shorts (which all seem to run shorter than my regular shorts and I am not loving that, but they are comfortable at least), athletic capris, and dresses.
* My biggest craving I had with Noah is back with this baby - honey buns with white icing - not glazed, white icing! It is also a bonus because no one else I know likes them so I don't have to worry about anyone eating them!

* The baby actually woke me up moving around in my belly this week! I thought something jumped on my belly and then I felt and the baby completely turning around! It felt like an earthquake in my belly! This baby is constantly moving now and I love it!
* My nesting is so strong right now! Poor Nathan - little things he does like leaving some clothes lying around seem so big right now! I am trying to do a little cleaning each night and alot on my Fridays off while Noah is at the sitter. But, as always when nesting - it never seems like enough. I love the strong desire to clean though, next to feeling the baby move, this is my favorite thing about pregnancy!

* Still no swelling! This week the temperatures have been really hot too and I have been doing alot - constantly moving until bedtime! So far so good!

I still seem to be carrying lower and further "out" with this one!

A swell no swell weekend!

Some will think this is crazy, some silly, and some may identify with me. This Saturday was the first time I ever took a solo trip to Ft. Smith with Noah! I have not ever not gone when I needed to, it just always so happened that he wasn't with me when I went. I had to have my wedding rings inspected before the end of June so I HAD to go Saturday, it was my last chance before the end of the month. I wasn't that worried about it, but I did have a moment where I thought - it is hot out side and I am 7 months pregnant and taking a two year old an hour from home with no help - but, people do it all the time I am sure. Also, Noah has been such a good kid lately (not to jinx him) but he has been listening and not throwing fits and being so sweet - we are definetely not experiencing any terrible twos yet. I have always heard 3 is worse, so maybe he will hold off until then, or forever ;)

We went to Toys R Us first to spend his birthday money from my dad. He got a backhoe and a baseball tee with a bat and ball! If that doesn't sound like little Nathan, I don't know what does! From there we went to the mall and got my rings inspected and went to the maternity store to look at dresses for a wedding we have coming up. None of my wedding clothes are really belly friendly :) Noah stayed in his stroller and was perfect the whole time! We made a return to a sporting goods store and then went to Chic-Fil-A for lunch after that. He played in the playground while I ate and then he ate on our way home! It all went so perfectly! I really cherish the alone time I have with Noah because I know in a few months there will be a new baby here and his world, and mine, will change. Also, shopping trips won't be as easy with 2 kids for awhile, so it was a nice memory to make.

Sunday I decided that after church and nap time we were going to get Noah's pool and water table out and play in the yard. While Noah was napping we were put on alert to possibly evacuate because of a fire near our home! It was pretty scary! I located everything I would want to take and waited. Thankfully, they got it under control before it got to us. So, we drug out the pool and water table and Noah and I stayed out in the yard and played for 3 hours straight! It was so fun and he was so good! (Minus scratching Meme Donna's car with a rock - sorry again Meme!) The only thing that made him want to go in was he got hungry and that boy likes to eat! I timed it and our yard in mostly shaded about 6:00 p.m. so I will be dragging that stuff back out some more this summer around that time!

After all of the running around and heat this weekend I did not swell at all! I am hoping that it a sign that this baby will be nicer to my ankles - we shall see! This week we are supposed to get all the way to 106 degrees! Ouch! Hopefully rain and not so scorching temperatures are in our future!

29 Again!

I said it last year, that was the last time my age was going to change. So this year on my birthday I really like to think I am just 29 again :) I didn't think anything about turning 30 until about a week or so before my birthday and it all of a sudden just seemed so much older than my twenties. I know all the "you should be thankful for every day" and all that - of course I am. Every day God wakes me up and I am thankful for that. That doesn't mean I am not allowed to like my current numerical age. I don't feel 30 or look 30 (so I have been told) so that is good. Part of my problem is all of the things I had planned out to have done before I was 30 - and I don't have alot of them done yet. But, we plan and God laughs. My life is a big knee slapper to him right about now :)

Anyway, on to the actual big day! Since most of my close family was out of town, we will be celebrating my birthday later along with Father's Day. I had to work, but got to eat a yummy lunch at Sweet Treats (my favorite lunch spot) and they even put a candle in my dessert! When I got back from lunch, my co-workers had decorated my office with balloons and streamers! I love it! I love surprises like that - in my opinion, it shows people care and are thinking about you :) That night I had swim lessons with Noah and he fell asleep early after that (a little gift of his own to me) and I went and got my favorite pizza at Pizza Pro and watched my DVR. It was a nice lazy night.

I recently read on a blog where she is about to turn 40 and wants to make a list of 40 things before she turns 40. I think I am going to attempt the same thing. I am not sure that I can come up with 40 things, but we will see. I will be posting a special 40 Things blog later after I sit down and write some up.

I was being silly as Laikken counted to 3 to take my picture - she took it on 2 - ha!

My office door :)

My office decoration surprise!

My desk decorated :) I love it!

Father's Day 2012

Well, this years Father's Day wasn't our traditional celebration. With most of my family out of state we decided to wait and do our Father's Day celebrating once they got back. It was too hard to plan it all with most everyone gone. So, Nathan, Noah and I went to church and then had lunch and then Nathan's mom came over to watch Noah while Nathan and I went out. We went to Fayetteville to get Nathan some new clothes for Father's Day and to go out to eat for my Birthday (which is Tuesday, but we won't have a chance to do anything on the actual day) and a concert - he got me tickets to my favorite singer, Gavin DeGraw, as my birthday present!

Honestly, I tried to sell the tickets this last week. When we ordered them 4 months ago we didn't realize the concert was on Fathers Day so I felt bad for taking over Nathan's holiday with my birthday (which happens alot since I was born on Father's Day) and I didn't want to ask anyone to give up celebrating with their Dad's to watch Noah so we could go. Plus, I kept telling Nathan we were getting signs not to go - but he insisted. He said if the tickets didn't sell by Thursday, we were going! Well, luckily they didn't sell and Nathan's mom was happy to watch Noah so we were able to go!

I am actually glad it all worked out - the concert was awesome! It was outside under a huge tent called The AMP where they hold concerts in the summer and the weather was perfect! It was not too hot and there was a nice breeze blowing. We were on the 18th row which was perfect for Baby Stillwell! It wasn't too loud or crowded. Baby Stillwell either liked the music and was dancing or hated the music and was trying to hide his/her ears - but he/she moved a ton during the concert! We got home really late and it was so nice to have Noah fed, bathed, and asleep and I could go in and tell him goodnight after a nice night out!

Nathan said he had a good Father's Day - he insists that he likes Gavin's music too, and I am not sure if he is lying or not, but either way that makes him a good husband! Noah and I made him a picture and framed it. It turned out very cute - but it was pretty hard work! Noah did NOT want to pose with the DAD letters to spell Dad! I literally pulled out every trick and bribe I could think of to get the shots I got! I have a ton of him crying or throwing the letters - but the gift turned out picture perfect! I hope everyone had a great Father's Day and I can't wait to celebrate it with my Dad once my family gets home!

Ready for the concert!

Gavin DeGraw!



Awesome show every time!



26 Weeks

I am feeling great still. I still have high energy and no complications that I know of. 14 (or less) short weeks until Baby Stillwell. Here are the highlights:

* I am gaining more steadily now - around 8 pounds gained so far. I still feel small - it is so weird to feel big for how far along I was to now small. I am not complaining though! It is summer and I don't need to lug around any unnecessary fat!

* I am in the full maternity clothes swing now! I went through my drawers last night and found a few shorts that were bigger on me that I can still button under the belly.  Mostly I am just in elastic waist, maternity shorts, or dresses - still loving dresses.

* I had to give up some of my milk cravings - it was making my belly hurt. I figured that out through the process of elimination so I enjoy my big glass in the morning and that is it for the day! My current cravings  are mexican food, blt's, salads, grapes, and chips and cheese dip. I am still craving sweets pretty regularly too. I have noticed that I am not as hungry as I used to be though, I don't remember that happening with Noah!

* The baby is still moving very regular around meal times and as soon as I lay down at bedtime. You can see my belly moving too - it is awesome!

* I am now officially nesting! I sit at work and think of things I am dying to do once I get home! The baby room not being set up is starting to get to me - I foresee that happening soon!

* Even after walking around Six Flags and cleaning house I am still not swelling - still praying I skip out on that for the most part!

Noah is on a boat!

Noah took his first boat ride this weekend! Nathan was supposed to play softball so it was just going to be a lazy day at home for Noah and I, and then he said - get dressed - we are going to the lake! YAY! So, we were off to meet Nathan's brother Brandon!

Noah is not much on the lake right now. I am not sure if it is the color of the water, the distractions of all the stuff outside, the waves or what, but he would rather just run around and play or play in the sand than the water. He tubed with Daddy - that was a little scary. He just looked so little out there and the water looked so big! We didn't go fast enough that there was any threat of them getting thrown off, but Nathan's foot got hung once and they slid off the front - Noah was not happy! That was the end of his tubing for the day! Nathan tubed a little and Brandon skied a little - but they both were not feeling as young as they used to - so that didn't last long. :) We went to the beach and let Noah play a little bit, but of course he just wanted to run. Nathan and Brandon tricked him into getting in the water by giving him rocks and slowly moving away from the shore as they did and they got him out pretty far for him. He still wasn't loving it - oh well, he gets that from me, I am more of a pool girl! I like to see what it in my water and know it is animal free and salt free! Maybe he will grow out of it - or maybe not, I really don't care either way - he and I can just enjoy our pool time together :)

Ready to join daddy, or so he thinks :)

Noah is not so sure about this!

He liked it for about 3 minutes and he was over it! :)

Daddy liked it better!

Momma and Noah enjoying Noah's first boat ride!

Uncle Brandon showing Noah the water isn't scary :)

Where Noah preferred to play!

Uncle Brandon and Daddy tricking Noah into going out in the water :)

Noah helping drive us back to the dock!

Momma Guilt

I am pretty sure this is all normal Momma behavior, but just throwing it out there anyway. I experience Momma Guilt alot in many different ways, but here are three big ones:

When Nathan and I were trying for our second baby I felt guilty watching Noah play alone since we were having trouble conceiving again. I was worried he would never have a sibling, and I have not had good dealings with children with no siblings in my life - not all of them are bad, but alot of them are hard to handle. Now, God blessed us and I am pregnant with our second child. Then, I was feeling guilty that I had rushed it - what if two and a half years was too close together? Noah will not remember a time before the baby got here! Did we spend enough one on one time with our first miracle before rushing into the second one? The second baby will never have a chance to be our only baby so that is not fair to it either - but at the same time I cannot imagine only having Noah as our only child - so confusing! I am over that mostly now, I just try to do lots of special things with Noah now so that he gets to enjoy being the only child for a little while. I am not worried about not having enough love to go around - I love my nieces and nephews like my own already! I just don't want to make any of my kids lives harder due to my desire to have more children. I want to be able to give them good lives and be able to take the time to raise them right. This baby is not even here yet, and I already have planned in my head to wait until this baby is close to 3 and try for our third and final baby - which will end up being twins I just know! God will not give me more than I can handle and I hope Noah and his new sibling will be best friends (eventually) and always have eachother as family long after Nathan and I are gone.

Spanking is another Momma Guilt I have. I rarely spank Noah - time out is way more effective with him I have learned, but sometimes he does get spanked. I said spanked, not beaten - there is a difference that some parents do not know about. I feared my parents growing up. I knew what was right and wrong and what was expected of me and I knew I would be disciplined if I didn't do the right thing. I did not back talk or question what they told me to do - and I still don't, it is just a respect thing. Noah is still young and learning things, but I know when he knows better and when he just doesn't understand. He will push the limits and sometimes that leads to a swat on the hand or butt. Now, with that said - I instantly, every single time, feel guilty after I do that. I question as to whether I was patient enough or if there was another way it could have been handled. I do not show this to Noah, that would just confuse him. I think spanking a kid is part of being a parent - a very crappy part, but a part nonetheless. I fully understand the whole "this hurts me more than it hurts you" phrase. I am hoping that I can raise Noah and the new baby to respect me so that I will not have to constantly be disciplining them. That is my goal. I know it is attainable - I am proof of that.

My other Momma Guilt, so far in my 2 years of Mommahood, is leaving my child. I am all for parents needing time away from their children, and I do leave Noah to do things with Nathan. These are special times however, not weekly dates, sometimes not even monthly. Usually it is when something comes up we want to do like watch a movie or one of our birthdays and occasionally I will go watch Nathan play softball. I have lots of people willing to watch Noah and I will make the plans with them. Then, when it comes time to leave, the guilt hits. I have never cancelled due to the guilt (it is not that bad - HA!), but I feel bad for wanting to do something away from my child. I feel like a bad mother and that I am the one who needs to be taking care of him - it is my job. I have been told by some mom friends that they feel the same way and it never gets better. Then I know parents who are constantly leaving their kids with other people and it blows my mind. I am just going with this being a good guilt to have - my mothering runs deep! HA!

24 Weeks - Hello 3rd Trimester!

I could not believe when I was doing the math on how far along I was that I am entering the 3rd tri-mester already! It kind of panicked me a little, I am not ready for 3rd tri-mester yet! So, that got my lists started of what all I need to get done and by what time I would like it done by. Here are my pregnancy highlights so far:

* I am still holding steady at about 6 pounds gained so far. I felt big at 4 months and 5 months, but at 6 months I feel small.
* I am wearing maternity clothes pretty normally now. I gave up the belly band and pretty much wear elastic waist, maternity shorts, or dresses. Dresses are always something I wanted to wear, but felt silly. Now I am loving them - they are so comfortable and belly friendly!
* My current cravings are regular milk (seriously I drink 1/2 - 3/4 of a gallon a day), cheeseburgers, salads, grapes, and chips and cheese dip. I also want sweets, but then don't feel so good after I eat them - crazy cravings!
* The baby moves very regular around meal times and as soon as I lay down at bedtime - my favorite part of pregnancy ever!
* I got to hear the heartbeat at 23 weeks and they scheduled me for my 4d ultrasound and glucose test at the end of the month!

* Thankfully, so far I am experiencing no swelling due to the heat or being on my feet - so I am hoping to get lucky and not have that again (I read it is possible anyway).  I do have occasional back pain if I am cleaning or on my feet for too long, but it goes away after some rest.

The Gunns Invade St. Louis 2012!

My dad has two sisters left of all of his siblings and they live in a little gated community on the water just outside of St. Louis. We try to visit them as often as we can, but it had been 4 years since we went last so we were long overdue for a visit. There is usually more of us that go, but only 10 of us could make the trip this time. We loaded up Wednesday morning and headed out!

My awesome packing job!

We always stop at Lamberts in Ozark, Missouri on the way for some good food and throwed rolls! Also, that is a good time for everyone to stretch their legs. Noah was doing good, but it took awhile to get our food so we had to do something drastic - Nathan brought the tv in from the car and let Noah watch it at the table so he would sit and we could eat. We kept the volume down and he was perfect from then on. We were getting some not-so-nice looks from other tables - but I ate a hot meal in peace and quiet so I really didn't care. The trip went smooth from there on out and we arrived at my Aunt Sharons house around 6:00. We played outside in the yard and went and checked her community park out and then it was time for baths and bed for everyone - it had been a long day!

Watching tv at Lamberts!

The next day we all went to the St. Louis Zoo. It was free and very nice! They had the coolest penguin exhibit! Noah liked seeing all the animals as usual, he loves to imitate any animal. Noah and my niece Eliza were asleep before we left the zoo parking lot so we stopped at Steak & Shake and everyone went in and ate and I had Nathan bring me out a burger so I could sit with them and let them sleep. We then went back to my aunts and she cooked us roast and mashed potatoes - it was so good!

Friday we went to Six Flags. It was only about 65 degrees and we hadn't planned on that weather so we had to go to Wal-Mart and get some warmer clothes off of the clearance rack. We made some pretty interesting outfits out of what we found. I found a pair of black yoga pants (or so I thought) and got them. Then when I was putting them on I saw they were tummy control pants - HA! Not sure this tummy can be controlled right now :) They were comfortable though. We went to White Castle (another tradition of ours) for lunch before we went to Six Flags. I love White Castle! Nathan doesn't really care for it, but he is always a trooper and goes there with a smile! We split into our two groups once we got into Six Flags, those that can ride rides and those that can't and went our separate ways. Me, Noah, my dad, my brother Eli, and his 3 kids went together to the little kid rides. I went to get Noah out for the first ride and he was asleep! So, I sat with him for about and hour and a half and once he woke up he was ready to go! He was just tall enough to ride the kid rides by himself! I was glad because I couldn't ride with him, but I was afraid he would want me to get on with him. I let him cousin Savannah take him on the rides and he loved it! He would just cheer and wave at me - he acted like such a big boy! I literally thanked God right there for that - those memories are awesome and honestly were more fun than me getting to ride any ride there!

Noah's 1st White Castle burger!

Riding rides like a big boy!

Nathan trying to win prizes for his boy!

Saturday the rest of my Dad's extended family came over for a cookout. We had steaks, chicken, hot dogs, bratwurst, potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans, and all the fixins! It was so good! The bigger kids swam, but I didn't want to get in the water with Noah - it was still too cold for me, so we went back to the park and played on the beach. It was a perfect day. The sun was out and the wind was blowing, so it wasn't too hot or cold.

We headed out the next day for home. We stopped a few times, but made it back around 7:00. We were anxious to get home because Nathan's brothers wife had her baby 3 weeks early while we were gone! We couldn't wait to meet him! We had a great time visiting old family and meeting new family all in the same vacation!

My new nephew Paxton Gage Stillwell! Noah wasn't so sure of him here...

But he warmed up to him :)