Week 34

So excited to be so far into the third trimester!  I'm finding that the biggest changes this week have been emotions!  Oh my goodness!  For the most part, I don't feel like they have been too crazy for most of my pregnancy but they have hit with full force this week.  In the car on the way to the chiropractor, sweet song comes on the radio, commence immediate crying.  Start to get really excited and overwhelmed that Baby G is coming in just a few weeks, more crying.  Freak out a little that Baby G is coming in just a few weeks, yep, crying.  The other night, David and I were falling asleep and we started talking about something (probably something only slightly emotional), I, of course, started crying, and David in his sweetest voice said, "Wow, Babe, this bed sure has seen a lot of emotions recently!" Haha.  It's so true.  Poor David.  Hopefully, I can reign it in and give him a little break before postpartum emotions hit!  Otherwise, it's been pretty smooth sailing!  Chiropractor seems to be working and the biggest life saver has been the memory foam mattress topper!  That thing is amaaaazzzzzzing.  I am sleeping through the night now instead of waking up every hour like before because my back was so uncomfortable.  Catch 22 I guess because before I was too tired to cry about anything. It used up too much energy.  Now I am well rested and ready to cry about just about anything!
After one of the hardest and longest work weeks ever for David, we had an unexpected treat this weekend of lots of visitors!  We had so much fun having Julia Van Patter, and my sister Christina and brother Matt up for a few days!  We enjoyed lots of yummy food as we showed them many of Norfolk's restaurants, did some shopping, and a whole lot of relaxing!  Glad they were able to squeeze in a visit before Baby G comes!  They left Sunday, and then we had round 2!  David's brother, Caleb and sister in law, Jennifer were nearby vacationing and ended up coming by for Sunday and Monday.  It was so great to see them.  We ate a whole lot more, did some more relaxing, and some more shopping. It made for quite the fabulous weekend.  We told Baby G it would be a pretty good weekend for him to arrive since so many of his aunts and uncles were here to fuss over him.  He didn't agree.  He's still quite snug with no intention of moving out any time soon. Here is week 34!

Projects

I decided to do quick follow up post with a few of the embroidery projects I have been working on!  I will post pictures of the nursery curtains once they are up, but here are a few things I did in the last few weeks!

My dear friend, Val asked me to embroider these sweet little bags she made for her daughters!

The perfect addition to our farewell to summer beach trip

Getting ready for back to school with a monogrammed zip up

This tote will be great for my Florida bound sister who is beginning her masters in Orlando

A little monogrammed fleece as we head into fall

Weeks 32 and 33

This blog post is greatly overdue.  I have so much to catch up on!  As I write, Baby G is having a great time burrowing himself up under my ribs and giving the occasional kick.  Thanks, buddy.  That's feeling great. :-) Pregnancy updates...I started going to the chiropractor!  We will see how it goes.  First week was great, second week, not so much.  Hopefully last week was my own fault for carrying tons of heavy groceries, moving some furniture while my hubby was at work and hauling the pack n play and carseat into the nursery.  It sounded like much more of a good idea before I wrote that all out.  Maybe nesting needs to have its limits.  We did get a lot done on the nursery, though!  The last two weeks we have been painting, sanding, finishing, planning, sewing and shopping.  Biggest news, yesterday, David finished the crib!!!  Woohooo!  I'm so excited.  It looks beautiful.  Here are a few in-progress shots.  I'll post more when we get our mattress in the mail and can put the crib all together!  Oh, and don't worry, Ladies, I was wearing a mask while painting.  Let's be honest, though, it's not as attractive for a photo op.

   Early in week 32, I also enjoyed a wonderful week down in Charlotte and Charleston.  It started off fabulously with my Mother-in-law and Sisters-in law, throwing me an amazing shower!!  Everything was nautical themed, and completely adorable!!!  They did an incredible job and I felt so loved.  It was so much fun seeing so many people that I had not seen in a very long time.   Thank you, everyone, for all of your support, encouragement, gifts, and friendship.  It all means so much to us as we start this new journey of parenthood!  

    Following the shower, my sisters and I went down to Charleston for a few days.  It was glorious.  We just relaxed on the beach, and ate delicious food.  My kind of vacation.  The beach was perfect.  There is just something about North and South Carolina beaches that far surpass anything we have here in Virginia.  A few shopping sprees, sunburns, calories, and memories later, we headed back to Charlotte.  Hopefully, we will see you next year, Charleston!  I spent the rest of the day Thursday and half a day Friday with my family before heading back up to Norfolk.  Next time I am in Charlotte most likely, I will be bringing a baby!  So crazy!  There are a million pictures on Facebook, but here are a few of my favorites.  

    Week 33 has been a blur with sewing projects, organizing, Dr. appts, and work.  However, our biggest update this week is David and I worked on ranking our choices for our shore duty and where we will live next!  It's a little stressful and crazy, but also really exciting.  As friends begin to move away, and David's work continues to get more and more difficult, we are looking forward to a change.  It is stressful trying to decide our ranking of where we could spend the next several years of our lives.  However, I am trying to remember that 1.  The Navy is ultimately making this decision, so don't get your hopes up and 2.  God has a plan for us, and will place us somewhere that will be good for us.  I'm especially trying to focus on the latter.  Stay tuned for where our next adventure will be!  We should find out around the end of September.  

   Here are pictures of Baby G from weeks 32 and 33!  

Week 30 and 31

    We are in the 30's!!  A little less than 2 months to go!  Leigh, and Rachel, both of y'all having your babies early has definitely gotten my hopes up that maybe it will be less than that!  I hope I will continue your trend. :-)  

     Week 29 and 30 began some back pain which hasn't been very fun.  Honestly, this pregnancy has been really easy so far, but this new change hasn't been very enjoyable.  Sleeping with two heating pads and multiple pillows every night is getting a little cumbersome.  I am going to try a chiropractor in the area that was recommended to me and see how that helps.  I'm hoping it makes a difference!  

    Non pregnancy related updates, I got to go with David to his boat's change of command ceremony.  It was bittersweet!  We will really miss this captain.  However, we are excited to get to know the new captain and his wife and really hope that he is as good as the previous captain!  The ceremony was really interesting to witness and the best part was, everyone got the rest of the day off!  Here are a few pictures from the ceremony! 

A lot of old friends back together again!

David with Commander Hartsfield

Love these ladies!!!!  

Love me some Dress Whites!

     David and I also got to go on a little getaway!  We were fairly shocked that it actually ended up happening, but we had such a great time.  We drove down to Asheville, NC.  

We got there Thursday night and left on Sunday morning.  We started relaxing immediately!  

Without us knowing, we ended up being there the same weekend as Asheville's biggest festival of the year, Bele Chere.  It was a music and arts festival that drew between 300,000 and 400,000 people.  We had a blast people watching.  It was 300,000 of the most eclectic people we have ever seen, and it was fabulous!  I got lots of compliments on my pregnancy and the beauty of life, including one woman decked out in hippie attire whispering to me that my "belly is beautiful."  :-) It was quite entertaining!

 

     We also got to eat at some delicious restaurants.  There were so many places to choose from and everywhere we went was amazing.  Tupelo Honey exceeded it's rave reviews.  The shrimp and grits and bbq egg rolls were just two of the dishes we ate that were incredible!!  

Another of our favorite meals was a tapas place in downtown Asheville.  There were no reservations until next month, so we opted to sit at the bar.  It was awesome!  The kitchen was on the opposite side of the bar so we got to watch them prepare all of the food throughout our dinner.

 We also visited the North Carolina Arboretum and drove through the Blue Ridge Parkway and it was beautiful.

 I anticipate that the next time we attempt a getaway, we will be needing a babysitter!  Here are weeks 30 and 31!

Week 29

We are at week 29, only 11 more weeks to go!  This week began some nesting projects!  I bought curtain fabric for Baby G's nursery and began work on that, and bought a crib skirt as well.  Thanks, Pottery Barn Kids sale!  It was really handy choosing Fourth of July type colors for his nursery because a lot of things in those colors went on sale this month!  

I am a little late in posting this week because I have had to put my computer aside on multiple occasions because my posts were quickly becoming vehement anti-Navy posts.  I will spare you all (hopefully) all the ranges of emotion I have been going through the past few weeks, but give you a little taste instead, and wrap up with some great insights by my wise mother.  Side note, thank goodness for two amazing moms who speak so much truth about God's faithfulness into my life!  

I'm not sure about you other wives out there, but for me, one of the biggest challenges is seeing my husband frustrated, exhausted, and discouraged and being able to do absolutely nothing about it.  That is our life right now.  Last week, we calculated it, and David spend 128 hours at work and then came home and spent several more hours every night on the phone dealing with issues at work.  In case you're wondering, a week only has 168 hours all together.  They are working like crazy to get this boat out of the shipyard and have had a lot of bumps along the way.  I guess that's what happens when you push guys to work 14+ hour days and 24 hour shifts every two or three days for weeks on end.  People make mistakes, and when you're dealing with a nuclear submarine, a mistake is a big deal.   I won't continue to drag you thought my frustration any more because I could go on for quite a while.  Let's just say, it's been really hard.  However, my mom called me yesterday to speak some truth into my week-long bad mood and frustration.  She has been frustrated for me as I continue to call and vent about the newest terrible day David has had, but she said that she was really struck by the sermon their pastor gave on Sunday and had to share it with me.  The pastor spoke about Joseph.  He talked about all the years of hardship he went through with seemingly no purpose.  Joseph had a hard time of it at every turn.  He wasn't rewarded for anything he did, in fact, the opposite was true, he had a miserable time of it even when he worked hard, and did what he was supposed to do.  Later, however,  if you remember, Joseph was rewarded immensely for his faithfulness and was put in charge of an incredible amount in Egypt, but it was a long time in coming.  My mom reminded me that sometimes, we go through valleys, sometimes are are on top of the mountains.  However, in all those places, God is faithful, and has a plan for us, even when it seems pointless, unfair, and ridiculous.  When you are in the valley's, look up.  Seek God's face instead of wallowing in the valley, and when you're on the mountain, look down, and remember where you were and be gracious and reach out to those in the valley.  Thanks, Mom, for being willing to speak truth into my life, especially when I just want to wallow in the valley.  

Here are a few good things that did happen this week.  It's looking like even in the midst of the craziness at work, we are going to get to go on our long weekend getaway this weekend!  WOOHOO!!  I don't know that we have needed a getaway more in our marriage so far than this weekend.  We are heading to Asheville, and couldn't be more excited!   Also, it's looking like David is going to be able to move up his detachment date by two months so that he can play this month's shore tour slate!  Basically, that means that he will be able to choose from the shore tour options that have come out this month because this month has several of his "dream jobs" on it, instead of having to wait a few more months like he was scheduled to have to do.  We are super grateful for the boat being willing to change his schedule.  Now, we start praying that he gets the job he is wanting, and that regardless of what job he gets, we will have peace with where God chooses to place us.  Here is this week's belly shot!  He is doing some serious growing in there!  

 

Week 28

     Week 28...we made it to the third trimester!!  WOOHOO!!  Besides being unbelievable hot ALL. THE. TIME, I actually feel like this pregnancy has gone by pretty quickly and I'm still feeling pretty good!  I am hoping as I start to get even more huge, that I will feel the same way about my third trimester as I am currently feeling about the past two.  Jury is still out.  I will keep you posted.
    This week was a bit of a stressful week.  As I posted before, I failed my 1 hour glucose test.  For those of you non-pregnancy people who have no need to bother with knowing of such things, it's a test they do in your pregnancy to see if you have developed gestational diabetes.  It goes away after your pregnancy but can lead to possible complications including having a really big baby.  If any of you know about what a giant baby David was when he was born, you can imagine my concern at being diagnosed with something that would make my chances of a humongous baby even higher than they already are!  Because I failed my 1 hour, I had to go in on Tuesday to retake my test and do the 3 hour test.  It wasn't very fun.  Kudos to all you pregnancy ladies out there who weren't able to take the 1 hour and had to just suffer through the 3 hour every time.  Let's just say, it wasn't a very fun way to spend half a day.  You feel pretty gross when you are done since you don't have anything to eat or drink since the day before except one unnaturally sugary drink they give you that morning to see how your body responds to sugar overload.  I did finally get the call a few days later that I passed the test!  I was so relieved!  Thank you, God!  It was a huge blessing to get those results.    
     In between my blood draws during my glucose test, I had another midwife appointment.  Baby is head down and everything is still looking good and right on track!  I'm very grateful for that, and am hoping he stays that way!   Here is week 28.

    This week, David and I decided to try something new.  I was inspired by my sister in law, Jennifer, to implement Meatless Mondays!  My goal is to find some really delicious meatless dishes that pass the husband test (trust me, if it's meatless, it takes a lot to pass the test), and are healthy!  This week, we tried a super yummy dish from The Live In Kitchen.  It is called Crispy Quinoa Bake and it's awesome.  David didn't even realize until I said something later, that it was meatless!  Success!  

     This is the recipe that I used, which I slightly adapted from the recipe at The Live In Kitchen.  Please excuse my lack of a mouth watering picture to accompany this recipe.  I know that's not very blogger-esque of me.  I'm still getting the hang of this whole blogging thing!  I will work on trying to remember to snap a juicy looking picture next time before my husband descends on our meal.  However, for now, take my word for it.  It's super yummy!!  

Crispy Quinoa Bake

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa, uncooked

2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, divided

2 cups chicken stock

1 cup onion, diced (about 1 medium)

1//2 green pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 cup zucchini, cubed (about 2 small)

1 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 4 ounce can diced green chiles

1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained

1 cup frozen corn

1 teaspoon ground cumin 

1 teaspoon oregano

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 lime, juiced

Salt

Pepper

8 oz pepper jack cheese, shredded

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside.

Place the quinoa in a fine mesh strainer and rinse throughly with cool water for at least two minutes. Drain. In a medium saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the quinoa and cook, stirring, for about one minute. The quinoa should begin to dry out and pop a bit. Add the chicken stock. Stir and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low and cook, covered, for 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and peppers and cook, stirring occasionally until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and zucchini and cook 2 more minutes.

Fluff the quinoa with a fork and place it in a large bowl. Add onion mixture, beans, green chiles, tomatoes, corn, cumin, oregano, chili powder, lime juice, and salt to taste. Mix thoroughly and transfer to prepared baking dish. Bake 20-25 minutes, top with cheese, and bake 10 minutes more or until melted and just beginning to brown.

     

Week 27

This week, David's schedule has been extra busy.  They are undergoing a huge push to get the boat from dry dock into the water, which means David and the other guys are working tons of extra hours to get this done.  Because of this, having a Friday afternoon together was extra special!  We were supposed to go to boat picnic on Friday, but in accordance with many of of our plans, we couldn't go.  David had to stay later than expected at work, so we missed the picnic.  However, because he was trying to hurry home to make it, he got home early in the afternoon!  It was such a fun treat!  We had a lunch date, he got an afternoon nap, and we had a date night too!  It was much needed and so wonderful.  We attempted to go to P.F. Chang's, one of my favorite restaurants, but it was an hour and a half wait.  Much too long for this pregnant girl to wait, so we headed across the street to Macaroni Grill.  We felt like our parents.  They would always go to Macaroni Grill or Carrabbas on their date nights.  To top it off, we paid with a gift card.  Totally turning into our parents. :-)

Saturday, we got lots of progress made on our crib!  David finished making the sides and I worked on sanding.  We still have a lot of sanding to do, but everything is all built now!  This is the front and sides of the crib completely built!  

Here is an update of pregnancy this week!  I have seen this on a few other blogs, and thought it was a cute way to give an update!

How far along?  27 weeks

Maternity clothes? Still some regular clothes, but starting to need a lot more maternity clothes.  Loving my new Old Navy tank tops and shorts!  My mom saved the day by sending me some!

Stretch marks? Nope
Sleep:  It's been great for the most part, but this week, Baby G decided to do martial arts in my belly when I was trying to fall asleep.  I love feeling him move, but hopefully, he will calm down a little bit this week when I'm trying to sleep!
Best moment this week: Our Friday date night!!
Miss Anything? A good glass of wine and dessert! (I failed my one hour glucose test, so I have been on a special diet the last few days to prepare for my 3 hour retest on Tuesday) 
Movement:  Um, YES!
Food cravings:  Ice cream
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Labor Signs:  None so far
Symptoms: My belly is growing so much!  I have also noticed my feet get sore a lot more quickly and I have been so tired!
Belly Button in or out? So far, it's still in.  Thank goodness!  I don't think it will be for much longer though!
Wedding ring on or off? On, but I can definitely feel them getting a little tighter
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy most of the time.
Looking forward to: Finishing up the crib and starting to make/buy things for the nursery!  Also, David and I are hoping to go to Asheville for a weekend together soon.  I'm really looking forward to that and hoping it works out!  

My newest project

So my new project is...embroidery!!  I recently purchased an embroidery machine and I am loving all my new projects I have been creating.  I'm hoping to continue with making lots of projects so that when the baby comes, I have something that I can do from home that I enjoy!  Here are a few of the projects that I have done so far.

Baby shower gift for one of my dearest friends, Leigh.  I made her diaper changing bags embroidered with their last name because they decided to keep their little girl's name a secret until she is born!

Practicing making a monogrammed sweatshirt.

Been envying all the cute monogrammed floppy summer hats so I decided to give one a shot.  It's been a great addition to our beach days!

I'm excited to try lots more projects...my next project is to monogram our towels!  

Weeks 25 and 26

    This summer is flying by.  I can hardly believe that I'm getting close to my third trimester!  The last two weeks have been busy, busy!  Here a few of the things we have been up to.  The week before, my sister, mom and I took a little trip down to Wilmington!  Christina and I had never been, and we had her birthday gift from our awesome uncle, two nights in a hotel, to use!  It was so much fun!  We spent the first night down there just the two of us and enjoyed catching up during a long evening beach walk and then having a girl's night complete with dinner in bed, chocolate, brownies, hot chocolate, and multiple episodes of One Tree Hill.  Perfect.
   The second and third day, my mom joined us and it was such a fun time!  We definitely missed the rest of the Preble girl clan, but it was a really fun, unique time together!  We rarely get to spend time together in a small group like that.  The weather was decent in the mornings.  We all caught some much needed rays, but in the afternoons, it decided to monsoon.  So, like any self respecting girls, we did a considerable amount of retail therapy.  Wilmington, it turns out, has some great shopping!  We landed several great thrift store finds, including a dresser for the nursery!  Thanks, Goodwill!  We also had a wonderful time exploring downtown Wilmington and enjoyed an amazing waterfront dinner!  If you are ever there, make sure to go to Riverboat Landing because it was incredible!  The most melt in your mouth lobster risotto, ravioli, and salmon ever.  We wished we could have had longer to explore the town, but it was a fabulous girl's weekend getaway.

    On the 29th, I had the privilege of being completely pampered at a baby shower that my incredible friends threw for me!  It was beautiful.  Pictures to come later, but they did an amazing job!  I felt so special.  I have talked so many times about how blessed we have been here in Norfolk, but I was once again reminded of this.  They showed Baby Guthmann and I so much love, we got lots of much needed gifts to prepare for our baby, ate tons of yummy food, and had a fabulous girl's afternoon of fellowship!  

     David and I enjoyed spending this year's 4th of July down in Goldsboro with David's brother and sister in law, Caleb and Jennifer Guthmann.  We missed seeing the rest of our family over the fourth, but had a fun and productive weekend!  David has been really wanting to make a crib for our son, so he and Caleb hit the ground running and got a huge amount done while we were there.   In the meantime, Jennifer and I enjoyed lots of bonding time. :-) We also got to meet the Guthmann's adorable new goldendoodle puppy, Raleigh and then go to the city of Raleigh on the 4th for an amazing fireworks show!   We have really enjoyed living within driving distance of Caleb and Jennifer and spending time with them!  

    I can't wait for continue working on the crib with David and then start the finishing process including sanding, staining, and assembling, to get things ready for our son!  

    While we were down at Caleb and Jennifer's I am pretty sure our baby decided to grow exponentially.  I felt like I woke up on Sunday morning and my belly had gotten huge!  I am sure I will look back in a few weeks and laugh at my definition of "huge" right now, but it sure feels like our son grew overnight!  I'm officially needing maternity clothes, and my regular clothes are quickly becoming a non option.  It's been a hot summer here, but I have definitely noticed that this little baby makes me feel exponentially hotter than usual.  Thank you, Mom for all the awesome Old Navy tank tops!!  Here are some pictures from weeks 25 and 26!