Easter 2016

I know what you're probably thinking...Easter was a month ago. Well, yes. But when this post is the only one I have ready and I know I'll be upset for never posting some Easter photos, this is what you get today. I do have lots to say and other posts to write, but I just haven't had the energy lately.

I wasn't as on top of my game planning this year's Easter brunch as I normally am but that has a lot to do with it being our third year hosting so a lot of the decor and planning was already done! I did slack off when it came to planning what I was going to make and I didn't shop for one thing until a week before, which I wouldn't recommend. I was a little distracted with so many other things going on in our lives, but I knew we would pull together another incredible day with family and that's just what we did.

I love this little tradition of hosting Easter we've got going here. From watching the kids run around our backyard searching for eggs to the moments before food is served when we all gather together for the blessing -- it's all so perfectly special to me. I definitely slacked off with photos this year, but here are just a few shots from Easter brunch at our house.

25 Weeks & Name Reveal

Maybe for one of these updates I'll take a better photo and not snap a picture in the bathroom mirror to add to my post at the last minute...maybe.

How far along: 25 Weeks

Baby is the size of a: large cucumber -- about 1.5 pounds

Gender: Girl

Due Date: July 26, 2016

Name: So excited to share that our baby girl officially has a name!

I've been a huge fan of the name Emma since Rachel chose it for her baby on Friends. Thankfully Jonathan loves the name as much as I do so we've basically been set on Emma for our first girl since before we even started trying to get pregnant. I hadn't thought much about a middle name but once I started thinking of different middle name options, I kept coming back to Joy. We didn't want to commit to a middle name too quickly so we gave it a few months before deciding that nothing else was quite right. I also didn't want Jonathan to just agree with me on a name -- I wanted both of us to know it was the perfect choice so you can imagine the happy tears that came when he told me he was sold on it. I seriously can't say the name Emma Joy without smiling. I just know this name is going to fit our baby girl so perfectly and it makes me even more anxious to meet her!

Symptoms: Waking up here and there at night with some discomfort. I've been holding strong trying to avoid buying a pregnancy pillow but I don't know how much longer that will last. Otherwise, I'm definitely feeling quite pregnant but overall, I feel really good!

Cravings: Believe it or not, I've been craving salad pretty regularly and it's a welcome change. Always craving sweets but luckily any kind of fruit will do just fine!

Appointments: We had an ultrasound last week so they could get better measurements of baby's spine and that should be our last ultrasound until 36 weeks I believe. Her hands were covering her face the whole time and she was moving around so much - it was incredible. I had my one hour glucose test yesterday and I'm really just having a hard time believing we are already at this point!

Looking forward to: Getting away this weekend with my man and our friends then our little birthday getaway/babymoon in May and of course, our baby shower!

Exciting moments this week: I really just starting feeling the baby move in the last 2 weeks or so and the movements haven't been strong enough for Jonathan to feel until this week. Monday morning when my alarm was going off around 5:30 a.m., I woke up to Jonathan's hand on my belly and baby girl was kicking like crazy! Jonathan could feel every movement and she was bouncing around like that for a few minutes. It was the absolute best way to start our week off and I'm so glad we got to share such an amazing moment together.

Back in Action

Well, hello. Happy Monday!

I'm finally feeling like myself again after coming down with the sickness that just wouldn't quit. Bronchitis, to be more specific. It's been fun. I woke up the day after Easter feeling a little sick and that escalated quickly into bronchitis and here we are two weeks later and I feel almost totally back to normal. I have to say, I haven't missed wine, beer or liquor at all this whole pregnancy but the last few weeks have absolutely had me missing the convenience of chugging NyQuil to help you sleep when you have an uncontrollable cough that keeps you up all night.

I'm soooo glad to be feeling better especially with so much excitement going on in our lives. The weeks are just flying by and with so much keeping us busy, the month of July and baby girl will be here before we know it!

I don't want this time to fly by without me documenting any of it here. I have so many post topics swimming around in my brain that I need to take the time and just write. I will absolutely be back this week to share photos from Easter brunch and also to share the name we've chosen for our baby girl. In the meantime, here's a quick rundown of life lately:

We completed Abby's first 6-week training course and she did so well! We have her completely potty trained and this course helped us focus on sit/stay, down/off and loose leash walking. Her sit and stay is on point and we've made lots of progress with 'off.' She was jumping up on people and as she got bigger, was starting to be able to reach the kitchen counters and I wanted to put a stop to all that ASAP. We still need to hone in on this a little but the course helped a lot! Walking her is so much more enjoyable now that she isn't pulling us along on the leash. We're to a point where she walks right next to us on the leash and we just need to keep practicing to make sure it sticks. We'll probably sign up for the next course so we can improve on these skills and teach her some new ones, but I'm so happy we've got her well-trained so far!

We hosted Easter brunch for the third year in a row and it was another huge success. The weather forecast leading up to Easter weekend was not looking good. I'm talking a 90% chance of rain on Easter Sunday...but we didn't end up getting a drop and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. I'll share more snapshots from the day later this week but here is our best attempt at an Easter family photo.

We haven't made much more progress with the nursery other than getting the crib put together and that's okay. We have the dresser in but haven't even taken it out of the box. Based on the reviews, it's going to be an ordeal to put together and since I can't even lift the pieces out of the box, this is all up to Jonathan. I know we'll get to it soon enough. We do already have the crib put together and it's perfect. Otherwise, I'm not really making any big moves until after our baby shower which is in May. I'm just thankful I had our registries done so early since I've been so sick and completely lacking motivation lately.

We're heading to Arkansas this weekend for a wedding and I'm pretty anxious to head out of town with my man and some of our best friends for a few days. Jonathan's been working like crazy and between work, being sick and preparing for baby to arrive in just a few months, I'm craving some time away from home and our day-to-day not to mention we'll be celebrating our sweet friends tying the knot.

Speaking of going away for the weekend, we just booked a weekend getaway in Tampa for May to celebrate my 30th birthday and have ourselves a little babymoon. With the time of year and everything going on, it's not feasible for us to take a week-long vacation somewhere, so we were considering our favorite B&B in St. Augustine and even looked into a beach trip somewhere not too far away, but then I remembered that we've been talking about going to Tampa and eating at Bern's Steakhouse for a while now. We've heard great things about the dining experience there and neither one of us have ever been. It's one of those things we keep meaning to plan but haven't gotten around to it and I'm sure we won't be likely to do it once the baby is here. We are spending the weekend in a house in Ybor City we found through Airbnb and have reservations for Bern's that Saturday night. I'm so looking forward to this little getaway!

I'll close with some photos of Abby at bath time because I had to find some way to share these. She's actually really good in the bath even though as you can tell, she is not a fan of bath time AT ALL.

Enjoy your week!