22 weeks

The past few days have been quite eventful!

Friday morning, Josh and I got up at 1:30am to catch some Black Friday bargains. We only made it to Old Navy that morning but we got some great deals. Then we were on our way to South Carolina to visit his family. We made it there by 9:30am and we were both exhausted!

Later that morning, I went shopping again with Josh's sister. I didn't buy much this time but we had fun just looking around. We relaxed for awhile then Josh's twin and his wife got there. They have a 6-month old. He made me really excited about my little one that's on the way!

Saturday was another shopping day for the girls. I pretty much finished my Christmas shopping--except I still have to buy gifts for Josh. That day, more of Josh's family came over to his dad's house so there was definitely a full house. We enjoyed a post-Thanksgiving meal together.

We came home on Sunday and I spent 2-hours wrapping gifts! At least that's out of the way!

We ended up not having the maternity photo shoot this weekend due to a conflict with the photographer. We are going to schedule a new date at the end of December, when Josh and I go back to visit for Christmas.

What a busy but nice weekend! Baby girl Soto has been busy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Julianna experienced her first turkey day today. She'll be here for everyone to enjoy next Thanksgiving! YAY! We just had dinner with my parents at Cracker Barrel-- it was good but I am soooo full!

I just showed Josh a really neat website that shows what happens inside of a woman's body during pregnancy. The animation shows how the organs move to accomodate the growing baby:

http://www.umm.edu/pregnancy/000088.htm

We decorated our Christmas tree last night and put up our Christmas decorations inside:

Josh still wants to decorate the outside of our house with lights--especially on our fence. I'll let him handle that part of decorating!

We'll be up bright and early to finish up our Christmas shopping then we're heading to South Carolina to visit his dad, stepmom, and sister.

thought this was cute:

21 weeks and 4 days

Sleeping past 3:30am isn't something I enjoy anymore. I'm always wide awake by then regardless of how tired I am or how long I've slept. So during the week, I am soooo slugglish because I get incredibly tired mid-morning. Thankfully, on the weekends I can enjoy a much needed nap. So that's what I'm looking forward to today-- a mid-morning nap that I would normally not get to enjoy on a Wednesday!

I just made myself a yummy breakfast of fruits: (maybe being hungry has something to do with waking up so early?! but I did have a bowl of cereal at 11pm last night)

Since there is no school until Monday (YAY!), I plan on being productive around the house today. We are going to South Carolina tomorrow evening after we have a Thankgiving dinner with my parents. We'll be visiting Josh's dad, stepmom, and his sister. We haven't seen them in a few months so it will be nice to get together. While we are down there, I'll also be having some maternity pictures taken. Josh's sister has a friend who is a photographer so he will be taking the pictures. I'm excited but I just wish my baby belly was a little bit bigger now. But that's okay!

So the agenda for today is: completing school work (yes, even on my day off), laundry, errands, packing for the trip and the photo shoot, and of course, my nap!!!

our first gifts

We received our first baby gifts a couple of weeks ago. Two ladies that work for Josh's company sent them to us. It's so exciting to get gifts... just feels even closer to when we'll get to hold Julianna in our arms!

Lullaby Gloworm:

Sleeper:

My parents also gave us money to buy our crib. Speaking of that crib... it's still in the box! I need to get Josh to put it together so I can share what it looks like.

weight gain and health

I began pregnancy at 128 pounds. I currently weigh 147 pounds. That's a weight gain of 19 pounds in 21 weeks. I feel like I look pregnant when I see myself but many people can't even tell that I'm pregnant. A coworker told me today that I don't look like I've put on any weight at all-- which is a good thing because I don't really want to look like I've blown up. My 19 pounds is all in my belly and my chest. I'll probably just wake up one morning with a really noticeable pregnant belly and there will be no denying it then. Josh and I feel so surprised when people say they can't tell I'm pregnant. I guess because we both look at me alllll of the time!

As far as my health goes, I think the 19 pounds so far have been healthy. I have really tried to make good food choices. But really, instead of icecream... I'd much rather have an apple. It just tastes better to me right now. Except for Cold Stone: I could go for a birthday cake remix sundae anytime!

My blood pressure has also stayed pretty low. Right now, it is 110/70. Pre-pregnancy it was considerably higher than that. Maybe the healthy eating is helping because I know my level of stress has probably doubled since I got pregnant and began this school year!

adventures of week 21

Josh and I did end up doing all three of our to-do's on Saturday. Shopping at Costco, dinner at Olive Garden, and we saw New Moon at the Grande 18 movie theatre. The movie was great... Twilight is so addictive. I refused for a long time to even watch the first one but Josh and I both loved it when we finally saw it. The movie theatre we went to was really nice... they even had Alvin and the Chipmunk statues at the entrance:

21 weeks

Today I am 21 weeks on the 21st of November! Pretty neat!

Josh and I plan on going to do some grocery shopping at Costco, have dinner at Olive Garden, and then hopefully go see New Moon-- if it's not sold out everywhere! I'm sure Julianna will love the movie! Now... just have to wait for Josh to get off work so we can start our afternoon.

Here's the baby bump at 21 weeks:

getting harder to sleep

My sleep wasn't the best last night. My little girl was moving all over the place... she must have been wide awake at 3am. Not a good sign!!! And I woke up several times feeling VERY hungry! The only things that truly satisfy my hunger are:

-apples (preferably granny smith)- salsa and chips (with sour cream)

- Sir Pizza
-ceasar salads
-cheesecake -Olive Garden One of those is being fulfilled as I type. I'm eating my leftover Sir Pizza for breakfast! Poptarts and Cheerios aren't going to hit the spot today!

photobucket fun

Princess Julianna:

my 24th birthday and 20 weeks

my bump on my birthday:

My cheeks are getting plumper... and that's not the only thing! I went to Victoria's Secret to get sized for a new bra. I started my pregnancy at a 34 A... now I'm a 36 C! Wow... it's amazing what can happen in a matter of months!!!

My birthday goodies:

Josh had this cute little cake made for me. It's a teacup!

19 weeks and 5 days

Bump update:
I felt little Julianna move this week! At my doctor's visit this week, I had to have another ultrasound to check on her spine and to see my cervix again. Well, she was subborn. Didn't want to let the ultrasound tech get a good photo of her spine so I had to jump around and walk in circles around the room to get her to move. Finally, we got a good picture of the spine. Later that night, I felt a gentle kick. I guess she wasn't too happy about all of the bouncing around I had to do!

nursery in progress

We are going to spell her name out in these fun letters to put above the crib:

19 weeks

Black is very slimming. Even my baby bump doesn't stand out too much in my little black dress:

Josh's church outfit matched the color of our nursery:

celebrating our little girl!

Right after the ultrasound on November 2, 2009, Josh and I bought the crib, a few accessories for her room, and picked out a cute pink outfit to put on Julianna's first teddy:

The next day at work, Josh celebrated the news of a little girl:

His hard hat even says: "It's a Girl!"

18 weeks... it's a GIRL!

Mommy's institution is always right. My baby Soto is a girl! We found out at our ultrasound appointment on November 2, 2009. My mom came with Josh and I to see our baby for the first time. Presenting the first pictures of Miss Julianna Hope Soto:

We are so thrilled to be having a little girl! I absolutely cannot wait to hold her in my arms!

heartbeat

Josh and I heard baby Soto's heartbeat for the first time on September 30, 2009. I think this was one of the most exciting moments of my life. At that point, it felt a little more real. I knew for sure that there was living little one in my belly. Amazing! After the appointment, we celebrated by having a delicious breakfast at IHOP before we both had to head into work.

17 weeks

My baby belly just keeps getting bigger... I think it got bigger in the matter of 7 days:

At 17 weeks, we painted the nursery. Or I should say.... Josh painted the nursery. We still didn't know the sex of the baby but I wanted a neutral color either way. This is what it looked like after he painted it:

16 weeks

I meant to take belly shots every 4 weeks for the first few months but I was off by a week. But my goodness! My belly grew a lot between weeks 11 and 16. Check it out:

By this point, my morning sickness had started to improve. But not completely. I spent the first 16 weeks of pregnany, VERY VERY sick. Nausea, vomiting.... ugh! My doctor prescribed two types of medicines for me that got me through it. I'm proud to say that I didn't miss a day of work during the icky time. I'm a survivor of morning sickness!

11 weeks

One month later, I suddenly had a little bump! At PTO that night, several people commented on my growing belly. I hadn't realized the change so when I got home, I took this picture:

From my 7 week picture, there is definitely a change. This was a very exciting day for me!

As far as school and teaching goes, I told my class on the very first day of school that I was pregnant. I wanted them to know why I might throw up, be ill, or just eat all day long. The kids were really excited and they predicted it was a girl! Hmmm... we may just be on to something!

7 weeks

When I got pregnant, I guess I just assumed that I would get BIG fast. But that is definitely not the way it was at first. This is my "baby" belly at 7 weeks:

Yeah, no belly, right?! But this is what the baby belly started from.

At this point, I thought the baby was definitely a girl. I just had that gut feeling and I had so many dreams about "our little girl." I just knew...

finding out that I was expecting (4 weeks)

Josh and I had been "trying" since February 2009, when I stopped taking my birth control. We weren't really expecting to get pregnant right away so we thought we'd just give it a shot. Exactly one month after our first wedding anniversarym, July 28, I gave into my suspicions and took a pregnancy test. I knew that I just felt different.

The first two tests I took, we cheap Dollar Store tests. I saw two faint pink lines. But I didn't trust them because I thought they were just... cheap. So I went and paid the money for a digital pregnancy test. At work, I took the test and it definitely said pregnant. So that night, when Josh came home from work, I took the other digital test:

As you can see, digital test #2 showed that I was pregnant. Just to be 100% sure, I went to the doctor two days later. To my surprise, the doctor uses the identical tests that they sell at the Dollar Store! She confirmed for me once again.... yes, I am pregnant! I guess it took five tests for me to actually believe that it was true.

Josh and I were VERY excited! We called our family to let them know. There was no way I could wait to tell everyone. And if something did go wrong, at least we would have the support of our families to get us through it.

So this is where my pregnancy journey begins...

catching up from the first 21 weeks

I meant to start this blog for my pregnancy a long time ago but with school starting, I completely forgot! So I will be catching up on my journey through pregnancy by catching up on the first 21 weeks.