23 Weeks, Thanksgiving Decor & More

I am: 23 weeks pregnant
Size of Baby: Large Mango ~ just over 1 pound and a tad over 11" long
Total Weight Gained: 5 pounds
Maternity Clothes: I have a nice little maternity clothes section in my closet. This past weekend, I got a few more things when my Mom and I went shopping. I bought a couple of items and my Mom bought me a few as well. I am wearing maternity jeans and a regular shirt in this picture.
Gender: It's a BOY!
Name: Parker Holt
Movement: I feel flutters and movement here and there ~ such a neat, but different feeling!
Sleep: I am sleeping A LOT better with my Boppy Body Pillow. I love it!! I still have a few struggles occasionally, but it's improved so much.
What I Miss: Hmmm...I still miss the same things that I have all along. I'm keeping a mental list of all of these things I will induldge in after Parker arrives.
Cravings: No cravings ... I actually got to thinking this week and I guess I'm craving what I can't have.
How I'm Feeling: I'm feeling great!
Best Moment last Week: Going back home (Odessa) for the weekend to spend time with my Mom and Armando. Mom and I had a lot of fun shopping, visiting, baking and of course eating several yummy meals - my hometown favorites. I'm sure that's why I'm up to 5 pounds gained, hee hee. I hadn't been home since we found out we were having a boy so it was really fun to shop for "boy" stuff. The adorable stuff is endless. We got some great things for our sweet Parker. Thanks Mom for a great weekend!

In other exciting news, our crib and changing table have arrived at Babies R Us - hooray! We will be picking them up this weekend and hopefully getting them both put together next week. Get your tools ready Dad - here's hoping they go together smoothly. Putting furniture together is always a fun experience. We got his mattress delivered last week. Once we get the crib together, we can hang his name that I painted on the wall. There are still many more projects and things to do in his room.

A registering for gifts we will go on Saturday as well - how exciting. I've been working on a registry checklist for a week or so. I've heard and seen how overwhelming it can be so I wanted to be as prepared as we can. We are registering at Target and Babies R Us. Hopefully these checklists will help us not be as stressed, but have fun and enjoy the day registering for gifts. We are going to have a lunch date in between stores so it should be a wonderful day.

For something fun, I scanned a portion of a scrapbook page I made a few years back. It's a baby picture of John and I with our "stats". I wonder who Parker will look like and how much he will weigh? We figure that his hair will be pretty fine and of the strawberry blonde variety, but time will tell. We were both born in the morning so maybe he will be too!

Last week, I got my grandmother's (My Dad's Mom) rocking chair dusted, vacuumed and touched up some scratches. I washed Parker's comforter and folded over the back of the chair since it won't be going in the crib. Ignore the areas and stuff around the chair...it's still a work in progress. This is where the chair will sit and the table beside it. We should get it his lamp in this week. We can't wait to rock and read books to Parker in this chair.

In Halloween news, we had a nice evening. John went and picked up pizza for us and I decided not to make cupcakes and we just had a few pieces of candy for dessert...we had plenty. We had 120 trick or treaters, which I know is a lot, but it was about 50 or so less than last year. It didn't seem as busy, but maybe it was because it was on a Monday night? After the crowd died down, we turned off the light and watched a few recorded TV shows.

Today I started packing up the Halloween decorations and put out a few "turkey" items. We don't have a lot of Thanksgiving decor, but always fun to put it out and anticipate my favorite holiday. I love Thanksgiving because it doesn't have the stress of Christmas. You can just enjoy food, family and football. Plus I love it because it kicks off the Christmas season - you know once it's over Christmastime begins. I LOVE Christmas too, just love Thanksgiving a tad more. We will be spending Thanksgiving in Arkansas this year. Next Thanksgiving, we'll have a 9 month old - wow!! We will be putting our tree up and decorating for Christmas the week of Thanksgiving, before we go to Arkansas, so that when we get back it's already done and ready to enjoy.

I guess that's all of the news for now - have a great week!

Until we meet again...
Riley