Maternity Monday ~ Week 32

Less than 8 weeks left! We are getting close! And I totally cheated on the chalk board this week and edited it on the computer...probably how I am going to do it here on out :)

Total weight gain: Creeping up to 40 pounds!

Stretch marks? Still don’t have any - Loving Tummy Rub Stretch Mark Oil by Mama Mio and Basq Advanced Stretch Mark Butter (now on my third tub).

Sleep: I am actually having some nights where I'm only waking up once to pee…those nights are nice!

Miss Anything? I miss being able to lay down on my stomach and I miss being able to get on the floor and play with my pups.

Movement: Seems like she is moving more and more. Maybe it's because she is getting bigger and I feel every little movement now. 

Food cravings/aversions: Same as the last update

Anything making you queasy or sick? Just when you thing you've entered the home stretch - got sick again on March 21 :(

Labor Signs: Not that I know of. They keep saying, "Oh, you'll know!" But will I? How do I know it's not just gas?

Symptoms: Even though my doctor says I'm pretty low maintenance I have still had pretty much every symptom under the sun: nausea, morning sickness, dry skin, bloody noses (from the dry skin), pregnancy rash (I don’t think it was PUPPPS because it was only there for about 2 weeks), acid reflux, my feet are starting to swell, and a slew of other normal symptoms that the books will tell you you might get.

Belly Button in or out? In

Mood: It's okay, I just slowly move around work and the house.

Looking forward to: Not having to take so many pills - I take 5 per night to combat some of my pregnancy symptoms.

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When Vacations Attack

Have any of you seen this video of an American Bison slamming into a parked SUV in Yellowstone National Park?! Its pretty crazy!

{American Bison Slams Into Parked SUV in Yellowstone National Park (ABC News), Source}

All I can say that if this was a rental car, I hope they got the insurance! 

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Maternity Monday

While perusing my baby registries I noticed that Buy Buy Baby has some pre-made registry lists. And one of them is all about traveling with baby :)

You can see the full list here: Top Consultant's Picks: Traveling with Baby

Here are some of the items I will buy when the time comes:

Gate Check Stroller Bag

Car Seat Travel Tray

First Time on a Plane children's book 

Disposable Bibs

Car Storage Organizer

All photos are taken off Buy Buy Baby's website. None are my own.

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The Ultimate Road Trip(s)

There has been an article going around the web with the best was to hit all the best landmarks in the US. Randy Olson developed an algorithm that would determine the fastest route that would stop at a national historic site, park, monument, or natural landmark in all of the lower 48 states. A few of the landmarks are: The Alamo, The Grand Canyon, The Statue of Liberty and The White House.

To read more about how he came up with all these stops click here. 

{USA, Source}

Pretty cool! He then did the same thing for South America and Europe!

{Europe, Source}

{South America, Source}

Who is planning their next road trip?

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Extreme Travelers

My last three posts have all been about baby, so now let’s go back to travel.

This couple has driven their 1999 Dodge Intrepid through every single county in the lower 48 states. There are 3,108 counties if you didn't already know that (I didn't). They have also made their way up to Alaska and plan to ship the car to Hawaii to complete the U.S’s full 3,142 counties.

{Jon and Jenn Riehl, Source}

Their current plans are to finish visiting Alaska and then make the trip to Hawaii (which I know they will love) but I’m not sure how they will ship the car from island to island but where there is a will there is a way right?!

To date they have put 540,000 miles on the ol’ Dodge that was bought used back in 2002. I am a little impressed with the Dodge but not surprised. I have had two vehicles in my life and both have been Dodges. My first was a Dodge Ram 1500 and it was a great truck that was passed onto my brother. It served us both very well through high school and college. And now I have my little Dodge Caliber that only recently needed a big fix with its fuel injection. But its running great now and I hope to get a good 5 more years out of it.

{the green depicts when they visited the county seat, Source}

Have you ever wanted to take an epic road trip? What is the longest road trip you have taken? Mine was back in 2013 when my friend and I drove to Destin, FL from Houston, TX.

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Maternity Monday

Welcome to the World travel themed baby shower can leave you with SO many options for food. Here is what I chose:

Food

Cupcakes - America

Macarons - France

Taco Cups - Mexico

Spaghetti - Italy

Mini Hamburgers - America

Soft Pretzels - Germany 

Crab Rangoon - Asia

Fruit Cups - World Wide (and the healthy option) 

Drinks

Fruity Sorbet Punch

Water

Wine

Pink Lemonade

And my 'Thank You' for coming gift was a box full of European chocolates and cookies!

The cupcakes, macarons and crab rangoon were all bought locally and the rest we made from various recipes found online via pinterest.

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Pinspiration: Baby Shower Edition

Crafting for a baby shower can take some time. My theme was Welcome to the World so there were a lot of maps involved. Here are the crafts we did for mine.

1 – Mod Podge Kleenex boxes for the flowers. Except we didn’t use mod podge, my mom found that using Elmer’s Clear Glue (not gel) in the same way as mod podge (painting it on) worked just as well and it was much cheaper.

2 – We did the same thing for the letters B-A-B-Y that decorated the table

3 – The ‘Welcome’ wreath - I had seen some of these on Pinterest but they were using wrapping paper so we used a map. I think it turned out great! It took my friend all day to make. If you plan on making one of these give yourself plenty of time. I plan to spray it with spray varnish so it will keep longer. Here is the tutorial she used.

4 – Food labels and gift tags - I made these with my Silhouette. This machine is pretty cool. You just design what you want on the Silhouette software and then cut it or draw it. All the pictures and cutouts I purchased from the Silhouette design store.

5 – Banners - probably the easiest out of all the crafts. We just cut out some triangles and used some twine to string them together.

6 – We also spray painted some items, that’s pretty self-explanatory.

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Week 29

The baby shower went splendidly but man did it wear me out! I pretty much relaxed and watched Netfilx all day. I'll be blogging about the shower in the coming posts and probably not so much about travel. Today I want to share with you how things are going at Week 29:

Total weight gain: about 30 pounds

Stretch marks? None yet - I have been using Tummy Rub Stretch Mark Oil by Mama Mio (still on first bottle) and Basq Advanced Stretch Mark Butter (on my second tub). I apply the oil after my showers and the butter in the morning and when I feel I need more moisturizer. And it goes ALL OVER the belly, rib cage and love handles! 

Sleep: Gonna be honest here - I already feel like I will never get another good nights sleep again. If I'm not waking up to pee I'm waking up because my hips hurt. 

Miss Anything? You always want what you can't have - I miss wine, champagne and hot dogs

Movement: She is my little wiggle worm in there! Sometimes her movements make me nauseous! 

Food cravings/aversions: I'm still not real fond of any sort of meat. I can do chicken but not a lot

Anything making you queasy or sick? I started to wake up and feel nauseous again but I haven't thrown up since January 20th so that's good :)

Labor Signs: Not that I know of. They keep saying, "Oh, you'll know!" But will I? How do I know its not just gas? 

Symptoms: I now have a pregnancy rash - yay! Its on my elbows and knees and can be pretty itchy! And acid reflux. 

Belly Button in or out? Its still in!

Wedding rings on or off? They have been off since December, my fingers swell pretty easily. They swell on a really hot day or when I work out so I knew they wouldn't be on for long. 

Mood: Its okay, I just slowly move around work and the house.

Looking forward to: Having this little munchkin out here with us!

{Week 29!}

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Airline Etiquette

This article comes from Yahoo! Travel it is what an ex-flight attendant thinks are some helpful airline etiquette tips. 

Prepare ahead of time

Prepare for your flight folks! This means includes arriving early and not packing too much. 

Don’t pack more than you can lift.

It really bothers me when I see people with these HUGE “carry-on” bags that can barely make it down the aisle. Come on, get rid of that bag and buy one within the airline’s regulations. It will save you and other passengers a lot of hassle.   

Help someone who’s struggling with their bags

I would help someone truly in need like an elderly passenger or a parent traveling alone with a child. But if you’re just one of those people that tries to shove your shit into a space that it obviously isn’t going to fit you are not going to get any help from me.  

Check before you recline

Reclining has become a hot-button battle. I think some courtesy is warranted here; maybe check to see what the person behind is doing. If they are asleep, recline, if they are working on their laptop maybe you should keep your seat in the upright position. And when food service begins, bring your seat back up so the person behind you can eat without the tray table jabbing him or her in the gut.

Armrest Rules

When you have three seats next to each other, who gets what armrest? To Whitmore, the answer is easy. “The person sitting in the aisle has the luxury of getting up first. The person by the window has the best view.” So, she thinks the person stuck in the middle should have domain over both of the two middle armrests. “Nobody knows that rule,” a surprised Whitmore says. We’re shocked, too.

I LOVE her answer to this! I was stuck in the middle when traveling to Hawaii and the guy in the window seat was hogging the armrest the ENTIRE time! How rude!  

Be respectful of those around you

Don’t play your music/video games/movies on your device without headphones. And try not to stink up the entire cabin with food you bring on board.

It’s OK to shoot down a chatty seatmate, but do it politely.

Allow those in front of you to disembark first

This should be an easy one but you would be surprised how many times someone across the aisle or behind me will try and disembark between me and my husband. Hello! We’re together and I’m pretty sure I can walk faster than you!

Hold your tongue

If you encounter a rude passenger, take it up with the flight attendant first.

Be a good parent

This one speaks for itself!

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Maternity Monday

This past weekend was all about preparing for the baby shower. My mom and best friend came into town to help craft and get everything set up. Here is a preview :) My theme is Welcome to the World

Invitations from Minted

Art from Pottery Barn Kids

Thank You tags made by me with my Silhouette.

Food labels made by me with my Silhouette

Flowers are ready!

Cardboard letters covered with maps. Made by my mom and bff

The food table coming together! All we need now is food!

Can't wait to show y'all everything when it is all put together!

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