craving update:

if you are one of the people who were interested enough to read through my entire 17 week update, or if you follow me on twitter, you know that i have a new craving. cheese balls. not cheetos. not cheese puffs. cheese balls. you know, the kind that used to come in the blue can with the yellow lid? i'd eat a whole can in one sitting in college. especially when i was doing a project.

anyway, i digress... the bottom line is that they don't make those cheese balls anymore. and apparently, any cheese balls at all are impossible to find. or so we thought!

i had so many suggestions on where to look. i think we looked everywhere. every dollar store, every office supply store, every big lots, every grocery store, wal mart, costco, etc. within a 15 mile radius. thank you to EVERYONE who gave me an idea of where to look. but let me share with you where they ARE:

a sam's club in addison.

apparently my sweet husband, who is my hero by the way - in case i haven't mentioned that before, called all the sam's in the area. not all of them carry cheese balls. not all of them have them in stock. so, on his way he went, and he surprised me with these:


hopefully they will last us longer than a week. because they are now being shared with the hubbs and the bug. {who's favorite word now is 'cheese ball'}.

made my heart {and my tummy} so super-duper happy.

yummmmm.....

pool, yet again.

17 week stats.

how far along? 17 weeks, 6 days
total weight gain/loss? -3 pounds
maternity clothes? ummm, yes please. i received the best surprise last week on my front porch! a box of beautiful maternity clothes from columbus, geogia!! thank you terri! i totally reorganized my closet - so now i have an official 'maternity' section. i pushed everything that is non maternity or that i can't squeeze into comfortably to the side, and now right in the middle is all that i CAN wear! yay! {i did make a mistake yesterday - i wore some pants that were a size and a half to big for me non-pregnant, but they had a draw string so i thought i'd be just fine since i could button them. halfway through church, i was about to suffocate! i should have known better to wear that belly band thing!}
stretch marks? not any yet! thank goodness!
sleep? some nights i don't move an inch, and some nights i can't get my mind to stop.
best moment this week? the nesting feeling has kicked in... in high gear. i know it's super early, but i didn't really have this feeling with the bug, so i'm taking full advantage. we also have TWO rooms to plan this time and the plan will be different depending on gender. so i'm doing my best this week to get everything organized so we can start on the bug's big boy room as soon as we find out next week!! {ahhhh! so exciting!!!!!}
movement? last saturday at the gaylord, when we were laying by the pool, i felt definite movement. each day since then, it's only gotten stronger and more frequent. i really feel it in the mornings and at night when i'm laying down. just little kicks here and there. oh, how i love this sweet baby.
food cravings? **new craving alert** planters cheese balls. BUT, unfortunately they don't make them anymore! what?! that's right, those delicious cheese puff balls that were in a blue can with a yellow lid have been taken off the market!!!! how dare they?! so - i've been on a national search for these suckers... not even planters, but just cheese balls. and yes, i've tried all the cheese puffs but they. don't. do. it. {p.s. as i've 'tweeted' about this, i've found out that many other pregnant people share this same craving... exactly. these planters people should be taking advantage of our hormones, shouldn't they!? if they knew what was profitable for them, they would!!!!}
gender predictions? still thinking it's a girl, Lord, help us. if it is, our life savings will be out the door before i can blink. the hubbs has already told me how much he's going to spoil her, and i went with a sweet friend yesterday baby shopping {she's due next week} and she bought all sorts of bows and headbands.... i mean, seriously. i was about to buy some for myself, they were so darn cute. we'll see though. we find out next wednesday! {have i already mentioned that?!}
what i miss: being in shape. i'm not going to elaborate on this one because i don't want to hear everyone's comments, but i'm totally bummed that i've lost what i worked so hard for. i'm trying to give myself a break because i was so sick and tired the first two months, and now it's SO hot - but i need to get back on it, somehow.
what i'm looking forward to: being able to actually nest - not just plan on nesting.
how are you feeling? mostly good... energy level is good on most days, as well as appetite and nausea. i'm starting to have lots of pressure and braxton hicks - which is 'totally normal' according to the doctor - but still not fun. oh well...
comparisons to last pregnancy? at 17 weeks, already feel head over heels for our sweet blt. i feel completely and totally bonded with this baby already, yet with brady, as i've talked so often before, i don't feel like i truly bonded with him until he was 6 or 9 months old. {i know, horrible mom, right?} but it's the truth. i totally struggled last time, but this time, although it's scary to think of two kiddos, i know i'll survive. i may not shower or sleep for days at a time, but i'll survive. i may be tired for the rest of my life, but i'll survive. i'm in a totally different place in my life and in my walk with the lord than i was last time i was pregnant, so i have to attribute a lot of my feelings to that. i have so many precious friends now who have gone before me in this journey, that i didn't have before... and i love that. girflfriends are so important. {whether they're far away or physically near - just an encouraging 'you can do this' on the phone is so helpful}. i'm so excited for baby to be here... as crazy as life is going to get. {and i'm not sugar coating it, i know it will be crazy - i guess, this time around, i just know i can do it}.
milestones? i'm thinking that feelings blt kicking and moving around is a pretty big milestone, huh?

weekend away.

last friday, the hubbs took me 'away' for the weekend to the gaylord in grapevine. our plan was to relax by the pool friday afternoon, all day saturday and sunday morning. no alarm clocks aloud.

have you been to the gaylord? it's such a cool hotel - the sports bar is awesome {where we ate on friday night} and i'll talk about the steakhouse in a sec, but have you seen the pool? the hotel is humongous... i mean, it's made for conventions and stuff like that. the pool though, is not. it was a tad bigger than our neighborhood pool, and was a mix of vegas and the great wolf lodge. there was a d.j. and people that were acting like they were on spring break at south padre.



luckily, we got their early on saturday a.m. and i got one of 5 chairs in the shade, in the very far corner of the pool deck. i finished a book and a half and listened to my ipod. it was great.



now, as for dinner at the steakhouse... i must say my expectations were very high. our favorite is pappa's brothers - and we've yet to find a place to beat it {in our opinion}. {sidenote - i love that everyone has their own favorite steakhouse for fancy occasions!} anyway, the book i had finished reading was ALL about french food at a bistro in nantucket. wow. i needed a great-tasting meal to compete with all the meals that were in my head from that book.





and you know what? i got it. i got a steak with an 'oscar' of scallops and a bearnaise sauce. wow. totally rich but totally wonderful. jeff couldn't believe what i ordered. especially after i'd already eaten two slices of bread, 1/2 a lettuce wedge and a crabcake. let's just say that when we got done, i looked twice as pregnant as i did before we got there. yummy. would definitely recommend it.

thanks for a great weekend, hubby. i love you. you're my very best friend. i'm glad we still like each other.

happy birthday, hubby.

you are our favorite. we love you.

~me, brady, georgia and 'blt'~

wednesday.

last wednesday, i was determined to document our entire day. i've tried this a few times before but either get lazy or i forget... but wednesday i stuck it out strong.

{i've been in mega-documentation mode lately. i want to savor everything so i can remember what it was like having only one child... and so i can remember it accurately - meltdowns and all!!}

here goes:

'good morning, brady!'


he's into this thing lately where he likes me to put him back to sleep... cover him up with a blanket, sing and rub his back. then when i stop he pops right back up and is ready to get on with the day!



i got a late start - but i still wanted to make monkey bread for breakfast so we'd have something to eat off of the next few days.





we had to have a 'snack' breakfast while we waited.



yumm.


coloring after we eat... watching 'chuggington'.


time for independent play - b's grown to love this {as do i}, especially now that i put a timer in there.




just enough time for me to pack our lunches, get dressed and get the car ready for pool time with friends!



meltdown number 1: not pictured. did not like sharing his toys at the pool. i attribute this to not eating lunch because he was too distracted by the pool.

meltdown number 2: not pictured. in the car on the way home from the pool he threw a pretzel at me. i promptly pulled over and took his snack bag away. begin meltdown.

nap time for brady, laundry for me.


more laundry.


unload dishwasher.



blog stalk, starbucks treat.


wake up, snack time.



popsicle - yum.


decides he wants mommy's snack instead.


sprayground.


storm rolls in.


bath time.


*original plan was to grill hot dogs, but storm deters plan and daddy's arrival home. improvise with chicken nuggets*


daddy's home!!!


marshmallows.


daddy grills for mommy while b. gets dirty yet again playing outside.


time for bed. not happy. meltdown number 3.


more laundry for mommy.


whew!

the list.

i took it upon myself to start a new family tradition for brady {and other leach babies that may come along} will look forward to every year. this year, jeff and i made the list - but of course, we okayed everything through brady first. ha. his favorite, of course is the choo-choo... he points to the list and says choo-choo really loud.

so basically, i saw this idea here, and completely copied it.

we just, of course, changed the contents to brady-appropriate items.

sprayground.