Weekending

This past weekend we had highs in the mid to upper 70's and sunny weather... in February. It was absolutely glorious! I now officially have spring fever! This weekend one of my friends from college came to visit and we had the best time soaking up the sun and just relaxing. Friday night I made french dip sandwiches  and Justin's parents stopped by so we visited with them. I showed her the nursery progress and we spent hours catching up. I think we finally called it a night around midnight which is insane because I normally cannot hold my eyes open past 9:30 these days. 

Saturday morning we enjoyed bagels and then soaked up the sun with a four mile walk on the beach. It was so pretty and relaxing and just perfect! It didn't feel hot like it does in summer so we didn't even think about sunscreen. Well that was a mistake because we actually got sunburned! Just from walking on the beach... in February. NC weather y'all... It's something else! 

After our walk we showered and met Justin out for crab cake sandwiches and a little shopping. I found the cutest little bubble for Anna Claire at TJ Maxx! I'm so excited we are having a girl because all of the clothes are just the cutest! Saturday night we were sunburned and exhausted so we watched a movie and called it a night pretty early. Oh how our nights have changed since college!  

Sunday morning my friend Kristi headed out early and Justin and I kept the nursery at church and went to Florence, SC to visit his grandmother who was just released from the hospital. She has unfortunately  been diagnosed with small cell lung cancer. We will be making many more trips to Florence this spring to visit with her! Please keep her in your prayers! Overall it was such a nice weekend.. I'm hoping some of the warm temps carry over into this workweek! 

Weekending

I was so excited come Friday afternoon for the weekend. We started the weekend with 70 degree weather on Friday.. in February. It doesn't get better than that! It looks like this entire week is going to be similar and I am just thrilled about it.

Friday night we went to Mellow Mushroom with some friends and then ended up in bed early exhausted from the week. Saturday morning we were up bright and early to pack and hit the road. Saturday was my sisters birthday and had plotted with her husband to surprise her and come visit. She lives in Greenville, NC which is also our college town so it's always fun to go back and see how it has changed! My mom came down also so it was such a fun surprise for her! We got to her house about 5 minutes before she came home from running errands and threw up some quick decorations. We were waiting to shout Happy Birthday when she walked in the door.

That night we went out to dinner at a new pizza place and then headed to a local Brewery where there were some of her friends waiting with a whole table set up for her birthday. Even though I couldn't try any of the drinks it was so much fun to hang out and celebrate Ginny! This brewery is set up where you can play all sorts of games and just relax. It's a really fun spot!

On Saturday morning Ginny made us breakfast and we visited her church. After church and lunch Justin and I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and walk around ECU campus. A lot has changed but so much is also exactly the same. We met in college so it was so fun to reminisce!

By the time we got home Sunday night I was exhausted and crashed in bed by 9:30. That seems to be the norm these days! The only downfall to the weekend was that we did receive some very sad news about Justin's grandmothers health. Prayers for her would be appreciated! 

I hope you all had a nice weekend and are ready for Monday! I'm already ready for next weekend. (; 

Pregnancy Update Weeks 27-29

How far along?

29 weeks..  third trimester! 

Size of baby?
2 1/2 pounds and 15-16 inches long

Movement?

Lots of movement throughout the day and especially at night after I eat dinner. I like to close my eyes and imagine what she is doing when I feel her kick. It just melts my heart.. I'm so in love already! 

Symptoms?

Increased heart rate, pressure under my rib cage and a growing belly!
Also, at my 28 week appointment my doctor picked up on a heart murmur.. I've never been told that before so it was quite the surprise! She referred me to a cardiologist who I visited yesterday. I think it is just a harmless thing that should be fine but I'll be having an echo cardiogram done just to make sure. 

Sleep?
Decent.. I toss and turn a lot but otherwise have been sleeping pretty good. Every now and then I have a night where I'm wide awake at 3 am for a solid hour or two before I can fall bask asleep. My snoogle body pillow has made a world of difference! 

Gender?
all girl! 

Weight gain?
22 pounds .. ahh I just try not to think about it!

Workouts?
My goal is to walk for 30 minutes a day. I don't hit that every single day because of cold weather or being busy but I try to most days. I'm also wearing my fitbit and being consience of getting my steps in.

Cravings/aversions?
give me all the cereal.. I think I could eat it for every meal and be happy 

Maternity clothes?
Maternity pants or leggings are a necessity. Some non maternity tops still work but I have several very basic maternity tops that I keep paring with cardigans and calling it a day!

Hubby?
So sweet and supportive

Nursery?
We've been at a standstill the last few weeks but are finally making some progress. We have someone coming out to measure the nursery tomorrow and then we will set up a day for them to replace the carpet with laminate. After that I will go ahead and order a rug! Last weekend while Justin and I were out of town my mom played cupid and set up a trail of rose petals and hearts to the nursery along with several others surprises. It was too cute and hilarious to come home to!

Best part of the week?
Even though we agreed on NO gifts for Valentines Day Justin did not listen and surprised me with a gift card for a prenatal massage and some candy. I am SO excited and have already called to set up an appointment in about two weeks! Now it seems like a while back but I don't think I ever mentioned that I passed my glucose test! That was a huge relief!

Looking forward to?

Excited for the weekend and to have the new nursery floors down. Also excited to hit the 30 week mark in a few days!!

Mexico Trip

Ohhh Mexico, how I miss you and your sunshine, bottomless drinks, french onion soup and beautiful views. As I sit bundled up in a robe in chilly February sniffling from a cold I can't help but reminisce on such a perfect trip! When I shared about our friends wedding we attended here, I mentioned that they were the same couple that got engaged on our trip to Mexico back in the spring. Then I realized.... wait, I never posted about our Mexico trip! It was SUCH a fun trip with our friends. I don't want to miss out on documenting it. So... back in the spring we took a trip to Puerto Morelos, Mexico  with four of our closest friends.  Justin and I knew we wanted one last trip before babies and both knew how much more fun it would be to have friends with us. We were right because we had BLAST! 

I'm a huge fan of all inclusive resorts because everything is just so easy. Upon arrival we were treated with a glass of champagne and couldn't wait to check out the views even before we went to our rooms. We spent pretty much every day having breakfast on our porch and then hitting up the pool or the beach. 

This was the spa and also the view from our room

The views everywhere were seriously amazing! When I go on a vacation like this I really like to just relax and don't need to do a ton of excursions or things to fill my day. I thought this trip was the perfect place to just sit by the pool/beach and read and relax. 

I mentioned that one of our friends got engaged on our trip. This was by far the most fun night of the whole week! We made plans to head down to this pier that overlooked the ocean before dinner for pictures. We all knew (other than Mary Elizabeth) what was about to go down. We took pictures like normal and took some "couple" pictures which was the perfect time for Derek to get down on one knee and get it all on camera! Afterwards when we were walking back up to dinner we ran into a casino night set up. Dinner had a pretty long wait so we decided to play and it ended up being SO.MUCH.FUN. They had a whole casino night set up playing with fake money. Whoever at the end of the night earned the most "money" got a prize. We all played really well and then decided to put our money together to have a better chance of winning..... which we did! The winner won an authentic Mexican sombrero. Our group is currently sharing the sombrero which we pass around at game nights. It's seriously so much fun! By the end we were on cloud nine from the engagement and winning the sombrero. We enjoyed a late dinner at the steak house and celebrated the newly engaged couple! Like I said... it was my favorite night of the trip! 

This picture was too funny not to share. We attempted paddle boarding without much luck. The water was really rough where we were trying and we are inexperienced. Neither one of us could stay up and I actually ended up falling off towards the end and spraining my ankle to the point where I couldn't walk. Thankfully it was the last day of our trip so I only had to hobble around bandaged up for a little bit. 

It was such a fun trip! We are already planning another trip with the same group possibly to the same resort. I apologize for the photo dump- I just couldn't narrow it down! 

ALDI Favorites and Whole 30 finds

Happy Monday friends! Anyone out there still sticking to their New Years resolution to eat healthier? We are not doing a perfectttt job but we have made huge steps to try to choose healthier meals during the week. Today I wanted to share with you some of my favorite finds from Aldi! Everything here is Whole 30 approved and I was able to get it all for under $50. I was so surprised to see that Aldi has such healthy options on their shelves! 

• Produce- I've heard negative things about Aldi produce in the past (going bad quickly) but I personally have never had any issues. This past trip I picked up a bag of apples, bananas, sweet potatoes, romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes, a cucumber and oranges. All great things to have on hand for snacking and throwing together a salad for lunch! 
• Eggs- I eat eggs almost every morning and they sell them for  only .99 cent a dozen! I always try to get two dozen at a time. 
• Guacamole/ Salsa- Last week we made guacamole fried egg burgers and chicken lettuce wraps so I knew I wanted some guacamole and salsa on hand. Of course you can always make your own guacamole but this particular one-the Little Salad Bar Classic Guacamole, has only clean ingredients and is a steal at $2.99. (It comes with two pouches in one box which is so nice if you only need part of it! They also have Whole 30 approved salsa. I picked up some Chipotle Lime Salsa and restaurant style. 
• Meats- My favorite meat I bought was their grass fed burgers. So good! We also picked up shrimp for shrimp salads and a pork loin to make whole 30 carnitas. 
• Sparkling Water- I'm a huge La Croix fan and Aldi sells their own version called Belle Vie that is comparable! 
• Sweet potato chips- these are so addicting! They may not exactly be whole 30 but they only have three ingredients (Sweet potatoes, canola oil, sea salt) which is 10,000 times better than most potato chips! 

If you are an Aldi shopper I'd love to know some of your go to items!