Friday, November 28, 2014

Helping Holiday Hands

I hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving! Last year I cooked our Thanksgiving meal in a hotel room in Charlotte, so I was very thankful to be cooking in a full-size kitchen in our home.  We started our morning with our usual tradition of watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade while eating breakfast.  I began cooking during the parade with glances into the living room to see the floats and witness the arrival of Santa Claus! 

I made great timing this year with all of our dishes, so we sat down to eat around 2pm.  Everyone had their Turkey Ticket that earned them a place at the dinner table. ;) The Turkey Ticket this year was 27 things we are thankful for.  Paris set a beautiful table for us and Sophia arranged our Turkey Tickets to the wall - I was so proud of both of them.

We have many things to be thankful for and all thanks goes to God.

If you follow me on Instagram (@brittneymcnutt), you may have noticed a post I made a few days ago regarding Helping Holiday Hands (#helpingholidayhands).  I'd like to encourage everyone to join in by preforming an act of kindness - big or small - during the holiday season and post it to Instagram using the hashtag #helpingholidayhands.  Then, tag a few friends to challenge them as well!  It will be fun to see what y'all are up to and hopefully motivate others to participate.  We started on Wednesday by providing breakfast for those in need waiting outside for financial assistance.  We brought Paris & Sophia along too.  It's so great to serve others with your children!  They feel great about what they were doing and I pray that they continue to do it when they're adults and have children of their own.

Today we headed out as a family again to share our Thanksgiving meal with the homeless.  I always end up making way too much food, so we packed up some of our leftovers into mason jars and attached a plastic fork.  We drove around the city passing them out.  It feels good to know they had a warm, home cooked meal tonight.

Here's a quick list of a few ideas you can do:

-Goodwill/Salvation Army Donations

-Bring coffee to a friend

-Donate a gift at Toys for Tots

-Shovel snow for a neighbor

-Feed a parking meter

-Volunteer at a homeless shelter

-Donate to a food bank

-Send Christmas cards to troops

-Visit a children's hospital

-Leave an encouraging note 

-Pick up litter

-Hold the door open

-Help carry groceries 

-Smile at a stranger

-Pray with someone

-Help your sibling or parents with a chore

-Donate a coat, hat, mittens, etc.

-Have a potluck

-Deliver cookies to neighbors 

-Volunteer at a school

-Organize a clothing or food drive

-Adopt a family in need of Christmas gifts

Monday, November 24, 2014
Lil Baby Nutt // 19 weeks

How far along: 19 weeks

Gender: Boy!

Weight gain: 4 lbs. 

Maternity clothes: Jeans are officially cutting off my circulation when buttoned. Most of the time I'm in leggings or rigging my jeans.

Belly button in or out: In

Sleep: Decent. I've got a pillow between my knees every night and wake up every time I need to roll over to my other side.

Best Moment This Week: Our final ultrasound. It was our anatomy scan and everything checked out great. We have been thanking God for a healthy baby - an incredible blessing.  Baby boy was pretty stubborn at our appointment.  He didn't move at all! The ultrasound tech had me change positions, so we could get a clearer shot of his heart.  He turned just enough for her to confirm all is well and that is all. Little brat. :) Also, Marvin set up the best date night! He set up our living room and cooked a delicious meal for the two of us! Marvin hired the girls as waitstaff. They were so cute and did such a professional job! ;)

Worst Moment This Week: Back pain & round ligament pain is killing me. If I get up too fast, stretch, or sneeze, round ligament pain is right there to remind me that I'm pregnant!

Miss anything: I will miss having my mimosa or bloody mary while I start cooking on Thanksgiving morning. Boo.

Movement: Feeling more movement late at night, but nothing that can be felt from the outside yet.  The ultrasound tech said that it's because of how my placenta is positioned. 

Cravings: Same as last week. I did have a random craving late one night for Queen City BBQ's collard greens smothered in one of their vinegar based sauces. I didn't act on it in fear of getting arrested for breaking and entering.

Queasy or sick: Feeling good!

Looking forward to: Tomorrow we are headed to Sophia's school to hear her read her "Thankful" essay and excited to hear Marvin and the girls' thankful lists this year.  The ticket to our Thanksgiving dinner is a list of 27 things they're thankful for. :)

Monday, November 17, 2014
Lil Baby Nutt // 18 weeks

How far along: 18 weeks

Gender: Boy!

Weight gain: 4 lbs. thanks to the 5,189,027 fun size candy bars I feasted on. No regrets.

Maternity clothes: Still fitting in all my clothes and jeans, but I think I'll be using the hair tie trick soon.

Belly button in or out: In

Sleep: Sleep is back to normal, but I'm having REALLY crazy and scary dreams.

Best Moment This Week: I put up a few Thanksgiving decorations and started to finalize our menu.  We also had a doctor's appointment last Thursday.  It's always fun to hear the heartbeat! Baby boy was at 138 bpm!

Worst Moment This Week: Hello, back pain! Also, if someone could let my booty know that it doesn't have to be in competition with my bump, that would be great. :)

Miss anything: Deli meat...still. I'm thinking this may never change.

Movement: This little boy has been really relaxed. I haven't felt much movement at all.

Cravings: Cheese and smothering food in condiments...any kind of sauce, dressing, or ketchup. Tater tots and hashbrowns smothered in ketchup is my jam.  You should see the looks I get from Marvin - it ain't pretty, but it sure is delicious!

Queasy or sick: Feeling good, but have a constant stuffed nose.

Looking forward to: We have an ultrasound on Thursday which will include our anatomy scan.  This will most likely be our last ultrasound until Lil Baby Nutt arrives.  We've been pretty spoiled with ultrasounds!  Also, obviously looking forward to Thanksgiving. :)

Monday, November 10, 2014
Lil Baby Nutt // 17 weeks & Gender Reveal

How far along: 17 weeks

Gender: BOY!!!!!!! So excited!!

Weight gain: This is definitely happening, but won't know the number until later this week.

Maternity clothes: Still in regular clothes for the most part, but you can usually catch me with the top button of my jeans undone in the evening. :)

Belly button in or out: In

Sleep: It's been a rough week. I can't seem to get comfortable and my dreams are intense and bizarre.

Best Moment This Week: Paris & Sophia brought home ahhhhhmazing report cards! They both made the Honor Roll and we couldn't be prouder! Also, getting a DVD of our 4D sonogram was really exciting to watch.

Worst Moment This Week: Headaches are back with a vengeance.

Miss anything: Deli meat...still.

Movement: Little flutters here and there - nothing consistent though

Cravings: Sharp, very sharp cheddar.

Queasy or sick: Not regularly, but I randomly threw up a couple mornings ago.

Looking forward to: Thanksgiving prep and cooking - one of my absolute favorite things to do!

I probably had a list a mile long of ideas for a gender reveal party even before I found out I was pregnant. But since our family and most friends are so far away, it wasn't in the cards.  I still wanted to do a fun reveal for the girls though!

I decided to purchase a blank canvas and some acrylic paint in the colors that we want to use in the nursery so that the girls would create the first piece of artwork to go into their brother's nursery! We set up the canvas and paint in our backyard, blindfolded the kids, and led them to the paint. They took turns splattering us the canvas with paint. When the blindfolds came off, it took a few seconds for the news to register and then there were happy shrieks and hugs! It was very sweet and they're very proud that their artwork will be displayed in the nursery. It's a gift full of love!

My heart is so full and I'm still in complete shock that I have a little boy growing inside of me!

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Halloween Recap

We had such a fun-filled Halloween day and night!  Paris & Sophia had the day off from school, so we had plenty of time to celebrate all day.  We kicked off our morning with ghostly pancakes that the girls devoured!  Then, moved on to pumpkin carving.  I love pumpkin picking, but I only love the IDEA of pumpkin carving.  I'm the worst at carving and bending over while carving was not my idea of fun with my little bump! I managed though and they turned out pretty cute!

We made Jack-O-Burgers and our traditional Mummy Dogs for lunch and the girls watched some Halloween shows.  Marvin and I made a last minute run for Halloween candy since we managed to demolish the bags I picked up a few weeks ago.

The girls and I have been so excited for Halloween because of their costumes!  They decided about a month ago that they wanted to do a "sister costume" and go as the Emoji Girls! I loved this idea because it's adorable and it will be the last Halloween that it's just the two of them!  The girls headed to our neighborhood clubhouse for a little party and neighborhood parade.

I think this costume may be my favorite of theirs so far!

Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Lil Baby Nutt // 16 weeks

How far along: 16 weeks

Gender: We have a gender! We will be sharing soon!

Weight gain: Doctor appointment next week will let me know the damage done over Halloween ;)

Maternity clothes: Still in regular clothes for the most part.

Belly button in or out: In

Sleep: Sleeping pretty good at night. This week I've had to stick a pillow between my legs for comfort.  Never thought I would invest in one of those crazy looking pregnancy pillows, but it sounds so dreamy right now!

Best Moment This Week: Finding out the gender and MY SISTER, JENNA, CAME TO VISIT!! We had a blast catching up, going to the ultrasound, shopping, laughing, and celebrating Halloween together!  The ultrasound was so fun! It was about 20 minutes long and in 4d, so we got to watch baby's movements and get a good peek at the face. Baby was much more relaxed at this ultrasound than at the last one.

Worst Moment This Week: Sugar hangover. Ew.

Miss anything: Moisture. My skin and lips have been so dry.

Movement: Yes! Still little flutters - I just can't wait until Marvin & the girls can feel kicks!

Cravings: Nothing specific really.

Queasy or sick: Nope.

Looking forward to: Is it too early to say Thanksgiving dinner?

I don't have a chalkboard picture this week because I had to repaint my board, so hopefully next week we'll be back in business!