Thursday, January 1, 2015

A Look Back at 2014

Happy New Year! I'm looking forward to all that 2015 has in store for our family.  The past year has been a year of growth, trials, triumphs, blessings, and twists & turns.  I am so thankful for God's mercy and grace that has carried me and my family through this year.  Going into 2015, I see great opportunity and growth for all of us.  I wanted to take a look back at my fondest memories of 2014 as I choose to stand happy and in thanks for all of our blessings.

We started off visiting Marvin in Charlotte, NC to ring in the 2014 New Year together.  Marvin later joined us in Iowa when his work was complete in Charlotte and we began finalizing our wedding plans.  In late January, my mom and my sister threw me a beautiful wedding shower.  In February, we celebrated our bachelor/bachelorette parties with our close friends in Vegas!

March 15, 2014 - Marvin & I got married in Iowa!

Our wedding day was magical and then we were off to Cancun for our honeymoon! We had beach days, swam with dolphins, got massages, a barefoot dinner on the beach, took walks on the beach, slept in a cabana, and had the most romantic boat ride under the stars with a lobster dinner.

When we got back, we took Paris, Sophia, and my youngest sister to Mall Of America for a quick getaway and to give my mom a break! She helped tremendously with our wedding and watched the girls while we were honeymooning.

Marvin headed back to Charlotte to look for a house and get back to work while the girls and I stayed in Iowa for a couple more weeks.  We packed up our UHaul and during their scheduled spring break, the girls and I drove 17 hours to Charlotte! I don't think I've ever been so excited to pull into a driveway after that adventure. :)

The girls started school in Charlotte, made new friends at school and in our neighborhood, and worked hard to get into the new routine at a new school. They did awesome and before we knew it, we were shopping for Paris' 5th grade graduation dress. She looked beautiful and we officially had a middle schooler!

We kicked off summer vacation by celebrating Sophia's golden birthday that happened to fall on the last day of school! We surprised her with a trip to Disney World which was the definite highlight of our summer!

When we got back from Disney, we celebrated Marvin's birthday, the 4th of July, and my grandparents came to visit!

The rest of our summer was filled with checking off our McNutt Summer Live List, grilling out, exploring our new city, and a visit from my in-laws!

We found our church home, Elevation, in Charlotte during the summer and participated in Love Week. This week was really life changing for me and I'll be forever grateful for it.  You can read more about my experience here.  Paris attended Student Takeover camp hosted by Elevation.  It was her first time at an overnight camp and she had a great time.  She was able to bond with her youth group and praise with other students her age.

We closed out summer with Paris' birthday celebration, followed by the first day of school.

In early fall, we found that we were expecting a baby in April 2015!

The fall was filled with excitement over our new blessing and our typical fall traditions.  We also got a surprise visit from my sister, Jenna!  The girls dressed up as the iPhone Emoji Girls which I'm still dying over! :)

Paris and Sophia found out in October that they were going to welcome a baby BROTHER in April!

The rest of our year was spent celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Our holiday season was filled with lots of love and memories.

Happy 2015, Friends & Family! We love you!

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Lil Baby Nutt // 24 weeks

How far along: 24 weeks & 2 days

Gender: Boy! According to my pregnancy app, baby is about 13 inches long, the size of an eggplant, and weighs about 1.5 lbs.  Baby also has eyebrows, lashes, and hair coming in!

Weight gain: 10 lbs.

Maternity clothes: Half & half

Belly button in or out: In

Sleep: Sleep has been rough this week. I wake up often throughout the night because I'm uncomfortable and then my mind races with all the things we need to get done before baby's arrival. However, I have been sleeping in until 9 or 10 now that the kids are on winter break.

Best Moment This Week: We had a fun and relaxing Christmas.  It was full of blessings and probably my favorite Christmas we've had!

Worst Moment This Week: While we were at church, our Pastor began talking about the new year and suddenly I could not remember what year we were going into. Was it 2015 or 2016? I was confident that it was 2016, but I leaned over to Marvin to ask him just to be sure.  Well, the laughter that he let out let me know that my pregnancy brain had conquered again.  

Miss anything: Breathing with ease.

Movement: Heavy kicks with an established routine.  He's very active bright and early in the morning and late at night.

Cravings: Still Chipotle salad and recently vanilla ice cream at night.

Queasy or sick: Feeling good.

Looking forward to: APRIL. Too soon? :) Our hospital tour on Saturday and a fresh new year with new beginnings! Cheers to 2015!

Monday, December 23, 2014

Lil Baby Nutt // 23 weeks

How far along: 23 weeks

Gender: Boy!

Weight gain: 10 lbs.

Maternity clothes: Half & half

Belly button in or out: In

Sleep: Sleeping pretty good - I wake up a few times throughout the night to change positions. 

Best Moment This Week: My birthday! I was seriously spoiled by friends & family.  Thank you to everyone who wished me well and celebrated with an adult beverage for me. ;) Marvin and the girls made my birthday very special, so a very special "thank you" to the three of them.  I woke up to a living room filled with handmade paper snowflakes, coffee, and pancakes. Marvin made an insanely delicious dinner - steak, grilled asparagus, and mashed potatoes - followed by a homemade apple cinnamon cake. It was so good! There are pictures below from my birthday!

Worst Moment This Week: Just some soreness - nothing too bad.

Miss anything: MY MOM :) I haven't seen her since March - thank God for technology.

Movement: Everyday!

Cravings: Chipotle salad, chipotle salad, chipotle salad with extra pico….and sugary cereal at night.

Queasy or sick: Nothing is making me feel sick...feeling pretty good for the most part.

Looking forward to: Christmas Eve, Church, Christmas morning, and creating a little more Christmas magic before it's all over. :)

Monday, December 15, 2014

Lil Baby Nutt // 22 weeks

How far along: 22 weeks

Gender: Boy!

Weight gain: 4 lbs...I'll find out tomorrow the damage over the last month. That appointment I thought I had last Thursday is actually tomorrow. My pregnancy brain is beyond out of control. My mom is suggesting baby boy is going to be a genius because he's taking away whatever smarts I had. :)

Maternity clothes: Same as previous week - not needing maternity clothes. Sticking mainly to leggings or sweats for comfort reasons.

Belly button in or out: In

Sleep: Sleeping pretty good - I wake up a few times throughout the night to change positions. 

Best Moment This Week: Paris and Sophia both had a chance to feel their little brother kick! Paris was full of excitement and awe, whereas Sophia was less than impressed. 

Worst Moment This Week: Probably having a child catch Marvin & I laughing as I was pretending to try out a breast pump at Target. Which only made us laugh even harder and run over to the next aisle. We're so mature. Other than that disaster and potentially scarring that child for life, I'm still dealing with back pain and round ligament pain - not excruciating, but definitely annoying. 

Miss anything: My brain & holiday cocktails.

Movement: Everyday!

Cravings: Chipotle salad, vinegar, salty stuff, cereal, and almond bark or yogurt covered pretzels - sometimes with peppermint.

Queasy or sick: Nothing is making me feel sick...feeling pretty good for the most part.

Looking forward to: More holiday fun!

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Lil Baby Nutt // 21 weeks

How far along: 21 weeks, 1 day

Gender: Boy!

Weight gain: 4 lbs...I'll find out on Thursday last month's gain.

Maternity clothes: Same as previous week - not needing maternity clothes. Sticking mainly to leggings or sweats for comfort reasons.

Belly button in or out: In

Sleep: Tossing and turning most nights this week.

Best Moment This Week: Feeling the baby kick from the outside and Marvin has been feeling baby boy too!  The past 3 days he has been so active and I love it! We also got baby's carseat this week, so this is really happening. :)

Worst Moment This Week: Feeling some aches and pains which I don't remember feeling this early with the girls, so I'm hoping that it's just the current position of the baby and not what I have to look forward to for the next 19 or so weeks!

Miss anything: Again, my brain. I won't even embarrass myself with sharing stories of my forgetfulness, randomness, and slowness. Ridiculous. All I can do is laugh at myself though!

Movement: Lots of it! I've finally had to "listen" to baby boy and stop laying on my stomach. Boo.

Cravings: Salads, tomatoes, avocado, vinegar, and a bowl (or 2...3...4...) of cereal at night.

Queasy or sick: Nothing is making me feel sick...feeling pretty good for the most part.

Looking forward to: Crossing off more Advent Calendar activities...I finally got around to planning our days. Also, looking forward to some holiday baking and finishing up Christmas shopping.