weekly bean update

oh me, oh my... these weeks are just flying by now!



this past weekend we had our baby shower and on top of getting loads of lovely baby goodies, we've now got leftovers for days... i might be a bit excited about that! i spent the other day washing baby clothes and organizing them into sizes. it's all so surreal still and i can't believe just how soon our little penelope will be here. i absolutely can not wait!

my belly is growing daily, which means so is my little lady, so i say bring it on! i'm also kinda stoked that the weather and my growth seem to be directly related to each other. the larger i grow, the chillier it gets. that means lots of big cozy sweaters (like the one pictured), along with tea, hot chocolate, and soup... hello favorite things! 

weekly bean update

no change in the fruit baby this week, but here's a belly shot for ya!



this little gal has hit her stride this week! there is a noticeable difference in the width of my midsection if i'm not mistaken, and my lower back is starting to notice it too! the past two days i've woken up feeling a bit like an old lady, but i think that just means i really need to step up my prenatal yoga game. more stretching and strengthening exercises are just what the doctor ordered!

let me also just take a minute to tell you about the jeans i'm wearing in this here photo. you can't really see them, but they deserve mentioning none the less. did you know that on forever 21's website there is a maternity section?!?! i have refused to spend any serious amount of money on maternity clothes, but i was missing jeans like crazy, and no way could i survive the fall/winter season without them. so i was giddy when i saw these bad boys for just 14 bucks on their site. they seem to be sold out of them right now, but if they come back in i highly recommend them! they're a super stretchy skinny jean, and they're uber comfy to boot!

hope you all have a great weekend friends. the mr and i are off to dinner tonight with some of our newly parenting friends, and it was pregnant ladies choice on where to eat, so vietnamese is what's on the menu! i might be a bit excited about it :)

weekly bean update



24 weeks and moving right along! let me just preface this post by saying technically this weeks fruit baby should have been a papaya, but i was having a heck of a time finding a large papaya this time of year for some reason. so i saw on another fruit baby chart that little miss penny is also the size of a spaghetti squash... that i could easily find! 
in addition, the updates will now be in 3 week increments from here on out. so this here squash is for weeks 21-24. i just can't believe how fast it's going now!
THE STATS...
HOW FAR ALONG- 24 weeks today! that's 6 months folks... WOOHOO!

SIZE OF BABY- 1.25lb and 12.5in (my squash is a little on the short side)

MATERNITY CLOTHES?- pants, for sure! i'm still lucky enough though to be able to wear a lot of my pre-preggo dresses thankfully, and now that it's getting on to cardigan weather i'm becoming much more of a happier camper too!

STRETCH MARKS?- nope! it's getting to the point though where i now knock on wood whenever i have to answer this question. 

SLEEP?- sleep has been a bit of a bastard to me lately. i'm tossing and turning a whole lot more then i used to, but i always fall back to sleep rather quickly. it's definitely getting harder to stay comfortable though. 

FEELING ANY MOVEMENTS?- oh yes indeed! penny has figured out the joys of kicking my bladder recently. so that's fun. all of a sudden i'll have the extreme urge to pee, and then just like that it passes. this little lady probably thinks she's quite funny in there!

ANY CRAVINGS?- nothing too strong... though the thought of an ice cream sundae is never far from my mind!

ANY FOOD AVERSIONS?- nope... and i even got over my broccoli aversion finally! i actually had some in a stir fry for lunch today. so glad that didn't stick around!

VISIBLE BUMP?- yup yup! now other people can tell that i'm actually pregnant too... not just fat :) that's certainly a good thing!

BELLY BUTTON. IN OR OUT?- still in, but it's getting quite stretched out as of lately

STILL WEARING RINGS?- still on!

BEST MOMENT OF THE WEEK- being able to now watch penny move from the outside. i'll just lay down and stare at my belly and watch her poke around in there. it's probably my favorite thing to do now. she's such an active little gal!

WORST MOMENT OF THE WEEK- being so very hungry last night, but too damn tired to do anything about it. i could hardly peel myself off the couch to make something to eat. evan kept offering to make something for me, but i couldn't think of a single thing i wanted. note to self... don't let yourself get to that extreme hunger point again. it does not make for a happy you! 



weekly bean update... x2

last week i was a fruit baby slacker... there, i said it! i took the pictures and then for some reason just never got around to posting them. so lucky you, you get 2 fruit babies for the price of one this week!

first here are last weeks 20 week photos... that's right, i'm now half way there!!!

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer


jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer

and here's this weeks 21 week photos!

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer

this bump is getting legit i tell ya!

and this week according to the bump...

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer

HOW FAR ALONG- 21 weeks 5 days

SIZE OF BABY- 10.5 inches and 12.7 oz

MATERNITY CLOTHES?- i've been doing a lot of non-maternity leggings this week. i found a few uber comfy pairs and i now don't want to wear anything else. and don't tell anyone... but i've even fallen victim to the jegging! luckily i have the pregnancy excuse.

STRETCH MARKS?- none yet, and i will keep lathering up with lotion to help keep it that way!

SLEEP?- i've been doing a lot of tossing and turning this past week, but i always fall right back to sleep, so i'm not complaining just yet.

FEELING ANY MOVEMENTS?- penny is really hitting her stride this past week. she gives some really good jabs and upper cuts to my inners. i love it! it feels like popcorn popping in my belly. evan finally got to feel her kick last week too. i'm so excited to be able to share that with him now because for weeks only i could feel it and it's so amazing that it must be shared!

ANY CRAVINGS?- oh boy, yesterday i do believe i had my first really preggo craving. i convinced evan (let me just say that it didn't take much work) that it would be a great idea for us to have chocolate milkshakes for dinner. he obviously agreed, so we got ourselves some soy delicious chocolate ice cream, and topped them off with some soy whip whipped cream. it was vegan heaven!

ANY FOOD AVERSIONS?- still can't eat brocolli

VISIBLE BUMP?- oh yes yes! finally it's a real baby belly. i've even started to experience people reaching out and rubbing it without warning. we'll see how quickly that loses it's charm :)

BELLY BUTTON. IN OR OUT?- still in

STILL WEARING RINGS?- yup, so far so good!

BEST MOMENT OF THE WEEK- that milkshake is right up there, but another favorite moment was taking a nap a few days ago while playing some music to my belly for penny. she kicked a bit at first and then fell right asleep with me. heart... melt!

WORST MOMENT OF THE WEEK- it was totally not pregnancy related, but our shed was broken into friday night! 5 or so other houses on our block were hit as well. it was a real bummer, but luckily they didn't really get anything from us. just having people creeping around our backyard while we slept totally freaked me out a bit. bastards!



weekly bean update

i'm a little bit late with this post... but we've now got ourselves a mango baby!

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
and this week according to the bump...

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer

i decided to switch things up a bit and add this fun little weekly questionnaire that i found online to each weekly bean update. so here goes...
HOW FAR ALONG- 19 weeks 6 days. i told ya i was late with this one.

SIZE OF BABY- well the website says 8.5oz, but at my last dr appt penelope was already 9oz. so who knows :)

MATERNITY CLOTHES?- maternity pants are heaven sent. not sure why i waited so long to scoop up a pair!

STRETCH MARKS?- none

SLEEP?- sleeping MUCH better at night thanks to my pregnancy pillow, and a mini-afternoon nap is now a requirement.

FEELING ANY MOVEMENTS?- penny is kicking like a pro! she gets very excited after i eat a good meal. perhaps that's why she's already 9oz!

ANY CRAVINGS?- nothing so strong that i feel like it's a true pregnancy craving. certainly not sending evan out in the middle of the night for anything.

ANY FOOD AVERSIONS?- still broccoli. i haven't touched it since getting knocked up.

VISIBLE BUMP?- nothing huge, but definitely looking round!

BELLY BUTTON. IN OR OUT?- still in

STILL WEARING RINGS?- as of now, yes. there are definitely times during the day though when i wonder if i'll be able to get them off. summer heat doesn't help that at all!

BEST MOMENT OF THE WEEK- eating lots of cake at our friends slip-n-slide baby shower. check out the smilebooth fun that was had... HERE!

WORST MOMENT OF THE WEEK- having a minor meltdown when i couldn't find something to wear that i liked... or fit anymore. it happens every so often and i just have to get passed it and move on. these clothing freak outs are getting old!