26 Weeks and a BABYMOON!

**This is a pregnancy-related post, so please feel free to skip this post if you're not up for it. God bless.**

Hello hello, and happy Wednesday! Today I am 26 weeks pregnant, and that is pretty amazing. I won’t bore you with my sap today…I’d rather share all of the pictures we took on our BABYMOON THIS WEEKEND!

We spent the weekend in lovely Peru, IL and did so many fun things together. I should first mention that T planned the entire trip all by himself, so he gets ALL of the credit (and many brownie points)! The trip started off with a lovely spa pedicure, which I must say I enjoyed more than any other pedicure EVER. Could be that my feet are extra achy…or it could be the fact that I felt extra loved and appreciated. Either way, it sure was heavenly.

After getting settled in at our hotel, we went to a lovely Mass at a nearby parish, and then headed to Uptown Grill for dinner…where we had our very first experience with Ipad menus. Overwhelming! Haha, or maybe we are just indecisive order-ers! Either way, we ended up with a delicious meal of crab-stuffed fried mushrooms, a steak sandwich (me), and shrimp fajitas (T). Oh, and some pretty delicious dessert (I had mine for breakfast the next day). A terrifically romantic dinner!

The next day we woke up bright and early (oops! Pregnancy either causes me to sleep way too late or wake up way too early! Sorry T!) and headed to a nearby bar for some Bloody Mary’s (virgin) and some crazy “root beer barrel drink” (T). And of course we had to stop and take some pictures along this creepy railroad we found…although I told T that stopping to tie his shoe next to the railroad was probably not his best decision.

Delicious cinnamon rolls...couldn't resist!

T asked me to take a pic of this menu so he could recreate some of these drinks at home!

Next, we headed to the pumpkin farm. It was a little rainy, but that didn’t stop us from picking out some delicious treats…including a half-dozen apple cider donuts, an apple pie, and a huge jug of apple cider. T got to enjoy a mug of spiked cider back at the hotel, courtesy of his Fireball stash…I enjoyed a virgin mug heated in the microwave!

After that, we headed to the Peru antique mall. This is a special place because I used to go here with my grandma when she lived in the area…I know she would be very proud that I dragged T there! Although no pictures survived, he was a good sport.

Then we took a little football break, watched our beloved Bears rack up another victory, and after that we were off to dinner again! We tried and tried to find a cool niche-y place, but so many places were closed (Sunday night). So we ended up at good ole Olive Garden, where they graciously gave us a free dessert! That counts as a win in my book.

T enjoying his "Italian Margarita"

On our last day in town, we slept in a bit (thank you, peanut!) and then headed to Starved Rock for some “aimless wandering.” 

A shot of the bridge from our car! I HATE driving over bridges!!!

We decided we wanted to get a few memorable souvenirs of our trip to show peanut someday, so we stopped into a local winery and had a lovely woman help us pick out a few memorable bottles of wine. We made a pact to open one when I am officially 40 weeks, and toast to the new baby (/try to induce labor)! It will probably only be a half-glass for me, don’t worry. But after all of that waiting, it will taste SO GOOD! T also bought a bottle of their homemade “apple pie schnapps” (gag), and we got a bottle of blackberry wine to save for later. Maybe we’ll open it on peanut’s 21^st birthday and let him/her have a glass, who knows!

Another interesting tidbit…as soon as we walked into the winery, and I mean AS SOON AS we walked in, the woman working there immediately noticed that I was pregnant. A) I am still not used to that kind of immediate recognition, but B) it was pretty cool. And then C) as soon as she asked me a few polite questions, she asked if we knew what we were having. We said that no, we do not know, and then she very firmly told me that we ARE having a girl. It was so wild! She told me that she could totally tell by the way I was carrying (apparently very high?), and that she is “never wrong.” She even asked us to find the winery on Facebook after the baby comes and let her know if she was right! Now before everyone gets their feathers ruffled, I totally know that many people claim to “know” these things and always be right (my grandma was one of these people…I wonder what her prediction for me would’ve been!), and really, the odds of 50/50 make it pretty easy to guess. But still, it gave me the chills! I think it’s because I’ve been feeling GIRL so strongly this entire time. I guess only time will tell! And, for the record, I am fully prepared to eat crow (and be DELIGHTED!!!) if we welcome a little mister in January!

After a quick lunch at the Starved Rock Lodge, where I have had many lunches with my G&G as a youngster, we headed back home. It was a LOVELY and relaxing babymoon, and I feel so blessed that we were able to spend that time together!

T outside of the lodge, dodging the rain with style.

Our last babymoon meal!

And without further ado...On to the bump-age!

How far along?  26 weeks! Baby is apparently 13.5 inches long and over two pounds…how is that possible?!

Clothing? Mostly all maternity, but squeezing a few baggy sweaters/tops in there as well. Lots of big & cozy sweaters this weekend!

Stretch marks? Nope, let’s see if I can stay lucky here.

Sleep? The nighttime bathroom trips seem like they are back and here to stay. Have to be extra careful getting out of bed because, well, I am large and have poor balance…bad combo.

Best moment of this week? BABYMOON!!! Had such a great time with T, and enjoyed every single minute of quality time we were able to squeeze in. I sure do love that guy, and I can’t wait to see him as a dad.

Worst moment of this week? Aside from the less glamorous of pregnancy symptoms, there was a moment on our trip where I maybe-sorta-kinda-convinced myself that T was dead. He left to go Wal-Mart and I misunderstood and thought he was just going downstairs for a minute…and then, of course, his phone was on silent when I tried to call him (5 or 6 times). I found myself wandering around the parking lot looking for our car with tears in my eyes when he FINALLY called me back to tell me that he had run to the store to buy me a special treat (truffles)! Needless to say, I felt pretty dumb. Thanks hormones.

Miss anything? At the risk of sounding like a lush, I am pretty excited to dig into those special bottles of wine!

Movement? Yesterday I swear it felt like she was break-dancing in my stomach! It was wild. She would not sit still, and my stomach was going crazy. So awesome! In general, she moves a fair amount during the day/evening, but I would not call her the most active baby in the world. I am always craving more and more movement! The movement that I do feel is mostly kicks (occasionally a few really hard ones, too!), pops, and flips. Each one is amazing. She tends to favor my right side, and is just learning how to kick me in the ribs…but hey, I’ll take it!

Symptoms? Still not feeling good in general. Very, very achy ribs (which I believe is at least in part due to increased baby kicks in this area!), costochondritis, heartburn/indigestion, dizziness, RLP, a horribly sore and crampy back (especially at night), lack of balance/coordination, Charlie horses, terrible sinuses, and my upper linea nigra is coming in! Oh, and a few of the veins on my legs are becoming…um…pronounced. Yuck. Not all of this is glamorous, I get it!

Food cravings? Coconut water, goldfish crackers, Lindor truffles, chips and salsa, APPLE CIDER DONUTS!

Gender? Well, a stranger seems pretty confident that I’m having a girl so…I guess that’s that (kidding).

Labor Signs? Nope.

Belly button in or out? In the morning it’s an in-betweenie…but by evening, it’s a baby-outie. CYOOT.

Wedding rings on or off? On, but fingers are swelling occasionally.

Mood? As you read, I have been a little irrational/weepy…but in general, feeling ridiculously happy.

Rituals? Nighttime lullaby, holy water on the belly in the morning, holy oil on the belly at night. Routine bedtime chats. And a few playful poke fests to watch the baby squirm around in my belly!

Milestones? My baby’s eyes are open this week! Isn’t that wild?! Seriously…I can’t get over the fact that my baby is floating around inside of me with her eyes OPEN! It’s just so surreal!

Looking forward to? My 28-week appointment on Oct. 29, and officially entering the third trimester NEXT WEEK!!! Say what?!?!?!

This week's pregnancy-small-talk-gems (aka things other people say to pregnant ladies without thinking): A male co-worker talks to me frequently about my pregnancy, which is pretty funny. He tells me lots of stories about his wife’s pregnancy, and we compare and contrast. Yesterday he said, “It’s amazing, you don’t look swollen or anything!” Apparently his poor wife swelled up like a beach ball during the last trimester. I assured him that that could still be in my future, and while I’ll take the compliment, I sure felt for his wife. Pregnancy is amazing and tough, all rolled into one neat little package!

And NOW, some gratuitous family photos…because my mom is on a huge photo cleanse this week, and these are too funny not to share!

From my days as a baby model...no joke! When I was a baby, I did a few print ad's and this Johnny Jump-Up box! Don't I look excited?! Haha!

Okay so, I have been BEGGING my mom for pictures of her pregnant because I had never seen any...and she finally found a few! She always complains about how 'huge' she was, but I think she looks pretty cute! Check out those rad glasses, too!

That's me in the pink, when my mom was pregnant with my brother Joe. She's rockin' that bump, don't you think?! And yes, I am holding Bert and Ernie dolls...ah, the good ole days.

And this gem...my young skinny father with facial hair. AHHHHHHHHHHH, how weird! My mom promises that she never let him leave the house with that stache. After seeing this pic, my dad threatened to post this on Facebook for #TBT with the caption "the day I got out of prison." What a jokester.

Have an amazing week, all!!!!!!