Boy oh Boy - What A Week :-)

Hello again friends,

Another week another entry. :-) Hope I am not boring you quite yet! So this past week was beautiful one in good ol' Austin. The weather was unexpectedly pleasant - signs that Spring is in the near future. I am excited for Spring. My hubby tells me that's when Austin really shines! Ahh..ok so baby talk time.

This week agenda:

• Fun Facts
• Hi's & Lows
• Preggy Symptoms

FUN FACTS ABOUT BABY:

*courtesy of purebaby.com

• A baby is born every seven seconds.
• Babies are born with very poor vision but can recognize their mothers almost right away.
• Babies are always born with blue eyes, within a few moments of delivery their eye color can change.
• Babies are born with swimming abilities and can naturally hold their breath. However, they shortly lose this instinct.
• Babies and toddlers are, pound for pound, stronger than oxen. This is especially true of their legs.
• Babies are born without kneecaps.

HIGH's & LOW's
The High's


I love love love my new prenatal fitness workout now! How is that for exciting? What a change from my dreadful start last week!  I mean, I have been dreaming about the moves in my sleep...lol!...I dunno maybe fitness DVD's will be my new thing. Because the gym is certainly not it! lol..

So I just found out this week that there is free Zumba classes being held at the local church in my area on Monday's! So I plan to check that out with a friend of mine. Release my inner latina...lol. Show them ladies that preggy girls can bust some moves too! Looking very forward to that. Stay tuned next week. (Hopefully I don't faint! - this is common for me. I tend to "overdo" it as they say. lol)

This weekend Aaron and I spent some time with our good friends Aubrey and Trevor (married couple sleep over - whoop whoop) Lol. Well anyway, Sunday morning we went to go watch the Austin Livestrong Marathon/Half-Marathon race. It was so inspiring! That was my first time ever watching a marathon in person and it truly brought tears to my eyes to see people of all ages, shapes, weights, and sizes pushing to make it to the finish. Seriously it gave me chills! We even watched as one marathon runner's legs gave out from under him when he was just 50 meters away from the finish. Two other runners, picked him up and tried to carry him across the finish line as we all cheered. He had to be pushed down the last 20 meters in a wheel chair, but just the love in that moment felt by all, was overwhelming.



So I go to the mail box and find an unexpected package from my friend Lorraine. "Wonder what this is?" I open it, only to find a note that said "when you first told me you were having a boy, I ran out and bought all these baby clothes...I am so excited for you and Aaron and can't wait to shower the baby with more cute clothing..love you guys" I unwrap it and low and behold, Baby Woods' first outfits!! THE cutest baby boy clothes I've ever seen. I almost broke into tears! Seriously it was the sweetest, most thoughtful thing ever!! I will never forget it. Aaron went and hung it up proudly in the closet. lol Lord thank you for giving me such amazing friends! Lorraine if your reading this, (which I know you are), thank you...we love you. :-)

Craigslist STEAL!
So as you guys know, I am working on our nursery. (Sorry I haven't update the page. This takes enough time as it is! lol. ) But I haven't done too much yet. It's a work in progress. Anyway so the other day, I was doing my normal Craigslist bargain hunt and found an amazing baby blue swivel rocker listed for $20 bucks!!!
We HAD to have it. I can't wait to hold the baby in it. :-)

The Low's
I think I am addicted to sweets. In fact, I may be in denial about it! So lately, I have been having a scope of ice cream like every night ( I know it sounds bad) but I thought it was harmless. Well now, my body (or baby) or maybe just me is SEEKING the sweet fix. I can't stop thinking about it all the way up until bedtime. Somebody help!

So I went to the doctor yesterday and all is generally well. HOWEVER...doom...dooom...doom. I managed to put on 12lbs since my last visit (just 4 weeks ago!) When the nurse said my weight my jaw actually dropped. And my doctor looks at my charts says "Heart Rate - check, Baby's Heart Rate - Check....then says "Weight...umm 12lbs...what happened girl?!?" Yea not so funny. Then she proceeded to give me her "Wellll I gained 40lbs in my pregnancy...so don't worry"...THEN said "butttt just be careful because those pounds sure are hard to shed!" I think I walked out of that appointment slightly traumatized. I honestly still don't believe the scale. I mean, perhaps the thick sweater I was wearing and belly full of water added 5lbs?? (wishful thinking) lol... Oh well...gotta shake it off. 

PREGGY SYMPTOMS:  I Am Experiencing These Days:

• Weird Dreams - I had a dream about recovering child molesters the other night. Random.
• Backache - Ouchy
• Insomnia - Its getting uncomfy to sleep. I have been on a really awkward schedule. I fall asleep around 3am, wake up at 6am. Then take a nap around noon.
• Heart Burn- bring on the TUMS!! (plus they satisfy my sweet cravings!)
• Preggy Gas - lets just say I give the signal and Aaron makes a dash to the nearest exit! lol   

That's all for now! See you next Thursday!
Tania W. ♥

23 weeks! :-)

Hello again friends,

Week 23! Lets see where do I start.  Oh! Random Fact: According to my Bro-in-Law Josh, today is Micheal Jordan's birthday. 23 weeks...MJ's # is 23....get it?!? (I tried :-/)

Anyway lets move on shall we..."Yes..lets."

This week has been pretty stable for the most part. But I will take you on my adventure yet again. Here is the topic rundown: 

• Article of the Week
• High's and Low's
• Red Light Special aka Valentines Day!

Article of the Week: 5 Worst Food For Pregnant Women 

(*courtesy of barycenter.com)

Ok, lets see how I stand up to the list!

1. Packaged ramen noodles - PASS- Haven't eaten these since college!

2. Soda - PASS - not a drop since I found out I was pregnant!

3. Shelf-stable commercial lunches - PASS - I had Lunchable on a road trip once. It made me sick!

4. Too many frozen prepared meals - FAIL - I eat Stouffer's Pot Roast at LEAST once/week! Oops!

5. Iceberg lettuce - PASS - the thought of lettuce makes me queezy..not a good thing. lol

I'm 4 for 5...YESSS!!

(Now had they mentioned ice cream, Buffalo chicken wings, or Chic-fil-a...I'd be singing another song..) This week I have been craving the oddest foods: I ONLY like breakfast and dinner. So I eat breakfast all day (cereal, waffles, bananas, orange juice, wheat toast etc, and then at night I will make dinner) For some reason I can't come up with anything remotely appetizing for lunch. 

No thank you Mr. Turkey Sandwhich!

HIGH & LOW's

The High's:

1. Aaron and I celebrated our very first Valentine's Day together as a married couple (oo la la la). Ha-ha...(Story Below) Annnnnd two of my close friends got engaged! So excited for Aisha and Zanrieann!

2. So anyone who knows us knows that we love pictures! Just something about capturing moments in a creative way. Well, what better time to break out the camera then now?? After randomly searching Craiglist, I happened to stumble upon an amazing photographer. Amber Vrai :-) We will be working with her in the next few months to capture my maternity and our newborn baby photos! I am so excited to work with her...(and WILL be duplicating the shots below...lol...Check her out!  Amber Vrai Photography!! 

ambervraiphotography.com

ambervraiphotography.com

 The Low's

1. Just one low to report this week.

So I got a new prenatal fitness DVD: Summer Sander's Prenatal Workout. I was SO excited to see it in the mail because, my friends, pregnancy is no time to slack off. (And a slacker I have been!) Well, I pop the video in, watch a bit of it...and after the first 10 minutes - O...M...G! I think I almost passed out. It wasn't even that intense, I have just been so out of it the past few months, that I forgot how hard it is to get BACK into it! Honestly, I had a momentary lapse of depression. Like ...Wow Tania really? Your tired already? This is sad. Very sad. I even started crying! (Blame it on the preggy hormones I suppose.) I think I felt extremely sensitive because just a few nights before I was up really late - a case of insomnia- watching an episode of  "I Used to be Fat" on MTV and I really sympathized with one of the girls. She was crying, and thought she couldn't do it. She wanted desperately to overcome, yet felt so defeated. Fitness is such a mental thing, no matter your size. I keep trying to remind myself that its important to stay healthy for myself, and the life growing within me. So, I think with my husbands encouragement to PUSH, and motivation through prayer and the Word...I think I will get past it. Well I hope.

Philippians 4:13
“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

Isaiah 40:29-31 
“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” 

Hebrews 12:11-13
“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.”

Red Light SpecialValentine's Day!!!

So Valentine's day for us was sweet, loving and simple. I think the thing I loved most about it was neither of us had these big ornate plans, you know like the kind you do when your dating and still trying to win the affections of another. (hehe -dating is  soo expensive - marriage is CHEAP! - jk) 

It's the simplicity of it all that I loved most. Aaron was super excited that I got him a card that said "I love you...despite what my mood swings may indicate." (Pregnancy causes a lot of those) I loved his card that read "The thing I love most of about my day is coming home to you."  We watched his favorite movie (a musical might I add), went to Outback SteakHouse Saturday night (our fav. restaurant outing) and I got red velvet cupcakes (a preggy girls dream come true!) He even played along with me like we were food critiques on an episode of Cupcake Wars. Loved it! :-)

But of course....I had to go and break out...the Red Dress. Ha-ha. Story: So my friend Lydia bought this dress as a wedding/honeymoon gift for me, but I had yet to wear it. Now that I am 5 months pregnant, I figured, well I better try to squeeze into it now, before its too late. Soo...after struggle for 30 mins, I managed to zip it up, belly and all...(hold your obnoxious laughter please)...and Aaron loved it! I think it was the shrink wrapped (and suffocating) belly he found most attractive. Ha-Ha.


 My friends these are the days that make marriage just fun - unconditional love, mixed with a dose of dorky humor.♥

Ta-Ta for now,

Tania W.♥

22 Weeks!

Hello a peeps :-) Me again...


Well as of today, I am officially 22 weeks preggers...that is 5+ months, and in 6 more weeks, I will be entering my THIRD and final trimester! I can not believe time is flying by sooo fast! Whew...madness I tell you. Alright I tried to organize the info below..to help you sort through my random collection of thoughts. Enjoy!


Fun Facts About Baby: 22 Weeks
(According to BabyCenter.com)
  "At 11 inches and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniture newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily."

This Weeks High's & Low's:

The Highs :-)

• I saw snow for the FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE last friday! That was truly amazing! I couldn't believe it. I seriously felt like a 5 year old. It was so beautiful, powdery...and then..my hands started to BURN from making snow balls, so I went back inside. lol That was short lived.

• My baby boy is kicking SO much now. I looked down a few times and could actually SEE when he kicked. Cindy, one of my bff's, asked me to describe how it felt. I told her (after much thought) it felt like hiccups - in your belly! Or like when you sit still and find your pulse/heartbeat, thats kinda what it feels like..but in the tummy! Pretty awesome...but not abnormal..I think I am getting used to it now.The only problem is, this little boy likes to KICK THE HECK OUTTA ME when he is hungry. I literally have to say..."ok ok, i get it, im gonna feed you! Calm down sheesh!" lol I love him :-)

• We are narrowing down our name search...exciting times!!! Stay tuned. Still open for suggestions tho...post your comment below...what do YOU think we should name Baby Woods?

The Lows :-(

• I went to Baby's R Us with my hubby over the weekend and since then have been getting a bit overwhelmed with all the things we will soon be accumulating for our child. Car seats, breast pumps, strollers, infant seats, jumperoo's, bumbo's diapers, bibs, playpen, cribs, pacifers, clothes, the list goes ON AND ON AND ON AND ON!!! Seriously...I thought planning a wedding was overwhelming, this is much more! Lord give me strength.

• My emotions have been a bit down in the pits for some reason. I kinda started to think about how much I'm going to miss the freedom and alone time with my hubby. I know things will be different - many in an amazing way - but I can't help but to sometimes find myself saying "sigh...only 4 more months with just you and me.."  (Call me human I guess.) But I'll shake it off soon. I hope.

MATERNITY CLOTHES!

Omg! So my pants...they dont fit anymore. Period. Like they wont even get up my thighs..and forget past my gynormous booty...lol..Shout out to Ash Gowdy who says "Pregnancy is the only time you can get away with booty-do" When your stomach sticks out more than your "booty do!" lol...hilarious. Love that girl.


Anyway..So I am obsessed with shopping for CUTE (i repeat CUTE) fashion forward, and inexpensive maternity clothes! I refuse to fall apart and become a fashion train-reck simply because I'm sporting a belly! lol




Check out some of my finds to the left! And all these are from FOREVER 21 Maternity! "Yes...black jeggings...I will take you, thank you, skinny distressed jeans...mmhmm thanks...oh cute cocktail dress...I will have you too...Gracias."
Now if only I can convince Aaron to let my buy these...hehe) 
 
And while we are on the topic...I think I am going to have to drop the $50 and go ahead and get a bra that friggin FITS from Victoria Secret. (As much as it pains me to do so...) because it seems I have two more children growing ABOVE my belly if you know what I mean.) It's just out of hand. Anddd...that's all I have to say about that one. *Frustrated* lol

BELLY PICS!

This one's for you Lyds! I promised I would post up my progression belly shots....

So here they are..

November 9,2010 - about 8 weeks

December 13, 2010 - 13 weeks

January 12, 2011 - 18 weeks

January 31, 2011 - 20 weeks

February 9, 2011 (today!) - 22 weeks

Well that is all for this week my friends. Talk to you soon! 

Love

Tania,

 Aaron

&

Baby Boy Woods :-)

Oh, Boy...

Ok, so I have a bit of explaining to do. I know! Its been since September when I made my first post and since then so much has happened! Boy ,what a year it has been since Aaron and I said "I Do!" First we hike cross country to Texas, abandoning our families, jobs, friends to come to a place we have never seen! (Personally I had never even been to Texas prior to our move)....and now...doom doom doom.. WE ARE EXPECTING!

Yep. You heard me right. I am packing a little one. A human life is growing inside my tummy as we..write? (you get the idea) Ouch. (He just kicked me. Rude. ) So that is where we are at! As of today I am 5 months pregnant (or 21 weeks for those of you mommies that can understand the weekly breakdown :-) Last week Wednesday we found out that we were having A BOY!
And he let us know what he was - no denying that one!

(See below - viewer discretion is advised)



Well...this begins my pregnancy journey. (Well in blog that is...) By encouragement of good friends, I am going to document this experience. Every kick, every class, every inspired nursery design...well I am going to make a separate page just for the nursery project to spare those of you who don't quite care for those sorts of details. (Yea right...how could you resist?) 

Aaron and I are so excited to meet our little man!! At first we were a bit shocked when the ultrasound lady told us it was a boy! (I even wore pink polka dot panties to the appointment!) Sorry baby. :-( I didn't intend to emasculate you!) You are alllll boy....lol (clearly).

This whole pregnancy adventure has been quite the ride this far for me. We'll emotionally that is. Physically I've been amazing! Everything is going according to textbook, PRAISE GOD! I haven't even so much as experienced morning sickness! I am truly blessed in that regard.

Now, back to the emotional part. I have been telling my friends as of late when they ask "Sooo how is it?? how do you feel?" I'm sure part of you is asking in the "its so soon, seriously how are you handling this?" type of way.... Well, there is so much to say - but everyday I truly become more and more overjoyed! I am at the edge of my seat in anticipation just to see what this little man will look like! When I go to my ultrasound appointments I feel like I am getting to see someone I love that I missed so much since the last time. Literally, I speak to my tummy like "hey you...aww..look at you getting so big...I missed you pumpkin" Ahhh..my heart smiles.


But it wasn't always that way.
DISCLAIMER: This paragraph is for my "I'm excited for her...but Lord please don't let it happen to me!"friends out there. Perhaps your engaged and the idea of having a child just a few months into your marriage just doesn't sound like your cup of tea. I was there. I know how that feels. And honestly, I truly believe its amazing that the Lord gives us 9 months to go through these different emotions, (and planning!) to bear a child. I mean, it IS a big deal!
Ok so (deep breath), here it goes:

Pre-pregnancy I never really considered myself the "mommy" type. You know, that natural nurturer, longing for the day to have my own tribe of children to kiss goodnight. I mean, I love kids - but as I would always say "I especially love the ones you can give back to their rightful owners!..) i.e my nieces and nephews.

So, for the first month or two into my pregnancy, I was in shock. Literally in denial. Then after my first doc appointment, denial just wouldn't cut it any longer. Then came Fear. Coupled with the "it's not fair, why now?, I'm not ready!" feelings. You name it. I felt it.

Thank God for the Secret Place.
The Secret Place is my sanctuary. It's a quiet place, void of distraction; human voices, cell phones, television etc - a place where its just me...and Him. A chance for me to talk with my Creator, my Father, my Best Friend...let out my anger, frustration, disappointment, and fears. Cry as loud or as soft as I want without being questioned, mocked, or misunderstood.
Day after day, I retreated to the Secret Place. He listens...giving me time to sort through my thoughts...and soon enough...He speaks. It's a still quiet voice that reminds me how much He loves me. He tells me that a gift, not a curse is being formed in my womb. This voice begins to speak words of love, joy, peace and comfort. I open my bible, and the Word fills my heart: "Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Psalms 127:3" He says: "The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places, indeed I have a beautiful inheritance. Psalms 16:6" Suddenly, I go from simply reading them, to believing them...they begin to penetrate the depths of my heart.

Every time I step into the Lord's presence, my heart gets more filled with love and excitement. And at 5 months, I can officially say, my love for my son is overwhelming. I never knew that I could be soooo in love with somoene I have never met!


" I never considered myself the mommy type"
Yet I can feel the Lord tugging my mommy heart strings and I simply can't resist! I know I'm a sap. :-) The Lord is literally using the pregnancy to TRANSFORM who I am. To build my character as a wife (that's a wholllleeee 'nother blog entry)...and now as a mother.


And if my quest in life is not to strengthen my character, to adapt to change, to love more selflessly tomorrow, than I did today...then what kind of life am I living?

Well anyway...I think this essay fills us in for the last few months. I promise to be more frequent. Maybe every Wednesday???

Tune in...


In Gleeful Anticipation,
Tania