When I did the 2013 outfit recap, it was so fun/mortifying to go back and see what kinds of things I was wearing!
So I thought I'd do it again for nostalgia's sake.
Some of these outfits I love...some I hate.
In the beginning of the year, we were still doing all of my pictures on our back porch, and then we began taking them out and about. I like the out and about pictures SO much more!
But hey, share the good, the bag, and the ugly, right people?
Like I said, last week, my second trimester was hit with exhaustion. I have been trying to keep up with going to the gym, but it was the hardest thing to put my sleepiness aside after school and go to the gym. The days that I did go to the gym, I would fall right onto the couch after the gym in my winter coat, gym shoes and all. It was pretty ridiculous!
Finally, around week 24 or 25, I started to get a little more energy, and the gym wasn't as much of a death sentence.
Here's a little side-by-side action!
As you can tell...I do NOT like pants! I cannot find comfortable pants to save my life! It's so flippin' frustrating! But dresses have been my best friend!
I couldn't decide how I wanted to take these weekly pictures. In different locations? Same outfit? What props? And then I decided that I love looking at my outfits over time, so I decided to take them in the same location but with whatever I was wearing. We would take them every Sunday...most weeks. Sometimes it happened on Monday or Tuesday. Then I just added the week with the number using iPiccy!
I could not believe I was already in my second trimester, but was feeling super amazing. Wendel pretty much had to MAKE me take bump pictures because I thought it was so ridiculous. There just wasn't a lot there, but I'm so thankful I did, because slowly the bump appeared! This week, Wendel surprised me with a late birthday gift, and we went to dinner downtown at one of our favorites, Palamino and to see Once at the Aronoff. It was the perfect date night!
The only little prego problem with that night was that the ONLY smell that I could not take was alcohol. Ugh...the smell made me want to rip someones face off. Even mouth wash...the alcohol in that would dive me insane. And this was from like week 5-16 or so. The issue was that the guy next to me had been drinking for quite a while, and drank a beer the entire show! So so frustrating! Luckily, I made it through the show without ripping his face off.
Fifteen Weeks
We had a super random snow day this week, which was perfect! I woke up that day with so much energy, and had mistaken that the "second trimester energy boost" had hit! I cleaned the entire house, made dinners for the week, worked out, and just had a perfect day.
Sixteen Weeks
This week was Thanksgiving week and is probably one of my FAVORITE weeks of the year! I always love the build up of Christmas, so Thanksgiving/Black Friday is my favorite! I think this was the week that clothes started to get more uncomfortable. This is where the hunt for the perfect jeans began...and I'm still searching...at 28 weeks! It was overall, a really wonderful, week!
Seventeen Weeks
This was the BIG week where we found out the gender! We went to Stork Vision and absolutely loved the experience. You can read all about our gender reveal here. It was a BUSY week getting everything ready for the gender reveal party! Wendel was in the thick of his last few weeks of his masters, so my mom was amazing to help wrap the 42 little tiny boxes for the shower! It was such a nerve wracking, but exciting week!
Eighteen Weeks
This was a super busy week at school, so I don't even think I noticed I was pregnant! I was still in disbelief that we were having a boy! I was still determined that we would go to our next ultrasound and they would say "oopps...it's a girl". So it was still taking some time. We went to see Awaited at church this week and had a big party for a group we have at church called M2. So it was busy and super fun!
Nineteen Weeks
This week I only had a few days of school and then we were off for our Christmas break until January 5th! So I was excited for almost a month of relaxation and baby prep! We did lots of Christmasy things this week and I was wrapping presents like a mad woman! It was amazing!
Twenty Weeks
{No picture...sorry}
This was the week of Christmas, and I really started to feel like the bump was bumping! It was pretty exciting to actually see something going on and I started to feel little flutters. It was a fast and busy week! We had our 20 week appointment at our doctors and got to have another ultrasound done, which was exciting. She said that he was a mover, and was giving her troubles getting all the measurements. She worked her magic though and everything looked perfect!
Twenty One Weeks
{No picture...sorry}
We rang in 2015 this week, and we were so excited to do so at The West Baden Hotel! It was so magical, and I'm pretty sure exactly how people imagine spending their New Years Eve! But I am a creature of routine and habit, so I was excited to get back to school and into my normal rhythms!
Twenty Two Weeks
{No picture...sorry}
A pretty normal, nothing super special week. We did have another M2 event and went ice skating. Let's just say...prego people and ice skaing don't mix. My hip and back hurt so bad the next day I couldn't stand at church for worship. I was slowly feeling more and more kicks and punches which was really exciting! This was the week we really started working on our to-do list! We got our guest bedroom all set up downstairs, and I can't wait to share everything with you, but here's a sneak peek from Instagram!
Twenty Three Weeks
Another pretty normal week, the most "exciting" thing was registering at the hospital, which literally consisted of a five minute phone conversation! It was pretty hilarious...I thought that it was going to take forever and was prepared for the long haul of question after question. Not so much. We also had Wendel's best friend come into town this weekend so it was a blast to see him and show him around the city!
Twenty Four Weeks
I had Monday off for Martin Luther King Jr. day, which always makes for an amazing week, We also had another doctors appointment this week, and we loved this doctor, Dr. Rinala! Our practice has eight doctors and they are all females. We've only seen one we really didn't love. And I'm sure she'll be the only on-call the day we deliver...and I'm sure we'll love her! But we really loved how Dr. Rinala conducted the the appointment, talked about birth {we are trying to go natural, so it was nice to speak with her about the logistics of that} and she was just overall very relaxed.
We were hard core working on a million different projects this week, mainly the baby room! Prepping and getting everything ready to be painted!
This week, and the past few weeks really, have been super emotional weeks. I've been tired and weepy a lot! People keep telling me that it's almost like I'm experiencing first trimester stuff, now. So it was getting kind of frustrating feeling so weepy all the time! Super ready for that to go away!
Twenty Five Weeks
This week was especially exciting for me, because we had the baby room and guest bedroom closets installed. I lurrrrve organization, so it was a breath of fresh air to see those closets fresh, clean, and ready for organizing! Then, that weekend, we finished painting the baby room and getting things organized! It was super bowl weekend, so we rested on Sunday with Wendel's parents, watching the game!
Twenty Six Weeks
My emotions were FINALLY getting regulated and I {and Wendel} was so thankful! I remember getting to Saturday and telling Wendel "ah...I wasn't sad at all this week!" I've got a post all about the sadness, and where it all stems from coming up this week, so be sure to check out for that one! Other than that, it was pretty normal. Getting lots of projects finished and seriously enjoying Wendel being home in the evenings and finished with his masters!
Twenty Seven Weeks
This was the week of Valentine's Day, and we were busy! So we didn't do our normal Valentine's Day fun like we typically do. But we got a lot of work down around the house, and had our small group over for dinner!
I have to share our Valentine's Day fail with ya'll because it's just too funny! You may have seen on Instagram, but we got all dressed up and headed out for dinner at a fancy steak restaurant! We had a super lazy day, saying no to projects and watching Arrow all day long, so we were excited to get out and have a yummy dinner. Well I'm a moron, and forgot that the restaurant was in a casino. I obviously wasn't drinking {hello...prego} so I didn't bring my ID with me. Well those security guards are no joke. They wouldn't let me in. Well in normal hormonal Lelia fashion, I started to get weepy. So we headed home, picked up Skyline and Graeters for dinner, got back in our jammies, and snuggled in to watch more Arrow. I'll be honest...it was kind of perfect and hilarious to look back on!
So that was my second trimester! Pretty standard and typical I would say. I've been so blessed with an easy pregnancy! But like I said above, definitely have had some weepy moments. I'll be sharing a little bit of a my heart about that Wednesday, so be on the lookout for that!
The long awaited Gender Reveal Party post is here!
Only like two months late ...
Hallelujah!
Let's just go ahead and begin with what ya'll really want to see...the video!
So here she is...enjoy!
Okay so now for all of the juicy details!
I really didn't want to find out in front of everyone at the party. I know myself, and my emotions, and knew that I would need some time to totally soak it all in.
I also didn't want to find out at the ultrasound room because it just felt strange to be to find out in a doctors office...very clinical.
Little did we know that the ultrasound place we went to was literally like a spa! It was amazing! I walked into the room and asked the guy if he was about to give me a massage...that's how amazing and luxurious this place was.
Wendel and I went to the ultrasound place the Friday before our shower. We were going to open it up that night, but we were going to see a play with Wendel's whole family and were afraid we'd let it slip. The next morning we were doing breakfast with Santa with my family, so we decided we'd wait until after breakfast to open that sucker up!
I'll admit it...it was HARD not to open that envelope.
So hard!
But we did...and boy was it shocking...hehe boy...
EVERYONE was telling us that it was going to be a girl.
Some very prophetic people from our church were telling us girl.
Both of our families started with a girl.
I'm SUCH a girly girl.
Alex NEEDS to father a girl.
But low and behold...God gave us a boy...so a boy we will have.
I'll be honest...I cried for about an hour and then crashed for a few hours.
I wasn't sad...I wasn't disappointed...I wasn't mad.
I just had to re-envision what our life was going to look like.
I TRULY thought we were in for lots of princesses and bows.
I really thought we were in for a life of only girls...I never saw myself parenting a boy.
I KNOW girls. I can do girls. Girls don't scare me.
Boys flippin' terrify me...well not really...but we're just so used to girls in our family.
But you know what...I'll figure it out!
We'll figure it out...together!
So there's a little story that goes along with the picture above...it has to do with the blue note.
Alex's mom is a bit of a "pre-see-er"
Is that a thing?
Alex would call her from Samford {during college} and ask her where his shoes were, and she would know, from Cincinnati, where his shoes were.
Freaky.
So one day she told us, "I know what your baby is...I wrote it on a piece of paper, dated it, and sealed it in an envelope"
Well...we opened it right after we opened our envelope and sure enough...she was right!
Nutso!
Now he's...it was a 50/50 chance, but with her history, we took it as a sign.
Here was the invitation we sent out to our 42 guests...yes...42. We have a lot of people in our life!
Too cute, right?
We obviously went with a gingerbread boy/girl theme and stuck with reds and greens.
We did soup, sandwiches, and a hot cocoa bar.
I printed off the hot chocolate bar printables from here and here!
I did some of the old wives tales...I was split right down the middle!
If you're curious, here they are:
Is the baby's heart rate above or below 140: Above
Are you craving sweet or salty: Salty
Have you been happy or moody: Happy
Is your skin soft or dry: Soft
Have you been having head aches: Yes
Are you carrying high or low: Low
Have you been graceful or clumsy: Clumsy
Do you sleep on your right or left: Left
Are you having blemishes or beauty: Blemishes
Did you have morning sickness: No
I got this cute little gingerbread boy and girl craft set from Michael's for the kiddos to play with since we were having quite a few kids at the party. I think he adults played with these more than the children.
We also let everyone guess the baby's name. The girl's name started with an 'L' and the boys name started with an 'A' and people made guesses. They were pretty hilarious.
We got Apocolips, Abraham, Lucy, Lily...and someone actually got it right!
As you probably saw from the video, this is how we actually let people know!
I found inexpensive white bracelet boxes off of amazon, and wrapped all of them up in cute red and green Christmas paper.
ONE of them had a little note that said "It's A Boy" and the rest were empty.
Everyone got a little present, and one by one they opened them.
I was worried either the first person would have it or it would take like two hours to find out.
Wendel's dad ended up having it {which was NOT planned...we didn't know which one it was either} so that was pretty perfect!
It was a labor of love wrapping all of those suckers...but we did it...and I'm so happy with how it all turned out!
And there you have it folks...the exciting gender reveal party!
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