20 Weeks

We've been majorly slacking the past two weeks with bump photos. This is the only one I have!

How far along: 20 weeks, 4 days.
Size: 12 oz according to the ultrasound.
Gender: GIRL.
Total weight gain: 9 pounds.
Maternity clothes: I'm really looking forward to buying some new things for spring and am going to try to shop more non-maternity items than last time.
Stretch marks: I'm still using up the last of my Burt's Bees Belly Butter.
Sleep: Sleep has been okay, but I think it may be time to bring out the body pillow soon. I'm consistently waking up 1-2 times to go to the bathroom.
Movement: YES!!! 19 weeks was the first time I started to feel movement daily, and this week I am feeling gentle kicks, mostly very low. Matt is able to feel them now also :). Now, we just have to work on getting Nora to hold her hand on "bebe" for more than one second!
Queasy or sick: I had an upset stomach on Sunday. Otherwise feeling pretty good!
Labor Signs: --
Symptoms: A couple Braxton-Hicks each day and some mega leg cramps last weekend that left me with stiff, sore legs for 48+ hours (note: lavender essential oils + epsom salts in a hot bath helped a bit).
Belly button in or out: In.
Wedding rings on or off: On.
Recap of the week: Created a new cleaning plan and organized a few things around the house. We had our 20 week ultrasound Friday and found out baby is a girl at our gender reveal party on Saturday afternoon!
Looking forward to: This week should be a bit slower than the past few have been. I'm looking forward to getting back into our normal routine, and women's bible study (on Gideon) is starting back up on Tuesday.

Promising more photos for 21 weeks :).

+, Lauren Aiken

Silly String Gender Reveal

On Friday afternoon we had our 20 week ultrasound. As far as everyone can tell, Baby A #2 appears to be healthy and right on track, and a little ovarian cyst I had early on is no longer there. We are rejoicing!! Just like with Nora, we had the technician write down the gender in a card -- but this time we weren't the ones to open it. My bestie offered to throw a party for us in our backyard so she picked up the card Saturday morning and ran to the store to buy many many cans of silly string. 

Some close friends gathered with us Saturday evening for hotdogs (it was one of the first true Spring days here!) and helped us make wonderful memories. Finding out in front of friends (and family on facetime) made it even more exciting! Here are some photos from the party, taken by my best friend Heidi of Inspired by Grace Photography.

Heidi is expecting a little boy just three weeks before my due date, and our girls are only three months apart.

I was shocked to see PINK!!!

 We are overjoyed that Nora is going to have a little sister and cannot wait to welcome another sweet girl into our family! Nora just wasn't thrilled about being sprayed with smelly pink sticky stuff ;).

To see Nora's gender reveal party from 2012, read here.

+, Lauren Aiken

Nursery Inspiration

This week I've been scouring Pinterest for nursery inspiration. We'll find out if Nora's going to have a little brother or sister next friday! The plan is to leave the room painted lavender if it's a girl. If it's a boy we will repaint the room, and the color options will be wide open!

 So far I'm loving cool tones and am leaning toward blues and greys for a boy and lavender and mint for a girl. Then again, Nora's nursery turned out pretty different from what I envisioned originally so we'll see how things turn out!

All photo sources are linked at my nursery Pinterest board.

What are your favorite websites, blogs, or other sources for design inspiration? 

+, Lauren Aiken