18 Weeks

I can't believe how quickly this pregnancy is flying by. It's almost May and I've been pregnant since January! I remember thinking I would NEVER start to show, feel the baby, or get to my anatomy scan ultrasound. Now here I am, belly growing everyday, starting to feel my first little kicks (that feel a lot like tiny bubbles popping in my stomach) and will be finding out the gender of the baby next week. Soon I'll be waddling around wishing back to these last few weeks, when I could still move around easily and had plenty of energy.

I was so concerned these last couple weeks that I wasn't feeling the baby. Thank God for my friend Deanna...when I described what I had been feeling, she assured me that it was definitely the baby moving. This early on, I only feel the baby if I'm really still, normally lying down and really concentrating on it. The taps are so faint that you have to really pay close attention to notice them. Still, knowing that little Baby Mauldin is getting stronger and figuring out how to work those little arms and legs is SO reassuring. I can't wait to find out next week if we are having a boy or girl. Then we can finally stop referring to the baby as "Baby Mauldin", the baby or it and actually let everyone know the names we have decided on! I can see how some people would get a lot of joy out of waiting to find out the sex, but for me, I think it's going to be a bonding experience to be able to refer to the baby by name.

So here's an update on the pregnancy:

Pregnancy Highlights:

How far along are you: 18 weeks (3 days)

Total Weight Gained: 5 pounds as of my last doctor's appointment

Maternity Clothes: I have been mixing maternity and regular shirts. I still wear my belly band with pants, as well as maternity pants. I am loving dresses right now. Many regular dresses in certain styles fit well and are so comfortable.

Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty well right now. I've needed to go to bed earlier again, but I think it's because the baby is growing so much right now it's wearing me out.

Gender: Next Thursday!

Movement: Since last week, I've felt little taps in my lower abdomen. It almost feels like popping bubbles. Last night I also felt "fluttering" in my stomach after I drank a class of chocolate milk.

Food Craving: I found 1% Organic Chocolate Milk with DHA-Omega 3 at the grocery store and have been loving it for a treat that isn't too high in calories. Also popcorn (but only the kind from the movie theatre). Nick has gone to the movie theatre down the street from our house twice, just to buy me popcorn. What a sweetie!

What I Miss: My waist

Symptoms: My skin is itchy from my stomach stretching. I've been applying LOTS of lotion, but by the end of the day, sometimes it feels like I'm going to pop....and my stomach has so much more to grow.

Best Moment this Week: Knowing I was feeling the baby.

Spoiling the Baby!

This week was Teacher Appreciation Week at school. My LEAP students, in a coordinated effort, planned to shower the baby with gifts this week. Each day, the students from a particular grade level came to class bearing gifts for me and the baby! I was overwhelmend, to say the least. I was not expecting to be showered with presents and it was such a wonderful surprise to get gifts for the baby. I can't imagine anything I could possibly appreciate more at this particular moment in my life. I am so thankful to have wonderful students who love learning and parents who value teachers and education. God truly blessed me by giving me the opportunity to move into this wonderful job, and I thank him everyday. I enjoy my job so much and am reassured everyday that I made the right decision, by making the move from 3rd grade to LEAP. Here's a little peek of the gifts the baby and I received this week.

Baby Mauldin has been significantly spoiled!

16 Weeks

15 Weeks 16 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

How far along: 16 weeks

Total Weight Gain: 3.5 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Either my bella band with pants or maternity pants which I LOVE. Those feel the best on my waist. My little petite pants can't handle my blossoming belly. I wear a mix of regular and maternity shirts, but most regular shirts fit still but show my bump.

Sleep: I have been tired this week off and on. Some nights I want to go to bed at 7:30 and some nights I can stay up late. I'm having a harder time getting comfortable in bed.

Gender: 35 days away (can you tell I'm eager)

Movement: This week is the first point when I might feel something

Food Craving: Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Red Jellybeans

What I Miss: This weekend when we went out with friends, I missed not being able to have a drink at dinner.

Symptoms: I was really emotional this week. Thank god my husband is so understanding!

Best Moment of the Week: All the time I got to spend with friends....Baby Mauldin enjoyed MANY dinners out this week.

Sewing Saturday

I have had the sewing itch ever since I spent part of a day last weekend browsing through all the cute handmade items on Etsy. So last night I decided to learn how to embroider names onto fabric. I was also feeling over zealous, and thought I'd try to make a layette gown that I'd found on an adorable website. I came across these on someone's blog and am totally obsessed with them. I think this is partially due to the fact that I went to many stores during Spring Break trying to find these gowns and discovered that they are not easy to come by. One of the girls at school, Sarah, is having a little girl named Avery, so I thought I would try to make a cutesy layette gown for her shower on Tuesday.

Here it is....a much cuter version of the bland cotton varieties they sell in the stores! I have loved using my new sewing/embroidery machine since Christmas. It was the perfect present. I am definetely still an amateur seamstress and am often backtracking to correct mistakes. But each time I make something I feel like it gets a little easier. Hopefully I'll have some more sewing projects to share in the near future.

Rub a Dub Dub...

Finally, the Mauldin household will have clean plates without having to listen to the "Symphony of the Clanking Dishes" everytime the dishwasher is turned on. We now have a new dishwasher and it is AMAZING! After a couple hours of work last weekend, Nick installed our new KitchenAid dishwasher. Unfortunately I was of little help, but Nick loaded our clunker dishwasher into his truck, dropped it off at Lowes and picked up our new one. Here are a few pictures of him hooking it up. The hardest part was tightening the water line underneath the dishwasher after it was pushed underneath the counter.