One Tree Hill

So while on bed rest I finally watched the series finale of One Tree Hill. For those who don't know, I was a HUGE One Tree Hill fan and was so crushed to hear it was their final season. I've been keeping the 2-hour series finale on my DVR for about 2 months now for a rainy day, and I'm glad I did.

The show ended with a quote from all the characters, just like the way it started. The ending quote was so incredible I had to write it down and share:

It’s the oldest story in the world. One day you’re 17 and planning for someday. And then quietly and without you ever really noticing, someday is today. And then someday is yesterday. And this is your life....

We spend so much time wanting, pursuing, wishing, but ambition is good, chasing things with integrity is good, dreaming…. 

If you had a friend you knew you’d never see again, what would you say? If you could do one last thing for someone you love, what would it be? Say it, do it, don’t wait. Nothing lasts forever.

Make a wish and place it in your heart. Anything you want. Everything you want. 

Do you have it? Good. Now believe it can come true.

You never know where the next miracle is going to come from, the next memory, the next smile…the next wish come true

But if you believe that its right around the corner

And you open your heart and mind to the possibility of it. To the certainty of it. 

You might just get the thing you’re wishing for

The world is full of magic. You just have to believe in it.

So make your wish. Do you have it?

Good. Now believe in it. 

With.all.your.heart

-Cast from OTH

Baby girl went viral

Forgot to post this! I guess the Facebook world was pretty excited to hear we were having a baby girl!

Classic Jeff

So I'm not sure if Jeff is just wanting a new gun or he's already being a protective daddy. Last night during dinner:

"Can we register for a new gun on the baby registry? We can say its to scare off baby's future boyfriends. I think this is a good idea." - My husband.

All I can say is...bahahahahhaha.  Good thought, but sorry honey, No.

Baby Kicks!

Towards the middle of week 16 I started feeling little 'movements' within my tummy. Little flutters from baby. When I asked my Dr. what it would feel like she said it would be like if I had butterflies in my tummy....and when people ask me what is feels like, that is exactly what I tell them. There is no real other way to describe it.

I thought I would be weirded out when I first felt it...like there is an actual baby moving around inside me...but it is seriously the most magical feeling in the entire world. I definitely connected to my baby soo much more when I first felt that. It was something special between me and her, something that just the two of us could share.

The movements started getting more frequent and more obvious that it really was baby moving around and not a hungry tummy or something. Until a couple weekends ago, Saturday the 12th to be exact...baby KICKED! An actual swift kick, and not just one, but a couple. It was such a feeling that could not be mistaken for any other then my baby kicking. INCREDIBLE.

Now, every once and awhile you can actually see it! It is soooooo cool to see my belly have little up and down movements.

We have an extremely active baby girl, she loves to kick mommy and let her know that shes awake. It seriously makes me soo happy when she starts kicking, its like shes saying "hi mommy, I'm ok and happy in here!"

Last night (5/23/12) Jeff finally felt our peanut kick. Up until now every time she was being really active I would tell Jeff and he would run over and try to feel, but he couldn't. I'm convinced he did feel a few times but I have a feeling he was expecting like a obvious hard kick, not a soft little motion. But last night when she kicked, his faced lit up and he was like, was that it??? Such a special moment in the Bender household!

Shopping for Baby!

Since Columbus is limited in baby stores we knew we were going to register at Pottery Barn Kids online and Baby'R'Us. This past Saturday, before our Gender Reveal Party, we spent the afternoon going up and down every aisle of Baby'R'Us picking things out for our little peanut.

Thanks to our "Baby Bible"....aka Baby Bargains, registering was pain-free. We already knew exactly what we wanted.

Jeff of course was in-charge of the "registering-gun" and all I can say is he had way to much fun. Every time I turned my back he was scanning EVERYTHING that was pink, and I mean EVERYTHING. It was sooooo cute. He was getting sooo excited looking at everything and was sooo into it. He kept picking up things like "OMG JESS! Look at this...this is so cute, baby girl needs this." And half the time I had to be like yes it is cute, but she doesn't need it haha. But of course when i turned around he added it to our registry.

I already know that this little girl is going to have daddy wrapped around her finger. Can you say Daddy's girl? Ah so cute. I love him!

Baby'R'Us lets be honest is NOT known for their customer service, so I figured we were pretty much on our own, that's why I did extensive research beforehand. However, an employee named Mark approached us while we were checking out the stroller and carseat we had picked out and he was SO helpful. He praised the stroller we chose and said he actually had one too, and he LOVED it, and also loved the carseat we chose and offered to make sure it would fit in our car. So outside we went with the model and he fastened it into the car and showed us all the features. It was kind of surreal to see a baby carseat fastened in Jeff's car. :) But Mark was AWESOME. Seriously blew us away. I think they need to hire more people like Mark!

Pooped after an afternoon of registering!

Overall it was such a fun afternoon!

The Baby Bible

So a couple weeks ago I posted the question of what was the best carseat and stroller on facebook to all my mommy friends, and Jeff's cousin pointed me to the book Baby Bargains, aka the "Baby Bible."

Let me just say this book is AMAZING. It goes through all the different brands of everything baby and rates and reviews them. It is your one-stop shop to go and research brands and styles from cribs to strollers to humidifiers. It is awesome. Especially if you are a first time Mom this book is a MUST. It has saved us sooo many headaches from researching everything online and helping us avoid making a bad decision. Being a first time Mom baby brands are foreign to me. Yes I know the big brands like Graco, Britax, etc. etc. etc., but I don't necessarily know how they compare to other brands and what is the best of the best. Knowing us, we would've just gone out and bought what was most expensive because obviously that has to be the best? Right. WRONG! This book points out what is the best, and its not always is the most expensive. 

The book also has sooo many tips on things you definitely need, things you don't need, things to avoid, and also things to think about.

I seriously can not praise this book enough.

Bed Rest? I'm Loving it!

Its now Day 5 on bed rest....and I'm still loving it! I thought by now I would be going INSANE. But nope, its been sooo nice to be FORCED to relax and do NOTHING.

I've been catching up on some reading, doing some baby research, and I obviously caught up on all my trashy TV, along with taking lots of naps with my snuggle bunny, Lexi.

I also have to thank my incredible husband. He's been so amazing this week, he's done the grocery shopping, the cleaning, the laundry, the cooking, and he's been literally waiting on me hand and foot. He helps me into bed every night, gets up with me in the middle of the night to help me out of bed to pee, and then helps me back into bed.  Even though he has super long days every single day, he comes home and still does everything with a smile on his face. And most importantly he has been making me laugh sooo much. Most of his jokes are about me acting and moving around like an old lady, but it is kind of funny and the way he says it is soo funny. Thank god for him!!

I'm feeling SO much better, I'm at the point I can get myself to the bathroom, get up and off the couch by myself, and get food by myself. I'm hoping by this weekend I will be able to leave the house.....only time will tell!

Happy 20 Weeks?

So how did I spend Week 20? On bed rest.

Up until now I've been having more back pain then normal, and more then most according to my Dr. due to my small structure. After all our guests left Saturday night from our Gender Reveal Party, I was hungry so I made a bagel. When turning around to grab the peanut butter, I felt an extreme sharp pain go from my spine down to my toes. I tried taking a step and I literally could not move without screaming. I figured I had just moved the wrong way and whatever it was would be fine in the morning. Wrong. I didn't sleep all night and every single movement I made brought tears to my eyes. At 8:30 I woke Jeff up and told him it was time to go to the hospital.

Getting into the car was miserable. Every step was pure misery and by the time I was in Jeff's car I was so tired and in so much pain. A pain I had never felt before. Like 10x more pain then when I shattered my ankle.

I was 99.9% sure it had something to do with my sciatic nerve. I remembered my friend Emily going through something similar so thankfully I had something to ease my mind and go off of.

Once in Labor & Delivery (thats where we have to go if we have any complications) they looked for baby's heartbeat, and it was a strong 158. And let me just say baby girl is going to be SASSY! Right when the nurse put the little doppler on my tummy, baby girl KICKED it, and surprised the nurse, it was soooo funny!!! They then hooked me up to a machine to just make sure I wasn't in early labor, because extreme back pain can be a symptom of it. And then had to give an urine sample to rule out a UTI, which can also be a cause of extreme back pain during pregnancy. Urine came back normal and there was no signs I was in early labor, PHEW.

They did a series of tests and 'manipulations' by moving around my leg in different positions. The diagnosis? Just as we suspected, it was from slight 'damage' to my sciatic nerve and muscle spasms. Its basically from a combination of my small structure, how small I was before I got pregnant and the stress the weight gain has had on my back, the growing of my uterus and the widening of my pelvis. They said it was just a matter of time something like this might happen, and they weren't surprised. They also said it could've been the slightest movement to push it over the edge, aka the turning around to get the peanut butter.

The treatment: Bed rest, heating pad, extra strength Tylenol and a muscle relaxer.

All I can say is OUCHY!!!!

Happy 20 Weeks! Half way there!

We are half way there people!!! WOOHOO!!!

Baby is as long as a banana!

Stats:
Weight: 113.5
Cravings: Loving smoothies right now, Orange Juice, and lemonade.
Ouch: Holy back pain, occasional leg pain at night.

Our Gender Reveal Party!

So after sharing the news with our family and close friends from home....it was time to tell everyone else! We planned to have our Georgia close friends over that Saturday night to have a little gender reveal party!

Our cute little cake! Thanks Publix!

Who are you little baby?!

I asked everyone to take either a blue plate if they thought 'boy', or a pink plate if they thought 'girl.' I was so surprised at the outcome! Eve was the only one to guess girl!

One lonely pink plate! HA!

After seeing the results from the plate selection.....Jeff and I were SO excited to cut into the cake!!!

And here we go!

Love Crystal's face!!!

We're having a baby girl!!! And no I don't have a poof in my hair...that is just Bohn's head lol

Pink frosting!!!!

Overall it was such a fun night and such a fun way to share our exciting news! It was also so much fun SURPRISING everyone!!!

Sugar & Spice

Sugar and spice

and everything nice

that's what little girls are made of

Sunshine and rainbows

and ribbons for hair bows

that's what little girls are made of

Tea parties, laces

and baby doll faces

that's what little girls are made of

-unknown 

SO FREAKING EXCITEDD!!!! Bring on the bows, the tutus, flowers, and everything pink and precious!!!

Jeff & I are SO excited to announce....

We were right! We are having a little princess!!!! We could not be more excited!!!!!!!!!!!!

May 15th....

So what was one more day, right?

Luckily our appointment was first thing in the morning.

Let me also add this piece of knowledge...in order to get your anatomy scan you need to have a full bladder. They require you to drink at least 32 ounces of water and to ensure your bladder is full you must be done drinking all this liquid at least an hour before your appointment. This is literally the meanest thing ever. On the way to my appointment I sneezed, and I thought it was going to be game over. By the time I got to my appointment I was almost in tears because I had to pee so bad. I understand why they do it, but I thought I was going to pee my pants in the middle of the waiting room. I already had my excuse planned out after it happened, I was going to be like "OMG my water broke!"I was getting upset and a bit emotional because this was supposed to be such an exciting, happy time and I couldn't concentrate on anything else besides the fact that I was about to pee my pants. I wanted to enjoy every moment of it.

When my name was finally called and the nurse led us down to our room I was a bit less anxious. When I saw our baby up on the screen I completely forgot I had to pee. Seeing our little blessing move around of course brought me to tears again.

I know he/she is going to be just like me....she/he was tapping her foot like I ALWAYS do. I also predict its going to look like Jeff. It made me smile, how could it not?

We were really lucky that baby was so willing to cooperate and show us all her/his 'good' parts and we left knowing who the little person inside of me was....

:) :) :)

May 14th

The closer we got to the 20 week mark the more anxious we grew. We wanted to know sooo bad if we were having a little princess or a little prince.

After scheduling, and re-scheduling our appointment three times, yes three times (gotta love the ever changing Army schedule), we had circled May 14th as the day we were going to find out.

Years ago I saw on a blog the idea of having a "gender reveal cake." The way the cake works is you have the Dr. seal the gender results in an envelope and bring the results to your favorite bakery and ask for a simple white cake, with white frosting....but inside either have blue or pink frosting depending on what the results say. After the cake is made, pick it up, cut into it and you will see either pink or blue frosting..!..I thought what better way to find out what you are having, it adds so much more excitement and suspense...and another reason to have cake!

Well....after all the anticipation when May 14th finally came, we literally could not wait another day. We went into the appointment with the decision that we wanted to find out. Our compromise was we would find out, but we could still do our cake, but do it to reveal what we are having to our friends. Awesome compromise.

Appointment went well, but ended with such a let down....our ultrasound had to be moved until the next day. Didn't I just say, we literately could not wait another day? Ugh figures!

The numbers are in...

So I did a poll within the family to see what their predictions were:

Mom: Boy (but only because she was hoping for a girl and didn't want to jinx it HA)
Dad: Girl
Andrew: Boy
Morgan: Girl
Matthew: Girl
Emily: Girl
Elisa: Girl 
Ralph: Boy
The Benders: Girl
Memere & Pepere: Girl 

I also did a quick facebook poll (just bc I'm a dork and thought it would be fun):

Girl: 59%
Boy: 41%

Ah the suspense is killing us! 

 

Girl or Boy?

 From the second I found out I was pregnant I had a very strong feeling that our baby was going to be a girl. Even before telling Jeff what I thought, his first reaction was "its a girl".....kind of cool we both got such a strong feeling, I think we both would be SHOCKED if they told us we were having a boy!

Lets break it down to why all fingers point towards GIRL!

1. AWFUL morning sickness. The old wives tale says you have awful morning sickness with girls, and not as bad with boys.

2. I'm wanting sweeter things such as juices, fruit snacks, etc. The old wives tale says that you crave/want sweet things with girls and salty things for boys.

3. According to the "Chinese Gender Predictor" it said Girl!

4. I prefer sleeping on my right side....The old wives tale says if you prefer sleeping on your right side...girl, and left side boy!

5. I've never had acne issues until now....I'm getting pimples...ew. But that points to a girl (they steal their mother's beauty!)

6. The baby's first heartbeat was 156....it tends to be a girl if the heartbeat is over 150...

7. We tried the ring on a string test and failed, I think we didn't know how to do it correctly? It didn't really swing to the side or a circle.....so skip this old wives tale! HA.

8. Both our gut feelings...isn't that enough?!

All our friends are convinced its a boy. And by the way my belly is growing it kind of seems like I'm carrying a boy...as of now I'm growing out and not around, meaning so far I've only gained weight in my stomach.

Well I guess we will just have to wait and find out!

I'm an Auntie!!!

On May 13th at about 6:45PM I became an Auntie!!!!

Just wanted to show off my cutie-pootie Nephew, Ralph Hardy Johnson Jr.!

7.5 pounds & 19.5 inches & healthy as can be!

 Congrats to Elisa & Ralph! He is just perfect!!! Can not wait to meet him!

Happy Mommy Day!

Just wanted to say a Happy Mother's Day to all the mommas out there!!!!

All my friends who are new mommies...Robyn, Emily, Erin, & Elisa! 

And of course.....my favorite and the best mommy ever...MY MOMMY!!!

Our Baby-Moon!

Mother's Day weekend Jeff just so happened to have a 4-day weekend so he suggested that we take a spur of the moment trip to the beach.... and that sounded absoultely perfect to me. We knew the next couple months would be sooo hectic so this would be our last chance to get away...just the two of us. It was also a perfect opportunity to celebrate our upcoming anniversary, acknowledge my first "mother's day," and have a little baby-moon.

I'm really not as big as I look in this picture...I swear its the angle and the stripes. Ugh!

So off to Destin, FL we went! We went to Destin last summer and loved it. The beaches are gorgeous, its about a 4-hour drive, and its not as tourist and crazy like Panama City. We were lucky enough to find a really nice hotel right on the beach. It was incredible to just take a short walk from your bed to the beach. Pure bliss. Another plus....with a beachfront hotel comes a chair and umbrella service....aka someone else has to carry/set-up/deal with all that annoying heavy beach equipment. Amazing.

Much deserved relaxation!

We spent our mornings indulging in a full breakfast buffet, afternoons on the beach (lemonade in hand), and nights out to dinner at local restaurants (Jeff of course was in heaven from all the fresh sea-food), and ended each night with gelato, YUM. Ahhhh, would do anything to go back right about now.

Towards the end of our long weekend the weather turned nasty, so perfect time for us to leave and head home to our first born, Lexi, who was spending the weekend with her bff, Charlie! 

19 Weeks! Baby is size of a mango! Holy cow!

18 Weeks

So I'm 2 weeks behind...I know, I know.

Week 18.....there is nothing to report, I gained a pound, still feeling ok, back pain is getting worse, and baby is beginning to become sooo active! Will report on the tiny movements in another post.

So True

Finally!

Oh Hey! I think I'm finally caught up on whats happened in the past 18 weeks...I guess thats what happens when you have a 'secret' life for the past 3-4 months! Thankfully I kept a little journal so I could remember everything! PHEW!

Maternity Clothes...How I Loathe Thee

I finally went maternity clothes shopping this past weekend. At 18 weeks I had officially lost the battle with all my normal clothes. Living in Columbus, GA shopping is limited....maternity clothes even more limited.

I quickly learned that maternity clothes...are no fun. I am sick of them already. I'm in that awkward phase where normal clothes are uncomfortable and don't fit...and maternity clothes are still a bit big.

I noticed while shopping I would still head over to 'size 0' or XS rack and start browsing...and then had to be like, 'oh wait...' I guess this will take some getting used to.

For now I bought a Tummy Sleeve , its still a bit big on me, but it does the job. I know I will probably be wearing mostly dresses because of our humid, hottttt Georgia summer, but for work I figured I could still wear all my suit slacks with this tummy sleeve. I also bought a few maternity capris (in black, khaki, and white), a suit skirt, a pair of jeans, a pair of shorts, and a few tops. Motherhood Maternity is great for all you little momma-to-bes, they actually carry XS! After shrinking everything I bought, everything is still a bit big like in the butt/leg area, but its the best I found so far!

If I only had a personal stylist/shopper to style my maternity look like the celebrities I would be all set...!

This was so me.

Jeff also asked why I didn't ask any of my friends to go shopping with me to help.....well probably because none of my friends are pregnant and this is why:

17 Weeks!

Big news....I had my first 'real' craving! And it was.....chocolate pudding! Not the snack pack kind...the kind you actually make.

My Snoogle pillow also came in and I have to say...I'm not a fan. I think its mostly due to the fact that I'm a 'down' pillow girl, and I feel way to stiff in this pillow. Jeff and Lexi on the other hand LOVE it haha. I decided to keep it because in a few weeks I may be super uncomfortable and will be begging for it. Until then I've been using two extra pillows to support my belly and my back, better then nothing! Now if I can only minimize the amount of times I have to get up to pee....one can dream.

Lexi with my snoogle...aka her snoogle

Baby is the size of an onion!

Stats:
Weight: 107
Cravings: Chocolate pudding!

16 Weeks!

Baby Bump at 16 weeks!!!

Baby is size of an avocado this week!

Stats:
Weight: 106 (I decided when I reach 115 I will no longer publicly announce my weight)
Cravings: Yup...still a boring pregnant person. I think Jeff was secretly wishing to help me indulge in ice-cream or something.

Other note-worthy 16 week happenings...I ordered a Snoogle Pregnancy Pillow with hopes this will help my back pain and finally get a few hours of decent sleep.

Happy Birthday to Lexi-Lou!

On April 21st, my first born, and love of my life, Lexi turned TWO! My Momma also had a birthday..but I think she would be mad if I posted her age! hehe. Also a happy birthday to Jake Blake who also turned two! AND happy 1-year of being home-owners to my hubby & I! The 21st definitely marks so many great things!

Of course we had a little party for Lexi. There were doggy cupcakes, human cake, presents, and friends!

Happy Birthday to the sweetest little girl who brings so much joy to our life! We love you so much!

Even though she looks confused, she was really excited!

Yum! Cupcakes!

Ft. Benning Baby Shower

On April 20th, 200 expecting Army spouses were invited to attend a Baby Shower hosted by Operation Homefront. There was a nice luncheon, games, prizes, speakers, and of course...gifts! Words can't express how incredible this event was. Each attendee was given a gift bag filled with over $100 adorable things from Carter's. Of course I loved the gifts, but what I loved most was the conversations I had with other expecting military mamas. Being a military Mom...even an expecting military Mom is definitely an unique experience, so it was nice to talk, vent, and ask questions amongst others going through a similar situation.

Score! 3 free boxes of diapers!! Thanks Huggies!!!

A huge thank you to Operation Homefront, Carter's, K.I.D.S, and everyone who helped make this event possible. It really is incredible when organizations and companies come together and support military families, it definitely shows a lot of about their character, I know I for sure will be a loyal customer to Carter's!

Here's some press on the event:

Article
Video
Another video!

15 Weeks!

Nothing crazy to report for 15 weeks. I started sleeping even worse and getting more uncomfortable mostly due to back pain.

Stats:
Weight: 2 pounds this week!
Cravings: I'm the most boring pregnant person ever according to Jeff lol.

Thanks for all the love!

We have the best friends & family! Thanks for all the support, notes, cards, gifts, and love! Baby B is sure lucky to be so loved already!

My Pregnancy went Viral

As you saw, we took a few pictures with Baby B's ultrasound on Easter. Jeff kept casually asking me when I was going to 'post' pictures. I kept telling him 'when I felt like it.' I was tired and didn't really feel like uploading pictures at that particular moment. He asked me a few times after that...ok I get the hint, post a pic on facebook so we can shout it to the world!

Sooo on April 10th at about 9:40AM our pregnancy went viral.

Happy Easter & Happy 14 Weeks!

Like every Easter, we were unable to spend the holiday with our families back home, so instead we spent it with our Army family! When you are in the military you really adopt one another as your 'psedo family'. We spend holidays together, we go out to dinner together, and we celebrate each others big milestones and accomplishments. Being away from family is hard, but having your Army family makes it a little bit easier. We are so thankful to have our Army family! Our friends the Wolfe's hosted it at their house this year and we all contributed to the meal. It turned out to be another successful holiday here at Ft. Benning!

Easter also marked 14 weeks for me! I was thankful to still fit in one of my new favorite Lilly Pultizer dresses (it was big to begin with, score!).

Also at 14 weeks I was beginning to lose the battle with all my normal clothes. Nothing.fits.anymore. I actually went through my entire closet and pulled out all the clothes I thought I would still be able to wear in the next few weeks, or hopefully through my entire pregnancy. I then designated a 'maternity section.' Smart thing to do before you go maternity clothes shopping so you can see what you are working with first.

Stats:
Weight: 103
Cravings: Still nothing crazy

Meeting our little peanut at 13 Weeks!

April 2nd, what an incredible day that was. We had our first 'real' appointment and met our Dr. for the first time. I was super nervous because I had no idea what to expect, plus, I was super anxious to make sure everything was going ok.

Well of course they took my vitals, weight, etc. etc. I'm not going to say what the weight was because I was wearing all my clothes and a sweater!! (lol). They also performed lots of 'fun' tests, all those that typically happen during your first OB appointment. Poor Jeff was such a trooper and sat through them all haha.
And of course everything was going perfectly. Seeing our little peanut on the ultrasound screen was the most incredible, unreal thing I have ever seen. Jeff & I were speechless. She (or he!) already looked so beautiful and so happy. She/he was quite the wiggle worm and it looked like she was having a dance party, we were so mesmerized just watching her. It was so incredible to see her wiggle around and wave around her teeny tiny arms and legs. Jeff made the comment that if its a girl she will definitely probably be a cheerleader! I so wished we recorded this! It took awhile for our Dr. to get the heartbeat because she wouldn't stay still long enough! But after a few failed attempts, we got a heartbeat of 152.

Seeing our little peanut for the 'first' time is something we will never forget.

We also had an issue with getting a decent picture because she was just so excited she couldn't stay still!