Humpity Hump

Maybe I should start calling my Wednesday posts Bumpity Bump for now?

I am starting to show a little bit, and depending on what I'm wearing you can really tell.  I'm in no rush to gain weight, though!  So far I'm up about 4 lbs.  Now, it's worth noting that before I was pregnant I was already around 12 lbs over my "happy" weight.  So there is definitely some redistribution going on.

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 We worked in the new house all weekend.  

I am so happy for Alfie to have a yard!! 

That little boy was exploring and lounging in the sun all day. 

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Our much deserved pizza break over the weekend.  

Sidenote: Water with 2 lemon slices is my drink of choice right now.  So good.

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Granite Shopping!  Well, browsing I should say.

This is the favorite so far.  We want a cookies and cream granite with more jagged markings versus dots and blobs.  Very technical specs, huh?  

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These were the cutest flowers left at my desk last week.

Little floating arrangements.  They appeared super simple to make, as these are flowers from the yard.  But what a creative twist! 

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 I hope that y'all are having a great week.  We are totally slammin' over here-getting things moved and prepping the condo for our tenants to move in next week!

It's very bittersweet to leave my first home of my own.  This is where I brought my puppy baby home, cooked my future husband dinner for the first time (I made my cajun cream pasta), so many memories.  The best memories of my life!  I have lived here for 7 years and, as ready as I've been to move on, I'm going to be sad to leave.  I can already hear us, 10 years from now, reminiscing about sipping wine on our tiny porch, not a care in the world.  We will miss this!

Last night I said how empty the walls felt without all of our artwork hanging and K said "Now we're going to fill up new walls" and it comforted me.  It's still going to be hard to close that door, but I know the best is yet to come!

Talk soon,

Laura 

Pregnancy Journal: Halfway There

At this point, I can really say this year is flying by.

I found out I was pregnant in January and I can't believe we are approaching June.

The first trimester was extremely long and slow, 

but now things are grooving along nicely.

I mean, I can not believe I am half way through my first pregnancy!

Here are some of my thoughts along the way.

20 week scan:

Wow.  This appointment was such a milestone for me.  I seriously feel like a new woman after seeing all of the body parts and internal organs and hearing that "everything looks perfect".  I can not explain the sigh of relief this brings me!  As exciting as everything has been, it's been nerve wracking as well.  It's not that I've felt like there is anything is wrong, it's just that there is so much unknown the first time around.  Anyway, I can honestly say I feel SO much more at ease and confident going into the second half.  

And of course I'm leaving off one of the most exciting discoveries of our anatomy scan...But I still have a few phone calls and in-person surprises to make, so I'm not going to show you any pink or blue just yet!

Here is a picture from the ultrasound.

I'm just tickled with the way our baby looks like they're laughing or talking!

Symptoms:

Not only am I feeling so much better regarding anxiety and nerves, physically I am feeling great as well. We have been really busy with house related things so I'm thrilled to be able to help and feel eager and enthusiastic.

Sleep  It's lights out between 9:00 and 9:30 every night and I'm falling asleep very easily. I'm waking up to go to the restroom atleast twice a night, and then I wake up around 5:00 AM, only to finally drift off minutes before our 7:00 AM alarm.  I am thinking a pregnancy pillow is in my very near future.  I have been sleeping in what I've deemed a sideways "army crawl", but my belly is getting to the point where I need to switch to fully on my side very soon.

Exhaustion  Like I said, my energy level has been up.  That is not to say I don't get waves of exhaustion like whoa.  My usual fatigue starts around 2:00 pm and lasts about 30 minutes.  I haven't been wanting to nap because I don't want to mess with my night time sleeping schedule.  I will seriously yawn every minute during these stretches and it's so frustrating because I can't even have a conversation or drive when I feel this tired. Luckily, they don't last long and I'm able to get a second wind.

Food Aversions  Still happening over here. And still so so sad about it.  It has gotten slightly better but still nothing like my usual self.  It's so hard because I've always been the cook of the household and it's just impossible for me to do right now.  K still asks what I want for supper every night and I can never come up with a single thing.  But I'm happy to sacrifice my taste buds for our little one.  

Hair Growth  Ok this is something you probably didn't know.  While some women have beautiful hair and nail growth during pregnancy, some actually stop growing completely and go in a state of "resting".  I'll let you guess which one I'm falling into.  I chopped all my hair off weeks before finding out I'm expecting, and it hasn't grown an inch.  I have now cancelled my second hair appointment in a row because there is nothing to trim. 

Movement   Over the past couple weeks I've started to feel little flicks of movement.  K can't feel them from the outside yet but they are definitely happening.  They are most noticeable at night.

Anticipation:

We are just so. dang. excited. to be parents.  Things are feeling so much more real and I'm picturing our little trio so perfectly in my mind.  It's an incredible dream coming true.

After revealing the sex to some family and friends, it feels like our child is already being spoiled.

There is so much anticipation from everyone and we feel so lucky!

I want to remember the way I feel now, forever.

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Have a great weekend!

New House!

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

Some exciting news today... We bought a house!

Our new home is a 1950's ranch located in West Ashley, Inside 526.

A few things about this:  

(Bear with me, I love to talk real estate)

First of all, ranch homes are my happy place.

I love the solid, sturdy construction.  I love the layouts and character.  I love the fact that they represent well established neighborhoods.  Tract homes are just not for me and we aren't quite ready to build our custom dream home.  ;)

Second, location location location. 

Have you heard that Charleston is the best place to live in the whole world??

I think the latest is that 6 new people move here every day.

What's my point?  

I have many.

The prices of real estate in Charleston are at an all time high, with no signs of slowing down.  This is especially apparent in high demand areas.  Those are...Mount Pleasant (& Daniel Island), James Island, West Ashley (inside 526, close to town) and even Park Circle and Johns Island.  

These areas have such high demand that the prices are soaring.  You get hotdogs for the price of caviar.  

Going further out was not really an option for us considering our lifestyle.  Taking into account our commutes, proximity to family, and the outdoor activities we enjoy, we didn't want to sacrifice distance.  With a baby on the way, it just wasn't an option to uproot our entire routine.

Also, traffic.

So it was a waiting game.

Criteria: 

Over 1600 sq feet.  

No major repairs (cosmetic, minor projects okay).  

Great Backyard.

It took a few months, but we found it! 

Let's talk a little bit about our current labor of love, shall we?

10 gallons of paint, that's what's going down over here.

We are covering everything in a neutral gray to start. 

I'm not sure if I want to paint our front door.  I kind of like the naked wood look.  We'll see.

Also, door knocker?  

 French doors!  This house has 2 sets opening up to the large patio.  One set is in the baby's room (more on that soon!) and these are in the eat-in kitchen area, which we plan to make into a little den/family room.  This room is actually part of what sold me on the house because I envision us with the doors wide open, music streaming from the kitchen to the grill.  Also, you can kind of see the backyard here, we've got 4 huge palm trees that we think used to border a pool.  The lot is 1/2 acre, another selling point for us...and Alfie.

Phone nook.  So old school!  This is the kind of character I love.

My parents house has one of these so it's almost like my comfort zone to have one in ours.  I mean...it feels like home!

Brick floors.  This picture is terrible.  In fact, the lighting in all of these is pretty bad, my apologies.  But this room with the brick floor will be Kev's office.  It's actually an addition that used to be a brick patio side entrance.  But now it's enclosed and the perfect size for an office.  Not to mention it just feels masculine. 

These are just a few sneak peeks I'll share for now.
As I mention, we have a few projects happening to include:
New kitchen countertops
New bathroom light fixtures
Paint EVERYTHING
Laundry Room Redo
I am planning to do full before and after posts of every room as we make our way through the house.

I will be updating the "House Tour" tab at the top of my page frequently.  

Also note the new "Best of" and "Baby" tabs up there as well.

Speaking of baby...an update coming next week.

Boy or Girl??  We find out MONDAY!

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Have a great weekend!
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Oh!  One last thing.  We are keeping our condo on James Island as a rental.
If you or anyone you know is looking for a 1 year lease on a 2 br/1 ba condo, clean and convenient, please email me at LTLeamond@gmail.com

Misc. Monday

Hey, May! 

Things are crazy in our neck of the woods these days.

I can't wait to update y'all with everything we've got going on!

In between the chaos, we've enjoyed a few outings before it gets too hot...

Summer is here!

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This picture is not what I'd consider flattering, but I'm including it because it felt like a huuuge victory for me to actually want to get out of the house and go to a restaurant.  I have been such a hermit the last 3 months and so when I got the desire for hushpuppies on the deck at Crabhouse, it was a miracle.

I have really limited myself to true obligations- wedding and funerals- for so long.  What a relief to feel like my old self for a moment.  So, Here's the photo to show you:

 

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We spent a couple of hours on a gorgeous Sunday lounging at White Point Gardens: --

Let's talk about cravings.  My only true craving has been for a sandwich called "Some Like it Hot" at The Majestic Grille on King Street, which, if you're wondering, CLOSED IN 2009. Seriously. 

But I am also all about the sweets right now.

We went to Kaminsky's this weekend and I got the Mountain of Chocolate cake. Delish.

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And one last picture of my happy boy.  Alfie has been getting in lots of walks lately as I'm making more of an effort to stay active.  He's lovin' it!

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That's all for now,

I hope y'all have a great week!