20 Weeks!

Excuse the extremely fancy outfit. Hudson and I were headed out to the store for a few quick things.
Well, for a "typical" pregnancy this would be the halfway mark. For me, carrying two, however, I probably hit that point 2-3 weeks ago. Wowza!!

How Far Along? 20 Weeks.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I was up 12 lbs at my 17 week appointment. My scale at home has been dead so I haven't been able to weigh myself in a while.  

Genders: BOY AND A GIRL!!! Grayson Wells and Raegan Elise!

Maternity Clothes? Pretty much all pants. I wore some normal pants the other day with the BeBand and was not at all comfortable. I just had to wear my white skinnies, though. The length of some of my shirts is already posing a problem so I layer or wear the longer ones.

Stretch Marks? No. I didn't get any with Hudson, so here's to hoping I have the same luck this time around.

Sleep: Eh. It's OK. I'm pretty much confined to side-sleeping now so I do a lot of flip-flopping from one side to the other.

Movement: Yes. No hard jabs or punches yet, but they'll come. :) For now, it's just rolls and subtle kicks. I'm slowly starting to feel them from the outside with my hand too. 

Food Cravings: I still haven't gotten that jumbo soft pretzel. I crave some sweet things and some salty things. Just depends.

Food Aversions: Aversions are pretty much gone now, thank goodness. If I get a whiff of something less than appetizing in the morning, that'll get me though. 

Labor Signs: No!

Symptoms: A little smell aversion, sciatic nerve pain and some head/backaches. Oh and don't forget the potty breaks every half hour. ;-)

Belly Button In or Out? In.

Wedding Rings On or Off? On

Miss Anything? Not really. A little more energy would be nice. :)

Best Moment This Week: A great Mother's Day weekend with my sweet boys and the amazing mothers in our lives. 

Looking Forward To: Just continuing to have a healthy, easy pregnancy. Wanting to get through our anatomy scan next week to know the babies both look 100% perfect and healthy!

    

And just for comparison's sake, here I am at 20 weeks with Hudson and 20 weeks with the twins.
Not too TOO much bigger but still....yikes!!

Ok, guys, don't forget that it is THE last day to enter the giveaway. It ends at midnight and I will announce a winner tomorrow sometime. I am so excited to see who wins!!!
I'll be back tomorrow with the announcement. :)

Mother's Day Weekend

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Ours was a little busy, but we enjoyed spending time with the sweet mothers in our lives.

Here's how our weekend was spent....

We kicked it off Friday with some pizza at Mellow Mushroom. It's always a favorite.

Joseph mentioned having a Mother's Day present for me a few times and was teasing me with it. "Maybe I'll give it to you now." "Nah, I'll wait til Sunday." Ugh, men!

Anyway, little did I know what I was going to find under my pillow when I came to bed Friday night.

Surprised would be a huge understatement!! Evidently, they had been in the cabinet above the fridge for like a week. He said he took a risk that I might need one of my glass vases or pitchers from up there. Lucky for him, I didn't and was completely surprised!!! He rarely gets me good like that. I always manage to find out surprises! :) We usually don't make a big deal out of little holidays but for whatever reason he decided to spoil me. What a sweetheart. I'm so blessed and thankful.

Saturday, we met my parents and grandparents at The Rock House in Guntersville for lunch. We went here with our friends Catherine & Forrest recently and it was really good. It didn't disappoint for lunch either. My Greek flatbread sandwich was divine!

 Joseph & Papa deep in thought.

 I've got a beautiful, giving, loving, selfless, amazing, irreplaceable mother!

Kisses for G-Nana.

4 generations. 

 Loves his Sue Sue & Russ-man.

And he's pretty wild about Papa too!!! They had a great time during lunch and Hudson is obsessed with saying his name now. Papa would take one of his chips and he'd say "Oh, Papa!!" Sweetest thing ever. They're quite a pair.

Sweetest boys in the world!

Sunday we spent some time with Joseph's family and ate too much food. (which we pretty much did all weekend!)

Watching some Bubble Guppies in the car. He was just laughing and having a ball back there! :)

 I am so blessed with these 2 guys. Thankful for my other 2 blessings on the way.

Loving on Grammy & Poppy.

And as if we hadn't eaten enough throughout the weekend, we stopped for some Mexican for dinner.

 Hudson likes to rub our noses and this is the face that comes at us. Nice!

Every good southerner loves their sweet tea. Hudson is no exception.

We spent the evening resting from our weekend, and I had to peel myself from bed this morning. We are so thankful to have so many wonderful mothers in our lives and in Hudson's life. They have set some amazing examples for me as a mom. If I can be even a fraction of the mothers they all are, I will consider myself very successful. 

Have a great week, y'all!!

My Favorite Things Giveaway!!

Alright, y'all. Today is the day!!! My 3 year blog anniversary is in a few days and what better way to celebrate than with a "My Favorite Things" giveaway?!?! I am SO excited and I hope you are too!

ONE lucky person will win ALL 7 of these fabulous prizes! Over a $100 value!!!! 

$25 to The Red Dress Boutique, one of my all-time FAVE boutiques!

They have THE cutest clothes, especially during the Spring/Summer, so you're gonna love it!

$20 Target Gift Card, because you know I'm obsessed with Target. I mean, aren't we all??

Turquoise Bubble Necklace from Caroline G. ($20 value)

AND Caroline G. is throwing in the matching Bubble Earrings! ($15 value)

(in turquoise, of course)
I absolutely LOVE my necklaces from her shop. They're affordable and such great quality. The colors are beautiful and vibrant and I wear mine all. the. time. She offers others necklace styles, as well as the cutest hair accessories. Check her out! You're sure to find something you like.


$10 TOMS Gift Card. I recently discovered the awesomeness of TOMS shoes. The most comfortable things I've ever put on my feet. And super cute! And if I can help a child in need get a pair of shoes also, then that's reason enough to get a pair for me!

2 essie nail polishes in fun Summer colors ($16 value)

"e-nuf is e-nuf" & "turquoise & caicos"

The giveaway will END at midnight Wednesday, the 15th, and I will announce the WINNER sometime Wednesday afternoon after I verify the entries! Yes, they will be verified so you (and I) can know it's done fairly.

Check it out, earn all the entries you can through the Rafflecopter below, and GOOD LUCK!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What I'm Loving Lately

My Favorite Things giveaway starts at MIDNIGHT and will end at MIDNIGHT Wednesday. Or Tuesday, depending on how you look at it. Midnight is technically Wednesday but if you're still awake is it still considered Tuesday night? Aaaannnyyyyway. 

I'll announce a winner Wednesday after I've verified the entries. 

The giveaway post will be up at midnight sharp so if you're a night owl, you can get a jumpstart on entering. 

Today, I'm sharing some of the things I'm loving lately. Nothing big, just the little things from the week that I'm especially loving.

You guys, I ran out of prenatal vitamins a couple weeks back and had to buy more. They didn't have the kind I was taking, which were easy enough to take (AKA: not the size of my face!). Well the new ones WERE the size of my face. Hard, plastic, huge. Gag! After posting a picture of these gargantuan things, I had a few friends recommend the gummy vitamins to me. I've seen them before, of course, and almost bought them but decided to just stick with the pills. Well, I finally had enough of the monster pills and got these babies. I am SO glad I did!!! I just chew 2 every night before bed, and boom. Done. They taste a lot better than they smell, thankfully. Although I haven't tried the lemon yet. I usually try to avoid lemon flavored candies(bleh) but I'll have to eat them eventually. HA!

I ordered these adorable shirts for Hudson from Pixie Stitch a few weeks back. They came in the other day and they are precious!!

Hudson sported the turtle shirt today while we ran errands.

 We went and left our tag on the Accord after we traded it, and the salesman mentioned it to us after the fact but we just told him to keep it. (he's a Bama fan in GA, so he's gotta represent!) Hudson and I went to get a new one for "Gus" (our new Suburban) and someone had to have a little Bama bear he fell in love with. At least he knows which colors are the right colors. ;)

 We also picked up baby brother and sister's first pairs of Alabama socks. I couldn't resist!!!

Y'all. Have you seen these???? SO good!! Like, had to actively TELL myself to put the bag down good!!! You've probably had the "muddy buddies", sometimes called "puppy chow" before. It's just Chex, chocolate, peanut butter, and powdered sugar. Mix it all up and it's the best thing you've ever eaten. Well, this is a bag of the stuff all ready for you to eat!! Sure, it has a few additives and whatnot, but you don't have to make it yourself, people!! Try it. Thank me later.

As usual, time with this little guy is ALWAYS at the top of my LOVE list!!!

Sweetest little thing ever. Soaking up every second of my time with him.

I'm also getting the mop on my head trimmed and layered up this evening because it has been sooooooo long and it shows. I'm pretty much stoked about that. 

I hope you're having a wonderful week! Be sure to come back tomorrow to enter the giveaway. Remember, it starts at midnight! See you back here soon! :)

Mother's Day Gift Ideas

As a mom, you rarely think about doing things for yourself. It's just natural for moms to put everyone else first. That's what makes mothers so special. I'm blessed with one of the most selfless, caring, and giving moms in the world and she set(and still sets) such an amazing example for me as a mom.
Are we mothers perfect? Of course not! Do we make mistakes? YES! Do we lose our cool at times? Take a guess! Do we want you to get us anything for Mother's Day? Probably not! Yeah, you read that right. We don't want or expect you to get us anything. If nothing more, just a simple hug, kiss, and thank you for all we do is sufficient enough. I know it is for me, anyway.

BUT, it's always nice to receive a little token of love and appreciation. I think we'll all admit that. 

If you're looking for gift ideas for the mother(s) in your life, it doesn't have to be elaborate or expensive. You can still show your mom your love without blowing your budget.

Here are just a few ideas I found and especially liked.

For the mom who loves beauty products:

Clinique Pretty in Pinks & Plums Set via Sephora

For the mom who likes to be pampered:

The Care Package by Philosophy via Sephora

For the foodie:

1 Dozen Gourmet Dipped Swizzled Strawberries via Shari's Berries
Most moms have a little sweet tooth but also like to be conscious of what they eat. Throw in some fruit and you've got the instant "healthy" indulgence, no? :) I love Edible Arrangements but they don't deliver everywhere, so this is a great alternative and they have a great selection of different gift ideas.
This is another fave...

If you want to spoil mom for 2 days in a row...this one includes flowers on Day 1, then 6 decadent strawberries on Day 2. It's only $50! On some sites, you'd pay that much for the flowers alone!

For the gardener(AKA: NOT ME!!)

Apollo 7 pc. Pink Garden Tool Set via Target

For the music lover:

You can never go wrong with an iTunes gift card!

For the coffee lover:

Green Mountain Coffee K-Cups

Starbucks Gift Card

What NOT to get mom for Mother's Day (or any other day for that matter):

1. Unless she specifically mentions she'd like one of these things, don't get her a blender, toaster, or any other cooking appliance. Also don't get her a vacuum or any cleaning tool. Just, no. Gifts like these tend to say, "I love you, now go clean those floors." Beware.

2. A fluffy pair of slippers and/or robe. This is kinda the equivalent to the popular Father's Day gift of the shirt and tie. Been there, done that. We're all set. Unless she's expressed that she needs to replace her slippers that are full of holes, just don't.

3. An article of clothing that's not her size. Unless you are 100% sure it's her size, don't get it. There's nothing worse than getting a shirt or dress for a gift only to find it's too small. Major blow to the ego. The thought is nice, but no woman wants to try on something that's too tight, then have to take it back to the store. A gift card to a clothing store is a better option.

4. A random perfume box set from a drugstore. We women are very picky about the fragrances we spray on our bodies, if we use any at all. Drugstores (CVS, Walgreen's, etc) tend to have great selections of boxed sets for gifts, but beware. These are usually cheap fragrances that often smell like some kind of cleaning solution or industrial solvent. If you don't know what kind of perfume she prefers, opt out of this gift idea. Perfume is very much about personal preference.

Now, remember, moms don't need extravagant gifts, jewels, roses, etc. A nice card, along with a hug, kiss, and thank you is really all we need or want. I think as humans, we all just want to know someone thought of us. It's nice to be made to feel special, though, and sometimes having breakfast made for us or the dishes washed, or the groceries bought is special enough! Doing something to show your appreciation means so much more than clicking on the internet to order some flowers that will be delivered by a stranger. I mean, flowers are nice and all (and if you don't have the time or means to do anything else then that's a great gift), don't get me wrong, but we women really appreciate the ACTIONS!! Take your child(ren) out for lunch or to play while your wife has a couple hours to herself to take a bath, watch her favorite shows, or take a nap. Watch your child(ren) for a while so she can go shopping, get her hair done, or have lunch with friends.

Whatever you do for Mother's Day, spend time with the special mothers in your life and tell them how much you love them. That time spent together is worth more than anything you could ever buy.