she's ready for her close up...

here are the photos from our amazing 3d ultrasound this past weekend!

obviously i think she is the cutest thing ever :)

baby lyla @ 21 weeks:

xoxoxoxo

wordless wednesday

ok not wordless :)

the miracle of life absolutely astonishes me.

how our sweet baby has transformed from this:

to this:

all in 15 weeks.

feeling very blessed today.

xoxoxoxo

21 weeks

**sorry no pic this week, will definitely resume next week as i feel like i've grown a ton just in the past week!**

How Far Along: 21 weeks

Total Weight Gain: we're in SD at the moment so don't have a scale, but i'm SURE i've gained a good 5-7 pounds out here. i haven't been running & have been indulging in chipotle, in-n-out, little italy dinners, etc :)

Maternity Clothes: i can still fit into my old jeans, but my tops are definitely fitting tighter these days. i've mostly just been wearing maternity camisoles with sweaters

Movement: moving around a ton! her movements continue to amaze me with their gradually growing strength

Sleep: same as before, still waking up a few times a night but nothing unbearable

Symptoms: nothing new that i can think of

Cravings: um. where to start? mayonnaise. i love mayonnaise. also on the list:

-luna nutz over chocolate bars

-chipotle. more chipotle

-pasta dinners...the bigger the plate the better

Emotions: this has been a rough week, i'll be sure to recap later. we've been doing a lot of praying and a lot of waiting.

Best Moment of the Week: seeing baby lyla during a 3d ultrasound in texas this past weekend. obviously she is the cutest baby in the whole wide world :) also, pretty sure we've decided to name her lyla grace. little things like that make this all feel so much more real!

xoxoxoxo

leaving on a jet plane

d is leaving soon and before he goes we're using up some of his days off for a few trips :)

i'll be back for good the second week in april... until then its...

san diego

texas

idaho

babymoon in MAUI!

xoxoxoxo

we will call her...

introducing...

d was quite picky when it came to his daughters name (who would have thought?!).

when i was rolling through my list of names and suggested lyla he said "yes, thats it. i love it." we're very easy :)

as for a middle name, i really love the sound of lyla grace & lyla mae but i also really would love to use a family name. i am going back home at the end of march and plan to scour our family records for a middle name- i'll keep you all posted!

xoxoxoxo

20 weeks! HALFWAY!

Pregnancy Highlights:

**bare belly shot about to head to the beach this weekend- no i don't normally walk around like this!**

How Far Along: 20 weeks!

Total Weight Gain: still working on it but none as of yet

Maternity Clothes: living in my two for fitness tanks & lululemon speed shorts, also a VS nightie i've had forever thats really loose & comfortable (i need to buy more because i'm washing it 2-3 times a week)

Movement: i love that i can feel her getting stronger and stronger. when i lay in bed and rest my hand on my belly sometimes the power of her movements surprise me, she's a little thing but very strong!

Sleep: okay, i've always slept like a log so its a little weird to me that i'm waking up a few times every night. sometimes it takes awhile to get back to sleep and i'll usually check twitter on my phone, use the rest room, grab some water, etc.

Symptoms: i can definitely feel my uterus stretching (what my dr. refers to as round ligament pain) but other than that not much

Cravings: nothing crazy this week, i'm excited to visit san diego next week and eat at my favorite spots: olive garden (i'm confident i could put down an entire basket of bread sticks right now) and chipotle

Emotions: just really really thrilled to be pregnant

Best Moment of the Week: every morning/night laying in bed feeling her move, its becoming a lot more real to me

newest baby girl purchase:

love the ruffles!

xoxoxoxo

19 weeks

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 19 weeks

Total Weight Gain: none yet but eating like crazy

Maternity Clothes: still living in my two for fitness tanks & lululemon speed shorts

Movement: movement daily now :) d was able to feel her moving around this weekend which was amazing. i was really worried he wouldn't feel her move before he deployed- luckily she was going crazy saturday morning :)

Sleep: doing alright, i wake up about every 3-4 hours but get enough sleep to feel rested in the mornings

Symptoms: my hunger has gone into overdrive this week, don't put anything near my mouth unless you want it chomped up!

Cravings: nothing new, still loving cold juicy fruit namely pineapple

Emotions: i have my days where i get really emotional, i cry daily to sappy stuff (commercials the majority of the time!)

Best Moment of the Week: d feeling her move last saturday morning! also we sold out guest room bed this weekend to a really sweet couple- it was nice to get that out of the way. unfortunately we live in a really HCOL area and only have 2 bedrooms, so we're making room for the nursery!

xoxoxoxo

crazy for avocados

last night i tried the tastiest recipe from Oh She Glows.

recipe here. it blends my two favorite things: pasta and avocados.

my yummy avocado concoction:

i love love love avocados but d hates them, so when he is out of town i make sure to cook with them as much as i can.

she recommends using spaghetti which i think would work better, however all i had was penne...

absolutely delicious and SO EASY. i'm learning to love my food processor.

my meal (which i ate every last bite of):

this is definitely a keeper!

xoxoxoxo

delicious soft serve...at home

i came across one of my new favorite recipes on thebump a few weeks ago.

the only ingredients are: 1 frozen banana & 1/2 cup chocolate almond milk (or vanilla, whatever you desire).

throw both in a food processor for about a minute- add less almond milk if you want a thicker consistency.

SO DELICIOUS tastes exactly like banana chocolate soft serve AND its super healthy too. i've been making this 3-4 times a week trying to stay away from d's rocky road in the fridge!

i got real crazy the other night and added peanut butter- DELICIOUS.

xoxoxoxo

18 weeks

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 18 weeks

Total Weight Gain: back to no weight gain

Maternity Clothes: living in my two for fitness tanks & lululemon speed shorts

Movement: slight movement that i'm just getting used to! its very strange but i can sometimes feel where she is inside (usually when she's way to the left or way to the right) it feels like light pressure. i'm still waiting for one big kick though

Sleep: doing alright, usually in bed by 8:30 or i get lethargic

Symptoms: besides having to use the restroom ALL the time none

Cravings: there was one night last week when d and i were sitting at home and i looked at him and told him i needed lays potato chips immediately. we had chips and dip for dinner :)

Emotions: besides a breakdown yesterday (crying about moving furniture...embarrassing now!) i've been doing pretty good

Best Moment of the Week: had a great checkup last week, baby girls HB was a solid 150

i asked the dr about the no weight gain (since i've somehow lost the 2 i gained) and he didn't seem concerned. just told me to listen to my body and if it continues it'll be come an issue, but right now not so much

we bought the first item for the nursery this weekend on the north shore. i had seen it a few weeks ago when i went shopping with kristin and couldn't stop thinking about it so i knew we had to go back and get it:

xoxoxoxo