My Twenties: By the Numbers.

If some of this post looks familiar, it should. I published this originally last year on my birthday, but wanted to run it again, with some appropriate updates:

When I was twenty, I graduated from The University of Texas with two degrees, the first person in my family to do so - it was a very proud day :) (less so for my hair...)

At twenty-one, I bought my first (and favorite) car on my own:

Twenty-two took me to NYC for a year, and was the year I bought my home, an accomplishment that still floors me to this day:

I lived on top of this bar (a dangerous idea for a 22-year-old!!)

And two blocks from Central Park, where you can find one of my favorite places, the Literary Walk:

My house, shiny and new! To this day, I adore this house :)

Twenty-three was the year I met David:

Twenty-four, we moved in together, and my house became OUR house:

Twenty-five, we gained another household member when we welcomed our sweet baby girl:

At twenty-six, I was surprised by a beautiful proposal one May evening:

At twenty-seven, I married the love of my life, and the father of my beautiful baby girl:

Twenty-eight brought our first anniversary together, which was also the day (technically one day before) we announced this little miracle:

As for twenty-nine, well, with a little luck that things keep going and growing, this will be the year that we welcome our second - and final - child, our son.

Our Little Sweet Potato: 18 Weeks!

First, a bump pic:

This is most definitely the last week these pants are going to button. Hopefully not for that long, though :) Forgive the hair, I desperately need an appointment, but don't have time for two more weeks!

Now for some stats:

How far along: 18 weeks

Net weight gain/loss:  up 5 lbs. Bleh.

Maternity clothes:  As you can see in the picture above, I'm wearing my regular pants and shirts. BUT, if we're being honest about what's comfy and not for vanity, maternity all the way! 

Stretch marks: nope

Belly button: still an innie 

Sleep:  still exhausted. Isn't there supposed to be a second trimester boost of energy?

Baby movement:  YES! And I am beginning to feel movement from the outside, but only if laying on my stomach and if my hands are between my belly and the mattress. No one else has been able to yet, but I let Ava try the other night, and while she was waiting, she leaned down and kissed my belly saying she was kissing baby brother so he'd move. AWW!

Gender: Boy!

Food cravings: Chewy Sprees. OMG. YUM.

Food aversions:  red meat, sugar, baby hates ice cream, bleh. One day I'll feel good again, right?

What I miss:  ice cream - lol. And not having to take Zofran. It's still a part of my routine, though more like once a week than twice a day like before, so that's something, right?

Looking forward to:  our 20-week ultrasound June 12th, and Ava and daddy feeling movement, too.

Best moment this week:  D's birthday was Monday, and mine is tomorrow! We also built a major boy wardrobe in different sizes by selling some of Ava's clothes to local children's resale shops and using store credit to fill his closet. Pretty nice to get baby clothes for free :)

Milestones:  baby is kicking up a storm

Wordless Tuesday: Freckle Face.

The Little Mermaid at Zach Scott Theatre.

We recently were the fortunate winners of a ticket giveaway by Central Texas Mom, and got tickets to go see The Little Mermaid at Zach Scott theatre! We were so excited, especially since we had seen this show advertised in advance but it had slipped my mind to buy tickets, and so despite being home from San Antonio for mere hours before heading back out, off we went downtown to catch the 7 p.m. show one Friday.

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. I grew up on Disney's version of The Little Mermaid, and had been forewarned that this was much truer to Hans Christian Andersson's version, which I hadn't read. Though I do wish I had familiarized myself with it prior to the show so that I could brief her that there could be a couple potentially unsettling parts, it ended up not being a big deal, since she's a.) insanely brave for a three-year-old, and b.) understood it was pretend and held my hand when she felt a bit nervous about the "sea witch".

We unfortunately weren't allowed to take picture during the show - pretty standard for any productions these days - I did get this snapshot of the set when we walked in:

It was pretty great. The show itself was quite entertaining, with the use of puppets and projection screens to tell the story and handle the difficult staging on the mermaid turning into a human. Pretty creative! 

All in all, I would highly recommend children's productions at Zach Scott. I've now seen both The Little Mermaid and Goodnight Moon in both of their smaller theatres, and never am anything short of impressed!

Open Gym at The Little Gym of Round Rock!

One of my favorite benefits of being a member of The Little Gym of Round Rock is the times that they hold "open gym" time. Rather than a scheduled class, this is time when the gym is open to certain age groups to come and just practice and play! In case the use of the facility isn't enough, they have instructors on hand to guide them through this practice time, helping them try new moves or work on ones they're particularly interested in. 

For Ava, this was definitely back handsprings:

Ava typically likes to practice a newly learned skill repeatedly, something that isn't always an option at home without TLG's awesome equipment and techniques, so this was a great chance for her to do back handsprings until her little heart was content! And believe me - she did! 

Ava enjoying her free time in the gym:

Another skill Ava wanted to try her hand at while we had time to practice was a front flip on the bars. If you think this sounds too advanced for a three-year-old, you haven't met the amazing "coaches" at The Little Gym. Ava's always believed herself invincible, but they certainly inspire her confidence to try new things in a way that continuously amazes me :)

Aside from free play, they also offer a bit of structure for kids who desire it. For example, during our time at open gym on this particular day, Coach Ashlee brought out some basketballs and a miniature hoop, to provide a bit of structure in the chaos and offer the children a chance to hone their hand-eye coordination and gross motor skills! 

That looks like one satisfied customer, right? If you've yet to check out The Little Gym of Round Rock, you can find them online here, or check out their Facebook page for more information. They also have a Lakeline location for those closer to Cedar Park and Northwest Austin.

Our Little Onion: 17 Weeks!

How far along: 17 weeks

Net weight gain/loss: Not mentally stable enough to weigh myself this week :P I've been eating...terribly.

Maternity clothes: I wore some over the weekend for comfort sake, and oooh it was lovely! Thankfully, though, I can still fit into my real shorts and jeans (though not my "skinny" jeans!)

Stretch marks: nope

Belly button: still an innie 

Sleep: never enough!

Baby movement: yes, daily, LOVE IT!

Gender: boy!

Food cravings: strawberries! YUM. And chocolate chip muffins. Hence why I won't weigh myself til I make better decisions.

Food aversions: ice cream. This baby HATES it. Unfortunately, this mama loves it!

What I miss: ice cream without intense stomach pain and nausea. No more ice cream until October, probably :(

Looking forward to: 10/23 - haha!

Best moment this week: having someone notice I was pregnant out in public. I so prefer those adoring and knowing looks as opposed to the looks that seem to say, "Wow, you're getting a bit fat..."

Milestones: I went 7 straight days without Zofran! Could it be the end?! (Update: after that seven days, I decided to go off the Unisom I take nightly to control nausea - long story, but something to do with the nausea receptors - and bam! It can right back and had to start taking Zofran again. Needless to say, after three days of being sick, I'm OVER it and back on the Unisom. Today went much better!)

2.5 weeks til my halfway mark (I'm only going to 39 - woot woot!). So close, yet SO far. Ugh.

Wordless Tuesday: Jump!

Baby Boy's Bedding!

As long as it looks this cute when it arrives (damn you, internet shopping!), this will be our baby boy's bedding :) LOVE! Update: it looks even better in person! SO happy with it!

Our Mini-Cation to San Antonio: The Conclusion!

I didn't have this in mind to be a three part post, but with the amount of pictures I took while away, it quickly turned into that! 

After the zoo the other day, I didn't want the fun to end on such a sour note, so we made one more stop in Brackenridge Park: the Japanese Tea Gardens! I've always driven by here en route to the zoo (it's directly next door), and always wanted to go, so go we went! I'm so glad we did - it was so insanely beautiful!!

All in all, San Antonio is a fun place to be for 24-48 hours, though I still have no desire to live there :) After we wrapped things up at the hotel and checked out after D's lunch meetings, we headed back home to Austin, where all three (four, actually) of our hearts live. So happy to be home!