bumpdate! 27 weeks!

this is a few days late! 

27 weeks!!

we made it into the third trimester! i'm beat. totally beat. and this cold weather makes it really easy to want to stay home in pajamas, drink coffee, watch the big bang theory, play playdoh, and make beaded jewelry with hadley. 
how big is the baby?
around 2.5 pounds, 16 inches, and the size of cauliflower. at 26 weeks (when i didn't bumpdate) measurements now go head to toe, rather than head to rump. so, we jumped from 9 inches, to 16 this week! 

movement:
same as usual. this chick can't sit still!

food aversions or cravings:
chicken. in most any form. craving a lot of asian, but refraining mostly. pizza would be good any night of the week. like tonight, for example.
maternity clothes:
love leggings and long cozy shirts. also, sweaters, since it is -10 with the wind chill right now. so. cold.

stretch marks:
nothing new

sleep:
same. not well. 

belly button?
still in!

what do i miss?
running and mojitos.

what am i looking forward to?
still selecting a bed for hadley, and the new baby smell. 

what am i not looking forward to?
the subzero temps we are expecting to stick around for the next week.

best advice to other pregnant moms?
take your prenatal vitamins. you should definitely consider healthy meal choices for so many reasons, but if you can get that vitamin down every day, you know for sure your baby is getting what they need to grow strong and healthy, no matter if you have pizza two nights in a row, or forego the salad for extra mac'n'cheese.

you'll notice the wrinkles in the back drop of my photo. we are adjusting things to work with our little basement space for some indoor shoots. it's tricky, to say the least. it's small. will be great for a single model, or a child or two. pretty exciting!! meanwhile, i stole this photo from joseph before we ever got it into lightroom to edit:) 

BUMPDATE!!

25 weeks!!

how big is the baby?
around 2 pounds, 9 inches, and the size of an eggplant.

movement:
is she ever still?? she's up and at 'em early in the morning, crazy after meals, loves when i wash dishes and sit up here at the computer and has one last round before bedtime. then there are occasional kicks all night long.

cravings and aversions:
mexican is her favorite. tacos. also, it wouldn't be unusual to find me eating chocolate pudding at bedtime. i still really hate sweet tea, that i drink like crazy when NOT pregnant.

maternity clothes:
love leggings and long cozy shirts. also really love my new columbia fleece from my bff stephanie. and my new sperry shoes are so so comfy!

stretch marks:
i think they are just the same ones i've had since hadley was taking up space in my belly.

sleep:
not well. between the peeing and the back pain, i'm waking up 4-5 times a night. time to give the good ol' benadryl a shot!

belly button?
it stayed in with hadley, and i am confident my belly button will not fail me this time either!

what do i miss?
i miss energy and mojitos.

what am i looking forward to?
i am really looking forward to choosing a new hadley bed, and returning the crib into newborn stage very soon. also, i have a 31 team meeting tomorrow:)

what am i not looking forward to?
the four loads of laundry waiting for me on our bed downstairs.

best advice to other pregnant moms?
just quit thinking you can operate at 100%, consider 75% good, and don't be afraid to ask for help from your family and friends. (joseph has been carrying the laundry up and down the stairs for weeks, and washing the dishes with me.)

now. here are a few photos joseph took last night while we were goofing around with his new backdrop and our studio lights. fun stuff!! i look a little silly. i promise i'll do better next time. i don't love to be the one getting shot, but even some of these i like.

i'm frumpy in my jammies, but fun anyway. 

xoxo, al

another new city

this is my view this morning. it's one of those mornings where it snows, and snows, and snows, and there is almost nothing to show for it. kind of like a snow globe. like maybe the same snow from the ground just keeps getting swooshed up into the air again to fall back down where it sat before.

we made a last minute trip to columbus for one night this past weekend. the oregon state beavers gymnastics team was at ohio state. given that joseph is a beaver, and shows little attachment to his undergrad school, i think it's adorable he loves OSU women's gymnastics. so we made a mini weekend of it. and this is our little story:)

first stop, OSU VS. OSU VS. BGSU. hadley wore her beavers cheerleader outfit with much pride, thought she didn't have a clue what the pride was for. orange? beavers? cheerleaders? gymnastics? whatever the case, she was a happy girl. we were able to see warmups in addition to the entire competition. fun stuff! it was a close meet, but oregon pulled it off. it was super fun to have our team win:) we were three of a handful of oregon fans there, so i know our cheering significantly contributed to the win. go team gilbuena.

we were lucky to snag a great last minute deal on an amazing hotel downtown columbus, and we had a great view up on the 16th floor. i forgot to pack our bathing suits, so we never even looked at the pool:( but we really enjoyed the rest of the building. especially our king sized bed. so. much. room. we also ate dinner across the street at a neat little irish pub, barley's. our sweet little girl surprised us by really eating up a storm. these chips were awesome, but it was joseph's reubin sandwich that really surprised me. this girl will barely touch chili if it isn't the right beans, or bread if it isn't store bought white. but hadley went to town on it, and her daddy gladly shared, and we both giggled the whole time.

sunday morning, we wanted to explore an area we'd read a little about, german village. i was hoping to find an original breakfast spot, but scrambler marie's was fast and easy, and new to us anyway. it was delicious. and hadley and joseph enjoyed many of these sweet breakfast kisses. 

i came across a blog written by a local girl, and one place she recommended as an awesome local find was this super amazing local book store, "the book loft." coming from portland, and powell's books, i was all over the idea of a crazy individual book store with room after room of books. while this was completely different, it was still kind of the same, and i felt at home, squeezing through the hallways wandering in the 32 room buliding turned book store. if you are ever in columbus, take a peek! 

next door to the book loft was this super cute little brick home. i don't usually take photos of other people's homes, i find it creepy. but this perfect little house made me want to move to columbus and live happily ever after. 

if you know us at all, you know that we 1. like local coffee shops and 2. always have to find a geocache:) while still in german village, we knocked both those off our to do list. next to the book store we found "cup o joe" and really, how could we not stop? pictured here is my mocha joe, which was as delicious as the joe i kiss every day. just a few block away, we read into an interesting geocache located near this amazingly creepy castle. i couldn't figure out from googling if you can actually tour this amazing building, but i do know that the top two floors are for rent as a penthouse for a mere $5900 a month. it. looks. amazing. the creepy part is, the man who built this back in the day was a little crazy, something about five floors of basement, sunbathed named, never wore shoes or cut his hair, people died upstairs in a fight, and the list goes on. i'd still live there, so long as i never had to go down to that basement.

just after we found that geocache, we realized joseph had monday off, but decided not to alter our plans to return home sunday evening. in fact, pregnant me and little hadley were pretty worn out, and we soon headed off to the car to make our way home. and on our way, surprise, surprise, we stopped at an old country cemetery for another geocache. it was freezing by then, but a great time of day for a photo or two. 

phew. that really was a lot for just over a day in columbus. we can't wait to visit again. such a beautiful city, and so nice to be among tall building where everyone is bustling around, enjoying the city on a warm winter weekend. 

xoxo, al

trapped! but not any more...

if you follow me on instagram or facebook, you have seen the photos i've posted over the last week. while it's been crazy cold and snowy, our family has been loving it! when we moved to toledo two year ago, this is exactly the kind of winter we wanted to experience. a cold, snowy, dreadful midwest winter. and here it is!

while it isn't ideal to be on a level 3 snow emergency, meaning emergency vehicles and those with critical public safety and health jobs, day after day, the beauty of the magical white fluffy sugar snow is delicious. And tomorrow, the roads will be just fine, kids will be back to school, joseph will drive to work, and i will finally get my 24 week appointment at 25 weeks. ultrasound and all!

line at the grocery store just before the storm.
i was lucky. i got everything i needed. 
a couple hours later, shelves were empty.
there are still no bananas in toledo.

so, i've been having those nesting urges since we returned from oregon just before christmas. i put those feelings aside to concentrate on christmas for a week. while we are still enjoying our tree, i have moved on to the nesting now! i am trying to balance some baby prep, with unpacking the last of things, and also turning a playroom full of stuff into something hadley can fall in love with. the playroom is especially important to me, given that her life is about to be invaded and changed for eternity. haddy is undecided on how she feels about giving up her bed, which is the crib turned toddler bed. hopefully another trip to ikea and some pretty princess bedding will seal the deal;)then i will be able to turn that toddler bed back into an infant crib. 

more details on my projects around the house in my next blog! stay tuned!

meanwhile, i hope everyone is keeping warm and frost bite free, or enjoying their 50 degree oregon days playing at the park!

xoxo, al

Merry Christmas...or, Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from the Gilbuenas!!

I'm not going to lie. It's not been an easy year. We've had enough lows to last us several years, and I am hoping we can catch a break soon. Joseph lost both of his amazing grandfathers this year, one as recently as December 21st. I lost an uncle to Alzheimer's in the spring. Most personally, we had a miscarriage in May.

But as far as highs? We know we've been pretty fortunate here. It is making it through the lows that help us really appreciate the good times. So let's let them roll!

In January, we drove to the Philly area to visit with Joseph's great uncle and many of his immediate family members. This trip actually qualifies as both a high and a low, as we all met there to bury Joseph's grandfather. However, it is always good for the souls living across the country from their family to spend a weekend with said family. Hadley loved meeting new family and spending time with her standard favorites, especially Grandma Sherry.

Thanks to my mom making a cold winter trip out in March, Joseph and I took off ALONE  for 9 days on a belated honeymoon to warm and sunny Arizona. We enjoyed Dodger Baseball, hiking, sight seeing, Dutch Bros. Coffee, great food and some crazy random adventures. This fueled our love for Phoenix, and the entire state of Arizona, really. While we hope to live there someday sooner than 50 years from now, we certainly know when we are old and curled up in bed all day, we want to be there, not in freezing cold Ohio!

In June, my mom was back again to celebrate mine and Hadley's birthdays. We took a week of her trip and went to Minnesota (sans Daddy) to go to my nephew Reed's high school graduation. This trip gets less often as the years go by and we all grow up, so the sweet reunion of both little and big cousins and aunts and uncles is amazing. Hadley still cannot stop talking about her Minnesota cousins.

There was a ton of baseball had by all this year, and the biggest trip came in August. Hadley named this Baseballcation. This trip will forever be referred to as Baseballcation 2013. We attended 8 games in eight days, six cities and seven stadiums. We saw the Dodgers play three times in two cities. Joseph caught Andre Ethier's foul ball and I got Don Mattingly to sign his card for me. Hadley was the cutest little Dodgers fan around.

Also in August, we found out we were expecting another baby, due April 24th. After many skeptical weeks of waiting, we were able to see our little Baby G2 on the ultrasound, healthy as can be. Earlier this month we found out we are having another girl and we couldn't be more excited! Hadley can't wait to be a big sister. We are at 24 weeks this week and, other than heartburn and terrible back pain, baby and I are good. She is very active and loves tacos and sleeping in.

September brought us my Aunt Jewel for visit. We were so happy to have her, and enjoyed small trips around the area to the zoo, Lake Erie, Mr. Freeze and more. Hadley was in heaven having her sweet Auntie Jewel all to herself for 10 days.

The perfect house came to us for rent this fall. We are so lucky to have found a nice little house in a nice little neighborhood with nice landlords and lots more space! It is taking us a bit to settle in; my pregnant body is running a little slow. But things are coming together nicely, especially for Hadley, who gained a huge playroom, and for Joseph, who finally got his office back. Me? I like walking out the door to more space, and not a public hallway or a tiny balcony. I am looking forward to spring and summer with a yard, and we are all anxious for a little garden.

This month has been busy. We made a trip home to Oregon to visit family and friends. There is never enough time to see everyone or do everything and, if I could have, I probably would have spent every day with my sister. But it was great just the same. We spent time in McMinnville with my mom and family, Roseburg with Joseph's family, and made a 24 hour trip to the coast to see my dad and his family in Newport. I got to spend THREE evenings with my BFF, Steph, and it did my heart so much good.

With just a week between our trip and Christmas, we crammed a lot into just a little time, and the holiday spirit is not in a hurry to leave our home. Our tree is practically brand new, and oh, man, do I love Christmas lights. Our little family of three is busy building traditions. We started getting a new Christmas book to open Christmas Eve and saving all the rest of our gifts for Christmas Day after Santa has stopped by. Our favorite holiday activity is visiting the Toledo Zoo for Lights Before Christmas. This, ironically, we did after Christmas this year. Haha.

I guess I will dedicate a paragraph to the most popular member of our family.

HADLEY has been busy this year. This social girl loves spending time with her BFFs Mikkipenny, also known as Nikki and Penny. We are so thankful for the friendship of their entire family. Without them, we would all be a little lonelier. Hadley also really enjoys baseball, and comes by it naturally. She loved our little and big trips. We enjoyed a few Toledo Mud Hens games here at home. Of course, there was Baseballcation, and then also a day in Detroit, and a weekend in Cincinnati. We are so lucky our little trooper is such a sport! She spent the summer riding her trike, drawing with chalk, and swimming in the pool. In September, Boppers started preschool, and is in love. Every day she asks to go. I hope her commitment to education continues for many, many years. This munchkin weighs in at around 24 pounds these days, making it easy for Daddy to horse around, throw her up or hang her upside down still, which she loves, though sometimes pretends not to. She often shares with us what she wants to be when she grows up. There is a pretty regular rotation between doctor, fireman and baseball player. There are a few more careers she'd like to give a shot as well. I told her she'll have to start working soon to have time to explore each of these. Hadley is ready for the new baby to pop out, and can't wait to have a sister to play with. I can't wait to see what an eye opener a sibling will be for her. :)

We are so thankful for our friends and family who keep up with us and take time to keep in touch. You don't realize how much this means to us all the way over here in Ohio. We hope you and yours are well, and we look forward to hearing from you soon!

Love, The Gilbuenas