McChristmas 2014

Christmas this year was pretty special for many reasons.  First and foremost, on Christmas Eve we finally found out a huge secret about our baby, a GIRL!  That ultrasound started our holiday off perfectly.

Secondly, we know this is our last Christmas together as a couple with just us two.  We kept saying to each other how crazy it will be next year to have a 7 month old crawling around the tree and eating wrapping paper!  We relished in our private time by staying up late, cooking huge meals, sleeping in and even squeezing in our last for awhile I'm sure, our tradition of seeing a movie on Christmas Day.

Christmas Eve!

Baking sugar cookies

Best Dad Ever!

Christmas Eve Jammies!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Christmas Day!

Merry Christmas!!

Qalo ring

Dad did good!

Fitbit

Zeus was SO excited!

Nana got Zeus a gator!

Christmas Mess

Later that day the sun finally came out, so we took advantage and walked along the beach.

Low tide = many shells

"Hey Mom, you coming?"

So happy to be off the leash at the beach

We had an amazing last Christmas holiday with just us two, but we're very much looking forward to the amazing new adventures that our sweet Norah will bring us next Christmas!  Even though we have no idea where we'll be this time next year because I'm due to PCS soon, as long as we're together that's all we ever want and need.

Merry Christmas, love the McVay Family!

Bumpdate: 18 Weeks and Gender Reveal

So Exciting!!

Size of baby: Sweet potato

Pregnancy Symptoms: Restless nights, no more sore boobs when I run!

Things that make me nauseous:  Nothing this week!

Cravings: Wine

Sleep: Not sleeping well, probably bc I'm so excited!

Exercise: Crossfit 3 times this week and running

Baby Movement: Not yet, damn placenta is in the way!

Total Weight Gain: 5 lbs

Christmas Week!

Finally.  The week we've been waiting for.  Is our precious baby a boy or a girl!?!?  First this week we met with our doula for the first time together.  She's super sweet, and everything went really well for the first meeting!  I'm pretty insistent on a natural birth, and yes I mean no epidural.  I believe in my body, and I think it will know what to do, when to do it when the time is right.  We wanted someone in the delivery room who is educated about such things, help coach me through the process, and advocate for me if the medical staff tries to pressure me into a decision.  We're very excited to work with her, and my husband is very supportive for it as well!

Finally came Christmas Eve, and the ultrasound appointment we'd been waiting for for almost 5 months.

I'm beyond appreciative for my OBGYN's efforts to allow me to schedule this a couple weeks early so that my husband could be present for it as well.  This is the only ultrasound he'll be able to attend to for this pregnancy, and we both agree it's by far the most important one.  I couldn't imagine this appointment by myself, so I'm really grateful for our little ones timing.

Our little McNugget is a ....

GIRL!

We're SO excited and blown away!!  We finally can put a name to a fetus!  Speaking of names, we've finally landed on a name.

Norah June McVay

Kit fell in love with Norah, and June is my Grandmother's name and Great-Grandmother's middle name!  We definitely went with the old-school classic name instead of top-ten list.

Girl Stuff!

Our sweet Norah

We were so blown away in the ultrasound.  We surely thought McNugget was a little boy, but she surprised us alright!  We couldn't be more excited!

We can't wait until she has us wrapped around her sweet little finger.

Bumpdate: 17 Weeks

Size of baby: Onion

Pregnancy Symptoms: Slight breakouts again and lower back pain

Things that make me nauseous: Cat puke, sugary foods (so weird and sad)

Cravings: Sushi, wine and coffee

Sleep: Sleeping straight through the night this week

Exercise: Crossfit 4 times this week, running twice and yoga once

Baby Movement: Zero

Total Weight Gain: Lost some so back to 3.5 lbs


This week my husband finally finished his first semester of law school, and got to fly home for Christmas break!  All four of us (Zeus included) couldn't be more excited.  Our time together as a family is so limited, so when we're all together it's like a holiday everyday.

Kit snapped this of me when I picked him up from the airport!

Our gender ultrasound appointment is in one week, and we can't stop thinking about it!  I've seen our McNugget a few times on the ultrasound machine, but for some reason this upcoming appointment feels like we're finally getting to meet the baby for the first time.  Along with finding out the gender comes the daunting task of naming the little Ma'am or Sir!  It's been the hardest task thus far.  We came together on a girl name within a day.  Easy.  The boy name is a whole other battle.  My husband is the old-fashioned naming type, and he likes simple.  I, on the other hand, am the woman who named her animals Ichabod, Artemis and Zeus.  My boy names are a bit more on the eccentric side.  I know we'll find a middle ground, and who knows McNugget could be a little girl!

We both feel pretty strongly that I'm carrying our son, and not a little girl.  It's just a hunch, but it's enough that we've both became slightly attached to the idea of a little Kit running around.  If that's the case than I'm perfectly at peace with being outnumbered 3 to 1 in our family!

I'm still feeling overall really good.  I rode 16 miles on a bike last weekend, and since then my lower back has been achy.  I can't quite shake it, so I'm hoping I didn't bring on the pregnancy lower back pain early.  I've noticed my appetite is decreasing a bit, especially during the evening.  I held up my own in a team WOD this week to raise toys for kids for Christmas!  This momma can still slaughter 85# power cleans!

 I've noticed too that now when I lay down, McNugget is poking through!  I love it, and can't wait to watch the bump grow.

Zeus is anxious to feel it move too!

The sun came out this week, so I decided to lay out, but I think it's time for a bigger bathing suit soon!

I reached my goal of getting our middle bedroom cleared out before the hubs came come!  Hopefully next bumpdate I'll have some nursery pictures to start posting! Mommy's nesting mode is in full swing this month.

Dad and big brother dig story time!

Bumpdate: 16 Weeks

Size of baby: Avocado

Pregnancy Symptoms: Major stomach muscle stretching feelings, facial acne finally mellowed out, breasts not fitting in my usual bras anymore

Things that make me nausea: Chk, pork chops, and ground beef

Cravings: Moscato!

Sleep: Waking up only once  a night for a bathroom break

Exercise: Crossfit 3-4 days a week, yoga once a week, running once/twice a week, 3 mile hike once a week

Baby Movement: None, but hoping for any day now

Weight Gain: 4#'s total

First here's a picture from my 15th week!  I finally had to wear the maternity ABU's.  After I first put them on I kicked myself for not wearing them sooner!  Incredibly comfortable!  I still laugh at myself every morning when I put them on.  There's just nothing quite like a pregnant women in camo.

15 Weeks

We're four months along now!  Have I really been making a human for four months already?!  I'm still feeling really great!  People ask me, expecting this horror story filled with sprints to the bathroom, explosions of vomit and horrible pains.  I disappoint them every time.  In fact, if I hadn't stopped having my period and kept a flat tummy I'd never know I was pregnant!  

The last week my husband and I have really been hitting the naming game hard.  We're coming up quick on Christmas Eve and our gender reveal appointment, so it's been at the forefront of our minds.  We have a girl name settled on, but the boy name is a fight to the death right now.  So of course, my bet is it's a boy!  I can't wait to be able to put a gender and name to our child.  Apart from peeing on that first positive pregnancy test, I think the gender reveal will one of the most exciting times during this pregnancy.  I count our blessings too that I'm able to share that moment with my husband.  He's missing out on so much, but at least we can share this special moment together.

The last couple of weeks I've really been sticking to my guns with my workouts.  I'm petrified of gaining an obscene amount of weight during my pregnancy, so the only logical way I can think to avoid this is to eat healthy and wholesome when I can (I'm still having pizza once a week dammit!), and to keep consistent on my workouts while I'm able.  I know there will come a time where my body will probably be so huge, swollen and uncomfortable that my normal routine will just no longer be logical, so I'm really trying to take advantage of the time while I have it.  I psyche myself up before every workout with the thought I'm training for a challenge.  This challenge will be like no other I've ever experienced.  The length of time is unknown, but when I'm bearing down after hours of labor trying to deliver our precious baby into this world I want to be as physically ready as I can be.  I'm thinking of delivery as my "race day", and every workout from here on out is training for that big day.  I don't know if it will help honestly when it comes to the big day, but it can't hurt!

Another milestone I'm very excited to hit is feeling our little one's first movement inside me.  I've read that with first time pregnancies it take sometimes up to 20 weeks, but usually it's between 15 and 17 weeks.  I hope this week I feel it!  Then I hope soon after Daddy can feel it too.

We still are being very good about not buying anything yet even though the baby aisle I swear calls my name every time I'm in a department store!  We only have the crib, dresser, mattress and a baby blanket I scored months ago with our nursery colors we want.  Once we know the gender, it will be so hard not to go baby shopping like crazy.  My best friend keeps telling me to wait until after the baby showers, so we will try!

Happy 4 Months to us!

Needed some sun on my frosty white bump!

Squadron Christmas Party

4 wks, 12 wks, 16 wks