22 weeks

I can't believe there are only 18 weeks left!!! Wow. I swear the time has flown by so quickly. So here is the update on this week. I am not doing a full update as not too much has changed.

Movement: This little guy is quite the mover and shaker. I have enjoyed letting Scott and my family feel him move from the outside. In fact Friday night he entertained Scott, Ashley, Roo, and myself for about 5 minutes. All he was doing was moving around, but you could see him move. It is so fun to grab Scott's hand and place it gently on my stomach so he can feel Reece move.

Clothes: My wonderful and patient husband went to South Park with me and watched me try on pants. He sat so nicely and gave me his honest opinion. I bribed him with red velvet waffles:)

Size: He is the size of a large spaghetti squash. He now weighs a whole 1 lb and is 11 inches long.

Interesting facts: Spider veins really are not attractive no matter what. Poor Scott thinks he will make me feel better by saying oh you can hardly see them. Well if that where the case I doubt my mom and sisters would have gasped at these beautiful purple spider webs.

Running becomes a challenge when within the first 2 minutes I feel like I have to pee. But geez Reece I just emptied my bladder give me at least 30 minutes.

When I am hungry Reece is hungry. This I do swear is true. When I go too long without eating my stomach no longer growls. Now there is a kicking child in there telling me to feed him. After I eat he stops moving and is satisfied. Like mother like son.

My belly button is not sticking out, it is the top part of my pants. Right now I still have an inny!

Pumpkin Roll

I woke up this morning with an itch to bake. It has been a while since I have been in the kitchen whipping up something wonderful. I went to skinnytaste for an idea and found this wonderful pumpkin roll. I was a little nervous about the rolling step, but if you follow her directions it will be easy as pie. Click here for the recipe.

Turkey Trott

Thanksgiving morning started with an 8k run with Scott, mom, and Chris. What a wonderful way to start out Thanksgiving. We headed to South Park with 8,000 other runners ready to work up an appetite. This run was really a lot of fun. The homes in South Park you run by are beautiful and the hills are a little less than to be desired. Along the run people in the neighborhoods were out cheering on all of the runners. There was one family that had a table set up with bloody mary drinks and vodka shots. If Scott and I are still in Charlotte next year we will be running the Turkey Trot again.

Everyone standing around a few minutes before the gun went off. When the gun did go off there were so many people standing around talking it caught us all by surprise.

After the run. Scott swears this is as far as he will run. He also said he would never run anything farther than a 5k. We will see what kind of convincing I can do.

Roo and Colby came out to cheer us on!

Scott doesn't have a metal because he didn't want to be a geek and wear one around.

All four of us finished the run, which was everyone's goal. Mom and I both ran faster than our goal. I was feeling surprisingly great Thursday morning and ran a 9:13 pace. I finished in 46:05.

Next weekend the whole family will run the Mistletoe run in W-S.

Thankful this Thanksgiving

Scott and I have so much to be thankful for this year. The love of our family and friends and the blessing that we have on the way. Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite Holiday's. I am reminded every Thanksgiving how much I have to be thankful for. I have an amazing husband whom I am madly in love with, a supportive and loving family, and wonderful friends I can always count on.

Family shot.

We just couldn't leave the dogs out.

Our last Thanksgiving as Scott and I.

Roo is 21!!

I cannot believe that my baby sister is 21 years old. Chels was born on Thanksgiving Day 21 years ago on the 22nd. Being that I am 7 years older than her I remember the day she was born, when she first sat up by herself, the day she shaved her legs, had her first boyfriend, graduated high school, and many more. It seems so crazy that she is now 21 years old.

She decided that she wanted my family to get together at the Epicenter Bowling ally in Uptown Charlotte and celebrate her birthday. And celebrating we did! Below are pictures from our evening. We had a wonderful time and can't wait to do it again.

Roo with her first drink of the evening.

Mom and her girls!

Happy Birthday Roo!

21 weeks

I am over half way there and cannot believe it!

Gender: Boy, Reece Allen Carrigan

Size: Reece should weigh about 3/4 of a pound now, and the length of a carrot or banana.

Movement: I love the movement of this little monkey. It is a feeling that cannot be described. I will sometimes just lay in bed in the mornings and not get up because he is moving around. I know once I get up and move he will stop. I have been feeling him move just a little bit throughout the day. It feels like he is swimming inside of me sometimes. Instead of a runner maybe we have a swimmer:) I also feel him kick. He has moved up higher within the past 2 weeks and I have felt him just a little bit below my belly button. Scott is dying to feel him move. He said though that it was a feeling worth waiting for. I think he still has another 2 weeks before he will feel Reece, so in the meantime it is a bonding experience for Reece and I.

Weight: I have gained 7 lbs. Dr. seemed pleased and said I am right on track. She said by the next appt. I should have gained 4-5 more lbs. This I am not going to lie is something hard to do since I have been working so hard for the last year to lose weight. BUT I know it is for the health of this little guy so it does make it all worth it:)

Clothing: I bit the bullet and went Saturday to buy some shirts to wear. All of my shirts seem to be stopping a little short of where I would like them to fall. Current favorite maternity item is the belly band. My pants are really really tight, but they are still buttoned(well at least a few of them). I am going to buy a pair of nice jeans Wednesday that I can wear throughout the rest of the pregnancy.

Cravings: Nothing exciting. I still could eat my weight in sour patch kids. Coffee is something I can't even think to stomach. Also a piece of steak or chicken just doesn't appeal to me either unless it is mixed in with a salad, pasta, or on a sandwhich. Frozen yogurt has been my sweet treat!

Exercise: I am still running. Thursday morning we are running an 8k and I am really anxious to see how I do. I know I can run straight without stopping, but I have SERIOUSLY slowed the pace down. I have read that this was a natural reaction and it is your bodies way of not letting you over do it.

Feeling: Other than the cold I have I feel great! No sickness any more and I have energy to stay up past 7 pm! I do have the frumpy feeling in my stomach. I am in that you don't really look pregnant stage, you just look like you have enjoyed a few too many pumpkin spice krispy kreme doughnuts.

Chicken Soup

This weekend Scott and I have both had a head cold:( Scott got it first and passed it off to me, for that I am ever so grateful, NOT! Today after church chicken noodle soup sounded so good for lunch. I thought I would give it a try and make my own soup. I looked at a couple of different recipes to come up with my own.

Ingredients:

1 rotisserie chicken from the deli section

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups water with chicken bouillon cube

1 1/2 cups carrots

1 1/2 cups celery

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp oregano

salt to taste

1/2 tsp black pepper

3 bay leaves

Let the above ingredients cook in a pot for an hour. Then add the egg white wide noodles. I added 3/4 of the bag and there were a lot of noodles. You may want to use less if you want yours with more broth. I let the noodles cook in the soup for about 15 - 20 minutes.

I promise this is the best chicken noodle soup you will ever had.

**Disclaimer. I didn't measure my spices I just added them, but this is an approximate guess.

Hunting dogs

Yesterday afternoon/evening Scott went on his first hunting trip. The dogs were so confused as to what dad was wearing they kept following him all thru the house. We think they really wanted to go be dad's hunting dogs. He sadly declined their plead knowing that they would scare all of the deer away with their barking.

Unfortunately for Scott he came back this time without a "trophy". I still don't know where in the world he thinks he is going to put his "trophy", because it is not going to be inside this house. I guess we will worry about that once he catches something.

Scott with his hunting dogs.

Needed Category for races

This year for Thanksgiving we are breaking tradition. Mom, Chris, Scott, and myself have signed up to run the Turkey Trot 8k. Instead of waking up to watch the Macy's day parade while enjoying a cup of coffee and eating cinnamon rolls we will be running in the cold. Once we get home you can bet we will watch the DVR'd parade, warm up with a hot beverage (hot chocolate for me), and eat breakfast.

My second and probably final race until Mr. Reece comes is the Mistletoe run in W-S. This was the 5k run that started it all for me. This year I will be joined by my whole family and best friends! However, while signing up for these runs I decided they need a category for those running while pregnant. They have a baby jogger, Clydesdale, and Athena category. What about the crazy pregnant lady category? I figure there aren't many of us out there crazy enough to run in races while pregnant. Which means surely I could win an award in a race:)

Sunday

Today Scott and I went to the Carolina Panthers game. Major disappointment, and also a few hours of our life that we will never get back. While we truly appreciate the person that offered us the free tickets, the game itself was horrible. Luckily we enjoyed each others company and the peanuts. The game was so bad at one point we were discussing our trip to the grocery store. So I was doing more the talking and Scott the listening but still. The game should be so exciting that you aren't thinking about your grocery store trip.

For dinner this evening I made blue cheese wedges and roasted red pepper and tomato soup. The soup was Pacific Natural from Lowes Food. A must try!

Blue cheese wedge: wedge from a head of lettuce, sliced cherry tomatoes, blue cheese crumbles, and balsamic vinegar glaze drizzled over the top.

For dessert I sat in front of the fireplace and enjoyed a mint skinny cow ice cream sandwich. Now I must finish grading papers:(

Reece's Bedding

Mom and I went to Mary Jo's in Gastonia Friday in search of fabric for Reece's bedding. Scott and I had looked all over the internet and couldn't find what we wanted. Since mom is a wonderful seamstress I thought it would be really special if Reece had bedding made by his Gi-Gi. I asked mom if she would make his bedding for us, and of course she said yes.

I thought it would be really easy to pick out his bedding, but I was sorely mistaken. We had walked around Mary Jo's for about 15-20 mins. and I was beginning to get really discouraged. Everything was either too girly or too cheesy. Mom kept telling me when I saw the fabric I would just know that it was the one. I was beginning to think even the largest fabric store in NC would have what I wanted. But then I walked by a table where two sisters had just laid down their fabrics and there it was. The fabric I knew was the one! So we patiently "stalked" the ladies until they were finished with the fabric.

Mom was very patient with me as we searched the store for the perfect fabrics for Reece's quilt. I am not exactly sure what kind of pattern mom is using for his quilt but I know it will be perfect. She is also making his bumper pad, pillow(s), and window treatment.

Scott and I are still deciding on his crib. We have narrowed it down to two options, let us know which one you like best.

Above fabric will be the main fabric used on his quilt and will be the outside fabric

of his bumper.

Crib 1 above

Crib 2 below

Which one do you like best?

Week 19

Gender: Boy

Name: Reece Allen Carrigan


Meaning: Running. I loved this name before I knew the meaning. Whitney sent me a picture one morning of the name Reece along with the meaning. Once I showed Scott he said since I ran the half marathon pregnant, and love to run, the name only seemed fitting. Allen is Scott's middle name, and the Carrigan family name will continue with Reece.


Movement: Halloween was the first time I felt this little guy move. It was such an amazing feeling and one that cannot be described. At first I thought it was my heart beating in my stomach, but once I laid still I realized it was the baby moving. My reaction was a huge goofy smile on my face while laughing, and getting teary eyed at the same. At night when I lay still I can feel a few movements. Every time I feel him I get just as excited as the time before.


Weight: I think I have gained between 4 or 5 pounds. I will get weighted next Tuesday and know for sure.


Clothing: I can still fit into my normal clothes. I am really stretching the limits with this one. My pants keep getting tighter and tighter, I know the full use of the belly band will occur before the week is over.


Cravings: Sour things. I could sit down and eat my weight in Sour straws, Sour patch kids, lemons, or limes. I crave fruit all the time. I am not in the mood for grilled chicken or coffee.


Exercise: My goal is to run as long as I am able. Scott and I just signed up this evening to run the 8K Turkey Trott Thanksgiving morning. The difference about working out while pregnant is that I no longer get energized from running. Instead afterwards I could lay down and take a nap. Needless to say I feel great while I exercise and am not pushing myself to the point of exhaustion.

It's a ??????

Last night our family and best friends gathered with us to find out if Baby Carrigan is a boy or girl. The idea started from my best friend, Cambria. Only I thought it would be fun if Scott and I didn't know the sex of the baby when we cut into the cake. So from here the idea of a Gender Reveal Party began.

We had our 18 week ultrasound last Monday. We waited almost a whole entire week to find out what we are having. It was well worth the wait. We were not only able to see our families reaction, but they were able to see our reactions as well.

Our guests were asked to wear pink or blue based on their guess. We had pictures of all of the ultra sounds we have had and the progression of this baby developing. Our guests also voted on the weight, length, birth date, and time.

Boy

Vs.

Girl

Oh you want to know what is inside the cake?

It's a...

Boy!!!!!!!!!!

To our family and friends that made the drive to find out with us, we thank you and love you more than words can express. We are so excited to meet this little active monkey. We can't wait for each of you to be such an important part of his life.