Hello and happy hump day!  I'm trying hard not to miss any weekly updates but the days are flying by and if I'm not careful, I'm through a whole week without even thinking about it. Which brings us to today. So far, week 16 is going great! Baby has the appetite of a linebacker and I'm officially back on the veggie and spice train (the two things I hated in the first trimester). I haven't been able to eat things as spicy as I used to, but I'll take anything over the bland carbs I seemed to live on for weeks in the beginning.

My only aversions right now are onions (we had an unfortunate incident with french onion soup at 6 weeks) and oatmeal doesn't seem to be sitting well with me. I'm also having a hard time looking at meat. It almost feels like right after I gave it up last year and it physically makes me nauseous to look at it. It's not all the time and when I crave it, I'll eat it, but I've ordered some organic hemp protein to to help supplement my intake. It's a touchy subject for me because ethically I know what I want to do and what I plan to do after baby (and how I'd like to feed my family) but I also know I need to listen to my body. Right now, I'm cutting back on the amount I'm buying and eating it as my body "tells" me to, which isn't very often.

On the opposite end of the spectrum...cravings! The thing everyone asks about and is subsequently disappointed to hear about hah! My only consistent craving has been seltzer water. Other than that, if something sounds good, I want it in the moment, but it usually passes pretty quickly. I keep joking that working full time has kept me from giving into every whim and getting obese ;)

Baby will be the size of a pear and can now hear our voices. I make sure to talk to him/her a lot and even torture it with my singing from time to time which I'm sure it loves ;) My belly seems to be rounding out from it's previous "pointy" state and I should be able to start feeling movement in the next few weeks which I can't wait for!

Yep, wearing the same outfit as last time...limited choices ;) 

In other news, our computer is FINALLY fixed so we don't have to rely on our phones or B's work laptop at home anymore. I'm hoping this inspires me to get my butt into gear and get some recipes on here since I've been cooking up a storm.

We've been home for a few days but I'm just getting around to catching up on here. I have so many pictures that I need to sort through but I feel like I'm still decompressing from our trip. For someone who doesn't really like to fly, having to board three times in a week had me feeling like an old pro by the end of it, not to mention having to do it stone cold sober. Pregnancy: the time for conquering fears head on ;) With that being said, I don't foresee myself doing any more air travel throughout the rest of this pregnancy. I have to give it up my SIL who is 30 weeks and flew down for the wedding! 

Ben flew out again yesterday, this time for business, and won't be back until Sunday so I'm going solo this week. I miss him already, but I think it's safe to say the second trimester energy has kicked in because I woke up this morning with my brain on fire with to do lists. I never get the spring cleaning bug, but come Fall, watch out! We haven't touched the nursery so I want to work on moving all my clothes into our bedroom.  We have a friend installing recessed lighting in there soon, which means I need to get my rear in gear and find a rug and pick a paint color. Speaking of, what we're doing with the nursery has to be one of the most asked questions I get after "any cravings?" and "boy or girl"? (nope and not finding out!).  I honestly am still at a loss as to what I want to do in there. I'm not super into themes or one particular color so I think it will be a process of finding things we love and layering them in there as we go. I just want it to be a peaceful but fun room that can grow with our baby.

As for a pregnancy "update", at 15 weeks I can honestly say I love being pregnant. There's not too much to report on because things are going pretty smoothly but the main thing is that my appetite has seriously surged. Ironically, my bump sort of deflated this week which I heard from my mom friends can be bloat giving way to the REAL bump that's coming soon. I've been sleeping better and like I mentioned, I have a lot more energy. My next appointment is at the beginning of November and then after that we'll have our BIG ultrasound around 20 weeks which I'm so excited for. It's already felt too long since I've seen the nugget and I can't believe I'm a month away from being halfway through this. Time has been flying and I'm truly enjoying this stage of life, so I'm trying to absorb each day.

I'm looking forward to a weekend at home filled with lots of organization and cooking. I'm such a homebody so this actually excites me after being gone :) Also, I'm totally late to the game but I'd still love to carve pumpkins and decorate our front porch, but at this point it might be more of a Thanksgiving theme than a Halloween one. Happy almost weekend!

The first week of my second trimester has been really busy so I haven't had much time to reflect on it much until now. Between all the lists and packing and prepping for our leave (and worrying over whether Ivy is going to eat my mom's cats), we did manage a quick anniversary dinner on Tuesday at our favorite Mediterranean place. It was so nice to just stop and unplug...even if we did spend an absurd amount of time discussing the pros and cons of replacing our A/C vents versus just sealing them up again this winter. Sealing them won, if you're as invested in energy vs cost savings as we are ;)

We leave for TN early Saturday morning and although I'm nervous to leave my first baby behind, I know she's in good hands and I know even more that we need this. A real vacation, out of state, just for us. We get so wrapped up in work, house projects, and other people's lives that it's good to retreat back to Ben and Heather for a bit, especially since we're cooking a new member at an alarmingly fast rate. That family member will be 15 weeks along when we return (!!) and I'd love to do some non-pregnancy related posts, if anything just to flex my dusty, old writing muscles or finally jot down some recipes we've been loving.

Happy October! Now that we're 12 weeks along, I've posted all these back logged pregnancy updates which were really fun for me to read over this morning. I'll be 13 weeks on Saturday and I can't believe the first trimester is over.

Honestly, everything considered my first trimester was pretty easy. I only had about a week of bad nausea, I had no scary spotting or cramps, and mostly I was just exhausted. I'm really grateful we got through it without too much strife and it made it all worth it when we saw the baby's heart pounding away on yesterday's ultrasound. It felt even more real this time and I can't stop looking at his/her profile and tiny limbs and thinking....you're going to be here in just over six months!

Over the last two weeks, I've gotten my energy back which has been amazing. I have a tiny bump developing and my only symptoms these days are increased appetite and some afternoon headaches (which I attribute to not eating enough).

We leave for our Nashville/Dallas trip in 10 days and weirdly enough, I'm not nervous about flying at all. Prior to getting pregnant one of my biggest worries was how my anxiety would react to all the hormonal changes, but I'm happy to report that it's like a switch has gone off and I feel so peaceful and zen (?!??!). Ben said he feels like he's talking to himself half the time because I'm so relaxed about everything haha. Here's hoping this carries through to after the baby is here and praying for a calm baby too!

I know I mentioned veggies and I weren't friends for a while there but I've been cooking up a storm and including lots of plant-based meals in the mix which feels great. Last night I made a pumpkin pasta and it turned out so wonderful that we scarfed the whole thing (picture next time?). Recipe below:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups penne pasta
• 2 T salted butter
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup pumpkin 
• salt and pepper to taste
• red pepper flakes
• parmesan cheese for garnish

Directions: 

• boil the pasta as directed until just al dente
• in a large saucepan, melt the butter, add the garlic and cook 2 minutes until fragrant
• add the cream, chicken broth, and pumpkin to the pan and whisk until mixed
• season with salt and pepper, add the pasta and cover for 20 minutes on low heat. (the pasta should absorb the extra sauce). 
• serve with red pepper flakes and a generous sprinkling of parmesan!

This weekend looks to be pretty low key due to the bad weather rolling in, but we have some house projects planned so I'm excited to use all the energy I have back to get organizing. I finally have a vision for the nursery so I'm excited to get the big projects like lighting and closet doors out of the way so I can start on the fun stuff. Happy weekend and happy October!