25 Weeks!

Wow...we've reached the 25 week mark with only 15 to go.  I cannot believe how fast this pregnancy is going by.  And despite the fact that during the holidays I was fighting off an ear infection, a sinus infection, a ridiculously annoying cough and pink eye (because thankfully, my body is protecting Kollyns...and leaving nothing for me to fight with)-we had a beautiful Thanksgiving with our families...and I've never been more thankful for or more aware of the blessings in our life.  This miracle of life inside of me has opened my eyes to many things and I am now so much more appreciative of the little things I've always taken for granted.  So now we're looking forward to and preparing for Christmas. It's so fun to imagine next year at this time and how different our lives will be.  It's such a sweet thing to think about! Below is my little 25 week survey so I can remember this stage!  We are 3 short weeks away from the third trimester! :)

How far along? 25 Weeks
Total weight gain: 7 lbs
Maternity clothes? Still fitting in most of my old clothes.  I've only bought 2 maternity tanks to wear under open sweaters in case the belly makes a sudden pop and I can't fit into my old tanks.  So far I'm still in my normal sized jeans using the hair band trick.
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Sleep is good.  She has started waking me up at 4:30am with little kicking spells.  I love it.
Best moment this week: Noticing a pattern with her movements. 
Movement: She moves constantly...especially after I finish eating.  I think she loves food as much as I do! :)
Food cravings: Thankfully, none.
Gender: GIRL!
Labor Signs: definitely not!
Belly Button in or out: IN
Wedding rings on or off? On
What I miss: SPIKE energy drinks before workouts...
What I am looking forward to: Reaching the third trimester so we can start counting down!
Weekly Wisdom: I'm loving and appreciating every little movement or kick I can feel and still enjoying all the quality time I have with my amazing husband before her arrival.
Milestones: Movement Patterns...and the baby bed has arrived! YAY!

What the baby looks like this week...

Picture from BabyCenter

behind the name & the nursery...

The Name…


We had no clue how difficult it would be for us to pick our baby’s name. We had a boy name, but not a girl name. All of the girl names that we have had picked out since we got married… have been used by close friends of ours within the last 5 years (unbeknownst to them, of course). So we finally settled on Kollyns River Almond, which I absolutely love because of its uniqueness and timelessness. We saw the name Collins in the movie The Blindside and I thought it was beautiful, but I was worried people would call her Collin (boy name). So we decided to change the spelling to make it feminine and shift the gender-neutral name to a girly name. Kollyns was Devin’s pick, and I can’t wait to tell her that her daddy named her! I picked the middle name River, because I have wanted to name my little girl or boy River for forever. Of course, someone beat me to it, so I settled on the middle. It’s so significant too because of how much Devin and I love the river and how it played such a huge part in his life growing up. So yeah, her name is Kollyns River! And we love it! I think she loves it too, because when I talk to her and call her by name, it’s like she’s dancing around in there…which is so sweet.

The Nursery…

So this was an easy decision. I was browsing through baby bedding and saw an adorable collection by Glenna Jean. It’s called the ‘Kirby Collection’ and it’s made up of hot pink, lime, yellow, black and grayish/silver. The walls in the baby room are already a gray color so I was ELATED to figure out that we didn’t need to paint, and I’m sure Devin is pretty happy about that too! So below are some pictures of the prospective room design (minus some of the extra floral details). I like bold and modern, so I’m going to stick with the bedding only having the floral and everything else will be accented with bold pieces. I’m in love with the shimmery silver drapes and the chandelier!

A few of my favorite things...

                               Love these drapes!!!                     

The Glenna Jean Kirby Collection

 Girly Pink Rug is a must! :)

 Her Sheets...

 Matching Musical Mobile

Sweet Baby Chandelier...

sweet baby girl...

First of all I'm sorry this post is so long, but I have so much to say!  And I can’t even begin to describe how our morning went without first reflecting on how great our God is.  I have been full of wonder throughout this whole journey, and at the same time full of worry.  I worry so much for the baby that is inside of me right now, that I’m protecting.  I can’t imagine the worries that come along with motherhood, once this sweet innocent life enters this sometimes not so beautiful world.  Every morning and night, and a lot of times throughout the day I will cover my belly with my hands and pray and plead with God to bless us with a healthy child that will one day live his/her life in light of eternity.  I pray that our sweet little one will live according to God’s will and will keep in mind that this life isn’t about us at all, it’s about bringing glory to our ever-faithful, true, and merciful Heavenly Father.  I constantly have to remind myself of this because it’s something so easily forgotten in this ‘me, me, me’ world, and I must always remember to remind my baby from where our blessings flow.  With that said, this ultrasound made it all so incredibly real to both me and Devin.   Our baby looked like a baby, FINALLY!!! We saw it dancing and kicking and moving those little arms.  And then we got a glimpse of the face.  She zoomed in on the nose and it looked IDENTICAL to Devin’s.  After she checked out everything to make sure the baby was healthy and growing nicely, she called in my Dad, Mom, and Terry.  We waited until they were in there to find out the gender and she said IT’S A GIRL!  Mom and I both started crying…it was the sweetest thing!  Devin’s face lit up so bright because he’s wanted a girl all along.  I was absolutely shocked (a happy shock, of course) because I just KNEW it was a boy.  I had convinced myself that I was having a boy…I thought I had some seriously good intuition, but obviously I was far off.  Ha.  And it was very clearly a little girl!  I can’t believe now I can say I’m having a daughter!  It’s the best feeling in the world!  We can’t wait to spoil her and dress her up and put little bows in her hair. After we got over the initial excitement of knowing what we were having she started pulling up 4D images of our baby girl’s face.  Oh my WORD does our child look like her daddy.  She has Devin’s face completely!  I never knew that you could distinguish features this early…but clearly daddy’s little girl is daddy’s spitting image.  I couldn’t be more thrilled with that because obviously I love the way Devin looks, so she will be one pretty little doll baby.   Now as we wait for our little princess to arrive we have to start acting instead of just dreaming.  Here comes the name game, and nursery decorating, and buying little baby things.  Here comes the FUN PART!  Well, fun for me.  Devin doesn’t exactly enjoy shopping…so hopefully one day my little girl will be mommy’s shopping partner.  But we still get to dream together…that’s the beauty of all of this.  And it’s a great time passer when all we can do is wait for her arrival.  We are still holding on to hope and faith in the dream that we will be blessed with a long happy life with our baby so we can teach her and so she can teach us.  I want us to become childlike with her,  I can’t wait to watch her experience the beauties of this world for the first time and get a glimpse of this life through her sweet, innocent, perfect eyes.