19 week check in

How far along? 19 weeks, 5 days
Weight gain/loss: +6lbs total
Maternity clothes? Most. I still have two pairs of nonmaternity pants that I can wear and one pair of jeans that I can wear using the hair tie trick. I'm still trying to wear my looser tops. For some reason, maternity clothes seem so frumpy to me this time, even the ones I loved last time around.
Sleep? I'm sleeping pretty hard lately. I have been falling asleep on my left side and only moving once or twice all night.
Best moment this past week? Feeling the baby moving like crazy!
Sex: The big scan is set for April 3, 4 more days!
Belly button in or out? In, but there's a big bump on one side.
Movement: Lots of flutters, rolls, and the occasional kick or punch.
What I miss? I really want a drink.
What I'm looking forward to this week: The anatomy scan!
Milestones: From babygaga.com, "Your favorite womb-hijacker is suddenly huge, at 10 inches in length!"

Picture: 

Trying to be thrifty

I haven't written a post besides a pregnancy check in in quite some time. My friend Lauren over at Our Little All-American Family is a financially savvy momma and she has been posting tips on how to live more frugally. She has inspired me to take a closer look at our finances. With baby #2 on the way, finances are going to become tighter between daycare, diapers, etc. We have been putting extra money on our mortgage each month to try to pay that down more quickly plus all of the extra costs we are going to be faced with, it's time to start being more aware of our spending. 

Food: This is the area I chose to focus on first. Bill and I have never been very good at making shopping lists aside from the items that we were out of. We would grab a few things for meals in our weekly shopping, but run to the store close to our house to get items for dinner, or take out, multiple times a week. I've decided to start meal planning. It took some convincing but Bill has agreed with me. He's used to eating whatever sounds good on that particular day and deciding our meals a week in advance was foreign to him. 

We discuss meals on Saturday and Sunday for the week and I go to the store to buy the ingredients on Sunday. We've decreased our food bill by A LOT. Between meal planning and buying food for Bill to take lunches with him. We have cut our food bill by almost 40%. Bill is a delivery driver and works long days. He would grab a coffee before work (still does, that was our compromise) then stop once or twice for food throughout the day spending between $10 and $15 each work day (4 days per week). Now I buy sandwich meat, bread, and snacks for him at the store weekly at a cost of less than $20 per week. 

One positive side effect we didn't plan on, was the fact that having a meal plan takes away a lot of stress each night. We know what we're eating and one of us will make the meal without the back and forth conversation of "what do you want for dinner?" "I don't know, what do you want?" There's less time spend running our for ingredients and more time spent as a family. 

This has been GREAT for our finances and good for our family too. 

18 week check in

How far along? 18 weeks 5days
Weight gain/loss: +6 pounds total
Maternity clothes? Most of my pants are now maternity but I've been trying to wear loose tops without needing to go to maternity yet. Most of my maternity clothes are pretty stretched out from last time. I bought one new pair of pants. 

Sleep? Needing slightly less lately.  

Symptoms? Lightheaded in the mornings. Eating a little snack or drinking some OJ helps.
Best moment this past week? I've been feeling lots of movement and Bill has felt it too!

Food cravings: Nothing in particular. 

Sex: We will be finding out April 3, I keep going back and forth on whether I think it's a boy or girl.
Belly button in or out: In but puffy. I actually think its cute!
Movement: Lots!
What I miss? Being able to hold Tommy for longer than a minute or two. The muscles in my stomach start to feel strained very quickly.
What I'm looking forward to this week: Keeping this baby growing!

18 week check in from last pregnancy. 

Check-in (16 weeks)

How far along? 16 weeks 5days
Weight gain/loss: +5 pounds total
Maternity clothes? Most of my pants are now maternity but I've been trying to wear loose tops without needing to go to maternity yet. Most of my maternity clothes are pretty stretched out from last time. 

Sleep? Needing slightly less lately.  

Symptoms? Lightheaded in the mornings. I've started needing to eat a small snack before getting up again.
Best moment this past week? I got to hear the heartbeat this week! I'm also feeling more movement lately. 

Food cravings: Sweet potato chips...mmmm

Sex: We will be finding out April 3, I keep going back and forth on whether I think it's a boy or girl.
Belly button in or out: In
Movement: Sporadically
What I miss? Clothes that fit well. Regular clothes are too tight, maternity clothes are too big.
What I'm looking forward to this week: Keeping this baby growing!