The Happiest Place On Earth!

We had a busy but wonderful long weekend in Florida. We left early Friday morning and drove straight to Winter Park for Brynn's rehearsal and dinner. Charlee was scared during the rehearsal and covered her eyes the entire way down the aisle. So after everyone else was finished, Charlee and the other flower girl, Kennedy, practiced walking down the aisle together. They became fast friends and were adorable together. The dinner was fun and Charlee loved playing with other preschoolers while we caught up with the happy couple. We couldn't stay the entire time because we had to check into our resort. That rushed feeling seemed to follow us the entire weekend!

The suite was nice. We had a full kitchen, dining room, living room, and separate bedroom. My parents stayed in a hotel style room next door, but we shared a lock off door so we could go in and out of both rooms easily and without fear of Charlee getting out. We unpacked and got everything ready for the next day and then everyone went to bed. 

Saturday morning after breakfast my mom, Charlee, and I went to the pool while Eric and Kirk ran errands. Charlee loved the kiddie pool and made some little friends to play with. I had so much fun watching her and it felt so good to float around in the water while pregnant. I feel huge and didn't want to wear a bathing suit, but I'm glad we went. Afterwards we went upstairs to make lunch, shower, and get ready for the wedding. 

The wedding was lovely. Charlee and Kennedy were adorable and actually made it down the aisle. Brynn looked beautiful, and the ceremony was lovely. The reception was great because we got to spend some time with Caitie and Sarah and see a few old friends. Charlee spent almost the entire evening dancing with a couple other preschoolers. They had a blast! We had to leave right after dinner because Charlee was falling asleep at the table and getting fussy. I wish we had been staying a little closer so we could've stayed longer. I miss everyone already! But as it was, Charlee didn't get to sleep until almost 10. 

The next morning was busy! We woke up at 6 to get ready and pack up our room. We switched to my parents room and they packed their car to leave that afternoon. Then we all headed off to Disney World. 

Charlee was terrified of the monorail on her first trip. She cried, covered her eyes, and grabbed the bars (even though she was in a stroller), but she eventually calmed down. We got into the park before it opened because of our breakfast reservation which was well worth it. We beat so much of the crowd by having that advantage! Breakfast at Be Our Guest was good and Charlee liked all of the stuff on the walls. After breakfast we went on Charlee's first ride: It's A Small World. She LOVED it! And so did the jelly bean because he was kicking up a storm the whole ride! The entire day was a huge success. Charlee loved the rides, parades, and people watching. She got scared while meeting Ariel, but meeting Daisy, Minnie, and Mickey went amazingly well. She was so excited and ran to all of them, hugged them, and kissed them. Minnie was by far her favorite (no surprise there). I can't wait to take baby boy there one day and see who he reacts to. We went back to the hotel for about an hour and a half in the evening to drop off my parents and get dinner before we returned for the electro light parade and fireworks. Charlee passed out within minutes of the fireworks being over. She made it 15.5 hours without napping and stayed in a good mood. THAT was a Disney miracle! We didn't get back to the room until almost midnight and we were all ready for bed. 

We came home yesterday. It was a long drive but it felt great to sleep in our own bed last night. My feet and ankles were crazy swollen from the combination of pregnancy, heat, walking for 18 hours, and sitting in the car. The swelling has finally gone down but it SUCKED. I will definitely not be doing anything like that again until after baby arrives! 

Mothers Day and Chaos

Yall, I'm 24 weeks today! That's crazy. For some reason I keep thinking I'm only 22, so 24 makes me happy.

It's been a very busy week in the Widener household. Eric and I refinished one of our bedroom dressers, we both had to do some shopping, and we had to get everything ready for our weekend in Orlando. Our dresser looks awesome! We sanded it down, painted it white, and changed the hardware on it. We will finish the other dresser next week and then Eric just has to build and stain new end tables for our bedroom makeover to be completed. Then I can focus on the nursery! 

I had to do some shopping for maternity clothes this week. I needed dresses for Brynn's rehearsal dinner and reception and something for our day in the heat at Magic Kingdom. There is nothing more depressing than shopping while pregnant. I already feel like a whale, I don't need the pressure of trying on dresses and shorts to make those feelings worse. I finally gave up and got something so I don't show up in yoga pants and a t-shirt. I'm just in this awkward phase where people are looking at me like "is she pregnant or just sue or fat?" If I were thinner when this started it wouldn't be a question because of my basketball belly, but I wasn't. So here I am. 

Mothers Day was wonderful. Eric got up with Charlee and took her to run errands so I could sleep in. It was the first time since my birthday, so it was amazing. They brought me lunch, a nice card, and Charlee brought me some flowers. My gift is our trip to Disney this weekend, so that was more than enough! We spent the day hanging out, working on the dresser, playing, and napping. Eric made a steak dinner and we had strawberry shortcake for dessert. It was exactly what I wanted this year. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful family. I can't wait for the jelly bean to be here and experience it. 

I spent the rest of the week running errands, cleaning, doing laundry, pacing. And finishing the dresser. And today we are on the road. I can't wait to see my friends and to watch Brynn walk down the aisle! And to see Charlee experience the magic of the Magic Kingdom for the first time. It's going to be an amazing weekend! 

23 Weeks Down, 17 To Go...

I'm officially 23 weeks today! I feel like I'm 33, but that's not the point. 

Yesterday I had a regular appointment and everything went very well. The jelly bean is measuring 22 weeks and his heart rate was 144. He is super active and made it difficult for the nurse to find his heart rate because he kept kicking and skewing it. He's like that all of the time though. He keeps me up at night and makes napping difficult. Charlee was active, but not this active! It makes me nervous about how he will be once he's out in the world. This family likes to sleep and none of us do very well without it...

The doctor says my weight gain is perfect and I'm exactly where I should be. But I feel like I'm going to be a whale at this rate. And it doesn't help that I am hungry all of the time. The only other time in my life where I've been this hungry was when I was nursing Charlee. I eat a meal and an hour later I'm hungry again. I'm doing my best to eat healthy, but it isn't easy. 17 more weeks...

I'm still having crazy dreams every night. They're so vivid that I wake up in a haze. That is when I'm not waking up to pee 4 or 5 times during the night. Or waking up to search for my heartburn medicine. I don't know how I don't wake up Eric when I have to unbundle myself from my body pillow and sheets that many times, but he rarely budges. I wish I could still sleep like that! 

Charlee is getting more curious about my growing belly. She asks to kiss my belly or her brother almost every day. She has started asking when she can play with him too. The other day we were sitting in the recliner and she started patting my belly saying she was "playing with baby brother." It was one of the cutest mommy moments ever! 

Baby is currently the size of a large mango at 11.5 inches and 1.1lbs. I am currently craving tomato sandwiches with bacon, chocolate ice cream, and strawberries.