Happy Thanksgiving!

 Happy Thanksgiving!

We have had the craziest week between birthdays, the holiday and family gatherings, a proposal, and more birthdays! We started off the week with a 1st birthday party fiesta for little Georgia, then a boat cruise through Newport Harbor for my Nanas 85th birthday and an early Thanksgiving celebration with my relatives on my moms side. We had so much fun on this adorable Tiki boat with catered mexican food, a dj, and kareoke that had us all dancing & singing at some point. Its always a good time when you have 30-40 of us together and all of the cousins get to play.

On Thanksgiving morning I did the Dana Point Turkey trot (5k) with some of my girl friends and their babies and sipped coffee and chatted for a few hours, it was a great way to start the day. Then we headed over to my in laws for a couple hours and for dinner spent the evening with friends and family on my husbands side. It was a lot of fun and a lot of grubbin. We came home in some pretty serious food comas.

Friday we had Thanksgiving with my side of the family with just my immediate family, we each brough a dish or two and I made 2 Kale salads and home made macaroni and cheese (i'll share on that later because they were too yummy not too).  We always have so much fun together, getting all of us under one roof are some of my favorite moments and memories.

Today my sweet little brother proposed to his girlfriend and we added a 4th sister to the clan.  I am so grateful he found such an incredible woman, he is truly one of the best men i know. They are both so blessed and I cannot wait to see how God moves in their marriage. We were able to surprise her and celebrate with our two families joined today for an engagement party. Tommorrow we are going to get our Christmas tree, start decorating, and then we get to take our beautiful mother in law & family to an early dinner for her birthday & watch the tree lighting at Fashion Island.  

This week was jam packed with so much excitement and suprises (one or two im not allowed to share just yet) and we are just so thanful for family and living close to all of our loved ones. Its such a special time of year when everyone wants to celebrate their love for one another and get into the holiday spirit. 

Being pregnant I am really into Christmas traditions right now. I love love love Christmas but this year is different, i've been watching just about every cheesey Christmas movie thats out there and dying to decorate and sip cocoa and i have this weird thought that I wont be able to get done all of the Christmas-y things i've been dreaming of all of November.  I'm sure the next few weeks til Christmas will be fast paced but its my goal to fit in all the tradition my heart desires all the while keeping our focus on this being Christ's birthday.  I hope you guys are feeling the holiday spirit!

^^^celebrating our little Georgias 1st bday with a fiesta^^^

^^^This little angel is my best friends new baby Eve Rowan, im a bit obsessed with her & want to sneak her away in my pocket^^^

              ^^^Serious dance party on the boat. My family has no shame, and i  loveeee it. ^^^

^^^these two cuties pre engagement^^^

^^^he was so into watching the water^^^

^^^hanging with his autnie and uncle^^^

^^^horsie rides on grandmpa^^^

^^^kareoke^^^

^^^cousin love^^^

^^^Skipping to the finish line of the 5k with my little friend Michael^^^

^^^Turkey Trot 2015, roasting in the early day light^^^

^^^i coudnt get over that Beau Hudson bow tie on Thanksgiving!! You need one for your little guy if you dont already have one, & i wish i had taken more photos this week. ^^^

^^^Cousin play on 3rd Thanksgiving^^^

^^^So full, so theres a mini bump (:  a little over 12 weeks ^^^

^^^ And their sweet engagement! Congrats to you lovebirds! ^^^

^^^My sis on the far left is 5 weeks ahead of me and im hitting my second trimester now. Engagement party celebrating the two cuties in the middle^^^

**sorry for the iphone quality photos, i was terrible about pulling out my big camera this week. . . just too busy. But i suppose these are better than nothing.***

A holiday gift picks post coming soon!! Also we find out the gender of our little baby realllll soon, what do you think we are having, a boy or a girl?

XO

Pregnant With Baby Number 2!!

 Pregnant with Baby Number 2!!

If you follow along on my instagram (@tessaarmstrong8 also linked on the right side of my blog) you know that we are expecting Baby number 2 this June! Now that the cats out of the bag I wanted to fill you guys in on life lately.  Im sure you noticed I have been a little MIA lately and posting way less often, I've been battling severe all day nausea (not throwing up thankfully) just like I did with Cash in the first trimester. Its awful! I have also been exhausted beyond reason so trying to take care of my 15 month old has been about the only way I can exhaust any energy because I really dont have much these days. I couldn't keep this special secret to myself for much longer so I wanted to share early on like I did with Cash because its so much more real and beautiful when your loved ones know and can be praying for your bun in the oven.

We found out we were pregnant a couple weeks into living in our new home, so talk about craziness, I was trying to unpack and organize our new house and then started feeling exhausted and sick nearly right away. Bad timing, but we are so thrilled!! I found out while my husband was at work and couldn't hold it in and knew I had to tell him right when he got home that day. So I put Cash in a cute little onesie that read "Let the Adventure Begin" and had him waiting out front holding a pair of baby shoes to hand to daddy when he pulled up. I picked girl shoes so it would be obvious they weren't Cashs (we still dont know the gender).  Here are some cute shots I snapped of the boys right when they found out.

So I know some of you asked about me doing bump updates like I did with our first pregnancy and I've decided I'll do them because they're a great way to keep a journal of all that goes on and be able to hold on to those special moments, but also because I have found how much I enjoy other bloggers who share their experiences and find a way to relate to other women as we go through this incredibly amazing but difficult journey of creating a life. Pregnancy is no easy feat.   I'll probably do a monthly pregnancy update, not much changes week to week but month by month is a whole other story, so you guys can expect those.

How far along: 11 Weeks (Due date June 11th)

Gender: We'll find out in about 3 1/2 weeks

Maternity Clothes:  I have whipped out my maternity leggings and jeans already, just because they're more comfortable when the baby sits so low right now and my uterus is expanding, cramping, and stretching. It can get really uncomfortable when anything tight is touching where my uterus is (which is right where my pants button). The belly band and hair tie trick work too, but who are we kidding, maternity jeans/leggings are just way more comfortable. Theres no shame in that. 

Sleep: I became uncomfortable pretty quickly with this pregancy. I think its all the bloating and stretching that happens around night time. From right around 5 weeks and up until now I have so much bloating happening that its literally already uncomfortable. I dread getting in bed because my lower back has already started hurting if I lay on it, so im having to sleep on my side which feels like my stomach is heavy and already needs a pillow under it for support. Its insane how quickly my stomach has popped with this second baby! Maybe its because I had a 7.4 lb baby 16 months ago. lol

Miss Anything:  feeling good. ..Being nauseas feels like I have had the flu for 2 months.

Cravings: just like with my first pregnancy I am currently craving fruit, citrus fruit like cuties and oranges sound so yummy, and cold raspberries and watermelon.  At week 4 & 5 I was craving carbs like movie theatre popcorn and cheeze its and pizza. Its so weird what our bodies tell us we want.  At weeks 6-9 I really wanted soups, butternut squash soup, tomato soup and tortilla soup sounded so good. 

Adversions: I have had an adversion to anything i cook, lol. Cooking has been something that grosses me out and makes me gauge thinking about, so we have done wayyyy too much eating out these past 2 months, exactly like when I was pregnant with Cash in my first trimester.  

Symptoms: Less cramping and stretching now that ive passed the first two months, I have really awful constipation (isnt this pointless if im not honest?) this is due to being on Zofran (my anti nausea medication again). This same problem happened with my first pregnancy, and let me tell you, it is NO fun.  I tried 2 other medications and they didnt work at all. This time around Zofran only works off and on, with Cash it felt like it took away all of my nausea.  I am always hungry, & I have to eat every 2 hours because if I dont im nauseas again.  Really exhausted but I started feeling a tiny bit more motivated and energized around 10 weeks. Im breaking out on my face, and even my body like i did with Cash in my 1st tri.  And I was really hormonal from week 3.5 to week 8 (thats one of the ways I knew i was pregnant!).  

Belly Button in or out: in

Mood: Really ready to be done feeling sick

Best Moment this week: Having more energy!! 

Looking forward to:  Finding out the gender! Also, being able to work out again, i've taken a month or so off of the gym and I am feeling more motivated and less tired now so Im happy to be feeling better.

Exercise: I stopped exercising for the last month or so, I went to my first Dr appointment and the ultrasound found a small bleed in my uterus, I havent had any spotting or pain or anything, but it just means I had  to be careful for a few weeks so it would heal. I had the same thing happen with Cash early on and it healed perfectly by 12 weeks.  My dr. said it was nothing concerning and they see it all the time, its really common as the gestational sac grows bigger and stretches.  Im not worried about it but I wanted to be safe and do whatever I could to have it heal quicker and keep our baby safe.  It was also a nice break for me while being so tired to just give myself time to rest. 

We are excited to have our little ones 2 years apart and to be giving Cash a sibling.  We are so thankful our little angel is growing healthy and has a strong heartbeat. I can't thank God enough for this blessing.

  If you're on this journey with me and expecting a baby, Id love to hear about how you've been feeling, foods you've been craving, and how you stay healthy and take care of yourself while being pregnant. Also what do you think we are having, a boy or a girl?

Xo

Safe Home Solutions: HOMage

 Safe Home Solutions: HOMage

Hey my people, oh how i have missed you all week! I have some good news to share, I have found a way to clean my new home that is safe for our little guy! I have always had a problem with using harsh products full of hazardous toxic chemicals, but now that I have a baby things have changed where I don't just have a problem with cleaning supplies, I fear the harm they can do to my little one. Our skin aborbs 60% or so of what we touch! AH! I don't know about you but I dont want my little one bathing in a tub that was cleaned with toxic chemicals! I also don't want to put food onto a counter that was cleaned with hazardous sprays, or have him touching our windows and then sticking his little fingers in his mouth. Its crazy to think about how much we already consume from our foods alone that are probably harmful, the last thing we need to do is add to that mess by spraying chemicals in the air of our homes.  Welcome our solution,.. HOMage. 

"HOMage is a concept that has been a long time in the making. We like things natural. We want our homes to feel happy, and breathe happy. Have you ever read the label of a big brand, chemical cleaning product? I mean, whoa. Not to mention the knock-you-out fumes that fill the house after a couple sprays on a surface that you might actually set some food on". - HOMage 

So here we have three sprays: Window cleaner made of Eucalyptus and Peppermint! (SMELLS AMAZING), Disinfectant spray made of Tea Tree and Lemongrass (i use this on all the surfaces Cash touches or plays on), All Purpose Cleaner made of citrus and clove (this one is strong, you can just smell that clove working away at cleaning your countertops! I love that!).  

*all homeopathic ingredients*

This package is for just $25 for all THREE! Or you can purchase them individually for $10.

Everything is made with love in their garage! Help support small businesses and keep your home safe and clean by purchasing your goods today! Thank you HOMage we love our bottles and will use them with care.

Shop HOMage here.