I made the mistake of flipping to the Victoria's Secret Fashion show last night for a few minutes. Lets just say, seeing 'perfect' models strutting around half (okay 3/4) naked on a runway is not something a pregnant lady needs to see!

Regardless, I got sucked in for a few minutes. And it DID inspire me to maybe actually work out after baby girl is born. Or more realistically, a few months later. I never got into the working out thing after having Jasper. I shed the weight very slowly, never looking at a scale and eating whatever I wanted.

But it took forever. Like 2-3 years forever before I was finally 100% okay with my body. This time around it would be good to maybe not take 3 years!

So here's my inspiration. Maybe if I put it on here I will follow through. HA.

Don't worry I'm not dillusional enough to think I'll Actually looking like a Victoria's Secret model. Nor, do I really want to. I would gladly take the leg definition (even if mine are about 6 inches shorter) but I definitely don't need my stomach to look like that. I enjoy food way to much. But the legs? Yeah I'll gladly take those.

Now I'm off to stuff my pregnant face with a bagel with extra peanut butter. Cuz that's how I roll. 

Just some random thoughts floating around right now

Christmas is LESS than a month away. And I have gotten ZERO percent of our Christmas shopping done. No bueno.

I might have gone just a tad bit crazy shopping for baby girl clothes this week at the Carter's outlet mall and at GAP on black Friday. But at 50-60% off how could I not?

Turns out, I'm kind of a hockey fan. I've always said hockey and soccer were the only two sports I don't mind watching. I grew up watching them and even playing them while in Sweden (those are the 2 big sports there) and going to DU hockey games while we were there, but again I'm not a Huge fan of either. UNTIL we went to the Avalanche game on Wednesday. I was on the edge of my seat the ENTIRE time! Then last night another Aves game was on TV and I actually watched the entire thing. I was commenting, asking questions, etc. Drew looked at me, smiling and said " Who ARE you" Needless to say he's excited to have found a sport I will willingly watch with me.

Our friends from Sweden brought SO many of my favorite foods from Sweden, they know me WELL! Right now I've been eating tunne brod (thin bread) with cream cheese and cucumbers. Addicting.

They also brought  the cutest little outfits for baby girl. First outfits from Sweden!! They are my favorite clothes for ME so no doubt they will be my some of my favs for her as well!

Speaking of baby girl. She still has no name and is NOWHERE near having a name. We had like 3 boy names picked out,since ya know, we were POSITIVE she was a he. But now that she apparently is a SHE, we really need to get going on picking out a name!! It's proving to be Quit difficult! 

Okay that's it for now. And here's a baby update! 

How far along: 18 weeks

Size of Baby: Still says bell bepper? Maybe not much growing went on this week.

Total Weight Gain:I think 1 lb from last week- surprised not more with all the Swedish goodies our friends bought and thanksgiving! So that makes 4 or 5 lbs total.

Maternity Clothes: Some jeans, rest regular. 

Gender: Girl!!

Movement: YES! Every night around 10-11 she gets active. Drew got to feel her for the first time Wednesday night at the hockey game, looks like we have an Avalanche player on our hands! 

Sleep:Pretty good this week! 

What I miss: Nothing I can think of right now.

Cravings:Swedish candy that our friends brought

Symptoms: Out of breath very often, and dizzy. And some uncomfortable pressure going on- but they said it was just ligament something or other. Going to get a maternity belt and see if that helps

What I’m looking forward to: Another ultrasound on the 13th! Christmas shopping and decorating until then! 

No belly pic this week- but I'll try to snap one tomorrow so you can see just how big this belly is getting! Massive I tell ya.

It's been a BUSY week!

Our visitors (and BFF's) from Sweden arrived Monday morning ( 20 hrs delayed because of fog in London) and left this morning for 2 weeks in Mexico before heading back to Sweden, so we have had such a fun and busy week! Like most of the time when I'm super busy and having such an amazing time I forget to take pictures- so all I have are a few grainy cell phone pics of our amazing time.

Monday night we ate at the Cherry Cricket (I even had my first meat in months, their cheeseburgers are just That good that even pregnant me wanted the meat) and then Sofie and I headed to FINALLY see Breaking Dawn! It was JUST as good as I thought it would be if not better and I will definitely be seeing it again in the theaters!

Sofie wanted a picture with the popcorn- the Swedes can never get over how much Bigger everything is here- so it was picture worthy.

Tuesday Jasper had preschool in the morning so during that I took them to try a Venetian Cream at my favorite local coffee shop and show them around Wash Park.

Tuesday evening Drew had some guys over for poker night- and Sofie and I played too! It was actually a lot more fun than I thought it would be. The four of us (Henrik, Sofie, Drew and I) ended up having our own little poker night twice again while they were here, and Sofie and I were the last 2 in and then I ended up winning $30! Woohoo)

Wednesday we all went to an Avalanche game which was even WAY more fun than I thought it would be! I was on the edge of my seat the entire time! Drew is super excited- he's finally found a sport (besides Jasper's soccer games) that I actually Really enjoy watching! We are even going to have the game playing tonight while we decorate our Christmas tree :)

We also did some major outlet shopping and black friday shopping while while they were here- lets just say baby girl got some Major deals. 

For Thanksgiving we cooked most the day and ate all night. We had some friends here and it couldn't have been a greater day! Hope all of your Thanksgivings were really special as well!!

SWEDISH CANDY!!

We were joking who between the three of us looks 'farthest along'- Drew wins here but too be fair he was pushing out (after eating our HUGE thanksgiving dinner) and I most definitely was NOT pushing my belly out. 

Stepping Out Saturday and bump update!

Our ' stepping out' on Saturday was to the church where we go to Swedish school for a Swedish Julkmarknad (Christmas market.) This is the 3rd year we have gone, and each year we have even more fun than the year before- probably because Jasper is getting more fun! And it always falls right at nap time (1-3) so previous years he's been kinda grabby, but not this year! Even though it's still nap time, delaying a nap by a couple of hours now isn't the end of the world as it used to me!

Swedish Christmas markets are SO much fun- obviously even more so in Sweden, where they are usually at night, in the dark, with tables full of goodies set out for you to look at and buy, but inside the church works too :)

At this market there is always lots of goodies, small Swedish things to buy, Swedish crafts for the kiddo's, dancing around the Christmas tree singing Swedish songs (totally a Swedish tradition, not just for Christmas time)a Lucia Tag (lucia train, like a little parade)  and a visit from tomten (santa.)

And here's the weekly bump update

How far along: 17 weeks- almost halfway!! 

Size of Baby: Length of a bell pepper, and about 7 oz! 

Total Weight Gain:Almost a pound up from last week- so +4 total.

Maternity Clothes: Some jeans, rest regular. 

Gender: Girl!!

Movement: Some little taps, but not regularly at all. Still not positive I don't imagine it because it's not often.

Sleep: Sometimes great, sometimes I have insomnia from like 2-5 AM. But I'm staying up later (like 10 or 11!) and no more naps during the day usually.

What I miss: Nothing I can think of right now.

Cravings:Nothing new this week! Had a hot dog at the Swedish market (Swedes are BIG on hot dogs) which was the most 'meat' I've eaten in months. And not even good meat! But oh it was Delicious! 

Symptoms: Out of breath very often, and dizzy. And some uncomfortable pressure going on- but they said it was just ligament something or other. 

What I’m looking forward to:Swedish friends come today!! So this will be a fun week :) And I'm sure LOTS of yummy foods will be consumed. And Breaking Dawn tomorrow night!! Can't believe I havent seen it yet but I told Sofie I'd wait and go with her.

Dress: Sweden last January

Lace Shirt: Forever 21

Tights: Forever 21 at least a year old
Boots: Zulily- they just arrived this week and I think I love them


Conversation that happened between Drew and when I was looking at the pictures after he took them
Me:haha my ass looks huge in these pictures. 
Drew: That's because it kind of is
Me:No I mean like it looks like it's gotten bigger.
Drew:It has.
Me: Like bigger than my belly.
Drew:Yep, because it has. And I like it.


So conclusion, my ass has tripled in size but apparently that's a good thing. 

Fact or Myth: Daughter will steal your beauty during pregnancy

Fact!

I've never had bad skin. My skin definitely wasn't perfect when I was pregnant with Jasper. But this time around? Oh she's stealing my 'beauty' for sure.

Exhibit A.

 Exhibit B.

Exhibit C.

You can't even see the worst of it. The little red bumps I've had on my forehead for the last 6 weeks- Not fun! But go ahead daughter, steal my beauty, you are totally worth it! 

Even though she is worth it, my good friend Jessica decided to come to my rescue to try to come up with a solution. She has tried every cream/lotion/cleanser/toner that's been sold and sent me over some stuff to try out.

So hopefully soon I can show you an 'after' picture of my cleared up skin :) 

Anyone have any skin advice? Advice on how to get rid of little red fore head bumps??

How far along: 16 weeks and 3 days

Size of Baby: Turnip

Total Weight Gain: 4 lbs since last month, so now I'm at +3lbs total. Not SO bad, but maybe I should think about cutting back on the carbs? Today alone I've had a peanut butter bagel (and a half) two soft bread sandwiches for lunch and another soft bread (swedish soft bread to clarify) for an afternoon snack.

Maternity Clothes:Maternity jeans- and a size bigger bra, otherwise still non maternity

Gender:GIRL. It's been almost a week and I still don't quite believe it! 

Movement: Last night I most definitely felt a few taps very low down, pretty much right above my pants- but according to the ultrasound that would make sense since she's sitting way down low!  

Sleep:Pretty much always tired. Blah. This causes some not so fun constant head aches. 

What I miss: We had a bunco night on Friday and everyone was drinking delicious margaritas and pina coladas- those would have been nice!

Cravings: Nothing new this week. Still au gratin potatoes. 

Symptoms:Out of breath a lot, getting larger obviously- thirsty all the time

What I’m looking forward to:Sofie and Henrik coming from Sweden on Sunday to spend a week with us!! Then they head off to Mexico for two weeks for the rest of their honeymoon- rough huh?

Horrid picture I know- but it was Sunday night (exactly 16 weeks) and I was tired and wanted to get out of those tights which were a tad bit tight

Dress: Sweden from 2009- still a favorite of mine.

Tights: Forever 21- I think 2 years old? Still holding up!

Boots: Nordstroms from their summer sale this year. 

It's begun

The Girl Shopping, that is. I can see this is going to get dangerous!! But after almost 5 years of buying little boy clothes- it's fun to change it up! 

So far I've found some adorable vintage dresses and rompers on etsy, and on Saturday I was one of those crazies who got to target before it opened to check out Gwen Stefani's kid's line.

I was NOT disappointed and baby girl definitely got some sweet outfits out if it

Have any favorite places to shop for a little girl? Send them my way!! 

It's A.......

So Thursday night we headed about 30 minutes away to a 3D/4D ultrasound clinic to see if we could see if we are going to have a little boy or girl in April. 

On the way there I chugged a coke to make sure he was going to be moving around so we could make sure to see the 'goods'. This might not have been a great idea since I rarely drink caffeine or anything w/ sugar lately so it made me feel slightly nauseous. 

Right when we got in to the room (which by the way was Perfect- I had a comfy bed/ w pillows to lie on, the lights were dim, Jasper and Drew had a leather couch to sit on, it was like a home movie theater!) he got started right away- with the baby projected on a large screen covering half the wall. No crowding around a little computer screen!

Add caption

Waving at us!

Toesies

Being shy

Right away we saw that umbilical cord was right in the middle of the legs- blocking any view of goods. He spent the next 10 minutes pushing lightly on my stomach, having me switch sides and positions- and then finally he froze the screen. 

The whole time during the ultrasound we kept calling him him, like oh there he is waving at us!  Look Jasper he opened his mouth!! And then Jasper started asking, where is his penis (we don't use baby names like wee wee or anything like that with him, he knows the part names) and the ultrasound guy smiled and started explaining what he had frozen on the screen. 

Me: "But I don't see anything" (as in his boy parts)

(That thing sticking up that looks like it could be a penis is the umbilical cord that finally moved to the side a little bit) 

And he said.

That's because you are having a 

GIRL

Absolute silence from Drew and I.

Jasper say's "Whaaaaat? Oh maaan" in his dramatic exaggerated tone.

When I recover I ask " Well so How sure are you. Is it just maybe too early and the boy parts haven't developed? Like what percentage would you say"

He laughs and answers "Well. I've never been wrong and this won't be my first time. That's a girl"

Then he goes on to  point on the little white bumps we see in between the legs are her lady bits. 

So not only is there no penis- there is the beginning of her lady parts!

I didn't think if I was told it was a girl I would believe them. But as soon as he told me- showed me why,  I just knew. And all the things that have been different about this pregnancy make sense!

I'm still in shock. And trying to get used to saying her instead of him. But of course, I'm super excited :)

Oh and I think it's quite ironic that the day my niece is born (Linnea Rae) I find out I'm going to have a daughter. It was a good day for the Larsson family :)

Boy or Girl..care to take a guess?

So tomorrow is the BIG DAY. The day we are supposed to find out if I'm growing a tiny penis inside of me or a vajajay. Kinda weird to think about it like that huh? 

So I know what I think it is, but do any of you care to take a guess?

With Jasper:

I started showing around 17 weeks

Threw up around 10-12 times a day for months 2 through 4 (but not much nausea) 

The morning sickness was the worst in the morning

Lost 15 lbs before I hit the 4th month (when i finally started gaining)

Craved bagels and orange juice, maccaroni w butter and baked potatoes. Didn't care for meat

Don't remember what his heart beat usually was

Only tired first tri- got amazing energy by 2nd tri

This time:

Started showing at like 10 weeks

Nauseous pretty much all day for weeks 5 through 14 but didn't throw up every day, more like every other, and never more than twice a day. Usually just once, at night.

Morning sickness started around noon and lasted all day- getting worse at night

By 12 weeks I'd lost 4 lbs, think now at 15 weeks I've gained back a couple of those

Craved bagels, OJ & hot pockets first tri. Now I'm all about bread and au gratin potatoes. YUM

Heart beat has consistently been 160

A few weeks in to the 2nd tri I'm still ridiculously exhausted

Some other facts:

I have 3 brothers and 1 sister

Drew is the oldest of 3 boys.

His dad is the oldest of 5 boys (he has 16 cousins- only 4 of them are girls)

So there it is. Think Jasper will have a baby brother or sister? We find out tomorrow evening! 

Mamma-Jasper date

I'm super excited about Jasper being a big brother. Could not be more thrilled about it. But sometimes, if I'm being honest, I feel small pangs of sadness that it wont just be the two of us anymore. We have spent, pretty much all day, every day together. Just the 2 of us. Obviously Drew is here most weekends (except before last year, when he was working 50 hrs a week AND going to college full time, we would Maybe have one day a week with him) so I think it's safe to say that 89% of his life, it's just been the two of us. 

And it's been great. So special. He is my little man. My person. And soon our lives will be forever changed and it won't just be the two of us anymore. And that's a great thing. But, I still feel that I'm not wrong in mourning the ending of just the two of us a little bit.

It's going to be hard for the both of us to have another little person All the time. And I don't want Jasper to feel that he is ANY less important to me, because he won't ever be.

I decided, as a way to make him still feel JUST as important, we will continue to do JUST mamma and Jasper dates, as well as Jasper and pappa dates after the babe is here.

Obviously it will be a while before I can leave an infant- but Drew is Quite capable of caring for an infant, so even after a few weeks, I'm sure Jasper and I can sneak away for a quick ice cream/park date.

We started out last weekend bye having a Jasper-mamma date. Lunch, mall play time and a movie!

He loved it. I loved it. Drew loved some time to work in the garage. It was the perfect Saturday afternoon and I can't wait to continue this tradition with all of my children as they get older.

I always go super early to the movies so I can make sure to get a seat with the leg bar in front- HAVE to have it

Jasper dancing along to a preview

Baby stuff

The packages have started rolling in.. Even thought I don't know yet what we are having (except Really I do, just hasn't been confirmed) I have started shopping. Buying things that I wouldn't mind a boy or girl wearing. If by some miracle we do end up with a boy- I would have Zero problem dressing her in a shirt with a truck on it. I see NOTHING wrong with it!

So far we have been stocking up on cloth diapers, and some Swedish hats and outfits from Polarn o Pyret- my absolute favorite baby store ever. Four days in a row I got packages delivered, and it felt like Christmas!

I can't wait to find out for sure next Thursday, so I can start going through Jasper's stuff that we kept- (we kept favorites, but got rid of a lot because I knew if I had another boy I would still shop so there was no point in keeping everything) so I can see exactly what we need so I can Really start shopping!

'Arry Pottah'

Our very own Harry Potter. I do believe he is the cutest HP ever. Sorry Daniel Radcliffe