Insta Recap

Getting back into the swing of things still...even with Instagram.  Here's what I've been up to lately...

1. Brunch at Eggtc.  I really look forward to our weekend brunches these days...and not only for the cappuccino.  I'm really digging breakfast foods right now!  So it's a double win in my book.
2. Gender reveal envelope from our OB's office.  We promptly gave this to our building concierge, so I wouldn't peek at it.  LOL!  The next morning a local bakery came to pick it up to make us a gender reveal cake.  So exciting!
3.  Gnocchi has received several presents so far.  This day Smokey just wasn't having it.  We might have some jealousy issues once Gnocchi arrives.  Eek.
4.  Sadly this is what our living room looks like right now.  We had some issues with water coming into our unit due to a faulty ledge drain outside.  To fix this they had to cut into our ceiling and through the fire wall on the outside.  This contraption was set up not only to contain all the dust & debris created from the construction but also to create a negative-pressure area due to the asbestos in the fire wall.  *sigh*  Thankfully the repair went well and the ceiling should be repaired this week.
5. I worked at home this week...from the bed...due to the living room being a mess and all our furniture displaced.  The fur babies were "helping" me work.  :)
6. Maternity clothing arrival!  Yahoo! I'm between regular sizing and maternity sizing.  So happy to be able to breath again!!
 

Hope your week was fabulous!

 Cheers! 

 

The First Trimester: Months 1-3

I'm so glad that the word is finally out.  I completely suck at keeping secrets...hence the absence from my blog.  But now...now I can finally catch you up on everything that's been going on.

One of the first things that I wanted to figure out was how to document this pregnancy.  This will probably be our one and only journey down this road, so I wanted to do it up right.  :)  However, I'm not a scrapbooker.  I'd barely even have a creative bone in my body.  So we wanted something simple to document both the growing baby bump, as well as all the pregnancy & life changes that we would go through.  After researching several different options, we came up with the following.

 
The First Trimester seemed to fly by quite quickly actually.  I felt pretty "normal" up until 9th week mark.  Prior to then I had a tad bit of nausea when I woke up in the mornings, but it was quickly remedied by a slice of peanut butter or almond butter toast.  No big deal.  Right around the 8th week my nausea became pretty debilitating...lasting about 5 hours or so per day.  This made anything - especially my work day - almost impossible.  Fortunately I had been seeing an acupuncturist prior to becoming pregnant and had read that acupuncture can actually help with morning sickness.  I made another appointment and my nausea was reduced to almost nothing within a day or two.  Amazing!!!

By week 10 the nausea was still pretty minimal, but I had developed some serious sinus symptoms.  Since you're not supposed to take medications during the first trimester, I was pretty miserable.  I headed back to the acupuncturist in hopes that would help....and it did!!!  Yahoo!!  Gnocchi and I are totally loving acupuncture!

Around the end of the first trimester started my food cravings changed from wanting everything in sight to just wanting specific foods (mainly mac & cheese) and total aversion to other foods (BBQ, pizza & meat).  Craziness!

There were several things that totally caught me off guard during the first trimester:

• The exhaustion!  Oh, the exhaustion!!  You hear about how pregnant women are exhausted, but there's no way you can truly understand what that means unless you've actually experienced it.  My typical work day doesn't allow for many breaks, if any.  I think I basically walked around like a zombie for the second half of the day - every day!  I still haven't gotten my energy back yet (like they say you do in the 2nd trimester), but it isn't near as bad as it was.  Thanks goodness!
• Motion sickness:  I have never had motion sickness in my life, so this one totally threw me for a loop!  I could not look at anything in the car that I used to be able to...phone, magazines, etc.  Man, this totally makes for boring car rides!  LOL!  This one has subsided some, but it still sneaks up on me from time to time.
• Food cravings & aversions:  I guess this one shouldn't surprise me, since it's probably one of the most talked about pregnancy symptoms.  I think it was just different than I expected it would be.  I guess I thought I would continue to like foods that I liked before I was pregnant and my aversions would be for foods that I didn't like. So when I began to crave mac & cheese, it didn't surprise me at all, since it was my absolute favorite food as a child.  However, my aversion to pizza was like a smack in the face.  I love pizza!  So much so that I attempted to eat it about three different times - experiencing an aversion each time.  LOL!  I've finally given up on pizza...at least for the time being.
• New aches, pains & cramps:  I'm not sure how to describe this one.  I guess it's just all the new things you experience & feel.  You have to figure out what they mean...and if they meant one thing prior to pregnancy, they definitely mean something different now.
 

It's been a wild ride so far and only getting crazier!

 

Cheers!

 

Movin' on Up...

...to the Northland that is!

Yes, yes, you read this correctly.  We're moving out of the city...to what Kansas Citians would call "just North of the river".  I'm calling it the "Subcity", since it's a combination of the city and the suburbs.  It's seriously just North of the city - 10 min from downtown.  We love the city so much, so we didn't want to move far.

I still can't believe I'm writing this.  We're moving.
We're moving.
We're moving.

Still seems surreal.  We're so sad to be leaving our wonderful condo that we've called home for the last year and a half.  We truly never expected to leave this soon regardless of children, but we decided to become responsible adults.  Ha.  

Actually it was the daycare costs that got us.  Holy moly!  I knew that daycare was expensive, but it's just downright outrageous!!!  Now don't get me wrong, we'd pay an arm & leg to ensure that our little Gnocchi was safe & taken care of.  But having that daycare reality smack us in the face made us reevaluate our financial situation...and the crazy high HOA fees that we pay at our current location.  We have the best amenities here, so the fees are worth it to those who live here.  However, we're trading in our HOA fees to be able to put Gnocchi in a good daycare - one that gives us peace of mind - and still be able to live the lifestyle we want to live.

So...if you know anyone that is in the KC area and wants to live in the most fabulous building in the city, send them my way.  Here's a couple pics of our current place...

...and a sneak peak of our new place!

It's a crazy, busy time for the Gravelle's, that's for sure!

Let's hope we can keep our sanity!!

Cheers!

The Gravelle Family Forecast

Wow, I can barely believe that it's been almost 2 months since I last posted!  There's been sooooo much going on in our lives!  The blogging break was probably needed, but it was also the only possible way to ensure that I didn't spill the beans.  :)

I think everyone knows by now, but our family of 2 will become a family of 3 this Fall!!!  It's been something that we've been "working" on for the past year, and at several points thought that it wouldn't become a reality.  (Story to come later.)  

I truly love the announcement that Chad created!  

So unique...and so appropriate for our family!!

Since we publicized our announcement last weekend, we've received such an outpouring of love and support!  It's been amazing!

Thank you all for your kind words & encouragement!

More to come on all our changes!

Cheers!