Category Archives: Mcnugget
30 weeks
How far along? 30 weeks!! (July 18th) (don’t love my hair in this one… but traveling from my house to Jord’s for the pic in 115 degrees= gross/sweaty hair! ha)
Total weight gain: not sure…? Maybe 18 now or more? Feels like more depending on the day! Hard to believe I could get any bigger!
Maternity clothes? Yes- pretty much all maternity now…my fav around the house wear are Chase’s soft t-shirts!
Stretch marks? None so far!
Sleep: great still
Best moment this week: Seeing Lydia move from the outside! I want to try and get it on video to share… we’ll see if I can catch it in time!
Miss Anything? Being able to just sit on the couch without having to readjust my position constantly because it is hard to breathe or I can’t get comfortable – but I wouldn’t trade being pregnant or getting to be Lydia’s momma for anything J
Movement: Lots! Esp when we watch loud movies… she moves almost the entire time we watch movies… I tell Chase she is his daughter for sure cuz he loves movies- I think it could watch one everyday if I said yes.
Food cravings: milk, pickles, and popsicles
Anything making you queasy or sick: nothing really, but still just avoiding most Arab food
Gender: girl!
Labor Signs: Nope- feeling the Braxton Hicks contractions, but no pain… just tightness
Symptoms: earaches, shortness of breath, achy lower back if I have been standing all day or walking a lot, heartburn
Belly Button in or out? OUT! When Kead & Sayla (my friend Jordan’s girls) saw my belly button sticking out for the first time the said, “Look Brittany Wydia (what Sayla calls her) is pushing your belly button out!!” and then giggle!- love it
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, but feeling my moodiness creep back similar to first trimester… where sometimes I am super happy and love living here and then the next day (or minute) I just want to lay on the couch and take the first plane home to America… or not get up from my bed with the A/C on full blast for an entire afternoon because I can’t cool off!
Looking forward to: my momma (Grami) coming in 59 days!! (not that we are counting…) She bought her plane tickets and will get here September 20th—I told Lydia she can come greet us on September 24th after mom and I have a few days to get stuff ready & she sees me preggo… we will see how well she listens 😉
P.s. We are praying that Lydia has eyesight like her daddy… even though I am not exactly 20/400… I might as well be- ha
babymoon… (part 1)
Finally, am sitting down to post pics of our babymoon in Thailand! I have way too many pictures to just share a few, so I thought I would create some collages to share with ya’ll.
First, I want to say that we were incredibly blessed to get to go spend a week together in Thailand before Lydia arrives. We had an amazing time- just being us, reading, resting, eating, talking, laughing, and enjoying cooler weather. I am so lucky to have married my best friend- I seriously have so much fun with Chase and couldn’t be more thankful for the times that I get to spend with him. I am excited for our next phase of life as we become parents, but I want to always remember us and make sure we make time for each other and learn how to love each other well in the midst of no sleep, dirty diapers, and a crying baby… (I know there is much more than that when it comes to a newborn, but you get the gist).
If you are pregnant for the first time and have not taken a trip or “stay-cation” with your man yet, make sure you do… it is totally worth it!
Now for some pictures…
Around our beautiful hotel… Mai Samui Resort & Spa on the Koh Samui Island. It felt very “Thai” like, with a great pool, great food, staff, and rooms. One of my favorite parts was how excited the lady receptionists at the resort were about our baby… every time they saw me they would rub my belly and put their ears to it and tell me it sounded like she was sleeping! ha They were also very opinionated in what I could and could not do as a pregnant lady around the island- like no hiking and no riding a scooter motor bike around town… glad they were looking out for me!
One day we hired a guy to take us around the island and show us some sights (everything was so cheap out there that we were able to have our own car for 6 hours to do whatever we wanted!) We enjoyed our day, however, we wished our driver would have spoken more English so we could have learned more about the island. Above are pictures of us at the “BIG” Buddha- I thought it would be fun to take a pic of my round belly with Buddhas- ha!
One of our island stops included this unique spa treatment! The fish cleaned the dead skin off our feet- it was super ticklish at first, but then you got used to it and it was super relaxing… definitely a fun experience complete with green tea and relaxing music.
After we ate some delicious Thai food we went and got foot massages (and a pedicure for me)… loving that I can rest food on my belly now! ha
We “hiked” to this waterfall at the end of our island tour… it was so green and cool- we also got a treat of seeing some Europeans taking a dip in their underwear… was tempted to join! ha
I will leave you with some pictures of the food (yes, one of my favorite things to photograph) …all the food was Delicious! I think I had Phad Thai like 3 or 4 times… yummm and for those Lubbock-ites that read this- Thai Pepper is pretty legit, so keep supporting them.
Believe it or not, I have more pics to share… until next time…
sweet face…
Here are a few pics of miss Lydia at 22 weeks…
Can’t wait to kiss those cheeks… and nose… and lips…
who does she look like?! ha
a little blurry of her back cuz she was moving, but still love it!
We still couldn’t get a pic showing us her lady parts… oh well, maybe she will appreciate it when she is older at least that is what the ultrasound tech said!
love you sweet baby girl. we thank Jesus for you everyday. momma can’t wait to meet you!
Our “lil firecracker” at 28 weeks!
How far along? 28 weeks on July 4th! (hints the “lil firecracker” t-shirt! – isn’t that cute, Jord’s sister’s friend sent it to her along with a bunch of other 4th of July decor…so sweet she thought of me in my preggo state!)
Total weight gain: I think 17
Maternity clothes? Yes- pretty much all maternity now… wishing I could wear shorts & t-shirts and sundresses… trying to be content with what I have to wear in the heat…
Stretch marks? None so far!
Sleep: great… as long as the A/C is turned on a few hours before bed. Also, have been waking up with an earache lately… Dr. said its normal during pregnancy- so strange.
Best moment this week: When Chase and I were praying he had his hand on my tummy and he felt Lydia move, but he said it felt like she ran her elbow or something down his hand… I love seeing how excited he gets every time he feels her move!
Miss Anything? Laying on my back to fall asleep…. Laying on my tummy… not needing to pee everything 30 min or so! Ha
Movement: She has been starting to get her little feet up in my ribs… I can’t imagine what it will feel like as she continues to grow! Love it!
Food cravings: anything cold, chocolate chip mint ice cream
Anything making you queasy or sick: certain Arab food still… along with the smells of it and Indian food…
Gender: girl!
Labor Signs: Nope
Symptoms: earaches, shortness of breath, achy lower back if I have been standing all day or walking a lot
Belly Button in or out? OUT! Jord, told me the other day that I couldn’t call it an “in-ie” anymore- ha!
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and enjoying pregnancy, but moody more when I am outside in the heat
Looking forward to: meeting our little girl in 11 ish (give or take) weeks!!
We had a doctors appointment this week… It was not ordinary appointment… from start to finish it was about 5 hours (but we got to leave the hospital for about 2 ½ of those hours.. for Pappa John’s Pizza- yum) The reason for this Looong appointment was because I had my sugar test (had to drink that orange sugary drink that I have heard to much about…it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, however, about 45 min after I drank it I started to feel a bit off and really wanted some food!) and had to get my blood drawn twice. Once to check if I have diabetes or not (praise the Lord I don’t’!) and two, because I have O-negative blood and Chase has O-positive blood- we found this out a while ago, but apparently it is not good if the two blood types mix, so they had to check to make sure my blood and the Lydia’s blood had not mixed and to see if it was reading negative or positive right now. After waiting 3 hours after they drew the blood for that, it came back that it was negative, but the bloods had not mixed- which is a good thing, however, I still had to get an injection to keep the bloods from mixing, or something like that. So I had to be brave and roll on my side, without Chase in the room (he was paying for the shot) and get an injection in my behind! Good times…
Praying that there are no complications with our different bloods, not sure what it all entails, but just praying she continues to grow and develop well and that I can carry her full-term. Thankful for our little girl and the time we have gotten to know her so far! (I know that sounds strange, but I feel like somehow I know her a little bit already, so special that i get to carry her in my belly- love this job!)
26 weeks!
How far along? 26 weeks (on June 20th)- can’t believe how much she has grown since the last picture!
Total weight gain: I think 15?
Maternity clothes? Yes- pretty much all maternity now… a few things from my regular clothes still
Stretch marks? None so far!
Sleep: great!- just got a new body pillow that is awesome! Think it will really help as I continue to get bigger
Best moment this week: Babymoon in Thailand with the hubs! Loved getting to relax and feel Lydia move around
Miss Anything? Laying on my back to fall asleep.
Movement: She does this spasm type movement that I read about the other day- they said it is her hiccuping! How crazy/cool is that? It is still so amazing/strange to think that there is someone ALIVE moving around inside of me… I don’t think it will ever get old…
Food cravings: pizza and popsicles
Anything making you queasy or sick: food with rice… the Arab dish that I still can’t swallow is made with rice and I had a fried rice dish in Thailand that made me sick as well… who knows?
Gender: girl!
Labor Signs: Nope- way too early for that!
Symptoms: had majorly swollen feet after our plane ride to Thailand- it was so strange… my toes looked like little sausages
Belly Button in or out? still in… keep waiting for it to pop out!
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and relaxed!
Looking forward to: working on crafty stuff for miss Liddy and her nursery, doing some summer reading about labor and other fun baby books!
23 weeks and a name!
Yup, thats right we have a name for our little lady mcnugget! We decided it on Mother’s Day, but wanted to call her the name for a week to make sure we still loved it before we told family and now you!
So how we came up with it… On Mother’s Day Chase made me breakfast in bed (sweetheart!) and then we were talking about her name and how we wanted to decide between the two we had narrowed it down to (Sydney & Lydia)… so we looked up the meaning for both and then read the story of Lyida in the Bible in Acts 16:13-15 & 40. (read it- it’s good) separately and when Chase came in from the other room I was sitting on the bed with tears rolling down my cheeks and I looked at Chase and said I think her name is Lydia May! And he said ok! I love it! We talked about how cool it was that she was a “seller of purple goods” and the fact that I love purple and we had just recently decided to add purple to the nursery colors… and how we have been praying since we found out we were pregoo that “God would open her heart” to believe in Him one day…. and how we would love for our little Liddy to be hospitable and welcoming to all people. We felt like this story and name was perfect for our first little girl that we will have in the Middle East:) We can’t wait to hold and kiss her in about 16 weeks! (give or take) Oh and the meaning of Lydia is “of noble kind”!
p.s. We decided on May for the middle name because it is my middle name and my grandmas!
How far along? 23 weeks (on May30th)
Total weight gain: I think 10? … feel like my face has filled out this week- boo!
Maternity clothes? Yes, but still can wear some regular clothes
Stretch marks? None so far!
Sleep: great!
Best moment this week: Getting to share Lydia’s name with our family!
Miss Anything? laying on my tummy… to read, type on the computer, sleep… anything really.
Movement: Yup! She is a mover and I love every second I feel her move. It makes me giggle every time. She does little fast jabs and kind of a wave movement quite often 🙂
Food cravings: nothing in particular this week… but loving cold fruit and anything with ICE! When it is about 112 degrees everyday I think iced drinks (coffee, water, tea.. ) is the only way to go.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Arab food still… but slowly adding more back in
Gender: girl! The last ultrasound, which was the in-depth one, they told us she is 101% a girl! Also, praise the Lord, everything looked great on the ultrasound and she is measuring on schedule… what a gift from the Lord. Praying she continues to develop well and is full term.
Labor Signs: Nope- way too early for that!
Symptoms: stretching pains in my stomach as it grows, heartburn about 2 times a week and tired feet at the end of the day
Belly Button in or out? in (with a hit of out… waiting to see if it will go all the way out..?)
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! Enjoying being pregnant and this time in our lives!
Looking forward to: our babymoon to Thailand next week!! And finishing school so I can do some more baby planning… my brain feels so divided right now…
Sorry its been a while since I have posted… hoping to update the 365 tomorrow!
21 weeks!
How far along? 21 weeks (May 16)- past halfway!
Total weight gain: about 10 lbs. Doctor said I am right on track… so I went and had a Mcdonald’s cheeseburger happy meal after our appointment 🙂
Maternity clothes? yes… the pants are so comfortable! Why don’t we wear them all the time?
Stretch marks? None so far!
Sleep: pretty good, except this week I have started to get up twice some nights for the bathroom… I know it has only just begun
Best moment this week: We think we have decided on her name- the process and story behind this has been my favorite this week… We will be sharing the name soon 🙂
Miss Anything? Laying on my back and stomach…
Movement: Feeling it more and more! Sometimes little bitty kicks, sometimes rolling, sometimes it feels like she is swimming in there- love every little movement!
Food cravings: Asian food and chocolate chip cookies
Anything making you queasy or sick:– a traditional lunch dish here- of rice & chicken & yogurt– used to love it…
Gender: girl… we have another ultrasound tomorrow… I am looking forward to confirming this some more
Labor Signs: Nope- way too early for that!
Symptoms: had some leg cramps in the middle of the night- so strange, lower back ache, but overall feeling pretty great, well besides feeling super hott! Which is a blessing.
Belly Button in or out? in, but you can start to see in some shirts that it wants to come out…
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time: Feeling happy these days! Am excited for the what the future holds.
Looking forward to: ending our semester of language school (only 2 1/2 more weeks) and going on our “babymoon” and having some time to plan, shop, and decorate
first of many…
…pictures for our sweet little lady McNugget! It’s amazing to me that we can have pictures of our sweet baby already. Can’t wait to take pictures of her on the outside!
our little peanut at 8 weeks 4 days! So tiny
The day we found out “McNugget” is a little lady! 17 weeks 6 days
Sugar & Spice…
and everything nice! Yup, we are gonna have a little GIRL!! We are so so excited! What a blessing she will be to our little family. We couldn’t love her more. We have not decided on a name yet… we have 3 we love but can’t decide on one… not sure if we will know till we see her sweet face.
How far along? 18 weeks (on Wednesday, April 25)
Total weight gain: 7 lbs.
Maternity clothes? a little more this week, but I am in between everything… maternity pants are too big and regular pants are getting too small!
Stretch marks? None so far!
Sleep: loving 30 minute naps when I can get them
Best moment this week: I was laying down for a nap on May 1st and I could feel baby girl move on the outside so I called Chase in the room and he put his hand on my belly and a few minutes later she moved for him! We looked at each other, giggled, and then I teared up! Such a sweet moment. He hasn’t felt her sense, but it was great!
Miss Anything? the cooler weather (I know that has nothing to do with pregnancy, but I am already so hot and sweaty and in the strangest places.. ha sorry if that was TMI)
Movement: a little more than before… so sweet- I can definitely understand now when moms say that they miss that feeling once they have had their children… it is nothing like I have ever felt before
Food cravings: same stuff, but before I posted this Jord was telling me about a peach cobbler she had made and I couldn’t stop thinking about it till I had a piece! It was delicious!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Arab food still… and the smell of Chase’s cinnamon hazelnut coffee…same, however, I was able to eat Syrian food this week and it actually tasted really good!
Gender: a GIRL! We got a 90% that she is a girl from the ultrasound tech… so we are going with it 🙂 Oh, funny story: We asked if we could get a picture showing she is a girl and they lady wouldn’t give it to us because she said she would so embarrassed of the picture when she gets older! We are going to try and still get one at our next ultrasound 😉
Labor Signs: Nope- way too early for that!
Symptoms: hungry… bloated at night…
Belly Button in or out? in (I have a feeling it will become an outie… we will see)
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time: have been moody the past few days, but super super thankful and happy about our sweet girl
Looking forward to: decorating the nursery!! My mom coming to see us in about 21 weeks!
Above are pictures of the day we found out about our little ballerina! We went to the mall and had some celebration food (Chase had a cheeseburger & I had Papa Jonn’s Pizza- of course), then walked around the mall & bought sweet pea some new girly clothes and me some maternity clothes. When we got home we told the Remkes by letting the girls open a bag with the new clothes in it so they could figure out what we are having! They were excited (well, Kead was a little sad at first, cuz she was really hoping for a brother – maybe next time…) Then we got to tell Grammie, Nanny, and Papa about their new little grand-daughter on Skype! Chase sat down to talk to them with a flower headband on his head (pictured above) to tell them! It was great! Oh and our Chinese friends from school made us dumplings for us to enjoy and to celebrate- they are so sweet & the dumplings were delicious! We also sent the pic to her aunts, uncles, Granddad & Jaju to tell them the news! She loves you all already!
The next day I brought “pink” cupcakes with white frosting to tell our Arabic teachers at school what we are having… they were so excited about it and had a great time with this little “American game”!
We feel blessed to be the parents of our little girl and can’t wait to give her sweet kisses in about 21 weeks (give or take)!
boy or girl?!?
That’s right tomorrow we find out if we are having a boy or girl!! That is if our wee one corporates 🙂 So “insha-alla” (if God wills), as they say out here, I will be telling you if my belly is making “sugar and spice & everything nice” or “frogs and snails and puppy dog tails”! We are so excited, but more importantly we are excited to hear a healthy heartbeat and see how much our peanut has grown in 10 weeks since our last ultrasound. Join us in prayer for this!
How far along? 17 weeks
Total weight gain: not exactly sure… maybe 7 or 8? or less? I will find out at doc tomorrow
Maternity clothes? Not much- some xs shirts… this week was the first week one of my regular pairs of pants had to be unbuttoned- waiting patiently for the belly band mom sent me in the mail… maternity jeans are still too big.
Stretch marks? None so far!
Sleep: pretty good still… been going to bed later… I need to get back on my 10:30 bedtime schedule 🙂 Getting up maybe twice for the bathroom the last few days.
Best moment this week: Sitting in Fusha (formal Arabic class) and feeling little flutters/kicks from the babe saying “good morning” mom! Such a great feeling!! What a miracle God is creating inside of me… I am amazed everyday that there is something.alive.inside.of.me!
Miss Anything? Dancing… I went to a local party last night and was told several times to sit down during the “dance party” since I am pregnant… woman don’t do much activity here when they are expecting…. even though I am no where near as good at dancing the way the girls do here, its still fun to join! Also, missing Dion’s! … ah green chile, ham pizza with and ranch salad with greek dressing… sounds divine!
Movement: Still feeling little flutters throughout the day… esp when I am still still or laying on my belly- won’t be able to do that much longer
Food cravings: must I say Dion’s again… 🙂
Anything making you queasy or sick: Arab food still… and the smell of Chase’s cinnamon hazelnut coffee…
Gender: tomorrow we will know!! I was thinking earlier today of how good God is to not let us choose what the gender of our babies is… think about it, this is one of the only decisions in life that we have absolutely no control over, I believe God is sovereign over all things, but in life I still try and take things over for myself & make my own decisions about things, but this I can’t even if I tried! And the best part is God knows exactly what it is now and exactly what is best for Chase & I. He gets to decide that & not me- so thankful and amazed!
Labor Signs: Nope- way too early for that!
Symptoms: feel sore… from my growing belly, emotional- I am a crier, but haven’t cried as much as I thought I would so far this pregnancy (well let me take that back… I mean at like random stuff like commercials and pictures and such) until this week… feel a lot more hungry- all.the.time!
Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy with some moodiness mixed in 🙂
Looking forward to: finding out gender tomorrow, wearing/buying maternity clothes (I know that might sound crazy & I will get sick of them after a while)
*side note on my little niece or nephew- my sister had a great appointment last week and heard a healthy strong heartbeat! Praise Him from which all blessings flow! Thanks for your prayers… keep them coming!
