Holland’s Baby Shower in Greenville

Posted on May 27, 2014 by sgoetke

Saturday was a wonderful day! Our friends and family came from all over to celebrate baby Holland. The shower was at the Holloman’s home and was given by some of our closest friends from Integrity. I loved all of the little details and had so much fun spending time with everyone. It’s unbelievable to think that I am currently 34 weeks and 4 days and will be having Holland so soon! It’s starting to feel very real that we will have a sweet baby in just a few weeks!

I have lots of pictures to post from our shower. Our good friend, Kate, took all of these pictures so that we could remember this amazing day!

Love these invitations designed by Kristen and Sara!

The shower favors were mini bags of frosted animal crackers, which are my absolute favorite snack ever!

Elizabeth made this awesome diaper cake..so cute!

Thank you to Blair, Kristen, Sara, Lindsey, Elizabeth, Kate, Jes, and Mitzi for all of this good food! It was all SO amazing!

Baby Mae just hanging out with the Jes and Mitzi 🙂

The beautiful quilt my Nana made for Holland. 🙂

Penny and Holland are due 2 weeks apart!

Love these friends from Integrity!

The hostesses that made it all happen. Thank you to everyone who helped plan Holland’s Baby Shower! It was absolutely perfect!

My mom, nana, and cousin made the trip to Greenville for Holland’s shower! Love them!

Nana and Pa drove from Va Beach to visit! Holland is my mom’s maiden name (so, Nana and Pa’s last name). I love how Holland and I will both be named after my Pa, Stuart Holland. He’s a pretty amazing guy!

Matt’s mom, grandma, sister, and cousin all came from Stedman! So happy they could be there!

Matt and I are so thankful to have so many amazing people in our lives! Our friends and family made our baby shower so memorable. One day, Holland will realize how loved she was/is by so many people, even before she was born!

32 Weeks

Posted on May 14, 2014 by sgoetke

How Far Along: 32 weeks and 4 days

Size of Baby: I haven’t had another ultrasound in over a month, so I’m not exactly sure. From what I’ve read, Holland weighs roughly 3-4 lbs and is about 16-17 in. long. At this point, she is almost at the length that she will be when she arrives, but she is continuing to plump up! She is taking up a lot more space in my belly and I’m feeling more pregnant than ever.

Movement: She is moving SO much more! For the longest time, she didn’t move very much and her movements were very inconsistent. Recently, she has started making obvious movements and turns. There are times throughout the day that I don’t feel her, but I definitely feel her at least 3-4 separate times each day. We have been able to see her move through my clothes, which looks so crazy! Some people have told me that I would get used to feeling her in my belly, but I don’t think it is something I will get used to! I love feeling her and I get excited every time I do! At my last ultrasound, Dr. Taft told me I didn’t need to be doing “kick counts.” He said I would probably go crazy if I tried to keep up with that every hour. I agree!

Sleep: Same..until I try to get up in the morning. I usually wake up once during the night or early morning to use the bathroom, and it has gotten really hard to sit up. My right lower back has been the biggest issue for me and sometimes I’m unable to sit up without Matt’s help. I’m SO thankful for good sleep though! I fall asleep immediately every night and have no trouble falling back asleep if I get up to use the bathroom. I’ve started having to keep a pillow between my legs and another pillow up under my belly. The bigger my belly gets, the more gravity sets in!

What I Miss: I miss being able to dress myself and move around quickly. It takes me longer to get going in the mornings and also to get dressed. I’m unable to move and bend like normal. I’ve also started to wish I could run…weird, I know..especially since I wasn’t running a ton before I got pregnant. Recently, I’ve had the urge to just go outside and start running until I can’t anymore; but, when I attempted to “jog” to the mailbox, I realized that my belly couldn’t handle it. I’m hoping for this urge to run after Holland is here!

What I’m looking forward to: Matt and I are going to Caswell for a few days! We are going to go to Provision Co, walk on the beach, and relax. I’m so excited for just the two of us to get away before Holland comes. Caswell is one of our favorite places to be because we met, dated, and got married there. Now, we will be adding, “baby moon,” to the list of reasons why Caswell is our favorite!

Symptoms: Lower right back is still hurting and spasming and the newest addition to my symptom list is swelling. My left foot has started to swell…big time! Days that I’m able to sit a lot and not move around are much better. There was a day at work last week that I thought my foot was going to explode! I’ve had to start wearing Rainbow sandals to work now…so professional. 😉

Best Moment of the Week: Mother’s Day was Sunday and Matt made me feel so special! He gave me a sweet card, a TJ Maxx gift card, and took me out to lunch at Winslow’s. It was a great day! We met my family in Goldsboro that evening for BBQ at Wilbur’s and also got to spend some time with Hadley, Bennett, and Anna Bennett! We also went to Chapel Hill on Saturday to see my sister-in-law, Jessica, graduate with her Master’s in Administration!

Random Facts: We have our next OB appt. tomorrow afternoon. My appointments are every 2 weeks now, so I feel like there is no time between them. Our 3D ultrasound (for the FITT study) is scheduled for June 3. We are excited about seeing Holland, but also don’t want to get a “warped” image of what she will look like at the same time. I’m sure we won’t be able to contain ourselves and will definitely want to see what she looks like with the ultrasound!

Mom, Nana, and I on Mother’s Day!

Jessica’s graduation from UNC-CH

Baby Shower in Stedman

Posted on May 12, 2014 by sgoetke

Our baby shower in Stedman was so wonderful and our family put so much thought into making it so special. Matt’s aunts, cousins, and sister organized, decorated, and made the most delicious food! Holland is already so loved and blessed! Thank you to everyone who came and showered us (and baby Holland) with love. We can’t wait for her to meet all of you! Now for some pictures of the day.

This was such a creative idea! As guests arrived, they signed their name and placed a pink fingerprint on the tree. I love that Holland will have this print hung in her nursery, just like Matt and I have a fingerprint tree from our wedding day that hangs above our dining room table.