Could this be the last recap? Full nesting mode starts now!

Happy Monday!

It is currently 88-degrees here right now, and it’s only April. I have a feeling a hot summer is ahead of us. I’m sitting outside on the patio writing while Leo’s sunbathing in the grass. I have approximately 20-minutes before my fingers and toes start to swell up. This heat triggers my pregnancy edema. Yesterday, I had to keep elevating my feet because they were so swollen. I wake up fine, but they are twice their size at the end of the day. A lot of it has to do with the fact that I’m never sitting down and constantly doing something. I’m drinking so much water, but the swelling is typical this late in the game.

It’s crazy to think this could be my last recap blog for a while! I’m hoping the baby decides to come this week or this weekend, but they seem to be pretty cozy right now. I’ve heard that first babies come late, but we’ll see! I will work on a third-trimester recap this week and a few other blogs while I’m home. I’m trying my best to stay put but having such a hard time right now sitting down to do anything. I’m constantly wanting to organize, clean, cook, and distract myself from the baby waiting game. The good thing is I’ve been able to spend so much time with the pups, and I feel like giving them my attention before the baby comes is important, so I apologize in advance for the extra dog content this week. Speaking of dogs, Kyle is going on full-time dog dad duty when the baby arrives to make sure they are also getting the attention they need during this new transition. We are going to keep their routines as normal as possible!

I managed to get out for my one-mile walk with Leo every day this week. I’m so happy I’ve been able to continue our walks, and even though they are super slow and a tad uncomfortable with all the pressure, I love this time with Leo. It’s mentally and physically good for both of us! I’m excited to get back to our 3-mile morning walks this summer! Of course, we’ll have to start at 6 am since it gets so hot. Kyle will be working from home for a while, so he’ll be able to help out before work.

I’ve been making the same smoothies each day using the Orgain protein powder (vanilla plant-based) Dole fruit packets, almond milk, water, and ice, and I love topping them with granola. I usually go to bed around 7:30-8 pm each night, so I’m most hungry in the mornings, and smoothies keep me full and hydrated way longer! I’ll usually work a bit outside in the garden and come inside for a refreshing smoothie.

On Monday, I made some roasted vegetables in the oven and chicken with habanero ranch on top. I seasoned the chicken with Trader Joe’s ranch seasoning. It was delicious, and the vegetables are always great for leftovers the next day.

I’ve been spending my mornings pretty much the same. I walk Leo, garden, have a smoothie, and then work on something inside. When I run out of things to do, I start cleaning out drawyers, clothing and even rewashing bed sheets. People have told me that the last few weeks fly by, but it has felt like the longest part of my pregnancy. Towards the end, when EVERYTHING hurts, you feel like it’s never going to end. Luckily, it’s spring, and I can be outside for the most part. I would be going crazy if it was winter and I had to stay inside.
 My dahlias are making their way out of the ground 😊 
I had my first rose of the season on Tuesday. Now, I have hundreds of roses blooming. I’m going to do an updated garden tour on Friday (assuming I’m still waiting on baby!) I know my garden obsession is unhealthy, but I sometimes come outside to see what flower opened up after an hour.

After my doctor’s appointment on Wednesday, I picked up lunch at Tega Cay Deli. I am obsessed with their bagel sandwiches! I get the Carolina with chicken instead of turkey (but only while I’m pregnant because the turkey is so much better), and it comes with honey mustard, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, Havarti cheese, and I add cream cheese, bacon, and put it on a wheat bagel. It comes so big that I eat half for lunch one day and the other half for the next. I had their pasta salad and broccoli salad mixed as my side.

How cute is Tux? He now sleeps with us in our room 😊 It’s so cute! He wakes us up in the morning by licking our feet and putting his nose in our faces. His little personality comes out more and more each day.

I try my best not to stop at Crumbl Cookies, but it’s next to the Tega Cay Deli. When I heard they were taking the pink sugar cookie off the menu and they had the Boston Cream Pie cookie on their themed week, I just had to go in and grab it. Kyle and I love cutting them up, trying the new flavors, and rating them together. The cookies were so good (per usual), and we cut up the leftovers to save in our freezer.
 The good news is that the custom shades we had ordered for the nursery were finally shipped! We are hoping they arrive this week so Kyle can install them. Once they are installed, I can get a nursery tour up. I won’t have any artwork yet because I want to wait to find out the gender, but it’ll still be 90% done!

One of my favorite new additions to the nursery is the Papayo: The Peruvian Puppy! One of my good friends wrote it, and it’s the cutest book ever! I cannot wait to read it to our baby, and it is the perfect addition to our puppy-filled nursery. The illustrations and story are so good, and it just makes me smile every time I open it up. It would mean the world to me if you supported her AS A NEW AUTHOR and purchased one of her books! It’s on Amazon for under $8.00, and it makes for the best gift! The book is based on Papayo, a puppy she met while traveling in Peru!

I had a leftover salad from Tega Cay Deli and an egg scramble with my roasted vegetables for Thursday’s breakfast. I spent the afternoon reading some baby books, taking notes, and sipping a coffee.
 Thursday afternoon smoothie!

I’ve been trying to save all of the new shows coming out for the hospital stay and postpartum when I’m with the baby. I hate when I run out of shows to watch, and since that’s one of Kyle and I’s favorite things to do in the evening, I have already been through so many shows! It’s killing me not to watch some of the new releases now.

Now that Tux is so comfortable coming up the stairs, he’ll come up to the loft and sit outside and watch me. He’s not sure about the loft just yet because of the carpet, but I think he’ll eventually make his way in! It’s so fun seeing him work up the confidence. He’s going to be SO GOOD with the baby. I feel like he’s going to want to be everywhere we are.

When I saw him at the top of the stairs just staring down at me, I cried. It was the cutest thing, but it also was so sweet because this is where Grumples used to sit. Tux has so many of Grumple’s personality traits, so I know he was meant to be in our lives to heal our hearts, and I know we were meant for him. I love him so much, and every little progress he makes melts my heart. He’s also been the best thing for Leo! They play, lay, and do everything together now. They jump all over each other and wag their tales when one of them comes back from a walk is so cute to watch.


I told you the dog content was a lot today 😆

On Friday, Leo and I went on a walk, picked up pup cups from Starbucks for him and Tux, sat in the backyard eating popcorn, and then brought the pool out since it was in the 80s. The ice-cold water feels so good on my swollen feet!

Tux has gotten a bit braver and now watches the pool activity from the patio instead of running inside the house. Hopefully, he will join in one day! I didn’t care how ridiculous I looked to my neighbors, I sat in the pool with Leo drinking my matcha latte, and it was the best! These are the times when I wish we had a swimming pool.

I met up with Caitlin and Emily for dinner at the Pumphouse on Friday evening. It was our last get-together before the baby arrives, and we had so much to catch up on and celebrate.

I started with a No-jito (I need to put this recipe on the blog!), and they brought out cornbread muffins for an appetizer.

I ordered the Carolina greens salad with jumbo shrimp. It came with local strawberries, shaved spring radish, asparagus, goat cheese, pickled red onion, and a champagne vinaigrette. IT WAS AMAZING, and it’s all I can think about now. I want that salad right now!

I also ordered truffle fries with aioli for the table. When you get a salad, it’s only fair to get fries to go along with it. Balance is key 😆 Plus, the fries are out of this world. This restaurant was a 10/10.

Leo and I did our walk bright and early on Saturday. It’s been getting way too hot by afternoon!

Breakfast smoothie after our walk!

Kyle and I planted some new rose bushes, limelights, and mulched the back garden beds before noon.

Inizio opened up in Fort Mill, so we treated ourselves to a delicious lunch after dropping off bags of stuff at Goodwill.  We had the caesar salad and the Raffael pizza (with pepperoni!) It was AMAZING! Dangerous it’s so close to the house but grateful. 
Kyle had the best idea after a day of nonstop work around the house. He suggested we get a banana split! I was not going to argue that, so we headed to Abbott’s Custard. It was DELICIOUS! We ended the evening walking the dogs and catching up on Jeopardy. We get so invested when they have a repeating champion.

The most relaxing Sunday morning! I love having my coffee out on the back porch while the dogs wrestle around. I love that it’s finally light outside at 6:30 am!

They are both OBSESSED with the SmartBones! They don’t have any rawhide, and they’re peanut butter flavored. When Tux gets one, he starts running around doing zoomies with it in his mouth until he finds the perfect spot to chew it.

I sat on the porch with my tea while Kyle worked on treating our lawn. He’s working on removing the dead grass, weeds, and reseeding.
 Later on, I reorganized the doggy closet! They had stuff all over, and I love that it’s now in a confined space. I bought those extra hanging wired racks at Lowes.   Everything is starting to get full!

I wanted to make a steak dinner last night, and it turned out pretty dang good!
We ended the evening with some brownies, a root beer, and a good movie!

If I’m not in labor yet, I’ll be back with some more blog posts this week! 😊

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Questions for you!

1. What are you most excited about this week?
2. Did you try any new restaurants this past weekend?
3. Have you ever had a banana split?