21 Weeks!!

Well hello there! How are you all on this Wednesday morning? We are great here at the Adventures of Jon and Steph. We are looking forward to the weekend and the Ugly Christmas Sweater party we are throwing on Saturday. It should be a festive occasion!

As my title states, I am now 21 weeks in my pregnancy! Yesterday we had our monthly checkup to see how Baby B is doing. We LOVE our doctor. We are so fortunate to have an American speaking doctor who practices German medicine. She's awesome!! Our doctor said our little girl is growing perfectly and everything looks fantastic! That's always wonderful news and definitely helps calm the nerves. We got some new pictures of baby B that I'd love to share. But first I'll do my pregnancy highlights.

How Far Along: 21 Weeks

Size of Baby: She is the length of a banana now!

Total Weight Gain: 4 pounds. I lost several pounds in the beginning and now I am definitely gaining it back quickly!

Maternity Clothes: Yup! I got some great maternity jeans while I was home in OK. I LOVE them. I am also wearing leggings/jeggings, with dresses and long T's. Super comfy!

Gender: GIRL!

Sleep: This week has been AWFUL. But I am still struggling with the time difference from being back in the states. Hopefully it'll even out soon so that I can get a good nights sleep.

Cravings: Sweets and then salts. I've been doing lots of yogurt, but then go straight to the pickles! I CANNOT get enough of the sweets. I can tell she is definitely going to love candy just like her mom.

Symptoms: I feel pretty great! Just sleepy all of the time. I am still waiting for the 2nd trimester energy boost that is supposed to be coming my way... it has yet to happen. I've also had a lot of headaches lately, which stems from high blood pressure! Boo for high blood pressure. Doc is making me test it every week and now I am on HBP meds. Ugh. Hopefully it'll even out.

I am not sure if we have talked much about Baby B's name. Jon and I both ADORE the name we picked out for our precious little girl. It is a French name, which is what we both wanted, since Jon's family is from France. His grandmother is straight from France, with the beautiful French accent and all... so without further ado, I give you the newest photos of...

Sophie Belle

I love this picture. She was giving us a big yawn,
but it looks more like she is saying "ROAR!"

Too cute!!

I wanted to break down the name for you guys because I think it is super cool to know the origin and meaning of a name.

Sophie: Wisdom. Stems from the name Sophia which is Greek. Sophie is the French form.

Belle: Beauty, from the French origin.

Not only smart, but beautiful! Perfect for our little girl!

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!!

Back in Deutschland!

HELLO lovely friends and family! Is this thing still on?!?

We are finally back to Germany after spending three amazing weeks at home in the great state of Oklahoma! It was such a WONDERFUL trip. We had a fantastic time with our family and friends, which made it even harder to come back to Germany. We have some great pictures from our trip, but I'll be back to post those in a couple of days. Just wanted to give a quick shout out to let y'all know we are still alive! But we are now covered in snow!!! Germany has been having a lot of snow lately, but of course we missed it all being back in the states. Well, this morning we woke up to a winter wonderland.

It is beautiful! But OH so cold.

Since it has been a WHILE, I wanted to say I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving!! I hope you ate to your hearts content... I know I did.

Baby Barrett is doing great! She is growing like a weed.
Here are a couple of belly pics for you guys.

17 weeks

18 weeks

19 weeks

20 weeks

It's obvious I didn't hold back at Thanksgiving!

I'll be back tomorrow with our 21 week... YUP 21 WEEK update! I can't believe I am already half way through my pregnancy! I also have some new photos of Baby B from the doctors appointment we had this morning that I'd love to share.

Until tomorrow, have a WONDERFUL Tuesday!

Tschuss!!

O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A, Oklahoma OK!!!

We will be home on SUNDAY! and I cannot express how thrilled I am to be going home for a visit. Like I said previously, it has been almost ONE YEAR since I've seen my family and friends. These year long separations make me long to be home so badly, and we will finally be seeing them in a few shorts days. It will be so good to be in the presence of so many family members and friends. Just like Dorothy said "There's no place like home." and boy was she right.

There are so many things I can't wait to do, like for instance, EAT LOTS of good food. Mexican is the top on our list, specifically Teds Escondido! Eischens, Melting Pot, Iron Star, Oooooh yummy food. And I can't wait to shop, HELLO Target, Hello Hobby Lobby, Hello Penn Square Mall (with all of my favorite clothing stores), Hello Target, and Target. Did I mention I can't wait to shop at TARGET! Hello OU Football!! I can't wait to watch the OU/OSU football game in my own town! HELLO OKLAHOMA! The list of things that I can't wait to do is never ending... so I'll just leave it at this... I CAN'T WAIT FOR OKLAHOMA!

Photo Shoot

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Monday! I have a feeling this week is going to move extra slow for me because we are going home on SUNDAY!!! I cannot wait to be back in Oklahoma for a visit. There are so many things I want to do and so many restaurants I can't wait to visit. Not to mention, I have not seen my family or friends for almost a year now... that is WAY too long. I have literally made a list of everything I want and need to do! (Including buy maternity clothes, because baby Barrett is growing fast!!) It is only Tuesday and I have already begun packing... can you tell someone is EXCITED!!!

As I posted yesterday, I'd love to share some of the photographs we had taken on Friday for our Fallish photo shoot. Again, I cannot express how much we love our photographer here. If you live in Germany, please take a moment to check out her blog. She does a FANTASTIC job and I HIGHLY recommend her for any occasion. She has become a super lovely friend and I have such a huge respect for the work she does. Check her out here at JESSICA CEASON PHOTOGRAPHY... and for you Germany folks... HIRE HER... you won't regret it! I promise!

I'll quit blabbing and just post the pictures already:

This picture cracks me up... I was doing a goofy run and Jon looks like he is about to take off in flight! This pretty much sums up Jon and me... GOOFY!

I adore these photographs.
I am so happy that I have these little moments captured forever!

I hope you all have a fantastic Tuesday!

Weekend Update

Well hello lovely friends! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. As always, like I say every Monday... the weekend went by WAY too fast! Happy Monday to you all, because if you're like me, you need a little happy oomph on Mondays.

First off, I wanted to say THANK YOU for the sweet comments about Jon and I having a precious baby girl. We are thrilled! and we are so glad to finally know the gender... of course I CANNOT wait to go shopping!!

Here's a quick weekend recap:

Friday we had pictures taken to announce the gender and she also took some of just Jon and me so we could make our yearly Christmas photo card. If you didn't see Friday's post, here is one of the pictures she took for us, which of course, is my favorite one.


I'll post more pictures from the photo shoot tomorrow. I can't wait to share them with you. She did such an amazing job! I wish I could just hire her to walk around and take pictures of our life here in Germany, so I can remember every special moment of living overseas.
Later Friday, we got to spend the evening with my most favorite little man, Evans! His parents got to have a lovely date night and we got to snuggle with this cutie all night.

Jon made Evans giggle and smile all night.
He is going to be such a wonderful father!

He was such a good baby and I LOVE him to pieces!

Saturday was our errand day, as EVERYTHING in Germany is closed on Sundays. We made a trip to Ikea and grabbed a couple of much needed things for the house. Then ran a couple more errands before we headed back to the house, where we didn't move from the couch for the rest of the day. It was definitely a perfect day to sit on the couch; the weather was so icky.

Sunday we woke up to the most BEAUTIFUL weather. I'm telling you guys, we don't get a lot of these days in Germany so when we do, you better believe we're outside trying to soak up every ounce of the loveliness that we can. We went hiking in one of our favorite areas. Here are some pictures from our adventure.

I LOVE all of the trees and leaves on the ground.

My Bear Grylls in the making.

Capturing the beautiful sun between the trees.

Hiking away!

Jon taking a break in a deer stand, or boar stand.

Trail marker.

I love these trees and the sky looked so beautiful blue.
Like I said friends, this is a rare occasion to see the sky like this.
I think Baby B loved the hike as well!

Here's to a lovely Monday and a lovelier week to you all!

Without Further Ado...

Baby Barrett will be wearing... these!

Check out the wonderful announcement my friend Jessica wrote on her blog.
She took our pictures today.
Isn't this the best, most creative/adorable picture ever?!?
THANK YOU JESSICA!!

Whew!

Holy cow, where has the time gone? It's been forever since I've last blogged. Work has been uber busy and by the time evening rolls around, the last thing I want to do is get on the computer. Everyone says once you enter your 2nd trimester, you get this rush of energy. I have yet to experience this... still waiting for it to come! I am exhausted ALL of the time. But it's worth it knowing the baby Barrett is in there just growing away.

I didn't have a chance to post baby updates, so I will definitely get to that tomorrow, with a couple of belly shots. I realized I am two weeks behind, as today I am 4 MONTHS pregnant! It blows my mind to think I am 16 weeks along already. Sometimes it seems like it's moving so slowly and sometimes it seems like it's moving right along. It's all so very exciting!

I am super excited because... tomorrow we (should be) will be finding out the sex of our baby! Keep your fingers crossed that baby Barrett is not shy. I have my monthly appointment and we'll be able to see baby Barrett's precious self and see how B is growing and progressing. PRETTY PLEASE Keep us in your prayers that baby Barrett is healthy and happy inside of my belly and growing just like he/she is supposed to. We would greatly appreciate any prayers you send a long.

ALSO don't forget to vote on the poll at the top left corner, to tell us whether you think Baby Barrett will be a boy or a girl.

I'll be back tomorrow with belly and pregnancy updates.
And Friday we will reveal the GENDER!!

Have a LOVELY Wednesdays folks!

Comfort FOOD

First off... I want to say THANK you guys so much for the sweet comments about my 14 weeks post! I love having so many sweet blogging friends. Y'all make me smile! And when you're getting chubbier by the day, a smile is much needed!! ;) SO THANKS!

Speaking of getting chubbier... I wanted to post a yummy recipe I tried for the first time yesterday. It is definitely a comfort food so if you are looking for something quick and easy... and sloppy, here a recipe for Pepperoni Pizza Joes: (similar to sloppy joes)

Grab your crockpot!

What you need:
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 green or red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 pound lean ground turkey (I use ground buffalo)
1 1/2 cups (12oz) marinara sauce
18 slices of pepperoni quartered (I used a little extra pepp)
1/2 tsp oregano crushed
Whole wheat hamburger buns
Shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Coat large skillet with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion and bell pepper and cooking, stirring occasionally, 2 minutes or until soft.

2. Add turkey to skillet (or buffalo/hamburger). Cook 5 minutes or until no longer pink.

3. Transfer mixture to a slow cooker. Add marinara sauce, pepperoni, and oregano.

4. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 4 hours. Layer meat mixture on bottom halves of buns, then cheese and finish with top halves of buns.

And VOILA! Such a super easy and delicious recipe.

I hope you all have a WONDERFUL Friday! Another weekend is upon us! Enjoy it ;)

I leave you with the cutest picture I took of our friends Shannon and Don's 1 year old baby. It was her birthday last weekend and Jon and I bought her this hat. I think she is the cutest baby and had to take her pic!

I can tell that she really LOVES her hat!! Isn't she precious!!!

HAPPY WEEKEND!

14 Weeks

Well, I am officially in my second trimester as of today!

Here's a quick update of how things are looking.

How Far Along: 14 weeks

Size of Baby: Baby Barrett is the size of a lemon.

Total weight gain: Not sure, but I'll find out in two weeks at my next appointment. I'm sure I've gained a pound of two with all of this Halloween candy I've been eating!!

Maternity Clothes: Not yet. I am still wearing my regular jeans, but I recently bought a couple pairs of jeggings, and I LOVE them. They are so comfortable. Hopefully I can wear them for a little while longer. And we are not in sweater weather because Germany has skipped Fall, and gone straight to winter.

Gender: Not sure yet... but we find out in two weeks! I CANNOT WAIT!!

Sleep: I am still sleepy all of the time, but of course standing for a good part of my day probably contributes to me being tired. I sleep pretty great at night, thank God!

What I Crave: This week it's Mexican food, Ted's to be specific. But a little less than a month and we'll be home for a visit! I can't wait to devour some Mexican food!!

Symptoms: Really my biggest complaint is being sleepy all of the time. And the pinched nerves are still flaring up.

And the belly is getting bigger by the day!

I hope you all have a fantastic Wednesday!! It's getting closer to another weekend, YIPPIE!

Fall Fests

First off, thanks for the comments on my post yesterday!! It's always so nice to see sweet comments! And yes, the hair is getting out of control long, but I really am liking the length. I haven't had a haircut since June, so you can imagine the amount of split ends... but I will finally be getting one in November when we are at home visiting. Yippie!!

Here in Germany they love their festivals! It seems like every month there is another festival going on. A couple of weeks ago there was a Fall festival and Jon and I went downtown to check it out. Here are some Fallish pictures for you...

Of course we had to stop at this cute little hut to grab a bratwurst!

YUMMM!

We ended the festival with a waffle!!

I hope you all have a lovely Friday! I know I will, because tomorrow is the weekend!!! and even though I have to work, I am still going to try my best to enjoy it.

See y'all on Monday!!