Now that I’m in my second trimester, I feel like I have a little more energy to get some things checked off of my to-do list.  So, I actually have a couple things to share with you this month!First, the most favorite thing from this month is the Heartbeat Baby Monitor by Bambeego.  I think I ordered it on the way home from my 12-week ultrasound.  I liked the fact that it had dual headphone jacks so both Michael and I could hear it at the same time.  Of course, I knew that not everyone hears the heartbeat on these monitors that early, so I made a pact with myself that I would only check once a week.  Then, as I shared in this video, at the beginning of my 14th week, I heard the heartbeat.  And now, I do it every night.  I love that it’s one of the last things I do before going to sleep!Also, this monitor does not come with gel, so I purchased this Parker Laboratories Spectra 360 Electrode Gel.  I got the Heartbeat Monitor before getting the gel and tried it without the gel first.  It was much easier with the gel.  My therapist also suggested that hair gel also works pretty well, though I have tried that.  This is a 2 oz tube and I’ve been using it for two weeks straight and I’m maybe halfway through it.With the addition of our puppy last February, we have accumulated a lot of dog hair.  We were sweeping pretty much daily and felt like we could have created a whole other dog with all of the hair we swept up!  Michael wanted an easier way to pick up all of the hair, so he purchased the Bissell PowerEdge Pet Hard Floor Vacuum.  It’s much easier to run this than it is to sweep it up every day.  This is one of those vacuums without bristles on the bottom, so it just sucks up all of the hair with getting tangled in the vacuum.  It’s perfect for our tiled floors.

The last thing I wanted to share was my latest Starbucks obsession.  Peppermint Hot Chocolate, tall, no whipped cream.  Really, anything mint would probably be my favorite, but it just feels like the holiday season when I have one of these treats.  Especially when the weather dips down pretty quickly (as it has done a couple times this month in Texas).  I really ready for the weather to stay cold more consistently so I can break out the scarves.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a great start to the holiday season!

Do you have anything that you do, eat, or drink that signifies the real beginning of this season?

I also wanted to let you know that I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.  These are all things I have used personally.  I wouldn’t recommend something I haven’t tried myself.  Thanks!