We know... :D

Trying to keep the gender under wraps until Christmas, but we know!  :)

Thanks to everyone who prayed for us.  :)  The baby is doing great and measuring right on schedule.  Turns out the placenta is in the front of my body, making movement more difficult to feel from the outside (which explains why I'm feeling internal movement, but not as much external with my hands).  Everything was good and healthy.  :)  We're back in 4 weeks.  :)  Stay tuned for the gender reveal here and on facebook around Christmas.  :)  Happy Wednesday!  :)

4am...

With Avery I didn't get the insomnia too bad until the end of my pregnancy.  I don't think that the reason I'm awake now is because of insomnia, really.  I think it's nerves/excitement over our appointment this morning in 4.5 more hours.  I'm excited to see our baby and find out that everything is healthy and the baby's gender.  But I am so incredibly scared that we're going to get to the doctor, take a look at the baby, and see that something isn't right.  :(  I wish I didn't think/feel this way.  I used to be blissfully unaware, optimistic to a fault, never even considered the possibility that something could go wrong with me, my baby, my pregnancy.  I never let worse case scenarios pop into my head before.  But then I had a miscarriage and it changed me and my happy optimism forever.  I went into the doctor, expecting to see a beautiful baby inside of me, and I was blindsided and told that there was no heartbeat and that the baby had stopped growing weeks ago.  My body hadn't told me or alerted me that anything was wrong.  I went into that appointment and was blindsided with the most horrible news I ever could have heard.  And because of that moment, because of that day, because of that stupid miscarriage, I'm scared to death for this baby.  I'm not excitedly awaiting the baby's next kick, I'm worrying anxiously because I haven't felt a strong kick yet or a roll in a couple of days.  I'm scared.  And being awake at 4am is giving my brain time to run and more opportunity to be scared, which is definitely not a good thing.  So if you think about it, please say a little prayer for Michael and I as we prepare for our sonogram today.  And please pray to give peace to my soul and mind and to rest assured in the comfort of the Lord that He has our baby in His hands and that He is carefully knitting together a beautiful baby inside of me who's absolutely perfect.  :)  Thanks guys.  Going to try to go back to sleep now.  Wish me luck.  ;)  Night.

19 Week Pictures

Today we're at 19 weeks and 4 days.  We'll hit the halfway point in 3 days!!  Wooohooo!  I think 20 weeks will be the last week that I take pictures of just my belly.  They'll be fully clothed from there on out.  ;) 

Here our some of my weekly pictures!  19 weeks, 15 weeks, 11 weeks, 7 weeks, and 3 weeks (a week before I even knew I was pregnant).  ;)  Below are brief descriptions of each week so you know which is which in case they get out of order.  ;)

19 weeks - Blue hoodie and flannel pants
15 weeks - Red long sleeved shirt and yoga pants
11 weeks - Gray hoodie and yoga pants
7 weeks - T-Shirt and yoga pants
3 weeks - Sleeveless shirt and red shorts

I think it's interesting to see the progression of my stomach.  At 3 weeks I got a bit of a flu, and wasn't eating much.  I got down about 5 pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight.  It was also before the baby had reallly had any time to grow, so it's a pretty good representations of my starting line, belly wise.  At 7 weeks I had bloated a little, by 11 weeks I had a lot of bloating.  But then you see in the 15 week picture that the bloating goes down and the bump is all baby/insides moving.  By the time my most recent picture, 19 weeks, was taken, the baby is getting much bigger, the size of a large heirloom tomato or a mango, and my uterus is almost to my belly button, causing a lot of my insides to shift up and the true baby bump to appear.  :)  This is only the beginning!  Stay tuned for more cute belly pictures as this little one continues to grow!

And get excited!!  Only 22 hours and 45 minutes until our sonogram!!!  :D

1 Day, 1 Hour, 18 Minutes left to go!

Our sonogram begins tomorrow morning at 9am.  I cannot wait!!  While I've felt a little bit of movement, I'm still not feeling anything consistantly.  I don't feel very many big movements like kicks.  I'm anxious to get to the doctor, to see the baby, and, hopefully, to hear that everything is healthy and going well.  It's always a relief after I've been to the doctor, having just heard the heartbeat, and knowing that the baby and I are growing.  But as the weeks tick by until the next appointment, worry creeps in.  I worry that something has gone wrong in the last 4 weeks and that I won't find out until the next doctor's appointment.  In this case, it's been 5 weeks since I've seen anyone (I saw the nurse practicioner last time) and 9 weeks since I've seen my doctor.  So there's lots of room for worry.  :/  I just try to pay attention to the baby's movement, and let it assure me that everything's fine.  I try to remember that I have no signs or symptoms of miscarrying this baby, so everything is fine.  I feel the baby, especially in the morning, when he or she is cheated to one side of my abdomen and I can feel how big he or she is and I know that the baby has been growing.  I try to convince myself everything's fine.  But until tomorrow's sonogram is done and everything is good, I won't be able to relax completely. 

I am looking forward to the fact that we're almost to the halfway point!!  It's nice to know that the rough beginning is over, and that things should run smoothly until the end when I'm big and a little uncomfortable.  Also, halfway means we're very close the the viability age, 24 weeks.  While it's definitely not prefered that a baby be born as early as 24 weeks, that's when there is a slight chance that the baby could survive if something were to happen and it had to be delivered early.  Then each week and day beyond 24 weeks there's an even better chance of survival.  I don't think we'll ever feel very "out of the woods" until the baby is here, but these little milestones give me something to look forward to and help calm me down and worry less when we reach these points.  Of course, the March of Dimes says 39 weeks, which would be ideal if we didn't make it all the way until 40 weeks.  But I'd prefer to go all the way to my due date (but not passed) if the baby will cooperate.  ;)

I want to deliver this baby at the Birthcare Center across the street from the hospital.  I wanted to deliver Avery there too, but my platelets had fallen below 100,000, and they didn't know how my body would respond to labor and delivery, so I needed to be at the hospital so they could keep a closer eye on me.  Now that we know that pregnancy causes my platelets to fall for some unknown reason, but never to a dangerously low level, I am hopeful that even if my platelets go under 100,000, that we can deliver at the Birthcare Center.  We're still a long way away from that time and discussion.  However, my doctor is pretty awesome, so as long as he feels the baby and I will be safe (and history shows that we will) he will probably be ok with it.  :)  The Birthcare Center is set up better for visitors.  They have their own room with couches and a TV and everything.  :)  I loved having visitors when we were in the hospital with Avery, and I look forward to having our friends and family there with us to celebrate the arrival of this new little one.  :)

In other news, Michael and I got our Christmas present from my parents early, a deep freeze!!  I'm very excited about this, because I'll have plenty of room to freeze and store meals for after the baby gets here and I don't feel like cooking.  ;)  (Who am I kidding?  I don't feel much like cooking right now either, but hopefully eventually!!)  When we were pregnant with Avery, we had to store stuff at Sis and Adam's in their freezer because all we have in at home is our little kitchen freezer, and it's STUFFED!  Actually, now that we have the deep freeze, I might go through the freezer and put a few things into the deep freeze so we have some more space in the house.  ;)  I'm also looking forward to going to Sams and getting some stuff in bulk that can be put in the freezer to try to save on some of our grocery bills.  I'm very excited about it!  :)

Alright, one silly story, and then I think I'm done (until tomorrow when I spill all my happiness on here after a very successful and healthy sonogram, please pray!).  Avery and Dayton usually play together very well.  Avery absolutely adores Dayton, and unless she's trying to take the toy he's playing with, Dayton pretty well tollerates Avery as well.  ;)  Well yesterday they were playing and chasing each other, a favorite game for both of them.  Well, at some point they each fell over and ended up on the ground.  Instead of getting back up and chasing each other again, they just kept going and crawled up and down the halls and around the living room, chasing each other and giggling up a storm.  They looked so silly crawling.  It's been almost 6 months since Avery's crawled and about 10 months for Dayton.  Anyways, they chased each other all over, crawling, giggling, and having a great time (moving very slowly in the process).  Finally, they got back up and started running again, still having a wonderful time.  :)  It was just too cute watching these sweet toddlers crawl all over the place like little babies.  They are so silly!  They definitely made me laugh.  :)

Anyways, stay tuned tomorrow for healthy info from our sonogram.  And maybe later today I'll try to get some more belly pictures posted.  ;)  Have a wonderful Tuesday, and if you have a moment, please say a little prayer on our behalf that our appointment goes smoothly tomorrow.  :)  Thanks guys!  Talk to you again soon!!

It's Almost Time!!

In 2 more days, Michael and I have our next doctor's appointment!  This is a very special appointment because it's also the week of our mid-pregnancy ultrasound and anatomy scan!  So in just 2 short days, we're going to know if we're expecting a baby girl or a baby boy!!  We can't wait to find out!!  If you've heard me talk about the baby's gender before, then you know we'll be happy with whatever we find out in a couple of days.  A healthy baby is obviously the most important thing, but there are positives to finding out we're having either a girl or a boy.  I'm so glad we had our baby girl first, because even though I didn't know it when we got pregnant, she's who I wanted.  :)  So now, going into our second and final anatomy scan, I can very happily say that either a girl or a boy will be great!  If we have another girl, we'll have 2 little girls very close in age.  I, myself, am a girl with a little sister very close in age.  Sis and I are only 14 months apart.  And while Avery and the new baby will be closer to 19 months apart, I'm still confident that it will make them very close emotionally.  I loved having my sister there to go through all of my life stages at the same time with me (still love it, as a matter of fact).  My sister is my oldest and one of my best friends (Michael's pretty high up the list too).  ;)  This was part of the reason I wanted our babies so close together in age, so that they could experience the lifelong friend that is a sibling close in age.  :)  So, all that being said, a little girl would be great!  We even have a little girl name picked out!  But as we're not sharing those details (much) until after Christmas, I've give you some initials to brew over.  ;)  If we have a girl, her initials will be K. M. V.  Feel free to make guesses, and I may even tell you if you get it right!  :P  And what if we find out we're having a boy?  That's what my gut feeling has been all along.  My gut with Avery was a girl, my gut with this baby is a boy.  Well, some of the advantages still apply if we have a boy.  They will be close in age and hopefully will be emotionally close and good friends, but boys are a different ballgame (as Dayton has taught me).  So what if we have a boy?  Will I be disappointed to not have the 2 close sisters?  No way!!  Because if we end up with a boy and a girl, we get to do and experience EVERYTHING!  We get to buy toy (and maybe eventually real) trucks, and have tea parties.  We'll get to play dress up and play in the mud.  We will watch both or them play sports, from football to softball, rugby to ballet.  We will get to watch them in musicals, hear them sing, and listen to them practice instruments.  We'll get to have talks about rough housing at home vs at school and discussing not kicking and chasing little boys around the playground.  We buy poofy Christmas dresses and little sweater vests and ties.  If we have one of each, we get to do it all.  ;)  (Not that I wouldn't be perfectly happy to be in a fluffy, pink, princess world for the rest of my child-rearing years either)  ;)  So no matter what we find out in a couple of days, we will be thrilled.  We are just excited that our last baby is on his or her way and is growing each and every day.  :)  Oh yeah!  Before I finish, I should give you the boy initials.  ;)  So here's your hint: if we have a little boys, his initials will be C. M. V.  Feel free to make your guesses!  ;)  And stay tuned to the blog (and facebook if you're on there) because on or shortly after Christmas, the news will be out!  We're doing things a little differently this time.  Instead of keeping the name a secret until the baby arrives, we'll announce the name with the gender.  ;)  So be ready!  :D  And this is your one and only warning, if you say anything negative (or anything that might be perceived as negative in a crazy pregnant lady's mind) I will jump all over you and will not be a nice person.  Michael and I have come up with beautiful names that we love.  We are the parents and the only opinions who matter on what we name our child is us.  So if you have anything other than a glowing opinion, keep it to yourself, because even an innocent comment, if not inflected or enthusiastic enough, could irk me the wrong way, and I promise you, you do not want to be on the receiving end of what comes next.  ;)  Rant/Warning over.  :D  Again, thanks for reading, and stay tuned, because we'll know soon!  Love you all!

Pregnancy Update - 19 Weeks

How far along:  19 weeks, 2 day

Due date:  May 9, 2014

Next doctor's appointment:  Dec. 18th!  Only 3 more days!

Our baby is the size of a veggie/fruit/food:  Mango/Heirloom Tomato

Our baby in man terms:  Softball

Total weight gain/loss:  +3.2 lbs

News:  We're almost halfway done!!

Best moments this week:  I got 3 little kicks right in my hand this week!  Nice to feel a little more than just rolling.  :)

Milestones:  19 weeks and kicks!  :)

Symptoms:  Backache and muscle stiffness

Maternity clothes?  Yup!

Stretch marks?  Nope!  Getting itchy though.  ;)

Belly Button in or out?  In

Movement:  Yup!  :)

Gender:  We'll know in 3 more days!!  Can't wait!  Not so sure I know anymore...  ;)

Sleep:  Pretty good, just sore in the morning, and my pillows are too flat and lumpy.  I asked Michael to talk to Santa about getting us some new pillows for Christmas. 

Food cravings:  Pizza rolls, chocolate milk, and ice cream

Food aversions:  None

What I miss:  Wine and a super hot bath

What I'm loving:  Getting bigger and feeling more movement!

What I'm looking forward to:  Finding out the gender and seeing the baby again this week!!

Thoughts and feelings about Michael:  I love him!  He cleaned the bathroom this week and it meant so much to me.  :)

Thoughts and feelings about Avery:  I love her!  She's going to make a great big sister!  :)  Can't wait!!

Labor signs:  Nope

Goals:  More house cleaning, nothing I can do, but I hope the mouse in our attic dies this week, lol

Weekly Wisdom:  Tell people you love them.  Say it often.  Have no regrets.  And when you feel like you've said it all you can, use your actions to show them.  :)

Pregnancy Update - 18 Weeks

We are almost to the halfway point!!  We are almost to our mid-pregnancy ultrasound where we find out if the baby is a boy or a girl!  I'm feeling more movement!  So much going on!!  Here's my week 18 update!  :)

How far along: 18 weeks today

Due date: May 9, 2014

Next doctor's appointment: Dec. 18, 2013, we'll also have our anatomy scan on this day!!  Can't wait!!  Only 12 more days!!

Our baby is the size of a veggie/fruit/food: Sweet potato/Bell Pepper

Our baby in man terms: Small electric razor

Total weight gain/loss: +2.8 lbs (Up over a pound since last week!!  Yikes!!)

News: We hit 18 weeks!  We told the family!  We put our news on facebook!  The baby is doing sommersaults inside of me!  ;)

Best moments this week: Baby movement!!  One morning I woke up and the baby was sitting higher and right in the center of my abdomen!  I had to take pictures!  It was cool!  The baby also likes to roll more than kick.  I'm sure the kicking will come eventually.  ;)

Milestones: 18 weeks!  Almost halfway done!

Symptoms: Nausea, fatigue, round ligament pain

Maternity clothes? Yup!  And proud of it!

Stretch marks? Just from Avery, but I'm getting itchy...  Need to break out the lotion.

Belly Button in or out? In

Movement: Yup!  Rolling and turning more than kicks so far.  But I didn't feel the kicks with Avery for another week, so I'm not too worried.  ;)

Gender: Unknown as of yet, but guesses have been made going both ways.  ;)

Sleep: Just fine

Food cravings: Anything I don't have to cook myself.  Frozen pizza, ramen, and pot pies have been what I've been eating, but if we're doing cravings, Olive Garden sounds great!  :)

Food aversions: I was thinking about this last night, and wings aren't sounding as good as they usually do.  Most things just seem kinda bleh.

What I miss: Houlihans Long Island Iced Teas!  We went to Manhattan last night and stopped at Houlihans because we had some time to kill.  I wanted a LIIT sooooo bad.  Oh well, maybe next basketball season.  The things we do for our children.  :P

What I'm loving: The belly!  It's getting round and cute!

What I'm looking forward to: Finding out if we're having a boy or a girl!  Either way, I'm going to be thrilled!  If we have another girl, we'll have 2 sisters close in age like Sis and I are, hopefully they'll be best friends.  :)  If we have a boy then we'll end up with one of each and get to do all the girl stuff and all the boy stuff.  Hopefully if we have one of each they'll still be best friends!  :)

Thoughts and feelings about Michael: I love date nights and time alone with my fab hubby!  Our trips to Manhattan are awesome!  The other day he texted me and suggested we go away together for a weekend, but holiday season isn't the easiest for me, so we're making plans for the end of February for an early 5 year anniversary weekend!  Can't believe I'm been married to the world's most amazing man for so long!  I love him sooooo much!

Thoughts and feelings about Avery: My sweet daughter is going through a bit of a stage lately.  She screams, cries, and fusses when she doesn't get what she wants when she wants it.  We're working hard on signing "please", she is not a fan of this sign.  But that's ok.  Sometimes even my angel baby isn't perfect.  This too shall pass.  ;)  I'm not letting one little phase make me feel like a failure of a mother.  I have a great kid and am very proud of her!  Even when she's a turd, I love her.  :)

Labor signs: Nope

Goals: Get my house cleaned!  A little is done!  Jil even did some dishes while she babysat last night!  But there's always more to do.  Maybe this week...  :P

Weekly Wisdom: I got nothin, sorry.  ;)  Just loving life right now.  :)  Taking in these moments while Avery is still small.  Enjoying all the little moments of this, my last, pregnancy.  Celebrating wins at work and a job well done.  Life is just good right now!  :)  God is taking good care of us, as He always does.  :)

17 week pictures

Before we hit 18 weeks tomorrow, I decided I'd post a few pictures of how the baby and I are growing.  I've been taking belly pictures for myself since about 2 weeks along.  I haven't been taking them so that I can post them anywhere (especially because my shirt is up over my belly instead of down), just so I can see how I'm growing over the weeks and months.  This morning I was laying in bed and feeling my tummy and it's soooo obvious where the baby is laying!  It's actually really cool!  I can't lose him, because he pokes out pretty good, lol!  And I took a couple pictures of that.  So I thought I'd share for anyone interested.  ;)  I'll also post my week 5, 9, and 13 pictures so you can see the progress.  ;)  Enjoy!  And on the final 2 pictures, the ones I took this morning, see if you can find where the baby is hiding.  ;)

*edit*
After picking the pictures, I realized they might not load in order, and since my belly gets a little round with bloat, then flattens a little, then grows again with my insides and baby, I thought I should label which picture is which, lol.  The 2 pictures in yoga pants and weeks 5 and 9, week 5 is thinner, week 9 is rounder.  Weeks 13 and 17 are in the plaid KSU pants, week 13 is the thinner one (when the bloat from week 9 has gone down) and by week 17 I'm getting round again from my insides moving up to make room for the baby to grow down low.  :)  Hope this helps!  :)  Enjoy!

Climbing

Avery loves to climb!  She's getting better every day and gets higher as she gets taller and stronger.  She can successfully climb onto the toddler bed, the chair in her toyroom (soon to be her regular room once she hits 15 months and it's safe for her to sleep in the toddler bed), and the folding chairs to the card tables.  She is very close to being able to climb up on the upstairs couch and loveseat, the breakfast nook chairs, and our bed.  She's amazing!  So adventurous!  And fearless!  :/

Well one of the ways she likes to climb is to run up next to the couch where I'm sitting and start to pull herself up (using her arms and putting her leg up on the couch), so I grab her arm and help pull her up.  Once she's up on the couch she likes to look over the edge either out the window or at the picture frame where there are lots of pictures of Michael and me.  Sometimes she climbs over me to get where she's going.  On occassion, she climbs right on my belly.  Not too big of a deal now, but I can't imagine it working out too well in a couple months, lol!  Can't wait to see Avery's reaction when we put her hand on my belly and her baby brother or sister kicks her.  :P  Only 2 weeks from today until we find out!  Keep us in your prayers!  :)

Pregnant!!

Well, now that the news is out, I can officially blog about the pregnancy!!  :D  Yay!!!!!  As you may or may not know, we waited a lot longer to spill the beans this time than we did when we were pregnant with Avery.  That's because in June we had a miscarriage at 8 weeks along.  It made me want to be certain that this pregnancy would stick before we started spreading the news.  So after 3 successful doctor's appointments, hearing the baby's strong heartbeat 3 different times, seeing a healthy baby on the ultrasound 2 times, making it past 8 weeks, and out of the 1st trimester, we decided to go ahead and share our news.  :)  I'm not out of the woods yet, and I'm not sure I'll ever get the peace of mind that I had with Avery back until our baby is safely in my arms, but I'm feeling much more confident with each passing day.  :)  If you've read my pregnancy update posts, then not much of this will be new to you, but here's the rundown on our pregnany.  :)

We are due on Friday, May 9th, 2014.  When we went in for our first appointment, I was sure the doctor was going to push our due date back, because I ovulated a little later and didn't get a positive pregnany test until a little later as well.  And while the baby was measuring 3 days behind our due date (May 12th), our doctor went ahead and retained the original date, while letting me know that the baby might need an extra few days.

We are currently 17 weeks and 3 days along.  :)  We are in the 2nd trimester, and have been since the beginning of November (almost a month now).  I believe our 3rd trimester will be beginning sometime around the beginning of February.  We are almost halfway done!  Only 22 weeks and 4 days (ish) to go!  ;)

Since we're almost to the halfway point, we get to see our baby again soon!!  :D  Our anatomy scan is scheduled for December 18th, exactly 1 week before Christmas!  We'll see how the baby is growing, check and make sure there are no health concerns, and find out the gender of the baby.  With Avery we had a big gender reveal party(/housewarming party) and we kept her name a secret (for the most part) until she was born.  I think we'll do things differently this time (just to mix things up).  We'll tell our parents and family during our Christmas celebrations (I have some fun ideas) and then we'll tell the world here and on facebook.  We already have a boy and girl name picked out, so now we just need to wait and see what the baby is and which one he or she gets!  :)

While I'm talking about gender, I think this baby is going to be a boy.  The pregnancy has felt different from Avery's, and I just have a gut feeling it's a boy.  For that reason, I panicked because we didn't have any boy name ideas.  So we thought long and hard and figured one out.  ;)  Originally, Michael was thinking we would have another girl, but I think the more I talk about a boy, the more he thinks we'll have a boy.  Either way, our family will be perfect!  If we have a girl we'll have 2 sisters, very close in age, the same way Sis and I or Amy and Rochelle were when we were growing up.  This was part of the reason I wanted our kiddos to be so close in age.  We're all best friends with our siblings and I want that for my kids too.  If we have a boy, then they'll still be close in age (and hopefully will like each other) and we'll get to do a little of everything.  We'll get to buy dolls and truck and makeup and tools; we'll get to have halloween costumes of princesses and fairies and monsters and super heroes.  We'll get to watch ballet and musical and karate and skateboarding.  :)  So either way, we'll be pleased with what we find out in 2.5 more weeks!  :D

In my first trimester I was tired and sick.  My morning sickness stuck to the morning, which was different from the way things were with Avery.  The fatigue and nausea drug on long past the 1st trimester and when I forget to eat I still feel sick (very similar to the way things were in Avery's pregnancy).  I'm wearing my maternity clothes again, and feel very comfortable in them.  My bump is getting bigger and it's exciting to see myself grow, it makes things more real.  I think Michael has gotten used to the idea that I'm pregnant way faster than I have.  ;)

That's all I have for now.  :)  I'll blog more later.  :)  Have a great day, folks!  :)

Pregnancy Update - 17 Weeks

How far along: 17 weeks, 1 day

Due date: May 9, 2014

Next doctor's appointment: December 18

Our baby is the size of a veggie/fruit/food: Onion/Turnip

Our baby in man terms: Hockey Puck

Total weight gain/loss: +1.6 lbs

News: We are pregnant!!  ;)  We made our announcements to family and on facebook.  :D

Best moments this week: Feeling more movement!  Thursday I felt movement about 3 different times, and Friday I felt movement about a dozen different times!  :)

Milestones: 17 weeks!  We made our official pregnancy announcement.  :)

Symptoms: Fewer first trimester symptoms, only a little nausea, a little fatigue, and round ligament pain

Maternity clothes?  Yup!  They are way more comfy!

Stretch marks?  Just the ones Avery gave me.  But my belly is itching, so I bet they'll come eventually.

Belly Button in or out?  In, I doubt it will go out.

Movement: Yes!!  Internal only so far.  Can't wait to feel more and for Michael to feel the baby moving!!

Gender: Don't know yet.  Only 2 weeks and 4 days until we find out!!  :D

Sleep: Just fine!  ;)

Food cravings: Not many cravings this week.  I made chicken and noodles with mashed potatoes and biscuits and gravy this week, both were delicious!!

Food aversions: Nope.  I basically eat it all.  ;)

What I miss: Nothing!  I love being pregnant at the moment!

What I'm loving: Feeling the baby move!  I've been looking forward to it for quite a while.  It's one of my favorite parts about being pregnant.  :)

What I'm looking forward to: Finding out what we're having! 

Thoughts and feelings about Michael: I love my hubby so much!  He's so helpful.  :)  I appreciate him helping me pack up the car and bring all of our stuff in and out for Thanksgiving and Topeka.  He's such an amazing Daddy, and he loves our little girl so much.  I think this pregnancy is getting more real for him as my belly continues to grow.  :)

Thoughts and feelings about Avery: Avery has loved being here in Topeka and playing with Payden, it's so cute!  She's done great with Madison and has shared her toys beautifully!  I think she's going to love having a sibling!  It's going to be a special time watching our two babies grow up together.  :)  I love her soooo much!

Labor signs: Nope!  :)

Goals: Get the house cleaned up this week.  I have been slowly getting more energy the last few days.  So, I hope I can put that to good use and get my house cleaned.  It's been a mess lately thanks to that first trimester (and a little longer) fatigue.

Weekly Wisdom: I'm not feeling extremely inspiring today.  I'll give it some thought and try to impart some wisdom later this week.  ;)

Pregnancy Update - 16 weeks

I will post this blog after we've told everyone we're pregnant, but until then, it will just be my secret.  :)  I started these pregnancy updates last time we were pregnant, but after the miscarriage it has taken me some time to want to do them again.  However, since we're now 16 weeks along, we've seen the doctor successfully 3 different times, we've seen the baby successfully 2 different times, we're heard the baby's heartbeat nice and strong over 7 weeks from week 7 to week 14, and we have successfully made it to the second trimester, I feel a little more comfortable doing these updates.  I'm not sure that I'll be completely at ease until I'm constantly feeling the baby move and we're past the 24 week mark (the age of viability).  But even then, I may not be completely comfortable until the baby is here.  Miscarriage takes all the fun out of pregnancy.  :(  But I'm glad that we're pregnant again and this baby seems to be doing great.  :)  So here's my first update of this pregnancy, lol, at 4 months!  Please enjoy!  I'll try to get something posted on a weekly basis in this same format.  :)  Love you all!  Happy 16 weeks little baby!

How far along:  16 weeks

Due date:  May 9th, 2014

Next doctor's appointment:  December 18, 2013 (19 weeks, 5 days)

Our baby is the size of a veggie/fruit/food:  Avocado

Our baby in man terms:  Small stud finder

Total weight gain/loss:  + 1 lb

News:  The family finds out this week!  After keeping the secret for so long, I'm looking forward to telling the rest of my family and Michael's family.  :)

Best moments this week:  Beginning to feel flutters!  Every now and then I feel little things and wonder if it's the baby.  I didn't feel Avery move (and really KNOW it was her) until 19 weeks.  So I'm not completely certain, yet, that I'm feeling the baby, but I THINK that's what it is.  ;)  I felt the first thing around 14 weeks and wondered if it was the baby, but I think that was still a little early.  Now when I feel things I think there's a better chance it's the baby.  ;)

Milestones:  We hit 16 weeks today!  We've hit several big milestones in the past 16 weeks that I haven't recorded, so I'll note some of those now:
7w5d - We saw the baby (blob) for the first time and heard the heartbeat, a wonderful feeling and sound after a miscarriage 3.5 months before
10w5d - We saw the baby (who now has arms and legs) again and heart the heartbeat, we got to see the baby kicking and moving like crazy!
13w3d - We made it to the second trimester where the risk of miscarriage significantly decreases.

Symptoms:  Nausea and fatigue

Maternity clothes?  Yup!  I've been in them for a couple weeks now.  I can still wear my regular clothes, and I can hide the bump when I want/need to, but the maternity clothes are soooo much more comfortable!  Only 1 more week and no more hiding!

Stretch marks?  Just the ones Avery gave me.  Hopefully I did plenty of stretching with her and won't get any new marks with this one.

Belly Button in or out?  In, stayed in through my whole pregnancy with Avery, I don't expect it to go out this pregnancy either.

Movement:  Maybe a little?  Hard to tell.  But the baby's skeleton is hardening, so hopefully a lot more soon!

Gender:  Unknown, but I'm leaning boy.  ;)  Only 3.5 more weeks until we find out!

Sleep:  I get hot at night, but am still getting a decent amount of sleep.

Food cravings:  Oh my...  Where to begin?!  I'll list the things I've been craving throughout the pregnancy, and next week I'll list the cravings of that week.  So far I've craved: wings (Fox and Hound, BWW, and Little Ceasar's), ice cream (mint chocolate chip), chocolate milk, ice water, McChicken sandwiches, and Burger King onion rings.  I know, I'm going to be crazy fat by the end of all this.  :P

Food aversions:  Not that I can think of...  I don't feel like cooking, but I feel like it's more of a fatigue thing than an aversion.

What I miss:  Energy and waking up without feeling sick.  I thought things would be better when I got out of the first trimester (they did with Avery), but I'm still feeling sick every morning (and sometimes during the day) and I still have absolutely no energy.  *sigh*

What I'm loving:  That we've had 3 successful doctor's appointments.  I get scared each time before we go in, then I'm relieved each time when we hear the heartbeat.  I try to take the morning sickness and fatigue as good signs that the baby is doing well.  I love that I'm pregnant.  I love that we've been able to keep it a secret and enjoy it ourselves for so long.  :) 

What I'm looking forward to:  Telling our secret!  4 months is long enough to keep quiet.  Now I'm ready to shout it from the rooftops!  ;)  I'm also looking forward to feeling the baby move, and not just the flutters, I'm ready to get kicked right in the gut!  From what we saw on the sono, the baby seems very active!  Once he or she is big enough I'm sure I'll feel plenty!  ;)

Thoughts and feelings about Michael:  I love my sweet hubby so very much!  He's been such great emotional support for me over our entire relationship, but specifically in the last 5 months.  The miscarriage was extremely hard on both of us, but he held me together in such big ways.  I'm so grateful for his presence in my life.  And now we have a new baby on the way and he's doing everything he can to keep me happy and comfortable.  He show's me each and every day how much he cares for me, especially in little things like loading the dishwasher or taking out the trash.  He's the love of my life and I don't know what I'd do without him.  I'm looking forward to giving him another child (our last child).  He's an incredible father with Avery and he's going to rock being the Daddy of 2 small babies!  :)  I love him!

Thoughts and feelings about Avery:  My poor little girl has some molars working their way through her gums, so she's been a little fussy lately, and wanting to sleep more.  I feel bad for her, but I love that she's super snuggly and cuddly lately!  :D  My independent girl is usually far too "on the go" to spend time cuddling with her mom, so I take advantage of these short times.  ;)  I love that tiny girl so very much!  :)  She brings sooo much joy to my life!  I loooooooove her!!!!!!!

Labor signs:  Nope and I don't intend to have them for a long time!  March of Dimes says "Healthy babies are worth the wait" (39 weeks), so we need to make it all the way until May before any of that starts.  ;)

Goals:  Try not to gain too much weight.  I lost 5 pounds in my first trimester with Avery, so I never got over my pre-pregnancy weight until I was 20 weeks in.  I gained a total of 20 pounds (over my pre-pregnancy weight) with Avery.  I have already put on a little weight with this baby (1 lb is not so bad for 4 months in), so I hope the weight gain just stays reasonable.

Weekly Wisdom:  Choose to be happy.  There are plenty of things in life to complain about.  Everyone has one thing or another going on.  I know better than many that tragedies and misfortunes can multiply in difficult times, but choose to be happy anyway.  Count your blessings and think about the good things in life.  I think this will make you a happier, healthier person, and more people will want to be around you.  :)  Be happy.  :)

Current Events in Our Lives

I don't think I've done a life update in a while, so here's what's going on in our lives:

-Phil moved out, about 2 weeks ago, and Beth moved in, yesterday, we are happy to be in the position to help our friends out when they need a place to go.

-The holidays are arriving and that's making me busy at work, but busy means more sales and more money, so I like it.  ;)

-Michael got his yearly evaluation and a raise!  Just in time for the holidays!

-Avery is up to 12 teeth.  She has a total of 4 molars working their way, slowly, through her gums, it tends to make her a grumpy girl, especially in the late afternoon.

-I'm looking forward to seeing family for the holidays coming up.  However, Harlee and Gabby won't be able to join us on our adventures, as they are too much of a flight risk.  Harlee got out of the house last time we went to Topeka, so we're not taking them back.

-December will be my last car payment and then it will be all ours!!  Because we paid twice a month instead of once it brought our interest down and we'll have it paid off 10 months early!  What a blessing!

-Avery is learning lots of new words!  Many of them sound similar, but she points as well and we're understanding her more.  It's amazing to see her grow!

-We had a fondue party here on Sunday!  It was great to see friends and hang out, and cheese and chocolate it always amazing!  :)

Alrighty, well, that's all I can think of for now.  :)  Hope you're all having a wonderful holiday season.  :)

November Thankfulness

Yesterday I began to write a post about what I'm thankful for.  I've been doing it on facebook all month and thought I could elaborate more on here.  But when I turned my phone off for a moment to check on the babies, everything disappeared.  Needless to say, I was frustrated and didn't continue.  Today I'm going to try again, but it won't be as extensive as what it would have been yesterday.

I'm thankful for my husband.  He's my provider, partner, and best friend.  He's an amazing Daddy to our beautiful baby girl.  And most importantly, he loves us both very much.  Avery and I are lucky to have him in our lives.

I'm thankful for my beautiful baby girl.  She's smart and kind, she's happy and independent.  We love her so very much.  I had no idea having a child was going to be so fun and easy.  We are blessed with an incredible baby girl.  :)

I'm thankful for my family who always come to my rescue in one way or another.  Keeping me fed, watching the babies, or just a friendly adult face in so many days of baby talk.  My family is a constant support system whom I love and am grateful to have.

I'm thankful for my home.  We bought a home bigger than we needed, planning on growing into it.  As Avery has grown she has now taken up 2 bedrooms, so it's good we have so much space.  We have a warm place to live and keep the weather off.  I have a beautiful kitchen to cook and bake in.  We have a safe neighborhood to raise our daughter in.  Our home is all we wanted and we are blessed to call it home.

I'm thankful for Michael's job.  He's been at AeTR for a year and a half and they have taken such good care of him.  He got a week off paid when we had Avery, we went to Vegas together, and they have given him some great raises the last couple of years.  It's a stable job that he can stay at for many years to come (a luxury in the aircraft business).  It's the perfect job to have while we raise our family.

I'm thankful for my boss, coworkers, and job at Beldens.  My boss, Danielle, gives me a great schedule that allows me to stay home with Avery and Dayton during the day.  My coworkers have quickly become some of my best friends here in Wichita (and a roommate more recntly).  They make my job so much fun!  I would have never thought 2.5 years ago when I began working there that I would enjoy is so much and work there longer than the job I got a degree to do, but it's a perfect job for my family and me and I'm thankful.

I'm thankful that my mom is coming over to bake with me often this holiday season.  I love to baked, but it's much more fun with someone else.  I love that Mama is available so often to hang out with me and to try new recipes with.  :)  She's the best!  :)

I'm thankful my phone hasn't lost this entire post yet.  ;)

I'm thankful for K-State basketball.  I love K-State and Manhattan and having season basketball tickets helps us to make it back to the town we call home a few times every year.  Manhattan was where our story began and, God willing, where we will end up in the end as well.  :)

Alright, I hate to write more and press my luck on how much I can potentially lose.  There is so much more that I'm thankful for.  Maybe another day soon I'll elaborate on the list.  :)  Thanks for reading along.  :)

Pumpkin Patch

Well, since I successfully uploaded a few birthday pictures, lets try some from the pumpkin patch as well...  This was Avery's 2nd year and Michael's and my 3rd year at Mr. Gourdman's pumpkin patch.  A little expensive, but a fun place to visit each year.  :)

More Birthday Pictures!

Another success!  Here are the last few birthday pictures!

Birthday

Ok... I have successfully posted a 1 pic post and a 3 pic post.  Here are some more birthday pictures.

Pictures

My app is having problems posting pictures.  Bear with me.  Here is an attempt to post a few of Avery's birthday pictures....

Test

1 picture...

Welcome November!!

Hey guys, sorry I haven't blogged in a little while.  Just haven't been in the mood. 

Hope everyone is well!  It's November finally!  Woohoo!!  October was awesome!  I'm looking forward to the rest of the holiday season!  The best time of the year continues!!  Here's a little recap on our month (some of it might be repeats, bear with me).  ;)  Enjoy!!

October 5th was Avery's first birthday!  I must say, she has been AMAZING!!  She is such a good baby, and has been since day 1!  If all babies were like her I'd have a dozen of them!  But we can afford 2, so that's where we're planning on stopping, lol.  On Avery's birthday we went to Manhattan for Kylee and Tim's wedding.  We had a great time!  The next day we had Avery's birthday party here at home.  Despite being a little sick, she did great!  We appreciated everyone who came and celebrated with us!  She was one spoiled baby that day!!

A couple weeks later Michael and I went to Vegas for a week!  Michael had a work conference he was attending.  I was just along for the ride and a little r&r!  :)  It was nice relaxing for a week.  I've never been to Vegas before.  We had fun seeing the hotels, stores, resteraunts, and fountains!  I think the Paris hotel was my favorite (it also contained the resteraunt that served my favorite meal, the best filet I've ever eaten!).  I did a little gambling, but not much.  Penny slots to kill time and play a little.  :)  Breakfast was delicious each and every day in a resteraunt in our hotel, the Flamingo.  We had lots of fun!  But by the end of the week I was REALLY missing my baby!  It was good to get back home to her.

However, we didn't stay home for long.  We repacked when we got home, grabbed Avery, and headed to Kansas City for Tim and Becca's wedding.  The wedding was beautiful!  A great venue!  Avery had a good time until bedtime came around, then nothing would console her.  So we went back to Nick and Maggie's for the night.  On Saturday we hung out with Nick and Maggie for a bit and also got to see Nate while we were in town.  He'll be moving to Wichita in May!  I can't wait!

Then, of course, yesterday was Halloween.  Mama and I took the babies to Michael's work to do a little trick or treating during the day.  They had lots of fun seeing people and playing in the buckets of candy.  Last night we went and visited Grandma and Grandpa Heorman and Grandma and Grandpa Counterman to show off Avery's costume, she was Tinkerbell.  :)  We had a very nice evening!  When we got home Avery played a little and helped Michael and I pass out candy to the kids in the neighborhood.  We didn't have nearly as many as last year, but then again, we only started passing candy out at 8 instead of 5:30.  ;)  All in all, it was a great night!

So that is more or less how our October went.  With one of my favorite 3 months down, I have 2 more to look forward to.  Next comes November!  I love November!  It's filled with food, baking, shopping, family, decorations, and preparations!  I just love it!!  :D  Not entirely sure what our Thanksgiving plans are yet, still waiting on family members to say when and where various activities will be held.  I'm sure we'll get more definitely plans nailed down in the next couple of weeks.  :)

Now that Halloween is over, it's probably about time I get the birthday decorations down, the house cleaned, and the fall decor up.  :P  I've been pretty lazy when it comes to decor, lately.  But I love the fall decor, so I really need to get on the ball, lol!  Maybe during nap time.  ;)

I hope you all had a great October and are also looking forward to November.  Have an awesome month in case I don't post much!  ;)  (Hey, just being a realist, I have 2 tiny monsters to care for)  I'll add a few pictures from our last month!  ;)  Enjoy!