14 weeks

Well we are 14 weeks along and as promised here is my weekly "bump" update.  My goal is to do this every Monday, but realistically I'm shooting for every other week! 

How Far Along:  I am 14 weeks along.  Start of the second trimester!  Wahoo

Size of Baby:  They say the baby is almost 1 ounce and about the size of my fist :-)

Maternity Clothes:   I am about in 85% maternity clothes.  I am still able to wear some dresses and skirts that can still work with the bump.  As far as pants and shorts...100% maternity.  I don't like the type of waist bands that cut below the belly.  I like the kind that cover the entire belly.  Strange I know, but I don't like anything on my belly.

Gender:  Don't know yet.  Will find out October 29th.  Less than one month to go!!!

Movement:  I think I started to feel something this past week.  It's not consistent, but there have been some flutters.

Sleep:  I sleep OK right now.  A lot of times I have no problem what so ever falling asleep.  I do however wake up in the middle of the night (between 1 and 3 in the morning) and can't sleep.  Sometimes I am hungry, etc.  Hoping that second trimester will allow me to get some sleep.  I can usually make it through the week without a nap, but on the weekends I am taking a nap each day.  Thankful for a wonderful hubby and grandparents that takes over and allow me to sleep. I also was having VIVID dreams.  I don't remember anything of late, but shew they were crazy! 

What I miss:  Sometimes I miss alcohol...let's just be honest.  ha.  I miss running.  This is the perfect weather for running.  They say not to start anything that you haven't been doing.  I hadn't run since March.  So I've been walking/doing elliptical.  I also miss deli meat!  My doctor's office says no deli meat unless it's heated for 20 seconds.  Gah...not what I want.  So finding lunch options has been difficult a little.  I'm working on staying healthy...

What I'm looking forward to:  Tomorrow is the first day of October.  One of my favorite months of the year.  We have the fair this week, Halloween, birthday parties for G's friends, and fall festival at Garrett's school!  Also looking forward to my next doctor's appointment on  October 15th.  No ultrasound, but will hear the heartbeat :-)

Cravings/Food Aversions:  Food has been strange this go round.  Not really craving sweets, more salty.  Went through a pizza crave and finally got a Papa John's pizza!  SO YUMMY!!  I started off eating almonds and enjoyed them...now the thought of almonds make me want to vomit!  I also can't stand the thought of plain wheat thins.  So strange!

Symptoms:  Nausea in the beginning.  That is starting to die down.  Exhaustion has been ridiculous!  Hoping that will get better. 

Workouts:  This past week not so great.  My goal is to exercise 3-4 times a week for 40 to 45 minutes at a time.  I actually just got into a pregnancy study at ECU that is all about keeping pregnant women fit and will start that in a week or two.  I will do another blog post on that and am so so so excited!  I gained 68 pounds with Garrett and have NO intention of doing that again!

Best moment this past week:  The bump appeared and I think I am starting to feel the baby move!

Here is a picture from 14 weeks.  We painted a wall with chalk board paint but it wasn't ready for today.  So this picture will be different from the rest.  I always have good intentions but life gets busy and sometimes you just don't have time.  Also, I had just finished dinner so I feel like the bump was a little bigger than normal...and I don't have any make up on!  Those are your warnings!!

 

Exciting Times!!

As Garrett would say... "TA DA"

That's right...we are expecting baby number 2 in late March of 2014.  This go round has been much different then when I was pregnant with Garrett.  While I was pregnant with Garrett I was never sick except for maybe 3 days.  I have also been exhausted, shew it is no joke!
We were able to tell family around eight weeks and friends around 11 weeks.  We choose not to have genetic testing done so we have only been able to hear the heartbeat, which was incredible to hear!  We have our first ultrasound scheduled for October 29th and at that time we will find out the sex of the baby.  We can not wait!
I think the most exciting part of this journey was being able to tell Garrett.  We went and picked Garrett up from school early and told him we had a surprise for him.  He was pumped.  He got in the car and started the questions about his surprise.  "Is it something I wanted for Christmas?  Is it a car?  Is it a banana?  Is it (just fill in anything you can think)?"  Well he has been asking for a baby brother or sister for a while now so I told him it was something he wanted.
I got him home and told him to sit on the sofa.  I warned him that it was not a toy.  I didn't want him to open his gift and be let down.  His gift was the shirt he is wearing in the picture above.  So he closed his eyes and I put his shirt in his lap.  Before he opened his gift he asked if it was underwear...lol!  I was so tickled!  So he opened his eyes and smiled and said "A SHIRT!!!"  So I told him what the shirt said and asked if he knew what that meant and he said no.  So I told him that it meant that I had a baby in my belly!   He was over the moon excited.  His eyes were so big with excitement and it just warmed my heart beyond words.  He gave me a huge hug and then gave the baby a hug.
He is already protective and it tickles me.  We were headed out to let him tell our parents and he said "Daddy you need to make sure to drive slow because there is a baby in mommy's belly."  I was sitting with him in the back seat and he smiled and said there are 3 of us back here.  He continued this for a while and it made me so happy.  He loves the thought of being a big brother.
I let him wear his shirt the next day to school and he was able to tell all the teachers and friends.  He was pumped.  So pumped that he had a terrible day at school.  Ha! I think he lost his listening ears for the day.
Anyway we are very excited.  I am going to be doing at least every 2 week pregnancy updates.  I know that every week is a bit ambitious for me.  I am so tired it is hard for me to post at night.  I will also post a picture of "the bump" that has formed starting Sunday or Monday.

May 2013

We had a BUSY BUSY BUSY May.  We were going about 100 mph during May.  There was a lot of fun, but also a lot of sadness.  My grandmother had moved to Greenville back in October of last year due to her health.  She moved from Greensboro where she had lived by herself into a nursing home surrounded by people.  It was a huge adjustment for her but it was so wonderful having her here the last six months.  She was such a strong Christian and influenced me in such a positive way.  I miss her a lot but know that she is pain free and celebrating big time in Heaven!  Her service was truly a celebration of life and was a great service.  It was nice spending time with family that we don't get to see on a regular basis.  Hopefully we will get together again soon.  This was a picture from Thanksgiving. 

During May we also had a BIG trip!  We went to Disney World!!!  It was amazing and I will be doing a separate blog post on that.  Can't fit it all into one.
We played a lot outside since it was starting to get warm.  There was a lot of rain (but not as much as we got in June...tons of rain in June).  Rain does mean getting the bike out and plowing through puddles.  We also had a quick trip to the beach for some quiet family time and it was jut what we needed.  Garrett also went on a fieldtrip to pick strawberries.  He had a blast.  I don't have any pictures from Mother's day, but we had a wonderful time!  We were traveling home from Disney on Mother's Day.  Here are a few pictures from May:

This is our "normal" set up for pool days...Sandy has hers, Garrett has his.  Excuse all the weeds...

Looks so grown...

He puts as much as he can in the pool with him

Fieldtrip to pick strawberries!

Garrett and all his friends from school....

April 2013

To say we have been busy is the understatement of the year.  I haven't had the energy to keep up with the blog but am hoping to get back into it.  I am going to try and update up to where we are over the next week.  The last post was in March when we were celebrating Sandy's birthday.  We had a blast and Garrett still talks about it today!  His teacher thought that he was telling a story about her party...hahahaha.  I told her that yes we did have a party and I know she thinks we are a little on the crazy side but we love our dog!

April we had some fun things going on.  T ball started.  Garrett hasn't done a lot of "organized sports" so this was his first real experience.  He loved it and so did we.  He was awesome at hitting, throwing (although his direction could use some help still) and running.  Catching was not a strong point of his but that's OK, something to work on.  Parents were heavily involved during tball and it scared me to pieces.  I do not like to catch because I am AWFUL at it!
We also got a chance to do some canoeing, kayaking and playing in the water at ECU's beach.  It was so much fun and we do plan on going back out there this summer.
My dad celebrated his 64th birthday and we always have a great time getting together and celebrating anything as a family.  We do miss my brother and his wife who moved to Charlotte. 
Lastly we were able to play in the backyard and relax some before the full swing of spring/summer started.
Here are a few pictures of fun we had in April:

Does it get any better than kids in goggles??

Love this picture...

ready for T Ball

Spring is not complete without Popsicles and a hammock

Pool with his best friend

HAPPY BIRTHDAY POPS!!

family shot!

Happy Birthday Sandy!

About two weeks ago Garrett was asking me when Sandy's birthday was.  To be honest I can't exactly remember the day, but know that it is sometime around Easter.  I remember thinking we could name her Lilly because of being born around Easter.  I was working at the bank when one of the tellers told me that they had some dogs they were giving away.  Josh and I decided that when we got back from our honeymoon we would get her.
About 2 years after getting Sandy she had a lump on her nose.  We thought an ant had bit her but a week later the bump was still there.  After taking her to the vet they told us she had cancer.  Oh my goodness our world was turned upside down.  Devastated doesn't cover it.  We were told that it was rare and that the only other cases they had the dog lived for a max of a year.  :-(  We decided to let her live her last year as happy as possible.  What does that mean do you ask??  No crate, extra food, lots of snuggles.  Here we are and Sandy has beat the odds.  We don't know really why except God is good and we still have her! 
So when Garrett asked to have a party for her we figured we should go all out and celebrate her big double digit year.  I asked Garrett what kind of party we should do for Sandy and he said "princess party...".  Ha.  Since she is a girl that equals princess to Garrett.  He specifically wanted  her to have Cinderella gloves and slippers.  So I took him to Target and we went shopping for her party.  Please enjoy the pictures:

Princess napkins and PINK cupcakes!!!

It's PARTY time

Two of my favorite princesses

Yes, Sandy is wearing a skirt!  I love this picture of these two

Can't tell if she likes the skirt or not??

Garrett trying to add some bling to the birthday girl

I think she is embarrassed

Time to sing Happy Birthday!!

The entire family

Typical 4 year old

Pops and Garrett

Grandmommy, Garrett and Susu

 It was an amazing party and was great to have family come and celebrate!

Has it been 10 years already! How lucky am I???

10 years ago today Josh and I were saying "I do".  Oh my goodness I honestly can not believe that we have been married for 10 years!!!  I remember when we got married thinking I can't wait to make it to our 10 year anniversary and dreaming to what that would feel like.  Boy how I never knew how awesome my life would be!  Here are a few pictures from our wedding.  Since it was so long ago it was before digital photography...crazy! 

My favorite picture!

My 2nd favorite picture (except the expression on my face)



We looked like we were just got out of high school here, but I promise we didn't need our parents signature to get married...ha!!!
My mom and I often talk about how much fun we had planning our wedding.  It was such a cherished time I had with her that I will always remember.  It was amazing!
I feel as though Josh and I have a better relationship now than we did when we first got married.  I am so lucky to have a man that loves me as much as he does.  He is such an awesome provider and incredible father.  We are complete opposites and it works for us.  I love to cook and bake and hate to clean.  Josh is OCD about being clean and hates to cook!  Works great.  He is very quiet and relaxed and mild mannered.  I am high strung, never relaxed and loud most of the time.  He calms me when I need it (even though sometimes I don't want to hear it...ha). 
We have been through the worst of times and the best of times!  I look forward to many more years of marriage. 
We look forward to celebrating our anniversary in Charlotte sometime this year.  We were able to meet for lunch today and had a very yummy meal tonight.  I stopped by the Fresh Market and picked up some chicken and a twice baked potato.  Then went and picked up a movie, some champagne and cake for after G goes to sleep! 
I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate 10 years of marriage!