9 week Baby D update & registry talk

How Far Along? 9 weeks 3 days as of today! J

Size of Baby? Green Olive…which I don’t normally like at all, but I guess I love this precious one!

Maternity Clothes? We went shopping last weekend in search of some jeans/pants that I could wear comfortably. Thank goodness we found some that were reasonably priced…I mean, have you ever looked at how much maternity jeans can cost at say; Motherhood Maternity? Yikes! Burlington Coat Factory actually has a pretty big maternity section and I found a pair there for $15. I also ordered a pair from Old Navy for $19-those are my favorite. I am wearing regular tops still.

Gender? We don’t know for sure and won’t for a few more weeks but I am starting to feel boy…not sure why!

Movement? None that I can feel yet.

Sleep? I am sleeping fine other than getting up many times to go potty. Thankfully sleep has not been an issue, but I am still almost like a zombie I am so tired at times during each day.

Food Cravings? I have wanted cheese a lot this week-cheese pizza, cheese chex mix, cheese crackers, string cheese-bring on the cheese! I also can’t stop thinking about Steak-n-Shake’s carmel apple milkshakes that are here for Fall…I might have to get one this week!

What I miss?  I don’t feel like I really miss anything. I guess maybe I miss being a little more carefree with my blood sugars and checking all the time. Not that I have ever just not cared, I mean I came into this pregnancy with an A1C at 6.3, which is pretty good.  I just feel like I am constantly obsessing over what my number is right now-it is kind of exhausting.

Symptoms?  I think I have gone past feeling bloated to just feeling plain fat right now. Other than that, I have been really tired still and experiencing some achy lower back pain-I think that’s from tossing and turning during sleep though. Nothing too bad! I have been blessed with no “sickness” yet, but I have felt “pukey” a few times…hope that stays away!

Best Moment Last Week? Seeing Baby D on the ultrasound screen and hearing his/her heartbeat at 174. I hadn’t expected that at my appointment (Stephen wasn’t there-we were told it was not a prenatal appointment) but I was so happy to be able to breathe that sign of relief!

Looking Forward to? My next Doctor’s appointment next week (Wednesday),  and ordering things for the nursery. I am already in nesting mode…it may have something to do with my compulsive need to plan everything in advance.

This week I have been working and finalizing our baby gift registries, and whoa! Who knew there were so many places and options to register for babies? We decided to only register at Wal-Mart and Target since the majority of the people we believe will be shopping for us have the option of physically going to a store, printing the registry and shopping there or online. I know it probably seems early, but I wanted to get started because there is so much research to do for each product...or maybe I am just crazy? Either way, they are almost complete and we are happy with our choices thus far.

Now a question for you girls who are already momma's-is it even worth it to register for clothes? My gut says that people are going to buy you things that are and aren't on your registry anyways and clothes always seem to appear at showers in huge quantities, so I just wasn't sure it was worth the effort to register. Besides, I am sure whatever clothes we are gifted will be totally adorable since most baby clothes are automatically! :) So far we have not registered for clothes or anything gender specific.

The nursery is forming in my mind and I am pretty excited about it. The crib might be the next bigger purchase we make and I just cannot wait! We have already ordered and received our crib bedding and we both LOVE it:

So, when did you start your registries and what did you register for?

When did you order your crib or larger furniture for the nursery (or was if gifted to you?)?

How were you feeling at 9 weeks?

Hope everyone has a wonderful remainder of the week and weekend!

Little Peanut

Baby D's first photo, taken on Friday, August 24th.

My first OB appointment as now come and gone.

All the news I received was good, very good. Little Peanut is healthy and looks great (per my Dr.)

We were given a due date of April 1 (by my calculations it was March 31, but what's one day?).

Dr. is planning to do a scheduled c-section at 38 weeks, possibly sooner if needed. 38 weeks is the longer we will go though.

What a blessing, I still can't believe that we are going to have a baby!

God is SO good!

If you have questions about why we are doing a scheduled c-section please comment and I will email you details/answers to your questions. Please don't share horror stories, k thanks!

Have a great day everyone, I am going to go dream about all things baby!

Weekend (more like week) Wrap-Up!

Happy Monday, folks! It's a warm and rainy day here but I am quietly longing for fall. In fact, pumpkins and pumpkin scented things have started making appearances around our house. All of our fall decor just might relocate from the basement this coming weekend! Have you decorated for fall yet?

Here is a little of what we were up to last week:

A little bit of front porch sitting...

And a little bit of morning cuddles! :)

My first shipment of maternity clothes arrived from Old Navy last week too. Out of the 4 items, I can only wear one shirt now. I am sure we (me and baby D) will soon grow into the others so no worries!

The hubs and I have back to back birthday's in August. His was last Tuesday and together are cards made a pretty big display. We felt so loved! Also, there are some cards related to our big announcement too!

We had ordered this glider from Walmart.com almost immediately after we found out we were expecting. Ideally we would like two, one for upstairs and one for down but at least now we have one. It was on clearance and was such a steal! Louis isn't sure out it yet...

But the hubs likes it and approves! :)

Stephen and his birthday cake last week. Sadly, I didn't eat any of it. I am in a rut where anything that I cook is unappealing to me and the baby. I am a fan of Stephen cooking or eating out right now to say the least! 

Lunch hour pedicure=LOVE!

WOO, it's finally Friday!

Wings for dinner on Friday= YUM. I'm sorry baby I know you need folic acid....but tonight, we are having hot wings!! :)

Saturday we had a full day planned that mostly included shopping and a little eating (I am pregnant after all). Chipotle is my absolute favorite!

Stopped in David's Bridal to purchase my Matron of Honor dress for an April wedding. Yep, that will be about 4 to 6 weeks after Baby D's arrival. Needless to say, I ordered up a size!

I just can't resist baby clothes. I mean seriously, I barely resisted them when I wasn't pregnant but now that I am? It's like game on! I proudly purchased this cute number with my TJ Maxx Birthday gift card from a co-worker. Adorable I tell you!

Love me some Target sales!

Saturday evening we headed to a surprise birthday party for a friend hosted by his wife. It was a great time with delicious food. As always, it's just nice to see people that you don't get to see all to often. After our full day of running around and shopping I was so tired. We headed home and I promptly took a warm bath and put my feet up!

Sunday morning we headed out to church and then spent the afternoon at home relaxing. We grilled burgers for lunch and I baked an oatmeal casserole to serve as breakfast all week. I found the recipe on Pinterest and it was decent this morning, though in the future I think I will tweak it a little! :) We also spent the afternoon watching hours and hours of special features for The Hunger Games. After that I wanted to watch the movie again but Stephen declined since we had just watched it on Thursday. What can I say? I am a movie geek! Oh and I also made a new curtain (no sew) for our back door. I didn't take a picture but I will, I promise!

So what did you do this weekend? We hope that everyone had a safe and relaxing break from work!

Oh and last but not least, we now have a Baby D planning book...meaning I feel much more prepared and able:

Don't you love it?

Things to do before baby D arrives!

Hi y'all! I mentioned in my post on Monday that I had been working on a little thing called a baby bucket list. Well, I added a few more things to do and have it ready to share today. Keep in mind (Stephen) that these are just goals to work towards accomplishing before the precious new member of our family arrives. I would be THRILLED/OVER THE MOON excited to have everything completed...but I know that just might not be doable.

Oh and just for kicks and giggles, I asked Stephen to take some bump pictures last night. Granted, the shirt I am wearing is one of my favorites (non-maternity) because it is loose and camouflaging...it was one of my fat day shirts, now it's making a weekly appearance in my wardrobe! Here ya go:

Okay, back to the list:

Baby Bucket List

·         Have one garage door working with an opener by Thanksgiving

·         Build in closet in master bedroom

·         Move jewelry armoire into bathroom

·         Move dresser from nursery into master bedroom

·         Paint living room & repair ceiling

·         Paint Library

·         Paint kitchen

·         Have windows professionally cleaned

·         Have carpets professionally cleaned

·         Get bassinet from Florida

·         Paint mud-room door

Wants/Needs

·         Baby crib

·         Changing table/dresser

·         Glidder rocker for nursery

·         Glidder rocker for living room (check)

·         Travel system, stroller and carseat

·         A baby!! J

What am I missing or forgetting? I am open to suggestions of tips on how to accomplish everything listed!

Hope you all have a great Wednesday...I am off to work!

Happy Birthday!

Just popping by the blog to wish my very amazing husband a very happy birthday!

Stephen, thank you so much for everything you do for our family. You are an incredible husband and I thank God for you every single day. I know that you will be an outstanding Dad too, and you already are an outstanding daddy-to-be. You are the best and we (me, Louie, and baby) love you so much!

Have a great day, hun!

8 weeks & a weekend wrap-up

Happy Monday, folks! How was your weekend? We had a great one and celebrated our birthday's (Stephen's is tomorrow!) with Stephen's family. Talk about delicious!! :) On Sunday we didn't do much other than attend church and go to Wal-Mart for pickles. It was so nice to relax and rest up. The only problem with that is the fact that Monday morning is that much harder after a lazy day. Oh well!

 

I have a confession to make. At this point, I have a hard time thinking about anything other than this precious life growing inside of me. I have been using my "smoke breaks" at work to shop online for all things baby and have even started building registries. I don't smoke, but many people in my department do and I don't think it is fair that they get at least 2 15min breaks per day to engage in the nasty habit. There I said it. Sorry to offend any of my readers who do smoke.

 

In reference to my above confession, I am working on a baby bucket-list so to speak. It's a list of things that I would love to get done before 1. the baby comes or 2. before I get so fat and uncomfortable that I don't care to move, ha! I should be posting that this week and will followup with it's progress as the pregnancy goes on. Yay! :)

 

Now, onto a baby bump update:

The above pictures were taken last Friday, which would be 7 weeks, 5 days. I am not sure why, but the images look a little distorted to me...maybe it's the collage app I used on my phone to make 2 photos, 1? Anyways, here you go!

How far along? 8 weeks today!

Size of Baby? Raspberry

Maternity Clothes? Still waiting on my first order to arrive-I am wearing the last pair of jeans that I can button today though. Everything else is too tight to button!

Weight Gain? Not sure, maybe 1 ow 2lbs.

Stretch Marks? Not yet, and hopefully never. Using lotion like crazy!

Gender?  Unknown, we will be finding out though!

Movement? Nothing yet, but looking forward to it!

Sleep? No problem there right now! Sleep is good!

Food Cravings? Pickles, chips, pretzels...anything SALTY!

What I Miss? Diet soda and coffee :(

Symptoms?   Still just super, super tired. I have some food aversions too...

Best Moment Last Week? Announcing our news on the blog and Facebook. Y'all warmed my heart with your well wishes and congratulations. You sure know how to make a girl feel loved-thank you!

Looking Forward to? Hearing the heartbeat and my doctor’s appointment this week!

Have a great Monday!

6 and 7 Weeks

First of all, wow! Thank you all so much for your kind words and comments yesterday. Between reading comments on the blog and comments on Facebook, it was a great day! Your support and prayers mean so much to us, so thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

As a way to document this pregnancy, I plan on doing weekly/biweekly posts similar to this one. I can't promise that these will be frequent or on schedule, but I will try! Some might even have some bump pictures...I know you people want to see the bump!! :)

No baby bump picture this week, sorry. I haven't asked Stephen to take any yet...I am sure I will eventually though. I'm not sure you would even notice a difference in a photo, but I promise my belly is much rounder!

 

How far along? 6/7 weeks

Size of Baby? Blueberry, a very precious blueberry!

Maternity Clothes? Not needed yet, but my pants are feeling a little tight already. I just feel so bloated! I did order some jeans and a couple cute tops from Old Navy this week though...I'm afraid they will be needed very soon! I am most comfortable in leggings and dresses this week!

Weight Gain? Not sure, maybe 1 ow 2lbs.

Stretch Marks? Not yet, and hopefully never. Using lotion like crazy!

Gender?  Unknown, we will be finding out though!

Movement? Nothing yet

Sleep? Not to bad, but not to great either. I wake up like 10 times (slight exaggeration) to use the potty, and the rest of the time I sleep pretty good! So thankful for that right now!

Food Cravings? Oh my, guacamole!

What I Miss? Diet soda and coffee :(

Symptoms?   Super tired, as in I got to bed very early; and bloatedness. I just feel bloated.

Best Moment Last Week? Finding out we were pregnant, and telling our families and friends!

Looking Forward to? Hearing the heartbeat! We have a doctor's appointment next Friday-only one week!

 

Some BIG news that will change our lives!

{This post will be REALLY long. I do promise it is worth your time!}

Well family and friends, we have some news to share. Please see this image:

That's right. We are pregnant and due sometime in March/April 2013!!!

Whew, I cannot even begin to tell you how good it feels to have this news out in the open and shared with everyone. It was been so, very hard to keep it to ourselves! Now that everyone knows, I expect nothing but good stories, happy experiences and encouragement from people...because, really-I need it! Stephen needs it too I am sure, but I say me because I am the one actually growing the baby and I am the one who feels like fainting/throwing up/both at the same time when I think about the actual birth. Can I please just go to bed and wake up with a pink, squishy, healthy baby? That would be great. K, thanks!

I thought I would share some information about us finding out that we were expecting. It was a complete shock to say the least! It was a Monday evening and I had just gotten home from a hair appointment. I had been feeling weird for a week or so prior, but I knew I was getting over a cold and thought that was just the problem. We had had a pretty busy schedule for weeks and I was sick, so in my mind my body was trying to recover-thus, needing lots of extra sleep. Oh was I wrong!

Some things had happen other than needing hours of extra sleep that I never even paid attention to, like the fact that I had to have guacamole on Sunday so badly that I thought I might die without it. I am not dramatic at all, y'all know that. We left church at the first opportunity and raced over to our favorite Mexican place where I ordered guacamole with my diet coke. Did I realize this was a craving then? No way!

Anyways, on Monday afternoon before I left to head to the salon I asked Stephen if he would stop and pick up some digital pregnancy tests for me since I hadn't been feeling well, was tired and my cycle was late. I think I even told him that I didn't know why I was testing since we knew it would be negative-like they always were. I got my hair cut and complained about being tired and run down when she asked how I was doing. Sound like pregnancy symptoms? They do to me now too but why didn't I realize that then?!

After the appointment I went home, cuddled Louie, said hi to Stephen and ran inside to change into comfy clothes and pee on a stick. Y'all. I peed, then set it on the counter and went to the bedroom to change. Oh and I washed my hands in there too-promise. I came back and looked at the stick and almost fainted right there on the bathroom floor. In black and white staring back at me was the test that said "pregnant". I could not believe it! Immediately I grabbed it and ran outside to show Stephen who was cutting the grass. Please picture me in the front yard waving around a pregnancy test. Keep that mental image in your head for when you need a laugh or two! :)

Stephen stopped mowing and looked at the test. He looked up at me with a smile on his face and asked "is this a joke?". Ha! This was FOR REAL!

At first my emotions were ALL over the place. One second I was incredibly happy and the other I was totally scared and freaked out. Thoughts that crossed my mind were things like, am I old enough to be responsible for a baby? When did we grow up? What will my parents think? Do I actually have to labor? Ohmygosh I am going to have a baby! ...I mean seriously, ALL OVER THE PLACE.

It took a few days for me to stop freaking out and just embrace the positive. I am a high risk pregnancy, but you know what? God already knows this child. He has already made Stephen and I parents. I am humbled by this opportunity he has given us and know that we will strive to be the best, Godly parents we can be to this little miracle.

Know what else? We have an incredible medical team working with us and I know that we can catch any problems or complications early and face them head on. The timing of this pregnancy was such a God thing for sure. Here is the breakdown:

May 2012: Endocrinology appointment; everything goes well we discuss pregnancy and diabetes. Dr. gives up the clear and says I am healthy and without complications, thus there is no reason we could not have a healthy pregnancy and baby. He congratulates us as we leave saying that he is sure the next time he see me we will be expecting. I think to myself "yeah right, I am never going to get pregnant".
August 5, 2012: Not feeling well, have to have fresh guacamole or I might die.
August 6, 2012: Not feeling well; very tired. Decide to test. It's been 40 something days since my last cycle.
August 6, 2012: POSITIVE Pregnancy Test.
August 9, 2012: Pre-scheduled Endocrinology appointment!!!!!
August 10, 2012: My Birthday! (awesome birthday gift, right?)

We feel so blessed (and still a little scared) about being first time parents, and continue to spend a lot of time praying for this little miracle!

Also, FYI-I wrote this post last week and am now almost 8 weeks pregnant. We know it is still very early and many things could happen but we really wanted to share the news with our family and friends. Please pray for a safe pregnancy resulting in a safe labor and baby. We thank you for your thoughts and prayers! We told our families last weekend and I told my employer today. Now that the news is mostly out, we thought it was a good time to share with the blog readers.

Vickie's Visit

A couple of weeks ago my good friend Vickie came and stayed with us for nine days. Lucky for Vickie she is a teacher and has the summer off so she can take extended vacations like that. I can't say I am not jealous of that. Having summers off? Heck yeah, that would be awesome! Anyways, we had a lovely time together and it was so nice to catch up with each other other than over the phone.

Vickie, you are such a good friend to me and I truly thank God for our friendship. I am so glad that no matter how many miles come between us, we still call, text and visit each other. We hope you had a great time in Indiana and come back soon!! :)

Okay, so one day we drove to Michigan (St. Joe) and spent some time popping in and out of antique shops and exploring the beautiful  Michigan coast line. Lake Michigan is BEAUTIFUL!

Coming home we stopped in Amish country and did a little more exploring. Oh, and stopping at random garage sales that were still going on late in the afternoon. What fun! Vickie was very into take pictures of the Amish as we passed them on the road. Thankfully, no one was injured in the taking of these photos!

One night after dinner we stopped at The Sunken Garden Park (I had never been there). It was so beautiful! Flowers were covering walkways and fountains were flowing, I really loved it and would like to go back there and take photos one day. For now, this lovely black eyed Susan will have to do. Why oh why can't mine at home look this full and pretty?!

Louie was pretty good while Vickie was visiting. At first I think he wasn't fond of having another person in the house, but then when he realized that he didn't have to stay in his room all day since she was there, he warmed up to her. He jumped up and sat on her lap during a thunderstorm once! That's awesome for him, he is pretty selective about who he likes and doesn't like!

For some reason (I can't remember why) we thought it would be cute to out Stephen's ball cap on Louie. Well, it sure was cute but he was not a fan:

Oh, and today is my birthday-the big 2-6. You know what? I don't feel old at all. I feel blessed and very loved! Hope you have a great Friday and weekend, friends!

Hi, remember me?

Hi, remember me? I am that girl who never posts anymore but still has lots to say! I am back (hopefully) and ready to fire away with posts!

I am sorry that it's been so long since I last posted. Between VBS at church and having a friend from Florida staying with us for 9 days-life has been busy! I am sure you can all understand...right?

Well, without further adieu: a weekend update from July! Ha, better late than never!?

Just starting out with some pictures from SKY VBS at church. We were so blessed by the kids in our "crew". I hope that each one of them grew closer to the Lord and learned they way he loves them-no matter what!

Friday evening we headed to Indianapolis to pick up Vickie. It was a long, boring drive for me. Sometimes I think I might be worse than a kid in the car...I just get antsy! We did drive through some MUCH needed rain, so that was nice! We got back to the house late and everyone was so tired. Vickie did eat dinner at Culver's though so she was introduced to the Mid-West well!

Saturday we had a great day at the farmers market and a local auction. I had never been to an auction before, except at church last year (which I loved) so this was a new experience. It was actually Vickie's idea and I am so glad we followed through. I scored the above milk glass vases and lantern for $10. That's a deal in my book!

Saturday night we went out to eat with some friends of mine from work. We had a great dinner at Streamliner and then went to Mel's house and watched the kids play for awhile. Vickie had her first tenderloin sandwich (a Mid-West staple) and liked it! We did leave and head home early because I started feeling really sick. It hit me the next day-must have caught something from one of the kids at VBS!

Louie was my snuggle buddy and stayed by my side while sick. I just love that pup SO much!

Sunday after church we spent the afternoon at the historical museum for our town. It was actually very fun and interesting. The museum is open at odd or inconvenient hours in my opinion, so I was thrilled to be able to enjoy it. After a couple hours immersed in history we headed to Peru for some ice cream. It's the best ice cream, and their turtle sundae is something to write home about. Trust me!

I have many more pictures to share from Vickie's visit to Indiana, plus what we have been up to over the past couple of weeks. I do hope to have those posts ready and posted soon. Stick with me, I promise I am working on it!

Oh, and Friday is my birthday. The big 2-6. Should I do something special on the blog for that? Perhaps 26 facts you never cared to know about yours truly?