23 weeks......

....AND feeling GREAT!!!!

Sisters

After 13 years of not seeing my two younger sisters, Angel and Brianna, I finally got to see them! And of course, all 5 of my sisters are taller than their older sister! Man I am short! (I am standing in a step here).

20 weeks!

Can't believe we are half way there! Our last ultrasound confirmed we are indeed having a girl and I even got Daddy to agree on a name with me! Lydia Kate Larson is winning over our hearts! She is a constant mover and I feel her kicking all the time. I love it! Although, see doesn't like to cooperate very much, my 18 week appointment she wouldn't sit still for the dopplar to pick up her heartbeat so I got to have an ultrasound. I think she just knew mommy wanted to see her. Then at my 20 week appointment, the tech busted out the 3d so we could see her face and she wouldn't move her hands out from in front of her face (last picture)! The whole time they were doing the anatomy survey she kept moving around a lot too. She is very active just like her momma.

This pregnancy has gotten more real for me now that I can feel her kicking. I no longer feel like I am dreaming I am pregnant and I am getting so excited to meet her. All in all, I am feeling pretty great, no complaints here, I actually love being pregnant!

18 Weeks

I feel like this pregnancy is going by fast yet it feels like its dragging on but I am sitting here stunned that I have entered my 19th week already! I have a new love for maternity pants, no zipper makes for easier trips the 900 times I visit the restroom a day. I feel like I am always going to the bathroom......or eating! No major cravings right now just wanting to eat the same kinds of food for now which include golden delicious apples, grape tomatoes with dip, anything peanut butter, grilled cheese sandwiches on oat bread and I have been on a major popcicle kick lately.

So far I have gained 8 pounds, my waist has gone from a 32" to 37"....I am all baby, having actually lost from other areas of my body but there are no complaints here! I feel like she has taken the fat from those parts, leaving muscle to shine through or at least thats what it seems like to me! Is it weird to say I feel "toner" since becoming pregnant?

My 18 week checkup is on Monday and then the following Monday we have our gender determination ultrasound with my ob office, we will see if the place we did our early ultrasound was right and if little girl is still a little girl!

And in the name department, I think we may have settled on a name but I am not going to mention it just yet, maybe that will be the element of surprise for everyone if we wait until she is born!

It's a girl

The first picture is the tell tale pic. The tech said its a girl but daddy thinks that its really a boy, we just didn't get a good view.....so the next ultrasound is in 4 weeks @ my ob office so we will see if its still a girl or if our little boy was hiding the goods on us.

I've Mastered the Art of Going to School

On Saturday, I graduated with my Master of Arts in Education from Olivet Nazarene University. Seems being a teacher gives you a life long adventure of going to school......I have a few things in mind for my next adventure. I want to take my last 3 classes to get middle school endorsed in science and social studies and I think I will get my ELL certificate. I have to defer those student loans some how! lol

Revamped Dresser

14 Weeks

So here we our, the 2nd trimester and I must say I like it alot better than the first. My morning sickness is gone and I am able to eat food again and be in a vertical position. However, I have just gotten over my second cold during this pregnancy, my friend referred to it as placenta nose! This time it was yucky, three boxes of kleenex in 3 days, OUCH! I am glad that its almost gone and I am on the mend now.

As far as baby goes, I didn't post about our 13 week visit. We saw Baby and we even got a simultaneous hand and foot wave from the little one, he or she was very active. It was really cool as this was the first ultrasound where you could tell it was a baby and not just a blob. We find out in 2 weeks if we will be picking blue or pink! So excited to find out!

Everything is going very smoothly. I am now completely in maternity pants and have gotten comments on the bump. As the weather is trying to get warmer I am struggling to find clothes I can wear and feel comfortable in.

We have gotten the crib set up and Dennis has stained the the dresser he had when he was a kid. I need to post pictures of it, it turned out very nicely. Now we are just waiting to find out the sex so we can start our registry and start buying baby some stuff. I am so excited and so thankful towards my Heavenly Father for allowing me the opportunity to be a mom and take care of a sweet little spirit!

12.5 Weeks

Here's the bump I am sporting these days. I officially can't wear my regular jeans anymore, although maternity pants are a little big in the butt and thigh area, good I guess considering the only thing growing on me is my tummy. My morning sickness is gone but I still have the occasional nauseous moment every now and then. I have started to get an appetite back but still prefer to stick with carbs. Baby really isn't a fan of fruits and veggies but I have been trying to get some in when I can. I actually got to enjoy Easter dinner last night, I was stuffed!

We have our 13 week checkup today and I am hoping we get to see Baby L. Only 4 more weeks until we find out the sex. Dennis thinks we are having a boy but I think its a girl so it will be interesting to see who is right. He is usually pretty good at guessing.

For now, I am just getting through the last 4 weeks of watching the kids at home and then in June I start to nanny for a family with 3 girls. I am excited because I will get to be out of the house, go fun places and enjoy the water park again this summer! Lucky me!

I am still up in arms as to what I want to do next year as watching the kids at home is taking a toll on me and the house but maybe I just need a break! I have been applying for teaching jobs but part of me wants to stay home with Baby. I have put it in the Lords hands now so we will see what the end of the summer will bring.

Week 8 vs Week 11

7.5 Weeks

It's amazing how much a baby grows in a week! I now have full blown morning sickness complete with throwing up, oh joy! I spent the entire day in bed yesterday and couldn't manage to keep anything down. I was given a script for Zofran at my doctors appointment this morning. I have also scheduled my first appointment with my ob for next week. I can't believe I am already into my 8th week already. Here is to hoping this whole morning sickness thing can subside and I can start to function like a normal person again!

6.5 weeks

My baby is the size of a blueberry, having grown 10,000 times bigger than it was at conception! AMAZING! The other amazing thing is that we saw and heard the heartbeat yesterday at our appointment. The heartbeat is already at 120, which we were told was pretty strong for 6.5 weeks, which puts this momma at ease. I am so excited every Monday because I get to see our baby!

Morning sickness has set in this past week. Although I was dealing with nausea @ night which was easy to just go to bed to feel better, I have started to not feel so hot in the morning! So I have saltines and preggie pops on hand (which the preggie pops helped the other night thank goodness!) I have tried to stop drinking anything past a certain time which has helped because I haven't gotten up to go to the bathroom the last few nights.

All in all, I am doing pretty well.

Love at First Sight!

See my little bean sprout on the left!

Somebody Pinch Me!

It's been 6 days since we found out we are expecting a little one and I still feel like I am living in a dream! I still can't believe after 5 years of trying, I am pregnant! Maybe it will be more real to me when I go in for my first ultrasound on Monday. I am in my fifth week and I am feeling good so far. The nausea really hasn't been present this week like last week, I have just been very very tired! The only restriction the doctor has me on is that I can't lift over 10 pounds which has been hard with the kids I watch but my sister has been very helpful with picking up the kids for me.

So excited to see my little peanut on Monday!

I'm Lucky #3

Some may say this is a little early to announce, however there are not that many people who keep up with my blog and I am too excited to keep it in and I know some of you are waiting to hear so.......here is my announcement, I am indeed pregnant!

Coincidence?

Totally Random but.....

So yesterday I found out that two friends are expecting their second child are due a day apart from each other....all while I am enduring my 2 week wait! aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh. Well, I find out in groups of three so here is to hoping I am lucky #3!

Just an update, I went in for blood work this morning and my numbers are looking good. Estrogen is about 1860 and progesterone was like 360 or something like that. The Dr. doesn't want me to do anymore HCG injections which is good because my hormones are doing their thing. I totally had this whole waiting thing under control and out of my head...until I got a call with my results and was told my Beta (pg test) would be Thursday....I thought I had until next Tuesday...so now of course I am thinking about it...I thought my girls weekend would be a good distraction to get me through the last few days but I guess I will have to occupy my mind some other way for 3 days. I am so not looking forward to the long wait on Thursday afternoon, last time it felt like an eternity!

I have been unusually tired the last few days, had a dizzy spell on Saturday, go from full to hungry in no time at all- I actually finished ALL of my dinner when we went out the other night which is totally unheard of! I even wanted Tacos & had them for breakfast this morning. But I am trying to not read into it all and get too excited, don't want to get my hopes up again.

So here is to lots of praying over the next 72 hours!

Blizzaster 2011

February brought us a whopping 20 inches of snow, the third worst blizzard in recorded history. I was left with 2 extra days in the house and I took full advantage of the extra time, I began a

project and tried to be productive but we all know how that goes.

Just a few side notes about the blizzaster 2011.

1. We had a piece of siding torn off of our house

2. I swear our patio door almost busted from how strong the wind was, it was flexing bad

3. I decided to venture out 3 hours before the projected start time, who knew that the weather men would be right and the storm even hit a few hours early, leaving me to drive home in a bit of it, FUN!

4. There were a ton of cars left stranded on LakeShore drive due to a bus that jackknifed. I would not have wanted to be one of the people stuck out there, scary! I heard a story of a husband who drove as far as he could to get to his wife on LSD, walked on foot when he couldn't get any farther and looked in every car window until he found his wife who was stranded because she was out of gas!

5. Our HOA shovelers informed us the next morning that we had a pile of snow on our front porch that reached well over the top of the door, taking him over an hour just to shovel it out!

6. An ambulance got stuck in the snow drift in our neighborhood, 2 plows almost got stuck trying to get them out

7. Closed area schools for 2 days, I can't remember the last time we had 2 snow days in a row!

Happy Valentines Day!

Wednesday Words of Wisdom

"People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway. If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway."

D Day

Friday is the day! I am so excited but trying not to let myself get to excited and I am grateful for the strength the Lord has given me.