Bump Growth

Weeks 4 to 17... Poppyseed to sweet potato!

Shasta cuddles

I've got one VERY cuddly puppy today. She makes it hard for things to get done on days like this, but somehow she knows that these are the days when I need it the most! Such love. :) 

Example: she stuck her head through the shower curtain for my ENTIRE shower (lol!), and panicked each time I went into the kitchen- the only place she's not allowed. I took a much needed chill break outside on our tiny little 3rd floor patio to spend some time in the Word this afternoon, and her sweet head rested on my lap for the LONGEST time. Even as I type this right now, she is laying down AS CLOSE to me as she can be. Like... getting any closer is impossible! My thigh is nice and warm now, though. ;)

I honestly don't quite know what I'd do without this sweet face in my life! She has brightened up my days and nights in many many ways this past year. Love her!

UPDATE on baby!
It seems as though we have a sweet potato baby!

(my little sweet potato!)

17 weeks!

Here's the relaxed bump as of this morning, first uploaded bump picture! - (Just for the record, relaxed bump means I'm not trying to suck my abs in, but I'm not sticking them out, either) ...

Yes

My hair is officially in a ponytail. This is crazy!!! First ponytail in 4 months! :)

Twilight

The Saga has officially ended. I went with my parents and a family Chinese friend, Coco, to go see the last movie this evening. I'll admit... I cried. 3 times. Not having read the last book, I had NO idea what to expect.

It was simply amazing.

I usually join on the "make fun of twilight" nonsense... Team Edward or Jacob, the horrible stares throughout every scene...etc. but to be honest, this movie was insanely great. Editing was top notch, the emotion was raw and real, acting was simple and realistic, and the story has a pretty sweet surprise part... Totally unexpected. Things that made me cry: a sad battle scene part that was just really touching, Bella's memories of their relationship from dating to marriage to present day- this honestly made me think of us- So I cried, and lastly, the beautiful song at the end. One of my favorites.. It has made my eyes sweat even before I knew it would be in Breaking Dawn, so I was a wreck at the credits. :P

http://breakingdawnthesoundtrack.com/a-thousand-years-on-youtube/

On a side note, I can't wait to see my hub hub, it has been 25 hours! Work should not separate people that much, but work is a blessing... So no complaints!

Giving Thanks

My goodness. WHERE TO BEGIN. I am SO thankful for everything God has placed in my life:

• My adorable husband, who hangs in there with me. I often let too many moments go by without taking the time to remember how blessed I am to share life with this guy.
• This crazy little baby growing and growing and growing. It is amazing! I am honestly really looking forward to my life completely flipping upside down in about 5 months.
• God's great presence in our intimate church homegroup. I can truthfully say that the body of Christ at The Village Church has changed my life and my walk in HUMONGOUS ways. I love our Church (universal).
• Our fur babies. Shasta and Bailey are just too amazing. They bring such joy to my life in the smallest ways!
• The Carrs and Cluffs. Family is tremendous, and living close is such a blessing (that we take advantage of too often).
• My health for many different reasons: for baby, for my massage business, for yoga teacher training, and just for feeling good! 
• FOR THANKSGIVING FOOD... mainly STUFFING.
• The last thing I'll mention on here is that I am SO thankful for the increase in fear of the Lord over this past year, and almost complete lack in fear of the world. Does this make any sense? In all seriousness, I have about 5% worry regarding life/death... and that number has increased since we made this tiny baby. I am in love with my Creator and Savior. No thing can separate me from Him. Life may totally suck, but I know the only One who can sustain me. Oh, and another helpful thing - I know the ending of all of this! ;)

As I sit here and type this, we are getting ready to leave for Stuffing: Round 2 at my parents' house. The Cluff's was fantastic! I need to go wake John from his slumber.

I seriously love this time of year. 

Happy Thanksgiving 2012!

 (......Pssst! God wins.)

Butterflies

I definitely feel baby. No doubt. Yes, I KNOW it is early for baby #1, but this is no stomach rumble. Even right now, as I sit here at work between clients, I feel the butterflies about an inch below my belly button. :) It makes me so happy! Best feeling ever!

To be honest, sometimes it feels like a flock of geese got trapped in there...

Update at 16 weeks:
Baby is as big as a turnip as of yesterday. Turnip baby!

I scheduled the ultrasound for December 8. Sherry (our CNM) passed along a Living Social deal to Stork Vision that gives us 50% off! So awesome! We were going to use them anyways, so it worked out perfectly. She is so great. Our gender reveal party will be one week later. CAN'T WAIT. 

 And I've come to a conclusion. If this child is anything like his/her parents, sleep and playing card games will be their favorite activities. 

ha ha ha!!

One of the most hilarious things I've seen in a while.
I'm not sure why, but all of these made me laugh - SO HARD. Please view all 17 pictures:

http://www.parenting.com/gallery/awkward-pregnancy-photos?cid=relblogposts

Photography joy

I love capturing images of this beautiful world, and I've done so since my first camera... I was 10. I like to think of my photography style as slightly whimsical, and often I'll play with tons of variations on one theme. I really cherish my Canon t3i. She goes almost everywhere with me (I've learned that the hard way... you miss every shot you don't take)!

Here are some of the latest.

and I've gotta share these... some of my all time favorites of our girl.

BUMP!

Halloween has come and gone, and we had a great time! Here is our homemade construction worker costumes ... and official baby announcement! 

...complete with work boots and baby tool belts. :) We made the signs by cutting and painting 'crafting' sheet metal, then writing the letters and borders on. What a fun project! 

So I am officially 14 weeks pregnant as of these wee hours of the morning, and it just so happens to be election day. Oh joy. I am so so excited to say that we HAVE decided to find out our sweet little one's gender, and can do so in just 2 weeks! Ah! We will have the technician write it down or hide the evidence in some way, so we can find out with EVERYONE at a gender reveal party we will be throwing. I am really looking forward to sharing this special time with our dear friends and families. More planning on this will come later, I'm sure. :) The ideas rolling around in my head are oh-so-cute.

How far along? 14 weeks!

Total weight gain: I still weigh the same, about 154. (Give me a break, I'm 5'9!)

Maternity clothes?! Absolutely. Luckily, I work/live in "yoga clothes", or basically upscale sweats. So that is definitely considered maternity clothes. Everything stretches, thank goodness. My jeans... not so much.

Stretch marks? I'm lathering in body butter and such whenever I think about it, about twice a week. I know I'll apply more when I get bigger, but I doubt I'll be able to keep the stretchies away. Battle scars, right?!

Sleep: Sleep is ok, but could be better. I know my problem is having to wake up and pee... 3-4 times each night. I drink SO much water in the evenings, and even though I try and space it out throughout the day, I find myself creating the bathroom issue. Whatever, I love water!

Miss anything? I miss being able to walk up a flight of stairs without feeling like I just worked out. And red wine... the smell drives me crazy! It was such a treat, and now it has been added to my reward list that I'm looking forward to in the future. And Mike's hard lemonade. 

Movement: Maybe? I don't exactly know what I'm supposed to be feeling for, but I think the other day I felt an interesting bubble thing in a weird place. I know the first kid isn't as obvious as the others, so it was probably just a tummy bubble.

Food cravings: Cheez-its, apples and peanut butter, celery and peanut butter, cashews, green olives, salads. I just now realized that I'm a salty craver so far! 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope! Not really any morning sickness, I know I have been so blessed in that. If I do feel queasy (usually due to hunger), my body VIOLENTLY sneezes twice and then it's gone! I read somewhere that it is just a symptom of irritation of the Vagus Nerve (connected to stomach).

Gender: Don't know yet. We were originally going to wait until the birth to find out, but now we want to just get it over with! Tell us already!  Hoping to schedule an ultrasound around 16 weeks to find out if there's a baby girl or baby boy in this tummy!

Labor signs: No way. 

Symptoms: Higher energy levels. Sore back earlier this week, probably from me compensating from the little bit of round ligament pain I'm having, but it's not too bad.

Belly button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or moody most of the time: My sweet sweet husband may say otherwise, but I feel the best I have in a long time! I love being pregnant so far. So excited what God has done here and I can't wait to meet this little thing (I reeeeally feel like it is a boy, don't know why!) 

Looking forward to: Our next visit with Sherry, our midwife, tomorrow. Oh, and finding out the gender in 2 weeks!