22 weeks!

I can't believe I'm past my halfway point. I completely skipped my halfway celebration altogether when the ultrasound tech told me I was actually measuring one week ahead when I thought I was 19w5days- bumping me past halfway. It's crazy to think I only have 18 weeks left with this little booger living inside of me.

Lately, I feel huge. I know I've got a long way to go- and that actually really, really scares me. I can't believe that  I am going to get MUCH bigger than this! At times I feel happy that I'm finally showing and feeling pregnant, and  at other times I feel depressed that I am gaining all my weight back and still feeling uncontrollably hungry. 

I'm being honest right now with you all: I'm scared. I'm scared of gaining all the weight back and not being able to lose it. I'm scared of developing some kind of preventable pregnancy disease because I couldn't reign in my cravings. I'm scared that I will feel depressed again because I will feel like I am not in control of myself. 

It's funny how each stage of life brings new and hard struggles.

OK, moving on to a lighter and more fun subject...

How far along: 22 weeks!

Total Weight Gained: I'm going to say I'm pleading the 5th on this one. For sanity sake. 

Maternity Clothes: Still my one pair of pants. I had a lot of empire waist shirts already and so I haven't really had to buy anything.

Stretch Marks: No, but I just got some palmers body butter and body oil and have been rubbing it on vigorously. If there is ANY chance of preventing it (which I've heard isn't likely) I WILL!

Sleep: No more sleeping straight on the belly. Still sleeping on my side with one leg propped up, slightly on my stomach. For some reason this just is the most comfortable. I almost feel like its cradling baby.

Best Moment of the Week: Well technically it was last week, but the ultrasound was amazing. It honestly was such a beautiful moment for us. Other than that, just keeping motivated and finishing projects for his room like crazy. 

Movement: Yes, especially when I'm hungry (strange!) or at night. Can't wait until he's big enough that EVERYONE can feel them if they want to (grandma keeps missing him). 

Food Cravings: Nothing specific. Just pretty much everything and anything!

Gender: All Boy :)

Belly Button: Definitely getting shallower. Gross thought: maybe God decided this is the one time in our lives we can TRULY clean our belly buttons??

What I miss: sledding! What in the world? I didn't think about this until it snowed this week! How cruel!

What I'm looking forward to: My first baby shower in my hometown- should be happening sometime in January. Oh and also getting Christmas gifts for Haden. We are requesting no gifts for us this year but how can we deny gifts for our little boy?!? :)

Milestones: He is all boy! So happy to have found out. :)

Fireplaces, Hot CoCo, and Crafts!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Man there are SO many things I have to be thankful for this year. Of course my little baby Haden, and my wonderful hubby. I am thankful for a beautiful home and work for Kellen- even when work for me is a bit rocky right now. I am so thankful that God continues to bless us. I really don't deserve what He's given me- but I try to remember to thank Him for this perfect life :0). 

So, after I wrote on Monday about our first snowfall, pretty much all hell broke loose in our part of town. I took off to do a couple hours of work that day and then at 3pm, went to head home. What usually takes me 15 minutes to get home took me a total of 5 hours. I actually had to pull over midway and go see my best friend's parents for a toilet and some dinner. Thank god for their hospitality. I then headed out again at 9pm. It was really, really scary, because I had less than 1/4 of a tank of gas and the traffic was ridiculous. I was probably only ten miles from home but still scared that I would run out of gas and be stranded! Luckily, (and by God's grace) I made it home and slept in a very cold house with no power. But I really can't complain as in the morning Kellen and I left for my family's house in Tacoma- and all my poor neighbors have been stuck without power for a couple of days- some even don't have it now!

  

The morning after we woke up with no power, we decided to make the best of things and cook breakfast in our backyard. Take that mother nature! You are defeated!!

YUM :)

After heading down to Tacoma on Tuesday, we've pretty much just been chilling out at my grandparents since then. Not really heading out much except for a trip to Michael's where my mom and I picked up some crafts- including materials to make my baby shower invitations for my baby shower that my grandma is putting on in January.

Yes, I know it probably not "customary" for the mom of the baby to really help plan in any way, but I love doing that kind of stuff and so my mom and I took on the project together. I'm really glad we did- they turned out adorable.

 Every one of them is a little different- which I love. 

In other news, I have gotten sick. Nothing to big, but it is a sore throat/cold and being pregnant while sick is NOT fun. Basically this means I got virtually no sleep the night before last and then scowered the internet for safe drugs to take while pregnant. No nyquil for me!

Needless to say, I am feeling a bit better today. Thank goodness!

Well- I am off to my 3rd of 4 Thanksgivings this year (1 Canadian, 1 Friends, 2 Family). Should be delicious!

Snow!

It's funny how here in Western Washington everyone flips out over snow, myself included. It seems to come (almost) every year, for a couple days. I think the concept of snow is a lot more fun if you are kid than if you are an adult. It's only fun if you are an adult and happen to have no real responsibilities set for that day- and therefore don't have to drive anywhere. Let me just tell you, driving in the snow is not something a Western Washingtonian knows how to do AT ALL. It's scary to see so many people in the ditch and in accidents because people just won't slow down! 

A peek out our window in the morning to discover a winter wonderland:

This is the first time we've ever gotten snow at our house. Last year it didn't snow at all and we moved in the April before that winter. It's kind of fun to finally see what our little cedar house looks like in the snow!

This weather is going to give me a great excuse to bundle up and stay indoors and work on projects for Haden's room. I've gotten SO much done in the last couple of weeks- I think because it's just becoming so real to me now so I feel very motivated! 

 Let it snow! :)

It's a....

BOY!!!!

We are so happy. We both had kind of a preference for a boy first but didn't want to admit it for fear of feeling guilty if it had been a girl! But, lo and behold, it's a he!!

The ultrasound experience was really wonderful. The tech placed the doppler on my belly and within 5 seconds she said "well, i know what your having!" and I knew right away that meant boy- if you see a penis, there's no mistaking it! hehe. 

The rest of the ultrasound went smoothly. Although the tech can't tell us if there is anything wrong with baby, we got a good feeling that everything seemed right. She went quickly scanning through each section of his little body and giggling along with us as he wiggled around. He was a bit of a stinker and kept flipping over so that his head was away from the doppler! 

Towards the end, you could tell he was getting tired because he put his hands by his head and leaned against them like a little pillow. And perhaps the best part was when he did peak up at the doppler straight on and it was like he was looking straight at us. Then he got a little scared and wiggled away!

He is quite a big boy already weighing in at 12oz- almost a pound! Makes me feel a little bit better about all that extra weight I've been packing on! Also, he is measuring at 20 weeks 5 days- meaning my new due date is April Fool's Day! Woohoo! 

We're excited to announce our baby boy: Haden Bond. (middle name TBD- we still have 19 more weeks to decide!). We are already in love!

2 hours! and a Nursery Peek

2 hours until we find out if this little one is a he or she! I'm sooooo excited!

On saturday my mom and I made a mobile for above the crib. The theme for the nursery is Hot Air Balloons, but this has been difficult to find so far, so I'm ending up making a lot of the things myself. 

This is what the crib looks like. My friend Olivia and I set it up last week:

The view of the mobile for baby, notice the mirror squares on the bottom of the "baskets":

And of course, what baby will really look at every morning!:

There's your peek! More pictures to come...when I get more things done!

Tommorow!!!

Tommorow I go in for my ultrasound! I get to find out the gender!! So excited! I will keep you all updated!

Go, Baby, Grow!

My belly hurts. Really bad. It feels like my belly is now expanding very, very quickly. I saw my mom last weekend and then this weekend and she was amazed by the amount I had grown. This little bean is gaining weight and getting big!

I had my 19 week appointment on Friday and my midwife was cracking up trying to find the heartbeat because little one was a wiggly worm. She said it sounds majorly active. Uh oh. Help!!! 

I should be getting my gender ultrasound within the next two weeks. I apologize in advance for the next person that asks me if I have my ultrasound yet. I am really frustrated because it's been really complicated to schedule since my midwife lives on a different part of the puget sound than I do, so she's unfamiliar with where I can go to get one over here on this side. 

So the other night my little bean woke me up several times during the night when I rolled onto my tummy! Apparently it really doesn't like being squished! Every time I would roll over on my belly it would kick against the bed!!

The baby's room is coming along really nice. All the grass is done and now for painting we just have to finish the clouds :). Last night my mom and I made a mobile for above the crib. I can't wait to show you guys, it's adorable!!!

Show me the money!

Hello everyone!

So, no worries to anyone who has left me their email to be apart of my private blog. So far, I have procrastinated and not even started it yet. I'm trying to decide if I will make this blog be private or start a brand new one altogether. Either way, I've found myself so busy lately I haven't even been able to think about doing either. So for now, I will just keep writing here until I decide. 

So what am I keeping so busy with lately? Well, first of all, working! Kellen and I are taking Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University class on Thursday nights and have found ourselves trying to get "our income up" so we can really "pay our debt down". If you have ANY desire to get your finances under control, I would strongly suggest you check out Dave Ramsey's program at daveramsey.com. At first its seemed a little silly to  me to pay close to $100 to take a class on how to SAVE money, but now, I am beyond happy we did. We've been going a strong month now and have saved quite a bit of $ that might have otherwise gone on our overdraft credit line- or our version of the "close your eyes and swipe" syndrome. 

My favorite things about being on a budget so far:

-Kellen's amazing commitment. At the beginning of this program we both agreed he needed to start making and bringing lunches to work, instead of going out to eat (like he normally would). I asked him what he wanted and he said "Peanut butter and honey sandwiches." I was like....um...ok...but don't you think you will get sick of them? "Nope!"--and one month later the guy is still eating (and enjoying!) those sandwiches like they are going outta style! Now thats commitment!

-Having money leftover before payday. Wow! What an amazing feeling to log into my account on Thursday night (we get paid Friday) and not see my account nearly drained- or worse- going onto our credit line. 

-I'm a geek. Dave ramsey talks a lot about the "geek" and the "free spirit" in a marriage. The geek is the one that drools over lists and excel spreadsheets. Yeah, that's me. I really do love writing out that pretty little budget and following up on it at the end of the week.

-My small group that is putting on the FPU class. We've just met all these new people and we are having fun getting to know them all. It's nice have more friends in this area that at can relate to this stage of life we are at!

-Thinking about how much money I will have at retirement. According to Dave Ramsey, that number is a lot. I couldn't be more excited to be 55 (or maybe even younger!) :)

I'm being pretty openly honest about this because realistically I think money is such a hushhush topic and it NEEDS to be talked about! Everyone struggles at some point in their life. I wish someone would have came to me when I was in high school and said "Hey! You don't HAVE to go into debt to live! You have other options! You CAN have financial freedom at young age!"

Uh....How did that happen?

Seriously woke up yesterday morning and this happened over night:


No jokes or fake bellies this time :)

I'm stealing this from Katie's blog Third Time's a Charm- hope she doesn't mind!:

How far along: 18 weeks 2 days!

Total Weight Gained: 8lbs. Yuck! I still hate seeing that scale go up. But I gotta be honest, I am having a darn hard time saying no to the preganancy cravings...

Maternity Clothes: Only one pair of pants. I can still wear a lot of my jeans from before I lost weight, so that's nice. The maternity pants are seriously saggy, it's so annoying!

Stretch Marks: No. Not from pregnancy at least. hehe

Sleep: I've noticed that I turn a lot in my sleep and the most comfortable position is on my tummy with one leg propped up to kind of prop my belly. It kind of looks like I'm straddling the bed. Probably a really funny visual.

Best Moment of the Week: Either just feeling it move like crazy, or really starting my baby registry tonight. I still don't know the gender so I can't do clothes and stuff,  but most other things are gender nuetral and it was really fun picking them out!

Movement: Majorly! Especially when I'm lying on my tummy. He/She also really likes food (of course I pass on this trait!). I can tell because it starts going whacko about one hour after I eat!

Food Cravings: Honestly anything and everything. But last night it was french fries, and since we are trying to not eat out, I attempted making my own. It ended up with me crying on the couch out of frustration (hormones!) and kellen finishing the job. Luckily it satisfied the craving! :)

Gender: To be determined! Only about two more weeks of waiting!

Belly Button: Same?

What I miss: Feeling really energetic and WANTING to work out. (basically not feeling like a sloth all the time). I also wouldn't mind a margarita. Just sayin.

What I'm looking forward to: Finding out the gender! I literally can't stop thinking about it!

Milestones: My belly popping! Not even kidding when I say it happened over night!