15 Weeks

I have had this post ready for several days, but keep forgetting to post it.  It's almost time for my next post.  I am going to go ahead and post this so I can remember this week.




How far along? 15 weeks last Monday (2-25-13)

Baby's size? About 4 inches, which is about the size of an apple.  He or she weighs about 2 1/2 ounces.

Gender?  We don't know yet.  Our ultrasound is scheduled for March 25, but we aren't gong to find out until our gender reveal party the first weekend in April.

Names: Max Alexander if it's a boy.  Max is after my granddad and Alexander is Mike's middle name and is his grandfather's name.  If it's a girl, her name will be Anna Grace.  We just really like that name.

Maternity clothes?  I have actually lost weight this past month so most of my regular clothes still fit.  I do love my maternity jeans, though.  They are so comfortable.

Stretch marks? Not yet and I am definitely not looking forward to getting any.

Movement? Not yet, but I can't wait until I can feel the baby kicking!

Sleep?  I sleep good probably 5 nights per week.  I don't sleep so good 2 nights.  I have to get up to go to the bathroom or I can't get comfortable enough to sleep.

Food Aversions? I didn't have any specific aversions this week, but food in general wasn't really appealing.

Food Cravings? I didn't have any cravings.  I just tried to eat enough to get full.  Food isn't really my friend.

Best moment of the past week? Getting to hear the baby's heartbeat again.  That is the best sound in the world right now and our reassurance the baby is still there since we have been able to see him/her yet.

Miss anything? I miss feeling normal.  The nausea is still hanging around.  I miss being able to get ready for school without the incessant gagging that has been going on.

Have you started to show?  Not really.

Belly button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off?  I haven't started swelling yet so thankfully I can still wear them.  I am hoping I will be able to wear them for quite a while longer.

Happy or moody most of the time? I am really happy about this baby and can't wait until he/she gets here.  However, I am pretty moody when I don't feel well, which is usually in the morning or in the evening.  I am thankful I feel pretty good at school most of the time.

What are you looking forward to?  I am looking forward to getting to go the Rhea Lana consignment
sale this weekend and getting thinks for the baby!

On a side note, I really think that Sadie senses that something is going on with me.  I have woken up a couple nights this weeks to her laying on my stomach kneading it with her paws.  I don't know if it's love or jealousy, but I think she knows things are about to change.



Mike was able to snap this picture of our little kitty.

14 Weeks

It snowed today!  We got out of school an hour early.  I think we were all excited about that.  This is the first snow I have seen this winter.  I know Arkansas got snow on Christmas, but we were enjoying the Florida sunshine then!  It is done snowing now, but they are calling for more wintry precipitation tonight.  That is supposed to be mostly freezing rain.  Yuck!  Who know if we will be back in school tomorrow.  I just pray that the electricity doesn't go out.

I am going to try to start doing weekly posts about the pregnancy so I can have a record of it to look back on since I'm sure I won't remember all these details later.



How far along? 14 weeks this past Monday

Baby's size? About 3 1/2 inches, which is about the size of a lemon.  He or she weighs about 1 1/2 ounces.

Gender?  We don't know yet.  We will have our ultrasound at 20 weeks, but aren't gong to find out until our gender reveal party.

Names: Max Alexander if it's a boy and Anna Grace if it's a girl.

Maternity clothes?  I haven't really gained any weight, but I bought my first pair of maternity jeans this past weekend.  My other jeans still fit, but put a little pressure on my stomach/waist that just wasn't comfortable.  I am still able to wear all my other clothes.

Stretch marks? Not yet and I am definitely not looking forward to getting any.

Movement? Not yet, but I can't wait until I can feel the baby kicking!

Sleep?  For the most part I am still sleeping really good.  I only have to get up to go to the bathroom occasionally.  I love my Boppy Prenatal Total Body Pillow.  It really makes me a lot more comfortable at night.  I have noticed that I change positions when I sleep a lot more than I used to.

Food Aversions? I found out this past week that our baby does not like Taco Bell at all.  Also, I don't think it is a big fan of McDonald's chicken nuggets.

Food Cravings? This week I really craved Mexican food.  Taco Bell didn't work out, but we went to a more authentic place and my craving was temporarily satisfied.  My appetite has gone down the past several weeks.  I am hungry more often, but it doesn't take much to fill me up.

Best moment of the past week? It has been so fun to tell everyone.  We just put the announcement on Facebook last week after showing it to everyone that we could in person.  We also had a lot of fun starting our registry at Target.  My mom came for a visit and got to go to Target with us.

Miss anything? Now that I'm pregnant I miss living closer to family.  I'm a lot more sentimental now, that's for sure.

Have you started to show?  Not really.

Belly button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off?  I haven't started swelling yet so thankfully I can still wear them.  I am hoping I will be able to wear them for quite a while longer.

Happy or moody most of the time? I have been really happy most of the time.  Every once in a while I start feeling overwhelmed and become more snappy than I need to be.  The pregnancy has brought a lot of excitement and joy to our family so I want to focus on that.

What are you looking forward to?  We go back to the doctor next Monday.  I look forward to getting the reassurance that everything is good with our tiny blessing.

Guess What??!!

I know that things have been quiet on the blog front for the past several months, but I have big news to share.



We are so excited!!!  We had been trying for several months.  I had a feeling that I should take a pregnancy test.  So I did and I got my first positive on December 11, 2012.  I waited a few days and got my second positive on December 14, 2012.



We took off for our Christmas vacation at Disney World.  This trip was really fun and we found ourselves talking about what our trips would be like with our baby.

We won't have an ultrasound until April, but we did get to hear the heartbeat for the first time on January 29, 2013.  There is no way to describe the feeling of hearing your baby's heartbeat.  That was the first proof we had that let us know there was a little baby there.

I posted the above picture on Facebook to announce our pregnancy on Monday, February 11, 2013.  We didn't post on Facebook until we had let our family and close friends know.  It has been so fun to see everyone's reaction.  I think a lot of people were beginning to wonder when we were going to have kids.  It has only taken us 5 1/2 years!

I feel so lucky that I haven't really had morning sickness.  There has been a lot of nausea, but nothing much worse than that.  I am also really tired, but I do realize I could be feeling so much worse.  I am very thankful for that.

Note:  Sorry for all the dates and less than appealing details, but I really want to document this pregnancy before I forget everything.

Happy New Year!

I don't know what has gotten into me and why I have been such a slacker on the blog.  We have been busy, but not terribly so.  We settled into our school routine.  Mike loves his job this year.  I am so thankful he found this job and really seems to enjoy it!  The after school program he is working at can be a little tiring because he works until 6:30 Monday through Thursday, which makes it around 7:00 before he gets home.

I am enjoying my job, but the traveling adds a whole new challenge to my day.  I like both schools, but look forward to only being at one school again.  The fall semester always seems so busy with football season, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

We went to Chicago again for Thanksgiving with my extended family.  We made a stop in St. Louis on the way and really enjoyed the zoo there.  For the third year in a row we spent Christmas at Disney World, which we all enjoy.  We tried to relax as much as possible, and came back more rested than we ever have.

We have made it back to Fayetteville and haven even managed to get all of our Christmas decorations down and put away.  I wishing you all a very happy and blessed 2013.

Catching Up, Starting With the Great American Road Trip

WOW!  It has been forever since I have felt inspired enough to write a post.  This year has gotten off to a fast start.  I usually get into my school routine in just a couple of weeks, but this year I still don't feel like I am in my routine.  I have taught at the same school for the last three years, since we move to Northwest Arkansas.  I thought I would be doing the same this year, but a couple weeks ago I found out I would only be at my "home" school half days and would be traveling to another school in the afternoons.  So, to make a long story short, I am now working at two schools and trying to adjust.

Change isn't really my friend so while I am trying to cope with this big change, I have been thinking a lot about the slow and easy pace of summer.  I have also been reminiscing about how much I truly enjoyed this past summer, even though it was so stinking hot!  Hubby didn't have to go to school and we were able to enjoy our time together without worrying about his job situation.  By the way, he totally loves his job. (I'll share more about it later.)

The big highlight of the summer was our Great American Road Trip.  We ended up being gone 15 days and traveled around 5,000 miles.  We all survived all those miles in the car and saw some really breathtaking and amazing sights.  I have been looking back over our pictures and wanted to share a few with you.  Well, I'll probably be sharing more than just a few, but it was so hard to narrow them down. Believe me when I say that the pictures in no way do justice the the magnificent sights we saw.

We left Arkansas and headed to the Chicago area for the annual 4th of July picnic we our extended family on my mom's side.  We also met up with Mike's brother and visited with him while we were there.  I am sad to say that we took no real pictures during our visit.  We go to Chicago fairly regularly, but it still would have been nice to have pictures of the friends and family we only get to see about once a year.  Hopefully, I will do better at this.

In recent years, we have kind of become Frank Lloyd Wright buffs.  We have visited several homes he designed and read some books about him and his life.  He was a brilliant architect, but led quite a screwed up personal life.  So when we left Chicago, we headed up to Spring Green, Wisconsin to visit Taliesin, his home.

Our first stop was the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison.


When we left Madison, we travelled another hour to Spring Green.  In case you haven't been there, Spring Green is a tiny town and Taliesin is  one of the only tourist attractions.  We stayed at this cute motel call the Round Barn Inn.  Our entertainment for the evening was swimming in the indoor swimming pool and have dinner at one of my new favorites, Culver's.  If you haven't eaten there, they have good burgers and even better frozen custard.



We spent the next day touring the Taliesin estate, starting with the little church on the property.


We also saw his grave.  Well, it used to be his grave until his wife had him moved to Arizona.


This is Hillside.  It used to be a school run by Frank Lloyd Wright's aunts.  Then, he turned it into an architecture school.  It is still in operation today.  We were able to see some of the students at work.


This is the Romeo and Juliet Tower.  The hill we waled up to get a closer look is a lot steeper than it looks.


The Wisconsin countryside was beautiful.  I'm sure I would have enjoyed it much more if I hadn't walked across it in the blazing heat and humidity.


This is Midway Farm.  It is located about "midway" between Hillside and the house.


We finally made it to Taliesin.  The only thing between us and the house was another hill.


We were rewarded for making it to the top of the hill with cool drinks and a snack!


Here is a view looking back across the valley.


Let me just say, the house was pretty amazing, especially considering it was built in the early 1900's and has been rebuilt due to multiple fires.  We weren't allowed to take pictures of the inside, but it it pretty incredible.  I would highly recommend touring the house if you are ever nearby.

Here are some views of the house from the courtyard/garden area.



After our tour, we headed out to South Dakota.  Our next destination was Badlands National Park, which I will share with you soon.