One word...

IRRITABLE

I'm emotionally irritable, and as par for the course, so is my body (aka: morning sickness) 

On a positive note - I'm 7 weeks and 3 days pregnant

And we have upgraded from a blueberry to a raspberry!

32 Weeks and 4 Days to go...

Last day of 6 Weeks! WOOT!

I feel so excited to be just one week closer for this 1st trimester to be over with.

It's been a rough week, and I'm happy to be moving onto 7 weeks tomorrow.

I have learned a lot this week, as far as  - EATING.  Mainly that I have to eat constantly.  And I may not be in the mood for the food that is going into my mouth, and what I am eating may not taste very good.  But food is doing the job of keeping my body functioning.

I hate to complain, I really do, because all I'm feeling is a good sign that things are going RIGHT and not wrong.  And I'm lucky to even be pregnant.  However, it is very hard to be thankful for feeling sick in general.

I have my first show this weekend, where I have to battle through with morning sickness.  I am very worried, but very thankful that Steve will be there for me 100% of the time.  I really couldn't do it without him, especially right now.

Fingers crossed I survive till Monday when I can crash all day long with Alyssa in school... Come on Monday.

Things I Miss... Already

Today has been rough.  Physically it has been rough and more so emotionally.

I want to be grateful for this blessing that we did ask for, but I am just at a rough spot right now.

At this point I miss...

-Feeling normal

-Coffee

-Staying up past 10:30pm

-Eating because something sounds good (nothing sounds good, ever)

-Being able to think straight

And I'll leave it at that for now.  Hoping that the 2nd trimester is easier - fingers crossed.

Dose of Newborn Baby

I got myself some newborn baby cuddles today!

My friend had her baby nearly 3 weeks early last night.  Such a sweet baby girl she is too.

Do I look a little excited?

Sweet Arabella

My friend Megan came along too.  We are slowly, but surely starting to give her that baby fever too!

Two more babies were born today.  Three babies born within 24 hours of each other.  Lots of babies going on around here lately!

whoa... wait a minute

Is this real?  Could it really?  REALLY - COULD IT BE?????

No morning sickness today!?!  No, I didn't just say that out loud because if I do then it will jinx me through and through.  Just thinking it is enough to back fire on me, causing a build up of morning sickness, which with my luck, will let loose worse then ever tomorrow...

Maybe it was because of our really busy day:
-Got up early and out the door by 9am
-Drop Alyssa off with Grandma for church
-Ran in to get a gift card from Bread Co.
-Drove an hour away (and I drove)
-Set up my booth for 3 hours at a new boutique (exhausting)
-Picked up Alyssa's flower girl dress
-Didn't eat lunch till 1:30pm (this is a pregnant girl over here, what!?)
-Ran into Michaels to pick up items for a custom order
-Drove the hour back to get Alyssa
-Ended up staying to visit for an hour
-Went to Walmart for groceries and printer ink
-Hit up Taco Bell for dinner (6pm by this time)
-Got home and unloaded groceries THEN ATE
-Baked cookies, why?  Because I'm a pregnant lady with cravings
-Went to my studio to make FOUR - yes - FOUR tutus for 3 different orders
-Boxed and printed shipping labels
-Made a custom hair bow
-and now I am blogging at 10pm at night

A non stop day.  I just think my body was like, ya know - I'll give you a break just this one time - I see you have other things going on right now.  Whether it was for a day or not THANK YOU LORD ABOVE

Good night.

Pregnancy: Week 6

Again I forgot the belly shot... I feel like I have a good little pooch too.  Pooch translates to fat belly not pregnant belly.  So, I may wait till the 8 week video to share all that again.

Feeling the love

We made our big public announcement today on Facebook - that we are expecting!

Many of our friends and family are so excited and happy for us.  It is so nice to have that loving support.

I also added the Pregnancy App to facebook that will update each week.

Today I am 6 WEEKS!

Here's this weeks info:

Your tiny manatee has a busy calendar chock full of epic growth and development this week.
The very beginnings of wee hand plates and the early formations of what will be their fingers are already visible! And of course their genius brain is still growing like - well, a brain on fire.
The bottom half of your tiny sea-creature's body will not develop quite as fast, so they're starting to look a little bit like a quasi-mermaid/man with their hand plates on top and flipper legs and tail.
In the past weeks, your sea-monkey has been very curled up with their head and tail in close proximity, but this week their trunk and neck are beginning to grow and straighten as their tail recedes into its resting position in the back.
Even though your little one is only 6 weeks old, they're already capable of demonstrating reflex responses to touch!

Last day of 5 weeks

I'm not sure why, by 6 weeks just feels like an accomplishment.  Maybe because we have known for what feels like forever now, that we are pregnant.  6 weeks just feel like, hey, this is the point where things start rolling.

I don't think we even found out we were pregnant with Alyssa till I was 6 1/2 weeks along.  So I already know this is going to be a loooong pregnancy.  It feels like it already.

This week alone:
-2 friends had the same due date (neither have had their babies yet)
-1 friend announced she was expecting
-1 friend had her baby girl
-1 friend found out she is having a boy

Talk about a lot of babies going on around here.

I plan to make the BIG announcement on Facebook tomorrow.  I just cant hold it in anymore!!

It's a start...

Finally this past Saturday the three of us got the opportunity to celebrate that we are actually pregnant!!

We all went to the new Buy Buy Baby store and looked at all the cute things.  I had a 20% off coupon, which I had hoped to use on a cloth diaper; however, that didn't work out.  So I got some cabinet locks with my coupon and STILL bought a cloth diaper anyway!

This is the one we got:

 

It is a bunGenius 4.0, one size, pocket diaper with a hook and loop closure.  All the other diapers I had ordered were the stamps, and I'd heard hook and loops are much better for when they are smaller/middle of the night changes.

And then we ventured over to the Cotton Babies store.

We'd been by this store many many times, and I've always wanted to go in, but now I have a reason to!!!

 It was a crazy experience though.  Women bring their babies to work, wear them, and breastfeed them all.  A great concept; however, a women was breast feeding as she was checking a lady out at the register.  To me, that is just too too odd.

But none the less, the lady I spoke with gave great advice and answered a lot of questions we had.  We are still testing out the waters of this cloth diaper option, so it was nice to speak one on one with someone that has been there done that.

I did buy one diaper from there as well

 

It's a FuzziBunz Elite pocket diaper, also one size.

So far - this one is my favorite.  I love the leg elastics that are adjustable instead of the front rise snaps.  I LOVE how super soft they are.  And the inserts seem really thick as well.

And last but not least, I ordered 12 4-layer bamboo and MF Alva inserts from a lady.  They are all brand new, never used, and not prepped.  I got 6 with a snap for the 4.0 Alvas and 6 without snaps for the 3.0 Alvas.  Bamboo is supposed to be extra nice and absorbent, so I hope these work out well.

So that is a start.  I'm expecting my Alva diapers in the next couple of weeks, so that will bring the start of my cloth diaper stash up to 5!  Plus 13 extra inserts.

 

Belly Already? No...

I know it honestly, is not possible to have a "baby belly" at only 5 weeks along.  But I kid you not, I definitely have some kind of a "bloat belly" going on or something.

I have heard you show faster with 2nd babies, but 6 years later having a 2nd baby, I kind of find that hard to believe.

So I have noticed this belly, for the last week and a half or so.  The fact that I can hardly wear a belt, or jeans for that matter.  I've been in comfortable pants as much as I possibly can be already.  And I thought I was the only one noticing this... apparently not...

My own dad tells me "you have a pot belly going on already" just yesterday.  (Banging head here)  Great dad, just great.

I didn't get any type of belly really with Alyssa till probably 20 weeks.  If I have something going on already now, that means it's probably more being over weight then packing on baby weight.  I have a feeling I'm going to have to do some serious work once this baby arrives to get my body back in shape. 

This is the first time I've every really had an issue with my body.  I know I'm pregnant, but right now - only a select few people KNOW that and to the rest of the world - it's a pot belly :(

Pregnancy: Week 5

So I forgot to do a belly shot this week; however, there is nothing really to be share anyway.  Maybe next week!

Cloth Diaper Delima

To cloth diaper or not to cloth diaper, that is the question.

Well, it wasn't even a question a month ago. Steve was not into that at all. But after talking to him about it more, he was thinking more like the cloth diapering from way back when... like diaper service cloth diapering. Little does he know how far cloth diapering has come.

The cons for me are, time. It takes time to run the washing machine of cloth diapers every other day. And it's not the most pleasant thing to be doing either.

The pros: Savings $$. The average child uses $2,000 worth of diapers over their early life. Cloth diapers, even a good stash, will only cost $250-$500. Another pro, and a big one for me, is that there are no harsh chemicals involved like diapers. Alyssa had major diaper rash, and I have to stop and wonder - would she have had those problems if we used cloth diapers? And last but not least, of course it is a green solution. No waste in the landfills. Diapers take 500 years to break down!!!

So I've been researching and found a very affordable cloth diaper online store. It's a China manufacturer. Over here in the US, cloth diapers on average are $15 and up each. This place has them for $5-$7 each. A much more reasonable cost.

So I took the leap, and placed a small order with www.AlvaBaby.com. Here's what I got:

 

One black cloth diaper

 

 One Red all in one diaper

 One bamboo insert (heard these are great for extra absorption)

 And one minky giraffe print pocket diaper

I paid just $20.xx for all that AND received FREE SHIPPING

That's what I'd have paid for 1 diaper with tax and shipping of any other brand of diaper sold here in the USA

So I have 2 feelings about doing this

1.) That this could be my diapering future.  And I just took one huge leap towards a new way of thinking.  Also excited this could be the start of my cloth diaper stash

2.) If this idea fails, if I just don't feel like it's the direction I want to go in - I haven't made a huge investment.  And there's not a whole lot of loss there.

So we shall see!  Some people have gotten their diapers in 10 days, other 4 weeks.  Can't believe I'm excited to receive these cute little things in the mail!

Doctor's Appointment

This was the part I dreaded...

finding a doctor

I really wanted to get into a doctor that delivered at a new hospital in our area, but unfortunately wasn't so lucky.

However, I was able to get into the office where I went with Alyssa.  And although it's not my first pick, I am actually not upset about it.  I will feel comfortable going there and kind of know my way around.  I'm actually also relieved that I have a doctor's appointment set in stone and in the books.

Scheduled 1st OB/GYN appointment:
September 24th

So here's the long story of it.

I, obviously, have extra long cycles.  They asked for the 1st day of my last period - which was June 14th.  I ALREADY KNOW that I did not ovulated until July 18-20, not the usual 14 days after the start of my last period.  The lady on the phone projected my due date to be March 26th and that I was about 7 weeks along.  I know that is not the case.  And I know that will be changed with my first ultrasound.  So 7 weeks sounds good, but I know I'm closer to 4.5 weeks.

With that being said, I just let her think I was 7 weeks to get into the office sooner.  Last time with Alyssa I was 12 weeks along and this time they are holding off till I'm 14 weeks along.  Little do they know I'll only be 11 weeks and a few days by their "wheel of fortune" as she called it.

So let the count down begin!!!

Annoucement Photos

 I talked my mom into taking some photos for us tonight with our Cannon Rebel XS camera.  It's a great camera, and we are so lucky to have it.  I'm no pro, by any means, but I do love to play around Photo Shop and different actions.

I can't believe these are OUR photos!

I've seen these photos on Pinterest for a year now.  Unbelievable that I'd get the chance to recreate my own.

Here they are!!!

This is the:

Only Child

BIG SISTER

Shirt we had made for her and the gift we gave to Alyssa when we spilled the beans to everyone in our SURPRISE video 

We truly are blessed

It's still a little bit of a secret... for now

Telling our family!

So things didn't go quite as planned.  We wanted to take Alyssa to the Zoo on Sunday with the whole family and do the big reveal there; however, plans weren't coming together like we had hoped.

Sunday, after our show, we decided to let the cat out of the bag since my family was all together already anyway.

Here's how it happened...

Alyssa and my mom's reactions are priceless!

We called my two Grandma's since they live a good drive away.

Steve texted his Mom and Dad the news, so I don't have their reaction.

I still want to tell my friends in person, so we are holding off on sharing the news on Facebook = The whole world.

It just keeps getting more and more real every day that passes

Collage and Keepsakes

I am already taking belly photos!  Even though there won't be a belly for awhile, I wanted to get a "starting point" photo at 4 weeks.  So these photos I plan to do at 4, 8, 12 weeks and then possibly every other week through 40 weeks.  I just don't see being able to do belly shots every single week.

 

THEN I may do a few of these along the way for keepsakes

So excited to see my belly grow!

Letting the Cat out of the Bag... Sort Of

We had it all planned out how we want to tell Alyssa, and our parents.

However... We are doing a back to school expo this weekend and we did tell a few of our close friends.  That's just too long of a weekend and too many hours to not say anything!!!!

I wish I'd have gotten it on video telling Roz, Jo, and Neana.  I asked them all to get together so I could tell them all at once, and Neana busts out "ARE YOU PREGNANT?" before I could say a word.   Haha!  I just shook my head "yes" as they all stated hugging Steve and I, and I teared up big time.

They are all like our second family.  They are people we spend a lot of time.  And they are the only people on this planet that knows what we are going through doing these shows.  They understand the work, hours, joy, and pain we all go through. 

So besides those two, we have told John, Tabatha, and most importantly Sarah.

Sarah was the first person I told, litterally within a few hours of getting positive pregnancy tests.  She's been there for me during this process more then anyone, and I felt it was only fair :)

Steve has told a total of 2 people.  Guys he works with/for basically.

Waiting till next weekend to share the news with Alyssa and our families.  It's going to be a very long week of waiting!!!!

Pregnancy: Week 4

MY FIRST PREGNANCY VLOG!

Maternity Clothes

Yeppppp I did.  Not even 4 weeks pregnant and pulled out my old maternity clothes.  And washed them.  And hung them up in my closet.

Why?  I won't need them for at least 3 more months.  Well, I wanted to see what I had, what was stained and needed to go, and what could be used.

So far I have:

1- Nice nursing bra

1- wireless nursing bra

1- night nursing bra

1- sweater

1- comfotable shirt

2- nicer shirts

1- pair of jean

When I did do some pre-pregnancy maternity clothes shopping.  They are all second hand and were mostly 50% off from the resale shops sale.

From that I have 3 comfortable shirts and 1 nicer sleeveless shirt.

So looks like I need more bras, more pants, and a few more shirts.  I'll probably hit up the resale shops again.  Being that my due date is in April, I'll be needing mainly cold weather clothes (which cost more, dang it!).  But at least now I have time to shop around and find some deals.

I remember Old Navy having some nice maternity clothes.  And I hope to hit up Target for some yoga pants for around the house.  No fancy pj's.  Just t-shirts and sleep pants.

OHHHH and I ordered this yesterday....

 

VistaPrint was having a $2.00 t-shirt sale.  So with shipping I paid about $7.00.  I also ordered it in LARGE ;-)  I'm not sure if I'll wear it out, but for around the house, it is cute. 

Eggs and Tomatoes

Alright, so now I know I'm pregnant.  This morning, I made myself eggs and tomatoes for breakfast.  I did this SAME thing when I was first pregnant with Alyssa.

I didn't do this past my first trimester with her and I have not done it in the past 6 years since.  How funny!

Super Fertile?

12 DPO & 3 Weeks 5 Days Pregnant

So I've taken another First Response this morning.  I have 3 of them.  I took one Monday when I got my BFP, today is Wednesday, and I'll take the last one on Friday.  I also had 5 cheapy strip tests - which is what I used when I got my "FAINT" line Monday too.  So those I am taking each day through Friday.  

I have an expo this weekend, but next week I'll post a photo of the progression of how dark those are next week.

Steve and I were talking and are we just maybe super fertile people?  His dad's side has 12 kids, his mom's side has 5.  My mom is the first of 3 (biological) and my dad's biological mother birthed 17 kids.  Yeah.  So maybe it is in our genetics?

I mean, we didn't do a thing to try and get pregnant with Alyssa as far as keeping track of my cycle, testing the first chance we got, no temping.  We started trying the end of May with her and were pregnant by August.

This time around, it only took 1 cycle.  Yes, one very long cycle, but none the less I only ovulated ONE TIME and we got lucky.

I think Steve is in shock.  He wants to see a very dark line for it to be real I guess.  Which I understand, it's going to take some time to sink in.

Scrapbook

Last night Steve was digging in our storage area for some cables.  In a clear plastic storage box he noticed a book that said "My Pregnancy" on the front.  And he asked me about it.  I said it was from when I was pregnant with Alyssa.  It was a book I wrote in about dr. appointments, added photos, and sort of journaled in.

We got it out and spent a few minutes looking through it and remembering that time in both of our lives.  Which was nearly 7 years ago when it all started to take place, so it's been quite awhile.  It was nice to look back and think that we are now doing it all over again.

I want to do this scrapbook/journal again with this baby.  I'll have to drag all my scrapbook things back out, as I haven't scrapbooked in years.  I can't wait to live this journey again.  It was such a memorable time in my life with Alyssa, it is so exciting to be doing it again with her baby brother or sister.