New blog

I'm starting a new blog... I wanted to have a fresh start on blogging, so I decided to just make a new blog. I am going to attempt to be better at updating the new one.

Check it out at http://mysweetpeasandme.blogspot.com/

So many reasons to be thankful

Tonight, I have been reflecting on my life, and what I take for granted every day. When I found out I was pregnant I joined a group of mommies all due in September. Sadly, some of them did not stay in the group, and my heart broke every time I read about another loss. One loss in particular stuck with me, and probably every woman in the group. This woman lost her son at 19 weeks and 3 days pregnant. I cried for her, even though I have never met her.

Today, I found out that she is expecting again! Great news, but as you can imagine, she is very cautious, and probably will not believe she is going to have a baby, until she carries him/her home in her arms. I cried again for her, this time out of joy. I pray that this baby sticks, and she gets the baby she has been dreaming of.

And, then I sit and think of my own children. My beautiful 4 year old, who can drive me insane, but who has held my heart in her hands since the day I got that positive pregnancy test. I look at my sweet baby Evalynn, who was born healthy, happy, and perfect. I am one of the lucky ones, who has never had to go through the loss of a child. I become so content with my life, and the health of my babies, that I forget to be thankful for it. So, when my 4 year old has driven me to pull my hair out, and my 2 month old is fussy, I will think of all the women who have lost a child, and I will be thankful.

A few things my girls taught me today...

1. Sitting back and enjoying the ride is the most important lesson anyone can learn. Housework, and shopping can wait, but spending time with your family/kids gives you memories to last a lifetime.

2. A sweet smile in the morning from a precious new baby is the best pick-me-up, no matter how little sleep you got the night before (due to that same baby waking every 3 hours to eat!)

3. The best way to get the wrinkles out of a 4 year-old after a too-long bath is to iron them out :P (according to my sweet daughter Kayla!)

4. There are a few essential things one needs when photographing an 8 week old baby... a high-speed camera that takes lots of pictures really quickly, in order to catch all those cute facial expressions... Patience, because babies are not the best models...an assistant to help place the baby, make her happy, and move out of the way quick enough so the photographer can capture the moment! I have a new found appreciation for baby photographers after playing photographer tonight!

Here are a couple of the pictures I took tonight of Evalynn... I think I did a pretty good job for being an amateur and working with a mediocre camera!

Sleeping for the first few photos...but then
She was not so happy about her pictures being taken
Finally got a few good ones of her awake, this is my fav!!

Fall Festivities!

I love the fall! The crisp air, leaves changing, pumpkin carving, baking, family, friends, hot chocolate, and snuggling up under a nice warm blanket. These are just some of the things I love about fall!

We went up to Murray Family Farm two weeks ago with my mom, Grandma K, to go apple picking, and get some pumpkins. We had an awesome day, filled with laughing and lots of fun!

We picked out a few pumpkins for carving, although Kayla wasn't able to get this HUGE one, we found a nice sized one for her! We shopped around in the store, and bought some fruit, before sitting down to have some lunch. After lunch, we went on a hay ride and got to pick our own little pumpkin from the pumpkin patch. We got to paint some pumpkins with funky faces, and designs, and then we picked apples to our hearts content!

The day was long, but we had a blast. We picked a total of 30 lbs of apples, which we will be canning, making apple butter, apple pies, spiced apples, apple sauce, and who knows what else! We are also planning on making a trip back to the farm in May to pick berries! I think we have found a new family tradition!

And this is what we brought home with us!

Where does the time go?

Wow, life creeps up on me and I don't keep up. I am going to attempt to stay a little more active with my blog, but no promises.

Since my last post, our little angel was born. Evalynn came into this world after a short, calm labor and delivery on September 2nd. Life has been wonderful, yet exhausting with a newborn in the house again. It is really amazing how well a woman can manage on little sleep, and the demands of a 4 year-old and an infant.

Now that we have welcomed our sweet baby into our family, and life is settling down (a little bit, at least), we have one more big event to prepare for... Chris and I are planning our wedding, actively! Yes, we have actually been "planning" since February, but it has been pretty minimal. We decided on our colors, the venue, and the ideas of what we want, but the real planning has been put off until now. But, now is the time for us to roll up our sleeves and get a little dirty.

Today was one of those jump in and get dirty days. My sister, mom and I went to the local bridal shop to find bridesmaids dresses and my mom's dress. We had a terrific day together, shopping and chatting. It was a special day because my big sister is my maid of honor, and my mom is walking me down the aisle. I was able to spend some great quality time with two of the most important women in my life, which is something that doesn't happen often enough.

These next five months are going to be hectic, overwhelming, and exhausting, but it will bring us to a very special day, the day I get to marry the love of my life. I have loved this man for a long time, and I am ready to be his wife.

20 weeks down, 20 to go!

Oh my, what is this? Two posts in one week! It's a miracle!!!!!

I had a great day today. We had our 20 week OB appointment this morning. It was really quick and painless! Even getting weighed didn't hurt a bit! So far, only 9 lbs! I am right on track, and have 20 lbs to gain (my personal goal, in line with expert recommendations). We got the results of the AFP test today... baby looks very healthy, with no deformities. Dr. M did a quick ultrasound (I love this man because he loves to show us our baby!) and the baby is doing great. Chris thought he saw "nothing" in the lower area, and said he thought we would have a beautiful baby instead of a handsome one. I told him not to look too much into it because everything has to be at the right angle to actually tell, and it was such a quick sweep over that area that he might not have seen what he thought he saw (or didn't see for that matter :P).

After our Dr.'s appointment, we headed for our anatomy scan at the hospital. The tech did all her measuring, and we got to watch while she looked at the spine, kidneys, heart, bladder, arms, hands, legs, feet, face, brain etc. She kept saying that baby has a beautiful spine, which is music to my ears! We got a really good shot of the feet (no pic though) and could count the toes and almost see the toenails! Everything looks amazing, and I am so excited that our baby is doing so well. It will be nice to hear from the Dr. on the official "results" of the scan, just to be sure that EVERYTHING is good! Mommy likes to worry sometimes!

I also found out today why I have been feeling like someone is tap dancing on my bladder! Our baby is in the breech position (head up) and his/her little feet are in the perfect position to dance on my bladder! It's amazing to see how different this pregnancy is from my first. Kayla was always in the transverse (sideways) or normal (head down) position throughout my pregnancy. I am not too worried about this one being breech right now. We have 20 weeks to get into position!

Later on, Chris and I went shopping for Kayla's birthday party. She is turning 4 on Saturday! I can't believe how fast time has gone by. My little girl is growing up so quickly, and it seems like it was not that long ago that I was feeling her kicks in my belly! She is so excited to be a big sister, and right now she wants a baby brother! It changes as frequently as her favorite color, but I am sure she will enjoy being a big sister no matter what.

Here is a pic from today of the new baby's arm and hand. There are clearly four little fingers showing us how old Kayla is going to be!

Here's pics of me at 15 weeks and 20 weeks!

I didn't think I was that big yet, but seeing the last pic makes me say "WOW!"

So, I wonder who has the time to update their blogs daily, or even weekly. It seems like life gets in the way, and a month goes by before I think about updating again!

So, where to start???? We have had a busy month with helping C's mom move, having family visit, work, school, the kid, and life in general. We got our engagement pictures done about 3 weeks ago, and we are just waiting for the final product so we can order some prints. It was a lot of fun having our pics taken. We did them at an old burnt down house, and we even had a strange dog join us! I am so anxious to see the pics because it was just fun taking them, and I think we got some good shots.

My daughter has had an ongoing rash for the past month. The Dr. thought it was an eczema outbreak, but it is becoming apparent that it is something else. She gets red splotches on her tummy and back, and gets little welts that look like bug bites. It comes and goes, so I am starting a journal to see if there is anything in common with the break outs. I feel helpless because I have no idea what is causing it, and I feel like I can't help her.

We had our 16 week appointment 4 weeks ago! This is the most recent ultrasound picture. The head is on the right side, with the spine running across the top, and the belly facing downward. I know it's hard to see, but hopefully you can make out a baby!

Baby C. is getting stronger by the day. I have been feeling flutters since about 16 weeks, and now I am feeling him/her everyday. Somedays it is a lot, and others it is only at the end of the day when I am relaxing.

Today, I felt a really strong punch/kick. It felt like the baby was trying to punch through my tummy, and it almost hurt, it was so strong! I couldn't believe it!

Thursday is our next Dr.'s appointment, and we have a big ultrasound that day as well. Everyone is convinced that I am going to give in and find out the sex, but I know C will keep me strong, and cover my eyes if he has too! I am excited to be surprised, though. I think that hearing "It's a boy" or "It's a girl" after the labor and delivery will make the day that much more special. It's like the reward for all the hard work!

We do get mixed reactions when we tell people we are waiting. Some people high five us, and say, "that's the way to do it" and others are in complete shock and say, "How are you able to do that?"It is a personal choice and for us, it seems to be pretty easy. Contrary to what most believe, I have very little desire to know if we are having a boy or girl at this point. I know it's cliche, but I just want to focus on having a healthy baby. We will love him/her no matter what!

Oh, yes! I just celebrated my 24th birthday this past Sunday. It was a quiet night. We had dinner with the family, then C took me to the movies. We watched "Date Night" and were the only 2 out of 8 people in the theater laughing! I guess you have to have kids to appreciate it! But we both thought it was a great movie, and are totally buying it when it comes out!

That just about covers my month! Let's see if I can get on the ball and update more frequently! HAHAHA!