12 weeks 5 days

So I am almost officially 13 weeks and time is inching by so slow! I cannot wait to find out if this baby is a boy or a girl. I really want a girl but will love whatever God blesses us with none the less. Hopefully this won't be our last baby so we can still hold out hope for one before we are done. Otherwise when we do finally adopt it will be a girl. Anyhow, I got a call from my Dr's office this morning stating that he was sick and would be out today. I was sent to a midwife in Prattville for my check up and it was an experience. My appt was at 1 and when i got there the door was locked...apparently they were still enjoying their Mexican food since they didn't open up til almost 10 after. I was called right back and the did the necessary leave your sample, which i might add was a nasty dirty bathroom, and take my weight. Which i was surprised to only be up about a pound or so. My BP looked good it was 112/60. It was high when i was sick so I was told to make sure it was good when i went back. The nurse was super nice and told me to not be alarmed if we can't hear the heartbeat. She found it right away but this baby is a mover and a shaker so she lost it as soon as she found out. It took a few minutes but she found it again and told me the heart rate was set at 156. She was also shocked at how strong and loud it was. She said that typically at 12 weeks its hard to find and often very light. Its good to know this baby has a strong heart. That sweet lub dub noise i could listen to all day long! The midwife came in and she was very nice but i felt like i was being rushed and that I was a nuisance for having to be squeezed in. I told her that my doc called in sick today and she said yeah that's what they told you he will be out for a couple days..which i thought was kind of rude and strange. She never checked my hands and feet for swelling and didn't press on my abdomen to check the height of the fundus. I know its not a big deal but I am a routine person and Dr. D always checks me. It was kind of a wasted appt. Oh well at least i got to hear that sweet babies heartbeat! That's all that matters.

I got back to the doctor on January 28th at 1015 so we will see what he says then. I am hoping that he goes ahead and lets me schedule my gender US then. I am trying to convince Robert to let me go to Virginia College in Bham to find out earlier. We will see if he finally gives in.

7 weeks 2 days

So I finally had my doctors appt this morning and was sooo nervous! I don't know why since i knew what to expect! I guess since I had told Robert that I didn't need him to come with me I was just afraid we would get bad news. Got there and got into a room and waited for the Dr. He came in and we chit chatted for a while about Preston and how we cannot believe its been two years since he was born. By my calculations and Dr Desautel's calculations we determined that the baby will be due July 9, 2011 and that I am 7 weeks and 2 days pregnant. So exciting! He told me that he likes to have an ultra sound done at around 8 weeks so on December 3rd at 10:40 am we will get our first little peek at this sweet sprinkle in my tummy. I will be almost 9 weeks by then so hopefully it will look more like a baby and less like a bean. Thank you for all your prayers and thoughts during this special time in our lives. We are truly blessed!

Old-Fashioned Soft Pumpkin Cookies

I don't come across a cookie recipe often that is worth sharing. However, recently my mom gave me a little cheap cookbook on cookies and the above cookie recipe caught my eye. I couldn't resist I had to make them. I don't normally bake from scratch but I had all the ingredients so I thought why not. I hope that you will enjoy them as much as we have!!!

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1tsp baking soda
1tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze ingredients
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
3 T milk
1 T melted butter
1tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease Baking sheets. ( I used nonstick and didn't grease and they came off fine).

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in medium bowl and mix together dry ingredients.

Beat sugar and butter in large mixer bowl until well blended. Beat in pumpkin, egg, and vanilla extract until smooth. Gradually add and beat in flour mixture. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 15-18 minutes or until edges are firm. (We like ours a little gooier so I took the second batch out while they were still a light orange color. Both taste just as good though.) Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Drizzle Glaze over cookies.

For Glaze: Combine two cups sifted powdered sugar, 3 T milk, 1T melted butter and 1 tsp vanilla extract in small bowl. Mix until smooth.

They have lots of ingredients but were not hard to make. And they are really yummy! Kind of like a pumpkin pie in a cookie! I hope you enjoy as much as we have!!!

recipe courtesy of Toll House Nestle Holiday Recipe book.

So far this pregnancy...

People have been asking me how far along I thought I was and I would say 4-5 weeks but I totally forgot that the end of the week is one week. Does that make sense? Any who by my calculations I think I am 4 weeks and 4 days. Saturday will be the beginning of week 5. I thought I was a week ahead and I still may be off but at least I have almost two weeks before the morning sickness typically shows up. Praying that it doesn't show up at all!!!

As for symptoms so far I feel pretty good. I am tired some days but not all the time. I have horrible heartburn already and am already munching on Tums to relieve the pain. I have preggo nose and can smell Preston's dirty diaper from across the room and possible even from another room lol Its Super Sonic I tell ya! I also have started having stuffy noses at night so I bought me some saline spray and breathe right strips so I can sleep with my mouth closed.

Preston was taking baby news well. When you would ask him where the baby was he would say Tummy and point to my tummy. Well Monday night when you asked he would state that the baby is in the pumpkin...and now if you ask he makes this horrible screeching noise like how dare you ask me about the baby lol. I still talk to him about the baby like its the best thing that ever happened to him so we will see how well it works when the new baby gets here.

I also started back on a modified C25K program today. I found I couldn't run the full time so I walked the first 10 minutes and then jogged off and on the last 15-20 minutes. I am so out of shape since I haven't done it in three weeks so I am having to pace myself to get back into it. I am determined to try to exercise this pregnancy at least 5 days a week!

How I told Robert

I had come across the idea a couple months ago on the Internet to make a shirt to share with your spouse the news of your pregnancy! I wanted to do it so bad so it worked out that I found out I was pregnant while Robert was at work. Preston and I showered and got ready to go Wednesday morning not long after I took my test. We ran to Wal-mart got all the stuff and came home. My plan was to show up at Roberts work and surprise him there, then visit our parents and maybe grandparents if I had time. Little did I know that it would take me over an hour to iron on letters to a tiny size 2T shirt lol. So plans changed and I called Robert and asked that he be home no later than 5 so we could go meet our family and take P to a fall festival at my aunt and uncles church. I had told him that P would be ready to go when he got home and i needed him home early so that we could take pictures of him in his costume and head to Prattville to be there by 5:30. Preston was sitting on the pumpkin waiting for Robert when he pulled into the drive way!

The front of Preston's shirt read "Big Brother in Training" and the back said "Due in July!!"

This is how the convo went when Robert came in:

R: Hey buddy how was your day!

J: Did you read his new shirt he got today???

R: Big brother in training...

J: Read the back ( all while holding a pregnancy test)

R: Due in July..::bending down and reading the front and back again::

J:umm so I'm pregnant that's not his costume!

R: OH!!! Are you really?!?! I was confused!!! ( in his defense I had told him P would be dressed and ready to go when he got home).

J: Are you excited??? Do you want to see the test?!?

R: YEAH!!!

Here are a couple pics from after we told Robert...I totally forgot to take pics while he was reading P's shirt!

It was sooo cute!!! I am so glad I came up with a creative way to tell him! It worked so well I used it on my mom today at her work! I went in and told her that I knew we were coming to dinner tonight but that Preston couldn't wait to show her his new shirt. She read the front then the back then looked at me and said are you.....I said yes and she hugged me I am pretty sure we both teared up! It was great!!!

Surprise Surprise baby #2 is inside!!!

So my last post was a little pre-mature! I discovered yesterday morning at a little after 9 am that we indeed having another baby!!! How crazy! The one month I talk myself into thinking I am not pregnant it happens! I noticed Saturday that I was feeling a little tired but I didn't think much about it. Sunday night at MIT I kept yawning and was having a hard time staying awake! Monday I felt fine and Tuesday I realized i was getting tired throughout the day from cleaning and would have to take a break. I laid on the couch Tuesday night and almost went to sleep at 7 I was so tired. When I woke up Wednesday morning I decided that it was strange that I was so tired the night before and so I thought to myself I will take a test see that its negative and just wait for AF to show up around Saturday. Did the test, took the dogs up, went and got P up (which was strange because when i went in his first word to me was baby? baby?), started coffee and then realized i needed to check the test. When I got up there I had to look at it twice to make sure I was reading it right!!! Sure enough it said:

If my estimated due date by my workings is right it will be July 9, 2011. Which it probably is since I nailed Preston's dead on. We are so excited!!!!

The Waiting Game...and Other Ramblings!

Don't ya just hate waiting for something?!?! How come when you don't look forward to something it comes really really fast? And how come when you look forward to something it seems to stop time!?!?! As most of you know we have been trying to have another baby for 4 months and this month seems sooo slow! I don't have this overwhelming feeling that I am pregnant, like I did with Preston, but I am still talking to God and asking for Him to will us to get pregnant this month! I have decided that I am not going to get my hopes up and I think its working. However, there is that tiny tiny voice in my head telling me that it will be positive this month. Only time will tell and to save me some stress and some money I have decided to not test as early as humanly possible. I mean we all know First Response makes all its money off the girls that test 5 times a month to get that early result that never comes!

So begins the waiting game...again...among this time of waiting I have discovered that while I am experiencing this trial others seem to be thriving with fertility and are getting pregnant from just looking at their husbands. I mean my mom said the other day that her friend who is almost 40 and on birth control got pregnant and it was such a surprise to her. I mean really?!?! I know they say that when you are trying too hard it won't happen and that you don't need to stress about it. Well whoever said that never took longer than a couple months to get pregnant, like me the first time getting pregnant. I know that I shouldn't complain as God has blessed us with one child and I know deep down He will bless us with more when the time is right. I mean we may think we are ready but God obviously knows otherwise.

Also why do people always feel the need to ask when you plan on having the next baby??? I was this person until I was on this side of the trying and I promise I won't ask again! I was first hit with this realization a few weeks ago after finding out about a sister in law's pregnancy. While I am SO excited for her and can't wait to have another niece or finally have a nephew my heart sank. I was confronted with it the first time and the question that so often never bothered me started to tug at my heart. When are you going to have another baby??!?! A simple question right. Should be no problem to answer...but for me for some reason it was! The first time I laughed and joked it off. All the while saying times tables in my head to stop the tears from forming. The second time I made a complete fool of myself and stated I did not really want to talk about it while the tears started to drop (didn't help that the room went silent when the question was asked and I was at a bridal shower). I am sure I looked like a crazy person and am TOTALLY embarrassed about it! I surprised myself this last go round when asked as I just said hopefully soon and thankfully there were no tears.

I know this is a long boring and overly personal blog post but I felt like I needed to get it off my chest and since this is kinda like therapy I thought it might help. I promise to not bog down my blog with lots of these so I am cramming it into this one post. Hopefully my next one will be happier and I will have good news. If not it's okay. I know that God will provide.