Week 20 Update

Weekly Pregnancy Journal Update

How far along: 20 weeks! Half way, wow!! :-)

Weight Gain: I think I have now crossed the 10 pound mark. Yesterday I was at about 127 and change, today I seemed to have skipped right up to 129, if that's true that will officially put me over the 10 pound mark, which I guess isn't terrible considering I'm half way, and leaves me still with a buffer of 15-25 lbs to still be in the safe/healthy range and stay under 35 lbs total. I really hope I can make that!

Body & Changes: Let's see. Well Boobs first for sure! I had to buy new bras last weekend and I didn't realize how bad it was till I got them, wow I felt like a new woman after. Also I just tried on a pair of jeans and that pair wouldn't button! Uh oh! Mostly though my boobs. Every morning when I wake up they just feel heavy, getting big too.

Exercise: Getting slightly more winded when I'm teaching now. I've also switched from a flat bench to an inclined bench just to be safe. But otherwise still teaching at least 4 classes a week still!

Clothes: Still all regular minus the larger bras. I haven't had to buy any maternity clothes yet.

Sleep: Still really good, no problems to report!

What I’ve been eating: Absolutely still loving any type of frozen treats, that is my indulgence at night!

Emotions: Cool and collected? haha, nothing out of the ordinary.

Purchases: I bought a belly belt to extend my regular pants. It was my first purchase in the maternity store! Seems like the timing was quite fitting bc tonight I couldn't button a particular pair of jeans. I also bought a beautiful decorative pillow last night from Pottery Barn Kids for the nursery to put on the rocking chair

What I miss: Still mostly just coffee although I've had a small cup on a rare occasion now in the second trimester

Stretch marks: I'm still pretty tiny so nothing there

Food cravings: Ice cream/yogurt! Frozen treats you name it

Movement: The ultrasound technician told me on Friday my placenta is in the front so it may be a couple more weeks before I start feeling anything :-/

Anything making you queasy or sick: All is good

Have you started to show yet: Yes finally! Although if I wore a lose fitting shirt you prob couldn't tell, but that time may be passing quicker now.

What I’m looking forward to: Hmm, decorating and registering come to mind at the moment!

Best Moment of the Week: Our 20 week ultrasound of course and seeing the spud. And also knowing that now I am half way, oh man I guess that means from this point forward we're closer to the end than the beginning? Another 20 weeks till life changes forever, feels like it's just around the corner!

Week 15 Update

Well this was supposed to be a weekly thing, I really hope I can pick up the pace going forward. I'm now officially in the second trimester (was that last week? I'm not sure with these dates). But I do know I'm a full 15 weeks and counting as of today. So here goes!

Weekly Pregnancy Journal Update

How far along: 15 weeks today, baby is the size of an apple

Weight Gain: I think about 5, which according to my app is right on target. Yesterday I was 122, but today I was 122.8, sometimes I think it's bloating but I'm not sure. As long as I'm not gaining too quick, I don't want to he huge (my starting point was 118.4).

Body & Changes: Honestly still nothing major

Exercise: Going strong! Teaching all my classes, ran a 5K today, I start prenatal yoga next week

Clothes:  Regular, although jeans at slightly tight in the button area sometimes at night after I've eaten

Sleep: Fantastic, can't complain, getting really good sleep at night, I have strange dreams most nights though, so odd!

What I’ve been eating: Baby likes ice cream/yogurt, my guilty pleasure!

Emotions: Excited for what's to come

Purchases: Bug spray for zika and also pregnancy belly butter for stretch marks, both preemptive purchases are sitting in my amazon cart right now

What I miss: Coffee (more than wine). I miss the caffeine. I know I can have some but I'm choosing not to

Stretch marks: No belly yet, I was going to order some belly butter though

Food cravings: Ice cream/yogurt! Frozen treats you name it

Movement: Soon I hope, maybe another 4 weeks?

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nada

Have you started to show yet: I think it's all bloating, it's tiny, and only at night, so yeah def bloating

What I’m looking forward to: A cute little bump! And also prenatal yoga next week

Best Moment of the Week: Running a 5K for two! Go us!

We Have a Photographer!

I can cross one more item off my list of things to do before the baby comes, securing a photographer for newborn pictures. I'll never forget when Bridget told me she booked her amazing newborn photographer before she was even out of her first trimester. I think she jokingly said she told the photographer before telling friends and family. But when you've got someone good, you don't mess around. As much as I would have loved to use Bridget's photographer, the thought of making the 90 minute plus traffic ride to Long Island with a 10 day old infant just didn't sound appealing so I began the process of searching for someone a bit more local.

I spent a lot of hours on my tablet looking all over at various local photographers. The process was def different from finding a wedding photographer. These days it's not just about finding a "family photographer" it's about the newborn photography with the beautiful props and styling. When I went for a haircut last month, my hairdresser, also named Rachel, who is also pregnant with her first baby due in September told me about a photographer another girl she works with used, and who she's planning to use as well. She showed me a picture and I loved it.

At first I didn't even think about using her as well bc she's still up by our old house but when I looked around more and more this photographer and beautiful pictures, great prices, and would travel to use for only another $50 more. After I spoke with her on the phone I knew she would be perfect to work with. For our package we're getting 4 different sessions, maternity, newborn, 6 months and 12 months with a cake smash, how could I beat that? And for the maternity pictures she suggested we do them outside in the fall, that just really sealed the deal for me, after I told her how we did our engagement pictures, she said we could def do something similar!

I'm so excited to work with Martha Sobanko for our pictures this fall! I know they're going to be beautiful!! Here's a couple of her beautiful pictures!

 

Baby's 1st Race

I've been very fortunate so far in my pregnancy that I've really been able to do everything I was doing before. I have been careful not to overdo it or push myself too much at the gym, but it really hasn't been an issue. When the opportunity came up that work sent out an email to join Team Samsung and participate in the Eric LeGrand, A Walk to Believe, run and it was being held at Rutgers, I jumped on it. One, it's only a few miles from the house, score on that, I didn't have to travel anywhere, and two, the gym was closed today anyway, which is a rare occurrence so it was a way to get my exercise in anyway.

Although it was less cardio and calories burned than I do in an average class I still managed to run over 3 miles in just over 30 minutes. And I ran the entire course, I didn't have to walk at all. A few years ago I know that def would not have been possible (my knees are killing me now for it, but that's totally normal for me). I had a great pace going of about 10 minutes a mile and I watched my heart rate the entire way. I know I was def capable of doing more and going faster but I didn't push it. I made sure my heart rate stayed under 155 max, my same self imposed max for teaching at the gym. The doctor told me last time as long as I can still talk, I'm fine, which for me at that heart rate is not a problem at all.

Despite the fact that it rained on us for part of the course and also not pushing myself, I managed to complete 3.22 miles in 33 minutes. I know I could have done a little faster pace, but I was comfortable the entire race and enjoyed it, it didn't even seem like work. I was so proud of running the race after at 15 weeks pregnant! It's good for me and good for baby. Double win!!!

Beautiful Blooms

When we moved into our house we had this dreadful mailbox, it looked like a giant green rubbermaid box. To make matters worse it was surrounded by some ugly shrub that just climbed over the bottom and had no personality at all. Although the curb appeal on our house was far from screaming overhaul this was one easy item we knew we wanted to tackle. It's not a close up of the mailbox but you can get the idea from these pictures that I just came across and love, so much fun, us playing in the front yard of our new house.

Anyway, about a year ago, Mike, his Dad and brother tackled the first part of the equation. Getting rid of the horrible green mailbox. We replaced it with a much nicer mailbox that was much more our style. It was my job to then figure out what we should plant around the mailbox. I really did try to look into options and my mom kept bringing me over this perennial book to read and look at, although it's hard to look at it and then go to the store and say I want these. So the space has sat vacant for over a year now, just dirt. Still an upgrade from before but none the less unfinished, until today that is.

We went back to our favorite nursery, although we have been there before and today we really looked around and decided on a plan of action. Now if only I could remember the names of the flowers we got. I do know we got a beautiful clematis for next to the mailbox. Through a lot of sweat, all Mike's, not mine, he planted this amazing garden for us today. We could not be any happier with the way it turned out! Absolutely love it. And now every time we come home we get to look at this beautiful garden when we pull up.

A Wave Hello

Well I've done a pretty terrible job of keeping up with my blog posts. I'm so disappointed in myself for not updating on a more regular basis. I don't know how I used to do it, maybe I'll chalk it up to being home more, and more energy. But I really want to make sure I don't miss out on capturing some of these exciting moments! I particularly wanted to make sure I updated at least today and then maybe I will try and back track a couple of things that happened recently.

Today was our 12 week ultrasound! We got to see the little spud again (did I mention that is what we named the baby? spud!). I was so happy we got to see the baby. When the picture comes up on the screen it's like a sigh of relief to see the baby and that it's there and growing along, cause honestly otherwise I don't really believe half the time that it's in there, I feel like I feel too good, and I've had none of the pregnancy symptoms they tell you all about.

We had the same ultrasound technician that we had last time, he's very nice. The baby however did not want to cooperate for the scan, already not listening. The baby apparently was chilling sitting up instead of lying down. We couldn't get "him" to move, the technician tried pushing on my belly a lot with the wand, he had me go to the bathroom in the middle to see if that helped get him into a better position, and also he had me try to cough to make him move, nothing, kid wouldn't budge. He was comfortable where he was, but he said he was able to get enough of the measurements that he needed for the test.

The coolest part had to be actually seeing the baby moving, so wild. Like we actually got to see the baby's arms, and legs, and the baby even picked it's arm up at one point almost like it was waving. You can already see the arm, and the little fingers. Coolest thing ever, and the baby is only about the size of a plum right now.

Even as I look at the pictures on my desk, I still can't believe this little person is growing inside of me right now. Today was such a great day all around, it makes me happy seeing the little spud. I already can't wait till the next time. More to come later when I'm not so tired, although not too tired for a small scoop of Ben & Jerry's before bed.

The first real picture

The long awaited day had finally come, although I think I was more nervous for our last appointment, the wait for this appointment didn't seem as long as the last time. We had our first ultrasound today. After our last appointment and almost missing it, we were sure to leave early this time and we had smooth sailing right to the office, thankfully. And after relatively little wait time, it was the moment of truth. 

I was excited since this was our first real confirmation of timing and my due date. Here's a fun fact the first ultrasound is not over your belly. Use your imagination for how they get the pictures this time ;-) For the first few seconds as it loaded and it was a blank screen for a split second I couldn't help but think oh no, where is the baby, but then as soon as it came up, it was unbelievable. There it was our little baby on the screen and it was perfect. For once it was exactly as described in all the baby books I had been looking at. 

The baby was growing at the perfect size, you could even somewhat identify the head and the body forming, although there's no hands or feet right now. But the most amazing part was you could actually see the baby's heart beating, and we heard it too. He said if I stayed real still we could listen, amazing. The baby had a strong heart beat of 170! He said 120-180 is in the normal range. Supposedly a high heartbeat means girl, but maybe that's just an old wives tale. 

The baby measured at 8w4d which is right on track, by my estimates I am 8w1d and so he said since it's too close and not far off it would not change my due date which as of right now defaults to Nov 27 based off my last period. Which was my due date! Although I obviously came on the first. Looks like my days of birthday celebrations are behind us. I'm just hoping the baby waits till after Thanksgiving dinner is served to come, that's the best meal of the year, lol. 

I def had some tears in my eye as we saw the baby today for the first time. It really felt even more real, and just knowing the baby is growing so well  is so reassuring. Although I was thinking about it before I guess you trade one worry for the next. Before this I was so worried about the baby being the right size and all, and now the next piece is getting through the next set of tests at our 12 week appointment where they test for downs and other things. 

Mike looked in awe as well seeing the pictures come up on the screen. It was pretty cool watching his reaction as well to seeing the baby. The only words I can think to describe is just amazing, we made a little person that's growing inside me right now and we got to see it! Amazing.  

Weekly Pregnancy Update - Week 7

Ok so I'm a little behind on this one and I going forward I will try to do these on a more regular, weekly basis, although not much has changed so far but I'm sure later things will pick up more quickly!

Weekly Pregnancy Journal Update

How far along: 7 weeks today, baby is the size of a blueberry

Weight Gain: Assuming none so far. I had been at about 118.6 so far, today I was up a pound but we'll call that dinner last night

Body & Changes: No major symptoms yet, no morning sickness, no having to pee more, no sore boobs (although sometimes first thing in the morning, but not really). My biggest thing is feeling very tired, mostly during the day. I've taken a nap in the afternoon the last 3 days. I'm amazingly still awake right now and it's 9:40pm.

Exercise: So far so good, less nervous now that I talked to the doctor

Clothes:  Regular

Sleep: Good at night. Been tired in the afternoons and sometimes earlier at night, ok right now though

What I’ve been eating: Carbs. I am loving carbs. Although that could honestly just be me anyway

Emotions: Starting to feel more real now that we got the blood work back, starting to set in a bit more

Purchases: Nothing really this week. I've been meaning to buy Rocky a t-shirt on Etsy that says he's going to be a big brother so we can tell people (at the appropriate time)

What I miss: Absolutely nothing so far

Stretch marks: We'll call this not applicable for a while

Food cravings: None so far

Movement: We'll call this not applicable for a while as well

Anything making you queasy or sick: not yet....

Have you started to show yet: Nope

What I’m looking forward to: One more week to go till our ultra sound on the 18th!

Best Moment of the Week: Actual confirmation on the blood test results

Our First Appointment

Well the long awaited first visit with the doctor was finally here! When I first made the appointment they said you had to be at least 6 weeks, which at that point was about 2.5 weeks away and I couldn't get the appointment till the end of the week so I think it ended up being the longest 3 week wait ever. Mostly while we were waiting I just wanted official confirmation that there was actually a baby in there, I really didn't believe it, although I think also bc for the most part I really don't have any pregnancy symptoms (more on that later).

We both took the day off from work for the appointment, we didn't know what to expect or how long it would take. Of course we ended up in ridiculous traffic, and at rush hour, and were late to our appointment. And apparently anything over 15 minutes late and they can refuse to see you, we almost thought we weren't going to get our appointment after all. They did inevitably see us but we had to wait a bit to see the doctor.

Finally it was our turn, of course my blood pressure was high bc I was anxious about the appointment and all that waiting. The appointment itself wound up being more of a consult and blood draw than anything. We sat and talked with the midwife (the same one I had seen at my annual appointment two months earlier), and she explained a couple things to us. Today's appointment was really only to confirm the pregnancy with a blood draw. I was expecting the full appointment and work up.

We did get to talk to her which made me feel reassured about some of the things I was worried about. I told her I really didn't believe it bc I don't have any symptoms at all, and she said I may never get any symptoms and not to let that worry me one bit. She said every pregnancy is different and not to worry about all the things that I read in the books. I also asked her about my workouts which was another big concern for me the last few weeks and she said that too should not be an area of concern for me. She told me that to keep doing exactly what I've been doing and nothing is off limits right now. She told me "you can't harm a healthy pregnancy and you also can't save an unhealthy one" and really not to worry as much. That alone made me feel much better. The other thing too is she said the risk of miscarriage goes down significantly after another 2 weeks, at around weeks 8-9, and I'm almost there! The way she said it, it seemed like most miscarriages occur so early and so far so good, I'm at week 7 already, which made me feel better too.

Mike asked her a couple questions as well and we went over the next couple appointments. We'll have our first ultra sound appointment on the 18th which is when they will be able to tell us the size of the baby and how far along I am, including my due date. And then after that I guess I'll have my full work up exam (with all the blood work) on the 28th is when they could get me in the schedule.

The main part of this visit was for my blood work to test for my HCG level, my first blood test. I'm not a fan of needles but it really wasn't too terrible, the nurse was very good and I handled it like a champ Mike said. We promptly got our test results back right away the following morning. I was able to log into my patient portal to get all the results. Although it was just the numbers, it didn't confirm two things for me which made me feel better, one I actually am pregnant (yes I am almost crazy enough to have not believed it) and two, that my levels look good based on my weeks along. In my mind I felt like bc I wasn't having symptoms maybe something was wrong but this made me feel a lot better. So it's starting to feel more real now that it's actually been confirmed by the doctor. Now I can't wait for our next appointment on the 18th, things are getting real!

Easter in Long Island

Couple quick pictures from Easter with my family this year. We try our best to alternate Holidays with the families, so this year we made the trek to Long Island to spend the Holiday with my cousins, which is always nice. The family has gotten so large these days with all the kids that they do a lot of the Holidays out at restaurants these days. He's a couple pictures of the family from Easter, that Harry (and Zoe) is just too cute, he's so funny, he def takes after his Dad and what a character he is too. Amazing to see all the kids, looks like next year there will be one more! ;-) 

Stunned Surprise

I didn't really have a plan for when we were going to tell my parents specifically but I knew it was going to be that weekend since we were going to be home in person. I kept our news in all afternoon, there just wasn't a good time, by the time we got there and then the girls came over. And once they were there it was quite chaotic for those few hours chasing the kids around. As much as I love my friends there was a part of me that didn't know when they were going to leave so we could finally share the news.

Once the girls all left and Mom was finally starting to clean up for the night, my dad was downstairs cleaning up. My mom and Susan Ramirez were sitting in the kitchen and I told my mom we got her a small gift for Easter and I handed her the wrapped sign. She asked if it was a picture while she was opening it and I said yes.

After she unwrapped the sign, she stood there in stunned silence. I don't think she said anything actually. I don't know if it didn't click right away, she looked at me and looked at Mike and asked really, and Mike reassured her that yes it was true. It clicked for Susan Ramirez right away but my mom was still there in stunned disbelief that she was really going to be a grandmother! Her dream was finally coming true. My Dad had a similar reaction when we told him too when he came upstairs. The two of them just kept asking us really? And we told them, yes, we'll be having one more for Thanksgiving this year.

The funny part was that threw them off was my Mom and Susan had offered me a glass of wine earlier in the day when Bridget was over, which I accepted. I figured if I said yes it would throw off any suspicion which it did. I of course didn't actually drink the wine. I dumped some of it out when no one was looking and also just put the glass up to my lips so it looked like I was drinking it. Surprise accomplished! Yes my mom is being promoted to Grandma, and boy she can't wait!!!

Catching Up with Old Friends

Well unfortunately time has once again gotten the best of me and I'm a bit behind here. I really had good intentions this time of keeping up with my new blog and staying on top of documenting things but I'm already behind. Time to pick up the pace! 

Easter weekend was already two weeks ago but it was a great weekend filled with friends and family. We were lucky enough to have off on Good Friday so we spent our day off visiting our very good friend Carmen. We took a two hour drive out to Scranton, PA (the happiest place on earth according to Carmen) to go visit him and his boys and see his new house. Even Rocky made the drive with us! We had a great day catching up with Carmen and the boys, the little guys (much like their father) are quite the athletes already. No doubt we'll be seeing Jayden in the major league one day. 

It's hard to believe how much can change in just 5 years. A time hop picture popped up today of the first time we met little Jayden and now so much has changed for Carmen and the boys. Hard to imagine another 5 years from now and Jayden will be 10! But let's not let time go too quickly. It is nice that now Carmen is a lot closer and we can visit anytime. Look forward to more trips out to Scranton to see him and the boys. 

The next day we packed up and took another drive, this time out to the Island for our annual St. Patricks day dinner at my mom's and Easter the following day. This year we invited Bridget and Kristin to come over and join us with their 3 girls. While it was extremely chaotic and crazy chasing the three girls arounds at times, I wouldn't have it any other way. 

The funniest part of the night though had to be at dinner. Gabby and Olivia sat in the kitchen by themselves while the rest of the adults sat in the dining room. All of a sudden we hear Gabby shouting, very dramatically, "someone help me, help me," we all got up and rushed, I thought the table was falling or something was falling on her, it turns out a certain four legged someone took advantage of the little people, jumped up on the kitchen table and was eating right off Gabby's plate of chicken nuggets!!! What a devil I tell you boy! 

My favorite girls and the loves of my life. Miss these girls all the time!!! 

Happy 90th Birthday Grandma!

Yesterday we celebrated a great woman's 90th birthday!! Mike's adorable Grandma turned 90 years young and we had a big party to celebrate with her! It's hard to believe she is 90! She is one of the sweetest ladies and always so loving, she's always so sweet every time I see her. I don't know what her trick is, maybe it's the scotch, but she's doing great. We're so lucky to have her with us. I can't wait for another couple more weeks when we can tell her she is going to be a great grandmother!!! Here's a couple pictures from last night's festivities to celebrate Grandma. May she have many more blessed birthdays like this one!!! 

A real surprise

Although we didn't have much time for it to sink it and even to talk about it, neither one of us really knows what to do in this situation. We were trying to figure out how and when to share our happy news. And let's face it I am terrible at keeping secrets. Mike's initial reaction was to wait till after our doctor's appointment which is scheduled for the 8th, which is understandable, can't say I disagree. The emotional part of me that wants to scream it from the rooftop decided we should go ahead and tell Mike's parents. 

My rationale was two fold; one we were going to be the six of us, we don't get to see Mike's brother in person very often and I would have rather told them all together than have to call them on the phone and tell them; and two if anything should god forbid happen, which I pray that it doesn't, I wouldn't want to be alone and we'd need the support of our family with us, I'd want them to know. So by default we decided Friday night would be the night since we'd all be at Mike's parents house for dinner. 

I wanted to do something cute but obviously didn't have a whole lot of time to prepare something creative. On the way to his parents house we ran into Kohl's quick. I was ideally hoping to find a great grandmother frame, my plan was to show his parents what we got his grandmother for her birthday gift (and this was just a ploy, we weren't really telling the rest of his family on Saturday at the party). The only frame they had that worked was a "sneak peak sonogram frame," so we picked that up. 

After we had eaten dinner and we were all sitting at the table, I decided it was time to tell everyone. I asked Mike to get the bag from my purse and then passed the kohl's shopping bag to Dad and said check out what we got for Grandma, so he's looking at the frame, and reading the inscription but absolutely not putting two and two together, so I tried to drop more hints like "our picture isn't ready yet" finally Dad gave the frame to Mom to look at but she wasn't getting it either. 

Stephanie was sitting there saying "I think I know what is going on here but I don't want to say anything." They really weren't getting it, so finally I said Stephanie please tell them, and Stephanie said "I think what Rachel is trying to tell you is she's having a baby!" Finally then they realized what was happening and were beyond excited to know they're going to be grandparents! It was pretty funny going through that whole thing. For the record though both of them missed the fact that the frame has an actual sonogram picture in it, LOL. Now I have to figure out how I will tell my parents this weekend! Also my in-laws have been sworn to secrecy in the meantime! This will be one tough secret to keep!!! 

Weekly Pregnancy Update - Week 4

Weekly Pregnancy Journal Update

How far along: 4 weeks today, I've officially missed my period (by a day)

Weight Gain: Loss. For some reason I seem to be down a few pounds from where I have normally been. I saw 116 on the scale yesterday morning, a number I haven't see in a long time!

Body & Changes: No symptoms yet other than missed period and insomnia every night for the past 5 days

Exercise: My first workouts since learning (I'll write a separate post on this experience) I'll hopefully won't be so nervous going forward

Clothes:  Regular

Sleep: I wish! It's still super early and truth be told I'm ok experiencing a symptom, I feel like it helps me know that something is going on. But I've had insomnia every day since finding out, been up for at least about an hour every night or just getting up ridiculously early. I haven't been overly tired though (yet)

What I’ve been eating: Trying to increase my spinach intake and other healthy things. Picked up some walnuts today, been researching healthy pregnancy diet foods

Emotions: Excited. Nervous. Afraid. Disbelief. Doesn't feel real. All of the above. Feeling excited, but afraid, I'm afraid in the back of my mind of something happening. I know that miscarriages are such a real thing, and there's nothing you can do to prevent it. I want to be excited but I want to get past that hurdle first.

Purchases: A second pregnancy test! Also some type of prenatal granola bars (organic Happy Mama) I saw in target when I was getting the test, and supplies for the weekly photos

What I miss: Absolutely nothing (well maybe sleep a little but thats ok)

Stretch marks: It's only been a couple days....

Food cravings: None so far

Movement: Not even close

Anything making you queasy or sick: not yet....

Have you started to show yet: Nope

What I’m looking forward to: Our doctor's appointment, I just want to get to that hurdle and know it's really happening!

Best Moment of the Week: Finding out we are going to be parents!!

Weekly Photos Set Up

Well I'm officially all set up to take some weekly bump photo's! Although I know there won't be much to show for the next several weeks. I'm sure there really won't be anything to report till at least 12 weeks. But in the meantime I have everything ready to go. I was inspired when I had seen photos like these on pinterest and have always wanted to do the same thing. I thought it would be cool to have a collection of growing bump pictures from week to week to see the progress.

I had bought the picture frame months ago when I bought the same frame, in black, for a project for our entryway (which turned out awesome). It was cheaper to just pay the shipping once, so I bought an extra frame, hoping I'd be able to use it for this purpose one day, and then I can transition it to the nursery after. I found it on Etsy by Amber Lane Frames. It's such a cool frame, it looks great in our hallway and already looks good for this project!

The next piece was deciding on the graphic to use for the frame every week. While I have seen some people make their own signs every week, one I'm not that talented, two I don't have that kind of time, and three I like the ease and consistency of having something already printed up. I eventually settled on this package, also from Etsy (of course), by Marie's Digital Designs. I just went with the simple black and white theme.

Finally the last step was to print all the pictures and set up the tripod. I printed the first 3 weeks (technically weeks 4, 5, 6) from Target this afternoon. I wanted to start my pictures today since today is week 4! It was way too expensive to get them all printed in the store.  Since I have a few weeks buffer now, I just ordered the rest of the prints from york photo, they are awesome for printing large quantities of photos for cheap and I've never had a complaint about their service or quality.

The hardest part so far was setting up the tripod and camera, figuring out the perfect distance and figuring out how the timer on my camera works, but I got it! All in all it was a somewhat expensive little project, $52 for the frame with shipping, $19 for the digital signs, $9 for the target photo's and another $57 for the rest from york for a grand total of $137 but I'm sure it will be well worth it. I can't wait to see how they come out as we go along!

So this happened on Wednesday

Well it looks like I'll have a lot more inspiration for writing my blog these days and sticking to it! Because in 9 months we are going to be adding an addition to our family. Here's the story of how we found out....

I was working from home last Wednesday and I had gotten up really early, I think it was before 6. I'm still not really sure what prompted me to take the test, I only had one left and my period wasn't due till Saturday. I also had zero symptoms or indications that I was pregnant. I was just feeling anxious I guess and wanted an answer. I had actually been complaining the day before to Mike that I was feeling sad because I knew I'd be getting my period later that week and he was cheering my up. I had also (I think it was the night before) finally looked up online a fertility doctor in the city a friend from work had recommended to. I had checked out the office and was seriously thinking about making us an appointment.

Like I said for whatever reason when I got up I took the test and then went about my business, not even waiting for the results to come up, just figuring it was going to be negative. When I looked at the test and saw the positive I couldn't believe it. I was shaking a little and had a tear or two. I was def surprised that's for sure. I really didn't have a game plan on how I wanted to tell Mike at that point but I knew I couldn't wait. Mike was downstairs in the family room watching tv. I went downstairs and had straightened up for a few minutes in the kitchen trying to stay calm, but didn't say anything yet at this point.

I then took Rocky upstairs and our dry erase board up to the bedroom. I put Rocky on the chair and wrote the following message "Mom says to tell you I am going to be a big brother." I snapped the picture and texted it to Mike. I then came downstairs but he hadn't seen his phone yet at this point. I said to him "look at the really cute picture I just took of Rocky I just sent it to you." He was not interested in the picture. His first response was "I'll look at it later." I had to probe him at least two or three more times and was like will you please look at the picture now, I want you to see it. He finally gave in, although I think bc he knew I wasn't going to leave him alone and it was easier just to entertain me.

He looked at the picture and looked at me and must have said "wait, what?, seriously, and for real" at least 10 times. I don't think he could believe it although neither could I. He then got up and gave me the biggest and longest hug ever. I was shaking at that point. I think we were both in a state of shock. We really did it. Almost a year later, it worked! And here I am pregnant. It was the best story. I wish I had it on tape so I could relieve it again and again, it was a pretty cool surprise that's for sure! (The funniest part too is Rocky looks pissed in the picture, LOL, his days of being a spoiled only child are coming to an end)

Can't beat a hardcopy sometimes

One of the things I love and miss most about blogging is having a beautiful record of all the wonderful (and sometimes not so wonderful) things that have happened in our lives. For the better part of 3.5 years I kept a record of all the great things going on in our lives, which is part of the reason I've wanted to pick up blogging again. But also for the nearly 2.5 years in between I've been saying I'm going to print out my blog and yet I somehow never got around to it, and yet I've still always wanted to have a copy of it.

So here it is almost 3 years later and I finally took the time to set them up and ordered the books. Unfortunately they're not as cheap as say a shutterfly album is and there really is only one or two sites you can order a blog from that kept the formatting in tact. So when a 50% off coupon rolled around I knew it was too good to pass up so I bit the bullet and ordered them. I  created and ordered an additional 3 books to cover my whole original blog so I've got it all on paper now.

I'm hoping that one day when we have kids I'll be able to share the memories of our lives with them, and who knows maybe even our grandkids one day. I know I would have loved to have the same kind of record or stories about my grandparents. Heck I wish I even had pictures or recipes. I'm sure that won't be the case going forward with all the social media, and our whole lives being captured online.

I'm looking forward to getting the copies of the books in the mail, mostly so I can have them for my records and so they're not lost in the virtual world forever, sometimes you can't beat a good old fashioned hard copy book for some things! Can't wait to see how they turned out, I'm sure my Mom will want to read them at least.

I Keep Meaning To....

Well it's official, I suck at setting aside the time to get back into blogging again. Life just seems to get in the way. Call it lazy, call it other priorities, I'm not sure what to call it but I think it's because part of me didn't know where to start and jump back in, like in the back of my mind I somehow had to write about all the different things that have been going on in our life since the last time I wrote on my blog consistently 2.5 years ago. I've missed it. I miss having all the great records of the fun things we've done or places we've gone or just what life has had up it's sleeve. 

I know it's January and it's cliche but I'd love to say that my goal (I won't call it a resolution) is to focus on me, and try to at least attempt to start writing again and hopefully I will get back into the grove of it. Life has been busy, although I'd love to say it's been filled with all these super exciting things, while it's all good stuff, it's been much of the same, long days in the office, a long commute back and forth and spending the short weekends at the gym and catching up on errands. It seems that we spend so much of our days at work and there's such little time for ourselves, there just aren't enough hours in the day.

Sometimes I think I don't want to write because I want something to focus on rather than a hodge-podge or something more professional than just random musings or updates but I know that's not my goal. I love having writing as my creative outlet. I've loved to write since I was a little girl, it's amazing to think about the things that stick with you most throughout life. I can remember writing letters to pen pals, having all these journals and diaries growing up or even writing my own stories.

I know my goal when  I started my blog the first time was to focus on my experience of getting married and planning a wedding. I do certainly hope that maybe the focus of this blog will be the experience of being pregnant and starting a family. I would love to document that experience along the way. For now though I'll have to settle for having a creative outlet of my own to hold myself accountable of keeping better track of our lives, after all they go by so quickly.

Before I end my random musings for the night, I was stuck by an article I came across recently on the 10 things successful people do at night before bed. One of them was to "write down accomplishments for the day." The article went on to state:

What have you accomplished during the day? Some people will say none because they don’t think they are productive on the day. When you feel grateful that you have proper lunch, proper dinner and able to get home safely and able to spend great moments with your family, you will feel deep joy within. On the other hand, if you don’t feel thankful for all that you have, you will feel stressed, pressured and insufficient. You will have the feeling of “not enough” even if you already have everything. 

Therefore, write down at least three to five things that you appreciated and have accomplished during the day every night when you plan for the next day. Write down big and small successes you have done. Even if it is just a phone call, five minutes reading, etc. Write them down and practice the habit of appreciation.

With that context in mind I'll end my post for the evening with the three things I'm grateful right now, 1, is for finally sitting down at the computer and writing this post; 2, is for my handsome little pup who's keeping me company right now as I write this; 3, I am glad that I accomplished cleaning up the dishes and straightening up the house at a reasonable hour tonight and enjoy the peacefulness of the winter and the first snowflakes of the season.

Here's to starting 2016 off on the right foot, and hopefully using this as my journal and my outlet and once again start to document all that is going on in our little world!