Two Month Belly

Okay, this is almost too embarrassing to post, but here it is:
Two months, 29"! and 101lbs. It's much cuter under clothes... ewww.....

this month has been pretty good. Some discomforts here and there, but considering I'm growing a little person- it's wonderful! I am looking forward to the second trimester and the settling down of hormones :)
The cravings and aversions have been fun- today I really want a root beer float, and California Rolls. The other day all I could imagine eating was potato, and Matt took me to the store for salt & vinegar potato chips. Crazy, I know! And I simply cannot have enough chocolate chip cookies. Have I blogged about all the junk food I'm eating already? Sheesh- I can't stop thinking about it. I'm surprised with all the crap I'm eating that I've only gained a pound or two, honestly!! (But five inches?? What the crap?) I'm trying to eat good things too, don't worry :) At least my prenatal vitamins have me backed up for the days I'm bad!! And now besides my prenatal my doc has me on Metamucil and calcium- so I feel like I'm really off the hook for watching what I eat- haha. (I know, I know, it's no substitute for the real thing!) I'll eat better next month. ;) Now what did I do with those girl scout cookies???

1st prenatal appointment!

Finally! I just got back from my first prenatal appointment. It seemed like FOREVER while I was waiting for it to come around! We are now 9 weeks along- we found out around 5 weeks- so it was a long four week wait :)
Matt, the love of my life, came with me- which was great :) I don't know why but I was nervous!! We went through the 6 page questionnaire and chatted about my symptoms and this and that- and then we got to do an ULTRASOUND!! I was really trying not to get my hopes up as you don't always get one at 9 weeks- so I was -so- excited. She (my doctor) brought in the big rolling machine (had to squish Matt behind the door to get it in) and got me all set up. I got a good squirt of cold blue gel and then got to take a look inside! It was hard to see- just black and gray fuzzies as she swirled it around, looking for the baby. "hm, that's interesting." she muttered. "it almost looks like there's two in there"
Eh??
Matt and I laugh nervously.
Two what?
"I'm not sure, but I think you might be having twins. You can have an ultrasound in a week to make sure, or would you like me to have a specialist come in and check?"
Uh- yeah. Not really sure I want to spend all week wondering!?!?!
She leaves to go get the guy and Matt and I laugh nervously some more.
He comes in, probes around forever, and confirms there's just ONE little bean in there. Little heart beating away- phew! Not sure what the other lump was- but the baby had moved around so we could get a better view (thanks, buddy!) and he/she is apparently alone.
Well that was fun!
Now we are relieved to have seen the little heart beating and to know it's just one little heart. Hahaha.
We talked some more about my bone disorder and slipped vertebrae and she thinks I'm definately at a higher risk for C-section than most women (cry!) but as long as the baby's healthy- I'll do whatever it takes. I've been trying to prepare myself mentally for this reality as it seems it's pretty much a guarantee with my bone disorder- but I'm so bummed about it anyway. I really wanted to have a natural birth and to really experience all of it- but I guess I should just be thankful for technology and medical advancement and that I'm not living 100 years ago and dying in childbirth. Heh heh...
But that unhappy note aside-- we are most certainly pregnant! Our baby is wiggling around in there with it's little beating heart and everything is going great! *phew*
I'm scheduled for an ultrasound in two weeks- it'll be a good one! and then my next appointment is another month after that. (Another 6 week wait!) I may also have an orthopedic appointment somewhere in there as well to figure out what the story is with my hips and back. Don't worry, I'll keep you posted!

homemade dishwashing detergent!

I learned another cool trick from the internet. How to make your own (cheap!) detergent for the dishwasher! It's just one part borax to one part baking soda! 1-2 Tbsp per load and your good to go! We've been using it all week and so far- it works great! Neat, huh?

Ooh, and the best part is that it's also completely natural and good for the environment (and my developing baby!)

:)

Olive Garden

We're going to Olive Garden tonight to celebrate my mother in-law's birthday.
mmmm.... I love olive garden. mostly for the salad and breadsticks, that's my favorite part. The dinner is usually good, not -spectacular- or anything, but mmmmmmm salad and breadsticks.... I've been drooling all day in anticipation. (crazy pregnant woman...)
Anyhow, I've been keeping pretty good track of my diet to make sure I'm eating healthy for the two of us. It's easy since I have hours upon hours of nap time throughout the day to do nothing other than twiddle my thumbs... So I went online to look up the menu, decide what I would possibly order, and then find some nutritional information. I was shocked to find that I couldn't find anything! (So shocked in fact that here I am blogging about it- haha) I was looking at the seafood alfredo, knowing it's incredibly bad for me, and wanting to see if I could justify it in any possible stretch of a way. Nope. No justification. Information is NO-where. I scoured the olive garden web site, then turned to my good friend Google, and information is so scarce I really couldn't believe it. I did find out through Google that a salad and two breadsticks from the O.G. is going to cost me 481 calories with 9g of fat- if that isn't exciting enough. ;) I will consume these without guilt, however. I tried to find a customer service phone number and call them. (Yes, I'm bored.) Nope, no number available. But I could email. So I did. They let me know that they'll try to respond within 10 business days. Ha! Why is it that fast food chains are forced to post nutritional information but a huge restaurant chain like Olive Garden doesn't have to even have it available?? A mystery. a somewhat creepy mystery. What are thy hiding? 3000 calorie pasta??? Yikes. Maybe I'll have a bowl of minestrone...

Valentine's Day

Well, I just have to brag. I have the best husband in the whole world. Seriously!! I was so tired on Wednesday, I really wanted to go to church but Matt convinced me to go to bed. (Around 6:45!) When I woke up in the morning on Valentine's Day, there was a sweet little note on the bathroom mirror that made me smile. Then I went downstairs and the house was spotless. Now, Matt's pretty good about helping around the house normally, but what a special treat to wake up to a clean house when I've been just too tired to keep up with it!! Then there was another little lovenote tucked into my purse. And another in my day planner. And another on my keychain. And another on my dashboard. I couldn't contain myself from giggling out loud like a silly schoolgirl. After work I came home to "get ready" for our hot date at home and he was slaving away in the kitchen, making fresh pasta and alfredo sauce and pan-seared asparagus with toasted garlic, and he had made me chocolate mousse the night before, after looking up a recipe that was safe for his pregnant wife ;) What a doll! Too bad I didn't take a picture of the mousse- no time for the camera when that came out of the fridge!! Haha. Everything was sooooo amazingly delicious-
Thank you honey. :) I love you SOOOOOOO much!!! *smooch*

7 weeks

oh, my, goodness. That is amazing. It's about the size of a pencil eraser top! Funny little bean...
So far everything has been really great, I must say. And for all of you who told me the morning sickness comes at 7 weeks- I'm still holding out!! Queasy once in a while, but tolerable. Now for you "week 9ers" we'll have to wait and see. ;) But maybe that's part of why it's still not entirely real to me, not puking all day as a constant reminder! Thinking about names has really helped personify this baby to me, though. Thanks, by the way, for everyone's votes! We can't believe there are so many! We feel so loved!! Keep checking back, I think we might update the polls as our ideas progress & the suggestions keep pouring in. ;) If you haven't already, leave a comment with your suggestions if you'd like, we wont be offended!

I can't wait to go to the doctor- still two weeks and a day to wait. I hope I get an early ultrasound!! But I know I probably wont, and that's okay. I just can't believe that there's someone inside me with a heartbeat already! That's incredible.

Sunday Ramblings

I feel so stuffed all the time. Not that I'm complaining- honestly I love every little ache and discomfort because it confirms to me that there really is something in there! But even when I'm hungry I feel full! Today even more so, I think. I take a few bites and I feel like I just finished my third helping. :) My belly is sticking out because my organs are upset about it I think. hahaha. And this morning I was soooo nauseous... but we took care of it with a dixie cup full of goldfish in Sunday school! Matt and I watch the two year olds during the first service at church and they are so amazing. I split my cup of goldfish with a curly-headed little guy sitting on the counter- he's one of those rascally little ones that really just needs to feel special so he loves to sit up on the counter with me, quiet as can be. There's another little boy who takes apart the climbing structure every week to use one particular piece as a "guitar" and he sings worship songs as he "strums" this huge plastic square. Lord, can I place an order for one of those? A two year old with a heart for worship!
The sermon this morning was on tithing- one of Pastor Brett's least favorite subjects- this is the first whole sermon he's done on it- ever! But it was really great. What a reminder of God's heart to bless His kids. How He wants to train us to be generous, loving, and TRUSTING! I loved Brett's analogy of a dad giving his little kid a bag of 100 hershey kisses and then asking if he could have 10 to eat. The dad doesn't really want the kids' chocolate- he wants his child to grow up to be a giving person, and to learn to trust that the source of the chocolate isn't going to go away! Funny, but it stuck with me at least. The verse is Malachi 3:7-12 (from memory, so it might not be exact!)
"Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me! But you ask, how are we robbing you? In tithes and offerings. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, declares the Lord Almighty, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it! The pests will not devour your crops, and the vines in their fields will not cast their fruit, declares the Lord Almighty. The whole nation will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land, declares the Lord Almighty."
When I first became a Christian in 1996 I was instantly hungry for the Word, and so my youth pastor gave me lists of foundational scripture to memorize and that was one of them. It wasn't until recently that the last part of the verse stood out to me. That He would prevent the devourer from doing us harm. I don't expect random checks to appear in the mail because I tithe or other obvious blessings- but what about all the blessings that we never know we've received? When the car -doesn't- break down and need repair? When the windows -don't- get shattered by the punk kids that walk past our house? When Rusty doesn't get sick and need to go to the vet? When my jeans -don't- wear holes in the knees & need replacing? In so many ways that I am blissfully unaware of, my Father is taking care of me and I'll never know until the other side of this life. That's amazing to me. In so many ways we are like small children, oblivious to the cruel world around us because our Father has it all under control. We think to ourselves that we've got it pretty rough, but we have no idea. Just like kids having a tantrum and screaming "YOU JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND!!!" to the Lord as if he'd never been here.
We serve a great and powerful and LOVING God. And the fact that I can call Him my own is enough to make me tremble. Thank you, Jesus, for your perfect provision & protection throughout our stay here on Earth. Thank you for taking care of your child, no matter how disobedient & unfaithful I am. You never change. Thank you.

EDIT!!

Okay, so we can't spell. I had to edit the boy name post and it deleted the votes we already had! So far there was one for Rowen, two for Aiden, zip for Wyatt, one for Ezra, and one for Gabe. If you voted already, please REvote! haha. election year, here we come.

Matt's Mumblings

Not to be confused with Matt's Murmurs.
Well I guess I am going to be a dad. How weird is that. There is so much to do in the next 233 days, give or take a few. One thing that we would like to do is to move into a house. This could prove to be difficult with the way the economy and the real estate market is. Not only that, there are things that have to be done before we can sell, like putting up floor moldings throughout the whole house.
The Lord is awesome though. Even though sometimes we don't know how we are able to pay the bills and put food on the table the Lord always provides and His timing is always perfect. So when it is time to move, I believe that the Lord will work out all the details as He has so many times before. Man there is such freedom in that, knowing that the Lord has everything planned out for us before we were even born. I look forward to the coming year and all that He has in store for us. It is going to be exciting and scary and fun and terrifying all at the same time, but I know that He won't give us anything that we can't handle.

Oh, and by the way we have picked some baby names. Take our poll on the top right and tell us what you think.

One Month Belly

Well, here I am, February 2nd at 1 month pregnant. 24" & 100 lbs ...That wont last for long....

And thus begins the journey into parenthood

I was due for a little visit from Aunt Flo on Wednesday the 23rd. She never showed so I took a little test and it was a big fat negative. No big deal, I thought. We've only been trying for two months.
Thursday. Nothing.
Friday. Nothing.
Friday night Matt asked me how things were going and I nonschelantly mentioned that I was three days late- it's probably nothing, I said. Matt said "So..... when can we start getting excited?" tee hee.
Saturday. Nothing.
Sunday rolls around and still nothing- we're now five days late and starting to wonder. Could it have been that easy? We had been guessing all day, while Matt dragged me around the auto show (no really, I volunteered to go-) and Matt asked me while we were driving home if I wanted to run to the store and get a test. Uh, Yeah!? So we went to freddies and picked up a clear blue easy. Went through the self-check lane and of course it wouldn't ring up so the lady had to come help us. Went home to use the thing and I set it down on the counter and pretended it didn't exist. Too nervous for another negative! Matt was standing there watching it and after about thirty seconds he asked, Um hon, did it look like that before you peed on it? I said "What?" and looked to find A BIG BLUE PLUS!!
We were both pretty shocked, but totally happy. and shocked. And... maybe a little suprised. But not really. It's just that the reality hasn't hit yet.

We decided that we wanted to tell as much of our family at the same time as possible, so we convinced several to come over for a little dinner. Friday ended up working out for everyone. So I'm sorry for the blogging hiatus- I knew if I wrote anything at all I would inadvertantly let information leak before our familes knew!
Well, it was the longest week of our lives. Keeping such a big secret is tough! I don't know how people do it for three months! Anyway- here's how it went.
I spent all day making butternut squash lasagna, caprese salad, roasted garlic butter for the sourdough bread (store bought bread...) braised brussel sprouts (I didn't want to be the only one with horrible gas- haha! This baby makes a lot of air!) homemade caesar dressing for salads and coffee gelatto for dessert. It was fun :) His parents made it over on time and my family slowly trickled in- it was killer waiting for everyone! I wanted to burst! We sat down and enjoyed our salads and bread and then passed the food around. We bowed our heads as Matt blessed the food, the company, and THE BABY!! I'm suprised no one interupted. We looked up and everyone was like.... "baby?? REALLY?? Does that mean...???!?!!??" My mom cried of course- everyone was thrilled and they all were guessing (except my mom, believe it or not!) and were like "we knew that was why we're here!" My brother even told his boss that he had to go to dinner at his sister's house because she had an announcement to make. Lol. Well, that little blue plus suprised us at least!!Here's everyone but Bob- he took the picture. :) Oh, happy day! Matt called his brother, who lives in Seattle, and left him a message. "Hey Uncle Evan, call me back!" A few hours later he did. We called grandparents too. I haven't called my real dad yet because he lives in Denmark right now and they're 9 hours ahead so it would have been awefully early in the morning... heh. I think I'll try to get ahold of him this coming weekend. We'll see. But the fun wasn't over Friday night- we had to wait until Sunday to surprise the other half of my family at the Superbowl gathering. I showed up wearing this:I've never gotten such great reactions to an outfit before! It was pretty funny! This shirt was actually pretty big, I had to do a little t-shirt surgery to take it down from a medium standard T-shirt (who looks good in those, really?) to an extra small shirt with a little shape. I'm actually kinda proud at how it turned out! Just don't look too close. :)
Well- there ya have it! Sorry if you are reading this and would have rather found out in person. Just be happy we decided not to wait until the second trimester. ;)