11 weeks

Happy to say that I have been morning sickness free for about 6 days in a row!!!! ( can you hear the Hallelujah Chorus?... it's there, trust me!)
However, the first trimester wanted to go out with a bang because last night, right before dinner, I almost lost it!!!!!
I'm actually not sure if it was the pregnancy talking or that I could be fighting off what Asher had....
Either way, I got to spend the first part of dinner laying on the bathroom floor!


I am starting to feel like myself again... and thank goodness for that! Not as many weeping wailing fits, and finally getting some energy for the day.

Rich's sister Kimberly gets to find out if little jellybean is a boy or girl next week and I am so excited for them!!!

No cravings much this week, but have eaten almost a whole jar of pickles! Give em to me sour or sweet!!
Now that I have a little more energy I am trying to get outside more and do some fun things with Asher while I can. Thankfully the 2nd trimester will be in the best weather for that!!!!
Sorry about the short post, not really in the mood to sit on the computer! Yeehaw!!!!!!!!
Still having a very hard time with names here. I guess when we find out what this little pickle is, is when we'll really get down to business!
So GOOD BYE first trimester!!!!!!!!!!!

10 weeks... and random thoughts

I can say that this week has been better.
I think as I am creeping to the 2nd trimester mark, I am slowly but surely getting more energy and feeling better. I all have to do is remember to keep a little something in my stomach.



I have found that it is a little hard to be able to wait so long in between appointments this time around. I think when you have a child already and you can continuously know that they are fine and well, well you want to do that with the other one too. I would love to be able to see and hear this little pickle's heart each and every day. But I guess that is where I have to let my Heavenly Father have that control.

I am getting excited to be able to kiss and snuggle a little baby again... and see big brother do the same.
We have the pleasure to be able to spend time with our sweet Palmer Puddin and she is now almost 2 months old! Just can't hardly believe that it has already been that long since she blessed this world.
I love to watch Asher with her.... it's funny.... he loves her so very much, and you can see it in his eyes and when he talks to her or about her. But, he is a 3 year old, excitable boy and so each visit comes with lots of "No, Asher don't push her head back", or "No, Asher please don't poke her eyes out". 
This little pickle is gonna have to be tough!
My gut keeps going back to this one being another boy, but I know how different this pregnancy has been, so I can't rule out that it could be a girl.


I am really longing for fall, which is already my FAVORITE time of year. I think of fall as a time to be able to go outside and play without worrying about sunburn, mosquitoes, and heat exhaustion!
Craft festivals, good apples, spices, smells, fall leaves in the cool breeze, scarves and sweaters....

I have honestly contemplated going in the attic and bringing down my fall decor already.
I don't know if you are like me, but my house is so pretty and decorated from Oct through January and the rest of the year it just seems too plain.

With school starting and seeing all the kids going back to school, it makes me very nostalgic. I LOVED the first days of school! I loved how all my pencils and crayons were untouched, perfect, and organized. I remember always cringing a bit when I had to use them for the first time. I love school, I love being able to do tasks and learn new things. I have been thinking about what it is I would like to do after all my kiddos are in school and this Mama needs something to do....
I would love to be able to go back to school and do something more on my creative side. I would love to do art or even an elementary librarian. 
Ah well... time will tell.
Until then, I can live vicariously though my babies and read and paint with them!!!

Nesting already?....!?

It must be my hormones peaking again.....
I have been so moody and weepy and angry, and as you can probably tell, I'm not the most fun to be around.
I think that I pinpointed why.....
I have felt so out of control lately. I can't control how I feel (both physically and emotionally), or how I look... and it just has started to make me a little crazy.
I've admitted it before, I'll admit it again.. I'm a bit of a control freak.
I am really tired of feeling junky... both literally and figuratively.
I'm sick and tired of people telling me how sick and tired I look! Doesn't any one know you're not supposed to tell and sick and tired pregnant lady that!
So... after taking about enough of it as I could have taken, I took action.
I wanted to control something....I NEEDED to control something... and it just happened to be in my linen closet and Asher's clothes bins.
I got on a rampage. I opened the closet and just started crying and throwing everything out of it. Every piece of paper, every blanket, every towel. I refolded everything and took a whole garbage bag FULL of stuff I was sick of to send to a garage sale.  I was getting the clutter OUT!
Of course after that, I had to lay on the couch and veg because of the amount of energy I had just exerted by crying and throwing things.
I had built up enough stress that only something like that was going to be enough to get it all out.. for the day, anyways.
The next morning, I woke up before anyone... and for some reason... I had that itch again.
I started thinking about the abundance of clothes that I needed to go through of Asher's and that I really needed to get the fall stuff picked and sorted.

"I am the queen of this domain!"

So, I spent over 2 hours sorting and organizing 4 bins of clothes and shoes until I finally had it where I needed them.
It was very rewarding... and although I still have 2 baskets full of laundry that has yet to be done, I feel like I accomplished something big.
Or at least big enough for a sick and tired of being sick and tired pregnant lady.

9 weeks

9 weeks.....
Each week brings it's own challenges and triumphs.
This week was super busy... either Rich or I had something EVERY night!
I am a person who thrives in routine, so I will be very glad to get back to normal school year activities and know what to expect each week.


Symptoms this week:  Thankfully the sickness has subsided a bit.. that is, if I don't get hungry. Once I go too long without eating is when I start to feel yucky. Still very tired... though when Asher does take a nap I sleep with him. If he doesn't I try to have some rest time while he watches a movie for an hour. Still sore things...:)



Weight Gain / Cravings : Pasta House salad.. with pimentos and artichokes! We ate there for a date night out and then I got the stuff to make it at home! Cravings are also fading.. and I will be glad when eating is enjoyable again.  I don't think I've gained much yet other than fluid, though I still feel like a barn!

Worries / Anxieties :  This week has been ok... though a spike in my hormones have made me a little weepy. Every time I see or hear about the drought and famine in Africa I just bawl and squall. But I would probably do that even if I wasn't pregnant. See here.  Something about welcoming a new baby puts into perspective that your other baby isn't a baby anymore... got a little sentimental and sad thinking about how much Asher has grown.


Goals for the week: Try to do a little more cooking... now that I am feeling better I've been in the mood to bake! I think my longing for Fall will bring us some cinnamon raisin and banana bread. Maybe even try my hand at some honey butter for it!!  I love Fall!!!

With a broken heart...

As I am watched the radar on the 10 o'clock news, I opened an email from World Vision. It was a story from a World Vision global editor. She had been a journalist to Kenya for at least 5 years, where there is horrible drought and heat.  Her story was about a 3 year old boy named Ibrihim, who died the day she was in his village. They were digging his little child sized grave when she arrived. There are so many Somalians taking refuge in Kenya and there is just not enough food and clinic help to accommodate them all. Little Ibrihim was so weak from no food and water that he didn't survive the trip to the clinic to help save him.
We received a letter from our precious sponsor child, Jimmy, asking us to pray for his land. He said that it is so dry and hot that all their crops are dying.  While I think that Jimmy and his family will stay safe, there are so many that are starving and their livestock and crops are dying as well. 
Reading this and seeing the rain move in and the welcomed break from the heat that we have been blessed with, I can't help but be so sad. 
A little boy, Asher's age, with nothing to eat and because of that had to pay the ultimate price.
That seems so very unfair.
Please join me in praying desperately for this land....
They need rain, they need food... and so many other things.
Things that we take for granted everyday.
If you feel the call to donate here's a link to World Vision... there are so many ways!!!

Donate!

 “If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
   with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
¹⁰ and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
   and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
   and your night will become like the noonday.
¹¹ The LORD will guide you always;
   he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
   and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
   like a spring whose waters never fail.
¹² Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
   and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
   Restorer of Streets with Dwellings."

Isaiah 58:9-12

8 weeks

Again.. no picture.
Just imagine... big enough gut to wonder but not enough to ask.

Symptoms this week: More tired and sick, though Sunday and Monday were a bit better. Still have sore things... :)

Weight gain / Cravings: I think that my cravings and such have subsided a bit... actually losing my appetite a little. Nothing sounds just wonderful. I think what adds to this is after I eat whatever.. it never feels good later.

Worries / Anxieties: None really this week. I think that I am so tired my brain is focusing on the main needs....
Though still a little anxious about house stuff.

Accomplishments for the week:We saw our OB on Monday. Baby looks great... right on target with age. She did say that it looked as if 2 eggs were fertilized but only one grew. What ya think of that?... We could have had twins! Crazy. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little relieved!

Goals for the next week: A BUSY week on my hands.... Asher gets to spend the night with his cousins as well as Gma Lisa because of events that we have going on this week. Hopefully those nights I can spend a little more time in bed and catch up!
The 2 days he's with me... we are staying home! I need to do some laundry and chores that have been put off.
Also.. I have put a poll on here to guess if we are having a boy or a girl so be sure to vote what you think little pickle will be!

7 weeks

 So.. I know some sweet mommies post a picture of their bellies each week... and while I may do this with my shirt on... (my sweet boy  found comfort in my pregnant belly but totally wrecked havoc on it!) I'm not in the mood right now. I feel and look totally tent-ish and am in that period of not looking pregnant-- just FAT.
So, this week you just get text!

This week has been a little hairy.... We have had VBS at church and other than the days that I am working I was volunteering there. I was in charge of 1-2nd grade BOYS! That says it all!! No.. they were EXCEPTIONAL!!!! Asher was all out of whack and naps were much needed for everyone this week!!!


Symptoms this week: A little tired, followed by a little nauseous, then feeling good... and repeat.
I don't get "hungry".... I get cravings and then I get sick until I eat something. After there's something in my gut.. I'm fine. Certain things are very swollen and sore.. but I have men read this too... so I'll spare the details!

Weight gain / Cravings: Well, I am sure with how tight my clothes are fitting and what I have been craving that I have gained some already. Hopefully just a couple actual pounds and the rest is just fluid. I have craved lots of salty things like Cracker Jacks, chips, Coneys ( which on normal circumstances I DO NOT eat) and Japanese Food to things like Ranch Dressing and fresh fruits and veggies. I have eaten some serious tomatoes lately!!!!!!! Home Grown... period!

Worries / Anxieties: At times I have had the weight of the world on my shoulders... I am stressing about ever selling our house, I'm stressing about raising 2 children, I'm stressing about nursing and work... you name it.. I've worried about it this week!

Accomplishments for the week: Getting through our first prenatal appointment and blood draw... ( no dry heaves this time!!!!) to surviving a week of VBS! It was great to have a tired little boy who WANTED to take a nap.. even if it was just an hour!

Goals for the next week: Get good sleep, Slow down a lot to get back in the swing of things, "Try" not to give in to my junky food cravings.... I may just live on grapes and tomatoes! (BTW, does anyone know where I could buy home grown concord grapes?), Be better about chores... because of this week's craziness my poor husband had been doing more than his share of laundry and dishes. I'm just plum pooped!
Also, Grandma Lisa gets back this week on Thursday and we can't wait to shock her and tell her that she's gonna have 2 grandbabies in 6 weeks!!

II -Again!

Well... we have waited a little longer to announce, but we are pregnant... again.
After our miscarriage we realized that we are ready sooner than later to try for number 2!
Lo and behold we NEVER thought we would get pregnant the month after!
While we are very guarded about this one... we will get happy and really excited when we see that everything is fine and developing nicely.
I have felt pretty good other than bouts of fatigue and moodiness. I know they say that you show quicker with the 2nd and I believe it. I may just be retaining more water but I already feel like I look so big!
We welcome either boy or girl into our family in March of 2012!