I survived a boys slumber party

Barely! WHEW, what a night! I expected that the boys would be different than the girls, but I really had no idea what we were in for. We, or I should say the boys had a blast. From the minute they DANCED in the door I knew we were in for a high energy night.



Immediately the boys ran outside, and one kid was literally running around in circles in the backyard. And they started begging to go toilet papering, bon fire, dunes... anywhere but our home!



Dinner was ready, and I was amazed they ate 2 family size pizza's and a garlic bread pizza. Everyone declined the salad (the girls didn't even finish 1large pizza and we ran out of salad). The candy bowl that I had planned on refilling throughout the night was emptied in 10 minutes, and I quietly hid the bag of refills!

Sliding down the stairs was the hit. The girls asked permission and patiently went one at a time on their bottoms. The boys didn't even ask but were going down head first, one on top of the other. They laid their sleeping bags on the stairs to slide down on top of for a faster ride. A sprained finger and tears occurred doing this.

The boys were having fun, but I could not believe how crazy they were inside. Standing on the furniture, shaking soda cans, squeezing lids off of FULL water bottles, throwing candy... aghh anxiety is hitting all over again! What was kind of cute was my little brother was one of the boys spending the night and at the beginning I can tell he felt responsible to get the boys to calm down, and he seemed really nervous when they were spilling food and drinks. He got over it real quick when he realized that I wasn't freaking out about everything.

Jose took the boys to the park to run off some energy, and they came back a little bit calmer and ready for American Idol competition and movies. I went to sleep but Jose stayed up almost all night monitoring the boys!

We ended up taking a 5 hour nap the next day, and after some serious vacuuming, the only lasting evidence we have is a very scuffed up and dirty stair wall from the boys kicking off! I think the next boys slumber party we will have will be at a campground!

Spoiled!

We were gifted with an awesome baby gift basket from the Stuarts! I debated if it was too pretty to open yet, but soon the excitement of all it contained took over. It was like Christmas! Baby books that I already can tell will be favorites (at least to me!), stainless steel hi-tech bottles, pacifier sanitizer, organic clothes, burp clothes, blankets, onesies, and my belly belts just to name a few of the items!

Of course I had to put it away and add to our already growing supply of baby items! We have been so blessed with gifts already, and I get so excited when best friends mail bibs or teething toys! Our baby is so lucky!

14 weeks!

Woohoo! I am 14 weeks. Only need to do this amount of time 2 more times! Here is the updated belly picture. I see (and feel) a big difference!

My Belly Belts- pant extenders- are a life saver right now and an everyday fashion staple. I highly recommend them to all pregnant moms who don't fit in maternity clothes yet. Actually I recommend them to anyone who needs a little extra space in their pants. My dad and Jose have already requested my hand me downs!
Tonight we have our Sunday School boys spending the night. Eight pre-teen boys! Yikes! I have a feeling that this will be very different from the girls sleepover. Please Lord, no broken furniture or a stinky house!

Lucky for you no pictures!

After bragging that aside from mild nausea (and all those mild symptoms I wrote about last blog) I haven't been that sick, I got sick yesterday. All morning I had a headache that got progressively worse, and every now and then I had this feeling that I was going to throw up. I could barely drink my Jamba Juice I had for breakfast. I wanted to go home early but had some work commitments that I needed to finish up after lunch. Soooo... lunch time comes around and NOTHING sounds good. A co-worker took orders to pick up a BBQ lunch, and Jose ordered. I was sitting at my desk, making myself sick looking at the computer screen, when the co-worker drops the food off at my desk. My mouth and eyes start watering and I hold up my hand to the co-worker to warn her to back off, grab my trash can, and threw up! I feel better for a second so I send Jose a quick message that I need to leave because I just threw up. Then I realize I need to again. This time I get up to run to the bathroom and hear Jose yelling after me. I ignore him and continue racing to the bathroom.
Let me tell you. I hate throwing up. The only thing worse than throwing up is throwing up in a public bathroom. The only thing worse than throwing up in a public bathroom is throwing up in a public bathroom that has automatic toilet flushers. 'Nuff said.

So my sweet friend Gabby walks into the bathroom (I thought she was a gift from God because of her perfect timing, but turns out Jose had asked her to check on me) and offers to do my afternoon work for me so I can go home.

I went home and slept. And when I didn't sleep I laid on the couch. And when I wasn't sleeping or lying on the couch I went to Fresh and Easy.

I don't know if it was some weird 2nd trimester morning sickness or if I'm fighting a bug. I'd like to go with the fighting the bug option because it makes the most sense. Either way it was no fun, but it is a little hilarious- at least it is today- that the first time I throw up I happen to be surrounded by co-workers who witness it at my desk!

Progress

As promised, here are some pictures of the belly.

First at 8 weeks

Then at 12 weeks.

I'm thinking of nixing the whole staged picture posed thing because it is looking really awkward. But you get the idea. My pants don't button at all anymore, and more and more of my clothes are uncomfortable (which means I basically rotate the same few shirts over and over).

3 months!

I am three months pregnant! 1/3 (sorta) of the way there! In just a week I will be out of the first trimester which is very exciting! Our baby is done forming and now just has the job of growing and developing stronger organs. But everything is there! Our 2 1/2 inch baby is already the size of a plum!

I've realized my pregnancy is very "by the book." I mean I get every symptom the books say I may experience. And not only do I get all the symptoms, I get them at the exact week they are predicted to come! It's not that I read about the symptom and imagine it happens, I get the symptom and then a few days later I read about it. The great thing is I get all the symptoms very mildly so they are just friendly reminders that I'm pregnant! None of them have been horrible, and I think I can do this pregnancy thing at least a few more times!

So what are my symptoms?
First was back pain in week 5- 6. I was thinking what the hec?! My back never hurts and the baby didn't seem big enough to do anything. The doctor said it was "normal" but gave no explanation. Just last night I read that back pain in the first weeks is normal from hormones! Speaking of hormones, they caused my face to breakout and two mild crying spells for no reason.

I've also been slightly nauseous, ravenously hungry, bloated (and worse), and burp all the time! I was scared to weigh in at my last appointment because I've been eating so much more than normal, but THANK YOU JESUS only one more pound. Meaning only 2 pounds total in 11 1/2 weeks!

Another symptom is being soooo tired. I mean tired like I had been up for days- can't keep my eyes open- barely making it through the day-not wanting to get off the couch tired. The books say that it usually gets better by week 12, but a few kind friends informed me they were exhausted their entire pregnancy. I prayed that it would be true that it gets better at 12 weeks, and sure enough the last couple of days I've had more energy! I'm telling you I could write The Book.

The weekly pregnancy updates I get emailed to me describe me to a "T." Pot belly starting to show? I got it! Cramps when I get up to fast? Yup that's me! Blue veins visible on my chest and belly? Of course! Brown line appearing vertically down my stomach? Yes it's ALREADY starting to appear! Have to pee in the middle of the night? Ugh, yes! Gums bleed when brushing teeth? Every time! A few other symptoms that would qualify as TMI? Got those too!

It is all so exciting to me (except getting up to pee, I HATE that), and I am constantly amazed at what God has designed my body to do. On Monday we were able to hear our baby's heartbeat and just thinking of our perfect little baby makes me smile. And today marks the first day I have worn maternity pants! I've been wearing my pants unbuttoned for a few weeks, but yesterday my best fitting pants were extra snug and uncomfortable. Today I am so comfy wearing the pants my mom bought for me 2 months ago!

No pictures again, but I will try to post on Friday when I take my official 12 week picture. I'll even post the 8 week picture to compare!

Ten and a half weeks

We are already a quarter of the way towards having our baby in our arms! Yeah! According to the pregnancy websites I read every single day, this week our baby is the size of a prune or a kumquat (depending on the site I read) which is roughly 1 1/2 inches. I wish our baby could be compared to something appetizing and cute, like the little round apricot I ate for a snack earlier. Our baby has fingernails forming (Juno anyone??), peach fuzz growing, and can now bend his or her arms and legs!

As of Friday our baby has officially become a fetus (previously an embryo). Who cares about fancy terms? It's our BABY!! The coolest thing though about being a fetus is that our baby has all his/her necessary parts and will just continue to grow and strengthen in the next 29 1/2 weeks!


I have definitely noticed a ... ahem..."thickening" of my waist, and most of my pants are fitting pretty snug. Half of me is excited and can't wait to show, but the other half feels like I'm showing too soon and people will just think I'm fat. Who am I kidding, about 70% of me is excited, as evidenced by Jose catching me check out my belly in the reflection on the window.


In other news I am so grateful that I have not been sick. Lord knows that I HATE throwing up (thankfully it has only happened a handful of times my entire life) and was dreading morning sickness. The lack of morning sickness is made up for with the insane sleepiness I always feel. I feel so lazy (except this morning I at least walked 1.1 miles), and am ready to take a nap at any time (though rarely get to). Even though I'm always exhausted, our busy lives haven't slowed down. This weekend we spent a night at the lake, came home on the 4th and went to three parties! Talk about fun... and tiring!