Long time no blog...can you guess why...???

 I'm sure you guessed it.  Yes, I am throwing up multiple times a day PREGNANT! 
We found out we were expecting again in October, so I am due in July.  We are very excited and feel super blessed, especially since we lost our last pregnancy back in July this summer.  And let me just say, having a miscarriage under your belt does not make the 1st trimester any easier.  My poor husband and close friends have listened to every worry in the book, it has been hard.
A couple of days before my first ultrasound, I started spotting, and it started out exactly like the miscarriage did.  I just KNEW it was over, and I could not believe it was happening again.  It started happening in the evening, so the next morning my sweet nurse got me in asap to see what was going on.  I went straight to ultrasound, and I was ready to see nothing there but an empty sac...I was fully prepared, ready to ask my doctor questions about tests for my early losses, etc.
So, we saw the sac and she said it looked good but not to get my hopes up, that I was exactly at 6 weeks and it may be too early to see anything just yet, even if everything was okay. She kept looking and measuring and I saw it, A DOT.  Oh how I loved seeing that dot!  She pointed it out and told me it was the baby and she was glad she could see it; she continued to measure and as she was measuring I saw this little flicker inside the dot, and I knew immediately what it was!  A heartbeat!!  My dot had a flicker, I could not believe it!  She noticed it too, and we were able to hear it on the ultrasound machine.  It was only 104 bpm but she said that was really normal for being just barely 6 weeks.
I went on to see my doctor and he confirmed that everything was looking right on track, but went ahead and checked my progesterone levels.  Sure enough, they came back low, so I am now on a progesterone supplement through the 1st trimester.  This was the reason for the spotting.

I thought I knew it all, and I am so happy I was totally wrong.  I knew it was over, I told myself I knew my body and I knew exactly what was happening and it was over...again.  But, God had other plans.  He very lovingly showed me that day that I do not know it all : ) HE does.

Today we had our second appointment.  I am 10 weeks 1 day and baby is measuring 10 weeks 2 days with a heart rate of 162 bpm.  Little one was sleeping most of the ultrasound (yay, maybe I have another good sleeper!!...my friends will hate me!), but did start kicking its little legs around at the end.  I am in love.

Onto the next pregnancy subject.  I am SICK.  I prayed for this, I asked for it, I wanted my head in the toilet and buddy I got it.  I am now down 7 lbs and on my second prescription of nausea medicine.  I thought it was hard working and being sick with Carter, but now that I don't work (in an office that is) I have discovered it has been quite challenging being sick and responsible for a 2 year old.  Oh how I count down those minutes until nap time!  Every second of nap is cherished...on the couch, with my head on the pillow.
One really odd symptom I have had with this pregnancy that I didn't have with Carter is feeling like I have a fever.  Weird, right?  It's not like I'm hot or anything, but you know how you feel when you have a fever?  You just feel really bad all over and you can't really say "this hurts" or "that hurts", you just have a bad all over feeling?  Well, I have had that with this pregnancy and it has been rough.  I go to bed every night at 9:00 on the dot, and I usually fall asleep on the couch the hour before.
Well, enough of the complaining, please know that I am ever so grateful for this pregnancy and if this is what it takes to get another precious one here, I'll suffer through it.  But, I don't have to enjoy this part, do I?


Here is a laundry list of things I have learned this pregnancy:

1. I have discovered it is much easier to throw up while sitting on Carter's potty stool.  It puts you the perfect height above the toilet and it much more comfy than sitting on the tile floor with your mouth directly above the area where your husband misses the hole. If you are pregnant and sick, I would definitely say it would be worth the purchase!

2.  Chad can only handle approximately 5 weeks of a dirty bathroom; then he has HAD IT and will halfway clean it.  I enjoyed throwing up in a clean toilet this morning- thanks HUN!

3.  Contrary to what others may believe, Vlassic Dill Pickles really are not as bad coming up as you would think they would be....but apples ARE.  Go figure.

4.  Drinking Ginger-ale is really only good for about a week and a half.  Then it makes me nauseous to even think about it.

5.  I have wished to Chad several times for a feeding tube that goes directly into my stomach, so as to by pass my mouth so I don't have to taste any food.

6.  When I'm sick, nobody has any clean underwear.

7.  The sight of Christmas decorations makes me nauseous.

8.  I have never wanted my husband to have an off day so bad in my life.  I have cried numerous times when he leaves for work.  He is just so darn helpful!

9.  If you ask me how I'm feeling you will probably get an earful.  It is an outlet for me and makes me feel better to say how crappy I feel : )

10. The way that I say I feel is not equal in anyway to how thankful I am.
       Illustration:  My Complaining (not equal to) My thankfulness
(I wanted to do an equals sign with a line through it, but I don't have one of those on my keyboard- I would have put more effort into it, but I'm feeling sick right now)

There you have it folks, the top 10 things I have learned so far this pregnancy.  I'm sure there will be MUCH more to come : )  Especially if my nausea continues.

You have made it to the end of my post, yay!  So you are now rewarded with pictures.

6 weeks 1 Day...our DOT with a FLICKER.



10 Weeks 1 Day
 
 

Whew.

It has been a whirlwind the last week!  Last weekend we said goodbye to our first home and hello to our new (more spacious) second home.  Well...not sure I would call it goodbye, considering we still own the first house.  We have had our cute little home on the market for about a year and half and it became completely obvious to us it was not going to sell anytime soon.  Unless you have had your head in a hole for the last couple of years you know that the housing market sucks stinks right now : )  Not too many people are in the market for a 1,000 square foot home at the moment. Yeah, we're not in the market for one either, so I guess I can't really blame anyone.
After giving the house a fair amount of time on the market, we knew it was time to consider renting it out.  It's funny because even thinking about being a Landlord used  to make us nauseous, but one day we both just seemed to have a weird peace about it.  Chad and I had decided to completely commit ourselves to prayer for God's Will with our situation.  We prayed together and we prayed separately for guidance for our family.  We by NO MEANS wanted to become "landlord's" without being under the umbrella of the Lord's protection.  And we knew we were guaranteed that protection by being right in the center of His Will.  We prayed if it was His Will that the process would go easy and without glitch and He would make the provisions we needed to get things started.  Our first step was to get our house out there for rent.  On Craig's List it went at 9pm on a Wednesday night.  By Thursday at 12 pm we already had 2 people coming to look at the house that evening!  The first renter to walk in the door loved it and was very anxious to get the house.  Chad and I both had a huge peace about her and felt so confident that we called her later that night to let her know she could rent the house. 
Now onto the next step, finding a new house!  We had narrowed the house list down to a handful we wanted to go and look at.  There was one house in particular that just stood out to us and Chad let me go and look at that one first, while he was out of town that weekend. It was perfect and every box on my list was checked.  He told me if I liked it to put an offer in...and I did!   They soon countered back with a reasonable offer that we accepted.  Our next obstacle was the tricky process of getting approved for a 2nd mortgage when you already have 1 mortgage.  Praise the Lord, we were approved and we closed in 17 days.  Chad said that is the quickest he has ever seen a closing happen at the bank.
It is the absolute best feeling to know that our family is in the center of God's Will.  It is a very free feeling!  It was incredible to watch God work as we went through the whole process and to see everything just fall into place.  I love that the Lord cares about the intricate details of our lives.  He cared that we were busting at the seams in our last house, and He cared that Carter was running out of room to play the bigger he got, He cared that he had no place to ride his toys outside, and that our closets were overflowing.  I cannot tell you enough how perfect this new house is for us, it is everything we have wanted and needed in a home.
Also, what a great distraction this has been from my miscarriage I had last month.
We bring all of our thanks and praise to our God because He made it all possible and we would not have had the faith to step out of the boat without His promises.

"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

Bye, Bye Sweet Home....

Hello New Home!!

Let me also mention that we are on a culdesac with a huge flat driveway and we have a downstairs playroom.  I love that HE cares and shows us His love in so many different ways in our lives.  I pray that our family will always reflect the goodness of His provision in our lives.

I hope to soon add a few more pictures of the inside as we get everything decorated and painted.

Finished!

I finally got the room finished!!  It has been done for a while for the most part but I had not finished the letters to go on his wall.  So once those were done I finally got to take pictures.  Here is a view of the room from the hallway...don't you just love it?

Here is a view of the dresser

Picture frames just for him : )

This is his lamp I found at the Thrift Store for around $6 and bought a new shade and spray painted the base

 Shelf for bags

Book ends $1.30 at the Thrift Store!

All in all it turned out really cute and CHEAP! Now I won't feel bad redecorating his room again when he gets a little older, because everything I found was such a good deal.  In the future, we plan to get him his own nice set of furniture to take with him when he leaves, but for now, all of this will do just fine.

I think I speak for everyone when I say it is time for Fall to be rolling in.  We are tired of being stuck in the house and sweating when we walk to the mailbox.  Although, Alabama seems to just have Summer and Winter...and barely has a Spring or Fall...but at this point in time I will take the cooler weather.  I'm done with a tan, done with swimming, done with shorts, just DONE.

There have been a few new things going on around here...one of them being we found out that we were expecting baby #2 a few weeks ago.  From the beginning I didn't feel very confident in the light pregnancy test lines and I really felt quite normal, which worried me.  By the time I hit 4.5 weeks with Carter I was throwing my toenails up.  Now, I know "every pregnancy is different" and I kept trying to tell myself that and stay positive but it just didn't feel right.  Everyday there were times when I even had to remind myself that I was pregnant because I would forget- it was crazy!  So, I was not surprised (yet still heartbroken) when I miscarried last weekend.  Really?  Did it have to happen on a weekend?  I got into my OBGYN on Monday and after getting some blood drawn we got definite confirmation that it was an early miscarriage at 5 weeks.  It is such an emotional thing to miscarry, you pretty much have to grieve, like you do any loss.  At first I didn't want to talk about it, I didn't want anyone to ask me any questions, I wanted to be by myself, in my house, with Chad and Carter and that was IT.  As the week has gone on though, I have found myself getting back to normal and I haven't minded talking about it at all.  I will say one thing though, I'm sure the farther you are along the harder it is to deal with...obviously.  Not that I didn't already love this baby, but it would have been much harder had I been planning or thinking about this little one for more than a week, had seen the heartbeat, or even felt them move.  So I have thanked God for His mercy and that he took this little one sooner rather than later and I can't wait to meet them one day!  We are trusting our Father and his unfailing love for us, that He knew best.  It also makes me realize how much more precious a healthy child is, and I am blessed to have Carter to hold in my arms as a reminder of that.  It is hard that when you find out you're pregnant, you are not guaranteed a baby in your arms after 40 weeks.  Of course, there are no guarantees in life are there? Despite that, we are continuing in faith to pray for the blessings of another healthy little one in the future!

This verse has given me great comfort this week:

"But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord's praise for he has been good to me!"  Psalm 13:5-7

Life happens and God is still Good.

A sneak peek...

Almost 6 months in the making, we have finally put this boy in his big boy room!  It is still a work in progress (decorating wise), so I am only giving a sneak peek until it is completely done.  I guess I forgot that it is a lot of work and $$ to re-do a room!  Despite the our fears, he did WONDERFUL his first night in a big bed.  He is so thrilled about his new room and is in love with it.  I must say, I did get a little misty eyed taking that crib down, but once it was out of the room I was over it and excited to get the new furniture in.  We bought an old dresser off Craig's List for $25.  It needed re-finishing, so we sanded it down and painted it black.  The handles on the dresser were pretty old, but we liked the look of them with the black paint, so we decided to keep them.  Here is a look at the finished dresser:

As for the bed, we were able to find someone that was getting rid of the same platform bed that we wanted to buy from Big Lots.  The only problem was, it was white...so we painted it black to match the dresser.  It has 2 great storage drawers in the bed...love!  Here is a finished picture of the bed with his new comforter.  Excuse the wrinkles, it is fresh out of the bag :)

Here is the color inspiration for his room...2 canvases I painted a few months back.  These 2 lovelies hang at the head of little man's bed.  As soon as he saw them he started naming all the colors, "bloos, geen, orangey!" HA.  I love the big canvas, it was probably the most challenging thing I have ever painted, and I am quite surprised it turned out so well.  Unfortunately, I didn't come up with the idea for the painting myself...I found one online that is similar and I tried my best to freehand it.

Next up, I created Carter his very own cork board.  I bought the initial letters at Michaels, and that is also where I found the four 12' by 12' cork panels for $12.99.  I painted the letters the same blue paint found in his canvases, and I sponge painted the orange polka dots around the edges.  I had an old sponge paint brush in my craft box, so I just ripped it off the handle and cut me a nice circle and went to town : )

I laid the four peices of cork on the floor and hot glued the letters in the middle to hold them together.  I found the giant green push pins at Wal-Mart for only $3!  Now I can start hanging his creations.

 We had this shelf already hanging in his nursery for his diaper bags. The plan was to go ahead and take it down, and it would go with the nursery furniture for the next little one. Well, the screws were stripped out and we couldn't get it off the wall, so plan B was put into action and we painted it to match the furniture. I am really glad we did because we can hang coats and his bookbags on it. All we have on it for now is books and a 'C' painted black. I am planning on decorating this a lot more, so I will have to repost pictures soon.

The room is not finished, so I will have to re-post when I have decorated everything (which won't be too long because I can't stand and unfinished project).  But here are some pictures below of Carter enjoying his new room!

 Looking at his canvases

 Jumping!

Practicing "night, night"

(How ugly is that safety rail, right? Luckily its easily removable.)

 #1

 Reading before bed

 Right before bedtime the first night



Smarty Pants

These pictures are of our recent trip to the beach, we had a great time, and it was fun to go in May before it got too hot! 
Carter's language skills are blossoming at a rapid rate, and we love hearing him talk...even though he has learned "hush" and " stop it"....wonder where he heard those ; )
He also knows almost all of his basic colors and announces them proudly whenever he sees them.  His favorite color is green and he makes sure I know when something is any shade of green.  Orange is "orangey", yellow is "yellos", and blue is "bloos". 
We are working on counting to 10 and he counts 2, 5, 7, 8, and 9 with you.  He also knows that 5 is your 5 fingers on one hand held up.
He can talk in sentences now, although some of them are pretty choppy, but we know what he means!  The poor guy gets in "trouble" for whining now, because we know he can now tell us what he actually wants instead of whining for it ; )
For some reason he talks about apples all day long, and I have no idea why!  I just nod and agree with him. 
He can point out circles, and I think I heard him today talking about a square.

My prayer lately has been for the Lord to show me little ways of how I can teach my 2 year old about Him.  I know he is young, and I'm really not sure how much of what I'm saying makes sense, but I'm praying some of it sticks : ) While the matters of what school he attends, what sports he may play, and what degree he may choose are all important, I have decided my number one priority as a parent will be to teach him of Christ.  If I keep those things secondary, I know they will fall into place as long as I teach him Christ first.

All Things BUZZ...

      We have entered into the age of movie/character obsession!  "BUZZ" is what I hear at least 2 to 3 times an hour.  Can you guess which movie Buzz is from?....You got it, Toy Story...all 3 of them.  Chad and I can now quote the majority of Toy Story.  Currently we have Toy Story and Toy Story 2 recorded on DVR and Grandma and Grandpa are getting Toy Story 3 for his Easter basket from them.  He received the full size Buzz doll (or action figure) at his 2nd birthday party from Chad's Aunt.  He wasn't too interested in it at first, he just liked to push the buttons and that was about the extent of it....well I decided to introduce him to the Toy Story movies and Buzz became an instant favorite.  When it's time to go bye bye, Carter immediately grabs Buzz by the arm and heads for the door.  We drag him down the sidewalk and into the car where he proceeds to pitch a fit while I remove it from his grasp to buckle him up.  He quickly receives Buzz back in his arms for the ride, and Carter greets him with an ecstatic "Buzz!".  Buzz goes to Wal-Mart, the mall, restaurants, Mom and Pop's house, etc.  Let me tell you, this toy has THE life! He is starting to become more interested in Woody and is working on saying his name.  Right now it just sounds like "woooyie", but we know what he means : )
So, the Easter Bunny might be surprising us with a Woody doll in a few short weeks.

Here Carter is getting Buzz at his 2 year old birthday Party...

Here is a picture of Carter loving all things Buzz...hat, shirt, and action figure!
(excuse the poor quality, this was taken with my phone)

Elmo, or "Elpo" as Carter calls him, is also a favorite and he loves Sesame Street.  I love that because I LOVED Sesame Street when I was little!  I remember watching it at home everyday while my Mom stayed at home with me, so I'm glad to watch it at home with my little one while I stay at home with him : )

I love strolling through the store and hearing an occasional "Elpo" or "Buzz" come out of Carter's mouth...that usually means he has spotted them somewhere.

Although it is bittersweet to watch your baby grow up, it is so much fun to go through all these stages with him! I wouldn't have it any other way.

Big Boy room in progress...

 I am beginning the process of transforming Carter's nursery into a Big Boy room!  I am so excited about it, but of course it's bitter sweet...as it is for any Mommy.  Before I inform you on the details, I haven't done an update on what little man has been doing.  As you know, he is now my big 2 year old now...we had his checkup and he is a whopping 25lbs : ) and 34 inches long.  He is in the 15th percentile for weight and over 40th percentile for height.  She was quite pleased with his weight gain because he used to be in the 9th percentile! My sweet little skinny boy.  When we got to the pediatrician I was surprised with all new paperwork to fill out (always fun with a toddler in tow) and a sheet I had to fill out that quizes me on how he is developing (language, motor skills, etc.).  I'm ashamed to admit, I reverted back to my college days and got a little nervous before I started, ha!  Dr. Webster graded my paper and said he was right on track with all of his development.  Here are a few newer things he has picked up in the last month:

Says:
What you doin'?
Owey
KK
Let's Go!
Alright!
Elmo (sounds like Elpo)

He also has to say "Hey" to everyone he sees in the store, and he continues to say hey until you say hey back.  So if you see us in the store, PLEASE say HEY to my toddler!  He has now started to ask strangers "What you doin'?"...and they have to explain what they are doing to him...then he is satisfied.  Sorry to the lady in KFC that had to explain to him that she was in line waiting to order, ha!  He is a mess. I love him.

Anyways, back to the Big Boy room.  Now, this is a work in progress...meaning I am gathering items over the next month or so, that way I can complete it all at once.  An unfinished project drives me nuts, I need immediate satisfaction when I am putting new decor together.  I can't handle the unfinishedness of it and having to wait to see what the outcome will look like.
Okay, here is my theme: "Snips, and snails and puppy dog tails, that's what little boys are made of".
After looking around on the internet a little I realized that a lot of people do their little boy's nursery in this, but I have also seen some big boy rooms with this same nursery rhyme as the focal point.  Along with the nursery rhyme, snails and puppies will accent.  I painted this canvas today as a guide for the colors I want to use.  The canvas will have a place on the wall when I am finished.

I am going to give credit to the original artist on this one.  It is so cute.  I got the idea for this painting from a print from Kate Mawdsley.  I thought I could easily re-create it for Carter's bedroom and I think it came out pretty cute.

This is the spread I am looking at getting for his bed.  It is from Target and only $17.99 for a twin size.  I am quite certain this will be what we end up with.  I like the idea of just a solid color.

Here is the bed we are getting.  It is a platform bed and I like the idea because it is low to the ground and has the storage drawers underneath.  It also only requires a matress and not a box spring and Daddy likes that idea because less $$ for him!  I am planning on pushing it up against a wall and using a toddler rail at first.  This way I am hoping it won't be so traumatic for the little guy and he will still feel safe and enclosed.  If you know my child, you know he LOVES his crib.  He goes straight to it when he is sleepy and looks through the bars waiting on me to lift him in....so you can imagine I am a little bit nervous to eventually move him.

The wall color will be a neutral Khaki color, so hopefully everything with bright colors will POP.  I am also planning on doing another larger canvas with the "What Little Boys are Made of" nursery Rhyme painted on it.
He will have his own cork board, possibly custom made by Mommy, for him to hang his creations on.

That is about as far as I have gotten in the process...so stay tuned for updates and pictures of the finished product!