{they played, they laughed, they loved}

The other day I met up with my photographer friend, Alauna of Alauna Peterson Photography,  for a little photoshoot with our kidlets.  We have always been fascinated by the uncanny resemblance of our little curly haired blondies through photos and have been meaning to get together with each other for awhile now.  This was our first time meeting in person and we had such a fun time watching these two little "twins" interact with one another.

It was beautiful weather and the perfect time of day.  We met at a State Park, which was apparently closed for some reason.  But we found a trail with some beautiful light that worked out just fine.  Alauna posted some of her photos on a photography forum we are both on and she got some really adorable captures too!  She also took the most adorable video of them laughing, which I'll post below.



I seriously can't handle the cuteness of these two together, so without further ado, the twins! ;-)

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I had to get one of them together without Kaydence's glasses on for a true comparison. :-)

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{pretty fall light}

The beautiful light the other day inspired me to dust off my camera, go for a little drive, and bribe my daughter with "fruity snacks." ;-)  These are nothing spectacular -- mommy shots more than anything else, but it did feel good to pick up my camera again.  I'm feeling very rusty and uninspired these days.  BUT, I'm hoping that will change as I'm starting to have some days where I feel *almost* normal.  They are usually followed by days where I feel completely awful, but at least I'm starting to have some good days, so I'm grateful for that.

I am 15 weeks today!  My belly (and belly button) has officially popped.  I'm not sure when/if I'll be doing belly pics like I did when I was pregnant with Kaydence, but I'll probably post a couple here and there every so often. :-)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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{our growing family}

Kaydence helped paint her "big girl room" this past weekend and she left a little message for everyone!

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That's right, our family is growing by two feet!!! :-) Some of you may have been wondering where I've been (or not...hehe), since my posting has been non-existent lately. Well, now I can finally spill the beans and hope you all understand why I've been MIA!

I have been really sick again with this pregnancy and I have barely enough energy to get out of bed in the morning and make sure Kaydence gets three meals a day, so I have had no motivation to whip my camera out lately. I'm hoping I'll start feeling a little better soon (before all the pretty leaves fall off the trees), so I can get out and take some more photos...I'm feeling a little rusty and unmotivated these days. Its been equally sad that I haven't been able to get out much and enjoy this gorgeous Indian Summer we've been having.

I got my BFP (big fat positive) on August 3.
 

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It came as quite a surprise since it was the first month we had started "trying." In the back of my mind, I thought it would take at least a few months, since it took us four months to get pregnant with Kaydence. But I'm not going to lie, I was hoping for an April or May baby, so I was pleasantly surprised and excited that it happened when it did. We are very excited and nervous as you can imagine. :-)

I am 13 weeks today and my due date is April 16, 2012! I started feeling sick around 6 weeks and it hasn't let up since. I was really sick with Kaydence too, but I wasn't working at the time and I could literally lay around on the couch or stay in bed all day if I wanted to, so the sickness was tolerable. But now that I have Kaydence to take care of, its been really difficult. I finally broke down and asked for Zofran from my midwife. It has helped a ton! I literally couldn't function before that and even though I still don't feel the greatest while taking Zofran, I'm at least not in the bathroom all day hovered over a toilet. :-)

My mom came and stayed with me for a week to help me out and that was wonderful, but it was hard to see her leave! I'm trying to convince her to come live with me. ;-)

We are planning on finding out the sex, which will be in about 7 weeks at my 20 weeks appointment. The plan right now is to have the ultrasound tech write the sex down in an envelope that we can take to a baker to have them bake a cake with pink or blue filling. Then we want to have a party with family and friends and find out the sex with everyone when we cut the cake. We're not sure if it will all work out due to the fact that it will probably be December before we could have the party and everyone's availability is usually limited that month, so we will see.

I had my first appointment at what I thought was 8 weeks, but they did an ultrasound and I was actually only 7 weeks at the time. My blood pressure has been really good this time around, which is encouraging. And according to my labs, my TSH levels must be fine, since they haven't mentioned anything to me, so I'm happy about that as well. I do not miss going to the endocrinologist like I needed to when I was pregnant with Kaydence.

I had my 12 week appointment last week Tuesday and I got to hear the heartbeat for the first time. Kaydence got to hear it too. She is very excited about being a big sister and loves to talk and sing to her little brother or sister...she gives lots of hugs and kisses too....it melts my heart!

I will try to scan the ultrasound photos later and will post them below.

This is what is going on inside my belly this week (taken from www.babycenter.com).

Fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head — which makes up just a third of her body size now. If you're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. Your baby is almost 3 inches long (the size of a medium shrimp) and weighs nearly an ounce. Week 13