{19 weeks}

One week from today, we will get to catch a glimpse of our little peanut on an ultrasound screen.  I'm incredibly excited and also a little nervous.  I just always tend to hold my breath until I hear them say "everything looks great" and I pray that's what we'll hear next week.

I have had some really good days this past week and it's amazing how much it has uplifted my spirits.  I really can't remember what "normal" feels like anymore, but at least I have had glimpses of it recently.  I am still vomiting a couple times a week, but at least it isn't knocking me out for the entire day.  I seem to be able to bounce back a bit more quickly.  And I can't remember the last time I took a Zofran, so that is encouraging.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving in a couple days, I'm so grateful for starting to feel better because we are going to have a very busy month leading up to Christmas.  We are traveling home for Thanksgiving and then the following week Teirney has a week long (or more) trial in Madison, so Kaydence and I will be staying with my sister there to pass the time.  Then my mom will be coming to town for a week after that, and then it's Christmas.  I'm not sure when I'll get any Christmas shopping done...I'm foreseeing some Amazon purchases in my future. ;-)

Here is my 19 week belly pic.

And now for some sap.  I feel so, so blessed and since it's Thanksgiving week, there is no better time to reflect on all of our blessings, right?

I sometimes just look at my husband and daughter and think I am so undeserving to have such love in my life.  They love me unconditionally.

When I'm moody, lazy, sick, and walk around in my pajamas all day with bedhead hair...they still love me (even though today, Kaydence did tell me my hair looked like a dragon lol).

When there are still lunch dishes on the counter when my husband comes home from work at night and the house looks like a tornado tore through it...my husband still loves me and utters not a word.

When my emotions get the better of me and I don't handle a situation the way I would have liked...they still love me.  Case in point, the other day, Kaydence started throwing her lunch on the floor and I got short with her.  Afterward, she started asking me, "mommy are you happy?"  I told her "no, kaydence, I'm not happy."  She burst into tears asking me over and over "mommy are you happy, are you happy...I just want you to be happy."  I finally told her I was happy because it was the only thing that made her stop crying.  It tore me up and I had to leave the room for a minute while I burst into tears.  It made me realize how silly it was for me to be so upset about something so trivial and how much my attitude really affected her.  It broke my heart.

I could go on and on about how grateful I am for my two loves and how they shower me with their unconditional love everyday, but that wouldn't be very interesting to most of you. ;-)  I will just hold those things close to my heart and remain eternally grateful for all of the blessings God has given me.

And did I mention, Teirney is the most incredible father?  I hope one day Kaydence will realize how blessed she is to have such a loving daddy.

I love you both to pieces! xoxo

{18 weeks}

I feel like there may be light at the end of the morning sickness tunnel.  I can't remember the last time I took a Zofran and my "bad days" are getting fewer and farther between...yay!  Of course, that has been replaced with all the seasonal illness going around.  It seems like Kaydence and I just keep swapping it back and forth.  She is battling a cold/cough right now and I'm hoping she doesn't lovingly pass it on to me.

I've been feeling the baby a lot more.  Believe it or not, I felt the first little twitches (as I like to call them) when I was 13 weeks.  Then around 15 weeks I actually started feeling some taps and rolls and its continued ever since.  :-)

Kaydence is still doing great in her big girl room.  It's as if she has slept in there her entire life.  I am constantly amazed at how well she handles such life changing transitions.  I trust she will handle the transition into big sisterhood equally as well.

Here is my 18 week belly pic.  To be fair, I feel like I look bigger in this photo than I really am in real life, but maybe that's all in my head (hehe).  It's really hard to take a side profile photo of yourself. ;-)

{16.5 weeks}

It's hard to believe I'm already 16.5 weeks!  I had my 16 week appointment this past Tuesday and scheduled my 20 week ultrasound for November 29.  I'm getting really excited about it.  We are planning on finding out the gender (as long as baby cooperates), but we're hoping the ultrasound technician will put it in a sealed envelope for us.  We're hoping to plan a little get together with family and some friends where we can all find out together.  The original plan was to take the envelope to a bakery to have the bake a cake with either blue or pink filling and to cut the cake at the get together.  The only trouble is, it's proving a little difficult to find a time when all of our family can be there, so I'm not sure if it's all going to work out yet.

My appointment went well.  My blood pressure has been really low, which has been a shock, since I've always been in the 120/60 range (or higher at times).  It was 100/68 at my appointment on Tuesday and it has been in the same range at my last couple appointments as well...it's interesting.

Well, I wasn't sure if I would be able to bring myself to do it, but here is my first belly pic.  I look about the same here as I did when I was 20 weeks with Kaydence. lol  This photo is a little bit of an optical illusion, so you may have to look closely to figure it out.  It's still tripping me up and I'm the one who took it.  hehe