18 weeks

How far along? 18 weeks

Total weight gain? 10 pounds

Maternity clothes? Not yet, but I did buy a few shirts that are loose around the bump.

Stretch marks? Still not yet

Sleep? Pretty good!

Best moment of this week? Feeling our baby boy move a lot more often

Things I miss? Not feeling huge in my work uniform

Movement? Yes! 

Cravings? Ice cream and sweets

Showing yet? Yes. But apparently still not very noticeable.

Gender? Boy! 

Labor signs? No

Belly button in or out? In

Looking forward to? Starting to decorate the nursery. We decided to do a mechanic shop theme. It's going to be so cute!

17 weeks

How far along? 17 weeks

Total weight gain? About 10 pounds. Boo double digits

Maternity clothes? No, but going to have to invest in at least some tops soon

Stretch marks? Nope. I'm lathering my belly up every night.

Sleep? Great, but starting to wake up more often in the middle of the night to use the bathroom.

Best moment of this week? Finding out the gender today!!!! And getting to see him move around. So precious!

Things I miss? No complaints this week.

Movement? Yes! 

Cravings? Ice cream and randoms

Showing yet? Yes, but still not noticeable to strangers 

Gender? Boy!!!!! We couldn't be more excited! Everyone was guessing a girl.

Labor signs? No

Belly button in or out? In

Looking forward to? Starting to buy boy things!!

His little hand in front of his face 

Side of his face

Side profile

It's a boy alright!

And his little hand

The pic I took and edited to announce the gender to Facebook 

                                 

16 weeks

How far along? 16 weeks

Total weight gain? About 9 pounds. Ugh

Maternity clothes? Not yet!

Stretch marks? Nope. I'm lathering my belly up every night.

Sleep? Eh it was okay this week. Had a hard time falling asleep. 

Best moment of this week? Finally feeling the baby move today! 

Things I miss? Not being light headed every morning. 

Movement? Yes! So excited to finally say that.

Cravings? Still just things I hear other people say or I see on tv. 

Showing yet? My little bump is growing! 

Gender? We find out next week!!!!! Seriously can't wait!

Labor signs? No

Belly button in or out? In

Looking forward to? Finding out the gender and for Brian to be able to feel the baby move. 

15 weeks

So I skipped week 14, because my belly didn't grow and and it just consisted of no appetite.

How far along? 15 weeks! 

Total weight gain? About 7 pounds :(

Maternity clothes? No. Had to order waist band extenders for my work pants.

Stretch marks? nope

Sleep? Great! Still ready to go to bed early into the night.

Best moment of this week? Since I didn't post last week, Second Trimester! yay

Things I miss? I miss the meals I cook that Brian likes sounding good, and not having to force feed myself. Or cooking 2 separate meals.

Movement? I haven't noticed anything yet :( Anytime now.

Cravings? I haven't really had any this week. But I did make some chocolate and peanut butter chip cookies and they tasted extra good!

Showing yet? I actually have a little bump! My stomach still sticks out farther so the picture is me sucking it in, but it's getting harder to.

Gender? We find out 2 weeks from today. I can't wait!!

Labor signs? NO

Belly button in or out? In

Looking forward to? Feeling movement soon. (I hope)

This isn't the best picture, but I'm already running a couple days late so it will have to work. I was off work today and have a test tomorrow, so it was a no make-up and hair a mess day full of studying.

I decided to not have a gender reveal party since we find out the gender on a Wednesday and would have to wait until the weekend. Plus Brian wanted to be the first to know the gender. So instead we are inviting the grandparents to be to the ultrasound so they can see the baby! They will wait in the waiting room so Brian and I can find out by ourselves and have time to react. Then they will get to come in and see what it is as well. So during my week of being snowed in I decided I'd make them an invitation with photoshop.

13 weeks

So I've researched and found some weekly categories to include on my pregnancy posts. Hopefully I can keep it updated, so I can look back on my journey.

How far along? 13 weeks! 

Total weight gain? About 4 pounds have appeared the past couple weeks

Maternity clothes? No, but some of my pants are super tight when buttoned. So I've been rocking either a pontail holder or the belly band in order to hold my pants up.

Stretch marks? none yet!

Sleep? I find it hard to get comfortable. Even though I'm ready to crash by 8 p.m.

Best moment of this week? Well I had my second appointment with Dr. Causey today. The heartbeat was 150, always love hearing that.

Things I miss? Having energy, eating whatever I wanted (and everything sounded good), and not being light headed every morning.

Movement? not yet

Cravings? Mostly just things I hear or see on TV, but I am eating a lot of pickles (I've always loved them)

Showing yet? Well...lol. I'm not for sure. Ever since probably about 8 weeks my stomach just pooches out (even before I gained any weight). I can suck it in so I know it's not all baby lol. But I think I have the slightest bump now.

Gender? We find out in 4 weeks! Feb. 26th

Labor signs? NO!

Belly button in or out? In, of course

Looking forward to? Starting to really grow over the next couple weeks. So ready to show and not just feel/look fat lol. And of course the second trimester! Hopefully I'll feel more normal like I hear.

Here are a few pics. 13w 2d. Trying to suck in all the bloating lol.

The day we found out about our little miracle

11-22-13  1 day short of 4 wks           
The day we found out we were expecting.
I hadn't been feeling quite right the past few days, so that Friday morning I rolled out of bed before work and decided to try a pregnancy test. I just knew it would be negative anyway. So I did and went about my morning routine. Little did I know that later when I glanced over at it, sure enough it was POSITIVE! Absolutely shocked is an understatement. I couldn't hold it in for one second and ran into or bedroom shaking Brian awake. Since he works nights he had only been asleep for a little over an hour, he was completely confused as to what was going on. I said there's two lines!!!!!! He replies huh, what's that mean? And he was back asleep haha. So I did a little celebration by myself. This picture is me right after I rolled out of bed at 5:30.

                                     

The picture didn't pick up the second line very well. I went on about my day at work, which seemed like eternity. Not sure what it is that makes a girl want to take more than one test to believe it, but I did another. And sure enough the digital one said pregnant! 

So as I sit here tonight with a full heart, typing this so I will never forget this special day. I feel so very blessed, and cannot wait to see what the future holds!

Continuing the journey.....  

                                       Me at 4 weeks, to remember how skinny I once was.

The official doctor's office positive test

The shirt I made Drew (Brian's nephew) to announce the news to his family.

Me before my first ultrasound lol. They said I had to drink 32 oz before to have a full bladder, I thought I was going to burst!

The first ultrasound picture at 7 weeks and 3 days. I measured right on time, and the heartbeat was 144. It made being pregnant seem so much more real. There really is a human inside of me!

Oh by the way my sister announced to my parents a week after we did that she is expecting too! My due date is Aug. 4th and hers is Aug 3rd! And no we in no way planned this!! So crazy, but exciting to go through it together. Anyway, this is how we announced to Mom's side of the family at our Christmas party. The other side of the sign said, Guess what I'm getting for Christmas? Their reaction was priceless, lots of screaming. 

And finally how we announced to the rest of the family and Facebook. 

                                        

This crazy thing called life

First of all I finally figured out how to change the background on this thing! Yay!! Haha. Well last week was spring break. Nothing too exciting really, but did get to take a few pics of the ice and snow! Also, got to apply a few things I've learned in my photography classes while editing them in my new photoshop cs6. Here are a few of them:

       before editing(I forgot to change my white balance whoops) ^ and then after editing is below

 Brian is on training/business trips for FedEx this week and next! Can you say I MISS MY HUSBAND!!!!! Not that I really get to see him a whole lot anyway between him working nights, working in his shop at home, and then my schooling and job. But I have to say I am kinda fond of the whole 45 mins we get to see each other. Then then weekend he gets back from his last one, is his birthday weekend. Still trying to think of something fun to do...

Today I turned in my nursing applications!!!!! So ready to get the process of accomplishing my dream job started. I applied both to the PN program and the RN program; hoping for the RN acceptance letter! I won't know until around the beginning of May!!! Talk about going to be the longest month of my life! Just hoping I have everything I need to be accepted and that my grades are good enough. Claiming Ephesians 3:20 on it: God can do exceedingly abundantly above what we ask, hope, or think!! So I turned it over to the dean of the nursing program knowing God's will, will be done :)

I ran across this in a devotional I was reading this week...Don’t be discouraged for a minute that you’re not worthy or that all your work won’t be noticed or that no one will ever see you. He has seen you before the beginning of time. He has adopted you before the wins and the fails, before the good and the bad. He has called you daughter.--All we need is God, and not the things of this world that Satan tries so hard on a daily basis to blind our eyes with. I can relate to this exact feeling! But that is not how God wants us to view ourselves. It also said...We have to look past today and the present to see how amazing our identity is just being his daughter. He cherishes each and every one of us just the way he created us; even though we are so unworthy on a daily basis. Let's just remind ourselves we are fearfully and wonderfully made!!