Family Reunited for Wedding Fun - Week 33

After last Wednesday at the Tax Office, we packed up our bags and jumped on a plane Thursday morning to head to New York, then Canada, for my brother Jeremy's wedding.

The flight and travel was mostly uneventful. We landed in Albany and were picked up by my mom. We drove that night from Albany to Sherbrooke, Quebec to be on time for wedding festivities.

Friday morning we woke early and headed to the Hotel where the wedding would be taking place. Here we spent the morning decorating and setting up the room for the special event.

In the afternoon we headed to our friend's the Buchanans for the rehearsal dinner where Eric and I skewered kabobs and prepped salads for all the family and friends that evening. The dinner was such a wonderful time to meet all of my Sister-in-law-to-be's family, not to mention amazing food!

Oh and lets not forget the Meringue dessert!!

Our weekend "home-base" was Grampa and Grandma Strout. This was also a huge blessing as we got lost of time to sit around as a family and encourage one another through the busy days of the wedding. Also, we got to care for our niece Leah as her parents prepared to get hitched!

 Gave me lots of time to see Eric in "dad" mode! (He's going to be an awesome father BTW.)

The wedding was on Saturday and beautifully done as both father of the bride and father of the groom preformed the ceremony together. It was a blessing to see my brother SO HAPPY marrying the love of his life. 

Sunday morning we had brunch at Eggsqui - my favorite breakfast place - with Jeremy, Leah, mom, dad, and us. The most delicious food you could ever experience!

That afternoon we spent time with different family members we haven't seen in a long time. And Monday morning we headed back to New York where we dropped Eric off at the Airport to head back to Tampa and I got to spend a week with mom and dad seeing friends from around the area.

Week 33 was very eventful! Baby Roo handled all the stress VERY well. The only change this week was how quiet he was!! I think he's running out of space so he moves around a lot less. Our family was so blessed to have some time talking to him and seeing how much he's grown since Christmas.

All in all we had a great trip! And we're one week closer to the arrival of our little guy!

Time to get your Knowledge on - Week 32

This past Saturday, we took our first of many prenatal classes at the hospital. This one was a little brutal as it was 8 hours straight of  labor and delivery information. The morning covered mostly the anatomy of labor and delivery, how the body functions under the stress to bring a child into the world. The afternoon covered pain medications, complications, and the Hospital's procedures for L&D.

For the most part I found this class to be helpful. There was a lot of information and I'm sure I didn't take it all in. I think the most helpful part of the entire class was knowing HOW The hospital does things.

I had a great fear that once Baby Roo arrived, they would take him away to wash and clean then put him in a nursery for our entire stay. Thankfully we learned that this is NOT the case.

The Hospital is a big advocate of Kangaroo Care. Once the baby is born they will hand him directly off to me. They also do delayed clamping and will allow Eric to cut the chord. We'll get to skin to skin with little Roo for an hour or more and start feeding him as soon as we can. They also delay washing the baby as the vernix coating on the baby helps him adapt easier to our world as well as make his immune system much stronger.

Knowing we can choose to never have the baby leave our side is a huge comfort to my poor little soul. The class was great to help settle some fears and unknowns for me.

This week also marks the end of Tax Season!! I am no longer employed and loving it. Tax season was great for a little extra income, but I am so happy that this part of the year is over.

And now we are on our way to Canada for my Brother's big wedding day!! I'll write more about all that next week.

Guns or Glittler? - Week 19

Well the time has come! On Monday we had our first ultrasound with Baby Roo and it was such a blessing to see the movement of the baby and their little feet!!

I immediately went into planning mode - we needed to plan our Gender Reveal Party and Fast!

Sunday afternoon many of our friends gathered with us to find out if Roo was a boy or girl. We had pink and blue decorations all over with plenty of food to go around.

I had painted a box with the word "VOTE" on it. Our guests could write down their Gender Vote and a name suggestion to tape to the box for their vote.

We had many of our out-of-town family and friends log into a website to watch the live stream of our reveal. They were all able to vote as well and had a chat room on the side for questions. This was such a blessing as we had about 23 people logged in to enjoy in our celebration.

A friend had filled our box with pink or blue balloons (She had the envelope with the gender of the baby so she could get the correct color). The time came for us to open the box as all our friends gathered in our small living room (18 of them, including children).

We pulled back the tape and balloons came flying out and guess what color they were...

BLUE!!!

So we're having a little boy... and we couldn't be more excited. Eric and I both agree and a big brother is the best thing any family can have. We still haven't decided on a name but I think we will keep it secret until the arrival of our son.

I must, say I sure am happy I can say "he" now instead of "it" or "their" or "he/she."

The Most Wonderful Sight of the Year

Today we got to finally see baby Roo!

We headed to the hospital and got set up in the ultrasound room. We asked the Tech to keep the gender a secret for us so we could do a gender reveal with friends and family.

The ultrasound was the most... emotional part of this pregnancy so far. Baby Roo was all curled up in a ball grabbing at their feet, then suddenly they would kick straight out to almost a standing position. It was so very amazing to watch our little one move around.

Eric and I shared many special looks as we watched our little one move around and show off for us all to see. Rachel was a fantastic Ultrasound Tech and smoothly walked us through the hour long appointment. She explained different aspects of the pregnancy that we didn't understand. She would even jab my belly when the baby wouldn't move around enough. We are so thankful we were blessed with Rachel.

He/She was very stubborn and wouldn't show their face for the profile picture... So we have an upside down, curled up baby for our first picture but it's a precious memory of Baby's stubbornness. The following was my favorite Facebook comment

We will probably not see Baby Roo again until the birth. That's something to look forward to, although I love seeing our little one. This Sunday we will be having our Gender Reveal party and will be streaming the reveal online for family and friends to see.

For now, we will cherish this sight of our little one

Pregnant or Fat? - Week 18

Week 18 has started... oh me oh my...

I can't believe how much my tummy has started to pop out. In the two weeks that I was in NY and Canada visiting family, my little Roo has started to make their first appearance. Unfortunately I'm at that stage where people aren't sure if I'm pregnant or just fat...

Everyone keeps saying I should start feeling little pokes and prods from baby - but everything I feel just turns into gas... T.M.I.?

My Mayo Clinic books saying the baby should begin to develop the bones in their ears this week. They should start being able to hear our voices and respond. When I told Eric this his response was "So I've been talking to it all this time for no reason?" He's gonna make a great daddy... I just know it.

A lot of congratulations have been shared and I now have a massive box packed to the top with baby gifts. Our family has been such a blessing with their generosity. Eric's parents Jeff and Siggi gave us a huge basket full of items I wouldn't have thought of but will desperately need once baby comes (baby lotion, soap, formula, toys, clothes, an much more). We've received clothes and toys and books for baby Roo, we can't even begin to express our thankfulness.

Monday we will have our first ultrasound and, Lord willing, will know the gender of our first child. We've already decided on baby names for both boy and girl, but they're staying secret for now.

Our new apartment search is in full swing and we hope to be in a 2 bedroom by April so we can set up the nursery and have room for all the new things in our life before the baby arrives.

I suppose that's all for now. Over the next few weeks things will be changing dramatically I am sure... Here's to growing a life inside of you!

A Nick Name for Baby - Week 15

Today baby turns 15 weeks. Don't read too much into the fact that it's Friday the 13th and I've traveled across the county...

Here are just some thoughts running through my mind...

First: Preggo pants are amazing! I started wearing mine on Thanksgiving day and was pretty proud I didn't have to unbutton my jeans after eating so much of the delicious food. (I was lucky enough to find brand new preggo pants at the thrift shop for only 3.50. NEW WITH TAGS!)

Second: Will I ever get to feel this baby move? I know I'm going to come to regret those words when I have a foot in my ribs and baby won't stop kicking me through the night. However, everyone keeps asking me if I have felt anything yet.

Third: We officially have a nick name! Thanks to Nanny and Grampa (my mom and dad) baby is now known as Baby Roo! This has a bit of a back story to it.

When I was little, my mom started calling me Roo, you'll have to ask HER why... I just don't know. What I do know is that the nick name is after the fictional Disney character Roo from Winnie the Pooh, child to Kanga. It's always been a name of endearment from my mother to me, and I am proud to have my child named the same.

It is good to know that this week Baby's eyes and ears are staring to have a "human resemblance" as my Mayo Clinic book describes... at least we know I'm not growing an alien inside me.

I can't wait to meet this precious little life. The first thing both my parents did when they saw me today was kiss the baby belly... it made it all seem much more real to me. I'm so blessed to be going through experience, despite the fears I have.

The Ambassador of New Life - Week 11

I think for most newly-pregnant women, it takes time for the reality to set in.

So far. my pregnancy has been unlike how others describe it. My morning sickness is actually quite the opposite and I begin to get extremely nauseous around 7pm at night. As you can imagine this isn't ideal when Eric is gone all day. I do my best to be as productive during the day so that night time I can slip into bed early and sleep off the sickness.

I've learned that nausea has a nasty side to it during pregnancy. I find if I let myself become even a little bit hungry the nausea increases dramatically until I can find a cracker or two to eat... This has cause me to change my eating habits to six small meals a day instead of three large ones.

Bodily changes do accompany pregnancy but there really isn't much to show for being pregnant. I find myself wondering at times if it's all just in my head, especially since we haven't had an ultrasound yet.

I think pregnancy started to feel more real for me when we went to the OB today and heard a little special something for the first time.

I had planned to record the moment for my family, since they're all so far away, many of them have asked us to document as much as we can so they can somewhat take part in it all. Unfortunately my OB didn't get the message. Near the end of our week 11 appointment she whipped out a hand-held device and started prodding around my belly with it.

And then we heard it... faint at first, but strong and fast.

My OB looked at Eric with a smile, "Is that a boy or girl heartbeat?"

I know in that moment my heart just melted. Eric and I exchanged the most meaningful look of our entire marriage as this pregnancy suddenly became real to us both. And for the record, we both think it's a boy!

Pregnancy can feel like a long time, but I'm trying to remain in the present and just enjoy the moments I have growing a new life inside of me.

How blessed am I that God chose me to be the ambassador of new life? 

Well until next time :)

Growing by Two Feet

Well, it's been a while since I've blogged on our lives here in Tampa. The reason is simple: I couldn't spill the beans!

Eric and I are now proud to announce that our little family is growing by the size of two little feet!

Photo Credit to Joe Carlyle

The Story

October ninth I took the test and the stick was Positive! I spent the afternoon fussing over how I would tell my husband who was faithfully at work.

The same day I received a job offer so I tricked Eric into taking us out for dinner to celebrate the "job."

After being seated and ordering our dinner, I ran out to the car and grabbed the box I had prepared for Eric. Inside I packed the positive test and the two Jeffrey Brown's Star Wars kids books "Darth Vader and Son" and "Vader's Little Princess." (We are Star Wars buffs, just so you know!)

Seeing Eric's face was the most priceless moment of my life when he lifted up the books and saw the word "preggo" written on the test! The people in the restaurant were looking at us strange while we celebrated and took a picture together; but our joy overcame it all.

 

Our waitress was so sweet and when she found out about our news, she came out with a complimentary dessert to help our celebration along! We are so blessed. 

We've had such a wonderful time telling family and close friends and now we're so excited to include you in our news! We ask that you join us in our journey through prayer that our little one would grow strong and healthy; that there would be no complications throughout the pregnancy.

The Details

I am about 10 weeks along with a due date of June 6th! My family was overwhelmed with joy but all teased that we would be adding to the MANY June Birthdays in our family. We look forward to the first picture of our little one in a few weeks at our first ultrasound.

For now I will just be happy when the first trimester is over and I can get past all this nausea!

The Future 

I'm so excited about being a mommy and look forward to so many firsts ahead of us; first ultrasound, first kicks, and more!

To follow our baby story please follow my blog for updates and new stories! Being on a budget this baby will bring on many DYI projects and new, healthier recipes. I can't wait to share them with you all!