16 Weeks

It is official. If I were a celebrity, I would be on "bump watch". I no longer look like I just ate a large burrito. My tummy finally looks like I have a baby inside of it. Which means Baby Bean is growing bigger!

This week, Bean is the size of an avocado! I honestly cannot believe there is an avocado-sized baby in there. In just one month, we will be able to tell whether Bean is a boy or a girl. I am still thinking boy, but no one believes that I can possibly know that so early. I have a 50/50 chance of being right, so I will take those odds!

Weekend Recap

This weekend, I celebrated my 25th birthday. I can't believe I am a quarter-century old! Ha.

{my mom made this amazing almond cake for me... swoon}

We celebrated with a little sushi dinner at my favorite spot in town. The rest of the weekend was so relaxing. We took several walks around our neighborhood, where the fall colors are still beautiful. My mom spoiled us by cooking amazing dinners for us to eat. We still have plenty of leftovers :)

Unfortunately, we had to take her to the airport this afternoon. I don't know how I will be able to make it to Thanksgiving, when we will be reunited with our whole, wonderful family. 

So far, 25 has been a great year. My heart is full of love and awe over all the blessings in our lives. Thanks, friends and family (you're all family, really) for being such an unconditional source of support and encouragement to us always. I cherish all of you in my heart. 

love,

l&m

The First Snow

This past weekend, we got our first snow of the season...

It was actually sort of pitiful, especially compared to last year. But that's perfectly ok with me. I'm not ready for winter yet!

For Halloween, M and I are planning a night in with hot chocolate and a scary movie. We'll have the candy bowl ready by the door for trick-or-treaters. I can't wait until Baby Jelly Bean is old enough to trick-or-treat. That's quite a long while from now, I guess! 

P.S. My mom will be coming into town on Thursday for a long weekend visit! I can't wait to see her. 

Weekend Recap

Hello everyone. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Here's how we spent ours...

Haunted corn maze with some of our students...

... yes, they are all taller than me.

Baby Jelly Bean is about the size of a lemon this week!!! Not so much a jelly bean any more. Since starting my second trimester, I have been feeling so much better. No nausea or crazy food aversions. For awhile there, I wouldn't touch pasta or chicken, which used to be two of my favorite foods. I also craved root beer and vanilla coke, even though I usually don't even drink soda. Weird, right? 

Weekend Recap

Well hello. Hope you all had a fabulous weekend. Here's how we spent ours...

Playing outside in the crisp, fall weather...

... and celebrating our friend's birthday with a homemade sushi party. Don't worry, I didn't eat any sushi :)

This week is pretty uneventful. I am finally starting to feel better (yay!) and not feeling like I'm seasick all the time.

P.S. I already had to go out and buy one of these! Haha.

Baby Makes Three...

We feel so blessed by all the love and support we received after making our big announcement. It means the world to us to finally be able to share this with you. Now that the word is out, we thought we'd share more details. Like how we found out that our family of two is about to become a family of three...

Ever since M and I got married, we have talked about one day having children. We have always known that it would happen at just the right time, but I don't think either of us expected the "right time" to come so soon. That being said, when the baby arrives, we will have been married for three years, and we'll both be 25. I've always thought 25 was a good age to start a family. I just expected to feel older when I got there! 

This past summer was a whirlwind. We were traveling constantly and so busy that I almost didn't even notice when my period was late. On a whim, we bought a pregnancy test. We were both shocked when it was positive. So, I took another one. And then another one. All positives. 

After visiting my doctor, and confirming that all those positive pregnancy tests meant something, it was time to celebrate. Remember this date? It was actually a celebratory dinner. We went to our favorite restaurant and ordered our favorite dishes: fried chicken with waffles and scrumptious mac'n'cheese. Obviously, this was before the nausea set in.

So much has happened since that first positive pregnancy test. After seeing our baby and hearing the heartbeat, everything feels much more real. M has been awesome through this whole process. He gets major points for making special trips to the store to satisfy my weird cravings, giving up foods that he likes because I suddenly find them disgusting, and not complaining when he has to do the dishes or take out the trash because I can't stand the smell of old food. What a champ. 

The baby's due date is April 24, 2013. It feels far away now, but I have a feeling the time will fly :)

P.S. Adorable animals photographs by Sharon Montrose. 

Something Exciting...

We are very excited to announce...

... that we are going to have a baby! That's right - M and I are going to be parents. We've been waiting to share the news with you, and believe me, it has been hard to keep this secret for so long! 

{Already sucking his thumb...}

{Reclining position...}

{In this photo, he is using my uterus as a trampoline...}

{... and back to sucking his thumb again.}

No, we don't know the baby's sex yet. But I call him a "he" for now, because 1) I have a feeling that this baby really is a "he", and 2) I don't like calling our baby an "it". If it turns out to be a girl, she might have a slight complex after being referred to as a "he" for so long. Oh well. 

I have one more week in my first trimester. So far, pregnancy symptoms haven't been too bad. I'll talk more about those in another post. For now, we are just over-the-moon excited and so thankful that the baby is healthy! At my doctor's appointment today, we got to hear the heartbeat. There is really no way to describe that experience. I was not expecting to be so overwhelmed with emotions. Then again, I have raging pregnancy hormones, so I shouldn't have been too surprised when I started crying! 

The baby's heartbeat and measurements all look great! Apparently, he is very active. During the ultrasound, he was jumping up and down and doing somersaults. He also likes to suck his thumb a lot, which he does pretty much whenever he's still. 

We are obviously overjoyed and can't wait to start this new chapter of our lives! We would appreciate your prayers that this baby would continue to grow strong and healthy, and that I would not kill Morgan for some minor offense, like leaving smelly dishes in the sink. 

Thanks for letting us share our big news! We are so thankful for all the love and support we have in our lives.

Love,

l&m

(and baby jelly bean)