Bump Update: 16 Weeks!

Happy Saturday! Here's the 16 week (holy cow... already?!?!) update:

How Far Along? 16 weeks!

Weight Gain? Still only 5 lbs but thanks to a nasty stomach bug the past few days it has only been 2.5 lbs!

Maternity Clothes? Still zero maternity clothes in my closet! Is it sad that I'm proud of this?!?! 

Size of Baby? According to BabyCenter, Baby H is about 4.5 inches long and should weigh around 3.5 ounces (about the size of an avocado). 

Gender? Still don't know... hoping to find out in less than 2 weeks!

Movement? Still some light flutters but not 100% confident that I'm actually feeling Baby H although at both ultrasounds we discovered that our little pumpkin is a mover! He/she has kept those long legs and arms moving... maybe we have a dancer like momma?!?!?

Sleep? Sleep has been going okay. I'm trying to get used to sleeping on my left side since "they" (you know... all the books) scare you off your back and right side during the second trimester of pregnancy! I'm not always comfortable on my left side but after discovering the Boppy Body Pillow, getting comfortable has been much, much easier. 

Food Cravings? Again... thanks to this week's stomach bug most cravings have gone out the window and I've been living on ginger ale, toast, and crackers. I did manage to get through a bagel this morning.

What I Miss? Still missing my usual turkey sandwich from Jimmy John's, haha! 

Symptoms? Not really having any symptoms this week... thankfully! 

Best Moments? Traveling home to visit my family this past week and shopping for books, finding a diaper bag (that hopefully my mom buys me!... hint, hint!), and sharing all things baby with them... including the beginning of throwing around name ideas for our little boy or girl. 

A not so great moment... picking up a stomach bug that spread through my entire family (including hubby) in less than 48 hours and having to reschedule our flights back home. Thankfully, Delta was absolutely awesome and made our lives so much easier by switching our flights at no cost and actually reimbursing some of our initial fees. I was super bummed to miss teaching my ballet classes Thursday night but sleeping for 14 hours was pretty amazing and worked wonders!

Looking Forward To? Our upcoming doc appointment and hopefully finding out if we'll be seeing pink or blue! 

We are still just feeling overwhelmed by all of the excitement and love from our friends and family! B and I can not even begin to describe how grateful we are for our health and Baby H's health... prayers that he/she just continues to grow and grow and grow and that things continue to go smoothly! 

Bump Update: 15 Weeks!

I can not believe that we are already to the 15 week mark... time is flying by! I realized as I was getting ready tonight that I had not taken any "bump" pics yet. This one isn't great and I'll have to bust out the real camera soon but here is the first pic:

How Far Along? 15 weeks!

Weight Gain? 5 lbs... which I don't think is too bad... I've been working out a few times a week and I try not to over indulge when it comes to food. According to my doc, I am doing great weight-wise... good news! 

Maternity Clothes? Not yet! The jeans are definitely a bit tighter around the waist these days but maxi dresses and leggings are quickly becoming the everyday wardrobe. And thank goodness for yoga pants!

Size of Baby? According to www.babycenter.com Baby H is about 4 inches long and should weigh around 2.5 ounces... about the size of an apple. 

Boy or Girl? We don't know yet but hopefully we'll find out at the next doc appointment! We can't wait to officially know, pink or blue! 

Movement? There  have been some "flutters" lately but it's hard to tell what exactly those are.

Sleep? For the most part I've been sleeping okay but there have been a few nights where that glass of water late at night has woken me up and sent me running to the bathroom. It doesn't happen every night so I can deal with it and I'm still good sleeping on my side and semi on my stomach. 

Food Cravings? A couple of weeks ago it was cheeseburgers but lately it's been my sweet tooth that has kicked into overdrive! Mint chocolate chip ice cream has been sounding divine these days as well as a good box of my organic mac and cheese... so random!  

What I Miss? Jimmy John's... seriously! As soon as this kid is out there better be a turkey sandwich from Jimmy John's in my hand! 

Symptoms? I am counting my blessings that I had zero morning sickness! Early on there were days that I felt absolutely exhausted but my energy has been back to normal lately. Today was the first day in a while that I felt super tired even after getting a good night's sleep but other than that everything has been great and for that I am beyond thankful! 

Best Moments? The last two doc appointments when B and I were able to see our baby! Such an unbelievable moment... we already love Baby H so, so, so much and we love looking at those sweet ultrasound pics. 

Looking Forward To? Finding out if we're having a boy or girl! We can't wait to decorate the nursery and start thinking of names. And of course I am really looking forward to starting Baby H's wardrobe ;)  We're also really enjoying all of our reading material and learning about pregnancy and becoming parents. It's such an awesome responsibility and we are just so grateful for this time in our lives! 

This Week's Happenings...

This week has been super, super busy and full of all kinds of fun things but my Friday is now bogged down with catching up on work and doing loads upon loads of laundry. But I had to sit for a second and blog because I have been ignoring it for far too long and I need to get back into some sort of blogging routine! 

Anyways...

Our week started off by trying out a new church Sunday morning and we absolutely loved it! There are a few others here in town that we've enjoyed but this one had a different feeling... it just felt right. I'm really looking forward to going again this weekend. The rest of the day I helped my hubby with his Fantasy Football... and I'm kind of hooked and I've decided that I'm totally doing it next year! The football fun was a little much for Carson to handle. I looked over and he had his monkey tucked under him taking a nap, haha. That pup is always doing funny things! He entertains me every day! 

Monday was an early morning. B and I got a little baby practice and babysat his cousin's son... he is seriously the cutest, happiest baby I have ever been around! We had a blast and got a little taste of what a day in the life of having a baby will be like... thanks for the practice Christian and Becca ;) 

Tuesday night I went to cheer on my hubby and his softball team. He joined with his cousins and uncle and it's pretty fun to go watch. The wives have matching t-shirts and I think the guys are just having fun with all of it. We're 0-2 but hey... no biggie! I'm feeling a win next week! 

Wednesday night we all went to dinner to Cheesecake Factory (yum!) and B and I came home to this little friend on our back porch window. We named him Fred. He hung out all night and caught pesky bugs but our buddy was gone in the morning. The wildlife that hangs in our neighborhood is crazy... no snake sightings yet so I'm totally fine with it! 

B and I also found this awesome table for our entryway. Thank you HomeGoods! Our house is finally starting to come together and we are so, so happy! 

But the highlight of my week was our doctor appointment yesterday morning. We got to see Baby H and he/she is healthy and growing right along. The doctor was pretty impressed with how long and skinny our baby is... if it's girl, I'm already envisioning leotards, tutu's, and dance shoes ;) I'm 14 weeks tomorrow and time is flying by and we're loving every second of this pregnancy! I'm pretty certain that next month we get to find out boy or girl... we honestly have no preference... we just want a healthy and happy baby! 

Hope y'all had a fantastic week and have an even better weekend!

Happy Friday!

xoxo

Being A Biblical Wife in A Modern World

Respecting The Authority 

"Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men." ~ Titus 3:1-2~

I want to talk about earthly government today. It seems only fitting since the Presidential election is in full swing and both parties have officially declared their nominee. As an American citizen, this is an exciting and overwhelming time for our communities and our country as a whole. We are so fortunate to have the freedom to be able to vote for our nation's leaders. It is a right that is so easily taken for granted but one that is so valuable and special to the United States of America. 

With voting and elections comes campaigning. Heated debates are bound to occur and politics are most likely seeping into our everyday conversations. Most of us know who we are going to vote for and many of us are vocal about our choice... that's what campaigning is all about! The freedom of speech is essential in an important event like choosing our next President of the United States of America. But as a Christian, where do we draw the line? How do we choose to voice our vote? Are we building our candidate up or tearing the opposite party down? 

I came across today's verse from Titus as I was flipping through my Bible to find my way to a verse in Hebrews... and I am so glad that this caught my eye!

"Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men." ~ Titus 3:1-2~

I was anxious to dig a little deeper about these two particular verses and my study Bible states:

*New Testament teaching is not confined to the area of personal salvation but includes much instruction about practical living. Although believers are citizens of heaven, they must also submit themselves to earthly government and help promote the well-being of their community. 

*The terms "rulers and authorities" refer to all forms and levels of human government. 

When I read this I immediately found myself focusing on some things that I have seen floating around on Facebook recently... the bashings of our current President, the bashings of his fellow nominee, horrible political cartoons, distasteful articles poking fun of our leaders. But what disappointed me the most was that these things have been posted and proudly supported by Christian men and women. Now... I am not perfect in all I do or say (that could be a WHOLE other post!) but I am a firm believer in truly supporting something that you love instead of putting down something you dislike. I've seen a banner on Pinterest that pretty much sums up these feelings:

Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate. 

I am aware that the above statement is not from the Bible but doesn't it follow some of the teachings of the Bible? As Christians, we should try to remain uplifting, positive, helpful, humble, and obedient. We should not judge or put others down- even if we do not agree with everything that they stand for. We can promote our faith and beliefs in a Godly way and that includes promoting our Presidential nominee of choice. 

Before we open our mouths or press "send" on our computers, we should take a moment and make sure that what we're saying or doing is Christ like. We need to be exercising our rights as American citizens but we need to be obedient to His Word as well. Our verse from today clearly states that we need to respect our leaders (regardless of political party!) and continue to campaign and fight for our communities but with compassion, consideration, and humility. 

I really try to not get involved in political chats, especially using social media, but seeing some of these articles and postings by fellow Christians has been extremely disappointing. I am hopeful that for the next two months we can make an intentional effort to promote our nominee in the most positive of ways and to remember Titus 3:1-2 as we deal with what is already a sticky situation... politics. 

Labor Day Weekend Fun!

Hope y'all had a fabulous 3 day weekend!

We had a blast down here in the sunshine state. B had to work Friday-Sunday but I was able to fit in some much needed "me" time. Errands, a good book, a little online shopping, and a mani/pedi made for a good start to the weekend. 

Yesterday we spent most of our day at a cookout with some family members... we enjoyed ribs, chicken, corn on the cob, pasta salad, and some yummy appetizers and desserts. We seriously had such a fun time catching up and spending time with each other. Of course... I forgot my camera so I wasn't able to snap any fun shots... boo! 

The hubby is off this week so I'm looking forward to spending lots of time with him! 

Happy Tuesday!

xoxo