Bump Update: 19 Weeks!

Sooo... we had our comprehensive ultrasound this past Monday and my due date has been moved up by a week so instead of being 18 weeks, I'm 19! I can't believe I'm almost to the halfway point... crazy! 

How Far Along? 19 weeks!

Weight Gain? 8.5 lbs... having my mom and sister in town for a visit definitely did not help me out in this department. I'm pretty sure I ate my way through the Disney parks and I know I had my fair share of cake, ice cream, and even some cookie cake. Oops! 

Maternity Clothes? Nope! I'm holding strong in my cotton dresses and leggings. 

Size of Baby? Based on our most recent ultrasound, Baby H is 9 ounces and about 6 inches head to rump. 

Gender? We are 100% certain that Baby H is a...

BOY!!!

Movement? Another thing that I'm 100% certain about... this baby boy is on the go! My "flutters" have become more frequent and much stronger. Such an overwhelming feeling! 

Sleep? Sleep has been fine... there are still some nights that my bladder wakes me up for a quick trip to the bathroom but I have mastered the art of falling back asleep as soon as my head hits my pillow again. 

Food Cravings? This week... sweets. But I think that's because they're laying around the house so I feel that I must eat them, haha. Is that not how it works?!?!

What I Miss? Still counting down to my Jimmy John's Turkey Sandwich!

Symptoms? The only thing that has started happening on occasion is some pain in my lower abdomen/hip... apparently this is caused by my round ligament because it is stretching. I only feel it after I've been sitting a while and stand up too fast. Other than that, I've felt great! 

Best Moments? Finding out that Baby H is Baby BOY H!!!! Our ultrasound was super long and it was great to sit back and watch him move. Everything is looking and measuring great and we are so thankful for that! I honestly would not have cared if they said boy or girl... we are just praying for a healthy baby!

But... it has been fun to really start planning for Baby Boy H's arrival! We went and bought a few clothing items for fun, a couple of blankets, and we purchased our stroller! The crib should be coming in the next couple of weeks and we're really excited to get the nursery started. I am definitely a planner and like to have things organized ahead of time. My goal is to have the nursery finished by January so I can sit back and relax and enjoy the last month or so of my pregnancy.

Looking Forward To? Getting the nursery started! Baby Boy already has a name... we knew as soon as we saw him Monday during the ultrasound... but that secret is safe and sound with us! 

B and I are really feeling beyond blessed that Baby Boy H is growing fast and strong. It has been an awesome week so far and we just continue to ask for prayers for our health and for our boy!

Life Lately...

Life has been crazy lately but in the best way possible! B is working, working, working and loving his job and I couldn't be more thrilled. He works super long days but he loves the group he is with and the hospital he is at... we are beyond grateful that he has been given this opportunity. In the last couple of weeks I've been teaching ballet 2 nights a week at a studio here in town and it feels sooo good to be back dancing and teaching on a regular basis! I love it! The kiddos are great and so much fun to work with and the other teachers have been so welcoming... Orlando is quickly becoming home for us and we are finally starting to feel "settled". 

Our new couch and chair for our living room has been delivered and we have a new coffee table and TV stand to match... it feels good to have actual furniture after everything we went though with the moving company. Pictures are hung on the wall and our house is quickly becoming our home. Just a few more things to get for our bedroom and it will soon be time to start on the nursery! I can't wait to decorate for little Baby H!

I've been able to travel home to Kentucky a couple of times since becoming a Floridian... once for work and once for fun and I look forward to another work visit later this month! We've been busy, busy bees and we couldn't be happier. We are true believers that everything happens for a reason and we are feeling quite content with life in Florida! We are just beyond blessed to be down here with family, to have new jobs, a roof over our heads, and this time in our lives!

In my down time I of course still feed my Pinterest addiction, haha. Here's some fun finds from this past week: 

Love this verse...

Fun for fall...

Another encouraging verse...

Love all the bright colors...

I'm in love with these boots...

Fall look... plaid, bun, gold

I am a sucker for apple cider doughnuts... mmmm!

Fall table setting...

Pretty great motto for life...

Happy Friday!!

xoxo

The Name Game!

{via}

B and I are counting down the days until our next doctor's visit ( 9 to be exact!) so that we can hopefully find out if we'll be tinkled pink or blue. I give major kudos to those families that wait until the end to be surprised but I just know that it would drive me crazy... I must know so that I can plan ahead and of course decorate the nursery appropriately ;) ( I am also prepared that ultrasounds can be wrong... my brother was supposed to be a girl)! Nonetheless, it's an exciting time and B and I are ready for this next pregnancy milestone. 

Something else that has been exciting? Throwing around baby names and starting our boy and girl name lists. It is obviously still early and we have plenty of time to decide but it is crazy to think that we will be responsible for raising a human being and part of that responsibility is choosing their name... a name that they will have for the rest of their life! Craziness! 

We know we want to choose a unique name that has meaning to us... possibly a family name. There are so many choices! And though we are always looking for suggestions from our family and friends, I'm pretty sure we won't formally announce Baby H's name until he/she has come into this world and we get to formally meet him/her. I feel like when we see that sweet baby face and hold our baby in our arms, that's when we'll know with 100% certainty what we want to name our child. 

But in the mean time it has been a blast tossing around name possibilities and yell them around the house! We are trying to soak up every second of this time in our lives and baby names is definitely a fun, fun part of pregnancy. 

Let's hope that by next week we'll be able to narrow our choices down to just one list. Boy or girl?!?!

Have a great day y'all!!

xoxo

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.