{ embrace the camera : 7.19 }

Wowza. I haven't done ETC since February. *sheepish* You can see here and here for my main reason why... and just being busy in general, too.

Ryan and I went to a parade last weekend for our town "festival." The parade is pretty much the only thing we do because everything else involves drinking... or being around intoxicated people... which doesn't happen to be on my list of favorite things to do, especially with a little one around. Anyways, we enjoyed the parade and got one good awkward photo of the two of us, in which my head looks ginormous and the angle is funky. At least Ryan is cute, as always! You can see the rest of the photos from the parade here. :]

14 Weeks // 2nd Trimester

This week I am 14 weeks pregnant... welcome to the second trimester!! At 14 weeks, the average baby is 3.4" long and weighs 1.5oz. So tiny, but so rapidly growing!!

The Bump says, "Hungry much? Not that you're not feeling so queasy, you're probably enjoying eating. A lot."

HA. Not so much. Still feeling queasy, thank you... maybe not quite as often, but it's definitely still there. If I'm sick, it's in the evenings. So much for morning sickness!! So often people ask me, "Are you feeling good??" And while I don't want to complain, I don't want to lie, either! I'm just so thankful it's for a good reason. This would be super lame if I was just sick all the time for no reason at all.. but there is a very good reason and blessing being nourished within my body right now, so I'll take it!!

I had my second appointment last night with the midwife. We weren't able to catch a reading on baby's heartbeat this time, although we did hear it for a split second. It's not of concern, baby was just moving around too much in there to get a good reading. Everything else looked good... my blood pressure was a lot lower this time, 110/75... it was 130/80 last time; I think it was because I was so nervous! I remember when I was pregnant in Kenya, they had to take my blood pressure twice every appointment... once in the beginning, and once at the end... it was always much lower at the end. ;)

I've lost about 5lbs since my last appointment three weeks ago, probably because of the fact that I had the flu two weeks ago, and I also just haven't felt all that great. My midwife didn't mention it as being a problem (but her assistant was the one who took the weight so I don't know that my midwife saw while I was there), but hopefully I can maintain instead of lose right now. Of course I have a few pounds to spare... ;) but now is not the time to be losing weight. I probably need to be eating more, and I definitely need more protein... it's just so hard sometimes!

My midwife tried to draw some blood for labs last night, but since she doesn't work in a lab for 8 hours a day, she obviously doesn't get as much practice... she tried once but didn't want to keep poking me... how kind! ;) My veins just did not want to cooperate. So I'll have to go into a lab sometime soon and have them draw the blood for her instead. Not a biggie.

My next appointment is in August... the 13th, I think. Time seems to be flying by... this is weird!

Parade

Our town had their annual parade this weekend. It was Ryan's first one, and I wasn't sure what he was going to think! He loved it, and sat in his stroller, completely mesmerized, for an hour and a half! It was a lot longer of a parade than I was thinking it would be, but it was fun. It was HOT though, too, and by the end of it, we were both ready to be back in the air conditioning!

[watching the trucks start to come down the street]

[balloons!]

[his first sucker... he kept rubbing it on his lips and licking it off... haha!]

[phone photo: he kept chewing on the opposite end, too... silly!]

[me and my favorite little guy...!]

[completely relaxed in his stroller... seriously the best second hand, $5 purchase I have EVER made!!]

[he was so thrilled that the horses stopped right in front of him. he kept holding out his hand and hoping they would come to him. this child has no fear of large animals!!]

[hot and rosy-cheeked but still having fun!]

["alright, we can go home now...!"]

The Little Things

I need to get better about blogging the little things, and not just the "big events" that take place. Most of our life is filled with the little things, anyways, and those are the ones that matter... the every day, normal life things.

I've been debating about shutting down my Facebook and using only this blog to post pictures and update... and use e-mail to keep in touch more... Facebook is really starting (well, continuing) to creep me out with how often they change their privacy settings and such! It's still on the table of thought, for now, but it might happen... we'll see. I know I haven't been too "private" on this blog, with using real names and all that... but I feel like I've tried to keep the more important details on the down low so I'm not too worried about it.

Anyways, now that I've been feeling a *little* bit better (here's hoping for the Magical Second Trimester!), I'm really going to try and keep up. Haha, how many times have I said that??


The little guy is 17 months now... time is flying, but it it oh so precious and sweet! He has such a fun, quirky personality that just shines through more and more each day. You can definitely tell what his favorite things are... bananas, cars/trucks, monkeys, puppies, swinging, bubbles, and vacuuming... haha! It's hilarious that the "bonus" for cleaning up the toys is being able to vacuum the living room. He loves it... crazy boy.

Here he is, enjoying one of his favorite things!

Love my sweet Rhino :]

Blog Addition

Notice any changes to the blog??








It's just a minor change.








But it's a major LIFE change. :]

This, friends, is the reason why I've been pretty absent lately. It's a good reason ;] Between being sick, tired, and chasing an almost 17 month old around... let's just say, I've been a little busy! But hopefully this pregnancy will be "normal" and I won't be sick the entire time, like I was with Ryan... and maybe I can get back into this blogging thing. 

The details: 

...I'm ~11 weeks pregnant

...I'm due mid-January 2013

...We heard the heartbeat last night at our first prenatal appointment!!

...We are planning a home birth, assisted by our midwife from New Birth Midwifery (blog: here)

...and we are obviously very excited ;]

Here is the video I posted to FB last night...

We are so thankful and so blessed... God, thank you for this precious gift!!