Celebrating Our Little Girl!!

It is official! Our little family will be welcoming home a baby girl this fall. A lot of different emotions came with this knowledge, and in the end we are over come with joy knowing that God has chosen us to be parents to this precious little girl. Deep down I was thinking it would be a girl; a lot of heartburn, a worse 1st trimester, and way more exhaustion all led to that feeling. Despite this "feeling" I could not come out and say it was a girl because I have ALWAYS known I would have boys. As long as I can remember I have always had a feeling I would be the mother to a couple (few) little boys, and I was happy about that. Changing that thinking to having a little girl in our family was just not possible! I have to laugh though because God has once again proven that He has His own plans and I am so thankful for that. There is such a blessing out there to having one of each. I honestly get the best of both worlds this way! Yes, I have my little boy with all of his hugs and kisses and loving on mommy (anyone who has a son knows that special mom/son bond). He loves his trucks and trains and playing sports, and I cannot wait until he is old enough to be cheering him on in the stands. He is a handful and rowdy in ways that I was not prepared for coming from a family of all girls! I love it regardless. Now I get to look forward to a very different kind of bond with our daughter. I know there will be more fights, annoyance, and exasperation along the way with having a daughter. I clearly remember my teenage years :). In the end though I will have this daughter who will come to me for advice and a shoulder to cry on all her years; that is the special mother/daughter bond. Jude will most likely start turning to his dad as he gets older, but I know I will always have her. I will get to help her dress up for her very first dances, help her plan her wedding (if she is willing), and be there for her when she starts her family knowing exactly what she is going through. Only having sons I may have missed out on these experiences. Yes, I may get some help in the wedding, Yes, I will still get to be a grandma to his babies. In the end though I know it will be a bit different being the mother-in-law in his picture. With all this said, I know how truly blessed I am to experience the motherhood of both a boy and a girl. I must have the confidence that God has given me all I need to be the best mother to both of them.

Sweet little face

I am adding a few pictures from our gender reveal party. Needless to say we did have some excited guests as she will be the first little girl in our families. I am pretty sure Jeff is still trying to adjust his mind around having a girl as well (although I think deep down he is pretty excited about "daddy's little girl"). Currently we have had two ultrasounds performed since finding out we are having a daughter. She is growing well and is healthy and we could not be more thankful for that. My placenta was now found to be normal and her femur lengths have now evened out. Lots of prayers and leaning on God helped me through my worries and fears that she may not be developing and growing as needed. With all that said she is still small! Only in the 21st percentile. Once again she is healthy...HEALTHY.  I will still have another growth anatomy scan when I go back in 4 weeks just to be sure she is still growing as much as she needs to be. Here is what I try to keep in mind:

1. Jude was a small baby. I imagine she will be too.
2. Jude's due date kept being pushed back further and further because he was small. He was still very healthy.
3. Nothing wrong with smaller babies right? They sure do make delivery at tad bit easier :).
4. I have nothing to worry about for God is with us. 

How far along? Exactly 24 weeks today

Total weight gain: 12 pounds

Maternity clothes? I am in the in between stage. My maternity clothes are still a little too big but my regular size pants are not buttoning. Belly bands work although I am not the biggest fan of them.

Stretch marks? No.

Sleep: What mom needs sleep???

Best moment this week: Getting to see her again and knowing that we are both healthy. Jude telling the ultrasound tech and doctor that he is having a little sister! :)

Miss Anything? Being able to pick Jude up knowing I will not be sore by the end of the day.

Movement: Quite a bit and all day long.

Food cravings: No.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope.

Symptoms: Just the daily heartburn and exhaustion! Plus round ligament pain and back pain.

Belly Button in or out? Still in.

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy most of the time! I don't necessarily ever feel moody....just really tired.

Looking forward to: All the summer fun planned with Jude and getting our playroom organized upstairs so we can then start on her bedroom.

20 Weeks! Halfway through!

I have now hit that 20 week mark; the mark that I seem to look forward to the most. Yes, it is the halfway point. Yes, I do often feel much better during this part of my pregnancy. Yes, my belly actually looks pregnant now so people are no longer guessing whether it's a baby or just fat! Besides all of these great milestones during pregnancy, my favorite by far is knowing the gender of our little pumpkin. Boy or girl? He or she? Prince or Princess? Tractors or Tiaras? As you can see, I had many sayings picked out for a potential gender reveal party! We received the news  of our he or she last Friday with our anatomy scan. The answer came quickly as this little one was moving, turning, and wiggling the whole time. Now that we know the gender I am excited to really begin planning. We have another bedroom to get ready and decorate :) One of my favorite things to do!

Right now the gender is our secret. But no worries! We have a small family gender reveal party planned for Sunday and then we can announce!

19 Weeks this time around

19 Weeks with Jude

The anatomy scan went well overall. The baby seems to be growing fine and all parts are there and working. So far our pumpkin is in the 33rd percentile for size which I am not too surprised by. Jude was only a 6 pound baby full term and stayed in the 30th percentile for size until he was 15 months old.  The main concern (which doctor said she was not all that concerned) is that I do have an abnormal placenta which can cause our pumpkin to possibly not grow as well as he or she should. This is all leads back to the questioning we were given by the doctor on how small our first baby was since this one is in the 33rd percentile. Jeff helped to calm me a lot through the news and made me realize that 1. Our baby is just fine and will probably be on the smaller size like Jude. 2. Even if there becomes a problem, God is with us and knows the plan for our pumpkin AND that is ALL that matters!

I know that Jude is going to be an amazing big brother. He loves on so many other kids, especially the younger ones. Sharing is something we are still working on....:)
He is definitely going through a stage right now (at least I'm praying it is only a stage) where he wants mommy ALL the time! He does not like to be left anywhere without me. That includes church, friends' homes, with family..... anywhere. We scream! I mean he really screams and cries and that face gets so red! I am chalking it all up to the fact he senses that the baby is coming and it will all pass. We shall see....
On a positive note, Jude's peanut allergy has gone down! Yea! I'm seriously thinking he could outgrow this by elementary school. Fingers crossed! Of course, we also know he has a minor sesame seed allergy and chickpea allergy. No hummus or peanut butter in our house! Poor Jeff.....

The warmer weather has helped to brighten our moods and home, and had kept us very busy!

How far along? 20 Weeks

Total weight gain: I have gained 8 pounds.

Maternity clothes? No! I'm still squeezing into pretty much everything. A couple of jeans require belly bands.

Stretch marks? Nope.

Symptoms: heartburn, heartburn, and more heartburn!

Sleep: I'm always tired! Like last time, I do not sleep well at night.

Best moment this week: Knowing if our pumpkin is a boy or girl.

Movement: This little one moves a lot! I have felt movement for a couple of weeks now.

Miss Anything? Energy.

Food cravings: Like last time, no cravings.

Anything making you queasy or sick: I still cannot stand the thought of hummus.

Gender: Find out soon enough!!

Looking forward to: Planning everything for the new baby.