Pregnancy Thoughts - Week 20

20 Weeks! It seems so crazy that we're halfway done with this pregnancy. The first month or so after we found out seemed to drag on forever! But once summer got into full swing and so did the energy (well at least more than it was in the first trimester!) the days and weeks started to fly! I know that it will go even faster once we start getting prepared for baby and then the holidays hit.

Pregnancy Thoughts of the Week:

• Pregnancy first: I am wearing my first maternity shirt today. For some reason I had decided that I wanted to make it to 20 weeks before buying/wearing maternity clothes. I ordered a couple of pairs of jeans online this week that I am really looking forward to having!
• I had to laugh because this past week within 24 hours of each other I was told that I am not showing at all, and then the next day that I was getting so big! It cracks me up how different peoples thoughts on how big a person should be at each stage in pregnancy.
• I've taken a slight break from all my baby research. But it is just because I've been researching trip ideas for Bryce and I to have one last trip together as a family of two. I think we finally found a spot that meets all our requirements and should be a blast!
• Wow, I'm having a hard time with coming up with things to say about this week. I suppose that is a good thing. I am so happy that this has been a relatively "boring" pregnancy - meaning no complications or severe sickness or anything.

And lastly, Happy Birthday to my dear husband Bryce! You have made life more fun and amazing than I could imagine! Love You!

Pregnancy Thoughts - Week 19

I had to quickly post something for this week, because before I know it next week will be here and then we'll be at 20 weeks - HALF WAY THERE!! Oh does that make me happy!

Anyways, here a look at baby's/stomach growth for the week:

Thoughts for the week:

• I went to the doctor the other day and everything is still looking good. It was so reassuring to hear that little heartbeat going a mile a minute. I didn't have any reason to worry, but since I haven't felt Baby move yet it is just nice to hear that concrete evidence that Baby is still thriving.
• I got nailed with a cold this week, not fun. Well actually not sure if it is a cold or just regular pregnancy stuffed upness that just makes you feel miserable. 
• I really need to go buy some maternity clothes. So far I've been able to make all my regular clothes work with the help of rubber bands, Bella Bands, and shhhh don't tell anyone but I have gone out in public with just not zipping up my pants - thank goodness for long tank-tops!
• I cannot wait to feel Baby move. When I'm sitting on the couch sometimes I think I might have felt something, but don't let myself get too excited since I'm not sure and would feel really silly to get all sentimental over just muscles stretching out! 
• I bought myself a wonderful present the other day. Meet my new friend:

 Sorry for the dark picture. But this is my friend Snoogle (that's the real name of it, I didn't just name it that!) I have been having such a hard time sleeping the last couple of weeks and have heard great things about pregnancy pillows and decided to get one. This one happened to be a Target deal of the day so marked way down and free shipping - yes please! It does take up quite a bit of the bed, but so far Bryce hasn't said that I've taken over the whole thing so I think its pretty good. It is wonderful at just keeping me in one spot for longer periods of time. Before I would flip over every 30 minutes or so and was just so restless all night. I'm definitely not sleeping straight through the night but at least sleep much more soundly now!

So that is how I sleep at night, and when I was taking that picture Bentley decided that he wanted to show you how he gets comfortable at night. Every night he tucks himself into his little "fort" He has always done this, and I find it adorable!

I think that is all for this week. Seems kind of boring but this is kind of the boring part of pregnancy. Not a whole lot going on and I haven't started buying/painting/assembling so I am just enjoying resting and the quiet of life!

Pregnancy Thoughts - Week 18

Well we've made it to 18 weeks and they have been a few months of ups and downs and thinking I have this pregnancy thing down then it all switches again and all sorts of fun things. I wanted to be able to write out my thoughts, what I'm looking forward to/not looking forward to and other details so I have a journal of this time. I am already looking forward to looking back on all this and shaking my head going, "Oh Bethany, if you only knew..." Interestingly that is one of my biggest pet peeves so far in this pregnancy. People ask me how I'm doing and when I respond honestly they always say, well just you wait it only gets worse. Ok fine, I'm sure it does but this is what I'm going through right now and that is what you asked about so why not be helpful or just say I'm sorry about that. - Stepping off my soap box now-

So on to other thoughts that don't bug me so much

• Lil' B is the size of a baked potato this week.
• I have found that I can make my stomach go into weird shapes by bending a little and that makes me laugh and a little more ok with having a belly.
• Baby is finally allowing me to eat again. From about weeks 13-17 baby really wanted to have a say about what and when I ate. It was so frustrating! I have always had a love/hate relationship with food for this pregnancy. That is all I've thought about for the last 4 months but baby just doesn't have the same obsession with it.
• I love researching/planning for baby stuff. When Bryce comes home from work I usually have something for him to look at and give his opinion on. (Although its usually "Well if that's what you want" We'll see if that attitude keeps up when it comes to actually purchasing them!) Lately I've been dreaming up nursery colors. I don't want to do a theme, but would like a color palate picked out soon so we can keep an eye out for things when we go shopping down the road.
• I miss sleep.
• I am surprisingly not super bugged by not knowing the gender of the baby. That may change during the ultrasound in a couple weeks, but so far I'm very ok with it. I am more looking forward to the "It's a ..." announcement when we get to meet this little baked potato.
• Pregnancy first for the week - I dropped some food and it landed on top of my stomach. I guess baby finally decided he wanted some food. (Yes I do refer to the baby as a he, always have no real reason its just easier)

Here's what Baby and I are looking like this week.

And here is what Bryce is looking like these weeks. He decided that he wanted his picture taken showing off his "picture taking boots"  (He had just bought them to wear in Minot to help with the flood clean up and was wearing them to see if they were comfortable enough when I asked him to take a picture for me) Another side note - these are taken in what is the office and will be turned into the nursery. We are not planning on painting the walls, so if anyone has ideas for some accent colors let me know!

Well the adventure continues, we'll see what there is to report next week

Ten on Tuesday

It's Tuesday, and I'm going back to Ten on Tuesday from this website.

1. What is your favorite zoo to visit?
The best zoo that I've been to is down in the Phoenix area. I think it is the largest one I've been to so that means lots of really cool animals to see. But my favorite zoo is Como Zoo in St. Paul. I used to live a couple of blocks away so I would walk there all the time and wander around. It was fun to see the baby animals grow up.

2. Do you visit a zoo very often?
Not anymore unfortunately. Maybe I'll kidnap my niece and nephew next time I'm home and find a zoo to explore. It is so much more fun to see everything through a kids point of view.

3. Do you have a membership to a zoo?
Nope. I probably would if there was one close by though.

4. When you visit a zoo, do you stay all day or just an hour or two?
I like to see everything! So it can take a long time to explore.

5. Do you buy food at the zoo or pack a picnic lunch?
Generally just bring food to snack on in a park nearby. I don't like to bring it in and carry it around. 

6. What is you favorite animal to see at the zoo?
Tigers. I have always had a thing for tigers.

7. What is your least favorite animal to see at the zoo?
I generally stay away from the reptile exhibits. They are just unnecessary!

8. What is your favorite memory of going to the zoo as a kid?
At the time it was really freaky, but now looking back its kind of funny. I was at the Duluth zoo with my family and we were checking out the bears. They were behind glass and there was a railing to keep unruly kids away from the glass. Apparently I didn't think I was getting a close enough look and so I ducked under the railing to stand right in front of the glass. A bear saw me and started walking towards me, which was really cool. But when he got up to the glass he stood there and then swung his head  right into the glass trying to get at me. SCARY! 

9. Do you visit the gift shop when you go to the zoo?
Nope, see absolutely no need too.

10. On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the best and 1 being the worst) how nice is your city’s zoo?
I can't score it because well, there isn't one within an hour and a half of where I live.

Secret's Out!

WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A BABY!!!

I couldn't come up with a clever way of saying it, so I thought I would just throw that in there! We are so excited about it, and as we tell more and more people it becomes even more fun to talk and dream about. 

Lil' B is set to arrive at the beginning of January 2012 (when I write 2012 it seems like sooooo far away!) and everything is right on schedule.  I got to hear the heartbeat again yesterday and that just makes me so thrilled to know that he or she is thriving inside of me, even when other than an expanding stomach I don't have other signs of baby (feeling movement...)

So to catch you up on the last 15 weeks I went from this to this:

To answer the questions that most people ask right away:

1. How have you been feeling? 
           I have been feeling pretty good for the most part. During the first trimester I was definitely tired and had to be very careful to eat all the time so I wouldn't get sick. But now morning sickness likes to hit on Wednesdays in the second trimester. (Don't ask me why, but this baby for some reason doesn't like Wednesdays!)

2. Are you going to find out if it is a boy or girl?
           No we are not going to find out the gender of the baby (at least that is what I'm saying right now, I'm about 80% good on waiting and Bryce is 100% so I think we'll wait)

3.Do you have names picked out?
           Yes we have been thinking of names, and won't be sharing. But I will say this better be a boy or else I think our daughter will be nameless for quite some time!

4. When did you find out/What was your reaction?
          We found out on May 2nd. I had gotten up early to take a test because I  woke up in a bad mood and wanted a whole lot of coffee without feeling guilty about it. So I was expecting a negative to show up and then I would go on my way to the kitchen and make a pot of very strong coffee. Much to my surprise two little lines showed up right away. I just stared at it for a long time thinking there was some mistake so I took another test and it was positive too. That's when it all hit me, I was truly pregnant. I started just shaking and all I could do was whisper, "Thank you God" over and over. Since we started talking about expanding our family I had come up with so many adorable ideas of how to tell Bryce. They all went out the window that morning! I didn't want to wake him up so I had a little bit of time to grab some scrap material and make a little bandanna for Bentley to announce it for me. So I made this:

I put it on Bentley because he will wait at the bottom of the stairs for Bryce to wake up and then we could tell the great news. What I forgot to take into account was that Bentley gets so excited when he sees Bryce that he starts jumping up and down and won't stand still. So Bryce couldn't read what it said and I just had to tell him myself. But needless to say he was pretty excited too!

Our "Yeah! We're having a baby!" pictures

 We feel so blessed by this gift from God! Throw in the occasional holy crap we are going to be parents, but overall so very happy and anxious to meet this little one! We look forward to sharing part of our journey with you here, so stay tuned!

Back in the Badlands

This past weekend was the first time we've had decent weather and a free weekend, so we took advantage of it and headed out to the badlands. It felt so good to be outside again! We went out to a part of the trail that we tried out last fall, and decided we like it even better now. I think it might actually be in the National Grasslands but has the best of both worlds of the badlands and grasslands. This trail is way off the beaten path so there aren't very many people on it so you really feel like you own this whole beautiful park!

Bentley was sure glad to be out and about again too!

The best part of it is there so much room for my boys to run and chase each other!

While we were out there we found out that our puppy loves water! He jumped across so many times, but more often he just jumped into the river and paddled around.

We all had such a blast, and hope to be out there soon again!

Ten on Tuesday - Photo Edition

Hi All,

Sorry I've been so absent on the blog lately just haven't had much to say. But I'm back now with more useless facts about me, and not only just facts but pictures today too. I know you are just so terribly excited!
 Questions taken from this website

1. Your favorite piece of furniture in your home.
2. Your bed as it looks right now.

Well it works out pretty nicely that my favorite piece of furniture is my bed, and I get to show off how it looks tonight. I am not a bed maker. More of a throw the blankets up in the morning and call it good. The reason the bed is my favorite is because well it is dang comfortable and super high. The actual bed frame is one that I had had my eye on for a couple of years before I got married and when it came time to chose our bed Bryce let me pick whatever I wanted so it was an easy choice (especially when it was on sale that week- score!)

3. Your favorite thing on your wall.

These two are actually both given to me by my parents. The top picture was a Christmas gift a couple of years ago. I've always loved Paris pictures and so this was a wonderful gift! The second is a scroll they brought back from China last summer. They searched high and low to find one that would be the right color and size and I think it wasn't until one of the last days of their trip did they find this one. I tried to upload the picture they sent to me, they found this one but it was huge, like 6 feet tall by who knows how many feet wide. This one fits a little better on the wall.

4. Your pantry.

I sadly don't have a pantry. Thankfully I do have quite a few cupboards in the kitchen, well at least enough for us right now. I feel like I've only posted pictures of the kitchen lately so I won't put any more of those up.

5. Your favorite piece of jewelry.

Obviously my engagement/wedding rings are my favorite. I wish I had a better picture, well one that actually shows the rings. I tried to get a picture of it tonight but couldn't get it to focus properly. So you'll just have to pretend you can see what it looks like.

6. Your house shoes.

 I live in these guys. They are so comfy and warm, and unfortunately starting to fall apart. I don't think I can find a pair that will compare to them. 

7. Your messiest room.

 This is one of the upstairs guest rooms. Probably are least used room, which is unfortunate because I really like this one. But we are redoing some things downstairs and had to take all the furniture out of the office and living room so there is furniture everywhere in the house! Its pretty crazy Normally much less furniture and you can actually walk into it.

 8. Your most comfortable shirt

 Not much to say but it is comfortable! Nice stretch material, fits really good, and the sleeves are really long (which when you have ape like arms like I do, that is a big deal!)

9. Your favorite book.

My two favorite books are this, The Hawk and the Dove, and Jane Eyre. I only have Jane Eyre on my Nook and thought that would be a very weird picture. Most people have heard about that book, but the Hawk and the Dove is a not so well known book but I HIGHLY recommend it. So fantastic. I've read is numerous times and you always find more and more treasures in it.

10. Yourself.

I realized that I don't take pictures by myself. And I really didn't want to post a pic of what I look like tonight so this is the last one that we took. (And look, I'm wearing my comfy shirt!) 


Thanks for playing along with Ten on Tuesday - Photo Edition