25 weeks

Here's Madisyn checking out the snow for the first time all over again. She did a lot of looking out the window while we all dealt with a bout of the stomach flu last week. It was a very rough few days, but we made it. She's still scared to touch the snow, but hopefully that will change throughout the winter :)

We're now 25 weeks along (and 12 lbs. heavier) and things are going great! I've been feeling a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions, which is much different than when I was pregnant with Madisyn. I never even felt contractions with her until we were in the hospital! It's been kind of fun, though uncomfortable at times.

Hope you're all having a wonderful Christmas season!

Thanksgiving...

Happy belated Thanksgiving! We were lucky enough to have Thanksgiving at our house with the Grandia's. I loved the prep, but after preparing all day Wednesday, Thursday morn and early afternoon, cleaning Thursday late afternoon, and shopping at 4:30 A.M. Friday... I think I over did it! It was definitely well worth it, though.

We got confirmation from the doctor that our due date is moved to March 26th! YEA! The little peanut has been moving like crazy! At times we can already feel a leg or arm moving from one side of my stomach to the other. Madisyn is getting better at knowing "where the baby is." Sometimes she points to other people's stomachs :)

The last bit of news... my hair is now permanently straight (well, until it grows in). I took the plunge, and what an adjustment it is! I absolutely love it! Hope you do too (and if you don't, don't tell me ;) ).

Here's Madisyn doing the motions to "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" (out came the sun...)

New Due Date?

First of all, Rob got to feel the baby move just over a week ago for the first time (November 2nd)! It was so exciting because I had been feeling him/her for a while, and wanted to be able to share it with him. It's amazing that he/she is big enough to be moving around and moving those little arms and legs already!

The big news is that we had our ultrasound last night! Quite an experience THAT was :) Besides the excitement of us being able to see the little peanut, the power went out on us... Twice! Luckily the machine saved our pictures so we didn't need to start all over again! I was just grateful that it wasn't while I was in labor! So... according to our ultrasound, we are almost two weeks further along than we thought! YEA! We don't see the doctor again until next week, so we'll see if he'll move the due date closer, but according to the ultrasound, we're due March 26! We still don't know if it's a boy or girl :)

I have still been feeling well, more tired than usual, but naps can take care of that! I have gained eight pounds, which is slightly on the light side, but the doctor said that it fits well with my size and that I'll probably make it up pretty quickly throughout the rest of the pregnancy (Goal is not to gain as much as I did last time... 40 lbs., which is above normal!) So here is the latest tummy picture...

Halloween

Winnie the Pooh Joshua (Madisyn's cousin)

Cowgirl Madisyn

Cowgirl Madisyn with Aunt Kate

Our littlest pumpkin, Moby

Pumpkin Patch

Madisyn loved her trip to the Post Farm (to see the pumpkins and goats). Here she is with Daddy on the swing.

With mommy on the horsy swing

Feeding the goats (she tried to kiss them too :) )

Playing in the pumkins

Exciting news!

Sometimes I just can't believe how blessed we are! I think we may have the happiest child ever!

Here we go... finally another tummy picture! No hiding it now! We're 16 weeks along and I'm pretty sure this will be the last picture wearing these jeans! Tonight I think I felt the baby move for the first time! I called Rob right away and he couldn't believe it. He joked around that it was just gas, but I assured him that it was the real deal :) It was absolutely awesome to have that feeling again! I can't believe how much earlier I felt it this time, so exciting!

Update

I apologize for not writing in so long! Here's a short update:

Things are going wonderfully for us (besides a sick little one)! Only four to five weeks until our ultrasound (and our true due date!). I still feel great (minus the occasional headache and a cold). There is no doubt that I'm getting bigger by the minute! I've been wearing a combination of regular pants and maternity pants, but as my friend Kate (who is due March 28) said, it's tough to find shirts long enough to fit over the top of the maternity pants. So bare with me if you see me dressed in a lot of the same clothes lately :)

We've been doing fun fall activities like going to the apple orchard with one of Madisyn's boyfriends, Patrick Janson. It was tons of fun (wish I had pictures!) and Madisyn kept pointing to the gigantic apple and saying "apple." She absolutely loved an old wagon turned into a slide! We may need to go again!

Rob and I just got back from a wonderful weekend away (celebrating our anniversary). We went to Traverse City and enjoyed wonderful meals, good shopping, brisk fall air, beautiful fall colors, and lots of quality time (although the weekend definitely flew by!). It is absolutely amazing how love can grow... I never thought I could love him more than the day we married, but day after day I am pleasantly surprised! God has truly blessed me with an amazing husband, father, and most importantly, friend.

Madisyn's new chair

Last month we got Madisyn a camping chair to match ours (ours aren't pink). I thought it would just be cute, I didn't have any idea how much she'd love it! We actually haven't even brought it outside yet, but as you can see, she has plenty of fun with it indoors!

College student or 19 month old?

Joshua's stay

Last month we were able to have Madisyn's cousin Joshua stay with us for the weekend. Madisyn absolutely loved it! As you can see, Joshua loved our tupperware drawer :) He also gets really excited to see Moby! Joshua's birthday is this month, October 25th, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSHUA! Isn't he SO cute?!

Madisyn eating...

What, do I have something on my nose?



Mom, I think I'm done eating!

Tummy pictures are finally here...

This might seem rediculous, but I started taking pictures at 7 weeks along (according to our April 6 due date). I am definitely getting bigger faster with this one! The top picture is at 7 weeks (August 18th), and the bottom picture is at 10 weeks (September 17th). Enjoy :)

Doctor Visit

Good and bad news (but mostly good :) ). We went to the doctor (finally) on Friday. He said everything looks great and that we are going to guess that we're due April 6 until we have our 19 week ultrasound (which would only make us 12 weeks along). Then he said that he thought that I felt like I was more like 13 weeks along, but not quite 14. Amazing how he can tell these things (must be why he's a specialist!). So who really knows :) We'll go off of the April 6th date until further notice. Above is the updated ticker (I finally figured out how to add it to my template :) ). And I'll post some tummy pictures soon!

Our babies...

We are blessed! We have a beautiful, healthy, talkative, cheery-eyed, one and a half year old and another little one on the way. We think we're almost 12 weeks along, and it has seriously flown by! No nauseous, only occasional headaches and tiredness (nothing to speak of). Unfortunately we don't have a due date yet, but we will have our doctors appointment Friday, September 22. I assume that we will then schedule and ultrasound to determine how far along we are and I promise we'll update you! Hope you're all doing great, I've begun to take tummy pictures and I'll post them soon!