4 months

16 weeks today!

and I feel huge...

(huge compared to where I was 6 weeks ago not where I know I'll be!)

it was hard last night to see my reflection in the bathroom window as I got ready

for bed and to see my waist not just disappear- but gone!

I know I will see it again someday but I already miss it so...

we made our ultrasound appointment for tuesday May 24th which is

just 3 weeks from tuesday... I don't want to know the sex this time,

andy of coarse does... So we'll see who gets their way!

If I get mine, then I will cancel the ultrasound all together

and keep all of my baby a surprise!

(for the record, I still think it's a boy...)

and andy wont even discuss what it is at all

he is very hesitant to get his hopes up for a boy.

I am feeling some more distinct movement lately- still few and far between

but when I do it's becoming much more obvious...

I am very excited to feel this baby moving all the time!

that all said, it's another week gone and another week closer to

meeting this little person, I so wonder who he or she will be!

it's been a big morning!

so our schedule is busy.... there is not a day that goes by where we don't have to be somewhere (often multiple times a day we do!) So this has made potty training a slow journey...

today though, I had a prenatal at the birth center and I decided to be brave and put alomae in panties for the first time!

I gave her a pep talk on the drive over saying

"if you have to go potty, just say 'mama potty!' and I will take you. Don't go in you pretty panties though..."

so we got the the birth center and I took her straight to the potty where she went a

little bit!

about 3 minutes later (while distracted with toys even) she said "go potty" so I ran her back to the bathroom and not only went pee but pooped too!!!

(first time pooping on the potty!)

she went two more times at the birth center and always initiated

going!

I am so proud of my big girl!!!

oh and baby is doing good too!

dear baby & ducky fun

dear baby,

"and so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking

that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing the the knowledge of God."

~

we were at the park and alomae had a blast sliding with her rubber ducky!

andy would put it at the top of the slide and when she climbed up she would

push it down, laugh hysterically and then slide down after it...

she was seriously having so much fun

oh the simple pleasures of being two!

i love watching and trying to imitate her childlike joy, fun, & faith...

15 weeks

so I was wrong last week,

baby was a lemon...

this week it is a navel orange!

(so I went ahead and swapped the photos so that when I someday look back on this

i am not confused!)

15 weeks

I am feeling so good!

I am back to working out 5 days a week

(which can I say has made such a big difference compared to being

pregnant with alomae! I pretty much do the exact same stuff I did

pre-pregnancy with a couple adjustments)

nothing too exciting at this stage...

but I am just enjoying this point of feeling good, having energy,

and not being very big!

horses & goats

Alomae met some new friends today!

She was in little girl heaven...

beauty

alomae,

i think you are the prettiest little girl ever...

i love watching you play & explore

14 weeks: movement, names & a bump

just over 14 weeks now and the baby is the size of a lemon

I have been feeling little baby thumps every now and again, not frequent at all and I really have to be laying and doing nothing to notice them... but they are there! I did not feel alomae until 23 weeks which is actually quite late... Andy got to feel her that same day too... So I really waited until the big movements happened to pay attention with her :)

They say it happens much quicker the second time around because you

remember the feeling... so true!

We already have a boy and a girl name all picked out!

we are so on top of things and Andy and I really get along

when it comes to naming babies!

Some people fight for the entire pregnancy in disagreement of names,

but not us :)

the boy name was a tad bit harder to agree on though,

I have a boy name I have loved for a long time but Andy has

one too...He even walks around singing a song with his name in it

from one of his favorite bands...

His name is a great one too, so if this baby is the boy he has always dreamed of,

I will let him have his name...

(I still think it's a boy!)

My belly is continuing to expand...

starting to feel a little less chubby and am looking

a bit more pregnant...

there is nothing fun about the stage where your pants get tight but

there is no baby in sight!

will post a photo some day soon...

potty training

all week alomae has really been showing the

signs of being ready to be potty trained

(thank you jesus!)

she has been periodically going pee pee on her

potty every day!

today I have her in panties and her potty is downstairs in the

living room (if it's upstairs in the bathroom she wont make it)

it's 12:10pm and she has gone pee 3x since we got home from the

gym at 9:30 and I put her panties on!

no accidents!

and all three times she initiated sitting on the potty, I did not have to put her there!

Go alomae- Go!!!

oops!: as I write this, she has sat down on her potty

and pee'd with panties on... oh well ;)

sweet new baby

it's 11:00 am and i have just crawled

out of bed!

so foreign to me...

i spent last night (10:00pm-6:30am) attending the sweetest birth

of a handsome little man.

this mama had a cecerean 17 months earlier and did such a beautiful

job trusting & allowing her body to do it's thing and birth

her baby boy in such a gentle & calm way!

ladies, trust your bodies...

learn about them and what they are designed to do and capable of,

you will be blown away!

and when it comes time to have a baby (or another baby) of your own..

you will feel empowered and your body will do what it

was created to do...

you can find out what i do here

alomae, when's your baby due?

cause your tummy looks like mine!

photo catch up

just some photos from the past couple months of my sweet girl that i don't want to forget

holding baby truman

naked, reading in a doll stroller

first hair cut by Janelle!

new shoes!

riding the camel at omsi

snuggling at papa's house

first bike ride in sunriver!

13 weeks

baby is the size of a peach

I am thankful to be in my 2nd trimester

and am feeling good!

I'm still tired, but as long as I nap a couple days a week i am okay!

My belly is starting to pop which is fun and scary...

I can wait a bit longer to have something hindering my bending

and sleeping positions!

all in all i feel really good, my normal appetite is returning

which is so nice! it's hard when what you should be eating

does not sound good...

so far my favorite things to eat have been:

citrus: oranges & grapefruit

berries: strawberries, raspberries, & blueberries

chips & salsa (emerald valley salsa only!)

dark chocolate covered raisins

tofu (the other night i had tofu for dinner, just tofu!) ha!

really I am trying to just enjoy this pregnancy...

I feel so at peace having been through it before

and am looking forward to meeting this little

one in the fall...

good food

I have been on a quest to try all new recipes

for the dinners I make

(luckily, with andy as a pastor, this really only means like 3 times a week!)

tonight i made a remix of

manicotti

instead of stuffing pasta shells, i made crepes and put the filling in them!

they turned out great & very yummy!

the before

and the ready to eat!

you can get the recipe

here

born into a living hope

born to a living hope

though you have not seen him, you love him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory

knowing that you were ransomed

love from a pure heart

his death makes us right with God

rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious

return to the shepherd

they stumble because they disobey the word

once you were not a people but now you are God's people!!

first peter is by far one of my favorite books.

it is so marked up with so many notes and one liners

in the margins. As I was reading it today I looked at

what i had written in the margins and it told a beautiful

story.

the above is what i have written

i love gods word