A Little Pregnancy Update

Here's a little update of all the pregnancy highlights, just in case you were dying to know. ;)

How Far Along: According to my doctor, (who knows best, right?), I'm 19 weeks along. Almost 5 months! Can you believe it!?!?

Size of Baby: Hooglet is a whopping 7 ounces and 5-6 inches long.

Gender: Still unknown by any human at this point. It's cool to think that the LORD already knew this whole time.

Movement: I'm truly stumped by this one. I think it's still too early to feel Hooglet moving around, but sometimes I feel weird things that I've never felt before. Process of elimination tells me it's gotta be the baby, right? All I know is that I'm not getting excited about anything until I know for sure.

Maternity Clothes: I have no choice when it comes to pants: stretchy all the way...which made for a wonderfully full Thanksgiving. (Have you ever seen the episode of Friends where Monica challenges Joey to eat a whole turkey, so he goes and puts on a pair of Phoebe's maternity pants? Yup...I love being pregnant!) My tops are a mixture of maternity and normal. I'm beginning to outgrow my t-shirts...bummer.

Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty well. I only get up once to potty. If I'm not sleeping well, it's not because of the baby growing inside me, it's more likely because of my "baby" elbowing me in the face. Sure do love that man. ;)

Cravings: The daily pickle thing is gone. I still thoroughly enjoy pickles, but they're not mandatory anymore. The weird craving this week was Five Guys Burgers. Not sure why. And we still haven't eaten there. But I'll tell you what...when we do, I'll ask for extra pickles.

What I'm Missing: I'll be honest. There have been several times I've been mightily tempted to pour myself some coffee. I'm also REALLY bummed that eggnog is out of the question. Truly, I'm still not completely convinced that I can't have any and I plan to ask my doctor at the next visit. But my darling, protective husband has me on lock-down. You'll know why if you see him and he has a black eye. ;)

New Discoveries: I painted my own toenails for the last time for at least 5 more months. And even then it was probably not the best idea. I never thought I'd not be able to safely and comfortably reach my feet. I guess this means a pedicure is in my future.

Best Moment This Week: There are several. 1. Being with family and talking LOTS about Hooglet and baby names and plans and hopes and dreams. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it brings so much joy to my heart to know how much this baby is already so loved and celebrated. 2. Being with my precious sisters-in-law and niece and them being so anxious to know the sex of the baby that they Google every gender-predictor-test known to man...errr...woman. Turns out, I'm having a BOY! Or maybe a GIRL! But probably a BOY! But it could also be a GIRL! I guess we'll have to just wait and see for ourselves.

Looking Forward To: Actually going to have the ultrasound/sonogram (whatever it's called) that shows us whether Hooglet is a boy or girl. The appointment is for a week from today (Tuesday) and I'm tempted to just crawl in the bed and hibernate until then. It's funny to me that we waited for almost 2 years to even get pregnant, but that hasn't been nearly as hard as waiting the handful of weeks to find out about this baby's gender.

Daddy's Involvement: Y'all, I have got to brag on my baby-daddy. Last night, while I took my small groups girls on an outing, he took it upon himself to open the door to "The Dungeon", also known as the storage room and what will be the baby's room, and actually began to clean it out. I have been stressed out about nothing else in life except this nightmare of what will one day house my precious child. I can't even begin to tell you what all is in that room,but let's just say that the door stays shut at all times.
Thank you, Love, for being my brave and courageous knight-in-shining-armor who has attempted to slay the dragon from the underworld. (Y'all think I'm being dramatic.)

This picture that I leave you with has absolutely nothing to do with anything that was in this blog post, but I just can't stand to have a picture-less post. So, since we were still on our honeymoon this day three years ago, here's my favorite picture of the 2 of us. We're standing right on the shore of Cape Cod with the Atlantic Ocean in the background. Hope you're not grossed out by the public display of affection. :)

On This Day Three Years Ago

I can vaguely remember just about everything that happened on this very day, three years ago.

I woke up early when my alarm went off and just lay in bed for a few moments. I had to remind myself to soak in every detail of the day. I thanked the LORD that I was alive and that my life was gonna totally change that day.

Then, I got up and immediately started getting ready. I bathed and made sure to shave my legs really well. I threw just a light touch of make-up for confidence's sake. All my girls and I went downstairs to the lobby of the hotel and ate some continental breakfast. Then, my sister and I were out the door and on our way to get our hairs did. It was rainy and chilly. And yet, it was such a beautiful day.

Afterward, we stopped off at the good ol' Chick-fil-a and picked up our large order of nuggets and fruit and sweet tea. Then we went across the street to Walgreen's because I had to have real coffee and I bought some Excedrin migraine as a precaution.

Next, we were on our way to the church. I remember calling my mom on the way and having to talk her down from a ledge because her hair lady messed up her hair..."big" time. ;)

We arrived at the church to eat some nuggets and continue the marathon of getting ready. Make-up, dress, touching up hair, touching up make-up. Then we took lots of pictures. Then we did some more touch-ups.

Next, my closest and dearest friends surrounded me and prayed over me. What a precious time. I was chill the whole time.

Anticipation grew as we filed out of the dressing room and into the foyer of the church. I got a quick peek inside the sanctuary. The hand-picked music was playing and the pews were filled with smiling faces. It was decorated so perfectly.

My closest friends began the walk down the isle. They closed the doors in my face. When they opened them again, a thickness of suspense came rushing out the doors from the guest. And from that one man standing in front. I grabbed my dad's arm and we walked. And I smiled. And he cried. And that one man smiled. Maybe he cried too.

We stated our promises. We gave tokens. We lit a candle. We kissed. We rejoiced. We kissed some more. We smiled. We laughed. We posed for pictures. We gave thanks to the LORD. We ate. We danced. We drove away.

I could go on. Moment by moment. Detail after detail. I remember all...well... most of it.
It was one of the greatest days of my life. Yes, there were a few minor details that didn't go according to plan or how I had envisioned it happening. But it was still a day packed full of sweet, sweet memories. Ones that I could never forget. And just in case I do, I've made a point to write them down here.

Dear Love of my Life,
Three whole years. Can you believe it? Sometimes I feel like it's been twenty...in a good way. But I know this is still just the beginning. And I love that. To me, it means that we still have so much life ahead of us. Thinking through everything we've done and gone through in the last three years, all the ups and downs, makes me wonder what the next three or twenty or sixty years of life will look like.
We've experienced so many joyous moments. Times of that deep-belly kind of laughter. Times when we were left speechless and in awe of the way God worked things out. We've made many sweet memories together. We've relished many triumphs and victories. And have seen the LORD bring hope and beauty to people's lives (including our own) that we couldn't even imagine.
We've also experienced heartache together. And frustration. And confusion. Sometimes because of each other. We've experienced what seemed like endless lack and the tunnels of darkness that seemed to have no end in sight. We've plowed through the hard grounds of ministry. We've made mistakes. We've disappointed each other.
All in three years.
All the good. All the bad. And there's no one else in the world I would ever want to experience any of this with but you. We said, "For better or for worse. In sickness and in health. For richer or poorer." I meant it. I know you did too.
I love our life together. Could we try harder? Change habits? Learn from mistakes? Make more of an effort sometimes? Stop and really listen more? Definitely. But I love our life together. I love that I get to learn the ups and downs of marriage...and life in general, with you. I love that we have so much more life ahead of us to learn. Are you excited? I am.
I love you.
Happy Anniversary,

Yo Baby Mama :)

Grown-up Red Riding Hood (minus the hood part)

I am LOVING the new fresh cool air that's seemed to settle in around Houston. I love being able to wear my scarves (compliments of Liz Silva) and jackets. And let's just be honest...I rather enjoy being able to bum around the house in my sweat pants. There are a couple downsides to the cooler weather (super dry skin, chapped lips and not being able to enjoy the warmth and goodness of a hot cup of coffee), but I'd rather not focus on the negatives, if you please. It'll all be worth it once it's cold enough to cozy up in my HOTT new red coat.

Speaking of my new red coat...Seriously y'all, it's beautiful. As sad as this may sound, it's my first real adult coat and I'm super proud of it. All through college and for the last few years all I've had to keep me warm on those 3 really cold days we have here in Texas is my HUGE puffy red coat. You know the kind. Where no one can sit next to me and I can't wear it in the car because I can't buckle my seat belt and cops look at me sideways because they think I'm hiding a stolen child (or 2) inside it.

Don't get me wrong...it's a super fun coat and it's kept me warm and the center of everyone's attention for many good years. But let's face it. I'm 27. I'm married and am basically a mom. It's about time I graduated to something more mature.

So, thank you, Mom, for buying me this awesome, new, beautiful red coat for my birthday. I'm sure I'll be even more thankful when I actually get to wear on those 3 days.


P.S. When you click on the link to see a picture of my beautiful new red coat (because I know you all really want to), make sure you check out the back of the coat too. It's my favorite part!
Also, please remember that I will never look like the woman wearing my coat. Especially not this winter. No, I'll probably look more like Santa Claus in it this year. :)