It Is Well

Music has always spoke to and really pacified my soul.  I LOVE music.  I don't have the time I once had to sit, listen, and discover new music.  Every once in awhile I find some time to sit and find some new stuff.  This is one of the latest songs I'm loving right now.  So good. Enjoy!

"Far be it from me to not believe
Even when my eyes can’t see
And this mountain that’s in front of meWill be thrown into the midst of the sea

Through it all, through it all
My eyes are on YouThrough it all, through it allIt is well"






A few other songs I'm loving as well…

"Forever"(live) by Kari Jobe, album: Majestic Live
"There Is A Fountain" by Mercy Me, album: The Worship Sessions
"Messiah/You're Beautiful" by Phil Wickham, album: Singalong 2

29 Weeks

I am actually on top of things this week, and not only managed to get a pic of this sweet bump, but I ALSO am getting this update out on time.  Talk about being impressed with myself right now.  Not sure I've actually been on time with a post in months!  One of those rare moments in time right now. ;-)

How far along: 29 weeks

Gender: Girl 

Weight gain: Had a small jump in the last few weeks.  I think I'm up to about 21lbs.

Maternity clothes: Yes.  This belly is feeling huge! 

Stretch marks: Nope

Belly button in or out: Flat, but barely.  

Sleep: The last couple nights have been pretty rough.  For the first time I woke up with my calf wanting to cramp.  Getting comfortable as been hard.  

Best moment this week: Finally decided on a paint color for the babies room, and making some progress on getting things out, and moving stuff in.  Our 4th bedroom (aka the babies room), was pretty much our catch all room, so it's been quite the undertaking getting it clear.  

Worst moment this week: Still having some SI issues.  That and the struggles getting some good sleep haven't been too fun.  

Miss anything:  Hmmmm.  Can't really think of anything!        

Movement: Yep.  Lots and lots.

Cravings: Fruit.  Lots and lots of fruit.  Specifically oranges and plums.  Random.  I know.  

Queasy or sick: Nope and nope!! 

Looking forward to: Hopefully I have a few more nights of decent sleep in this pregnancy!!  Not ready to have the crazy sleeplessness yet!  

And just so I don't give the impression that it's easy to get our little one to take a picture, here's just a couple outtakes from our attempt to get her (a) looking at the camera and (b) smiling.  

This is the face we typically get right now when we ask her to smile or "say cheese." Needless to say we are having some fun times in our house right now. 

26 Weeks

Getting pics of just me and my bump really doesn't happen these days.  This is about as good as it gets!  Here's a pic from AB's party.  

How far along: 26 weeks

Gender: Girl 

Weight gain: I've been holding steady at 17lbs for the past few weeks, THANKFULLY!

Maternity clothes: Yes.  It's all about finding what's comfy! 

Stretch marks: Nope

Belly button in or out: I want to say in, but honestly it's pretty much flat. 

Sleep: Pretty good.  Can't complain actually!

Best moment this week: I confirmed this week we are in fact having a girl.  Was having a hard time believing it, so my midwife humored me and double checked.  While we were doing the ultrasound she was looking right at us, and got the hiccups.  Such a weird thing seeing this tiny skull looking back at me!  Loved it.   

Worst moment this week: My right SI and upper glut have been a huge problem so far.  I can hardly walk it's so bad.  Lots of chiro visits and massages.  

Miss anything:  Eating has actually become a ton easier!  I can actually eat chicken!  So crazy.      

Movement: Yep.  Lots and lots.

Cravings: Nothing. I've been craving chicken and fajitas.  So random.  

Queasy or sick: FINALLY got a break from both of these annoyances.  

Looking forward to: This pain in my back and butt to go away!  Makes me VERY nervous about birth!  

Our Baby Turns 2

We have a Labor Day baby, so we first did a little family celebration the day of her actual birthday.  She woke up to some balloons (her absolute FAV) and a new build a bear.  She was SO excited.  I'm pretty sure she was just as excited about the balloons as she was her new stuffed animal.  

Annabelle, you keep us smiling and laughing around here.  You LOVE to dance as soon as any music comes on.  You've got some pretty sweet moves.  You love to play with puzzles and blocks right now. You still love your 7:00 bedtime, but are slowly pushing that back a bit.  Nap times are still great, and you love getting to eat your 2 cookies after you get up.  You're saying lots of words. "Uh oh" "Oh no" "nigh nigh" "papa" "daddy" "uh huh" are some of your favorite things to say right now.  We're seeing more and more emotions from you, which is kinda funny.  You definitely have an opinion, and let us know!  I love that you're feisty and strong willed.   Of course, there are those moments where it's just a little challenging, but I do love it.  You really are so funny!  We love you to pieces!

We got to celebrate our sweet girl turning 2 with family and friends.  The picture below is about as good as it gets as far as trying to get a picture in her cute birthday outfit.  They tutu was definitely too much in her way, and she wanted it off almost immediately.  What can you do?

We had so much fun celebrating her with all her friends! Our theme was "Paint and Celebrate."  We had some fun stations of painting, coloring, and decorating fun masks.  I had no idea how much AB would LOVE painting!  Here are some fun pics from the day…

24 Weeks

I totally intended to get a solo preggo pic, since I was actually showered and dressed in something other then my workout clothes, BUT didn't happen.  SO, here's a pic with one of my oldest and dearest friends.  We are about 6 weeks apart, and we just found out she's having another girl too!  That means 4 girls between us!  Oh, these poor daddies!  Our first borns are about 4 months apart, and these sweet babies will be even closer! So fun going through this with her!

How far along: 24 weeks

Gender: Girl 

Weight gain: About 12lbs.  I feel HUGE already.  Not encouraging.  At all.

Maternity clothes: Yep.  Lots of them. 

Stretch marks: Nope

Belly button in or out: In, but getting flat fast. 

Sleep: Fortunately, so far this baby has been as picky as AB was.  I could ONLY sleep on my right side with AB.  I can do both sides, which really helps in the sleep department. 

Best moment this week: Celebrating a dear friend finding out she's having a girl too! We're about 6 weeks behind me. SO fun!  

Worst moment this week: Travis was out of town for 3 days, and my back has been KILLING me!  No break for this momma made the back pain pretty terrible.

Miss anything:  The usual…eating.      

Movement: Yep.  Lots and lots.

Cravings: Nothing. Food is STILL not my friend.

Queasy or sick: Yes and yes.  

Looking forward to: Not feeling so sick all the time, but I've pretty much come to the realization that might not go away til this little lady is out.  

22 Weeks

How far along: 22 weeks

Gender: A sweet baby girl 

Weight gain: About 8lbs 

Maternity clothes: Not quite yet.  I'm trying to hold off as much as I can for as long as I can!

Stretch marks: Nope

Belly button in or out: In, but I'm fearful it might actually go out this one.

Sleep: Pretty good.  The peeing multiple times is annoying, but I know it only gets worst, so trying not to complain. 

Best moment this week: Lots of movement going on lately.  

Worst moment this week: The nausea was back big time this week for some reason.  SO annoying.

Miss anything:  Being able to eat anything!  Anything at all.      

Movement: Yep.  Lots and lots.

Cravings: Nothing. Food is not my friend right now.

Queasy or sick: Yes and yes.  

Looking forward to: Not feeling so sick all the time, but I've pretty much come to the realization that might not go away til this little lady is out.  

Poor, Poor Daddy...

Well, we FINALLY found out.  After 20 weeks of "patiently" waiting, we're having a…

GIRL!  Poor daddy is definitely out numbered now, but super excited.  It's actually really funny, because I was 95% positive we were having a boy.  In fact, I'm still a bit in denial.  With Annabelle I never really had a thought either way, so when they told us girl, I was like great!  With this one I've had a couple dreams, and just had the mother's "sense" that it was a boy. SOOOO to hear that we're having another girl, I could not believe it.  So much so we're going to double check at my next appointment.    ;-)  Thankfully, my midwife isn't completely annoyed with me, and agrees we can double check.

We had a really fun time at our gender reveal party.  One of my oldest and dearest friends, Katie, threw it for us.  It was a bit last minute, so we were so overwhelmed by all our friends that came out to celebrate with us.  Katie had us all vote on what we thought it was, then had me pop a balloon filled with either blue or pink confetti.  I was TOTALLY expecting blue, so it took my eyes a second to process I was looking at pink confetti.  Our faces clearly show how surprised we both were.  My friend Megan got some great pics of us.

I was a little afraid to pop this so close to my face. 

TRUE shock.  Could not believe it. 

So grateful for these through thick and thin friends.

Sweet Katie, our hostess. 

Thanks to all our sweet friends for coming to celebrate our little girl!  We can't wait to meet her!

20 Weeks

How far along: 20 weeks

Gender: We JUST found out!  We're having another sweet girl!

Weight gain: 5 lbs. gained.  Slowly movin up.  

Maternity clothes: No, but I might be making the transition soon. 

Stretch marks: Nope

Belly button in or out: In

Sleep: Good.  Still have less energy then I think I should.  Trying to figure out if I'm deficient on something.

Best moment this week: Finally finding out the gender! 

Worst moment this week: Pretty good week! Not sure I can think of anything. 

Miss anything:  Having more energy.  It's getting old really fast feeling so tired all the time.   

Movement: Yep, more and more.

Cravings: Still have the cherries and chocolate thing.

Queasy or sick: Still battle with some nausea.

Looking forward to: Still waiting on that energy to come back...

19 Weeks

How far along: 19 weeks

Gender: STILL don't know.  This has to be a record for waiting the longest to find out.  I'll be 20 weeks before we know!  Brutal. 

Weight gain: 3 lbs. gained.  Thanks to a serious increase in appetite :-)  

Maternity clothes: Not really.  I put on a couple things, but still able to wear normal stuff.  I know at one point I will be so tired of wearing maternity stuff, so trying to wear my normal stuff as long as possible. 

Stretch marks: Nope

Belly button in or out: In

Sleep: Good.  I haven't napped as much, but not becuase I don't need to but because I am tired of the house being a huge mess!

Best moment this week: Probably feeling the first big kick. I've felt it moving and squirming for awhile now inside, but this one I could feel on the outside loud and clear.  So fun. 

Worst moment this week: Still having some pretty bad nausea at night time to time.  Almost threw up a couple nights.  Hate it.

Miss anything:  We were at the lake this week, and I REALLY missed being able to enjoy a big ol margarita.  Crazy thing is they don't even sound good right now!   

Movement: Yep.  Baby is moving and shaking.

Cravings: Out of nowhere BBQ has taken stage front and center.  I could eat it everyday.  So random.  Cherries and chocolate still rank pretty high as well.  

Queasy or sick: Getting better...slowly.

Looking forward to: Still waiting on that energy to come back...

Mid-Summer Happenings

Any of you moms out there feel like your ability to formulate words and clever musings nearly vanish post kids?   Before kids I feel like I could type entire blogs using words.  I now struggle to put together a few sentences.  I rely HEAVILY on pictures to fill up my blog pages.  Hoping this is a temporary phase!  I haven't been very good at blogging for the past several months.   Life is just happening, and blogging is not making the priority list.  BUT, I'm starting to get a little caught up, so let's get some summer happenings down.

I cannot believe it's mid July right now.  I really can't believe it's mid-July and we got some low 70 degree weather this week.  What an unexpected blessing!  I know many of my Texas friends have shared in this sentiment this week, but it's an extra special blessing in our household.  I have talked about it a bit it in a few monthly updates, but our little one has some severe allergies.  Food mostly, but also environmental and seasonal.  She's allergic to eggs, dairy, soy, peanuts (she has an epi pen for nuts), chlorine, and about 100 other foods.  Seriously though, 100 others.  At one point we've been down to about 5 things she can eat.  I don't share this much on the blog, but come across more and more people that deal with allergies in their kids.  Not all are as severe as others, but the struggle is still there.  It's hard.  Really, really hard.  Especially when you have a kid that has to wear footie pjs all day, and can't ever go outside.  That's the reality we live in.  So hard watching your kid not being able to play at parks, or swim in pools, or go to friends birthday parties.

BUT, this is the road we're on.  We love our little one, and wouldn't trade her for anything.  She is one of the happiest kids you will ever meet, and loves to dance and play.  She doesn't yet realize anything is even missing, but there are days that are harder for her.  Days she cries at the back door wanting to go play so bad.  Or just wanting to go get the mail with me so she can go out for a second.  Breaks your heart, but trusting God, that one day this will pass.

And for those of you out there that are nearly leaping out of your chair with suggestions and solutions, know that this is a severe case.  I appreciate all the help, but we have tried more solutions then I can count, and nothing seems to really work.  If you haven't gathered, or don't know this about us, we are on the far holistic side of medicine.

So, our summer happenings are more on the indoor, stay at home side.  There have been about a handful of days I've been able to put her in regular clothes, and by "regular" I mean a onesie (so she can't itch her back or tummy) and leggings.  We usually have to tuck her socks in somehow so she can't pull them off and we have to try and keep her leggings down.  It's really an all out workout trying to make it all work, so that's why we resort to just keeping her in footie pjs.

BUT, here are some cute pics of our summer so far.

Grandma helping us up to the slide.

Grandman and Grandpa having some fun.

She loves the teeter totter!

We love our accessories!

As you can tell. ;-)