19 Weeks! Baby Bump!

I got new rider boots for Christmas and I am in love with them! I now have a black and brown pair! This winter you can guarantee I will be in boots, leggings, and long tops. I find them the most comfortable and I actually am feeling more pregnant now! 

GENDER????   GIRL!!!!!! :-) We are so excited to welcome a little girl into our family!! :-)

How far along? 19 weeks and 5 days

Baby size? Baby B is the size of a large heirloom tomato and weighs about 8.5 oz. and is about 6 inches long from head to bottom.

Total Weight Gain/Lost? I would have no idea because we don't own a scale, but I went to the doctor today  and I gained +1 pound since my last visit in October and over Christmas! 

Maternity Clothes? I have three maternity long sleeve tops that I just started wearing and they feel great! I also have 2 maternity tank tops that I love how long they are and can go under anything! No pants for me yet. I am just wearing leggings. 

Sleep? I sleep like a rock. No problems here! I have always been a stomach and side sleeper so I just keep the pillows around me. 

Best moment this week? Getting to feel her kick a lot at night!

Movement: She has really been active and I have felt the most movement ever this week! Every time I have hubby come over to feel her she stops. She moves at night when I am on the couch and a little bit in the mornings. 

Food Cravings: None really although I have been drinking more smoothies and strawberry shakes from McDonald's!

What I miss? Nothing! I am loving this sweet little thing growing inside me! :-)

What I am looking forward to: Hubby being able to feel her move! :-)

Milestones: Baby center says her little brain is designing special areas for taste, smell, hearing, vision, and touch. All the things we pray for this little girl weekly that she will be a strong healthy girl!

Pregnancy Symptoms: I get bloody noses from time to time, but I can generally get them to stop pretty quickly.

In general, pregnancy has been great and I am loving it and can't wait to welcome this baby into the world!

Sneak peek of her nursery!

And before the end of the year hits!! Here is a picture of our Christmas tree this year! Kirby has really enjoyed sleeping next to it! :-)

See the little envelope in the tree? :-)

Here is a closer look :-)

Friday, December 23rd, 2011 we had our anatomy ultrasound, where they check to make sure everything is going ok and the baby is ok. We had the tech put the gender in an envelope so we could open it together. We had our Christmas together on Christmas eve so after we had opened all our presents we still had the best present of all!! :-) We were both so excited!! 

We found out it was a girl and then made cupcakes and filled the insides pink to tell our families during Christmas! We are very blessed with such great family! :-)

Your closet has already begun to fill up! :-) 

Your dad painted your room and your nana helped paint your book shelf! :-)

Your daddy loves you so much already! He talks to you every night! This is the first outfit he picked out for you sweet baby girl! 

Here is a little project your mom and dad both worked on together on our 2nd wedding anniversary!

I am feeling very blessed and loving this break from school! :-)

BIG NEWS!!!

Socks vanish in the dryer that you wear once and never wear again. I on the other hand took a blogging break. I've done some revamping to my blog and it is a work in progress. You might notice the left hand column and see that we have news!!!

We are expecting our first child! We are beyond words excited!!

I prayed for this child, and the Lord granted my request. 1 Samuel 1:27

October

We found our we were expecting at the end of September and told our parents mid-October. We made the grandma's pink shirts that said, "Grandma to be" and the grandpa's burnt orange sweatshirts that said, "Grandpa to be." We rolled up the shirts and when they opened the gift bags they were both so excited!!! What a great moment!

First Appointment: October 25th, 2011 

What an incredible day! We had the first ultrasound and found out I was already 10 weeks and a day and my due date is May 21st, 2012. 

November

A month of thankfulness! I am thankful for my husband and this growing little one God has blessed us with. We celebrated Thanksgiving with our families and my birthday at the end of the month! 

This month we finally finished a 3 month process of refinishing a new oak dining room table we got for free. We painted the base black and varnish on the top. We really love how it turned out!

My Grizzly Man also started painting the baby room and I am really excited to see how it turns out!! It is currently "Under Construction" as my husband would call it. I snuck in and got one picture

But then he got sneaky and put up a little sign he made on the door. :-) He is so cute!

So I just made some sugar cookies!

My husband got me a pressure cooker for my birthday and I am so excited! We have already used it twice to make soft, tender roasts with potatoes and carrots!!

It was so easy and tastes so good! I recommend this pressure cooker to anyone and you can make anything with it!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! 

SEPTEMBER PHOTO DUMP

I can't believe it is the last few hours of September and October will be here! I am so excited I love fall, but I wanted to put all of my pictures up of September that I took. Most of them are of crafts. I have been feeling very inspired by blogs and pinterest and therefore leading myself a challenge to almost craft daily when I get home. Sometimes my school work gets pushed to the way side, but I feel like it's not going anywhere so I'm going to do something I like. I get kinda stubborn like that sometimes. :-)

Anyway, without further a-due...

Putting our bikes back in the garage after a wonderful bike ride. :-)

Walking by the river. :-)

Kirbster is a little scared to venture any further. :-)

Rearranging to the laundry room, it now serves 3 purposes... laundry, craft, computer. :-) 

Hunty's new work area. :-) 

My new work space. :-) 

The book page wreath!!! :-) I love how it turned out! It just got really big! :-) 

I think this picture does the wreath more justice!! It is huge!! 

My dollar garage sale "Welcome" sign plus I cut out in a heart our hometown on the state map and glued it on fabric then had put a frame around it. Super cheap and easy!! Didn't cost over 2 dollars!! My favorite types of projects are cheap and easy!! :-) 

Since my first wreath I made was too big to fit on the front of the door I made another book page wreath but a little different variation. I added those stickers on strands of ribbon!! I really like how it turned out! :-)

The other project that I should be documenting and am not is a new dining room table. It has been in the garage for almost 2 months trying to get sanded and we have put several layers of varnish remover on the base and let me tell you varnish is hard to remove! It is a process! Hope to be done with it this month!! :-)

I have been feeling very motivated to make pillows... I don't know why I get these craft urges, but I do and Jo'Ann's sucks me right in!! :-) I found this fun fabric and bought cheap pillows at garage sales for a buck and then took all the stuffing out of the old pillow and shoved it in the new pillow covers I sewed. I just finished another big brown one tonight before grad class and I really like it on our bed, but I like the leaves on the couch!! Super fun!

You probably can't tell from this photo, but we had our carpets cleaned this month because having a dog really does wonders to your furniture carpet.. anything! So we got 4 rooms cleaned for 100 bucks and I was excited about that  and I just feel so much better about the carpet it feels brand new!! YAY for carpet cleaning! 

Much love friends!! I promise to get better at not letting whole months slip by with out updating! Happy weekending!! Do something crafty!!! :-) 

Exposure

~ The act of  revealing or unmasking in a public manner~

Two rooms I'm loving right now are about to be revealed!!

Living room.

Classroom.

Loving school and students!! Looks like safari-jungle/middle school right?!?! Day 2 here we come! :-) 

Have a great night!

Sunburn Earth

The summer came and went and tonight my mind sits wondering of what tomorrow will bring. Tomorrow marks the beginning of a fresh start for me only teaching 6th grade! I wonder how many things will happen tomorrow after a stressful two days??

How is it possible that this is my fourth year teaching? 

In the blink of an eye... summer is extinct..... the "real world" continues....

I'm going to post a lot of summer pictures, so this post may be boring but we had a lot of good times I want to remember.

We began the summer with a family trip to Galena, Illinois!! It was wonderful! I hope we go back next June 2012!

We also had the opportunity to work more on completing our living room. I don't believe  a room is ever completely finished, but getting there! 

Also my very talented mother-in-law painted some leaves on three canvas' above the couch! I love it!

Moving on to July!

I did little projects from blogs I read on different ways to display pictures!

Purchased a new vehicle in July, to save money! WAHOO!! I think I was more excited than Nolan, but he LOVES the car, don't let him fool you! :-) 

We spent the 4th of July at some good family friends cabin and went wake boarding, knee boarding, tubing, took the boat out, and ate good food! This was also the time I stayed back the last day to write a final paper for my first class this summer and got an "A" so I think we need to go more often!! :-) 

Me knee boarding for the first time! I loved it!

Beautiful sunsets!

Fireworks on the river 4th of July! 

Nolan wake boarding! He is very talented!! :-) 

We also took a little date night to Winterset!

Then, July ended and grad classes were done for the summer and August started!

My MIL and I took a trip to a craft show!! We had a blast, but were ready to be home!

I would go back to Lake Superior in a heart beat!! It is beyond words beautiful! Which doesn't even do it justice! 

I even went swimming!! :-) I won't tell that someone left the car door open during this time... :-) me :-) 

My MIL's sweet booth!!

As soon as I got back, Nolan and I headed to family camp! I am disappointed to say that my camera is screwed up and would not let me upload my camp family pictures from the big swing, which makes me very sad. I am very frustrated that my camera does this sometimes, but that's life right!

Anywhoo...... the students come tomorrow, ready or not! Pray all goes well!! :-)

Blessings!! :-)