You win some, you lose some.

Pregnancy WINS:
- Exercising a little the past two weeks
- This great Arkansas "cold front" that has brought the temperature down to 80s and 90s at night these days
- Tackling a DIY project of painting my grandmother's old dollhouse for Ruby's room
- No more back pain
- Feeling alot of strong and consistent kicks come from Ruby lately
- Levi is back in town after being gone for the past 10 days
- Making it to work and getting things accomplished on time (this was a challenge when all I did was throw up)
- Still being able to wear my wedding ring
- Blood pressure remaining low
- Meeting my baby in only 11 weeks! :)


Pregnancy FAILS:
- Experiencing a new surge of nausea and reflux that I thought I bid farewell to at 20 weeks
- Eating fast food for the past 6 lunches
- Loving Diet Coke more each day
- Left ribs that burn/ache about 80% of the day every day for the past 5 weeks
- Pelvic pain always
- More cellulite every time I look in the mirror (I have just stopped looking lately).
- The DIY dollhouse looking a little crappy. I am telling myself that it is a child's toy and not a design project.

At the end of the day, though, I can't be more thankful for the fact that for the most part, I am healthy and God has given me everything I need and much more to physically, emotionally, and spiritually take on the new journey of parenthood....not to mention a fantastic husband!

Ruby's Chair

Levi was super excited about Ruby's new chair for her nursery...We picked out the Peyton Glider by Best Chair. It was Gigi's present to us :)
This picture makes me laugh every time.

A Mighty Good Man

Happy Anniversary to the one that I love! Has it already been two years? I am so thankful for my husband who has made our marriage a priority, scrubbed many a toilet during my bouts of morning sickness, passionately pursues what is right and true, and loves me more than anyone else. What a mighty good man!

Food for Thought

An interesting article to read here (and even more interesting comments!) as I prepare for birthing a child pretty soon....

Doctor, doctor.

Going to doctor's appointments are so much more exciting now than they ever were in the past. When I am at the OB/GYN clinic, I feel like a rockstar. Most every healthcare professional working there has some sort of passion for pregnancy/reproduction, and they are (for the most part) so kind and encouraging as they notice my protruding tummy. I truly am thankful for a doctor that genuinely seems interested in what is going on with me and my uterus. He listens to me, validates my concerns, and gives me truly helpful feedback. Today I think he even said, "Bless your heart!". No, Dr. Breniman, bless YOUR heart for being such a peach.

I usually smile and try not to complain too much, but today when he asked if I had any questions, I did not hold much back. After discussing with him all of my ailments (most of which are not appropriate to publish), I was delighted to hear Ruby's strong heartbeat and to feel a few strong kicks. Earlier that morning, as part of my glucose tolerance test, I had consumed 10 ounces of sugary goodness, so Ruby was wide awake.

So far, everything is right on track. I am measuring right at 25 weeks. My weight gain is maybe a little above average, but I am okay with that. My blood pressure is perfect, and I do not have gestational diabetes, which is wonderful. I tried to convince myself while waiting for the results of my test that it would be okay to have GD, but honestly, carbohydrates would have been so hard to cut out during a time when they are so fun to consume. Besides my ribs and pelvis feeling like they are about to crack in half at any given moment, everything is going well, and I was reminded of what an awe-inspiring thing pregnancy really is. Incredible? Yes. Comfortable and enjoyable? No. I needed the encouragement today, and it was good to be reminded of how precious and invaluable is the little blessing God has chosen for Levi and me.

Testing- 1, 2, 3.

I hesitated to start blogging for a number of reasons, the main one of which I was embarrassed to admit that blogging makes the assumption that the entire world wide web population might want to read and know how my family and I are doing, my most recent reading material, the room I am currently decorating, and/or the general ups and downs of us. Obviously, this is not true, but it is essentially what one assumes when they "post". I also hesitated, because I rarely captivate people with my words (it is often my beauty instead....ha!), and it is a little scary to send thoughts and feelings out into the internet galaxies only to possibly be discounted, misunderstood, criticized, etc.

People say that having a baby changes everything. They are right. Now that Levi and I are having our little Ruby enter this world sooner than later, I am going to swallow my pride and insecurity and blog for the sake of recounting moments that I know we will want to remember. I know at least two people (myself and hopefully my husband) that will be interested in looking back months and even years later to see the tiny operations and details of our existence that seemed so mundane at the time, but upon looking back are actually quite sacred and special and make you cry.

I also could and should be accused of being an internet consumer as opposed to a supplier. I follow close to 80 blogs, but I never comment or contribute, because I never wanted to take the time or energy to have my own blog with which to communicate. Now I can do that as well! Hooray!

Off we go! Come along if you would like.