Friday, May 31, 2013

{15 weeks}




Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along: 15 Weeks, 2 Days
Size of baby: Our baby now measures 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces, about the size of an apple.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: 2 pounds, give or take. I honestly haven't weighed since my last appointment, but I'm sure I have gained some weight from all of the yummy food I have eaten at the beach this week. ;o)
Maternity Clothes: I bought some shorts/capris at Old Navy & Motherhood Maternity this week, and I love them! They are so so comfy. I can pretty much wear my regular tops, though. I will more than likely live in maxi dresses & scrubs this summer!
Gender: We don't know yet, but we can't wait to find out!
Movement: I haven't felt anything yet! Ready to feel some kicks! 
Food Cravings: Potato chips, frozen grapes, Italian food, chips & salsa
What I miss: Not a thing!
Sleep: Sleeping great, except for the crazy dreams I started having this week. I dreamed last night that I started doing all of my co-workers' laundry & also that our cousin Mark ran into my dad's truck with a school bus! WeIrD!
Symptoms: Hunger! I cannot get enough to eat; heartburn 
Best Moment this week: Just being pregnant at the beach! I prayed at this exact time last year when we were here that I would be pregnant by this time, and the Lord answered my prayer! His timing is always on time!
What I am looking forward to: Getting our nursery furniture. We ordered our crib last night, & I am super excited about it!

Have a great weekend! We love summertime!

Friday, May 24, 2013

{vacation, day 1} RoAd TrIp!

We left out at 7:42 on the dot this morning, beach bound for Ft. Walton Beach/Destin, Florida!


This trip was a little different because we had to stop every 2 hours so I could get out, walk around & potty! We are used to stopping maybe once to get gas & that's it! 

Our first stop was at McDonald's in Georgia for breakfast!


Then, we stopped in Alabama for a road trip favorite: Chick Fil-A!


We made it to our condo, but it was too early for check-in, so we headed to Target to get our groceries. Afterwards, we headed back to the condo & unloaded everything. Then, it was finally time for supper!

We headed into Destin & ate at the Shrimp Basket. This was our first time eating here, & it was great!




We headed back to the condo after we ate and planned to take a walk on the beach; however, this mama was too tired! I laid down on the couch to "rest" for 5 minutes, but that turned into sleeping for the rest of the night. We had a neighbor who forgot & left their ceiling fan running until about midnight...it was literally about to fall out of the ceiling & made A LOT of noise. At one point we pulled out the couch bed & planned to sleep downstairs because we didn't think it was ever going to get turned off. FINALLY, they returned & turned it off. We were able to get a very peaceful night's sleep! I pray that our baby has my sleeping habits & not John T.'s! I could have slept right through the noise, but he was going nuts! :o) It made for a funny night!

Our first beach day is tomorrow!

Thursday, May 23, 2013

{14 Weeks}


Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along: 14 Weeks, 1 Day
Size of baby: From head to bottom, he/she measures 3 1/2 inches--about the size of a lemon--and weighs 1 1/2 ounces.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: 2 pounds, give or take. I honestly haven't weighed since last week!
Maternity Clothes: Not Yet
Gender: We don't know yet, but I have had this feeling since the day we found out that we were pregnant, that it's a boy. I had my first gender dream on Monday night & it was a girl in the dream! We will see in a few weeks! :o) My best friends, Brittany & Christina are 2 for 2 for girls! They both found out this week! Bring on the bows!
Movement: I haven't felt anything yet! Ready to feel some kicks! 
Food Cravings: Sonic cherry limeades, chocolate, plain Goldfish crackers & apple juice
What I miss: Not a thing!
Sleep: I sleep great! The Snoogle is still amazing! I'm even taking it to the beach this week!
Symptoms: Exhaustion/fatigue (I came in every night this week & went straight to bed), heartburn 
Best Moment this week: Officially making it through my first trimester!
What I am looking forward to: Leaving for the beach! Eating all kinds of good food, shopping & taking belly pics on the beach! My 27th birthday on Sunday!

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

The Knobloch's Gender Reveal Party

Tonight, I went to my friends', Christina & Andrew's house for their gender reveal party. It was the first one I had ever been to, and it was so much fun!

Christina & Andrew had an ultrasound on Monday to find out the baby's gender, but they didn't want to find out themselves. Instead, they had the US tech write down the gender & put it in an envelope. Christina's mom took the envelope to a local bakery & had them bake the cake with either blue or pink icing inside. 




Christina just knew that she was having a boy. She said she was even 99% sure! :o)

But...


it's a girl!






Olivia Grace will be a little sister to Brayden & Addyson in October or November!

I was on Team Blue



Team Pink



Love these girls so much!

{whittney, christina, me}

Saturday, May 18, 2013

buybuyBABY & a recipe

On Tuesday, after my check-up appointment, John T. & I went to buybuyBABY for the first time! Oh.my.goodness.



Someone will have to restrain me when it comes time to register for gifts! I found so many things that I love...especially this stroller, the Baby Jogger City Mini GT! I have seen where a lot of my pregnant blog friends love it, too, and I now know why! It is definitely pricey, but I am thinking that it could be worth it! Love the orange, too! {sorry the pic is squished}



We ate lunch at the mall, did our weekly grocery shopping at Target, and then headed to the Turkey Creek Farmer's Market. It just started on Tuesday afternoons, and I was pretty excited to see what all was there. 

On the way out, we stopped and got a popsicle from Pop Culture! I had been wanting to try one of these for a while now, and I was so excited to get to! I had the Strawberry Lemonade & John T. got the Strawberries and Cream. Yum!



Now, to this amazing recipe! I cannot take credit for it because I found it on one of my favorite recipe blogs, Six Sisters Stuff


It was so easy & so yummy! I left out the green chiles because the Rotel had those in it, but I went by everything else. Cooking the quesadillas over the stove makes them so crispy & good! Hope y'all enjoy!

Happy Weekend!

Friday, May 17, 2013

Mother's Day 2013

This Mother's Day was extra special because it was my first one! I remember praying on Mother's Day last year that I would have a baby this year or be pregnant, and the Lord answered my prayer!

Friday, John T. surprised me at work & sent me beautiful flowers! I was so surprised & very grateful! He made me feel so special! 


Sunday, I went to church with mom & dad, and I got to see Amber! Of course, we had to take a picture together on our first Mother's Day. Oh, how this picture will change next year!




I love my sweet, sweet mom!


After church, I opened some gifts that my mom & dad gave me...Some mommy-to-be books, a cute picture frame to put one of our ultrasound pictures in & a Chick Fil-A gift card! Perfection!


We sent my mom & John T.'s mom flowers at their work on Friday, & we also got them these super cute "grandmother" picture frames from ella minnow pea. I put the best ultrasound picture from our appointment last week in the frame. They loved them!


After we exchanged gifts, we went to Salsarita's for lunch. We LOVE this place, maybe a little too much! It was so yummy! 


We went to see my nanny & poppy after lunch (if I put her picture on the internet, she would come unglued, so I will respect her privacy! :) ) & the rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day, & if you are one of those girls who longs to be a mom, know that I am praying for you! 

Thursday, May 16, 2013

{13 Weeks}



Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along:
 13 Weeks, 1 Day
Size of baby: Almost 3 inches long (the size of a medium shrimp) & weighs nearly an ounce!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: 2 pounds at my appt. Tuesday
Maternity Clothes: Not Yet
Gender: We don't know yet, but I have had this feeling since the day we found out that we were pregnant, that it's a boy. We will see in a few weeks! :o)
Movement: I haven't felt anything yet! At my appointment on Tuesday, we could hear kicks & movement on the doppler, but she said it would probably be another month before I actually felt anything. I can't wait for that!
Food Cravings: Pizza (really anything Italian), Cool Ranch Doritos, Sonic cherry limeades, chocolate
What I miss: Not a thing!
Sleep: I sleep great! I bought a Snoogle pillow from Target a few weeks ago, & it is worth every dime! I sleep like a baby every single night!
Symptoms: Exhaustion/fatigue, heartburn, occasional dizziness (little bit lets me know when he/she is hungry!), lower back pain that comes & goes.
Best Moment this week: Receiving great results from our 1st trimester screening & hearing our baby's heartbeat at our appointment on Tuesday! It was in the 160s! :o)
What I am looking forward to: Our beach trip that is quickly approaching! This will be our last vacation as a couple for quite some time, I'm sure! Excited to take belly pics at the beach, too!

Have a great Thursday night!

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

It's Time to Get Back to Blogging! {& a big announcement!}

It's been since October since I blogged last! what?! I promise I will get better...& now I have a really great excuse to start blogging again!

{we're having a baby!}

We found out on March 14, and it was definitely the best news we have ever received! After a year of trying, we were getting a little discouraged, but we always knew that it would happen, all in God's plan. Boy, did He ever have a plan! 

Here is the story about how we found out, and the week leading up to & the weeks after March 14:

I knew that it was getting very close to the time for me to take a pregnancy test. I decided to take one of those early detection tests on Thursday, March 7, and it was negative. I cried & cried that morning because we really had a good feeling about this month. I was so confused and just wanted answers! I told myself I wasn't going to take another test for another few days, but of course those crazy tests come in packs of two, so I had another one & had to take it on Friday. Again, it was negative. At this point, I just told myself that it wasn't going to be this month (month #11 of trying), & I was going to have to get over it. 

So I waited. Tuesday, March 12 ("the day") came & went. I am & always have been on time, so I questioned it but still kept telling myself, nope, not this month. Wednesday came, mother nature was still yet to arrive, which was exciting, but I was trying not to get my hopes up. In the meantime, I was having headaches & unexplained heartburn! :o)

Thursday arrived, and I knew that if I was going to take a test, I needed to take it soon. I was going out of town with my mom to Stone Mountatin, GA, for the weekend, and John T. was going into work Thursday evening, and I wouldn't see him again until Sunday. Before I left for work, I sat down & read my devotional. I had been reading a lot of devotionals lately that related directly to our situation, but this one, while great, didn't relate that much. However, as I was reading the verse that went along with the devotional, a passage that I had highlighted months ago caught my eye because it was on the same page. I looked down & saw the verse in pink:
This was definitely one of those moments in my life where I felt like God was sitting right next to me on that couch, speaking straight to me. I knew at the moment that I had to be pregnant. (I also just "knew" at this moment that one of my best friends, Amber, was, too, but I wouldn't find this out for another week.)

 My friend Christina, who was about 7 weeks pregnant at the time, texted me while I was at work to see how I was doing because she (along with my other girlfriends) had been with me through this entire journey. I told her that I was two days late, but I had not taken a test yet! If her text could have screamed, it would have! She told me I had to take a test that night! :o)

So, after work, I headed to Wal-Mart to pick up some tests. I got a box of two digital tests & a box of two of the "line tests". 

I got home around 4:30, and John T. had to leave for work at 5:30, so right when I walked in the door, I headed for the bathroom! :o) I took the first digital test & went in the living room to wait. While waiting, we watched some of the Vols basketball game. I couldn't tell you one thing about who we were playing, the score, anything! I was just so nervous to see that test! 

Finally, about 3 minutes passed, and I told John T. that HE was going to look at the test. I had seen way too many negative tests over the past 11 months, and I was just not wanting to see another one! I heard him pick up the test & not say a word...the next thing I knew he walked to where I was & put the test where I could see it & he said "what does this say?!"

We were literally over the moon with excitement! We just stood there & hugged each other for like five minutes! We prayed & thanked God for answering our prayers that we had been praying for so long! Over the past month, I felt like I was begging God to allow us to get pregnant. I am so glad that He was always there & has entrusted us to raise this sweet child!

Before John T. left, I took another test, & then I may have taken one more after he left! :o) 

I went to work the next morning & called my OB's office to make my first appointments as soon as the office opened! After I made those appointments, I called my primary care doctor to see if I could come in that day to take one of their tests. The lady laughed at me because I had already taken 3 positive tests, but she told me to come in anyways. I left work at lunch & took another positive test at the office. Another confirmation! I think that made it real for me! (but it was still so hard to believe!)

I always had these big elaborate plans in my mind about telling our families that we were having a baby. Well, all of that pretty much went out the door! My mom was picking me up from work on Friday, and we were heading to Georgia. I knew I would never be able to make it to Georgia without telling her, so while I was driving, I told her she was going to need to save more money for Christmas presents this year because I was pregnant! She is so thrilled, & I cannot wait to see her be a grandma/mimi/gigi, whatever the baby decides to call her! :o) I told my dad when we got back on Saturday, & we told John T.'s family on Sunday afternoon. We told everyone to please keep it a secret, at least until my first appointment. You would have thought we had asked people to move to Africa or something because they all had the hardest time keeping it a secret! 

To tell John T.'s family, I wrote this inside a kid's book I bought forever ago through Kelly's Korner Blog for our future kiddos.


Here is a clip from a video Taleah took of us telling his family (John T. had told her on Friday, so she helped with our plan!):

Before we found out we were pregnant, we knew that two of my best friends, Christina & Brittany were pregnant. Then...after we found out we were pregnant, we also found out that our friends Amber & Tim were pregnant (we later found out they are pregnant with twins & we are due the exact same day, November 20!!!) Amber & I had went through this whole "can't get pregnant thing" for the exact amount of time. God definitely knew exactly what He was doing (doesn't He always?). I have been able to share this pregnancy with 3 of my besets friends, which is such a blessing! We are all due within weeks of each other in October & November!

We had a check-up appointment today, which went great! The baby seems happy & healthy, and I could not be more blessed with how my pregnancy has gone so far. I haven't been sick at all. I have just had extreme fatigue, mostly in the afternoons/nights, but that's it! Baby Armes' heartbeat was in the 160s today! So far, the heart rates have been 176, 140s, 171 & today 160s. Everyone says that since I haven't been sick, that it is a boy. Other people say that a high heart rate equals a girl. :o) We shall see in a few short weeks! We absolutely cannot wait until we find out what little bit is! 

I will be 13 weeks tomorrow, and I am planning to do weekly updates from here on out. So excited about this & to be back to blogging! :o)

Here are my weekly pics so far:
{weeks 8-12}







Also, here is the picture Amber & I took to announce our pregnancies to our families & friends via Facebook. :o)