16 weeks and growing :)

One more week until we know if baby Britton is a boy or a girl! I can not wait! eeeeee! We read Sunday that the baby can now hear noises.  For some reason, this seems like one of the biggest developments to me.   I have been talking more to the baby and praying loudly over my belly.  I feel a little silly, but thankfully I am home by myself when this takes place :) Everything is starting to feel more like reality and my heart is just growing more in love with this baby every day.  What a blessing you are, little one!

15 weeks!

Yesterday I decided it was probably time to start taking those stereotypical, side belly shots.  I honestly didn't think I was really showing until I looked at this picture.  I was a tad caught off guard.  I was like whoa, I really look pregnant. I knew my jeans were getting tighter but I didn't realize how much I had grown.  It made it more real to think this belly is just going to get bigger!  Can not wait to find out if this little love is a boy or a girl.  Two weeks from tomorrow!

Best Valentine's

I've never really cared about Valentine's day, ever.  Even when Lan and I were dating, it just didn't seem like a big deal to me. However yesterday ended up being super special for us.  Unfortunately, the past month or so we haven't been able to spend a ton of quality time together in the evenings or even on Saturdays. We've (Lan) has been working relentlessly  to get our rental props ready to be rented...so most of his evenings have been spent painting or fixing things. Sometimes I would go with him to help with what I could or just hang out but I couldn't be around paint fumes, so I couldn't help him much with that part..  All that to say, last night was just a little extra special because we were just excited to be together, just the two of us.

We had decided to stay in and not go anywhere.  We ordered a pizza from Giordano's in Chicago and had it shipped to our house.  We ate there when we visited in 2011 and I was convinced it was the best pizza on earth.  I am still convinced.  I surprised him by getting all dolled up and put on a new red dress I got for Christmas.  Thankfully, it fit!  I am growing a tad, so I wasn't sure it would.  I got out our fine china for the first time and lit quite a few candles around the house and waited with great anticipation for my husband to come home.  I knew he would be so excited and just relieved to be home.  I love that he loves coming
home.

We just had a great time being together, eating pizza on our china, reminiscing about our ridiculous trip to Chicago and telling each other just how thankful we are to be married.  The only negative of the evening was that we were too full to eat dessert.   I am sure that every Valentine's Day will not be so romantic or as exciting but I am thankful that our first one together was just perfect.  I am so thankful for the husband God has given me.

Oh yeah, and my husband found time to buy me some gorgeous flowers...*swoon*

A baby Britton on the way!

Today I am 14w and 1d pregnant! It is still so incredibly surreal.  I'm not sure when it will fully sink in. We could not be more thankful. The Lord is so gracious. We found out that we were expecting during the  first week of December.  I felt silly even buying a pregnancy test, thinking there was no way I was actually pregnant. However, with a little prompting from my friend Emily (who had a dream the night before that I took a positive test), I decided to just put my thoughts to rest. I took a test, make that 2 tests around 3:30 pm...it took about half a second for that second line to show up, bright and clear.  Nothing can prepare you for that moment. I couldn't believe it.  I was thrilled and shocked and thankful and a thousand other emotions at the exact same time.  I just sat down on the couch and prayed.  I had no idea what else to do.  What a miracle. I had to keep all this to myself for the next 3 hours, until my baby daddy got home from work. I was about to burst all afternoon and tried to act very normal when I talked to him on the phone. Lanie had no idea I was even thinking about taking a pregnancy test, so needless to say, I knew he would be shocked. When he got home from work, I asked him to sit down and then told him I thought we should go out to eat to celebrate! He looked at me puzzled and asked, "celebrate what?" He thought I had a job interview...not quite. When I told him we should celebrate that I was pregnant, his response was "What?! are you sure?!", "how?!'.  He was so excited but also a tad caught off guard, to say the least. I only wish I would have thought to video his reaction.  Even though he was thrilled at the news, he made me take 3 different tests later that night to ensure they were correct :)

We were able to tell both of our families over Christmas.  It was such an ideal time to be able to tell them the great news.  We had our first ultrasound just a few days before Christmas so we were able to give them a picture of the sweet little bean.  It was so fun to share the news and start celebrating with people we love.

Overall the discomforts of pregnancy have been manageable. I definitely have had weeks of extreme fatigue and had about 4 weeks of a sick stomach, but both of these seem to have eased up and I'm feeling relatively normal. :)  My only aversion has been olive oil, namely spinach sauteed in it...ugh.  No serious cravings...except for a ham and cheese croissant (which I don't know that I've ever had one) but it sounds good most of the time.

We find out whether baby is a boy or a girl in just 3 weeks! I am SO excited to find out.  It really doesn't matter to us at all.  This child is already dearly loved and cherished.  This baby is, without a doubt,  a good gift from the Lord and He is already using him/her to teach me to trust Him more. I've never felt so out of control of something so important.  I find so much comfort in knowing the God IS in complete control.  He created our child, is forming our child and loves our child more than we ever could.  I feel so privileged to carry this sweet little baby.