I wanna give a shout out to my baby!

This past weekend, B and I traveled down to Austin, TX, for a wedding.  I was nervous about the trip because of two things.  Number one:  Texas has been ridiculously hot this summer.  A woman I used to work with actually said, "I'm going to rent out my house here in Texas and move to Hell for the summer because I'm sure it's more comfortable there."  Um.  Awesome.  Number two:  I wanted to be able to eat all the food that I've been missing from there, and AB has not been making eating fun.  Well, how do you think it went?

Problem number one:

Yeah, that says 108.  The heat was killer and exhausting.  With the wind blowing, it felt like walking around in a huge blow dryer.  I can't believe we used to live in that.  So, yeah, that turned out to be a big problem for pregnant me.

Problem number two:



Yeah, problem number two was not a problem at all!  Huge shout out to AB for letting me get my grub on!  Chuys, Lamberts, wedding cake, Franks, Taco Cabana, and Rudy's - conquered!  Those pounds I lost in the first trimester were gained back in the first two hours off the plane.  B kept high fiving my belly everytime I told him I was hungry.

The weekend was amazing.  It was so full of celebrations between our good news and our friends' wedding, that I felt like my heart was going to burst wide open.  When I left the reception to get some beauty sleep in the hotel room, I had to massage my cheeks.  I had been smiling so much, they actually hurt!  More than ever, I'm thankful for our amazing Texas family.

We're off to Michigan tomorrow night to enjoy the end of summer with B's parents at their lake cottage.  Let's hope AB gives a repeat performance!

xoxo

AK

p.s.  Baby, I can't wait for you to visit Texas with us someday to meet our friends and see where Mama and Daddy fell in love and started our life together.  It was in that little house in Cedar Park where we first starting talking about you, and now here you are, making your way to us.  I can't wait for you to wear your first pair of cowboy boots!

Hi, world!

xoxo
Baby F

Prune!

Welcome, new readers!  I'm so glad that the secret is slowly but surely working its way out.  Yes, as you can see, we've known for quite a while that AB was coming our way.  I'm sorry for not sharing earlier - believe me, it was extremely hard for me to keep my mouth shut, especially when I saw so many of you just a few weeks ago.  I think you'll forgive us for keeping it quiet :-)

Well, we're in week 10 now, and our baby is a......prune.  So far, everything has been really cute.  We had sweet pea, raspberry, green olive, and now....prune.  Gross.  Hurry by quickly prune week!  At 10 weeks, the book says that the baby's limbs can bend and move now and that tiny nails are beginning to form on toes and fingers.  So glad that webbed feet period is over - we never would've found AB cute shoes with that going on!  The development at this point is really starting to amaze/scare the crap out of me.  In the next few weeks, our little 1 1/4 inch prune is going to double in size to 3 inches!  That's not all thats doubling though.  Even though I've lost over 5 lbs from this awful all day long sickness, my belly will not be contained by my skinny jeans much longer.  I'm so glad we're moving into Fall soon because that means it's time for my favorite thing in the entire world....SWEATPANTS!  Being pregnant through the holidays means an even better reason for celebrating Sweatsgiving and Sweatsmas!

love,
AK

p.s.  Baby, I have not been able to bring myself to eat a vegetable other than a baked potato in weeks.  I want you to know that no matter how badly I eat while you are baking inside of me, you WILL eat your vegetables once you are born!

OMG

I have a tiny belly!!!  Or, my stomach is so shocked at having two actual meals in it, it is just bloated.  Hmmmm....I'm going with tiny belly for the win! 

xoxo
AK

p.s. Baby, today I ran across my favorite picture of your Daddy ever.  I hope you have his eyes.

Donuts and Gatorade

Did you know that pregnant women's minds turn to complete mush?  I just had someone ask me the abbreviation for Idaho, and I had to look it up!  I seriously find myself not being able to make a complete sentence several times a day.  Thank the lord for Google and the fact that I'm not currently taking any classes.  My educational debate ready mind of a few months ago now only wants to watch videos of cats trying to fit into boxes, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XID_W4neJo, and reruns of Beverly Hills 90210.  Poor B is getting better conversations out of Daisy than his own wife!

Mushy brain matters aside, this morning I woke up...wait for it...HUNGRY!!!  I thought maybe Alien Baby (AB for short), my endearing nickname for what is growing inside of me, was just playing a cruel joke on me, so I took it easy and just had a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter for breakfast.  I 95% expected meal this to reappear later this morning like most of my meals do lately, but I managed to keep it down all the way to work, and walked into my office looking and feeling like a normal human being. 

10 minutes went by, 15, then 20, and I still felt good.  When my boss stopped by on his way to Dunkin Donuts, I decided to tag along.  After the walk across the street, I decided to press my luck, and I ordered a cake donut and a big fruit punch Gatorade.  As soon as that donut hit my hand, I ripped into it and before I knew what was happening, I had devoured the entire thing before even leaving the store!  My boss looked at me with his mouth half open in complete awe at what I'd just done.  I think I blacked out from excitement I was so happy to be hungry and eating!

No matter how the rest of the day goes, thank you, AB, for giving me that small moment with that donut this morning.  It was totally worth that cheese debacle yesterday - I'm sorry, I'll never forget that you hate gouda again.

xoxo
AK

p.s.  Baby, next week I have an appointment to have another ultrasound.  I was mesmerized by the sight of your beating heart last time.  This time Daddy and I may actually get to hear it.  I'm counting down the days until we get to see you again.  Mama love you so much!

OMG

For the first time, my post may make my dad, father-in-law, and any other males a little uncomfortable, but I am just so excited I can't stop myself....

I HAVE BOOBS!

After years of praying to God as a fairly flat teenager, I have been blessed with a, so far, very solid B cup!  Hooray!  I know pain and soreness and even more growth is in my future (2 lbs gained in your boobs during pregnancy!!), but for now, I am looking goooood in my scoopneck shirts!

xoxo
AK

p.s.  Baby, boobs do not matter that much.  If you are blessed with a small set like your Mama, I will gladly teach you how to work those chicken cutlet inserts.

Ser Fleming - Knight of Lakeview, Chicago

Recently, I've found that reading has really helped ease my morning sickness.  Anyone close to me knows that I am a HUGE book nerd, so this was a welcome discovery.  In the past week, I've plowed through the entire Hunger Game trilogy (for the second time), reread old childhood favorites Tuck Everlasting and The Giver, and started on The Game of Thrones.  Yes, that is thousands upon thousands of pages I've read in about six days - I'm hoping this thirst for reading stays around through my final quarter of classes this Fall.

All of this reading has caused a problem - well two, I decided I really need a library card with the speed I'm going through these books, and to get a library card, I need an Illinois ID, and well, that's a whole other story for another day.  The big problem is that I am having the most intense, crazy, and exhausting dreams!  Every night, I feel like I spend the entire night dreaming about running from hunters and drinking crazy potions that make me life forever.  The living forever dream was especially scary because I was going to live forever as a pregnant woman - ahh!  That's some 19 Kids and Counting scary crap there!

My current book, The Game of Thrones, also an HBO television series, is currently filling my dreams, er nightmares, as of late.  It is set in the time of knights, dragons, royalty, and crazy magic.  Last night, I spent the entire night fighting off creatures that looked a lot like Orks from Lord of the Rings.  All of this fighting was done on horseback in full armour with a HUGE pregnant belly.  I woke up grabbing my stomach thinking maybe I had popped overnight - big sigh of relief that I hadn't.

Maybe it's time to start reading some romance novels or something a little less heavy.  I don't think I can take many more nights of AK Pregnant Warrior.

xoxo
AK

p.s.  Baby, you are the worst kept secret ever!  Our friends have all seen through our awful lies and distractions and know that you are coming.  They could not be more excited.  While holding your future friend, Connor, last week, I whispered to him that you were on the way, and he kicked his feet and blew bubbles.  Everybody already loves you!