Fun Day

Alex and I went up to the Twin Cities yesterday to visit our friend :-) We rode the MetroTransit train to the Mall of America! It was soooo much fun!!! We walked all over, and of course we had to stop into the baby stores! I saw the cutest onesie I have ever seen for cement trucks, and although it was not gender neutral, I HAD to get it!!!! For those who don't know, Alex drives a cement truck, so I know if this baby is a boy, this onesie is going to be one of our favorites to put him in!!!

Plus we made a bunny for baby at the Build-A-Bear workshop! It was so sweet having Alex help me pick out the perfect animal and creating the bear together for our little one <3 I can't wait until November!!!

This is the bunny we made next to my Molly Bear (for the two babies we lost). If you would like more information about their amazing organization, check out their website:

http://www.mollybears.com/

http://www.facebook.com/MollyBearsOrg

New Discovery (TMI Warning)

So...I'm a weird person. Lol. I love my boobs and I massage them and my nipples. Not often, but often enough to notice differences and changes. I've noticed tons of stuff up to this point already (color changes, veins, obvious size change. Lol). Well, tonight I was playing with my nipples, and Alex was laughing at me because I am a weirdo, haha, and I noticed when I squeezed them, they leak now! Not a lot, about a normal water drop; and clear! Hahahahahaha!!!!! I know, I know; I'm not quite right in the head. Haaa!!!!! I knew it would happen eventually, I just didn't realize this early!!!

22 Weeks 6 Days

I have been feeling baby a LOT more lately and I love every second of it!! My whole belly moves when he/she kicks really hard! Eeek! So weird, but it's so awesome! I tried to record it, but it seems every time I try, he/she knows and stops! That's the same when Alex tries to feel him/her kick. He will leave his hand on my stomach for a good half hour, and nothing. But as soon as he moves his hand, baby will kick again! I told him he is bound to feel baby soon or later! :-)

My Blog Review!

I won a review of whatever I wanted reviewed, and I chose my blog! The rating I received was 9/10!!!!
Here is the link so you can read the review for yourself!!

http://www.review-world.co.uk/2012/07/waiting-for-that-special-little-miracle.html

Thanks Ami! :-)

To Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate....

As with everything else, I have been researching like crazy to determine what is best and what will be best for baby :-)

It comes to no surprise that vaccinations is high on anyone's list of concerns and debates. They have been deemed by some to cause autism. I know lots of people advocate not to vaccinate at all! This worries me for the fact of certain illnesses coming back into the light...as proven by this link:

http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/07/19/12835335-cdc-whooping-cough-epidemic-worst-in-50-years?lite

I am all for not shooting up our kids with a ton of poisons, however, this does not mean to not vaccinate them at all. There are vaccines that are needed for the safety of your child and others around you! There are too many sad stories of children dying because they were not vaccinated, and came in contact with the illness, when it could have been easily prevented. I've posted a link of a few myths associated with vaccines below:

http://www.myhealthnewsdaily.com/509-dangerous-vaccination-myths.html

Another big question is the Vitamin K shot and eye ointment at birth. From what I have been reading, the eye ointment is to prevent any type if infectious bacteria that could cause eye damage to your newborn. If you are worried about it, you can delay the eye ointment until baby is sleeping, just so that way you have more time to bond while they are awake right after birth (which is what I have decided to do for baby Anderson). As for the Vitamin K injection, there are pros and cons, as with everything else. Some say it is a must, some say it is unnecessary. I have read several articles that say if you breastfeed, it's not needed; on the other hand, some say there is not enough natural Vitamin K in breast milk to help with blood clotting problems if they were to arise. You can also have the option of oral Vitamin K or delaying the shot until your baby is sleeping (which I believe again is what I would like to do). Here is a link that will hopefully help you decide what is best for you and your baby:

http://drbenkim.com/vitamin-K-shot-baby.html

I am going to be selectively choosing vaccinations, and delaying them when I can. I have the list of the shots I received as a kid and when they were administered, and I think I will use that as my guide.

Birth Photography

Since this pregnancy and birth has been a long time coming, and I want everything to be special for baby, I also want a birth photographer. I have been searching high and low for one in our area, and had yet to find one, until today! I was soooo excited and got even more excited while looking through her images; they're great! I went through all her pictures and spent a good half hour on her website. I finally went to look at her rates, and my heart sank when I saw she was $1200. It's not too bad of a price, but I just don't think it's in our budget...

So, shamefully, I am asking my readers for help. I have put up a donate button on the side of my page, and if you would like to donate, I would be soooooo appreciative! Even if it's only $5 or $1, anything will help.

Thank you in advance if you are willing to donate!! <3

21 Weeks 6 Days

I made zucchini muffins for the boys at Alex's work this afternoon. He was saying how everyone loved them after I dropped them off. Yay!!! :-) Thinking of taking a nap or going to bed really early tonight since I have been up since 2am. Anyways, here is this week's belly picture!

I think I have "popped" since last week!!! :D

CO Tragedy

It's been a pretty uneventful week here until this morning. I woke up at 2am and couldn't fall back to sleep so I did some catching up on blog reading and Facebooked for a while. Then I heard the news (around 3:30am) about the theater shooting in Colorado, so I used an app on my phone to bring up the local emergency scanner stations out there and it was just horrible.... The tone in the emergency personnel's voices was bleak, and you could hear the fear and hurt.... I will never forget the things I heard this morning. And it breaks my heart how all this innocent people and children wanted to have a fun movie night, and it was shattered by a disgusting, very messed up man... My thoughts and prayers sent from WI to all those involved and their families <3

Nesting?

I sorted through and brought all of the baby stuff out of storage yesterday, and I went through it and washed EVERYTHING today!! :-) After it was washed, it was put into the green totes. One for gender neutral, one boy, one girl, and one for blankets, etc. The little clear totes were for socks, bibs/burp cloths, and hats/mittens.

I guess this is what happens after three years of collecting baby things :-)

20 Weeks 6 Days

I bought a mobile off of target.com!

Also, here is this week's belly pic!

To My Son or Daughter

Dear Little One...

Your daddy and I have waited a very long time for you. We have prayed, cried, hoped, and dreamed for the day we have you in our arms. It still feels like a dream to me. I can't wait to meet you; smell your beautiful baby smell, hear your cry, kiss your little fingers and nose, see your gorgeous eyes, watch you grow and learn.... You will complete our world, and you are so loved already! Some said you would never come to us, but here you are; growing strong and healthy! You have already shown me that there is something worth living for, patience, love beyond words, and that miracles do happen; right when we were at the very bottom and close to giving up. I feel so honored and blessed to have you, my little miracle...my precious son or daughter. You will never be taken for granted, and you will always be loved more than life itself. Your daddy and myself would give our last breath on this earth for you. 

Your grandparents are very excited to meet you as well, sweetie :-) I can't wait for you to meet them and the rest of your family. There are some crazy ones, but don't worry, you will get used to them ;-) We have a very big and close nit family, and your presence will fit in and be just perfect! You will most likely be spoiled rotten by everyone in your life, because we have all been waiting for you. So many people love you, and are very excited that you will be with us soon! Daddy knows if you are a boy or girl, but I wanted to wait for when you make your appearance. I think it will be a wonderful surprise!!

Mommy's blog will be made into a book for you, to show you how much we fought for you! This letter will be printed and framed...and it can't even express how much our love has grown for you already....

We can't wait to meet your for the first time! But take as much time as you need to grow baby, because we can be patient until you are perfectly ready to come into this world. We will see you in about nineteen weeks! <3 nbsp="nbsp" p="p">
We love you,
Mommy & Daddy

Getting Past Fears

I have been very careful with this pregnancy; especially with planning and buying things. There were certain things I did when I was pregnant before, and for some reason I felt if I did some of those things this time around, that I would be jinxing it. But I am finally getting past a few of those fears, and realizing that I am way past the 8 week mark where I lost little one, and I am now over half way! So, yesterday we finally went and bought the biggest, and probably one of the most important baby purchases.....the crib!
Alex did a great job of putting it together!

I can't wait until we have a baby to fill this beautiful crib with <3

19 Weeks 6 Days

I made two of my favorite recipes from my mom yesterday! Zucchini cake andartichoke dip. Both are amazing!!! Alex loves it and I had a friend over who couldn't get enough either! :-) Here is a picture of the zucchini cake!

I have been feeling baby move a LOT lately!!! I love the feeling! <3

Here is this week's belly picture :-) Half way tomorrow... I still can't believe it!!

19 Weeks 2 Days

So the ultrasound went amazingly! I have videos and the ultrasound pictures :-) Alex was so excited when the ultrasound tech turned the screen and let him see the gender :') I didn't watch his reaction because I knew he would give it away. She also printed a picture and sealed it in an envelope and Alex hid it in the house. He has been teasing me and trying to make me want to find out... Haha! I honestly think it is really fun not knowing!!! :-)

It's really funny because when she was trying to get this image, she was chasing baby all around my stomach because he/she wouldn't stay in one spot. And being able to see him/her stretch out and kick their legs was sooo precious!!! <3 I love this little being more than life itself already!!!

Blog Awards!

Thank you to Shanny over at I did, I do, I will who nominated me for two Blogger awards! I have been following her blog for a long time, and she has been following me too! :-) You have to go and check out her fun posts about life with twins and life in general!

Here are the awards:

Here's a little bit of info on what the Liebster award is: Liebster is German for sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome. They are given to bloggers with 200 or less followers. 

So here are the rules:
1. Link back to whoever nominated you.
2. Write 11 random facts about yourself.
3. Nominate 11 bloggers.
The next couple were rules from the Liebster award:
4. Let everyone know when you nominate them.
5. Make up 11 questions for them to answer.
6. Answer the questions that have been given to you.

So if I pick you, I am nominating you for two awards instead of just one. Then you can just follow the 6 rules listed above.

My Random Facts:
1. I am officially addicted to Pinterest... I pinned almost 300 things in a couple of hours one day... :-/ lol
2.  I am a very shy person until you get to know me; then you have a hard time shutting me up. :D
3. I am still in shock that I'm actually pregnant. I never thought this day would happen!
4. Some days I would rather stay home with my dogs than go and socialize with people. They are way less complicated than people. Haha!!
5. I absolutely HATE mini vans and station wagons. I will never own one... The closest thing I would own would be a Ford Edge or Chrysler Pacifica. Otherwise I will stick with my car; or if I end up having too many kids (haha!) then I will go with SUV's.
6. I have a hard time being friends with girls.... Most are back stabbing, catty bitches and I refuse to waste my time being sucked into their negative and hateful world. It is way easier for me to be friends with a guy. One, because I am a tom boy; and two, there is hardly any drama! Don't get me wrong, I have a few good friends who are girls, and I would never trade them for anything in the world!!! <3
7. I have a great relationship with my in-laws. Shocker, right?! I feel bad for those who have a terrible relationship with their mother-in-law :-/
8. I feel that after a 65, old people should be required to take a hearing/sight/driving test every year; and then when they hit 72, every six months. I can't even count the number of times I've almost been in an accident or killed because of an older idiot driver.... It gets to the point of SCARY when there is a little old lady that can't see over the steering wheel of her huge van (or I've seen them in SUV's too). On that note, I also feel they shouldn't be allowed to drive huge death machines. Give them the little Prius or Smart Cars, so at least when they cause an accident, they won't kill anyone. /endrant.
9. There were a lot of people that said Alex and I would never make it past two years of being together and getting married was idiotic and stupid. Sadly, some of those people got married themselves, and are already divorced. We have been together six and a half years, married for almost four and a half years. There have been good and bad times, but I refuse to give up because you don't just throw something away when it's broken...you fix it! <3
10.I LOVE reading! I was made fun of when I was younger for it, and hardly anyone I know loves to read, but I can't get enough! I love the smell of old, new, and library books; I love feeling the pages... It's a sensory thing. :-) And if I could only instill one thing into this precious little being I am carrying, it would be the love of reading.
11. I have the tendency to ramble..... Hence my long random facts... Hahahahaha!!!
 
Questions from Shanny for the Liebster award: 
1- Do you have a phobia? What is it? Yes! I am seriously afraid of spiders, heights, and drowning... Odd, I know.
2- What came first, the chicken or the egg? Haha....Ummm...Chicken?
3- Describe yourself in 3 words. Unique, Loving, Quiet
4- Are you a night person or a morning person? Both. It depends if I want to stay up late or get up early. Although I am definitely more of a night person.
5- What is your favorite dessert? Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake!!!!!! *drool*
6- Love at first sight, yay or nay? I believe it is possible. Didn't happen for me with hubby, but it could for others :-)
7- Which one would you choose: books, clothes, or gadgets? Well, if I wasn't pregnant and worrying about clothes, then it would be books first; hands down! But as of right now, it's clothes....
8- What is your favorite hobby? Photography and quilting
9- Where are you right now? In my living room :-)
10- Why do you blog? I blog for myself as a vent/release of stress. I also wanted to share my journey with other women who have trouble conceiving, to give them hope <3 
11- What is your favorite season? Fall! That's an easy one! It's cool, the leaves are beautiful, it's holiday season....the list goes on and on!

My questions for everyone:
1. What is your favorite recipe?
2. Who is your hero, and why?
3. Favorite sport/team?
4. Do you own pets?
5. What is your favorite vacation spot?
6. What is your favorite season?
7. If you could have as many kids as you wanted (like the Duggar's) would you or would you not? Reasons?
8. If you could live anywhere in the world, and money was not an issue, where would you live?
9. What is the thing you are most scared of in life?
10. Why do you blog?
11. What is your favorite restaurant?
 
Here are the Nominees! (For both awards)
1. Adventures in Being Michele
2. Trying to Conceive: Swimming Against the Tide
3. Our Journey from "Us Two" to a Family
4. Sammie- The Dekans
5. The Gentry's Party of Four
6. A Beautiful Mess Called Life
7. A Day in the Life of... (Impatiently Waiting)
8. My Debt Free Road
9. Romy- The Amazing Micro Premie
10. Impatient by Design
11. Cooking for the Hungry Husband