Friday, March 30, 2018

17 week bumpdate and nursery reveal

You all, we made it through a very hard emotional week this week. 2 years ago on this week, we lost our baby Emily (we were 7 weeks so it is just a feeling it was a girl) over Easter. And this year I honestly didn’t think it would be as hard as last year (First anniversaries seem to be the worst) but with being pregnant, I have had to lay my fear of history repeating itself at the feet of Jesus daily. I have sat in our nursery, rocking this baby, praying strength and life and hope into this tiny person late into the nights and first thing in the mornings.

Parts of grieving miscarried babies are short lived, some things come in waves especially that first year as your roll through your intended due date and watch bellies grow that should have been parallel to your own. But there are also these out-of-the-blue, unexpected moments that take the wind out of you. 

There is also beauty, too, in the grieving. Like this painting. I have to share it because it brought me to ugly-cry tears thinking of meeting Jesus and then getting to meet our 3 children. That is a reunion I truly long for. Heaven is an even sweeter promise with my babies there.


And He has been so faithful to bring joy and peace as this week has gone on. We have walked through times of deep mourning, but this? This is a time for dancing. A time for joy. Our jubilant celebration year!


Size of the baby this week: A pomagranate this week :) 

Feeling: Heartburn- that’s a new one! It's not terrible, but I’m hoping it’s short lived. And nausea is coming more under control as I’ve drastically cut back on cardio exercise (that seems to be the trigger) 

Fitness: Cutting out the cardio for now is a little sad (I love my dance class!) but I’m walking and lifting and taking a yoga/Pilates fusion class. My body feels good and I’m even getting a little sore sometimes. 

Sleep:  I'm actually starting to wake up before my alarm and feel rested. Hallelujah! 

Best Moment Last Week: Getting to hear this sweet baby’s heartbeat again! Especially in light of this week of remembering, it was such a reassuring sound.  

Movement: I'm feeling baby move every day this week. It is SUCH a joy in the moments when I'm really still and quiet to feel them in there growing.




Cravings:  Super simple, but I've had a ham sandwich yesterday and today for lunch and it hit. the. spot!

Fashion: I am choosing to only wear what makes me feel pretty. Some days that's still pretty casual, but I'd rather feel cute than sloppy. Saying yes to a smaller but more confident maternity waredrobe. It's so freeing! 

How is Daddy and Evelyn?  Evelyn watching our Dr get the Doppler out to hear the heartbeat: “Why are you putting juice on my mommy? What is that clear jelly?” 😂 All the imaginary friends have babies in their tummies too. Such a fun time! 
Joe and I are having fun planning out summer camping a hiking trips as well as making landscaping plans for the front yard. We aren’t sure how finished it will get this year, but making it a priority after years of focusing hard on the inside feels really good! 





And about the nursery:
November 2016 I really felt the Lord prompting me to start creating the space for our baby. We were praying and believing for this child with everything we had. It felt like the practical application of faith and also a prophetic act of obedience. So I painted this mountain mural wall that month. Once we had Evelyn switched to her big girl bed in January 2017, we moved over the rest of the furniture and decorated. It has been an incredible place to pray in and to remember the words we felt God speak over this child, especially when my mind had started to doubt or forget. This is a baby that was promised over 2 years ago. It's incredible to know that a real little person, our miracle baby, will be sleeping in this crib in just a few short months!

Thursday, March 22, 2018

16 week Bumpdate



Size of the baby: A dill pickle this week

Feeling:  More cramping this week, still the nausea, and another time baby moved! 

Fitness: Trying to find my groove of moving without knocking myself into a couple days of nausea. It’s tricky! 

Sleep:  It’s still hard for me to get to sleep at night but I’ve been sleeping deeper this week and needing fewer naps. Yay! 

Best Moment Last Week: Spending a super fun weekend with my parents while Joe backpacked in the snow with his brothers 😄

Movement: I felt a little “knock” on Saturday 

Cravings:  Fruit popsicles and smoothies. Cold and divine! 

Total Weight Gain: Still about 4-5 lbs

What am I looking forward to:  I have an OB appointment this week and we’ll be scheduling our ultrasound soon. I can’t wait to see if we have a little girl or little boy in here! 

Milestones:  95% of maternity shirts don’t fit. Lol! Fully into the maternity ware drone. 

Fashion: True statement: I wear my Nikes 90% of the time. So comfortable! Also, I’m being more choosy this time around. If it doesn’t make me feel pretty, I’m not going to mess with it. I’d rather wear fewer things and feel comfortable and cute. 

How is Daddy and Evelyn?  Joe is doing great and working so hard with such a happy heart. Evelyn right now is pretty sure that babies come out laughing and giggling. I'm trying to adjust her expectations for just how little babies respond those first few weeks :) 

15 Week Bumpdate

Size of the baby: An orange this week



Feeling:  Still getting a handle on the insomnia, nausea (it's been back a bit this week), and I think some siatic pain (thankfully daily foam rolling seems to really help this!)

Fitness: Still moving! I'm starting to get more looks and smiles as I do my workouts in the weight room, but I feel really proud that I'm sticking with it.

Sleep:  My internal clock is set later. I want to sleep in later and its hard for me to settle in before 9:30/10. Working on honing in my habits to help get some more hours of sleep!

Best Moment Last Week: Evelyn and my mom and I all took an afternoon trip the beach. It was GLORIOUS and filled my heart so much!

Also! I spent a whole day finding somewhere that isn't an hour away that will do our 20 week ultrasound and is fully in network with our insurance. Some long hours on the phone with insurance and different offices but I think we figured it out!!

Movement: I felt a little movement one night this week!! 

Cravings:  Fruit popsicles and smoothies. 

Total Weight Gain: Still about 4-5 lbs

What am I looking forward to:  Evelyn and I are spending the weekend with my parents while Joe goes snowshoeing/backpacking. It's going to be a fun weekend for us all!

Milestones:  Baby movement for the first time!!

Fashion: True statement: I wear my Nikes 90% of the time. So comfortable!

How is Daddy and Evelyn?  Joe is doing great and working so hard with such a happy heart. Evelyn right now is pretty sure that babies come out laughing and giggling. I'm trying to adjust her expectations for just how little babies respond those first few weeks :) 

Friday, March 9, 2018

Bumpdates are Back! 14 weeks

Back by popular demand.. just kidding. Mostly this is just for me. It has been so precious to look back on these sweet memories from Evelyn's pregnancy. So follow along if you want to, but absolutely don't feel like you have to!


Size of the baby: A lemon this week

Feeling:  Nausea, oh the nausea. I am SO thankful that it's finished. Im on day 3 of not being sea sick... so I think I've turned the corner!

Fitness: Moving has been my reprieve from feeling sick these last months. I've stuck to walking mostly since doing much more made me more sick. I'm hoping now that I'm feeling better I can start doing some of my exercise classes again soon!

Sleep:  Glorious. We got a new black out blind for our room and it is so nice!

Best Moment Last Week: Joe and I (mostly Joe) cranked out some projects (getting our barstools in and putting together our chairs and hanging 2 new blinds) and it feels SO good to have those done. 

Movement: Nothing yet. I'm sure in a few more weeks I'll start feeling this little person

Cravings:  Beef tacos. And this specific salad from Panera. I've been craving that one for weeks!

Total Weight Gain: 4-5 lbs

What am I looking forward to:  This may sound silly, but there is a maternity dress I've had my eye on for a couple years now. Through all this waiting, it's been a bookmark on my browser for when it was our time. And I am so ordering it for Easter :) 

Milestones:  Second Trimester!

Fashion: I've moved from liking everything flowy to feeling the most pretty with things form fitting. Still sorting through what I have and a few things that people loaned to me

How is Daddy and Evelyn?  Evelyn is hilariously thrilled to be a big sister. She kisses my belly and gives the baby hugs all the time. Joe is currently kicking some serious work tail- getting in lots of overtime as well as studying for his journeyman test. We are all so glad that class nights will be done in just a couple short months!