Ultrasound

Well, we had our anatomy ultrasound yesterday and we have a healthy baby BOY on the way!!!
He was sweet and cooperative in the ultrasound. Here's a profile picture. Greg and I think it looks JUST like Hunter, with maybe a little more of daddy's chin than Hunter has.
Here he is looking at the camera...
and here's his sweet little foot...
The tech asked me if I'd had a feeling one way or the other for boy or girl. I told her in the beginning I totally thought a boy, but lately I wasn't so sure. When she said it was a boy, Greg said, "That means you get to have another one." For years he has been telling me that we're done after 2 girls, but we have yet to mean that quota!

We talked to the doctor after the ultrasound once he had reviewed all the pictures. He said something about the tubes going to the kidneys, and the normal level being 1, and mine and baby boy's is .9. He said if it's off, it can result in pressure going up into the kidneys. I didn't totally understand what he meant, but he said it's not something to be worried about because the number is barely off, but just to be sure everything is ok, they're going to do a repeat ultrasound in the beginning of February. Other than that, he said everything looks great and we have a healthy baby!

Hunter is sooo excited that he's having a baby brother. It hasn't been 24 hours and he's already talking about sharing his boy toys with him, and things he's going to do with him. I am excited to pull out all the boy clothes again. When I went through the boy stuff to get out the neutral clothes for Kylee, I had so many memories of when Hunter wore it and I'm excited to pull it all out again!

I am a little apprehensive about baby's size though. Hunter was 10 lbs 8 oz, and being that this is another boy, I'm a little scared I'll have another gigantor baby. It's that much more motivation for me make sure I'm gaining slow and steady though!

Gregory and I are so excited for a sweet baby boy to add to our family though. This is the first time we have both wanted the same gender, and I am so grateful that the Lord is giving us another boy. He has been so good to us and I feel so blessed. God is SO good!

It's Christmastime!

We decorated the tree tonight. 

Hunter had so much fun!!! If you notice though, we kept the bottom of the tree clear of ornaments and lights. We have a little crawling monster this year that will eat them if we don't!

My Birthday Project

So next week, it will be my birthday month.

Typically for my birthday, it's a time for me to get a couple things that I've been wanting, but because money is tight, I can't just go out and buy.

However, while on Pinterest, I discovered a woman who spent her birthday a little differently than the average American, and I decided I wanted to do the same thing. You can read about her here.

Instead of getting gifts, I want to use the money Greg may have spent on a gift and complete 25 random acts of kindness (RAOK) for other people (because it'll be my 25th birthday.)

I have every thing I need. God has been so good to me and I have a beautiful family, a great roof over our head, and good food on the table.

If you look at the original woman who did this, she completed hers all in one day. But for a few different reasons, I decided I'm going to do it over the month of December. For one thing with my kids, it would be really difficult to get them all done in a day. But the main reason I want to give myself the month is becuase I really want some of the opportunities to bless people to be spontaneous. I pray the Lord will give me opportunities throughout the month to show His love to people who really need it. If every RAOK was preplanned, it could really take away from that.

So that's that. 25 RAOK for my 25th birthday.

And I'd love if you joined in. If you're out, and you see the opportunity to complete a RAOK and think of this post, could you do it for me? Maybe the person in front of you at the grocery store is just smidge short on their bill and needs a little change, or maybe you decided to take a few carts from the wayyyy back of the parking lot up to the store, or maybe you feel like paying for the toll fee for the car behind you, or you see an elderly person that could use some help loading their groceries in their car...(the list goes on!)

If you decide to participate because of this post, could you let me know what you did? I'd love to compile a list of all the blessings we bestowed upon people!

I will be keeping up with each random act on my blog, so stay tuned!

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We had a good day over here in New Bern.

We ended up having an intimate Thanksgiving with just our family. We stayed in our pj's...and just relaxed. It was an enjoyable day.

We started our day with Pioneer Woman's Monkey Muffins.

She topped them with sweetened condensed milk, but I had leftover icing from the Pumpkin Cookies I made the day before, so I used that. The boys really liked them!

Even though it was just the 4 of us (and one of us doesn't eat meat,) I bought a 12.5 lb turkey...because Greg loves it that much. I made quite a bit of sides too because, let's be serious: it's all about the sides.

We had turkey, green bean casserole, Gulliver's corn (a Wehrman) family recipe, sweet potatoes, stuffing, Pioneer Woman's Potatoes Au Gratin, cranberry sauce, and olives. It was all delish!

Here's the boys enjoying the food. :)

And Kylee learned a new trick during dinner! Here's a video. :) I can't believe how big she's getting!



For dessert, we had pumpkin pie, no-bake cheesecake, and raspberry cobbler. Greg and I dipped into the cheesecake last night...I figured with how many desserts we had and how little number of people we had eating them, the two pieces wouldn't be missed today. ;)

After dessert, we went up to the local fire station to take them a pumpkin pie to say "thanks" for keeping us safe, even though that means working on Thanksgiving.

It was a good day. I am so thankful for how the Lord has blessed me with such a wonderful little family, and how next year we'll have another member!

How was your Thanksgiving?

20 Weeks

Wow, I'm at the halfway point already. I can't believe it! I had a lady in choir mention that I'll be in maternity clothes soon. Hah, I've been in them for a while now! I don't think she realized how far along I was either. This pregnancy really is going by soo fast!

Not much to update from last week I don't think. But our ultrasound is Tuesday so, Lord willing, we'll find out if it's a boy or girl. Can't wait!

Pillows

This girl loves 'em! She just constantly lays and hugs it. It's so cute!

19 Weeks

Baby has been a little acrobat in there lately! The kicks are strong enough to feel outside of my tummy, but I'm still the only one to feel them. No one wants to sit there for 20 minutes with their hand on my belly to wait for a kick, I'm sure.

I'm feeling totally normal...definitely in the second trimester. I do feel a little tired, but that might be because we've had Revival all week. But my appetite is good, and I feel pretty good. However, my belly is big enough now that it hurts my back to stand for a long period of time. My lower back hurts after every dish washing session at the sink, and I know it'll only get worse! EEK!

Here's the latest pic...

Only 12 more days until my ultrasound...YAY!!