25 weeks, 1 day Happy Halloween!

So we were definitely bad neighbors today.  I was super busy this week and just never thought to go out and buy candy and then I decided once the weekend got here that I didn't want to.  As a result Ben had to go to the door and tell some cute little girl that we weren't giving out candy.  For whatever reason the lack of lights being on didn't deter her.  Oops!

Oh well, in other news, things are progressing well with our baby.  Baby is becoming more and more active with each day.  Some days it feels like baby is practicing for an upcoming boxing match. :-)  Obviously for the most part I don't mind because at this point it is simply entertaining and not uncomfortable.  For the first time today it was pretty neat because I could actually see the movement from the outside and my belly was vibrating.  It wasn't completely pinpointed, but pretty close.  My hope is that we won't have any of that craziness while I am up from teaching, that would be a bit distracting!  Ben is also able to feel baby's movements more and more.  Sometimes it's hard because baby will be very active and then when he comes over to feel, baby is having a bit of a narcoleptic spell and decides to hold completely still.  But I guess Ben being able to feel the baby move will only increase so no worries.

Maybe it's an obsession, but I am very fascinated to observe my weight gain (or lack there of).  Last doctors appointment she told me that as long as I gained 2-4 pounds a month from then on out I should be good.  Well I am almost there.  So far I have only gained 5.8 lbs total and that is only 2.8 pounds more than what I weighed at our 22 week appointment.  So as long as I gain that last .2 before Nov. 9th, then the doctor should be pleased.  I am definitely not complaining about the low weight gain, I guess I just find it funny.  Especially since I pretty much eat whatever I feel like (within reason).  At the rain that I am going I could definitely be sub 20 lbs in weight gain by the end.  That would be pretty stinkin' awesome if you ask me.  Let's hope my body keeps up the minimal gain and then it will be so much less to lose. :-)

Enough rambling for now.  Three weeks, two days until I am done with my full time teaching and get to go on Thanksgiving break, six weeks, three days until student teaching is done, six weeks, six days until graduation and getting to spend Christmas vacay with the family, and fifteen weeks til baby is supposed to arrive.  Lots to look forward too and I know the time is simply going to fly!  (at least until January...)

23 weeks today!

So this past week we went in for our doctors appointment to follow up with them after the ultrasound since they didn't have any available after school appointments last week.  We came in with 2 concerns: one is that I had only gained 4 lbs so far and the other was that they had told us my placenta was too close to my cervix in the ultrasound.  The doctor thankfully didn't seem too concerned about either issue.

As far as weight gain, she said that every woman is different and as long as I am going up in weight that is all that matters.  She said that many times when the metabolism goes up combined with and increased focus on healthy eating (which I definitely have), that results in minimal weight gain.  So thankfully we don't have to worry about that yet and honestly it probably won't be long before the weight will just be pouring on as I get bigger I would imagine.  Then, concerning the placenta, she said that we don't need to be too concerned yet because in most women, with the growth of the uterus, the placenta shifts further from the cervix.  So at 28 weeks we will get to do another ultrasound to make sure that shift has begun to occur. We are definitely praying that by that time the shift will have begun because I really don't want to have a c-section if at all possible. Baby is doing great otherwise, coming in strong with a heartbeat still in the 150s.  That's all we know for now!

22 weeks down, 18ish to go!

So this past week was an exciting week.  We had our anatomy ultrasound on Tuesday afternoon.  It was a really  super cool, special experience.  Baby Hill was moving all over (which I attribute to the juice I intentionally drank before hand) and that made it easy to see all the body parts and get some fun ultrasound shots.  We really enjoyed getting to watch our baby on the screen while the tech did all the work she needed to do to find the different parts.  Praise the Lord, everything is looking good and all parts are there and seem to be functioning.

A nice profile, most of the body shot.

The best we could get of Baby Hill's face

As many already know, we chose not to find out if it was a boy or a girl so when the tech needed to check out things down south we had to look away.  Thankfully that wasn't very often and the tech even said in the end that she didn't spend enough time studying the pic to even find out so at this point nobody knows (except God) whether we are going to have a boy or a girl. :-)  What a very fun and exciting time; we are looking forward to the day when we get the big surprise!


At the ultrasound we learned other details about our baby.  Baby Hill is about 14 oz, almost a pound!  Heart is beating strong at 155 bpm.  The placenta could possibly be in the range of being too close to my cervix, but the ultrasound tech was not for sure what the cut off is now.  However she did say that most of the time the distance grows anyway as the baby grows and it is not something to be too concerned about.  So we may need to have another ultrasound done to double-check later on because if the placenta is too close then that means c-section.  That would be a bummer but, as long as we get a healthy baby, no worries here. :-)

I have been doing well so far at this point.  The second trimester has treated me well so far.  Since about week 18, I have been able to feel the baby moving inside me.  It has been such a wonderful experience and the movements have gotten more pronounced and often as the weeks go by.  Thankfully I haven't really had many pregnancy symptoms, especially lately that have bugged me.  The main thing is that I have to go to the restroom all the time and for about 3-4 weeks the night time trips have become routine.  I was always used to using the bathroom often, but lately it's been a bit much!   The weight gain also hasn't been too bad so far either.  I have only gained 5lbs so far.  No complaining here, but we shall see what the doctor has to say on Tuesday when we meet with them.  I doubt they will care since I can definitely promise them that I haven't been starving myself and before long I will probably be gaining weight pretty regularly now that baby is growing more too.  We shall see.  Exciting times to come, but that's all I can think of for now!

22 weeks!

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Ahtila!

So it has taken me a while to find the time to write this but I definitely feel the need to write a few words about their day of celebration.  Over Labor Day weekend we made a whirlwind trip up to Kzoo to be a part of Siera and Jeremy's wedding celebration.  I was able to get up their on Friday to be a small part of the set up, join in the rehearsal, have fun out for Chinese for the rehearsal dinner, and then spend a small amount of quality time with Si on her last night as a single lady.  Though the time went by fast and, as always, I wish I could have spent more time hanging out with her, it was still great to be a part of all the events leading up to the wedding.

Then on Saturday morning I got up at the crack of dawn to get myself ready so that I could get to the church by 8 in order to be a part of all of Siera's preparations for the day.  I think this is when it finally became real what was going on.  Siera is one of my dearest friends and to be quite honest I have always thought of her as not only a friend, but as the little sister I never had.  After all the many late nights and long conversations we had had about relationships and our futures, her life with her "honey" (which was definitely weird for me to hear her call someone for the first time), the man of her dreams (who crazily enough she reconnected with after not having seen since sophomore year of high school) was actually beginning.  She looked so beautiful and it was super cute to see all her excitement leading up to her wedding ceremony.

Getting ready, isn't she purdy?

Pre-wedding photo shoot

Their ceremony was definitely characteristic of Siera and it was neat to see her love for God and Jeremy woven throughout the day.  I am definitely not someone who cries often, and definitely not at weddings, but there were definitely points where I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to hold it in.  When Jay was singing "God Gave Me You" I was definitely staring at the ceiling a lot because I couldn't look at Siera or at Jay without getting caught up in the emotions of the moment.  My "little sister" was finally getting married and it was really happening!

The bridesmaids...I feel like I look like a giant!

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Ahtila!

One other neat thing about the celebrations of the day that needs to be mentioned is that it was great to see people that I hadn't seen in a while like the Kandels, Ashley Carter, and Jessica Weakley Hurst.  That is one of my favorite things about weddings because they always serve as a reunion of sorts and it was great to get a chance, even if only brief, to catch up with old friends.

First dance, so precious!

We got to get out pic with the lovely new couple. :-)

I love you Si and I look forward to getting to know your new husband and stepson.  I will be praying for you as you begin this amazing journey and never forget I am always a phone call away.  Congrats Siera Ann Ahtila! (and Jeremy too!)

Just had to include this one for old time's sake....love you Si!

Puppies to the beach!

Last night we finally got it together and took the pups to the beach.  This something we have been wanting to do for a while, but it is slightly difficult since they are only allowed on the beach at certain times and we don't necessarily want to take them to the beach when we want to relax and swim, etc.  So last night we headed out to Isle of Palms at about 7, only to find out that the park closes at 7, oops.  Then we decided to head over a few minutes to Sullivan's Island.  We found a place to park and a doggie friendly beach.  By this time it was about 8 so it was a great temperature and getting closer to darkness (I love the beach at night!).

We headed down the beach for a nice walk to start out with and of course we made the pups walk in the surf.  Apollo was loving it, but Basil freaked out every time a wave came in so she was jerking my arm quite often.  As a result of the initial reactions we just had Basil hang out in the shallow surf area to get the hang of it, but Apollo went out with Ben to where the water was about halfway up to Ben's knees.  It was super cute because at that point Apollo had to "doggie paddle".  He didn't seem to mind it all that much, but every time Ben moved Apollo would follow him; he definitely wasn't taking any chances of being left out there.

After Apollo got done swimming for a few minutes we continued to take our walk down the beach.  Every once in a while Apollo decided to show us his best cockroach impression and rolled all around in the sand.  They both do that sometimes at home on the carpet sometimes after baths, but this was just hilarious to watch in the sand because he looked like a crazy dog.

A bit further down the beach we came to a calm pool of water that looked like it had been left behind at high tide.  This seemed to be the perfect opportunity to let Basil give swimming a try since there were no waves to freak her out.  So we took both pups out to where they couldn't quite stand and they were swimming around like pros.  They actually both seemed to like it at this point, but we didn't want to press our luck to we brought them back to the sand.

So after a nice walk we headed back to the car, both pups managed to poo on the beach (thankfully we had our bags like we were supposed to), and then we had a lovely ride home that stunk of wet dog.  Gotta love it! (not really)  They were a wet sandy mess and when we got home they definitely needed baths.  I am thinking we need to have a kiddie pool for their baths from now on because after seeing them in the water at the beach I think they would like baths a whole lot better that way. :-)

Our first trip to the beach was a success and we are definitely going to have to try it out again.  I love walking on the beach and bringing the pups along was an added treat.  Next time we are going to have to remember the camera so we can catch their cuteness in action!

Here is just a fun pic of them when they were little; pretty much only the size has changed :-)

Ryan and Valerie Reep!

This past weekend we had the opportunity to go up to PA and join in celebrating Ryan and Valerie's wedding.  It was about an 11hr drive so not exactly your ideal weekend trip but it was definitely worth it.  We drove up Friday as soon as Ben could get off from work and finally arrived at Amish Lanterns Motel at 12:45am.  Let's just say we were a little pooped and I don't think I have been up that late since I have been pregnant so it was a bit of an experience.  Our hotel was pretty cute, nothing fancy, but we were definitely out in the middle of nowhere in Amish country.  The dogs thoroughly enjoyed barking at EVERY horse and buggy that went by (and there were quite a few).

On Saturday we were thankfully able to sleep in some and then we went out to lunch with our good friend from college, Valerie (not the one getting married), who also happens to live in the Lancaster area where the wedding was.  It was really super nice to get a chance to see her and catch up a bit.  We hadn't seen her in over a year I think.  But hopefully we will have another good excuse to see her again soon. :-)

Saturday afternoon was wedding time.  It was a gorgeous wedding.  They put so much thought into every detail of the service and the reception.  It was awesome to see how they wove their faith throughout the day and demonstrated that they truly plan to make God the center of their marriage.  They had both dad's speak at the wedding, giving excellent godly advice.  Then at the reception, it was really neat because toward the end they had everyone get in a circle out on the dance floor and they passed the microphone around so that everyone could say what they wanted about the couple and offer congrats/well-wishes/advice.  It was super neat to see how many people they have already impacted as individuals and as a couple and to hear how God has worked through them to bless so many people.  And we are super excited because we are going to be incredibly blessed to have them down in SC with us for the first few years of their marriage.  We look forward to seeing how God continues to use such an amazing couple for his glory.  And I am looking forward to getting to know Valerie even better since she will finally be joining us in SC! So far most of what I know about her has simply been through Ryan and the very few times we have interacted.  Congrats to the new Reep family!  Here are a few pics from the celebration:

Beautiful Val and her daddy

Exchanging of vows

Attempted to get picture of the kiss, but then the bridal party started blowing party horns and this is the result.

Toward the end of the night, started to get pretty tired, but wanted a pic of us dressed up

Picture with the newlyweds, but unfortunately my eyes ended up closed, oh well!

One trimester down, two to go!

So yesterday was the first day of week 14, which means that the first trimester is over.  It’s crazy to think that our baby is one third of the way to being in our arms.  Supposedly our baby is beginning to be more active in the womb now, but thankfully I can feel any of it quite yet.  One nice thing is the nausea is definitely calmed down and it only shows up on occasion.  Unfortunately I can’t seem to knock this cough that I have had for about 4 weeks now.  The only thing I can figure is that it’s taking longer to go away than usual because I am pregnant.  Oh well, I manage alright and when I asked the doctor at my last appointment he just told me that sometimes coughs can take time to go away.

This weekend I have had a chance to spend the weekend in MI with my parents going around looking at baby and maternity stuff.  An amazing blessing is that a girl that my mom works with gave me all of her maternity clothes to borrow so at least this time around I will hardly have to buy anything.  She gave me two garbage bags worth of stuff which was basically everything she wore when pregnant.  It is so awesome to see how God provides because I was not looking forward to the financial burden of getting maternity clothes.