My Big Fat Belly - 6 weeks

How far along: 6 weeks, 2 days

Symptoms: So far I'm still feeling great. Every now and then I'll feel a bit queasy but it passes pretty fast as long as I snack on something and drink a little water or something sweet. The girls are a little sore and if it weren't for these two things (and the fact that I never got my period) I'd have no clue I was pregnant.

Maternity Clothes: Not yet, although I am wearing my belly band with some of my jeans that are a little snug. I don't want to smush the little baby in my tummy. I have to admit that I'm looking forward to wearing my maternity clothes or at least some of it because for the most part they are way more comfortable than trying to squeeze into regular clothes and wearing a belly band.

Weight Gain: Nothing yet thankfully. I am hovering at 112 lbs for now so we'll see where it goes from here. I think I gained around 35 pound during my pregnancy with Brantley so hopefully I can stay around that number this time as well.

Baby's Size this week:

Our baby is the size of a sweet pea!

The average embryo at week 6 is about .25 inches and will double in size again next week. Wow!

Baby's Development this week:
This week's major developments: The nose, mouth, and ears are beginning to take shape. If you could see into your uterus, you'd find an oversize head and dark spots where your baby's eyes and nostrils are starting to form. His emerging ears are marked by small depressions on the sides of the head, and his arms and legs by protruding buds. His heart is beating about 100 to 160 times a minute — almost twice as fast as yours — and blood is beginning to course through his body. His intestines are developing, and the bud of tissue that will give rise to his lungs has appeared. His pituitary gland is forming, as are the rest of his brain, muscles, and bones. (Information from BabyCenter.com)

Movement: No movement yet, the baby is way to small and barely wiggling it's paddle feet and arms. I just looked back at my Belly posts with Brantley and I wasn't really feeling her until 19 weeks. I may feel this baby sooner just because I know what it really feels like now.

What I'm Looking Forward To: Going to the beach next weekend and telling the rest of my family and my Grandmother Harris that we're expecting again. We're going down there for my cousin's wedding but I don't think she'll mind if I share my news when we get there or at least I hope she doesn't.
I'm also really looking forward to my first doctors appointment on Oct. 14th. It's 2 weeks from today! I'm so ready to hear the baby's heartbeat and to see him/her on the ultrasound screen. Those two things will make this more real since I don't really "feel" pregnant yet.

Bump pic for the week:

My Big Fat Belly - 5 weeks

Symptoms: Not too much to report here thankfully. My girls are feeling a little tender and full but no major pain yet. The only other thing I've noticed is that I'm having to pee a lot more often these days and it's getting more frequent everyday. Thankfully, I haven't been experiencing any serious nausea yet but I'm sure it's probably coming.

Maternity Clothes: Nope not yet but I have had to wear my belly band with a few pants already.

Baby Size:

The baby is the size of an Appleseed!

Your embryo is now measurable -- though it's a wee .13 inches -- and she's gearing up for much more growth. In fact, in the next week, she'll almost double in size. Grow baby grow!

Baby's Development this week: The embryo doesn't look like much more than a tadpole right now, but he/she's already starting to form major organs (heart, stomach, liver, kidney) and systems (digestive, circulatory, nervous). Some sites say that the heart might start beating this week.

Movement: Not yet

What I'm Looking Forward To: My first doctor's appointment on October 14th when we'll get to have the first ultrasound to see and hear the baby's heartbeat. I can't wait!!!

Bump Pic for the Week:

Who We Told First

Once I read the positive reading on the pregnancy test I almost immediately text my friend Donna who owns her own embroidery machine and told her that I needed to make a shirt THAT NIGHT because I had news!! My mom's birthday party was at our house on Friday night which was in about 24 hours from this point. Donna finally called me and I told her the good news and she graciously said that she would make the shirt for me Thursday night and I could pick it up Friday afternoon. Yay!! I wanted to surprise my mom and the rest of the family with the news even though it was really early on in the pregnancy. I figured the more people praying for a healthy baby the better.

At the same time I text Donna, I text my one of my best friends Sarah a picture of the Positive pregnancy test. She called me and was super excited and surprised for us as well. I'm so happy that she and I get to be pregnant together even though we are 3 months apart. (She and her family will be welcoming a baby boy in February!)

I wanted to scream it from the roof tops and jump up and down for joy. I think I did do a little jumping. haha! We told Brantley that she's going to be a BIG SISTER and she smiled. I know she doesn't understand yet but I've been telling her every few days so maybe it will start to set in.

The Birthday Party

Lots of my family members, my mom's friend Jan and Chase's parents came over to celebrate Mom's turning 65! We ate, talked, the kids played and then it was time to open presents. The plan was for Mom to read her card and then read Brantley's shirt.

This is the inside of the card...

McWane Center with Stella

Yesterday Brantley and I met our friends Casey, Stella and baby Addie at the McWane center for a little fun and boy is that what we had. Brantley and Stella ran around all over the place exploring. We had never taken Brantley there so since she loved it so much I know we'll be going back. Enjoy the pictures!

Brantley really loved sitting in this chair while I pulled the rope and made her go up.

The girls LOVED the water table and would have stood there all day if we had let them.

Brantley and I took a turn in the wind tunnel.

The wind was blowing over 78 miles an hour is there and Brantley was still smiling. She's such a trooper!

Stella wasn't so sure about the strong wind. haha

Digging for dinosaur bones before lunch time.

We all had a wonderful time and I look forward to going back again and again as Brantley gets older.

Kitchen Table Refinish

A few weeks ago, Chase and I went up to my Granny and Granddaddy's old house up in Gadsden to get some of the furniture that was still in there and needed a new home. We brought home this great kitchen table and chairs with the intention of refinishing it for our new big kitchen.

Above are pictures of the furniture once we had it home, sanded down and the seats removed.

We used Krylon spray paint and I also used Kilz Spray Primer.

I don't think I will ever use spray primer again because it was VERY gritty and required A LOT of sanding to get it smoothed down again. That is the reason we decided to go with the distressed look on the table. It was going to be too hard and take WAY more spray paint than I had planned for to make it solid white.

Here is the finished table and chairs up in the kitchen just in time for my Mom's 65th birthday party Friday night. (We had a GREAT time!) We love the way the table and chairs turned out. There are actually 6 chairs but one of them didn't get completed before the party. I recovered the seats with fabric that I bought from JoAnn's. 

For my first furniture refinishing project I would say this went pretty well. I couldn't have finished it in time for the party without the help of my Dad and Chase. Thanks Guys!!

Spilling the Beans

Once I read the positive reading on the pregnancy test I almost immediately text my friend Donna who owns her own embroidery machine and told her that I needed to make a shirt THAT NIGHT because I had news!! My mom's birthday party was at our house on Friday night which was in about 24 hours from this point. Donna finally called me and I told her the good news and she graciously said that she would make the shirt for me Thursday night and I could pick it up Friday afternoon. Yay!! I wanted to surprise my mom and the rest of the family with the news even though it was really early on in the pregnancy. I figured the more people praying for a healthy baby the better.

At the same time I text Donna, I text my one of my best friends Sarah a picture of the Positive pregnancy test. She called me and was super excited and surprised for us as well. I'm so happy that she and I get to be pregnant together even though we are 3 months apart. (She and her family will be welcoming a baby boy in February!)

I wanted to scream it from the roof tops and jump up and down for joy. I think I did do a little jumping. haha! We told Brantley that she's going to be a BIG SISTER and she smiled. I know she doesn't understand yet but I've been telling her every few days so maybe it will start to set in.

The Birthday Party

Lots of my family members, my mom's friend Jan and Chase's parents came over to celebrate Mom's turning 65! We ate, talked, the kids played and then it was time to open presents. The plan was for Mom to read her card and then read Brantley's shirt.

This is the inside of the card...

Mom's face was priceless! She screamed and then looked up at me. I was holding Brantley up so that everyone else could read her shirt and get in on the secret in the card. Everyone was super excited for us as I knew they all would be. I told everyone that they were first to know and that they weren't to tell anyone until we decide to make it public.

 Saturday morning while Brantley was playing with the balloons from the party I decided to write BIG SISTER on this orange one and take a picture. She wouldn't hold it and look at me. Silly Girl!

My girl has seriously out of control bed head in the mornings! haha

Since then, I've told my cousin, Andrea who lives in PA with her family. She was of course really excited for us as well. On Tuesday, I told my friend Jami that I've known since 2nd grade. She was super pumped as well. Today, Thursday, I told my co-teacher because I was afraid she would get suspicions with my frequent trips to the bathroom and my little snacks here and there. And I really just wanted to tell her. haha Oh and last night I had dinner with my friend, Erin (She was my maid of honor) and I told her during dinner. Actually she guessed it!

I'm really not good at keeping this kind of secret. I want to tell everyone I know but Chase and I decided together that we would wait to tell most people and definitely Facebook until my doctors appointment on Oct. 14th when I get to have my first ultrasound and we'll hear the heartbeat. I know over these next 4 weeks I will split and tell a few more people and most of my girlfriends.

I'm really really excited!!!

What a Surprise!!

Thursday night, Sept 15th, I had gone to the grocery store to pick up a few things that we needed for dinner. While I was there I decided to buy a home pregnancy test because I was already 1 day late for getting my expected period. Once I got home I decided that even though it was probably too early for the test to detect my pregnancy I wanted to give it a shot anyways. There were 2 tests in the box so I figured even if I saw the "not pregnant" reading, I would still have a test to take the next month. ha!

So I told Chase I was going to take the test and off I went. To my surprise the word "PREGNANT" showed up only a minute or so after I finished the test (aka. pee'd on the stick). I couldn't believe it! I carried the test into the kitchen to show Chase and his reaction was classic... "Really! That was easy!" haha! 

We are very blessed to be a very fertile couple. This makes baby #2 that was conceived on the first try.  We or I really wasn't expecting to get pregnant this month because I had just gotten off my birth control and I felt like my cycle was all out of wack, but I guess I was wrong because I'M PREGNANT!!

My first doctors appointment is set for October 14th at 9:30 am and it can't get here soon enough. I'm so ready to see the baby on that screen and hear it's precious heart beating. That is by far one of the sweetest sounds ever! Until that appointment my due date is May 23rd based on my last period. The doctor may adjust that some after we see the size of the baby on the ultrasound.

Chase and I are super excited and surprised about this sweet baby! Brantley Rae is going to be a BIG SISTER in about 7 months! That's hard to believe but I'm so excited for her. We have been thanking God daily for this precious blessing and praying also that He continues to allow the baby to grow and develop just as it should into a healthy baby boy or girl.

According to the Baby Center website the Chinese Gender Predictor says that we will be welcoming a bouncing baby BOY in May! There is only a 50-50 chance that will be right but I would love it if we had a boy. This is our last we having one of each gender is a dream of mine. God knows what's best so we'll just have to wait and see what's in his plan for our family. Either way, boy or girl, I don't care as long as he or she is healthy I'll be one happy Momma.

Photo Dump

 My sweet girl likes to wear her sunglasses on her head like Mommy and Daddy.

 Coloring is her FAVORITE thing to do right now! She's actually pretty good with her "cowers".

 Silly face! War Eagle!!

Learning the 2 most improtant colors in the rainbow (haha) Orange and Blue!! War Eagle, baby!!

and last but not least, just a super cute picture of my (our) sweet baby girl!!!

I hope everyone is having a great week!!

BR at 19 Months Old

 Brantley Rae at 19 Months Old

 Weight: Between 20 and 21 pounds

Height: I'm not sure but around 32"

Diapers: Still in size 3

Shoes: size 5

Clothes: This one is kinda tricky. She is wearing 12-18 month shirts but I'm still buying her 6-9 month shorts depending on the store. I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to have to make most of her pants for the fall and winter because of how skinny she is so I can make the pants long enough.

Of course, I don't mind about that. It just gives me an excuse to buy fabric and sew cute clothes for her. :o)

 Teeth: I think she has eleven.

 We have an appointment with an orthodontist in our future. hehe!

 

• Brantley Rae LOVES to play.play.play all the time. 
• She enjoys coloring and painting
• Her new favorite foods are apples, corn on the cob and cinnamon-sugar toast
• Still takes a pacy but we're about to be changing that. She has become more attatched to her pacy and blanket over the past few months and it's getting ridiculous. She's old enough to not "need" it anymore so we're starting the weening process this weekend. First step...pacy stays in the crib when she wakes up and gets out of bed. 
• Brantley is talking SO much and learning new words every day. It's so awesome to see/hear her learning so much each day.
• She' is starting to show more interest in baby dolls this month. Before she never paid them any attention but now she will actually sit and feed her baby doll her bottle and give her the pacy. It's pretty cute!!

These are my two very favorite people in the world. I am so thankful for both of them each and every day. The Lord has blessed me greatly with an amazing family and for that I am grateful.

I can't wait to see what God has in store for our sweet baby girl and for our little family. Good things to come!!

Snack and Preschool

August 17th - Enjoying some yummy cheese for a snack and rocking her new piggy tails!!

"Do you like see-food?" haha (Sorry if that grosses anyone out!)

August 23rd - I took this picture the night before Brantley's first day of preschool.

August 24th - First day of Preschool. 

It's really hard for Chase and I to believe that she is old enough to be in preschool but I'm so happy that she is. Brantley LOVES her teacher and really seems to be liking school. I thought not napping until after one o'clock was going to be a huge deal but she has transitions beautifully.

I look forward to hearing all about the new things she learns as she continues to talk more and more every day. She really is a smart little girl!!

She was a happy muchkin!!

As far as my job goes, I'm loving it as well. I get to hold and rock adorable little babies all morning. It really is a perfect job for me!! There have only been a few moments when all 4-5 babies were hungry or sleepy at the same time and the crying got out of control,  but my co-teacher and I have it all under control. ha! I'm so thankful for my job and for the opportunity that Brantley is getting to start preschool already. Yay!


Coming up next... BR at 19 Months Old