Baby's Life in Black & White;)

Our first appointment was September 13th and the baby was a little over 8 weeks! We were able to hear the heartbeat the very first appointment which was very cool! We could even see the heart beating on the screen! I have sighed in relief every sonogram since when I hear that quick little beat! It really is a miracle!!

I thought it looked just like a little gingerbread man!! It is crazy how much it looked like a Christmas cookie:) Don't you think so, too?

Our next appointment was 2 weeks later and baby was 10 weeks…the baby even did a little flip while we were watching it on the screen. This picture wasn't as good as the first time we went, but you can still see his/her little arm buds.

Our appointment today was fantastic! The baby is 14 weeks, 4 days and has grown a ton!! The doctor said everything looks normal and healthy! I think the baby is already cute :)

In the first picture the baby was moving it's arms and legs and the doctor caught the picture right when the leg went in the air. I loved seeing the baby move around - so neat. This is our favorite picture so far! :)

 A picture of the baby's tiny foot and toes!

Baby head on - we said this picture is almost creepy - haha. The baby has both arms up and seems to be saying "let me out!" haha.

Baby touching his/her face 

Still stretching those legs! You can see the thigh, shin, and foot at the top! 

 Another good profile picture - you can see the umbilical cord here as well - it was pulsing with it's heart beat (we were hearing the heart and seeing the umbilical cord move at the same time - very neat).

And another close up of our favorite picture!

Our doctor told us that he volunteers at a pregnancy center once a month and invited us for a FREE 3D/4D sonogram on his next day there - November 17th! We will be able to find out the gender (if the baby cooperates) and our next appointment will be free! I love our doctor - he is a very nice Christian man and you can tell he really likes what he does. He has even told us that he will always do a sonogram because "they're fun" and he knows that's what parents like to see. He has also delivered lots of babies that we know! We even saw my friend Blake Adams on his wall of babies that he's delivered! Blake is my age! Haha!

Anyway, all that to say that today was a fun day and I really enjoyed my appointment! :)

Week 14

Week 14

Fruit/Veggie/Item

Lemon

Size

Almost 3 1/2 inches from head to bottom and weighs nearly one and a half ounces

Baby Changes (Source: BabyCenter.com)

This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his/her thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.

In other news: His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

Best Moment this Week

Feeling terrific!!! Very excited about my 3rd appointment on Thursday!

Gender

4 more weeks (I think)!!

Movement

not feeling anything yet…but the other day I felt a weird flutter, but have brushed it off to food or something - but who knows!

Food Craving

Caesar Salad - been pretty obsessed with this the whole time! I've probably had about 10 in the past few weeks.

Sleep

Still not sleeping all that well…I have been waking up a lot easier than in the past and have to use the bathroom in the early morning, which is very unusual for me.

What I am looking forward to

my appointment this week (on Thursday)!!

Symptoms

my stuffy nose is finally gone!!! But I still gag when brushing my teeth and sometimes when I think of certain foods or something else unpleasant.

I'm sure I'll post pictures soon - I just haven't gotten around to it yet!!

Week 13

Week 13

I saw this on a friend's blog and have been keeping up with it for months! Hope you'll enjoy mine as well:)

Fruit/Veggie/Item

Shrimp - weird I know!

Size

Almost 3 inches from head to bottom and weighs nearly one ounce

Baby Changes (Source: BabyCenter.com)

Fingerprints have formed on baby's tiny fingertips, veins and organs are clearly visible through baby's still-thin skin, and the body is starting to catch up with his/her head — which makes up just a third of his/her body size now. 

Best Moment this Week

Feeling altogether better this week! Not as tired or nauseas as previous weeks.

Gender

6 more weeks (I think)!!

Movement

not feeling anything yet

Food Craving

Chipotle, ice cream, flaming hot Cheetos, Subway, and more

Sleep

Not sleeping well at all…waking up in the middle of the night to use the restroom and just general uncomfortableness. 

What I am looking forward to

buying things - I haven't bought anything but the UT and A&M onesies that I bought to tell Casey I was pregnant. That was more than 6 weeks ago!

Symptoms

constant stuffy/runny nose (had this for about 6 weeks…), nausea in the morning and in the car, gagging while brushing teeth, and hungry a lot :)

First Pregnancy Post :)

Week 6.5: We find out we are pregnant…now you might say that this is a little late to find out - and I would agree with you :) However, I thought that because I had started back to school at 4 weeks pregnant, everything that I was feeling was due to stress of starting a new school year. I even talked about how I must be more stressed out this year because I was wayyy more tired and having a very hard time adjusting to my new eating schedule. I even talked to some of the teachers at lunch one day about how I was starving by 12:15 everyday and almost felt weak when I didn't eat before our normal time. We also now know why I was so cranky…Casey kept saying I was moody and I kept blaming it on school, but it was probably a combination of the two. :)

Also during this time I began feeling a carsick-type nausea…which was even worse when I was actually in a car because I already get carsick. This is still going on, but it is getting better. I have never thrown up though which is nice! I do have to get up earlier in the morning because I feel really nauseas then.

This is a lentil bean - and at 6 weeks the baby was this size

Week 7: I was exhausted all the time. I came home many days after work and took long naps and even longer ones on the weekends. We also started telling family during this time.

At 7 weeks the baby was the size of a blueberry and that's what Casey & I called it for a while :)

Week 8: I had my first doctor's appointment. We saw the baby and heard his or her heartbeat. It looked just like a little ginger bread man! The doctor encouraged me to walk a mile every night so we have started trying to incorporate that into our schedule at night, but it has been hard to do - we get to walk at least 3 times a week, which Lucy loves. :)

We had a blast telling Casey's family this week when we went on our annual cabin trip in Oklahoma. We came up with an Aggie joke to tell them - "what do you call a baby that is half Aggie, half Longhorn? What? We don't know either, we're still trying to figure out a name!" They didn't get the joke, but I was staring at Stephanie and she said, "you're pregnant?!"

I was also very very tired this week. I signed up for different baby apps on my iPhone and also email alerts. I have enjoyed seeing what size fruit the baby is each week :)

At 8 weeks the baby was the size of a kidney bean

Week 9: We kept telling family and started telling a few closed friends this week. I was still exhausted and hungry all the time. :)

9 weeks and the baby is the size of a grape - catching up on that quarter! :)

Week 10: We had our 2nd doctor's appointment this week. We saw the baby and heard his or her heartbeat again. This time the baby was moving all around and did a couple flips - that was neat to see on the screen. :) This week I told all of my girlfriends at Pokeno that I was pregnant with a cute poem in my gift that Kristen read aloud. When she finished reading everyone screamed and took pictures with me - it was a very fun and memorable night. Casey also told a few friends during this week.

at 10 weeks the baby is finally bigger than the quarter - the size of a kumquat!

Week 11: We told Paul & Jill McDill this week and later Casey told the staff at church. I also told everyone at work this week. We received lots of support and sweet messages! Casey was gone to Georgia this week for a conference and I was sick pretty much the whole time. My mom stayed with me and I was tired, achey, had a slight fever, and was constantly having to blow my nose. The runny/stuffy nose part still hasn't subsided. 

quite the growth for week 11 - the size of a fig, but hopefully without a stem ;)

Week 12: We put it on Facebook and got even more sweet messages of congratulations! It was very fun to read all week. This week the fatigue started to wear off a bit and I am feeling more and more like myself. I am also feeling less nauseas in the morning, but brushing my teeth is no fun!! I am just going to have to get use to gagging every morning. I am not quite sure what the problem is :)

The baby looks huge to me now! The size of a lime!!! Wow!

Next pregnancy post coming soon! The baby is 13 weeks, but I'll start doing a post a week - can you guess what fruit/vegetable/item the baby is now? You'll find out soon:)

Guatemala Greatness

There is just wayyyy too much to write about when I think of Guatemala, and I have let too much time pass in order to do justice to the memories that I made there…so I give up. I'm just going to post some of my favorite pictures and be done with it. Maybe one day I'll put it all into words.

Casey & I the first day before the trip really got started

Pastor's Appreciation Dinner that we hosted - Casey arm wrestling with his new friend :)

half the group on the van!

cute little Celso - how adorable is this?!

Casey playing with the 4 kiddos at the Children's home in Salama!

My favorite girls in Pacux - Wendy, Jenny, and Vanessa. Sooo sweet.

 Vanessa rocking my sunglasses on top of her head - she is such a pretty little girl.

 I spent one full day entertaining these 2 while the others painted - I was quite attached by the end...

The family living in c|Life's children's home - such a sweeeeeet family

 I love this picture - Casey will make one great daddy ;)

 again with our favs in Pacux - I cried my eyes out on this day when we said goodbye…we couldn't help but get attached to these awesome girls.

The next few pictures are from our "fun day" on the last day/night in Antigua, Guat.

Beautiful hotel sitting area - this hotel was so sweet - it reminded me very much of Paris!

 Seriously wish we could've spent more time here - I would have loved to have sat in this area or the one above it and read a good book!

 Yep, those are volcanoes behind us - pretty cool!

 Awesome timing!!! Right when it spewed ash I snapped a picture ;)

 On the scavenger hunt "the world race" that our team won! It was quite intense!! :)

another scavenger hunt pic

 our whole team of winners ;)

Casey saying goodbye to his new translator friend, Jorgan.

 At dinner the last night!

 

 

The last few videos are footage I took while in Pacux. None of the people speak English (or at least the children don't), and in this area and you will hear us speaking a tiny bit of Spanish so don't laugh because I know I have a horrible accent…Casey's actually pretty good though. :) At the end of the 3rd video Casey almost loses his hand to a dog…it's pretty funny. 

Please try to notice the severe poverty in the videos…that's why I wanted to video on the last day. Pictures just don't do it justice. Please pray for these people and for the missionaries that continue to go each year, as well as the pastors in the area that reach out to them daily. I love these sweet people and cannot wait to go back and see them.