MOMMA SAID...

she'd post a picture of week 22 and so I am right now!
I HATE all of my preggo pics but I know how anxious I am to see other ladies' growing bellies, so I do this out of sympathy for your curious minds!


HOWEVER....I am in week 23! woohoo. The baby has not been moving much the last couple of days...which freaks me out, big time. Especially because she was moving so much this past week. But pple say that it is normal and to not worry about her. Este told her last night, "Now, you wake up for your momma, okay? " He said something last night about his daughter and it literally gave me the chills. I'm so excited to meet my lil girl.

We have had a very busy week. In four days, we made it to four different parties. Now we are trying to get everything prepared to go back east. We leave in the morning and I'm just hoping that we can get everything done. The weather has been crazy here...pouring the rain and in the 40's...which we love. However, my nose is not loving it right now!

We also got a surprise visit from Este's dad on Sunday. Here's a picture of him.

i figured it out! (just for you gussy)

so since you can click on the pics now, you can see how detailed the camera gets :)

Christmas music just makes me all warm inside....

or it could be that I'm cookin a lil someone in there :)

Esteban has noticed that I'm totally "loving" all kinds of things these days. Things just seem to touch me in such intense ways that they probably never have before...and one of those things is CHRISTMAS MUSIC. yay! As I type we are listening to "Simply having a wonderful Christmas time" :)

Anyways, I wanted to update a lot quicker but got distracted. So, let me try and sum up what's been goin on.

Este and I got a new camera for when the baby comes. I LOVE it. (There we go again with that INTENSE LOVE feeling) Yes, it's wonderful. I have been wanting one of these cameras for a while now. We can switch the lens and everything. We've been testing it out so I thought I would show some "testers."

We had just woken up when we took those pics, hence the hair and lack of makeup :)

Este felt baby move on December 1st. It was simply amazing...and I cried, of course. She has really been moving this past week. I freak out when I don't feel her now.

Tomorrow I will be 22 weeks along. I will get a picture this week of my growing belly. Here is a picture of me sometime in week 20.

(I hope you can click on the pics to enlarge them cause these are kinda far away. I don't know why some pics can do that and some cant. None of the last ones i posted did...so we shall see. If they don't, I will try and read up on it and see what I can do)

Here's my hubby actin like superman ...heehee.

And here's my spitty in his favorite spot in the world :)

Alright, no more pics!

We are going back EAST for Christmas.....woohooo! But I have a list of things around the house I want to complete before we leave. The first one I got to mark off the list is our closet. We got rid of 5 big trash bags of stuff. That's not even the "give away" pile...that's just stuff we said, "oh no, it's been too long!" I also folded all my pre-pregnancy clothes up on top and just hung the ones I can wear now. It looks and feels soooo good. Este said he feels like he's going shopping every time he goes in our closet now b/c of how nice it is. LOL. I'm actually crying right now in laughter thinkin about him saying that! Poor guy, he forgot about half the stuff he already had. HAHAHAHA.

The next thing I wanted to accomplish was to get our old office cleaned and cleared out and ready to start the nursery when we return in January. Today I got all the tough stuff done. We now just need to take lots of file boxes down to the garage (which is our next project) and have some pple come and pick up the desks. (Sorry dad, the desk you put together has gotta go..heeehe)

So, baby and I are feeling very accomplished this week. Este and I are also being very careful about the food we are eating and I am doing cardio now. So....we're both feeling better.

Here's a riddle for figuring out how big the baby is this week (I told este I really shouldnt blog when I'm feelin crazy funny like this...please forgive me):

AFTER MINUTES OF BOILING, YOU CAN THROW IT ON THE WALL.

+

WHEN YOU SEE A BUG ON THE FLOOR, THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT TO DO TO IT

Now put those together and you'll know....LOL

SO I WAS BEING REALLY CREATIVE

with the fruit my darling baby is this week...but i cant spell it. it seems that there is like 3 ways to spell it so...ppppshhh. im gonna spell it my way~

can ta lope

can you believe it? she's big! i believe i felt her again tonight 3 times. it's amazing. i'm 5 months this week and today was really the first day I got a big reaction about my belly. Este touched my belly today and said "wow!" with the cutest face ever.

In the beginning, I really didnt think i could be pregnant again because of how miserable i felt, but now i'm really enjoying it...the 2nd trimester really is all that it's cracked up to be. yay!

So the day is winding down and it was a wonderful thanksgiving. My humphry (este) is wonderful. He woke up and watched the macy's parade with me...i know it's not his thing AT ALL but he didnt complain and actually acted into it. It made me so happy. We then went to be with the fam and it was great, as always, and the food was SCRUMPTIOUS! This is after I about killed 5 pple at the grocery store...arghh. get outta my way!

ALERT....Este is actually waking up with me early in the morning (4am) to go shopping with me. I am still totally shocked and am trying not to talk about it too much so that he doesnt realize what he's actually gonna be doin. I said that i would rent a wheelchair for the day and push him around...:)

It's amazing how the Lord can continually grow husband and wife together, even after years. I would never wanna experience a marriage outside of the Lord because I see the tons of blessings that is involved with Him. ahhh.
We got home tonight and este looked at me and said something to the effect that he gets me all to himself for the rest of the night...no more sharing :) hehee.

Anyways, I'm really excited to begin traditions with our lil bambina! I realized today that the next mothers day...I'M GONNA BE A MOTHER. Am I old enough? heehe. It's crazy that as soon as I found out I'm having a girl, I felt unprepared and too young.

pictures will be coming soon. I still wanna scan the pics of baby and Ill get another belly shot this week.
"Thank you Lord for your grace, forgiveness, and love. Thank you for all my family and friends. You are so good to me!" HAPPY THANKSGIVING

we're having a ...

CHICA! :) I was very SHOCKED by this, but after the shock and fear went away, extreme excitement and joy filled my heart. We're going to have a daughter, that's unbelievable! It was amazing to see her move around. I do have pictures of her, I will post those soon!

Since I haven't posted in a while, I will try and sum up what's been going on in our life.

We went on a cruise to the Caribbean for a week. My parents joined us and we had a grand time!

On the way to the airport, I was telling my mother and father-in-law that before I die, I would like to ride first class...even if it's just an hour long...i have got to do it. We got the perfect opportunity on the first flight to Florida. It was amazing.

As you can see, we had plenty of space to sprawl out and Este slept most the way:) We had real napkins for our laps, real silverware, OJ poured from a fancy pitcher, and breakfast. That's one thing marked off my list...but I would jump at the chance to do it again!

On the ship, headed for Cozumel!

There were tons of shows and entertainment every night. To top it off, we would go back to our room and would have "towel animals!"

Mom and I went kayaking in Cozumel while dad snorkeled and Este slept in the hammock!

And we're off to Grand Cayman!

Este had a very adventurous time here. He got to hold sea turtles and a parrot tried to rob him. Ha Ha

Our beautiful floating city!

Jamaica!

Formal night and the great couple that we ate with every night. We tried to get away from them at first, but they ended up being wonderful ;) j/k

Haiti!

And lastly, here comes the baby bump picture. I really am HATING how I'm looking, so I tried to hide as much as I could while showing my belly. I really think that unless you know I'm pregnant, pple just probably think im fat ...can't wait for that stage to be over!

Anyways, I will try to be good and get a picture often...this is at 19 weeks.

My lil burrito

The pastor that married us, Pastor Scottie, adopted a baby from China and called her his little egg roll. Well, Este and I are gonna have ourselves a lil mexican burrito....haahaa.
(Dad, I know you thought that he was the size of a burrito this week, sorry...he/she is the size of an ORANGE!)
A navel orange...that's big!
Over the last week, work has slowed down for us tremendously....and for now, that has been such a blessing from the Lord. We have been so worn out and God has totally given us a time to rest. I feel like I'm so free, it's great. Other than feeling extremely blessed this week, nothing else is new. God is faithful and good to His children. His grace is sufficient for me! Praise Jesus!

100 DAYS

I've been with child for 100 days. WOOHOO! This week I've had several overwhelming feelings of where I just want to touch and kiss and cuddle my baby. I'm praying that we'll have a cuddle bug or else our kid is gonna hate us :) These lips need to be kissin on some rolls! :)

Also, we HIGHLY RECOMMEND the movie FIREPROOF. We have seen it twice. Once with some friends and once with our family. The first time, este and I just sat and hugged after the movie. It is so touching and such a testimony of the Lord's power and love when He comes into a person's life. ahhh. soooo good. Many props to Curt.;)

GREAT STORY

ESTE AND I ARE WORKIN IN THE OFFICE AND I HEAR THE CAT NEXT TO ME SMACKIN HIS LIPS. I SAID, "THEO, ARE YOU GETTING SICK?" LOL WELL, ESTE GETS MONSTER-LIKE IF HE THINKS THE CAT IS GOING TO THROW UP ON THE CARPET AND NOT THE TILE. SO ESTE GETS UP AND THE CAT ZOOMS OUT THE DOOR. ESTE GOES AFTER HIM CLAPPIN HIS HANDS TELLIN HIM TO KEEP GOIN, KEEP GOIN.........THEN I HEAR HIM SCREAM...'NOOOOOOOOO' I THOUGHT THAT THE CAT HAD THROWN UP ON THE CARPET BUT THEN I HEAR HIM YELL, "I STEPPED IN IT!"
I CANT STOP LAUGHIN

Directed by God

We found out something really cool this weekend and so I thought I would share.

We went to a baby shower on Sat. and we were seeing a lot of people we havent seen for a while. Well, there was this one couple that we had met a couple of years ago at a young marrieds group that we used to go to. I recognized them b/c of the husband. Anyways, i hugged the wife and asked her how she was doing. She starts talkin to me like she knew I was pregnant. I thought, 'hmmm, that's weird.' Come to find out, she is the receptionist at our Dr.'s office. Once I looked at them and thought some more, I was able to put the two together. So we started talking and realizing how we knew each other and that she is a believer AND OUR DOCTOR is a believer and he prays for his babies.

Here we were, we didnt even know what doctor to go to and the Lord totally hooked us up. Come to find out that the doctor and receptionist and our friends all go to the same church. I thought that was great! In good hands we are!

our little niece.....

She looks like an adult in a baby's body. SOOOO cute! And she already knows how to impersonate Pops' mouth!



She may live on the east side but she sure shows WEST SIDE pride for her Tia and Uncle Ecky

P-E-A-C-H

DAD, is that easier for you? heehee.

So "they" say that my baby is the size of a peach this week. But where I come from, peaches are bigger than lemons and "they" say next week my baby is the size of a lemon. I think "they" are stupid and I'm confused....so I guess a peach for the next 2 weeks will do:)

My cravings for the week:

ORANGE JUICE...BIG TIME

EGG AND CHEESE BISCUITS...hmmmm.

so bizarre!

We went to the doctor this past Monday and I left totally disappointed. Here's the story:

Este woke up at 5:00am that morning to go to the gym...needless to say, he was delirious...:) :) :)

So, we get to the dr's office for our 9:30 appointment. Our doctor had to deliver two babies that morning so we had to wait a couple of hours. We finally get in the room to wait some more for the doctor to come in. We were already restless and este was going crazy. All of a sudden we look over and see this model of a contraceptive for women. ....back up to the previous night. Este and I saw this thing on a commercial that will not let women get pregnant for 5 years. So weird, but we couldnt figure out how it would go in a woman...and had this big discussion about it.....fast forward to the doctors office.....THERE IT WAS...... here he is given all of us a demonstration that is well needed :) remember...he was DELIRIOUS:)

HEEHEE. he makes my life so fun! cant wait to see him make our baby laugh:)

so back to my disappointment...i had pictured that i was not only going to get to hear the heartbeat but i was going to SEE my baby! nope...he came in and let us hear it and that was all. so happy that we got to hear it...but i wanted to WATCH it move around and stuff. :( so anyways, thats the story.

I've been getting headaches the last few days but not much heartburn and not too much nausea...thank you Lord.

here's a picture of me being amused by my hubby and anxiously waiting for the doc.

and here's a picture of my other baby!

2nd Trimester...the gift from God.

P-referring 2nd trimester over the first...ALREADY....even though this is my first day of my third month.

L-eft my brain in my "unpregnant" body....can't believe how much i forget.

U-nbelieving moments are still common. Just yesterday Este said something about what he wants to get before baby comes and i had a moment, "wow, this baby is gonna come out of ME!"

M-onday we get to hear our baby's heartbeat. :) yay!

well, if you havent figured it out, our baby is the size of a plum this week. the baby can cry and get the hiccups this week...even though i wont be able to feel him......or her...heehee.

I did not have heartburn yesterday or so far today. Hoping that will continue.

We went away for the weekend to santa barbara and i did not take one picture. I wish I would have but once we were at the wedding, I realized that I had forgotten my camera....so....sorry, no pics for the world to see me bloated, yet:)

there's a burnin in my bosom!

Oh my heavens! So....the morning sickness has gotten a million and a half times better BUT heart burn has taken over like a wild fire. I am stunned. I haven't even had anything to eat yet today and I already have heartburn. I've never had issues with heartburn and I am very thankful for that now that I know what it's all about. I had heard that some pregnant women deal with it but i guess i was expecting towards the end of my pregnancy...not in my 2nd trimester! Ay yaya!

week 11

I'm almost done with my first trimester...whew! Praise the Lord for a healthy baby and morning sickness that is decreasing each week. I can actually go out and kinda plan things now. I'm so happy about that and I think este is too!

So I thought the baby was the size of a lime last week but i found a site i really like and it says it's the size of a lime this week....so i'm gonna stick with that. I will use the same site each week for consistency.

I got some "room to grow" pants this weekend...aka maternity jeans. I was not looking forward to seeing what these clothes looked like but they actually have some cute clothes out there. the pants are still a bit big on me. they kinda fall down when i walk or bend over...well really whatever i do...but at least i have room to grow:)

One major thing I have been craving this week is big gum balls! mmmm. you would think they are so easy to find...but they arent. poor este...heeheee.

we are going away for the weekend for our friends' wedding in santa barbara. we are soo excited to get away. hopefully we will get some good pics and i will post them when we get back. also, our office is almost done so i will post pics once that is done as well.

MY FRUIT LOOP

So, our baby is the size of a strawberry this week...awww! We can't get over how quickly our lil one is growing. Today I had a moment of, "oh my gosh, there's a baby in there!" I really dont think it has actually sunk in. We'll see how long that takes.
Things I've realized this week:
1. I want to purchase everything I've ever wanted before the baby comes...is this normal? I'm a total penny pincher. I could eat cereal for every meal if I needed to...or wanted to....but somehow, that has changed a bit and I'm ready to spend our last dime to prepare our house just perfectly before the baby comes. Plus the back yard. Plus we need to get our kitty prepared...shaved, pedicured, ....i dunno, it's weird.
2. One of my new favorite "quick" places to eat...Hawaiian BBQ...is now a place that just the thought of it gives me dry heaves practically. UUUHHHH..
3. I have totally grown a backbone! I'm not normally the person to confront someone face to face about an issue....unless it's a friend, family or hubby:) anyways, this seems to not be an issue, as of me being preggo. and when it happens, it's like an out of body experience...something that is totally foreign to me. lol, hormones are a powerful thing!
4. THE MOST IMPORTANT....i seriously have an exceptional husband that is going to make an amazing father. He has seriously stepped up these last several weeks to take care of me, meals, shopping, my cravings, cleaning the litter:), carrying heavy things, praying over me and baby, holding me, making me laugh, laying in bed with me for literally all day...on one of my "bad" days....i am so amazed and so excited to see how God is going to continue to blossom our relationship. I dont think either one of us has ever felt so content in our relationship...not only content but happy. that's a great word to use. One night when he was praying, it came out in his prayer and it struck me.....when we got married, our desire was for us, as a couple, to magnify the Lord together....now God is adding another person to our family to help us magnify Him! how incredible is that. Not only is it going to be our child, but someone we can worship the Lord with. ahhhh..just the thought.
soooo...this week has been a bit enlightening. :) (please pray that my nausea goes away quickly...it's a struggle)

MY LITTLE BEANIE BABY!

I READ TODAY THAT MY LITTLE CHILD IS THE SIZE OF A KIDNEY BEAN THIS WEEK. OOOHHH, I ALWAYS WANTED MY OWN BEANIE BABY!

PREGGO

As you probably know, we found out we were having a baby while we were back in WV less than a month ago. I was definitely in shock when we found out, but soon after, we started getting excited about our lil one. We have definitely been praying for a healthy pregnancy and a perfectly healthy baby. We would love for you to join with us in praying over the next several months.

Our first doctors appointment was Aug. 29th. We found out that I was, at that time, 7 weeks and 2 days (cause we were a bit clueless). We got to see our baby and watch the heart flutter. At that time, i believe our baby was the size of a blueberry, half an inch. It has been totally amazing reading about how big the baby is and what part of the body is developing each week. We have definitely had a new sense of "aww" towards the Lord and His handiwork. It's amazing to think that He is fashioning this child in my belly. Praise God!

Morning sickness has really kicked in over the last 2 weeks. It has been a roller coaster physically. I just keep telling myself that it should get better in a month. And the more sick I get, the less prepared I feel for having a baby...maybe cause i feel like throwing up most of the time.:)

I will try and be better with keeping this updated...we did get 2 pics of the lil one but if i scanned them...well, just imagine a tiny oval...and that's what you have. i think those pics probably mean more to us than they would anybody. still cant believe a lil someone is in there. Este has already started tellin our baby about Jesus...he ended the conversation by saying, "ill tell you more later." what a good daddy he'll be.

Our next doctor's visit is in about 4 weeks and we should get to hear the heart beat that time:) once my bump starts showing i'll be posting pics...now i just look and feel really bloated...ugghh...totally ready for maternity clothes already! :)

Tribute to scooter...

My childhood, teenage and in my 20's pet from home was my cat, Scooter. He was a christmas present to me when I was in third grade. I'm sad to say that he is no longer with us:( It feels so weird to think that he'll no longer be home when i go there. I found myself vegging in front of the tv today, just being sad. Oh how i'll miss my kitty!

26.2 miles...because i can!

i can't believe i just finished my first marathon. it was crazy amazing...and also the most painful thing i've ever done in my life. the run was spectacular the first 18-20 miles. then nausea set in and it SUCKED. but i made it...grouchiness and all. my husband had roses waiting for me. have i ever stated that he is totally the best...by far. mmmm. anyways. thought i'd share some pics. he didnt get any of me running through the finish line.. he didnt even see me. there were thousands of people. but this was the coolest race. there were 26 bands throughout the race, hundreds of cheerleaders, and the crowds were rad (except when i was hating life and then i would glare at them or pretend they weren't there.)

i made my shirt and got lots of "that's awesome, that inspires me, Praise the Lord. " and i got to pray with my teammates before running. God is totally rad! amen and amen to that! enjoy the pics!