Lucy Turns One!

I cannot believe our little baby turned one year old this month! It's unbelievable how fast this year has gone by. We've been very nostalgic thinking back to the day she was born and just all of those new & wonderful feelings we felt and all the joy we experienced that first night and beyond.
We were able to celebrate Lucy's birthday with Joe's whole immediate family - 10 adults and 3 kiddos! It was a big group and a little overwhelming for her, especially since she decided to skip her afternoon nap that day :(
But it was SO sweet and so much fun. She loved being around her cousins, Noella and Mercy and she was trying to jump like they were and keep up with them. So precious!!
We had a great family dinner together, played party games with the kids, and then had cake and presents. The cake time was definitely overwhelming with us all crowding around her taking photos and videos and the girls being excited, but she got through it :) And then we opened some fun presents from everyone and even some special deliveries from Florida! Then Lucy went night night and all the guys & girls got some segregated time together which is always enjoyable :)
Then my parents were here for a few hours on friday and we got to open Lucy's gifts together and had a special lunch at Domo 77 - Lucy's first time for Hibachi! :)
So thankful that so much of our family is nearby and have been able to be so involved in Lucy's first year of life!

Here are some of her first ever photos that I love and then are photos from her party!!

*Also - Lucy stats are 90th percentile for height and 20th or below for weight! She's a string bean! :) 18lbs 6oz - she's our little peanut, but she is healthy and strong, yay! :)

13 week update

How far along: 13 weeks (14 weeks tomorrow!!)

Total weight gain: lost a couple of pounds

Best moments this month: hearing the baby's heartbeat at my appointment on friday & Lucy turning 1!

Food cravings: not many. am growing out of the nausea thankfully, but still not very hungry most of the time. I did enjoy soft pretzels most of the first trimester :)

Gender: We don't know and we aren't finding out!

Belly button in or out: still in, but definitely not the same as pre-Lucy :(

Labor signs:no thankfully!

What I miss: Sleeping through the night with no bathroom breaks, being able to take meds when I'm sick with a headache or cold & feeling more energetic

What I am looking forward to: This is unrelated to baby, but I'm SO looking forward to the summer and going on lots of walks with Lucy and to the pool and beach and getting lots of one on one time with her before the little one comes. I am also getting so excited to have these two little ones close together. I hope that they will be sweet little pals and maybe sleep in bunk beds one day :)

Weekly wisdom: I have been thankful to hear from other mom's lately about having babies close together and doing just fine. It's always helpful to hear when I'm feeling overwhelmed!

Milestones: Getting through the first trimester is BIG for me. I can't complain because I really feel pretty good compared to others, but it's a relief to be growing out of the extreme fatigue stage and hopefully into more stable eating patterns as well :)

11 weeks

12 weeks

Valentine's Day

We aren't huge valentine's people per se.....
And this year was a little crazy with Joe and the youth group and teaching at College of DuPage...
YET my sweet husband came home from teaching Valentine's night with a bag of popcorn and a bag of my favorite candies from the popcorn shop. Ummmm, he knows me SO well. And I was estatic!! It's the simple things, right?! :)

Family Update

Well, just wanted to share with you all that we are expecting baby #2 at the end of August!!!
Found out the good news just before Christmas and have had time for it all to sink in since then. The kiddos will be a year and a half apart - oh boy!! :)
I am currently 11 weeks & feeling pretty good. Only slight nasea in the a.m., but nothing bad at all. Lucy and I have had lots of outings over the past couple months just to get me out of the house and distracted a bit and I'm quickly approaching my second trimester, thank the Lord!!

We got to have 2 ultrasounds already which were very fun and encouraging. We got to see and hear the heartbeat both times, aww, it was wonderful!
Here are some photos below of the little guy or girl from my 9 week appointment on January 24.

Praising God for this good & undeserved gift
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17

Dinner........

Ok so here are some recipes that I'm dying to try!!
First two are from Sweet Tea & Taters and second two are from Pinterest.

Question - the vermont cheddar soup stuck out to me but then I wondered is it totally weird or totally scrumptious to make cheese soup????


Chicken Pot Pie

via
http://sweetteaandtaters.com/?p=887



Sloppy Joes

via
http://sweetteaandtaters.com/?p=852



Shrimp Lo Mein

via
http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/shrimp-lo-mein-00100000072561/index.html



Vermont cheddar soup

via
http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/vermont-cheddar-soup-679773/