16 weeks

I went in today for my 16 week OB appointment. All went well. I was glad to be able to hear the heartbeat again. She found it right away ( last time it took 2 different people and a lot of time) and we even heard some movement.

Speaking of movement, I actually felt this little one move on Sunday! I was sitting still during Ward Council ( probably the most I sit still all day ). It is definitely earlier than I felt with Aubrey, but I guess I knew what I was feeling this time around, and let's face it, my stomach muscles may be a "bit" more relaxed : ) . It sure feels good to have that little bit of reassurance though that there really is something in there. I always feel like this is such a hard stage because I am a natural worrier and I don't have the reassurance of a growing belly or of movement yet. But, it looks like I'm moving into that stage so I'm excited.

My belly has definitely decided to pop the last couple of days. As Steve said yesterday, "Where did that come from?" It really has blossomed out of nowhere it seems. I was starting to wonder when I was going to show because I'd heard it was earlier with the second. I went to church with a noticeable baby bump though, and I was definitely getting some looks. I'm just waiting for the news to spread : )

I'm not sure how to tell my YW. Maybe I'll just slip it into our opening exercise announcements, although I think my belly will make it's own announcement for me soon enough : )

P.S. Please ignore my haggard look in the picture, it was late but I wanted to post one. I haven't documented much of this pregnancy so I thought I better get started, and I also wait until the end of the day when Aubrey is in bed, so the "rose" has rubbed off a little by that time! : )

Home Sweet Home

I know...you can't hardly believe it. I'm actually posting pics of our house! So let's just all pretend that we just moved in, ok? Enjoy the long-awaited pictures ( although some of you have seen it by now ).

I also didn't take pics of the master bath and Aubrey's room...oops! But I do have videos I'll upload that take you more on a tour. Sorry about so many pics, but I guess if you're going to wait a year to do it, you might as well go all out, right?! Also, I'm not the best photographer so bear with me. : )

Oh, and I made the pics small so they all would fit, but just click on them to enlarge them.

701 NW Eagle Lane... ( ps. this is pre-landscaping the flowerbed)

The back of the house. We've got stain to do that deck, if we ever get around to it! : )

WELCOME!!

The Living Room

Recognize the couches Kim and Emily?

Our gas fireplace (actually very cozy in the winter and fun for Christmas time)

Dining Room

Kitchen/Breakfast Bar

This is a view from by the laundry room door. It leads out to a pantry and the 2-car garage. Both of which I forgot to take pics of...

Hallway off the living room into the bedrooms. To the right is the Master, down the hall is Aubrey's room and then the office, and on the left is the second bath.

Our master bedroom...a little sparse right now.

The office...believe it or not, this is clean!

My little work station

The stairs from the front foyer down to the basement. Yes, the baby gate actually was written up to be included in the sale! Funny, huh?

Basement...It doesn't look like much but we have BIG plans. The ceilings are tall so it feels very open.

Our makeshift play area, storage room, and "home gym"

There's a bit alcove to the right that we have all our storage in. Someday it will be a room.

October MIA

So, you may have been asking yourself, "Did Kristen fall off the edge of the earth?" Not quite, but I have definitely been down and out. The month of October? I don't know what has happened to it, there's been no enjoying the fall leaves, no pumpkin patch trips. The last day I remember not being sick is Aubrey's birthday! ( October 3rd!!)

Morning sickness all the sudden decided to triple it's efforts in my 13th week ( knowing full well that I am supposed to be ending all that business by that time). I could literally not get off the couch because of the extreme nausea. I didn't leave the house for 6 days. Steve has been traveling a lot for work and was in Vegas for the the first half of the week so that didn't help. I was so sick I had to have my dad come over to help with Aubrey most days and Steve even had to come home from work later in the week to help out.

My OB called in medication for me to try but it just gave me all the side effects without the help, so she pulled out the big guns and gave me Zofran (anti-nausea medicine they give to chemo patients). She said if that didn't help the next step was hospitalization to get some fluids into me and to monitor my weight loss more closely. Thankfully, the Zofran did the trick and I felt human for about 2 days before I got sick again.

Yes, the consensus is that I have H1N1. Fun stuff, and I passed it on to Aubrey and Steve. Once again I've been down and out and after about 6 days of trying to convince myself it was just a chest cold, I decided to call my doctor and they put me on Tamiflu. Steve's still in the contagious stage so he's stayed home the last few days, although he hasn't felt that terrible yet. The first day he was just home to help with Aubrey and I, and then he started having symptoms himself. He went to the urgent care today and is on Tamiflu as well.

Poor little Aubrey spiked a temperature of 104.2 ( it was still going up but she wouldn't let me keep it in there any longer), and we were going to take her in but it was after hours and our pediatricians urgent care said they were booked solid. It took them 4 hours to even call us back to talk to us about bringing her in. Luckily, she made it through and after a rough 24 hours her fever broke and she has been soooo much better. It was completely an answer to prayer. It is so much harder to have your little be so sick. I hate seeing her like that. So, she just has a cough now and has been more irritable, but otherwise is her busy two-year old self.

Anyway, that's where we've been and where we are! I basically have been house bound for the month of October and this being sick thing is really getting old. Hopefully, just by the fact that I'm able to sit up long enough to write this post, I am on the up and up. ; ) Church callings, work, and toddlers don't stop for sickness, that's for sure! So, I'm left with a wreck of a house, a piled up to-do list, and a hefty dose of prescriptions, but hopefully we're coming to the end of it all : ) So, how has your October been?

It is Labor Day after all...

Perspective

I came across the poem the other day and it helped put my "priorities" in a bit of perspective. I guess I'll leave the dinner dishes for now and go help Aubrey re-build that pillow fort...

Song for a Fifth Child Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth, Empty the dustpan, poison the moth, Hang out the washing, make up the bed, Sew on a button and butter the bread. Where is the mother whose house is so shocking? She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking. Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue, Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo. Dishes are waiting and bills are past due Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue? Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo. The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep! I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep. -- Ruth Hulburt Hamilton