Dear Baby...

Dear Baby,

Today I got to hear your heartbeat for the first time.  I never imagined what a complete feeling of joy I would feel because honestly, I didn't know that today would be the day I would experience it.  Your daddy was in the room with me and heard you at the same time.  When he did, the same goofy look of joy on my face was mirrored on his.  In that moment, an unbelievable rush of love for you filled my heart.  It seems as though the day when your daddy and I can see you for the first time is so far away, but January will be here in just six short months, and God will fully entrust us with you at that time.

We have waited a long time to bring you into this world.  While many of our friends have one, two, or even more kids, your daddy and I have waited until the time was right.  At times, that makes us feel like we're on the outside looking in because it's difficult to relate to people that are parents while our nest has been empty.  We don't know what schedules filled with school, soccer practice, music lessons, or birthday parties are like, but we will soon, and that thought excites me because I can't wait to see what you will experience.

But there is one thing that saddens me.

I am saddened at the thought that you will enter into a sinful world, more sinful than the world I grew up in.  America is quickly turning away from God, and our society is paying the price.  It is my heartfelt prayer that your daddy and I can raise you with Biblical truths that you can carry with you the rest of your life.  It is our prayer that you will trust Jesus as your Savior, and that your life will be a living, breathing example of his overwhelming love for you.  He loves you more than we ever could, and we already love you so much even though we haven't met you yet.

Stay safe in my womb, little one.  I will protect you as much as I can while you are growing and forming inside me (Psalm 139:14).  Let the heartbeat I heard today continue to beat strong because I can't wait to hear it again.

With love,

Your mommy


 

Pregnancy - Would I Ever Do This Again?!

Once in a while, I'll be sharing some pregnancy related posts just so I can have something to look back on, and wonder, "What was being pregnant really like?"  I'm already noticing that I have a touch of pregnancy brain, and I've been wanting to keep a "diary" of sorts that I can read when I need a laugh or to remember a special time.  This will help me not forget.  :)

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So, I can say with absolute certainty that I've always looked forward to the day that hubby and I would expand our little family.  Now that I'm here, though......  Oh.  My.  Gosh.  Seriously, I had this naive thinking that everything would be rainbows and butterflies, super happy feelings all the time, and just a blissful 9 months.

Er...  no.

Number one - complete exhaustion all the time.  I have never slept/wanted to sleep more in my LIFE.  And when I finally get to sleep, it lasts maybe 3 to 4 hours.  Then I'm up tossing and turning for who knows how long until I can finally get back to sleep.  I know this is my body's way of preparing me for late nights, interrupted sleep and so on, but geez, I just want to SLEEP!!!  And right now, the best place to get any sleep seems to be the couch.  I had a friend tell me that before this 9 months was over that I would've found my way to every sleeping surface in the house until I found a place that was comfortable.  Truer words have never been spoken.

Number two - eating.  I've always been under the impression that pregnant women eat all the time.  Let me tell you, it's true, but probably not in the way you think.  I'm a three square meals a day kind of girl...breakfast, lunch, and dinner like clockwork.  Now, it's breakfast, then second breakfast, lunch, second lunch...you get the idea.  I'm eating all the time, but I can only eat small amounts.  It's like this baby has carved out a piece of my stomach, and said, "Nope, this belongs to me!"  My lunches have been reduced to the size of kid's meals.  :(

Number three - gas.  This one is probably the most un-glamorous of them all, and it sounds worse than it is...really.  (I promise our house does not stink!)  No, it's mostly just air that feels like it's trapped in my esophagus all day long.  It makes me burp all the time.  I read that it should subside once I reach the second trimester.  Is it over yet?  No.  What makes it so miserable is that it causes this tightness in my chest that just won't go away.  It literally feels like trapped air, and it hurts.  :(

Number four - "morning" sickness.  So, here's one area that I've actually been fortunate to (almost) escape.  I've been sick 3 times in 14 weeks, and I'd say that's a pretty good record at this point.  :)  But morning sickness as a title is so deceiving, and truly, if I was getting sick first thing in the morning every day, I'd have to just quit everything.  I'm so not a morning person.

In spite of all that, I am in absolute awe of this tiny thing growing inside me.  And if I have to deal with no sleep, weird eating patterns, gas, and sickness, I'd say the trade off is going to be worth it all in about 6 more months.  :)  Are we anywhere close to being prepared?  No, but we're so blessed with a great support system already, and this sweet child will not lack for one second of complete love.

 

Hold On...Change is Comin'!

So, this is probably a surprise - geez, it's a surprise even to myself! :)  I've been itching to blog for weeks now, and after the longest period of time of feeling that I had absolutely NOTHING to say...  well, that's not the case anymore.  Lots of thoughts to share today, and some plans for the future!

First of all, our little family is about to change.  What used to be me, hubby, and our two fur babies is going to increase by one with a new addition in about 6 months!!  Yep, our first baby is on the way, due to arrive January 12th!  We are super excited, but obviously, super nervous, too.  Neither hubby or me have ever gone out of our way to interact with other people's babies, but I hear that when you have one that's your own, it's a totally different feeling.  And I tell ya, I've never read so much in my life!  All kinds of stuff about pregnancy and babies - holy cow, it's overwhelming.  From trying to figure out why a baby is crying to learning that babies should sleep with absolutely nothing in their crib so they don't choke...  Lord, help me please!

So, while we're understandably nervous, we have two great sets of grandparents sitting on "go" and ready to babysit at a moment's notice.  They have been full of great advice, and will be full of available time (all that we'll give them!) to give new daddy and me a rest when needed.

I've already decided on a couple of things that we'll be implementing once baby arrives.  The first is breastfeeding.  I'm still not totally on the up-and-up about supplementing from time to time with formula, but I'm reading as much about it as I can.  The second thing that I had decided on long ago is that we will be cloth diapering.  Research for this has been a little bit of a maze, but things are starting to make sense.  I haven't gone so far as to decide what we'll do as far as specific brands, but I imagine decisions on that will be made pretty soon.  I'm so thankful that there is a supplier for cloth diapers here in my area - I've already scoured every inch of her super helpful website!!

As if all that won't keep me busy enough, I've also been in the process of switching over my jewelry business from Etsy to my own stand-alone store.  I've wanted to do this for a long time as I feel like I've outgrown Etsy.  There are also some things happening there that I personally don't agree with, and I think it will be better in the long run to separate my store from their platform.  At this point, I'm allowing my Etsy listings to expire since I've already paid for them to appear there.  As they expire, I'll be moving them over to the new store.

I'm hoping to get back into reviewing a little bit, too.  Not too much, and probably not to the scale that I used to do, but I do miss it and the camaraderie that comes with it.  :)

So, busy doesn't even describe what's about to happen in our lives, but in this case, it's definitely a good thing.  I'll leave you today with a pic of our new baby love!