18 weeks

How far along: 18 weeks

Size of the baby: A sweet potato - 5.6 inches long

How I am feeling: I attempted to walk on the treadmill this week. Saturday afternoon, I got on with my phone, headphones, and kindle in one hand and pushed start. Immediately, it took off going the maximum speed and I found myself sprinting for my life! I pushed every button, including the on/off switch, and nothing happened. Thankfully Matt was in our basement and ran over and pulled the cord out of the wall. I was running faster than I ever have in my life, at 18 weeks pregnant! I was terrified! I am SO glad Matt was there...otherwise I probably would have had a pretty nasty fall, which could have been serious for the baby.

I don't know what was wrong with the treadmill...Matt tried it out several times after I got off and he couldn't figure it out either. There is an emergency cord that I could have pulled, but it was wrapped around the base of the treadmill (dumb!) and hard to pull while running at such a fast pace. Our basement has concrete floors and a concrete wall behind the treadmill (with a workout bench right behind it), which means a fall wouldn't have been pretty!

Although terrifying at the time, Matt and I laughed about it pretty hard afterwards!

Highlights this week: I am pretty sure I have felt some kicks, but it is still kind of hard to tell at this point. The kicks are so light that when I feel something I stop and try to be still and wait for another one - which usually doesn't happen!

Anniversary weekend!

We had a big weekend - on Friday we went and got our Christmas tree with Lulu and Grandmama! It has become somewhat of a tradition of ours to get our tree the day after Thanksgiving. I just can't wait for the Christmas season to start - I've been listening to Christmas music nonstop!

Our little helper was excited to help put lights and ornaments on the tree! Will LOVES the Christmas tree! Every morning when he comes downstairs he says "Oh Christmas tree!" and runs over to it and points out all the ornaments to me - again! I love how excited he gets.

Saturday we cheered on the Jackets!

Will loves to "hide" under pillows!

Saturday night we celebrated our 7 year anniversary (which was Sunday)! We went to Michael in Wilmette and had a great dinner followed by a flourless chocolate souffle for dessert!

I can't believe we've been married 7 years already! It seems like time has flown by. We talked about all that has happened over the last 7 years and all that we are grateful for - most of all our healthy 2 year old son and baby daughter on the way! God has been good to us!

Sunday was also my parent's anniversary - and a big one this year - 40 years! Happy anniversary mom and dad!

Thanksgiving 2011

We stayed in Chicago again this year for Thanksgiving. Traveling to Georgia for both Thanksgiving and Christmas is just too hard with a toddler! This year we had Matt's mom and sister Jessica up for the week to celebrate with us! It was so nice to have them here - they kept me company while Matt was at work, watched Will while I ran errands and went to the doctor, and even went to the grocery store and made dinner for us! And they cooked the majority of the most delicious Thanksgiving dinner ever!

Will liked to help with the cooking! He loves to be a helper!

Will and Grandmama went to the park Thanksgiving morning, despite the very cold weather! Will had a ball!

Will liked to taste what we were cooking!

He gave Grandmama a taste too!

Will is good about giving kisses!

Our turkey!

Reading with Grandmama!

This year we had turkey, sage stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, butternut squash and apple casserole, brussels sprouts, strawberry pretzel salad, and cranberry orange salad. And for dessert we had pumpkin cheesecake pie and coconut cream pie! It was a feast!

Will liked his turkey leg!

After dinner we watched Horton Hears a Who on tv, one of Will's favorite Dr. Suess books! He loved it!

It was such a fun Thanksgiving, and it was so much fun to have Jessica and Mrs. Dart here - Will cried when they left! He wanted to go on the airplane too:)

We're having a...

We went to the doctor yesterday and are thrilled to announce we're having a...

GIRL!!!!!!

We are SO excited! We had our first appointment with the high-risk doctor yesterday, at 16 weeks. We mentioned to our doctor that at our first ultrasound, at 12 weeks, I was measuring 9 days earlier than what I thought my due date was (May 9th). So our doctor decided to check again with another ultrasound to see if my due date needs to be changed. We were excited because an ultrasound meant that we'd probably be able to find out the sex, and we were right! When the nurse said, "How do you feel about a girl?" I gasped! We are both absolutely thrilled!!

This ultrasound still showed me measuring about a week ahead, so for now I will go ahead and skip to 17 weeks.

How far along: 17 weeks

Size of the baby: An onion - 5 inches long

How I am feeling: I haven't exercised much since I've been pregnant - I just haven't had the energy. But, now that I'm in the second trimester and have a (tiny!) bit more energy, I want to start walking on the treadmill this week.

Highlights this week: Finding out we are having a girl! After we left the doctor's office, the first thing I wanted to do was to buy our first girl outfit (we did the same thing after we found out Will was going to be a boy!) Matt had a few last minute Thanksgiving items to pick up at the grocery store, so he dropped me at a children's store to buy ONE outfit. 15 minutes later, I walked out with this...

I couldn't resist:)

Matt's birthday!

Matt's birthday was Friday - he is now officially as old as I am:) We had a great weekend of celebrating. Matt's brother Beau called a few weeks ago and said he and Kate would be coming to Chicago this weekend and wanted to surprise Matt at dinner downtown Friday night.

Matt had no idea! He thought the two of us were just going out to eat to celebrate. When we got to our table, Beau and Kate were there waiting on us! It was awesome!

Beau's wife Kate is also pregnant - we are 2 weeks apart! So there was a lot of pregnancy/baby talk during dinner!

Dinner was fantastic - we went to MK downtown a few blocks from Michigan Ave. Everything we ordered was good. And the service was seriously the best I've ever had. The waiter asked if there were any food allergies and after I told him I couldn't eat gluten he went out of his way to look out for me the rest of the night. He was extremely knowledgeable about everything that had gluten in it - something I really appreciate. Sometimes a chef knows how to make something gluten-free, but if the waitstaff doesn't understand and doesn't make the customer feel comfortable with what they're eating, it is pointless. I ordered the ice-cream sampler for dessert and he even brought gluten-free coconut macaroons with it (that I think they'd just made). It was overall a great experience.

Beau and Kate's flight wasn't until Saturday night so they came and spent the day with us Saturday. Will had such a good time with them, and they even brought him a BIG Woody doll that he LOVES! I'm so glad they could come visit and make Matt's birthday weekend extra special!

Happy Birthday Matt! Will and I love you very much!

15 weeks

I am going to try to do a weekly pregnancy update - mostly because I think I'd like to have a record of it!

How far along: 15 weeks

Size of the baby: An orange - 4 inches long

How I am feeling: Pretty good. I still have food aversions - mainly meat and vegetables, but I keep trying new things hoping it will go away! I am definitely in the stage where my regular clothes are uncomfortable and maternity clothes are too big. I don't think I look pregnant yet - just fat:)

Highlights this week: I bought a few maternity shirts and a pair of pants this week! All of my maternity clothes from last time are summer clothes. I only had one long sleeve maternity shirt, so I'm basically starting from scratch again. I'm also pretty proud of myself - I completely cleaned out my closet today! I packed away stuff that is already too tight to make room for maternity clothes!

I'm meeting with doctors at Maternal Fetal Medicine (high-risk OB's) for the first time next Wednesday. I'm not sure if they'll do an ultrasound, but if they do we may find out if we are having a boy or girl! I'll be 16 weeks, so I'm pretty sure they can tell at that point!

A visit from Mary Beth!

My sister Mary Beth came to visit us this weekend! Will warmed up to her right away and had a ball playing with his Aunt B!

We ate good food, went for walks with Will in the leaves, did a little shopping (maternity clothes!), and watched football (go Dawgs!).

Will loves his Aunt B, and it was fun to watch him interact with her...

She told him she was going to have to leave and go on an airplane back to Georgia and he said "I go with you Aunt B!"

Come visit us again soon MB!!

Will has some news to share...

That's right! Will is going to be a big brother!!!

I am 14 weeks, and feeling pretty good. We are SO excited! Will is pretty happy too:)