The long awaited GENDER REVEAL!

You've been waiting and waiting and enduring all my teasing, if we're friends on FB, and...

The time has come to introduce our newest addition

Our Handsome Prince 

(looks JUST like his big sister's profile ultrasound picture)

 Who could resist the 70% off rack at Target?? 

Gender Predictions

Well folks, I promise I will catch up on weekly posts as soon as I can.

I am currently 18 weeks - can you believe it?? - and we have our anatomy (20 week) ultrasound scheduled for November 12...

GUESS WHAT!

We're finding out the gender this time!!

(If you weren't around for Our Darling Girl's pregnancy, we did not find out the gender until she was born.)

I want to start the gender guessing game - I know it's a little early, but I have to do something to keep me excited for the next 10 days, right?? Leave your guesses in the comments! Here is some information to help you guess...

If you aren't familiar with these wives tales, here is some information.

My prediction: Boy 

Reasons: Migraines, heartbeat is a little lower than ODG's was at this point, just a feeling

Comparisons from ODG's pregnancy & this one:

More Headaches: Boy 

Chinese Calendar: Girl

Morning Sickness: Girl

Mayan Calendar: Girl

Stealing Moms Beauty: I don't remember..Boy?

Baby's Heartbeat: Girl

Cravings: Boy

Emotional Wreck: Can't remember...Girl?

Carrying Baby: Girl

My prediction: Boy (due to a dream once she was a boy)

Feel free to ask me any other questions you can think of that would help make a prediction! We will be informing all of our family & close friends before posting anywhere on social media, but I promise not to make you wait too long :-) Can't wait to see all of your guesses! 

Oh! For those inquiring minds who were around for ODG's pregnancy, yes, this will be a Baby BAL version 2!! We haven't decided if we will share the names yet, but if we share, I promise to share on social media :-) 

Happy guessing! 

Baby #2: 15 Weeks!

These weeks are just flying by! Anyone else feel like that or is it just the pregnant one feeling like time is flying?

Here are a couple things I've noticed are the same and a couple different from my pregnancy with Our Darling Girl and now:

• Same: nauseous/vomiting daily, craved cold & salty foods in the beginning
• Different: migraines, starting to crave mostly sweet things, heartburn with first pregnancy and NONE so far, I'm not gaining weight (midwife is totally on board with this plan) this pregnancy so far

Want to start guessing now about gender? 

Want to compare more to my pregnancy with Our Darling Girl? Click here!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 15 Weeks

Size of baby: Naval Orange

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Lost 2 lbs overall

Maternity Clothes: Maternity pants all the way, but mostly normal shirts

Gender: ???

Movement: I don't think I've felt anything really this week, maybe one or two tiny flutters when I'm really trying to feel something

Sleep: I have surprisingly mostly slept through the night this week!

What I miss: Enjoying sleep comfortably

Cravings: Hm....baked potatoes & BBQ, either separate or together!

Symptoms: Forgot to mention this in past posts, but sometimes when I'm nauseous, I sneeze! Finally figuring out how to control my nausea (thank you, Zofran!), and I'm going on 2 weeks completely gluten free with no migraine yet.

Best Moment this week: Feeling great this week! Got to spend time with friends that I have missed and actually enjoyed my week :-)

Baby #2: 14 Weeks!

SECOND TRIMESTER! WOOHOO! Everyone told me that already having a little one running around makes the next pregnancy go by quicker...they weren't kidding!

Want to compare to my pregnancy with Our Darling Girl? Click here!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 14 Weeks

Size of baby: Large Lemon

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Lost 2 lbs overall

Maternity Clothes: Pretty much can only comfortably wear maternity pants and a few of my shirts are still good to go! Definitely need to do some more shopping!

Gender: ???

Movement: Maybe a couple of flutters, but nothing major

Sleep: Getting up once in the early early morning but usually can go back to sleep just fine!

What I miss: GLUTEN! 

Cravings: Chocolate milk, ice cream

Symptoms: Another migraine this week...and still nausea/vomiting; no heartburn yet!

Best Moment this week: Hm...weeks when you have a migraine there isn't much to brag about. Best moment I would say is having a hubby who is able & willing to drop everything and care of sicky me & ODG when absolutely necessary...even cancel important meetings! 

I *MAY* get brave and take a "bump" picture next week or soon...we'll see how I'm feeling :-)

Baby #2: 13 Weeks!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 13 Weeks

Size of baby: Peach

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Lost 2 lbs overall

Maternity Clothes: My Old Navy maternity clothes came in! Just a couple pairs of pants, shirts, PJ pants, and a vest for when it gets colder. More shopping in my future!

Gender: ???

Movement: Maybe a couple of flutters, but nothing major

Sleep: We're chugging away sleeping...biggest hindrance is the hubby's snoring!!

What I miss: GLUTEN! 

Symptoms: No migraine this week...just morning (all day) sickness and minor headaches.

Best Moment this week: Found baby's heartbeat at home then had our first midwife appointment and got to hear it again! 

We got to ride on this "Speeder Train"...I promise ODG is happy...she just didn't want a picture taken :-)

Later that day, ODG had one of her besties come over to play and of course they were princesses!

Baby #2: 12 Weeks!

WOO! I'm behind! I make notes on my phone so hopefully I don't forget all this when I don't have time to blog, so just be prepared for about 2-3 more blog posts to pop up super quick!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 12 Weeks

Size of baby: Lime

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I intentionally haven't weighed this week...

Maternity Clothes: Time to buy maternity clothes! Running out of normal clothes that fit correctly!

Gender: ???

Movement: Maybe a couple of flutters, but nothing major

Sleep: Sleep has improved! For now :-)

What I miss: Just the comforts of Texas...home!

Symptoms: MIGRAINES!! ALL DAY SICKNESS!! And some other yucky pregnancy symptoms...

Best Moment this week: Mom and Dad coming to visit! We went shopping, apple picking, ate at yummy restaurants (Dickie's BBQ baked potato...enough said), and enjoyed their visit! Our Darling Girl even got to sleep in the hotel with Kaki and Granddaddy and go swimming!

Stopped in the pumpkin patch before heading to the apples. Y'all...you actually pick pumpkins off of the VINE in Washington! 

Picking Honeycrisp apples with Kaki

Relaxing after a long swim at the hotel

Our family at my birthday lunch...oh yea, I had a birthday! 

Baby #2: 11 Weeks!

Honestly, not a lot happening this past week. I got super sick (morning sickness) Friday-Sunday, thus the delay in 11 week post :-) This coming week = LOADS of fun as Kaki & Granddaddy comes to visit! Can't wait to share about their visit next week!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 11 Weeks

Size of baby: Lime

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I intentionally haven't weighed this week...

Maternity Clothes: Running out of normal clothes...a trip to the consignment shop for maternity clothes is in my near future!

Gender: ???

Movement: Not yet...

Sleep: Sleep has improved! For now :-)

What I miss: Hm....Jason's Deli baked potatoes again...I have yet to find somewhere to get yummy baked potatoes here. Also Chipotle!

Symptoms: Slight headaches (thank God, no migraine this week); vomiting

Best Moment this week: Hm...I can't remember, to be honest! I feel like this week flew by...which may have been the best part :-)

Just a cute tidbit from this week of Our Darling Girl at ballet. She's the one on the far left!

Until next time,

Update on Foster Care

One of the biggest questions on everyone's mind when they find out we're pregnant is "What about fostering?"

Well, that was my very first thought, too! Since the beginning of our relationship, Hubby and I have discussed fostering or adopting children at some point in our life. After moving here, we finally felt that we were stable enough to take the step in that direction. The decision to move forward was definitely made with lots of prayer and prompting of the Spirit in our lives to proceed. We also know that this pregnancy, although a surprise, was a gift and blessing from God. Both of these things wouldn't be given to us if the Big Man didn't think we could handle it! That being said - we will continue on with becoming licensed, BUT we don't know for sure what our fostering experience will look like. We may only provide respite for families needing a short 1-2 week break while on vacation, or we may wait until this baby is a bit older. In the end, the one thing we know for sure is that God will continue to guide the fostering process in our family and we know it will still be a part of our life.

So where are we in the process? Our Homestudy write up has been completed by our agency and now Hubby & I have lots of homework - get the car inspected, get finger prints, finish health screenings (Hubby & I both need different kinds of blood work), and fix a couple things around the house! As soon as we can finish our homework, we'll be able to schedule our final homestudy walkthrough!

Thanks so much for following along with our crazy life! It keeps things exciting :-)

Baby #2: 10 Weeks

Written on September 5

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 10 Weeks

Size of baby: About the size of a prune, a bit bigger than an inch

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Lost 3 pounds total

Maternity Clothes: Can still wear regular pants, but they're getting tighter each day! 

Gender: ???

Movement: Not that I know of!

Sleep: It's been kind of hot here (and we don't have air conditioning), so sleep hasn't been the best!

What I miss: Bahama Bucks sno-cones!

Symptoms: About the same - nausea (less vomiting - yay!), food aversions, and needing to (but not wanting to) eat constantly; also had my first migraine ever yesterday, super scary!

Best Moment this week: Our Darling Girl has started saying "Are you sick mommy? Is the baby growing?" and patting my stomach and telling baby it's ok - I think she thinks the baby isn't feeling well and not understanding it's me :-) She's also started trying to use "I'm not feeling well" as an excuse herself! 

Baby #2: 9 Weeks!

Written on August 29

I can't believe we haven't made my pregnancy with Baby #2 public on the internet yet! With Our Darling Girl's pregnancy, we announced it as soon as we saw the heartbeat on that first ultrasound at 8 weeks. The only reason we haven't made it public yet is because I'm waiting on some very special family portraits! Since I started with weekly updates when I was 9 weeks pregnant with ODG, I figured I should make sure to do so with this baby, too. So here we go!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 9 Weeks

Size of baby: Our little one is the size of green olive or about 1 inch long

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Lost 4 pounds

Maternity Clothes: No maternity clothes yet, I don't like anything around my stomach when I'm nauseous, so I've been wearing alot of loser jeans, dresses, or stretchy pants!

Gender: ???

Movement: Too soon, but saw the little wiggly worm on the ultrasound!

Sleep: Because I'm trying to eat/drink often to avoid morning sickness, I'm having to get up at least once most nights, but fall right back to sleep. Definitely having to nap during ODG's nap time!

What I miss: OY! This one's hard for the Texas girl...Chick-Fil-A, Jason's Deli, Whataburger, and Cheddar's

Cravings: Pistachios, Gumbo, mostly salty foods

Symptoms: Nausea/vomiting, needing to (but not wanting to) eat all the time, aversions to eggs (the smell & seeing them raw), and exhaustion!

Best Moment this week: After a second attempt, finally being able to see our little wiggle worm on the ultrasound, along with a beating heart (around 160 bpm) and healthy fluid around the forming brain! Also, ODG has started associating me being sick with the baby growing, so when I'm not feeling well she'll talk to my tummy and say "It's ok, baby, keep growing!" I get the feeling she thinks the BABY doesn't feel good instead of me...oh well! It's sweet :-)

Our little ham!

ODG has always loved being in front of the camera. When she was 9 months old, we were at a family wedding and girlfriend was CHEESIN' IT UP for the photographer. If the photographer's camera wasn't pointed at her during the reception, she would do something to get her attention or to let us know she wanted to move closer. She was fascinated! Fast forward 2 years and not much has changed!

At Disney World last November, after waiting for a parade on Main Street and watching the Disney Photographer snap people's photos for about an hour, she decided it was her time in the spot light just moments before the parade began. She hopped into the middle of the street (by herself) and told the fun photographer, "I want you to take my picture, please!" Let's just say about 100 pairs of eyes were all on her and she was taking it all in!

Again, not much has changed!

ODG loves to have her picture taken - I think that's fairly evident - but we don't do it often enough with "Daddy's camera" (the nice Nikon). It was a beautiful night last night, so we decided to get all dolled up and head to a cute little area down the street from us and take some snapshots of our little budding model. I'm so glad we did, because we had SO MUCH FUN make goofy poses (she didn't know they were poses, she just thought we were playing & being silly) and enjoying the night! Here are a few of my favorites from the night! 

If anyone knows of a good talent agent, we're in the market! ;-) 

Thanks for letting me share our little ham with you! I just wish you could all get to know her personally. She is SO incredibly creative, super smart (witty), and keeps everyone who spends time with her laughing...or plugging their ears from hearing her talk so much :-) 

Foster Care Update: Our licensor asked to postpone our first home study until we get back from SCENTSY FAMILY REUNION (AHHHH! Excitement in & of itself!!), so I'm a bit bummed, but we won't be having our home study until after July 13! Would love some prayers for patience for that :-)

Foster Care Questions....finally answered!

Incase you haven't noticed, I've been lacking in the blogging department. I'm not surprised, really. We moved (for the second time in 4 months), finished taking all of our required foster care trainings (27 hours + 8 hours of CPR/First Aid/Blood Born Pathogens = check!), and some how I'm still managing to run my own business and keep my home afloat. Busy, but BLESSED!

Q: What has the process been like for you?
So far, we are about halfway through. The process has been fairly simple & straightforward...but I know that can change at any moment. We first had to attend a 3 hour orientation class of general information...most of which I already knew. I guess you could consider that the "weed out" course to make sure we really wanted to foster. Then we had to go to classes for two weeks straight (a 1 week break between the two weeks) from 5-9pm, somehow equalling 24 hours of training where talked about everything from the basic care of children, trauma in children, heard from a panel of long-time foster moms *and met some of their precious kiddos*, heard from two veteran parents whose children were once "in the system" and they earned their parental rights back, as well as information regarding fostering Native American children (which is unfortunately a larger population of children in our county). We have filled out MOUNDS of paperwork (one section of our paperwork was 22 pages answering personal questions about my life from birth to now...Brian had to do it, too!), and our first home study is scheduled for next week! WOOHOO!

Q: Are you going into it thinking about eventual adoption or just willing to open your home to a needy kiddo?
We are entering the world of being a foster family with open hearts. We are open to the option of adoption, but are also willing to provide safety & love for whatever time the child may need it. Our ultimate goal in any situation {although it may be extremely difficult in some situations} is reunification with birth family. Studies show that children {who have been in the system} are typically more emotionally stable when raised by family members, so that is always the states goal. When reunification is not an option, we will consider adoption on a case-by-case situation. We have been abundantly blessed with a happy, safe family and a wonderful home and know we are called to bless others.

Q: Can you discipline? 
Any child that will enter our home will have experienced at least 3 types of trauma before walking in our door (and walking in our door alone will be another instance of trauma for children entering the foster care system). Therefore, we will want to carefully consider what type of redirection is used for foster children in our care. There is absolutely NO corporal punishment allowed, and for a child of trauma, I think one can understand why. The key is positive reinforcement and redirection.

Q: Can you take the child to church?
When we welcome a child into our home, they are immediately a part of our family, which means all activities, including vacations and church. Depending on the circumstances, we may choose to slowly integrate the child into our church (meaning maybe only attending parts of the service, or not taking the child to Sunday school or nursery, but case-by-case), but definitely, YES, we will take our child to church!

Q: Do you have to be open to random home visits?
I have not heard anything about random home visits. If (the trainers told us it's a matter of when) we are ever accused of anything against WACS (state law), they will call us to let us know they are coming over and will investigate. The trainers told us to expect "when" because all sorts of things can be reported, but many of them are not truly issues (or extremely minor that just get a slap on the wrist/quickly fixed) or are false reports by bio-parents, family, or friends.

Q: Will you be allowed to take and post pictures of the child on Facebook?
Yes! I'm so excited about this because I know this is not the case in other places! We can post pictures and share the child's name! The one thing you will never see me say is "our foster child, ______". We are never allowed to identify any child in our home as a foster child...even if you directly ask me if that is our foster child, I cannot say yes. Interesting, huh? So, for example, if I post a picture of our family {with the foster child} I cannot say "Our Family: Hubby, Sarah, Our Darling Girl, and our foster child, ______." 

Q: What are you most scared of?
That is a hard question...in Washington (I don't know what it's like other places), foster parents are encouraged (but not required) to get to know the birth parents or family if they are an active part of the child's life. We are encouraged (but not required) to facilitate visits with the bio-family. At this time in our journey, I don't know how I feel about this. I have been in prayer TONS about this particular topic. Also, we are being licensed through an agency (vs straight through the state), so this may be different through the agency. So many people ask me if I'm afraid of having to "give the child back"....honestly, no. I'm not saying it won't be emotional, but I'm not afraid. When ODG was an infant, I was so terrified to let her sleep without me watching her breathe. My wonderful (and wise) mother-in-law asked me a simple question, "Is she yours?"...somehow I knew what she was asking and I answered "No, she's God's." She reiterated that God gives us our children to care for and love for a time, but we are all ultimately God's and He is watching out for each of us. I will NEVER forget that. I view inviting a foster child into our home similarly - a child may be in our home for a short time or become an official part of our family forever, but if he/she has to go to another home, I am trusting that God knows best...despite if I may feel differently about the child going to another home. We will pray (already have been) for protection over any child that enters our home, and our prayers includes asking for God's love & protection if that child ever leaves our home. 

Q: Age, race, drug exposure willingness?
We are open to any age younger than Our Darling Girl (ODG). I know that not everyone who becomes foster families need to keep their biological or oldest child the oldest, but for us, we feel like this is necessary at this time.

We are open to any race, but will probably not be approved for Native American children for several reasons. First, the tribe ALWAYS looks for friends or family members within the original tribe of the child first. If a home is not available in the tribe, they will look to a neighboring tribe. In cases where a neighboring tribe cannot provide an appropriate home, Native children will be placed with non-native families who have knowledge, understanding, and dedication to preserving the tribal traditions & culture. Lastly, most of the tribes in our area that have children in the foster care system do not allow adoption, only legal guardianship, so that the child remains 100% part of the tribe (and for other reasons). Although we love Washington, we are uncertain of where God may move us in the future and would be absolutely heartbreaking for the child & us if we had provided care for a Native child then had to leave the state...without the child.

Drug exposure - there are only two "drugs" that are medically proven to potentially cause lasting illnesses - nicotine & alcohol. We are more than willing to provide care for children who have drug exposure (if it's not nicotine or alcohol, a child who has drug exposure in the womb may not need any extra medical care if that is their only medical issue at birth), but we will need to closely consider the added commitment on a case-by-case situation. Again, I want to reiterate that we are open to any child that we are asked to care for, but we will consider it (drug-related or not) closely with prayer & wisdom.

I love answering questions about our journey through foster parenting. I think it's one of those things that is not talked about openly or often enough and I want to do everything I can to break down those walls! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't hesitate to ask me more questions and I will do my best to answer. Thanks for being interested in our life and this new stage of our journey.

Truth

Here are some truths for today:

I'm neglecting my blog, but found time to guest post over at BellingFAM today.
We moved to a new house {yes, after only living in the first one in our new town for only 3 months}.
We haven't made much progress towards becoming licensed foster care parents due to the chaos of the move.
My in-laws come next week and 1/2 of my house is still in boxes or in the garage at the old house.
I'm LOVING life.

Stay tuned for a blog post about our journey to fostering & answering all the questions y'all have sent me! Until then, head over to BellingFAM for a fabulous list about what I'm loving about our new town!

Lately...

....we've been busy! I am thankful for the busy times, but I wish I had more time to blog about life as it happens instead of big photo dumps every couple of weeks. This shall do for now :-)

April was a whirlwind...we finally feel like we're settling in, making great friends, and finding out what "home" means to us in Washington. We celebrated Easter with the "F" family {who we know from Texas...see ODG < 3 ELF} and we are so glad to have them nearby -- it has made the transition quite a bit easier to have a piece of Texas here {even though neither of them are Texans...}

We stopped to see the tulips after church before lunch. ODG felt like a ballerina in her Easter dress!

Anlee has better pictures I'll post later, but this is the only pic of ODG & ELF that I got the entire day!

In April, we discovered the "touch tank" where you can pet starfish, crabs, and have so much fun!

ODG points with her middle finger at everything....no matter how many times I correct her to her pointer!

April was the opening of our local farmer's market! It's every Saturday and if we're free we head out there for an hour or so and see what all our locals have to offer. It has been so fun! From good food, to balloon fun, to fresh produce, we are loving it!

Spring has officially sprung in our town and it is beautiful! As if the views we've seen haven't been pretty enough, they just keep getting better!! The rainy days are more scattered apart and the flowers are in full bloom. 

And in addition to all of that....we have FINALLY hung curtains! We didn't even hang curtains in our old house we lived in for 2 1/2 years, so I'm quite proud of this accomplishment! Hopefully I will do a picture walk of our house soon...stay tuned!

In other exciting news, I'm scheduled to be a guest blogger on a local gal's blog here in the next couple weeks! I'm so excited to share the top 5 things I love about our new town over on BellingFAM. I'll post a link when it's available!

What was your favorite part of April? Anything you're looking forward to in May?

Where have I been?

Well....

{you may have to click on the image to enlarge it}

Someday soon our family will be getting a little bigger.

With that said, we don't know when, we don't know age, gender, race, etc.

What we do know is that he/she will be loved greatly and we can't wait to meet him/her,

and we thought it was time to announce it to all of you!

We have been busy busy busy attending training classes and filling out paperwork, as well as beginning to prepare our home for a new arrival! I could write on & on about this next chapter in our life, and I hope to share a bit of our journey, but I'd love to hear what questions YOU have, so please DO NOT HESITATE to comment with any questions you may have and I'd love to answer as best I can in another post :-)

We covet your prayers as our lives begin to drastically change...and we are so excitedly expectant! 

Mary Poppins DOES Exist, y'all!

Ok, whoever said Mary Poppins was a mythological creature hasn't met Mackenzie.

We have never had to select a babysitter (they just say "nanny" up here in the PNW). We have been abundantly blessed by friends offering to babysit or having a sweet teenager be nearby from day one. I will FOREVER be abundantly grateful for those couples & gals who have loved on our sweet girl. I sit here nearly in tears thinking about how blessed we have been....and thinking about how much I miss those people!

When we moved here, my "job" (I run my own business from my home...full time) didn't stop, but ODG's preschool days did. In our town, preschools don't exist {or they were full} for kids younger than 3 and not potty trained...she does not meet either of those criteria. After a week of being here and meeting some other working momma's, I was directed to a job board for our local university. Insert divine forces, a whole lotta prayer, & a whole lotta faith for this lady!

I posted the "job" for a part time nanny (remember, this is what they call babysitters up here....I'm not that fancy, folks) and this gal emailed me almost immediately! Very professional, great resume, and cute photo...which I hadn't ask for, but perk! I got several more emails and none matched up to her, but I selected 3 girls to have interviews with. As fitting, this girl is who I had my first interview with. She was too good to be true. I didn't want to go on with the other interviews, but I needed to. Needless to say, she made the cut and we invited her to our home to meet ODG. We had two girls come over to meet ODG and would you believe she was the only one who got on the floor and interacted with ODG? CRAZY...well, at least in my mind...I've cared for children since I was 13 and couldn't imagine not playing with the child immediately upon an interview like this!

Anywho, she got the job. and SHE is Mackenzie...our real life Mary Poppins! She has been a LIFE saver! She has entered my house in all sorts of situations {and we've only known her a month}....let's see....Abbey pee on the floor with baby doll bathed in it, dishes piled high to the ceiling, our small little downstairs powder room COVERED in unfolded clean clothes that I was frantically trying on for a party, and ODG bare-bottomed and throwing a FIT because she didn't want to go potty! Days like these I have come home to clean dishes/dishwasher loaded, floor cleaned, clothes folded, and ODG calm and happy...which makes for one calm & happy momma right here!

Not only does she do all those amazing things, but she takes ODG on adventures! They go to the beach & discover crabs and climb on tree stumps, visit the pet store to look at bunnies & fish, have donut & hot chocolate dates, and paint pottery, just to name a few!

Discovering sea shells & crabs

Mackenzie is getting a little puffer fish for her aquarium soon and ODG has mastered the puffer fish look :)

ODG is absolutely smitten with Mackenzie's sweet friend, Mr. Nathan...she told me Mr. Nathan was her best friend! 

We are so thankful for our real-life Mary Poppins, Ms. Kenzie! 

And to end with a thought provoking quote as we prepare to remember the death & resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ, from ODG:

"Jesus comes to my house and plays with me and when I was a baby, Jesus holded me like a little baby."