Stop This Train

I'm here, I promise!! The last time I posted was the end of January! Pathetic. Since then, some big things have happened. Good and bad. I'm not going into details about the bad, because quite frankly, at this moment in time, I don't particularly care to air all that. Things tend to work themselves out and I am having faith in God that this particular situation will work out for the best.

So, I turned 30 on Feb 8. I cried. A few times that day and some the next. This birthday was just really hard on me. Don't tell me "30's not old". I get that. If you aren't quite 30 yet, just you wait. If you are 30 and it didn't bother you at all, then good for you. I don't believe you. I was so lucky to be surrounded by so much love that day and night! My teaching teammates ordered lunch out for me and gave me some of the most thoughtful gifts! That night, I went to dinner with about 20 of my closest friends. I love each and every one of the people who came to help me celebrate.

A song that describes how I feel about getting older perfectly is John Mayer's Stop This Train. LOVE THAT SONG AND THAT MAN! He'd just better not break Katy Perry's heart, because I love her just as much! Give it a listen and let me know what you think.

Seriously, IN LOVE with this song. "So scared of getting older. I'm only good at being young." Matt & I have already decided when he comes close, we are going!

One of my besties, Gina Marie had her baby girl today! I can't wait to get over to the hospital later to meet sweet Calleigh and see the new Momma. A couple of weeks ago, her friend, Candice came over to take her maternity pictures and we got to take this adorable picture together. I absolutely love it!

CP Photography

I will be back this week for more pregnancy updates, I promise! I've been feeling a little lazy and actually things have been hectic lately! They should be a little slower for me this week. I HOPE! We find out TOMORROW if we are having a boy or a girl!! Holy Shiz!!! I can't believe it. I am only 15 weeks and normally you wait until 20 to find out at your doctor's office. We found a special at a 3D/4D place. They are only going to do a 2D, but we get to find out gender and it's not very much. So worth it in my opinion! I'll definitely be back to let you know!!

I will leave you with a 14 weeks update. Holy Baby Bump, right?!

Life's a Peach!

The last baby update that I gave was right before we were going to the doctor for our first trimester screening. We had that done on Monday. Like I said before, this screening looked for down syndrome and trisomy 18, another chromosomal defect. I was a nervous wreck going into this appointment. My doctor sent us to a specialist to have this done, so it was in an office that I had never been to before with people I had never met. Matt met me at the office. Side note: He is already the BEST Daddy. He has gone to every single appointment with me and is always just as excited as I am.

This ultrasound was amazing! It was in a room that was dark and warm. I was laying back in a chair and there was a flat screen on the wall where I could see everything that the tech could see. I was SO happy, because at the last ultrasound, the baby just looked like a bean or a peanut. This time it looked like an actual baby!! And the baby was waving its arms all around and kicking its legs. At one point, the baby flipped down and had its legs sticking straight up. It was so amazing to see. It is also so crazy to me, because the baby is just the size of a PEACH!

In this one, it has its hand up by their face.

I LOVE this one!

You can see the nose!

This is the one where they had their legs sticking straight up!

This has been my favorite ultrasound so far. It actually made things seem a little more real for me.

The doctor called me this morning with the results from the tests. I was so relieved to hear her say that everything came back negative!! The baby does not have down syndrome or trisomy 18. I was so happy to hear her say those words. The test is about 96% accurate, so this helps ease my mind. I know that there are still other things that could possibly happen, but this is still a big relief!

I hope that everyone is having a great week! One more day till the weekend!!

You are the weakest link - Goodbye!

I have struggled with the thought of deleting Facebook for quite some time now. I started my account way back in the day! I actually can't even tell you when it was exactly, but I know for sure that I was in college.

Facebook has really caused me nothing but grief. Drama, drama, drama. And I don't enjoy drama. What normal person does?! It has seemed to follow me throughout my entire Facebook life, though. It has caused me problems in my workplace, in my relationships with family and with friends. It causes me to be a judgmental person and it can make me angry. Who needs that in their life?! Not me. Not badly enough to keep it around. I would find myself looking at people's profile pages just to see what they had been doing and then I would find myself judging them. I had the app on my phone and I would waste time on my lunch and planning at school just to check facebook. What a waste of time! I could be talking with my friends at lunch or actually doing something productive on my planning.

For a while, I justified keeping it, because I wanted to keep in touch with family and friends who live far away. What a cop-out. I want to keep in touch with these people, but facebook is not the only means of communication. There are so many other meaningful ways to keep in touch with my friends and my family. So many of my relationships are "facebook based". The only reason that some of my friends know what is going on in my life is because of what I post on facebook. That's pathetic. Shouldn't my friends and I be calling one another to see how things are? Shouldn't we be face timing each other on our iphones (Which I've yet to do - ever)? Even a meaningful email to talk in private and in detail about what is going on in our lives?

I read THIS blog by Melissa Jo and it really inspired me to go through with it. It's definitely worth a read, so go there now!

Everything on Facebook is so public. Your photos, events and conversations with friends are seen by everyone. And now every time that you "like" something, everyone you are friends with sees that. It's just a little ridiculous in my opinion. It was to the point that I couldn't post song lyrics that I like without someone thinking that Matt and I had a huge blowout fight or I wanted to kill myself. Chill out, people. It's just a good song. I couldn't post a picture of myself holding a beer (which for the record hasn't even happened in several months now). I couldn't write what I wanted and I couldn't write what I meant. I had to read people's soapboxes on the second amendment and pro-life/pro-choice debates. I had to read people bashing our President. I get it. It's a place to post your opinions and if I don't like it, don't read it. It's much more complicated than that. I was friends with several people from school. Whether they be parents, teachers, instructional assistants, etc. If I deleted them, how does that look? Trust me - I've done that and it doesn't look very "professional". I call bullshit. Seriously. It should have been about my PERSONAL life, not my school life. But it wasn't. 

 For the most part my friends have been supportive. I have only had a few who questioned what I was doing. This does not have to be forever. If I choose, I can always start a new account. And this time, knowing what I know now, it will be a family and VERY close friends only account. Not an "everyone's gonna know my bid-ness" account.

So, it's gone. I officially deleted it on Thursday night and I haven't missed it one moment since.

Superbowl

So the Superbowl is coming soon! I am always super excited about this, because of all of the great food. Let's just say that this fatty pregnant lady is EXTREMELY excited about all of the food this year!! Matt's Aunt always has a Superbowl party each year. It's a ton of fun! Lots of family, food and of course, commercials. :) She asks that we bring an appetizer. I am stuck on what to take. I have thought about taking some pulled BBQ that is a recipe of my Dad's.

Last year, I attempted these. The first several did not look like footballs, so I gave up and just dipped them in chocolate. They didn't all get eaten, so I don't think I'll make these this year.

Via

I've been searching Pinterest on and off today looking for some good ideas for some appetizers to take. One of the problems I keep running into is that it either has to be a cold appetizer or something in a crockpot, because her house is almost an hour away. Any ideas that you have would be greatly appreciated!!

I did come across a ton of these little gems. Do you think I'd be the weirdo or the hero at the family Superbowl party??

Via

Do you have any fun Superbowl plans this year?

Baby Update!

We went to the doctor last Friday for a check-up. This was only the second time that I have been and I am a rookie. So I expected this huge ordeal like the first time. I expected an ultrasound and to SEE the baby. No. What a let down. UNTIL WE HEARD THE HEARTBEAT!! It was amazing, y'all. The most amazing sound I have ever heard.

It took the tech forever to find the little thing, so I laid there with my bare belly hanging out hearing alien noises. We could hear my heartbeat at times, which was kinda slow and then we heard something that was beating crazy fast! That was it!! And then the baby moved. WAMP WAMP! It took her forever to find the little booger again. Once she did, we got to hear it just long enough for her to tell us that it was beating at 174. I have to always ask if things are good. She assured me that this was a great number and that things looked good. When she left the room, Matt said that he wished he had a picture of my face when we got to hear it. I'm not even sure what I was doing, but I do know that I had tears in my eyes.

We got to talk to my doctor and I had a few questions for her. Mainly about constipation and headaches. Exciting stuff, right?! I got some answers and a coupon for some Miralax to help with constipation and we were on our merry little ways!

I go tomorrow afternoon for the First Trimester Screening. With this, they are going to do an ultrasound, so that they can measure the back of the baby's neck and then they take some of my blood. This test will check for Down Syndrome. Matt and I talked about whether or not to do this test. This is just a screening, it is not the invasive test that they can do {amniocentesis}. We decided to go ahead and do this test, so that if we are going to have a child with downs, we are able to prepare ourselves mentally, financially and educationally. I pray that I have a healthy baby, but if that means that I have a healthy baby with special needs, that's just what it is.

I am excited to actually get to see our baby this time! I hit the 12 week mark yesterday, by the way! :) I'll be back with more updates soon.

Sunday Social

Today I am linking up with Ashley and Neely for Sunday Social!

1. What is your ideal way to relax?

I love to lay on my couch or in my bed and watch mindless TV {or not so mindless}. I will be the first to admit that I am addicted to WAY too many TV shows! With today being Sunday, I can't wait for The Walking Dead to come back on! Only a few more weeks!

2. Where is your favorite place to be?

My absolute favorite place to be has always been on a beach. I could live on a beach and be such a happy person. I will never understand these people who go on vacation to the beach and stay by the pool the whole time. The sand doesn't bother me - in fact, I love it! Too much sun? No such thing. Too many people? Just more people watching! I could sit on my butt with a cooler, an ipod and a magazine or book and be the happiest person on Earth.

3. Who do you consider your biggest role model?

I have had many role models for different times and stages in my life. I have to say that the one consistent role model that I have had is my Momma. Growing up, she and I didn't always get along. In fact, we fought quite a bit {I was a brat}. She still managed to be the BEST Momma that I could have ever asked for. She's now my best friend and I go to her about everything in my life.

4. What does your life look like in 3 years? 

I will have a baby {or 2}, happy in love with Matty and just living the American dream!

5. If you could go back and change one decision, what would it be? 

I am so content with the decisions that I have made in my life. I can honestly say that even though I have been unhappy at times with the decisions that I have made, that my life is awesome right now and things might not be the same had I made a different decision.

6. What is your biggest accomplishment in life so far?

I am proud of myself for so many accomplishments, but I think my biggest is snagging an extra hot man and getting knocked up with his baby. ;)

Happy Sunday, Y'all!!

11 Weeks!

How Far Along: 11 weeks, 5 days

Symptoms: This week I have had headaches galore!! I am not sure what that's about. I haven't really been moody at all, but I am still constipated. Hoping for some clarification and suggestions at my doctor appointment tomorrow.

Movement: Still no movement! Not even small flutters, yet. I can't wait for the moment that I feel something!

Cravings: I still love Butter Burgers from Culvers. I think they are my go-to food. Not sure how I feel about that!

Food Aversions: Still no desire to have coffee. I also have not wanted CHICKEN!! Whaaa?! Last week I went to Chick-Fil-A before I went to a training and I couldn't even stomach a dang chicken mini, one of my previous favorite treats!! Just crazy.

Sleep: I haven't woken up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night this week. I think my uterus has finally lifted itself up off my bladder. Hallelujah!! There was only one night this week that I didn't really sleep that great and I'm not really sure why that was. Otherwise, I have slept great!

Best Moment of This Week: There have been several great moments this week! I loved the baby shower that we threw for my friend Gina Marie last Saturday. I have loved sleeping so well! I also loved having Monday off work for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Tonight, I am hopeful for a snow/ice day tomorrow. I just have a good feeling about it this time! This pregnant lady would LOVE to sleep.

Missing Anything: Last Friday, Sarah came over to help me make some yummy marshmallow pops for the shower. I had been working on making favors and a banner before she got here. I was REALLY wanting a glass of wine while I worked on being crafty.

Looking Forward To: We get to see our little baby again tomorrow and this time hopefully HEAR the heartbeat. Last appointment we were only able to see it on the screen. It was so nuts, y'all. It looked like it was just moving around. I am so looking forward to tomorrow!