April 30

Hi little one!
Here's our week 16 bump board. As you can tell, you and your mommy are growing every week! I love making the chalkboard, and your daddy loves taking the picture :)

Next week, you should see a new, bigger, and more improved board. We got a quite hideous picture off of Craigslist for only $5.00 last night and I have serious plans to remake it into a beautiful board that we can use for the next 24 weeks. Let's hope my vision matches my "talent"!

Coffee: To quote your awesome Aunt Sally, I had some "less fun, pregnant coffee" yesterday. But not with your cousin Griffin...with your cousin Marra! It was so good to see her, and she has some fantastic ideas for our wedding. She's such a creative girl, and I am so excited for you to meet her soon! She'll be a great influence whenever you need anything.

Say what?: I've been feeling pretty good this past week. It's nice to have my energy levels return to almost normal. I have been speaking a little nonsense lately, however. I actually tried to use the word 'estimative' in a conversation with your daddy last night. For someone who prides herself on using words correctly, it's been hard for my head to feel so fuzzy. Also, math. Math has never been a strong point of mine (thank GOD your daddy is good at it), but it's been especially hard as of late. I tried to add 10 to 67 and got 76...five times! It didn't even look wrong to me until Susan pointed it out one morning to me at work. Oh.my.goodness! :(

Gigi and Papa G: Your grandparents came up from Topeka last Friday night, and we got to see them for the first time since January. We all got together at your Uncle Eli and Aunt Sally's for a delicious dinner. It was so great to catch up with everyone and plan what we're going to do with our front yard. They'll be coming up again this weekend so we can take a trip to Suburban Lawn and Garden to look at landscaping rocks and plants. Daddy is super excited because he's been wanting to tackle that project for awhile, and I'm ready for you to grow up with a beautiful lawn just like he did.

I think that's all for now. Daddy is making dinner, so I probably should go make sure he isn't burning the chicken or the rice. He's not a bad cook, but it can get crazy in the kitchen when both of the dogs are at your ankles constantly whining and  begging for table scraps!

I love you, little avocado!
Mommy

April 23

Hi little one,
Happy 15 weeks! Here's a picture of what we look like today. See? Much better than last week!! Your mommy is definitely starting to look like a mommy!

Royals: Your daddy took us to a Royals game last weekend. It was awesome! They won 5-4 against the Minnesota Twins. The weather was perfect and we stayed for the whole game. I ate some delicious nachos out of a plastic baseball hat and had a tasty cherry limeade. Best game of the season yet! Here we are after we reconnoitered to better seats once your mommy started getting too hot sitting in the sun.

Ouch: I've been experiencing what I think is heartburn the past two days. I can't really explain it, but it's a sharp pain in my ribcage that almost leaves me paralyzed when I breathe in too fast. It helps when I can crawl into bed and stretch out, but it is getting a little old already. I've also been having some pretty awesome round ligament pains while my body gets used to all of the stretching and growing that's going on. I don't mind it so much, because I'm trying to look at it like the pains are just reminders that you're in there and growing like you should!

Sweet dreams: Your daddy is an amazing man. He bought me this pregnancy pillow so I can sleep better at night. It takes up a majority of the bed, but he hasn't complained once about it. I'm a lucky mommy because I know it wasn't cheap, and you're a lucky little one to have such a supportive daddy who wants us to get a good night's rest!

Take our stuff: We got rid of a lot of stuff this weekend! We sold the old plasma tv that sat in Harlowe and Baxter's room for two years. It was a pretty quick sell on Craigslist! And I'm happy to sell stuff we never use, especially since the money went into what I call the "baby fund" for when I have to stop working in October. It's never too early to saving up for your arrival!! And we also got rid of a bunch of landscaping rocks from the backyard. I think we got rid of maybe two truck's worth, but we still have 4 or 5 more truckloads left. I might make another post this weekend, but we'll have to wait to see what the weather is like.

Leprechauns and gold: I have to mention this, just because it's hilarious. Your daddy left his iPad at work last night, so he couldn't "clash" his "clans" when he got home. Needless to say, he was sad. I hope this picture I sent him cheered him up a little bit.

Doctor: We went to see Dr. Shipman on Monday for our monthly appointment. She gave us the green light for flying to Jamaica (but did caution us that I'll need a lot of water and to walk around the plane frequently to avoid circulation problems). She also used the doppler and found your heartbeat SUPER fast, which she was pleased about. Your little heart was beating at 158 beats per minute, and she said that the drop from the 160s is totally normal at this stage. We left her office very happy parents-to-be!

Happy, happy, happy: Lastly, congratulations are in order to your Uncle Eli and Aunt Sally.
They sold their house in less than one day! We are sad that they'll be moving farther away, but can't wait for them to be happy in their new beautiful home!

That's all for now, little orange! I love you so much.
Mommy

April 16

Hi little one,
Today we are 14 weeks! In honor of being three and a half months pregnant and because there's just no way to hide it any longer, I finally started our weekly chalkboard for you! Here's your first glimpse of what I look like with you growing in my tummy.

We'll get better at the picture taking the more practice we have each week. The chalkboard is also very special because it's one of the ones that your daddy bought when he asked me to marry him :)

I love you, tiny lemon!
Mommy

April 14

Hi little one,
I love you so much. I don't think I've written that in a long time.

Names: It's driving me crazy not knowing if you're a little boy or a little girl! I'm literally having dreams every night about what we will name you when we find out. It doesn't help that now the kids at school are asking me every hour of the day if we have decided on names yet. But that's half the fun, I'm told!

Weather: The weather is doing crazy spring things again. It was tank top weather on Friday, then thunderstorms yesterday, and now coat weather today. I think the weather is why I've been getting these horrible headaches lately, too. I'm not sure it is also to blame for this annoying earache that's been sticking around for the past few days, but why not? It's probably also why I have been sleeping so much, why my clothes don't fit at all anymore, and why I still can't go more than two hours without peeing! (Kidding. I know those are all baby-related!)

Pets: Dolce is learning the cutest trick! Your daddy kneels on the floor and says "hug!!" And she puts her paws on his shoulders! Next time they practice I will have to take a picture. I can't wait for you to love all of our crazy animals some day :) which reminds me...we will have to look into baby/doggy training classes sometime soon. I've already started reading up on how to keep cats out of a crib and/or a bassinet. It sounds like a handful, I know, but we want to keep you safe and to keep your adorable clothes as free from pet hair as possible!

That's all for now! Your daddy is at class, so I'm going to take advantage of some alone time by getting in a smallish nap. Let's hope the headache and earache go away with a good night's rest!

I love you, little baby.
Mommy

April 11

Hi little one,

Yet another busy few days! Tuesday night your daddy and I went to another Royals game. Our school nurse sold us her dugout plaza tickets and a parking pass for super cheap, so it was hard to resist! It was a little bit cold outside,  but still way better than last Friday. Since it was a night game, we only stayed until around 9pm, or the top of the 7th inning, because we both had to get up for work the next day.

Here is a picture of our boys in blue:

And here is a picture of the beautiful stadium all lit up at nighttime. Isn't it just stunning? I can't wait for you to experience what it's like at a nighttime ball game. I just know you're going to love it like we do!

Work: I got to make our big announcement at the faculty meeting after work on Wednesday. Everyone is so happy you're coming in October, and I got many congratulations. It was a great day! Then today I was very sneaky and I told my students about you!!! They're in the middle of a MAP prep competition, where they work in group on packets. I snuck in my little announcement and solicited some advice at the same time...

Needless to say, now EVERYONE is super excited for you to come! And I got some pretty solid naming advice from the kids, too. I think my favorite recommendation was to name you Catherine, so we could nickname you "Cat"!!! They know me so well :)

Numbers game: Ten days until our next appointment! I don't think we'll get to see you, but as long as the doctor says we're okay, I will just look forward to the gender reveal sonogram on May 19th. We also got more numbers back from the doctor...chances of you being born with chromosomal abnormalities are really low. 1 in 9,000 and 1 in 10,000. You're well on your way to being a happy and healthy baby! And as of today, I realized I only have to wait 189 more days to find out for myself!

I love you, little peach.
Mommy

April 6

Hi little one,

What a fantastic weekend! Your daddy and I went to Opening Day at the K, and we went to the second game on Saturday. And guess what...the Royals won both games! It was nothing short of awesome. I am so happy that baseball season is here. The only thing that makes me a little sad is that you won't get to go to your first game until next year, but that's fine. Your daddy and I are going to sign you up for the Blue Crew for your first season!

Here's your daddy with our home opener magnetic schedules.

And here's a picture of your mommy and daddy freezing our butts off at Friday's game. It was so cold out there, at around 40 degrees, but we stuck it out until the 7th inning. By that time your mama couldn't feel her toes! So we decided to come home. 

This is a picture from Saturday. The weather was gorgeous, but we ended up totally sunburned! It's been so cloudy lately that it didn't occur to us to bring sunscreen. Lesson learned!

That's all for now. I love you, little baby!
Mommy

April 2

Hi little one,
It's been quite the day. Quite the long day. Quite the long past few days..

Hormones: They're out of control. I've never felt so out of touch with my feelings before. One minute I'm fine, and the next minute I'm a crying mess. Literally...I had a full-scale breakdown last night. I was so upset that I cried until I almost hyperventilated and I had to put my head between my legs just to breathe. Then tonight, I cried sitting on the couch while I was trying to talk to your daddy. I have no idea where it came from, I just started bawling. I hope this goes away soon...I don't know how much more of it I can take! Not to mention what your daddy goes through when I get like that. He's been so great trying to help me through it. You're a lucky little baby to have such a great daddy.

Wedding: I get to go for my first dress fitting tomorrow after work. A co-worker and friend, Keilee, is working on the sash that will be wearing. It's going to be absolutely gorgeous! I'm very excited to get fitted tomorrow, but a little nervous that I won't be able to fit into the dress by the time the next fitting in June comes (let's just say your mommy can't wear normal tops anymore. Ahem.). Have I told you how much I can't wait to marry your daddy? Only 86 days!

Weather: The weather has been so ridiculous! We got trapped in like, a giant windstorm a few days ago, which resulted in part of our backyard fence blowing over! Here's what we came home to on Monday...

Not good, right? This weekend we are getting quotes so we can get it fixed, but in the meantime the dogs are on strict leash control in the front yard. It's hard for them, since they want to run around and play. I know they're looking forward to the fence getting fixed just as much as our poor neighbor is!!

Royals: Our boys in blue lost a home opener on Monday in the bottom of the ninth to the Detroit Tigers. They lost again today to the Tigers, but this time in the bottom of the 10th. The funny thing is, that they lost both games at the same moment during my drive home. Each loss was as I drove on I-470 W, crossing Lee's Summit! I'm not one who is usually big on coincidences,  but I'm taking a different way home tomorrow. I mean...what if they lose every time I pass that mile marker??! I've doomed our team to failure, and we aren't even one series in :( UGH
Here's a peek at what your daddy and I have to look forward to as we wait for you to come!

Appointment: Our appointment with the perinatologist yesterday went great! We got to see you for almost 30 minutes, and you are literally the sweetest thing I've ever seen. You were flipping around and waving your little hands all over. The ultrasound technician got a great picture of your hand and you can even count your precious little fingers! Your heart rate was a steady 172, and you're measuring exactly where you should be. Today we are officially 12 weeks along, and we couldn't possibly be happier. Here you are, barely the size of a plum!

Advice: I wanted to take a second and thank all of our friends and family who have offered advice as your daddy and I experience this journey into parenthood. It's hard enough doing this day-by-day, but it'd be impossible without our wonderful support structure! Thank you to everyone who has helped us as we get ready for your October arrival  :)

I love you, little baby.
Mommy