Camera Happy

First of all, I have to thank my oh so talented sister Jenn for another new, beautiful blog design. This ol' blog of mine needed a face lift and Jenn was kind enough to design a new one for me. Check out Munchkin Land Designs if you're ever in need of a new look. I'm not just saying this because Jenn is my sister, she is one talented lady and she never disappoints! She does more than blog designs too. :) Thanks again Jenn!

I LOVE this new design! The silhouette of  the family looks almost just like us. :) I can't wait to see what our family of 5 looks like after this last baby is born!

Caleb and I enjoyed a long awaited date last Saturday night. We decided while we were out to go shopping for a camera as we were in great need of one and we had some Best Buy gift cards burning a hole in our pockets.

We don't know too much about cameras and we only need a simple point and shoot to capture our every day lives. We looked around and played with a few mid-range point and shoot cameras and settled on this Sony camera:

As we checked out Caleb reminded me that we have 10x more photos and videos of Elliana than we do of Ethan. He asked me to promise him to make better use of this new camera and take more photos and videos  of the kids during the day. So, I've been doing my best to keep that promise and I've been a little camera happy this week. If only we could be outside more to get better shots when the lighting is better.

These are my favorite smiles of my 2 precious babes this week. 

I've commented before that Ellie is becoming more girly by the day. She loves to dress up (wearing several different dresses throughout the day), dance around the house and practice curtsying. 

Here she is dancing and curtsying. 

On Sunday my parents stopped by my house with my Grandma Rose to return Ethan's shoes that we had left at their house the night before. While they were visiting Dad insisted that we take a 4 generations picture with Grandma Rose, Dad, me and Ethan. I'm really glad he suggested it-ever since we lost Grandma Nancy I find myself wishing we had taken more pictures of/with her. 

I'm thinking I look awfully pale next to Dad and Grandma-I need to do something about that. ;-)

Since we finally have a camera again, I figured it was time to capture my first baby bump pic. Here's a collage of me with all 3 pregnancies. No, I did not mean to wear the EXACT same outfit from when I was pregnant with Ethan. If this wasn't my last pregnancy, I would be buying a whole new maternity wardrobe.

Sunday night a sweet friend handed me an unexpected and generous gift. They gave me a card with a voucher inside for a free latte and 2 free kids passes to Cool Beans Playhouse. I'd never heard of or been to Cool Beans before so as soon as I got home I checked out their website. 

Today we made a little visit to Cool Beans and we all loved the place! It's a big playroom full of all kinds of toys, a tree house with a big slide, an area for hanging from ropes and jumping into a soft pit, etc. One of the greatest features for moms is that there's a little cafe right next to the play area where you can enjoy a drink or a healthy snack while watching your little ones have a blast! I don't think we'll be visiting too often since it's not the cheapest place to take the kids, but we all had a great time!

Here's some of the best shots of the day:

 Ellie's favorite spot. As always, wearing a huge grin on her face.

Ethan nearly never stops moving so it's almost impossible to get good pictures of him. 

This is my favorite one from today. 

How about a toffee nut latte? Why yes, don't mind if I do. :)

I've decided that my long, lifeless, dull brown hair has to go. 

I don't know when, but I'm hoping to cut and color it in the very near future.

 I'll definitely post a picture after I have a new look. :)

Changes

Do you like my new design? I love it! I love the fresh colors and the spring feel to it. I owe another HUGE Thank You to my talented blog designing sister Jenn. Thanks Jenn, you always make my blogging heart happy.

Along with the change of my blog design, I have a few other changes going on in my life.

This first one isn't new to any of you that are friends with me on facebook. If you're not though, then it will be new to you. :)

A couple of weeks ago I decided I was ready for a new haircut. Don't get me wrong, I loved the long hair with mostly blonde highlights, but every once in a while I like to switch it up. So I had 3-4 inches cut off and my hair was dyed chocolate brown with chunky blonde highlights.






I'm diggin' the new 'do!

This next change is a HUGE one for me. WARNING-this is a subject that most men don't like to read or talk about so if you're a man, you might want to stop reading here. Ha!

For any of you that know my history, you know that I have PCOS and I haven't ovulated on my own without the help of hormones or fertility drugs for yeeeeeaaaarrrs. I mean, I can't remember when this last happened (I think in my teens).

Well, I don't know what happened but my body is finally operating the way it should! I've had 3 consecutive, very normal cycles completely on my own. Most women wouldn't welcome their period with such excitement, but I have been very excited to see this change in my body. Especially after so many years.



In case you're wondering, no, we aren't trying for baby #3-yet. But if I continue to ovulate on my own then hopefully baby #3 will be conceived naturally (and maybe even easier). Maybe, maybe not. Yes-Ethan was conceived naturally. However, since I had just been on clomid the month before, and since I'd just miscarried the month before, I always wondered if that month was just a freak, miracle month. Honestly, it doesn't really matter to me how we have another baby (assuming that's in God's plans for us). More than anything, I'm just so happy to see my body finally functioning as it should. Thank you Lord!

10 Weeks and Counting

Since my initial announcement, I haven't blogged a whole lot about this pregnancy. I'm determined to since I didn't have a blog when I was pregnant with Elliana. I want to be able to look back at this some day and remember how I was feeling each week/ month.

I hate to admit this, but part of the reason that I haven't blogged more is that I've been holding my breath. I think it's due to my history, but I've been so afraid that I wouldn't make it this far.

In the last week or so, I've noticed that I'm becoming less fearful. I know I'm not out of my first trimester just yet, but with each passing week and each positive ultrasound, I'm growing more and more attached to this baby. I'm believing more and more that everything will be okay.

We had our 10 week ultrasound today and it was the best one we've had so far! We loved our technician and how she pointed out the beating heart, the arms and the legs, the size of the baby, etc. Baby was moving a LOT today. Even the technician said "Wow, looks like he/she is having a little party in there". It just made me smile.

Here is our baby at 10 weeks:

It's really not the greatest picture, but we know what we're looking at. :)

I'm not ready to show any pictures of myself just yet. I feel like I'm in that awkward phase where people aren't sure if I'm pregnant, or just overweight. Ha ha! Hopefully I will have a clear baby bump to show off soon.

A lot of other prego women are using this form these days, and I really like it. I wanted to share the same info:

How far along: 10 Weeks and 1 day.

Size of Baby: 1.27 Inches long, the size of a small strawberry. :) He/ she weighs less than 4 grams.



Total Weight Gain/Loss:Umm... not sure exactly. I'm guessing 2-3 pounds (already? yikes)

Maternity Clothes: Some, but not because I have to, because they're so comfortable.

Gender: Don't know yet, Caleb's determined not to find out this time. We'll see as the 20 week ultrasound gets closer...

Movement: A little flutter here and there, no consistent movement yet.

Sleep: All I want to do is sleep. Nights have been rough lately with Elliana, but luckily most days I'm able to nap with her. I love my naps. :)

Symptoms: Mostly exhaustion, intense hunger, and the urge to urinate a lot (sorry). I have to get up once or twice a night to eat and use the restroom. I don't feel very sick. I was never sick with Elliana either.

Best Moment This Week: Watching the baby move so much during the ultrasound today.

What I'm Most Looking Forward To: Watching Elliana become an older sister and watching the two siblings play and grow up together.

I guess that's all for now. I'll probably be updating on the pregnancy every 2-4 weeks. Praise God, things are coming along smoothly!

On a completely seperate note, my extremely talented sister Jenn designed my new Fall design for me. I absolutely LOVE Fall and I absolutely LOVE the new design! Thanks a bunch Jenn!

Spring Fever

Thanks again to my sister Jenn for another beautiful design.

I have spring fever so bad right now and my winter design was making me feel like I was trapped in winter. It was getting to the point where I almost felt depressed every time I looked at it.

So, I called Jenn up and asked if she would design a spring design for me.

She did not disappoint! I LOVE it Jenn.

New Design and Jackson Hole

Thanks again to my sister Jenn for another great blog design.

I wanted something wintery, so I used one of our own winter scenery pictures.

I took the picture in the design background at Jackson Hole, WY where we visited our good friends Joe and Kim for New Years. Anyone could be a photographer in Jackson. The scenery there is so beautiful, and it was snowy the whole time we were there.



We had a great New Years and trip. Although we were up too late way too many nights. Sometimes we have a hard time admitting to ourselves that we're not as young as we once were, and with a 1 year old we really pay when we stay up too late. Ha ha, we keep telling ourselves we're still young, footloose, and fancy free.

Here's some favorite pictures from our trip:










I hope you all had a great New Years too.

I wouldn't necessarily call these New Years resolutions, but I do know a few things that I'd like to see happen in my life this year.

I would like to continue working out on a regular basis and eat more healthy. Hopefully I'll get to see some results soon. Ha ha, here's wishing. I've been working out consistantly for months now and I haven't seen it effect my body AT ALL! Oh well, that's another story for another time. I know I'm more healthy now than I was a few months ago, and if for no other reason than that, I need to keep exercising to be healthy.

I would really like to get pregnant this year. For anyone else this would seem like an easy thing to accomplish, but given our history and my PCOS, I think we may need medical help again. I'm feeling even more pressure this time than I did before because I want Ellie to be close in age to her sibling(s) (assuming we have more children). If you think of us, please pray that God would give us another child, and hopefully soon.

I know there's more, but I just can't think of anything else at the moment. I'm really happy and content with life right now. God has been so good to us and if 2010 is as good as 2009 was, we'll be just fine. ;)

Deck The Halls

The Christmas season is officially here! Yay!!!

Thanks to my sister Jenn, my blog design now reflects this. Didn't she do a great job?!

I LOVE this design. This is exactly what I picture when I think about Christmas. It makes me feel all warm and cozy just looking at it. It also makes me want to go and sit by our fireplace and drink some eggnog or hot apple cider.

We're going to spend the day as a family decorating for Christmas and listening to Christmas music. It's going to be a good day.

The most wonderful time of the year is here! Bring it on.

A New Look

It's so much fun to have a talented sister that designs blogs. Thanks Jenn! I absolutely LOVE the new fall look. It goes perfectly with my previous post. I will be keeping this one for a long time.