15 December 2014

Baby H: Weeks 21-24

Pregnancy became a whole new level of fun during weeks 21-24. :) I realized I was settling into that "honeymoon stage" of pregnancy everyone talks about. I was feeling great, finally looking pregnant (and not just like I'd eaten a second cheeseburger for lunch), and the overall concept of growing our child was becoming more real to me as his movement increased.

Week 21 brought with it Baylor Homecoming. Luke wanted so badly to go with me, but he was in a wedding that weekend. I was torn because I wanted to attend the wedding with him, but I just couldn't give up my last Baylor Homecoming without kiddos. I really wanted that sweet time with my college friends. There is just nothing like going back to Waco for homecoming!

{Bonfire}

{So glad I got to see my little sister and fellow Baylor alum, Claire, at homecoming!}

{At the homecoming parade}


{Homecoming game}

{Barrett got a couple of goodies at homecoming this year. I can't wait to see my little bear in his Baylor baby gear!}

I walked a TON that weekend - all over campus, to the football game, etc. - and on Saturday night I was shocked to see slightly swollen ankles for the first time. I'm not going to lie, I was freaked out, ha! But my ankles returned to normal the next day, so I wasn't too concerned.

During week 22, Luke started a new job. He's still in a similar role, just with a new company. This new job couldn't have come at a more perfect time. He's really liking the people he works with, his travel schedule, etc. God's timing is always perfect y'all!

We also were blessed to attend the wedding of my cousin Bryan, and his wife, Haley. Bryan is the cousin I'm closest in age to, so he's been more of the brother I never had than a cousin. He and Haley love the Lord deeply and this was evident in their lovely Brenham wedding. Plus, it was so nice to spend some time with my dad's side of the family at this wedding since it'd been a while since we'd last seen them.

{At B&H's wedding}
{Love these sillies}

I had a nice, quick visit with my doctor at 22 weeks and she said everything was looking great! At the end of 22 weeks, I had gained approximately 8 pounds with this pregnancy. I'm not being super strict on weight gain; Barrett and my body are telling me what I need. But I definitely like keeping track because a health pregnancy is very important to me (and baby!). So far, so good!

Week 23 was a busy one! On the actual day I turned 23 weeks, Barrett decided to give his momma a gift and kicked me about 6 times so hard that I could actually see and feel the kicks on the outside of my stomach! I didn't think it would overwhelm me so much, but my heart was so full that afternoon. Luke was out of town for work that day, so I tried to take a video of it, but our stubborn little boy wasn't having it. I told Luke that he just wanted to share his first big kicks with mom. :) But towards the end of the week once Luke returned home, Barrett did eventually give dad a couple of good punches to the hand.

That weekend, we bought baby furniture and bedding for Barrett's room. We found a really great deal at Baby's 1st Furniture on a crib, dresser, and bookshelf set. It was recently delivered to the store's warehouse and we picked it up this past weekend. Pictures to come! This is the nursery bedding we went with. I've recently fallen in love with Pottery Barn Kids. I love their quality of bedding and their colors/styles aren't too loud and crazy (there is some interesting baby bedding out there!). And as much as I fought and still fight against having a true "theme" for Barrett's room, I do love the animals on this bedding. Luke and I both love our dogs like they are our children and Luke was a big animal lover as a child (and still is). We have no doubt that Barrett is going to love all animals like his dad and will love learning animal words and sounds.



Week 23 wrapped up with a trip to the Nutcracker Market with my mom and our first fire in the fireplace of our new house. It was a busy week, for sure!

{Christmas-ness at the Nutcracker Market}
{I bought the sign on the left for Barrett's room at the Nutcracker Market for like $15! It was my best find, by far}
{First fire in the new house}
Week 24 slowed down a bit and I was grateful for this. I'd been working on my company's 2015 customer conference and this was consuming my mind at work. Leaves were falling all over the place and I busted out the Christmas decorations just a little ahead of Thanksgiving (I can't ever wait 100% until after Thanksgiving!). From a pregnancy perspective, I had a big boost of energy that week. I think I worked out at 3-4 times and felt great!

{Puppies in leaves are the cutest}
{Walking the bump around our fall neighborhood}

25 November 2014

Baby H: Weeks 17-20

I'm almost caught up! I'm determined to push through and get these last few updates written so that I can start blogging on a regular basis in real-time. I think I can, I think I can!

Week 17 was a big one for Luke and me because it was the week we found out the gender of our baby! Being a first-time mom, I actually didn't know that gender is normally determined during the anatomy sonogram somewhere between weeks 18 and 22. I just assumed that at my 17-week appointment, our baby should be developed enough for the doctor to tell me if it was a girl or boy. So when we got there with our long list of questions in hand (remember last time, when I wasn't prepared with questions? That wasn't happening again!), I asked if we could find out the gender. My doctor explained that I'd need to go to the actual hospital for my anatomy sonogram and I was SUPER bummed. I explained to her that Luke was about to have to leave town for work for a little while and that there was a good chance he'd miss this. So my doctor, being as awesome as she is, said that if we could wait for her to see her last two patients of the day, she'd come back with her sonogram machine and see if she could determine the gender. Of course we said yes! About an hour later, we had confirmation that I was 17 weeks pregnant with a sweet baby BOY!!! I've never seen Luke look more proud of anything in his entire life. He walked out of the doctor's office with the cheesiest grin and was holding up the sonogram pics for all to see, ha! We've felt like from day 1, our baby was going to be a boy, but it was a really cool feeling finally knowing that he was truly a he and that we could call him by name.

{Right before we found out that our baby is a boy!} 

Pregnancy side notes (more for me so that I remember): Week 17 was when I really started to feel our baby boy move. Yes, I'd felt movement prior, but these were definitive turns/kicks/punches. Also, week 17 was when I noticed my belly button looked different. Our boy was finally getting to the size where momma's organs were being shifted around and my belly button was starting to get pushed out a little (no outie yet, but it could happen!). And at my 17 week appointment, I still hadn't gained but a pound or two. My doctor actually asked me, "Are you eating? Feeling ok?" and Luke blurted out, "Umm, yeah she is!" Rude Lukey! Haha! This had me a little worried, but I totally shouldn't have been. Be careful what you wish for, because little did I know, that weight gain was coming. ;)

That weekend, we drove to Hallettsville for a quick gender reveal party with my family, who could not wait any longer to find out if Baby Hinton was a boy or girl. Since Luke and I already knew the gender, we wore white, but we asked everyone to wear either pink or blue based on what their guess was. Becca's boyfriend, Braden, did a great job of BBQing and my mom did a wonderful job of decorating for the party. After dinner, we passed out cupcakes with white icing and yellow baby shoes on them. On the count of three, everyone bit into their cupcakes, which revealed blue icing on the inside for our baby boy, Luke Barrett Hinton!


{Poor sisters, they were really pulling for a girl, ha!}


{Social media announcement}
 
Week 18 was fairly chill; not much to report here. I went for a couple of runs, but I remember that around this time my workouts started to slow down a little bit. I'd been running since before I was pregnant, so it wasn't hard to continue throughout the first trimester and into the second. But it was around weeks 18/19 that I really started to feel the baby as I ran (or rather, my bladder did). So I switched from mostly running to a little running, walking, and elliptical at the gym. We also bought Luke a new lawnmower and weed eater this week so that he could get to work on our new yard. Haveto make sure that those new dads are still feeling the love. ;)

{New toys for dad} 

{18 weeks}

Week 19 was the week I scheduled our anatomy sonogram. We were very blessed that Luke got to be there for this sonogram after all. I really didn't know what to expect here, but this experience was so much more than I'd even imagined! Our sonogram tech was so smart and kind. She answered all of my questions and was so patient with us (I had to pee twice during the appointment - I mean, come on - they made me drink 24-30 oz. of water before hand!). We got to see all of Barrett's body parts, including all four chambers of his heart and the way his brain was coming together. It's amazing how far medicine has come. By the end of his photoshoot, he was covering up his face with his hands (no more pics mom!), but we did get a good profile pic of him right at the end. If you ask me, he has daddy's nose. :)

{Our (almost) family of three}

{Luke Barrett Hinton...we're in love!}

That weekend, an overwhelming desire to be super productive came over me. You see, when Luke and I bought this house, we had enough furniture to fill an apartment (a.k.a. not enough to fill a house). I have to constantly remind myself that filling and decorating a house takes time and love. This isn't going to happen overnight, nor do I want it to. I really want to buy furniture and decor that I love and want to have for a while. But for some reason, that weekend (and my preggo hormones) brought a strong desire to get the ball rolling. 

So, I decided to wake Luke up early on Saturday and make him go to Buy Buy Baby to begin a registry with me. Y'all, I can't even begin to start typing this paragraph without laughing. This trip was a MESS! I guess there are couples out there that can do this type of thing together, but Luke and I are not one of those couples. Luke had no desire to compare baby bottles and bassinets, but my emotional, pregnant self had this glorified idea of this perfect day of baby registering with my cute husband. Let's just say our trip to Buy Buy Baby ended with me overwhelmed and crying in the baby furniture section on the phone with my mother (goodness gracious!). My poor, sweet husband. I'm still apologizing for that trip!

Sunday was better. We made a quick trip to Lowe's to buy paint for Barrett's room and Luke got to work painting over the pink that was there from the previous owners. We decided on a shade of navy (Luke's choice) and it turned out SO good! A light tan/taupe color was already on the top half of the walls and we decided to leave it. I'm really loving the two-tone look here. 

{Bye pink!}
 
{Barrett's room}
 
20 weeks sort of snuck up on me! It was so weird to think that we were half way through this pregnancy already. It was around this time that I started noticing a difference on the scale. And in conjunction with this, I got a terrible back ache/spasm for about 3-4 days. I thought it was sciatic nerve pain, but it was in the upper left part of my back by my shoulder blade, so I'm not sure what the reason for this pain was. One morning, I actually had to have Luke lift me out of bed because I couldn't lift myself. It was the craziest thing!


That weekend, my mom drove up to Houston to help me with round 2 of baby registering (no husbands allowed!). There were no tears this go-around and I felt pretty good about the start of Barrett's registries. P.S. Umm, why are there so many options/brands/colors of baby stuff?? I'd seriously be happy with one or two options of everything, not 25-30!! I also bought a Snoogle that weekend. If you're pregnant and you haven't bought a pregnancy pillow, listen to all of the pregnant mommas out there and GO BUY ONE! I've slept with mine every night since I bought it and these pillows are seriously life changing!

{Jolly is the best! And it's her birthday today. Happy birthday mom!!}

09 November 2014

Baby H: Weeks 13-16

As I'm starting to write this blog post, I'm kicking myself thinking, "This is why you should have stayed on top of blogging!" I'm looking through Facebook and Instagram, trying to spark memories of what all went down weeks 13-16, ha! Poor kid, momma is already failing at keeping up with your life. Maybe this is that "pregnancy brain" thing that people are always talking about. ;)

So, here are the highlights:

Weeks 13-16 were great! The second trimester sort of came out of nowhere. I remember counting the weeks and looking at online pregnancy websites to confirm I'd actually made it. I felt great! The morning sickness portion of my pregnancy was over and, although most people still thought I'd just eaten one too many cheeseburgers for lunch, I was starting to feel pregnant. It would still be some time before I felt recognizable kicks, but I definitely could feel life/movement and it was a pretty incredible thing.

I had my second doctor visit during week 13. Luke got to go to this one and since he didn't get to see our baby on the sonogram when my pregnancy was confirmed (week 9), my doctor was so sweet to do another sonogram for us so that Luke could see our little peanut in action! I also felt sort of dumb at this appointment because my doctor asked me if I had any questions for her and honestly, I hadn't thought about it, so my answer was no. After the fact, I felt so dumb. Of course I had questions! I just wasn't prepared. That set me on track to have plenty of quality questions for my 17-week appointment. I wasn't going to miss an opportunity to ask questions again!

During week 14, we closed on our house!! It was the best feeling to know that this whole ordeal was finally over and maybe I'm being sarcastic, but if we don't move for another 20 years, I'm cool with that. The only downside was that we still had another two weeks before we could move in because the sellers were renting back from us while moving their family to El Paso. But we did the best we could to get ready for the move and then waited impatiently to get our little family up to the northeast part of Houston.

{Officially official homeowners}

During this two week moving wait, I was blessed with the opportunity to help host a shower for my cousin's fiancee, Haley. These lovebirds had a country, shabby chic wedding this weekend in Brenham, so that was the theme we went with for her shower. It was so nice getting to see and catch up with so many of the women from my dad's side of the family that drove up for the shower. Mom and I were in charge of decor, shower games, and cake. Mom rocked the decor and flowers like a champ! I got Haley's shower cake from Memorial Bakery and it turned out SO good! It was marble cake with a butter cream frosting in the middle and butter cream icing. Yum!! Shower games went great and we all had a really nice time catching up.

{At Haley's shower}

{Awesome cake!}

This must have been the month of wedding showers, because the following weekend, Luke and I drove down to Corpus Christi for a couples shower for one of his best friends, Jake, and his fiancee, Holly. They had a really cute nautical theme for this shower and Holly's family cooked a fabulous meal. I'm really glad Luke and I got to make their shower because a few weeks down the road at their wedding, Luke would be a groomsman, while I'd be in Waco for Baylor homecoming. I'm thankful I got to celebrate this sweet couple when I did.

{Jake and Holly at their couple's shower}

By week 16, we were moving into our home (praise Jesus!). Luke drove down to Hallettsville the night before the move (this is where all of our big stuff was in storage) and loaded up the trailer. That Thursday morning, September 25th, I met mom at the house where the cleaning crew was already working on getting the house ready for Luke's arrival. Mom and I made a quick trip to Wal-Mart for a few extra cleaning supplies and then we ran to HomeGoods to look for a few items that were on my to-buy-for-the-new-house-immediately list, like new bath towels, bathroom mats, etc.

Once Luke arrived and the cleaning ladies had left, the real work began. We unloaded everything into the garage so that from there, we could clean/dust everything before it got moved into the clean house. Also throughout the day, our cable was set up and both our new mattress and washer/dryer set were delivered. It was like Christmas in September and I loved every minute of it! Mostly, it just felt so good to have a home base again. A place that when we said, "I'm coming home," to each other, home really meant home. This was something that Luke and I had been praying about for over a year now and in God's perfect timing, it was happening.

{New washer and dryer from mom and dad = early Christmas present!}

{New yard tools for a man with his very own yard]

As for my actual pregnancy and the baby? Well, here's a little look at the ol' bump during weeks 13-16. :) I still hadn't gained any weight at this point, but I will say that I noticed a new level of exhaustion during these months. It wasn't the same as in the first trimester when I slept all of the time though. It more like every day was enough. After waking up early, working a full day, coming home, and making/eating dinner, I was done. I noticed a decrease in my workouts about this time too (up until this point, I was running/walking/using the elliptical 3-4 times/week) and honestly, I regret not pushing through this. But since day 1 of my pregnancy, I've really wanted to listen to my body. So I was confident there was a reason for the rest I was getting. I was also really enjoying no more nausea and food starting to smell normal again! During these weeks, I craved meat, cheese, and eggs. This is Luke's kid to the extreme!

{Left to right: Working out at the gym at my office around 13 weeks, 14 weeks at work, and a comparison of 4.5 weeks to 15.5 weeks}

23 October 2014

Baby H: Weeks 9-12

Week 9

At nine weeks, I had my first doctor appointment. Unfortunately, Luke had been out of town for work (remember here?) and we tried so hard to get him back to Houston for this appointment, but he ended up getting back either that night or early the next day (my preggo brain can't exactly remember). So, off I went to my first appointment! I wasn't really nervous or excited; I honestly had no idea what to expect. This was also my very first time to see any doctor in Houston, so there was a lot of general paperwork to be filled out and questions to answer. I didn't even end up meeting my Obgyn at this appointment; I saw her PA instead. Whitney (the PA) was super sweet and let me ask as many questions as I wanted. Once all of the initial steps (weighing in, family medical history forms, etc.) were out of the way, it was time to confirm my pregnancy.

{Baby H's first picture}

If I hadn't believed I was pregnant up until this point, I did now! Wow - I can't even fully put into words the overwhelming feeling that came over me once I saw that teeny tiny little thing on the screen for the first time. At 9 weeks, my baby wasn't just a little blob, but a little sour patch kid baby with a head, body, and little arms and legs that wiggled. I didn't quite cry, but I think my giggly laughter sort of sounded like it, ha! It was an unbelievably cool experience. I found out then that my official due date is March 11, 2015. Luke got back to Houston shortly after and it was so fun showing him the video of our wiggle worm I took during that first sonogram.

Week 10

That next weekend, Luke and I drove down to Corpus Christi. While there, our dear friend Jade, who also took our engagement pics, my bridal pics, and our wedding pics, met us in town for a quick photoshoot so that we'd have some fun pictures to share with the world once we let our little secret out. I'm SO glad we did this! I know it's vain, but I'm glad I got a few nice pictures of Luke and I before I got big and preggo. ;) They turned out great and I can't thank Jade enough for always capturing the best moments of our lives.





While in Corpus, I also did a super preggo thing and bought a pickadilly snow cone. Now - if you're from South Texas - this is not uncommon. But anyone else would have looked at me and been like, "Seriously, girl? A pickle snow cone with pickle chunks?? Where's the ice cream that goes with it??" Ha! Yes, pickles and ice cream may be an old joke during pregnancy, but this girl has always loved pickles and with summer wrapping up, this was a perfect treat. My child will definitely love pickles from day one!


Week 11

Week eleven was fairly chill. We were in escrow on our house and signing new papers left and right. We learned during this part of the house buying process that you really shouldn't make any large purchases. So instead of buying anything, Luke and I had a few dates nights that included dinner and a lot of browsing at furniture stores.

{Love these girls!}

That weekend, I rode with my friend and college roommate, Cat, up to her lake house in the hill country to meet up with the rest of our college roomies for a girls' weekend. It was a really nice getaway and a chance for all of us to catch up as the summer was winding down. This was also a really special weekend for me because it was the first time we were all together since I'd told them about Baby H. We've all been through so much together (sharing a house, Baylor football games, too many Tri Delta functions to count, engagements, weddings...the list goes on!) and it felt so good being able to share this next chapter of my life with them too. I can't wait for more husbands and babies to be added to this group! :)

Another highlight of week eleven was that at about this time, my morning sickness/gagging/overall bleh-ness began to subside. I know so many girls that deal with this for much longer, so you can guarantee I was counting my blessings!

Week 12

Week twelve started out a little rough, but honestly, I don't remember why (probably house stress!). What I do remember was having a package delivered to my office that totally cheered me up. My poor momma was dying to know if Baby H was a girl or boy and since she couldn't buy clothes for the baby yet, she bought maternity clothes for me and had them sent to my office. Subtle, mom. ;)

{Jolly is the best! Jolly = my mom's grandmother name}

And the weekend of week twelve, Luke and I drove up to Waco for the first football game in the new McLane stadium. Y'all - it's GORGEOUS! The new stadium was even more than I expected. It was a super hot day, which was a little miserable until about 7pm, but I survived. I just drank a ton of water and $5 lemonade (yikes!). We have season tickets and love our new seats! I'm so happy that we have season tickets with all of my best friends from college. It's a tradition I hope we continue every year.





Baylor ended up with their first win on the season and in the new stadium. It was really fun to be a part of such a monumental day in Baylor history. Oh, and guess who else showed up to the game?? Baby H's little bump made it's first appearance that weekend, which was also really cool. It sort of freaked me out, ha! But hey - it was bound to happen sooner than later. :)

16 October 2014

Baby H: Weeks 5-8

Ok, it's catch up time! I've decided to recap the first half of my pregnancy (can you believe we're almost half way there??) in increments of 4 weeks. Without further ado, here's weeks 5-8.

Finding out we were pregnant was overwhelming. We both felt very early on that this pregnancy should stay our little secret until we could better wrap our heads around the next steps. The day after we found out, I scheduled an appointment with an Obgyn in Houston who was recommended to me by a close friend. I was originally going to see the doctor around 7 weeks, but I ended up having to push this first appointment to 9 weeks for one reason or another. That story will make it into my next post. :)

House hunting. Luke and I called our realtor immediately after finding out about Baby H and let her know that we were very serious about finding a house sooner than later (we'd done a little looking here and there, but nothing too intense). That weekend, we saw about 10 or so houses. We actually found one that we really liked and made an offer. But within the next day or two, Luke was called out on a 3-week stint for work south of San Antonio and I was left in Houston to finish house negotiations and get the ball rolling on paperwork. We settled on a number and were in the last couple days of our option period when an unsettled feeling came over me and I called Luke to tell him that I wasn't 100% sure this was our house. Luke has always been so great about reading me; he can call my bluff in an instant. This time, he could tell I was truly unsettled about this decision. With his blessing, we backed out of our offer. And looking back now - I'm so glad we did! We'd settled on a price close to 20k over what the house should have been selling for (we learned later). Love when the Holy Spirit leads us!

We were back to square one and, unfortunately, my husband was still out of town for work. So about a week and a half later, my mom and baby sister drove up to Houston for round #2 of house hunting with me. At this point, I was about 6-7 weeks pregnant and whoa - was I starting to feel it! I would lay down in the back seat of my mom's, car nauseous and gagging (and trying to hide it!), while she drove house to house. If you read this post, then you know we did end up finding a second house that I loved even more than the first (all while Luke was gone - he hadn't even seen it at this point!), made an offer, were turned down, and then received a call about 10 days later saying that the buyers backed out and asking if we wanted back in. Talk about an emotional roller coaster ride! At 8 weeks preggers, my husband still wasn't back in Houston, I'd fallen in love with and had my heart broken over house #2, and was then was put into a position to make a quick, very serious house-buying decision while in the early stages of pregnancy hormone overload. Thank goodness, Luke came back to Houston before our option period on house #2 was up and got to walk through the house. *Proud wife moment because he loved the house I found!* We now had a home picked out for Baby H and this time, we were 100% ready to commit.

{House #2 - we love it so!}

Letting the cat out of the bag. When my mom and little sister drove up to Houston to help me house hunt, they stayed at my aunt's house where Luke and I were also living temporarily. Being the nauseous, tired, emotional wreck that I was, I went to lay down in my bed after we'd wrapped up house hunting. My mom came in the room to check on me and I was crying. She asked me what was wrong and I told her I was just really stressed. But obviously, that wasn't all the info. At 7 weeks pregnant, I was missing Luke and stressing out so much about finding our sweet baby a house that I couldn't hold it in anymore. I whispered, "There's more. I'm pregnant." And then the tears really started to flow! It was the first time that I'd been able to say out loud to someone other than Luke the scariest fact I'd ever faced. My mom hugged me, teared up, and laughed. "Sara, this is amazing. You're going to be just fine! You're not too young or haven't gotten your life figured out yet. This is the next step and you and Luke have got this!" It was so good to tell my mom and poor thing - I swore her to secrecy. I know it sounds silly, but we had our reasons and we really needed her to keep our secret just a couple weeks longer. Once Luke was home from being gone for work, we were able to tell my dad, sisters, Luke's parents, and close friends (side note: although he acted surprised, I'm pretty sure a little birdy told my father before we did...ahhemm mom).

{Mom made me chicken parm the night I told her about Baby H. Mmmm comfort food!}

{Also - random fact - I drank a lot of smoothies at the beginning of this pregnancy}

Telling work. I had no clue how to tell my boss that I was pregnant. I had just started my new job and was so scared that he'd be upset. Ironically enough, work actually found out I was pregnant right after my mom did. It just so happened that I was having a conversation with my boss where telling him fit right in, so I went for it. Of course, I teared up (seeing a theme here people?) and before I knew it, I was apologizing. "I'm pregnant and I'm so, so sorry. It wasn't planned - really. I really hope you aren't mad." His response? "Sara - CONGRATS! This is amazing news!! Seriously, did you think I'd hired a 27-year-old married woman with no kids thinking that something like this couldn't happen? Of course I knew it could and I'm thrilled for you and Luke!" #mindblown

I couldn't believe how wonderful his response was! And over the next few weeks as different people on my team found out, their responses were as equally wonderful. I could have waited at least another 5 weeks or so before telling them, but I'm so glad I told everyone as early as I did. We talk each week about how big the baby is getting. My co-workers ask to see sonogram pictures and take me to lunch on a regular basis (whatever "the baby" wants). I couldn't have asked for a better work family to support Luke and I in this next chapter of our lives!


{Somewhere in between all of the house stress and baby secrets, I managed to get my new office decorated}

Working out and weight gain. I continued my normal workout routine during weeks 5-8 (running or run/walking 2-3 miles, 2-3x/week) and although I didn't lose any weight, I didn't gain either. I've known many people with terrible morning sickness and I absolutely count myself as one of the lucky ones. By week 9, my nausea and gagging was subsiding and would only got better as I progressed. I also craved a lot of veggies these first few weeks as well as sour chewy candy (although I tried to refrain as much as I could!).
{I decided not to take pics every single week, but here's the very first one taken just before the 5 week mark}

{Working out about 6 weeks preggers}

{No real bump yet at 7 weeks)

{Skyping with the guy while he was away. No words can describe how much I miss my husband while he's gone!}

Up next - weeks 9 through 12. :)