The Good and Bad of Pregnancy

I love...
Food. It tastes so good. I favor pickles, mexican food, Chick Fil A, anything cooked at my Mama and Daddy's house and breakfast!


The Excitement. EVERYONE is so happy about this baby! There is no doubt that she will be loved.


The Kicks. Who knew being sucker punched could be so fun! I love it...even at 2 in the morning!


The Holidays. This has to be the best time to be pregnant. Sure, I'm extra emotional and I tire out faster when I'm out shopping. Thanksgiving dinner...crack to a pregnant woman. Plus, all that time with family!


Naps.  I have never been one to nap. Now...I understand the appeal! Also, no one judges me. Naps and rest are totally encouraged!


Nesting. It may drive Will a little crazy but the hormones combined with being at home have tuned me into an organizational nut case. I love it. Just this morning I completely emptied my email inbox. It felt amazing!


The Attention. Come on...Y'all know me. Don't act surprised. I love to be the favorite and carrying Granddaughter #1 has certainly elevated me a little! 


That Sweet Heartbeat. It's amazing. Every time. I look forward to those monthly (approaching the bi-monthly) appointments.  It never gets old. 


Ultrasounds. I am happy that I don't have to get more (cause that would mean that there were problems) but there is just something so incredible about seeing that life inside you.  Seeing already that she has a personality and maybe even that she has my nose!




I don't love...


Honestly, the lack of sleep and the occasional back pain are not ideal but I can't really complain. 
I wanted this so badly.  
I will take the good with the bad. 
Most of the uncomfortable things mean that everything is happening just like it should.  
So, will be happy that my big belly makes it hard to sleep!
Also, this could be worse. 
I could be on bed rest. 
I could still have morning sickness (which was so very brief).
I could also not be pregnant (my heart goes out to anyone that is longing to be pregnant...it is such a hard road for so many.).


So...here I was about to to list my complaints and as it turns out they should only be one list. 


*Note* I didn't sleep very well and I really was looking forward to venting...funny how the morning light and  little reflection can change our minds.

Looking back...Christmas 2010 (Part 1)

Looking back at my neglected blog I realized that I didn't post anything about last Christmas! I LOVE Christmas and last year's was so great.  I would hate to forget all the details!

This was our last Christmas in Massachusetts,

last one in our apartment and

quite possibly the last one that would be covered in snow!

We did our usual decorating...

Homemade gift making...

Baking and cooking...

Recieved some awesome gifts from friends...

Thanks Cher!

 I cooked us a Christmas dinner since we wouldn't be together...

 We put on our pjs and opened gifts together...

One of my gifts from Will was a Creme Brulee` Set (torch included!!!)

Success on the first try!

Then the feverish packing began!!

Please stay tuned for Christmas 2010: Part 2!

Happy Birthday, Hunter!

There is this boy (well...young man) who has had my heart for 15 years! This is my oldest nephew, Hunter and today is his 15th Birthday! I just can't believe that he is 15 years old!

This picture is from last Christmas!

I love this kid! He is a great nephew, grandson and big brother! 

He hasn't had the easiest life but he has risen above all of the hard things and become an amazingly strong young man! 

You know the best thing about him???

He loves his family and would always chose to hang out with us! 

How many teenagers do you know that genuinely think that their aunts and uncles are cool!?

Anyway, Happy Birthday, Hunter! Will and I LOVE you so much and are so very proud of you!

See you soon!

Love,

 Aunt Kimmie and Uncle Will

Baby Story: How we found out!

Back Story: (to get straight to the baby part proceed to the 3rd paragraph)


Anyone that knows me at all probably knows that we were having some trouble getting pregnant. We didn't wait to start trying after we got married (we knew we wanted kids and we knew it wouldn't be easy for us). We tried for a year and then sought some help. I had/have (no cure) endometriosis and polycystic ovaries and a severe case of both.  I had surgery and it turned out that some of the cysts had grown on my tubes and they were blocked.  Luckily my wonderful doctor was able to repair all the damage and was hopeful that we would be pregnant soon. Long story short...we obviously didn't get pregnant.  I did feel good for awhile though. Even lost a little weight and started having regular cycles.  This unfortunately, didn't last long.  I finally listened to my bff and went to who we lovingly refer to as our Witch Doctor. Email me or comment if you would like to know more, I am happy to share and will probably post more about it late. I do credit nutritional response therapy (NRT) for my being able to finally conceive (that and the fact that I believe it happen exactly when it was supposed to as part of God's plan for us, more on that too).


Anyway...I tell you all of this to say that we still didn't get pregnant right away but we expect as much. This healing approach (unlike surgery) isn't a quick fix. It takes time to heal our bodies naturally. I did again, feel better and have regular cycles again. At any rate, by this time summer was nearing and bringing with it our move to Texas. For the first time in 2 years I was too busy and loving life too much to be thinking about why I still wasn't pregnant. We packed up, vacationed, road tripped and had a blast!


Not long after we arrived in Texas we adopted a puppy (thinking...it's just not our time to have a baby). That same week I realized I was late and this made me sad. I didn't think that I was pregnant rather I thought that because I hadn't been following my treatment plan and was relapsing back to having irregular cycles.  On Saturday, July 30th, I took a pregnancy test (first time in a while...which is saying something) and there was a faint second line.  The old me would have jumped for joy and ran off to share the news. The me that took that test just could believe it. I decided to dismiss it and go shopping with my Mama! The next morning, Sunday the 31st, I felt like I should really take another test. This one was brightly positive and it didn't even take the recommended 2 minutes.  We were speaking that morning in church and I just couldn't bring myself to spill the beans just yet!


After church everyone wanted to nap and my mind was running full speed on how I wanted to tell Will.  He was almost asleep when I just couldn't take it anymore.  I went to the bedroom (my old room at my parents, we were still living there while we worked on the house) and asked him if we could talk about what I wanted to do to the bedroom that was across the hall from ours (I was constantly droning on about all the plans I had for our home).  He sleepily agreed to hear my plan.  I started describing how I wanted the room to be arranged with a crib and rocking chair...at first he didn't catch on until I said that we should probably get it done by next spring! We hugged, laughed and cried and it was the most amazing moment that we have shared since we became husband and wife!!

Get back up.

Back in February I wrote this.

I had gotten so down. I let what I didn't have put me down.

I wrote this a few weeks later.

The idea of prayer and gratitude being a pathway to healing pulled be back up.

Letting my Savior in, focusing on my blessings and trusting that there is a plan, brought me up.

I came quite a distance. Not alone, mind you.

Those last months in Boston would have been wasted while I pouted.

Precious moments lost.

Thank goodness that didn't happen.

Instead I have wonderful memories of time spent with friends and great trips with Will.

The moral of this story:

There are moments that are sad. Some even tragic.

Some things bring us down and maybe we should be down sometimes.

We weren't meant to stay there.

We were meant to get back up.

Overdue Update

I'm trying to reintroduce myself to blogland and I know my last post was also an "update" post but I'm hoping to get back in a grove of posting. Until then...one more update!


*We had an AMAZING SUMMER! We took lots if trips while we were still in New England. Vermont, Bar Harbor and many trips to Boston. (Trips will be posted individually...I have LOTS if photos).


*Road Trip Extravaganza Summer 2011 was AWESOME! We started by heading down to Washington D.C. to visit with one of my oldest friends! My high school buddy, Jessica was kind enough to host us and be our tour guide!

*Then we drove on over to Ohio to stay with the fabulous Ashton Dene'! This was our first face to face meeting and it was glorious! Baseball game, day at the zoo and Glee Karaoke! #blogfriendsarereal

*Next stop: Illinois! We visited with Will's family and took a trip to St. Louis to go to Six Flags with our niece and nephew! That might have been the best day of the entire trip! Of course we took a drive to visit Grandma Worthen...I love that little lady! The last few days we spent alone in Nauvoo and it was so wonderful! Visiting sites filled with our religious history was a great experience and certainly one I would like to repeat. The pageant was spectacular, moving and so spiritual! 


*Our final stop before crossing the Red River (it was rather low to be called a river) into Texas...Claremore, Oklahoma! Jenn is my sister from another mother! No. Really. We even share our birthday! We get together as often as we can and we just had to stop in on our way home. It was the perfect ending to the Road Trip Extravaganza! We lounged in the pool and soaked up some sun and had lots of laughs!


*Once in Texas we crashed at my Mama and Daddy's house while we waited to close on our house (which took forever)! There were family gatherings and lots of good times!! Once we got into the house there was lots of work to do and more parties to be had! 


*We adopted a sweet puppy and her name is Reba! We love her!


*We are moved in and pretty settled but still working on a few home improvements!


*Oh and we are expecting a little girl due at the end of March! We found out just after we adopted Reba! (lots more to come on this subject!!!)


There is more to come so please come back and check in!! We are just loving life and enjoying the holidays and being with family! I want to share all of these new changes with you and I have also become quite crafty (thanks to being a stay-at-home-almost mom) so I want to share that with you as well!!! 


See you again soon!


XOXO
Kimberly