{Reflecting On The Holiday Season}

I shared a little bit on Instagram about how I was feeling this time last year, and I thought I'd elaborate a bit on the blog.

Wendel and I were really hoping to get pregnant last year at the end of August, which would mean that we could announce our pregnancy at Thanksgiving. 

His family has a huge Thanksgiving at his parents' house, and before dinner, they always count how many people are in the room. I had always dreamed of going around the room counting everyone there, and when it got to me saying "14, 15...14 and baby makes 15!" 

Now use your imagination...I have no clue what number we'd actually be...work with me people :) 

That obviously didn't happen.

The week of Thanksgiving hit me like a ton of bricks. 

The realization that my dream was not going to happen, and that life was going on. 

I couldn't just curl up in bed and pretend that it wasn't happening. 

I needed to suck it up, move on, and be thankful for our crazy amounts of blessings. 

I think I did pretty decent. 

I made the most out of the holidays and enjoyed all of my favorite traditions. 

Going to Florida after Christmas helped get me through the season. 

But I remember so vividly praying...

"Lord, please make next year different."

I didn't know what that meant. 

But I knew I wanted it to be different. 

And boy did He follow through. 

And while I'm so thankful for our Little Bit, my heart literally breaks in two for those who are still struggling. 

I get weekly e-mails from people who have found this little blog {hello to any new readers} discussing their struggles with infertility. 

And my heart aches for them. 

I know this season will be hard for them. 

And this may be the second or third holiday season that has been hard. 

I truly hope everyone knows that we do not take this gift for granted! 

Not for a second have we felt like we deserved or were entitled to this miracle. 

But we are so incredible thankful. 

I'm excited for all of our holiday traditions! 

I literally cannot wait to finish decorating! 

And I'm thankful to walk along this journey with Wendel by my side! 

Oh and side note...a week from today we have our gender reveal ultrasound! 

We're having a party next Sunday and I cannot wait to find out! 

Eeeeeee!

Happy Thanksgiving!

{Reasons I've Cried Today}

Pregnancy hormones are flippin' insane! 

Seriously!

I thought my hormones were out of control before I got pregnant...that was a joke! 

So I thought it would be funny to document some of the ridiculous reasons I've busted into tears lately...enjoy! 

Fortunate enough for you...Wendel captured pictures of a few of these...oh brother...this is real life ya'll...so I'm sharing it all. Don't make fun too much! 

The Matching Straw Situation

I asked Wendel to grab me a straw for my cup and it just happened to be the same color as my cup...yup...you just can't make it up people! I promise I was crying more in this picture...Wendel must have caught me at a good moment! 

A Lawn Mower...You Don't Cry Over Lawn Mowers?

We were driving home and I saw a man mowing his lawn with his son trailing behind him with his own toy lawn mower...oh boy tears! 

Even the mascara was running...it was a serious one ya'll! 

Pretzel, Pretzel Who Wants A Pretzel?

This is probably everyone's favorite one so far...it's a long story: so I went to the mall to do a little shopping and was going to meet Wendel for a late lunch. I was already getting hungry, so I decided to get a little snack. I immediately thought 'AUNTIE ANNES!' So I super fast walked over to that direction, and when I got there, right next to Auntie Anne's was Great American Cookie Company. Ya'll...I looooooove cookie cake! So the obvious reaction was to BUST into full on, crazy person, can't stop, won't stop, 'what the heck is wrong with that chick' tears. The lady at Auntie Anne's walks over and asked if I was okay. I responded through my tears "I'm pregnant and I can't decide if I want a cookie or a pretzel" and being a wise sales woman she said "aw, sweet thing, get yourself a pretzel." And I did...and it was delicious. But I'll be honest...I was ticked I didn't get a cookie...next time...I'll shove both in my face at the same time. 

Victoria Secret Sleep Masks...Duh! 

I am seriously obsessed with Victoria Secret's flannel PJ sets! I order one every year for Christmas, and this year was no different. I got it in the mail, and I knew that I had gotten a free pair of matching slippers with the set. I was so excited to get it in the mail, and noticed that something was wrapped around the PJ's...once I looked closer...it was a matching sleeping mask. I don't even use a sleeping mask. But it was a perfectly precious matching sleeping mask wrapped around my perfectly amazing PJ set. And the tears FLOWED! Ya'll...I seriously cannot make this stuff up! 

So yeah...the dumbest things ever make me well up in tears!

The funny thing...haven't cried at a single Dr's appointment, ultrasound, hearing the babies heart beat, announcing we were pregnant. You know the normal things pregnant people cry over...nope...not here. Just matching Victoria Secret sleep masks and matching straws for my cup...yup...that's me! 

I hope I provided a little bit of entertainment for you on this hump day!

On a side note, if you didn't see on Instagram, I tried on one of the fake bumps at Destination Maternity and it 100% freaked me out! Like for real...what the heck?

{First Trimester}

Sweet Aileen at Sparkly & Sweet did an amazing first trimester breakdown recently, and thought it was an amazing idea! So here we go...a week by week break down of the first trimester! 

Five Weeks

We found out and I didn't feel pregnant in the least bit. Not a single ounce of anything, so I really thought I was making it up. I'd take pregnancy tests randomly just to make sure it wasn't a fluke. Made my appointment with the doctors for 9 weeks which felt like an eternity! 

Six Weeks 

Still wasn't feeling any symptoms, but we had an appointment already set up with our infertility doctor, so we went ahead and met with him and got to announce that we were pregnant! I went to Grandparent's Day with my mom for my niece, Elizabeth that week...it's literally the only picture I took that week :)

Seven Weeks

I started to feel really bloated at night and the evening sickness rolled in. Thank God it was evening and not all day sickness! I also didn't really have any appetite for dinner AT ALL so would eat Cheerios and bananas a lot. We went to Zoofari with some of Wendel's family...it was fun to get dressed up but hard to eat anything that evening.

Eight Weeks

We took my nephew Charlie to Kings Island, which was so much fun, but I couldn't ride many of the rides so Wendel was his riding buddy. We only went for like four hours but we were ALL exhausted!

Nine Weeks

I helped to host a shower for Wendel's cousin and I was NERVOUS people were going to catch on. I was definitely bloated, and Alex's one cousin is pregnant and kept asking all kinds of questions. I almost spilled the beans, but kept it in! We also got to go and cheer on my niece in her last soccer game of the year.

Ten Weeks

We hosted a huge "Fall-O-Ween" party at our house, and I think I overdid it a bit because I had a tiny bit of bleeding. Some rest and lots of water helped a ton! This is when the evening sickness started and cheerios and bananas were my dinner of choice! 

No Picture this week...big time fail! 

Eleven Weeks

We got to go to Irons Fruit Farm and really enjoy the fall weather! It was so much fun and exactly what I needed! Wendel had been swamped with work, so to have him alone for a bit was wonderful! Evening sickness was really in full effect so dinner was kind of a no-go for a while.

Twelve Weeks

Halloween happened, we had another Dr.'s appointment where we got a spur of the moment ultrasound because they couldn't find the heartbeat {everything fine...no worries} and we had our last big hurdle to get through before telling everyone...a family wedding. We were technically "in the clear" but we really didn't want to take anything away from the bride and groom, so we decided to keep it a secret a little while longer. I was feeling so very bloated the night of the wedding and was terrified someone would catch on, but thankfully no one did! It was a super fun wedding and so wonderful to see family! We also told Wendel's grandparents {the first great-grandchild for the Wendel side} and that was super exciting! 

Thirteen Weeks 

This was my birth week and Wendel did an amazing job fitting in fun things in between work/class/assignments. We also told the world the day before my birthday {I just couldn't wait the extra day until my birthday!} It was so wonderful to tell everyone and hear all of the excitement and encouragement. Wendel and I went to The Melting Pot for dinner {which unfortunately I was pretty queezy and couldn't eat a lot...good news for Wendel} but it was so much fun getting texts throughout the night! 

I can't believe I'm weeks into my second trimester! It's nuts! We find out if Little Bit is a Little He or a Little She in a few weeks and I can't wait!

{How We Found Out}

Wendel and I had been trying for a year and a half, and in August, it would mark a year from when we were actually hoping to get pregnant. 

Wendel came home one day and said "It was so crazy, all day today, I was hearing 'your wife is pregnant, your wife is pregnant, your wife is pregnant'" 

I immediately said "hey now, don't even go there."

In the back of my mind, I had a little inkling that I was, in fact, pregnant.

I had been taking my temperature every evening, and a book that I was reading said that your temperature would peek when you were ovulating and then if you conceived it would stay high. 

Well my temperature stayed high, and I was a few days late, so I figured in the morning I'll take a test just in case. 

I had taken SO many pregnancy tests, and just couldn't comprehend the idea that you could actually get a positive pregnancy test. 

I woke up at 7:00 in the morning, took one, and right away it turned positive...what the what? 

So what does any level headed person do? 

Go to Kroger and buy them out of pregnancy tests...not really...but I bought one of all they had. 

Got home, took four or five more...and sure enough...all of them were positive! 

OH.MY.WORD.

Yes...it was a little overkill...I'll admit it! 

Shock doesn't even describe it. 

It was more of a complete freak out. No tears. No screaming. Just an overwhelming "what the heck" feeling!

Imagine me pacing around the house shaking my hands a lot with the look of pure "WHAT?" on my face!

Wendel was super busy that day at work, so I knew I couldn't get him to come home during the day to tell him...so I had to wait...until 3:30 when he gets off. 

I went to the gym, went to lunch with my mom {and didn't spill the beans}, and came home to wait...freaking out the entire time. 

I did stop at a local store and got a bunch of pink and blue balloons and a bottle of Wendel's favorite bourbon.

See Wendel gave up drinking until we got pregnant. My husband is no where near a big drinker, but he enjoys a bourbon or beer at night. So it was a really big deal when he randomly mentioned that. 

So I KNEW I had to reward him with his favorite. 

I was so paranoid I was going to see someone I knew. I was prepared for the whole "our friend just had twins so we're going to visit them tonight" lie. But alas...didn't see anyone I knew.

At 3:30, I got a call from Wendel saying he would be late because he was finishing something up...WHAT? 

More waiting! 

AH! 

But the time finally came...Wendel pulled up, I got the camera ready...and his reaction as PERFECT!

{There's a little video in a minute with his and our parents' reactions...but for my memories...I wanted to type them up too!}

Wendel immediately dropped his keys and said "NO!"

Then he ran upstairs and kept saying "are you serious? Oh my gosh!"

It was a pretty awesome reaction.

We couldn't keep the secret...like at all!

So we called my mom and told her, and then went to Wendel's parent's house!

My mom was totally clueless at first...but she eventually caught on!

His parent's were a little more difficult!

We headed over with some balloons and we were going to bring them in and just wait until they figured it out. Well they saw us coming up the hill and came outside!

Luckily Wendel was already filming so we still got some footage of their surprise. 

My favorite part is that Wendel's dad said "NO SHIT!"

The next day I was telling that story to my mom and my niece was sitting on my lap and immediately started saying "NO SHIT, NO SHIT"...oops!

We TRIED to get film telling my family. When we did prayer before family dinner, I said prayer and said "and thank you for my baby that's inside of my belly"...but I was so nervous that I fumbled with my phone and didn't get anything! So sad!

I have to say...they didn't give a good reaction though :) I think they felt it coming so they weren't that shocked. It was still cute though to see the kids confused/excited!

We then called Wendel's sister and told her, and called our two best friends from college.

And then that was it.

We wanted our closest people to know so they could be praying and loving on us.

But then we kept it from EVERYONE until 14 weeks.

It actually went MUCH faster than I thought it would. I was shocked!

I'll have a full first trimester rundown very soon!

And here's the moment you've been waiting for...here's a little video!

Enjoy!

{Little Bit...Coming May 2015}

We are completely elated to announce that WE ARE PREGNANT! 

It's still completely surreal to type, but we are overjoyed, in shock, and so thankful for this gift!

If you are struggling with infertility, my heart literally aches for you! Like I'm 100% weeping for you right now...hormones. Please know that I understand the sinking pain you are feeling right now, and wish with all of  my heart I could take it away from you! You are loved, you are cherished, and there is a perfect story in the making for you. 

Thank you to everyone who prayed for our little bit...this little one is so incredibly blessed! 

Many more details to come!