2nd Trimester

I'm so thankful to be finishing my 2nd Trimester! Baby Ganz is growing big and strong, and he is very healthy! We could not be more thrilled and I can't wait to be sharing my 3rd Trimester collages!

Here's my chalkboard tracker collage from the 2nd trimester:

And my photo collage from the 2nd Trimester:

Baby bump is growing, that is for sure!

Perks

Tom gets very few perks in his 80 hour a week residency, but this weekend we got to enjoy one! After our nursing class, we headed up to Labor and Delivery and Tom gave me an ultrasound! It was so fun to see our little guy moving around and measure his growth. I felt a bit like Rachel from FRIENDS here, though.

Tom is so talented at doing and reading ultrasounds, I'm so proud of him. But, as he was all "oh, look, the baby's resting his head on his hands," I was all, "What?! Where!? I don't see it....there?! huh?"  So, after Tom readjusting the entire machine so he could simultaneously move the ultrasound probe AND point out the baby on the screen, I was able to understand [i think] all the movements of our little cutie. In my defense, as the baby gets bigger, you only see one small portion/body part at a time so it is hard to piece it all together.  It was easy back when baby was small, but now he is over 2 pounds!!

It really didn't matter, though, because seeing his movements and heartbeats were all I needed to make me thankful and overjoyed!

It's a...

I was one of those people who totally mocked the idea of a gender reveal party. I mean, come on, now you have to attend a party to find out the baby’s gender?! SO cheesy. It probably didn't help that I felt like everyone around me was having babies and it wasn't happening for me.

So, fast forward, and here we are: 20 week ultrasound ahead and what do I insist on having? Why, a gender reveal party, of course!

I am so glad that we went through with the party, though, as it was the highlight of our pregnancy so far.  I wanted to enjoy the fun and creative details, and of course, I had a grand vision. I tried to keep it simple, but I did create ties and tutu clips with my brand new Silhouette Cameo (thank you Tom!) for everyone to wear based on their guess. I bought some poufs off Amazon that I fluffed up, and we had a casual and fun BBQ one Saturday in April to announce the big news. Tom and I found out ahead of time, as it is pretty easy for OBGYNs to read ultrasounds. It was actually very special for us to find out together and have those moments together, then share that with family.

I really wanted to do something creative, and I had seen on a blog—but never heard of anyone doing it in real life—a question mark piñata filled with pink or blue confetti. Being who I am, I thought, I can make that! :) Well, about two weeks beforehand, I realized I had NO time to be making my own piñata, and had a bit of a meltdown. Thankfully I have the best parents in the world who said they would attempt it. And it turned out great! They created the shell and I spray painted and decorated it. I thought, wouldn’t it be cute to do little poufs of tissue all over? And 7 hours later, it was done {how do I always do that to myself!?}!

It was such a joy to have our closest friends and family around us as we announced our little one’s gender. And, we have it all on video, too! We are so thankful to be at this point and overjoyed about our bundle of…

BOY!!

Summer Reading List

One of my favorite things about summer is enjoying reading a good book by the pool...or better yet, the beach! I love soaking up the sun while checking out a new read.  Unfortunately, it seems there is never enough time in the summer to read, and now I keep thinking, this is my LAST free summer for reading with baby arriving this fall. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled about baby Ganz, but I'm just being realistic. The days of lounging by the pool without interruptions are probably near long gone! :)

So, here's my incredibly long list, and is probably beyond my ability to actually get done [what with tutoring and prepping for baby]:

For EDUCATION:
Reading in the Wild: The Book Whisperer's Keys to Cultivating Lifelong Reading Habits

For FUN:
The Hunger Games
Catching Fire
Mockingjay

For BABY:
Hypnobirthing: The Mongan Method
The Happiest Baby on the Block
On Becoming Babywise
What to Expect the First Year

1st Trimester

Some days pregnancy FLIES by and others are an ETERNITY! But, the first trimester certainly went quickly--probably because we kept our news in for so long! Here's our Chalkboard Tracker Collage for the 1st Trimester:

And of course, I wanted to keep track of my bump--I decided to do every other week, and we didn't start until 10 weeks. Here's my [short and sweet] 1st Trimester Bump Watch Collage:

Announcing our news

We've waited so long for this moment and it is so surreal that we finally got to announce and experience the joy of saying "We're having a baby!" I'm so overwhelmed with thankfulness, just even in writing and remembering the fun of announcing our news.

I wanted to make it special for each group of people we told, and of course, I couldn't be satisfied with doing the same thing for everyone!

Those we could we told in person [surprising with balloons, ultrasound pics, and gifts!], others in phone calls [screaming with excitement]. 

For our extended family we sent this out in an email:

And for my students and co-workers, I created and did this Reading Strategies Review (I mean, I AM a reading teacher, after all!)

We were overwhelmed with love and support and other's joy for us. God is so good, and we are loved by so many!

The BIG News

There aren't adjectives to do this post justice. We are thrilled! excited! thankful! and oh so joyful to [finally] share the news we've been praying for, dreaming for, waiting for, and are in awe of...

WE ARE PREGNANT!

God is so good, and oh so faithful. Despite a rough year and a half, filled with loss, and waiting, and waiting, and more waiting, God has seen us through and we joyfully on the other side! It is unbelievably unreal and sometimes I want to pinch myself that I'm not dreaming! The queasiness and all-day-sickness has helped me feel like it is real...and I have never been so thankful to be sick in my life.

We are due in September and are praying for a healthy baby!