12 Weeks

Well, I wasn't sure about starting to take pictures of my belly yet, but Will told me I should. Don't look too hard...I've been working all day, haven't showered yet, and basically look like a grease monkey! I've gained about 3 lbs. total now and my pants continue to get tighter and tighter. My nausea is pretty much gone (yeah!) unless I eat too much during a meal and then I feel kind of quesy. And speaking of eating, it seems my appetite has suddenly grown and I'm hungry all the time! Will says he's definitely noticed that I eat more than I used to- ha!

The only other symptoms I seem to have now are being hot all the time and once last week I had a horrible spell of heartburn. The hot spells aren't really like hot flashes, which I used to get during my period, but it's more like I'm just constantly hot. Sitting in church on Sundays, I just fan myself with the bulletin- I know people have to wonder because Will says he's fine when I ask him if he's hot. The heartburn episode was not fun at all and I hope I don't get to the point of having it more often. I feel for anyone who has had it or deals with it often! (Amber, I now know how you felt because mine did happen at night and I still had it at 3:30 AM when I got up to use the bathroom!) Other than this, I feel pretty good now.

In the midst of our 6 wedding marathon this past weekend, I was able to go shopping and actually purchased a couple of baby items for the first time! Our church had a children's consignment sale so I went and scoped it out. I ended up getting a little overhwhelmed with everything and since we don't know yet what we're having, it made it a little more difficult. I did make it out with two items, though...one was a Winnie the Pooh baby carrier that you strap on and wear so that the baby is strapped in on the front of you (does this make sense?). I thought the Winnie the Pooh could be used for either a boy or a girl. The second item was a book called "What to Expect During the First Year." It's from the same writers who did "What to Expect While You're Expecting" and I actually got a nice surprise from Will's Aunt Joan, who sent me this book last week! In one night, I read it all the way through to where I am currently at 12 weeks. It's a great book that leads you through the different stages of pregnancy and goes into how your baby is developing each week, which is really cool since we can't see the baby as much as we'd like. I thought the book about the first year might be just as helpful, but we'll see!

I also went shopping for myself since, like I mentioned earlier that my pants are getting tight. I bought this accessory called a Bella Band- you can put on over the top of your regular pants or shorts that you can't button anymore and it covers it up so that you can still wear your clothes a little longer. Then, I hit up the clearance racks and bought some capris, shirts, and a pair of shorts that I can wear to work. I bought sizes that were too big for me now, but I should be fitting into them in no time!

Once conclusion that we've come to is that having a baby definitely gets you motivated to finish projects around the house. Will has been working his tale off: he's been re-doing the casing around the bedroom doorways to match the newer work he has done on other parts of the kitchen and dining room; he's been putting in new, larger baseboards around the entire house; and he's re-painting our guest bedroom as I'm writing this. Eventually, we will have the baby's room to do, which is going to involve everything from cleaning out to painting to decorating, etc. And speaking of cleaning out, we have a home for our pool table and fooseball table, but we also have a full weight machine and separate bench so, if anyone wants it or knows someone who might, please let us know!

I guess this is it until next week. I am going to start adding in a few cake pictures from our recent weddings/parties so here are some for your enjoyment.......