31 Weeks Pregnant!

(the only picture we got yesterday. My husband feels the need to do thumbs up in all pictures lately)

I am 31 weeks pregnant!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 31 Weeks

Size of baby: Luke is the size of a head of lettuce (19 in, 3.9 lbs)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I am not sure. All I know is my doctor said I have been good and consistant on my weight gain. I don't want to know the number!

Maternity Clothes: yes, all of my clothes are maternity, besides some shirts and cardigans

Gender: A Boy, Luke Mallaire!

Movement: Yes, I feel him all of the time :)

Sleep: I don't sleep that well. I toss and turn a lot! All I can say is thank goodness for my body pillow!

What I miss: Sleeping on my stomach, and Wine!

Cravings: Mexican food, Japanese food...actually anything really!

Symptoms: I feel full all of the time and have a hard time eating. My back is getting achy, and my feet hurt at the end of the day! Oh the joys of pregnancy :)

This week I turned 31 weeks preggo! I have finally began to feel HUGE! I don't feel quit as big, until I look at a picture of me and realize how big my belly really is (and maybe my double chin)! oh dear, and I have up to 9 weeks to go! As big and as uncomfortable I am feeling, I am really enjoying this time. I LOVE feeling Luke move. He moves around a lot and now they are becoming a little bit painful. Yesterday I felt like he ran his entire elbow across my entire stomach. It now seems like more distinct movements and I can almost guess which body part he is sticking out! I am sure I have no idea, but I like to think I know!

We had our 31 week doctors appointment this past Wednesday. It went really well. I am still measuring a little ahead, but our last ultrasound looked great and we just might have a big, healthy baby on our hands :) I can't wait to meet our sweet boy! I love thinking about what he will look like and how he will act. Will he have Nick's beautiful blue eyes, or my brown eyes? Will he have light hair or dark hair? (we know he has hair, we have been told many times in our ultrasounds) I am just so anxious to see him!

I have about 7 weeks left of work! I will be done March 11th! As much as I may miss my kiddos, I am anxious to have time off to get some last minute things done for Luke, and some time to myself, before my life changes forever (in the best way)! I will have 11 weeks off, and then will go back for the last two weeks of school! My sweet Sister is going to watch Luke for us for those two weeks, which I am SO grateful for!

Thats about all I have to update on! Nick started school last week and seems to already like his classes! He loves those science classes, that I could never imagine taking! He is so smart and loves all that stuff! That is why I could never be a doctor :) I'll leave that one up to him! He has this semester left and then an internship and then he will be ready for med school! I am so proud of him and everything he does. He not only goes to school, he works full time, and takes such good care of me! He does it all without complaints!

Happy Sunday everyone! Have a great week!

2011=TRUST

As I sit here thinking about the last year I can't help but think about how it started out. On January 1, 2010 Nick and I lost our first baby. I was 8 weeks pregnant and I had a miscarriage. It was one of the worst days of our lives. The moment you find out you are pregnant you instantly become parents. I watched as my husband became a dad and the love he already had for our unborn child. Unfortunetly something was wrong and God had a bigger plan for that sweet baby and for us. We now have our angle baby in heaven and we are at peace with it. Well how do you go on after that? Well you just do. The following days and weeks were kind of a blur. I was sad, mad, hurt, lonely (for my baby) and so many other emotions. I had such great support from family and friends, but it didn't make the ache in my heart go away. Eventually the pain goes away, but you never forget...and I will never forget.

I refused to let 2010 become a bad memory. So it went on, and I lived life. I had a lot of great things happen in 2010. I graduated college, went on amazing vacations with friends, and got a teaching job. What started off as an emotional, life changing year, began to change and become one of the best years of our lives. In July 2010, we found out we were pregnant again! What a blessing! As of now I am 7 months pregnant and we can't wait to meet our sweet boy. March can't come fast enough for us! It just proves that a year that starts off with heartache can end with so much hope and excitement!

So what will 2011 hold....I have no idea, but I do know that I am looking forward to it. I look forward to becoming a mom. Something I have longed to be for a very long time! As I have heard on KLOVE and on a few different blogs I have read, I am picking a word this year that will help guide my year....that word is TRUST....I have a lot of new, exciting, scary and emotional times ahead of me, and I know that I need to TRUST that God will guide me in the right directions and comfort me in the times when I need him the most. (was that a run-on sentence?) I have always had a hard time with worrying and being in control, and hopefully as 2011 begins I will learn to let go and TRUST.

The last day of 2010 has been a nice low key day for me so far. I am reflecting and thanking God for the many blessings he has given us. I can't wait to welcome 2011 and begin the next chapter in our lives....life is beautiful, it sometimes takes the worst of days to appreciate the best of days!

So Goodbye 2010....Welcome 2011...I have so much hope for you!!

Petunia Pickle Bottom Diaper Bag and bedding

Now that Mr. Luke is on his way and will be here before we know it, I have been thinking about what kind of diaper bag I want....I mean.....We want!

When I was about 8 weeks pregnant I went to my favorite consignment store and found an adorable brand new Coach diaper bag. It is really cute, but the minute I showed it to Nick he said, "Wow, I am going to look awesome carrying that around." (in a total sarcastic way). Ever since then I have been searching for a diaper bag that we both like. Well I found it, and I LOVE it! It was a little spendy, but I found it on the Pottery Barn kids website, and what do you know, we had giftcards from our wedding that we never used from Pottery Barn and it was just enough to cover the diaper bag! Yay! I am so excited to get it! It is still a little girly, but Nick still liked it too! It will be here Dec. 9th and I can't wait to see it! The bedding we got Luke is from Pottery Barn Kids as well! Thank goodness for gift cards and trendy consignment stores! If I could buy everything from Pottery Barn Kids I would!

Now I guess it would be important to start getting the main things we need for Luke! It's crazy how expensive baby furniture is! Thank Goodness he is worth every penny! All we really need is a crib, dresser and changing table and we are all set! I got his Co-sleeper for our room and a glider! I just can't wait to put it all together!

The sweet boy already has a good collection of clothes...what can I say, I love to shop and especially when it comes to baby clothes I...just...can't...help...it! We will be in major trouble when we have a girl! Good thing this Mama is all about baby consignment stores! They have the cutest stuff and it is very reasonably priced! Babies grow so fast, there is no need to spend too much money on the things they will grow out of in two seconds!

Happy Sunday everyone, I hope you had a great weekend!

~Breanna

(The one I got is the bottom left, black and blue bag, but they are all sooo cute)

(Luke's bedding, It has light green, navy blue, light blue, beige and brown in it! and no that is not zebra stripes, it just looks like it!)

24 weeks preggo and random thoughts!

( Luke was being shy, so here is a nice picture of his spine :)

(Luke at 21 weeks. Look closely, it is of his profile)

I am officially 24 weeks pregnant this week! Time is flying by! I really LOVE being pregnant! I don't however, love all the symptoms I have had. Beginning with morning sickness that lasted most of my first and half of my second trimester. Fatigue that I feel still has not gotten much better! I honestly don't feel like I got that 2nd trimester burst of energy! And now I am experiencing the dizziness and muscle aches! ohh goodness! But you know what? Like I said before I LOVE being pregnant and I LOVE carrying this sweet boy of ours. Any aches and pains is worth it, I would do anything for my boy, and as his mom I feel so honored.

We had our 24 week appointment on Wednesday(12/1/10). Everything looks great! We do need to have another ultrasound done at our 28 week appointment because he is measuring about 7-9 days ahead and they just want to check him again! I am all for another ultrasound to see him! And maybe that means he will be joining us a week earlier :)

I have been feeling Luke move like crazy. In the beginning he would move mostly during the day while I was teaching, but lately he has been moving during the day, but mostly at night! If I lay down or even sit down I usually can feel him a movin' :) I love it!

Well today is Friday and I took the day off. I have not been feeling the best this week, so I listened to my body and took a personal day. It feels good just to lay in bed, watch T.V. and rest this preggo body!

All day long I just think of the moment when we meet Luke. I know moms always say it is the best moment of their lives when they get to see and hold their babies for the first time. I just can't wait! I am still in denial that I will have a son and that he will be mine! I have seen him on the ultrasounds and I can feel him inside of me, but I still have to pinch myself and remind myself that this is real life and in less than 4 months he will be here with us! ohh goodness :)

I came across a picture the other day and it was a picture of a mom holding and hugging her child. For some reason my mind automatically went to the thought of my mom holding and hugging me. I just have to say, my mom was an amazing mother. The BEST if you ask me! One thing I will never, ever forget about her is the love she had for her kids. My brother, sister and I were so lucky to have her. She was loving, protecting, understanding, comforting and best of all a true friend. She never made you feel that you could not talk to her, she understood. She knew her kids inside and out, and most of the time she knew how we were feeling even when we did not. One of the most important things I learned from my mom is how to love. How to truly, unconditionally love. I love my son already. Unconditionally. And I feel that the mother I am going to be is because of my mom. I learned so much from her and I don't think she even knew the impact she was going to leave on my family. Luke will be joining a family of true love. He is a blessing to all of us already, and I CAN'T wait to be the mom I have always wanted to be, and knew I could be, because of the one women that has changed my life forever! My mom would have been the best grandma, but it is such a blessing and comfort knowing that she has already met Luke, she knows him, and is blessing him with her love from Heaven! I love that she loves him...Unconditionally from the most perfect place any human can be!

Luke, you have so many people that love you already, and I can't wait to see your precious face!

Happy Friday everyone, hope you have a wonderful weekend! Here is a little pregnancy highlight for ya!

I am 24 weeks pregnant!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 24 Weeks

Size of baby: Luke is the size of an Eggplant

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I only gained 1 lb from this weeks appointment from the last one, but honestly I avoid looking at the scale! I think its been about 10 lbs total

Maternity Clothes: yes, all of my clothes are maternity, besides some shirts and cardigans

Gender: A Boy, Luke Mallaire!

Movement: Yes, within the last couple weeks I have been feeling him a lot more!

Sleep: I don't sleep that well. I toss and turn a lot! All I can say is thank goodness for my body pillow!

What I miss: Sleeping on my stomach, and Wine!

Cravings: Mexican food, Japanese food...actually anything really!

Symptoms: A little dizziness and a few headaches, but oh so worth it!

My moving boy!

I am 22 weeks pregnant and I love the stage of pregnancy I am in! I feel better (besides the occasional nausea and tiredness), My belly is getting bigger (the only time in my life when I have liked that), and I am starting to feel Luke move around a lot!

He must have had a growth spurt this weekend because he has been moving like crazy! Yesterday, (11/20/10) was the first time my hubby was able to feel him move! It was such a memorable moment for the two...I mean three of us! I was laying in bed and started to feel him move around. I yelled at Nick to come in to see if he would be able to feel him. The moment he put his hand on my stomach Luke went crazy! He started moving and jabbing me over and over again! It was to the point where all I could do was giggle, it was almost tickling me, and the most movement I have felt that I started to feel funny (but in a good way, does that make sense?) I was so excited to be feeling so much movement!

Today I have been feeling him off and on! I love the sweet reminder of this precious life growing inside of me! Such a blessing!

Thanksgiving is this Thursday and I have a short work week this week! I am thankful for that! Hope everyone had a great Sunday!

~Breanna

What the hips!

So I had no idea that when you are pregnant that you seriously can feel your hips moving! I have woken up every morning the past few days and my my hips ache! Who knew? I sure didn't! I guess I am in store for a lot more "things" you truly don't know about until it is happening to you!

I am on Fall break from school this week and am LOVING every minute of it! It is going by WAY to fast, but when does time slow down when you want it to? Never! I love that after this break, we have Thanksgiving break, and then Christmas and New Years break, and then before we know it, BAM...March will be here and we will get to meet our sweet Luke! We really can't wait! Nick is so cute and is just dying to have this sweet son of ours with us! He talks to my belly ( oh and if you see him around, don't mention I am telling you this :) and is just so sweet with me, and how he talks about Luke! It just melts me thinking about him being a dad! He is going to be so wonderful at it!

I am attempting to clean the house today, but I like how it is 12:30 p.m. and I am still in my pajamas, haven't brushed my teeth yet ( ew, I know gross) and have laid in bed most of the morning! I knew I could be lazy, but when you have such a demanding job, you forget what lazy feels like!

Well I am off to do, who knows what, but I need to do something productive! I hope everyone has a wonderful Thursday!

~Breanna

In Gods Hands

I need to start blogging more, and recording what is happening in this amazing pregnancy of mine! More for myself than anybody else!

I think I have written before about how sick I have been throughout this pregnancy. Literally the day I hit 6 weeks, I was nauseous. From 6 weeks up until about now, I have felt sick everyday, all day long! It was so miserable! I feel a little guilty saying how miserable I was, because I would go through it all over again for this sweet baby growing inside of me! I am not ungrateful whatsoever, I just never realized what Mama's to be can go through! I would say working full time had made it even harder! There were days when if I had any other job other than teaching I would have taken more days off. I had days where I would stand next to my trash can in my classroom and would dry heave until I would either throw up, or would eventually be able to walk away ( don't worry it never happened when I was with my students, thankfully) It took everything inside of me to not throw up in front of my students. It took lots of cracker eating, candy sucking, ginger ale breaks to keep everything down. Yuck! Yuck! Yuck! is all I can say!

I would talk to my dad almost every night on the phone. He would ask me how I was feeling and I would usually say "Not so good" he said that he can hear that in my voice, and could tell that I just wasn't myself! and it was true, I wasn't myself. I felt like a zombie in my own body, that would only sleep and eat, and go to work, and then would get up and do it all over again the next day. I was in survival mode. I did whatever I had to, to get through the day and once I was home I was done! In my (Bre Cave) as Nick calls it, our bed was the only place where I could get some relief. Not because I necessary felt better, but because I would go to sleep at 7:30 every night just so I didn't have to feel nauseous! Anyways, now that I am almost 17 weeks I think I am finally feeling better (fingers crossed)!

Well, if I didn't have the typical every symptom in the book pregnancy, as is, last Wednesday I had my normal 16 week appointment. My appointment was at 4:15 that day, but around 2:15 I felt like I needed to go to the bathroom really bad ( nothing out of the ordinary for me these days) but when I went the bathroom ( without getting in to much detail) I had some bleeding. I of course freaked out, because they always tell you that any blood during a pregnancy is not normal, so initially I think something horrible is going wrong. But of course, being a teacher I had to go back to class and pretend that everything was fine until school was over. ( I have realized that teaching while your pregnant is really not very ideal)

Once my students were out my door, I was out the door! I left for my appointment as quick as I could! Trying to walk through a hallway of kids and teachers and put a smile on your face, when you are falling apart inside is not easy. When I was finally to my car I of course call my husband asap. I have to tell you, I wish I was more like my husband. He is so calm, and encouraging in stressful situations. I have been through a lot in my life, and no matter what the situation that was happening to us, he always stays calm. Even if the outcome was life changing in a good way or horrible way, he was there, calm and reminding me that everything, no matter what was going to be okay. And you know what? It has been okay. No matter what. Just like he said.

As I got to my doctors appointment (Nick wasn't there yet), they called me back, and I was shaking horribly. I was nervous, scared and hopeful. As I got into my room, the nurse took my blood pressure and then was ready to put the doppler on my belly. As she put it on, she went over my stomach a few times. I thought I heard the heartbeat a few times but she kept moving it. So I of course got nervous, until she said, " There it is, nice and strong" FEW!! I was so relieved. As she left, my doctor walked in. She immediately asked me how I was doing, like she always does. Well this time I said " Not so good" and she looked at me with worry in her eyes. So I told he what had happened, and to make a long story somewhat short, lol she checked me, and then got me into an ultrasound just to make sure everything was okay.

So that is why I got an ultrasound at my 16 week appointment! Our sweet baby was just fine and everything else looked great! He just wanted to keep us on our toes. I still do not know why I had a little bleeding, but I have had none since, and plan on not having any more! I am just so thankful my sweet Luke is healthy! that is all a Mama can ask for!

So because of all this, I have a question for all you Mama's out there? How do you get through almost 10 months of your pregnancy without worrying every second about your sweet baby inside of you? I have faith in God that he is protecting me and Luke and that he already has both of our lives planned out, and that it is all in his hands, but how on a day to day basis do I tell myself, stop worrying and let God take control? I believe with everything inside of me that God is the Author of my life and is writing this incredible story, but why then is it still so hard? Do I not have enough faith or trust? Am I relying too much on my own comforts and not enough on God? I know I am not the only person that has worried about their child. I know that it has JUST begun, and I have a lifetime of worrying to go through with this sweet boy! I just love him so much already and can't wait to meet him and love him more than I can even imagine!

Worrying is something I have always had issues with. What are some ways you control worrying and how to let the little things go? I am curious to know?

Hope everyone had a great Tuesday!

~Breanna