Baby Update!

Wow! It has been so long since I've blogged, so much for my blogging more goal.

Anyway I thought I'd do a much needed baby update. So I have not been taking weekly pictures. There really wasn't much change at all in the beginning and even now there isn't enough to do weekly pictures. I did the 6wk pic and then not again until 16wks and 20wks. I'll probably keep doing the pics every 4 weeks, maybe switching to weekly closer to the end, we'll see.

I had my first OB appointment on 3/5/13, which happened to be my mom's birthday. Everything went well and we got another ultrasound to check the baby's heartbeat. This time we even got to take home pictures! The baby's heartrate was 162bpm and it was just over 1 1/2 inches long and about the size of a fig.  Here is what Baby Center had to say about the baby's development at our first appointment.

A profile pic of our little peanut! The oval on the left is the head, and the oval on the right the belly. If you look close to where the head and belly meet the bright area on the baby near the facing the top of the pic is the mouth and nose. Baby is lying on it's back looking up in this pic.

This is a close up of the heart and heartbeat.

 My second OB appointment was on 4/2/13. Andy's sister's birthday! This appointment was pretty uneventful, no pictures or ultrasound, but we did hear the heartbeat on the doppler. The heartbeat was 156bpm. I was 15 weeks and the baby was about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighed in at about 2 1/2 ounces about the size of an apple.

I felt the baby move for the first time on 4/27/13, I was 18w4d. I'm definitely feeling it more often now but still not really strong or constant. I know it will come though.

I'm currently 20 weeks, halfway there! The baby is now the as long as a banana and is 6 1/2 inches long and 10 1/2 oz.

Now on to the belly pictures!

16 Weeks

20 Weeks

6 Weeks! (1/29/13)

This week the baby is the size of pea. This week I had some sharp pains on my side and went to the ER. Thankfully everything was fine, and we got to see the baby and hear it's heartbeat. The heartbeat was 126bpm. I didn't get a picture this week, but there is no change in my appearance as of yet. The nausea has officially started, it comes and goes though.

5 Weeks (1/22/13)

This week Baby K is  the size of an appleseed! I'm still feeling mild cramps, and a sore chest. I've started having to go to the bathroom more frequently, no nausea though! Everything seems to be going along well.  I can't wait until we get to see what our little one looks like! I found a cute large cream colored teddy bear to take the baby's monthly pictures with. No change in my belly pic this week, but I'm going to continue to take them for documentation sake.

4 Weeks! (1/15/13)

Today we found out our family is growing by 2 little feet! Baby K is the size of a poppy seed this week. I've been feeling ok overall, only a few waves of nausea and a sore chest. I've had some mild cramping that started at 3weeks along, which made me wonder what was going on in there. We had been doing the Natural Family Planning method and I had been taking my basal body temperature each morning before I got up. My temp didn't drop after ovulation as it usually did and just kept getting higher, which was unlike my usual cycles, so I started to suspect right away. I was supposed to "start" Monday and we decided to wait until Tuesday morning to test if I hadn't seen "Aunt Flo" by then. I ended up taking 3 different tests over a few days to "make sure". We are very excited and so are our families! We are due September 24th two days after our anniversary. I hope the baby doesn't come on our anniversary, just so it can have it's own day.

This is the official test we took Tuesday morning that told us Baby K was coming!

I took this one Tuesday night. I was just curious to see if the second line would show up in the evening. It sure did!

I took this test Sunday just because I was being neurotic and freaking out that something was wrong. The test line popped up even before the control line. 

Here is my 4 week belly shot. No difference yet. Please excuse my messy hair. It was the end of the day and we had been all over announcing the big news.

What a difference a day makes!

Goals for 2013!

I thought I'd share my goals for 2013. I'm sure I will think of more things to do but this is what I've come up with so far. Some of them are things that won't take much time and some are things that will be ongoing. I will try to update either monthly or quaterly on my progress.

• Read the Bible all the way through
• Create and stick to a cleaning schedule
• Start and continue couponing
• sew an apron
• compile and maintain a household notebook
• make vanilla extract
• make a pumpkin pie from a pumpkin
• make liquid soap
• switch to all or at least 90% homemade cleaners
• make a wreath
• make and use only homemade salad dressing
• get into a workout routine
• make bath salts
• make tortillas
• make a skirt
• do one pinterest activity per week
• make wedding photo books
• decorate for "each" holiday
• lose 10% of my body weight

What are your goals for 2013? 

Homemade Beeswax Lotion Update!

My skin has been so dry this winter. Well actually it is every winter, but I used the last of my homemade beeswax lotion and misplaced my beeswax in the move. I haven't had a chance to make a sugar scrub again and my skin has been suffering terribly. I finally ordered more beeswax online and it came in Wednesday. I received some essential oils for Christmas and also ordered more along with the wax. I made a new batch of lotion as soon as I opened my packages. In this batch I made it as directed in my original post and added a mix of lavender and tea tree essential oils to it, both are supposed to be very beneficial to your skin. I typically do not like lavender scented things but the lavender essential oil smells different and good, I think because it is more natural than the perfumy lavender. The tea tree oil is a kind of odd smell and pretty much covers up the lavender smell. I slathered it on the night I made it and, like every time I make it, I was amazed in the difference in my skin when I woke up the next day. Has anyone else tried it?

2012 Recap

Wow what a year of changes! Last year at this time I would never have dreamed I'd be where I am today, but I wouldn't change it for anything.

JANUARY

• Dumped by the 2nd guy I'd been talking to in two weeks.
• Decided I wasn't looking anymore. 
• Concentrated on improving myself. 

FEBRUARY

• Told by 3 different people to join Christian Mingle within a week or so. 
• Saw Christian Mingle commercial and decided to give it a try, even though I was pretty sure it would be a waste of time. 
• Met Andy the night I joined and instantly hit it off. 
• We started dating the next week.

MARCH

• Sprained my ankle when Andrew and I went to St. Louis to a Boyce Avenue Concert. 

APRIL

• Started My Fitness Pal
• Drank my last soda on April 9

MAY

• Lost my job at Robert Morris University
• Grandma's 80th Birthday Party
• Dog sitting Duke while Grandma had her Kidney Removed

JUNE

• Started temporary job at Blue Cross Blue Sheild

JULY

• Got engaged!!!!!
• Quit working at Carthage Public Library

AUGUST

• Job at BCBS ended
• First Bridal shower. (Andrew's Family)
• Started working at Gem City Chiropractic

SEPTEMBER

• Second bridal shower. (My family and friends)
• Third bridal shower (My church family)
• I turned 27! (the same age as my mom when she married my dad)
• Got MARRIED!!!

OCTOBER

• Andy turns 32!

NOVEMBER

• Our First Thanksgiving as a couple.

DECEMBER

• Our First Christmas as a couple

Halloween 2012

This year for Halloween Pogo was a giraffe. His favorite toy is a tiny yellow giraffe named "Jeffers", so when I saw the giraffe costume at Petco I had to buy it. It was a little big for him and he didn't like to wear the hood. When he had the hood on he couldn't see forward only down. We were in the kitchen and he had the hood down and ended up walking right into Andrew's leg. It was so funny. We laughed and laughed. Now on to the pictures.

A new blog name and an update!

Hi all! It has been so long since my last post! I will try to keep up better now that I'm MARRIED! Things are beginning to settle down and hopefully I'll be able to post more frequently. I'll try to upload some engagement photos soon and then eventually wedding photos. We are still trying to get all the wedding photos uploaded. Also I decided on The King Kronicles for the new blog name! Well I better get supper started.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

The Search For The New Blog Name!

So I'd like to change the blog title to reflect the changes happening in my life after the wedding. I have no idea what to call it. I'd like to name it something associated with my new name as it will become an update for what's going on in our new family together. I'm asking you for suggestions. Here is some info to help you think of a fun new name. King will be my new last name, so some cute pun/saying involving the word king would be great or with our names Brittany and Andrew, our new joint email account is drewandbritt@hotmail.com so maybe something like that. I want something unique and fun. Please help me out!!!!!

Catching Up plus BIG NEWS!

I have been a terrible blogger lately. Here is a quick recap of what's been happening in my life.

• May 4th, I was let go from Robert Morris University because of cutbacks
• On June 25th I started a temporary job at Blue Cross Blue Shield answering phone calls dealing with MLR it has to do with the Obamacare decision. The job only lasts until August 24th or maybe sooner as the project is not generating the expected response.
• July 3rd, Andrew proposed! We are engaged!!!! The wedding date is September 22nd! Engagement story to follow.
• July 4th, told our families.
• July 6th, I found my wedding dress. 
• July 7th, pool party at Aunt Stacey's 

That's a really quick recap to catch you up on the major happenings in my life. I will try to update more frequently but can't promise anything.