I love stormy weather!

I woke up this morning to a huge clap of thunder, which of course made Oakley bark and then growl for about 30 minutes. Inevitably, I couldn't fall back asleep so I just got up and looked out the window. The cat came running to the door thinking I was letting his muddy self in here...no way! Don't worry, Deda...he's safe and dry under the carport! :)

I kinda like days like this. I've always enjoyed the rain in little spurts. I'd rather it not rain for more than 1 or 2 days at a time or I get depressed, but a good day of thunderstorms is nice sometimes. I was afraid this rain would make it cold outside again, but it's still in the upper 60's...which is much better than I thought it would be!

Sorry I haven't uploaded an 11week picture yet. I've taken it, just not uploaded it yet. Yesterday was a BUSY day. I had so many errands to run and about 15 loads of laundry. I literally did laundry ALL.DAY.LONG. I don't think I finished until about 9pm when I pulled our clean sheets out of the dryer and put them back on the bed! I love sleeping in clean sheets!

I'm not sure why I'm posting all of my randomness, so if you want to just 'x' out at the top right corner (or top left corner on a Mac, Leah!) feel free. My feelings will not be hurt.

This time last year, I was planning Audra's baby shower. It was my first event to EVER host, really. Hilary really jumped in and saved the day, too. She rolled all of my pigs in a blanket and helped cut cookies. I know I'm reminiscing, but I'm bored.

This is definitely the most random and boring post I've ever made, so I'm going to quit. Hope you all have a wonderful Friday and weekend!

Inspiration

Last night at church was singing night. I LOVE singing night. It's always so beautiful and heart-felt. Mr. Brad led a song that I had never heard, but the words couldn't have come at a more perfect time in my life. I wanted to share it with you - maybe it will help you too!

Be Not Dismayed Whate'er Betide

Be not dismayed whate-er betide, God will take care of you;
Beneath His wings of love abide, God will take care of you.
God will take care of you, Thru ev'ry day, O'er all the way;
He will take care of you, God will take care of you.

All you may need He will provide, God will take care of you;
Nothing you ask will be denied, God will take care of you.

No matter what may be the test, God will take care of you;
Lean weary one, upon His breast, God will take care of you.

I hope you like it. :)

11 weeks!

• Baby is as big as a small lemon or large lime! :) THAT is exciting!
• Is now officially a fetus!
• Has non-webbed fingers and toes.
• Is moving and kicking a lot! (This is definitely true! Our ultrasound proved this!)
• Now has the hiccups because his diaphragm is forming! YAY! I wish I could feel them!
• His hands will soon open and close into fists.
• His bones are hardening!
• Tooth buds are appearing under the gums.

That's about all baby is getting into this week. These lists will start getting shorter because the major period of development has now passed! Everything just needs to mature now!

As for me, my nausea is getting much, much better. I'm having to eat on demand every few hours, but I'm feeling much better! It's such a relief! I'm having the craziest dreams at night and my face is broken out like a teenage girl going through puberty. Oh well. All I have to do is look at that picture of my baby and I realize it's all worth it!

I'll add a belly picture later! :) Yay for 11 weeks!

Wanna Hear The Heartbeat?

Sorry it's upside down. I couldn't move too much or I'd lose the heartbeat! Fast and strong! I lose it for just a second and you'll hear mine going much slower, then I find it again! He/She wiggles too much!

Doctor's Appt!

It went SO well. I'm going to try and record a video later of the baby's heartbeat. It was fantastic hearing that noise! It was loud and strong and I couldn't have been any happier!! It's an amazing feeling! Our wonderful doctor was kind enough to rush us in for a quick ultrasound so we could see our kid actually looking like a baby instead of a sea creature. I know it's hard to tell in the pictures, but I'll try to explain what you're looking at. Just to update you, the baby's heartrate was 181bpm...which is EXCELLENT.

10wk5d

This is his body! You can see his little face with the nose and mouth (if you click on the picture, it will make it bigger.) and his sweet little feet. His chest is bulging because that's where his heart is. Right above his leg is his hand. I love this baby more than anything in the world.

The round thing is his head and the long thing is his arm. His hand is touching his face. Insert "AWWWWWW" here because I'm totally in love.

Keep praying for us! Your prayers are keeping this sweet baby safe!

10wk4d. Even though I would love to say that this bump is my baby, it's really not. I was so incredibly bloated...but that's okay. :)

Keep scrolling for another update from today!

Judd's Birthday Party!

We were singing happy birthday!


Blowing out his candles!


His delish choclate cake.


Opening cards

My gift to him. :)

Drew kept snuggling up to Mamaw's face. It was so sweet. I wish his eyes would've been open!

He LOVES gum bubbles.

So Dad tried to blow a big one...but...oops.

I wasn't going to put this on here, but really and truly, that's me! lol. I was SOUND asleep and apparently someone got ahold of my camera (::coughcoughAUDRAcoughcough::)

Drew and his Mamaw Betty. He is the JOY of her life.

Judd had a great birthday! Thank you to everyone for making it special! We had so much fun and we love you all so much. I'll write Judd's special birthday post on his actual birthday (February 28.)

Little Prayer Request!

If you have a moment, say a little prayer for Audra. She has to work tonight and she's not feeling well at all. I know it's hard for her to leave Drew and work 13hr. shifts. Audra, your patients - even though they don't act like it all the time - really appreciate you! Remember that letter someone wrote you a while back telling you that you were an angel from Heaven? Just remember, when you're there, you're making a difference in SOMEONE'S life. I'm saying a prayer that you're having a good night tonight and if you're not that tomorrow makes up for it!

I love you!

10 week picture

10 weeks

I'm a little bloated...so it's not really a baby bump yet, but I don't really care. :)

Double Digits! 10 weeks!

This is a comparison of the baby last week and this week! Look how much he's grown!!!

Oh my goodness! 10 weeks! My pregnancy is 1/4 of the way over. That's CRAZY. I feel like it just started.

I've been feeling much better this week. I got up twice last night to pee...that was not fun...but reminds me that everything with the baby is fine! I cannot wait until Monday when we go to hear the heartbeat!

Here we go!

10 weeks:

• Baby will officially be considered a fetus at the end of this week! (Up until now, he's been an "embryo").
  
• Baby is over an inch long! (He could be 3/4 of another inch! That's almost 2 inches long!)


• Has a hearbeat strong enough to be heard by a doppler


• Most congenital diseases occur before week 10. I can finally breathe one small sigh of relief. We're not out of the woods, but we're getting close!
  
• His muscles are almost completely developed!
• He will start moving this week! Kicking his arms and legs around! Too bad I can't feel it yet, though!
• Hair follicles are forming now!
• ALL of his organs are now formed and are starting to function!!!
• Fun part, this week, he will either start turning into a HE or a SHE! :) Ovaries and testicles are forming this week!!!

10 week baby with my ring for comparison!

My uterus is now the size of a grapefruit!!

I apologize for the excessive use of exclamation points...I'm a tad excited...sorry! When Judd gets home, I'll have him take a picture with my face in it. lol. I don't want every picture I have to have my head cut off. :) Keep praying for my little baby! Every day that I have with this baby is an answer to a prayer!

Dare I say it??

I'm looking around suspiciously as I write this...for fear it will hear me! I have not been sick in two days. I wasn't sick yesterday and I haven't felt the slightest tinge of sickness today. I'm sure it will be back before the end of this trimester, but it's nice to have a little break for my sanity in there!

I will be 10 weeks tomorrow which is SO exciting. In less than a week, we go to hear the heartbeat and I cannot wait! It will be nice to have some reassurance that everything is going well. I can't believe that the 1st trimester is almost over! I'm almost 1/3 of the way finished! That's scary! September will be here before we know it...especially with how busy we're going to be. Don't forget, we're moving and we have a lot of work to do on the house we're moving to! This summer will be packed full of things to do! We find out the sex in April (and then I begin shopping!), Leah's wedding is the beginning of May, renovating the house, hopefully moving in by June or July, I'm helping Audra with Senatobia's VBS, and getting ready for the baby! I'm sure we'll be busy! It's really exciting thinking of all the things coming up!

Well, I'm going to try to be productive today. I hope you all have a wonderful day! I'll update with a picture and the 10week update tomorrow!

Ah oh...

I really and truly have not cared whether it was a boy or girl until today. Let me tell you what happened...

So we go to church but Judd is an usher so we sit in the back...behind all the cute kids. There is one little girl that is 3 or 4 but she's really tiny for her age and she is absolutely adorable. Well, she was wearing a cute green dress with a white cardigan and a big white bow in her hair. Her fingernails were also painted pink! It was then that I decided...I want a girl. Whether it's this child or the next (or the next) I NEED a girl. lol. I bounce back and forth between thinking it's a boy or girl and I really have no gut feeling whatsoever. Please do not misunderstand me, I will love a boy to the ends of the earth! It's not necessarily the CHILD that I want...but the cute things that come with it! Dresses, bows, etc! I guess we'll see in about 8-10 weeks! Let's hope I can wait that long!

I'll be 10 weeks on Wednesday. Woohoo! Double digits! I'm finally starting to relax a little bit even though I've still got a few weeks before I can relax completely (or as much as possible after the 1st trimester!)

Well, I just wanted to update really quickly since I hadn't updated since last week. I've been feeling okay. I feel like I've gotten worse in the last week so I'm hoping it's the whole "gets worse before it gets better" type thing. Ha! I've been SO tired this week. I went to bed at 7:30pm one night! That hadn't happened yet! I've also been a bit more nauseous and food doesn't cure it! Noooo! I'm crossing my fingers that it will get better in the next couple of weeks. Well, I'm going to run some errands! Have a great day!

9 Weeks!

I can't believe it's been a week since I did my 8 week post, but it has been! So here's whats new with the baby!

• His arms and legs are longer.


• His hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over the heart.


• Fingers are longer and the tips are slightly enlarged where touch pads are developing.


• The head is more erect, and the neck is more developed.


• The eyelids almost cover the eyes. (Up until now, they've been uncovered.)


• External ears are well formed!


• He now moves his body and limbs and the movement can be seen in an ultrasound!


• The best part, he now looks like a human being! Just super tiny!

Here's my 9 week belly picture. I think it looks just like last week's picture.

In other news, I also bought a diaper bag. Yes, I know it's early - but I got an AWESOME deal. This diaper bag is same brand from the one I bought Audra at her shower. These are regular $80 diaper bags, keep in mind. I walked into a store and saw it had a clearance sticker and thought, surely this isn't correct. So I asked the lady behind the counter. "Yes ma'am - we're trying to get those off the floor to get ready for the new ones coming in." So I thought, IT'S MINE! $30.00 later, here's my awesome diaper bag. Yes, I got $50.00 off!

A visit with Drew!

I tried to keep my camera handy so we could catch happy moments with Drew! We caught PLENTY! :) I'm staying in Southaven with Audra, Andrew, & Drew while Judd is in Washington D.C. doing Farm Bureau stuff. I've had so much fun!


Aren't they sweet?


He loves his Daddy.

Drew thinks Andrew is very funny!

Just chillin' out in the chair.

Granna came by to see Drew!

The only picture with Aunt Kacie that is allowed. The rest were terrible!

Drew & Mommy!

Please notice the adorable overalls. My favorite!

I love that huge smile!

He melts my heart!! I can't wait for him to play with his cousin!

Sorry I haven't updated but I've been visiting and the computer has been the least of my thoughts! Judd will be home tomorrow night and I'm SO looking forward to it! I can't wait to see him! I've missed him!! I'll be doing my 9 week update tomorrow! I can't believe how quickly time is flying by!

I'm not near as bloated as I was, but you can actually see a little bump. Guess you'll see in my update tomorrow! :)

We keep getting the question...

"Why did you decide to tell earlier than planned?" Simple answer. We want your prayers! Prayer is amazing and I have no doubt that being lifted up in prayer can do anything but 'good' for us. We did not originally plan to tell until we were coming out of the 1st trimester. I'm only 2/3 of the way there, so there are still a lot of worrisome and tense moments for us. So far, I've been excellent. No problems at all and the baby is measuring right on schedule with when I suspected he came into this world. ;) But problems can arise out of nowhere and we know this. So I want to ask you now to remember us in your prayers at night (or any other time of the day!) when you're getting ready to fall asleep. Slip one little "and please keep Kacie & Judd's baby safe and healthy." in there for us. God can do amazing things and this little unexpected blessing can use all the prayers s/he can get.

In other non-pregnancy related news...Oakley got a haircut today. You wonder why that's so interesting? Well let me tell you. He has a rat tail. No, really, imagine his tail and how it normally looks with the long hair at the end. Now imagine that hair gone. lol. His tail actually ends at the end of his tail and has no hair. It's the most hilarious thing I've ever seen and Judd is going to have a field day when he gets home. Poor Oakley (snicker, snicker!)

I had my first mental breakdown yesterday over something totally stupid. I cried uncontrollably and knew as I was crying that it was stupid, but it didn't matter. What was I so upset over, you ask? Even though it's totally embarassing, I'll tell you. I had wanted to eat Mexican yesterday but was going to have to wait until after church. Around 5pm (church doesn't end until 7pm) I started feeling nauseous and really needed dinner. So I decided I'd grab us something before church. I took off in the car headed to my favorite carb-loaded place. Ah, Wendy's. The more nauseated I got, the more I started gagging. I had been stupid and not put a bag in my car for the in case situation of vomit. So I constantly gagged and forced myself to hold everything down.

I ordered our food and headed home, still gagging. I started eating a few french fries to calm my stomach and I continually thanked God for my morning sickness because it meant that my baby was doing well and assured me of his safety. (That's a really hard thing to do when you're gagging and wanting to puke on the side of the road, by the way.) I really wanted to keep a positive attitude.

I was absolutely starving when I got home. I raced and opened up my burger to chow down. They had done my hamburger incorrectly. Tears welled up in my eyes and the pity party ensued. I cried so hard over this hamburger having ketchup and onions and mustard on it. If you know me well at all, you know I like ONLY mayo and extra pickles. Very simple burger for me. In my mind, I was thinking, "How hard is their job, really? All they have to do is read the stupid screen and follow some directions! Now my burger is wrong and I can't eat it. I hate all fast food establishments!!!" Yes, I was being rude. Judd called right about the time I had alligator tears on my face and while trying to hold back laughter that I'm crying/borderline hysterical over a hamburger, offered to go get me a burger and have them do it correctly.

My sweet husband...I hope that's the last time I cry over something so trivial, but I fear it will not be. Thank you for putting up with me and especially for getting me the correct hamburger. I love you. :)

If you've made it this far, I commend you! Now it's off to try and clean this house because I have had ZERO energy for cleaning lately. Have a great day!

8 Weeks

I am 8 weeks today! So exciting!! Since we found out (3 weeks and some odd days) I have counted every new week as a milestone. Our chances of miscarrying decrease every week and I can't wait to get into the 2nd trimester so I can worry a little less. :) So let me tell you what will be going with my baby this coming week.

• My baby is the size of a gummy bear!


• Has joints like fingers, toes, elbows, & knees that he can wiggle!


• Almost doesn't have a tail anymore!


• He's developing eyelids


• The ears, upper lip, and tip of the nose are recognizable!


• His heart is beating twice as fast as our heart!
  
• He is practicing moving!!


• His stomach is being developed from part of his gut.


• Teeth start to develop under his gums!


• The pituitary gland is forming.


• He is growing muscle fibers.


• He now has his own blood type (interesting!) and the blood cells are now being produced by his liver instead of the yolk sac.

Sorry if you don't find any of this interesting! It will only happen once a week. :)

This is the book that I bought for Judd in hopes that he would read it and understand me a little better. Alas, he's had it for 2 weeks and has read 5 pages. Waste. of. money.

My 8wk bloat belly. Excuse the flash in the mirror! Sorry!

Week 7

Since I just announced the pregnancy at the end of week 7, to any of you who care, let me tell you what's going on with the baby! It's amazing how developed he is already. (And for the sake of not wanting to write he/she everytime, I will be referring to the baby as a 'he')

• At the beginning of week 7, he starts out at 4-5mm from crown (top of the head) to rump (end of his "tail.") By the end of the week, he is 1/2 an inch long! That's a BIG growth spurt!


• He has a two chambered heart divided into right and left sides.


• He already has air passages in his lungs!


• He has an appendix - not that it matters but HEY - he's got one!


• He has cerebral hemispheres in his brain!


• Eyes and nostrils are developing.


• Intestines are developing.


• The pancreas (produces insulin) is present! Amazing!


• His arm buds are longer and are divided into a hand segment and an arm-shoulder segment.


• The hands and feet have a "plate" where his fingers and toes will form!

I personally think that is amazing for something that is only 7 weeks old and is the size of a sweet pea to have so much going on already! I won't sugarcoat things though, he looks like a seahorse. ;)

Poll!

I'm setting up a poll on the right side of the blog.

What do you think?
Boy or Girl?

What exactly does this say?

I'M PREGNANT!!! :)


5wk5day ultrasound & 7w5d ultrasound!! Look how much the baby changed!!



Not the best picture, but we saw the heartbeat!!!!


My almost 8wk belly (ALL BLOAT!) shot.
Yes, I'm a bloated whale. lol.

We have a due date of September 18, 2009.
PLEASE keep us in your prayers. Judd and I just couldn't keep it a secret any longer and I love knowing that other people will be praying for my sweet little baby. PLEASE pray that the baby stays healthy.

As of right now, I am not in school due to the pregnancy and the lovely sickness that has come with it. For a little while I was puking my guts up, then it just turned to nausea. So...here we are. I can pick up with my classes where I left off but right now my main focus is keeping my baby safe. Hope you all have as blessed of a day as we've had!