Holy Guacamoley, we're 16 weeks!

Maybe this little bump is here to stay!

 Along: 16 weeks!

Size: Our Nugget is the size of an avocado! An avocado that is growing toenails that is! This week our baby's arms and legs are becoming much more developed and are becoming more controlled in movement. Our baby's eyes are moving closer to the front of its head and its ears are close to their final position. The baby's heart is now pumping 25 quarts of blood each day, which will continue to increase as our Nugget continues to develop.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I'm going to guess that as of now I have gained around 4-6 pounds since the beginning of the pregnancy. We have an appointment next Wednesday, so we shall see!

Maternity Clothes: Still rocking my normal clothes. Everything still fits comfortably, so I plan on taking advantage of that as long as possible!

Gender: Sticking with my girl instinct.

Movement: None yet...anxiously waiting!

Sleep: This week sleep was rough. I think I got extra spoiled while I was in Florida, because since I've been back to work I haven't slept more than 5-6 hours. I worked Friday-Monday night this past weekend and was going to bed at 7:30 in the morning and waking up at noon. Needless to say I have been pretty exhausted, so I'm looking forward to having the next 5 days off from work.

What I miss: I can't really think of anything I miss. Shawn and I have been so excited about all that is coming, that I don't have time to think about what I miss. I just want to savor every minute of every day, loving my growing Nugget and spending time with my sweet Husband. I really can't say enough how blessed I am to have such a supportive Hubby! 

LOVE my baby Daddy!

Cravings: All along I have been saying that I don't have cravings, but a few of my co-workers have decided to tell me that I am in denial. So with that being said, banana peppers and pickles! I've always loved both, but just about every night that I am at work I eat pickles, numerous pickles, and when I ordered a steak and cheese sub this past week for lunch all I could think about was the banana peppers that I was getting on them.

Symptoms: Heartburn and headaches. I've always had heartburn, but this past week it has been relentless and without fail. As for the headaches, I was having them pretty regularly during my first trimester, especially after I gave up caffeine, but that had stopped for a few weeks. However, this week they have returned. I'm hoping that some time to rest will help keep them away.

Best Moment of the Week: During my stretch of working, before Little Luda working 5 of 6 days wasn't so bad, I found myself overly stressed and a little cranky. I just wanted to sleep longer and I hated feeling exhausted at work. With that being said, I got a little note in the mail from a good friend, Laura. We grew up together and getting that sweet snail mail completely brightened my day and gave me the push I needed to make it through the rest of the week! Plus she volunteered her and her Fiance's baby sitting services. : )

Me and Laura, about a month ago at my Mom's 50th birthday party.

Orange you glad we're having a baby?!?

Before the baby update, I just want to send up praise to the Lord. The past few months have been an amazing adventure and the Lord has shown us time and time again, His goodness and faithfulness. In March of 2011, Shawn and I started the adventure of becoming debt free. We had set the goal for this to be two years later, so March 2013. As the time neared that date, it just didn't seem that we were going to be able to make the numbers work to reach that goal. We knew that it would be in the near future, but we were disappointed that it didn't seem our goal would be met. However, God showed up big time and at the end of March we received our tax return that was just the right amount to pay off our remaining debt! We were overwhelmed at the faithfulness of God. Something that we have prayed about was coming to fruition right in front of us and we thought we couldn't be more blessed. God had bigger plans for us though and 5 days after we got the official, "your loan is paid in full," letter, we found out that we were expecting! We went through a whirlwind of emotions, shock, excitement, more shock and then of course worry. When we decided to start trying for a baby, I had so many worries about being able to get pregnant. I was fearful that it would take a long time and wondered how I would respond if in fact I wasn't able to conceive.  Once again, God took my fears and cast them aside. He showed us that he is bigger than any fear, worry or anxiety. So when it came down to where we were going to live when our little one arrived, we knew that God would take care of it. The day we started our house hunt, we found a new construction townhouse that fit perfectly into our time frame and because the Lord has blessed us with amazing friendships, we have a place to stay in the time between when our apartment lease ends and the house is ready. All this to say, that God is good. 

Our prayer:

"I prayer for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord."

1 Samuel 1: 27-28

Along: 15 weeks! (I know you may be thinking that I look smaller in this picture than last week. I don't know what to tell you, some days I look pregnant and some days I don't. I think it also has to do with the fact that this weeks picture was taken in the morning and lasts weeks was taken in the evening after lots of food!)

Size: Our baby is the size of a navel orange. The hair on our baby's head is growing in and if our baby is going to have darker hair, I had a head full of black hair, then the follicles will make pigment. At this point our baby still has fine hair (lanugo) around the body to protect against being constantly exposed to the amniotic fluid. If we were to look inside my womb, we'd see small blood vessels forming underneath thin and nearly translucent skin. On another note, our baby may start sucking it's thumb around this time. Maybe we'll catch that during our next ultrasound!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I won't know the official number until my appointment in two weeks, but I'm guessing that I've probably at least gained a pound or two over the last 2 weeks! I didn't gain much during my first trimester, only 1 lb, so from here on out I should gain 1 lb a week. A healthy Nugget and a healthy Mommy is all I'm worried about!

Maternity Clothes: None yet! As of now I feel like I am still in the "chubby" stage. One day I look pregnant and the next day I feel like my bump just disappears! I know that I should be thankful, but I'm looking forward to looking more pregnant. I'm sure when that actually happens, I'll be biting my tongue!

Gender: I still think we are having a girl. I have had several baby dreams were we have a baby boy, but Shawn did say this week that he had his first baby dream and the baby was girl. Only time will tell!

Movement: None yet! I'm anxiously waiting for this to happen and I know Shawn is looking forward to feeling the nugget move too!

Sleep: After last week, I was nervous that I would return to my normal waking up every few hours, but I seem to still be getting a consistent 8-10 hours of sleep. I still wake up to use the bathroom every now and then, but I can quickly fall back to sleep, so I'll take it! I also tend to indulge in the afternoon nap or two. Basically if I'm tired and I have time, I sleep! I guess I need to do that as much as I can!

What I miss: Long runs. I went for a few short runs this week and I was worn out. I'm still planning on staying as active as I can through out the pregnancy though.

Cravings: I still don't feel like I have any true cravings. Maybe this is a good thing? As long as I'm eating every 2 hours or so, I'm happy!

Symptoms: No new pregnancy symptoms this week, unless you count being overly anxious about everything. From the beginning of my pregnancy I seem to be constantly worrying that something will happen to our nugget. It's amazing how fast and how deeply you fall in love with your little one. Turning my anxieties and fears over to the Lord has been the only thing that is helping through those difficult times. Shawn has been such a great support and there is nothing that makes me smile more than to hear him send up prayers and praise to the Lord for our little one!

"When I am afraid, I put my trust in you."

Psalm 56:3

Best Moment of the Week: Our anniversary was last week and since we didn't have time to go out, we were too busy drinking butterbeer and practicing spells with our wands, we went to dinner at an Italian restaurant near our apartment on Monday night. It was so nice just to sit and talk about the last year of our marriage and all that we have to look forward to in the year to come! We also had our pre-construction meeting for the townhouse this morning and they are starting construction on Monday! 

Here we are in front of our lot!

The Happiest Place on Earth!

Last week, the Sellers family packed into a van and made the 12 hour drive down to Orlando, Florida. Why you may ask? To go to the happiest place on earth of course! Disney World!

We started planning this trip last August, so needless to say we had anticipated going for a long time and had pretty high expectations. I of course wanted everything to be perfect and although there were a few bumps in the road, I couldn't have asked for a better week away with the family that I am so blessed to have!

On the way down to Florida we knew we were going to have to take a break and planned to pit stop in Savannah, Georgia. We hadn't been there before and ever since Allison was little she has wanted to go to Georgia. (The back story on that is, Alli got upset one day because we were going to the beach again. She started doing her little girl thing and said she wanted to go somewhere different. When my Dad asked her where she wanted to go her response was, "I don't know, Georgia." So there we went.) When we got to the hotel we unloaded and went out to Historic Downtown Savannah. It was such a cool city and somewhere I'd definitely like to go back to at a later date. Here are a few pictures from our pit stop.

Once in Florida we went to all four Disney parks and of course Universal's Islands of Adventure! It wasn't are normal family vacation, we're used to doing a whole lot of nothing while lounging on the beach, but it was definitely a wonderful experience. It was also Shawn's first trip to Disney World, so I loved being able to act like a kid again with him! There are so many great pictures from the trip, so here are a few of the trip highlights!

Magic Kingdom

In front of Cinderella's Castle.

Dad wanted a picture with his Grandson.

 

We attended the Belle show twice and Shawn got selected both times to be the knight! The second time we went back so Allison could have her picture taken with Belle! Watching Shawn as the knight was definitely one of my trip highlights!

Epcot

We had dinner as a group at The Coral Reef. 

Chris, Luke, Katie, Renee and Abby

Bobby, Aubree, Alli and Shawn

Mom, Dad, Cheri and Bob

Animal Kingdom

I love this sequence of shots! The faces they all are making are priceless!

Islands of Adventure

Luke and Katie got engaged while watching the Lorax!

Disney's Hollywood Studios (aka Allison's American Idol Experience)

Getting prepped for her interview!

Interview time!

She was 1 of 15 people that were chosen that day to perform!

She totally rocked the stage! Looks like Shawn is going to have to take her try outs!

The Lord has truly blessed us. Being able to go on this trip with my family was such an amazing experience. Since Shawn and I moved to Northern Virginia, we don't get to see our families as much as we would like to, but it's weeks like this that make us realize what life is all about. Loving the Lord and loving family. 

"...but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."

Joshua 24:15