The Real Reason...

So looking at houses and vacations weren't the only reason my blog was highly neglected this summer...

We have a bun in the oven!

Yep, I've been a little preoccupied growin' a baby... And it's hard work!

We found out on July 16th...  And yes, these faces about sum it up:

I go to work before Jeff, and he is usually still in bed when I leave.  I told him he had to get up because I had something for him and he had to go look in the oven.  He saw the bun and after a little coaxing he realized what it meant, and his face was priceless. He turned to me with his puffy sleepy eyes and said, "Really!?"  And then he hugged me and got all teary-eyed.  I loved it. 

We announced it to my family a few days later with the bun in the oven picture above, and audio recorded my parents' response...it's fun to have it recorded!  My brothers are way excited to be uncles!

We announced it to Jeff's family with a little help from the nieces:

Jeff's family was excited too, just as Tiff is demonstrating...

So to answer all of your questions:

It wasn't planned, but it wasn't not planned...

I'm just over 18 weeks

My due date is March 13th, though I'm pretty sure "the middle-ish of March" is as accurate as it's gonna get with 4 different measurements so far...

My first trimester was a challenge, having NO energy or motivation to do anything.  Multiple other things were neglected besides the blog... especially our apartment...   I haven't had severe morning sickness, but everyday I dreaded going to work, not knowing if I'd have enough snacks or the right snacks to control the intense waves of hunger without feeling sick after.  It was also a challenge to figure out which foods were making me sick and how to avoid the monotonous cycle of intense hunger, nausea, eating, nausea, laying down, and then hunger again.  But I finally figured it out and was able to control it better!  

And around my 16th-17th weeks I really started feeling better.  It was gradual from about week 13, but just in the past few weeks I've felt like this isn't so bad; I can eat what I want again and I'm not exhausted by 8pm anymore!  I feel more like myself again, minus the ever-growing lump in my belly...

For the past week I've felt junior move everyday!  It's an incredible feeling... I love the reminder that there is something alive and hopefully healthy just kickin around in there.

We've been to three appointments, heard the healthy "normal 150 beats per minute" heartbeat, and had one ultrasound:

We watched it kick it's little legs on the screen, at which time the doctor said, "There it is, practicing it's soccer moves."  Oh ya!  Definitely the right thing to say Doc...

We're happy, a little scared, still not sure what to think, still trying to feel like it's real and happening, but so excited to be starting our family!