22 Weeks

Total weight gain: ??? I'll know Wednesday at my doctors appointment.
Maternity clothes? Yes, this is a new shirt in the picture but it is big...
Stretch marks? No, none yet!
Sleep: Still pretty good.  No major complaints
Best moment this week: Getting to spend time with my cousins and family that I don't see nearly enough.  It's always fun to catch up!
Miss Anything? Nothing really pregnancy related, but I miss the sunshine when I get off work.  I miss walking and running in the fresh air!

Movement:  oh yeah.  Mark even got to feel a few little squirms one night in laying in bed!
Food cravings:  Nothing really that I can think of.  Still having a bit more of sweet tooth than normal.
Anything making you queasy or sick:  No foods, but Mark came down with the flu late last night and this morning and that was kinda iffy.  I had to keep my distance at first but I got over it.
Gender:  Your guess is as good as mine at this point. We find out on Wednesday!
Labor Signs: Nothin'
Symptoms: I've had some congestion and some sinus pressure but I don't know if it is pregnancy related or just a result of a little bit of what everyone else is sick with right now.
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time:  Pretty happy!
Looking forward to: Finding out if Baby Brown is a boy or a girl!!!!!! FINALLY!

21 Weeks

Total weight gain: ??? I'm not sure I want to know with all the Christmas goodies I've been eating.
Maternity clothes? Same, this is the shirt I wore in my thirteen week picture.  It will be interesting to see how it fits in another month or two.
Stretch marks? None, but I have been really itchy....
Sleep: Sleeping better again, I'm not beating the alarm clock awake.
Best moment this week: Some friends of ours welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world on Saturday and it made me all the more anxious to meet our little Charlie.  That will be us in just a few short months.
Miss Anything? Nothing really, I might tomorrow and on Christmas day when I can't indulge in all the wine that shows up everywhere we go!

Movement:  Yes. More and More
Food cravings:  I can't say I'm really craving anything, but I do seem to have a little bit more of a sweet tooth.  Maybe it is just because I am surrounded by them.
Anything making you queasy or sick:  No.
Gender:  Having more girl feelings than boy feelings right now. 
Labor Signs: No
Symptoms: Heartburn, but it's way more tolerable than the headaches so I will take it.
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, Happy, Happy!

Looking forward to:  Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Family Time!!!

I hope all of you have a very Merry Christmas and get everything you asked Santa for! 

20 Weeks

Already halfway! I can't believe it.

Total weight gain: Not Sure. I thought about pulling the scale out earlier this week then just didn't do it.
Maternity clothes? The same few things.
Stretch marks? No.  I'm keeping my baby bump pretty moisturized so hopefully I won't get any.
Sleep:  It really just depends. This week sleep was not that great but I slept great all weekend.
Best moment this week: Getting some Christmas shopping done and feeling little Charlie wiggle and squirm more often and stronger now.
Miss Anything?  Nothing really. However, a red beer does still sound pretty good.
Movement: YES! I can't wait until Mark can feel something.
Food cravings:  The usual, fruits and veggies. 
Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really, I think chicken is even getting back to normal.
Gender:  I'm still going back and forth on boy or girl.          
Labor Signs: No
Symptoms: Some heartburn on and off.  But everything else is relatively normal.
Belly Button in or out? Still in..
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, and yes, occasionally moody!!

Looking forward to: Some more Christmas shopping, we are almost done!

Heavy

I'm sitting here, staring at a blinking cursor, the news on in the background.  I'm not sure at this point which is heavier my fingers or my heart. 

My fingers are heavy because there is nothing we can say.  My heart is heavy because there is nothing we can change. 

I just keep sitting here imagining what it must be like to be one of the families, someone that lost a loved one, an innocent child.  A mother, a father, a daughter, or a son.  You can't put into words the way these people in Connecticut must be feeling.  At least I can't.  My only hope is that these families can find some sort of peace, even though that seems impossible. 

I also hope that people realize that these people are mourning, if we think our hearts are heavy, imagine theirs. I can only hope that we will let them mourn and that we can leave the politics that so often follow these types of situations out of it.  Like I said, there is nothing we can change.  We can only hope and pray that people come together and act in kindness.  Hug a little tighter and love a little stronger. Be thankful for the people you have in your life and that they are somewhere safe and sound tonight.

Chuck

Right around the same time that Mark and I got married we were into The Real World: New Orleans on MTV.  In the season there was a girl with a more boyish name.  During a commercial break we got to talking about how we liked boy names for girls.  The conversation went something like this:

Mark:  I really kinda like that, a boy name for a girl.

Me:  Yeah, I do too.

Mark sprouted off a list off names

Me:  Well...I really love the name Charlie for a girl.

SILENCE........

Mark: WE! CANNOT! NAME! OUR! DAUGHTER! CHARLIE! BROWN!!!!!

It took me a second to realize why and then it clicked, between fits of laughter.  "Oh, Charlie Brown."

We both got a good laugh out of the entire thing.  At that point I just wasn't thinking about my last name being Brown yet.  Needless to say, it has been one of my favorite stories to tell.

Most people think that I'm joking when I say I like the name Charlie, but I really do.  Usually the reaction to the story is first a little bit of laughing and then someone asks.  "Are you really going to name her that?"  "You can't name her that."  The funny thing is, these conversations happened long before Mark and I told anybody that we were even expecting. 

For our family though, Charlie stuck, now it has turned into a big joke withe everyone.  Mark's younger sister kept walking around the house one morning telling his parents, "if it's a girl and they really name her that I will call her Chuck.  Just like Peppermint Patty in the cartoon."  This also caused fits of laughter for everyone. 

Let's face it the girl wouldn't stand a chance if we named her Charlie Brown! Can you imagine?  For now however, girl or boy, Baby Brown is known as Charlie or Chuck.  Charlie and Chuck both sound better than the baby, or my baby, or he, or she, or it.  No matter, what little Charlie Brown is already so very loved and doesn't even know the amount of laughs he or she has already brought us!  

I'll leave you with this little gem in case you need a refresher course in Peanuts.

Let's Chat

Hi all-

I know there are a few people that follow pretty regularly but I wanted to point out that you can be a follower of the blog in a few different ways. 

There are three links on the right hand side of the blog that will let you follow by e-mail, follow if you are a blogger member, or a google plus user.  So pick one and tag along more closely!!

Also please feel free to leave comments and/or input in the comments section as well.  I'd love to hear from everyone, get any input anyone may have, and ask or answer questions.  To do this there should be a small "comments" link at the end of each post. 

Thanks for following!

19 Weeks

Can't believe we are already this far along!

Total weight gain: Not sure, but I don't feel like I am gaining to much, just in my belly.
Maternity clothes? Nothing new, same few shirts and the belly belt for my jeans!
Stretch marks? None
Sleep: Sleep is great except my bladder is beating out my alarm clock as a wake up call.  I hate waking up fifteen minutes before the alarm goes off and that happened all this last week.
Best moment this week: Feeling the little wiggle worm move around more and more.
Miss Anything? Not really missing anything. Everything has been pretty easy and normal so far.
Movement: YES
Food cravings: Nothing really, still enjoying salads and fruits!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing that I can think of. Some foods will give me heartburn pretty quick though.
Gender:  Mixed feelings about it!
Labor Signs: No
Symptoms: Heartburn and I had my first headache in a few weeks....I'm over the headaches for sure!!!  (At least they seem to be few and far between now.)
Belly Button in or out? In.  On another note, I'm starting to get the line down my belly.
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy most of the time but I can also snap quickly too.

Looking forward to: Holiday festivities!

18 Weeks

We are back in business.....

I really need to find a new place to take these pictures, there is always a glare and the lighting is terrible. 

Total weight gain: Not really sure but I feel like this baby belly is growing faster and faster now days.     
Maternity clothes? A few things.
Stretch marks? None
Sleep: Sleeping really well still.           
Best moment this week: An overwhelming trip to Babies R Us on Saturday (who knew you could make so many things for one tiny human.)  Confirming movement, and we just decorated the Brown family Christmas tree. I've been watching Christmas movies all day so there is some definite spirit in the house!!
Miss Anything?  Nothing really pregnancy related...I do miss the snow though!
Movement: YES! Wednesday morning was like a dance party for the little one, I've felt things ever since.  Now I'm pretty sure all this time that I thought I felt something I really did.  I wasn't making it up after all!!
Food cravings: I can't say I'm really craving anything...fruit and veggies still just taste the best to me.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Iffy with chicken, nothing else though.
Gender:  I don't know, I'm not really leaning one way versus the other anymore.
Labor Signs: No
Symptoms: Small headaches.  Thankfully this is it.  Maybe we are over hump on not feeling well.
Belly Button in or out? In.
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy

Looking forward to: More Christmas cheer, a friends wedding reception, and feeling more and more wiggles!!

17 Weeks

I'm a day late on this post and unfortunately I didn't get my new chalkboard in time to do a new one of those either.  It should be here tomorrow though so I can get back in business. 

Anyway...Here is an update.


Total weight gain: I went to the doctor on Tuesday and I showed a two pound weight gain.  I'm not sure if I really gained the first two or made them up.  According to the doctors charts I'm still only up two pounds. So I will say 2-4 total???
Maternity clothes? Yes, but still really loving the belly belt the most.  Everything else isn't exactly necessary but it's nice to have when I want a bigger shirt. 
Stretch marks? None so far.
Sleep: Great.  I even got a solid 12 hours in on Friday and Saturday night.  (The small amount of shopping I did Friday obviously wore me out!)      
Best moment this week: Thanksgiving with all of the family, putting up my Grams' Christmas tree, and getting a much needed restful four day weekend.
Miss Anything? I've had a need for the ability to take some Excedrin here again lately....and let's be honest I could really go for a salty red beer!!!!
Movement: Still a little unsure, I definitely feel a lot more in general in my torso I just don't know if it's baby.
Food cravings: The apple craving have died down, but still fruit and veggies in general
Anything making you queasy or sick: Chicken that I cook at home...I just can't eat the stuff.  If someone else makes it though it seems fine.  Bizarre.
Gender:  I don't know at this point.  I get feelings of each...lately a little more girl.
Labor Signs: No
Symptoms: Headaches!!!! UHH!!!! I thought I might be running low on potassium but I have been loading up on bananas and all things potassium and while at first I thought it might be helping...I'm not so sure anymore. 
Belly Button in or out? In.
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy as long as I'm headache free. 
Looking forward to: Getting my chalkboard! 

16 Weeks

Sorry, no picture this week.  After last nights chalkboard mishap and the worst pregnancy day I've had so far I just couldn't bring myself to draw one up or take a picture. 

I wanted to clarify that when I say 16 weeks, this is technically midweek.  My weeks start new on a Wednesday so this past Wednesday was 16 and the one coming up will be 17.  Sunday is just the easiest day to take pictures, usually we are always just around the house on Sundays. 

Total weight gain: Unknown, but I do have an appointment on Tuesday this week so I will know for sure.
Maternity clothes? Some shirts, some jeans that are a little too baggy, and my favorite thing.....The Belly Belt, it's basically a button extender for your pants!
Stretch marks? None
Sleep: Still really good, and coming easy.      
Best moment this week: We had an early Thanksgiving dinner with Mark's family today.  Even though I felt terrible and I can officially say that some sort of "morning sickness" hit me it was fun, and delicious and I kept the food down!!! (Bonus, since nothing else today stayed that way!)
Miss Anything? Feeling like myself, really I'm about over feeling crappy on the weekends.
Movement:  Sometimes I feel like I'm feeling things and other times I think I'm making it up.
Food cravings: Still anything fresh and healthy fruit and veggie wise.  And all things Thanksgiving food related!!!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really, even without being able to keep food down today still things sounded good to me.
Gender:  I'm up in the air this week.  I'm getting feelings that it could go either way now.
Labor Signs: No
Symptoms: Headaches are back a little bit, and whatever it was that hit me today.
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time: Sickly and sleepy...but happy and thankful.  I know it could be much worse.

Looking forward to: A short work week, more time with family, two more Thanksgiving dinners, seeing family from out of town, and possibly a trip to the Breaking Dawn Part 2 movie in the near future!

Happy Thanksgiving week everyone!!

A Lesson in Chalkboards

I just broke my chalkboard.  Yep, while picking up the house and because I won't really have the time tomorrow I thought I would draw up a new one.  I wiped it down and the wood started popping out the back of the frame.  It's still technically functional but I'm a little bit OCD and I don't like "technically."  I want the sucker in tip top shape. 

This wouldn't be such a problem if this also wasn't my fourth attempt at this DIY Chalkboard project.  FOUR TIMES!!! I've tried this FOUR TIMES!! 

Attempt number one: Easy, I just painted over a piece of wood we had laying around in the garage.  Simple enough but I didn't like the size or the texture of the paint over the wood.

Attempt number two:  I took an old picture and painted right over the glass.  This was working perfectly until I wanted to use chalkboard markers.  They write so much smoother and there is no chalk dust.  This worked great, until I couldn't get the marker off the paint.  I took to Google at this point and Google told me to just use soap and water. WRONG!!! This made my paint peel right back off the glass.  But not everywhere just in a few spots.

Attempt number three:  Touch up the paint where it peeled off.  Wrong again.  This just made the already dry pieces of paint peel off too.  Back at the starting line....

Attempt number four:  Try not to throw a temper tantrum because I just scratched my kitchen table in attempt number three and give the whole project to Mark.  He took the frame and the paint to work with him the next day and came home with a new board.  This one was also made out of wood but framed, larger in size than attempt number one, and also sanded down to lose some of the natural wood grain.  This attempt was working great until about twenty minutes ago. 

The chalkboard should be so lucky that I didn't drop kick it right then!!! 

So here we are and I'm wonder how to even go about attempt number five.  So far this is what it is looking like:  http://www.chalkinkworldstore.com/category_s/125.htm 
Simple....I go to this link and I pick one out.  They deliver it to my house and it is more old school chalkboard than DIY piece of wood with some so called chalkboard paint on it!  Sit back, relax, and have no more attempts!

Moral of the story.  Check out all your options before you do a DIY project, especially if you are thinking about a chalkboard. 

15 Weeks

 

 

Total Weight Gain: Not sure really, I still haven't got the scale out at home.
Maternity clothes? Yes, I went and bought some on Saturday.  I feel like some of my other clothes just aren't cutting it anymore, but I didn't really have to have the new stuff.
Stretch marks? No.  I have been using coconut oil and generally smell like German chocolate cake at night.
Sleep:  Super, I wish I slept this well all the time.
Best moment this week:  Shopping with my mom and grandma...I put the fake belly on and we all had a good laugh!
Miss Anything? I haven't been working out as much so I'm missing that.  I plan to start doing more again though. 
Movement: Feeling some "waves" but it is still hard to tell if it's baby causing it.
Food cravings: Fruit and veggies still. 
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing really.  I'm getting to where chicken tastes better again and I haven't run across anything else that isn't tasty yet.
Gender: Still thinking boy
Labor Signs: No
Symptoms: I'm pretty sleepy and still dealing with a small headache or two every now and then.  The headaches are nothing compared to the last few weeks though.
Belly Button in or out? Belly button in, belly button ring finally out (and it is bizarre!)
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time:  Can't lie, I've been a little more irritable but I'm still happy!Looking forward to: Getting some things done around the house and Thanksgiving. 

It's a boy....or a girl.

Up until two weeks ago I had never had an ultrasound, I'd never been near an ultrasound machine. I'd only ever seen a baby this way in images online or in images that friends had.  I can honestly say it was an experience for the books.

Since I first found out that we were expecting, I haven't had any feeling of this not being real, I knew I was pregnant from the start.  However, I did keep thinking, what if we do this ultrasound and there is really nothing in there?  What if nothing shows up on that screen?  I didn't know what expect when Mark and I first went in that room and I laid back in that chair. Then all of the sudden there Baby Brown was, up on a screen right in front of us and all expectations went right out the door.  My eyes instantly locked on that little beating heart.  I figured we would both be emotional, but instead I think we were too in awe at seeing our baby for the first time. 

Everything looks normal and it appears that we have a healthy little boy.  Well, at least that is what our ultrasound technician guessed, a boy.  I'm not buying it yet. We were only at the 13 week mark so it was too early to tell.  I will leave you with the pictures and you can decide for yourself. 



Here is the picture that made them guess boy.
 They told us if that one little "part" was turned more downward that
they would've guessed girl instead. 

Baby's Profile.  He or She was being very cooperative for the tech.

 

Our little alien face.....is it rude to talk about our child like that????


 

We won't find out for a few more weeks if it is a boy or a girl for sure.  Mark's been doing his "research" though and he's pretty convinced that what the ultrasound tech told us is pretty accurate.  I guess we will see!!! 

14 Weeks

Total Weight Gain: Let's be honest...I haven't weighed myself at home so I really don't know.
Maternity clothes? I don't need them, but the shirt in this picture is maternity.  I just liked the colors so thought why not, however; looking at this picture makes me think it is not very flattering.
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Still good! I got a new pillow on Saturday I think it will make it even better!
Best moment this week: It seems like I have a baby bump to more people now...at first I thought I was the only one that could even tell.  (Although, I'm just feeling very chubby.)
Miss Anything? Still wishing I could take something for the headaches.
Movement: I thought I might have felt something sort of like waves this week but I'm not really sure...
Food cravings: Apples! Fruit and veggies of any kind! And Olive Garden all week.  Mark and I finally made a day date and went today.  It hit the spot.
Anything making you queasy or sick:  Chicken is still iffy...not because of taste but texture.  Orange juice..bleh.
Gender:  Feeling like it is a boy.
Labor Signs: No
Symptoms: Headaches.....worse this week than before.  Now I only really get nausea when the headaches are really bad.  Plus a little bit of heartburn off and on.
Belly Button in or out? In.
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and sleepy.
Looking forward to:  Hopefully starting to feel better since we are officially in the second trimester.

13 Weeks

I want to say thank you for all of the support in writing this.  Sometimes it's hard to put yourself out there, but I know one day we will look back at all of this and really enjoy having all of these memories written down. 

So, here is this weeks chalkboard update.  This isn't the best picture.  I took it myself and it was a challenge finding a way to get the board and me in same picture equally.  The lighting isn't the best either, but as promsied the
"bump" is there.  Also, keep in mind that when I say apple I mean a pretty small/average size apple, not a huge one you sometimes see these days. 

Total Weight Gain: 2 lbs. so far
Maternity clothes? None yet, but I do feel like my jeans are starting to get tighter now.
Stretch marks? no
Sleep: Great, I never want to wake up in the morning.
Best moment this week: Our ultrasound, and seeing and hearing babies heart beat.
Miss Anything? The ability to take any sort of medicine for a headache. I never knew how much Excedrin really worked until I couldn't take it.
Movement: Nothing yet, but we did get to see him/her flipping around at the ultrasound.
Food cravings: Apples. I can't get enough, and I don't really like apples. Also salads.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Honey Nut Cheerios really smelled awful to me one night when Mark was eating them and chicken doesn't sound as appetizing to me as normal.
Gender: I'm having a boy feeling, and the ultrasound technechian guessed boy. We still don't really know though.
Labor Signs: No
Symptoms: Headaches, nausea (but no morning sickness), and I had some very very minor heartburn a few times this week
Belly Button in or out? In, with the ring still in as well. I should probably think about taking that out.....
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!
Looking forward to: Trick or Treaters at the house on Wednesday. We are stocked up on candy and need to get it out of the house!!

Reaction Time

 

It worked. Sort of anyway.  I know the quality of the video is not the best.  I took it with my iphone.  It is also a little shaky, remember I was nervous for this. 

Mark's reaction to his anniversary gift.

He continued to ask me "Really?" and "Are you serious?" for the next ten minutes!

He told me later that when he first opened the box his initial reaction was, "Why did she get me a toothbrush?"

Surprise!

I should have written this post a long time ago....like in the beginning of September a long time ago, but as it turns out I've been a little busy.

So let me tell you the story....

Mark and I talked about having kids and starting a family before we were married. We probably even talked about it before Mark knew he would propose to me.  We both knew it was something we would want, we just didn't know when.  We got married in September 2010 and for Mark that sealed the deal, getting married also made him instantly ready to start our family. I on the other hand was more skeptical of the idea, not that I didn't want the same things but I figured lets just be married for a while.  Still the topic would get brought up more and more frequently.  So we sat down last winter and seriously talked about it, when did we want to do this?  We decided that we would wait until summer, that we would take the next few months to "just be married."  And it was fun, we spent the summer with hardly a second in the house.  We fished, Mark played softball, while I got the pleasure of watching game after game....and I say pleasure with a large dose of sarcasm!  I ran, and ran, and ran some more.  Soaking in all the time I could outside, getting fresh air, clearing my head and my lungs, and working my legs.  We went on a lake vacation in July and we spent Cheyenne Frontier days the way we typically do. With lots of beer, making lots of memories with our friends and family.  It was during Frontier days that the topic of family making got brought up again. After a few of these said beers and a 12 AM Taco Bell date at the kitchen table, in hopes of avoiding a hangover, it was decided.  I wouldn't be going back on the pill after that week.  We were officially trying!  Only....there wasn't much trying involved and everything happened a lot faster than either of us would have thought. 


It was Monday, August 27th, 2012.  Exactly one week "late."  I got off work before Mark that week so I knew I would have time to take a pregnancy test before he was even home.  So that's what I did, knowing full well what it was going to say.  I just had a feeling.  My feeling was right, it didn't even take the full three minutes to say positive.

 

 

I decided right then that I would keep it to myself for the week.  I knew how excited Mark was going to be and I didn't think he could keep it to himself.  We would be heading out of town just the two of us on Saturday and with our 2nd year anniversary right around the corner this could be his gift.  So I waited and waited...while trying to act a normal as possible.  I took another test on Friday that week and wrapped it up as an anniversary gift to give to Mark before our day date the next day. 

When it came time to actually give the gift to Mark I was nervous. I told him that he had to open his present before we left for the day.  I have a video of Mark's reaction but I can't get it to upload.  When I figure it out I will add that in another post!

So here we are today, at the end of the first trimester.  I'll be thirteen weeks tomorrow.  We have our first ultrasound today, so I'll be able to share that with you soon. 

I plan on tracking everything as best as I can, and here is how I plan to do it. 

My first attempt at a homemade chalkboard.

With a chalkboard. 

My second attempt....I like this one better, so I will be using it.

I didn't come up with the idea myself, so giving credit where credit is due.  I got the idea here...
http://littlebabygarvin.blogspot.com/2011/11/updated-chalkboard-tutorial.html

I plan on starting pictures of  the baby bump with the next chalkboard update as well.  Until then.

Pipe Dreams

When I was in high school I had three passions; reading, writing, and running. My goal in college was to get as far as I could with the latter. I moved on to college with dreams of getting my degree in exercise science and then pursuing it even further with a Doctorate of Physical Therapy in mind. I did receive my Bachelors of Science in Exercise Science but I decided, ultimately, that physical therapy was not for me. However, living in a smaller town there is not a huge market for anything else Exercise Science related so my dream of mixing my love for running and a career didn’t end up panning out as I had hoped.

That leaves two more things I’m passionate about though. Reading comes pretty easy. I can do that whenever I want, and it is my favorite way to escape from the world, even for just a little while. Writing is another story, while it is also an escape, it is also a risk. I’m going to risk it. I want to give writing an honest shot and that is where this blog comes in. So here are my goals with my blog:

1. Use this blog as a way to reach out to family and friends, to keep in touch, and to communicate things from my day-to-day life

2. To hold myself accountable. The way I see it is if I say here, I do it! Readers can keep me in check. I want to set goals and reach them, writing them down will hopefully help me to get there.

3. Lastly, and the most important, I will attempt to use this blog to write every day. Whether a word, a sentence, a rant, or the makings of a book I want to start writing more and more.

We will see how it all goes, so keep up with me, learn with me, go on adventures with me. I’m just going to go with it and I’ll see where I end up.
~Stacey