A drastic change! And answering a few other questions that came up.

I had been thinking about cutting my hair again, but I kept changing my mind. I very much like having long hair, but I dislike trying to figure out how to style it. I love how feminine and pretty long hair makes me feel, I dislike how sloppy I feel every time I just throw it into a ponytail again, and how warm it is in the summer when it's just sitting on my neck.

Here is my hair before (and my nine week baby belly)

So today I made a decision, kind of on a whim, and got my hair cut. The change is rather drastic! I was quite pleased that my hair was long enough to donate 10 inches to Locks of Love. I like my new hairstyle, though it will take some getting used to. It feels like I have no hair!

Also, after my last post I had someone ask me why we call the baby Berry. So here's the reason: When I found out I was pregnant it was thought that I was seven weeks along. At that stage the baby is the size of a blueberry, and at eight weeks, the size of a raspberry. So Alex and I referred to baby as "Berry". Two weeks later when we found out that I was actually at eight weeks then the nickname stuck. And so, until little Berry is born and we find out who s/he is...Berry it will remain :)

Which leads me to the other question: Are the baby names a secret? No, they aren't. Not too long after we were married Alex and I had the names Jacob Ezra and Lydia Renee picked out. Which gives us one less thing to get done before Berry comes.

So tell me, have I missed any questions that you want answered?

The whole story.

I have been meaning to write again for a few days now! It always seems to be put off til later though. So I'm finally sitting myself down to write this long overdue blogpost.

I have to admit..I have been keeping a secret: I'm pregnant! I didn't want to share the news until we made it past 12 weeks safely. Remember this post? Well, the full story is that I was experiencing symptoms that could be miscarriage, or not. The day I found out my grandma died I went in to the pregnancy care center here in town for an ultrasound. At that point I was supposed to be about 10 weeks along. In the ultrasound they only saw a gestational sack at about 6 and a half weeks, with no sign of a baby. All the signs seemed to point to a blighted ovum...also known as a failed pregnancy. I was devastated. I still had no definite answer as to whether the baby was okay or not, though not seemed more likely. It was another week before my doctor's appointment and during that time I came to terms with both possibilities (as mentioned in the post I linked to) When I did get to talk to my doctor she could tell how worried I was and went ahead and did an abdominal ultrasound before the rest of the appointment. I think I held my breath when she put the gel on my tummy. I was so anxious to know for sure, but a little bit scared what the results would be. Not 5 seconds after she put the wand on the gel she said "There's the baby!" My little berry measured at 8 weeks and 2 days with a strong heartbeat. Everything was fine!

My pregnancy symptoms have been very mild, for which I am very grateful! I was extremely tired a lot of the time for a few weeks and took multiple naps during the day, and I had very strong food aversions. I didn't get sick at all, but the idea of eating most foods made me feel a bit nauseated. My older sister is convinced I'm having a boy because all I wanted the first month was french fries, milkshakes, pizza, and chocolate milk.

I'm already showing quite a bit, though I have lost weight since being pregnant. Alex and I are both very excited! I am now 13 weeks along, and have had two more ultrasounds showing baby berry getting bigger all the time, and looking quite healthy! We announced the news to everybody last Thursday, so no more secrets! Part of the reason I have had a hard time writing is because so much of what I have been doing has something to do with Berry.

So, to answer some of the usual questions:
I am 13 weeks along today.
Due date is January 3rd, 2012
We will not be finding out the sex of baby
Yes, we have names picked out already :D
No, I haven't wanted pickles and ice cream. My cravings haven't been so much weird as they have been specific. For a while it was cherry 7up! Don't seem to have any right now though. Perhaps salad..

It's officially summer!

Yesterday was the first day of summer. And I finally believed it! With weather up in the nineties it was pretty obvious. I think that the heat may be hard for me to handle this year, I only have to be out in the sun for a few minutes and I start to radiate the heat from my skin -it's been the strangest thing. But, I was able to warm up my hubby when he got chilled indoors yesterday. Even with the heat affecting me so strongly there are so many things I love about summer!

* The sunshine
* Flowers. Mom has the most beautiful rose bushes and she lets Alex and I cut some and take them home. The light pink ones smell sooo good! And we found some irises on a friends dirt fill pile. They let us take one home and it has had two new buds bloom.
* People watching. Let's face it, many people are very strange! A concert in the park yesterday was the perfect opportunity to just sit and observe.
* Free concerts! One of the parks in my area hold a free concert every Tuesday night all summer long. They have vendors and bouncy castles set up too, so it's almost like a mini fair.
* Evening walks. much more enjoyable when I'm not getting chilled to the bone by the fall wind.
* Crickets, though annoying if you focus on the sound too long, I think they sound happy.
* Flip flops...pretty much an addiction, and awesome for showing of my toe rings.
* BBQs. Because it's just not the same to eat an indoor grilled hot dog.

I'm sure I could come up with more...but I don't want to be inside on the computer all day! What do you enjoy about summer?

Nine months!!

Can you believe it?

As of last Sunday Alex and I have been married for nine months! It doesn't seem like it could be that long, it's gone by so fast.

We're still newlyweds though. One of the women from our church said a few weeks ago "You two always look like the cutest little lovebirds." And the comment made me happy. I hope that we always do! I'm blessed to be able to say that Alex and I have never had an argument. I think that partially has to do with the fact that we had both been through difficult things before ever being in this stage of our life, that we don't become very easily unhappy with each other. It is so amazing to be married to someone who understand me, who shares the same faith and beliefs that I do, some of the same interests, and someone who loves me so much. Soon we will have been married a year, then two...and before we know it we will have spent more of our lifetime married than we did single. What a great future to look forward to!

Sold out!

Maybe you remember me mentioning that I was making headbands? It was a few months ago. Anyway, I finally asked a hair salon near here if i could sell them from their shop, and they said yes. They sold out in just over a week! I'm so excited. It's a relatively simple way to make some extra money this summer. I really need to make a bunch more now though!! I guess I have something to keep me busy the next few days.

Summertime!

Suddenly summer is here. Up until two days ago it has been rather rainy here and not getting up past 65 degrees. Now it's quite warm and sunny, and Alex has about a month off from school! So we have been trying to fill our days with fun things. Sleeping in, fresh strawberries with my -successful- first ever attempt at making angel food cake, browsing through thrift stores, people watching, helping Grandma with home improvement projects, and an afternoon at the park today. I love the sunshine! Even though I tend to get overheated pretty quickly.

I was told this afternoon that I have been slacking in my blog writing, and my sweet husband is quite right. I've gotten in a writing slump and seem to have suddenly run out of things to say. So I'm hoping that after a few of these rambling posts I'll be able to get back in the swing of things.

Life is good right now. Alex passed spring term with flying colors. (His full report card hasn't been published yet, but I'm rather sure he has almost all -if not all- "A"s) And though he will be taking summer classes, they don't start right away, and he's taking a lighter load than the last two terms. As for me, I am happy that I finally have my driver's license. (though I've only driven by myself 3 times in the 2 months I've had it) I've actually lost a tiny bit of weight and was told that the loss is noticeable in my face. And I'm feeling happy and healthy and excited about life.

  This has been on my mind for a couple of weeks...I guess it's time for me to just sit down and actually get it written out. I have been trying to figure out the fine line between trust and fear. Fear may not be the right word... Specifically for me..the line between trusting my God to do what's best for me, and yet still keeping that knowledge that what's best for me might not be what I want, and may seem quite terrible at the time it happens. In other words, still keeping in mind that everything won't go 100% the way I want it to, even if I am still doing what God wants me to. Am I even making sense?

  I have a recent example, though I don't think it's necessary to share all the specifics right now. A few weeks ago I mentioned that besides my grandma having passed away, I was dealing with some problems of my own. Health problems in fact. I knew that when I finally got answers for what was going on with me it would either be bad news and I would have to deal with it over the next few days, or weeks, maybe even months; or it would be good news, I would feel relief and happiness and go on with my life. I know that God wants what is best for me, and that may include trials. Trials to make me stronger, to discipline me, or so that I can have an empathy and compassion for other people who go through the same thing. I struggled for over a week. Of course I just wanted to get a positive answer from the doctor, I didn't want any additional struggles to face. After all, isn't losing someone I love hardship enough? I wanted good news.
  But after that initial reaction I knew that I wanted what would be best for me in the long run, even if it was tough to deal with. After many tears -and a lot of time spent in prayers and reading God's Word- I was finally at a place where I felt a peace about either outcome...though I wouldn't even think about saying it was easy. When I finally had the doctor's appointment and got a definite answer, it was very sudden. I got the answer so much sooner than I expected, and it was all good news! I think that maybe I had to go through the whole waiting and uncertain period just so that I would be able to come to a place where I could trust God to do what's best for me, despite what my personal desire's may be. It has made me so much more aware of the blessings I have. I know that I didn't deserve good news just for being me, I haven't done anything to earn my health. I am so thankful every day for the gift of life, for the time with my husband, for my family. It gave me a chance to just take a step back and realize again how deeply God cares for me and how much He has given me. I may not have realized it at the time, but that He brought me through that struggle was even a blessing. Otherwise I may still be taking every day-every breath- for granted.

I just wanted to ask..

"How ya doing?"

Eventually I'm going to get back to writing a bit more thought provoking posts. I guess I'm just in a writing slump right now.