One more thing..

Our family went over 3 years without getting any kind of sickness when we were in Stone Mountain outside of one bout of bronchitis for me and Kate, but once we moved and actually started hanging out with people on a regular basis we have gotten sick left and right. 3 Stomach bugs, Strep, and lots of colds in just 9 months time. Crazy!!  Being a hermit is lonely, but it certainly had its benefits..haha..Needless to say it was also very hard to feel SO sick and have to deal with our latest tummy bug, although I am very thankful that I was the only one in the house that managed to escape it..A sick mommy is not cool, so I am continually thanking the Lord I didn't get it.

I'm 8 weeks! Thankful that I only have a few weeks left of 1st trimester cause this nausea business is driving me crazy. I had lost 8 1/2 lbs. before getting pregnant and I've lost 3 more since being pregnant just from not wanting to eat(though I do, I assure you!). I'm part of an online forum for mom's due in May and we have had 3 Moms leave due to bad news at the Dr's office..It just reminds you to be so thankful for every day you are pregnant and not to take it for granted. For some reason I've had a lot of fear about this pregnancy for some reason. After our initial miscarriage, our pregnancy and birth history has been pretty decent and I guess I just keep feeling like the jig is up and its my turn to have something bad happen, but I have to remember that is NOT the way the Lord works. There is no fair police with Christ and there cannot be so much good that God has to make it bad. He just isn't like that, and I just have to remind myself that the Lord is good, He created me perfectly to carry this baby no matter what. Which helps a lot...:)

Anyways, just wanted to check in and say I'm alive. :)

Life.

I've already posted this on Facebook, but for record sake I'll record it here as well. Because one day I'm going to buy one of those books that has your complete blog in it. :)

But anyways! 3 1/2 weeks ago, I wasn't even late, but because I temp and chart them, I knew there could possibly be a chance, so I took this on a Saturday night thinking about how I was going to have wasted a test..haha..But as I was sitting there waiting for nothing to show up, something did! It wasn't super dark, but very much a positive.

I was soo shocked. We had been "trying"(I use this term loosely, but we weren't preventing, so really we were trying) for 6 months and I had totally come to terms with it not happening right now and was really focused on losing weight and all that, so it was really crazy to have gotten that positive!

Course almost a week later I took another one to be sure and it was very clear..:)

Of course our life right now is pretty crazy and doesn't seem ideal for bringing another baby into the situation, but we felt like we were supposed to trust God and know that His ways are higher then our ways. He said that children are a blessing...We are super happy and excited, little scared to be moving into the 4 kids zone soon, but thankful for a chance to embrace raising and loving a new little person.

We got to see our bean last week because I was having some pretty bad pain on my side, but thankfully everything was a-ok and due date was confirmed(score one for charting and not going by last period!).

BzzAgent

Is pretty cool, they have a Kindle Campaign going to start soon! Who doesn't want to test a Kindle?!? I sure do, I LOVE reading and have the Kindle App for my ipod, but its not the same and would love to give the big screen a whirl since it would make it so much easier to read with. Sure do hope I get chosen!

"Whaaat..?"

Check out that ticker. 3 lbs. down...I won't be winning any weight loss competitions but progress is progress and since this week was the first week where I really struggled with keeping to a healthy diet, I was just happy to see any loss at all! It was a stressful week and being the emotional baker/eater, I fought to find other things to deal with the issues. A lot of times this meant working out more(even if I already had), reading, doing something with the kids that would preoccupy  me, or cleaning. Having to learn how to retrain my brain and body to function without turning to food. Will edit my post later if I have lost inches as well but I have to wait till Luke's home from work for that...

ETA: I never got around to getting measured and decided to wait till next week to do it anyways..

Loser.

That's me! No weight loss this week, but I did lose 1 1/2 inches in my waist, 1/2 inch in thighs, and 1/4 inch in my hips. Happy with some progress....

Pt. 3

When we got back from Belize, we basically started "dating" if you want to call it that. I got back before Christmas and Luke came back shortly after. Our "dates" consisted of mostly going out with friends or him coming to my house, which he did almost every night till we got married. I valued this so much. He really got to know my family and I was so happy that they loved him nearly as much I did. We spent months playing board games, watching movies, praying together, and just talking with one another. After 2 months on Valentines Day, Luke took me out on our first real date. The boy didn't disappoint...:) He took me to Olive Garden and after we were seated he gave me this really pretty picture frame for my gift, which I thought was odd, but then said he needed to go get something, and brought in a KitchenAid mixer. If any of you know me, this was huge. He was pursuing my heart for sure..haha..I love all things KitchenAid and couldn't believe he'd bought me a super nice mixer. We went back to T'ville and bought all the stuff to make cookies and made some together with my new kitchen toy. At this point in our relationship we knew we were going to marry, but Luke didn't want to officially propose till he was able to afford a ring.

On March 11th 2003, We had made plans to go to Pebble Hill to see if we wanted to have any wedding pictures taken there, but I was not feeling well that day at all..so of course, I didn't want to go. My mom encouraged me that I needed to get ready cause Luke was coming to get me to go..(She was in on it, trying to get me there! haha) But my foul attitude from being sick made me act like a down right booty that day. Luke came and decided to stop for Jones Soda's next door at the gas station(when they still sold them there!) and we drove out to Pebble Hill. When we got there, you are suppose to pay to get in, but Luke kept telling me we didn't have to pay and the gate guy just made these silly faces at us, but due to my mood, I was unaware and more upset than anything that Luke hadn't paid the guy to get it..! My stupidity at its finest. We decided to park and Luke wanted to bring the drinks, but I thought we'd get in trouble having them on the property so I didn't want to bring them, but Luke was adamant. Again, my temper was ridicules and demanded he carry the drinks if he wanted to bring them so badly. After all this tantrum throwing I'm surprised our afternoon continued! haha.. So we walked down this hill towards the lake there and passed these ladies who were smiling and pointing at us..(should have wondered about this), but then I saw it. A table down by the lake all set up with my favorite foods, flowers and everything. He had made a picnic for us(hence those darn drinks!). As soon as we got down there I know what's up, and he gets down on one knee and asks me to make him the happiest man alive and pulls out this:

The Marquis ring we had looked at at the mall one time long ago when we were still on friend territory.

I of course say yes, though he will say to this day that I never answered him. I must comment on how funny this moment was, because it would have been such a key moment for us in terms of affection. It would have been so easy to have leaned down and kissed him, but Luke and I talked long before we were even in a relationship that we both wanted to save our first kiss for our wedding day. We had nothing against people who didn't, but for us personally we really wanted it to be a big deal, so it was slightly awkward ignoring the urge to have that moment be THE moment and kiss, but I'm thankful neither of us caved..haha..We had a lovely lunch together and roamed Pebble Hill afterwards.

Me in the shadows of a plant covering on our engagement day. It wasn't supposed to be artsy, but kind of turned out that way.

Just so you know..

I added my weight loss tracker on the top. Its been slow, but I know that this is a life style change, not a quick loss followed by gaining it all back. So I'm ok with it, but I am working out everyday so I probably have more muscle now then I did. I wish I had measured myself last week, but will do that this week so I can keep tabs on inches lost. My shorts fit better this week so I think things are changing. :)