Lookin' Good Moose

Jerod picked the title for this blog based on his love for the old enterprise commercial where the guy was getting ready for his high school reunion.....anybody know what I'm talking about?? Anyway, I haven't posted any belly pics through the first 17 weeks of this pregnancy, and I'm so sorry! So I'm going to catch you all up on how my little munchkin is stretching out my tummy.

5 weeks

As you will notice, this is the only "bump" picture in which I show the actual skin of my belly. I think I was momentarily "high" because this was the day I took my pregnancy test- at about 5:30 in the morning (Jerod really appreciated getting woke up that early on a work day-haha)

10 weeks

You can still kind of see my face bones, especially my jaw line.

17 weeks

Holy melons and acne! The cashier at Walmart asked me today when I'm due and when I told her June 30 she said, "Oh, you look like you're further along." Thanks?? Oh well, at least there's no question about whether I'm pregnant or just fat!

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Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh....

...went the baby's heart beat tonight at our latest OB appointment, 150 beats per minute, yay! I was even more exhausted than usual today because I slept terribly last night. If there's one thing I'm good at, it's worrying, and I always happen to worry before we have these appointments. I can't help it, I just do. Not to say I don't try to ease the worry, I've already prayed more for this child of mine than I think I've ever prayed for anything before in my life! I suppose it's just the beginning of these types of prayers though- I have a feeling I'll pray for my babies until my dying day. Anyway, this was just the latest update on Baby Brown and the pregnancy.

At our next appointment we have the opportunity to find out the sex of the baby. I am holding firm in not knowing, I want to be surprised, but Jerod is being difficult. He wants to know because then we only have to focus on one kind of name, but that's not convincing enough for me. I told him since I don't want to know, he CAN'T know, otherwise he's drive me nuts hinting both ways about the baby being a boy or a girl. I think for his safety and my sanity, we'll just stay in the dark about it!

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Very Superstitious.....

I never used to be too superstitious. But since dating and marrying a baseball guy- I have since changed those ways. Silly things (things I know Jamie Burdorf does, too!). Like, if the boys aren't doing well in a game we'll get up and move around to different places on the left field fence until they - hopefully - start to play better. I never forget to "knock on wood" when I mention how quiet my students are on a particular day. And Jerod and I are always reverse-jinxing ourselves, for instance, if Jerod wants his fantasy football team to do well, he'll tell his opponent that week, "You've already got this in the bag, congratulations on your win."

I want one of my New Year's resolutions to be:

Be optimistic and look at life positively, without the superstition.

There are so many things that I have to be appreciative of and look forward to in 2011 and I don't want superstitions and rituals to get in the way of enjoying those things. I was so sure that something would go wrong with our pregnancy that I was wary to enjoy the first several weeks. Hitting the second trimester feels like a HUGE milestone and I feel like I finally have the freedom to enjoy the life growing inside me and I can't say how much I love that. I love to rub and pat my little belly, I pretend my baby knows who it is- maybe he or she really does, I don't care either way, it's my way of saying hello every day. If Jerod thinks I'm grouching at him about something he'll come up and rub my tummy and talk to the baby......which usually leaves me with no choice but to stop being upset :)

I hope 2011 gives everyone many blessings, big and small, and all with reasons to be optimistic and joyful about the life we've been given, and the people we have to share it with. Happy New Year!

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Our Little Miracle

I was going to wait until after we'd sent out our Christmas cards to share this news with those of you who read our blog (if you don't already know), but after the sweetest Christmas gift from Jerod, I decided it's time.

Jerod and I are expecting the first addition to our family, a baby due June 30, 2011- right in the middle of baseball season! We just passed the 12 week mark, and I have felt pretty good so far. No morning sickness, but I have been extremely tired and have had some recurring back pain near the base of my spinal cord. My mom has suggested starting to see a chiropractor, so I might ask the doctor about that when we go back to hear the heartbeat in January. We have had two appointments so far and were able to get a sneak peek at our little nugget in the beginning of December. The kid was wiggling all over and waving their little arms, it was a great sight for this mommy-to-be's eyes and made me feel a lot better about the pregnancy.

Grandma Jacque joked, "He looks just like Jerod!" I'm not sure if everyone else can tell, but the baby is upside down in this ultrasound pic, the arm is in front of the face, it seems like a nose, but it's the baby's arm. I'm in love already :)

While I have been on Cloud 9 since discovering this right after a trip to Seattle in October, Jerod's been more of a "guy" about the whole thing. He says he's looking forward to when the baby arrives in June and he can see and hold his new baby. I can't completely understand his thinking, but try to, and was so very touched by his Christmas gift to me this year. I know I shouldn't have opened it yet, but when football is on ALL DAY, I get really bored and had already skimmed through a couple pregnancy books, baby name books, and written in my Mommy Journal. Plus, Jerod asked me every day if I wanted to open my gift, and I was pleasantly surprised.

It was so sweet, I definitely cried (just a little bit), and Jerod tried to pretend like it wasn't a big deal that he picked out such a perfect Christmas gift. Happy Christmas week everyone, hopefully yours is as blessed as ours has proved to be.

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I just had these two pictures from Thanksgiving break. This is my sister's dog, Lola, and it never fails when we come to my parents' place for a visit, her favorite place to hang out is Jerod's lap. Which is pretty funny, because it's Jerod's least favorite place for Lola to hang out. :)




This is the welcome sign to Massena, Iowa, the town where Jerod's Aunts and Grandpa live. I don't know why I love it so much, but I do. I've always wanted to get a picture of it, every time we drive by, and finally I made Jerod stop (okay, he refused to stop, but he drove super slowly so I could nab a photo).


Stay warm out there!

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It's a Wonderful Life

I have to say, although Thanksgiving week is completely exhausting from driving all over the western half of Iowa, I love nothing more than spending time with family. Jerod is anxious to have kids because he's under the impression we won't have to be gone so long if we have a baby with us.....except I think that's all the more reason our families will want us to be there as often and as long as possible! We stopped in Fontanelle first, to visit with Jerod's Grandma Carole, we had a nice chat and found out that she's recovering from a broken pelvis which was news to us! So we're keeping her in our prayers. Then, we went to Jerod's parent's place where Deb had a soup and sandwich supper in the works, it was delicious, and we topped it off with some apple crisp and cherry cheesecake, yum! We spent Thanksgiving afternoon at his Aunt Kathy and Uncle Dan's, where I purposely ate small amounts of Thanksgiving dinner in anticipation for Chocolate Truffle (this amazing chocolate cake, chocolate pudding, peanut butter sauce, whipped cream delight that Jerod's mom makes and I get to eat once a year).

Our Thanksgiving evening was spent traveling to Sioux City to see the Wyants and perusing the Black Friday ads from the newspaper. Let me tell you- never have I been so pooped from shopping as I was after this particular Black Friday, we aren't crazies on this day like other people, it's just a fun way for my mom, sister, and me to spend time together (and get some good deals). I was especially emotional about leaving my family this year and even cried during church knowing we were leaving right after, but it was a really wonderful couple of days. Sometimes it's just so hard to be this far away, hopefully we'll see them more often after next summer. In the meantime, Happy Holidays to everyone, I really hope that yours are full of family, friends, warmth, and lots of great food :)


P.S. I got to hold my cousin's 3-week old little girl, Alexis, who was the cutest little thing ever, and I thought to myself, "I could get used to this...."

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Seattle Pics

You'll be disappointed if you wanted to see pics of the great city of Seattle, we didn't do much sight-seeing just visiting with family on this trip, which was really nice. But, I realized I had posted so long ago and forgotten to follow-up with pics, so here you are!

(Mom, Grandpa Danny, Me, my brother Tom, and Grandma Naty)

Grandpa is looking pretty good I think, he seems to be doing well.

Back L-R: Mom, Me, Cheyenne, Jazmine

Front L-R: Michelle, Tom, Naty, Grandpa

And that's Nicholas right up there in his mom's lap.

This are my two beautiful cousins Chey and Jaz, I remember coming out to Seattle when I was in 5th grade and Jaz was only maybe almost 2 years old, now she's a junior in high school. Am I old much?!

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