Lots to Update

Sorry it's been a few weeks since the last post. We've been pretty busy the last few weeks with graduations, the end of another semester for Stephen, and just life in general. So that means there's lots to update you guys on and I took lots of pictures! I'm going to do a separate post on David's graduation from Colorado State University because I have so many pictures to post with that one.

Ok first things first...BABY UPDATE! I'm now 16 weeks and the baby bump is getting a little bigger. I feel like there's definitely one there now and I'm guessing that in about 4 weeks it'll be an obvious baby bump. Still no need for maternity clothes, but I'm not really complaining about that one. I had another check-up yesterday with the doctor and he said everything is great and the baby's heartbeat is really strong. We'll find out in just 4 WEEKS whether this baby is a boy or girl!!! Here's some pics for you all. 

The first picture was at 14 weeks. I didn't post it then cause I didn't think there was much to see in the picture...  The second one was yesterday, 16 weeks.

Now that you've gotten your baby fix (Grandma Vicky), you may have noticed that there's been another change to my appearance since the last pictures - I got all my hair chopped off! I've been growing it out for about a year to donate to Locks of Love and it was finally long enough! I've been ready for the last few months to get it cut, so I was pretty excited (and nervous!) that the day had finally come. Here's a couple pics of the big event:

And lastly, a huge task has finally been completed at our house. We got a basketball goal for Christmas and it's been sitting in our garage in about a million tiny pieces for the last 5 months. Stephen tried to put it together a few months ago, but it turned out to be pretty complicated and definitely more than a one man job. So on Memorial Day, Stephen and his dad spent the entire afternoon piecing our basketball goal together. They got it finished and I have evidence of the finished product (for my parents to see the proof)  :-)

What a cute father/son picture!  :-)

Alright, next to come...the great Colorado graduation adventure!

12 Wks & A Little Bump!

It's finally here! I have proof that there's a small baby bump growing in this belly. I have a feeling in another 2 months I'll think back on this and laugh, but right now I'm so excited that you can see what I've been thinking I can see for the last 2 weeks. Stephen says there's no doubt you can see the bump, and Grandma Janet and Aunt Jayci have both said they can see it too!  :-) 

I had my second check-up with the doctor today and everything looks great. I got to hear the baby's heartbeat again and it was really fast and strong! They pointed out the sound of the baby's heartbeat and then the sound of mine and the baby's was probably twice as fast and twice as loud as mine was! Crazy. So we're doing great and I'll go back again at the end of May.

Oh, and this week we're at a large plum! This baby is growing!

Outback

This past weekend Stephen and I served at Outback. Not like the restaurant Outback, but the weekend retreat held at Farmlinks Golf Course. It's a Fri-Sun retreat for relationship building between husbands and wives and parent/child. Stephen has been involved with Outback since high school and I helped at my first Outback retreat last fall. We actually got engaged at Farmlinks during one of the Outback weekends. We weren't serving there that weekend, but we went to visit friends and he took me up to the mountain top at sunset and proposed (he had it all planned out).

Anyways, we spent the weekend coaching one of the husband/wife groups and had a great time. We all learned a lot and got to see relationships built up and restored by God. Little baby Webb did a great job and didn't cause any problems for me during the weekend, other than helping to make sure I was ready to go to sleep the minute my head hit the pillow. I've been feeling pretty good the last few days...I haven't been quite as tired as I was, although I'm definitely still more tired than normal. For a few weeks, there was no question that the minute I got home from work I was headed straight to bed to take a nap. Now I'm still tired, but I'm able to make it until bedtime (which has been around 9:30 for the last 5 weeks).

Next week I have my next dr's check-up. I'll be 12 weeks along, which is kinda hard to believe. The first trimester is drawing to a close. At 20 weeks, we'll know if this baby is a boy or a girl. By my calculations, that should be the last week of June, just in time to get the news before we head to the lake for the Johnson family 4th of July festivities! I can't wait!

10 Weeks Picture 

I must say I'm a little disappointed after looking at the picture - I thought you could tell just a little bit that my belly had gotten bigger, but after looking at the 8 week picture, they look pretty much identical! Geesh. Well, maybe there will be more to show at week 12!

I can't believe it's already been 10 weeks. That means I'm 1/4 of the way through this pregnancy and in just 3 short weeks I'll be done with the first trimester. Not that I'm wishing it would go quickly, but I'm definitely excited to be reaching that milestone! Overall I'm still feeling pretty good, but I do get a little queasy first thing in the morning and then again right around dinner time until I go to bed. And tired. Right now my evenings consist of taking a nap the moment I get home from work, waking up to eat a little something and talk to Stephen, and then falling back asleep for the night. Stephen has definitely been a trooper and hasn't made a big deal out of having to fend for himself at dinner time (thank you honey!). I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful, sweet, and helpful husband. Last night after I woke up from my nap, he asked if he could get me anything to eat before I even made it out of the bed and then brought it to me in bed. Talk about service! :-)

According to all the baby websites, this week our baby is about one and half inches long, and about the size of a kumquat (not that I have any idea what a kumquat looks like...). Last week it was the size of a green olive or large grape, so I'm just picturing a little bigger than that. I was looking ahead and in 2 weeks, it will be the size of a large plum! Wow, that's a lot of growth in just a few weeks from grape to plum! No wonder I'm so hungry during the day. I think I'm starting to show just a little bit, though I doubt anyone but me can tell. I have a feeling I'm about to enter that awkward stage where people can't tell if you've just gained some weight or if you are actually pregnant. :-) LOL. Should be fun!

Well I think that's all the baby news at the moment. I have my next doctor's checkup in 2 weeks. I think we're going to take another picture tonight, which I'll post on here and you guys can decide for yourselves if I'm starting to show. It's been 2 weeks since the last one, so there's been a little bit of change.

Oh, and I have to mention the cute Easter basket we got from Grandma-to-be Janet and Grandpa-to-be Jeff. One side of it was filled with pink candies and the other side was filled with blue candies and at the back it had a bunch of baby magazines. So cute! It's been fun to flip through the magazines in the evenings. Thanks Janet and Jeff! And thanks to my mom for the Baby Einstein Lullaby CD! It will be a fantastic nap-time CD for the baby and I've already enjoyed listening to it. The music is so soothing, and all the lullabies are set to the music of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, and other famous composers - so great! Our little one is definitely going to be spoiled by some loving grandparents (and great-grandparents)!

Sleepy Rainy Day

Whew! All of yesterday's excitement with our first doctor's appointment wore me out! I literally got home yesterday and got straight into bed for a quick nap before Wednesday night church. Then this morning I woke up to go to work and ended up back in bed an hour later fast asleep. Thankfully I woke up at 11am, just in time to still put in a half day of work. I'm trying to be careful about using up my sick days and vacation since this is probably just the beginning of all that's to come. Today my tummy was a little more queasy than normal, but I still don't think I have anything to complain about. I went through some of the material we got at the doctor's office yesterday. They gave us a whole goodie bag full of information about pregnancy and the hospital and baby classes and all kinds of stuff. We are definitely entering a whole new world and way of life, and I'm excited. But for now it's off to bed!

We're having a Baby!

It's official! The news has been out for a little while, but today we had our first doctor's appointment and actually got to see the evidence...a little baby is growing inside my belly! I'm 8 weeks along and we're due on Nov 12th. Stephen is really excited and I definitely am too!  We're so thankful for this precious gift from God.

I get asked daily how I feel, and I must say that it really hasn't been too bad so far. I had about a week and a half of feeling nauseous all day long...I was thinking that someone needed to rename Morning Sickness" to "Morning, Noon, & Night Sickness," but the last week and a half I have felt much better. I'd say hunger and just a slight uneasiness in my stomach have been the main feelings lately. Hopefully it will stay that way rather than get any worse!

The new grandparents-to-be were the first to find out, and we tried to make the big reveal special for each of them. I'll have to tell the stories later. Needless to say, everyone is pretty ecstatic. This will be the first grandbaby on both sides of the family, so everyone is suddenly feeling a lot older (especially my grandfather who is about the be a great-granddaddy). :-) I'm so thankful for our wonderful families and all their support. There will be no lack of loving arms and babysitters for this little one!

Be praying for our newly forming family. Stephen and I realize the awesome responsibility of parenting and discipling children, and we're taking it in with much joy and prayer. We want to honor the Lord in the way we raise our children, and for our children to learn from their parents to love Jesus Christ and share His Gospel with the world. It's a big task and an exciting one! Enjoy the pictures!

This is me at 8 weeks...not much to see yet!