a little of everything...

i have really been slacking on posting my weekly belly-bump pictures, but i hit a rut at twenty-four weeks.  i looked at the picture and said, "ewww!"  so i have been pushing it off to the side as long as i can... sorry stella, but with everyone's comments these past few weeks, i haven't been willing to show the rest of the world.

people's comments?  what comments you ask?  comments that are not necessary. not needed. and not wanted.  unless they are nice.  and maybe some people need a little reminder about what nice is.  not everyone that is pregnant enjoys being pregnant, which is something people need to think about before they open their mouths.  i do not care that being pregnant is a "reason" to gain weight and that it is healthy to gain weight because it isn't true.  so keep your, "hey, big girl" comments to yourself before i lose it.  thanks.

but then i look at my weekly pictures and think, "shoot, that belly-bump is big!"

twenty-four weeks and a few days along = 16(+/-) weeks to go!

*note to self: hair up in these pictures doesn't work, nor do the pants you were wearing that day.  love ya!

twenty-five weeks.

*much better, but what is with that crazy looking hand?

i do not have a twenty-six week picture yet, but once i get one and post it, i will update all about yesterday's doctor appointments.  thank you for all your kind thoughts and prayers, they helped! <3

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last week i celebrated my twenty-ninth birthday!  it was such a fun day [and weekend], one of the best non-drinking ones i have had in a while :)  the kids at school were super excited!  i told them on thursday that they were all invited to my party and that they better not miss it!  one even said, "i think Miss Beth is going to have a bounce house at her party tomorrow."  ha!  during the afternoon, stella and i were surprised with a small shower by a group of teachers i meet with every month, [so fun]!  then after work i had two visitors stop by the house, kara+cam, and when tim got home from work we went to our favorite pizza place, michaelangelo's.  mmm!  and best of all, my parents came for the weekend!!

the goodies i got from the ladies i work with (see picture below) and a little something from my miss natalie!

one of my families gave me a pink necklace/earring set with a silhouette of a mom and baby, another family gave me a piece of cake, and another family gave me a hallmark flower that blooms :)  such sweet and generous families!

miss jenna, me, and miss marlene--classroom 200.

tim cutting the rest of the cake i brought home from the surprise shower. 

miss christina was part of the shower too, but her baby girl came early!

stella got some awesome gifts!

then on saturday and sunday...

while my parents were here, my dad helped tim hook up the new ceiling fan.

we had a few extra wires hanging down that we didn't want to mess with, so we asked the handy-man himself to help us.

ava-dog loving the attention.

mommy and i <3

had to post both, i love her so much!

birthday dinner numero dos.  burger mondays with mom and dad and mom and dad s.

dad, me, and mom <3

after dinner was dessert at mom and dad s'.

mom s, me, and dad s.

a few poses of the mom and dad-to-be!

<3

it was a great birthday and weekend all around--thank you for all the birthday wishes, love, cards, and gifts for stella!  xoxo!

anxious.

that is how i am feeling...and nervous.

today, finally today, we have our next ultrasound and dr. appointment.  dr. L took a vacation last week, so that pushed us back again.  [he was on vacation the week i was supposed to have my last appointment with him, too.]  tough life.  five week appointments seem a lot longer than the typical four week appointments that we have been having.  so maybe dr. L could keep the rest of his vacations until after august :)

in any case, i am hoping that after our ultrasound, dr. L will let us know about the cysts they found on stella's last ultrasound.  and i am hoping and praying and hoping some more that they have dissolved and that stella is growing strong (seriously, no pun intended) and healthy.

so please say a little extra prayer for us today.  thank you.  xoxo!



*and i will be updating later today since i have been neglecting to put up pictures weekly of the ever-so growing belly :)

baby belly update...

as with my previous post, i am playing catch up with my posts about my growing belly.  we were able to snap a picture at twenty-two weeks before i left for a weekend trip to albany.  however, we missed week twenty-three :(  i was feeling worn out and a cold coming on, so the last thing i wanted was a picture taken.  then next thing we knew, tim caught my cold, too!  last week we were both out for the count, so no picture for twenty-three weeks.  annnnnnd yesterday marked twenty-four weeks, but that will be another post :)

twenty-two weeks and a very, happy first birthday to riley grace!! <3

baby news:  little lady is the length of a spaghetti squash, about eleven inches, and weighing in at almost one pound!

cravings:  a wegman's sub, please!

movements:  she has been moving and shaking around in there, and back at twenty-three weeks, tim felt her for the first time.  his reaction was so cool!!  i wish his reaction was on video...the amazement that illuminated from his face was priceless.  it is those little moments that help make it real for him <3

...and i forgot to post the pictures i have taken as i practice shooting with the manual setting, so here they are :)

cat-nap.

curious.

watching tv.

proud.

xoxo!

a little behind...

...in the blogging world lately.  it was a tough couple of weeks leading up to spring break--the tiredness seemed as though it was starting to creep back or it could have been a combination of the children's eagerness (and need) for a break in routine and a nasty cold coming on.  either way, i was beginning to feel run down and blogging was the last thing i wanted to do when i got home from work.

march is always a busy month at school.  it seems as though we have many events crammed into it, but that may be a good thing since we do not have a february break, it gives us all some things to look forward to.  so with work being busy, it is tough to spend weekends away too, but that is what i did.  i was away three out of the five weekends...yikes!  by april 1st, i was done--and i think stella was too!  however, the traveling was for all awesome reasons and i wouldn't do it any different if i had the chance to do it again.

the first weekend was a long day trip, all the way out to athens, new york.  athens?  where is that?  i have no idea!  the only thing i know is that i remember hearing the name athens back at home for school delays and closings, but when i looked on the map for directions from binghamton, the only way to get there was back roads.  no big deal, though, i had two fabulous passengers and we were headed to see one of our college ladies for her bridal shower :)

(from left to right) stefanie, tisa, kristen (the bride-to-be!), shannon, and i.

love you ladies!

i love this picture, but not of myself.  my face is so not that fat, yet, buuuuuuut we all had a great day!  weddings are so much fun because you have many opportunities to get together with your friends that you do not get to see on a daily basis...besides their facebook status updates ;)

when shannon, stef, and i got back to binghamton that night, the boys were eager to get to the new brewery that opened up downtown.  the brewery was packed, i was tired, and i couldn't drink...not so much fun, but the company was good :)

me, stef, and shannon

the following weekend was chosen for my families March Madness weekend.  this weekend tradition started about four years ago, almost a year into tim and my relationship, [the family jokes this was a way to make sure tim was okay to join the group ;)] as a way for us all to get together and catch up.  this year we did not do much watching of basketball, instead with the warm weather, we were all found outside playing corn hole.  any competitive game that gets started in my family, is a keeper.  corn hole is nothing short of amazing and fits perfectly for all of us.  here are a few pictures from the weekend...

scott and kevin...

kevin wanted a shot of the follow thru.

timmer and my dad

aunt barbara and my mom

timmer and i <3

angela, kevin holding matilda, aunt barbara, and billy

here is a video of the wave we did while watching the end of one of the games...too much!

two weekends later, i was back on the road to albany.  

tim got me a weekend with the rocky mountain school of photography which was in the albany area, and we were celebrating riley's first birthday.  i was getting more and more anxious as the weekend got closer--i do not like to go to new places on my own where i do not know anyone and i had no idea what to expect at the workshop.  it ended up being a very valuable experience, however it was tough to sit for two days straight and soak in a ton of information.  i was so overwhelmed with all that i was learning, it took me a while to get my camera back out and try out what i learned.  

riley's birthday celebration was so much fun!  i love being surrounded by family, but throw her into the mix and it is a million times better!  she has such a little personality now, and is so interested in one thing one minute and moving on to something else in another minute.  she wasn't too interested in her presents, but loved to go by the coffee table trying to eat the cheese and crackers.  Gpa and Grandpa Frosch gave her some goodies eventually.  it was great to be there to help her celebrate a whole year of her life already and all of the successes she has had--we cannot believe it has been a year...

here are some pictures from the weekend and a few pictures trying to strictly use the manual setting...

riley checking out her presents and uncle scott.

happy birthday, riley!  she kept the hat on long enough for the picture :)

showing riley how much fun a birthday hat is :)

riley feeling cousin stella.

riley's cake!

the adult cake.

she was unsure why everyone was looking at her and singing to her...

she started out very clean with the cake...

...but uncle scott was egging her on to get messy, which she really enjoyed!

phew, what a month, and now we are into the middle of april!  i am looking forward to some weekends at the country club and getting things together for stella!  but i had a great time catching up with friends and family and learning more about my camera <3 <3  xoxo!

feeling the love.

i wanted to show some of the things stella has received already.  it is wonderful to know that she is so loved already, and not only from our families, but from my kiddies at school <3

my mom and dad got stella this cute little outfit.

similar to the outfit we got for the reveal, but it has monkeys on it. 

the onsie has polka dots and comes with pants that have...

 ...little monkey-face feetsss!

 and there was also a long-sleeved sleeper!

that was not all...i dug down into the bag and pulled out this cute little number!

i couldn't get over the little onsie tank-top!  it has pink little (i keep saying "little" because everything is so little!) hearts and a pair of shorts and a shirt that says,

"I <3 mommy" (sigh!)  

thank you mom and dad or i should say, gma and gpa!

stella received this outfit from one of my kids at school!

his mom says he talks about Miss Beth's baby all the time!

this is more for me than it is for stella, but aunt colleen uncle clint and riley got these fun stickers for each month of stella's first year.  ava wanted to see what they were all about, too!

 aunt colleen, uncle clint, and riley also got stella a onsie.

i fell in love as soon as i opened the package!  i cannot wait until she is here so i can put it on her!

thank you so much aunt colleen, uncle clint, and riley!

 ...and this is proof of ava loving the upstairs.

she wouldn't look at the camera, she was too anxious to sniff around!

thank you again for the beautiful gifts for stella!  we are as anxious as you are to meet her :)

xoxo!

change.

change : verb (used without object)

• to become different: Overnight the nation's mood changed.
• to become altered or modified: Colors change if they are exposed to the sun.

i hate change, not like the seasons changing, but when a person has to adapt or alter or become different for whatever reason.  i have never been good with change and am not sure how one person copes with change, especially when there is more than one change occurring at the same time.  i understand that in life there are a lot of changes and life continues on, but sometimes it is helpful to b*tch about it.  i am the type of person that does not immediately share my life story with people, unless i know that the person or people that i am telling are genuine.  i have been knocked around one too many times to not have a wall up.  nor do i really share my exact emotions all the time.  and that is probably half of my problem--bottling everything up.  however, that is a big reason i loved writing in a journal (and now enjoy a blog or two every once in a while).

but back to change... for one, being pregnant is a huge change.  i do not care if you love being pregnant or do not enjoy being pregnant, it is a change.  you, yourself is changing while your body is going through a million changes, your mindset has to change, and you have a significant other that has no clue about these changes (that might be the hardest one to deal with!)  your routine changes, your mood changes (a lot!), and if you get "pregnancy brain", holy hannah, it really can make you crazy!  and to add more change on top of all of that...no thank you!


unfortunately though, it has happened in our house.  tim has been working hard and it has shown because when something comes up in the company, his name comes up.  granted he is in a way an extra body since he does not have a 'permanent' spot yet and still in the process of finishing his program, but i know many people are impressed with the work he has done with many of his projects.  so, when there merger with BCT was going to go through, they needed some employees to go down to montrose and help out.  tim was asked to manage the branch, which would be for about a month, but i mentioned to him that he should ask if he can do three months there since he has to do three months worth of in-branch service before the end of his program.  they said he could, so he is now working down in montrose getting to know what it will be like to be a manager.  when i first heard about all of this, i was super pumped for him and the opportunity that he is being given, but on the other hand, montrose is a forty minute drive.  eww!  and knowing that banks do not close early, i could only imagine what time he would be getting home most nights.

insert: change.  ugh!  unlike pregnancy where it affects one person (or seems like it ;)), tim's temporary position would affect two people (and ava-dog!).  he has to get used to a new position, a new commute, different hours, more responsibilities at work, and i have to hold down the fort (which i have not had much energy or motivation to do since november).  i was afraid the house would fall apart and i would go down with it.

how has it been going?  after about a month, we are starting to get used to the new schedule and beginning to realize it isn't always peaches and cream [ :) ] and there may be some nights where tim doesn't get home until 8 or later.  the first week of the merge was crazy for me, i do not want to know how tim felt.  he did not get home one night until after 2:00 AM!  not okay.  there are many nights where i have dinner by myself, have some awesome conversations with ava and diego, and try to keep the house and school work in check.  our nights seem to fly by, it is as if we walk in the door from work, eat dinner, watch tv for an hour, and then go to bed.  our weeks go by and our weekends go by even faster--and it is tough as we really need to start moving on getting ready for the baby.  we cannot put everything on hold while we adapt to this new change...we just wish, like everyone else, there was more time in the day and a little extra energy.

...this post has been a work in progress all week, as ava-dog has me preoccupied when i get home from work.  she does not let me sit and think for more than ten minutes at a time, and she has recently learned to jump the baby gate and now goes upstairs :)  so this is the long and short version of what has been going on.  it is a lot, and when not everyone is understanding or i do not have someone to vent about it to, it makes me miss home and my lovely lady friends that much more <3

xoxo!

(and it could be the hormones that make everything seem ten times bigger than they are...)

twenty and twenty-one weeks.

last week marked twenty weeks (phew!) but i was in albany for a conference so the picture was pushed back a few days.  we ended up taking the picture monday morning and as you can tell, i was running late for work...which happens a little too often these days.

twenty weeks!

baby news:  little lady is weighing about 10 1/2 ounces and is around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel -- the length of a banana!

cravings:  still that delicious sub sandwich, mmmmm!

movements:  yes!  so weird and so cool at the same time.  it is very sparatic, but i am starting to feel her kick or punch.  tim has not had the chance to feel her it yet since her movements are random, but hopefully in the next couple of weeks he will be able to!

i cannot believe that we are half way through.  it does not seem like it is moving along that fast, but when you turn twenty-one weeks into five months, then it seems like, ahhhh! we don't have that much more time until she is here!  (insert mini panic attack!)

here we are at twenty-one weeks!  someone told me the other day, "you look how i looked when i was eight months pregnant."  i was not sure if this was a compliment or not, ugh.

 twenty-one weeks!

baby news:  little lady is weighing about three-quarters of a pound is about the length of a carrot -- 10 1/2 inches long.

cravings:  have not forgotten about that sub!

movements:  i was able to tell dr. L at my appointment on thursday that i am feeling movement!  her movements are still random, but i am noticing that in the evening she is pretty active.  we will see if it stays that way :)

ultrasound update:  while at my appointment on thursday with dr. L, we heard little lady's heart beat, which still sounds good and then went over my blood test results.  all three tests came back with very low percentages for down syndrome, trisomy 18, and one other birth defect that i cannot remember.  good news!  then dr. L told me that the ultrasound we had at week nineteen showed (he said what sounded like some big word) cysts on the area of her brain.  he said it is nothing to worry about and that we will do an ultrasound with the next appointment i have with him to see the status of them then.  

in my head i heard, "big words, cysts, nothing to worry about, we will schedule the next visit".  i am awful at asking questions, but dr. L is very laid back and has been reassuring from the beginning, even before little lady was in the picture when i was going through some stuff.  so i really did not think twice about it, and told myself i would ask more questions at the next visit if they are still there, and assuming he would give more information about them then, too.

i called my mom to update her, and she was not too thrilled that i did not ask any questions nor did i write down the 'big word' so that i could look it up when i got home.  however, i hate to do that (the looking it up online part!)  so once i got off the phone with her, i googled "what can doctors find on an ultrasound in a baby's brain?"  a few threads came up that sounded like what dr. L was talking about -- CPC, Choroid Plexus Cyst.  it is the only thing that sounded like what was seen on the ultrasound.  i found this information at babyzone.com: http://www.babyzone.com/pregnancy/prenatal-care/choroid-plexus-cyst_71106  *and that is why i do not like to look anything up.  i would much rather panic when dr. L says "worry about it" instead of spending the next month worrying about it.

...so here is to hoping that little lady stella has a super clear ultrasound at the end of april to help settle a couple of nervous ladies.  xoxo!