Don't read this if you don't want the fun details a pregnant woman just loves to talk about :)

I know lots of people are interested in my progression, but I'm sure many people aren't...so I thought I'd post a quick blog to update if you were interested. At 37 weeks I was 4cm dilated & 60% effaced, at my 38 week appointment yesterday I was still at 4cm but 80% effaced and baby is at a '0' station. Lots of new things since I hit the 37 week mark that make me hope I'm nearing the finish line- like horrible heartburn which I NEVER had with Micaiah, sleeping very little at night for no apparent reason, fuller & much more tender breasts, bloody show (or most likely a result of checking progression), stronger contractions, and of course an overwhelming sense of horrible pain soon to come...haha =) I'm hoping to go into labor before my scheduled induction around Nov. 28th. I'm not way into the idea of an induction, but hopefully my doctor is right when she says I won't make it that long. Thanks for continued prayers. I feel much more ready to give birth since my last post, of course I still feel crazy anxious and full of mixed emotions. Lucky Caleb. hehe.

Labor is just around the corner and...

I'm terrified! I'm just about 38 weeks now, I gave birth to Micaiah at 39 weeks. At my 37 week appt I was 4cm dilated which surprised me. I'd be fine waiting until December to give birth, yet somehow I'd be fine with tomorrow. I don't even know how I feel other than full of mixed emotions. I'm excited for the surprise of when I'll go into labor, how long it will take, what the baby will look like, how big or small he'll be, how Micaiah will respond to the sight of a new baby brother, how he'll behave, just so many things! I'm NOT excited for the actual labor and recovery. Saying I'm terrified doesn't even begin to describe my feelings on the subject. Labor is the worst pain I've ever experienced, and 12 hours of it was enough. I pray this time it doesn't take 12 hours, I'm praying that it won't be so horrifyingly painful. I even prayed that the baby would just kind of 'slip out' with little pain! I'm also scared of the recovery and hope that this time it's not as prolonged. I'm even more afraid of life after baby comes. I remember the first 2 weeks after Micaiah was born I felt like my world was crumbling. He just cried non-stop. I barely made it through with Micaiah, I can't imagine doing that with a baby and a toddler. For someone who has been incredibly blessed with a miracle pregnancy, I sure am untrusting and worried! I know the Lord will take care of us, I just naturally tend to fear life changing, and fear the pain of natural child birth. A LOT. So if you're reading this, please pray for me to trust, for me to have rest before the baby comes, for me to be strong during the process, for me to feel capable to handle what the Lord has given me, for me to see the joy in all things, for me to recover after the birth well, for breastfeeding to go more smoothly this time, for the baby to sleep and be healthy, and for Micaiah to adjust well! I could go on...Thanks for reading, thanks for praying. (I'll probably post again in 2 more weeks angry that I haven't given birth yet and complaining that I want him out of me. haha.)

Family Pictures by Felicity Anne Photography!

We got our family pictures done last month all thanks to Felicity Anne Photography! It was a fun photo shoot and we got to keep all the pictures (which was a lot!!!) We got tons of pictures of just Caleb and I, just Micaiah, each of us with Micaiah, family shots, and maternity!

Here are a couple of the couple shots. 

Here are some of Micaiah:

Those (obviously) were a few of the family pics, now here are some maternity and parent pics!

 There are a ton more where that came from. I'm so glad to have some pics of just the three of us before baby comes and very excited to have some maternity shots to always remember this sweet time in my life.

Thank you Felicity for doing these great pictures for us! You all should check out her blog/website and get your family pictures done while it's still pretty outside! (I posted a link to her web page, just click on this.) 

Potty training-everyone's FAVORITE topic. ha!

I never really understood why every parent loves to talk about their kids pooping in the potty on Facebook. I guess I don't really like to think about people pooping.. Now that I've started potty training though, I understand. It's a proud feeling you have when your child learns something new and amazing to watch them grow up. I'm still refraining from posting an update every time he 'goes' but I figure I can blog about my it since no one has to read it, and I gave a fair warning in the title :)

One of our friends had great success with a 2-day method. We didn't really talk about it, I just thought it would be a good 1st approach without thinking it would work for Micaiah. I found a little article online about potty training in 2 days and started Tuesday. I just did some of the things it said but it's working well!

Day one he had 3 accidents and was really just freaked out about going in the potty instead of a diaper. Day 2 (yesterday) was so much better. He went 5 times, and the last 2 times he was excited about it. He didn't have any accidents either. Of course, I still put a diaper on for his nap and bedtime, but for now 2 diapers a day equals to be about .35 cents a day which much better. Once he's mastered this we'll of course move on to taking those last 2 diapers away.

Day 3 I had errands to run and didn't want him to regress so we left the house without a diaper and we were gone for hours with no accident! I'm very proud of him for learning so well. And he's liking the Toy Story stickers he gets as a reward :)

New Life

We are witnessing a miracle and have been for about 14 weeks now. The Lord has given us a surprise little baby and a perfectly healthy pregnancy. It was nearly impossible for me to conceive when I did. I won't get into the details, but the fact is we conceived in God's timing. We weren't trying, we were definitely NOT the people who try again as soon as possible after a miscarriage. I was broken and couldn't do it again. I was considering not ever trying again. I was dealing with it by praying that the Lord would either 'make me pregnant' or show me that I could never have another baby again. We needed Him to make the decision for us and He did. The shape my body was in after the miscarriage, the timing, everything. Nearly impossible but here we are!

To make this even more of a miracle, so many prayers have been answered. (And THANK YOU everyone who prayed for us!) I was telling my mother-in law 2 out of 2 pregnancies have had the same complication, the 2nd being worse and ending, so what were the chances of me ever having a complication free pregnancy? I wouldn't know because I never had one! We were pretty close to losing Micaiah too, luckily by the time we found out everything had already started to heal. She said we just need to pray for God to heal me and I honestly at that time thought nothing would give me a pregnancy free of bleeding. I was wrong. So wrong, I hope I never doubt the power of God again.

This pregnancy hasn't had any bleeding, no signs of it on an ultrasound. I've had some serious morning sickness and I'm exhausted most of the time which are GREAT and wonderful things for a healthy pregnancy. I had light morning sickness with Micaiah and none with the second. Needless to say I've never been so happy to throw up :)

So, I'm about 14 weeks and feeling good that this one will be okay. I'm already showing so my secret keeping probably has just kept people guessing or wondering how they can politely approach me with a gym pass ;) I'd love your prayers on a continued healthy pregnancy!

March was good...

We had a GREAT time on vacation to California. It was amazing, just the three of us with no worries, no schedules, no work, no people...It was exactly what we needed.

We also just celebrated Micaiah's 2nd birthday! He didn't get it throughout most of his birthday, but by the next day he understood that it was gift time! He loved the attention, the gifts, and of course the balloons! We're so incredibly proud of him. He's grown in so many ways over the past two years. I can't tell you how many times a day Caleb and I just look at each other and smile in response to something he does. =)

A poorly written February update.

Caleb is doing good. He's working on finishing the basement bathroom when he gets a chance. He doesn't have many opportunities because of yours truly. I seem to want to spend every moment he has home from work together... He's been so sweet to me, especially the past few months. When the pregnancy was hard or scary he'd show true care and concern for me. Since the miscarriage he's been so understanding and comforting. I've been extra needy and easily emotional ever since, so it's been a huge blessing to have a husband who is patient and loving.

I finally thought I was finished with the physical healing from the miscarriage, but disappointed with the  sudden onset of contractions again the past couple of days. It wasn't bad though. I think I've just had enough, so any little thing that happens makes me want to throw in the towel and pretend I don't care about anything. All is well though. God is faithful and worthy of all my trust and praise.

We're excited for our upcoming vacation to California! We drove through many different areas along the California coast on our last vacation. This time around we considered going to Florida since we both have people we'd love to see again out there...but unfortunately the round trip flight alone was over $800 the week we have vacation time. That didn't include transportation, food, or activities, so we decided to go the place in California we enjoyed most last time. We had gone through San Francisco, L.A., and San Diego. We're going to L.A. this time, believe it or not! I loved Hollywood and can't wait to go back. We also have much more planned this time around, as Micaiah will be almost 2, instead of 2 months old like last time.

I've also been thinking about Micaiah's 2nd birthday. I don't have any idea for what to do to celebrate, but I know he's getting sports balloons and I'm going to make a basketball cake. His pride and joy is basketball. Ball was his first word and basketball hoop is the longest thing he can say now. Even if we don't have a little party, his actual birthday will be basketball themed to make for a perfect day.


Other than that, we haven't been up to much. We've been thoroughly enjoying our ping pong table that replaced the coffee table. We've also been way into watching The Newlywed Game on GSN, so much that I wanted to buy the game so we could play with friends. When I was online looking for the game I found a printable version of it. My creativity kicked in and I made an entire game myself. I didn't make up the questions of course, I just took some out and added others from different websites. It was a fun little project and definitely fun when we got to give it a try with our awesome friends Cliff and Linda.

Well, I can't have a blog update without mentioning what's new with Micaiah! They say after a child's first year their growth slows quite a bit.. His physical growth did slow down drastically, but we're shocked every single day at how much he's learning and how quickly he's learning everything. It's not just him of course, all the little ones around us that are his age are growing just the same. It's just amazing to watch. Being a stay at home mom is an incredible gift. I would be sad to miss out on all of his so many 'firsts'. He goes from making sounds to one syllable words to two, then sentences, etc. His understanding is so much greater than his vocabulary though. I'm excited to do home school with him, I won't have to miss out on anything. I love spending time with him. He's amazing.

I've been spending a lot of time with different friends and have realized how grateful I am for everyone in my life. I love my family and especially my husband and my baby. Life is good.