Christmas 2014

This year was low key but I think we deserve one last quite Christmas. After this year, they will never be the same. Baby boy will keep us busy and full of joy from now on.

Santa came and filled everyone's stockings with goodies. Baby boy got lots of gifts from Santa and Mommy & Daddy.

Auburn could hardly wait to open her gifts. She was so excited! Two things we will have to work on are not every present is for her (she had to help everyone open their gifts and tried to steal them) and not every toy is hers (I foresee many fights over toys between her and baby boy).

Doug and I got lots of great gifts. Doug got me a new North Face jacket with matching gloves and ear/head band thing, some wall decor, and my favorite... Wall-e (Auburn is not a fan. She runs when I play with it. Ha!)! I got Doug some batman slippers, a baby book, and a few other little things.

The aftermath!

Friday Ryan and Shannon came over to exchange gifts. They spoiled baby boy with lots of cute outfits and his first Auburn football. Auburn got a new toy and Doug got a robe (he has yet to take it off while at the house).

All in all we had a great, quite Christmas. We missed our family and friends back home and we look forward to spending Christmas with you next year. We hope you had a great Christmas and Santa was good to you.

Baby bump update (week 25)

Today I had another check up and everything is looking good. I am 25 weeks along (measuring closer to 26 weeks). My blood pressure in excellent and I am not having any issues. Baby's heartbeat is strong and he looks great. My last month's doctor said all the rumbling and bumping in my stomach was gas. This month's doctor thinks it is baby. Feels like bunches of air bubbles bouncing around. My stomach even jumps when the "bubbles" pop. Kicking/Rolling or gas... who knows. Either baby likes to dance and kick 24/7 or I need to take an entire box of Gas-X everyday.

We only have a couple "every month" appointments left. After that it is every other week, then every week. Having this kid is becoming a lot of work. :) I have my glucose test next appointment. Will need some prayers as we all know how I love to have my blood drawn. And to top off a great day, I gotta get a shot after that! No fun!

My nausea is completely gone (unless I smell or think of something yucky) and my energy is finally back. I have even been able to work out a little bit. My new addiction is pineapple. I am eating a pineapple a week and going through about 2 bottles of orange/pineapple juice a week. It's sooo good! Still eating more sweets than I would like (chocolate anything and starburst) but I am trying to eat lots of healthy stuff too (veggies, salad, granola, etc). Still no red meet. A little pork every now and then but chicken is still my main protein source.

My belly is really starting to pop out now. It is hard to get use to and it's only going to get bigger. I am still in my regular jeans but I am slowly starting to fit into the maternity stuff. I bought a few tops and a pair of leggings from Old Navy. I like the leggings but they are big in the belly area. I can't wait to wear comfy pants everyday. I am so not going to be the cute dressed pregnant woman. Comfy pants and t'shirts all the way for this mamma!

Showers are being planned and registries are being created. So keep an eye/ear out for your invitation and I will post registry links as soon as they are completed. Baby name will be announced beforehand so all you monogramming lovers out there can have your gifts personalized. :)

Getting bigger!

We are 23 weeks along now. The belly is definitely starting to get bigger and pop out. Maternity pants here I come!

Christmas Card

Brow-Bag Pregnancy Style

The phrase "brown-bagging it" is used when someone buys an alcoholic beverage, leaves the bag (typically brown) over the can/bottle, opens the beverage, and begins to drinking it immediately after purchase. Well since drinking alcohol is typically frowned upon while pregnant, this story involves juice. :) We were grocery shopping Sunday after breakfast and I picked up a 59 oz bottle of Tropicana Orange/Pineapple Juice. I usually mix this juice with rum but the whole pregnancy thing is kinda in the way of that part. I am not sure why but the juice sounded really good. As soon as I put it in the cart I was so excited to get home and have a glass. As we were checking out, Doug grabbed a drink from the little cooler by the register. I don't know why but this made me really thirsty. I could no longer wait until I got home. I patiently (kinda, sorta, not really) waited for the cashier to scan my juice, put it in the bag, and hand it to me. Of course it was one of the last items on the counter! So while Doug finished putting the groceries in the cart and paid, I opened my juice and tipped it up. Of course I left the brown plastic bag over the bottle so they knew it had been paid for. This of course cracked Doug and the cashier up but I didn't care. They made jokes but I kept drinking. It tasted sooo good! I continued drinking on the way to the car and all the way home. I am sure the cars next to us thought I was crazy tipping up a brown-bagged 59 oz bottle at 11 am in the morning. But it was so worth the crazy stares!

Football player or Cheerleader? - The Results

Well today was our twenty week appointment. Of course the baby did not want to cooperate with the ultra sound. I had to lay this way, then that way, then on this side and that. It was exhausting! But we finally got all the pictures the doctors needed.

We are happy to report the baby is healthy, 14 oz, measuring at 21 weeks, and is the 50th percentile. We have a very active baby on our hands so before long I will definitely be feeling the moves. The heart, brain, bones, and all other important body parts looked good and the doctors were very satisfied with what they saw.

I was up a couple of pounds so I am back to my original weight before morning sickness hit me. I am definitely starting to find those extra "inches" here and there. I have not been sick for quite a while so the doctors were pleased to hear this. My belly is getting more pronounced each day. My pants are still big on me but are getting more snug in the waist.

So now to the part yall have been waiting for... football player or cheerleader. Well, I will let Auburn do the honors.

She did not care for the football at all so getting this picture was really hard! Doug was thrilled to hear, "Well, there is definitely something in between the legs!" Ha! I have a picture and "it" is VERY clear to see! There is no denying its a baby boy!

So now we know to start stocking up on all things blue (and orange)!

It's Christmas time at the Nunley's house

This weekend I decorated the house for Christmas for the first time since we have moved to Maryland. The first year we moved up here we were still unpacking and settling in so I was not in the mood to drag out all the Christmas stuff. The next year I thought what was the point. It was just us two, we were not having anyone over for Christmas, and we bought only a few gifts right before Christmas. Our shopping list for family has been whatever will fit in a card and we pretty much just went and bought what we wanted for our gifts. I did pull out a mini tree that is suppose to go outside and decorated it a few days before Christmas. Last year Doug was in Alabama in Nov/Dec, then we were both there for the funeral, and then I went home for Christmas.

So this year with baby on the way, both of us home, and in the new house I finally felt like dragging everything out. Bad thing is, now I have a shopping list of so much stuff we need! This year I have a yard, lots of windows, and three floors to decorate. I have done pretty good in the past by stocking up on stuff in the after Christmas sales. Now I just need to get a few more things to fill up this big house. I will post more pictures when I get everything else on my list and get the outside decorated but here are a few for now.


As you can see, we are in need of an extra stocking. :)

Christmas was always such a magical time of the year at my house. Mom redecorated the entire house (every room, every object, every inch), we hung lights outside, made yummy treats, went shopping for gifts, and we had lots of parties with family and friends. I have so many cherished memories of all my childhood Christmas's. The traditions (Merry-Go-Round, treats, reading the actual Christmas story from the bible, setting up the mini nativity set (my main decorating job), etc), the family time, the excitement. Christmas is always more magical/special when children and family are involved. I think that has been the big reason why we lost the spirit the last few years up here. But now, we have a reason to be excited. I have motivation to get up and make this time of year magical again. I cannot wait until next year when he/she is here to celebrate with us. I hope I can make it as special for him/her every year as my parents did for me.

Thank you Mom and Dad for teaching me the real reason for the season and for giving me so many wonderful Christmas seasons. I love you! Can't wait to keep the traditions going!

1st snow of the season

We got our first bit of snow of the season today. It started around 10 and came down pretty good. When I left work I had about 1-2 inches on the car. Then it tapered off, rained, melted, sleeted, rained, snowed, rained.... you get the picture. We were right on the snow/rain line so the cities north and west of us got way more. We don't have much to show for our little snow shower other than a wet sloppy mess. Wish I took some pictures when I left work but here is a snap of what is left.

20 weeks

Look what popped up! Not my best picture but it shows off the bump pretty well. I mean, are any pregnant, from the side photos of yourself that flattering?

Football Player VS Cheerleader - The Vote

We are a week away from the doctors appointment that should tell us if we are having a boy or a girl.

So what do you think?

Football Player or Cheerleader?

Mama update

So this mama has been feeling a lot better. I have more energy but I am still sleeping a lot. I usually get up at 5:30 (sometimes later :) ) and by 7 pm I am done. Doug is having a bit of a difficult time getting use to me going to bed that early. He just doesn't know what to do with all that time by himself. Ha! The weekends are even worse because I will sleep in and end up sleeping around 10-12 hours. And I will even nap sometimes! I am so behind on my shows. I try to stay awake and watch them but it is so hard!

I have definitely been eating more. Last doctor visit, I had gained more than half of the weight back that I lost. Hopefully by next appointment I will be on the positive side. Still eating very limited things and no meat. No crazy, consuming cravings. I usually think, hey that sounds good. Then I eat it and I am over it. Right now I am stuck on pickles, chicken salad, fruit, and sweets. I literally have these almost everyday. I have never been a sweets person but I have been wanting them now. From Starbursts to donuts, chocolate (we bought two boxes of Russell Stover) to cheesecake, I have to have a little something everyday. (And some days its more that a little :) )

It's hard to believe in just a couple of weeks we will know the gender. Time is starting to fly by! He/She will be here before we know it. We still have tons to do to get ready but I know it will all work out in the end. I still haven't felt any movement. Every time we do an ultrasound he/she is boogieing so I know when he/she is big enough I will feel it. I use to think (well, I guess I still do) it is so weird to have another life inside my belly. Now I think it's more weird that I can't feel the human growing inside my body. You would think you would be able to feel something like that.

One thing I am excited for... to give my child a puppy for Christmas! (Oh yall thought I gave up on the idea of getting a new puppy? Ha! I just got the perfect excuse to get another one!)

Christmas Card Pictures

This year I finally had the perfect excuse to get the Christmas card family pictures that I had been wanting for years... baby belly. Well, kinda. I figured we could do a Merry Christmas / We're Pregnant Christmas card this year. Unfortunately, my belly hadn't shown up to get the whole pregnancy theme across. So we had to improvise a bit. I poked my belly out as far as it would go and arched my back some to help emphasize the bump. You can see "it" in some pictures but not all.

We had a great photographer, Anna Schmidt, to take our photos. She had tons of ideas to combine the pregnancy and Christmas theme. I told her what I had in mind and she literally blew it. She has this ability to capture light that just makes the picture stunning.

The day of the shoot it was extremely cold and windy. Of course, with our luck, we would have that weather with an outdoor photo session. We tried to keep our jackets off but it was very hard to do. The wind also made it very difficult to get good pictures with our props. We spent more time waiting on a break in the wind than we did taking actual pictures. Ha!

This was Auburn's first trip to a park. I know, bad mama! But she doesn't have very good manors so it is hard to take her places with other animals and humans. She either barks at everything that moves or attempts to meet everything that moves. I think she knew we were doing something important because she behaved well. Getting her to look at the camera versus everyone else was a bit of a challenge but she did sit still when asked. Even better, when we tied her up so Doug and I could take pictures without her she sat still, kept her eyes mostly on us, and didn't bark her head off. For a second I thought someone switched her with another dog. Ha!

So here are a few of our favorite pictures from the day. I am saving the ones we used for the card so you'll have to stay tuned for those. :)

Halloween 2014

Doug and I are not big Halloween people. We have never dressed up and rarely leave the house on this night. But this year we helped Ryan move into his new place. (This makes two perfectly good holidays with no kids we have wasted moving this year. We may regret these decisions in the future...) We have lived here for three years and have never been outside while it was trick-or-treat time. We have never had people knock on our door or even been disturbed by the sugar intoxicated kids. I was shocked tonight to see how much our neighborhood gets into this holiday. Decorations sprang up from nowhere. People were setting up for neighborhood block parties (they even had the fancy patio heaters). Kids were already on the street by 5! It was like Christmas around here. While we were moving, parents and kids were running wild, having so much fun. I am not looking forward to the costumes and walking around countless neighborhoods BUT the neighborhood parties with adult beverages around a campfire, now that I can do! So here is to hoping our kid would rather hang with the neighbors than walk a million miles around the neighborhood.

Oh and to the teenagers who think they are so cool roaming the streets after dark, acting like idiots... you are out trick-or-treating with 5 year olds so let's think about that for a second. And you saying a cuss word holding your bag of candy does not make you badass.

Baby bump?

I guess it counts. Looks more like 2 months with no ab workouts. :)

A visit from the grandparents

Two weekends ago Mom and Dad came up to visit. Originally it was to see the new place and us but it turned into seeing how the "host" of their grandbaby was doing. I had grand plans of taking them here and there but the weeks before had taken a lot out of me and I knew I wouldn't last a full day. So we took it easy, did some relaxing, and enjoyed the company.

Our first day we drove over to Ellicott City to eat lunch at the Trolly Stop and do some window shopping downtown. It was a little chilly but mostly a beautiful day to be outside.

That evening we had a pizza party at our house. Doug's Mom and Dad came over and Ryan and Shannon came over to visit. Auburn was in heaven having all of her favorite people under one roof. It was great having everyone there. Ryan and Shannon got a kick out of Mom & Dad's accent. They said mine must have faded some being up here because it was not a thick as theirs. :(

Saturday we went to Downs Park. It was another beautiful day to spend outside so we thought taking them to the park to see the Chesapeake Bay was a perfect way to spend the afternoon. We got some really good pictures of us while we were there and I got to partake in one of my favorite childhood activities.

That night we went to Ram's Head Roadhouse in Annapolis for dinner. We thankfully got a table right away as they were packed with patrons from the Renaissance Festival. We had wanted to take them there but it was the last weekend and knew they would be slammed. Plus I didn't know if I could handle all the walking and "smells". I am glad they got to see some of the "costumes" people wear. The food was good but the service was not great. Poor server had too many tables due to the rush. He was nice and cut our bill in half for all the issues. So that was a plus!

Auburn and my dad are best buds. She loves when he visits because he sits down in the floor and plays with her constantly, will take her out anytime she wants, and sneaks her food from his plate. We had to leave the bedroom door cracked because every morning she would run downstairs to him as soon as she heard him get up. Dad would take her out, feed her (which was amazing!), and play time would commence. I am hoping the extra play and walks counteracted all the "snacks" he gave her. She was S-P-O-I-L-E-D to the Nth degree while they were here. She was quite confused the next few days when Doug and I came back home alone or when Dad wasn't downstairs waiting on her in the morning. I think it took her a few days to recover from their visit. She was exhausted but so willing to forfeit any additional sleep for more play time.

The weekend came and went with a flash. It was great seeing them and I can't wait to see them again soon. Looks like we will be seeing a lot of each other next year. Only grandchild is trumping the hell out of only daughter. :)

You know your pregnant when...

You order a dozen biscuits at Cracker Barrel....

So the waitress game me a strange look, they were so worth it!!

And then week 12 happened...

So I finally started feeling a little normal and I got some energy back. Then this past Sunday the nausea and upset stomach came roaring back. I stayed home Monday because I was not keeping much down and was not feeling good at all. I got up Tuesday, got in the shower, and had full intentions of going to work. I didn't make it out of the shower before I got sick. I kept going and as soon as I was all ready I got sick again. At this point I knew I was not making it to work again.

I woke up Doug and told him I needed something to drink and my nausea meds (which were in the kitchen). At this point the hormones kicked in and I started crying. I was so sick of being sick. Doug came over and sat with me as I had a pity party. We decided to go downstairs together and I planned on taking my meds and going back to bed.

So our house is three floors with two flights in between each floor. We made it down the first flight and when we reached the halfway point I felt the rest of the contents of my stomach coming up. I dropped my stuff and headed quickly down the remaining steps towards the bathroom. Unfortunately, I went a little too quickly.

I slipped, tripped, or something and took a tumble down the steps. Thankfully I went backwards and not forwards. My bottom bounced down each step (about 6+) then I landed in front of the bathroom. I started screaming in pain. My tailbone was on fire, my arms hurt from being too weak to catch and stop myself, and I was pissed. I just laid there and cried. Doug was behind me and it happened so fast he did not have time to grab me. I think he slid down the steps trying to get to me. He cut his hand pretty good on God knows what. He keeps saying I will never be able to get the image of you falling down the steps out of my head.

Once I calmed down and Doug confirmed I didn't hit my back on any of the steps, he moved me to the guest bedroom. We laid there for awhile to catch our breath and calm down. He checked out my bum and thought it looked ok. We had to wait a couple hours for the doctors office to open up. I was in a lot of pain but it was only in my tailbone area. We were so lucky as it could have been so much worse. I guess the sight of the falling was worse than the actual fall.

The doctors said no bleeding and cramping was a good sign and that I should rest and keep an eye on it. I took Tylenol sparingly so it would not make me sick. I would rather be in pain than sick! We kept deliberating on whether we needed to go to my primary care physician. We had an ob appointment scheduled for Wednesday and they didn't think I needed to come in early since there was no trauma to my belly area. We didn't want to get there and have them say we can't do an x-ray because you are pregnant and just treat it as a bruise (which they could do nothing for). So we opted to stay home and rest.

On Wednesday the docs said the baby's heartbeat was strong and everything looked good. I was down another few pounds from all the sickness. I am perfectly ok with loosing almost ten lbs in the first trimester but I have a feeling I am the only one ok with that. Maybe I will start heading in the other direction in the next few weeks. We go back next week to do the nuchal translucency test. They will be able to double check then to make sure everything is still looking good.

So now I am hobbling around, nursing my sore bum and trying to eat as much as I can when I can. I keep waiting for things to get better like everyone swears will happen. After this week I figure it can only get better, right?

Weeks 9 - 11

(Written throughout the past few weeks)

Week 9 and 10 was much of the same; nausea, upset stomach, and exhausted. I started having a good day here and there between the bad ones. A good day consisted of no trips to the bathroom, able to eat a decent meal (still very small in comparison to normal), and able to do a few things around the house. Not much is tasting good at this point and I am not craving anything. I am experiencing the everything sounds disgusting. I have been drinking a lot of lemonade (Vitamin Water Zero and Crystal Light - not the real, sugary stuff) as it seems to be the only thing that taste good. For food, it's still real starchy but fruit has been the best tasting. I have probably ate 3+ pounds of strawberries at this point. So good! One night my dinner consisted of cheese and crackers with strawberries. Meat of any kind and salt are the absolute least appetizing things I can think of.

Week 11 I finally caught a break. The nausea let up and I had a little bit more energy. (Still struggling to make it up the stairs...) There have been little changes to my eating habits. I feel like I have had a bad taste in my mouth for weeks and it is curving my appetite. No matter what I eat, it doesn't taste good or leaves an even worse taste in my mouth. I have been able to eat more so I have been snacking all day. No big meals, just a little here and there. Apples are tasting best now and I have almost completely stopped eating meat. We are trying to think of ways to get protein in me without making me yack. I am finding it very hard to get up in the morning. 8 hours of sleep is not enough. Oddly, Doug says I have "woken up" now. I guess from being so sick it was like I had been sleepwalking for the past few weeks. He said he would talk to me and I would have the glazed over look on my face and then when he asked me something later about the conversation I couldn't answer because I didn't remember the conversation.

Taking it back to the beginning

(Wrote on 9/15/14)

I finally have a moment to sit and type about how the story began. This post is titled taking it back to the beginning but in all reality, we have no clue what was "the beginning". In all the hustle and bustle of preparing to move, we just can't recall. All I can tell you is that on August 12th I was sitting at work, looking at my calendar, and thinking, "I think I missed my monthly cycle." I am not the one who tracks this so I could not remember when was my last; however, I had this gut feeling that time had came and gone. Maybe it was the queasiness...

So after work I headed to the drug store and bought the dreaded test. As most of you know, Doug and I had never really liked kids let alone wanted kids. It was just not our thing. So this "test" was like a death sentence looming over my head. Of course I took both tests and swore they were wrong. I cried... A LOT! But until I was for sure this was happening, I would hold it together...

until Doug called from work to say hey. He was working late getting ready for a VP to visit his store the next day. I talked calmly at first but then calm went to crazy when I told him he had to take Thursday afternoon off to go with me to the doctor. Of course my request on top of my freaking out completely scared the shit out of him. So I had to come clean about the "false positive" tests I took.

We didn't talk about much the next couple of days. Just focused on prepping to move and his big visit. And I cried a lot. He was running late to the appointment so I had to face the music by myself. When the doctor gave me my results, I may have said some inappropriate woo woo words... Doug pulled into the parking lot just as I was walking out. My tears answered his, "How did it go, question.

Next thing we knew, it was moving week. Doug's parents had went out of town for a two week vacation and with my new physical condition, Doug was left by himself to get us moved. I helped where I could but the exhaustion and sickness hit me hard. I lost about 5 lbs between my "discovery" and my first appointment on Sept 10. It was not good. I stuck to mostly cleaning and anything close to a toilet. Our friend Ryan helped as much as he could. I think him and Doug deserve a long, relaxing vacation after the week of hell. I am so thankful to have them both. They kept me as comfortable as I could be, fed as much as I could be, and made sure I got the rest I so much needed.

I am slowly feeling better and getting situated in our new home. The unpacking is going very slowly with my exhaustion/weakness. It took us about 2 weeks to sleep in our new bed (new mattress and new bedroom furniture). We stayed on the 2nd floor on the old mattress on the floor. It was impossible for me to climb the stairs to the top floor and even now I have trouble. I get very winded and my heart goes nuts. I am not the most in shape person in the world, but going from running 3+ miles to not being able to walk up stairs has been very hard for me mentally. It is perfect running weather right now and I am stuck inside trying to determine if I have the energy to make it up the stairs to pee. Of course some days are better than others so I try to do as much as I can on those days. Walking Auburn is one of my top priorities. Poor thing has been cooped up in this new house and dying to get out and run.

After a long week of moving and my "illness", our 5 year anniversary was not top priority. Our date night consisted of me, Doug, and Ryan eating around 8 pm at the new IHOP that opened close to our house. Yep, very romantic. The restaurant had a very diverse group of patrons that kept us very entertained. I must say it was probably the oddest restaurant experience I have ever had. Oh, and apparently it was also "Screaming kids eat free" night. Oh what a joy it was...

Our first OB appointment was Sept 10th. It went fine. I was very nervous for the ultrasound, as this was the final confirmation. No more denial after that. He/She even did a little dance for me to try and make me smile. Unfortunately, it totally wigged me out but I am pretty sure all the excited family and friends would have loved to have seen it. Then the mean ole doctors wanted all my blood so that didn't help the appointment end happily. I survived but it was a little touch and go there for a few. Luckily I had a really nice lady (that got my sarcasm) and she was patient with me. I told her I had bad blood giving veins and she totally agreed. Between the dehydration and them hiding, it took a lot of fist pumping and two sticks until she finally got one. If Doug was not there with me, I would not have made it through.

One good thing is that I am completely off all my blood pressure medicine. We are keeping a close eye on it but are hopeful I will not need it again. I am scared my inactivity will make it rise again so I hope to get literally back on my feet again soon.

So now you are completely up-to-date with what has been really going on in the Nunley household. As we have been telling the news, people keep asking if we knew before we started looking at houses. As you have read, we had no clue. We were unknowingly doing exactly what we needed to do for our growing family. Doug is disappointed he is loosing his office but is very happy to be filling it with a new member of the family.

As for me, I am getting there. This is big... life-changing. It will take some time for it all to sink in. I was working on a new, four legged member of the family. Little did I know there were bigger things going on that would be blessing us with only two. I know I will get there but in the meantime I will be excited for all my loved ones who are excited enough for me. I have until April, right?

Fall in the new neighborhood

The Nunley's have been outside as much as we can, enjoying this beautiful fall weather we have been getting. Everyday is sunny and in the low 70's. The trees are starting to turn, the leaves are beginning to fall, and that crisp cool air smell is in the air. If only fall could last until spring.