The long awaited, THIRD Trimester!

I am 28 weeks and officially in the third trimester! Some people tell me the time is going to fly by now, but lets be honest, they said that about the past two trimester and the past 28 weeks have lasted FOREVER! Other people say the end goes by the slowest, but really can it go any slower??? As you can tell, I am not a fan of this whole pregnancy thing, I know, I know, it will be worth it in the end. I have never doubted it, but wow this is so different than I ever expected. I thought I would continue to run, have a cute bump all out in front, and waddle around as a happy as a duck in a pond. No such luck.

I have felt a lot better lately, in fact I haven't thrown up in 2 weeks (besides tonight, but hey I went 2 weeks)!!!  I have even been able to eat meat for dinner a few times a week over the past two weeks. Exercise is also become a more regular part of my life again. But when I say exercise I mean a 30 minute walk through the neighborhood with Max, in which we both end up back at the house winded and tired. My dear friend Amber (who is also miserably pregnant with a little girl due 3 weeks after ours) and I plan on walking everyday after school starting this week. Amber has been my life line over the past 6 months. As mean as this sounds, it has been so nice to have someone who feels as miserable as I do to relate with on a daily basis.

Heartburn is still a prominent part of my daily life, but as long as I follow the "rules" and take my medicine and (chew lots of tums) it is relatively manageable. My diet is made basically of bland foods like fruit, dairy, and grains, along with small portions of meat now being integrated. Vegetables (especially lettuce), anything with a red sauce, and pretty much anything with flavor is off limits.  I have had a few cravings...cinnamon rolls and chinese lo mein noodles.

We are starting to get really excited for little girl to be here and we have made some really fun purchases, I get quite the thrill in finding bargains! I bought some cute hair bows (way fancier than I can make) with a Zulily deal that let me purchase 30 bucks worth for 15! I have also been to Children's Orchard in Olathe a few times, which I might add is my new favorite store! I plan on buying all her clothes second hand. We scored a cute Columbia purple windbreaker for next spring for 4.00 (Daddy Noah found it and picked it out), a GAP summer dress for 5.00, a cute fancy church dress for 4.00 and a GAP jacket for this fall for 4.00, among other things.

We have picked her name and feel pretty confident it it. However, we are choosing not share until she is officially here. Noah and I have had fun referring to her by name when it is just the two of us and sometimes I will make him say it just for fun :)

We started our registries at Target and Buy Buy Baby a couple weekends ago. We both enjoyed the process, until we where in Target and Noah said "I am about done with you walking around in circles. We have been down every isle four times." Haha, I knew then it was a good time to call it quits. He was quite the trooper and enjoyed holding the "gun" and would just scan as I pointed. We got mildly overwhelmed when it came to sections of "Safety" and "Feeding" areas, so a couple of my girlfriends who are already momma's are going to go back with me and help me out. We are so thankful for our wonderful support system!

This past weekend we bought her baby bedding. Originally, I was going to do all white bedding but I found an adorable cream and white linen set at Pottery Barn Kids for super, super cheap on clearance. We love it, and have some extra motivation to get the crib done so we can set it all up!

Hopefully our next posting will be the "Nursery Reveal." The walls are painted and a bookshelf/nightstand, changing table/dresser, and crib are getting re-finished within the week. Ryan and Karissa (aka Godparents) are coming over tomorrow to help us hang the chandelier and a few other decorations!

T-Minus 12 Weeks (10 if I get my way) until Little Girl is here!

People actually notice I am pregnant! Hooray for not just looking chunky! She's growing!

Preggo Preschool Teacher....

As I am writing this post my wonderful husband has started the baby proofing process by moving all cords and electronic items in our basement TV area out of baby's reach and little girl is practicing ballet and fluttering all over my belly while I am bundled up on the couch with the lazy dog watching Biggest Loser and thinking, I should have done my pregnant lady workout video today but I am just so......tired. I mean tired, not like tired but push through, but tired like go to bed at 7:00 and not wake up til 7:00 the next morning.

I think that has been the hardest part of this pregnancy, the lack of energy and ability to go 24-7 like I am used to. However, I think it is all part of the process (this is me trying to find purpose in why I have been so sick and miserable) and has helped me re-prioritize life, putting family and home time first.

I am fully aware that my job is more taxing and labor intensive than other jobs, but I never realized how much it is til now. I am reminded of my ever growing belly each time I get down on the floor and back up again, which I do like 100 billion times a day! I am amazed at how tired I am by 4:00 when the kiddos are gone and I finally sit down. Pretty much once I am down, I am down.

My co-workers keep getting onto me about picking up and carrying my kiddos but when it is the end of the day and you have a four year in full meltdown and refusing to get on the bus, there is only one option...pick them up and get them out!

My preschoolers are also fully aware of my fully growing belly. When we talk about the seasons and get to spring, they always say "when the grass turns green and your baby comes."

And the questions, they have been interesting....

"Mrs. Wells, how is that baby going to come out?" What I really want to say is "I have been wondering the same thing!" But instead my response is...."God is going to help it." 

"Mrs. Wells, how did the baby get in there?" 
My response... "God put it in there."

"Mrs. Wells, what are you going to name her?" 
So far they have recommended Nikki and Elizabeth.

"Mrs. Wells, where is your baby going to go, it can't come to school?!" My response "Sawyer's house." One of my dear preschooler's mommy is going to watch little girl, a true blessing and answer to prayers!

It has been fun to listen to the conversations they have among themselves and what they think of babies. Both of my classes have one or two kiddos that have expecting mommas so babies and pregnancy are frequently the topic of conversation during free play.

Kasandra likes to draw pictures of me on the board...
notice the baby in my belly :)

Cute note from Logan that came with a sweet gift that included copies of his favorite books for me to read to baby Wells

Christmas Vacation...

It was a wonderful and blessed season at our house this year. This was the first year in the 7 years together that Noah and I have not travel to either Garden City to see his family or Michigan to see my extended family, or both places like we have done a couple crazy years. IT WAS AMAZING! This break felt so much longer than any other break and we got so much done!

Since this year was our year to spend Christmas with The Wells' and both Noah and his older brother live in the Kansas City area, Noah's parents and sister came here for Christmas. We had a great time relaxing, shopping, eating great food (this would be a great time to mention that over break I went a recording breaking 11 days without throwing up!) and hanging out. We truly enjoyed our time together while also getting to sleep in our own bed and not worry about kenneling Max.

We did Christmas with my family the Saturday morning before Christmas at our house, right before our long awaited gender reveal.

Needless to say Baby Wells' hit jackpot at both Christmas celebrations. We are so blessed to have such supportive families and we now have lots of necessary baby items:

• Pack'N'Play...so Baby Wells will have somewhere to sleep when we go visit Grandma and Grandpa Wells
• Purple Bumbo Seat and Tray...THANK YOU to Aunt Angie's Mom Cindy and Sister Mary, we will put it to good use!
• Breast Pump....enough said.
• Baby Books and Vibrating Toy, which poor Max is terrified of!
• Cute little GAP sweatpants and matching mittens and hat for her to wear next Christmas season!
• One of a kind onesies made by the talented Uncle Nathan. She will be quite the stylish Sporting KC Fan!
• Adorable leg warmers and hair accessories  that I think Aunt Angie would agree these are definitely NECESSITIES!

Thanks to not traveling and Noah taking an extra day off before New Year's Day, Noah and I had a good amount of quality time together that we spent doing some small house projects we want to get done before little girl's arrival and we started working on the nursery. We are thoroughly enjoying this time of preparation and its hard to believe that this time next year we will have an 8 month old, mobile little girl to celebrate Jesus' birth with!

Spoiled Little Girl Already! 

BOY or GIRL?

After much waiting we finally revealed the gender of Baby Wells'! We had our sonogram that identified Baby Wells' gender way back around Thanksgiving but Noah and we decided that we would wait to reveal the gender until right before Christmas when his parents and my parents could all be present. So, Noah and I waited to find out until they did. My best friend Karissa went with us to the sonogram and became the beloved secret holder. She did a great job keeping the secret, only telling her sister, husband, and my other best friend Jillian.

Many people couldn't believe that we would actually let someone else know before us. However, I knew that with my crazy semester of finishing up my master's degree 12 hours of coursework, teaching full time, and being as sick as a dog that I would not even have time to focus on decorating a room, buying clothes, picking a name, and everything else that goes with knowing the baby's gender, so I might as well wait until the end of December when coursework was completed and school was on break. We did really well at not bugging Aunt Karissa about telling us until the Thursday before the reveal when school was out and classes were officially completed. At this point we exchanged some funny text messages where I threatened to have the baby call her Aunt Jerk-face and she called me devil woman. Being that we went a whole 4 weeks of Karissa knowing and us not, I would say we did pretty darn good!

At the reveal we had my parents, brother, and Uncle Ronnie present; along with Noah's parents and brother and his wife. Aunt Karissa and Uncle Ryan and Aunt Jillian also came.

Jillian came prepared with cute ribbon for everyone to pin to their shirt showing if they were "Team Boy" or "Team Girl." We had a surprisingly good mixture of both. I however was wrong with my "Team Boy," but thanks to Jillian, Maxers was correct with his pink ribbon! Karissa and Ryan came with the box of balloons (big thanks to Ryan for also taking all the pictures). I am so thankful for these friends and I am excited for the important role they will play in our daughter's life.

My plan was to text a chunk of people to let them know (extended family, close friends, colleagues)  before it became face book official but my brother beat me to it and posted on face book before I even had a chance to pick up my phone. Needless to say my phone instantly blew up with text messages. Leave to your pesky little brother to screw up your well thought out plans :)

It was a wonderful day that we are so glad we got to share with friends and family, full of wonderful memories that we can't wait to show little girl someday!

Opening the box!

Here comes the PINK!

Proud Parents

Big Brother

Adorable!