Tag... I'm it!

One of my bestest friends in the whole wide world, Cristina, keeps a wonderful blog over at Happily A Law Mama. She tagged me in her latest post that is a quick survey to give your readers something entertaining to read for the day, hehe... besides my boring pregnancy stories! ;-) Just kidding! Well, here it is! My version of the survey!

This was all started by Erin over at The Life of Ann James.

1. Milk Chocolate or Dark Chocolate?
Mmmm... Milk chocolate. Although I like Dark chocolate I tend to ONLY eat it if it is the last candy left in one of those mixes.. you know, Mr. Goodbar, Hershey's milk chocolate, Hershey's special dark, and Krackle. ;-) What.... I like my candy!


2. What's your favorite color?
Maroon... Definitely. I'd say shades of red in general, but I just love maroon. Our wedding was done in a cranberry red which I also loved. But, gotta support the Aggies. And, I look good in Maroon! ;-)


3. Do you have any creative hobbies?
I have only scrapbooked once, so I can't count that. I do like to take things that I find for cheap and then paint them/decorate them to fit my home decor. I also play the clarinet, sing at church, and try to play piano.

4. What was your favorite subject in school?
Band? Hahaha... In high school I really liked English, mostly because it was a breeze. We journal-ed my entire senior year. In college I LOVED all of my Ag Economics courses. I just like Ag business stuff in general!

5. What is your favorite season? Why?
Fall. I LOVE the scents, colors, cooler weather... not to mention college football and high school football! Plus, it means time for our wedding anniversary, and that Christmas is right around the corner!


6. Who inspires you to sing like crazy when nobody is around?
Ms. (Mrs?) Reba McEntire... I love her and I love singing her songs!

7. What's your favorite dessert? Can you make it?
For sure! It comes in a handy-dandy pre-made package! Betty Crocker's Triple Chunk Brownies are the BEST brownies around, besides home made of course. And how can you beat only needing 3 extra ingredients?


8. How did you learn to cook?
My mom mostly, my dad some. I started trying to make meals for my family when I was in middle school, then didn't have to start really cooking again until I was a sophomore in college. My mother-in-law has also taught me a bunch of tricks and what not!

11 Week Survey

The 10 Week Survey

How far along?: 10 weeks and 2 days! Hooray, Double Digits!

Total weight gain: This week I still had problems with nausea, so only at 4 pounds right now.

How big is baby?: Almost 2 whole inches and still the size of a prune according to one iPhone ap, and the size of a lime according to another.. hmm! We're growing so much!

Maternity clothes?: I have 6 beautiful shirts waiting for the day when I can wear them... but not yet!

Stretch marks?: Nope!

Sleep: Cannot get enough. Seriously. =)

Best moment this week: Seeing Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Brad and sharing our good news! Darren also LOVES that you can see a bump now... when I've eaten, hehe.

Movement: No again!

Food cravings: French toast.. haha. I ate it twice in a week, oops! ;-)

Gender: Brylon tells me all the time that my baby in my tummy is a girl!

Labor Signs: Negative!

Belly Button in or out?: Pushing out but still an innie!

What I miss: Not having to take a pill everyday. I suck at taking pills and my prenatal makes me gag, haha. It's no fun!

What I am looking forward to: Moving in to our new house and starting to "nest"! Seeing our baby again in 3 weeks and finding out the sex in the hopefully near future!

Weekly Wisdom: Constant eating really does keep the nausea at bay. I seriously ate all day Saturday and that was the first day in a long time that I had felt great!

Milestones: The baby's muscles are forming and it's starting to move! Andrea and I came up with a little dance that baby was probably doing while we were at the Margarita Festival listening to Randy Rogers, hehe... Baby now has fingers and toes, no more tail, and really looks like a person!

Getting a baby bump!!!

Fun(?) Facts:
- Waist at belly button: 31", getting bigger!
- Current weight: Stuck at 116.2 - come on weight gain!

Mama's Getting Her Masters!

It's official! I am now accepted as the newest and proudest member of the Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of 2012! Wow, that sounds old... especially considering I was '04 in High School, '08 (originally) in college, and the kiddos I now teach at CCD will be class of '15!!!

I'm pumped but know that this is all conditional upon how much it will cost this first semester. If I can't pull the funds out of my butt as fast as needed then I will have to defer acceptance until the Spring or later... =( I plan to apply for AS MANY scholarships/grants as humanly possible, but seeing as deadlines for Fall '10 admission were way back in the Spring, I'll have to get them in before December for Spring '11.

I still can't believe that I will be getting my masters. I've always been a nerd, so it means a lot to me to further my education. Plus, I'm freaking getting my Aggie ring and diploma... something I have coveted since I was accepted way back in 2003.

While at A&M I was anything BUT a 2%'er. For those of you who don't know, Aggies call other Aggies who don't participate in anything 2%ers. Haha, rough I know. I lived in the dorms, participated in every Big Event, attended as many Silver Taps as I could, went to Muster, went to Midnight Yells, football games, Bonfire (student ran off-campus)... the list goes on and on. I participated in student organizations, etc. etc.. I tried to participate in every single tradition that I could, and made sure that I bled maroon. During my time at Tech I still considered A&M my school... which, yes, was wrong. But, I couldn't help it! A&M had a piece of my heart and there was no way around that! I am just so happy to get accepted and to begin this journey!

WHOOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Baby's Second Photos

Monday we had our second Doctors appointment, and first one with our OB, Dr. Byerly! All went well, except for my blood pressure was a little faint which they told me was probably from dehydration.... so I told them that Baby had been putting me through the ringer all day and I had been sick, lol. We had our second ultrasound where we got to see our beautiful baby again. It's truly amazing. I wish I could have an ultrasound every day. Seriously, how much does one of those cost? haha.. Probably more than my life!

Our baby has grown so much in just 2 1/2 weeks!

Even though I have felt pretty sick lately, and have been more tired than I've ever been in my entire life, I must say.. It's ALL worth it. I don't mind. I love this baby more than I could have ever imagined, and it's still so early!

We got to see an arm! Woo hoo!

Now we anxiously await our next appointment! I go in at 13 weeks for another check-up, and then hopefully can be snuck in for an ultrasound around 15 weeks to see if we can determine the sex or not! Hooray!

"The LORD bless you and keep you;the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace." ~Numbers 6: 24-26

10 Week Survey

The 10 Week Survey

How far along?: 9 weeks and 3 days! First trimester will be over in no time!

Total weight gain: Weight loss this week by a little... thank you morning, aka, all day sickness.

How big is baby?: A little over an inch, and about the size of a prune! We got to see our baby again this week and it was crazy how much the little bean had grown!

Maternity clothes?: Bah.. this week I almost needed a belt for my regular clothes!

Stretch marks?: Nope!

Sleep: Still going to bed early! Tonight is a rare late night... it's 10:30 and I'm about to CRASH! Yesterday, my worst day to date, I took an hour and a half nap at Grandma's during work (oops) and then came home and proceeded to go to bed at 9:45.

Best moment this week: Seeing our awesome miracle from God again! It is just so amazing to think that I am growing a baby inside of me! haha!

Movement: No again!

Food cravings: Food aversion. I cannot eat squash or okra anymore, and meats in general are hard to get down. Yesterday was awful... all I ate was toast. 6 pieces to be exact.

Gender: Darren said to me yesterday that he now has a feeling that it's a boy! I have yet to have a feeling or dream or anything... so we'll see! Only about 6 more weeks til we can find out!

Labor Signs: Negative!

Belly Button in or out?: This week back to being flatter innie.

What I miss: Not feeling nauseous, Eating anything I want, Not worrying about Baby

What I am looking forward to: The end of the first trimester! Hahaha... this has just been a rough week already!

Weekly Wisdom: Just because you may feel like you are better, does not in fact mean that you will not puke again. Haha. I thought for sure I was better yesterday at lunch... ate about 5 bites.. and proceeded to throw it back up. Sorry for the TMI. ;-)

Milestones: All major organs are formed and are beginning to function! We even got to see an arm in our ultrasound! Fingernails and teeth are starting to form this week!

Sadly skinnier than last week... Thank you nausea! Excuse the horrible appearance, we were peeling wall paper, haha.

Fun(?) Facts:
- Current weight: 116.2, down some from last week.

Life...at the speed of light!

Life is moving by entirely too quickly. My head is spinning and I am about to go crazy! All good things, mind you.... Let's have a run-down.

1. We found out we're pregnant! - July
2. We find out we're moving to a new house! - July/August
3. We buy a new car! - August
4. I find out I can start Grad school this Fall instead of the Spring as planned! - Today!!

The departmental coordinator for the Masters of Agriculture at A&M e-mailed me this morning and told me that if I could find an Interim Advisor that I could start classes this Fall instead of waiting until the Spring. She said I was in as an "auto-admit" because of my grades and my GRE scores, so all I needed was an advisor and I was good to go! Holy moly. So, I e-mailed two professors, and one called me back this afternoon and told me she'd be happy to serve as my advisor! I couldn't believe it... It's actually happening! I'm going "back to school" this Fall! Now, granted, it's all online, but still... I'm scared! I already have too much on my plate... CYO, CCD, Work, Baby Growin'.... now add STUDENT! I don't know what I'm getting myself in to, but I'm excited! I'll be The Proudest Member of the Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of 2012, assuming I graduate on time! ;-) Which probably won't happen, what with having a baby in the Spring and all.

Wish me luck. Please pray for us. I'm so scared yet so excited about our future!

9 Week Survey

The 9 Week Survey

How far along?: 8 weeks and 3 days! We're already over 2 months in to the pregnancy!

Total weight gain: Still holding steady at 5 pounds... I made a typo last week and put 7 pounds, oops!

How big is baby?: A whole inch! About the size of an olive! =) Growing like a weed!

Maternity clothes?: Getting closer on the pants thing! Well, depends on what time of day it is. At night I am a lot larger because I've been eating all day, haha.

Stretch marks?: Nope!

Sleep: Oh. My. Goodness. I have never been so tired. I read on parents.com that it is technically called "pregnancy fatigue" and is caused by the increase in progesterone. I cannot sleep enough. I'd love to sleep all day every day if I didn't have a job!

Best moment this week: Going baby shopping for the first time at Babies R Us, for my OWN baby! It was awesome! I bought a super cute pj outfit, and Andrea (who has no Grandma name yet) bought our baby an adorable blanket! And before that Aunt Leslie and Uncle Trey bought Baby Hillger an adorable footprint frame that you do yourself!

Movement: No again!

Food cravings: Food aversion. I had my first day of nausea yesterday, and I did not feel like eating ANYTHING. Today was a little better, but still nothing sounds good. Hoping it goes away soon!

Gender: Still calling the little bean a girl, hehe... although I have found TONS of baby boy bedding that I like, and only ONE baby girl bedding. Hmm...

Labor Signs: Negative!

Belly Button in or out?: Poochy innie!

What I miss: Staying awake with my husband later than 9pm...

What I am looking forward to: Our next doctor's appointment is this coming Monday! HOORAY!!!

Weekly Wisdom: When your friend tells you to buy ginger-ale and have it on hand, DO IT. Haha, I should have bought some the first time Cristina suggested it, and I did not.. so yesterday was sad, lol. I needed it bad!

Milestones: Our baby is now considered a fetus! We're past 2 months in to the pregnancy! All major organs are present! Poor little tadpoles tail is starting to disappear! Girl/Boy parts are starting to form, even though we can't see them yet!

Ready to start showing, and not just feeling fat!

Fun(?) Facts:
- Hips: 34", up one inch
- Waist at belly button: 30 1/2", up 2 1/2"
- Breasts: 35", holding strong and popping out!
- Bra Size: 34C, which is starting to get too small!
- Pant size: 3, same
- Shirt size: Small, same
- Weight at start of pregnancy: 113.6
- Current weight: 117 and some... I forgot to write it down!

It had to happen eventually

Morning Sickness..... or well, nausea... I thought that I was doing so well! Then this morning happened! I went to bed last night at about 9pm, well 8:55 to be exact. I tried to wait for the sun to go down as long as I could, haha! I woke up this morning and didn't feel myself. But I wasn't sick right away. Around 9 while at work I felt worse. I tried to stick it out as long as I could, and tried to drink my chocolate milk to get something in my stomach. I gave up around 10:30 and went to Grandma's house to lay down. I ate some crackers and drank some club soda. I never threw up, but man did I want to! The nausea was driving me crazy! I also could barely keep my eyes open. I slept for about an hour and then Darren woke me up for lunch. I ate some more crackers and tried to eat my squash casserole, but it wasn't happening. I went back to work and then went home around 3:30 so I could lay down and try to eat something. I ate some pudding and then a grilled cheese sandwich. I made some homemade tomato soup, which ended up sucking, haha, so didn't eat too much of that.

I'm so tired and so tired of not eating well. I think this weekend seriously kicked my butt. I didn't sleep well, and there were not many hours that I could sleep. It was go-go-go the whole time, and we stayed up late and got up early every day. I didn't eat as healthy as I should have either, so I think today was just paying me back.... bummer.

Hopefully this was just because of my weekend. Suuuureee hoping that I don't start getting sick! I don't think I can handle it! I will do my weekly update tomorrow when I feel better and look better, haha... not looking so hot right now! ;-)

Peanut is kicking my butt, hehe, but I wouldn't have it any other way!!!!!

The bible verse for today's post is in honor of The Assumption of Mary which was this past Sunday!

"And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you,and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;therefore the child to be born will be called holy,the Son of God." ~Luke 1:35

Gearing up

Although we still have plenty of time before we meet Baby Hillger, we decided now would be a good time to get our ducks in a row. We are selling both of our old, non-baby-friendly, vehicles and getting a new (to us) SUV! We're buying a 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee with low mileage - hooray! Baby friendly, baby gear friendly, and you can't beat the price/mileage! We're excited as this is our first new (to us) vehicle!


We have also been spending a lot of time at the new house getting it ready. We've been painting, peeling wallpaper, and just cleaning in general. Whew! We are moving in to the new house at the end of next month and we still have a long way to go before it is move-in ready. Luckily the homeowners and their kids have been helping us out - oh and can't forget Britni! She's been working hard too!

This weekend we'll be in Lubbock and we're going to do some shopping for the new house. We need a bunch of stuff, and big ticket items... no fun. Like a fridge, love-seat and chairs, and I'd like a bedroom set, but don't know if we can afford it. Also, I'd like a glider for our bedroom that doesn't look like a glider per say.

I can't wait until the 23rd! Our next doctors appointment! I want to see my little baby again!!!! Until then I will continue to go to bed early, eat lots, and take my vitamins... oh and try to drink tons of water. haha.

“I sing for joy at the works of Your hands.” – Psalm 92:4

8 Week Survey

The 8 Week Survey

How far along?: 7 Weeks and 2 Days!

Total weight gain: Almost 7 pounds! Moving on up!

How big is baby?: Still pretty small, but now over a half of an inch, and about the size of a raspberry!

Maternity clothes?: Might need some stretchy pants soon!

Stretch marks?: Nope!

Sleep: Oh my goodness I'm so tired! Right now I think I could go to sleep!

Best moment this week: Well this past week - seeing our baby's heartbeat! Oh my... what a feeling!!!!!

Movement: No again!

Food cravings: Starting the food aversions.... today nothing in HEB looked appetizing, and then at supper I couldn't eat my greasy chicken.

Gender: If it does come out a boy, he is going to kill me for calling him a she for so long!

Labor Signs: Negative!

Belly Button in or out?: Poochy innie, lol...

What I miss: Not having to drink so much water. I HATE WATER! My doctor told me to drink 100 oz. of water per day! HOLY COW!

What I am looking forward to: Our next doctors appointment so that we can have a really good ultrasound and see our little baby again!

Weekly Wisdom: Hmmm... be prepared for a LOT of facebook notifications when you make the announcement. haha. ;-)

Milestones: Our baby has a huge head now, lol.. to fit that big brain of theirs! And their fingers and toes are starting to form!

Happy to be fatter, haha!

Fun(?) Facts:
- Waist size at Belly Button: 30 1/2.... after a meal. Holy moly!
- Current Weight: 117!

Feeling Blessed Beyond Measure

Today has been amazing. First, we went in for our first doctors appointment! It was just a routine checkup - they took a lot of blood (that I thought I needed! How dare them! lol), did a urine analysis, told me all the do's and do not's of being pregnant, got our medical history, etc etc... They told me that my first ultrasound would not be until 10 weeks... but I knew I had an insider! After my appointment Carylon snuck us in for a sneak peak of Baby Hillger! It was amazing. Words cannot even describe..... After taking a bit to find my uterus, Carylon said "Oh, there it is!", and then said "And, we have a heartbeat!". She pointed the monitor towards me so that I could see. It was beautiful! There was our tiny tiny baby, and his/her little heart going 90 for nothing! All we could see was a flutter in the color but that was all I needed. Our baby was healthy! Hooray! We go again in 2 weeks for my 10 week appointment and ultrasound. YAY!!!!!! I cannot wait to see our little blessing again!

We also broke the news to facebook, family and friends today. The response has been overwhelming, but so awesome. Andrea and Scotty were about to burst at the seams from keeping the secret, so they were relieved to finally be able to tell everyone! We are just so happy that God has brought us to this point in our lives. It's been a long road and we feel so incredibly blessed.

Baby Hillger at 6weeks and 6days

Seeing the heart beating was an amazing experience.

What we saw was a lot better than this, but either way, it's awesome!

“From the fullness of grace we have received one blessing after another” - John 1:16

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is finally here - our first doctors appointment! We can hardly contain our excitement! We're praying that everything is healthy and normal! It'll just be such a relief to finally go. The pregnancy is still not real unless I realllllly think about it. haha. I'm still feeling great, except for being tired and having sore boobs. I don't want to jinx myself, but it almost feels like I need to be sick. ;-) Or maybe I'll pass. Carylon is going to do our ultrasound tomorrow! So pumped! It's such a great feeling to have her as a go-to, a friend, a doctor, an aunt... etc etc. She's awesome!

We keep telling more and more people, lol. Grandparents now know, and some more close friends. Oops! We're hoping that everything comes out great tomorrow so that we can become official! We know telling facebook/the world at 7 weeks is still early, but we feel that if we get a clean bill of health that we'll be ok with telling. So... we'll see!

I'll post tomorrow how the appointment goes! YAY!

"Be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead!" ~ I Peter 1:6

7 Week Survey

The 7 Week Survey

How far along?: 6 Weeks and 1 Day!

Total weight gain: 2 1/2 pounds... even though some website says that I should gain 2 lbs. per week, and should weigh 120 lbs. right now... oops!

How big is baby?: Between a quarter and a half of an inch and about the size of a blueberry!

Maternity clothes?: None yet!

Stretch marks?: Nope!

Sleep: I still go to sleep early, and I try to take naps when I can. It was so hard to stay up past midnight on Friday this past week, haha.

Best moment this week: Dancing in our soon to be new house, by ourselves, enjoying each other and the fact that we're having a baby!!!!!

Movement: No again!

Food cravings: Still tomatoes - I ate fresh grape tomatoes this weekend!

Gender: Still calling Peanut/Chip a she! hehe...

Labor Signs: Negative!

Belly Button in or out?: Flatter innie.. hehe

What I miss: I'm going to miss being able to paint. With all of the things we need to do on the new house I really wish I could put in my time!

What I am looking forward to: Our Dr. appointment is THIS FRIDAY!!!!!!

Weekly Wisdom: Keep a full tummy if you can! I have been staying full and I have not been nauseous yet!

Milestones: Our baby is growing a tail! Haha, limbs are starting to form and the babies senses are starting to form. The brain and circulatory system are developing!

Looking a little less concave, haha...

Fun(?) Facts:
- Waist size at Belly Button: 29 1/2"
- Breasts: 35 1/2"
- Current Weight: 115.8 lbs.