22 Weeks: He or She? Read to see!!!!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you are all staying warm and enjoying family. I know I am! I haven't been to my parent's house on the 25th in years. It was a nice change of pace to be here and soak in the comfort of familiar traditions. From cinnamon rolls in the morning to dad's "one gift an hour" plan -- it just feels like HOME! Something we probably will not be able to experience as often in years to come since we'll be carting around our little bundle! 

December has been a surge of business. {What's new!} Alex and I got back to the gym a handful of times. It was intimidating at first but our first day back was as if we never had taken a break! In fact, some of the "regulars" that we people watch are still their. Such as "swishy pants guy," "running girl," and "PINK." Now, please do not think that we are judging any of these folks. After all, it's a judgement free zone! We just don't know their names. I'm hoping that if we frequent the gym more often we will see "braids." She is this sweet little 70ish year old lady with hair to her knees and she wears it in pigtail braids. She is inspiring! 

Speaking of December, I find it amusing that Michiganders are constantly complaining about the snow. Ummm..... Yeah. I have no comment for those people. Let's enjoy it, shall we! I had oodles of fun at Steve and Amanda's this winter. They have the PERFECT sledding hill at their new house. Our craft/sledding night was a hoot. Eric was convinced {briefly} that sledding is a "dangerous" activity for pregnant women. Well, even so, I don't care! It's sledding for darn sake! We {mostly the woman} must have gone down the hill 2-3 dozen times riding on a slew of sleds - 2 saucers, 2 sleds, a toboggan, and even a snowboard. Nothing beat Ryan and Ashley's tandem stand-up toboggan ride. {No worries, I was conservative with my sled selections!} Ahh white powder! I was out of breath, face numb, but smiling ear to ear! 

We had our 20 week ultrasound on the 16th. I can't believe how fast the little nugget has grown! {FYI: We had the same technician that we had at our 8 week appointment and I feel bad for calling her a wet blanket. She is a warm and pleasant lady with a super cool job!}. Our little bean was moving and wiggling all over the place! But, had it's legs crossed for most of the appointment. And then, she turned the screen to "check" for the status. She then took a couple shots, wrote a note, and put the pictures in an envelope. We opted for the option to find out the gender of our baby outside the walls of the ultrasound room. So, that night we handed it off to our good friend Alex. 

She and Ashley planned a fun little reveal party for us. It was great to be able to celebrate with friends that we see weekly, even daily. I can't tell you how much I appreciate all of our friends. Every milestone in our lives we eagerly anticipate celebrating with them. We all have this general regard for eachother's well-being. I think it speaks mountains about the character of these people. They are our light and our energy. They know our hearts and they rejoice with us and grieve with us. And, we are fortunate to be god-parents to one of the kiddos! I think it's a rare thing in life when your friends are closer than your family. {Not that we don't have great families! We just have stellar friends!}

The ladies at work even had a little party the day after we heard the news. Judy turned gender prediction into a fun little game. She had everyone vote on pink or blue paper and I brought in color-filled cupcakes the next day. Their vote : 14 girl, 5 boy.....

Ok enough sap, ya'll are like..... GET TO THE POINT!!!!

So, we tortured our families for about a week's time with the baby news. But, it was important to us {maybe just me} to reveal the news in person during Christmas parties. Having family long-distance makes those moments specials. Now that everyone is in the loop it is time to make baby V public!  Ladies and Gentlemen......  little baby VussMuffin...... is...... a.......

GIRL GIRL GIRL!!! 

Yes-sir-eee we are expecting a baby girl in May! She will have great hair and I'm sure she will be a giggly little clown. Eric and I were {secretly} hoping for a boy but we are elated to have a little girl. It just melts my heart these days when he leaves for work in the morning. Naturally I am in bed when he leaves {although I should be up and dressed by then} so he kisses me goodbye, says "I love you," wishes me a good day, and tells me to get out of bed. But, now he will put one hand of my forehead and one of my belly, kiss me, and say "I love my girls!" I MELT. This baby girl is going to be so loved. I can't contain my joy! Family, babies, love, life!! 

Ok, now that you've gotten the news I'll wrap up this post since anything else I write will be pointless.

How Far Along: 22 weeks
Size of Baby: Baby is the size of a spaghetti squash! SHE is 1 lb and forming tooth buds! 
 
Weight Gain: Total gain: 12lb eek! 

Belly: The belly is getting roundy! She's moving her way up. So far mostly carrying high, big, and round. In fact, my whole self is getting round -- holy thighs and booty!
Sleep: Rarely do I nap, but when I do I sleep for hours!
Movement: She likes to move throughout the day. I definitely feel her after I eat. Hoping that those little kicks will soon be felt from the outside.  

Symptoms: The lower back pain vanished one day. Now, I'm dealing with carpal tunnel. My doc said its from typing and sleeping on my hands. My aunt also had this during her pregnancy from waitressing. So.... looks like this is my destiny since I type and waitress haha.
 
Food Cravings: Wings last week.
 
Gender: GIRL!!!

Mood Ups and Downs: Pretty good lately!
 
What I Miss: My clothes. I've been getting creative with my options. Thanks to Em for some hand-me-down maternity clothes!

What I'm Looking Forward to: Seeing her pretty face! 


Alright everyone! Hug your mom or your dad.

18 Week 5 Days: There's No Mistaking It!

Hi everyone! I hope you are all in good health and well-fed. How was your Thanksgiving? 

We have completed our go-rounds of Thanksgiving parties! What a blessed couple weeks it has been. I might sound like a repetitive possessed Furby, but Eric and I really do have to most rad support system, which makes Thanksgiving a plentiful holiday for us. God is continually good!


It started {again} with Friends Thanksgiving with the "Tribe." Benny and Brooke were generous enough to  host and let us bring Porter so he could blow off some steam before hosting the Fitzgeralds the next day. There was sooo much food and it was all delicious. Patti arrived the next day with her clan. Yes, we hosted. And, with that came a little slap to the face when we discovered how much it costs to fry a turkey {Thanks for Sonja for the awesome wedding gift}. But, for first time turkey fryers we managed not to burn the house down. Turkey wasn't half bad either but it might take another trial or two to get it just right! Thanksgiving day we spent with the VandeVusses. Donna and Sid prepared some great food and, as always, the house was bursting at the seams with full bellies and good company. And now, I am bursting at the belly too. Too many Turkey-day dinners for this preggo.
 

Oh man! The scale is going to brake soon.

I'm sure that some of you followed the recent scare we had on Facebook involving me being "hit" by a car. When God wraps his arms around you He does it tightly!! We are sooooo fortunate that my car/person collision was not any worse than it was. Needless to say, I am going to be much more careful when walking across the road, even if I have the right of way. Thankfully the lady hadn't picked up much speed after the stop-sign! We had a follow-up appt {just in case} and everything looks great. My vitals were regular and baby's heartbeat seemed strong. Now, I just have to try to remain stress-free because I think that is more damaging than the pain after the accident. ~ Thanks for your diligent prayers! ~

I'm getting pretty revved up to see my family for Christmas. I'll be there for 4+ days!!! That hasn't happened in a long time. I can't tell you when the last time I spent Christmas day with my mom and dad. I fully expect there to be cinnamon rolls, fresh fruit, celtic women christmas cds, a fire, and jammies!  Eric, unfortunately, doesn't have any vacation left {thanks to our honeymoon} so he will only be coming for the weekend following. Regardless, I love being in town to see my parents, siblings, neices, and extended family. Christmas with the DuPont's {all 60+ of them} is a unique experience filled with magic, crowded hallways, hugs, kisses, gratitude, and genuine regard and love for one another. I love being part of such a wonderful family. And, I'm glad that Eric has been able to survive the chaos over the years. Not to mention that I am eager to be able to help ease mom's stress of preparing her home for the blissful disorder! 

Another anticipated moment soon approaches. The gender ultrasound!!! I can't believe that I changed my mind! {No backbone!} I was really adamant about waiting until birth to be surprised. But, life isn't about me. I happen to be married to a wonderful man who not only hates surprises, but he has anxieties about being under-prepared for things. In an effort to alleviate the stress of house hunting and baby prepping we'll find out for this little nugget. The delight, however, comes from the compromise that we made.  Once we are settled into a permanent living situation and nestled into our lives we'll have another baby or two. It will be at that time that we will be surprised in the hospital! {In the mean time, I don't want to hear and griping or complaining about the decision that has been made. Our baby = Our decision. Sorry to sound heartless but all the unwanted, negative opinions really pinch pregnancy hormones/nerves}

I'm very eager for the reveal! We aren't too keen on the idea of being told in an office and celebrating with the wet-blanket technician on Dec 16th. So, we have decided that we will send the "envelope" to a friend and have a little get together! Then, we will reveal the news to our family members at each of the Christmas gatherings. {Might be easier said than done. Hoping people can keep their lips sealed until the last event. If not, those family members will forfeit their rights to family secrets in the future. BOOM!} Now I just have to get crafty and figure out how we want to announce the news......



How Far Along: 18 weeks 6 days

Size of Baby: Baby is the size of a bell pepper. Baby is busy moving and flexing. Its gender can be determined at this point!

Weight Gain: Total gain: Thanks to feasting 9 lbs. {I'm debating removing this section soon}

Belly: The belly is alive and well. It hates elastic and loves to be rubbed. It is enjoying cocoa butter.

Sleep: I've been sleeping better and dreaming less. Usually only up once a night to pee.

Movement: Move pronounced movements this week. The goldfish swimming feeling is still there. But, every now and then I get a little "jump" feeling or light jab. I want kiddo to get the hiccups. I hear it feels funny. 

Symptoms: Lower back pain continues but that is about it. It hasn't gotten any worse thanks to stretches, strengthening, changes to how I sit at my desk, and avoiding my lazyboy.
 
Food Cravings: Nothing specific. Sweet and salty maybe.
 
Gender: Dec 16th is our ultrasound!

Mood Ups and Downs: Not too bad lately. Just getting annoyed with all the "expert opinions" from people.
 
What I Miss: The gym.... I'll be going back after what Thanksgiving did to me.

What I'm Looking Forward to: Surprising family with the gender reveal! 

Milestones/Moments:   Working on getting our Christmas tree up! I told Eric that I didn't want to decorate for Christmas this year since we might be living out of moving boxes... well that's not happening. Thanks to Ash and Woody we have a tree to use!

Be good! Don't hit any pregnant ladies that are crossing the street!