It's a SLEEPY kind of Wednesday

The Alford's

What you've all been waiting for... and pregnancy highlights

Well I'm sad to say our sneak peak didn't go as planned. Little strawberry was carrying the cord between his/her legs so it was VERY hard to rule out pink or blue. Little stinker!!! She did check for blood flow and since the line between strawberry's legs did detect blood flow, we couldn't make a decision whether or not boy or girl. Or more specifically, we couldn't rule out penis or cord. Ugh. I guess this is what I get for trying to find out earlier than scheduled. :) Deep down I'm feeling boy, though.

We DID get pictures. Yay. I have scanned them in and added notes to them so you can tell what everything is. We'll start with little strawberry's sweet little heart beat. He/she was beating it up fast at 165 beats per minute.... (You might have to click on the pictures to enlarge them to be able to read my notes)

Sweet little picture of his/her heart

Face, Arms & Hands

Strawberry's sweet little profile. You can see his/her face really well here.

And what we've all been waiting for.....

Cord... or... penis....

Here, I have added a square around the legs and what's in between....

And here, I have added arrows and notes so you can make it out better.

Sooo.... What do ya'll think? It's kind of long to be a penis but for some reason my gut is still feeling boy. Which... would be A-OK with me. Seeing that heart beating 165 beats per minute is what makes me smile the most!!! :)

Anyways, today I am...

[no picture this week, remember, every other week]

15 Weeks

PREGNANCY HIGHLIGHTS:

How Far Along: 15 weeks

Size of baby: The website I googled said baby is currently the size of an apple.

 Total Weight Gain/Loss: Honestly, I haven't weighed this week. I will find out Friday at my doctor's appointment

Maternity Clothes: I have worn a couple things. I am still fitting into most of my regular clothing as well. 

Gender: Little strawberry was being a little difficult during or sneak peak so we aren't sure. My gut says boy though!

Movement: Still not feeling any movement

What I miss: I miss NOT feeling sick, I miss NOT gagging, I miss energy, I miss my clear face(it's so broke out) and most of all, I miss sleep!

Cravings: Seafood. I'm only supposed to have 12 oz. of fish/shrimp a week and for some reason I am wanting it every day. I did the same thing when I was preggers with Tuff.

Symptoms: Exhaustion, nausea, gagging and acne.
Best Moment this week: Seeing little strawberry on the big screen last night! :) And of course getting pictures to bring home and look at too. I haven't been able to quit looking at them. Can't wait to see his or her precious face in August.

Hope ya'll are having a great week!!!

The Alford's

A quick update

The ultra sound tech at the hospital left early tonight so we won't be getting our sneak peak until Monday afternoon instead. Just wanted to keep ya'll posted...

Hope everyone is enjoying their Friday night. Me and Tuff are about to hit the hay. Goodnight all. :)

The Alford's

TGI..(finally)..F

I'm so thankful it's Friday. I have been wore out all day! We had some bad weather come through middle TN last night and I am the weather "worry warrior." I will worry myself sick until the worst of it finally gets here and then usually, nothing happens! Haha. I guess it's better to be prepared though... just incase. Since Jordan works nights, it makes nights like last night even harder on me. One day while I was in grammar school we had several tornados hit middle TN while I was at school. I will NEVER forget this day as long as I live. At one point they had everyone in the gym, against the walls, with books over our heads when a teacher runs in screaming "It's coming! It's coming! Get DOWN!" The tornado actually came through the field infront of the school and circled AROUND the building. NO ONE could have told me there wasn't a GOD that day. I truely believe he was the one protecting us. Even though it didn't actually hit the building it was still one of the most scariest moments of my life and every since that very day I have been TERRIFIED of storms. I'm talking eyes glued to the radar, not sleeping a wink until it's passed king of terrified. So all day yesterday was spent with an uneasy feeling for the weather to come later in the night. After Jordan left for work I was texting him telling him I'd wished he'd just stayed home with us. I know, big baby, right? A few times I even contemplated going to stay the night with my mother in law or mother. So after a long night of radar stalking, nothing happened at our house except a little wind and rain. Needless to say I was T-I-R-E-D when it was time to get up this morning. I have literally been dragging all day. I feel like I could fall asleep right now as I type this. Luckily, I only have 2 and a half hours left in this work day! So I am saying TGIF with pride on this Friday afternoon.

As for weekend plans, we don't have too much on the agenda. We have to take my car to get 2 new tires sometime tomorrow. (We had to get the other 2 last week.) I'm kind of hoping for a slow and relaxing weekend. :) We did have plans to take another peak at little strawberry tonight after I get off. As of right now, that's still up in the air because my sister in law hasn't talked to the ultrasound tech she works with yet. But. We will be taking a trip up there sometime this weekend... if not tonight. I am SUPER anxious about this peak since I am just a few days shy of 15 weeks and 15 weeks is when we saw Tuff's little private area for the first time on the big screen. I'm hoping to have some official results for everyone on Monday. What do you guys think? Blue or Pink????

I will tell you all this, strawberry has been causing some more consistant morning sickness. Which is odd since I'm in the 2nd trimester now. My sickness is worse now than it was in the 1st trimester. Oh well, I guess everyone is different. And I look at it like little strawberry is just reminding me on a daily basis that he/she is indeed growing in there. If that's the case, I don't mind the sickness one bit. :)

On another note, I really appreciate the wonderful tips from Amber and Amy on the Day School I wrote about in my post yesterday. I was feeling pretty good about it but after I read your comments, I felt even more assured and the extra assurance sure helps!!! I know I'll be a nervous wreck leaving him the first few times but I know now he'll be in good hands! So thanks girls!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!!!

The Alford's

BABY BOY

[To MeMe's house we go]

[watching cartoons in his car]

Baby boy is just growing and learning so much, right in the blink of our eyes. He's been talking so much more lately and really letting us know what he wants and when he wants it. It's amazing, really... To sit back and watch them take everything in. It's like he absorbs everything he see's, hears, touches, etc. Last night after dinner I went in his room to help him get his puzzles down. After I sat him down and the puzzles down he looked up at me and patted the floor beside him. It was SO sweet I couldn't resist. We spent a good 30 minutes taking apart and putting together the same 3 puzzles. With NO help from mommy, of course. He just wanted me there for morale support and for some company, I guess. I LOVE my time with him. I cherish every minute that he's asking me to hold him while he reads, puts puzzles together or to just watch a tv show. When I think about his sweet smile, I feel like I could burst from the happiness he brings me. I am SO blessed to have such a special little boy and lately I have been finding myself stopping and thanking GOD for him more and more on a daily basis! It won't be long before I'll be sharing these same feelings for 2 instead of 1 and I can't wait!!!

Anyways, Tuff turned 19 months old last week. It's really been weighing on me to try and get him enrolled in some kind of pre-school/day school sometime after he turns 2. He loves MeMe's house, no doubt, but I feel like he needs some other kid enteraction and maybe a little teaching skills at the same time. He's so eager to learn. I know it would be so good for him. After talking with Daddy about it a little bit, I started thinking I'd start looking for something here in town were I work since our hometown didn't offer anything like this. I was starting to stress about it since most pre-schools are from 8-2 and I work from 8-5. How was that ever going to work with my parents living 25 minutes away? When I hit this bump in the road I kind of pushed it off to the side and prayed a little here and there about it. WELL, mom called Sunday night and said she saw an ad in our hometown paper about a day-school at a local church. The next day I got on their website, read all their info and called to ask a few more questions. After talking with the supervisor this morning, I am feeling REALLY good about this. It's 2 days a week from 830-2. It's during the school year(Aug-May) and they follow the same schedule as all the county schools. I talked with my sister in law about taking Jace (Tuffs cousin, they are only 8 months apart) up there with Tuff and she's interested in it too. Which makes me even happier to know Tuff will have atleast one familiar face to be with on his first day. :) They start taking applications March 1st so I'm not sure how long it will take to here whether he is approved or not but I will keep ya'll posted. Also, if you live in my area and you are interested in more info on this day school, check out their website here.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Thursday!!!

The Alford's

14 weeks

Since it's been 2 weeks since the last belly shot, I am keeping my promise and putting up a current belly shot for week 14....

I am....

14 Weeks

PREGNANCY HIGHLIGHTS:

How Far Along: 14 weeks and 1 day

Size of baby: The website I googled said baby is currently the size of a lemon.

 Total Weight Gain/Loss: The last I weighed was this weekend and according to my scale, I'd lost another 2 lbs. which puts me at (-6)
Maternity Clothes: I finally went and bought a few things this weekend and I have worn a couple things. I am still fitting into most of my regular clothing as well. 

Gender: As of our first sneak peak, girl! We go back Friday afternoon to look again.
Movement: Still not feeling any movement

What I miss: I miss NOT feeling sick, I miss NOT gagging, I miss energy, I miss my clear face(it's so broke out) and most of all, I miss sleep!

Cravings: No cravings this week.
Symptoms: Exhaustion, nausea, gagging and acne.
Best Moment this week: Waiting for Friday to get here so we can know FOR SURE what's growing in there! Oh and finding out my cousin from Florida (who is the same age as me) just found out she's pregnant too!!!! Our babies will be the same age! That is exciting. Hoping for a girl for her too. Congrats Christy!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!

Happy Wednesday everyone!!!!!

The Alford's 

A little sickness and weekend

Yes, You heard right. SICKNESS again. My sister's little boy Harrison had a virus last Monday and Tuesday and returned to mom's on Wednesday. Thursday morning, baby boy woke up with a low grade fever. I went ahead and took him to moms with some Tylonel hoping he'd get to feeling better. So much for hoping... Mom called about lunch time and said he had been pretty lethargic all morning, not getting off the couch, not eating, and woke up from his morning nap with a pretty warm fever. So home is where I headed. He seemed to act fine as long as I had tylonel in him but he did continue to run a fever until late Friday night. Poor buddy. He just can't catch a break. I did stay home with him on Friday since he was still running a fever. Friday night Jordan and I dropped Tuff off at his moms and headed to Murfreesboro for some dinner and grocery shopping after. Later that night when we got home is when Tuff started feeling much better.

Saturday morning we woke up with a few things on the agenda. Jordan had some projects for the house brewing all week so he spent most of his time Saturday finishing those ups. We got a new screen door for our back door last weekend and he got that put up. Ahhh... I love a screen door. Especially during the spring and fall when its cool outside. Since it was a pretty nice weekend we got to spend a little time trying out the new screen door. :) My father in law and hubby also worked hard getting the new treadmill in the house and set up for me. I have been telling Jordan that I really need to exercise more with this baby than I did when I was pregnant with Tuff. I don't have very much time in the afternoons to get out and walk before it gets dark so I thought it would be best to get something I could work with inside and after Tuff lays down for bed. What's better for that than a treadmill? Tonight will be my first night... walking. :) Hopefully it will help me stay healthier throughout this pregnancy. I'm also hoping it will help with prevention of that terrible preeclampsia I had with Tuff. I have been experiencing ALOT of headaches the past few weeks and I'm so afraid it has something to do with my blood pressure. I go back to the doctor next Friday so we will be addressing this issue with my doctor then. It's just too early in the pregnancy to have blood pressure issues. Praying for other explanations... So while Hubby was finishing his projects me, Tuff and my sister Tori headed to get Tuff's hair cut. Poor boy is going to have some really fast growing hair just like his daddy. And poor mama and daddys pocket books are going to go empty because of hair cuts! :) Actually, we are pretty lucky since Jordan's sister cuts hair for a living. Most of the time when we can get ahold of her, she cuts it. For free. Which is nice for our pocket books. We kept my sister Saturday and overnight since my mom and dad were going to be gone most of the day and late into the night. She always helps out alot with Tuff when she's over. And it's nice to have a little break. I made homemade pizzas for dinner and we all headed to bed early. I had a headache and Tuff didn't get an afternoon nap so we were all ready for bed, early! :)

I got up Sunday and cooked breakfast for everyone then we all had showers and got ready to go to the Boro while Tuff napped. I finally went shopping for maternity clothes. I got several things so I'm hoping most everything I got will last me through the whole pregnancy. After shopping, we headed home to relax for the rest of the afternoon. Jordan had the screen door open when we got home from shopping. It was so nice outside yesterday afternoon. The breeze was refreshing. Perfect ending to a perfect weekend! :)

While we were out Friday night, we FINALLY picked up a booster seat for Tuff. I was hoping he would eat better if he could sit at the table with us. We tested it out Saturday morning and he LOVED it. Now we can throw away that dreadful high chair. I hated his high chair. We couldn't have gotten rid of it sooner!!!! Anyways, here are a few shots of our BIG BOY in his new big boy chair!!!

The quality is better in the first one because I took it with my camera. The 2nd one I got with my cell. He wouldn't smile for the regular camera like he did with my cell. He looks so big sitting up there! :)

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

The Alford's