18 weeks

As I am writing this as Dan fills our house with wonderful smells of his chicken pizza! He makes a pizza with alfredo, chicken, spinach, and lots of cheese. It is so delicious. Baby sure thinks it smells great too!....It just got done and tastes amazing. I am so lucky to have him spoiling us :)  Today I have been craving lots of fruity, sweet things. Fruit, Jell-O, yogurt, juice, fruit snacks. Crazy food loving baby! The other night Dan and I were relaxing and I thought I felt baby... but it may have been just gas bubbles. I know that soon enough we'll both be feeling the baby- how crazy that will be.

Last weekend we visited Omaha to make the final preparations for our wedding next week and attend Mr. and Mrs. Josh and Ana Peyton's wedding. I can't believe we are just a short 10 days from our wedding. Seems like such a formality since we are already married, pregnant, with a house and a dog- but at the same time- so exciting! I only recently realized how much of a PARTY this shindig is going to be. After receiving RSVP's for a whopping almost 200 people, we are SO excited to celebrate with everyone next weekend.

Wally, our lab mix puppy, has been extra spoiled lately! We are starting to realize how important it is to spend leisure time with him now, but also to start preparing him for baby to arrive. I think he will feel very left out and be jealous in the beginning, but then he will love baby once baby is older and more fun! UPDATE: WALLY JUST GOT HIS BUTT SPANKED!!! Dan made this WONDERFUL pizza... which I was just raving about. Wally stood with front paws on the counter and ate 4 of the pieces! Our wonderful, delicious leftovers!!!! Ugh. We are so mad at him. Granted, we should have wondered about the missing dog and quiet kitchen, granted we should have put the leftover pizza away... but fact remains. We should not have to hide our food to keep the dog from being naughty! Good practice for kiddos I guess.

UPDATE:
Weight gained: still nothing gained, but finally back to pre-pregnancy weight. Only up from here
Feeling: Great! Hungry alot more, which is a great sign. Also very lovey with Dan, wanting to hug him or be near him all the time. Crazy hormones.
Symptoms: Hungry, gas bubbles (or baby moving), growing baby.
How big is the baby? sweet potato (5.5 in, 5 oz)
Miss anything? Full night's sleep. I know this isn't likely to change anytime soon, but gosh do I miss sleeping for 12 hours on a weekend with no puppy waking us up, or late night potty breaks.
Cravings: Today: fruity sweet things. In general, just food. Great perk of being the prego lady at work- everyone is willing to share their lunch :)
Aversions: none!
Maternity clothes? Bought a maternity Husker tank, but no need for maternity clothes yet. I was even able to travel all Friday in my skinny jeans! Thankfully, loose, conservative clothing is the fashion in the south so I'll be able to incorporate alot of my pre-pregnancy clothes late into my pregnancy!
Stretch marks? Not yet. Hoping to gain gradually and minimize stretch marks from sudden growth, but who knows how it will go.
Gender: Baby is developed enough to tell by now, but our doctor doesn't screen until after 20 weeks.
Name picked out? We've discussed some. We'll get more serious about it once we know which gender we're narrowed down to.
Belly button in or out: Innie, but I've always had an inbetween belly button. It is an innie, but it looks like an outie... just deeper like an innie. At any rate, although I am at pre-pregnancy weight, the distribution is defnitely different and my belly button is more shallow- weird.
Looking forward to: Our wedding next week, football season, baby gender reveal, and starting fall/ maternity clothes soon :)

Below are some pictures to update from the past few weeks:

Still no bump at 15 weeks (8/1/12) 

How I actually looked walking around at 16 weeks (8/8/12) 

How I could suck it in at 16 weeks (8/8/12) 

Bump can't be hidden now! 18 weeks and +/- 0 pounds (8/22/12) 

New maternity shirt for this season... and still in my skinny jeans!

Wally being super cute and sweet before dinner... before being such a bad doggy! 

Catching up from the First Trimester

Update since we found out we were pregnant:

We found out May 30th, 2012... our one year anniversary and the day of our engagement pictures. I imagine that won't be a day we forget anytime soon. I spent the next month or so sick as a dog. We decided to change our wedding from May 2013 in Panama City, FL to Labor Day weekend in Omaha, NE. Moving everything up to just a mere two months away added to the new stress, which of course made morning sickness worse! In the first 10 days of pregnancy I lost about 10 pounds or so. I've been slowly gaining it back since then, and now, at 16 weeks I am just about back to baseline. During the first trimester protein was a common aversion and baby loved fast food! (This baby takes after his/her Dad!) One thing that surprisingly went over well: McDonald's Chicken Nuggets- so gross.

At the end of June I moved to Panama City to join Dan and we had both sides of the family in town the weekend before the 4th to meet! That week I started my new job, and Dan and I were legally married to start Tricare for baby and I. :) We closed on the new house, and heard Baby's heartbeat in the same day! Since mid July, we have been wedding planning, setting up house, and learning to cohabitate. Wally loves the new house and big backyard. He also has turned more into Dad's dog, since Dan plays with him and is way more fun than Mom! He still doesn't like to be far from me, and will occasionally come check on me when Dan and I are in different rooms.

August so far has been packed with finalizing wedding details and preparing for our upcoming travels. Dan, Wally and I are falling into a routine, which unfortunately includes 6:30 am wake-ups with our puppy, even on weekends- I guess it's good baby training, but I miss sleeping in!

Below are a few of the pictures from early on in the pregnancy that didn't make it to facebook. Now we are 16 weeks along and starting to see a noticeable difference in my growing belly! Hopefully in the coming weeks we will update more often :)


UPDATE:
Weight gained: still down 3 pounds.
Feeling: Good! Not as tired or nauseous anymore, and food actually tastes great! I still don't eat much at a time though.
Symptoms: Tired, but nothing like before. Still regular potty breaks, but I think more hydration related instead of pregnancy related.
How big is the baby?: As big as a turnip. We've moved through the rest of the produce section so far including avocado, lemon, lime, plum, and navel orange.
Miss anything?: Wine. I know there may be some safety in light alcohol consumption, but so far haven't ventured there yet. But man would I love a glass of Pinot Noir with a nice medium steak! Only a few months to go! Also missing regularity. Turns out high Iron in prenatals, mixed with general vegetable aversion is creating constipation. I'm so used to clockwork, this is annoying.
Cravings: Baby does take after me some! Baby loves sweets. Lucky Charms are a recent favorite snack, and although packed with sugar, they ARE fortified with Iron and Folic Acid, so they're healthy for baby right?
Aversions: Vegetables, and anything 'heavy'. Heavy today means chicken fried steak and lots of gravy- sounds awful.
Maternity clothes?: Nope, but some of my wardrobe is getting snug. Not enough to notice, unless you're the one wearing it all day!
Stretch marks?: No, which is surprising given the rapid (and painful) growth of my breasts in June! Up a full size in a matter of a few weeks- ouch.
Gender: Don't know yet, but two girlfriends found out their baby's genders this week and I am green with envy. Our OB doesn't do gender screening until after 20 weeks, so sometime after the big wedding we'll know :)
Name picked out?: Maybe for a boy. Girl- we are at a loss. Bought a baby name book yesterday.
Belly button in or out: In, but I've always had a shallow 'innie' so we'll see how long this lasts...
best moment this week: Hearing Baby Campbell's heartbeat lumb-dubbing away :)
Looking forward to: Big wedding in three weeks, finding out the sex, and starting to show! I know in just a few short months I'll be tired of being huge, but lately I don't 'feel' pregnant. Not tired, not sick, and not showing. I heard the baby's heartbeat again last week, and that made this mama happy! Baby is in there, growing away and healthy.

Dan and I at his cousin Heather's wedding. We are about 5 weeks here, 4 days before 'the test'

Week 12: Starting weekly photos. Last Wednesday before moving into our house.

Week 13: Closed on the house, notice our friends Collin and Bailee in the background, who were helping us move in :)