This pretty much sums up my day.

I was downright bored at times. Tyler, feel free to finish graduate school anytime. How does being done with classes in May sound?

I have no complaints, though. In a way, today served to remind me that I really do enjoy my job and the good that I feel about it. I guess helping preschoolers is better than reading blogs or surfing Pinterest periodically all day after all.

I am having a hard time deciding what to do with my blog once the baby gets here. I am not sure how I feel about putting it all out there for anyone to see. I think I am going to start really trying to document my days, and if one day I decide that this blog needs to be more for friends and family only, then I will make it more private. Chances are the only people reading stuff here are people from Facebook, and you wouldn't be my friend on Facebook if I thought you might be a creep.

Tomorrow's goals include: deep cleaning our bedroom, reading more of the book I just started, more prenatal yoga, going to my first Mom's Consignment Sale (wish me luck!), and spending time with my elusive husband.

20 Weeks or This Is Getting Pretty Real

Halfway there, friends! It is still an extremely surreal experience to be expecting a little baby so soon. Sometimes it seems like such a normal part of life and then other times I cannot even believe it. I won't pretend that there weren't a few hormone-induced tears shed over this. There was even one night that I cried because it was going too fast! Not this pregnancy, mind you. No, I was crying because I felt like our baby was getting older too fast. Sheesh.

Everyone keeps asking how I am feeling, and I just keep responding with, "Great." There isn't too much to say, really. The nausea and food issues and extreme exhaustion just aren't a part of everyday life anymore. I have had a few moments of feeling the teeniest bit uncomfortable, but I am certainly not complaining. I know this is just the beginning, so I am enjoying it all that I can.

Oh yeah...

We found out that we are having a sweet baby boy! It is what Tyler and I both suspected from the very beginning, so it wasn't really a surprise. Knowing that he is in there growing makes it seem so much more real to me. We bought some cute dinosaur onesies today to celebrate and it was bizarre to look at them and think that this little guy is one day going to be filling them up.

Plus, I have been feeling the baby move! Once I finally said to myself that yes, what I was feeling was indeed fetal movement, it seems like I feel it much more. It's wild. Last night I felt him kick on the outside. Too bad when I called Tyler in the room the kicks stopped. At the ultrasound today his little feet were right where I felt the kicks last night.

It's hard not to feel like writing all of this stuff out or taking pictures and then posting them for other people to see is somehow cliche or a weird form of attention seeking. Taking these pictures feels really awkward sometimes. But, in the end, I know that I won't regret having these little things to remember this time by. Plus, as it turns out, some people seem genuinely interested. Anyway, if you think that these posts are cheesy and over-the-top, at least understand that I kind of know that they are...heh.

17 Weeks or The Bump Gets Legit

Here it is, friends. My momma lives on the other side of the state (along with a lot of other family), and I want to document my first (ever!) pregnancy, so here we go...weekly photos. I am thinking about writing a note to the little guy or gal each week too, but I doubt that I will post them on here. It's kinda between us and Baby Tank.

As far as symptoms, I have really been feeling great. My appetite is funny in that it seems huge, but I really only want smaller amounts of food all day. I just make sure to pack good snacks for work, and I am good to go.

The belly really made itself known this past week. So many people have mentioned it, that I finally feel like I may look pregnant. I want to enjoy this "cute" stage, because eventually I know I will feel...less....cute.

We find out the gender in just a few weeks. Tyler and I very much have our suspicions and have probably felt a little too confident that we have it figured out so we will see. But, really it's true what everyone says, it doesn't matter what gender this baby is we just want our baby to be healthy. Plus, I don't like the traditional blue everything for boys and pink everything for girls.

We took our first trip to Babies R Us this past week. That store is no where near as overwhelming as I thought it might be. We just went in, picked out a few big things we liked, laughed a little at the craziness of the baby industry and went home excited at having figured some stuff out. Thankfully, we have had people tell us that you don't need everything and that the store WILL still be there after the baby is born.

Next on our agenda: figure out the diapering situation, have lots of dates, and sleep the heck in (wooo! 7:45).

And...Baby!

Big news. We announced it to everyone before Christmas, after keeping it a secret between us and a few family members and close friends for a long time.

Thanks again to everyone for the sweet words of encouragement and congratulations, it made us smile a lot. We were so anxious to share our news with everyone.

To say that Tyler and I were surprised when we found out we were having a baby would be an understatement. Interestingly enough, we had recently had conversations about starting a family sometime in the next two or three years. We were both starting to feel really anxious and excited about having babies, but thought that even though it might be a little bit hard to wait, that it was the best thing for now.

Once we saw the test results, we were elated. We have both said that having a baby right now is exactly what we didn't know we wanted. Tyler and I always thought that the road to becoming parents (if even possible for us) would be a long and intentional one. We love our little-huge surprise!

I read a lot of blogs and I am in my mid-twenties, work at a school, and with kiddos, so that means that I hear about babies and pregnancies A LOT. I always thought about what it might be like to be pregnant (maybe too much?) and to be actually experiencing it right now is both bizarre and surreal. At times, this whole thing is seeming to creep along so very slowly but in my mind I am always reminding myself to treasure this time. At most, I will only be 14 weeks pregnant a small handful of times. In a few months, when my belly starts getting outta control, I might start missing my little is-it-a-gut-from-Christmas-or-a-baby? thing I've got going on right now.

Also, I slept until 8:00 this morning, and I hear that once the baby comes I can pretty much forget that.

I really want to start documenting this pregnancy much more than I have been. Now that I am in the second trimester (hurrah!) I am feeling much more like my old self, which means getting back to things I love like cooking, crocheting, and writing. And eating.

A little disclaimer or two: Some people find reading these kinds of posts really annoying,boring, pointless, cliche, whatever and that is fine. For some that are ready to be in this stage but for whatever reason aren't, reading blogs about pregnancy and babies is downright painful. I just want to warn everyone that I think about baby stuff a lot and that is what I am likely going to write about. I won't be offended if anyone doesn't want to read my blathering posts (like this one). And every facebook status from now until forever won't be just about preggo/baby/kid complaining and/or gushing. I promise.

And for the record, there will be NO bare belly shots of me. Ever. Ever. Ever. That's just not the way I roll. (But props to whoever does find that meaningful or whatever. I don't care what other people do.)

So...Much...Food

This weekend was a fun one since it was my birthday weekend! I was totally spoiled by my husband and friends. I felt very special each time someone took the time to wish me a happy birthday in person or on facebook!

The great thing about this weekend was that I declared it a "Calories Do Not Count" weekend. The bad thing was that I forgot that it gets BAD when I have nothing stopping me from eating a bajillion Fruity Pebbles Treats. Or the four delicious cupcakes that a friend gave me. Or a huge veggie burger and fries. Or...CiCi's Pizza (what?!). I am too embarrassed to even speak of the rest. Or of the way that CiCi's makes their bacon pizza look like cheese pizza. NOT a fun surprise.

To try to alleviate my fats-and-sweets-hangover, I decided that this breakfast was in order:

Yummy eggs with avocados and tomatoes and a small glass of orange pineapple juice. Now, that's more like it. I love me some junk foods, but there is a reason for moderation. And that reason is feeling sleepy and blah and like your teeth are coated in sugar.

I spent some time this weekend planning out my posts for this week. Some fun things to look forward to (if my blog is something to look forward to...yeah...don't answer that question):

-A post about Community Living

-A little tip for fruits

-A typical day in my life

-A recipe for using up all those veggies in the fridge

Now, let's all go have a great Monday, shall we?

A Fresh Start

Ok, here's the deal.

I love reading blogs. I love writing. I want to remember my life right now. I think everyday is a gift. I want to share my ideas and inspiration.

So here I am. This is by no means a "professional", "crafty","fashion","organizational", "what-have-you" blog. This is not a way to springboard into a business or have a bajillion followers or make people feel like my life is super-dreamy and whimsical.

My blog is just a way for me to write and to have fun documenting this amazing life stage that I have found myself in. Who knows what this totes cray-cray [totally crazy] blog will be in a year or two? I don't know and right now and I don't really care.

All I can say is this: I hope you like pictures of my dog!

Breaking The Silence!

I just needed to say three things:

1) Tiny 7.5oz Diet Cokes might be a great stepping stone to not drinking soda.

2) They also may just be a whole new addiction?

3) Expect Jess to be back to blogging! Woohoo!

And I will probably be even more goofy, 'cause that's how I write.