Finally - A Pregnancy Update!

How far along: 21 weeks

Baby is the size of a: pomegranate

Gender: girl

Due date: July 26, 2016

Symptoms: I've been having some serious heartburn pretty regularly and I've probably been a little more emotional than usual but otherwise, I can't complain.

Nursery Progress: We made some major moves in this department over the past two weeks and it feels really good. We decided a while ago that we would need to convert our guest room to a nursery. Only problem with that was we were using our guest room to store everything we didn't have space for otherwise. Between all the items we needed to sort through, get rid of, give away, sell and the baby items we were already starting to accumulate, I couldn't think about that room without feeling completely anxious. I knew if we waited much longer to tackle that project, Jonathan would start getting busy at work and soon enough my energy wouldn't be where it is now. Luckily a few weekends ago, we both had the motivation to get it done and not only did we clear out the room, we also painted the room and purchased the glider the same day! The crib came today and I believe the dresser is being delivered tomorrow. Once those pieces are put together, we can chill out for a bit before we do too much more.

Appointments: We had our anatomy scan at 19 weeks and the doctor said everything looked great! She was in a bit of a weird position, so they had a hard time measuring her spine which just means I go back in a few weeks so they can try again. I can't complain about that -- love getting a glimpse of our girl in there.

Name: We've been settled on a first name since we started talking about having kids but last night we committed to a middle name, too. I'll share the full name here soon enough!

Looking forward to: Spending time with my older sister and her sweet kiddos next week then hosting Easter brunch for the 3rd year in a row. It's going to be a good week!

Exciting moments this week: Deciding together on her full name. I cried, obviously. Also, psyched to be putting the finishing touches on our registries. We spread out the items across Buy Buy Baby, Target and Amazon and I'm glad we did. Having so many options helped me choose what I felt were the perfect items for our girl and I had so much fun doing that. Another exciting moment: upgrading to my new mom ride! Knowing in just a few months I'll be toting around a little one along with all of the necessities and probably also our large, furry pup, we started to think we better move from my Nissan Sentra to something a little bigger. I'm pretty excited to tote around our little family in this and I feel a huge sense of pride knowing we were able to do this without going into debt. It makes it that much more exciting for us!

We're more than halfway to baby and while I can't wait to hold our sweet girl, I am truly enjoying this incredible time. I love being pregnant. This bump is a dream come true and sharing this time with Jonathan is an experience my heart can't even handle sometimes. It's too much in the very best way possible.

The one where we found out we were pregnant

We have our 19 week ultrasound today and I am just a wee bit excited. We haven't gotten a peek at our girl since week 12 which feels like a lifetime ago, so I am really looking forward to 4:00 this afternoon. 

To celebrate almost being halfway through this awesome journey, I thought I'd share the sweet story of how we found out we were pregnant. I always love reading these and I know I'll love looking back on this. 

By the time October came around, I was feeling a little discouraged and if I'm being honest, a little frustrated. I remember telling Jonathan at the beginning of the month that I wanted to take the month off -- not from trying to get pregnant, just from trying so hard to get pregnant. I told him I was out of ovulation sticks and didn't plan on buying any this month. I didn't want to pee on a stick to find out my peak fertility days and I didn't want to open the app on my phone that estimates my fertile window. I wanted a break from trying to control and plan it all. He was completely on board and we went about our business not thinking about it all so much.

As we entered November I was pretty much expecting to be right on schedule as usual and I was okay with it. I was glad we took a break from all that the month before because I needed it and I was okay with the fact that it meant we probably didn't get pregnant in October.

You can imagine my incredibly pleasant surprise when on November 18th, we cried the happiest tears over a positive pregnancy test. It was the day I tried to resist telling Jonathan I think and hope we might be pregnant but couldn't help it and when he told me he felt the same way, I closed my eyes at my desk and silently prayed we were both right this time. It was the day I proceeded to stop at the store on my way home to pick up a few tests telling myself (and knowing it was a lie) that I wouldn't take one until the next day. It was the day I got home from work and quickly talked myself into taking just one test since Jonathan had to run out to meet a client. It was the day we -- okay maybe just I -- stared in disbelief at that pregnancy test and thanked God for teaching us again that when we stop trying to control everything in our lives, we allow ourselves to completely place our trust in Him. 

We were supposed to go on a run when Jonathan got home so I took the test, placed it on the bathroom counter and started getting changed and when I wandered back to the counter and picked it up, I saw a plus sign, put the test down, walked out of the room the back into the bathroom. I picked it up again, squealed with excitement and started pacing around the house wishing Jonathan were in the other room so I could go stop him from whatever he was doing and make him jump for joy with me when I shared our news. The next 30 minutes or so felt like an eternity waiting for him to get home. I went and sat on the front porch. Then I came back inside and took a picture of the positive test on my phone so I could look at it again and again while I waited on the porch in case I started to question whether or not I saw what I think I saw. When he finally got home, the only sneakiness I could handle was handing him my phone with that picture up asking him to read something for me. It took a minute for it to register and when it did, I saw his eyes light up with the same joy and disbelief that I'd been basking in. 

We were just short of a year since our miscarriage and here we were, pregnant again. You would think with the pain of experiencing a miscarriage, I would have been anxious and worried but instead, I felt such peace and hope because if we've learned anything it's that no amount of worrying or planning or fear is going to change the outcome so why not choose joy?

Getting pregnant is just one of many life adventures that went very differently than I'd imagined it would. We could drive ourselves crazy trying to understand why we miscarried in 2014 or why it took some time for us to get pregnant again, but after all the other times God has shown me His plan all along was grander than anything I envisioned for myself, I trust that it's all part of our bigger plan and I'm thankful for not needing to know the why or how behind it all. In November 2014, I can't tell you how many times I looked to Romans 8:18, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us" and now more than ever I see just how beautifully true that is. 

Life Lately

Well, hello. I had really high hopes pregnancy would make me a better blogger with so much I want to share and document but seeing how I haven't been here since announcing Baby Snyder oh, 6 weeks ago, that isn't how it's going. I just haven't had it in me to actually take the time to do some writing. We've been keeping busy and time is just flying by! Since we're so close to the 20 week mark at this point, I'll just plan on sharing a mega-update at that point! I also plan to share the story of how we found out we were pregnant because I always enjoy reading posts like that from others, so stay tuned.

In the meantime though, life lately has been full of so much joy. We've had all sorts of fun, gotten good news and there have been so many moments I never want to forget.

+ We spent the first weekend of February in Boca Raton celebrating our friends' wedding and had such a good time. It was one of those weekend getaways you don't realize how much you needed until you are there. The wedding was perfect and so much fun and we got to spend the whole weekend with friends that we don't see as much as we'd like to.

+ Last week, my brother texted me a picture of a house and said "Hey neighbor." The house just happens to be 1.6 miles from us (I mapped it immediately) and he's moving there at the end of the month. I have been jumping for joy ever since. We haven't lived this close to each other since college and I am so grateful we'll have him and his sweet girlfriend so close to us now.

+ Waking up on Sunday mornings with Abby and Taylor cat sprawled across the foot of the bed. So many snuggles.

+ Speaking of Abby, she is growing like crazy. She's probably tripled her weight since we brought her  home in December and at 30ish pounds, she still only about halfway to her full weight. This growth hasn't stopped her from allowing us to pick her up like a human though and I don't think she'll ever stop acting like a tiny puppy. She is full of energy and her and Taylor cat play together all the time although it could just be Taylor trying to get away from her that we think is them playing. Who knows. She certainly has added some chaos and life to our very quiet, clean home which is only helping to prepare us for our little one who'll be making an appearance in just five months.

We did start puppy training class last week and while I'm sure she'll always be wildly playful, we are working on gaining a little control over the chaos. She's catching on quickly and I'll be really satisfied when she isn't jumping up all over our guests and doesn't take me for a walk when I'm trying to walk her. She is the goofiest and sweetest thing and we regularly tell each other how happy we are with the decision to bring her into our lives. She's also like the only thing I've been taking photos of lately so here you go :)

+ Last Saturday, we brought Abby to the Winter Park Farmers' market. The weather outside was absolutely gorgeous and it was the perfect way to kick off Valentine's weekend with some quality time together. As we wandered around Winter Park and stopped to make friends with other puppies and people, multiple people commented on my pregnancy and it totally took me by surprise. It was the first time any strangers had noticed my growing bump and it caught me completely off guard but made my oh so happy.

+ We ventured out last weekend to look at nursery furniture and ended up starting our baby registry. I wish I had taken pictures of this adventure because this is a day I never want to forget. I would imagine a lot of husband's aren't keen on the idea of spending their Saturday at Buy Buy Baby registering for burp cloths and trying to decide on crib sheets but Jonathan was such a joy to be with that day. I couldn't even get the words, "Oh, we need one of these..." before I would here the beep of the scanner before I even got a chance to tell him which one. You couldn't miss the absolute pride and excitement he is feeling as we selected items for our baby girl. I don't ever want to forget him calling me over to the crib mattresses with way too much excitement so the store employee could explain all the options to us. I don't ever want to forget him going through the rack of Dr. Seuss books deciding which ones our sweet girl just needs to have in her nursery. I don't ever want to forget him shouting out "the baby bonjourno!" (Baby Bjorn) when we made it to the baby carrier section. Whenever we've ever talked about babies, he makes sure to tell me we're getting a baby bonjourno and how he's going to carry our little one around using it. He knows I laugh every single time he calls it that and this time in the middle of Buy Buy Baby was no different. As a side note: I had other carriers in mind from the get-go and when he saw the price tag, he too decided we would go with another option. I'm sure he'll always call it a baby bonjourno though and that makes me giggle even now.

I was already on cloud 9 the whole day as it felt completely surreal to me to be choosing the things that would soothe, hold, carry our sweet baby girl but witnessing Jonathan's apparent joy and pride just put the whole day completely over the top for me. I can't even think of how overwhelmed and proud I will be seeing him as a daddy. I literally cry just thinking about it.

+ I made baked ziti for dinner on Valentine's Day but more importantly, I made my own spaghetti sauce for the very first time. I tell myself every time I go to make anything Italian for dinner that next time, I am going to attempt my own sauce but then every time, I get intimidated and/or lazy and buy a jar at the store. I figured Valentine's Day was a good day to tackle this goal and I did it! It could use a few tweaks next time but I was really happy with how it turned out!

The last few months have flown by and I really can't believe we're almost halfway through our pregnancy already! We have our next ultrasound on March 3 and since we haven't had one since January 13 -- I am literally counting down the days until we get to see our sweet girl again. After that, I'll share a full blown pregnancy update with you all. In the meantime, we're tackling little projects around the house and soaking in all the joy of this special time in our lives.