24 Weeks.

How far along? 24 weeks 
Total weight gain/loss: About 10 total.... finally.
Maternity clothes? That AND sweats.
Stretch marks? Not yet, been slathering on the lotion.
Sleep: Not very comfortably.
Best moment this week: Feeling the baby move more and more.  And Brian finally got to feel it!
Have you told family and friends: The whole world can tell.
Miss Anything? Being able to move.
Movement: All day!  I love it.
Food cravings: Pickles. Cheese.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Ground beef is still turning me off.
Have you started to show yet: BOOOOOOOOM
Gender prediction: A few old wives gender predictions said girl.
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? Still in but just barely.
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!
Weekly Wisdom: Walking feels amazing.
Looking forward to:  When baby arrives!

I just love this little nugget so much already!

We've gotten SO much done on the nursery.  Thank God for the second trimester burst of energy and Brian's parents, Granny and my parents for already showering us with a ton of things for the sweet babe!

Brian's parents got us the corner changing table and his Granny got us the crib.  Both from Babies R Us.

Very Dr. Seuss-y!Years ago, I had received a hand-me-down dresser from my aunt that was painted a horrible combo of blue and green (what?)  Thank goodness I kept it around.

I also love this saying we bought from amazon.com to go above the crib.

Nursery!

There is just no way I can update this blog every single week.  I can barely get a new picture with the chalk board every Monday.  But, I got really excited about the nursery this morning so I thought I would share my plans for that with you peeps.

Much to the dismay of most (ok, all) of our family and friends, Brian & I have decided not to find out the gender of precious Baby Cox.  I am such a planner and crazy organizer, it only makes sense for me to not find out the gender ahead of time, right!?  HA!  Actually it was Brian who convinced me before we ever even got pregnant to have the gender be a surprise.  I really had doubts I would ever get pregnant, so for it to finally happen was an answer to a million prayers from both of us.  I can honestly say that I have no clue, hunch or gut feeling whether this baby will wear blue or pink.  Nor do I care.  Imagining having either one in our lives brings the biggest smile to my face because I know it will be the biggest blessing no matter what.

So anyyyyyyyyyway.  Finding a gender-friendly nursery was not hard for me (I'm the girl that had her wedding date picked out before she got a ring, ya)  I have known I wanted Dr. Seuss for a long time.  Then I found this!

I know it's toddler bedding, but you get the idea.

This is the Dr. Seuss ABC Collection.  Perrrrrrfect!  Gender-friendly, AND Dr. Seuss.  AND I can paint the walls green?  I'm sold.

18 weeks.

Hard to believe this pregnancy is almost halfway over!  

How far along? 18 weeks 
Total weight gain/loss: 2 lbs so far.  The doctor asked if I had been eating.  He doesn't know me very well.
Maternity clothes?Oh yes.  Maternity pants, soooo comfortable.  I don't know why people don't wear these even when they're not pregnant.  Got a few tops as well.  Looking forward to hitting up the local used baby clothes store that also carries maternity clothes.  Cuz I'm all about saving money and I have no shame in wearing hand me downs.
Stretch marks? Just the chesticles. 
Sleep: Like a rock.. I've always been an excellent sleeper.  One thing in life I have excelled at without trying.
Best moment this week: I felt the baby move.  Like, I had my hand on my belly and it kicked it!!!!
Have you told family and friends: The whole world can tell.
Miss Anything? Being able to bend over.
Movement: More so from the inside, I really wish Brian could feel it!
Food cravings: Pickles.
Anything making you queasy or sick: The saddest day of my life was when I realized I was completely and totally turned off by ground beef. 
Have you started to show yet: BOOOOOOOOM
Gender prediction: Still no clue.
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? Still in but just barely.
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!   A few lame commercials make me cry.  Of course.
Weekly Wisdom: Water, water, water!  I don't think you can get too much when pregnant.
Looking forward to:  Our ultrasound in week 20.  Not to find out the gender, but to see how big the nugget has gotten!

11 Weeks.

11 Weeks!

How far along? 11 weeks, 5 days (in this pic)
Total weight gain/loss: I don't own a scale, (for good reason) but I got my butt on the elliptical the night of our first appointment.  Holy cow.  Literally.
Maternity clothes? I purchased a belly band and a few pairs of maternity underwear a few weeks ago.  So far, everything is still fitting, just a little more tightly. 
Stretch marks?  A few in the -uhm- chest area.
Sleep: Sleep great at night except for the fact my uterus presses on a nerve when I lay down that makes my right leg all tingly.  It is getting better, hopefully that will go away in the next few weeks.
Best moment this week: Realizing the first trimester is almost over!  It goes by SO fast!
Have you told family and friends: But of course.
Miss Anything? I didn't realize how much I enjoyed a glass of wine after work until now.
Movement: Not that I can feel.
Food cravings: Cheese and random everything.  If I see something I want, I think about it all day until I get it.  It's ranged from nachos to Little Debbie Swiss Rolls to chili-cheese fries.  Yum.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Brian's farts.  Seriously. 
Have you started to show yet: Not that I can tell.
Gender prediction: Hard to believe, but I have no idea.  Nor do I care.  Healthy, ten fingers and ten toes is all I want.
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!   A few lame commercials make me cry.  Of course.
Weekly Wisdom: Water, water, water!  I don't think you can get too much when pregnant.
Looking forward to: When I finally start showing.  So it will look more like a human baby and less like a food baby.

Some Good News

Well, our prayers have been answered and we are so excited to announce that we......

ARE HAVING A BABY!!!

After thirteen months of marriage we found out on October 16, 2012 that I was indeed pregnant!
I will likely not forget that day.  It's quite funny.  Here's the story:
A little backstory first:
We got married in September of 2012.  Ever since then, we have been, shall you say, NOT preventing a pregnancy from happening.  We just thought we'd see what would happen.  Well, my neurotic self did some research and decided it would be a good idea to take prenatal vitamins.  Increase my chances I guess you could say.  Well, that sure did jack up my 'cycle'.  At one point my period was 37 days apart, the next month it was 18 days apart.  Holy-what-the-crap.  Needless to say I quit taking those in July and my cycle returned to normal.  But still no baby.  Every month was a disappointment.  I was really starting to get down on myself; I had had abnormal pap smears in the past and I was convinced something was wrong with me.  However, we continued to pray that God would someday bless us with a little bundle of joy.
 Fast forward to October 16th.  I woke up at 3 am having to um, use the restroom.  And I'm not talking about your run-of-the-mill early morning potty break.  I'm talking about my insides are on fire and if I don't get out of this bed right now I am going to sh*t myself.  Spent thirty minutes in the restroom.  FINALLY fell back asleep around 4 am.  Did this routine again at 6 am and woke the hubby up and told him I was pretty sure I was staying home from work that day.  By this time I was two days late for my period and CONVINCED I was pregnant.  Brian made me promise not to take a pregnancy test until he got home.  One thing you should know about me:  I am by no means patient.  At all.  So at about 10 o'clock I took my first test.  Came back positive!  I didn't know it was possible, but I was laughing and crying all at the same time.  Our dog, Tank was giving me some pretty funny looks.  About an hour later I was so pissed at myself for taking the test without him!  I had this awesome news and no one to tell.
The best experience so far has been telling everybody the news.  I'll write about that in my next post.  Until then, here's a (non-existent) belly pic!

One year ALREADY!?!

I can't believe how different our house looks now.  I also can't believe Brian & I have been married a year!  Time really does fly by.  I think we have accomplished quite a bit in the short year.  I mean, we bought a house!  A lot of people go a lifetime without doing such a thing, especially in this economy.  I have to remind Brian that every time he gets a little overwhelmed with the bill/credit situation.  But, I have to remind him that we are lucky, our bills are paid every month, we have food on our table and a roof over our head.  We really don't need much more.  Soon the loans and credit cards will get paid off, no worries.
We spent a couple of days the weekend before our anniversary at the Inn of the Mountain Gods in Ruidoso, which is where he proposed.  It was nice and cool, and very relaxing!  Just what we needed.

Like I thought, we have been running around crazy trying to make this house feel comfortable and be 'us'.  

As you can see, the rug from Overstock.com wouldn't lay flat. :(

Our very first project was our red accent wall.  I could not be happier with it!  We got the living room painted the first weekend we were living there.

#TEAMWORK!

I like the new rug a lot better.

I think every day I find something I want need to change.  The carpet in the master bedroom desperately need to be replaced, as does the baseboards.  Oh, and the ceiling needs painted, along with the walls.  I think it's coming along great though!  I love spending my time here.

Last time I move for a loooong time...

What. A. Week.  We have been in our NEEEEW home a little over a week now and I cannot believe how happy I am.  Seriously.  Brian even noticed.  He said I don't get upset about things as often.  That's cuz there is nothing to be upset about!  There is so so so so much storage in this place, I am in love!  The best part is that if we don't like something, we can change it for the most part.  Cuz we OWN it woo woo!

Case de Cox

Number one on the list of things to do is paint.  These people.  I dunno.  Every wall is white.  Every wall.  And it's not off white or eggshell.  It's white.  We are planning on doing a dark red accent wall in the living room and tans for the rest of the house.  I would love to paint the guest bedroom grey or something, but we'll get to that later.  We also plan on re-doing the countertops in the kitchen and the master bathroom.  They are the original, we would just like something a little newer and nicer.

Living room.

Dining area off the kitchen.

The kitchen with lots of cabinet/counter space.  So happy!

We ordered a new living room and a new bedroom set about two weeks ago.  We are going to Lubbock to pick them up on Tuesday.  I can't wait because as soon as we have all that, everything will fall into place.  We will be able to paint and unpack the rest of our boxes!

Master.  As you can see, no furniture. Soon, though.

Master bathroom.

Our little soon-to-be Oasis.

That's a pool.  Woo Hoo!

I fell incredibly blessed that Brian and I were able to buy this house.  We are very fortunate to have a wonderful support system.  I can't wait to entertain them all in our new home!