16 Week Survey - The Blueberry is the size of an avacado this week!!!!!

How far along? 16 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: I have gained one pound since I lost weight from my run-in with morning sickness. I was wrong last week...I feel huge, but the scale continues to surprise me, lol

Maternity clothes: Not yet! My sis is loosing weight and looking great, which works out swimmingly for me! She is handing down all kinds of wonderful clothes and saving me from having to buy anything new! Thanks, Kel! I know Justin really appreciates it! ;)

Sleep: I don't require as much! YAY! I still love naps, but that's nothing new!

Best moment of this week: Signing our little Blueberry up for preschool!!!! I was so excited and I couldn't stop smiling all day! We are open to all options, but at this point we have a secure spot at a great preschool called, Sign With Me Child Development Center! My grandma had the owner in her kindergarden class, so I have known her forever which makes me super comfortable. Also, all the children learn sign language, so it will be really awesome to communicate with the Blueberry before he/she can talk.....of course we won't have a full conversation, but it will be great nonetheless!!!!

Movement: Here comes the crazy first time mom again, but I swear I can feel the baby in there. Nothing huge, but a little taps and flutters....we will ask Lisa, the midwife, if this could be anything substantial or not when we go to our appointment tomorrow!

Food cravings: Not really....I think I am still recovering from hating all food during my morning sickness stage.

Gender: We should know around Christmas if we will have a Daniel or a Betsy!

Labor signs: Nope

Belly button in or out: Still in!

What I miss: Subs made with deli meat!

What I am looking forward to: Our appointment tomorrow! Hopefully we can schedule a date with the ultrasound tech to find out the Blueberry's gender before Christmas!

Weekly wisdom: We spent the weekend with our friends at their beach house. They had their baby with them, and he was a piece of cake! It made me feel a lot more confident about having a baby of my own. Here's Justin helping him walk, isn't he just the cutest?!

15 Week Survey!!!

Happy 15 week birthday little Blueberry!!!

How far along? 15 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: I have gained a little since last week, but I am still not close to what my first pregnancy weigh in at the doctor's office

Maternity clothes: Not yet, but I am wearing my more comfortable "fat clothes"

Sleep: I have actually been able to stay up later and take fewer/smaller naps! I may return back to normal after all!

Best moment this week: Finding out that my bridesmaid Julie is pregnant too! She is due June 22nd!!!!!

Movement: I swear that I feel "something", but I am not sure if it's a baby, lol

Food cravings: Not really.

Gender: Grrrr....still waiting. We'll know right around Christmas!

Labor signs: Nope

Belly button in or out: I think I have a while before it pokes out....hopefully!

What I miss: Milk and Cokes! :( It makes my stomach hurt now.....so sad!

What I am looking forward to: The weekly update from Baby Center so that I can call Justin and tell him the developments for this week.

Weekly wisdom: Do as much as you can when you have the energy because you never know how long it will last!

Milestones: I baked 10 pounds of cinnamon pecan nuts! Hopefully the next 10 pounds will come in soon so I can get the majority of my Christmas baking done early! (The nuts keep really well, so don't be scared you get some for Christmas...they should taste just fine and be perfectly safe!)

The Questions

I can't find much to do today....I have cleaned, written thank you cards, and put my shoes away (all things that I don't care much to do, but end up getting done when I don't have much to do). I could tackle the HUGE, DAUNTING task of organizing our back (junk) room to get it ready to transform it into the guest room since the baby will be in our current guest room....but that would take too much time. I have to be ready by 10:30.....

You see, I have a funeral to go to today. A funeral for a classmate that I have known all the way from kindergarten through our junior year of high school. Her last name was Henson and my last name was Hogan, so I ALWAYS sat behind her...you get to know someone pretty well that way.

She was never a popular girl...she was the girl that the popular girls had a mission to make miserable. She was very loyal, kind, and never had an ill word to say about anyone...even the popular girls that made her life miserble. I hope that people in her life after school, and after I knew her, treated her as she truly deserved.

I don't believe that death is bad....actually I believe tha that she is on her way to Heaven, and we should be grateful, we should even be celebrating for her! The part that stinks and brings the pain is the questions that death leaves behind...

She had four children...can you believe that, four! What will they do without their Mommy? Are they too young to remember her? How will her mother cope with the pain of the death of her daughter?

WOW! So much to say!

Sorry for the long post, but so many things have been happening lately....here's the update:

My cousin Joseph Martin married Kelly Darling (great maiden name which she kept as her middle) on October 24th at the church where I attended mass while in college, St. Thomas Moore. Their reception was at the Doak Campbell Stadium!!!! It was an awesome venue!!!

I loved visiting Tallahassee and showing Justin my old "stomping grounds" HA! I can't believe I am old enough to refer to college as my "old stomping grounds"!

I was inspired by the lyrics of Jimmy Buffett's Tin Cup Chalice, "Give me Oysters and Beer for dinner everyday of the year and I'd feel fine" to throw an "Oysters & Beer" party to celebrate Justin's 30th birthday! Justin really enjoyed the party, and it sounds like everyone had a great time!

My Aunt Roxanne and I have the same birthday, November 4th, and my dad's birthday is two days later (November 6th) so this past weekend my mom had a birthday party for us! We had a fun lunch together! And, as always, we enjoyed mom's cooking as much as the company!

Finally, today marks the first day of my second trimester (14 weeks)!!!!! I haven't mentioned our little baby on the blog yet because I have been slightly anxious and TOO TIRED.

When we found out we were pregnant, our baby was the size of a blueberry....and the name kinda stuck. We call him/her The Blueberry. Our Blueberry is around the size of a lemon this week, and he/she can make faces and can suck his/her thumb! Wouldn't that be so cool to see?!

Our 16 week appointment is the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and we will get our next ultrasound at 18-20 weeks.....right around Christmas!!!! I told Justin that I can wait until 20 weeks (which would be our regular appt) to see what the baby is, but I really want to know for Christmas, so if our 20 week appointment isn't until after Christmas we will have to schedule another appointment just for the ultrasound....it sounds crazy, but we are so ready to know if our Blueberry is a boy or a girl!

Anyway, I saw a weekly update on another blog, and I thought I would try to be organized enough to give an update every Tuesday (the Blueberry's weekly "birthday"). I will be answering the same questions, and hopefully adding a "belly pic" so you can see the baby (and me, lol) grow.


14 Week Survey
How far along? 14 weeks, officially the beginning of my second trimester! YAY!
Total weight gain/loss: around 5 pounds down, the morning sickness has been pretty bad, but it seems to be slacking off a little
Maternity clothes? Not yet!
Sleep: Sleeping has been my favorite thing to do lately! The other day Justin suggested that I take a nap because I "seem to be really good at that (napping) lately", lol, it sounds kinda harsh, but he didn't mean it in a malicious way at all....it acutally made me laugh.
Best moment this week: Reading the weekly update to Justin and telling him that The Blueberry can make faces and suck his/her thumb...."watching" the development of our baby is just awesome!
Movement: They say first time moms won't feel anything for about another month, but sometimes I sit really still and try to feel becauseI have convinced myself that I am not like other first time moms and I will feel it sooner than a month, lol
Food cravings: I want to go to Bangkok in down town and have a ginger salad and cucumber rolls, but I refuse to until the morning sickness is gone b/c I don't want to ruin my taste for sushi! Other than that, I have no cravings, but I do love Shirley Temples....haven't been able to turn one down yet!
Gender: We stared out wanting a girl, but now we are just excited to have a baby and it doesn't matter which it is! Although boy names are hard to pick and girl's clothes are WAY more cute!
Labor Signs: Nope
Belly Button in or out? In
What I miss: Cokes and spicy tuna rolls
What I am looking forward to: Saying goodbye to morning sickness
Weekly Wisdom: If you like it, don't eat it until the morning sickness is gone, or you may never want to eat it again *tear*
Milestones: Hearing the baby's heartbeat at our last appointment! Justin teared up, and I would have too, but I was too scared to even breathe because I thought I would disturb The Blueberry and we wouldn't be able to hear its heart anymore!


We don't know The Blueberry's sex, but we are still playing with names....

The girl name we have picked is Elizabeth Jane, Betsy for short. Betsy is my wonderful friend from college, her sweet smile, her strong, enduring faith, and her wonderful personality have touched Justin and me so much that we wanted to name our little girl after her. It is strictly a coincidence, but an awesome one, that Jane is a family name on both sides of my family. My grandmother's (dad's mom) middle name is Jane, and my Aunt's (mother's late sister) name was Jane as well...both are/were amazing women.

We need help with a boy's name. Our minds are pretty set on using Daniel as his first name, Danny for short. Daniel was supposed to be Justin's father's name, but his mother was talked out of it at the last minute. The name Daniel keeps popping up in Justin's Bible class, and we have received various other "signs" that this is a perfect first name....but, we are having trouble with a middle name!

Any suggestions? Please don't be offended if it doesn't make the cut...it seems that Justin and I can be pretty picky.

Thank you for your input and have a great day! :)