24 Weeks!

I realized it has been 2 weeks since my last post! I would like to say I have bust beyond belief but really I haven't had that much on my plate. In fact last weekend my Doctor actually let me leave Great Falls! She told me I should go while she still lets me...so I wasn't going to question that. We went to Bozeman and were able to see my parents for a couple days. They have a Baby Store that I really wanted to go to, but go figure the week I wanted to go they were moving to a new location and closed.  Oh well we still had a blast! I snapped a quick picture so you could see what Memorial Day is like in Montana. I usually think of grilling and being outside....not what this picture shows. So this didn't help with all the work that needed to be done outside. It was a nice break though.

Jeremy has been hard at work around the house still. He is still currently still sanding the dresser we bought at the garage sale. It has turned out to be quite the project. So I would update you on how it looks but honestly it still looks the same. He took a break and was working on the landscaping and changing out the brake pads on his car. I must say I am really thankful that I married a man that is so hand with things like fixing some things with cars and building stuff. I have no clue how to do any of it. So I make sure he had a steady stream of Ice Tea and remind him to take breaks everyone in a while and tell him he is doing a great job. Here's a couple pictures of him hard a work!

Lets see what else has been going on...we had another Doctors appointment this week and I feel like we have hit a milestone. We are 24 Weeks!!! That is a huge deal to me, maybe not to some that have had pretty normal pregnancies or never had any miscarriages or anything. To me it means the world and I am just so thankful for every week we are giving! Blessed! So we had a great visit with the Doctor and like I say every time I am so happy we chose to go with her. She genuinely cares and makes every visit great. Yes she is a Sooner...we don't hold that against her! She ordered another Blood Test, a Glucose Test and another Ultrasound to check on the growth. We will see how that all goes. She also got our Full Amnio test result back and they were all normal. Will never be able to give enough thanks. Anyways I asked her for a copy cause I thought they were really cool. So if you every wanted to see what the results look like check it out.

You can't really see it but it also confirms that it was a boy.  So there will be no surprises for us on deliver day. Which I am quite ok with. Someone had mentioned that you are able to tell eye color and hair color from this as well. Well that is not true. We asked! Dr. Henzel said there still has to be some surprises. I guess!

So recently I have also gotten some questions about how we are decorating our nursery. Well its a tough one to explain. If y'all know me I mix and match stuff and make it work together. Its just my style...I can't help it. So I don't really had a "Theme". They main colors we will be using will be Brown, Orange and Teal. Trust me these are not easy colors to find. I am trying though. It kind of started with a Picture that I really like. In the picture it looks Scary...but I swear in person it is really vibrant and not near and intimidating. Anyways I love all the colors and thought I would use it.  Here is a picture.

We are also painting the dresser to look somewhat like this...

Well just a little darker and somewhat more masculine. Hopefully it will turn out alright.  Here is a picture of the Crib but it is a Dark Stain instead of white. This is the only one we agree on and absolutely love it! I was unsure about the spindle look on the side but the crib arrived this week and it looks awesome and totally matches the dresser! Yay! The bedding will be the brown instead of the teal.

I have also been pretty obsessed with Etsy if they had a Baby Registry I would totally be signed up for that. I know this sign has been popular lately and I just love it so I am in the processed of ordering it now. They have so many cool things though. Pillows to make match and anything you can think of that is personalized. Even some cute firefighter stuff. I much admit I am a little worried we might have a firetruck overload! We will see.

(The sign will be White, Brown, Orange and Teal) I will update you with some pictures later once it starts all coming together then you can see my vision.  I think I can pull it off and make it all look good. I am trying to avoid painting the walls either. If I just have to move in a year then I really don't want to have to paint it a million times. So I am using lots of color elsewhere.

The rest of this week was full of small tasks. We helped with a program with our Church called Engaged Encounter. Its the least we can do to give back. I got the work the registration desk for the weekend and that was actually pretty fun. There were a lot of couples (around 20) and they come from all over MT. We have always enjoyed doing it and we have met some great people by volunteering.
That was followed up by some Garage Sales...we found a couple things but nothing to great. Then this afternoon we also started a Registry...which I must admit it very intimidating. I am an organized person when I have to be...so yes I have an Excel Sheet on my computer that organizing the things we might need and were I can locate them...yes I am over the top sometimes. It makes me feel better about my finances and what not. So most likely I will keep it around. Needless to say I felt lost in the store. It doesn't help that Target in Great Falls has nothing and they need a new one. It is VERY old school.  So I just gave Jeremy the Scanner and i think that he was entertained...scanning stuff and then deleting just cause he could. Oh well! Its  work in progress at the moment and I am sure there are things we have missed.  Any must have items let me know I can see about adding them! I am clueless at the moment!

So I think I have chatted enough this week...I will try to update earlier this time. This week we will be going to a Baptism Class for Colton. We plan on trying to do the actually Baptism in Wichita, KS where we got married. We will see. We also have a parenting class on base on Monday. I have no clue what that entails but I will let you know!

(Please excuse my Lay Saturday looks...makeup and hair was not a priority of mine once I got home from Target. Oh and the Shredder...I mean doesn't everybody have a shredder that hangs out in their guest room...lol..Sorry about that)

How Far Along: 24 weeks 

Total Weight Gain: Well around 15 lbs according to my scale. I informed my Dr that some of her nurses subtract my combat boots (steel toe) and others don't. She laughed at me and said she really wasn't worried about me. I guess thats a good thing. Yet at work I have heard some interesting comments...one guy didn't even know I pregnant until someone told him this week. On the other spectrum I was also told that someone had to ask to confirm that I was pregnant or if he needed to tell me to hit the gym. Ummm...not the best way to word it but I will blame it on him being a guy and not know how to word things the right way...lol. 

Maternity Clothes: I was able to find a few things in bozeman...a cute dress for the summer. Now if it would just warm up and stop snowing! 

Sleep: Sleep like a rock still...sometime use an extra pillow it makes my back feel so much better. 

Best Moment this Week: Another enjoyable Dr Appt and being able to spend sometime with the parents in Bozeman.  Of course loving spending EVERY moment I can with Jeremy cause as of right now he is still leaving for South Korea and the day he has to leave just keeps getting closer. I try not to think about it too much cause he is my rock and I hate when he is gone. But I guess we knew that when we signed up for the Military but it doesn't make it any easier. Every good buy is hard. He applied for a Humanitarian to try to stay for a little longer before he leaves. If you could say some extra prayers for us that would be great! I pray everyday that he will be here for a while longer. I understand he will have to leave sometime but maybe if its later then I could go with him. Praying! 

Miss Anything: Always miss a lot of stuff but its all worth it in the end! 


Movement: Still moving around like crazy...loving it for now.


Food Cravings: Still Cheese and I love popcorn as well. 


Gender: Boy! 


Wedding rings on or off: Still on


Looking Forward To: Meeting Colton...not too early though or course! 
Also looking forward to my college roomies coming to visit!!! They are coming out in July and bringing their little ones. I am so EXCITED!!!

Here is a picture! I LOVE these girls! 

Thanks again for checking out my blog and thanks to all of our friends and family for all the prayers and support! They do not go unnoticed and we can't thank you enough! Until next time...

22 Weeks!

It's a nice day here in Great Falls, I have the windows open and enjoying the nice weather.  I figure I would do another blog update during the lunch break of the day. I was helping Jeremy do some of the light work chores around the house because I felt bad that his laundry list of things to do is getting so long. We are also going with another couple tonight to see What to Expect when Your Expecting. It should be pretty fun, another fact our due dates are only a couple days apart.  Honestly I LOVE movie theatre popcorn too. I feel like this could be  a win- win situation.

So what has been happening this week. Well as you know from my last post I had an Amnio done on Monday. It wasn't until we actually were driving to the Dr that I go nervous about the pain. I have to admit it wasn't that bad. Maybe this is a weird comparison but I think getting my ears pierced might have hurt more than that.  It was just a weird feeling I cannot describe to you. Anyways, after the procedure I basically went home and rested for the entire next day. Jeremy was so nice and went and picked up some movies for me to watch. So far I haven't had really any side affects. Then I had to wait 3 days to get preliminary results back.  Thats what was more agonizing. I was trying not to think about and just trust.  Well I got a phone call at work on Thursday and they had GOOD NEWS! That was the first thing our of the Nurses mouth. My stress level I think immediately dropped. The preliminary results (FISH results) came back normal. She also confined that we were in fact having a boy.  I feel like I can finally enjoy the rest of the pregnancy and not put any extra stress on Colton.  We will get the final results in a couple weeks. I don't have my next appt until June 1st, so I am just taking it easy until then.

Here is a picture from the last ultrasound right before the Amnio. 

He is weighing in at 1.1 Lbs. He is kind of on the big side. 

I didn't have the best day on Friday though. I am grateful for the people I work with and how nice they treat me and pick up my slack.  I literally almost passed out at work. I was just sitting at my desk and felt really hot and next thing you know the room started spinning. I quickly put down my head and grabbed a jolly rancher.  I stopped my self from actually passing out. My co-workers were nice enough to call Jeremy and have him take me home. I am hoping that was a one time thing and passes over. We will see.

Dusty hanging out with me on the couch on Friday. 

I called the Dr and stayed there all day like they told me too. 

While I was laying here watching movies all day friday Jeremy was keeping pretty busy. By the end of the day I just wanted to go do something but Jeremy kept me on strict orders to not leave the couch like the Dr said. So I didn't. Here is what he was up too.

He took the fence down, dug up all the grass and they filled it with almost 3.75 tons of rocks. This was all in one day. Then the gentleman we ordered the shed from came and delivered it. This will give us lots more room in the Garage and a place to store the mower and stuff. The trailer the guy had was probably the fanciest one I have ever seen. It was all run on remote control. So this weekend Jeremy is doing some landscaping around the building and planting some more of my favorite flowers, Dahlias.

How Far Along: 22 weeks (sorry no picture) 

Total Weight Gain: Still haven't told me but I am thinking around 10 lbs. 

Maternity Clothes: Still loving the Gap and might order some more soon. 

Sleep: Sleep like a rock

Best Moment this Week: Getting great test results. I would love a child no matter what, but this took a lot of stress away from an already very stressful pregnancy. 

Miss Anything: Lots but thats OK!

Movement: All the time!!! I am wondering if that mean he is going to be a busy-body and always active. 

Food Cravings: Cheese!  I love Watermelon too! 

Gender: Boy! 

Wedding rings on or off: Still on

Looking Forward To: Meeting Colton and see what the future brings. We are going to start going to some Baptism classes in the next few weeks and I am looking forward to that. I usually always look forward to every Dr Appt. We really like the Dr and she always makes it an enjoyable experience.  

I joke with Jeremy all the time that if we are ever blessed with another child that I might not know what to do if everything is going normal. I might be a very paranoid person. LOL. Oh well time will tell. Thanks again to all of our family and friends that have been such a great support and keeping us in their prayers. We feel extremely blessed!!! 

I will keep you all posted on what is going on...just check back everyone in a while. 

Thanks everyone for checking in...I really appreciate you taking the time!

21 Weeks...We picked a Name!

I hadn't posted any pictures last week so I put a couple up today. I figured I would just post the stats for this week, what we have been up to and the exciting part we picked a name!

So I will just get the part you really want to know! What are we naming out little boy! We have chosen  the name Colton Max Wray! We are so excited and absolutely love the name. We just like the name Colton and Max is a family name and it sounds good too. Well at least I think!

So whats new in Montana...not much. The weather has been in the 70's the last couple days so I can actually wear warmer weather clothes. Looking in my closet is not the same as it use to be. The clothes just don't fit...thats ok its totally worth it in the end. Lets see we basically just worked all week and relaxed on the weekend, well at least I did. Yesterday we went to garage sales for a little bit. We snagged a couple deals.

This is a dresser I picked up. Well technically Jeremy did because I can't lift anything. We are going to try to give it a distressed look. We will see how it turns out. While I spend the day relaxing Jeremy was out sanding it down all day. He still not finished but I think it will turn out looking great, he is doing an amazing job.  I will post pictures of the progress...it may take a little while. The color might shock you too. Stay tuned!

The rest of the weekend consisted of just going to the movie. We went and saw The Lucky One. It was actually a pretty good movie. I had read the book so I figure I should see the movie. Honestly though I am more excited to see What to Expect When Your Expecting. I think it will be hilarious...maybe I can talk Jeremy into taking me this week.

20 Weeks

21 Weeks

How Far Along: 21 weeks

Total Weight Gain: They don't tell me when I go to the Doctors I am guessing around 10 lbs or so

Maternity Clothes: Thank goodness for Gap Maternity. I got a new pair of jeans and I feel like I may be able to survive a little longer now. Cant really find much of anything else that is long enough and still flattering...maybe soon. 

Sleep: Take a nap everyday and sleep very well at night

Best Moment this Week: SO much to be thankful for and blessed with. Not sure I can pinpoint a specific moment. Just great having so much time to spend with Jeremy and with friends too. 

Miss Anything: I just want to go for a Jog or go to spin class! It ok its a small price to pay. 

Movement: Everyday and loving it!

Food Cravings: Still loving cheese! Ice Cream is pretty amazing too.

Gender: Boy! 

Wedding rings on or off: Still on

Looking Forward To: Just to meeting our little boy. I know its a ways away but he truly is a gift from God and will never forget how much of a miracle he really is.  I am looking forward to being past 24 weeks when things get a little safer. 

I am getting an Amnio done tomorrow and really nervous about it. I am hoping everything goes great and that the procedure goes fine and that I don't have any side effects. My trust is in God and strangely enough I am not worried about the pain (I don't have a very high pain threshold) I am more worried about having a miscarriage. So I am  trusting and just so thankful for what have already been blessed with. Thanks for all the support from out family and friends! 

I will keep you all posted on what is going on...just check back everyone in a while. 

Thanks everyone for checking in...I really appreciate you taking the time! 

Quick update for now...

Just the Girls saying Hello! 

I am out of my element and posting twice in a week! Hey why not, right? Anyways I continued to be blessed even beyond my belief. Lets just say its been a great and I just don't want it to end. In the end I am thankful for everything though...so thankful. Well I had the wonderful visit last week and was beyond happy. I don't think I could have asked for anything better. The rest of the week continued and was just left studying for my finals and looking forward to the next doctors appointment.  I went in this morning to see my regular doctor, Dr. Henzel, and she seemed very pleased with things too. Yes I still have a the few things going on like the Abruption and the positive test for Downs (1:540) but I am just happy that I don't have all the problems as before. Anyways I figure I would give you an update on what they are concerned with now. They are now just mostly concerned with growth. They want to make sure our boy is measuring to size and growing appropriately...thats one of the side effects from the problems I have/had that the baby will be small. Well so far he is measuring at the 97th percentile! Thats big...but honestly it makes me happy! That is definitely not measuring small.  Since she is worried about growth she said that means lots more ultrasounds...yay! That means I get to see him lots more. See I tell you things are just getting better for me. Like I said on Facebook I don't know if I am deserving of all these great things but I am thankful!  I go in next week for an amnio test and honestly am kinda worried...praying it all goes well.  I have debated it for a week now. Yes, I am a worrier and the doc gives me a hard time about it all the time. 

So as if my weeks couldn't get better I ended up doing pretty good on my classes for all the stress I have been going through. I have decided to take a break for the summer and concentrate on more important things and just take one class in the fall. Talk about stress relief. I ended up getting a B in ACCT but that was a pretty tough class for me.  Needless to say I consider that a win! I am not the strongest at math so that was a huge defeat for me.  I will actually be able to do something on weekends! For a little while at least. 

So then....I get this email from my college a couple weeks ago about a laptop. Well to my surprise today when I got home there was a brand new dell sitting on my porch. They did a fundraiser at Oklahoma State University for the College of Business. They were raising funds to send Women in the Military enrolled in school free Laptops as a Thank You for their service. I was one of the lucky recipients. A simple thank you would have been fine with me...actually they don't even need to do that. Its my job. But I feel beyond blessed and thought it was pretty cool that they do that. I owe them a huge thank you! 

Lastly...my planters! I think they turned out to be pretty! I love them and can't wait to put them out on the porch. Its not as warm here as it is in the south...there is still a possibility of snow or freezing! Crazy I know.

Planters for the Front Porch 

Planters for the Patio

All of them together

I had never seen Petunia this color. I had to buy them because I thought they turned out pretty cool! 

Thanks again for checking out my blog and keeping the 3 of us in your thoughts an prayers! We greatly appreciate it and feel beyond blessed. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue our journey! We are greatly for all that you have done already and can't wait to see what the future holds for us. Thanks for your time. 

Whoa, we're half way there, Whoa-oh, livin' on a prayer...

You got it we are half way there...20 weeks exactly today! Well I will go ahead and post the more exciting pictures first and then the boring ones. That's what everyone wants to see anyways right.  We went a saw the high risk doctor this week to get a better ultra-sound. He was the nicest guy and of course first thing he says is your really tall. Yup, you got it right sir... have been my whole life. I didn't really say that but I thought it. I am actually quite use to it. Anyways he was looking for markers and checking on the Previa, abruption and the blood tests I had done. He said I had a whole laundry list of items and my blood work was all over the place.  This was concerning to me. Anyways the lady doing the ultrasound was so nice and was telling the entire time what we were looking at. I can't read those things. She pointed out kidneys and I didn't see a thing... I will just trust her. So we got some reassuring news but are still not out of the woods. It looks like my previa has fixed itself (YAY!!!) At least thats what it seems like...still have to talk to my real doctor on Tuesday. They said there were signs from my abruption...signs of bleeding but they didn't seemed concerned about it. They also said the babies spine looked great, so they ruled out any neural tube defects. My odds for Downs went from 1:140 and is now 1:540. Still not great for my age group but it is much better than before...I will take that. Please keep us in your prayers still though. We still have a long journey to go and there is still more possibilities of bleeding and abruptions. I am still on the same restrictions at the moment. But needless to say my title from last week is more than appropriate. I am BLESSED! God is Good! I don't think I will ever be able to give enough thanks to him or to friends and family for the prayers. He has blessed us with so many good things and even when the storms are tough he is always by our side and blessing us beyond belief. We fall even more in love with this child everyday and can't wait for September to come! Thanks you for all the support and prayers please keep sending them our way...we are hoping the rest of the pregnancy continues to be nothing but good news!

So onto the good stuff right!

Our cuties little face! We couldn't get a good face shot cause it liked to face

 my spine and move around alot!

This is my mine and Jeremy's favorite...I love the little hand up by its face!

Little foot

Can you see the 2 little feet inside the black looking circle?

The Tech was funny...I like the label! 

Drum roll please...the news that you really want the gender!

....

ITS A BOY!!! We are beyond excited! We are still settling on a name but pretty sure we have it figure out...we will keep you posted and let you know soon. 

Well that was enough writing for me today... I will give you the weekly stats and try to write again in the next couple of days to show you how the potting plants went. Let me just say they turned out better than I thought. It was a good week overall and GOD IS GOOD! 

How Far Along: 20 weeks- Ummm sorry no picture. Maybe in the next couple days. 

Total Weight Gain: I would say still about the same around 8 lbs or so...will know for sure at my Dr appt on Tuesday. 

Maternity Clothes: Thank goodness Jeremy is in the AF too... been wearing is ABU pants all week cause there is no way mine are fitting. I finally bought a few uniform items but I am in the awkward in-between stage. 

Sleep: Take a nap almost everyday and still sleep at night. I had finals this week so that hindered the sleeping somewhat.

Best Moment this Week: Everything this week was amazing...having the dr give me good news for once and seeing out sweet little boy. 

Miss Anything: Exercise the most still. I would really like to eat like a regular cold sandwich or like a hot dog or something. I have been good about not doing that so trying not to give in. 

Movement: Yup totally feel it now and loving it! 

Food Cravings: Cheese!!! With everything or on everything! 

Gender: ITS A BOY!!! Like I said before we are beyond excited. I will admit girls clothes are a LOT cuter but I still think it will be fun having a boy. 

Wedding rings on or off: Still on

Looking Forward To:  I am just still wanting things to settle down a little more and just be as normal as possible. We feel blessed and feel like i couldn't even ask for more but I just hope the baby stays healthy and safe and everything goes great all the way unto the birth. Like I said I know its a lot to ask. Before getting pregnant I never thought about how much this would make me realize that babies really are a miracle and a gift from god. I just thought of it as everyone has the opportunity and it happens everyday. Its not that way at all though. Children truly are miracles and we will never take that for granted and give thanks everyday for what we do have...beyond blessed. 

Thanks everyone for checking in...I really appreciate you taking the time!