Quiet moments - and an ultrasound update

First of all...

EPIC FAIL!!!

I am incredibly sorry. I dangled the ultrasound date a long time ago and then failed miserably to give you the news! WOW. If I were you - I would be furious. And then, of course I would promptly forgive the oversight (hint, hint.)

Since I have made you wait this long - what's a few more minutes??? Right? (Insert evil laugh...)

Thanksgiving morning I woke up extremely sentimental. Okay, maybe it was the hormones. Call it what you will, I was a crying, sobbing mess! My sweet husband brought me my coffee in bed and I sat for a long, long, long time reflecting on my life, my new baby and everything in between. I have so much to be thankful for, and at the same time, there is a lot that scares me just a little.

The thing that struck me the most was my kids. The coolest people I have ever had the privilege to know. I was thinking about each of them as individuals. I decided to call them up to chat with me. I am sure I probably scared them with all the crying I was doing, but I needed to make sure these things were said.

Isaac was first. He was so sweet - especially when he realized I was crying. He is a very sensitive boy, and immediately asked me why I was crying. I told him not to worry - that these were "happy" tears. I won't recite the whole speech, but I will tell you (as I told him) that my favorite trait of Isaac's is his compassion. He is always the first to run to another person who has fallen down to check on them. He always checks on his sister at school when she seems sad. Isaac always seems so in tune to when other people are hurting. I told Isaac that I love that about him, and that I hope he never changes.

Hope came up next. She is so different from Isaac. She didn't even notice I was crying. To be honest, at first I questioned whether she would understand or appreciate the words I had for her, but I couldn't let the moment pass, and I decided that even if she didn't totally "get it" - my heart needed to say these things....and so I did. My favorite trait of Hope's is her thoughtfulness. She is always thinking ahead and trying to anticipate what someone else might want or need. She always has the remote ready to hand to Isaac when he comes downstairs to watch TV in the mornings. She loves to color pictures for all of her friends at school. She is constantly trying to give her toys to other people. She ALWAYS wants to help. Her heart is so good. I told Hope that I love that about her, and that I hope she never changes.

For both kids, we talked about how Jesus also has compassion and thoughtfulness for everyone he meets. It was so sweet! They seemed generally amazed that they might have anything in common with Jesus.

These moments were precious to me. It may become a tradition for me. I truly find power in speaking words of affirmation to my kids even if they don't completely grasp all of the meaning. Their hearts know, and so does mine and that, is what being a mommy is all about.

Now... for the small person in my belly...

I am happy to say that I am currently growing a perfect, healthy, happy little baby - and that's about all I know. The ultrasound place messed up my appointment - so they had to "fit me in." Which means a typically hour long appointment lasted all of 23 minutes with a tech who wasn't interested in the fact that I really wanted to know the gender of my baby. We did however get a super cool profile picture which I successfully loaded onto Facebook, but can't seem to post on this blog.

Fortunately for us, we have the coolest Midwife ever, and she has ordered a follow up ultrasound (at a different location) - and that ultrasound is scheduled for this Wednesday, December 1st.

Happy holiday season to all of you - and here's to a baby who wants to show off it's private parts (just on Wednesday anyway...)

In case you were wondering...

I eat normal.

I have written about diet, weight loss and exercise for so long now. I get a lot of people asking me how I am handling my food now that I am pregnant.

I eat normal. I eat what everyone else is eating. Don't get me wrong, I have definitely had my cravings. The first trimester for sure was the worst. As gross as it sounds, all I wanted was McDonald's and chocolate ice cream. I had an pre-natal appointment at 10 weeks, and my midwife said the McDonald's had to stop. And so it did. Chocolate ice cream is a rarity anymore. In fact sweets in general just don't sound good. That is a blessing for sure. But, for now, I have let go of the chicken and heaps of veggies. I have stopped cooking entirely different meals for me from what my family eats. I don't pig out (although I am sure I have my moments...)

I still workout. My workouts look a lot different than before. No more hard core training sessions and 3 hour cardio workouts. These days, I am more likely to do 45 minutes on the treadmill followed by some weights and light core / ab work 3 to 5 times a week. I feel okay about that because I am working out about 300% more than I ever did when I was pregnant with Isaac.

The cool thing to me, is that I feel normal. I have managed to come to grips with the fact that I am going to gain weight growing this person - but I know how to lose it. I did it once...I can most definitely do it again. I know how to eat, and exercise. I know what it takes.

Rock Star (a shout out to moms)

Several months ago, my friend Alyssa and my sister Kara had a surprise party in my honor, to celebrate the fact that I had lost 100 pounds. I was so blessed by that night. Some of my favorite people came - and there were a few people whose attendance surprised me. Almost everyone brought gifts - which was another surprise - but hey! I am not complaining!!!
My mom gave me me one of the sweetest gifts I have ever received. It's a silver bracelet with stars and rhinestones. It's really pretty. When I opened it, she said she picked it so that whenever I look at it, I can be reminded that I am a rock star.
I haven't been wearing the bracelet much lately. To be honest, I haven't felt like much of a rock star. I found the bracelet this morning in my jewelry box, and this has been on my heart all morning. I wish I could give all of you a "rock star" bracelet. Especially you moms out there. Why? Simply put you ARE rock stars.

You sacrifice
You lose sleep
You run the house
You run the calendar
You run around

You love your kids
You love your honey
You love your friends
You love your God

You remember the parties
You remember the presents
You remember the date and time

You give your all
and then you give some more

Most of the time, you don't have time to remember that you are a rock star. Wouldn't it be nice to have something to remind you? The reality is, as much as we want them to, others won't always remember to notice how awesome we are; how much we do; how big we love. I think we all deserve to remember, that in Gods eyes especially, we do totally rock.