Our Family Gender Reveal!

On December 3rd, 2013 we found out the gender of Baby Pike!!! We couldn't wait to tell all of our friends and family. We had originally planned on doing a big gender reveal party, but as you know, life happens. More on that in another post. So, we just told everyone at a family get-together.

Baby Pike is a GIRL!
Due April 20th, 2014!

Pregnancy Update :: Week 19-21

19 Weeks

Baby is the size of a mango

Survived Black Friday

Thanksgiving!

Jordan's birthday!

Started using support belt

One week until gender ultrasound

Pregnancy Update :: Week 18

Pregnancy Update :: Weeks 16 - 17

Lots going on these past few weeks. I can't wait to tell you about it all, but you'll have to wait a little bit longer. Because of this, I missed taking a photo for week 16.... Week 17 is going to look a little different too, but I'm working on fixing it.

Week 16

Baby is the size of a open hand. About 5 inches from crown to rump and 3oz.

Jordan was able to feel the baby move!

Made a list of potential names

No vomiting! 

New hair cut

Pregnancy Update :: Week 15

Week 15 was a fun one! We had a wonderful Halloween and I had a great birthday! Another great thing about this week : NO VOMITING!! Yay! After nine weeks of it, I'm very happy this stage has passed!

I know I spelled vomiting wrong, too lazy to fix it :)

How About An Outfit Post

Yeah, it's about time for one. Let's see, the last one I did was back in July? But, I have had an good excuse. Being pregnant since August, you know. Had to wait on that big reveal. So that's totally my excuse, and I'm sticking to it.

So, on with the clothes. I really thought this time around I would have an easy time dressing the bump. I had a difficult time figuring out what worked for me when I was pregnant with Story. Mainly because of where I lived (small town), my size (xs) and the lack of internet (small town, 6 years ago) So, I was sort of forced to wear things that didn't really fit, or make much sense. And I was 19 and had no idea what I was doing.

I was about 6 months along here.

So, like I said, I had high hopes this time around. I mean, the internet! Online shopping! 25! But no such luck. Let me ask you a question : Do you find that all maternity tops have stupid necklines? Why can't it just be a normal neckline? Why does it have to be a boat, or whatever else it is that makes it really big along the neck and shoulders. Do clothing lines think that pregnant women suddenly get enormous heads that won't fit through a normal shirt hole? I've been forced into V-necks, which I normally love, but that was back when it was easy to throw a tank on under them. Now, my tanks are too short, and I am not going to buy more maternity clothes than I have to. Up until this week I've been okay with most of my non-maternity tops but they're all too short now. So, with birthday money I finally bought maternity clothes, stupid necklines and all.

Liz Lange Maternity top, Old Navy Maternity jeans, Cherokee booties

My favorite purchases so far have been the 2 pair of Old Navy Maternity jeans. I bought a pair of bootcut, full panel first and fell in love! I went back and got a pair of skinny, full panel. I got them in the short hem, but they are still a bit too long. But rolled up, they will still work great for this fall and winter. I first saw this top on The Small Things Blog, and thought it looked really flattering on her. I feel like she was wearing the scarf, not only because it's cute, but to hide the dumb neckline. Though I'll grow into it more, the bigger I get, I doubt my shoulders are going to widen any. In fact, I'll be pretty mad if they do get any bigger.

I look forward to trying out a few more looks. I forgot how much fun it was being pregnant :)


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My Greatest Hits

Pregnancy Update :: Week 14

Yeah, I am really late on getting this post together. I kept putting it off and putting it off, so here we are, almost starting 16 weeks... EEK. So there won't be much difference between sizing.

Exciting thing that week was getting to feel the baby move for the first time. It happened on a Wednesday night. I wasn't expecting it at all. I knew that I would start feeling the baby move around in the next couple of weeks, but it still seemed too early. I wrote it off at first as being normal stomach movement, you know, bubbles, gas, that sort of gross thing. But, it was different. I've felt it move on and off now, never consistently or enough for anyone else to feel.

Half Bath Reveal

Our poor little half bath. It has been put through the ringer! It was the first space I started to fix up when we moved into the townhouse. I got all excited and painted it , way back in July. I started adding a few finishing touches and was about to call it done. Then we adopted Annie. We had always planned on getting a crate for her, but didn't get around to it. So she stayed in the bathroom, all the way up until we got the kitten (who I still owe an update on, but you can read a little about her on the "About Me" tab) We had to keep her separated because she had fleas for a while and hadn't been spayed so she was pretty wild. She also didn't get along the greatest with our other cat. Anyway, she was put in the half bath and Annie was moved to the full bath upstairs. Yeah, it was not a fun time, at all. Everything was going smoothly until one day we came home and heard the kitten, in the walls. Yep, it was just like the episode on "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia"

She had ripped out the plastic baseboard and then crawled into the walls and up into the ceiling, where she got scared and became stuck. Luckily we were able to remove the light fixture and then yank her out. It was very traumatic for everyone involved.

About a month after that ordeal we can home to an even worse situation..... We had been at a doctor's appointment and had been gone for about two hours. We stepped in the front door and the first thing we noticed was that the kitchen looked like it was flooded. We heard running water and Annie barking as loudly as she could. I ran upstairs and opened the bathroom door. There was water spraying everywhere and the entire room was flooded. Annie was hiding between the shower curtain and the tub. She had chewed a hole in the plastic pipe connecting the toilet to the wall. We think she did it pretty close to the time we left because the entire half bath was flooded as well.

Fortunately the kitten had not been in there at the time. Unfortunately, her litter box, food/water, and blanket were. The room was a mess. Being pregnant and hormonal, I started crying and freaking out. Because I was crying, Story started crying too. Poor Jordan, he had to send us both to our rooms and handle the situation. The maintenance guys came out and replaced the pipe. They also called a clean up crew who got the water out of the carpet. Needless to say, Annie was in a crate the next week and the kitten was out of the bathroom. Clean-up was easy and it got me motivated to finish the room. So, now that you've made it through a small novel, here is the finished room!!

The first thing I did was add two shelves we bought forever ago at Ikea. They have been used in a few different places around our houses ( here, here, here) but this is the first time being used in a bathroom.

 

Almost everything you see is collected from Goodwill.

Another update was adding these prints. They were at the end of our hallway in the last apartment.

The sink area stayed the same. Except I added some hand soap. 

There were a few other small changes I had planned on adding, but for now I'm calling at good and done. It's nice to have at least one space that is finished in this place. I swear, I've got to get on top of it. But you know how it is, if it's not one disaster, it's another. Hopefully when our current one is over I'll have another finished space. (ahem, the master bedroom) Stay tuned! I promise there is more to come.

Linked ::

Suburbs Mama
Home Coming

Pregnancy Update : Weeks 12 - 13

We are getting ready to round out our 14th week! Pretty exciting, and still hard to believe we're still pregnant. I am so ready for this morning sickness to leave. Luckily it's mostly in the mornings only. Other than that I've been having a bit of sciatica pains that are uncomfortable but haven't caused much trouble yet.

sorry these photos are so bad. My nice camera was dead.

Pregnancy Update : Weeks 5 - 11

This has been the absolute hardest secret to keep! We found out we were pregnant extremely early on, like at 4 weeks. We knew we wanted to keep quiet about it until the second trimester. With our history of losses (you can read about it here, here,here) every day seemed like an uphill battle. But every day we made it through was such a victory. When we made it to 6 weeks I let out a small sigh or relief. When 10 weeks came and went I let myself feel a little bit of happiness. By the time our 12th week was coming to an end we could finally let ourselves be happy. We had made it past the worst.

During our first pregnancy I decided to take weekly photos and jot down a few memories and milestones. I had planned on doing it this time around as well. But wouldn't you know it, I've had the absolute worst morning sickness. It started at 6 weeks and has just recently started to let up. So, I had high hopes for the weekly photos, and then failed miserably. But, that's okay, our baby is still safe and sound right where it should be.

Week 5

went to first doctors appointment

started taking prenatal vitamins

stopped caffeine

told a few co-workers and bosses

craving Frank's Red Hot

Week 6

small bump

started using "belly band"

nausea set in

had small scare

first ultrasound

heard heartbeat

started taking Progesterone

Week 7

nausea everyday

extremely tired

missing work

Week 9

had doctors appointment

told Jordan's parents

nausea is letting up (or so I thought)

had family portraits

via Kelsey Routson Photography

Week 10

nausea is still there

bump has gotten bigger

So there you have it! I'm starting to feel a little bit better (she says right after a barf fest) so I hope I can actually keep up with the weekly photos. We're starting to get bigger around here :)





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Romance On A Dime
 

Great News

 via Kelsey Routson Photography

We are very excited to announce we are expecting baby #2 in mid-April! This year has been full of a lot of ups and downs, but we couldn't be more excited to add to our little family!

via Kelsey Routson Photography

Summer Hibernation and a Chalkboard Calendar Wall

Oh boy. It's the first day of October. I haven't seriously (not that I ever really seriously blogged) blogged since the middle of July. I threw in a few random family posts every once in a while. But I even failed in that! I forgot to do an anniversary post, and we also have a new cat. So, I might catch you up on all of that. In the meantime, I finally got around to completing the project I mentioned back in July. That's right, I finally finished the chalkboard calendar wall.

We placed it on the wall past the stairs, right before the closet and hall bath. Here is a good before of the wall.

and after

I'm really glad this project is finally complete. It's embarrassing how long it took. Those blue painters tape lines have been haunting my dreams! Believe it or not, there are a few other things I'm working on. I hope to start blogging at least once a week. Pretty lame, but a good start. :) :)




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Home Coming
 Clean & Scentsible
Suburbs Mama
Thrifty Decor Chick
I Heart Organizing

Happy Due Date

Our first due date came and went this past week. I knew it was coming up, and then somehow it slipped past. And I'm okay with that. I looked back on everything that has happened in the past nine months, all of the things that probably wouldn't have happened if we would have had the baby still. Jordan and I have both grown in our careers, and as employees. We made the decision to move into a bigger place. We decided to finally get a dog. Every step has been in the right direction. I'm not going to tell you it's been easy. For a while, for a good long while, every day was a struggle. When our second loss happened it all just became numbing. But life kept going, as it does. We learned to live our lives differently, to embrace this extra time and use it to grow as individuals. It has definitely been an eye opening experience. Having a baby was something I took for granted, something I thought would easily happen again when we were ready. Now we know better. 

Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive through all of this! We really do have the greatest family and friends :)

Happy Due Date Baby Pike

08/25/13

 

Annie

Meet Annie!

She is a labrador/beagle mix.

She was a rescue puppy and is currently 10 weeks old.

photo from the animal shelter

This is our first family dog and Story and I's first puppy.

First time meeting her :)

So, Jordan and I decided it was time for a dog. We started looking online at local shelters and a few listings on Craig's list. We kind of decided that we had to get a dog that day. We had just taken Story to school. We called the animal shelter in Richmond, but they weren't open yet, so we left a message. At the same time we were filling out the application online. We didn't really want to wait, so we decided to hop in the car and drive to the shelter. It's about an our and a half away. After about an our, a few signatures and some cash we were handed the sweetest puppy ever!

HELP the Animals Inc.

We didn't tell Story we were getting a puppy, so Annie was a complete surprise for her. I was a work (boo) but Jordan said she was in shock and a little scared. They eventually warmed up to each other.

She has been the sweetest so far! She's still really little, so we're trying to potty train and control the biting as best we can. Overall, not too many accidents.

We are completely in love! :)