Oh My, Maternity Clothes Already!

So, I am 15 weeks along in my pregnancy. So far I have only gained 2 pounds total (yay!). So, the thought that I am ready for maternity clothes seems strange to me, however, my pants and shirts are definitely getting tighter! As for the shirts, I understand the tightness. That is mostly thanks to what Jared lovingly calls the "Milk Bombs" (I'll let you figure out what he's referring to) and some growth in the belly. But it seems strange to me that my belly has grown enough to make my pants so tight, yet my baby is only the size of a softball.

Anyway, I've digressed! The whole point of this post is the transformation I went through this morning thanks to a cute maternity shirt Jared's aunt got me for Christmas. I decided to wear a pair of black dress pants that have elastic in the waste to work so that I would have a little more "give" when I sat down. I happened upon this really cute black and grey striped maternity shirt that Jared's Aunt Jan got for me. I put it on and all of the sudden, I actually looked pregnant. Oh the freedom it brings to "look" pregnant and not just "feel" bloated all of the time!

I had been really hesitant to put any maternity clothes on because I didn't want people think I was trying too hard to look pregnant. But while reading my pregnancy book last night, the tip for week 15 was to go ahead and start wearing maternity clothes now. They mentioned that a lot of women just wear baggy things or things that are too tight for the same reason I was just sucking it in as best I could. Their suggestion was to just go for it. That not only would you look better, but you would feel better because maternity clothes are made for the changes your body is experiencing. So, today, I bit the bullet. For awhile me and Jared just laughed at the suddenly pregnant woman I saw in the mirror. But I have to admit, I feel great. It really is nice to be able to breathe again...I highly recommend it! Looks like I need to do some shopping for more maternity clothes!

14 Weeks Today (It's Official!)

Well, we went to the doctor yesterday and got to hear the baby's heart beat. We thought that was so exciting, of course. But then, due to the fact that I am very irregular in my cycle, our doctor ordered an ultra sound for today to help us determine a more accurate due date. Apparentally, the month of our pregnancy was the one time my cycle was 28 days, because we are exactly 14 weeks today, as was originally predicted.

Our little one was quite active...we got to see him/her jump up and down a few times. The way it was squirming made me think that our baby may have my chlosterphobic tendancies and is not quite happy with its current living situation...thus all the jumping. I guess I'll be "in for it" once I can actually feel the baby wiggling.

Anyway, here are a few of the profile shots we got. So sweet! We will know the sex of the baby after our visit in February!

Body Pillow Wars!

Well, I will be 14 weeks this Wednesday and though I am not having a lot of "pregnancy symptoms," things are definitely changing around our house.

So, I always knew that when I got pregnant I wouldn't be able to sleep on my stomach. Being a stomach sleeper, this had always worried me, but I figured I would be SOOOO tired that it wouldn't matter. Well now, in all of the wonderful books I've read, I have learned that not only am I NOT allowed to sleep on my stomach, but I also CAN'T sleep on my back or my right side. Seriously? So, if you're good at math then you are realizing with me that that only leaves the Left side. So, I tried to sleep on my Left side and was waking up with terrible back pain and pain in my knees. Since the baby is only about the size of an apple right now, I thought it was doubtful the he/she was causing me the pain. So, upon the advise of some seasoned mothers, I purchased a body pillow. Now, Jared refused to switch sides of the bed with me, so that means we now sleep with a body pillow between us. This has caused a huge problem, but not for the reasons you are suspecting.

Only being married for 3 years, we are still major snugglers (awwww). So, I thought putting a pillow between us would be a hard adjustment because we can't snuggle anymore. But it turns out that the biggest adjustment has been sharing the body pillow. It seems that not only have we both gotten used to the pillow, but we both LOVE the body pillow. I woke up in the middle of the night a few days ago and Jared had the whole body pillow and was snuggled up like he was the one that had a medical reason for sleeping with it. We both agree that it's the perfect snuggler because it keeps you warm, but doesn't make you sweat. And, it doesn't breathe in your face. So, anyway, we are adjusting. Now I just jerk the pillow from his arms and reclaim it as my own :)

Doctor's appointment tomorrow...we get to hear the heartbeat and make sure there's actually something in there!!!

12 Weeks Today!

Well, I feel just awful that we haven't blogged since October! But, really, not a lot of excitement has happened in our lives...until recently!

Jared has pretty much been focused on school (he will be done this summer...yay!!!) and his job at the church. I have been enjoying my new position as the director of Adventure Club's After School and Summer Programs. So, needless to say, we've been busy. But, apparently not busy enough.

So, in case you haven't heard the news, there will be another Norris in this world come July! Hopefully I will get better about my blogging and post ultrasound pics, etc. as we go through our pregnancy. But, for now, this is all I have!

And to all of you wondering minds...we are celebrating 12 weeks today! As for morning sickness, there hasn't been much of it. I have been really blessed thus far with an easy pregnancy (except for getting Vertigo, but that didn't have anything to do with my sweet baby!). So, we are praying that the blessings will continue. But, let's be honest--even if I puke my guts out everyday for the next 6 months, it's still a blessing! Will I regret saying that?

Happy Birthday Elli Bell!

Well, today is a big day for my family. The only grandchild turned 1 year old today! Elli, you are a beautiful little girl! You are so much fun and always lift our spirits. Hope you have a wonderful day. Love You ... mmmmwah!

Honduras Pics

Well, Jared went off to camp with his computer this week, which happens to be where all of our Honduras pictures are. So, here are a few that I just happen to have. Enjoy!

Oh, by the way...Has anyone else heard about the military coup that began in Honduras the WEEK after we left?! The US State Department is now recommending U.S. citizens avoid traveling to Honduras. WOW! Looks like we got back just in time!

Be praying for our hispanic pastor and his son. We left them behind in Honduras visiting their family, so hopefully they will have no problem getting home next week!

On with the pics!

This is the front of the house we stayed in. Jared got kind of artsy with this pic. The house was basically cinder block with a tin roof.
This is my bed for the week. Can I just say, I recommend taking a mosquito net with you to any foreign country in which you travel. It was wonderful! You should have seen some of the things me and Rachel pulled off of our nets. Thank you Jason for letting me have your net!


This is the teeeny tiny oven Rachel and I cooked meals on for 22 people. All I have to say is "Fish and Loaves" because that's about the miracle we had every night!

One of the things we were able to do was put up 2 basketball goals. 1 at the school and 1 up by the pastor's house. The kids had never played basketball, but they loved it...and were really good! So, in 15 years if you hear of this amazing basketball player that came from an obscure village in Honduras, you'll know who gave him his first basketball goal.

Jared got to preach the revival one night. This was his first time speaking with an interpreter...difficult. But he did great!

Another thing we did was a women's Bible Study. One of the girls who went last year really felt like we needed to speak to the young girls in the village about abstinence, since many of the girls have children out of wedlock by age 16. So we spent the first day just speaking about salvation and leading others to Christ; the second day we talked about spiritual disciplines; and the third day Hannah spoke about abstinence and I spoke about God's forgiveness and healing and the ability to "start over" on a commitment to abstinence. The first day we had about 15, the second day we had about 25-30. The third day we had 76! God knew what he was doing (as usual!).

And, this is Jenny. Is she not the most beautiful little girl? All of the kids this week were so sweet and just loved being around us. Jenny spent a lot of time in this tree outside of our house.

So that's all for now. Hopefully I will get more posted soon!

We made it back!

Well, we made it safely back from Honduras. We have so much to tell you about our trip and all of the amazing things that happened while we were there. We have several hundred pictures and a story to go with each one, so hopefully over the next few weeks, we will have the time to post some stuff about our trip!

Check back soon!