8 weeks

Here is our eight week picture! We will take another at twelve, sixteen, etc. I am doing pretty good, but definitely feel pregnant. Karissa is adjusting to hearing "Mommy, needs to rest because she is pregnant" and similar statements. While I am resting she will cuddle with me or "read"me a book. She sometimes cuddles with the baby by placing her arm around my belly. She is also liking the "big girl" jobs I give her like helping sort laundry or putting toilet paper under the cabinets or helping sweep. I am having a lot of round ligament pain so find it uncomfortable to bend over much. Karissa is such a blessing and I am very thankful for her willingness to help.

Birthday Girl

Saturday was Karissa's birthday! She is now four years old and if I thought she was a diva before I was wrong! I often hear "I am four, so ......." The party was wonderful. We were able to celebrate it with family. Grandma, Granddaddy, Aunt Melissa, Uncle Micah, baby cousin Paul, Aunt Melanie, Uncle Matt and of course mommy and daddy were there. Grandma made a gorgeous pink castle cake. Every little girl's dream. She of course received the exact presents she wanted which included a new princess dress, Pixos, Barbie movies and of course a baby cousin. We are very thankful to everyone for working hard to make Karissa's special day even more special. It was a very wonderful beginning to her fourth year. She has many wonderful beginnings to look forward to this year including being a big sister!

Guinea Pig

A big thanks to Paul Gideon Shaw who graciously served as a guinea pig for Karissa to practice being a big sister on. Karissa's first cousin Paul was born last Wednesday. We were very blessed to be in Georgia for the wonderful event! We got to the hospital just a couple of hours after he was born. Of course, Karissa was wide eyed and very curious about everything that was going on. She loved meeting Paul. She would often sit on the bed with her Aunt Melissa (the mommy) and Paul to be as close as possible. For the most part she was very sweet to Paul stroking his hair or trying to hold his hand. The only hiccup is that every once in awhile she would wave something in his face. I think she had a hard time understanding why he was asleep so often. Of course, as time went on she did begin to struggle with sharing the attention. She did say once we returned home that she was glad to be back in St. Louis. She usually expresses sadness about leaving Georgia, perhaps this time she is excited to be the center of attention again! Uh-oh! Come the beginning of November or so that will change!

Ninja baby

This past weekend we had a little scare. I had some spotting and some pain. I called the doctor and she told me to rest until I could get in and have an ultrasound done. John and Karissa did a very good job of making sure I stay rested. On Tuesday, we went in for the ultrasound. We found everything to be very OK. The doctor said the ultrasound showed everything to be as it should at this stage! We did find that we are only having one. Karissa refuses to except this. She says one is hiding and will jump out and scare the other one when they are born. She was a very good big sister waiting patiently at the doctors. Encouraging mommy even when I had to pee in a cup. Karissa was so proud that I did this she announced it to the whole office. Thanks to all for all the prayers!

The sponsors are...

Well, the official sponsors of this pregnancy are Sprite, Special K wheat crackers, Sunkist fruit snacks and freeze dried ginger chips. I am being to be a bit nauseous but I have found if I munch on something about every 2 hours and eat a couple ginger chip I do very well. The new Speical K wheat crackers are awesome! Somehow I find the Sunkist fruit snacks have the best taste and texture. Sprite is my special treat! In the late afternoon when I am feeling the most off, I drink some Sprite and it seems to give me that little kick I need. The ginger chips are a little trick I learned when pregnant with Karissa, ginger is great for settling the stomach. The only draw back is that Karissa has decided she loves the crackers and fruit snacks so I have to share. Some of you now how unwilling I am to share, maybe it is an only child thing. Of course, she is too cute to resist!

So stylish!

This picture doesn't really have much to do with the blog emphasis, but it is too cute that I could not resist. She of course created the ensemble herself. It is made from fabric scrapes leftover from making a blanket for her cousin Paul and the skirt from her Cinderella dress up outfit. She asked her daddy, "Don't I look cool?!" When I told her I wanted to take a picture she began to dance. Anyone seeking fashion advice contact Karissa.

Storytime

This morning we were spending a relaxing time in bed and Karissa decided she wanted to tell Elmo and Paula a story. She ran into her room and got a book. I was laying on my back so she scooched down close to my belly and opened her book and began her story. "Jesus rode a special boat. He died on the cross. He became alive again. He says go to heaven. The end." Perfect! So simply stated and so true! I think the boat part came from the story of Jesus calming the storm that she learned about on Sunday and during our family devotional time on Wednesday. I have a feeling the baby will learn a lot from his or her big sister!

First pregnancy pic

So I guess this wouldn't be a pregnancy blog without pregnancy pics. Here is the first. Karissa will make an appearance in each of them since this blog is mostly about her. Also I will wear the same shirt each time. The shirt was a gift from a dear friend. She blessed me greatly by giving me all her pregnancy clothes. They are mostly warm weather clothes. Awesome considering the ones I saved from my pregnancy with Karissa are mostly cold weather clothes. In this pic, I am 6 weeks. We will take another at 8 weeks and start posting monthly pictures.

I have a great husband!

John is wonderful! Of course, I don't have to be pregnant to remember that. He is always doing, saying and acting in ways that make me feel very loved. I don't know if it is being extra emotional during pregnancy or perhaps because I feel I am more demanding but somehow I can't help but feel overwhelmed with gratitude for him while I am pregnant. Tonight he made reservations to go to the Melting Pot, a wonderfully delicious restaurant! (If you have one close by and never eaten at it, go now, you will not regret it!) Some dear friends of ours are watching Karissa for us. I guess we are establishing a kinda tradition because when we found out about Karissa we went to the Melting Pot in Kansas City. Yes, John had already made reservations to celebrate our 2 year anniversary but we quickly added celebrating being pregnant with the little one who will now soon be four and not so little. I guess John couldn't resist the excuse to return to the Melting Pot. When I told him thank you he replied thanks for being pregnant to which I said if I had knowing I would get to eat at the Melting Pot I would have gotten pregnant sooner!

Babies don't toot!

OK, I guess I can't avoid sharing this any longer. Another pregnancy not so joyous I am experiencing is gas. Lots of gas. The average human passes gas about 12 to 16 times a day and well I guess pregnancy has given me a super power. The power to pass gas at least 30 times a day. Anyway, this morning we had Karissa in bed with us. Some mornings when we are not in a hurry we go get Karissa and bring her in bed with us so we can cuddle and talk about our dreams. Of course my worse time to pass gas is in the morning. Inevitably, I passed some gas. Karissa says "Mommy, you tooted!" To which I replied "No, I didn't! Elmo and Paula did!" Karissa replies, "No, babies don't toot!" I then said, "Well, actually Elmo and Paula have made Mommy's gastrointestinal tract very relaxed." Karissa then laughs and laughs and laughs. This was so funny to us because we know she had no idea what I said.

Dinner for two, three or four

Tonight Karissa and I were eating dinner together (John was at worship practice). Karissa got up during the middle of dinner and ran over to me and gave me a big hug. She then says "Mom, you are feeding the babies too!" This was after she blessed our meal. Her prayer was precious too. She thanked God for our food. She thanked God for her Aunt Mo because she is predganant (spelled based on pronunciation). Then she thanked God for Elmo and Paula. And last she says "Oh and thank you for mommy because she is predganant too."

I like that one ... the Barbie one.

I had originally picked a different background for the blog. A much more neutral one. But I was informed by Karissa she didn't like it. So I showed her all the other template choices and she liked this one. The reason why can be found in the title. So the background was switched based on Karissa's liking. After all her name is in the title. Maybe she will be OK with switching it up once we find out the sex of the baby, but I think we will be looking at magenta for awhile.

Funny thing!

So I was on a baby website today looking at pregnancy calculators and based on the date I entered for the date of my last period I would have conceived at a time when it would not have been possible. John was really sick and I wasn't feeling too great myself. Well, come to find out I was already pregnant probably explaining why I wasn't feeling well. I looked at my calender again and found I was looking at the wrong month when I was looking for the date of my last period. I am actually now 6 weeks pregers. So maybe my hope of not having much morning sickness is coming true!

Practice makes perfect!

Karissa has taken to practicing with her baby doll. It goes everywhere with her. She feeds it. Sings to it. Keeps it warm and clean. Takes it for walks. And my favorite, dances with it. I most definitely think with all this preparation Elmo or Paula or both will be well cared for. Oh and of course she does it all while wearing a princess dress!

Memories

It is amazing how you forget all the joyous and not so joyous of pregnancy after you have that amazing little one in your arms. BUT it is also amazing how quickly the memories return once you start the adventure again. It seems I am feeling everything more intensely this time or maybe I am just more aware to attribute it to pregnancy. I am more sore, much more sore. Hungrier. More groggy. More forgetful. I don't how many times I have started to say something and then forget it. I do this anyway, but this ridiculous. So far no sickness hopefully the fact I am feeling everything more intensely doesn't mean I will feel the sickness more intensely too. With Karissa I just had queasiness no actual sickness. 5 weeks tomorrow so I guess I will be finding out next week, 6 weeks is the typical time for the sickness to set in.

How we told daddy ...

I just finished chatting with my mother-in-law on Facebook and she commented on how cute the way we told daddy was so I decided to write a post about it. After that fun little test that all moms-to-be are familiar with, in this case after two. I told Karissa she is now a big sister because I am pregnant. Thanks to her Aunt Mo's pregnancy she knew that meant a baby was coming. She responded with a big smile, a hug and the words -"thanks mom!" She then drew a picture of herself holding hands with her new little bother or sister. We took that picture to daddy's work and gave it to him. I also brought the two tests for a little extra proof! Ha!

TWO!

Karissa is already loving the big sister role. She has decided there will be two babies. She has also named them. The girl is Paula, a tribute to her cousin Paul. The boy is Elmo. Believe me when I say John and I are most definitely lobbying for name changes! She gives "them" hugs and tells "them" she loves "them." She is already praying for the baby (opps! i mean babies) as we hope all of you are. We are most definitely looking forward to what other things she comes up with thus the name of the blog. I am sure most of this blog will center around Karissa as she begins to fill her role as the BIG sister!

Blessed!

Hello Everyone!
On March 9th, it was discovered that Karissa will be a BIG sister. A huge and unexpected blessing! Some of you may know that about three months ago we were told by doctors that the possibility of getting pregnant was very low if not at all. We knew then as we know now that no matter what doctors say God is in control! If He wants to bless us with another child He will and He has. Thank you, Lord!