a great holiday season!

to say that we are blessed, is an understatement. we had a very merry christmas and enjoyed spending time with our families (and for me, i had a very happy birthday following!)

it was also really fun to open gifts for Sydney. lots of cute outfits and some toys and books.

it might be about time to start getting her nursery put together, just so i have a place to put everything! i have already hung up the outfits she has received so far - they are SO adorable!

Sydney has been very active lately - lots of moving around and kicking. i especially notice it when i switch how i lay at night, or if i lay on my back reclined while watching movies. that's when i can see her moving the most as well!

i am glad that i ordered the owl lamp when i did - i randomly was looking on target's website and noticed that it is now out of stock! after how much time i spent looking, i would have been pretty upset with myself had i not just ordered it.

now fingers crossed the mirror that i want to purchase is still at the store when i go back into town in a few days - if it is i am not taking chances - im just going to purchase it!

xoxo.

kristen, ryan, sydney and brigsby

I teased you once, but I promise not again

we wanted to share nugget's given name with our family before sharing with the world, and Christmas lent us the perfect opportunity to do so! 

how did we tell? we used a die-cut machine at school to cut out the letters of her name, and then mixed them up. we gave each family member a set and told them to unscramble the letters to create her name! 

my brother figured it out first on my side, and my sister-in-law on Ryan's side! must be a sibling thing!

anyways, we went back and forth between a list of names, not really loving any. until Ryan emailed me one day and suggested: Sydney.

I actually had to stop and say it a few times over and over, because I never expected to fall in love with a name so quickly. I mean, you are assigning this little person a name that they will live with for the REST of their life. 

The middle name was also easy. Elizabeth was a given. It is my middle name, my moms, and about 4 others on my moms side. I wanted, and Ryan knew how important it was to me to continue that tradition. 

Do you know too many people with two middle names? I do not so I will say I was hesitant to add one. I was not against using two because of the reasons. Just hesitant. 

A few days before Christmas, Ryan and I determined that her name would be Sydney Elizabeth. And we left it at that. I randomly asked him if he had to name her alone, would he change anything, and he said she would have two middle names. 

I thought about that, and wanted to give that to him.

Christmas morning Ryan opened a frame from me that read:

 Sydney Elizabeth Lynn

He looked at it, and looked at me and asked if I was sure. 

I was positive.

So where does Lynn come from?

Towards the end of October and beginning of November, we experienced the loss of Ryan's mom. It was very unexpected and very hard on the family. Lynn was his mother's middle name. And I wanted to honor that for him just as much as he wanted to honor her and incorporate it.

So in April, we will be welcoming our little girl,

Sydney Elizabeth Lynn

to our family. And we could not be more excited!

with love,

Kristen, Ryan, little nugget/Sydney & Brigsby

Nugget has a name!

However I can not share it with you yet. Im sorry to be a tease.

But to help make you feel better, here is my 23 week belly photo:

we still need to decide if, and/or when, we will tell our families first!

i still am feeling great. my next appointment is the morning of my GOLDEN BIRTHDAY (this gives you 6 more, well 5 more now, days to get me something good).

Then I think the plan is for ryan and i to go out to lunch and to a movie after. We will do a bigger birthday celebration with my family, and his sister joining us, next wednesday at Fogo de Chao downtown for lunch.

I am so excited to get going on nugget's nursery. However i am NOT excited to clean out the closet in there that has worked SO incredibly well for storage for all of the things that we did not want to go through or think about again. And when we clean that out, we also need to clean the computer room closet as that will become our new storage closet and its already full. There you see why I dont want to even start with the closet!

Nugget has been moving around a lot more this week. During the kids lunchtime at work today, she was quite active. Kept me entertained while the kids I watch ate. 

We are very excited to have a full christmas eve and christmas day planned with our families. My moms side of the family will be celebrating at our house this year on christmas eve, and we will join ryan's dad's side of the family at his grandparents house on christmas day. 

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

with love,

kristen, ryan, little nugget and brigsby

22 weeks!

figured that i would start it off with the weekly belly photo.

i am feeling great still and hope to stay that way!

nugget is quite active. ryan felt her kick for the first time on the 13th - the look on his face was priceless! i also saw her kick for the first time the next day while at work - it was really neat not only to feel her kicking, but to see my tummy move where she was kicking!

slowly items for her nursery are coming along ... i received the fabric that my mom will use to sew glider cushion covers in the mail today:

i can not wait to really start putting stuff together!!

with love,

kristen, ryan, little nugget and brigsby

hint hint

xoxo

kristen, ryan, little nugget and brigsby

brigsby wanted to share his new hairdo:

21 weeks!

we had a very nice dinner out tonight with my FIL, his fiance and my SIL (ryan too) for my SIL Kates birthday (which is tomorrow :)

nugget has really started moving - i love being able to feel her now! it is a hard feeling to explain to someone who asks how it feels. but its just simply amazing :)

we have finalized the fabrics that will be used in her nursery. I can not wait to order it! I do have a collage that i made with it all I could share... ;)

here is my 21 week belly photo:

and for good measure - Brigsby wanted to be in the photo as well:

 

with love,

kristen, ryan, little nugget and brigsby

i cant really explain..

how much i love you already. i am so excited to meet you, but need until april of course :) i am enjoying being pregnant and feeling you move! i hope ryan can feel you soon too - i know he would love it just as much as i do.

i completed your toy chest. it was mine as a baby/little girl. it had yellowed over the years so i took a can of good quality spray paint and went at it in thin layers.
here was the start of it, and these photos dont really show how dirty and yellow it was, along with how tarnished the gold hardware was:

and after 2 cans of semi-gloss white spray paint by rust-oleum and one can of metallic paint by rust-oleum, the finished toy chest:

I also learned today, that we will be getting the glider that my great-grandpa made for my parents! He did beautiful woodwork and made beautiful furniture, so I am excited to have a family heirloom in your room. Your grandma Ann is going to be sewing new covers for the padding on the chair so it matches your room.

I can not wait to get going on your room - we have agreed on everything (which was very easy, unlike choosing your name, which we still have not done!) thankfully! I have already found a few accessories that I would like to buy to put in there!

with love little nugget,

kristen, ryan and brigsby

20 weeks!

20 weeks have seem to flown by! i am feeling our little one move about and it is so amazing - crazy too!

i am still on cloud 9 when i look at her ultrasound photos. amazing how she went from a flickering heartbeat at 5/6 weeks, to a little person with a shape now!

i have started a few hidden registries, and i have picked out fabrics and colors for her nursery (with ryans approval of course!)

i am also in the process of re-painting an old wicker toy chest that was in my room as a little girl! it will be fun to have in her room!!

42" around, according to a tape measure at work today (the first grade room i work in, is learning to measure things with rulers and tape measures!)

with love,

kristen, ryan, little nugget and brigsby

Our Nugget is a ...

GIRL!

Every single one of the predictions and old wives tales, and calendars were correct!

She was not shy in sharing either:

She also gave us a high-five:

And gave us a beautiful profile shot:

It was the most amazing thing, to lay and watch her move around for an hour. She measures right where she should - and is very active!! She barely stopped moving throughout the entire ultrasound!!

more to come :)

with love,
kristen, ryan, little nugget & brigsby

as promised, 19 week photo

only 2 more full days until we know if our little nugget is a boy, or a girl!

with love,

kristen, ryan, little nugget and brigsby

19 weeks and one more "test"

my cousin asked if we did the ring test...nope! so tonight we did. here is what it entails:

Take a pin, needle, or wedding ring and attach it to a thread or strand of hair. Hold the dangling item over mom to be's belly while she is lying down. If the needle or wedding ring swings in a strong circular motion, you will be having a girl. If it moves in a to and fro motion like a pendulum, you will be having a boy.

well...we got circles, clear circles.
prediction: girl

it has been fun trying these out. it will be neat to see if they hold true, or if we are part of what makes these "just for fun" (either way, we know they are just for fun though!)

and 19 weeks today! and big step - the fridge no longer seems to be a trigger for gagging! i think ryan is pretty proud of me for that one :)

my 19 week photo will be up tomorrow!

with love,

kristen, ryan, little nugget and brigsby

what the tales and charts say ...

i have said all along, i dont care what the nugget is, boy or girl, that i would be thrilled as long as s/he is healthy. however, it is still fun to test the tales and charts out - and by next friday we will be able to see if they are true! so here goes:

1. Chinese Lunar Calendar:
moms age = 26
month of conception = july
chart predicts: girl

2. Mayan Gender Prediction
You add the mothers age at conception, plus the year of conception. If it is an even number, it's a girl. If it is odd, it's a boy.
26 + 2010 = 2036 (even)
prediction: girl

3. Heart Rate
One says if your baby's heart rate is:

over 140 = girl
under 140 = boy
Nugget has been between 147 and 153

heart rate predicts: girl

Now how serious am I taking this? I am not. I think it is fun to see what all the tests say, well in this case, see that they all say girl. However, how sweet the surprise of nugget being a boy!

Either way, I continue to pray for a healthy nugget and I continue to grow that much more excited for 11/26 when we get to see the nugget again and find out what s/he is!

Ryan will admit, he wants a boy first, and then a girl. But healthy most of all!

Do you have any other tests/charts/old wives tales to share?

with love,

kristen, ryan, little nugget and brigsby

18 weeks already!

we received our quad testing results - everything is in the normal range - hurray! i was not too worried about it to be honest. but it is nice to know everything is negative/normal.

we also set up our anatomy/20 week scan for black Friday! we are SO excited to find out if nugget is a little boy or a little girl!!

feeling great. i bought a few new maternity items - 2 sweaters, 2 cotton shirts, some maternity tanks (my layering tanks are getting too short now!) and another pair of maternity jeans! 

now i just need to wait until most of it arrives in the mail!

i have also realized how much i HATE strangers touching my belly. people i know - i will forgive you. strangers, i want to punch you. i *almost* put my hand on the girls belly (no she wasnt pregnant) and start rubbing it like she did mine - but i was trying to be nice. next time i might not be so nice.

people are starting to take team blue/pink sides on me. most are saying blue. i guess we will see what happens next Friday!

xoxo

kristen, ryan, nugget and brigsby

17 weeks

well, sunday was 17 weeks. but life has been busy!

I just had my blood drawn for the quad screening. And...

We scheduled our 20 week appointment for 11/26. i will be 2 day short of 20 weeks but being ryan and i both work in schools - we did not want to have to take a half day off of work. we are trying to save them up for closer to nuggets arrival! I feel like we are going to be getting the best black friday deal out there this year!

nugget has me at 40" around now - holy crap!

and with a 3 pound weight gain - i dont think too bad, and my Dr. is happy with it!

with love,

kristen, ryan, brigsby and little nugget!

16 week photo

xoxo

kristen and nugget

147 ...

the nugget is healthy - the last drs appointment on 10/28, we heard a very strong heartbeat of 147 bpm! it was so nice to sit with ryan and listen to our little nugget's heartbeat. 

our next appointment will be the "big" ultrasound/anatomy scan where we will find out the sex of the little nugget! people keep asking if i want a boy or girl - i honestly do not care. i am just so excited to see nugget again!

short and sweet. once i get my 16 week photo uploaded i will post that :)

xoxo

kristen

15 weeks!

i can not believe i am at 15 weeks already! i have my next OB appointment to hear the nuggets heartbeat on november 1st. and a few short weeks after that we will know the sex of our little nugget.

i am feeling great. Ryan treats me like a princess. i start going back to work tomorrow after a nice 3 week break - i could use another week off i think! 

brigsby still cuddles whenever he can and he has found my belly to be a prime head resting location!

if you can spare any thoughts or prayers - my mother-in-law is very ill. i may fill in more details later as we know more.

to keep it short and sweet - 

xoxo

kristen, ryan, brigsby and little nugget

2 in one day?!

how lucky. however i wanted to finish updating.

let me talk about myself for a bit. who doesn't love to do that. the month of september i spent almost every day nauseated. luckily for me, i did not have morning sickness in the typical way most people do - i was able to keep foods down. however certain smells bothered me so i just stayed away from them. during the 2nd week of september i developed a virus that ended me up in the ER. my temperature kept rising and there was concern if it reached 102* it could become harmful for the nugget. so they ran some tests, put me on a few bags of fluids and observed. luckily, a bad virus was all it was. so i spent the next few days at home resting and recovering. ryan took very good care of me - i am lucky to have him!

so back to foods. nothing bothered me too much. sour patch kids became a staple in my diet - the sour kept my stomach from going crazy when i did start to feel nauseated.

towards the middle of september however, i developed an aversion to the fridge. i have come to the conclusion. that its the feeling and smell of cold air. i gag. and its terrible. so again ryan has come to my rescue and goes into the fridge for me when i need something.
you ask, what do i do when he isnt home? i pull my shirt up over my head and pray i grab what i need the first time. this is not a joke. however the least amount of gagging i do - the better i feel! 

while i dont have any strong cravings, things just sound good sometimes. i love chipotle, khans is still a love of mine. frozen lemonades sound great - although ive not had one since august! i was surprised at my last appointment to find out that i have not gained any weight. my OB isnt concerned however, as i am keeping foods down and am able to eat. 

lets take a look at 8 weeks, until now at 14:

(8 weeks, i call this bloat)

(9 weeks, still bloated)

(10 weeks, the bloating has reduced)

(11 weeks)

(12 weeks!)

(13 weeks. here is where i think it becomes pretty obvious)

(14 weeks. pretty obvious here i think!)

my mom and i went shopping last weekend. i found a basically new pair of gap maternity jeans for $20 and picked up 4 tops from kohls (the 14 week photo being one of them). let me explain - maternity clothing is much more comfortable than regular clothing. 

saturday ryan and i also had family photos taken with our very talented wedding photographer, Jessica of JM Photography. here was the sneak peek she gave us:

we also included brigsby in our photos. i will post the other 9 when we get them back in a few weeks!

and that my friends, is all i believe i have for now!

xoxo

kristen, ryan, brigsby and little nugget

the first post!

maybe we should start at the beginning. i had been joking with a few friends the day before that i was "late" by one week and how funny would it be if i were actually pregnant. fast forward to the next morning. august 14, ryan and i were preparing to go out of town for a friends wedding and on a whim, i decided to take a pregnancy test. very much to my surprise, it came back positive. now i am going to be very honest here, i got very scared very quickly. we were not preventing and we were not trying. we knew that if it happened it would be a blessing. so back to the scared part - i knew ryan would be happy but how was i supposed to tell him??? basically, i yelled at him to come downstairs because i "needed" him, and i asked him if he saw what i did. yes he did. and we hugged it out. 

fast forward again to monday. we had a dr's appointment to confirm what the 2 at home tests told us - we were having a baby!

on august 30th, we had our first ultrasound for dating purposes. baby was measuring about 7 weeks. the little nugget's heartbeat was showing a strong 158 bpm. my mom went with my to this ultrasound as ryan was unable to make it. he was very excited to see the ultrasound photo that evening and hear about it!

after this ultrasound, we chose to tell our immediate families. and made them promise not to tell anyone. they did their job. we took photos as we told them.

we told ryan's dad and sister on our way to my parents. 

one .. two .. three .. say "Joe's a Grandpa!"

kate: "what?!!!!!" as she proceeded to start shaking. i could see the tears welling up!

next stop was my parents, which i was even more nervous about. i knew they would be excited but i was not sure of their reactions.

the same .. one .. two .. three .. say "Grandparents!"

the first thing out of my mothers mouth: yeah right.

i just smiled and kept looking at the camera.

she followed that with. wait you are serious? greg (my dad) did you hear that!

then they figured out that we were serious and everyone was very happy!

we had our next appointment on monday september 20th and were able to hear the heartbeat at this time! ryan and i were thrilled! the dr said that the heartbeat was coming through strong! it was one of the best sounds i have ever heard.

we told my grandparents through our dog, Brigsby. i bought him a big brother t-shirt on etsy to have him wear when we went to visit. my grandma figured it out right away and was THRILLED!

i also wanted to tell my Geema that way, however she had become very ill and spur of the moment before a very serious surgery, i decided to tell her alone. i showed her the ultrasound photo and told her that she was going to be a great-grandma in April. she was so excited and i am so happy to share, she did great in surgery and is back home and doing fantastic!

i took my grandma to my 13 week appointment. i really wasnt supposed to have one, however my Dr. allowed me to schedule one for a flu shot and to hear the heartbeat again :) i really love my Dr. 

did i mention he was the same OB that delivered both my brother and i?

i took my grandma r. with me to that appointment as ryan had to work. baby's heartbeat was clear and loud at 155 bpm! it was fun to share that with my grandma as she had 3 boys!

i have one more appointment on november 1 before our big anatomy scan where we will learn the sex of little nugget - we should know towards the end of november/beginning of december!

i think i have given you a good summary of what has been going on up until now!

with love,

kristen, ryan, brigsby and little nugget