four years old

on august 25th, kyle and i celebrated our four year anniversary - our last one as a family of two! as fast as this pregnancy is flying by, those past 4 years have gone by even faster. though, it's amazing to thing of all the things we've done and places we've been in those years. meeting at miami university in ohio. getting married and moving to dominica for kyle to go to medical school. moving to chicago for rotations. and now settling down for the next 3 years in milwaukee. we have both loved every single moment of every adventure.

and though it sounds corny, i can't think of anything better than being married to kyle, my best friend. though it's not always perfect, not always smiles, i can fully rely on the fact that i can trust kyle with everything, especially to lead our family. i love how faithful and dependable he is - not just as a husband, but as a man in general, whether it's at work or in his friendships. i know that kyle will always do what's best not just for him, but for both of us, and now, the soon-to-be three of us (4, sorry jackie!) God has revealed to me so, so many ways why He brought kyle and i together, how i am more the woman He created me to be because of kyle, how He is always teaching me and drawing me closer to Him through Kyle, and how we have the amazing responsibility to reflect His love through our marriage. i couldn't ask for a better partner to share all that with!

so yesterday, the night of our anniversary, we relaxed at home. i made dinner & dessert and we of course had to celebrate with sparkling grape juice. we talked about all the memories we've made so far. our favorite parts of marriage. and like we always do, set goals for this next year (last year, i said i wanted to get pregnant!)

the sweet flowers kyle got for me :)

we watched the slide show from our wedding (thank you again o'brien!) and then my favorite, we read through our wedding ceremony, reciting our vows again and making sure we are sticking to them! it was just a great night to thank God for how He's blessed us with each other and all the adventures He's brought us on, and look at where we want our marriage to be in the next year, or 5 years or 50 years from now!

so kyle joseph, thank you for being my best friend and the most amazing husband. God blessed me with you, knowing exactly what i wanted and needed in a husband, and for that, i'll never stop giving Him thanks. happy four years!!

mama's new hair cut

so... my hair was getting pretty long. i had been growing it out since we lived in chicago. for what reason, i have no clue. so i decided, hey, i'll chop it all off.

before

i tried to convince some of my young life girls to cut theirs with me. no luck. i said i would wait until baby girl was just about here, or just after. but... lately i just needed a change. my clothes aren't fitting. i'm getting just a bit bigger. and my hair was a pain in the behind to dry & fix. and i was running low on patience. so i told kyle i was going to do it. chop it off. and then if i hate it, it will at least have a few months to grow before the babe is here. i just didn't want to do to the typical new mom thing - cut your hair short right when baby comes. why i felt that why, i don't know. i'm sure it's a million times easier.

so... i did it. it was a lot shorter than i thought. though, when kyle met me in college, i had just chopped my hair and i'm pretty sure it was shorter than chin length... i texted kyle immediately... "it's so so so so short!" (yes, all those so's were necessary...)

after

(and yes, if you look at the pics, i didn't have any make up on in the "before" shot - hoping i would look even better in the "after picture." :) ever notice how magazines do that for make overs pictures??)

i'm still a little unsure of it. but still getting used to it. for now, kyle tells me i'm beautiful, big belly, short hair and all - and that's all i need to hear.

preggo update: 6 months

these months are flying by! i'm already 6 1/2 months pregnant! so far this month, baby girl has been the length of a ear of cob, the weight of a rutabaga, and now today, she is the length of a cucumber. (and English hothouse cucumber to be exact - whatever that is!)

baby girl is now on the move more than ever... and not only can we feel her, but clearly see her move as well. just watching my belly, she can get it rocking & shaking. and just this week, we realized now we can really "feel" her. before, it would just be a simple kick or punch here of there. but now i can gently press on my belly and actually feel where she is, which is pretty amazing! now we just have to figure out where we're poking her - probably on her head or that cute little booty :)

i found this fun little questionnaire that i thought would be a good way to update you on how mama-to-be is doing. overall, i still love being pregnant - i love seeing kyle already becoming a daddy, i love bonding with our little girl before she even makes her first appearance, and i love just having a big ol' belly (though, at times, my clothes don't love me being a bit bigger!) so here you are, a 6 month update on our growing girl!


How far along? 26 weeks

Total weight gain: i would guess about 12-15 pounds (our next appt is monday so i'll have a better idea then! )

Maternity clothes? yes! they are becoming a necessity - especially pants!! i'll just stand in my closet and yell to kyle, "do i really need to wear anything on my bottom half today??" i just ordered some maternity jeans, hopefully they fit!

Stretch marks? i may have the beginning signs of one... yikes!...so we quickly ran out and got palmer's cocoa butter for stretch marks :)

Sleep: i'm starting to get a bit more tired during the day, but don't really take naps. and then at night, baby girl really gets moving... which causes mama to toss and turn all night... so i'm not sure the last time i felt 100% rested, but i'm sure a lot of people feel that way, pregnant or not! (especially kyle waking up at 5am every day!)

Best moment this month: getting the nursery going (though it is stressing me out because i'm being so indecisive!) and being able to really feel baby girl!

Have you told family and friends: um, of course! BUT we're still keeping the name under wraps :)

Movement: yes!

Food cravings: i was hoping i would have more cravings or just enjoy food more in general but that really hasn't been a big part of my pregnancy... though i guess i have been craving fruit, and lately i've mentioned quite frequently to kyle how good donuts and chocolate cake sound

Anything making you queasy or sick: nope, not really... though i did make a big batch of chicken & mushroom pasta last week in hopes we would have lots of leftovers for lunch & busy nights... but after eating it once, for some reason i couldn't even look at it without thinking, "yuck!" - so poor kyle finished off the whole batch by himself over the past week.

Have you started to show yet: yup yup yup - when i feel really big, i tell kyle "today i'm feelin' large and in charge!"

Labor Signs: nope - keep growing little girl! you've still got awhile to go!

Belly Button in or out? it's nearing the flat stage - neither in nor out!

Wedding rings on or off? still on!

Happy or Moody most of the time: i've been pretty happy & relaxed the whole pregnancy. though lately, i've been stressing about decorating the nursery (yes, i even broke down and cried once... over a dresser...) and if you ask kyle, he would very kindly tell you i may be a little more sassy than usual as well

Weekly Wisdom: hmm... constantly remembering what a blessing this pregnancy is, and what a gift that parenting and this little girl will be to kyle and i!

Milestones: chopping off my long, long hair... then constantly telling kyle how i want it back :)

Sorry!

the morgan family certainly has been slacking lately with the blog - sorry! we've been a busy busy family, going out of town, plans every weekend, and getting ready for baby girl to come! i promise to offer a more in depth update of what we've been up to, but for now here are a few short snippets of what kyle, baby girl & i have been up to:

- baby girl has been practicing her karate - a lot! though she doesn't seem to move all day long, she really gets moving in the morning when i first get up and then before bed. it's become more of a constant thing, but i can never get enough of feeling her move around in there! and now she's moving enough so we can see her kicks just looking at my belly

- today, at 23 weeks pregnant, baby weighs as much as a large mango (over a pound!) and is as big as a spaghetti squash!

- kyle & i had a lot of fun celebrating the 4th of july and both of our birthdays - more to come on those later!

- kyle is off at a bachelor party this weekend, while the "girls" are at home getting ready for a wedding next weekend. i'm helping my good friend colleen with all the paper goods for her wedding and am also standing up with her at the wedding. baby girl especially can't wait to be a bridesmaid! (and, even though i ordered the bridesmaid dress back in the spring and guessed on the size, it actually fits pretty well & only have to get the straps altered!)

- we went on our first registering adventure at BuyBuyBaby. and was it an adventure.... who know there was SO MUCH stuff in one store that your baby "needs." it was a lot of fun though a bit overwhelming. soon we'll have to do round 2 because we couldn't make it through all in one trip!

- we've also been on the hunt for some fun pieces for the nursery - like a older dresser to refinish (kyle likes to call it "shabby chic"), a new crib, and a rocker/glider (i've got pottery barn taste but have been scouring craigslist & rummage sales for deals!) also, i would love to sew a lot of things for the nursery, so we've been hunting for the perfect fabric and colors. it's a lot all at once, but i'm so so excited to get baby girl's room set up!

so that's it for now - a quick little update. look for more to come soon!! baby girl says hi & she loves all of you :)