Surprise!

Christmas is always my favorite time of year. I LOVE being able to give presents to everyone and the friendly spirit that comes with that time of year. Well, just in case I didn't love Christmastime enough already, we found out in May that we have even more of a reason to love Christmas Eve......that's my DUE DATE!!! AHHH!! Trust me, no one is as shocked by this news as I was. Having kids 15 months apart has been a bit of a scary thought, but my mom did it and survived so hopefully I follow in her footsteps with that. So, if any of you are interested, here is the story of how we found out: Early in May, I realized that I hadn't had any monthly womanly things happening for a while, but I just assumed that my body was still trying to get regular from having had Kaden. I didn't give it a second thought...until the first Sunday evening in May. I made taco soup for dinner and ate maybe 5 bites before saying I really didn't feel well. Shane said that it was probably something bad in the soup (although I am actually a pretty good cook and don't have spoiled ingredients in my recipes...plus Shane ate more than I did and he felt just fine...). Anyway, again, I didn't think anything of it. I woke up Monday feeling a little bit sick, but better than the night before. I just thought it was a sort of hangover from my Sunday sickness. But then ALL day Monday I was nauseous....I didn't throw up, but I wanted to. When Shane got home from work that night, I told him how sick I was. He, again, blamed it on the taco soup. You know what? I believed him!!! I think it was just major denial on my part. After spending all day Tuesday feeling really sick again, I called the all-knowing Kenzie and told her about how sick my taco soup had made me (haha). She asked me a few questions that you normally hear from your OB-GYN and then flipped out! It was actually quite funny. She told me to take a pregnancy test RIGHT AWAY. I said no, I would wait another week. She said that there is no point in that and I would need to start scheduling my doctor's appt. soon. Although I felt like she was jumping to conclusions, I went to Target and got a test. I waited to take it until Wednesday morning (morning pee is the best testing time....). I was so nervous that I woke up at 5:00 a.m. that Wednesday (May 7th) and took the test. When I came back to bed, I thought Shane was asleep, but when I lay down, he immediately said, "Did you take it?" I hesitatingly said, "Yes." He waited a minute, then said, "You're not saying it was negative." I said, "Nope." At which point I got up out of bed because I knew there was no way I could sleep now. He followed me into our living room and sat by me. He told me it would be just fine and everything would work out. It's not that I didn't want another kid, I just didn't think I was ready right then. Shane was very sweet about everything , though, and has really stepped up to the plate the last few months. I had my first appt. a couple of weeks later where I found out I was already 9 weeks along! I learned that with this second baby, as long as I ate every hour and a half, I wouldn't have any trouble with morning sickness! That was a huge blessing! So, now I am 18 weeks along and figured it was time to officially announce it on my blog. At my doctor's appt. last week, Kathy (my OB-GYN) said that she is 95% sure it is a girl!! We will be more sure at my next appointment in August. :) It has taken me about 2 months to get over the shock of it all, but I think I am finally to the point where I am not in denial and getting kind of excited about it. Especially where Kaden is growing up so fast now...cutting teeth (we think..?) and standing on his own and walking with support...I am losing my baby so it is comforting to know I will have another one soon enough. I am almost half way done! The 2nd kid goes by soooo much faster that the first one! :) Thanks to those of you who stuck with me through that whole big, fatty, long post! Here is a picture of me a couple of months ago. I have been avoiding the camera lately, but I will get a recent shot of my growing belly and post it soon. :)