Quick Update at 18 Weeks

Nothing overly new. My belly is growing, and I am waiting to finally feel the baby move. It should happen any day!!

Growing Belly!

So, it has been awhile since I last posted. A lot has happened!

For one, my sister, Cricket, gave birth to a beautiful baby boy:-) Owen Jon is he first grandson on the Huizinga side of the family. He is absolutely adorable and I plan on spoiling horribly. Jill will be giving birth sometime mid April to a little girl. Paul and I will be busy being aunt and uncle to 2 nephews and 4 nieces:-) It should keep us busy as we wait for our little bundle to come in September.

Speaking of our baby, I have finally popped a bit. Below is a pic of me at 15 weeks. It's only going to get bigger from here! I believe that I am finally over the nausea stage. Most foods sound good and I haven't gagged/hurled in almost a week! Trust me--that is a great accomplishment.

My last doctor's appointment went well. They said that I should have a rather boring pregnancy, which is good:-) I scheduled the next ultrasound for April 15th...which is when we will check to make sure all of the organs and things are working and of course to see if we are having a boy or a girl. I am itching to find out!

Coolest Morning Ever!

This morning Paul and I had an ultrasound appointment to pinpoint exactly how far along I am. Thankfully, we were only a week and a half off, so I am due September 4th. I am happy to finally have a due date and to have been able to see our little bambino!

Seriously, the ultrasound may have been the coolest thing I have ever seen (despite my bladder being massively full!). The baby was moving all over the the nurse was able to show us so many parts. It's amazing that at 12 weeks along a baby can have a strong heartbeat, arms, legs, hands, feet, and a mouth....so much! It really hits home what all of the fatigue and nausea is for and makes it worth every minute of my head over the toilet:-)

BABY ON BOARD!

So, it is official. Paul and I are going to be parents. Scary, huh??? We are so excited and can't wait. Seriously, I have a feeling that this is going to be a long 9 months for me!

I met with the nurse last week and they estimate my due date to be September 1st, but it could change as I progress. I am praying that I have an ultrasound soon to determine exactly how far along I am. I will keep you posted.

We have already told everyone under the sun. I made the announcement official by posting it on Facebook so that the world would know:-) My family was excited. This will be the 3rd baby in the Huizinga family that will be born in 2009. Christmas will be extremely hectic next year! Paul's family was also super excited. We bought customized fortune cookies with fortunes that said:

"Thompson family hold on to your seat,
Soon there will be a new baby to meet!"

"Caden is no longer the only grandkid,
wait till you hear what Betsy and Paul did!"

"The Thompson family is having another,
Mac's going to get a little sister or brother!"

"A Thompson baby is on its way,
We hope you can make it for the big birthday!"

It was hilarious. Mom was screaming in the restaurant and Monique and Dad kept telling her to be quiet because they hadn't read their fortunes yet and didn't know what she was screaming about. It was so much fun!

Please pray that the pregnancy goes well and that we have a healthy baby come September. So far, I am feeling great. A bit of nausea here and there, but it is all for the good of the cause, right? We will keep you posted as the pregnancy progresses and I'll be sure to post pics as I get huge and fat:-)

Thanksgiving and Christmas Lights

Food makes me happy (especially mashed potatoes), therefore Thanksgiving makes me happy! Paul and I headed over to the East side of the state to spend Thanksgiving with his family. Monique and I did most of the cooking, although I left the turkey to Paul's mom. I have only cooked one turkey in my life, so I figure it was better left to the experts! Overall, the meal turned out yummy. I was quite proud of my pies! I had made an apple and a pumpkin cream pie. The apple was a new recipe, which turned out great. The top was a cinnamon and brown sugar crust. Mmm.















Another excitement from Thanksgiving was that Marc had Caden. I can't believe how big he is getting. We taught him "sooo big" and he loved pulling Mac's tail:-)















The rest of the weekend was spent with Paul putting up Christmas lights and me baking Christmas cookies. Paul just bought this machine that syncs music to the lights outside so they blink according to the beat. It is very him:-) There seem to be a few glitches with it, but hopefully he figures it out.

My cookies turned out well. I made Chocolate Peanut Butter Covered Cherries, Lemon Cookies, Meringue Cookies, Chocolate Mint Bars, Almond Rasberry Cookies, and Sugar Cookies with icing. Mmm. I'm obsessed:-)