what is it?!

So we are one of those annoying couples that does not want to find out what our little M is.  So I have this habit of referring to baby as it.  People are constantly correcting me.  I promise, once baby is here, I will NOT call it “it”.  Both Trent and I decided together that we were not going to find out.  We were doing so great with this until at 14 weeks the ultrasound tech could identify what baby is.  I did check and M is either a boy or a girl.  Not both, guess we won’t be on Lisa Ling’s Our America….or at least not for that reason (for those of you who have not seen Our America on the OWN network, please watch it.  Lisa (yes, Lisa and I are old pals since her channel one days, so I call her Lisa) is seriously BRILLIANT).  So we can at least breathe easy about that baby is one or the other.  During that ultrasound once I knew that someone knew, I started questioning…should be find out.  But we stayed strong, once we left the room we were back to we don’t want to know.  We then went to our 18 week ultrasound, same feeling but not as strong for me.  Poor Trent REALLY wanted to know then…but again we stayed strong and made them turn the screen at the points where it would be obvious if M is a boy or a girl.  We are now done with ultrasounds so I think that is helping.  It still seems to bother Trent more than it bothers me the not knowing, but when I have asked, if he wants to go ahead and find out he says no. 
Trent for a long time felt that M was a boy so he will refer to M as he, when he does I then respond with “she is doing great today” I really have no idea what I think baby is.  I feel like girl, but I am not sure if I feel that way because I am constantly referring to M as she or not. 
Also, you often hear about women dreaming about their baby and what the baby is.  I dream about baseball, zombies, work, the library…oh well!  Trent keeps dreaming about baby being a boy and then he dreams baby is a girl.  Clearly we are clueless.  BUT we will know soon enough!  YAY!  I am so excited for Trent to walk into the waiting room and announcing…I am the proud papa of a healthy baby……..
xoxoxo

time is just flying by!

I am just completely blown away how quickly time is going!  I am pretty sure life has never moved so quickly. 
In the last few weeks I have finally become brave enough to read about child birth.  I didn’t think that was ever going to happen.  Really I figured Trent would have to tell me as I was in labor the dirty details about what was about to happen to me.  However, one day I decided…ok I can do this.  I am so thankful I did.  I have learned a lot.  Also, a good reason to read about it ahead of time, we did our birthing class a week ago, it would’ve been a bit awkward if I knew NOTHING about what was going on.
The class was actually pretty helpful.  I was convinced it wouldn’t be, but I am glad we did it.  It was also nice, because our hospital offers many different options for birth classes (7 week courses, 3 week courses or an all day option), we wanted to get it over with in one stop so from 9-5  (which ended up being 5:30) it was all baby.  There was lots of relaxation ideas, the whole birthing process and a tour.  There was lots more stuff, but those were the main points. 
Fun little things about the class:
1.  I was the only mother TERRIFIED and not just in love with the idea of the baby being squeezed out…well…you know where.
2.  IU Health North has such great food
3.  The woman sitting next to Trent, lifted up her shirt and was scratching and rubbing her bare stomach.  It was awkward and HILARIOUS.  You can just imagine how uncomfortable he was.
4.  As I suspected, childbirth is not beautiful (we saw lots of videos)
5.  10cm is VERY big.  EEK!
6.  I am still in shock that the next time we go to the hospital, we will bring a sweet little baby home with us.  <3
And here is our bump growing

We have hit the 3rd and final trimester!!!  EEEKKK!!!  Baby will be here so soon!!!

I feel like I have really grown a lot this past week!  just 11 more to go!!!
xoxoxo

showering sweet M with love

A few weekends ago, my lovely in laws held a shower for M!  It was FANTASTIC!  Trent has such a great family.  His Mama, Aunts Lori and Julie, cousins Brittney, Caitlin and Hannah, I tell are some of the SWEETEST people you will ever meet.

There was a great turnout for the shower and it was so nice to see everyone  They planned such a fun shower, everyone brought a letter for us to put on the wall in M’s room.  They are all so creative and fun!  I can’t wait to get them on the wall.

They also did a buffet of pies and adorable alphabet cookies!  Seriously, any pie you could think of was there!  SOOOO GOOOOD!!!! Oh and could this little watermelon baby, be any cuter?  The answer is no.  IT IS THE CUTEST!

We were so blown away by all of the amazing gifts for our little baby.  We are so very thankful.  We are now ready for our little baby!  The girls asked that the guests be creative with their gift displays (no wasted wrapping, we are trying to save the world here)  Addy, Trent’s brother’s girlfriend, made this little guy out of baby stuff!  So cute! 

ANDDDD I am just dying for these little hats my sister made! She is so very talented!!!  How cute does Sophie look in one of the hats?!?!  SUPER CUTE I know was your answer.

It was such a great day and I cannot wait to use all of the fantastic things on M.  I am so very grateful that M is being born into 2 amazing families.  Baby is already so blessed and has no idea…but will learn quickly I am sure of it!

xoxo

the ever growing bump:)

Another round of photos for your viewing enjoyment…that is if you enjoy this sort of thing  I feel like you can progressively see my tiredness, especially if the photo is from after I get off work (i.e. weeks 22 & 24)




I must say the time is flying.  Pretty excited to meet our sweet baby  Just 107 days to go (give or take a few)!
xoxo

one down 82 to go!

I cannot believe that 365 days have passed since I become Mrs Atkisson.  What a year it has been!  It is a common thought that the first year of marriage is the hardest.  We have for sure been tested this past year.  A lot of heartache, growing pains and tears.  However, from each of those pains, there has been something positive that has come out of it.  The main thing for me, has been that even though I felt like we had such a strong bond the day we were married, it amazes me how strong that bond is now.  It will be amazing to see how that grows in the next 82 years. 
I am completely amazed that I found someone who truly gets me, that makes me laugh even in the worst moments, and who regardless of how terrible I act still loves me.  I am so very blessed and so very thankful.  While not everyday is perfect, I can’t imagine spending the next 82 years with anyone but Trent.  God is good.

Hope your day is filled with love!
xoxo

another list!

So the pros and cons of pregnancy for my gal pal jen
Now should I start with the cons or the pros.  I like to look on the bright side so I am leaning toward pros first…but I would hate for you to read the pros, forget them and then think there are only cons.  that’s it, cons first.  get excited:

1. Every woman who has ever given birth, met someone who has given birth or was birthed themselves has traumatic, scary stories to share with you when you are pregnant.  We aren’t just talking like labor hurt….we are talking broken bones, 422 hours of labor, getting very personal with nurses, pooping (if you don’t know, don’t ask, trust me you don’t want to know)…literally any terrifying thing you could think of  would never even nightmare about because the are so far fetched.
2. The gas.  I know that is super gross.  I hate to mention it but I am 100% sure if I didn’t mention it the first comment would be from Trent sharing my deep, dark, smelly secret.  Not sure why almond butter or toast or crackers would give a normal human gas, but here we are.  GROSS.
3. Making the darn uhhh noise like I am a 65 year old man as I get up from the couch or up in the middle of the night to urinate (while it’s not convenient to go every 2 minutes it’s not annoying enough to make the list)
4. The lovely comments like “boy your hips are getting wide” “are you sure you aren’t having twins?” “she is blossoming”  ok that last one I know everyone thinks that is some term of endearment but I think it makes it sound like I just got boobs. While yes, they are MUCH bigger, I did hit puberty in 8th grade…not when I was 28.
5. The crying…it has gotten pretty darn bad.
6. I almost forgot…pregnancy brain.  It is real, it is debilitating at times, it is not fun. Paid our water bill 3 times last month.

The pros

1. There is a human growing inside of me!  That is something that just BLOWS my mind.
2. I am just now starting to have kicks and swimming more consistently.  It is the best feeling in the whole world.  A constant sign that our sweet baby is growing and healthy.  It is so good for my heart.
3. No one gives you weird looks when you eat 5 cookies in one sitting.  Although prior to the bump, I just ignored their nasty looks, but now they keep those looks to themselves and say things like “you have an excuse, have another cookie”  OK!
4. Such fun projects to prepare for our baby
5. Seeing glimpses of my amazing husband as a daddy.  I love hearing him talk about what all he is going to do with the baby.  The plans for their adventures, what he plans to teach baby, the way he talks to the bump. Be still my heart.
6. Also from Trent, it would be so hard if he wasn’t supportive of this pregnancy but he is never failing with support with my crying, the ups and downs, my growing bump.  I am forever grateful.
7. I love that we are making Trent’s parents grandparents and his brothers uncles.  It is awesome that for my family this isn’t the first grandbaby, but it is still just as awesome for them.  I love the excitement we get from our families and friends.  It makes it so fun!!!
8. Pregnancy means I get to be a mommy and I am so thankful God has trusted me to be this baby’s mom.  I am going to do my very best to not mess up!

Hope my pros outweighed my cons to you, because for me, the pro side is wayyyyyyyy heavier than the cons.
xoxo

A little place just for baby…in progress!

So this past weekend we have been busy cleaning out the spare bedroom getting it ready for baby!  The room had a spare bed, lots of sewing stuff, sadly some wedding stuff still just sitting in there…yes it has almost been a year, judge if you will…and an elliptical.  Thankfully pregnancy also gives you that strong nesting urge so I have been purging things left and right!
I have this big idea in my head how I want the room to look, and I really hope that it turns out as great as I think it will!  We have painted LARGE horizontal lime green stripes on the wall and then I want a yellow dresser/changing table, a red rocking chair and a navy bookshelf  Not exactly traditional by any means, but we are not exactly pastel people either!  This week we have made a lot of progress!  Room is cleaned out, the crib is in position, Trent’s Grandma gave us the rocking chair that will soon be red andddddd Trent went and bought an old not so pretty (big thanks to auntie jen for finding it on craigslist) but has lots of potential dresser/changing table.  SO excited!

She is a real beauty right?  Or at least you can see the potential right?!  Can’t wait until she is painted!
xoxo

working out...or at least trying to!

So being pregnant there are so many restrictions.  There are the obvious things like the no drinking, smoking (not that I was ever planning on taking that delightful habit up) or sky diving.  It has been very surprising the number of things that you would never even think about.  Here is the list of what I have learned thus far:
1.  Jumping on a trampoline
2.  Riding a bicycle
3.  Playing any sport that involves a ball flying at your ever growing tummy
4.  Climbing ladders
5.  Super intense workouts
6.  Wrestling…how many women are out there wrestling on a regular basis that this needs to be a rule?
7.  Skiing
8.  Amusement park rides…sigh
9.  Scuba Diving
10.  Gymnastics…had thought I would take that up next week until I read that…now what?!
Thankfully, since I have always ran, it is still ok for me to continue running.  Some days are better than others when running.  Ultimately I have slowed down quite a bit and breathe like I weigh 400 pounds but I am still out there  Thankfully Dad, MJ, Travis and Trent are completely fine with the slow down.  I swear I am related to the best people.  I can’t run everyday though so I was still at a loss for what to do in my spare time…
We have always been a very active couple and with a very long list of things that one can no longer do once there is a bun in the oven, I was at a loss for what to fill my time with.  So after a few months of feeling blah Trent surprised me with a lovely bouquet of sunflowers, a very sweet card and….a double dvd set of pre/postnatal workouts.  So to the living room I went! Such a sweet gift!
Prenatal Fitness Fix  is a lovely DVD it is 40 minutes of individual working out and then a 20 minute partner workout.  There are a few times where the lighting is a little weird and sometimes it seems like early 90s camera work BUT the workout is AHHHMAZING!  Just trust me.  We started with the partner workout.  Turns out it is just your partner adding resistance to the pregger lady, so Trent didn’t really need to put on his workout clothes.  We started out doing great until the wall pushups.  The lady’s husband, who just happens to be the dreamy James Denton, leans against her back with his back while she does these pushups.  As for this runner, my arms are…well…not at all strong.  Trent leaned against my back and HOLY COW I almost banged my head on the wall.  NOTE:  wall pushups are not on the list above, they should be perfectly acceptable for MOST pregnant women.  Just not this girl.  Maybe I should add that to the list to save others from the life flashing before your eyes as your head is smashing into the wall.  Although it is probably just me and my Mr. Burns arms and I am sure a normal person would be just fine.  MOVING ON! We completed the 20 minutes with no more issues and it ends with a shoulder rub!!!  Told you, AHHHMAZING!  The actual individual workout is great unless you are a man…then it is a bit awkward as there is a lot of feminine arm movements and supporting the baby with your hand and arm.  It does however evoke some HILARIOUS moves from my sweet husband.  He doesn’t do the workout with me anymore, but the one time he did was priceless.  We are talking tears rolling down my face HILARIOUS!  We do still do the partner workout…with less pressure on me for the wall pushups
Sorry this ended up being awfully lengthy.  Hope it was semi entertaining…if not, you probably didn’t finish reading and this apology was pointless
xoxo

to the top!

So two weekends ago, we took a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG weekend to Gatlinburg with the parents in law.  It was much needed time away!  We had a FANTASTIC time.  The weather was perfect and we packed the weekend full of fun  Thanks to a lovely app I found on my iphone cleverly called audiobooks, we listened to Treasure Island (for free, YAY) on our way there and back.  It made the time fly by and I would recommend the book or the app to anyone.  Anyways once we got there we perused the shops in Gatlinburg and then went on the skylift.  So fun!

While on the skylift, we saw BEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  A whole family!!!!

We then shopped a little more and headed into the mountains for some hiking.  Was the perfect day for a hike and drive through the mountains. 

I just love this kid.

The next day we hit up Pigeon Forge where we went to the Titanic Museum.  I will say going in I was a bit skeptical about how it would be.  I figured lots of weird junk but it was actually really amazing.  I would highly recommend it, although not for small children, it is a lot of reading.  We followed that up with dinner at the old saw mill which was DELISH!  We then headed up to the highest peak in the Smokey Mountains, Clingmans Dome.  It was quite the hike up but totally worth it!  The view was breathtaking.

And here we are

Check out that bump!

Can’t wait for our next weekend away
xoxo