17 weeks and counting...

Each week that I type in a new number I cannot believe the time has gone by so quickly!

It is actually quite fitting that my baby is the size of an onion this week because of all the tears that have been shed by me. This has been a tough week for me. One of my closest friends (Lana) at school lost her husband, Jon. I love her so much, and I wish I could take her pain away. It makes you put your life in perspective for sure and makes you thankful for each and every day on this earth with your family and friends.

I am getting quite anxious for March 10th. I am really wanting to see my baby again and find out boy or girl! Only 16 days away! We still need to work on boy names before that day.... and a middle name for a girl! :) I love keeping the secret, but I can't wait to share the news with everyone! I am also getting excited for feeling our baby move. It is supposed to happen somewhere between 16-20 weeks. I will definitely blog the first day I feel this....it is supposed to feel like butterflies fluttering....not sure what that feels like! :)

Today I am determined to buy some new pants. I can still wear my brown and black work pants, but it is just getting a little scary of how I have to rig them up to wear. I could not find my bella band one day, so I decided to use a safety pin instead. That was a mistake! Ouch! I think it is time! :)

Each day I am pregnant is a blessing. I love the feeling that my baby is always with me. I ask you to continue to please pray for Geoff, myself, and Mini-Ryken (who we will call by name soon enough!).

16 weeks and counting....

So......I am behind on my baby blog! 16 weeks! I can't believe it! I don't know what fruit I am, but this week I have felt like a watermelon so we will go with that fruit! :) I really have felt larger this week, and I even broke out the maternity jeans!

I have a good excuse for not blogging. We have officially moved! :) The last couple weeks have been a fury of packing, painting (not by me), and working. Luckily, we have such wonderful friends and family that have helped us out so much! I can say we have a room for our baby now! It is filled with boxes right now, but it will belong to the baby soon enough. As soon as I can get it cleared out, I will post a picture of the before. I am excited to decorate a nursery and make a special place in our home just for Mini-Ryken.

This week I went to the doctor. I took the whole day off, and I am glad I did. I have been exhausted all week. I guess I am recovering from the week before still. The doctor took blood and listened to the heartbeat again. She said everything is still looking really good. I am very thankful. I am looking forward to our next appointment on March 10th. We will see our baby that day with the 3D ultrasound, and hopefully find out the sex! :) I absolutely cannot wait for this date. We plan on having a name picked out by that date, and announcing it the day we find out! :)

It is an exciting time in the Ryken family. We are so blessed with our new home, and with a healthy baby. I am enjoying being pregnant so much! I am tired.....but I am blessed to be tired. I feel big....but it is a blessing to feel big. Praise God from who all blessings flow! :)

13 weeks and everything is peachy

Well, I am at 13 weeks. I can't believe how fast everything is going! My baby is supposedly the size of a peach now, and I am running out of space in my clothes for bigger fruit! :) I am still wearing my normal pants, but I have started wearing a Bella Band to cover up how tight they are! We definitely need to start picture taking to track the progress!

I told my students this week (actually I told my first two classes and everyone knew after that point.....rumors travel fast)! It was fun, but they are so crazy! They would say things like they all ready knew......or we could tell.....or we knew because you have been so mean.... or I have known for 2 months (yeah right)!!!!! They are going to be funny as this process goes along the way!

We have started the process of packing. We are going slowly.....neither one of us want to do it. We will get after this week and weekend (we have no choice since we are moving the following weekend!). We could possibly have a winter weather day this week. I will spend it packing if we happen to have one! :) We close on both houses the following Wednesday!

I have been feeling really good still. I still really enjoy my gym time, and I am thinking about starting a Mommie to Be water aerobics class at the gym next week. :)

Geoff and I continue to remember how thankful we are to God for this baby. Please continue to pray for Mini-Ryken as we still have a long road ahead! :)

12 weeks and counting!

It does not seem possible to be saying that I am in my second trimester! It is so exciting to have reached that milestone in my pregnancy. :)

We went to the doctor this week and got to listen to the heartbeat! The doctor said it sounded strong which is such a blessing. I know my baby is growing, but since I cannot feel him or her it is nice to hear everything is going okay. I am having requests for belly pictures, so Geoff volunteered his belly. I will be posting pictures soon! :) My clothes are still fitting at this point, but I have started noticing some rounding off of my belly. I am taking good care of my body, and I am trying to go to the gym for a little bit every day! :)

On the house front, we are finished looking! We reached a deal on a house yesterday! It is still in Westin Park but just toward the front of the neighborhood. I am so happy to get to stay out in this neighborhood. It is a great place to live, and I love the neighborhood pool and playground. Mini-Ryken and I will enjoy many wonderful summers taking advantage of them! We feel blessed to have sold and found a house so quickly. The new house is vacant as well, so we will only have to move once! :)

It has been an exciting time in the Ryken home! I love all the changes, and I look forward the changes to come! :) I am trying to take time to enjoy the changes in my body and life!

Life with my Mini-Ryken Lime

My sister keeps her blog updated about the size of her baby in comparison to some food. Her baby was the size of an olive then a prune, so she informed me that this week I was a lime! :) I love limes and anything made with them (including margaritas which I cannot have)! I think this idea is so cute (like my sister), and it is interesting to think of my baby in that way!

My Mini-Ryken lime and I have had a super busy and exciting week! Our house went up on the market and sold by Thursday! We have to be out of our house around February 6th. It is such a blessing that it sold so quickly in this economy. I continue to tell myself to focus on that blessing and not on the moving part. I also don't want to lose focus on my growing baby during this time as well. I feel like it going by so fast all ready! Time always goes faster when you are having so much fun!

Today we go to look for our new home. I am very excited and feel like a house is out there for us. I am not sure if we will find it today, but I am confident that everything will work out for the best. The time we spent trying to get pregnant taught me that it is not always my timing that is best! Well, I better go get ready to hunt! :)

10 weeks and counting.....11 tomorrow!

I thought I'd better post tonight; otherwise, I would have missed the 10 week mark! I have been feeling really well this week. I have been to the gym every day and have somewhat returned to healthier eating. Although, I have not been cooking like I want with all the excitement of getting the house ready to sell. It has been a lot of hard work to get everything ready, but it will be worth it when it sells! :)

Sharing the news continues to be so much fun! I went back to work on Monday, so I have told a couple of people every day there. I decided to wait to tell my students until I make the 12 week mark. I think I am going to find a cute way to tell them - maybe an Algebra problem! :) I really love the group of students I have this year, so I am excited to share this news with them! :)

I am getting excited for my doctor appointment next week! Who thought I would ever be excited to see a doctor? We will get to hear the baby's heartbeat, but we will not have an ultrasound this time. I know this will be a special moment for me and Geoff.

Well, I want to write more, but I am tired. I am definitely a morning person! Goodnight to all!

So we saw a man about a horse...er house

It seems appropriate that my post is late at night while Krista's sound asleep and her posts come in the morning when I'm sound asleep....

Krista and I had our second meeting with a real estate broker today. We settled on a listing price and signed the contract. He's coming back on Sunday to take pictures and put the "For Sale" sign in the yard and the lock box on the door.

(The picture to the left is from February 1, 2003, as we walked through our house during construction.)

It's definitely a mix of excitement and apprehension. We've been in this house almost six years, and, while it will be great to have more space when mini-me (or mini-Krista) arrives, it's hard to leave behind such a low payment! Then there are the general worries about setting the listing price too high or low - not to mention the state of the housing market right now. Our hope is that houses of our cost/size are selling better than the size house we want to move into. It's bizarre to drive through new neighborhoods in Conway and not see half a dozen unsold houses being built like I'm used to over the last 20+ years.

Before Sunday when the broker returns, we need to turn one of the bedrooms actually into a bedroom. That involves moving a piano across town, getting a bed in there, and all that good stuff. We also need to do some general de-cluttering, cleaning, and staging before strangers start walking through the house.

(The picture to the right was taken November 28, 2002, shortly after we had signed the contract to build our current house.)

Whew - this is one exciting post. I'm sure Krista can post something much more exciting. :)