24...25...26...27 weeks and counting...

27 weeks!!! I cannot believe the counter on this page says 88 days to go!!!! :) I love being pregnant! I guess I haven't blogged in a while! I didn't think it had been this long! It has been a busy month I guess. I haven't blogged since April 7th and today is May 1st (Toad Suck Daze weekend)! :)

Okay, well let's see if I can recap this month of my pregnancy before I slip into the 3rd trimester next week!!! I cannot even believe it!

Well, on the pregnancy front I have been feeling pretty good. I went to the doctor and the heartbeat sounded great, but I am putting on a little too much weight! (LOL!) I go to the doctor on Tuesday of this next week, but I am kind of scared of the same results! I have been having some pain right side high up in my abdomen. My doctor had me go get my gall bladder checked out because they really thought it was a little to high to be Zoe. There is not a woman in my family (both sides) besides my sister that still has a gall bladder in place! However, my ultrasound showed that my gall bladder looked fine! Praise be to God! The nurse said it was something probably being inflamed by Zoe. I guess it is just my Zoe letting me know she is there with me all the time! :) Despite that minor pain in the side, I feel really great most of the time! I have started having some swelling in my feet this week, but nothing to really bother me. I have been really lazy about doing exercise lately though (which is unlike me if you know me very well). The last time I did any exercise was a walk LAST Saturday!!!! I am planning on going to the gym today and getting back on the wagon! It is good for me and Zoe! :)

On the nursery front, I have completely different plans since the last time I posted. The bedding I ordered (which I loved) never came in....we finally called them and it was discontinued! I wonder if they would have ever contacted us with this information! It made me very upset, and more upset because I had start over again and lost that time. The next day I ordered this new bedding set from restoration hardware baby and child. I am completely over the other bedding and fiasco, and I am completely loving the new nursery plan! I think about this nursery constantly. It is almost crazy. I just want to finish it fast for some reason!!! Geoff has been great especially on this front! He is amazingly talented and pretty much can make happen anything I can dream up!!! He is a jack of all trades for sure! :) He has been working on the painting since last Saturday. I have been helping with the designing and taping, but the painting is all Geoff. It looks awesome, and I will post pictures soon! Geoff is also working on some photography for the nursery as well! He built a light box last night and made a little studio in our kitchen to take the pictures. I am posting one of the shots (see above) he took last night! More to follow soon! Praise be to God for an amazing husband and future father! My furniture came in this week, along with my curtains and lamp! The rug is on the way as of this morning! I know it will all come together soon, and it makes me feel much more relaxed! I am throwing a baby shower for my sister on May 30th, so I need to finish so I can spend time making it super special and cute!!!! I have two showers planned for this month (so we have to register today!) and it is really exciting and meaningful to me! It is fun to celebrate Zoe before she is even here! :)

I am so happy right now. I have so much to be thankful for that my heart overflows with joy. I hope my happiness spills over onto others in my life! :)

23 weeks and counting...

Well, I just got back from the OB and I can report that everything is going well with little Zoe! The heartbeat sounded strong, and we are thankful! :)

It is hard to believe that 23 weeks have gone by! It is going so fast! I am trying to enjoy it and take note of all the exciting feelings and things that are going on. Last week I went back to work after spring break and had to do parent teacher conferences. It made for a long week for me and Zoe. We had a nice weekend with the Ryken family and celebrated Easter a week early at our new house. Zoe received a really nice book from her Aunt Jen about Easter signed by the author. I can't wait to see what books she will end up liking the most! :) Right now all the books that I read are about babies! :)

I am still waiting on the bedding to be shipped to our house (it is supposed to be in the orange and pink in the picture to the right) so I can give an update on the nursery. We did get a crib this weekend though from Zoe's other Aunt Renee'! :) Korbi's (and now Zoe's) crib is white and it is going to be perfect in the nursery. It is nice to have family that can help you out and definitely help save some money! Hopefully we will work on the nursery a bit this weekend and maybe even put the crib together! :) The bedding is what I am waiting on to really get going. I need it so I can decide on paint and curtains and all that fun stuff! :) All in good time! I know Zoe will like whatever we put together! :)

I have been feeling really good. I am definitely getting on the larger side and having trouble getting around as quick as I want to. Simple things like rolling over are definitely more challenging than before! :) Geoff and I laugh at me....and it is kind of funny most of the time! :) I definitely love feeling that Zoe is always with me wherever I go. I love the closeness we share. I wish that Geoff could feel some of what I get to experience. Also, so I could laugh at him if he had trouble rolling over! :)

Uh....21 and 22 weeks and counting...

Well, weeks have come and gone without a post from me! I have been enjoying life and have been on the move (and so has Zoe), so I took a break for a bit! :)

The past couple of weeks have been great! I enjoyed a visit from my close friends Lauren and Cinda and had fun buying lots of clothes for Zoe to grow into in the future from a consignment sale called Rhea Lana. I love a good deal! We had a great time and I enjoyed all the advice and honest commentary about lots of gross and wonderful things that babies bring into your life! I can tell that their friendship and advice are going to be essential in the near future! I am glad I was not first! (poor Cinda!) We had a wonderful time, and I enjoyed spending the first weekend of knowing Zoe was a girl with my close friends! :)

The last day before spring break, my 2nd period class threw a baby shower for me! It was so adorable. I could not believe it! :) They had asked me if they could and I said yes, but the rest was a big surprise! I could not believe how special and how adorable of a shower they had for me. I am not sure I could have pulled that off at 14 or 15 years of age! :) It really made my day and meant a lot! Days like that Friday remind me that teaching is what I am called to do!

This week was spent with my family and sister in Pensacola, Florida where my sister lives. It was a wonderful spring break! Just what I needed! I love the beach and spending time with my family and sister! :) Kelly told us in person that she is having a little boy Grayson William Slack on the Saturday we arrived! I am so excited that Zoe will have a cousin her age to play with and be close to as she grows up! I had so much fun laying in the sun with Kelly, reading baby books out loud with her, comparing notes, and of course shopping (see Zoe's first baby doll (mermaid) I bought while I was there)! New mommies and outlet malls are a scary combination! Trust me that there is not a shortage of cute boy or girl clothes out there (well, maybe after we were finished)!

Kelly and I have compared our bellies....and the result is that they are about the same size! She is definitely carrying differently than I am, but I didn't feel like a whale around her which made me happy! We carried around our big bellies with pride on that beach! :) I really liked bumping bellies, but Kelly just thought I was a weirdo. I got to see her belly jump when Grayson got the hiccups, and she got to feel Zoe move around from the outside for the first time (sorry Geoff!). Kelly and I spent some serious time in the nursery planning zone. The laptop was our friend at night! Mom even took a picture of us there because we spent so much time looking there together. I think it was good we were on the computer because it keep my Dad off of it! :) We helped each other make decisions, and I really don't think I could have done it without her! :) She has an eye for design! :) (I have an eye for money management! Ha!) I really enjoyed the week of relaxation and celebrating my mom's birthday! Zoe and Grayson enjoyed their first visit together with many more hopefully in the future!

We returned home on Friday night, and I was so excited to see Geoff again! I missed him so much! I know Zoe missed her daddy too! She started moving around Saturday morning while we were still in bed and he got to feel her kick for the first time too! She is really growing and moving and I absolutely love it! I feel great and and I love all of the new stuff that is starting to happen. I love being pregnant! I am excited to put together the nursery just for her and to get ready for her arrival (see blogs later for more information on the nursery). I am truly blessed with a great family and friends to share this time with!

Krista at 20 weeks

20 weeks and counting...

Wow! I am half-way there! It has been a wonderful week! This week we went for our ultrasound, and it was an amazing experience. Words cannot express the series of emotions that I went through. I was upset that we had not seen our baby since 8 weeks, but I think that made the experience even more incredible. To go from a little pebble to a baby that looks just perfect was an amazing sight!

We are officially having a little girl! Her name will be Zoe Danielle Ryken (this name is not for sure yet but it is really close). Zoe means Life.....and I love that! I did not know that until recently. We have had this name picked out forever. We never picked out a baby boy name....I guess it wasn't meant to be! :) We both secretly wanted a little girl, so we are so thrilled! I think God knows best in these situations (I mean in all situations)!

I love the pictures of the baby. I stare at them on my computer at work....at the gym on my phone....and at home on the fridge. Hopefully you all have had a chance to look at them on Facebook. I am going to upload some of them here for the world to see! I loved the fact that she was moving all around. She sucked her thumb, rubbed her eyes, gave a us a big yawn, and even put up one of her fingers to tell us she was the one! :) The memory of that experience will not be forgotten by us. It was awesome. We have video for part of it, and we hope to share that as well soon!

They measured everything and looked her over from little head to little toes. Everything seems to be looking great, and we are grateful! Thanks be to God! I hope you will continue to pray as Zoe continues to grow and progress as she should! :) Thanks for all your prayers so far! This experience has strengthened my relationship with God, and has made me feel closer to Him. Zoe is giving me a new Life! :)

19 Weeks, the photo

As promised, here are Krista and baby at 19 weeks.

19 weeks and counting...

Wow! 19 weeks! It was a great week! I love feeling the movement of the baby! I absolutely love being pregnant. God has blessed me with a wonderful pregnancy so far! I feel so lucky! I even love my big belly! :)

This has been a pretty slow week. I really don't mind because I enjoy having time to cook dinner and workout to keep me and the baby healthy. Next week, will be busier but exciting. We find out Tuesday boy or girl and then my friends Cinda and Lauren are coming to town! :) They both have timed it perfectly, so we can go shopping knowing boy or girl! :) Hopefully Mini-Ryken will cooperate with us on Tuesday! I am looking forward to deciding what to do for the nursery and buying a couple of things for baby! :)

It is funny how people are for sure I am having a boy or for sure I am having a girl! I love to play along and then laugh a little. I have had probably exactly the same amount of girl and boy guesses! Ha! Someone asked me this week whether or not I "feel" like it is a boy or girl! I just laughed! I think that is funny! I must not be as in touch with my inner self!

We will for sure reveal boy or girl on Tuesday, but I am not sure about the name. It is taking longer for a decision to be made than I thought! :) So....we might have to wait! We might have to be mini-boy-ryken or mini-girl-ryken for awhile!

Our baby is supposed to be the size of a mango this week....but I don't think that is big enough. I think these must be some big mangoes from the Caribbean or something! :) It is funny though because I had a virgin Mango daiquiri last night at dinner with a friend! :)

Please pray for us this week! I am hoping for a healthy baby report and that everything has developed as it should. They will be looking at all the organs and measuring to make sure we are on track! :) I know that the Lord has blessed us with this baby boy or girl. I feel confident I will have what I am supposed to have. I am trusting in Him to help us through!

Oh by the way....Geoff said we will probably take some pictures this weekend of my belly! :)