2013 new beginnings!

2013 is a year of blessings and new beginnings for our little family. I am not a fan of change usually but I am very excited about all the changes happening this year. We will be welcoming our first baby, Kevin starts his new career, I will become a stay at home mom and we are moving to Huntsville Alabama. Never would I have thought we would move to Alabama but after visiting just twice I am excited.

With the help of our amazing friends/church family This last week/weekend Kevin loaded up our entire house into a 26 ft uhaul truck.

I Still have no idea how it all fit but I know it was all because of the help we had to get it packed. I think they had the whole truck loaded within 4 hrs. Kevin and my dad left on Thursday morning to head out of GA and to our new rental home in Huntsville. Kevin had hired 2men through a service with Uhaul to help him unload when he got there bc we didn't know of we would have anyone to help there and we have big furniture. Luckily one of our friends from church has a cousin that lives in Huntsville and they offered to help get some people from their church to help. Such amazing thing to be part of the church and the willingness of fellow Christians. They had a few guys, one being the preacher, come and help Kevin unload the truck and got it done again in like 4 hrs. The women also brought us some dinner, water, snacks, and yummy cookies. We are so thankful for their help and so glad to have met them. Friday morning my mom and I drove to Huntsville to unpack everything. It only took us about 3hrs 45min. so its a nice quick easy ride. We didn't have very much to unpack except the kitchen. I didn't realize how much stuff I have and I'm not even a big cooker or baker. I was very thankful to have my mom and dad there to help. They were a little tired Saturday...

We didn't have anything to do Saturday so naturally mom and I went shopping! I bought my first thing for the nursery, a rug, it's soft and nice bc the house we are renting is all hardwoods except one room. With all of our stuff moved in I told Kevin it already feels like home and I hate that I had to leave. I am staying in Georgia with my parents until after Lillian is born. This way I won't be somewhere new and new doctors and get to introduce Lillian to all the family and friends that already love her here. I've already realized how hard it is without Kevin but I am continuing to work to bring in a littl extra cash and know it will be worth it when I get to stay home with her instead of working.

 We ended up visiting Chase Park Church of Christ www.cpcofc.org on Sunday and so happy we did. This is the church that our new friends/moving helpers attend. EVERYONE was so friendly and we met so many people. We tried one other church there too last time I visited and loved it too. We thought for sure that is where we would end up going but felt like we could do more at chase park since it is quite a bit smaller. We love our young couples class at our church here in Ga and are sad and will really miss them when we leave. Hopefully i can find some crafty girls in AL to have a GNO with, if not i'll just come back to GA each month. :)

Kevin actually started his new job yesterday. He is working for a company called Northrop Grumman and after his first day he loves it. I was so happy to hear he loves it. Having a job you love makes it so much easier to wake up and know you will enjoy the day.

30 weeks

As i write this i am 31 weeks and 3 days, i think i will always be behind when i write these. This week was a big one. Lillian made sure all week that I knew she was still there and the pregnancy symptoms came out of the woodworks.

 

kevin is no longer here to take my picturefor me.

Symptoms: where to begin. This week was the hello incase you didn't realize you're pregnant week. My fingers started swelling more. at the beginning of the week i could still wear my rings but by the end of week 30 i would put the, on and few minutes later have a really hard time getting them off, so i am not weari them now but my hand feels so naked without them. I have also had a pain in my left booty/lower back. Everyone told me thought it was the sciatic nerve but the doctor said it was something about pelvic arthritis b.c of hormones, I don't know what it is but it hurts. I have also noticed in the mornings my legs fall asleep so I have to switch from one side to the other to sleep. And lastly my face started breaking out slightly this week too. :( I'm am still thankful it took this long to really have any symptoms and that they are not any major health problems for myself or Lillian.

Weight: luckily there hasn't been any weight difference in the last two weeks I seem to be holding steadily although my belly feels like it is sticking out way further.

Cravings: no cravings and my appetite is back to normal. I haven't been one of those preggos  that eats junk all the time but I may or may not use the fact that I am pregnant to eat 3 krispy Kreme donuts vs 2.

Movement: Lillian moved around alot this week. Which I don't mind at all bc it's not like it hurts and it's comforting to know she's still in there and growing. She did kick me really hard one morning in church and it made me jump.

Dr. Appt: I did have a normal weekly checkup this week and I finally got to meet the last doctor, Dr. Walker, I really liked him and he actually talked to me instead of just measuring and looking for heartbeat.

Other happenings: big week this week for our little family. Kevin moved out to Huntsville and starts his new job on jan. 7th. I am very excited for him but I am already hating being back in Ga without him. I have no idea how military families do it. Luckily I know he will be home in 2 weeks and its an easy drive out there so we will see each other often. We were in different states while we were dating and i was in college but it's very different when you are not with your spouse for an extended period of time.

Week 29

Merry Christmas!!

No real new updates this week. I have felt a lot of movement and noticed when I stand up from sitting down for awhile I always have to potty. Other than that things are still going great. So thankful we were able to spend Christmas with both our families, ill post more later but here is a sneak peek at one of my gifts!!

 

26 weeks

I thought we took a picture but can't seem to find it at this moment. This one will have to do for now

Symptoms: No symptoms really this week. Just noticing my belly feeling bigger and a little uncomfortable. More movement by Lillian and also random pains in my abdomen which is normal. Again i am very thankful for how easy this pregnancy has been.

Weight: still gaining about 1lb a week although i'm staying pretty steadily this week. At 26 weeks i was at about 23 lbs gained. My fingers have gotten swollen at times but never too bad where i couldn't get my rings off with a little help from some lotion.

Cravings: I actually had a legit craving this week. We were on our way home from out of town and i had been wanting some ice cream. Not just any ice cream would do though i was CRAVING a DQ Blizzard. I had mentioned wanting it to Kevin but knew i didnt really need it so i didn't bring it up again. About an hour later we were getting onto a major interstate and had to stop first for me to go potty. We stopped at a McDonalds and i saw an advertisement for a McFlurry. it looked so good but that's not what i wanted i wanted a blizzard so it got me thinking about a Blizzard again. I get back in the car and casually mentioned how good a blizzard sounded but again said i don't need it. Well about 10 minutes later i decided  the rest of the car ride would be miserable if i did not get a Blizzard so my husband said to let him know when i saw a sign and we would stop. Of course we drove what seemed like 20 miles and did not see a single DQ. We then got smart and realized wecould just look up a loction on our phones and sure enough the next exit had one. Needless to say i finally got my blizzard (reese peanut butter cup) and it was crazy how much of a better mood i was in.

Movement: She is non stop moving all over the place, and i love it. I love when Kevin gets to feel her. He initiates trying to get her to move and its so sweet. One morning he was trying to feel her move and she was so still so Kevin started talking to her and as soon as he said like two words she moved!.

Dr. Appt. : I had my 1 hour glucose test on Monday. This is the test where you have to drink the sugary drink within 5 minutes and then get blood drawn. They are testing for gestational diabetes and if your levels come by elevated you have to take another test. Lucky me on Thursday i got a phone call that said i needed to take the second test. Part of me knew it was not a big deal but being at work and thinking what affects GD has on a baby got me all worked up. Thanks to the support of the husband and wonderful friends on Facebook telling me they all had to take the second test i was no longer worried. The next Monday I went in for the 3 hour test. They took blood once then had me drink the sugary drink again. (FYI it's not as awful as some people say. I had a lemon lime flavor and it basically tasted like a flat sprite) They then take more blood once every hour. Yes that means 4 times in the same arm they stabbed me. I was dreading having to sit in the doctors office for 3 hours but Kevin was able to come for half of it so that helped time go by. They said they would let me know when 3 days but ended up calling me the next day to say everything looked fine. That was a huge relief. I do have to admit that it got me thinking about how I need to be eating better anyways if not for me for little Lillian.  I'm such a picky eater (literally i eat like a 5yr old) so i have made it a point to make sure i eat better going forward. Cutting back on sugary foods is first (note i said cutting back not eliminating) and try to eat healthier foods that i already like. i.e. whole grains and more fruit since i hate veggies. Any suggestions would be great.

Home for Rent

For those who have not heard Kevin and I are moving to Huntsville, AL. I know crazy right but I will blog about all those happenings in a later post. We are actually looking for a renter for our beloved home and I thought his would be a perfect place to provide some info.

We are looking for a renter available January 2nd if not sooner. The home is located in Loganville, Ga. The school is district is Gwinnett County and I believe it is now zoned for Archer high school. It was built in 2005, 2,322 sq. ft. ranch on unfinished basement, and is located in a swim/tennis community. The home has 3 bedrooms (4 if you include the bonus room over the garage). The master suite is huge, we have a king size bed with a chest of drawers, nightstands, a dresser and recliner all in there and still have plenty of space. There are 3 full baths, 2 on first floor and the 3rd upstairs in bonus room. All stainless kitchen appliances will be included, washer/dryer hook up, granite counter tops in kitchen, covered deck, and 2 1/2 car garage. I have included some pictures below:

Dining Room

Living Room

Guest Bath

Bonus Room Bath

Breakfast area

 Kitchen

Price is $1300/month with a security deposit of $1000. Please let me know if you or anyone you know is interested.

What's in a Name

I find it ironic how hard it was for Kevin and I to decide a on a name for our baby girl. I have grown up always thinking of names for our kids. I had a girl name ready to go since atleast middle school and it never changed. Kevin and I had a list of both boys and girls names we liked before we even knew we were pregnant.

The day we found out a were having a girl it was like that list was for nothing. None of those names were right. A name is a big deal. There are lots of things to consider:

1. does the monogram spell out something weird. (Kevin's is KMK but people always joked what if his parents named him Kevin Keith Kanzelmeyer then it would be KKK. no bueno)
2. will it sound good when they are little, a teenager, and grown adult?
3. is it easy to spell (poor kid already has to spell Kanzelmeyer)
4. is it short (see above)

the list just goes on. And there were a couple of other things i wanted. I wanted a family name either the first name or middle name. I also didn't want them to have a first name but go by the middle name. Its just a personal thing i don't want them to have to correct the teacher every year when they first call out role. ( i do understand why some parents do it though, it just flows better)

With all of the above being said the hunt for the perfect name for our obviously perfect girl was on. One night I wrote out a family tree of my mom's side then also for my dad's. We have a huge family so there we lots of names. I tried to do Kevin's family tree too but his dad's family is so big (9siblings) even he has a hard time remembering everyone's name. I had left my list out on the counter and one morning Kevin texted me that he found a couple names on the list he liked. Of course Mr. Jokester said he liked my PawPaw's brothers name Foy, i was like really... but then he told me the names he found Lillian and Elizabeth, I don't even know who Elizabeth is but it was too long and common for me to like but i really liked Lillian too. It is my Granny's first name. (this would be my Dad's mom). Funny thing is she was one of "those" :) people that went by her middle name Alline (sp?) so i really never knew it was her first name until my sister had pointed it out one time this last year. We both liked it a lot but we were still a little hestitant to commit. Kevin really likes it because it sounds sophisticated yet still cute for when she is young (he and my mom really want to call her Lilly).Her middle name we decided would be claire (just a name Kevin had put on our original list but i said was too common for a first name). I love how well Lillian Claire Kanzelmeyer flows, its sweet and southern to me and the monogram is cute for me to do all of my embroidering. Plus its a family name which i wanted.

I think it was about 2 weeks after our gender reveal party i told kevin we HAD to decide on a name now and we both just kept going back to Lillian Claire so we knew thats what it had to be. Kevin would even say the name out loud sometimes to see how its sounded. We laughed about how when our parents were mad at us or needed our immediate attention they would always yell our first and miffle name. We tried that a couple times too and it was perfect. lol. We never really made an official annoucement what her name would be so it has been about 2 more weeks and when we say the name we still have family and friends say oh is that what her name is going to be and it felt right to say yes.

So happy to have this decision done with and can not wait to be able to say her name more often. :)

24 weeks

I realize i am really bad about the weekly update. Again not a whole lot going on or changing so i feel silly do a whole post for it. This  post will show what happened in week 22 and 23 and today 24 weeks.

Symptoms: I have a huge soccer ball growing out of my belly, i'd say that's a symptom. It really started to show more week 23. I also noticed more pain in my back on the right side. Pretty much all around more uncomfortable but have to say very thankful i haven't really had the typical pregnancy symptoms.

Scary Moment: **TMI WARNING** Tonight i went pee and when i wiped there was a small amount of red blood. Of course i immediately started to worry. It was not much at all i called my mom and she said since it wasn't much and i didn't have any cramping i am probably ok. If I'm still worried about it in the morning i will call the doctor. Thankfully i didn't read to much on Google about it because i knew i would just freak myself out. Thanks to my friend Emily's blog post i was a little more reassured. If i notice any changes i will be calling the doctor as red blood is not a good sign but if you ever have brown then normally no reason to worry. I would say if it will make you feel better to just go ahead and call the doctor then do so you don't stress yourself out anymore. 

Weight: unfortunately still gaining, about 1lb a week, i didn't really care much before but now i'm starting realize i need to be more observant of what i eat and doing some form of light exercise. I did have one Sunday morning week 23 where my rings were getting tighter on my hand so i went ahead and removed them just in case. Nothing really ever since though. 

Cravings: i have decided i'm probably not a typical pregnant person who craves certain foods. I have started to realize i prefer certain foods over others but its never anything i never ate before. lately i have really enjoyed frosted flakes cereal for dinner. I've also had a lot more chocolate milk lately. I hate regular milk except in cereal so Kevin keeps buying me chocolate milk and i'm not going to let it go to waste. :) 

Movement: 22 weeks i finally felt her move. It was very hard to tell before now but ever since then i know its her. People always explained it very weird so here is my attempt for you future moms to get an idea what to expect. To me it felt like a popping in my stomach. Kind of like popping your shoulder.   I also physically saw movement in my belly this week. i sat in bed for 15 minutes with my video on my phone recording my stomach to see it. again it looked like something popping in my belly. it was really cool and Kevin was able to feel it for the first time too! It hasn't become annoying yet but its not the most comfortable feeling either however to know she is still moving in there is always reassuring. 

Best Moment: obviously feeling her move has been the best!