Great Anticipations

Half way there... 21 weeks!

Pregnancy just keeps getting better and better! I truly wish everyone could experience the pure joy of pregnancy, all women and men ;-) I keep asking Keith if he kind of wishes he could be pregnant, and he answers No everytime. But I think he and every other man must secretly wonder what it feels like. I feel so unbelievably unworthy and blessed to be able to carry and aid in the growth and development of our little angel. She gets to come to work with me everyday, I get to feed her by chosing my food wisely (most of the time), I get to take her for long walks, I get to introduce her to languages and music, and I get to feel her love taps as she moves around (which she does quite frequently).

I am pretty sure the mother's instinct in me started its development at around age 6, when my mom was pregnant with my little sister. I have always been that girl who just had to hold the baby, any baby. I am not sure if this is annoying or helpful. Whenever we are over at our friends' house Egil and Veronica, who have 2 children aged 3 and 5 months, I am pretty much always looking for opportunities to hold the baby, or play with the 3 year old. I never thought that the mother's instinct in me could get stronger, but it definitely has, and most likely will even more. I have taken some pictures of my growing tummy lately, and just looking at the pictures makes me teary eyed because the bigger the belly gets, the closer we are to holding our angel.

And Keith, oh sweet Keith. He is so excited and just glows when he gets to feel the love taps and especially when he gets to hear the heart beat at the doctor's office. Yes, we are that couple who go together to my check ups every time. I don't think Keith would miss them for the world because he gets to hear the heart beat. Being a student during this time has been a blessing in that respect.

So, some updates on some fun things we have done lately:

- On May 2nd we had our first ultrasound and we got to see our baby and the mid-wives told us they think that it is a girl (I already said that in the last post). We were so excited about sharing the fun news with my family, so we invited them over for cake and coffee that night. I had made chocolate cupcakes the day before, and when I got home I just added a little filling with pink frosting. I topped them with white cream cheese frosting and drew little question marks on each of them with these little silver edible balls. I made my sisters, my mom, and my grandparents guess before they ate their cupcakes, and it was a tie; 3 girls and 3 boys. Then they all cut into their cupcakes at the same time. I loved seeing their faces and getting to share it with them. We, of course, cannot be 100% sure that it is a girl, but for now we say "she" instead of "it".

- Keith and I have been going on amazing long walks together. I love to exercise, and before the second trimester I would jog and do high intensity interval strength training. Since I am trying to be a bit more careful (and frankly it isn't as easy to jump around), Keith takes me on long and wonderful walks and hikes. Why didn't we do this all the time before. We have always done walks together, but since this is our new form of exercise, we go for longer walks and experiment with different trails. We have been exploring majorly and will be gone between 1 and 3 1/2 hours. We can walk out our door and choose between 5 awesome walks/hikes. Some are up and down hill, some are pretty much straight up, some are mostly trails through the woods, others are through neighborhoods, and we even have some trails by the ocean and around an island. I already loved where we live, but am appreciating and loving it that much more. I am so thankful to have access to such amazing walks, especially since I will be home for 10 months with our baby. I can' wait to show her where we live:-)

- This isn't exactly a fun thing I have done lately, but Keith has. Keith is done with all of his courses in his master's program as of today!! Now, all he has left is his master thesis which is due on the 1st of September. I shouldn't say that the thesis is ALL he has left, considering the thesis is the equivalent of 5 master level courses. I am so proud of him and am extremely thankful that this is almost over. It has been both amazing and challenging. Keith and I have both really been so grateful for the experience of getting our masters. We have been inspired and engaged on a different level and we have learned so much more about ourselves. On the other hand, this experience has revealed aspects of ourselves such as our insecurities and has instigated extreme anxiety at times. Although this has been painful, it has been extremely important for us to be made aware that these things exist in us. We are really praying about these areas and making a conscious effort to dig deep enough so that we don't allow the vicious cycle to return, and so that we don't pass this on to our children.

Now for some picture updates... Enjoy!!!