changes!

what a difference a week makes!!

in the past week, i have felt less nauseous. in fact...i felt good enough to make a last-minute trip to the monthly zumba party! it was so fun. it felt amazingggg to be with my friends (although i was disappointed not everyone was there) and dance the night away with them! i didn't feel great, and thought i might only last a couple songs...but surprisingly i danced every song! i guess the adrenaline took over. after the party, a few of us went to mama stortini's for happy hour. wow, the food is divine! and again, it was so nice to be with my friends again. heck...it was just nice to be OUT at all!!

i have continued to feel better. better, not perfect...but i am so very happy. i am finally starting to enjoy this pregnancy! on sunday, we skipped church and spent some much-needed family time together. jim and i slept in together, which rarely happens. after lunch, we took off to bremerton and (after grabbing some subway) took a ferry into seattle. in seattle, we dropped by the yellow leaf cupcake company and ate some scrumptious cupcakes. ooooh, la la they are so tasty! i had the lemon lavendar. mmm!! i felt kinda icky the entire time (except when i am eating, which is why i'm constantly eating something). we headed home and i made pork chops in a homemade marinade and coated in pork shake'n'bake. they were gooood. we watched "here comes the boom" as a family then had scripture study - the story of david in the lion's den. wonderful sunday!

monday was the BIG day - the day we found out what we're having!! i've been referring to this baby as "she" for so long...i was nervous the sex would be different than what i was hoping for (and what i felt it was). my awesome sister, trisha, came over to stay with the kids while jim (who worked from home that day) and i went to the ultrasound appointment. it was fun being alone together, like a little date! i sure love that man of mine!! the ultrasound took about an hour and we were so lucky to get a cd of 94 images - wow! in all my pregnancies, i've never had a cd! plus, she gave us a longg strip of printed images. she was quite generous! it was such a joy for us to watch the baby move around on the screen. we were super giddy. finally, at the very end, she revealed the gender. it's a GIRL!!! we can't wait to meet juliet marie conner.

after the appointment, we hurried home to relieve trisha (and share with her the good news). jim headed  out with the kids to pick jessica up from cheer practice while i went to the party store and bought four white boxes to fill with an assortment of pink candies as a way of revealing the gender to our kids. as soon as i arrived home, i put them together and gathered the kids on the couch. all at once, they opened them. i don't think anyone was too surprised...we all wanted a girl and even felt like it was going to be a girl. after the big reveal...i was off to zumba!!! first class in over four months!! it was awesome, of course. kinda strange, being there with a big belly now, but awesome nonetheless...