Update on Baby Horak - 15 Weeks Pregnant

Our growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs about 2 1/2 ounces. At this point, our baby will probably begin moving amniotic fluid through the nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in the lungs develop. Our baby's legs are growing longer than the arms now, and he or she can move all of the joints and limbs. Although our baby's eyelids are still fused shut, he or she can sense light. If I were to shine a flashlight at my tummy, for instance, the baby would likely move away from the beam. There's not much for our baby to taste at this point, but he or she is forming taste buds. 

My next appointment is Monday morning, and I'm hoping that we'll get to schedule the ultrasound that will reveal our baby's gender!

I attempted to take a picture of myself last night so you could see how my tummy is starting to poke out a little now!  (Don't laugh!)  ;)

Me 15 weeks pregnant

Let the Painting Begin!

I have the most wonderful family!

This past weekend, Jordan betook himself to southern Iowa to hunt deer again, leaving me all by my lonesome.  :(  Thankfully, my family came to my rescue!  I did end up spending Friday night alone, but I made that seem as short as possible by going to a movie with a friend and then out to Culvers for some ice cream.  I got home around 10:30, and stayed up for another two and a half hours cleaning.  Pretty amazing feat for a pregnant girl!  ;)  

So, back when Jordan first started planning this hunting trip (around the beginning of this month), I asked my whole family if they wanted to come stay with me.  I was thrilled when they said yes!  Even Julie made plans to drive to Cedar Rapids Friday night after work and then ride over to Clive with Jason & Julia on Saturday!  Then, to make everything even better, Jason offered to paint my kitchen for me!  I had pretty much put all painting plans on hold until after Little Horak arrives, so I was so excited at the thought of getting the kitchen painted over the weekend!  Then, Mom offered to bring Saturday night's supper for everyone so I wouldn't have to worry about cooking in the mess!  I really had it made!!!  :)  So, Saturday morning, Jason, Julia, Kaden, and Julie drove over and met me at the Sherwin-Williams store in Clive.  I was so thankful for Julia's expertise in choosing paint colors!!  We found the perfect red and tan colors to go in the kitchen!

Here we are picking out paint colors

Kaden and Jason entertained themselves while we waited for the busy attendant

Mom and Jessica met us at the house not too long after we were done at Sherwin-Williams.  We got the walls prepped for painting and then went to Culvers for lunch.  After lunch, Jason got busy painting and we girls escaped the fumes by going shopping at the mall!

Here is the painting in progress...'after' pictures to follow!

We girls had such a great time at the mall!  

Kaden is a constant source of entertainment!  He's so cute!

Kaden was getting tired of riding in the stroller and really wanted to show off his walking abilities.  We had to keep ahold of him so he wouldn't get run over by other shoppers!

Saturday evening we enjoyed Mom's string pie.  That night Julie and Jess slept in my room with me, and Jess & I stayed up until 2am talking!!  Julie was the only smart one...she fell asleep right away!  ;)

Sunday morning my whole family went to church with me.  It was so fun to have them all there!!!  I love them all so much!  After church we had lunch at the Cracker Barrell.  Every time we all sit down and eat a meal together, I am reminded of how hilarious my family is!  :D

Here's Julia, Kaden, and Jason at church.  Don't you love Kaden's suit and tie?!

Jess and I at Cracker Barrell

Jordan took my camera on his hunting trip with him, so these pictures are all courtesy of Julie & Jess.  Jess just got a new camera, and it has a really cool feature that lets her choose which color she wants in the picture and lets the rest of the picture be black-and-white!  We had a lot of fun entertaining ourselves with it!

Here's Julie modeling the new camera's special feature

Jordan made it home around 4pm Saturday afternoon.  I was so happy to see him!  Unfortunately, he didn't get any deer over the weekend, but I'm pretty sure he still had a good time!  My family all ended up staying a little later than planned (which was totally fine!  I was trying to convince them to stay at least until Monday!), so we didn't go to church that night, even though I had already made some scrumptious Guacamole Dip to take to the Taco Fellowship!  But, we definitely enjoyed scarfing it down amongst ourselves!  :D  The kitchen is almost finished...we still need to put one or two more coats of red paint on it, so as soon as that is done, I'll put up the 'finished product' pictures so you can all see how amazing it looks now (I'm not bragging, I'm just stating a fact)!  ;)

So here's a big thank you to Jason for all the work he did:

THANK YOU!

I must be one of the luckiest girls in the world to have a family like mine!!!

Update on Baby Horak - 14 Weeks Pregnant

Growing by leaps and bounds, our baby is leaping and bounding. He or she is on the move almost constantly — and the movements are a far cry from the jerky twitches of last trimester. They are now ballet-like, smooth and fluid. Our baby is the size of a clenched fist (a skill, by the way, our little one now has). Our baby also has the coordination, strength, and smarts to wiggle his or her fingers and toes and even suck a thumb (how cute is that?).

Our baby's neck is getting longer and his or her head is getting more erect (giving a more straightened-out appearance). And speaking of that head, our baby could be sprouting some hair (though the final color may not be determined until birth) and the eyebrows are filling in, too.

Hair growth isn't limited to the baby's head, though. He or she is also covered with a downy coating of hair called lanugo, largely there for warmth. As the baby's fat accumulates later on in the pregnancy, most of the lanugo will shed — though some babies, especially those born early, still have a fuzzy coating at delivery (it sheds soon afterward).

Our baby can now squint, frown, and grimace! Thanks to brain impulses, facial muscles are getting a workout as tiny features form one expression after another.

From head to bottom, our baby measures 3 1/2 inches and weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His or her body is growing faster than the head. By the end of this week, the arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of the body.

As for me, I'm feeling better and better and my tummy is starting to poke out! :)

Update on Baby Horak - 13 Weeks Pregnant

I heard from my midwife this week, and she said she had looked over the ultrasound and everything looked good! Praise the Lord! :) She also said she wants to set the due date at July 23rd because it makes more sense with my last cycle, etc. So, I guess that's what we'll 'plan' on, and then we'll just see what the baby does!

So, with the new due date, we were 13 weeks along as of yesterday!

Here's how our baby is growing and changing this week:

Fingerprints have formed on our baby's tiny fingertips, veins and organs are clearly visible through still-thin skin, and the body is starting to catch up with the head — which makes up just a third of the body size now. Our baby is almost 3 inches long and weighs nearly an ounce. Starting about now, babies begin growing at different paces, some faster than others, some more slowly, though they all follow the same developmental path.

Our baby's intestines are also in for some big changes right now. Up till this point, they've been growing in a cavity inside the umbilical cord; but now they're moving to their permanent (and more conveniently located) address, in our baby's abdomen. And to serve our growing baby's needs, the placenta is also growing. It weighs about an ounce now and will weigh one to two pounds at birth (something else I'll soon be able to blame my weight gain on!).

Also developing this week: our baby's vocal chords!! Can't wait to hear that first little cry! :)

Pictures from New Year's Visit

Here's a bunch of pictures from our visit to Minnesota over New Year's!

The whole family

Me with my sisters

Kaden playing the piano with me! :)

Me with the adorable frog-man ;)

Macy wearing her Christmas present from Jess...it says "Queen of the Dog Park." I think she liked it! :)

Me with my little Macy-girl

Julie & I

Our family picture (haha!)

Kaden LOVED the carousel at the mall! He was smiling the whole time!

Mom gave Kaden these adorable little cowboy boots that used to be Jason's. We had fun watching him try to walk in them!

Kaden got a rocking horse for Christmas

Julie & Jess

Jason, Julia, and Kaden

Ultrasound Pictures!

We had our first ultrasound on Friday morning! It was incredible to get to see our baby moving around in there!! Everything is looking great, and our due date was pushed back 4 days to July 26th. So, that brings us to being 12 weeks along today! :)

All right, I know that sometimes it's hard to discern what you're looking at when you're looking at ultrasound pictures, especially early in the pregnancy when the head and body are basically the same size! Both of these pictures shows the baby from the side. The round portion on the left is the head, so then the body is to the right, and you can see the legs poking out from the body. You can see an arm waving around above the body too. In the second picture, you can see the profile of the face a little better, with the baby's little nose sticking out!

Update on Baby Horak - 12 Weeks Pregnant

We are finally wrapping up the First Trimester! Woohoo! :D Here's the lowdown on what's going on with our baby:

The most dramatic development this week: reflexes. Our baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, toes will curl, eye muscles will clench, and mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if I were to prod my abdomen, our baby would squirm in response, although I wouldn't be able to feel it. Nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in our baby's brain, synapses are forming furiously. Our baby's eyes have moved from the sides to the front of the head, and ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, our baby is just over 2 inches long (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce.

And here's what's happening on the 'outside:' We had our first appointment with the midwife on Monday!!! That was exciting! Things are looking good so far. I was very happy to finally meet my midwife, and we even got to hear our baby's heartbeat!!! That was indescribably amazing! :) I've been encouraged by how much better I've started to feel over the last couple of days. I feel like my energy level is coming back up (at least I don't feel like I'm in a fog all the time!) and more and more often, my hunger is not accompanied by nausea. Hooray! :) It was getting really old trying to find something to eat every two hours. :P I am not really 'showing' yet...well, at least not growing out of my clothes yet! But my tummy is definitely poking out now, and I am trying to remind myself that that's okay (although it's hard to be okay with it, since it just looks like I've been eating too many bowls of Bunny Tracks - Haha!)! But then tonight I was talking with a lady at church about pregnancy (she's had 8 kids), and she kept saying, "You're a very skinny lady." Hahaha! I was wearing a jacket, so my tummy was hidden - heehee! But, I'll take whatever encouragement I can get! If there's still someone out there that thinks I'm a 'skinny lady,' I'll just store that up and play it back in my mind tomorrow when I'm once again trying to find something to wear to work that hides my tummy! ;) So, things are going well. I'm still enjoying being pregnant, and even bought my first maternity clothes while I was shopping with my Mom & sisters last weekend (but they are summery things...I won't be wearing them anytime soon!). AND, we get to have an ultrasound on Friday to verify our due date!!! Wahoo!! So, no picture with this update, because hopefully I'll be posting some of our real baby in a couple days! :D

More Catch-Up

We're home again...and I think this time we're staying put for a while. I might even put away the suitcases! ...Might...but probably not. ;) We spent New Years in Minnesota with my family. Mom hosted another fabulous New Year's Eve Party...this was the 12th year in a row!! She invites the church family over, and everyone brings games and junk food. I love it! New Year's morning, the guys played flag football on the ice-covered back yard and that night we had Christmas with my family. Friday, we girls (plus Kaden) all went shopping in Mankato (so fun!), and then on Saturday Jordan and I made the drive home. I do have pictures to post...hopefully I'll be getting around to that soon! ;)

Since being home, we've gotten to host a couple "college friends" - Saturday night and Tuesday night - and that was really fun. Makes me wish I had been more proactive in looking for a bed before now. Right now we're just sleeping guests on an air mattress. It's not terrible, but definitely not optimal either.

Jordan has a busy week going on. His car got hit in a parking lot while he was at work, so he's been messing around with insurance companies trying to get that straightened out. Thankfully, the car is still driveable, and the person who hit it had insurance! Also, this is the last week of pheasant season in IA, so Macy and Jordan are trying to capitalize on that. It hasn't been a very good year for pheasants, but they've both really enjoyed hunting this year! I really need to get some new pictures and videos of Macy up here. She's been growing/changing so much! The newest trick Jordan has taught her is to jump up into his arms...it's really cute! :)

We're into the swing of 'Tax Season' at work now, so I'm picking up a lot more hours. By next week, I should be doubling what I was working before! Looking forward to the paychecks...kinda dreading not being home as much. :P