Baby Buckingham-16 weeks...

      Now that I'm a few weeks into my second trimester I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I've now had three ultrasounds and multiple appointments. All have been great and my (incredible) Dr. keeps reassuring me that everything looks perfect. I just feel healthy and SO so thankful. I know my hormones are all wonky, but sometimes I feel so thankful I get tearful. It's just such a blessing and amazing that my body is building this little miracle inside of me. My heart is so full. :)

Pregnancy Highlights:

Size of the Baby: Baby B is the size of an avocado this week. (Which is huge considering it started the size of a poppyseed. Huge!)

Maternity Clothes: I'm still in most of my normal shirts, they are just getting tight around my lower stomach. And I'm in the same black maternity pants nearly everyday (except when I wear dresses), because they do not hurt my stomach and they are just so darn comfortable. 

Gender: Only 15 more days until we know for sure! I don't really have a feeling either way, but we are sure dying to know!! (Dylan is convinced it's a boy, it also seems to be that he's the only one who feels that way. For his sake, I sure hope he's right!) 

Movement: Just little flutters every now and then. Some of the best feelings ever. Normally when I'm lying down before bed, or early in the morning when my body is still.

Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty great. I've started putting a pillow on my side so I don't sleep on my stomach. It seems to be helping.

What I miss: A good ol' margarita :) Ha!

Cravings: Carbs. In all forms. If it's a cracker, chip, juice, popcorn, you name it- I want it. (But only 4-6 bites. I think Dylan and my family are getting irritated with my obnoxious need for certain foods, but feeling SO stuffed after just 3 bites. It definitely makes meals interesting. 

Aversions: Protein. Meat, eggs, cheese, nuts.. I just can't like it. Especially chicken. Which is so strange because chicken is one of my favorite foods. But, it either smells weird, or the texture makes my stomach turn. No, thank you.  

Best moment this week: Hearing the baby's heartbeat at my last appointment - 155 and so precious!!

Here's Baby B's blogging debut, this picture is nearly a month old now- but still makes me gush. I haven't started taking real belly pictures yet. It's still too close to call. Some days it looks like a baby, some days it looks like I just ate a big sandwich. But soon I will. :)

The details...

Back in February, a couple days before I found out I was pregnant, I had this very vivid dream that I was 9 months pregnant. In my dream, I started having major contractions and I made Dylan take me to the hospital for delivery. I remember the whole delivery process and after several hours the doctor handed me a beautiful baby girl and Dylan and I named her, Hattie. A couple of days went by and we took our baby home for the first time. I laid Hattie down to take a nap and decided I would go try and take a nap as well because I was so exhausted. Now fast forward to real life: I woke up in a COMPLETE panic, heart racing, scared to death because I hadn't heard her cry. (?!?!) What the hell. After a few seconds I thought to myself, "Hello, dingbat, you don't have a baby." But I was totally freaked out. I told Dylan how weird and realistic it was and we both brushed it off to a crazy dream. I should've known then something was weird. I am not typically a dreamer. Or if I do dream, I never remember them. That one, I will never forget. The next day I had a complete FREAK OUT over dog hair. Which dog hair does drive me crazy, but not normally in tears kind of crazy. I was throwing a fit all by myself over dog hair. Crying and the whole shebang by myself at home. Over something I could've just vacuumed up. But no, I was crazy. Absolutely ridiculous. By Saturday I decided to take a pregnancy test. In seconds it came back positive. So I took another. And another. And one more just to be sure. 12 tests later, (they were on sale one day, I decided to stock up. Thinking one day I would thank myself.) I decided it probably was legit. It was almost fun to take them by the end because it was like the test I could not fail. I told Dylan and the rest is history. Our little secret. :) When people find out that I'm pregnant, they ask me one of a few things, if not several. I thought I should write them down for my own memory, since I'm majorly lacking in that department these days, and I'm sure it will be fun to look back on. These are my typical conversations lately... "OH! Congratulations!! How far along are you??" : 12 weeks. "How are you feeling?? SO sick??" : Um no, actually I feel great!! Just tired. A tired I never knew existed. Like knock you out at 6:45pm and sleep until 10:45am and not feel groggy kind of tired. But, it is getting better every day. These days, I can stay up until 9:20. Ha! "Were you guys planning this?" : First of all I find this offensive. Who on earth cares? And why would that be anyones business? I am married, it's not like I'm sleeping around. Good grief. Secondly, no. But I sure am thankful. ;) "Are you having any cravings? Food Aversions?" Not any cravings really. Just one time I woke up wanting pancakes and breakfast. (Which I can't ever remember a time I thought those things. I hate pancakes.) My only food aversions are to meat. In particular- chicken. Which is completely foreign to me, because I love chicken. I honestly feel like I don't know myself. I will order something that normally is my favorite and I'll take a bite and be completely disgusted. My only safe bet is carbs. Totally not what I should love, but it's a safe bet. Every time. "When do you go to your first ultrasound?" I've already had two, and have my third on Tuesday. I can NOT wait. I love my Doctor more than words can say and she is absolutely wonderful. Getting those pictures just melts my heart and fills me with such joy. I just love it! ... I think that's it... I can't remember or I'm just exhausted. One or the other. :) Oh yeah, and this week, our baby is the size of a large plum. Too precious and growing so fast!!

Guess What?...

We're having a BABY!!!

I couldn't be more excited to finally be able to share this news! It's been killing me to keep my mouth shut. Everything is beyond perfect. I'm healthy and happy and most importantly the baby is too! I'll be back soon with more details. But for now, that's all I've got. A big giant smile :)

Goodbye yellow bathroom..

I won't bore you with all the details, but in 2010 we bought our first home. It was built in the 50's and we loved it. It was darling from the outside and needed major help on the inside. If you know anything about me- I LOVE a good project. So moving into something that I could make my own? Music to my ears. After a bit of convincing to my husband we were in it and starting to demo. Long story short, we did every room in the house except our spare bathroom. It was rough. Our master was finished and nice, and I knew I wouldn't really be using that bathroom much, so we put it off until we could save some more money. It was hard to deal with the "beauty". The bathtub was yellow. The toilet was yellow, with a broken seat that we later replaced with white because what do you know, the don't make yellow seats anymore. What a shame! The floor was yellow. The counter tops had gold sparkles on it. It was disgusting. For that to be our guest bathroom was just a harsh reality.

So over my spring break we finally got to work. It is now clean and beautiful and simple. I couldn't love it more! Without waiting a moment more, feast your eyes on the glory!

BEFORE:


AFTER:
Glory to my eyes! Still needs a few finishing touches, but the difference is unbelievable!! The pictures hardly do it justice. Thank you thank you thank you to all who helped to make this a reality! I have the best family, hands down.

February...

Well, I've failed again.
Here's what is happening around the Buckingham house:

I love my job and more than my job I really love the kids I work with everyday. I was meant for this.
Dylan's been on tv quite a bit. I love that.
I've only had water to drink since the new year. Excluding alcohol of course. ;)
I've kept up with our laundry pretty well. Definitely better than before, but not perfect.
The dogs are good. Lambeau is shedding like a crazy person and I may or may not have had a meltdown about it. (Let's be honest: by "may or may not", I mean most definitely.)
I've finished two books this year.
I have an awesome art project going on at work and I'm so excited about the future of it.
I've got several new recipes I need to document on here, but we'll see if I get around to it.
I love pinterest and have been on there more than I have been on blogger.

I'm working on it.
Til next time- peace and elbow grease. ;)

2012 has arrived...

Happy 2012, friends!
I can't believe this year is already here! I know I'm ready! Today is my last day of my (almost) 3 week Christmas break. I have enjoyed it tremendously, but as usual, I got sick. I'm feeling much better today and ready to get back in the swing of things!

2011 held a lot of great memories but also some of my least favorite. As a whole, I'm glad to say goodbye.
I hope 2012 will hold a lot of joy and exciting new memories.

My goals this year are to:
-take more pictures
-drink more water
-accomplish my goals
-keep our house cleaner
-go on a fun vacation
-cook more frequently
-blog more, seriously.
-get my lesson plans done in a more timely manner (ha!)
Now this last one is bold, but I hope to not let our laundry pile up.

I think I can do it. Here's to a great 2012!

I'm baaaack...

I love these as much as the next girl. BUT, seriously? 1lb. of peanut butter cups. Yeah, right. ;) Happy Sunday!