Welcome change!

Last week was Andy's first official week of working at the church and it was such a strange experience. Now don't get me wrong, when I say "strange" it's not with a negative connotation, but when you've been used to a specific routine for so many years to all of a sudden have it completely turned upside down, comes with a bit of shock. Here's what our daily routine last week looked like...we left the house in the morning as a family, dropped Bella off at school, got to the church, walked Chloe to her class and then headed into the office together. When it was time to go, we packed everything up, got Chloe, drove to Bella's school where I waited in the car with Chloe while Andy went in and got her and then back home as a family we went. We all sat down at the dinner table together, Andy helped out with homework, we hung out as a family and then the girls had their Daddy home to tuck them into bed while their pregnant momma dozed off on the couch. ;) To think that this is the routine of our "new life" is just crazy and like I said, a little strange. It's a change that we all welcome wholeheartedly, but right now I'm finding it hard to grasp the idea that this is permanent and that we are blessed with the opportunity to be together as a family like this!

We are still extremely busy during this transition time, but we are definitely seeing the "light at the end of the tunnel." We (well mostly Andy) have been working very hard at fixing up one of our rental properties we recently purchased. Every spare minute Andy has had has been spent over there...we've recently been joining him more and even though he's working it's still nice to be able to hang out together and help him here and there. We have made significant progress in the past couple weeks and are hoping to have it "move in" ready within the next couple weeks. Once we are done with that project we will see even more time freed up, but as much as we might like to spend it lounging around we have a list a mile long of stuff around our house that has been neglected over the past year. We are determined to tackle things one by one until we are at the place where we don't feel like we are a step behind, but rather a step ahead!

In pregnancy news, I hit the 14 week mark yesterday...officially in my 2nd trimester...1/3 of the way already. In just the last week I have noticed that little by little I'm beginning to feel better. I'm still not out of the woods, but am encouraged each day as I find it a little easier to make it through the day. At about the same time I also noticed a dramatic increase in hunger. It's kind of ridiculous actually. I have been doing my best to figure out ways to keep it under control because if I let myself get too hungry I get sick and very grouchy! ;) I think I made it through my first trimester without gaining a pound, but I have a feeling that is about to change very quickly! ;) Of course eating and gaining weight while pregnant is not a bad thing, so I welcome it gladly, but at the same time am doing my best to make healthy food choices and not use being pregnant as an excuse to eat whatever I want whenever I want. Thankfully I naturally like healthy foods and right now I can't seem to get enough fruit. This was my snack this morning and believe it or not, the bowl is sitting next to me right now...empty. ;)

I have a regular check-up with my OB tomorrow. It should be a fairly quick one...no ultrasound this time, just a nice listen to the baby's heartbeat. I will also schedule my next appointment tomorrow at which time we hope to be able to find out if this is a girl or boy. I have to say, I am very excited to know and can't wait to really start planning and getting ready for this little one. Bella has already requested to be my "helper" when it comes to shopping, decorating and getting stuff ready for the baby. I told her I couldn't think of a better helper and am looking forward to spending some special time with her as we prepare for this baby.