13 Weeks

How far along? 13 weeks + 1 day.

Total weight gain: +1lb at my last appointment, two weeks ago, so probably a couple more by now.

Maternity clothes? Not yet, but I have my eye on a few things for the upcoming months. Mostly just living in leggings!

Stretch marks? Nope!

Sleep: Pretty decent once I'm able to get comfortable. I wake up a couple times during the night but somehow seem to sleep through Mike's work alarm every morning so I can't complain :)

Nausea: Comes and goes, but really hasn't been too terrible.

Best moment this week: Finally announcing our little bun in the oven!

Miss Anything? There have been a couple times where I found myself wishing there was a nice cold beer in my hand... More specifically a Corona. With 17 limes, please!

Movement: Probably not for a while, but I'm definitely looking forward to it!

Food cravings: I am convinced that this baby is made entirely of Chipotle burritos, kettle cooked jalapeño chips, and ramen noodles. Milk has also been very popular!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Chicken. Raw, grilled, baked, sometimes fried... I have no interest. Actually, I haven't really been interested in meat in general.

Have you started to show yet? Mike and I are convinced that we can see a tiny baby belly! But it may just be the result of eating Chipotle more times than I've brushed my hair in the last 9 weeks.. Either way I'm pretending it's all baby ;)
Labor Signs: None. And hopefully it will stay that way for another 6+ months!

Symptoms: Headaches and exhaustion like WHOA. Ready for all this second trimester energy I keep hearing about! Also, anyone who knows me knows that I am a bit *ahem* top heavy and being pregnant has only added to that. I'm getting concerned that when I actually do have a belly, I'm just going to topple over forward like a weeble wobble.
Belly Button in or out? In.
Wedding ring on or off? On :)

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! But I definitely have my moments... Like the time that one of the cats caught a baby bird on the back porch and I literally ran upstairs, hid behind the bed, and cried.

Looking forward to: Having family in town next weekend and finding out the gender of baby B!

I found out about baby Beard bright and early on a Monday morning. I was two days late (which NEVER happens) and figured I'd take a test, never expecting it to actually be positive, but it definitely was and so were the next two! I immediately enlisted the help of my best friend Maggie so that we could surprise Mike with the news when he came home from work. The three tests went into a ziplock and then into an envelope along with a card that read "Baby Beard expected arrival June 2016" (apparently I'm worse at math than I thought). On the front of the envelope I wrote "you + me = 3" and then that envelope went into a larger manila envelope that I had Maggie address to Mike so he wouldn't recognize my handwriting. 

I apologize for the TERRIBLE photo quality, but I was way too excited to worry about good lighting! ;)

Usually I am terrible at surprises. I get wayyy too excited and blow it, but this time I managed to keep my cool! Mike got home from work and I handed him a pile of mail from the mailbox with the manila envelope included. He saw it and was immediately confused... No return address. Unrecognizable handwriting. I think he panicked a little! Once he opened it, he still didn't realize it was my handwriting on the smaller envelope and it wasn't until he opened that and saw the tests that he connected the dots! I believe he said something along the lines of "HOLY SH*T ARE YOU SERIOUS" and then there was a lot of hugging and definitely some tears on my part! We went into the Naval Hospital for a confirmation test later that day and by the next morning we received the call - I am definitely pregnant and my tentative due date is May 6th!

The day I got the confirmation call.. Sticking out my "belly" as far as I could possible push it!

Since then, time has really flown by. Some of the days seem to drag on but I'm totally baffled at how I'm already this far along. The exhaustion is SO real.. I never knew I could feel this tired. That combined with the food aversions and overall weird feeling has made for some very interesting days. But despite those symptoms I am very lucky that I haven't experienced any severe morning sickness or really any other extreme symptoms, plus I have the greatest partner a girl could ask for.. Mike has really been taking care of me and helping me out with so much and putting up with all of my crazy mood swings! He's also really great at cleaning the litter box and driving me across town to Chipotle at all hours of the day ;)

Coming up for the Beards.. We will have some family in town with us next weekend and we can't wait to show them what very little all Jacksonville has to offer. I'm also getting really excited for Thanksgiving! My sister will be here with us for the holiday and you'd better believe I'm already planning an awesome menu! 

And finally I just want to say thank you for all of the love and support we've received since announcing our news! Mike and I are so thankful to have such wonderful and caring people in our lives! Happy Halloween! :)