Tragedy In New Ulm

I am writing this with a very heavy heart. I was up all night between migraine pain and nightmares and just need to get it out. Sometimes I think my heart carries way too much for it to handle, but this situation is really getting to me.

Last year around this time I searched and searched for the perfect place to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary. We only had a weekend, so we couldn't travel too far, but I wanted it to be romantic. I found a little town in Minnesota only about an hour and a half from home that happened to be a German town. It is full of German restaurants and things we experienced in Germany. I searched bed and breakfasts and found one I was just in love with. I immediately emailed the owner with a million questions. She got back to me and soon I reserved our room for the end of May. From now until May, we'd email back and forth .. she'd tell me what events were going to be going on that weekend and I'd ask questions about different things in the town. She was such a sweet lady, and I was excited to meet her in person.

I'll never forget arriving at the bed and breakfast. We just walked in and didn't see anybody, but we could hear people in the back. We decided to just sit on the porch for awhile ... waiting for someone to notice us? We had barely sat down when the most adorable little girl came skipping out still in her pajamas. She climbed up on my lap and asked me what my name was. We had quite the conversation when I heard someone yell, "Oh shit" from the backroom. The little girl said, "That's mommy. She burnt the cookies and she's really mad." At that point, I asked the little girl if she would go get her mommy and tell her Nick and Grace were here. Over the course of the weekend, we got to know that little girl really well at breakfast and as we'd be walking through the house. One morning she said, "I'm cooking you breakfast today," and brought us each a plate of Barbie shoes. She was just the happiest little girl and made me smile all weekend long. The whole family was that way. They would tell stories and wanted to know about our lives, too. When we'd run into them at the events in town they'd ask if we were having a good time and then let us be on our way. We felt so welcome and when we left I had promised to send pictures of our trip and that we would definitely be returning.

Last night, I just decided to look at the website and see if they had any rooms open for our anniversary this year as I had decided it's the perfect location and we just loved it there. I was very sad to see there was a note on the website saying the bed and breakfast was closed due to a tragic fire and it would take several months to reopen. I was so sad and immediately went to email the owner my condolences, but thought I should see what exactly happened first. I was literally horrified when I typed it into google .. The first headline said something like "6 killed as fire ravages New Ulm bed and breakfast." When I clicked on it, I saw that the owner along with that darling little girl, their 15 year old daughter, and 3 of the guests did not make it out of the fire. The owner's fiance and I think about 3 other guests were able to get out. My heart sank immediately and I could not stop crying... of course, I chose to read on. Big mistake. There were pictures of the bed and breakfast in flames. It was the biggest fire I've ever seen. I read an article that said the cause of the fire had been determined -- candles had been lit for a romantic meal on the porch and were apparently never blown out. The house was up in flames in a matter of minutes.

I looked at the date of the articles .. July 2nd. That is less than 2 months after we had stayed at the bed and breakfast. We were in that very house talking to those people who have now passed away.  There was a foreign exchange student living there when we visited who was also very nice, and I did find an article that said he had gone home 3 weeks before the fire happened. I know I am very far removed from this situation, but it truly breaks my heart & makes me sick to my stomach.

Us outside The Bohemian Bed and Breakfast

The beautiful house

Our room where we spent the weekend

I do not know much about these family other than they were very generous and welcoming and that little girl was full of spirit, but I'm hopeful that God carried them all home early that morning and they are all at peace now.

Poppy Bump: Months 1-4

Everyone has been asking me for baby bump pics, so here you go... Notice the growing hair (thank you prenatal vitamins!)














  

Publish Post

Poppy sure is growing in there .. I just love my Poppy bump!

Pregnancy Book Nook

There are tons of books out there about pregnancy, but here are the ones that have been given to me or I have purchased that I'm totally in love with:



1. Belly Laughs: My coworker gave me this book as a Christmas gift a couple weeks ago. It is awesome. It's written by a mother and just tells the truth about what's really going on - she doesn't sugarcoat anything. Any pregnant woman or mom would get a kick out of it!







2. Oh, Baby the Places You'll Go: My coworker also gave me this book. It's a Dr. Seuss book "to be read in utero" (and obviously after he/she arrives, too!) Benny already called dibs on reading it to Poppy first.

3. The Belly Book: This is the 2nd pregnancy journal I bought after my coworker recommended it to me. It's basically a journal of my pregnancy where I can put belly pictures, cravings, feelings, and notes about dr.'s appointments. I've really enjoyed filling it out, but need to start printing my belly pics to stick inside.



4. My Pregnancy Journal: This was the 1st pregnancy journal I bought. I couldn't decide, so I just went with it. I really like this one, but wanted the Belly Book, too! Ha. So I fill them both out because they ask different questions and I just want to capture it all. I know this probably seems silly because baby will most likely never read it, but hey, I found a journal my mom wrote for me while I was growing up about a month ago and it is now one my most cherished possessions.

5. What to Expect When Expecting: This book was given to me as a Congratulatory gift from a family friend. This is the know-it-all pregnancy book. It breaks pregnancy down into sections and has lots of answers to questions that have already popped into my mind. I refer to it a lot when I just wonder about something and don't want to search the Internet. Plus, I'm going to use this book for when I have pregnant mom clients in the future.

I love this whole experience and knowing all about what that little one is up to in my tummy or if something is safe to eat or if what I am feeling is normal. Obviously, there are some less than pleasant things about pregnancy (and I know I haven't experienced even half of them yet), but it's such a miraculous thing to me and I'm trying to take it all in. Plus, I've only had one pregnant mom on my caseload so far but to be honest I was not completely confident because I didn't feel like I knew enough to answer her questions and because I had never experienced it. I feel I'll be much more prepared the next time I'm serving a pregnant mommy.

If anyone has read any other pregnancy books that were just awesome, I'd love to know about them. I'm especially interested in any for daddies .. so recommend away!

Poppyseed to Lemon

 "Your baby is now squinting, frowning, toe wiggling, and possibly sucking his thumb!" How adorable is that?! I cannot tell you how much it makes my day to receive an email each week telling me what the little one is up to. I thought I'd be a good mommy and involve daddy in the whole process, too, so I signed him up for the newsletters. I knew I had messed up the date when he came home telling me that Poppy should be crawling by now and that I shouldn't look pregnant anymore. I think he's more amused by receiving the wrong information than actually knowing what's going on, so I've been too lazy to correct my mistake.
 
For those of you who are wondering where the heck our nickname "Poppy" came from, there is actually a reason behind it. We found out I was pregnant when I was just 4 weeks along and Benny made the remark, "How big can the baby possibly be?" So, I explained to him that baby was about the size of a poppyseed. Baby Edwards has been Poppy ever since. I do love the nickname Poppy, but I should've been a little more careful since Benny's had his nickname for the last 11 or so years (My husband's real name is "Nick" for all of you who do not know .. and yes, there are people who do not know).

So even though Poppy has graduated from the first trimester and is now the size of a Lemon, I think Poppy is here to stay for the next 26 or so weeks (26 .. really only .. 26?!) Good thing I already have the nursery completely planned out (shh .. I know I'm insane!)

 Until next time,

Love and Lemon Poppyseeds

That's the Beat of the Heart

Today we experienced one of the most remarkable things. I believe every baby is a miracle from God and hearing our little one's heartbeat was a reminder of how  blessed we are to be chosen as little Poppy's parents.

The appointment was very quick. They took my vitals and we got right to business. I really had no idea what to expect .. I mean, I've never heard a heartbeat coming from inside of me that wasn't my own! The doctor joked, "You weren't hoping for twins were you?" and grinned .. which made me laugh which made really loud noises on the monitor. As much as I would love twins, I am perfectly happy with one baby! I, of course, got a little emotional because it really hit me that I'm going to be a mommy. Benny said something like, "My baby's doing work in there!"

Poppy's heartbeat was 150 which is in the normal range. My blood pressure was up a little from last time but nothing to be concerned about. I'm gaining weight as I'm supposed to (I thought for sure he'd tell me I was gaining too much based on the number I saw on the scale, but I was happy to know I can continue eating for two the way I have been!) Our doctor told Benny to force me to drink more water .. I'm SO glad he said that because Benny has been driving me nuts about it since we got home, but I really am trying to drink more!! It's just hard when you have to pee all day long and you're rarely near a bathroom.

Our next appointment is 4 weeks from now and we'll have the ultrasound. I'm very, very excited to see our little one. I always wonder what he/she is doing in there. But, if you think you're finding out any exciting news from that - sorry to burst your bubble. Mommy & Daddy have decided Poppy's gender will remain a surprise until he/she arrives in July. It took a little convincing to get Benny to agree to this, but it meant a lot to me that we are doing it this way.

I think one of my favorite parts about all of this is sharing it with Benny. I knew well before I ever married him that he would make an excellent father, but it's becoming more and more evident every day just how lucky Poppy will be to have him as a dad. He's so excited about everything and wouldn't miss an appointment for the world. I try very hard to take good care of myself and baby, but if I'm ever doing something he thinks is even a little unhealthy - boy do I hear about it!

And for some reason this song has just been stuck in my head - from one of my favorite movies "Where the Heart Is"  .. so listen if you please. Beat of the Heart.

Yummy in My Tummy!

I've been finding lots of recipes on Pinterest. Now that I am getting my appetite back and I'm not working 2 jobs, I actually have some time to cook supper again. I've tried two of the recipes this week and they both turned out great! They will definitely be added into our supper rotation. They were Benny tested and Benny approved, but that boy will eat anything so you'll just have to be the judge. No need for me to retype the recipes -- I'll send you straight to the links where you can find these recipes and lots of other yummy ones, too!

Taco Bake

{The only thing I would change would be using a little less sour cream, but that was a personal preference. Everyone else said the sour cream ratio was just fine. If you love tacos, you'll love this. Benny threw some of his spicy taco sauce on top because I wouldn't put anything spicy in the bake, but you could add anything you wanted!}

French Dip Crescents 

{So quick to make AND delicious! Perfect for a night you don't have much time to throw something together. I also made the turkey, cheese, and mayonnaise ones. Those were my favorite.}

I think I'll add "spasagna" to next week's menu as well as a delicious potato soup recipe miss Ashlee gave me (seriously, best potato soup I've ever had) and  report back to you!

Quarter of a Century Celebration

Happy Happy Birthday to my adorable husband, Benny! It's hard to believe he's 25 today since we've been together since he was 17. We've really grown up together and I love looking back at all we've gone through and imagining all the things we will do in our future. This Birthday can't quite compare with his 24th Birthday since we spent it in Germany at the Neuschwanstein Castle, but it was still a pretty good weekend.

An aftershot of the Birthday shot

We celebrated Friday night with some friends at Benny's restaurant of choice. Then it was back to our house for games, cake, and ice cream. I even let them have my bottle of champagne I got for Christmas! Saturday we relaxed at home and had my dad and Lisa over for supper (I tried one of my Pinterest found recipes). We also opened the last of our Christmas presents .. ha!

We clean up nice!

Out to Supper

Today, on his actual Birthday, we have been working on the puzzle he got for Christmas. He opened his presents from me and later we're watching a movie with friends.

Card and grill topper from me - for all our yummy veggies we grill in the summer!

Card and Iowa State shirt from Poppy! Poppy's already a good shopper.

Junk Drawer

Thank you Pinterest for destroying my messy know where everything is even though no one else would ever find it lifestyle. I've now become an organizational freak... First victim, the junk drawer.

This is the drawer where EVERYTHING goes .. and I mean EVERYTHING. When I've got 10 minutes until people are showing up at my house, I stuff everything in there. Take that times living here for a year, and it's just out of control. I always tell Benny, "We don't open that drawer when people are here." It never fails - he ALWAYS opens it and I'm extremely embarrassed, so I suppose it was time.

How does ALL this ...

Fit in this...

20 minutes later, I have a drawer I will gladly open when company is here:

Next up, Benny's junk drawer! Happy Saturday everyone!

SnOw DaY?!

Checking the "Iowa School Alerts" this morning was a little disheartening ... Any other day I would LOVE having a snow day, but this particular day I'm a little bummed. We are supposed to have our dr.'s appt. today (and it was going to be an exciting one!), but my dr. is in the town where I work. Since school closed, I'm not even allowed to go into work and it's also not safe for me to be out on the roads that are already "completely covered" and there's 5 more inches on the way. We already pushed our appointment back a week due to Nick having training, so hopefully they can get me in next week at a time Nick can make it. Bah humbug.

My snow days are a little different in my new position. Last year, whenever my centers were closed, I was required to take the day off and use an "off contract" day. In my new position, I work year round so I am required to work from home on snow days. I packed up all my paperwork yesterday anticipating this! I really don't mind having the laundry going and the TV on while I sit in my jammies doing paperwork. So even though I'm bummed about missing the appointment, I'm not that sad to have another 3 day weekend! And maybe I'll even have a couple new posts today... Happy Snow Day to me.

Now if only I don't make myself sick worrying about Nick getting to and from Minnesota...

Rantings, Ravings & Some Serious Cravings...

Really, I only have one rant right now .. these darn headaches! Wake-me-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-and-never-go-away-all-day-long-no-matter-what-I-do- headaches. I have been a migraine sufferer for many years, so when I heard headaches might be involved with this whole having a baby thing, I thought I could probably handle a few headaches here and there. Wowzer.. But just like morning sickness, I'm sure they'll run their course and be gone. And then for the next 18 years, little Poppy will be giving me real reasons to have a headache.

Things I'm seriously loving right now:
1. Pregnancy books & journals (I'll give you my faves in another post)
2. Project Nursery (I don't know how I'll ever decide!!)
3. My growing belly (oh yes, it's Tuesday .. picture time!)
4. Babycenter.com -- I get so excited when the newsletter comes to my inbox every week & tells me how big my baby is and what he/she is up to in my tummy. Plus there's a lot of other really good info. on the website.
5. Hair Ties - I'm not quite ready to give up & buy maternity pants quite yet .. mostly because I'm cheap & I don't think I need them quite yet, but the hairtie works perfect. 
6. Getting to pick the restaurant EVERY time we go out to eat at work (we eat .. a lot!) I never throw my suggestions out there, but it's always "what does baby want today?" and then I gladly tell them because I know if they say mexican or chinese I might as well just bring my barf bag.


And finally, those serious cravings...

I'll start with something that happened to me yesterday. I ran to Bomgaars to pick up Benny's Bday present (he turns 25 on Sunday .. yay for cake!) The checkout line, like at most stores, is lined with candy. I saw these sour gummy worms out of the corner of my eye. I can't even remember the last time I had sour gummy worms, but I imagine it was at least 7 years ago. I never even really liked them because I don't like how they feel gritty. Anyway, I told myself I was not going to buy them because I was headed to Hy-Vee next to find something for lunch. I put my items up on the counter and the next thing I know, the gummy worms are in my hand. It was like my brain had no control over my arm and it just reached out and grabbed them. But at that point, there was no turning back so I "gave in" and bought them. I had a few more errands to run and I found myself ripping open the bag and eating them as I drove. When I got back home, I had only a few left. I was no longer hungry for lunch, but I had this genius idea to leave the rest of the gummy worms in my car so they would get cold and hard and I'd just want to throw them away. After supper, I couldn't stop thinking about those darn gummy worms and I asked Benny if he would go get them for me. He, of course, told me know because he's a fun hater and I decided I really didn't need them. Once again, I truly believe my brain had no power over my legs when I put on shoes and went out to the garage to get the rest of them .. and then continued to eat the rest of the bag. (That was quite the story .. I probably could have shortened it to "I ate an entire bag of sour gummy worms.")

Other foods that have been making my mouth water...
Fried Pickles (I was driving home from dance one night & I called Benny & said I just HAD to have fried pickles. He laughed - as if it was funny - and then I went on to tell him this was no laughing matter and that I would possibly die if I didn't have them. It was about 9:00 at night, so there was no way I was going to the restaurant where I usually order fried pickles. I settled for an order of large fries at McDonalds and some pickle spears .. mmmm .. Oh, and for the record, I may never eat fried pickles again since I spent the entire evening hovering over the toilet. 

FRUIT: I am pretty sure I am solely responsible for my dad still having a job .. he may even be up for a bonus if I keep it up. I fill half my cart by the time I'm through the produce section. (This is a GOOD, but expensive) craving to have. Some major obsessions are apples, bananas, kiwis, and pineapples. My most recent love is clementines. I bought a whole bag yesterday and then my dad told me they were going on sale today for $2 cheaper .. so I bought another bag!

However, one night I was dying for a kiwi so I slaved over peeling it (those things are a lot of work for just a couple bites) and on my last peel, I dropped it in the trash can. Normal Grace would have grabbed another kiwi and started peeling again. Prego Crazy Grace threw the knife across the room at the sink (Benny claims he was standing between the trash can and the sink) and stomped into the bedroom crying. My darling husband came in saying how he would peel me as many kiwis as I wanted and that if we didn't have anymore, he would go to HyVee and get some. I sobbed on his shoulder about how that wasn't the point and kiwis are 2 for $1 and now I didn't even want one. The next thing I knew we were laughing hysterically for a good 5 minutes over how completely rediculous the whole situation was and I was eating a kiwi peeled with love. I now peel kiwis over a plate, so we won't suffer that tragedy again.

Milk and Cottage Cheese: I have never been a milk fan. I drink what's left in the bowl after my cereal is gone and that's about it, but I cannot get enough of that stuff. We went from buying a half gallon and throwing 1/4 of it out to going through a whole jug and sometimes more a week. Poppy will have strong bones!!

I haven't craved anything really strange yet -- I mostly want anything sweet and anytime someone mentions a food (chips, swedish fish, popcorn, etc.) I have to have it that very second or I'm convinced I'll drop dead.

I'm off to a Baby Sign Language training for work .. but first, a stop at the gas station to get a bag of gummy worms! I won't be getting home until after 9 .. waaaay past my bedtime .. so I need some sugar. :)

.

"Are You REALLY?!"

And then .. we shared the news with our parents on Christmas Day! It was extremely difficult not to tell them right away, but we really wanted it to be special and it was totally worth the wait.

First up, Mama Donna... Unfortunately, I don't have this on video. Well, I do, but she made me promise to never show it to anyone. It was one of those plans gone wrong. We tried the "Say Grace is pregnant" while taking the family photo, but she just thought we were kidding (for a good 10 minutes) while Wendy made ackward comments about zombie babies, Grant started to feel uncomfortable, and I started crying. But, when she did finally realize I am indeed pregnant, she was beyond excited. Poppy even gave Grandma a Christmas gift:

Next up: Papa John. It was so hard to not tell my dad when he lives in the same town as us. There were so many times he wanted to come over but I was already sleeping or he'd want to do supper but what he wanted made me want to vomit. We took bets on his reaction -- I thought he'd tackle me, Robyn thought he'd cry, and Benny thought he would .. excuse my language .. "shit his pants." I'm glad that Robyn won that bet. Unfortunately, my dad made an inappropriate comment (go figure) so I had to trim the end of the video .. which means you miss out on all of us being excited and him still sobbing in the background. I'm not sure who was more excited -- Grandpa John or Aunt Kaitlin. ;)

 

Here's what was in dad's last Christmas package:

Christmas evening I went to my grandma's house to give my mom her gift. It was a countdown to being a grandma (gotta love Hallmark!). She was the one who jumped up and down and went crazy...

And last, but not least, I told my grandma Jaris. She screamed so loudly the nurses came running because they thought she fell down .. whoops! 

This has to be my favorite video EVER .. and my favorite line is "Oh, so you're pretty pregnant." Ha!

These are moments I will ALWAYS remember. We had some fun ways we shared with other friends, and we told the majority of people through our annual Christmas letter!

Soapy Surprise

I'm getting a little excessive with my Poppy posts, but you should probably just get used to it because they won't be ending anytime soon. One of the most exciting parts thus far was sharing the news with everyone we love. Of course, first I had to share with the man who played a big part in this whole baby thing...

I had ALL these ideas in my head about how I would tell Benny I was pregnant when I found out. However, there was just no way I was going to be able to keep this from him long enough to cook something up. So it's pretty uneventful, but I'll always remember ... he was in the shower in the other bathroom when I took the test. I ran into the bathroom screaming at the top of my lungs, "BENNNYY...GETTT OUTT NOW!!" Most of you probably think he would have assumed the house was on fire or I had chopped an arm off, but Benny is used to my "occasional" (..every day..) overreactions to things such as spiders or him forgetting to the take the trash out, so it really didn't phase him. And now, the rest of the story...

B: "I'll be out in a minute."
G: "NOOO! GET OUT NOW!"
B: "But I still have shampoo in my hair. Just a second."
G: "Seriously. NOW!"
B: "Just a..."

That's when I reached the test over the shower curtain ... followed by him ripping open the shower curtain with his mouth wide open. (sorry if this is a little TMI) but you have to get the full effect. His mouth remained open while he got wrapped up in a towel and then I screamed something like "Ahhhhhhhh!! Can you believe it?" And he goes, "You really are?" (No, I made it up). Then we jumped up and down in true Grace & Benny fashion, cried a little, mostly didn't really comprehend what was going on, admitted that Benny was right for once, hugged, and it was off to work (shampoo in hair and all). 

We probably looked
something like this...

 

 

 

Dressing For Two

I remember fondly the first time I tried on a pair of pants for work and realized .. hmm .. there is no way I can button these and be comfortable. And yes, it was a fond memory, because I'm highly enjoying eating for two. Three pairs later, I settled for unbuttoned pants & a really long shirt. For the record, it was on 1/4/12 (Thank goodness for pregnancy journals since I can't remember anything these days!)

This morning Benny looked at me and said, "You're really going to wear your pants unbuttoned to church?" (as if I hadn't been wearing them unbuttoned to work for the past two weeks). I gave him the, "Don't make me go prego crazy on you" look and that was the end of the conversation. Last I chatted with the man upstairs, he wasn't real concerned over whether I could button my pants or not. But I remembered the old hair tie trick from when my friend was pregnant and decided to give it a try - it worked wonders. My pants were very comfortable and no one would know they weren't buttoned.

On another note, I think my prego crazy side is trying to take over today. The lady at Perkins broke the news to me they were out of the pie I wanted so I ordered a chocolate chip cookie only to be informed they were also out of those. I had a little "well, I guess give me my money back" pity party until the lady came out huffing that I could have 2 halves of a chocolate chip cookie that had been cut up for a kid so now they'll have to make more .. well, duh .. what else would you do if you were out of chocolate chip cookies?! And for the record, it was a horrible cookie. So Benny should probably just avoid me for the rest of the day if he knows what's good for him. ;)

..Hopefully my belly bands come in soon!! My dad says at this rate my baby will definitely be a linebacker.

               Hairtie                     +            Jeans             =    Happy Pregnant Woman

Practicing for July

My coworker asked me earlier this week if we had anything going on this weekend. A family friend had passed away and they had no one to watch their little guy while they went to the funeral. We just think he's so much fun and know that soon we'll be asking for those kinds of favors, so of course I said we'd do it.

We just spent the last 4 hours playing away -- from sorting objects to bowling to banging on bowls to reading books and doing puzzles! Needless to say, we are EXHAUSTED. I think we'll both be taking naps this afternoon before we head over to spend the evening with his parents. The highlight of his day was looking out the window at the "SNOW!" He was also quite helpful - I did 4 loads of laundry while he assisted with loading the dryer and attempting to fold the clothes. Seeing how awesome Benny was with him made me even more excited for our little Poppy to get here. Here's some pics I captured from our fun-filled morning with the little man:

Bowwlinng!

Just Playing XBOX

Stirring Soup

Now it's a hat!

And the best part of all - not a single poopy diaper. ;)

Waitin' on Two Pink Lines

The 3 of us!

After almost a year of retiring from blogging (aka becoming busy, lazy, and uncreative), I've decided I'm going to try this again. After all, I feel I have something very exciting that's going to take place over the next (well, 6 months now) and I want to be able to look back and remember it all ...

Here's how it all began... (and no, I don't mean I met a boy, fell in love, and well, ya know...)


November 7th: My boss came into my office to tell me something. When she walked out, I started bawling uncontrollably. My coworkers were very concerned and wanted to know what my boss had said to make me upset, but I could not come up with anything.

Later on November 7th: I fell over after a meeting at the library while trying to get the librarians signature .. how embarrassing. I've never been so dizzy in my life.

November 9th: Benny told me, as serious as can be, that he knew I was pregnant. I laughed, told him he was crazy, and moved right along. (Turns out he was right for once..)

November 10th: I got to work and told the ladies how I'd gone to bed at 7:30 because I was just so tired I couldn't keep my eyes open. One of them looked at me and said, "You're totally pregnant." No, I'm clearly just tired.

November 11th: We were planning on going out for drinks with a couple of friends. Since everyone was so convinced I had a bun in the oven, I decided it was better to be safe and I took a test. Just like I suspected ... not pregnant. However, I felt very sick to my stomach that night and chose to drink water and be the D.D. Even though we weren't planning on starting to "try" until January or February, my heart did sink a little when I saw the results .. especially since Benny was SO sure I was pregnant.

November 14th: I called the dr.'s office to set up my yearly physical. I was making sure I had everything done to make sure I was healthy and ready to start trying to have a baby. The secretary asked if I was pregnant. I laughed and said, "I am definitely not."

November 15th: I woke up and just felt different, but figured I had felt strange in lots of ways lately and it was probably nothing. Just to be sure, I thought I'd test one more time to prove everyone was crazy. I didn't pay any attention to the test and went on getting ready for work ... let's just say I've never been so shocked in my life. Next, I told my darling husband (but you'll have to wait for the next blog to hear about his reaction).

Later that day ... I called the dr.'s office back and said these exact words, "I called yesterday to schedule a physical and told you I wasn't pregnant, but my circumstances have changed. Turns out, I am pregnant."

November 18th: We went to the Oklahoma State vs. ISU game in Ames. I decided to give my ticket to Adam because I was so exhausted that I knew I couldn't stay awake and I thought it was going to be a really boring game.. boy was I wrong! Benny had told me at the beginning of the season if ISU beat Oklahoma State, we could have a baby. He didn't think it would EVER happen. After we defeated them in double overtime, our entire section chanted, "Make that baby!" (Little did they know, baby was definitely already made.)

Stay tuned...lots of Baby Edward's posts to come .. how we told everyone, month-by-month of the changes I've experienced, things that really annoy you when you're pregnant, silly things that make you cry, first trimester necessities, and all those doctor updates. I LOVE being pregnant .. if you can't tell. ;)