21 weeks :)

remember when I said my sickness was a 5 week thing? well i should have known week 20 would ruin my streak! I went 10 days without puking and then Wednesday it came back. Wednesday morning was rough, but to add to it, my nose would bleed every time I would puke. same thing thursday. made for an interesting site, i'm sure, when poor philip came to check on me. kleenex stuffed up my nostril as i'm hugging the toilet :) My friend Jessie (who is 8 days behind me in pregnancy) said 'well at least you know it will end in 19 weeks'. i guess that is true:) I am definitely getting better at managing the sickness, that's for sure. 

anyway, my belly is growing and so is Ainsley! and that's all that matters :)

size: This week she is the size of a 'spaghetti squash'. 8 inches long and 1 pound!!! i can't believe she is a whole pound now:) 

 what's going on with me: like i said, i had a good streak but sickness came back. partly because I am trying not to take nausea meds before bed. clearly that didn't work. I read my feet will start swelling, but so far so good. my scrub pants are getting a little snug though. 

what's going on with baby: Her little 'flutters' have gotten more like real movements and it is a crazy feeling! This week she is developing her sense of touch. She might even be getting ahold of the umbilical cord in there (makes me nervous!). She is developing her sense of sight and can tell the difference between light and dark if I shine a flash light on my belly. Her eyelids, eyelashes and eyebrows are well formed, and her hair is forming (although right now it's pure white!). 

cravings: kettle corn. YUMM. 

Betsy Bear!!! Ainsley's first stuffed animal and one of a kind:) thank you Aunt Ellen! I can't wait to take pics with her! 

Scavenger Hunt

This past weekend, the Wilhoite Family had our first (hopefully annual) family scavenger hunt. My dad and brother spent weeks plotting courses, making clues and planting clues all over the farm. 

We met at Grandma's old house (Auntie Jo's House now) and drew random numbers to be on teams. There were two teams: red and blue. I was on the blue team. We got our first clue that told us where to go, and we took off from there. Each clue was marked with an American flag. the clue was hidden within 20 feet of that flag. Once we found one clue, it sent us to the next clue. And along the way there were 'hidden objects' that you could find for extra points. We had pictures of where the object was to guide us. 

To  make sure we were on the right track, the trail was marked with blue ribbon showing us we were going the right way. Our team was lucky enough to have Philip and Joey running around ahead of us girls finding the clues and telling us where to go. Rachel was on my team and did good at finding the hidden objects. Matt was smart enough to make a rule that you couldn't tamper with the other teams clues or objects or you would be disqualified (mostly for JC's benefit). 

We made it to the bonfire first, thus winning the hunt. :) Then we had a bonfire dinner to celebrate Matt and Doug's birthday. 

winning team!!! 

the whole fam

It was a great night for it and we had so much fun. Thanks for all your hard work Matt and Dad!!! 

Prior to the start of the games, I got to shoot my new gun:) (not necessarily something I wanted but was given it and was told it was 'nonnegotiable'.) Philip bought some exploding targets and watching him, matt and Rachel shoot them was so funny!!! Rachel was quite the shot ;)

BabyMoon

Philip said he has always wanted to surprise me with a trip and he was so pleased with himself for planning such a successful birthday trip. He took a gamble on the weather (which is why we got to go at such an awesome price!), and the odds were in our favor! We had such a wonderful and relaxing time. He takes credit for 'curing my sickness', at least temporarily :)

The flights were uneventful (which in itself is eventful for us). I did have a small breakdown when the flight attendant told me they didn't give out free pretzels. I mean, full on sobbing and couldn't stop. It was embarrassing, but hey, what can ya do. philip tried to get me to tell him what was wrong and found it hard to believe i was that upset over pretzels. I told him to believe it. 

Philip got to get in two scuba dives. He went once with the resort, which was included in the 'all inclusive'. on this dive he made several friends who we hung out with and got to know in the days we were there. the other dive, he went with Stewart Coves, on one of the world's top tanked shark dives. He video taped the whole thing so I could feel like I was there. which I would have never been. sharks are not my thing. and there were like 30 of them, grazing his head and swimming all around him. the instructors gave them strict directions on what to do when they got to the bottom, and told them never to put their arms out (the sharks associate being fed with seeing arms coming out). philip loved it. I however, would not have. he did bring home 2 shark teeth that he found though, and he is so proud of them :) I got a fabulous tshirt:) 

So while he did that, I lounged at the beach and the pools:) It was such perfect timing as far as my pregnancy has gone. I felt good the entire time. I have not gone 6 days feeling good since I found out I was pregnant. There is something to be said about listening to your body and sleeping when it tells you to. and about getting to just relax. and have unlimited frozen fruity drinks (sans alcohol, of course) and feeling Ainsley move around in my belly-- that was actually the best part of the relaxing:) 

Philip was a good sport and went snorkeling with me. It's not nearly as fun or exciting as scuba diving, but it was all I could do. and I appreciate him doing it with me. We also went kayaking, but it was cut short due to Ainsley sitting on my bladder (which was proven in the ultrasound, you could see her head literally on top of my bladder) 

The restaurants there were so yummy. We did italian, british pub, american and bahamian. I love not having to carry a purse or worry about paying for things on vacation. The resort we stayed at had a private island and our last night there we took the ferry over and had dinner there. it was the best meal we had. After dinner we walked around the island and watched the sunset. Then we took the ferry back to the main resort. 

It only rained once, on our last day there from 4-6pm. We had already had a beautiful day and Philip was playing pool volleyball when the heavens opened. we went in, showered and it had quit in time for us to go to dinner. not too shabby for hurricane season :) 

We went to dinner one night and asked to sit outside. the hostess said 'people smoke out there, so with you being pregnant you might not want to'. I was shocked that he knew I was pregnant. It was the first time someone blatantly stated it and I was floored! The next day in the elevator one of the people who worked at the resort commented on me expecting. it was just a weird moment for me, to realize it's becoming apparent. 

At night, on the decks facing the beach, they lit fire pits and had lounge chairs and love seats to sit in. This was one of my favorite parts of this vacation. It was so romantic and such a fun atmosphere. 

We also visited the piano bar where the friends Philip had made diving were hanging out. It was fun, but once they all got hammered and karaoke was in full swing, I was ready for bed:) 

Philip asked me what my favorite part of vacation was, and I couldn't think of just one instance. For us, just getting to spend uninterrupted time together is so nice. We don't get to eat dinner together most weeknights. We don't go to bed together most nights. We wake up at different times. our schedules just aren't 'typical'. and while we both love our jobs and don't complain about the choices we have made, sometimes quality time is a real gift to us. So for this trip, I am so thankful. It was just what I needed. Thanks for such a wonderful trip and birthday present hubs;) 

20 weeks!

We are halfway there!!! 

and what a way to ring in the last week of the first half- at the Bahamas! (more to come on vacation soon) 

Ainsley is moving around a lot more this week. laying at the pool and on the beach gave me the chance to just relax and feel her moving around. it is such an amazing feeling:) and here's the best news...

i wasn't sick once on vacation!!!  could this be the ending of the constant sickness?? we can only hope! 

19 weeks 5 days

size: Ainsley is now the size of a banana! 7 inches long and 11 ounces heavy:) 

what's going on with me:  it has been 6 days since I have been sick and I think that is a record! praising God for being able to enjoy our vacation and for feeling good. There is definitely something to be said about going to bed when your body wants you to, and waking up when your body wants you to. In Nassau, several people commented on me 'expecting' and I was so floored. i was thinking 'how do they know that?!' Philip laughed at me because it is becoming apparent I am pregnant, but in my head I still think it's not that obvious:) 

what's going on with baby:  She is now swallowing and digesting amniotic fluid. She has developed taste buds. some studies have shown that baby will desire the kinds of food I am eating now (cheeseburgers anyone?!). She is also developing teeth buds. The beginning of her eyelashes and eyebrows are growing! There is still room for her to move around, flip and turn. soon she will be more cramped:) She sleeps 12-14 hours a day! (man am I jealous!) 

I was used in an ultrasound class at work today- and got to see little Ainsley while they taught med students how to measure parts of her. I love seeing her in there:) 

Philip and I had many conversations about what Ainsley will look like and what qualities we hope she gains from each of us. We also talked a lot about things that will change in our lives and how excited/nervous we are for those changes:) We are halfway to meeting our little girl!! :) 

19 weeks!!

This week was a fun week for us. We had our first appointment at Dr Karon's office at St Joe East. We didn't get to meet Dr Karon, but the PA, Paula, was wonderful. So was the ultrasound tech, the nurses and office staff. A nice change from where we were going;) They were going to schedule me with Dr Karon next month, but it is my glucose test and I can't eat after midnight. I told them that meant I would show up puking, so they decided to let me meet Dr Karon in November:) 

We got to see Baby Ainsley (yes, it's official!) in 3D and it was so amazing! They couldn't get her to turn her head so we could see her face. The ultrasound tech said she was stubborn, which philip told her that he knew where she got that from;) I said she is just comfortable. 

look how tiny that arm is! 

We did get to see her spine though, and it looked perfect. And while she is still tiny and it was hard to tell, we are almost positive we saw 4 chambers of her heart. When we saw that, Philip let out a huge sigh of relief I had no idea he was holding. Apparently he has been worried about that, but didn't tell me. Next appointment is our anatomy scan, where they do an in depth ultrasound and measure different parts of her. That will rule out almost 75% of birth defects. I am very excited for this one:) and I hope she turns her face so we can see it a little better:) 

size: baby is now 10 inches in length, weight about 1/2 a pound! My app still says that she is as big as a mango, with longer legs:) 

what's going on with me: this week was not good as far as sickness goes. Let's just say I am not going to eat at Johnny Carino's for a long time. I was sick alll night and thanks to awesome managers was able to come in to my 12 hour shift 3 hours later the next day, so I could get some sleep. I am trying to not give in to laying around with a cold washcloth on my face, but some hours it's all i can do:) 

However, it is so worth it, because this week... we have movement!!! I started feeling what I thought was Ainsley at the beginning of the week, but told Philip I thought my stomach was just being crazy. But the more consistent these little flutters got, I have realized it is her moving around inside me! It is such an amazing feeling! right now it's mostly when I lay down or have just eaten. and it's nothing obvious, but definitely our little girl! I think Philip is more excited than I am:) I can't wait until he can feel her too. 

thanks Joy!:)

what's going on with baby: This week she is capable of swallowing and digesting. She is starting to digest amniotic fluid and make urine. Right now, her uterus if fully formed, and she has 7 MILLION primitive eggs in her ovaries. so crazy! We counted her fingers on each hand this week and she has all ten of them:) Each one now has her own unique fingerprint. She can also frown and smile, which I am doing my best to keep her smiling:)

It is always so reassuring to get to see our baby on an ultrasound. And so surreal to see her moving around in there, with tiny arms and tiny legs and tiny littler fingers. I still can't believe she is inside of me, and once again, am in awe of God's amazing craftsmanship. 

18 weeks!

These weeks are flying by! Philip and I were talking and I said 'in 2 weeks we will be halfway done! it doesnt feel like I have been pregnant that long!'. he was shocked I said that after how sick I have been. We decided maybe God put's a chemical in the woman's brain that makes her look back on pregnancy and not think of the bad times. (not that I will ever forget what it has been like though haha) 

i feel like i look BIG in this pic!! 

sickness: i had a few good days this week but was sick a lot of them. The nausea seemed to be a little worse this week and there were certain foods my stomach immediately made me get out. I refuse to believe I won't get better and this will be a full 9 month thing:) Being hopeful! 

size:  a mango! what a nice fruit for once! measuring 6 inches and .5 lbs!! 

what's going on in my body: nothing much new really this week. I have been really tired this week but I have also been working harder at work. I did fall asleep with the overhead light on and was so tired I didn't wake up until 4 to turn it off:) I feel like the 'bump' is getting more prominent and people have even started touching my belly which I think is funny but doesn't bother me. My bladder has gotten a little better than last week but still doesn't hold much :)

what's going on with baby:   Her arms and legs are finally in proportion to her body and her cartilage is turning to bone, which is enabling her to stretch, kick and surf around in there:) At the ultrasound they told me my placenta was more towards the front so I might not feel her move for a little longer:( baby is now covered in vernix. it's not my favorite thing when I see a baby covered in this substance, but I am sure when it is mine I will feel much differently :)

moving like crazy!

highlights: we can now stop calling the baby 'it' and say 'she'. it is taking both of us getting used to:) Philip brought up the name Ainsley, which I am loving more every day. He said on the day we found out it was a girl, that he felt like that was what her name was supposed to be. I always thought we would call a girl Eden, but Ainsley seems to flow with 'Jo' and 'Overall' better. and I am starting to like it better than Eden!

countdown!!!

Birthday Recap

Ok y'all- I feel like the luckiest person in the world. seriously. I have the most amazing husband. the best group of friends. the most wonderful family. and now a baby girl on the way. I am just so blessed and so thankful for the people I have in my life. God has blessed me and I am so grateful for that. 

My mom got me this wine glass and tiara that sport the letters 3-0 :) Rest assured I am wearing this tiara to my family cook out tomorrow night. and I will be using my cup to drink my tasty lemonade :) 

Saturday Philip woke up and could tell I didn't feel well. He quickly went to Kroger to pick up my Zofran and got me some birthday pancakes :) After I started feeling better he told me to 'go get my purse' ( a popular saying in the Wilhoite family thanks to JC). i was confused at first because usually that means 'it's time to go'. But I went to the hall tree where my purse hangs. In place of my old purse was a gorgeous new one. He is always so good at picking out things like that, that I would never buy myself. I opened it up and was surprised to find sunscreen and a luggage tag inside. I was like 'what in the heck is going on...' at the bottom was a flight itinerary. To the beach. in TWO WEEKS. I sat there, shocked, for literally minutes. He said he was afraid I wasn't excited because I wasn't saying anything except 'i can't believe this'. and I still can't believe it! He had talked to my manager and worked out my schedule and switched one of his shifts to make this happen. So sneaky! and all week he has been making little comments about how sad it is that we wont be going to the beach again for a long time:) sneakster!!! :) 

I told Philip that I hoped our little girl found someone who is as good to her as he is to me. 

We are both so excited to have 5 days where we can just relax, enjoy each other and get away. We realize that once Baby Girl comes we might not get the chance to get away for awhile (which we are totally ok with)

We spent the rest of the day relaxing and looking at baby things:) We picked out all kinds of things for our little one and even found furniture we both love! 

That night we went to one of my favorite restaurants, Heirloom, in Midway. It was one of the best meals I have ever had. Philip said his was too, so dinner was a big success. He even tried one of their new desserts with chocolate covered bacon on top. 

sorry rachel-- i did not think it was good!


Here are some pictures from birthday dinner Friday night:

It was the best birthday I have ever had. Thank you to each one of you who made it so special to me. 

Gender Reveal

It is 8am on my 30th birthday, my husband is still sleeping, and I already feel like I have had the best birthday ever. 

Let's rewind to a little over a month ago. Philip and I both have been dying to find out what little bean is. Our actual doctor appointment isn't until we are 19 weeks. There are baby imaging places in Lexington that will do an 'early gender' ultrasound at 16 weeks. So we decided what better way to start my birthday weekend, than to find out what we are having! so we made an appointment at Baby Belly Spa for Aug 31. we didn't tell anyone, because we wanted to surprise them on my birthday weekend. and also because we were afraid you wouldn't be able to tell and didn't want people (or us) to be disappointed. so we started a baby countdown. 

I couldn't sleep Thursday night. (well, worse than lately for me). Friday morning I chugged the OJ, ate a Pop Tart and even had Diet Coke (which I rarely drink). I was determined to get baby moving so we could see what it was! 

We got there and in less than 5 minutes of me sitting on table, she said 'it's a girl!'. Philip said he wasn't surprised and could tell as soon as she put the wand on my belly, before she even said the words. She continued to do more shots and show us more parts of our baby girl. All the while Philip and I held hands and stared in awe at this small human growing in my belly. I mean, how can you see that and not believe there is a God? a wonderful, amazing creator who has woven this baby into existence. so amazing. 

her profile. 

her two little feet

just chillin'. legs stretched out, arm around her head. :)

Seeing her all sprawled out in here, I turned to Philip and said 'well that explains these muscle pains!'. 

We went outside, took a quick pic to send to a few close friends, and then headed to Meijer to make copies of the ultrasound pics and pick up some Mounds Bars:) 

ribbons and bows in the Overall House! 

get it?!:)

I had these waiting in car to give to our parents. 

at meijer printing pics

From there we headed to Josie's for my annual birthday lunch with my parents. They had no idea and were a bit confused I think when they opened their presents :) But they were both so happy, and Dad (who thought we were having a boy and named him Barney) coined her new name Barnette:) Mom is excited she has a color now for her knitting! :) 

We spent the rest of the day driving around. We went to see Philip's Dad, then his Mom, then to pick up our reveal cupcakes for my birthday dinner with our life group. His Dad said he always knew we were having a girl. His Mom is excited to start shopping:) 

Last night at my bday dinner at Guisseppi's- we brought cupcakes (nothing out of the ordinary). When we brought the cupcakes out, we told our friends that we had a surprise. That they would have to eat either cupcake to find out what we were having!!! 

Meg tore into hers- she was too excited to eat like a lady ;)

Thank you Trish at BabyCakes! 

It was such a fun, exciting day for us. We came home last night and Philip had celebration champagne. He dipped his finger in and i had a taste. and he let Jackson and maya have a taste too. the pet babies are excited to have a sister:)

It is so crazy to me that we are having a GIRL. that we are going to have a DAUGHTER. all my life, I have always thought I would have boys. I grew up with boys- it just seemed natural I would raise them. I know what to do with boys. Girls are a whole new ball game! I have to switch gears and change my frame of mind, that's all:)  As my best friend whitney said 'what are we going to do with a girl?!?!! I have been preparing for a boy!!' haha. 

 I am not disappointed in the least, we are both crazy excited about having pink, and ruffles and Barbies in the house. But I'm not going to lie and say i'm not a little nervous about it. Philip I know will be an amazing Dad to this little girl. I see him with this little pink bundle and tear up just thinking about it. I can't wait to see him with her. 

So, happy best birthday to me. as my grandma texted me this morning "Enjoy your last birthday as a princess. next year there will a new princess in the family". And I can not wait for her to get here!!! :)