Beach trip!

*warning* picture overload! :)

This past week my little family went on our annual beach vacation to Myrtle Beach! We of course look forward to this trip every year, but this year was undoubtedly one of the most memorable.  It was bittersweet due to the fact that this is our last trip as a family of four.  I can honestly say I totally took advantage of the rest and relaxation knowing next summer will be another story! ha! I was so proud of the girls, they were not afraid of the ocean at all this year and was able to play and truly enjoy it!  Aly's 12th birthday was on Thursday, so we were able to celebrate for the day with my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and niece.  Aly really enjoyed her day. <3  Every year, we dress the girls up and take them to the ocean in the evening and take pictures.  I love these pictures and the girls always have so much fun!

The man of my dreams <3

My sweet angels and I at dinner

Daddy and his girls

Sisterly laughter! Melts my heart.

Daddy will always hold your hand.

Keep off! Ha!

Showing off our bumps! 

Brothers :) lol

Aly, Blake, and Macy 

The girls with their hermit crabs: Crabby, Crackly, Shelly, and Hermy

I love my little family! 

16 weeks

How Far Along: 16 weeks

Size of baby: baby is the size of an avacado avg. 4.6 in and 3.5 oz

He/She is busy growing eyebrows and listening to mommy's voice! 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Still loss of 3 lbs. I think...

Maternity Clothes: None yet. But soon. I purchased the ca-utest skirt from Old Navy and I declare I will wear it now, during, and waaay after pregnancy. Don't judge. :) It doesn't even look like a maternity skirt! Will take a pic soon!

Gender: Not yet, hopefully 2 more weeks!

Stretch marks: None

Movement: Nothing yet, Can't wait! I thought I felt a quickening on Friday, but completely unsure.  It may have just been a bubble because it only happened once.  I am patiently (ha!) waiting!

Sleep:  Still sleeping great  

What I miss: Nothing!

Cravings: None this week, not even spicy!

Symptoms: Morning sickness stayed away all but 3 days this week! Praying the next week there is none. :)

 Best Moments this week:  Listening to my sweet baby's heartbeat on the doppler.  My stepdaughters came today and was able to hear it as well.  Such a sweet memorable moment.  I told them the baby could hear us as well now and he/she will learn our voices.  Both girls decided it was important to introduce themselves to our sweet angel. Oh how I love my family. 

Picture this week is a little blurry. :)

Just for fun...

Ok, this post is just for fun. :) I decided to do some "old-wives tales" about gender prediction and a few others just to see what result I may come across.  I know all of these have a 50% accuracy rate, but what fun it was to do them! I must add here, I of course will be happy with either gender.  We are only praying for a healthy baby. :) These are just for fun and curiosity.

1) The FIRST gender prediction "test" I have is straight intuition. My intuition points towards boy.  I can truly only think of everything boy.  I am having a hard time thinking of me with a girl. I only find myself looking at boy nurseries, boy clothes, and boy registry items. They say that a mother's intuition is 70% accurate. If I have a girl, I would be ecstatic, I love my girls! Poor Tony, the house will be full of tutus and hairbows!  If I have a boy, poor me, they will always be gone fishing and hiking!  Hmmm. We shall see.

2)  The first "real" test I did was the Chinese Gender Predictor Test. According to the calculator, my lunar age at the time of conception was 31.  What it says exactly:  You are 31 years old in the 3rd lunar month (Mar. 22 ~ Apr. 20) Therefore, if you look at the chart I posted below, age 31 in the 3rd lunar month says a BOY.

Lunar Month
Mother's Age	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45

girl    boy

3)  I then did the wedding band on the hair test.  This is when you place a piece of the mother's hair through her wedding band and hold the strand with the band 'dangling' over the mother's palm.  Hold it very still.  If the band swings in a circle, you are having a girl, if it swings back and forth you are having a boy.  Result:  It went back and forth, so...BOY.

4) The last test I did was the IntelliGender Test from Walgreens.  This says 70% accurate, but we all know, it's 50% just like the rest of the tests. However, I wanted to take it to see if it contradicted the other tests I took.

The test is obviously dark green which clearly states that the result is: BOY.

According to my gender poll, 85% of you think Butter Bean will be a boy and all of these say boy. There is still time to vote if you haven't yet. :)  We will find out "for sure" hopefully in 2 weeks!  If we have a beautiful princess, I will be overjoyed! If we have a little prince, I will be ecstatic.  Either way, I am so excited to bring this little bundle of joy into the world and can not wait until December!  

Sonoline B Fetal Doppler

I ordered a fetal doppler last week and could not wait for it to be delivered! I ordered if for two reasons, 1. I really want my stepdaughters to be a vital part in the pregnancy. Hopefully they will be able to go with me to an ultrasound, but I really wanted them to hear the heartbeat.  The pregnancy and birth of a baby is such a special sweet miracle to teach them. And 2. I really needed the peace of mind that goes along with hearing my polar bear's heartbeat.  After suffering through miscarriage, I have found that I worry about this pregnancy much more. I have placed this pregnancy in the Lord's hands, yet the human in me still has thoughts that scare me. Having this doppler so I can listen to my rainbow baby's heartbeat has lifted a burden off of my shoulders. Plus when sweet hubby and I listened together last night in the comfort of our own home, we had such an overwhelming connection to the baby. I love my sweet hubby so much and can not wait to hold our precious little one.

On to the doppler.  I had USPS confirmation and updates throughout the shipment.  Of course I checked updates constantly and was ecstatic yesterday morning when it said "9:40 out for delivery" Woo! Hoo! I waited patiently for my mail lady to drop off my mail. At around 1:00 here she comes.....and there she goes. No drop off! What?!?! I know I had a box in that car! It said so on USPS.com! :) So what did this impatient mama do? Why, I called the Post Office of course.  I gave the lady who answered the phone my tracking number and phone number.  She said most definitely it should have been delivered and she probably just forgot about it.  Of course, they can't forget about my bills, but they can forget my doppler! ha! The sweet lady at the post office said she would get in contact with my mail lady and have her bring it back on her way through and she would call me back. So I waited, thinking she would call back within the next few minutes.  I  checked my phone to make sure it was working. lol. I went about my day, accepting the fact that I would probably receive it the next day. When low and behold, 3 hours later, my phone rang.  It was my mail lady calling me personally. She put it in the wrong mailbox. haha! Here's the thing, and it is perfectly ok. My brother-in-law (who's last name is Deal) lives across the street. His address ends in 8, mine in 3.  See the confusion? The mail lady was so apologetic and sweet. I'm going to have to do something for her, maybe make cookies? I don't know, but she was so kind.  I walked, or maybe ran, across the street and there it was! I declare, it didn't take me 5 minutes to get it open and try it out!

Type:  Sonoline B Ultrasound Fetal Doppler 3Mhz (I chose the Sonoline B after having it recommended by another preggo friend :)

Where did I order from:  www.fetaldoppler.net

Colors:  Comes in blue or pink. (I ordered pink because I am unsure of the sex, and well I'm a girl :)

Price: retails for $299.95, purchased for $55.95 with free shipping (Walgreens online sells for $119.99)

Comes with:  2 AA batteries (nice, what item ever comes with batteries?), a tube of ultrasound gel and a 1 year warranty

Online Description:  
* Powerful built-in speaker for listening the heartbeat without headphones 
* Easy to read LCD with on/off backlight 
* Clear digital fetal heart rate display 
* Uses 2 AA size batteries which are easy to find (2 new Batteries are included) 
* Auto-off feature & low battery consumption to ensures hours & hours of usage 
* Battery icon which indicates how much battery is left 
* Headphone jack for listening to the heartbeat 
* Weights only 180g with the batteries inserted 
* Compact design with buttons which are design to withstand repeated usage without wearing out or breaking 
* Units features 3 easy to operate modes :
Mode 1 : a heart icon is displayed when the heartbeat is detected and the real-time hear t rate is displayed numerically
Mode 2 : a heart icon is displayed when the heartbeat is detected and it averages the heart rate for a more stable reading
Mode 3 : this mode allows the user to calculate an average heart rate over a specific period of time by manually pushing a button to start & stop the time

Would I recommend?: Definitely! I was able to find the heartbeat fairly quickly (mainly because I am already 15 weeks) It was fun chasing my butter bean around! He/She was in the middle, then I would lose the heartbeat (HB). I would find the HB on the left side, then the right! Active little thing! Love it. <3

15 weeks

How Far Along: 15 weeks, almost 4 months!

Size of baby: baby is the size of a navel orange avg. 4 in and 2.5 oz

He/She is busy squirming and wiggling! 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Still loss of 3 lbs.  Weighed at home this morning and according to my scale, weight is still the same.

Maternity Clothes: None yet.

Gender: Not yet 

Stretch marks: None

Movement: Nothing yet, Can't wait!

Sleep:  Sleeping great  

What I miss: Sushi, again! Spicy Tuna Roll sounds DEVINE right now! 

Cravings: Still craving spicy. 

Symptoms: Morning sickness was NON-EXISTENT this week! Feeling great and able to eat my meals without worry! Loving this! Actually extremely surprised I haven't gained weight this week due to being able to eat more....

 Best Moments this week:  The fact that morning sickness has left!

We had a terrible wind storm come through Friday which knocked out our power all weekend until Sunday afternoon.  And with 100-102 degree weather, staying at home was unbearable! Most businesses in our area were closed due to power, so we headed to the lake! We had a blast..ate..swam..and just enjoyed family. Although, I have to say, I was so glad when our AC began working again! Special thanks to sweet hubby for saving all the food in our fridge and freezers! He is so good to me! <3  

No picture this week, my 15 week mark was on Sunday and well...without power, let's just say this  mama was looking a little bit sub par! Ha! And I haven't noticed any change this week. If anything, my bloated baby bump has gone down a bit. :)

Edit: Decided to add a picture from 15w 2d. :)