Merry Christmas!

Me and the baby at 26 weeks



show off!



Another 26 week side view.
In case you don't count your time by weeks that is 6 1/2 months.



Thanksgiving



A picture of Trucker Troy on moving day... I couldn't resist!



And in case you haven't seen her, this is our kitty Rizzo :)

Wow where has the time gone? I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post! Sorry I am such a slacker lately. Things have been great but busy around here with Troy and I both working a ton and all of the festivities around the holidays. I'm getting really excited about Christmas! Only 2 more days! This year is strange since it is our last year as a couple without the baby. I am really trying to enjoy all of the moments especially right now since things will be different in just a few months. It's kind of scary to think of the big changes that will be taking place so soon. I am so excited to have the baby but to be honest I am a little sad to be losing some of the couple stuff that go away when it's no longer just the two of you.

Thanksgiving was great. Lots of yummy food and as always a fun time with the family. I remember early on in my pregnancy when I was so sick I was talking (ok almost crying) to my doctor about my nausea and I said I hoped I would be ok by Thanksgiving. Amazing that it's been so long since those days when at the time it felt as if they would never end! I'm feeling great now, completely morning sickness free. I do start to feel a little gross once in a while when I stay up too late but with me being as tired as I am we are rarely up past 10 anymore! I feel like such an old fart!

I am definitely popping out at this point to say the least. I went shopping with my friend Traci a few weeks ago and I asked her if people could tell I was pregnant by looking at me yet and she laughed at me. It's like you don't notice the changes in yourself as much because you see them every day but then you see someone who hasn't seen you in a while and it's obvious that you have definitely changed! It's fun and I am really enjoying being so visibly pregnant at this point. The last month has been drastic as far as that goes. At this point I'm just a week or so away from being in my third trimester and the baby is already over a foot long and about 2 lbs or so. No wonder things are growing!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with your friends and family. The next few weeks will be really busy for Troy and I so I will be able to get some more postings up soon. Troy's parents will be visiting us in the first weekend of January then we will be going to California for our baby shower the second weekend. January will be such a fun month! I can't wait! Until next time, take care! Love you all!

Holiday Fun

I thought you might get a kick out of this. It is me in the middle, my cousin Becky on the left and my cousin Amanda on the right. You have to check it out!


http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9622879287


(courtesy of my Aunt Lisa) Love you Aunt Lisa and all my wonderful cousins!!!! :) Can't wait to see you soon!!!!!!!!!

It's 85% a girl!

Well those are the odds, according to the second ultrasound I had last Friday. So, I am assuming we are having a girl (you can see that from the things we registered for) and Troy thinks "those aren't very good numbers" so he is not sure what he thinks the baby is yet! Oh well! If we are surprised in the delivery room then it will be fun too! Luckily everything is returnable!!!

I know I have been so bad about pictures so one of these days when you tune into my blog you'll be bombarded with pictures, but not today... sorry but it has been so much work getting our new place together and starting the new job and getting ready for the baby! I don't even know if our printer is up yet to scan our sonogram pictures from last week. I will bug Troy to get it up and running soon!

Like I said earlier we are registered for all of our baby wants and needs. We spent over 2 hours this past Saturday walking around Baby's R Us with the little scanning gun thingy. I had a blast!!! So you can feel free to go to www.babiesrus.com and check out our wish list! Just go to the area on the right that says Baby Registry and put in my name (Kristin Bartholomew in case you forgot the spelling!)

Anyway, until I have some more fun pictures to put up here this is all I can leave you with for now. I'll be back soon with some more pics of me and the family asap.

"It looks like a girl to me, but I could be wrong..."

So... yesterday was supposed to be the big day when we found out if it would be a little K or a little T coming into this world soon (but not soon enough!) After an hour or so doing an ultrasound we found out that our little baby does have all of the necessary parts, however, we don't know for sure if it has that "extra" part or not. The technician said that it looks like a girl to her but that she could be wrong... how reassuring!!! So, don't go out and buy out all of the pink stuff you can get your hands on just yet! We are going in for another ultrasound on a week from Friday because the little stinker wasn't cooperating for another part of it either... I'm guessing that it MUST be a little T! Haha... It was fun anyway and I am getting REALLY excited right about now. I can feel the baby move a TON and it was so reassuring to see all of the movement even during the ultrasound. I can feel him/her bouncing around all the time now. I can't wait till Troy can feel it too.

Another big thing that has been going on is that we finally moved into our new apartment. Last weekend we got all of our furniture and boxes over to the new place and then the fun began of opening them all up and finding places for everything to go. Why does it seem like half of the boxes are full of the "misc" stuff that really has no home of its own? So frustrating! I am just ready to get completely into the new place and have all of our stuff up. Hopefully by the end of next week!

I hope everyone is doing well! Sorry I've been MIA for the last couple of weeks... it's been crazy with all of the moving and such. I will try to keep this more updated from now on and I promise I will put up some of the ultrasound pictures as soon as our computer set-ups are all put together back home! Until them, it could be a girl.... :)

Even More News!!!

You might be thinking that we know if we have a boy or a girl right now. And if you are... sorry :( not yet, give it about 2 more weeks. But there is some new exciting news besides that. I talked before about Troy's new job and how we will be moving to Waukegan. That has caused some stress for me since I then needed to get some sort of a job as well. I had been thinking about substituting in the schools up there, like I was doing in Chicago, but then I realized that once the baby came I would be totally out of ideas of what to do. I had a day off this Tuesday and decided to start a serious job search in the almost-Wisconsin area that we will be moving to. I opened up my internet, went to a site that I use to look for jobs, and the first one there was a job that sounded very interesting to me. I called up the contact on the posting and scheduled a meeting with her about 2 hours later that same day. I drove up and discussed the job, we talked for about an hour. Then I scheduled a second interview for Friday. I went up Friday, spent 2 hours there, we both got all of our questions answered, and I was offered the job about 3 hours later on the phone! I have no idea how I got a job that quickly but I am very excited about it! I will be working at a Christian Day Care Center doing Kindergarten enrichment and an after-school program. I will work 11-6 (which works great for me since I HATE waking up early) and the best part about it is there is infant daycare starting at 6 weeks right there so I will only be 2 doors away from my little baby while I work! I figure then we can take our time in the morning, drive to and from work together, and it will be an answer to so many prayers! So the plan is I will start on Tuesday (I have to go get my work physical and TB test on Monday) and Troy starts his job on Monday! We will both be starting jobs within a day of eachother and we will be commuting out there together until our place gets rented and we can move out there for good. This time has been reminder after reminder of how God really is in control and you just need to let him. On that note, we are waiting for someone to sublet our apartment. We really need to get out there within the next couple of weeks so please pray that that happens soon!!!

Also, I figured I would update you on my upset stomach which is... dun dun dun duuuun.... going away! I am only sick in the very late afternoon if it has been a really taxing day. Other than that I am pretty good. It is such a relief to not feel so bad anymore.

oh, and did I mention I CAN FEEL THE BABY KICK! :)

Still Sick but Excited About the New News!

Well you can tell by the title that I am not in a wonderful place yet in my second trimester, even though it is already 1/3 done. I thought that my morning sickness would just go away but it really hasn't. I would say it has decreased by maybe 1/4 or 1/3 but that's it. It is also being replaced with a lot of headaches and being really tired all the time. This might have something to do with the class full of devils that I was put into for the last 2 weeks of subbing but I'm not positive! Besides the crappiness of my everlasting morning sickness I am getting some fun perks from being pregnant. For one thing, I totally show now which is nice. People are asking me and some don't even ask they just assume or know. My stomach is getting rounder every day to hold our little baby inside and it's exciting to get to wear maternity clothes and feel that my stomach is getting harder and more solid. I am also getting really excited about finding out what sex it is in 4 weeks!!! I can't wait! Then we can start figuring out what names to chose from. I told Troy last night that the day we find out the sex I want to go buy his/her "coming home from the hospital" outfit. I have had them picked out for like 2 months now! :) I know, I'm a dork.

Besides baby news we have some really exciting news!!! Troy has accepted a new position at a company called TC Furlong out in Lake Forest. For those of you who don't know where Lake Forest is, it is basically out by the huge Gurnee Mills outlet mall and Great America. We will be living in Waukeegan which is right next to Lake Forest. We will be so close to Wisconsin you can actually throw a rock and hit it! Ok, I am exagerating, but not by that much. We will almost be cheeseheads... oh well! The place where we will be living is BEAUTIFUL. Besides the actual living places being great there is also a heated pool, work out facility, tennis courts, clubhouse, internet cafe, business center, playground... it honestly feels somewhat like a resort. We are so excited to move out there and will be doing so sometime within the next month or so. For now we just need someone to sublet our current place, then, we're outta here! Can't wait to be in such a great neighborhood.

Well I guess that's about all the news right now. I will try to get some more pictures on here soon. I better get better about taking pictures when the baby comes!

Finally Starting to Show!

Take One - of course he has to do something weird


Take Two - and another weird one...


Take Three... I didn't trust him so I beat him to the punch!


Troy and I at Joe's Crab Shack. Yay for new hair!


The whole family eating lots of yummy food.


It's funny that for the first time in my life I actually WANT to have a belly! It's also funny that what has been called my stomach for the past 23 years has suddenly been changed to "belly." Weird. Anyway, I can finally feel like a pregnant mommy-to-be because I look like one (a little at least). I am still at the point where people kind of wonder... double take... don't stare... is she??? But those who do know see it and those who don't say "I was wondering but didn't want to say anything" when I tell them. It feels good and it is a fun time right now. I am into my second trimester and my nausea is getting somewhat better. I am only sick every other day, sometimes even only every 3rd day. What a relief! However now that my nausea is slowing down I am having a lot harder time sleeping because of indigestion and difficulty finding a good sleeping position. I am a big stomach sleeper but now it feels really weird and uncomfortable to lay on my stomach at night. And I am also afraid of sleeping on my back a lot because it can cause less oxygen to be pumped inside of me because of the weight of the baby and the uterus. I don't know if all of the "un-comfort" is all in my head or not but I am thinking that it is time to get a body pillow any day now!

With my stomach feeling a little better I have finally gotten to get out and do some fun stuff. A couple of weekends ago Troy and I went to Lake Geneva and did a little shopping and got some good food. I bought a book called "Urban Babies Wear Black" which is hilarious! I have also had a fun time shopping around getting ideas for a stroller, car seat, jumpy thing, high chair, crib, bassinet, changing table, glider, pictures, lamps, books, clothes... gosh, it takes a lot of stuff to keep such a little baby happy!!! I am so excited to get a baby's room started. We have cleared out the second bedroom and are going to use that for the little guy/girl. I figure when we find out in about 6 weeks we will paint it either pink or blue (depending on what we find out of course). That will be so fun!

This weekend was my dad's birthday and we went out for dinner to celebrate. I have a couple of pictures up of my family and us at dinner. No belly shots though, although Troy was comparing his to mine out in the parking lot... we said we were having twins! :) It was very funny.

Well, I am hoping to post more often now that I am not sick and now that I have more fun stuff to write about besides being sick. Sorry for the long delay but hopefully this was a fun one to read!

Thanks!

Hi Everyone!

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has sent us such cute things for the baby. I have gotten such cute clothes, blankets, towels, toys, books, and some beautiful sentimental things. I wrote out thank you cards a couple of months ago and have just never gotten to send them because of my weird schedule. I hope everyone understands that we are very greatful and I have simply been too sick to do any of my normal things but your kindess was in no way overlooked. Hope everyone is doing well and feel free to leave a comment to say hi and fill me in on anything new in your lives too!

12 Weeks!

Well today makes 12 weeks for me and the ol' baby in my belly! According to my baby website that keeps me up to date with my progress the baby is 2 inches long (about the size of a lemon). I don't completely understand the whole lemon thing (is it round like that too?) but nonetheless I guess it gives me some sense of the size. I am still not showing but am feeling like I am getting thicker and thicker around the waist every day. I am wearing mostly all maternity clothes now because nothing is comfortable and even though the maternity clothes are way too big I am just rolling down the panel and the rest fit just fine. It gives me that extra room that I need to make up for my "baby bloat" as I am calling it. Not quite as cute as a baby bump... :( The side-view picture of me was taken tonight to show you all exactly what I am talking about. I realize it is not the most flattering picture of me but I still thought you might enjoy seeing it. I will continue to update every few weeks or month to show you all my growing belly. Maybe one of these days it will finally be cute!





I also put in a few pictures of Troy and our cat Rizzo in case you haven't gotten to meet either of them. They were both taken tonight so everything on here is up to date. I promise to get some more pictures up soon. I have just been a little under the weather lately still and taking pictures is pretty much the last thing I think to do at night!

Food Cravings and Aversion

Well you have heard this before but I am still fighting the morning sickness and it is getting really old. My sister-in-law Jill told me to post the foods that I have had cravings for and to be honest there haven't been many. There have really been more aversions to certain things than anything. However I will make a top 5 list of foods just for your enjoyment :)


Top Foods I Have Wanted:
1. Cheeseburgers
2. Jimmy John's Sandwiches
3. Tacos from Taco Bell or Chipotle
4. Fudgesicles
5. Fried Shrimp w/a Baked Potato


Top Foods I Can't Even Think of Without Getting Sick
1. Chinese Food!
2. Salads
3. Anything Fried (except shrimp of course)
4. Meatloaf (and other large pieces of meat)
5. Honestly, pretty much anything homemade


So here are my top 5 foods for everyone to enjoy. I hope that the top list will expand soon and the bottom list will eventually go away. But for now, this is where I stand. I have also found it strange that I need to eat peppermint gum all day long... not sure why but the taste seems to help some. Well, I guess it's time to go try to figure out something that I can stand for dinner. I already had #2 and #3 from my list today so I will have to find something else to eat. Wish me luck...

"It hasn't hit me yet"

Did he really say that??? He sure did! Somehow, through all of my nights of being sick, all of the changes I have undergone, and even seeing our baby in motion my crazy husband actually said that it still hasn't hit him yet! This doesn't make me mad at all. In fact I couldn't help but burst out in laughter at his comment. It just goes to show that what everyone says really is right. Women feel the pregnancy much faster than men do. I have been sick for what feels like years and nothing in my closet fits me anymore. In fact I actually went clothes shopping this weekend and bought lots of maternity clothes because I was realizing that my "normal" clothes either bunch or gape or just plain stretch in ways they weren't designed to! I feel so much better now that I have pants made with elastic waist bands and shirts that I could fit a beach ball under. No more pre-pregnancy stomach scrunching jeans for me! I have moved on to bigger (not sure about better) things! :)

I am thinking that this little guy in my stomach might actually not be a guy at all. I have noticed that I am not getting a ball in front like some women but I feel like I am just spreading like those mirrors you stand in front of on Navy Pier where you are short and ball-like. Ok, ok I am exaggerating but still I am feeling like if these old wives' tales are true I will have a little girlie girl popping out of me in about 6 months!

I can't believe how fast the time is going. It seems like I just found out yesterday and in reality I have known for about 2 months now! Crazy! And still 2 months later it still hasn't hit Troy yet! Hahaha it just makes me laugh every time I think of him saying that.

Please feel free to leave me messages or questions or even stories of your own in the comments. It's easy and fun and makes the blog even more fun for me! If you have any good blog topics let me know. I'm not sure if this is totally boring to read or not so if it isn't, then enjoy! And if it is, give me some good ideas :)

Ultrasound Day!

Here are some cute pictures of our little baby! You can see his/her head and body and even an arm! It was so exciting to see what is living inside of me! Crazy. Just to let you know, even though the baby looks like a baby it is only 1 inch long! The black stuff around it is all amniotic fluid. The whole thing together is about the size of a grapefruit. Now aren't you impressed with how baby-like it looks?! :)















Here is a picture of me the day that we found out the big news. This is the third of four tests I ended up taking that day... I wasn't gonna be wrong about this one!

Hi Everyone!

I finally got my stuff together and started a blog to share our pregnancy with everyone! In case you didn't already know Troy and I are going to have a BABY!!! We found out in late July and as of today I am 10 weeks along (I think) but we will know better tomorrow because we are having our first ultrasound. We are having all of our prenatal care and our delivery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital downtown Chicago. This is our first baby and can't wait to see our new addition! I have decided to do this blog because so many people that we care about are all around the country and don't get to see all of the fun (and not so fun) parts of the next 7 months or so. So far it has been pretty crazy and I am thinking it's only going to get crazier.

Troy is working at Bang and Olufsen doing sales and he is doing awesome. I am so proud of him :) He is being a great provider and I know he will be a wonderful dad. Not only is he good at his job but he goes above and beyond what I could ever imagine at home. These last 5 weeks or so have been pretty interesting with all of the changes this pregnancy has had on my body. I have had morning sickness for over a month now and am a vetran at worshiping the "porcelain god." Don't worry - I will spare the details! But Troy has been so understanding and I know that I won't get to say this to people in person so I just want to share my greatfulness in this blog. I don't know what I would have done without him.

Besides the morning (and afternoon, and night, and ... you get the picture) sickness I haven't had too many bad things happening to me. I have had some physical changes (haha you might notice if you know me well) and most of all I have been really tired. This is unusual for me because I have always been an early riser (yeah right) and now I sleep for at least 9 hours a night if not more! I do enjoy sleeping though so I won't complain about that part. (Maybe now I just have an excuse for all of my sleeping)

For some reason I can't think of what else to say right now but I will probably think of more and update later tonight. I will put up pictures and videos soon too so you can do more than just read what I have to say. Feel free to leave comments. In fact, PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS! I would love to hear from everyone!

Take care and check back soon!
Love,
Kristin (and Troy) (and baby!)