Cloth Diapering 101

Here are two blogs that I greatly enjoy reading and their explanations of Cloth Diapering. They are very easy to understand and actually make me excited about going the Cloth Diaper route. Let me know if you have questions. Check out these blogs, you will like them!

http://simplemom.net/tag/cloth-diapering-101/

http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2009/03/guest-post-cloth-diapering-101-part-1.html

29 Week Update...

Wow! Time has flown by! I can't believe that it has already been 29 weeks of pregnancy. I will post a new baby bump picture in its full glory soon! I promise. Sorry for the long silence. It is hard for me to update my blog even though I desire to more. Working 8-5 and trying to be a good wife and have friends can be a very busy life. We have been thinking about everything we need to do to get ready for the baby. I need to register and arrange the nursery. I did register online at www.babyearth.com. We have decided to go the cloth diaper route and I am mainly asking for cloth diapers from those who want to get us something but don't know what to get us. You can find our registry on their website and just put my name in the boxes. I want to find a blog to share with you all that helped me so much on understanding the use of cloth diapers. There are about 4 different kinds available out there. When I find it, I will post it on here!

Yesterday, I had my midwife appointment. From here on out I will go in for an appointment every two weeks. I can't believe I have made it to this point. I did receive some disappointing news yesterday. Seems that my midwife, whom I love, has recently received the job offer of her dreams in Maine with a pay increase and is going to be leaving in late August. Well, since I am not due until mid Sept. that means that I will need to switch practices. I will still deliver at the same hospital, but since the practice that I have been going to only has one midwife, she has suggested that if I want to still have a natural birth to switch practices. Therefore, I will go to another midwife who is also highly recommended and respected around here, but disappointed to loose my midwife and have to go through this headache! AHHHH!!!! Also, I failed my glucose test by one point and my midwife suggested that I go in for the three hour glucose test. I think I will refuse and just watch what I am eating. I am not worried nor do I feel that I have gestational diabetes. I have been loving the desserts lately, but other than that I eat really healthy. Therefore, I will just lay off on the desserts. haha! Well, until next time, which hopefully will be sooner than later! Much Love!

IT'S A GIRL!!!

That's right, I am having a girl! I knew it all along. I just felt like I had an instinct! I even told Matt on the day that we found out that I thought it was going to be a girl. I knew he wanted a first born son, but I reminded him that girls are usually daddy's little girls to encourage him. haha! Not much has been going on lately. I have been getting the nesting syndrome. haha! Making tasks lists and envisioning how I want to re-arrange our condo to make room for the baby. Can I just say, yard sell?!?! Anyway, we are extremely excited and still can't believe that we are going to be parents soon. I will post some more recent pictures soon! I can't believe there are only 15 weeks left! It has flown by!

I also wanted to share with you all a little bit about my passion for organic good quality food. I believe in helping out the local farmers and supporting them locally. Plus the taste is unbeatable. There is a blog that I greatly enjoy reading on green living! She is such a help for me because I am still learning. You can check out her blog at www.passionatehomemaking.com. She is giving away soap nuts, they are a green/natural product that grows on trees and cleans our laundry. Amazing! God has provided us with this fruit. That is so cool. Go to her blog to enter to win!

Little Movements

So, I know I haven't posted to this blog in such a long time. haha! But I am posting three times in one day to try and catch up! haha! I have more pictures on my facebook page if any of you are on facebook and want to see more pictures from South Carolina or more preggy pictures. Anyway, I did want to write a quick note about the little movements that I have been feeling for almost two weeks now. It is so sweet that I have already started to feel baby M move around in there. Although, like I said, from seeing our ultrasound I knew that baby M was very active. When I was home in South Carolina, my cousin told me that I needed to be very in tune with my body and that I would start feeling little flutters. So I listened to her, and well, it feels more like bubbles and gas to me. haha! But I know that it is the baby moving. I started feeling it in the middle of my 16th week. I am actually very in tune with my body, so that is good because I can distinguish between baby movements and gas, which most first time moms have a hard time distinguishing between the two. It has been really sweet. I have also started having a cup of coffee a day and I am sure this just makes baby M even more energetic in there. haha! I forgot to mention that my parents gave me some money to go on a shopping extravaganza while I was at home. I got lots of fun and pretty maternity clothes while in Myrtle Beach. Most of them, well most of the shirts still swallow me whole, but they give me losts of growing room. I pull most of the shirts down as far as they go and if they tie, then I tie them as tight as I can! haha! I will fill them out soon, I know!

This picture is me at 18 weeks, wearing one of my favorite new outfits. This is one of the shirts that swallow me right now and I pull it all the way down so that it doesn't look so big and blousy. :-)

South Carolina Trip

So during our last appointment, we recorded the heartbeat for my Mom and Dad to hear since they live so far away from us. We also had ultrasound pictures from our peek. It takes us 10 hours to get to my parents house from Louisville. We decided to go to South Carolina for 10 days and over Easter. It was a great trip, very fun and so good to see my family. I haven't been home since last Thanksgiving. I definitely wanted my family to see my belly before I went into labor. They couldn't miss seeing me during my whole pregnancy. My Mom is definitely coming to stay with us for a week when the baby is born. She is going to buy a plane ticket to get here. It will be her first time to ever fly. Hopefully, the rest of my family will drive up over a long weekend and visit and then my Mom and ride back to SC with them. We watched a lot of movies with my family, played Family Feud on DVD, grilled out a lot, and ate at some fun places in Loris, North Myrtle Beach, and Conway. Matt and I were able to have a special time for just the two of us while we were in SC. We were able to spend a long weekend in Charleston, SC. I absolutely love Charleston. It is so beautiful. The city has so much history and charm. We walked around a lot and ate a lot. We are praying about moving to South Carolina for a year before we move overseas, when Matt finishes seminary and maybe even Charleston. Matt only has 30 hours left, so we think we will be in Louisvlle for about another year and a half. He has already registered for classes this semester. This makes me a little nervous. There are going to be a lot changes going on all at once for us. Matt will be working full-time, taking 9 hours at the seminary and we will have our baby. WOW!!! We are definitely in for a surprise! haha! We couldn't be happier though. We are finding out what we are having in two weeks. I will keep you all updated!!! :-) Everything still feels so surreal, even though I have heard the heartbeat, seen a peek, and even felt movements. Pray that God would prepare us to be godly parents. Relying on Him daily- Ashley for the Fam

(Matt in the above picture is at the Waterfront Park in Charleston, SC. I am in the blue shirt in Myrtle Beach-16 weeks, purple shirt and gray dress-18 weeks)

Baby M

I had my second midwife appointment on April 1st and we heard the heartbeat again! It was such a joy. We also got to see a peek at our little one. We had an ultrasound for free last time. That was so exciting. Our little one is definitely active in there, doing all sorts of turns and flips. We had pictures of the ultrasound, but I think I left them in South Carolina or lost them on our trip somewhere. I am feeling pretty great these days. I have lots of energy and some new maternity clothes that fit well. I am able to stay up pretty late and hang out with Matt. Please continue to pray for the job hunt. He is still searching hard for a full-time job to support our family! Our next midwife appointment is in two weeks where we will find out what we are having! So exciting! I am 13 weeks in this picture!

First Appointment

Hey everyone,
Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I am pretty bad at this, but I promise I will try to get better! haha! I had mentioned that my first midwife appointment was on March 4th. It was a good visit. Our midwife took a lot of time to explain everything she was doing and to talk to us. She made us feel really comfortable. We really liked her. We were also able to hear the baby's heartbeat! Yay!! What an incredible moment that was, just hearing that heartbeat knowing that there is someone growing inside of you. The heart was beating so fast too. A funny thing was that when the midwife was using the Doppler, she could pick up radio stations and cell phone conversations on my belly. Needless to say, our child is already a genius. haha! After my appointment, we went to Clark Memorial Hospital where I will be giving birth. It is such a nice hospital. We are excited about it. On my next visit I will tour the labor and delivery floor. I had to give lots of blood and they had to run a lot of tests while I was there. Then to finish off the afternoon right, we found Five Guys and ate a very yummy, greasy, burger and fries. It was a treat, because even though I want to eat that like everyday, I try to refrain and eat healthier.

On another note, I am 12 weeks, uncomfortable in my clothes and having dizziness. I am going shopping this weekend for a few new shirts and definitely buying the bella band. PTL!!! Relief is coming soon! haha!