I'm pregnant!

My mantra for the last few months :)

After we had Cambridge, Lance and I both decided we would wait a good few years before welcoming baby #3 into our family. With how incredibly sick I get, my pregnancies are a huge disruption to our lives and have taken a very serious toll on my health. So waiting seemed like a wise decision and felt right for the happiness (and sanity!) of our little family, and essential to my health. I was delighted for the break and excited to have my body be mine for a couple of years.

Little did we know!

I honestly didn't even suspect I was pregnant. It was Lance who first noticed something may be going on. But I quickly hushed his fears. My good friend, Jessica, was actively trying to get pregnant and after we went running together she insisted I go home and take a pregnancy test.

Positive!

I have never been so shocked in my entire life. It's incredible how in control of your life you believe you are until something like this happens. We were smacked ab in the middle of building our new house, things have been absolutely crazy at work for Lance, not to mention I still hadn't figured out how to manage the two children we already have. This baby and Cambridge will be less than 2 years apart.

Remember my very last post about life's trials and how thankful I am for them because they make me a better person? Yeah. I wrote that before I knew I pregnant. If you really want a good laugh, go read it again :). But on a serious note, fear kind of overtook my life once I found out I was pregnant. The fear was almost as debilitating as the sickness (panic attacks, anyone?). Its the most insufficient I have ever felt compared to life's challenges. I also felt a lot of guilt for all the things I wouldn't be able to do, and the amount of help we would need from friends and family.

After 3 months of indescribable 24/7 nausea, losing 10 pounds, body aches, crazy amounts of throw-ups, lots and lots of meds, loads of tears, and incredible amounts of help from our amazing family, I am finally starting to pull out of the misery and I am so very thankful for this sweet little baby growing inside me. I really do know now, more than ever, that my Heavenly Father knows me personally and has a master plan for my life that my finite mind cannot comprehend.

Coming out of the sickness is like coming out of a dark cave and getting a second lease on life- I have never been so sure of my mission, my ability to affect change and have a positive impact in the world, and the importance of staying close to the Spirit and serving others. I feel immeasurable gratitude for my incredible husband, who has been my absolute rock through it all, and for our wonderful family and friends who rushed to our aid and gave without question and without end, expecting nothing in return.

Seriously folks, I am a very lucky gal- and I surely don't deserve it.

13 weeks

This has been my look for a few months: no makeup, spandex, bun.

These two have been incredibly resilient through mommy being sick! 

My heart already feels like it will simply burst with love for them! I cannot

wait for another little bundle.

As way of an update, the house is so SO close to being done! It's been a long 8 months of construction,

and we definitely didn't do it the easy route, but it's coming together beautifully. We were hoping to be

 in by Christmas, but we will just miss it and will be in before the New Year. Here are a few progress photos.

 The outside is all finished now, we really just need to finish painting, get carpet installed, countertops

and hardware/plumbing fixtures installed.

The wood floors that were cut and milled from a 150 year old tree on my grandpa's farm.

Laundry room tile.

Master bathroom cabinets being installed.

Faux brick chimney. My dad and brother Austin 

made the stucco look like brick.

Can you even believe how real it looks?

They are so incredibly talented at everything they do.

We finished the basement apartment a month or so ago and our good friends Josh and Jessica Halls moved in! It's the same Jessica that told me to take a pregnancy test and now we are due within a week of each other! We feel really blessed to have such great friends and renters living downstairs.

Well, I think that about covers it!

I'm hoping I just get feeling better and better over the next few weeks. What I have now is what (I think) is normal morning sickness- I throw up first thing every single morning, but feel better after I eat and take my meds. I still feel really nauseous every evening for a few hours, but this is totally doable compared to 24/7 nausea. Thank goodness for Zofran and Unisom because I would still be a puking machine without them!  

Merry Christmas! I'll update again in a few weeks after we've settled into the new house :)