And the Baby is.........

Are you ready for our big announcement? Are you holding on to the edge of your seat with anticipation? Is it a girl or a boy? Would any of you know by looking at the last picture because I sure as heck wouldn't have known unless a trained technician was informing me of what I was seeing:). lol. In five months time Joey and I will be welcoming a precious little GIRL into this world!!!!!!!!!!! As you all know, Joey and I didn't really have any super strong feelings one way or another as to what we might be having but, I did have 3 dreams that I was having a boy and I am carrying rather low so most people including Joey and myself kinda leaned towards the idea that we might be having a boy. But, not so! lol. Joey is going to spoil this little girl rotten and she will love him to pieces. I try and encourage him to remember that she may even pick up on his bass fishing obsession which would rock his world:). haha Our friends Brian and Lindsay from our church are due to have a little girl the early part of March, our other friends Evan and Jennifer are also due the early part of March and lastly another set of our friends Todd and Lindsey are due in Febuary. 3 of the babies coming next year in our church will be girls and only one will be a boy! haha. I am so excited to have a little girl and I pray that she and I will be close friends as she grows up and more than anything that she will love the Lord with her whole heart! We couldn't be happier!!! Oh, and don't you like how her fingers are flashing us a loser sign in the first picture. hahahah She is already displaying her lively sense of humor!!!

CAN'T WAIT TO MEET YOU LITTLE PRINCESS!

Belly at 18 weeks-ish

The pictures of Joey and I and my belly were taken yesterday evening so two days shy of my 18 week mark. My belly hasn't grown much since 16 weeks but, my uterus has definitely grown and stretched higher up my waist line. The baby is kicking like crazy all the time all day long and the kicks have gotten stronger in the past two weeks. As I speak this active kid is kicking away. I definitely think he/she will have daddy's energy not mine:). lol. I wanted to take a picture with my hubby to document the growing belly with him but, also to give him credit for being the most amazing husband any girl could ask for!!! My love for him has grown ten fold since I became pregnant. Joey has stepped up to the plate in ways I never expected and has served me tirelessly in any way I need him. He has gotten me food to satisfy my cravings at the drop of a hat, given me countless shoulder and neck messages to help keep my headaches at bay, he talks to the baby and tries to feel it kick, he helps me clean on a daily basis without complaint and he works so hard for our growing family. Last week he bought me not one, not two but, three boquets of flowers just to show me how much he loves me. I feel so loved, so blessed and so grateful to have such a funny, handsome man to walk through this journey into parenthood with. Love you babe!!

Music that Stirs Us

A friend of mine gave me a CD by Kim Walker a while back and I didn't get around to listening to it right away but, when I finally took the time to listen to it and actually listen to each and every word in her songs I was captivated. Joey and I love the Lord with all our hearts and we love going to church and hearing powerful sermons and listening to beautiful worship songs but, getting through the week can be tiring due to the daily grind and it can be easy to forget to sing praises day in day out. I am so thankful for people who have the gift of putting praise and passion into song for the Lord. Listening to songs such as these sung by Kim Walker resonate deep within my soul and renew my passion and my love for Jesus. I cannot imagine living my life without his support, guidance, love, forgiveness and mercy. Thank you Heather for introducing me to Kim Walker and thank you Lord for loving us!!

Cute

Isn't this the cutest little bear and honey pumpkin decoration! Joey and I are going to pick up two pumpkins this weekend and carve them together. I don't do scary Halloween stuff so I am carving fall leaves on my pumpkin (got the idea from BHG magazine) and Joey is carving a bass fish on his:). Should be a fun time! I also promise to put up more belly shots next week to capture my 18th week of pregnancy. I don't think I look any bigger yet but, somehow I feel bigger and my back hurts more so maybe the growth is too gradual for me to notice at this point. I will add that my neighbor asked if I was pregnant yesterday and it actually felt good to be recognized as preggo and not fat for a change! haha. I don't have anything else to share but, felt that I couldn't let the week end without a little post:). Happy weekend to you all!

Boy or Girl...Voting Time:)

Joey and I have had a lot of back and forth thoughts on what the gender of this baby might be. At first we both felt like it was inevitable that it would be a boy because so much of Joey's family is boys but, then based on other feelings we started leaning towards thinking that we are having a girl. All that to say that we have no idea whatsoever and we are 100% okay with that. I will add that I have had 3 dreams that we are having a boy but, I truly don't feel like God was trying to tell me anything in those dreams. I just chalk them up as ordinary dreams. So, that might change your vote but, try and go with your own gut. What do you think?? I really want to know:). We find out October 28th in the morning so I will be keeping you posted of course. We are so excited to find out! (I tried to add an actual poll but they all kept spamming me so I guess a one word comment in the comment box will have to suffice:). No wrong answers. This is just for fun!

Weekend

Joey had his second to last fishing tournament this weekend. He did great pre fishing on Saturday but, didn't have quite as much luck on Sunday when the actual fish counted. The picture above is of a 5 to 6 pound bass that he caught on Saturday and is the biggest fish he has ever caught at this particular lake so it made his day and mine:). It was so cold this weekend! The morning temperatures were in the high 30's low 40's and it didn't get much above that all day so the boys were freezing on the lake to say the least. Joey is still in second place in his club and he has one more tournament next month before the season ends. He has had a blast fishing and traveling to new lakes with this group of bass enthusiasts and I couldn't be happier for him:).
I went out to lunch and shopped a little bit with Joey's sister Jessica on Saturday and she found this ridiculous hot dog costume hanging in the bed and bath section that we couldn't resist trying on:). hahaha. It cracked me up seeing Jessica in the costume so I had to try it on too:). Totally hides my belly so I wonder if I should wear it for the next 6 months?? lol.

Church was awesome yesterday as was our high school Huddles (bible study group) last night. Joey and I are having a blast leading the bible study for 17 and 18 year old guys and gals. It has really gotten us more engaged in our bible reading all week and gotten us connected with more people from our church. It's something that I feel like I should have gotten involved in a long time ago but, I guess better now than never!

Yes, the baby is most definitely kicking now:)

I hope this picture isn't TMI for you sensitive folks but, I just have to say that it blows my mind that a baby a mere 5 inches in size could already be kicking me and I be feeling it so distinctly! Yesterday I was doubting myself because I had just assumed that it would be another few weeks at least before I felt any flutters but, today my doubts have been completely ERASED. Anyways, being my first child this is a bizarre feeling and it has definitely added a new level of awe to this pregnancy for me which I have so needed. I sometimes forget I am pregnant but, I will not be able to forget anymore with this punkin' reminding me that he or she is there! i would also like to point out that a lot of people have likened a baby's kicks to butterflies (it is a hard feeling to describe) but, for me it simply feels like someone is very gently tapping on the inside of my tummy...Heaven perhaps:). Just had to share because this has really blessed me today:).

Drumroll....Belly at 16 weeks...Ta Da

For all of you who have so patiently been waiting: I'm embarrassed that my belly is so massive at only 16 weeks but, oh well as long as the babe is happy right:). lol I am happy to say that the worst part of my morning sickness seems to have passed! I am not completely nausea free but, it is so much better than it was that I really cannot complain about it anymore. I have had a couple of good days this week that my mood seems to be less depressed but, I had that happen last month for a day too so I am not sure if the depression is passing or if this is just an okay day. I'll keep you posted on that. I have been having cramping daily which just lets me know that this uterus just keeps stretching out...a good sign:) and sleeping on my back for long periods of time gets a little uncomfortable now. Still tired a lot too but, that is the sum of my symptoms these days. To be honest, I thought I felt the baby move as I sat in my office chair today. I know no one will probably believe me because this is so early in a pregnancy but, I am pretty sure that is what I was feeling for about 5 minutes. I'll let you know if I feel anymore kicks in the coming days. Anyways, regular pants no longer fit me and my good friend Elissa was kind enough to loan me some of her adorable maternity clothes and Joey's Aunt bought me a pair of comfy yoga type pants that I love too:). So now I have some more comfortable things to wear! Thanks Elissa and Kathy! I'll have to buy a few things here sooner or later:) This belly is going to be humongous!! lol

Dakotabug

I bought this ladybug costume for Dakota last year but, she was so small then that it was like a tent on her. This year it fits her perfectly but, she absolutely hated it which is understandable. Well, lucky for her we will have a child to humiliate and dress up as our little hearts desire next Halloween so she will be off the hook. All Dakota wanted to do was be curled up in my lap so she could wallow in her misery. hahaha. You can see in the bottom picture where they shaved her leg for the IV. If you want to see the tummy scar just let me know and I will post a picture of it. It is quite large so don't be surprised! We only left the costume on her for a few minutes and I'm sure it will never get worn again but it was still worth it as Joey and I had a great laugh at her expense:).

A couple pics

These are a few of the pictures that were taken at the pumpkin patch in Virginia Beach when I visited my great friends Elissa and her two boys Logan and Austin and Laura who flew in from California with her son Brayden (the cutie pie in the last couple of pictures) this past weekend. I had such a wonderful time catching up with them and I absolutely loved spending time with their boys. I wish we could all get together more often! Miss you already Laura and Brayden and thank you for coming out here!

Isn't it Ironic

Joey and I are hoping that things are going to relent a bit after a good couple months of chaos. Most of you know that Joey got a bizarre sickness that laid him out with extreme fatigue and headaches for 6 days. Anyone who knows Joey at all knows that nothing slows him down so we were both very concerned as were many family members and friends. Joey had blood work and a cat scan done after a few days and praise God the cat scan came back normal and the only abnormality with the blood work was something we hadn't even considered, extremely high cholesterol. I asked the nurse if by "high" she was just trying to scare us or if the numbers were in fact "high" so she proceeded to read the numbers off to me and they are definitely not where they should be. So, although we aren't exactly sure how the high cholesterol and Joey's symptoms correlate and maybe they don't at all we do think it was a blessing to have that warning so that we can begin to do something about it. Obviously diet and exercise are top priority now but, also if this is a genetic deficiency then medication will be required. I am so thankful that they found it out now while Joey is young and we can be proactive about it! Praise God for that and thank you all for your prayers, support and phone calls as it was a trying time. Joey is just now starting to get his energy back which is wonderful!

I got sick just shortly after Joey began to recover last Sunday night. I got some sort of 48 hour type yacking flu. I would like to add that I haven't yacked since I was like 12 years old or something like that so it definitely caught me off guard and since I am pregnant I think my body took it harder than it would have normally. The 48 hour flu ended up being more like a 4 day body beating that took me out of work a couple of days this week as well. Whew!

So, now that Dakota has had her turn with sickness, Joey has had his turn and I have had my turn, hopefuly, in Jesus name, we can put all sickness behind us for the rest of the year! We shall see:)....

Anyways, speaking of irony, along with sickness comes financial burden, or at least in the Martinez household it has. For the record I am not looking for pity here or handouts just trying to share a story:). Anyways, we are of course expecting a child in just six short months which brings it's own massive pile of financial curveballs but, then we had Dakota's vet and surgery bills, Joey cat scan bill and doctor bills an unexpected car tax bill and state department bills, a sister get married, amongst other odd and random bills all within a one month period. Yes, I realize all this is life and I am not complaining, well, not yet. haha. So, last night Joey and I had a bible study with our friends from church and we were talking about how important it is to have a righteous attitude and a praiseworthy attitude even when our lives are in a funk. More specifically, we discussed the bible verse, Philippians 4:8. "Finally, brethren, whatever things ae true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on such things." In other words, our thoughts are just as important as what comes out of our mouths. Our thoughts often dictate the things we say and the actions we take and God is asking us to be careful about what we think about and how we think. Joey and I really enjoyed the bible study and drove home late last night talking about how to apply that message to our current circumstances and we enjoyed the reminder to take care that our thoughts don't get out of hand. We were encouraged and praising God together when all of a sudden those blaring blue lights that belong to the tops of cop cars in North Carolina swirled behind us. Joey and I were both very confused because we did not think that we had been speeding and we wondered what we had done wrong. As we waited for the officer to get to our window we couldn't help but chuckle at the irony of the moment and the odd timing of the ticket we would soon be handed. The officer basically told us that we had been going 51 in what we were sure was a 45 zone but, in fact the officer told us had been a 35 zone for about 3 country houses of road and then became a 45 zone again. I couldn't help but shake my head as the officer handed us that hefty bill of a ticket, and I kept saying to myself, "Think noble thoughts, think praiseworthy thoughts, think pure thoughts" over and over again. haha.

In spite of it all, Praise God because we are so blessed! We have a roof over our heads, food in our stomachs, hot running water, cars to drive, health that we really can't or at least shouldn't complain about, jobs to get us by, and we know so many wonderful people that fill our lives with joy. We are rich by any standard other than the American one:). Thank you for all the well wishes, support, encouragement, flowers, cards, gifts and just for sticking by us through it all. Joey and I couldn't be more thankful or more blessed than we are!

In other news that will make you smile: I have lots of pictures coming in just a day or so. I know they are LONG overdue! Our USB cable for our camera fried so we are waiting for our new one to come in the mail. I will post my first blossoming belly shot at 16 weeks, pictures of the now happy healthy Kota Mota, my visit to see my friends Laura and Elissa and their kids in Virginia this past weekend and I will somehow make Joey get into some of my pictures as well:)

Also, we will be finding out wether our little munckin will be a boy or a girl in less than 3 weeks!!! We are both so excited!!! We have no preference so it will be just as much of a surprise to us but, we can't wait to share the news with you all:). Hang tight. Fun is just around the corner:)!!!!