All the Little Bunny Details

It all started on Mother's Day. 

I was due to start my cycle and I hadn't yet. I decided to take a pregnancy test because I thought that it would be totally adorable to find out and get to tell my parents all in the same day, which just so happened to be Mother's Day. The test was negative. That was probably not the smartest decision on my part, because what was already a pretty hard day got even harder once I saw that negative. 

That was also the week that we found out that my dad had to have open heart surgery. To say that I was an emotional wreck that week is putting it quite lightly. So the hubs and I went to stay at my dad's for a few days so we could be near the hospital he was in. 

Four days had passed and I still hadn't started my cycle. I decided to take another test while we were at my dad's house. It was negative...and then I thought I saw the faintest positive. I rushed out to show it to my husband and he couldn't see anything. I thought I was hallucinating because I wanted it to be there so bad. We decided to take another test the next morning and again, the same thing...I thought I saw a positive and my husband could only see negative.

My doctor had told me to call her as soon as I got a positive test to come in for blood work, so I just decided to go ahead and call. I really thought that I was seeing a positive test. I went in for blood work as soon as we got back and then I went back again in two days to get it repeated. 

Then we got the call...my levels were growing! I was pregnant!! Praise the Lord! We had been a little worried because the pregnancy test was so faint, but we quickly found out why at our first ultrasound appointment...I was a week earlier than I thought, which means that we actually found out that I was pregnant at 3 weeks! 

(This is one that I took a few days later...not so faint...woohoo!)

Emotionally, this pregnancy has definitely been harder than the first time around. I basically cried throughout our whole first appointment, from the waiting room to the ultrasound room, and even after we saw our sweet baby and heard the heartbeat. This has been a lesson in letting go and trusting God, in praying the desires of my heart to Him and then leaving anxiety and worry behind. I don't always succeed either. There have been times where I have had total peace about this pregnancy and there have been times where I have been so scared. And I honestly think that's okay. God knows my heart and He knows that I trust Him, even if my human emotions/fears sometimes overcome me. We know that He is good all of the time. 

We have had three ultrasounds already (my doctor is amazing!) and baby bunny is just growing and growing. We've been able to hear the heartbeat each time and that sounds just melts my heart. Mostly we just feel so blessed and grateful that God has given us the desires of our heart. 

Just a little advance notice: this blog will most likely take a baby turn in the upcoming months (and years). After all, this is a lifestyle blog and that's where life is definitely headed. : )

Again, thank y'all for all the congratulations and the prayers. I can't express how much they mean to me. We are SO thrilled!

Sweet Baby Bump - 12 Weeks

First of all, WOW. Y'all are absolutely amazing and I cannot say thank y'all enough for all the kind words and well wishes given to us on our pregnancy news. They just kept coming and coming and I kept crying and crying (good tears!) and I've just never felt so loved before. 

This time around has definitely been an emotional ride. I'll be sharing more next week on how we found out, how we told people, our first few appointments, ect. 

Right now I'm 12 weeks (and 5 days!) and I'm feeling pretty good! My energy level is slowly starting to come back up and the nausea is getting better and better every day. We have an appointment next week and we will hopefully schedule the gender ultrasound that day, probably sometime around the end of August. 

A few highlights:

- The only things that helps my nausea is eating. Lucky (chunky) me. 

- I have unintentional ombre hair because I'm scared to get highlights. 

- I am leaning towards girl, but I look at boy stuff endlessly. 

- We honestly have no gender preference. We want both!

- My face is gaining weight the quickest. 

- I wake up about three times a night to pee. 

- I always want pizza and Subway sandwiches. 

- My scrubs are getting tight.

- I couldn't hold the news in any longer!!!

We are thrilled in a way that words can't even describe! 

Pray for our sweet baby bunny!

1...2...3

We are SO SO SO happy to announce that our little family will be growing by one this January!

That's right...there's a little baby bunny on the way! We are just feeling so extremely excited and blessed that the Lord has given us this sweet child and we can't wait to start this journey of parenthood! We don't know if there's a boy or a girl in there, but we are head over heels in love. 

Sometimes and Always #35

Sometimes: I am lazy and watch tv instead of reading a book.

Always: A good book is so much better than a tv show. 

Sometimes: I rock back and forth when I'm standing up. 

Always: It freaks people out, but I can't help it. 

Sometimes: I can't believe that it's been FOUR YEARS since I graduated college. 

Always: It feels like it was just yesterday. How did I get so old?! ; )

Sometimes: I hate looking back at pictures when I was skinnier. 

Always: It's motivation to get in shape. Maybe. Ehh. 

Sometimes: I think people post some weird pictures on Instagram. 

Always: Most of my pictures are of food, so who am I to say anything. 

Sometimes: I get caught up watching The Golden Girls late at night. 

Always: Even though I've seen every episode, I just love them. 

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Five Must Haves

I love reading about beauty products on blogs. There's nothing I love more than trying a new product, but honestly I stick to drugstore brands/products, aka anything that I can get at Wal-Mart. 

I wanted to share my top five can't live without/cry if I run out beauty products. 

1) Neutrogena Makeup Wipes

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I stinking adore these wipes and cannot go one single day without them. I have the full size ones at home and the travel pack in my suitcase. They take makeup off SO easily, even mascara. 

2) Burt's Bees Lip Balm

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Nothing beats this chapstick. It stays on and makes my lips feel so smooth and refreshed. 

3) Pantene Detangler

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There are three versions (silkening, conditioning and anti-breakage) and I really love all three. They make it easy to brush out my thick hair and smell absolutely amazing. I think Pantene products have the best smell. 

4) Vaseline Lotion

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I have super dry skin. I blame it on a) my dad and b) being a nurse. I wash my hands way too much every day and use hand sanitizer like crazy. That being said, this is one of the only lotions that really keeps my skin moisturized. If I skip it one day (especially on my hands), I notice right away. 

5) Caress Body Wash

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This scent...oh my. It smells absolutely amazing. I've made it no secret on this here blog that showering is not my favorite thing (don't judge), but I really do sometimes just want to shower to use this. It's that good. 

Feel free to share some of your beauty product loves in the comments below!

This is One of Those Deep Posts

I've read a few posts lately from several different bloggers about their struggles with believing in God when there is so much wrong in the world and so many bad things happen. It breaks my heart to hear about people struggling and while it's certainly normal, I really feel compelled and convicted to share what I personally believe about it all.

Maybe it will help people. Maybe it will only help one person. Maybe no one. Either way, I'm feeling led to share it and I'm honored that y'all would take the time to read it. 

A lot of people don't understand why bad things have to happen if God is all-powerful. They feel like He would stop these horrible things from happening if He could and so they then feel that He must not be all-powerful. When God created the world, He allowed free will to exist. He didn't want a robotic/forced group of people that followed Him. He wanted people that had the choice to follow or not to follow and He hoped that we would choose to actively follow Him. Of course, sin entered the world right away and this is where bad things come in. This is where the devil lurks and works and spends his time, scheming and whispering and enjoying our fears and pain. 

While God IS certainly all-powerful enough to stop all these bad things from happening, He doesn't always chose to do so. This can be hard to understand and my best stab at it is that it is part of the trade off we have from having free will. Some people think that God should never let anything bad happen to Christians and are confused that He lets them experience loss and tragedy, but again, He wants people that choose to follow Him because of love and reverence, not because of fear. If we knew that being saved meant having the perfect life, we would chose it because of that, not because we loved God. 

God will one day come and defeat the devil and take all of His followers to heaven, where we will live forever free of any pain or sorrow. Until that time, we are here on Earth, living with the purpose of glorifying God. I certainly don't understand it all and I honestly think that's okay. God is so much bigger and larger and smarter and all that...that we can't even being to comprehend why. He doesn't ask us to understand why. He simply asks us to put our faith in Him. And one day, we will know all these answers. 

The best way that I can describe our inability to understand is like this: my puppies always want to go out in the front yard (which is not fenced in), but I won't let them. While they may see it as I don't love them enough to let them go or that I'm not capable (or powerful enough) of letting them out, it's really just that I know more than they do and I know that they will take off running down the street and get hit by a car. So I actually am loving and powerful, but I do it for their own good. 

Wow, I hope this post makes sense to someone. Again, I'm not claiming to be an expert or understand it all, this is just my personal take on some of the "tough stuff."

Sometimes and Always #34

Sometimes: I get obsessed with certain foods and want to eat them all the time. 

Always: I eventually get tired of them and then never want them again. 

Sometimes: Real clothes are just not going to happen some days. 

Always: I don't see anything wrong with a day spent in pajamas. 

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Sometimes: I cry way too much watching cheesy reality shows. 

Always: I'm such a softie when it comes to love and heartbreak.

Sometimes: Patients in the ER can really test my patience. 

Always: Y'all would just NEVER believe the reasons that some people come to the ER. 

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PS: I'm about...oh...three weeks behind on visiting Sometimes/Always links, so give me a few days. I'll get there...eventually. : )

Those Kind of Friends

There's one thing that I love about my friends...we have that perfect family type relationship where we are so comfortable together and there is no need to "entertain" each other. I love friends like that.

My two best friends came up to visit this past weekend and we ate at a delicious little sandwich shop, visited the library to get me a card (woohoo!) and spent the day sitting around my house catching up and just enjoying each other's company. It was so nice, like words can't even describe nice. There's something to be said for being comfortable with people. 

We also celebrated my sweet friend Shan's birthday by making her bake her own cake for us. : )

You made yourself a good cake, Shan. 

The BFFs are Coming

Dear best friends, thank y'all for coming to spend the day with me today!! I needed it. Dear blogger's block, this is my second link up in a row this week. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but still, where has all my inspiration gone? Dear Sonic, you probably already know this, but I seriously adore you. You have delicious drinks and do them half price every single day. You are awesome. Dear Michaela, let's actually for real Skype tonight, instead of like all the other nights where we failed. Dear fresh fruit, thank you for being so delicious and healthy. If I close my eyes, you almost taste like chocolate. But not really. Maybe I should start dipping y'all in chocolate? Dear husband, sometimes I don't know how you put up with me. But just remember that I'm not THE craziest woman in the world. Really. I'm so blessed to have you. And you have a cute butt, too. I win. 

And lastly, Dear bloggers, sorry I have been a little behind lately. I owe a lot of y'all emails, which I plan to get around to this weekend.

I get to see these two cuties today!

Yes, It is Okay

It's okay............

- To be on a little vacation from your blog. 

- To be SO STINKING EXCITED for Meg and Stephen!!!!!!!!!!!!

- To eat chocolate chip cookies and chocolate milk for breakfast...at noon. 

- To get tired of people posting outfits every single day on Instagram.

- To hate that they are building a house right behind ours and they start at 6 am. 

- To not shower every day. : )

- To get emotional with a good book.

- To get a drink from Sonic daily. 

- To wish we were at the beach right now, even though I'm not a beach person.

Hope y'all all had a great 4th!

Sometimes and Always #33

Sometimes: I drink more Sprite than water in a day.

Always: That first bubbly sip of the day is just divine. 

Sometimes: I miss having itty bitty puppies. 

Always: I can't believe that they were ever this little!

Sometimes: I forget that I have Twitter since I deleted it from my phone. 

Always: I really don't miss it...or Facebook!

Sometimes: I get so stinking excited when our flowers/trees bloom. 

Always: It's so neat planting something and seeing it grow.

Sometimes: I feel like our marriage is too good to be true. 

Always: I feel so blessed to be so happily married.

Sometimes: My husband is the sweetest thing in the whole world. 

Always: He's a little cutie, too. I just love being married to a manly man. 

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A Few of the Good Things in Life

- Weekends where we are both off. 

- A good book. I'm reading Pride & Prejudice right now. 

- Cute little puppies that will do anything for a toy. 

- Being able to freely worship the Lord. 

- Sonic drinks. 

- Husband making dinner (steaks, green beans, mashed potatoes, garlic bread).

- Blog friends turned real friends. 

- Late night dessert. 

- Cheese stuffed crust pizza. 

Sometimes just the little things make life so perfect. 

Two Little Things

I wrote a few marriage advice tips over here on Amy's blog

and

I wrote about how God is working in my life over here on Debbie's blog. 

I'm turning off comments here, so y'all can go and visit me there. 

Pwetty pwease. 

Husband Funnies

So unfortunately for my poor husband, he is having to suffer through watching The Bachelorette with me each week. Normally I would probably get annoyed at his constant talking/making fun, but even I have to admit that this season has been a little bit...boring. So he makes it pretty fun.

I started taking notes of some of his comments during the show and I decided to share with y'all. If you don't watch the show, sorry, you won't get them. If you do, I hope you enjoy. I was crying I was laughing so hard. 

"Way to make us all feel totally uncomfortable with that terrible kiss. Get out." - about Doug

"Are these guys really serious when they cry as they're leaving? They barely know her."

"Does he have on skinny jeans and pawpaw slip on shoes?" - about Jef

Emily: "Jef has fun with anything." Hubs: "Yeah, because he's twelve."

"What is so fascinating about walking into some dadgum library?"

"This is creeping me out. They aren't even looking at each other. They are talking with puppets."

"Oh look, there just happened to be a blanket in the library they stumbled upon."

"The things these guys say better be scripted. Or they are pathetic."

"Oh my gosh, you woman. Quit crying. He's got a quivering lip and everything." - about Chris at the rose ceremony

"Where are the men who don't cry?"

"Wow, that's a hideous dress." - about Emily's rose ceremony dress

"I'd punch him in the mouth right then for doing that." - about Chris asking to talk to Emily during the middle of the rose ceremony and then getting a rose

And that's just the ones that I remembered to take note of. The hubs is a hoot. 

Sometimes and Always #32

Sometimes: I get so excited when people link up with me each week.

Always: It takes me awhile to get around to reading them all, but I really do try to!

Sometimes: I wonder what happened to my late night loving ways. 

Always: I am in the bed before 11 each night these days, whereas it used to be 1 or 2. 

Sometimes: I just don't have much to say. Working a 12 hour shift will do that to ya. 

Always: I've really changed my way of thinking about my blog, making it more of a hobby instead of a requirement...really just enjoying it and not feeling guilty if I don't post for a day or two.

Sometimes: I wonder if I will have a favorite child, because I kinda sorta maybe have a favorite dog. 

Always: I feel like that's pretty awful to admit!!

Shhhhh...don't tell the other two!

Now say hello to my adorable sponsor, Meghan. She's really one of the sweetest people that I've met through the blog world and she just radiates this great happy, positive attitude that I love. The world (blog and real life) needs more people like her, I think. See for yourself as she shares a few sometimes/always of her own with us today.

Hi! I'm Meghan and I'm the newly 20 something behind the blog, They Call Her Meghan. My blog is my showcase for my love of Jesus, my family and friends, and all the little things in life that make it so rich! Come by sometime and say hi! I love meeting new people!

Sometimes: I wish I lived on my own in my own apartment. 

Always: I am so grateful to my parents for letting me stay with them while I'm in school!

Sometimes: I take my family for granted. 

Always: God reminds me how much I should cherish them!

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Feed Me and I'm Happy

Picture this: It's Saturday night, the hubs and I are snuggled up on the couch and the tv is on. 

(Yes, we are party people)

Me: "S'mores sound delicious right now. I would love one."

Hubs: "Want me to get the stuff?"

Me: "Would you?? YESSS! Do I have to go, too?"

Hubs: "No, you just stay here and I'll be right back."

Ten minutes later and he returned with all the yummies needed to make s'mores and I was the happiest little wifey on the planet. I mean, I'm always pretty happy, but when he does things like that (involving food!) I just get even happier. He knows the way to my heart.

Did y'all do (or eat) anything sweet this weekend?