I was highly suspicious of this fact the whole week that we were moving out of our house, spending the week with my sister and moving in to our new house but we were just so busy and tired at the end of every day it just didn't feel like a good time to find out for sure. I actually enjoyed keeping my little hunch to myself for a while, it was fun to build the anticipation! I knew we were leaving for vacation right after we moved in (like 24 hours later!) so I planned to surprise everyone there.

On our way to the beach we stopped at a grocery store to grab some snacks and I picked up a test. Mark was in the car with Reaghan so he was still out of the loop at this point. Half of the week went by and I was more and more confident that I was pregnant so when we went shopping at the outlets I found a cute "big sister" shirt for Reaghan to wear. (I was a super sneaky shopper and didn't let anyone see that I had grabbed it with some other cute shirts!) The next night while we were getting ready for dinner I snuck into the bathroom while Mark was taking a shower. (Okay, so he knew I was in there but not what I was up to!) Sure enough, my suspicions were confirmed and I left Mark a little surprise on the bathroom counter. He was super excited when he came back into our room a little while later and we had Reaghan wear her Big Sister shirt to the dinner table that night to surprise his family. They were completely taken off guard! We hadn't been talking about having another baby at all with them so they had no idea we were even trying.

The day after we got home was Memorial Day and we shared the news with my family the same way- with Reaghan's "big sister" shirt. They were obviously super excited but a little less surprised because my mom and sisters knew I was wanting to get pregnant again soon. My mom was actually the only one "in" on my little hunch the week before we were moving because she asked if I was pregnant and I told her I was "late" - so she kind of already knew! And my sweet sister who is still struggling with year 5 of infertility is always so supportive and extremely happy to welcome a new baby into the family.

But why did this keep me from blogging?! You guys. Just like with Reaghan, I got ridiculously sick. With Reaghan I wasn't sure if I was really severely sick or if I was just being a baby and so I struggled through work and life all while puking my guts out and losing 12 pounds. Now that I've had a very similar experience the second time around, I know that I really do get the "bad" kind of morning sickness. I literally feel like I'm going to die. I can't even keep popsicles or ice chips down and it feels like there's no way I can make it to the 13 week mark of entering the 2nd trimester. I actually even ended up in the ER this time because of dehydration one night after coming home from work feeling like I was going to pass out.



After this happened I did call the doctors and asked for some medicine because my first appointment was still several weeks away. It took a while to kick in but it did start helping and the sickness was much more manageable! I could actually function somewhat. It didn't take the nausea away but it definitely helped me to keep more food down and as the weeks went on this helped more and more to lessen the nausea so I could participate more in life! I think this time was a little harder than with Reaghan because I had Reaghan to care for and as much as I wanted to be in bed all day, she still needed to eat and be changed and take naps etc. Thankfully she was so sweet and content to play quietly with books and puzzles and coloring most days and yes, watch tv and movies.

What my life looked like for several weeks.  Mark was working from home that day and thought it was cute that we were napping together.

I'm now 16 weeks pregnant and feeling much much better overall since about week 14! I still need to take something in the morning to help keep my breakfast down and that gives me a head start sort of and helps me stay on top of it all day as long as I'm snacking throughout the day.  I tried going a day without taking anything and it was rough. I figure its better to just take the medicine than suffer and be a cranky mom/wife and not be able to get things done. I'm still 5 pounds lighter than I was when I got pregnant, but the bright side of losing so much weight in the beginning is I get to start off the weight gain with a deficit! haha it makes me feel better about all the snacking!

Now that I'm finally feeling back to normal I can get back to a more normal routine of meal planning, housework, and yes even blogging. Mark is honestly the best during my 2 months of constant puking and not only gets husbands of the year this time but father of the year as well! But he's probably the most excited about me returning to my normal self. : )

I'll post a Summer Recap soon since there is a lot to share since the last time I posted! I can't believe summer is coming to an end in just a few weeks!

Here are a couple of favorites from our announcement shoot that we did with my sisters. We put these pictures up on facebook on July 4th so thats why we went with the red, white and blue theme!



Reaghan is actually really excited about the baby in mommy's belly... she just didn't feel like taking pictures on this hot July day. And honestly, it was a struggle for me as well! I was out of commission for the rest of the day. But I was set on the theme so I was determined to get out there and do it anyways!