Our Little Christmas Gift

Merry Christmas!!! Nate and I have had a wonderful past couple of days with family celebrating Christmas and our exciting news. We all met for lunch after our ultrasound and we "revealed" what we were having by pulling out a cute little dress. We actually had today with just the two of us, which was a lot of fun. We feel we got the best Christmas gift on the 23rd when we saw our sweet baby girl on the ultrasound. The baby is healthy and everything seems to be going well, which we are thankful for. The baby is weighing in at about 1 lb 3 oz! It was amazing to watch our little girl move around, rubbing her little hands in her eyes and touching her toes. We are still a little shocked we are having a girl since we both thought we would have a boy. We went and started our registry yesterday and definitely had fun picking out pink things! We feel so blessed. Check out the picture of my belly...I will be 23 weeks tomorrow. (Yes, I am in my Christmas pjs!)

The Baby is a.....

Girl! Many more details to come!

The Baby Kicks!

I (Nate) finally got to feel our little guy kick! I have spent many a minute with a hand on Erica's stomach for the past couple of weeks without success. Then came the Colts hard fought victory Thursday and he/she became very active afterward. This is a good sign that we have a little football fan!
We are getting excited for the ultrasound Tuesday. We can finally stop saying "he/she" and the somewhat offensive "it". I am sure we will let you know soon afterward.
I changed the format so anyone can leave a comment even without an account, so please brighten Erica's day!

21 Week Update

We are headed towards 22 weeks on Friday, which is also our last day of school before Christmas break! Nate and I are both very ready...not that we don't love our students, but breaks are always so nice. Our little growing baby seems to be doing well and moving around inside. We had a little bump in the road last week though. I must have come down with the flu and was feeling pretty bad (I am much better now), so my doctor had me come in for some blood tests and an ultrasond to check my cervix. I guess some of my symptoms looked like pre-term labor, so they checked my cervix to make sure it had not changed, which it hadn't! I have never been so happy to be sick. Thankfully it had nothing to do with the pregnancy. We didn't get to see the baby during the ultrasound so that was a little dissapointing. Our ultrasound is a week from tomorrow though, so it is coming soon. We can't wait! Check out my 21 week belly.

Half Way Point

20 weeks down and about 20 more to go! We are half way through the pregnancy which is crazy. It has been great so far, and it can only get better as we get closer to our little baby entering the world (minus the uncomfortable times I will have as I grow bigger). I have been feeling a little sick this week, not morning sickness, just some bug, but it doesn't seem to have effected the baby. He/She is definitely growing and I am feeling him/her many times a day. A lot of people have been asking us if we have any names picked out for our baby. We really haven't even started talking about names other than a few we throw out occasionally. We are waiting until we know what we are having and then will start planning from there. Nate does come up with random names as he says hi to the baby each day...I think the most recent name has been Frank. Once we do figure out the name, I don't think we will tell anyone until the baby comes, so Frank is not an option :) Check out my stomach!

Thanksgiving

Nate and I had a great Thanks- giving and feel we have much to be thankful for! We spent a lot of time with family and friends, traveling to Leo and also to Illinois. It was fun catching up with people and also sharing about our coming baby! Some people were not as impressed with my baby bump as I was hoping for, but I guess I should be thankful I am not huge yet...that time will come. I can tell the baby is growing and moving around each day, so that makes me happy :) I think the baby liked all the good food I ate this weekend! Check out the picture of me with some of the Clark girls at Thanksgiving. (left to right: Kristin-sisterinlaw, Corey-cousin, Allison-sister, Tiffany-sisterinlaw, Me, Bonnie-sisterinlaw)

Looking Forward to Dec. 23

We had our doctor's appointment today. It went very well. The baby's heartbeat was beating at 147 beats per minute, which the doctor said was great. He also measured my stomach and said I am measuring right on. We will have our next appointment and ultrasound on December 23! We wanted to have the ultrasound and find out the sex of the baby before Christmas, so we are getting our wish! We can't wait!

Little Flutters

I thought it was time for another update on our growing baby. We are now 18 weeks along and doing great. The baby should be about 5 1/2 inches long now, about the length of a baked potato. I am feeling really well and also feeling the baby move!!! It is very exciting. I wasn't quite sure what I would be feeling and am still not 100 percent it is the baby I am feeling, but I am counting it as him/her wiggling around in there. I started feeling a little flutter around the same spots this week, which I have loved. I can't wait till I feel that baby kick!! I want Nate to be able to feel the baby as well. We go back to the doctor on Monday for another heartbeat check. We will also get to set up our appointment for our next ultrasound! It is crazy we are almost to the half way point already. We are so thankful! Check out the latest pics of my baby bump.

Sweet 16

We have made it to the 16th week of my pregnancy! I really just love being pregnant. It is strange to see the weird things going on with my body at times, but it is all so exciting. The past week or so I have been feeling a lot of pulling and stretching around my stomach as it continues to pop out. The baby is growing and so is my belly, which is a fun feeling! Supposedly the baby is about 4 1/2-5 inches long now, about the size of an avocado or a tube of mascara. I am still feeling really good and feel like my energy is coming back. Hormones and change of weather are also making my skin super itchy. I need to work on self-control to not scratch my skin off or give myself bruises (which I have been doing). I have also had some recent pregnancy cravings. Thankfully they are healthy choices...tomato soup and cottage cheese with pineapple. I look forward to having my cottage cheese every day when I come home from school! Speaking of school, I told my students that I was pregnant this week. After I told them, I asked them if anyone had noticed my stomach getting bigger. One of my students replied "I just told my friend yesterday that my teacher was getting fat! I didn't want to hurt your feelings!" I thought it was hilarious. We also celebrated Nate's 28th birthday yesterday. What a great dad he is going to be!!! Keep praying for us and the baby!

Making Room in the Closet

Although I am not quite ready to wear maternity clothes, I have plenty waiting for me when my stomach grows larger. My sister Amy, who just had a baby in September, brought me all of the maternity clothes she had been given/bought when she was pregnant. Maya (our dog) and I had so much fun going through it all. Some of it looks so big...it is weird to think I will be able to fit into all of it at some point. A big thanks to my big sis!!!

Beat of Our Baby's Heart

Here is a quick update after our appointment today. We were able to actually hear the heartbeat this time, which was wonderful. It was so fast and so amazing. A little heart is beating inside of me...wow!!!! My doctor said the heartbeat was at 156 beats per minute. We go back in another 4 weeks. Very exciting!

Check out the fun song "Beating My Heart" by Jon McLaughlin!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foA0CFgu08M

Baby Bump??

We have reached the 14 week mark and officially in the 2nd trimester. Nate and I are starting to feel like it is a little more real as my stomach is beginning to barely pop out. You can check out the 2 pictures. Do you see the bump!!!!???? We have read that our baby should now be about 3 inches long, similar to the length of a lemon. I am still feeling pretty tired, but I think that is to be expected for the next several months. My allergies have been acting up quite a bit, and with not being able to take certain medications, it has been uncomfortable at times. I would rather sneeze a million times then put the little baby in danger though, so it is worth it! We have our next appointment on Wednesday, so we are looking forward to that. Hopefully we can hear the heartbeat this time! I will write an update after the appointment. Keep praying for the growing baby!

12 Weeks!

We have hit the three month mark, which is very exciting. This week our baby is supposedly the size of a lime. I can't believe how fast the time is going. It hit me again this morning when I was looking at our little baby from the ultrasound. All I could do was cry...of course tears of joy. I am so excited!!! I told all my friends at school last Friday, so that was so fun to be able to share in the excitement with them. My sister in law Casie had told me people bring in donuts at her school to announce their pregnancy, so I kind of took her idea. I bought donut holes and put a little sign up beside the donuts for everyone to enjoy (see picture). It was fun to see people walk by and see their reactions. I am still feeling great other than being super tired. Hopefully I will be able to put a picture of a baby bump soon. So far, my body is not making many changes physically. I keep thinking/hoping my stomach is growing, but those around me are saying nothing has changed! Be looking for a picture in the next week or two!

Clark Baby's Cousins

When Baby Clark arrives in April, he/she will already have a little cousin on both sides of our family.
My sister Amy and her husband Jon recently had a new baby on September 25th! His name is Jedidiah which means "loved by the Lord". We are excited to have our babies so close together. Amy just finished being pregnant, and now I am taking off with the whole process again. Seeing all that she went through with labor and everything sort of freaks me out, but I know it will all be worth it!! On Nate's side, we have the cutest little niece named Emery that just turned 1 on September 14th. They are both so sweet and we love him and her so much. It is so wonderful being an aunt. Check out a few pix of Baby Jed and Emery.

We are having a baby!

Nate and I are very excited to announce that we are expecting our first little addition to the family in late April!! We found out in August that I was pregnant and we couldn't be happier. We had decided to start trying this summer, but we were blessed pretty quickly so we were also a bit shocked when the pregnancy test came out positive! Nate and I both had a moment where we just stared at each other in shock, which then turned into laughter and crying. So far I have been feeling pretty well. I am more tired than I have ever been and require much more sleep, but thankfully morning sickness has not been a big problem. We had our first ultrasound on September 30th when I was 10 weeks along. We were not able to hear the heartbeat, but we saw the little heart fluttering during the ultrasound and could make out the little head and body. It is awesome to know that a baby is growing inside of me. Wow, God is amazing! Check out our little alien baby!