third trimester

27 weeks

154 pounds (26 pounds gained. this seems high, but i don't really have a goal weight and expected to gain around 35 pounds based on my bmi.)

i can hardly believe there are only 3 short months until our baby comes into this world! we have everything we need (i think): crib, arms' reach co-sleeper for our room (thanks mom!), tons and tons of outfits, diaper bags filled with goodies (thanks sis!), books, baby monitors, boppy pillow, bumbo, bathtub, rocking chair, car seat, wipe warmer, bottles, medela breast pump, blankets, and a million other things that could come in helpful with a newborn. it is nice having the first grandchild on james' and my side of the family! now we just have to organize everything and get the baby's room ready.

i sent what i thought was the worst christmas e-newsletter this year and got a surprisingly positive response! my original intent was the send the printed letter with handwritten christmas cards in the middle of december, but when that didn't happen and the kehrli update wasn't finished until christmas day, i decided emailing the document to relatives and a few random friends would be better than nothing. after looking up friends' email address on facebook (i have no address book) wondering how many of them still check the account listed and then replying to all on an email my mom sent to relatives months ago, my inbox started filling with responses! maybe an e-newsletter christmas card will be our new tradition. or maybe i still think it is a cheap and thoughtless alternative to sending cards, but will be my last resort in busy years to come. we'll see...

after a relaxing vacation, james and i are headed home tomorrow morning. we're breaking up the 11 hour drive by celebrating new years and staying the night with friends in st. louis and finishing the drive thursday. friday we're unpacking and then james leaves saturday for a 9 day work trip to mexico--sheesh! it is the last time we will be apart until baby kehrli arrives--i do not want to go into labor without a chauffeur!

in other news, one of my best friends in arkansas, brittney, just found out she is pregnant!!!! i am so, so excited for her. and one of my best friends from high school, heather, just got officially engaged!!!! the wedding is in may and i'm determined to be back to my normal size by that time so i am ordering a size 4 bridesmaid dress whether it is foolish or not.

i feel guilty that this entry is not about christmas, family, or new years resolutions, so here's a festive pics (my camera cord is lost so these will have to do until i can upload my own):

sarah, kim, em and me decorating cookies! (notice my terribly sad christmas tree)

the kehrlis, my sis and me eating at olive garden. abbey flew to wisconsin for my shower!

love!!

movin in

it's taking quite a while to unpack our new house and decorate, so pictures are coming slowly.

i do have one, though. say hello to my beautiful 50" plasma christmas present:

i'm not quite sure why it is my christmas present since james will probably watch it more, but i got to pick it out. we weren't going to get one until my old tv died, but i comprised by getting a cheaper fridge than originally intended so it worked out well. we're still trying to figure out how we're going to hide the cords.

last night james and i helped with the annual camp war eagle christmas dinner. we invite the 150 lowest income families that come to camp (80% of the summer campers come for free--thank you alice walton) for a christmas meal and give the children and parents presents. it is one of my absolute favorite events of the year because the families are so happy and thankful. somehow my husband gets suckered into playing santa every year, so here is a pic of him holding my friend kristin's baby, rachel (good practice!):

last but not least, my friend, sarah, from work gave us a few pacifiers. i just might have to start posting pictures of all of the fun gifts!

things to be thankful for this week: a place that james and i can finally call our own, a successful store call with clorox big wigs, james' picture in modern bride (ha, but really it makes me happy), many upcoming christmas parties, friends who genuinely care, generousity of people helping with the move and visiting, my work/colleagues, free membership to village on the creeks athletic club for a month, college bowl game pick 'em contests, and chocolate chip cookie dough, yum...

getting huge!

24 weeks

148 lbs (20 pounds gained)

this picture from thanksgiving doesn't really show how big i am, but there is no doubt that i look pregnant now! strangers are starting to ask when i am due, and i love that i have crossed the point of looking semi-pregnant (i could feel people's eyes staring at my belly questioning, "pregnant? fat? pregnant? maybe...")

my little sister, a nurse in the neonatal icu at children's mercy, says that our baby should survive if it is born any day now, woohoo! i'd like to keep it in the oven as long as possible, though. a majority of the babies abbey works with are premies and spend months in the hospital, so the longer the baby grows inside me, the healthier it should be. even though we're due april 1st, i'm guessing that baby kehrli will arrive around april 14 (both james and i were two weeks late, and i'm not nearly as big at 24 weeks than some of my other friends).

james and i've had a wonderful few weeks. being in lawrence was as heartwarming as usual, and it was a blessing to see family and high school friends. free state made the high school football championship game for the first time in school history, and part of me really wanted to go while we were home. however, the weather was nasty cold, and i didn't want to feel like a creepy high school has-been, so we went to the yatcht club with molly and jd and watched the ku v. mizzou game instead (go jayhawks!!).

i almost forgot how much i love hanging out with girl friends until these past few days. we had a panty shower for my friend, whitney, wrapped christmas presents for the camp war eagle christmas dinner, had a few other get togethers and loved every minute of each others' company. there is no doubt that i re-energize by being around people, and it's been hard not having all of my college friends around all the time, but i appreciate each time i can get together with friends. i'm so excited about christmas. james and i are taking two weeks off so we can go to kansas and wisconsin and spend lots of quality time with our families.

time to write our christmas letter. a few fun pics from thanksgiving break (i'll post pics of the house whenever we finish unpacking!)...

sis and me with our little cousins on thanksgiving

molly and jd were sweet enough to get us a baby gift

this might be one of my favorite pics ever. abbey and her boyfriend, brett, being goofy:

the boppy from my sis!

last but not least, some of my girlfriends at bella arte for a christmas dinner!

loves!!

wedding photo book

i promise i will write a longer post later, but my BIL is in town and we're moving tomorrow, so life's been a little crazy. in the mean time, i finished my first shutterfly album and am being an attention whore by posting a link if anyone wants to see (hey michelle did it too :)). i am pretty pleased with how it turned out!

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AcsW7Jw0bNma6&notag=1

Love yall!!!!

i love monday nights

three posts in one week, new record! i really wanted to go buffalo wild wings tonight to watch the packers' game and eat some delicious parmesan garlic wings, but seeing that my husband is out of town, i am resigned to sitting at home eating frozen lasagna and blogging. i thought about calling some girl friends to see if anyone wanted to join me at bdubs, but then decided to spare the rejection by admitting to myself that none of my girlfriends enjoy watching football. thought about calling my girlfriends to see if they wanted to do something else, but realized that i would rather watch football by myself than socialize and miss the game. it crossed my mind to call some of james' friends to see if anyone wanted to go out, but thought that might be a little weird. finally contemplated getting wings to go, but realized that if i drove all the way there i would want to stay and watch the game on the big screen and i would be all by myself, so here i am.

on saturday night i went to one of my favorite weddings of all time--jenny and jesse loyd's. my favorite part was the incredible potato bar. wish i would've taken pictures, but in the center of the ballroom guests were invited to grab a martini glass from the huge glass tower and fill it with mashed potatoes and toppings of their desire. i loaded mine with cheese, bacon, chives, and sour cream--so delicious and such a cute idea! the dinner and dancing were fabulous as well, and it was fun to see a lot of camp friends who i haven't seen in a while. oh and they had two photobooths, which i did with brittney and my mom since james is in wisconsin. i'm sure their wedding was pretty expensive, but i thought it was a nice treat for all of the guests. sometimes i get so frustrated with people when they brag about how cheap their weddings/receptions are. i'm all about being frugal, but having a nice reception is more of a gift to guests than anything else.

speaking of gifts, i've developed a new subconscious system for determining how nice of a gift to give another couple tying the knot. the following factors all play a role:
1. how close of friends/family they are
2. what they gave us for our wedding
3. how nice of a wedding/reception they are having
4. how many times they've rudely mentioned gifts and where they are registered

#4 kills me. i went to a wedding where the couple mentioned where they were registered at least 3 times and how much they were looking forward to getting all of the wedding gifts. it frustrated me so much that i almost did not get them a gift, especially since they had a very low-budget reception and did not give us a gift for our wedding. however, my conscience got to me and i made a pact to myself that even if i feel like a couple's behavior does not merit a gift, that is not what the spirit of giving is all about. i know there are other factors that play into weddings and often a couple does not have a large budget to work with, but if that is the case, then they should work extra hard to make the event entertaining for the guests or not expect as nice of a present. this might be the most twisted gift-giving philosophy ever, but it works for me.

at our wedding, the gift-giving was similar to church tithing in that a small percentage of the people gave a majority of the gifts (actually not really a small percentage--probably 1/2-3/4 of the guests gave gifts, but it still surprises me how many people think their presence is enough of a gift). we are very thankful and were blessed beyond what we deserve, but it was humbling to look through my spreadsheet of thank yous and realize that many of the couples who gave us pricey wedding gifts also gave us generous shower presents and now are buying even more gifts for our baby. a special shoutout to some of my bridesmaids who not only bought gifts for the wedding and lingerie for the bridal shower, but also gave james and me a fabulous spa package. thank you erin, sarah and megan!!! i love you, and you will be rewarded when your weddings come in time :).

it's almost time for kickoff. happy thanksgiving to everyone if i do not talk to you before then!!!

sympathy

pregnancy heightens emotions. i bawled during juno last night even though it was the third time i've seen it, and today at church i started crying again when a lady shared how she's been struggling with infertility for 12 years, 12 YEARS! i've never been compassionate about infertility until i became pregnant--and now it breaks my heart. i just want to give my baby to the couples trying so hard to conceive. perhaps i am more conscious of infertility because i talk about babies and pregnancy much more than ever before, but wow--it is such a huge struggle. at dinner parties i try not to dominate the conversation with updates on our baby even though it is so natural to want to share, so to shift the attention away from myself i casually ask other couples when they want to conceive--big mistake! about half of the people i've asked are trying to have a child, some for many years. i just don't understand how it can be so easy for some and difficult for others.

today i was reminded of how thankful i am to be able to conceive. when james and i first found out we were expecting, i wish we could say we were blissfully elated, but instead we spent days in shock of the unbelievable reality of our new situation. it even crossed my mind that it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if we had a miscarriage and i mentally prepared myself for the (higher than i knew) chance that it could happen. now i am so, so thankful that our baby is still growing and healthy. i don't think i could've mentally processed losing my child, especially if we wanted to wait years before trying again.

i believe God gives women 9 months of pregnancy not only for the baby to grow, but for the couple to mentally prepare. part of james and my sadness with getting pregnant so soon after marriage was that we wouldn't have time to grow together and enjoy just being a couple, but i've realized that we had 3 great years of dating with plenty of "us" time, and now we have 9 more months to live up every free night. although we have no idea how much work raising a child will be, i feel like it will strengthen and deepen our relationship that much more. i know it will be stressful, more stressful than i can ever imagine, but we are ready.

21 weeks

143 lbs.

getting the flu last week kinked my steady weight gain. i've also started working out at the RAC 3-4 days/week, so that might be part of it.

i feel so behind in life right now. even though most of the items on my to do list are menial, they still hang over my head. every time i catch up on facebook messages new ones arrive, not to mention blog replies that i've wanted to write for a week. oh and wedding thank you cards--ashamedly i still have about 20 more to finish. right when i catch up with those i will have to start baby thank you notes for all of the gifts from the in-laws' shower over christmas break, which reminds me that i desperately need to make baby registries before they ask again. oh and i really would like to write the first annual kehrli christmas letter from james, me, and baby-to-be, and i need to make shutterfly wedding photo albums for Christmas presents for my mom and MIL, on top of all of the other presents i need to buy. when did i get so behind?

james and i packed boxes for 4 hours last night. we separated everything into master bedroom, baby bedroom, guest bedroom, kitchen, etc., so hopefully moving will go smoothly. organizing our stuff was pretty cathartic, actually. i think i am going to get a maid at our new house. james is against it, but neither of us enjoy cleaning, and we have the money to pay for someone to come every other week, so i feel like it is a good investment. as i get more and more pregnant, i have even less of a desire to clean our home. i was not meant to be a stay at home wife/mom, and it would eliminate so much stress to have help.

speaking of stress, james and i check our stock portfolio online every day. if it is a good day, i make sure to tell him to look at it, and if the bears dominate, i keep quiet and hope he'll forget about looking. analysts say not to look at your portfolio during this low economic time, but we're still considering selling one of the stocks for the down payment on our house, so i keep looking. i should just stop--it does no good. we have money in savings, but i am sick of having stock and worrying what it will look like next week.

even though i started this blog about pregnancy, i rarely think about it right now other than daily prayers for our young one. during the first trimester, i read magazine after magazine about pregnancy and babies, but right now it feels healthy to take a short hiatus from the madness. i'm still upset at our ultrasound tech for only letting us take one picture on our digital camera last week and how terrible it is. i guess i shouldn't say any picture of our baby is awful, but the tech would not even wait for our baby to move his hands or the umbilical cord so we could see it's face :(. here is the disappointing pic:

i feel like this entry is really negative. things could be much worse, and my selfishness to have a cute ultrasound pic is greatly overshadowed by our healthy baby (10 inches, 12 ounces!) and healthy mom. i am actually really happy right now, and james and i are so so so excited to move and get settled into our new place. oh and i don't have the cystic fibrosis recessive gene!! (i opted for testing--it is a new test that is different from downs testing and only requires a sample of blood, but 1 in 29 caucasian americans has it, even with no family history) so none of our kids have any chance of the disease! if both james and i tested positive, we probably would not have any more kids of our own and would have adopted, so it is kind of a big deal.

i am excited for thankgiving! so many things to be thankful for: family, such great family, who have been so supportive throughout the pregnancy (thank you abbey and mom!), james, wonderful in-laws who spoil us, a healthy baby!!!, a fairly smooth pregnancy, time and energy to workout, many friends in the area, a delicious birthday dinner at p.f. changs, jobs my husband and i enjoy, etc. God is good.

i need to blog more so every entry does not feel like excessive, random word vommit. maybe when life slows down i will get in a better routine. love you all!!!

20 weeks

20 weeks--big ultrasound tomorrow!

143 lb.

ahhh what a day. i stayed up all night throwing up from 1-6am, blah. i tried to go into work this morning, but when i threw up at work my boss told me to go home and rest. after a big bottle of ginger ale and some saltine crackers, i am finally feeling a little better. the helplessness of throwing up everything, even water, reminded me of the last 3 days of ecuador. i have never been more miserable in my life. so much for morning sickness ending after the first 12 weeks.

last night was also the first night of our marriage that james slept on the couch :(. after 3 hours of me running to the bathroom every 15 minutes, he sweetly asked if he could go in the other room. as much as i selfishly wanted to say no, i wanted him to get a little sleep before work so i let him go. sad day.

tomorrow is our big ultrasound, though! i can feel the baby kicking more and more, so i know he is still alive. i say "he," but we're not finding out the sex. since the whole pregnancy has been a surprise, i decided to go all out and not plan anything. my mom already bought the baby over 200 outfits from garage sales that will work out whether its a boy or girl. i have no shame in dressing our kids in garage sale clothes. in a world full of debt and financial strain, james and i are trying to be as frugal as possible to eliminate unneeded stress. our goal is to have our house paid off in 10 years or less and have no more debt for the rest of our lives. that freedom is worth so much more to us than clothing our newborn in a designer wardrobe.

several casual coworkers asked me if my baby was with a boyfriend or husband or who. what an offensive question! i don't really care because i can always answer that yes, i am married. however, what if i wasn't? it would be stressful enough to be a single, unmarried mom without rude questions and judgement.

i am 25 years old, though! that is not an unusual age to have a first child. i just looked on http://www.census.gov/, and the average age of women when they give birth for the first time is 25.2 yrs (in 2006). i will be older than that when i have our child! pshhh.

time for some pictures. my belly ballooned out these last two weeks!!! as a comparison, here are photos from weeks 18 and 19 respectively:

loves!!

19 weeks!!

141 lbs, woah

feeling better than ever!

ahhh obama won. what a nice relief. i think it just hit me last night that we elected a black president! so exciting.

it's been an eventful week for james and me. after sitting, waiting, wishing for over a week that our offer would get accepted, we officially signed our contract! the home became a foreclosure two weeks ago so we got a great deal on it. i haven't taken any pictures yet, but i found this one on the benton county accessor's website. did you know you can look up any property in most counties across the nation and see who owns it along with a picture and its appraised value? my mom actually found the website for arkansas and saw this picture of our house:



we absolutely love it. after looking for so long for a home and realizing we were pregnant the day before we were going to sign another contract in august, we know God used all of that to bring us to this house with complete peace and confidence. now we can set up the baby's room and get everything organized before april 1st!

the neighborhood is wonderful and safe--there are a ton of other moms and even a home daycare down the street, plus a community pool and playground. we haven't decided if both james and i will work after we have baby kehrli. more to come about that in a later entry.

time for bed. james is traveling this week so i am home alone. i absolutely HATE being home alone, like worse than anything else in the world. i would rather have morning sickness with someone in the house than be here by myself. oh well, someday i will grow up into a big, indepent girl. love you all.

18 weeks!

almost halfway there.
138 lbs, gaining weight rapidly

i'm kinda sad that nothing super exciting is happening with the pregnancy. i haven't felt the baby kick yet, and i think most women have at this point :(. hopefully that will happen soon. i had a dr.'s appointment last friday and heard the baby's heartbeat, so at least i know he's still in there. sometimes i wonder when i can't feel or see anything.

i just read the story of sarah palin's birth with baby trig--v. interesting. apparently her water broke when she was in dallas (why she was traveling that far when she was 8 months pregnant is beyond me), and she still gave a speech a few hours later. instead of then going to the hospital in dallas where they could safely deliver the premie special needs baby, she decided to fly back to alaska. she did not tell the flight crews that her water broke and she was in labor (what?) and then drove from anchorage (again with a well-equiped hospital) to the small town of wasilla to deliver the baby. that is crazy! unless she wasn't the one really in labor. i realize this doesn't really matter in the election, but the story struck me as odd.

ahhh, i am so ready for obama to win. i agree with obama more than mccain on almost every issue, and i am so excited he is leading in the polls. several mccain supporters sent me forwards this week that make me want to scream. i don't understand how someone can solely rule out obama because he is pro-choice. i get so frustrated when that is the only issue christians talk about. haven't we learned from bush that christian beliefs do not necessarily equal a great president?

in high school, 28 out of 28 students in my a.p. politics class were democrats. we had many great discussions about the true issues in politics, and i miss those days. i've read studies that the more educated a population is, the more liberal they become (which explains why lawrence, the most educated city in kansas, is in the only democratic county in the state).

if the emails i received were about mccain's education plan, tax plan, etc. i might read/consider them. if they argued school vouchers' success instead vs. widening the education gap by depleting public school resources, i might support them. however, ignorant emails about mccain being God's choice and obama being a socialist, terrorist, anti-christ are rediculous! ahh.

it's so hard for me not to lose respect for mccain supporters. i am working on it, but it makes me cringe when i read facebook statuses that say "name is voting for mccain because he does not kill babies!!!" i'm trying to understand how so many republicans can be so ignorant of all of the issues besides abortion and gay marriage, and i know there are some educated mccain supporters out there, so props to them. i think part of the problem is that we've shunned political discussions from work, church, social scenes, etc., and the presidential debates are merely sugarcoated scripts that don't yield much education.

end of rant. this is long. i think i am the only one who is actually a little sad that the presidential race is over. oh well, football season is still going strong :)

17 weeks

136.5 lb ?? (my scale is going crazy. last thursday i was 135 then friday morning 139 then friday night 135 again... i might look into getting a new scale even though i know weight fluctuates throughout the day)



my lil' sis and her boyfriend came to visit last weekend. we had a great weekend being active--playing golf, doing the ropes course, boating at Beaver, and iceskating. i had the great idea during iceskating to see which couple could race to the opposite wall the fastest, and i didn't think about the logistics of the dare until i slammed into the wall full-force. i probably should be more careful with our little one.



i closed my eyes for dramatic effect. i really am a good mom and care very much about the safety of our child. however, after surviving ecuador and severe malnourishment and viruses, i'm sure he can handle a little iceskating blunder.

there were a couple of other pregnant moms on the sidelines of the iceskating rink. i talked to them for a little while, but as i skated around the rink, i could feel judgement palpating from their eyes. i know they thought about my irresponsibility as a pregnant mom risking injury on the iceskating rink. however, i think part of their judgement stemmed from a slight jealously of wishing they had enough energy to skate around the rink with child in belly. either way, i am trying to be as active as possible to stay in good shape throughout the pregnancy.

james and i have a book that we read daily that describes what is happening with the baby and mom that day. several times it has warned about gaining excess weight during pregnancy. i'm not too worried about it because i've never really had to watch what i eat and i want to make sure the baby is getting enough nutrients, but it is in the back of my mind. this entry is getting long. until next week, love you all!!

16 weeks, ahh.

135.5 lbs (.5 lbs gained this week, 7.5 total)

starting to show!

My friend Molly Hobbs came over this week (she has a one year old) and convinced me to use cloth diapers. Although both James' and my mom used cloth diapers, I wasn't sold on the idea until I found these:

Bum Genuis Cloth Diapers

Not only are they more economical and environmentally friendly than disposable diapers, but they are also much healthier for the baby. I never really thought about how many chemicals are in disposable diapers, but reviews reveal how many rashes result from disposable diapers. When baby Kehrli is first born or traveling, I'm sure we'll use some throw away diapers, but I'm ready to get my hands dirty with cloth ones as well.

Time to take cookies out of the oven. Love you all and thank you for the comments! One more picture from week 13, which is near to my heart:

In a few more weeks we will have our 20 week ultrasound and get a much clearer picture of our rapidly growing baby, but for now, this makes me smile :).

still not showing

15 weeks! almost 4 months along (and i'm still not showing)
weight: 135 (7 pounds gained total)

although i'm gaining weight and james thinks it is obvious that i am pregnant, apparently others do not. earlier this week i went to our hospital (northwest medical--bentonville) for a tour of the labor & delivery wing, and the RN asked me if i was applying for a job. no, stupid, i am pregnant and i want to see where i am going to have my baby! perhaps it's the polite thing not to assume women are pregnant, but i am touring the labor wing!

at our softball game on tuesday (yes, i still play coed softball with a bun in the oven and it doesn't make me a sinner) i told my teammate's little girls that i am expecting, and they replied in their brutal child honesty, "you don't look pregnant." i have yet to hear, "aww your belly looks so cute," but i guess that can wait. numerous others have mentioned that i look without child. luckily i saw the baby moving in the sonogram, so i know he/she's in there!!

part of me kind of enjoys not looking pregnant. i read an article in "pregnancy" that said often women with strong ab muscles do not show as much initially because the baby rests closer to the spine. i'm sure this isn't the reason i'm not really showing, but for now i'll let myself believe it is. all of my pre-pregnancy clothes still fit, albeit tighter, but still a blessing. i have no desire to wear materity clothes until forced.

in other news, it's going to take james and me a long time to pick out names. girl names thrown out inlcude chloe kehrli, carly kehrli, and kansas kehrli (k.k.). boy names i'm fond of are striker kehrli or blaze kehrli. my husband vetoes both. we both kinda like aiden, but it's kinda boring and too trendy. until next time (when i promise i will post a picture), love you all!!!

14 weeks

Ahhh, finally writing :).

14 weeks exactly today (due date April 1)
132.5 pounds (4.5 pounds gained)

I am starting to feel better. Monday night I got sick again, which was kind of frustrating because I thought the morning sickness would magically disappear when the first trimester ended. However, I've had ample energy during the days as long as I eat a constant stream of food. My current food schedule is:

7:30am--1/2 PBJ and glass of Cranberry Rasberry Juice right when I wake up
8:30am--string cheese and cashews while driving to work
10:30am--Subway or Quiznos chicken & bacon sandwich
2:30ish--snack when I get home, varies
6:00--Chicken Noodle Soup & frozen pretzel

I am trying to eat as much protein/iron as possible because the doctor said I am borderline anemic. My blood was tested right after we returned from Ecuador when I had been constantly throwing up and stopped eating for a few days, so I'm hoping the low red blood count was due to temporal malnourishment.

In other news, we had our first ULTRASOUND! So exciting! Before I experienced an ultrasound, I did not understand why parents-to-be got so excited about grainy black and white pictures with unidentifiable objects semi-resembling parts of a baby. However, an ultrasound is so much more than the subpar pictures--it is the first time a mother and father get to SEE the baby in all of its glory moving around in the womb. Our little munchkin was hyperactive (sign of things to come?) and flipped all around showing it's body to the camera. The look on James' face was priceless--I've never seen him so fascinated with a little computer screen! Everything looks healthy so far--we saw all 5 fingers on each hand and a straight spine!

This is probably enough for now, but hopefully I can start writing on a regular basis and document the days before our baby's arrival!!!

new blog

Hello! I am starting this blog to detail our pregnancy timeline and give friends and family updates. Love you all!