it's a baby!

So I am not the skinniest person on earth, and I definitely didn't feel like I looked pregnant until very recently. And even then, only to myself and maybe Jesse, possibly to some other family members. Tonight though, I put on an old shirt that is now officially too tight, and voila! Little baby bump!



This is probably the only time I will be proud to show off my expanding midsection on the internet. It still feels a little uncomfortable, but there's a baby in there! So it's cool right?

Little baby has also been letting me know that he/she is there recently. There are definite acrobatics going on in there, especially in the evenings. It's such an amazing feeling, even if I am getting beat up from the inside. :)

Our ultrasound is scheduled for December 26th! I really wanted to find out before Christmas, but they didn't have an opening until the day after. We go back and forth about what we think it is, but honestly, all we really want is a healthy baby. I remember people saying that and thinking they must have some kind of preference, but when you're actually growing the baby, it's all that really matters. :)

15 weeks and counting...

Unbelievably, this week marked 15 weeks with little baby. That means, by the end of next week I will be 4 months pregnant already. We are nearing the halfway point!

The second trimester has brought some relief from the food aversions and tiredness, and I am realizing I must have felt worse in general than I even realized. It couldn't have come at a better time, because my inspiration was starting to suffer, and that isn't good when you are essentially getting an art degree.

We had our second prenatal visit 2 weeks ago, at 13 weeks, and got to hear the little one's heart beating away! There is a video, in case you haven't seen it yet....



It was much slower than at the ultrasound, I think because someone was still sleeping in there. :)

We are coming up on the "big" ultrasound, when we will be able to find out if I am growing a boy or a girl. I'm hoping to schedule it right before Christmas--it will be a good Christmas present to finally know!

Until then, there's not much to report. The belly is starting to expand a little, and I can only imagine it's going to be all downhill from here. :) Not that I mind, I'm totally ready to have a visual reminder of little baby, and especially to start feeling movement. With time going as fast as it is, I won't have long to wait I'm sure!

it's really happening

So today was the ultrasound! I was a nervous wreck going in. I read way too much and was so scared that there would be no baby there or something wrong. But as soon as we saw the baby, it did a somersault for us! It was dancing all around, waving and kicking like crazy. She actually had a hard time getting it to stop wiggling enough to hear the hearbeat, which was 171 beats per minute.

It was an amazing experience, and wayyy too fast! I think we both could have watched the little bean wiggle around for hours.

Here's baby's first pictures! (you can click to make them bigger)





I told myself that I would not buy anything until I heard the heartbeat, so today the baby got a hat, socks, and a pumpkin costume for next year (which was 50% off!). Can't wait to see the little munchkin again, and find out if "it" is a "he" or "she!"

nine weeks!

So we've made it to 9 weeks already!
So far, everything seems to be going very well. I have had it pretty easy so far, not too much nausea, but food is currently my worst enemy! I feel the worst when I am hungry, but at that point the thought of almost any food turns my stomach. It's making eating very stressful. I completely despise any sort of meat and everything else sort of depends on the day. It's crazy.
Otherwise I'm just tired and prefer spending my days on the couch whenever possible. Hopefully that will be temporary!
We had our first midwife appointment the other day. It was pretty basic, mostly just talking about how I am feeling and things to be trying to eat. She took 5 or 6 vials of blood (I lost count after about 4) and felt my belly a little. She wasn't sure if she could feel my uterus yet or just my bladder, but I'm pretty sure it's uterus because it feels different to me.
The most exciting part was that we got to schedule an early ultrasound! I am a worrier by nature, so I was very eager to see my baby and get reassurance that it is indeed growing in there. It's not until the 30th, when I will be about 11 weeks, but I can't wait. I think it might feel a little more real after seeing it with my own eyes.

Time is already going by so quickly, I know that this baby will be in my arms sooner than I realize. I can't believe how fast the weeks pass with school and work and everything else to think about.

Speaking of school, it's going well so far. Some days are harder because I am so exhausted and have to fight sleep in class, but overall it's good. Definitely hoping for an energy boost as I get to the second trimester, because the projects just keep piling on. And there are a ton of talented people in my program to keep up with!

Jesse is still working full time at McGrath's. He's very valued there now, and has already been offered a salary position in Washington. Unfortunately we're waiting for an offer a little closer to home.

So, I'll be back in 2 weeks with some baby pictures!

big news for the robersons

So it looks like we are....



Yes, you read that right! We are shocked too. We found out last week and have been slowly leaking the news to family and friends. This comes as a big surprise to us, but it is a welcome one! We are very excited. It is still very early (see the little floating baby to the right) but so far everything seems to be going well. We have a meeting with a birth center on Friday. Please keep thinking positive thoughts for this little poppy seed, we really want to meet him or her!

Carry On, Carry On

Today our baby Oliver took his first trip to the vet. He got into some chicken bones this weekend and we saw some blood this morning so we called and they told us to bring him on down. Jesse took him down while I was at work and said he was very good, except he had to carry him inside because he was backing away from the door! They gave him x-rays and all kinds of exams and everything looked okay! It was some very expensive peace of mind, but worth it. They gave us a prescription and a sort of laxative to clean out his intestines of possible bone shards, and just told us to watch him carefully to see if he's getting better. We have to keep him on a bland diet, which he isn't a big fan of--rice and cottage cheese. He keeps looking at me like, "where's the REAL food?" He swallowed his icky pill without any complaints though, and definitely hasn't lost any of his feisty spirit.

We've had a really busy week. Jesse's mom and sisters were in town for a family reunion and baby shower. On Monday we got the sad news that Jesse's great grandma on his dad's side, Nanny (her real name is Violet), had been hospitalized and was estimated to only live about 48 hours. We were able to take a trip to Newport to visit her in the hospital, which was really special. She told me that she loved Jesse and I together. That there is so much love between us. And it's only just beginning. Carry on. Carry on.

And that's what we'll do.

P.S. If you haven't seen it yet, our wedding video is online! I am pretty obsessed with it.

updates

It's been awhile! I have to admit, I have always been pretty bad with keeping up with these types of things.

On top of that, we have been really busy lately. We both took classes this past term, which just finished up last week (A's all around). Jesse was promoted after only a couple of weeks at his new job...he is now an "associate" at McGrath's, which is sort of replacing their assistant manager position (long story). This is fantastic except he works nearly every night, and I....don't. We have pretty opposite schedules lately, and it's weird not having him around in the evenings. Luckily we now have thursdays and fridays off together, so that helps.

Not much else is going on...I don't even have any pictures to share this time. Hopefully soon!

getting older

I stumbled across this picture the other day, and it made me realize how much we have grown and changed since this day! The past 5 years have gone by FAST, and yet, thinking back, there have been so many challenges we have faced together, so many triumphs, some failures, so many good ideas and bad ones, but overall, just SO much learning.

There was an elderly couple living across the street from us. The husband recently died, and watching the wife carry on without him has been utterly heartbreaking. It's funny how, in marriage, you have a buddy...that person is just always there. I can't imagine the feeling when that person is suddenly gone (at least physically).

I just realized, looking at this picture from Thanksgiving 2004, that I have had that coat almost 4 years. And I wore it today. Yikes.

we're on our way

Today is Jesse's first day at his new job with McGrath's. I haven't had this much time alone in months, and I can't say that I've spent it very productively. I have, however, gotten this blog up and running and have been working on uploading all the pictures I've been taking lately.

We went to the coast for a few days at the end of this past week. No one was really around my mom's house when we arrived, so Jesse and I packed up the dogs and headed to the beach. It was Oliver's first beach experience and I think it's safe to say he LOVED it. I loved the fact that it was a pretty nice day (a.k.a. NOT RAINING/snowing/hailing...etc.) and there was some pretty cool light for pictures. I really like how most of these turned out! I love this one of the two "children:"


I just think it perfectly depicts their relationship: Astrid is still the more experienced head of the household (so to speak) but Oliver is only a few steps behind her, always.
I'm lucky they were around to take pictures of, they are certainly my best models. :)

If you want to see more of the pictures from our beach day, you can see them here. You can get to all of our photo galleries, as well as our youtube channel (for videos!) by clicking on the links off to your right.

Okay, I'm off to get something done now. :)

the beginning...

Welcome to our brand new blog! We decided (okay, I decided) it was time to start documenting our life together. Hopefully you can all get some inside scoop on our daily goings-on, as well as see all of our fantastic pictures and videos. (You should be expecting a LOT of doggy content in the very near future.) Hopefully we can actually keep up with this and maybe people will even read it...hmmm lets hope! :)

Aleina