Hello 2nd Trimester!!!

Today I enter into the 2nd trimester!! woohooo! 13 weeks! Everyone has been telling me that at 13 weeks it will be like a switch is flipped (or a flip is switched as I said earlier tonight haha) and whataya know, today is the first day of my pregnancy I haven't been nauseous at all!! Now granted it is only 7:15 as I type this so there are 3 more hours of potential nausea but lets stay positive and assume I won't be! I have felt great all day! Hallelujah!! I want to skip I'm so happy! I feel like I saw a glimpse of my pre-pregnancy self today with all the energy I had and lack of nausea. I'm thrilled to think that I'll actually be able to do things like I used to, like housework and cook and run, etc etc etc! Speaking of housework, I owe a huge THANK YOU to Cole Bowen, my brother-in-law. We had planned for him, Brittney and Corben to come over to our house for lunch today so they wouldn't have to drive all the way back home and back for Group Link (small group launch at church) tonight. Brittney and I told Cole we wanted to go to Harris Teeter (for free stuff, naturally) and that we would be back home to cook lunch. Well, we took a little longer than we thought (and got a lot more free stuff than we thought too!) and when we got back to my house, Cole had cleaned my kitchen, put away the dishes, and cooked lunch!! He made made-from-scratch mashed potatoes, corn and grilled chicken and steaks on the grill!! It was fabulous!! Then, Brittney folded the towels that I had neglected to fold since drying them and my house looked cleaner than it has in weeks!! THANK YOU Cole and Brittney! Honestly I have felt so tired and so ill the past few weeks I haven't lifted a finger and my house showed it. Brandon has done so much to pick up my slack but it really needs more attention than once a week cleaning... you know how it goes. I am so blessed to be surrounded by people who love me enough to help me when I need it most!

Today was also the launch of our small groups at church. Group Link went seamlessly tonight and I am SO proud of my husband! I don't think everyone knows just how hard he works behind the scenes to pull stuff like this off. He has worked on processes for small groups for months now and this week has worked well over a normal workweek to launch these groups (no day off Friday and hasn't been home since 7:15 this morning!!). I am so proud of how he has grown into the leader he is. People respect him and they don't even know the half of what he does! I want to applaud Brandon and take a minute to recognize just how hard he has worked to take our church to the next level. We are very excited about small groups and especially our small group! We will have our group meet at our house this semester and we are pumped about everyone who will be a part of our group! I think people are craving personal relationships with one another and this will be a huge part in accomplishing that.

Here is my survey on my pregnancy for this week =)

How far along? 13 weeks

Weight gain? at work this week there was an employee health fair and I weighed myself there... keep in mind that it was right after lunch and I had eaten SOOO much pasta and it is a different scale than the doctor's offices (I feel like there are always some discrepancies between scales) BUT by the number that popped up, it means that I have gained 4 pounds so far! I was allowed to gain up to 5 in the first trimester so I don't feel horrible about that weight gain but I am a little nervous that I gained 2 pounds in 2 weeks, hmmm...

Maternity clothes? Not yet... but I DID get to church this morning and realized while I was greeting people for the first service that I had forgotten to zip and button my jeans!! I apparently was much more comfortable with my jeans unzipped =)

Sleep? Still getting up to go to the bathroom once or twice a night and I've been having very vivid dreams. I will have to read up on this to see if that is a normal pregnancy thing but I have woken up thinking "wow, that was so real if I wasn't in my bed, I would believe it happened!"

Stretch Marks? None so far (hopefully none at all!)

Best Moment this week? Running for the first time since knowing I was pregnant! It's been two months since I last ran!!! Can you believe it? Thanksgiving day I ran a couple miles and did some sprints (and I seem to recall thinking that afterward I was extremely tired, maybe the fact that I was carrying a baby....??haha) but since then I have been too worn out and too nauseated to run. Yesterday I was determined to give it a go and I went out and walk/jogged a mile! Meaning, I jogged for a few minutes, walked for a few, jogged for a few, walked for a few... etc. I didn't want to overdo it but MAN I felt great when I got done!! When I got back inside I even walked around pumping my fist in the air, I felt so victorious! =)

Movement? None yet... I'm hoping I'll feel the baby move soon but I think I still have to wait a few weeks...

Food Cravings? Still cheeseburgers, scrambled eggs and cheese, any form of potatoes (mashed, baked, soup, fries, chips, tatertots... seriously all of those) and anything carbs... bad I know but I've been feeling so much better after I eat bread or crackers or potatoes...

Food Aversions? still coffee, it smells disgusting to me. And anything that smells too strongly, even my chapstick makes me gaggy

What I miss most? Coffee... I long for the day when I will crave a vanilla latte again...

What I'm looking forward to? Feeling good in this trimester!! Woot Woot!

Milestones... Going an entire day without feeling nauseous! (Like I said, the day's not over yet, but I still feel good so here's to hoping with my fingers crossed!) BabyCenter.com says the baby is now almost 3 inches long and weighs an ounce! My little peanut is just growing up so fast =)

I haven't taken a picture today but I will at some point this week and I'll post it after I do. There's not much change since last week so don't get too disappointed I slacked on the visual for this week =)