we made a deal

Kevan: "I really want to get a tattoo."
Sharon: "Really? I don't know about it..."
Kevan: "I know about it. I am getting a tattoo."
Sharon: "Well, let's make a deal. You can get a tattoo when we have a baby."
Kevan thinks. Kevan and Sharon shake hands.

Several months later, Sharon surprises Kevan with a present. A positive pregnancy test and a homemade onesie that reads:

Kevan proceeds to get anticipated tattoo:

Kevan chooses a rhino to represent life lessons taught by his father about determination:




Done deal. Kevan and Sharon are satisfied. All is well.

woosh woosh

On Monday, Kev and I went to our 12 week appointment. It was short and sweet, and we got to hear the precious heartbeat again. Here is a little video of the experience. Turn up your volume! Near the end, our doctor, who is really great, says, "158, that's perfect." We thought so, too.

12 weeks and, sigh, belly pic

I am now 12 weeks along. Some say I am starting the 2nd trimester, others say that isn't until 13 weeks...regardless, I feel much better, which is fantastic! I have an appointment tomorrow and am excited to maybe get to hear the little heartbeat again. We heard it at last month's appointment, and it was such an intense and humbling experience. My doctor doesn't do sonograms until 20 weeks, so we still have a while before we get to see the cuteness.

I don't know if "cuteness" is a great segue for this next picture, but I've decided to share this week's belly pic with you. I'm not brave enough yet to post the bare belly pic and don't know that I ever will be. (I guess all of the "conversations" that my mama and I had about bikinis when I was a teenager had an impression on me as I consider flashing my stomach on the internet.) Anyway, this shirt isn't tight fitting, but maybe you can kind of tell that a little bump is definitely there! The second picture is from last night. I got to see 3 people whom I've missed! Lindsay was visiting from Abilene, Nina just returned from Switzerland, and well, Melanie lives here, but I sadly hadn't seen her in, I think, over a year. Kevan was glad to see that I do indeed have friends.

hangman, anyone?

Tuesday I finally told my kids that I'm pregnant. I waited until the end of the day because I knew of the inevitable chaos that would follow such an announcement. We played a game of Hangman on the overhead, and it was so funny when they finally figured out the message. Of course, a million questions followed, along with several name suggestions. Here are a few examples of the responses from my 4th graders:

"Why don't you look pregnant?"
"If you don't have it by March 22nd, could your stomach explode?"
"Can I name your baby?"
"I think you should name it Eddie, whether it is a boy or a girl."
"If you hug Mrs. Albright too hard, she may throw up the baby." (I have received several one-armed side hugs since.)
"How fat will you get?"

I could go on and on and will most likely have more funny quotes to add to that list before it is all over. (By the way, if you look closely at the overhead pic, you may notice a little stick drawing of a baby. One kid asked me how big the baby is right now, so I drew a line about 2 inches long and demonstrated the position the baby might be in. They were all really shocked after I drew the picture, and I was saying, "I know, isn't it amazing?" It wasn't until later that night that I thought about how my 2 inch drawing was being enlarged into a 15 inch drawing on the screen. Duh. My poor kids are probably so confused...)

Once I told my class, I was excited to tell some of my kids from the past couple of years, but when school let out and I stepped into the hallway, the word had already spread. I instantly heard my name buzzing all throughout the hallway. It reminded me very much of how I felt, like, everyday in high school. Ha....riiiiiigghhht.

I'll leave you with a picture. Kasey Wilson requested that I send her a current pic of my "belly" so Kev and I thought it would be really funny to take this and send it to her. This, thank the good Lord, is not what I currently look like, but I am sure it is merely a glimpse of what's to come.