October is the best!

I know there are a lot of great months in a year. December, for example, is a particularly awesome one because it's the month of my birth AND the month of Christmas! But October is definitely my favorite month!

For one, the weather finally starts to cool down and I can breathe outside! Many nights it's cool enough to sleep with the windows open! Also all the typical fall stuff emerges -- pumpkin everything, scarves, boots, spicy fragrances, and colorful leaves.

October is the month that Scott and I were baptized together. It's also the month that we got engaged. The same day that we were baptized, two years later, Grayson was born! My dad and brother's birthdays are also in October, which isn't quite as exciting for me, but still noteworthy! ;)

But I think what makes October really FUN is all the traditional Halloween and fall activities that you can do in October! In our house, we really get into it! We make Halloween crafts and use them to decorate the house. We watch "scary" movies (not REALLY scary though!). We make Halloween costumes, go to fall festivals or farms, pick out pumpkins (shockingly, I've never carved a pumpkin! We are hoping to still do this sometime this week!), have bonfires, etc... So tell me, how can you NOT love this month?!

Here are just a few of the things we've done so far in October this year! We still have 5 days left and plan to use them wisely! ;)

We had two birthday parties for Grayson. This was the one at my dad's house for family in Atlanta. I know he took more pictures than this, but he didn't post them on facebook! Rude! ha!

This stinker turned 2! :)

My cutie!

And enjoyed several rounds of "party cake" :)

Scott and I went to Vegas and presented together at a conference for work. Vegas isn't really our favorite place, but we still had a good time together! :)

View from our hotel room in Caesar's Palace

Inside the Forum Shops of Caesar's Palace

Dinner at Hexx underneath the Eiffel Tower

Out and about on the strip!

Grayson enjoyed his first cup of "hot" chocolate while watching Halloween specials on Netflix!

We made Halloween crafts. The hair is made from Grayson's handprints.

Grayson made a "spooky spider!"

Our decorations

Every year when we decorate, we put on parts of our old Halloween costumes! Helps get us in the mood! :)

Grayson's costume from last year! Doesn't quite fit anymore! ha!

We went to Old Freeman Farm for pumpkin patch, corn maze, and lots of other fun fall activities!

In the corn maze

Riding the train at the farm!

In the corn crib! It actually felt really cool...but you definitely end up with some corn in your pants!

Family time at the farm!

Pig face!

We went to the local fair

We had a bonfire with our church small group

We also had a second birthday party for Grayson, spent time walking around the park and looking at turtles, and yesterday we went to Savannah to visit our aunt and uncle. We walked all around the city, thoroughly explored an awesome playground at Forsyth Park, and enjoyed watching the big boats go by on the river while we ate dinner at Huey's on River Street. (no pictures of any of these things!)

We've also been watching a really cute and magical 30-minute movie called Room on the Broom that is based on a children's book. Grayson loves it and wants to watch it every day. As I said, it's magical--so we have watched it a lot! :)

Needless to say, I'm enjoying October this year! Still to come -- carving pumpkins, finishing our Halloween costumes, and Scare in the Square in Downtown Statesboro for Halloween! :) So much fun!

What have you been up to this month?

A line is a line, no matter how faint!

We're expecting another little pumpkin! Coming April 26, 2016!

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We do not know the sex yet. The chalk color was a coincidence! :)

I don't think Grayson quite understands it yet. But he talks about the baby in mommy's tummy and will tell us if he wants a baby brother or sister (but his answer changes each time!).

Just like when I was pregnant with Grayson, I wanted to document my feelings as close to when I actually discovered my pregnancy as possible. Of course, I don't want to tell the whole wide world yet, so I'm saving this post for after I announce. If you're reading this, I must be in or close to my 2nd trimester! Hooray! :)

But in reality, as I'm writing this, I'm 5 weeks, 4 days! I took a pregnancy test last Tuesday (8/18/2015). Just like with Grayson, I was not really expecting it to be positive. We had just started trying this month. Last time it took 3 months, so I was expecting similar results this go-round. I also apparently do not understand the female cycle because I wasn't even sure I was physically able to be pregnant yet, much less have a positive test. But that day for lunch I had deli meat turkey, wrapped around sliced cheese and avocado. I ate the first few pieces and then couldn't bring myself to finish the rest. Intense nausea washed over me. I didn't think much of this. I'm not really a big fan of deli meat, it was really hot outside, and I had been suffering from intermittent nausea over the past month or so due to some hormonal fluctuations from weaning. So, I didn't immediately assume I was pregnant.

The nausea lasted the rest of the afternoon. The very thought of the turkey made me feel sick to my stomach! I couldn't even bring myself to throw my leftovers away until the very end of the day because I didn't want to go near it. Driving home I thought...maybe...just maybe... Even so, I still thought it was way too early to take a test. But we had purchased 25 test strips for pretty cheap on Amazon recently. I figured I would want lots of them as we were trying to conceive over the coming months (ha!). So, there was no harm in going ahead and taking one. Plus, I was planning on having a beer with dinner (Taco Tuesday, hello!), so I figured better safe than sorry on that one.

I had never used the test strips before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I did the deed and waited 5 minutes. Came back for a quick peek. It looked like there might be a second line there, but if so it was extremely faint. Scott came in to confirm. He agreed it looked negative. But I had this nagging feeling that it was positive. I did some Google searches and everything I read said even a faint line meant positive. I knew this because with Grayson the line was very faint. But with these little strips, the whole area was kind of pink...so I was concerned maybe the cheap test just had leaky ink or something. I took a second test and had similar results. By this point, we were driving ourselves crazy! We decided the only way to confirm that this isn't just how tests look when anyone pees on them was to have someone who was definitely NOT pregnant pee on one. Ahem, Scott. Yes, my husband peed on a stick for me!

After comparing his tests with mine, it was quite clear that he had absolutely no second line, whereas I did, albeit a very faint one. We were still hesitant to consider ourselves pregnant. We didn't want to get our hopes up. But I still refrained from that beer!

We went to my OB on Monday of this week (8/24) and they confirmed the results! Of course, it was too early (based on my cycle) to do an ultrasound. I go back next Weds (9/2) for an ultrasound, so I'll know more then. But basing it on my cycle alone, my estimated due date should be around April 23, 2016! :) {update-- it would seem my cycle was fairly irregular due to weaning recently, and my actual due date is April 26, 2016. I wasn't quite as far along as I thought when I wrote this post!}

It's a strange feeling, this early pregnancy with baby #2. First of all, I'm still too nervous to get too excited. I know miscarriages are very common, and I have many close friends and family who have experienced them. I will be glad when I can hear that heartbeat next week!

It's weird remembering all the little things about pregnancy that I had forgotten or not thought about in a while. I'm giving everything I eat and drink a lot of thought! Caffeine was never a problem the first time b/c I wasn't a big coffee drinker. Since having Grayson, I've been a 1-2 cups a day kind of girl! I'm limiting myself to one cup per day (usually green tea instead of coffee b/c less caffeine) or a cup of half-caf coffee. I know you're allowed 200 mg, but I'm trying to be cautious in these earlier weeks.

In a lot of ways, I'm more confident and feel more prepared than I did before. None of this is brand new (so far!), so there is comfort in that. On the other hand, there are no guarantees that my experiences will be the same (I wish there were!!). I'm anxious to discover if I'll have a lot of nausea again (none so far since that one day with the turkey!), if I'll escape pregnancy without throwing up, and if I'll have as smooth of a labor and delivery. Of course I'm also curious what baby #2 will be like. Boy or girl? As awesome as Grayson? Yes, I worry that the next one won't compare. I know that's ridiculous. But right now, it's hard to imagine loving another baby as much as I love Grayson. I know all that will change, but right now, I still get a little sad thinking about having to share my affection with another child. I worry that I'll miss these sweet times of just the three of us.

But I remind myself that I had the exact same fears when I was pregnant with Grayson, and wondering if I would miss the times with just me and Scott. Change is always uncomfortable, but that doesn't make it bad. I have NO idea how we'll handle two kids! Like, no idea at all! haha! But I'm confident we'll figure it out just like we did with Grayson, and I know we'll nail it (at least most of the time!). :)

I'm dying to share my news with everyone!! Only a few people know right now. I can't wait for that first ultrasound! It's exciting and scary and wonderful! And now I just wait for it all to play out!