16 weeks!

How far along? 16 weeks

-Maternity clothes? Now that the seasons are BEGINNING to change, I feel like my wardrobe has expanded massively! Fall/ Winter pregnancies are the best, yall, seriously. I can wear leggings under all my oversized and long sweaters, and even under some of my summer dresses with cardigans layered on top. It's sort of liberating, really. The rest of my wardrobe is pretty much the same...

-Cravings? Fruits and veggies...any and all of them!
-Food aversions? I think I should just be a vegetarian. While we were at the beach, my meat aversion came back with a vengeance.  As my mom said, I was pretty much unsatisfied with every type of meat served to me while we were at the beach (with the exception of her fantastic tacos and the yummy pizza we ate one night).
-How do you feel? I feel so good this week! I got a flu shot the last time I was at the doctor, and it kicked my butt.  I felt like I had been run over for most of the day on that Wednesday and even a little bit the next day! BUT I am really thankful that I only felt like that for a day, rather than having the flu later on this year for a week or more.
-Gender prediction? Unsure right now, but still thinking maybe girl?
-Anything interesting? Nope! Pretty boring this week...still feeling little bit move when I am being still.  No picture for now (I may add one later on though) because I just couldn't seem to get a good one...

Hope you all have a great week! 

"Francation" 2012

Every year about this time we go with my side of the family (my parents, my Nanny and Pawpaw, my 5 little sisters, my brother and his wife) to the beach...usually in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina. We just got back, and it was so much fun!  My sister in-law, Chelsea, names this vacation "Francation" last year- Francis Vacation- and the name stuck. We spent 8 lovely days in a condo that was just a short walk away from either a pool or the beautiful NC shoreline, and just a short drive away from the Beaufort waterfront, NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores, and of course Dairy Queen :) It was a wonderful trip!

Here are some of the pictures that I took...I honestly didn't use my camera nearly as much as I should have, simply because my mom has a much better camera and was taking pictures constantly.  I will put up more pictures once I can get her to email me some of the ones she took.

Max and Daddy on the beach

Amberlynn was buried in the sand, and Max was quite interested :)

Max loved digging holes in the sand, of course!

He was a little unsure about the sand on his hands OR feet...

So beautiful!

As long as Max had shoes on, he loved roaming around on the beach :)

Checking out the crocodile at the aquarium

Fort Macon

Hubs and I at Fort Macon

14 weeks

-How far along? 14 weeks

-Maternity clothes? Pretty much the same as the past week, of course. I am definitely growing, and there is an item of clothing a week or so that I can't wear anymore.
-Cravings? any kind of potato, Chipotle burritos, orange juice, lima beans.
-Food aversions? This week I really haven't had any! That is something to be thankful for :)
-How do you feel? Still feeling great! My only complaint this week is that I have been getting tension headaches about every night, but apparently that is completely normal.
-Gender prediction? Unsure right now, but still thinking maybe girl?
-Anything interesting? I am a few days late posting this because I decided to wait until my checkup today to post. Everything went great! I heard our little one's heartbeat again (154bpm) and scheduled our ultrasound.  On October 3rd we will be finding out if we will be having a boy or girl, and we will of course find out if everything is going well with this pregnancy. Please be praying for us about this...I am pretty anxious and nervous about this appointment just because of the weird stuff we had going on during my pregnancy with Max. I also have to have blood work done in two weeks to screen for things like spina bifida and Down's Syndrome.  I can't believe how quickly this pregnancy is going by so far! 

Life through instagram

The last two weeks or so in pictures! Enjoy :)

tough life ;)

He loves helping me "clean"

Play date at the park with friends from church!

Max also loves to "help" me cook. Please notice the expression on his face...haha

We are slowly but surely learning to use the potty! 

Max loves his Batman mask :) so funny..

Lazy night- movies and snuggling with my babes.

I have been obsessively crocheting lately...

13 weeks

-How far along? 13 weeks

-Maternity clothes? Maternity jeans, still MOST of my regular shirts, leggings (new favorite), and starting into wearing some maternity shirts as well.
-Cravings? any kind of potato, Chipotle burritos.
-Food aversions? Meat...and I don't really expect this to change. When I was pregnant with Max I had to force myself to eat meat in order to get enough protein to keep me from being hungry all the time, and it lasted the entire pregnancy and then some!
-How do you feel? Aside from being hungry all the time (which can get annoying), I feel fantastic!
-Gender prediction? Still leaning towards girl!
-Anything interesting? I am almost positive that I have already felt this sweet little love moving! I know, you aren't supposed to be able to feel baby move until you are 16-20 weeks (maybe a little earlier for second time moms...because you know what to expect), but I swear I have been feeling movement since Sunday afternoon. I only notice it when I am being super still and quiet, but it is an amazing feeling, nonetheless.

I just can't believe how amazing it feels to be a mom already, AND be expecting another little one.  I think it is partially because I know now how incredible it is to be a mom and to experience the type of love you have for your children.  We are already so in love with you, sweet baby. And Max is so funny...I know he doesn't understand much about this whole thing, but his new favorite word is "baby" and he loves rubbing my belly.  It is a little bit scary, and also very exciting, to think about having 2 kids under the age of 2 (even if it will only be for about a month), but I just feel so blessed and I know that this is what God wants for our family.  Please be praying for us all throughout this pregnancy...I still have a lot of anxiety about all things related to baby number 2, but I am trying really hard to just let go and let God take care of it...and I really want to be able to just soak up all these moments and just love being pregnant. 

As my sister-in-law, Chelsea, says- I'm "a giant" :)

12 weeks

-How far along? 12 weeks
-Maternity clothes? Maternity jeans, still my regular shirts (some are feeling a little short) and a couple of maternity tank tops.
-Cravings? Still obsessed with orange juice. Cake, veggies of any kind (especially Lima beans and potatoes). Weird...I never really had many cravings with Max!
-Food aversions? Meat, especially if I have to cook it. Anything really greasy, or really unhealthy (like fast food and convenience food at home...excluding sweets)....still pretty much the same from last week.
-How do you feel? Pretty good! I still have to make sure I eat before I am really hungry, but I have been feeling really great in the past week :) still tired, but that's to be expected with a toddler running around AND being 12 weeks pregnant!
-Gender prediction? Ok, so now I'm beginning to agree with the "girl" feeling that everyone else has. With Max, I never told anyone, but I KNEW he was going to be a boy before we ever found out. I could be totally wrong, and I'd truly be happy either way, but I do feel like this baby is all "sugar and spice and everything nice."
-Anything interesting? Not really :) I have been trying to drink way more water and be healthier in general, which is a bit of a challenge for me. I have completely cut out caffeine since knowing we were expecting, but I am addicted to decaf sweet tea. My new goal is to drink 96 oz of water a day (which is not a random number...my water bottle of choice is 24oz and my doctor says I need close to 100oz of water/liquid a day, so, I will fill it and drink it 4 times), as well as trying to go walking every day now that it's finally starting to cool off in the evenings. I am determined that this time around I will be as healthy as possible so I can feel good for as long as possible!

Life through instagram

My sweet sister-in-law, Chelsea, just posted a blog with instagram photos from her wedding day (she and my brother got married a little more than a month ago!!) and it inspired me. I post tons of pictures of our everyday life on instagram, but I rarely put them anywhere else!
So...I wanted to share some of the more recent instagram happenings in the life of our little family :) hopefully I can post some of these about once a week or so!

Some of these are just from random summer activities (grilling out, learning about spiders, etc.) and some are from our recent trip to Wilkes for Ruby's birthday party...hope you enjoy your little peak into our lives!