Fair time!

One of my favorite things to go to is the fair! Why? Because there are so many cool things to see, experience, eat, and enjoy. Lee and I got to go this last week when he and I had a day off from work...and we had a lovely time!

People enter all kinds of things that they want to be judged, like this cake! Pretty 'sweet' decorating job I'd say. :)

Really neat handmade chess set.

There was a whole room full of flowers and plants, bonsai trees and garden booths. I liked this room a lot.

Then we went to the animal tent which was full of cows, bulls, chickens running around everywhere, goats and a station to milk a cow! 

Oh yeah and potbelly pigs with smooshed faces. So cute!

This fella was ginormous. Seriously. 

There were tons of goats all begging for food from your hands. They 'baa-ed' at you if you didn't have anything. We just liked to hear them go 'baa'.

I loved the feathers on this rooster's legs! Looked like bell bottoms!

Huge turkey! I think he was asleep...

Texas longhorn!

When we got to the sheep, Lee said their fur felt like a dirty blanket. That pretty much sums it up! It was fun to feel how poofy their coats are though!

Like I said, all they did was beg for food. You would think with all the food they get all day, they'd be full. I guess not!

Milk cows! Their hides were so soft!

This tent was Lee's favorite to visit!

These chickens had some funky hair-dos!

Of course we had to get a funnel cake! We were going to get elephant ears too but someone said they weren't that great this year so we didn't bother.

Went to Panda Express after for dinner and came out to this lovely sunset to complete our day. :) Love it when it works out like that!

My Sweetheart

I can't tell you how blessed I am to have such a wonderful, attentive, loving husband as Lee. He fills my world with such joy and happiness that is completely beyond my comprehension sometimes. 

How did I get so lucky??

We just celebrated our 2 year anniversary on the 6th of this month...can't wait for more!!!

I love you, sweetheart!

Nesting

We are getting ready to move in a couple of weeks. It's only across the street, so no big deal, but we are going to be saving a bunch of money each month, which thrills me to pieces! I generally don't care for moving and the process it entails, but this time, I'm looking forward to it.

For the last week or two, I have been diligently going through all of my stuff (that Lee affectionately calls "junk") and either donating it, throwing it away, giving to my mom, or finding a new home in our home for it. I have seriously gotten rid of so much of this "stuff" that I thought I needed and it feels so good to just clear it all out! And, strangely enough, I have even more room now to be able to organize everything as I want it instead of tossing it in a bin in a closet, never to be looked at again. It really feels great when everything is neat and orderly and chaos free!

Because of this organization that I have been trying to implement in our lives, I have been able to enjoy our space so much more. I cleared out a bin that was full of cotton fabric, for example, wrapped all of them on little cardboard bolts, and neatly tucked them in my bookshelf so that I could "shop" it more easily and actually feel like sewing more often. This is a sampling of what it looks like now: 

Isn't it pretty to look at when it's all laid out like this?! Hopefully, we can get some more bookcases and I can fill them with fabric this way. Yes, I have that much. :/ 

I am so proud of myself because this quilt that I recently completed for our baby was made all from fabric and supplies that I already had laying around in bins! I didn't have to go to the store at all!!! That is quite an accomplishment for me and made the process of making the quilt fun and now I am looking forward to doing another one! 

When I can see everything that I have to work with, I find that I can complete a project quicker and with excitement instead of dread and irritation because I can't find something.

So, needless to say, when we move into our new apartment in a couple of weeks, my goal is to make everything neat and organized when we first get in there so that it's all clean and accessible.

Yay for organization!!!

Gender Reveal...

I cannot express in words how bad I have wanted to tell you what baby Durtschi's gender is!!!

So without further a due...

IT'S A BOY!!!

We are so excited about this!!! Lee especially since he has wanted to have a whole crew of them since we have been together! Looks like he'll get his wish with this one! :)

 I know he'll be as handsome as his daddy and we can't wait to meet him!!! :)

16 and a half weeks...

Oh, where do I begin???

The last three+ months have been interesting to say the least! I was kind of half-expecting to be sick for a while since I tend to take after my mom in the physical afflictions department, unfortunately. But she is great for going to for advice and what helped her and things like that and it's always nice to have someone around that knows what you're going through. When I went to the doctor for the first time back in March, she gave me some "mild" nausea medication that worked for what seemed like a week. Then I would just have days where I couldn't keep it down, or anything for that matter. Every once in a great while, I would have a good day where I could eat a whole meal without it coming back up. I really liked those days! :) Then I think I must have become used to the meds or something and so they wouldn't help at all. So I finally called the doctor after 2 months of being ill all day, every day, and I said I need the really good stuff. ASAP. Because I am an absolute mess. That's what it felt like, honestly. I was so hungry most of the time but nothing would stay down. I had a lovely bladder infection on top of it when I was about 6 weeks along and that lasted for a good 2 weeks. Then immediately after that was over I got a head cold that lasted for 3 weeks and then another one 2 weeks after that! Whew! I am just now getting over that cold now though so all is well. :) I'm telling you, it has been a roller coaster! Thankfully I have been feeling LOADS better and have hardly any throwing up anymore. Through it all, I received some wonderful encouragement and support from family and friends and that helped tremendously. Lee has been absolutely loving and wonderful and so willing to help and my thanks and gratitude for that is immeasurable. He is so willing and eager to make this easier for me in any way he can and even though he sometimes doesn't understand what I'm going through, he is always there to hold me and help me through particularly rough days. I really could not imagine doing this without him! 

I took this the day before I was 15 weeks. :) I hadn't been able or even wanted to take any belly pictures because I was either sick, tired, not feeling cute AT ALL, or lazy. But then I remembered how I had wanted to document my pregnancy to remember and for posterity. So I got off the couch and snapped my first pregnancy picture :) At 12 weeks, I heard the baby's heart beat for the first time and what a special moment that was! It was more of a relief kind of feeling knowing that baby D was alive and well. I am so truly thankful for modern technology that allows us, as mothers, to be able to "check in" on our little ones and get that confirmation that everything is going great so far! 

Just last Thursday, we were able to get our first ultrasound and see baby D! I can't tell you the anticipation and the excitement that I had leading up to that moment! 

There baby is!!! Seeing our baby for the first time was amazing! So incredible to watch all the movement and see what it's like in there! Lee had a sweet smile on his face the whole time and was just mesmerized by it! I was too, for sure. It makes it so much MORE real to us now, having seen the baby. I have a huge grin on my face just sitting here thinking about our experience. :)

How far along? 16 and a half weeks.

Total weight gain? So far it's been 8 pounds.

Maternity clothes? No not yet. Still trying to keep wearing the usual but it is getting a bit snug these days - especially the jeans! I wish I could wear sweats all the time!

Stretch marks? None yet!

Sleep: Off and on at night time. Still have to get up and go potty at least twice, which is annoying. I like naps quite a bit, though! :)

Best moment this week: Seeing baby D for the first time, of course!!! 

Miss anything? Hot dogs. They have sounded SO good but I don't want to eat foreign meat products. Oh well, they aren't that great for me anyway, right?

Movement? Baby is pretty still and calm. Every once in a great while, I will feel a flutter (I think). It could be processing though. Nothing for sure yet.

Food cravings: If this world did not have fruit in it, I would die. I could live on fruit all day, every day! That's basically what got me through when I was super sick and I am so thankful for it! I eat a ton of meat too...which is strange for me. I could take it or leave it before I was pregnant but now, it tastes so good SO often! I guess it's a good thing Lee works in the meat department at work, huh? :)

Anything make you queasy or sick? Now, just the smell of eggs cooking and really heavy odors. Before, of course, it was anything and everything. Now I just open a window and sit there for a while til the smell goes away and then I'm fine :)

Gender? Not telling yet!

Belly button in or out? In!

Wedding rings on or off? On!

Mood? Generally I have been feeling great! Really happy and excited! But when I get emotional...I am such a baby!!!

Looking forward to: Movement from baby and being able to tell what we're having! :) 

Well, I think that about sums it up for now. I know I said weekly posts but that obviously isn't gonna happen so I will at least do monthly. :) 

Oh Baby!

Wednesday afternoon, March 15th, after going to the bathroom for the 174th time that day (and thinking that I had been going potty a lot lately), and also realizing that my period was late (and after thinking about that), I did feel a bit different than I had the last couple of months, I decided it was time to take a pregnancy test and just see what the results were. 

This is what the first one said! And I was BEYOND excited!!

  I may or may not have promptly jumped on Pinterest to find nursery ideas :)

When Lee saw the results, he had the most priceless look on his face which was followed by a

 beaming smile! It was adorable! 

I wanted to take a few tests just to make sure that it was for real and not a dud of a test. So I took another one the next day and it came up with the same results! 

We then made an appointment to see a doctor and on the 27th, it was confirmed - we are going to have a baby! He or she is due around Thanksgiving - November 25th to be exact!

It took all we had not to tell people. But we did tell our parents a couple of days later. 

It's so hard to keep to yourself! 

So needless to say, I have had nothing but baby on the brain for a while now. I hope to be able to do weekly updates on here. The morning sickness is a little overwhelming sometimes but I'll do my best. I really want to remember this journey and share it with you, especially with it being our first. 

We are so thankful to have this opportunity to be parents!!! And nothing makes us more joyful than knowing that there's a bun in the oven! :)

The Colossus

One reason I love Lee is because he comes up with some pretty crazy things to do sometimes...

like ordering a Colossus from Pizza Pipeline.  For just the two of us.

Yes, this lovely gigantor of a pizza is 26" across...if you have never experienced one. 

It's supposed to feed 8 to 10 people...

Thankfully, they cut it into squares so it was manageable to eat. But we could only eat 3 or 4 pieces each, which is barely a 1/4 of the pizza! We got 6 or 7 meals out of it though! :)

Lee loved every minute of it! He said (more than once that night), "It's all about the experience!"

While it was pretty crazy, it was also pretty fun! That's why I love my Lee, he makes everything fun! :)

Etsy

I decided I'm finally going to start up my Etsy shop...again. And I'm going to really pay attention to it this time! I think this is nice time in my life when things aren't hectic so I can really put some effort into it. Here's what I've posted so far:

I've made the goal to make/post something everyday. I'm pretty determined to stay on top of it! :) 

www.sweetsistersue.etsy.com is where you'll find my shop. Hope you enjoy!