Noah is going to be a BIG Brother

Today was our First Trimester Ultrasound at MUSC. Its so funny to already see how different these two babies are. Noah was a jumping bean- he would squat and jump and bang his head on the other side- to the point, the lady said, well- we'll just watch the show b/c i can't get any measurements like this! haha and that's exactly what he is today- a jumping bean-- :) This baby wouldn't move! she had be empty my bladder, jiggled my belly, poked it, squished it...nothing! once it moved its arm! haha it was facing the back all curled up. She almost had to do a vaginal US b/c she would get the measurements b/c it wouldnt move! haha WOW are they different already :) i'm really sick with this one and its not a big mover...at least not yet ;) the heart rate was 157 bpm (i need to look back at what Noah's was, but i know HR's dont have anything to do with the sex...) anyways, just happy for normal measurements and a healthy baby- PTL!
everyone keeps asking what gender we want...we both, honestly dont care. i love my boy to death and boys are so simple once they get older- tons of energy and work now, but seemingly simple later. i truly believe we need more boys in this world with Godly fathers and am blessed to have a boy who can follow after his amazing example, Dave...a brother would be simple for us too b/c we already have boy things...and noah would have a brother to bond and grow up with. a girl would be fun, for something different. i was such a girly girl, so it would be fun to do girly things and for Noah to have a sister. Dave i think would like a daughter, but loves having a son...so, honestly, we are happy with a healthy baby :)
here are the images from today:

So...i have severely neglected this blog- embarrassingly so! Life has been crazy since Noah turned 1 (my last post). I was taking 3 graduate courses to try and finish my MBA by August- to apply for promotion, chasing a small toddler around the house and, as of recent- going on job interviews. So- i boycotted blogging and wanted instead to focus on our family and spending every free moment (what are those?) with them :)
Noah has changed so much over the last few weeks. He has been feeding himself since he was 13 months- Mrs Angi worked really hard with him on that and he mastered it really early. Everyone is always impressed when we go out to eat, he can spoon, fork and drink from a big boy cup. So, eating is old news. he loves to JUMP- and he gets some serious air! another thing most toddler parents are surprised by when he jumps and gets a few inches off the ground! haha as of late, he has been talking up a storm. He has been saying Mom, Dad, Bell, and tons of sounds, but they were hard to tell what words he was trying to say, now he says just about everything. his recent favorites are Balloon, moon and "uh oh, ohh no!" those two almost always go together as a sentence- its quite hilarious! he also cracks me up when he says "Oh WOW!" or "COOL!" haha he says Hot, Cold, Yuck, Up and Down and knows his COLORS!!! Daddy gets all the credit for that- he worked with him for probably 10 minutes one night and he's known them ever since...wow! he also just mastered sitting on the potty. We aren't going to venture into potty training for a few more months- every book i've read says to wait, so we will wait, but he has been scared to sit on it- so we figured we would just start playing and sitting on it :) baby steps, right? He is oh so very independent- he wants to do everything himself and gets mad if you try to help, which i appreciate :) he climbs into his car seat by himself! (also hysterical) and love love loves his doggy. every night before bed we pray and during the middle he starts softly saying: "amen" then gets louder and louder until he's basically yelling it! haha i think that's his way of saying, enough with the prayer! we then all say Jeremiah 29:11 together and pray that blessing over his life. he then gives kisses and always makes noises asking daddy for kisses, then he looks for bella- who is always laying right beside the rocker and then he points to his crib and says night. this age is really precious to me, as he's learning to communicate and is so loving and just such a sweet spirited little boy. he's full of energy and constantly on the go, but isn't aggressive, always waits his turn and doesn't hit, bite or push other kids- i just love the gentleness of his spirit.

onto new news: WERE EXPECTING!!! We found out in October that i was pregnant and have been ecstatic ever since! I am 13.5 weeks today and we go for our ultrasound at 230, so i will be sure to post more tonight. i have been incredibly sick--soo sick. with Noah, i was nauseated MAX 2 weeks and even at that it was manageable. i got sick once and it was because i was brushing my teeth and didn't eat- overall really easy. This pregnancy has been totally different. i keep hearing you show so much sooner and at about 8 weeks i felt HUGE! i felt like i was showing and was totally freaking out b/c i didn't show until i was almost 20 weeks with Noah- however, when i actually took a picture of myself- i really wasn't any different- just a little bloated- since then it has gone away and maybe mid last week i feel pretty normal- belly wise. i actually lost 3 pounds at my last appointment- yippie! however, this sick stuff is getting old! haha i got sick on a double date with our friends- they had to pull the car over! how embarrassing! haha surprise...i'm pregnant! haha then when i was driving into work i was on top of the bridge and got sick! then another time when we were out to lunch-- and a few other times- those were just the funny ones. BUT i'm ready for this part to end- and it should be over by now, right?! i was tired for probably 3-4 weeks where i would nap for 3 hours while Noah did...wow! now, i'm better on the exhaustion side and actually went to the gym and did a spin class and ran yesterday- so hopefully i can get back into my normal gym routine again :) but other than being sick, its been great so far :) we're so excited and hope you will join this journey with us again!
We love you all!
Dave, Ashley, Noah and Bella