Thursday Tidbits!

• Happy Halloween!! Love this day! Can't wait to eat some pizza and go trick or treating later!

• We had a fun weekend, didn't get to do as much as we planned because Brent had to work part of it but we did get Luke's robot costume finished! It turned out perfect! Brent did such a good job!

• Sunday evening we had Trunk or Treat at Luke's school! He had a blast playing games, collecting treats, and bouncing in the bounce around.

• I found a plain orange shirt to wear so I can be a 'pumpkin' this year! ha!

• Lucas and Cooper Sunday morning. Lucas insisted I take their picture but wouldn't stay still!

• Lucas before school on Monday! He was being so silly but I just loved his outfit so I had to get a quick picture :)

• Have y'all seen this movie!? Oh my word! It has to be one of my favorites! I saw it when it first came out and loved it but a friend was talking about it the other day so I got online and ordered it right then! I watched it again last night and I was crying I was laughing so hard in some of the scenes! Hilarious!! I see so much of my own marriage in this movie (not sure if that is good or bad ha!) and the story line is just so real! So refreshing! It does have some bad language so not for the kiddies at all!  

•  I picked up the new Monsters Inc. movie for Luke yesterday!! He was happy! Perfect for Halloween this week :)

• My poor husband, I only want to make like 3 meals right now. I have no idea why I just can't think of anything else and don't have the energy to even care, I know that's so bad. I want to make chili and fajitas constantly. It's so weird! The other night it was fajitas. ha!

•  Friday after work I broke down and had a Sonic coke. I couldn't resist. I want coke, sweet tea, and coffee all the time! And while I know you can have up to 200 mg I am trying my hardest to stay away from it for the most part but some days are better than others. For the record I did not have this problem with Luke!

• Only 19 days until we know what baby Roper #2 is!! Yay! Praying for everything to be ok on the anatomy scan and excited to see weather it's a boy or girl :)  

Have a great Halloween!

Thursday Tidbits! {on Friday}

It's been a fun week this week! Love all the Halloween-y stuff going on and getting excited about the weekend and next week!

Brent was out of town most of the week but came home last night! We were happy to see him!

Broke out some Halloween attire for the week!

          Lucas has been able to wear this hoodie for 3 Halloweens now! My little man :)

Love this time of year and the yummy goodies it brings! Lots of eating going on these days.....

Wednesday I did a little shopping! I never shop anymore its usually not worth the hassle and I hate spending money but I have been hearing about this boutique in town and wanted to check it out. SO glad I did! Loved it and found some super cute (stretchy) things!

Baby Coco is 17 weeks baked today!! Getting really excited and cannot wait to have my 20 week ultrasound in a few weeks!

I am also so enjoying dressing this baby bump! I am really having the time of my life this season I just feel so blessed :)

New shirt from my shopping trip, my first ever animal print! ha!

We have a fun fall weekend planned!

Tonight the football game between Greenwood and Southside. Southside is both Brent and I's Alma Mater so that is always fun!

Tomorrow we are visiting with family that's in town and maybe going to a pumpkin patch.

Sunday we have Trunk or Treat at Luke's school!

Oh and we have to 'build' Luke's robot costume too!

Wheeeee loving this time of year!!

Hope you are having tons of fall fun too :)

Weekend Happenings!

We had a very full weekend this week! Lots of fun stuff this time of year!

Friday Brent and Lucas skipped work and school to head to the racetrack! Brent had a big race this weekend and since Lucas wouldn't be able to go on Saturday he got to go Friday. He was very happy!

Neat shot Brent got of the race car.

Lucas was pooped after the track and slept until we went to dinner! ha!

In other news my truck got to come home!! I have really missed it!

Turned 16weeks with baby love on Friday!!

Also on Friday I ordered baby a bouncy seat! Eeeek getting so so excited! Can't wait to find out the gender so I can really start shopping :)

Another bump picture after work on Friday. Y'all I seriously cannot quit! I am going to have a million pregnant pictures of myself by the end of this. ha!

Friday Luke and I had a wedding. He was the ring bearer and did such a good job!

Sarah and Mike's wedding was so much fun. It was at Lake Fort Smith and it was just a perfect day.

Ate two of these huge pickles from the wedding! Lord help me! ha!

While we were at the wedding Brent was at the racetrack. He ended up in the final 9 when they had to call the race because of an anti-freeze spill. They had a lot of fun and he even won some money!

Yesterday I made up a big bowl of Halloween candy! We are in full Halloween mode at my place and I can't wait for this 'halloween-y' weekend!!!

I ended the weekend doing lots of laundry, making tacos and watching Safe Haven. That was not a good pick for my crazy pregnancy hormones, if y'all know me you know I am NOT a crier but I have cried more times during this pregnancy than I have in my whole life! I bawled after that movie, Oh my word.

Hope you had a great weekend too!!

Thursday Tidbits!

It's been a full week this week with a busy weekend to follow! Lucas will get to be the ring bearer in a friends wedding on Saturday! I can't wait to see him all dressed up :)

Wednesday he had a field trip to the pumpkin patch with his class! We had so much fun! Love seeing him and all his little friends together.

Before we went on the field trip he got to come to my office for a little bit. He loves going there and seeing the "girls". He drew lots of pictures. ha!

Tuesday was pregnancy and infant loss remembrance day. I thought a lot about the past year of my life that day. I saw lots of tributes on FB and Instagram that kept reminding me as well. As hard of a day as it was this year it cannot even compare to how I felt last year. I had just lost my 2nd pregnancy and was in such a dark place. If someone would have told me last year where I would be this year I probably wouldn't have believed them but I guess that's what makes life so much sweeter. God knows your story but you don't. You have to live everyday praying that He leads you where you need to be. I know one day I will hold my sweet little ones and that will be a good day.

My truck is STILL in the shop. Hopefully I will get to pick it up today! That's all I have to say about that! ha! 

Yesterday I looked at my calendar and realized I am exactly one month away from being 20 weeks pregnant with this sweet baby. And while I am going through all the motions of a pregnant girl I still cannot believe this is happening. I am amazed every single day I look in the mirror or look at my pregnancy app. Sometimes I get the feeling everyone is sick of me saying that "this isn't real to me yet" but I can't help it! It's exactly how I feel. I think of things like I only have '5 more house payments to make until baby comes',' I won't have a birthday at work next year',' I won't have to take off work for our Branson trip next year','this is Luke's last Halloween, Christmas, birthday that he is an only child'. I am just amazed God is giving me another chance and that everything is going so well I am not taking any of this for granted. 

I wore my first pair of fleece lined leggings yesterday and WOW they are amazing! I wanted some last year but never got around to buying any. I am so glad I found these online, I can see myself living in them for the fall and winter months :)   

Brent got offered to be the first to take on a new kind of job at work. He will have lots of training to do but it will be a great opportunity! He is so good at what he does, I am just so proud of him!!

That's about all I can remember :) ha!

Weekend Stuff!

We had a fun and relaxing weekend, which is good because next weekend will be super busy!

I did a bump-date on Saturday! I totally stole this idea but think it is such a fun way to keep track for myself and to post so others who want to can keep up can. I just can't decided how often to do them. I don't want to do it every week but not sure how far apart I want them to be. humm..... 

Got some cute fall shirts in on Saturday. I love stripes on pregnant bellies and cannot wait to dress my bump for fall!

We picked up something for the baby on Saturday! Lucas poked a hole in the package because he thought they smell so good. hehe
He has also been doing so good about going to sleep and staying in his own bed. (we want to squash this habit before baby is here and I am up and down all night) Every night last week that he slept in his bed he got to pick out a hot wheels! He got 4 for last week and we will be working for more this week. :)

I also picked up the Little Mermaid to have at home. We watched it Saturday night and I just love that movie (well any Disney movie really lol) Lucas liked it too.

I am trying to stay away from caffeine and it has been so hard this time. I crave coffee and tea like no other and most days a cup of tea is the only thing to calm my stomach, so weird. So while trying to think of other things to drink besides water I tried Kool-Aid and it was a hit! Love it with a lot of ice! ha!

hehe just noticed the belly sneaking in the pic!

And last but not least of weekend happenings.

We have decided to part with the Mustang. (so if ya know anyone ;)

We love it but don't need 2 manual (that I have no desire to drive) cars so once she sells we are thinking of getting a new (automatic) Challenger. I am VERY excited about that!!

Brent is currently building 70 Challenger so we will have his and hers fun cars :)

That's about it!

Roper Baby #2!

On July 24th my carefree summer came to a screeching halt.
I got a positive on a pregnancy test.
To say I was elated is and understatement. I was also scared and worried but I just knew this baby would make it. We did everything right. I had tests ran, we waited 8 months between pregnancies, and I just didn't think God would put us though that once again.

Two days later I started spotting. {friday}

I had already called my doctor the day before {thursday} and had been in for my first of many blood tests. The next morning {friday} I got a call from my doctor's office saying my levels were normal and to come in, in a few days {monday} to have them checked again. I told them of the spotting but at that point there wasn't much to be done. My levels were rising and that was the news they needed. 

I went in Monday and my levels were going up. But I was still spotting. They wanted me to wait a week before getting my levels checked again. I waited all week in agony and went in Saturday morning to get my final blood draw. I got my results Monday. That draw showed my levels rising as well but my progesterone was going down. They sent me that day for an ultrasound. 

Nothing much showed on the ultrasound, they wanted to confirm a heartbeat before starting supplements for the progesterone. They tell me we will wait a week and then we will try another ultrasound. At this point I am 5 weeks pregnant. 

This is the week we had planned our annual big family trip to Branson but Brent's mom ended up in the hospital and we couldn't go.

She passed away that Friday.

Through all the sadness, tears, long days at the hospital, still spotting, a weekend of exhausting pain this little one held on.

On Monday August 12th ultrasound confirmed baby has a heartbeat!! I will never forget those first few moments of seeing baby on the screen. I could've wept but the u/s tech kept me talking. I waited until the walk to my car to thank God and sob and call everyone.

I was completely shocked and so so grateful! The next day I started taking progesterone. The spotting subsided completely with the first dose, we had our answer right there. I went in the next Monday for another ultrasound and it showed a perfect 7 week baby. Heart beating away. 

August 27th I had my 4th ultrasound that showed baby looked great!

                 (Ultrasound at 8weeks, the last time they printed me a picture.)

To say that this pregnancy has been a roller coaster ride doesn't even describe it. Those 4 weeks of not knowing weather this little one would survive was torture on this momma. 

And for a month after that my anxiety continued to take over my days. Some days it was all I could do to be at work and be there for Lucas in the evening. I prayed for morning sickness everyday. I wanted  reassurance of some kind to tell me everything might be ok.

At 12 weeks I was able to find the baby's heartbeat on a home doppler so that truly helped ease some of my worry.

 At 13 weeks I had a doctors appointment and she brought in a portable ultrasound for us to see baby. He/she was moving all around and the doctor said everything looks great. She said from what she can tell "we are out of the woods" and I shouldn't worry anymore :)) A lot of my worry and fears eased up that day. We told Lucas that night that he was going to be a big brother and we left for Florida that Saturday. Our trip went well I was pretty worried about the plane rides and walking so much at Disney but all is fine! I turned 14 weeks our last day in Florida. 

I have my next doctors appointment on Oct 22nd and then Nov 19th we will have our 20 week ultrasound and know weather we are having a boy or girl. 

This all seems to be going by so fast and I am still consumed with fear sometimes. But I am starting to have less of that and much more times of joy and hope and peace. 

I will be 16 weeks on Friday. 16 weeks. 4 months! I just can't even believe it.
My tummy is getting big and I have been feeling baby move for a few weeks now and that is the absolute best! I know he or she is growing!  

My due date is April 4th.  

As much as I am thrilled to be given this new life I still mourn and think of my angel babies. I wonder if I always will or if eventually it will go away. I am sad I will never know their little personalities or what they would've looked like. I try very hard not to think about it but it still haunts me. This baby is a rainbow baby and while I know that is special I am still sad for my heart and soul to understand what that means.
  

I wanted to write all this down so I would never forget what the early days of this pregnancy looked like. I look back and wonder how on earth I got through those first days and weeks. I didn't miss any work and tried my best to keep my normal life. It was strength only God could give I am certain. I am truly grateful for that. I am grateful for the knowledge that came from all this. I will never look at pregnancy or babies or kids the same they are all amazing. I am grateful I found my answer in all this. I am grateful for my doctors office for taking the time to find out what we needed to do. And I am grateful for all the family and friends we had praying for us through this.

Today life is good. Sure we have things that come up and things are far from 'perfect' but those seem so minor to me after all this. I am just truly grateful God has given me another chance at pregnancy, I don't take that lightly. I am beyond thankful that Lucas will have a sibling and that our family will grow by two more tiny feet.