Love it!

I can honestly say that I'm loving pregnancy! I have come far from that never ending first trimester. It is hard to believe that I'm in the third and final trimester of pregnancy! This means that in 12 short (hopefully) weeks I will get to meet our sweet little baby girl! Can I just tell you that I'm so ready for that? We might not have a nursery set up, or know exactly where we'll be, but I know that it will all work out perfectly in God's perfect way.

T.J. and I both realize that we really have no idea how different life will be. We know it will be dramatically different but we are still super excited. We were just talking about how crazy it is that if for some reason Teagan was born now that she would have a very high chance of surviving life outside of the womb! That is crazy! Sometimes we get blown away with the thought that we ALREADY have a baby girl... she is just inside my tummy! She is kicking, turning, squirming, and rolling around constantly. We can watch my stomach move with her sometimes. I love how active she is. T.J. loves it too and almost every night we spend some time talking to her, reading, praying and even play music- I know it sounds so cheesy but if you don't have kids you'll understand one day!

I just hit the 28 week mark. This means Teagan is most likely opening and closing her eyes (with eyelashes that hopefully resemble T.J.'s) and can see light filtered through my skin. She is close to 3 lbs. and is getting a little cramped! She is definitely stretching my tummy, that is for sure. I literally don't know how I will get bigger! Sometimes it is a little scary! I'm to the point that everyone knows I'm pregnant so I get asked questions all the time from strangers. It is really weird to be the pregnant girl! Sometimes T.J. and I both just stare at myself in the mirror and just say "woooooah" for about a minute. It is crazy to see your body change so much in not that long of a time period!

Next week we will have our 28 week appointment (although I'll then almost be 29 weeks) and because I'm now in the third trimester we will get to start having our doctor appointments every 2 weeks. Last week I had to take the glucose test. This is a test to make sure you do not have gestational diabetes. It isn't the most fun test either. You have to drink this HIGHLY concentrated sugary orange drink (within 5 minutes) and then EXACTLY an hour later have your blood taken. After almost puking (but getting it down!) I start my drive to the lab to have my blood taken. I pick up T.J. first and when we get there we CANNOT figure out why their doors are locked. Five minutes later we realize we arrived FIVE MINUTES after they closed. FAIL. I drank the drink for nothing. So, of course, I do the only reasonable thing and start to cry. I did NOT want to think about drinking it again! Needless to say, we picked up another drink at the doctors office as they chuckled and I took the test later on in the week. Unfortunately my levels were a little high, SO, I get to take a THREE HOUR long glucose test next week. :) (sarcastic smile). I'm sure everything is totally fine they just want to take precautions! I guess I better take a good book with me...

I was blessed by my sisters and mom with an amazing baby shower when I was in Oklahoma last week. Teagan will be the cutest dressed baby, that is for sure! We were blessed beyond measure and continue to be blessed by people. The generosity is out of this world. Thank you Lord! We have a work baby shower coming up and we are really excited about it too! Boys are invited. :)

With Heather and Julia at the shower-

I'm hoping my next update will have more information on our plans the next couple of months. We will see!

Here are some fun pictures my friend Lacy Robinson took for me while I was home. I was SO happy that she took the time to meet with me in my crazy short weekend back in Oklahoma to take some maternity pictures. :) As you can see, Julia came with me! It was really fun because I didn't tell T.J. I was doing these so I was able to surprise him with a book of these pictures when I came back to NY.

Over halfway there!

I wanted to share some of the cute little pictures of baby Teagan that were taken at our last doctor's appointment. She was about 21 weeks in these ultrasound pictures. Currently we are at week 23 and I can hardly believe it! Over halfway there?!?! Wow... I'm not going to lie, I hope it continues to go this fast. Although we have A LOT to do and prepare for before Miss Teagan makes her debut I am antsy to cuddle with my little baby girl. I'm finally coming to the realization that mommy hood is ahead and I can't tell  you how excited I am about it. I realize (I think!) how trying it will be at times (lack of sleep, etc.) but I know it will be worth it a million times over. I'm ready to see this baby girl in T.J.'s arms. :) We are so excited. Here are the pictures...

You can see Teagan sucking her sweet little thumb here... and then her tummy with her little knee curled up. :)

This picture is looking down at her face. You can only see a sliver of her face... but do you see her sweet little nose?! Her cute lips are open as well... is that a plump bottom lip I see? :)

I just could stare at these all day. :) I never knew the excitement of looking at ultrasound pictures until they were my own! I mean that little forearm/elbow! I just want to kiss it! :)

The appointment went really well though. Teagan's heart rate is great and she looks like a perfectly healthy little girl! She is really starting to move around like crazy. T.J. can feel her when she's moving and he's even laid his head on my belly and she will kick his head hard! He loves it. :) I also felt her have the HICCUPS, cutest thing ever. I thank the Lord he blessed us with this sweet little girl and that we are able to experience this. We feel so fortunate.

I haven't had too many cravings... I have definitely requested a burger and fries a couple times and Thai food but that is about it. My emotions have pretty much been in check until about this last week and I could feel emotions that were kind of irrational... I have a confession. :) Today I went to pick up T.J. and we had been planning on going to The Creamery all day (the BEST ice cream place around here)... When I asked him if we were still on for ice cream he told me he didn't think we had time. Guys... I.KID.YOU.NOT... it took everything in me not to cry. Literally. I was so sad and upset that we weren't going. Needless to say, we went... :) T.J. saw my eyes fill with tears and I guess he realized how much I had been looking forward to it. About 10 minutes later I laughed and said "Man, I really almost cried when you told me we couldn't get ice cream!" He said, "Um... I KNOW, I realized you must have had this on your mind all day..." Anyways, all that to say there were some CRAZY pregnancy hormones going on there. When else would I CRY about not getting ice cream?! Wow....

I really do love being pregnant though! I love all the little kicks and squirms and I love thinking about "the three of us". :)

Here is a picture of me at 23 weeks!!

Miss Teagan Bradley is growing!!

Our 6 month (OH MY GOODNESS!) appointment is next week. We love going to the doctor and LOVE our doctor!

In a couple weeks I'm heading "home" to Oklahoma for Teagan's baby shower!!!! I can't believe it. My sisters are throwing me a shower and I'm so excited! I miss my family and friends and I'm glad they'll get to see me pregnant with Teagan!

Until next time! :)

Welcome 2nd Trimester!

Welcome 2nd Trimester! I have been waiting for you more than you could possibly know!
Before I ever got pregnant and women talked about 'morning' sickness I didn't give it much thought. I assumed you might wake up and randomly throw up, and poof! you feel better. BOY WAS I WRONG. 'Morning' sickness for me was almost a CONSTANT queasiness, and when I say queasiness I mean the feeling of constantly feeling like you need to throw up. It was VERY hard to force myself to eat when I felt like this but when you know the baby needs nutrients you have to eat! Because of the nausea I actually lost weight the first half of my first trimester. Don't worry, I'm sure I'll make up for it! I have to say T.J. was my hero during all of the sickness, fatigue and headaches (yup those too). He has stepped up like I didn't even know possible. When I would come home from work absolutely exhausted and would collapse on the couch he was the one cooking, cleaning, making all of our lunches, doing laundry and more.

Now that I type this... a couple weeks into the second trimester I almost hate saying this (okay I do) but I'm already used to feeling normal again and it's ALMOST hard to remember  how truly horrible I felt at that time. I'm so thankful that I AM starting to feel better. I didn't throw up that many times (I think the time I threw up in someone's driveway on the way to work took the cake) but I FELT like I needed to CONSTANTLY. Today I am entering 16 weeks of pregnancy and I can't believe I am four months pregnant! It is still so exciting and I STILL can't believe it sometimes... until I can't button my pants.

T.J. and I are SO EXCITED. We will be (hopefully) finding out if we are having a boy or girl within the next week and that is so surreal! I think it will make this journey a lot more "real". Before we know it I'll be in my third trimester...

So thank you Lord for a great second trimester. We had a doctor's appointment today and the doctor said so everything everything looks great! We appreciate the prayers for Baby Ross and are excited that he/she has started to be able to hear sounds! Yup, we are already singing, talking, praying and reading to the little one. We are in love.

I will try to keep this updated every now and then- I realize I am NOT a good blogger, but that's okay. :) I still love you all! Below is a picture from last week... really starting to show! :)
   

Baby Ross

I've decided to make these blogs short and sweet because let's be honest, pregnancy is not full of energy and patience- at least for me!

SO, I think it is safe to say we pretty much shocked our families with the announcement of Baby Ross. This would probably be because T.J. has always made it known to his family he was NOT ready. Well, when T.J. surprised me on my birthday this past year with the sweet news that he WAS in fact ready to start trying to have a baby we didn't tell a soul! I will spare you the mushiness of realizing T.J. was "ready". But let me just say, that boy can write and he wrote me in one sweet letter that I didn't get through without crying.

We got pregnant in November- HAPPY THANKSGIVING! and we found out we were pregnant on December 9th. I will never forget that night. I was having "symptoms" of pregnancy or what I THOUGHT were symptoms and I knew it was still a couple 4-5 days until we would know for sure if I was pregnant but those clear blue pregnancy tests claim to tell you 3-4 days before a missed period and was I one impatient gal... I tried to convince T.J. we should take one and he did not want to because he didn't want to see a false negative... well, after some moping around and loud sighs of exasperation T.J. said "Kelly if you REALLY want to, that's okay I just don't want us to be disappointed if it says you're not because it is still probably too early to find out". That was enough for me to run in a grab a test! I didn't care it wasn't morning (and the best time to tell if you are pregnant) I just wanted to take one.

Here is where I messed up. T.J. and I have always wanted to take the pregnancy test together, and film our reaction when we see it. Well, when he sat on the couch waiting for me to tell  him to come over, I decided I would just take it really fast, see that it was probably negative and then I wouldn't be as disappointed because we weren't waiting together. So yes, I took the test, said a very meaningful prayer and stared at the digital screen waiting to see if it was "negative" or not. Little to my surprise I look down and it said "PREGNANT". I think I almost fainted. Then I started some sort of high pitch shrill which T.J. didn't understand. I finally said "WE'RE PREGNANT" and his reaction was pure shock and "WHAAT?!?!?! YOU TOOK IT WITHOUT ME?!?! KELLY!!!!" Oops. Looking back it is kind of funny but I did feel bad at the time. That lasted about 5 seconds and then our hugging and crying and giddiness went on the rest of the night. I think we talked on the couch for about 3 hours that night.

We decided to wait and tell our families in person when we went home for Christmas. That was REALLY hard to wait but I am SO GLAD we did wait because I don't think it would've been the same telling them via Skype or Facetime.

We broke the news to "everyone" when I hit 10 weeks. Now I am 12 weeks. I can't wait to be another couple of weeks in and hopefully be free of all of the "morning" sickness. That is a whole different blog all together.

T.J. and I are SO EXCITED to be parents and can't wait to find out if we are having a boy or girl! YES, we will find out. We can't find out soon enough!

I will do my best to keep up little blogs with Baby Ross progress!

November

Instead of stressing about updating everyone on our lives here I'm just going to go with the flow and write about what I'm feeling right now!  It is a fantastically beautiful day here in upstate NY.  I can hear our neighbor mowing his lawn, the floor heater is running and my hot chocolate full of marshmallows is keeping me warm with the SUN shining through the window.  We are having an abnormally mild fall!  Not only are the trees not bare but it is 55 today!  We have had some cold days so far don't get me wrong but today it is absolutely GORGEOUS outside.  So nice T.J. opted out of HUNTING deer to attempt grouse hunting with Jade.  If you are wondering what a ruffed grouse is it is below... our cat brought one to us a couple weeks ago to our dismay.  T.J. has NEVER seen one of these suckers in the woods because they are "stealthy" we like to say, and yet our CAT brings one home... priceless.  I posted a video on FB of this because T.J. was so proud of Ace. 

T.J. and I both can't believe it is already November... SO MUCH has gone on the last couple of months and we finally feel like we are just now getting into the groove of things after his summer away.  I'll blog about those events later... hopefully! ;)  T.J.'s mom and papa are coming up in THREE DAYS and we are so excited!  T.J.'s papa, Huston taught T.J. anything and everything about hunting and the outdoor life.  T.J. is VERY excited to take his papa out to hunt in NY!  It's all this boy talks about!  Debbie and I will have fun around town and relaxing together.  I'm crossing my fingers we can make a trip to NYC and show Huston Times Square... we will see!

This weekend has been great.  We went and saw Courageous Friday night... if you have not heard of it please click here to watch the trailer!  This movie was phenomenal.. even though I cried through most of it!  Probably one of the best movies we've seen before.  Yesterday was a fun day... we finally we able to find a great ring to replace the one I lost about a year and a half ago.  I opted for the same ring and I can't wait to get it back.  Thank goodness for insurance!!

I'm off to go spend some of my awesome Maurice gift cards :) I hope everyone is having a beautiful, happy Sunday!  Love you all!

I'll leave you with a picture of T.J. and Troop taking an afternoon nap... :)

 

Another Update

Well as my little sister Julia likes to point out "You're not really "BAAAAACK" when you haven't blogged in almost two months!"... I guess she is kind of right.  One of the main reasons I haven't been blogging is because I'm lazy it is hard to tell you what is going on in our lives without stating the fact that I have been home alone all summer long... and that, my friend, is not something you put on the internet.  A couple family members and friends have brought that to my attention lately and it's true... DON'T put on facebook that you are going on vacation, you are home alone and bored, that you can't wait to get back home, etc., etc., etc..... SO!  I am actually writing this a week BEFORE you are reading this and not posting it until my dear, sweet, loving husband who I have MISSED SO MUCH this summer is back, safe and sound in our abode.  I know that a lot of you (whoever reads this, shout out to Julia) ;) are curious about our plans, "WHEN WILL YOU BE BACK TO OKLAHOMA?!?!" and so here are the raw, dirty facts...

As of a couple days ago we have been in NY for TWO YEARS!  I can hardly believe it.  T.J. is DONE taking classes for his masters project and after this summer (One more week of data collecting in the field) he will begin to write his thesis this fall and some publications while searching for a job.  One of two things will happen in the next few months....
1.)  T.J. will find "the" job he wants (we're not sure what that would be yet) :) early fall and bust his little hiney to get that thesis done sooner than later so we can move to wherever that job is (meaning he would defend his thesis and graduate this winter)...
OR
 2.) T.J. writes his thesis this fall, enjoys the hunting season, doesn't stress so much, looks for jobs and then next spring accept a teaching assistant position at Cornell so that he could continue to receive a stipend and write MORE publications about all the work he has done here and defend his thesis and graduate next spring.

Honestly I was completely against #2 at first but now I'm thinking it being mid August that moving in a mere 4-5 months from now is kind of scary!  We both are 100% willing to follow wherever the Lord will take us and we are truly just putting it in His hands!  It is really fun thinking that we get to start searching for jobs and essentially going on a whole new adventure again!

UPDATE:  Reading back through this post as I'm about to post it we have had an update here.  T.J.'s advisor told him recently that there is a VERY GOOD chance that he will have funding next spring WITHOUT having to be a teacher's assistant... this is big news.  Being a TA wasn't appealing to T.J. but now knowing he could stay at Cornell another semester, spend more time writing his thesis, writing more publications, etc. and not having to take classes or help teach a class means that we honestly will probably take this option UNLESS a job surfaces that we do not want to pass on.

To the harder part... moving back to Oklahoma would be ideal, right?  Being close to family and friends and one day starting our own is what I ALWAYS thought would happen.  However, the more we look at jobs that are relevant to what T.J. has been doing out here in NY there just really isn't anything in Oklahoma for him.  T.J. took time to go to some fish hatcheries in Oklahoma and they just aren't hiring.  If they were it would be a different story.  SO!  With that being said, we are obviously looking around Oklahoma for a position as this 26 hr. driving distance from Oklahoma is pretty brutal.  We LOVE upstate NY and the beauty that surrounds us but we definitely want to one day raise a family closer to home and a little more in the "southern area" hopefully!  We would love your prayers as this next 6 months to a year we will face MANY huge decisions.  I tend to get anxious and worry about this kind of stuff but so far I really am feeling the Lord's peace.  Why worry when it isn't in our hands to begin with??
Right now I am just so happy that this is my LAST WEEKEND driving all by my lonesome out here to the Catskills to spend the weekend with T.J.  We have had a blast on the weekends together, what isn't to enjoy in the Catskills?!  But living life without my husband during the week gets old, FAST. 

NOW I AM BACK HOME IN ITHACA WITH MY HUBBY!

Life is back to normal.  Maybe I'll try to start blogging more :) We have had some sweet visitors up in NY the past 2 months and I encourage you to come see me and T.J. anytime here!  Free place to stay and a  beautiful place to see!  It has been amazing to see all the people that have come to visit!  We feel so blessed. 

The dogs are barking outside, the cats in my lap and all seems right in the world... well besides having a "water day" from work b/c of the crazy flooding (second time). 



On another note... I have a friend from my old job in OK and her family needs some serious prayer.  Her nephew Talbey is having some serious health issues and needs as much prayer as possible!  If you are on facebook please search "Healing for Talbey" and "like" the page to read about how we can keep this family in our prayers.

Love to you all!!!!!!

Now for some fun pictures!!!

T.J. getting ready for bow season.

Beautiful upstate NY- 1/2 a mile from our house.

Mike and Debbie came to see us in the Catskills.  The first picture is on a train ride through the Catskills- the second picture is dark but I swear sometimes T.J. is Mike's twin!

T.J.'s house in the Catskills- Please note the backyard... not pictured is a beautiful big red barn that they had.  The East branch of the Delaware ran through the back that T.J. fly fished on all the time.  I guess I have not done a good job telling how much fun T.J. has had this summer.  I'll try and post more pictures later but basically T.J. lived it up this summer!  He fished every morning and worked on a stream every day with two undergrads from Cornell- he is happy to be home but I can't even imagine how much he'll miss this place.....

But I don't think he'll miss the flooding :)  Thanks Hurricane Irene!  We were stuck inside the Catskills house for 2-3 days and 1 day w/o power.  Thankfully the house was on top of the hill so besides the basement flooding everything was fine.  We played Monopoly, played the piano, stared at each other and walked around in the water if it was safe.  We had already cleaned the house the weekend before (including the fridge) and so we barely had any food... the neighbors brought us brisket that had been smoked since 5 AM and we thought he was an angel from the Lord sent down to bless us with a Divine meal... it was divineeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.  *Mouth watering...* So besides the brisket we had handfuls of chocolate cheerios, shredded mini wheats and brats for 2 days :) oh and some juice.  It was hilarious.  T.J. was dying.

Here is a sweet picture of me and my sweet kind of freshly shaven husband :) I am so happy he is back in my care!!

OH and one last fun one ;)

I'M BAAAAAAAACK

Don't take my title literally... maybe.  I haven't blogged in almost a year I'M SORRY!!!  But I actually have a full time job now and it is hard to justify blogging when my house is so dirty, T.J. is here or the pets need to be fed!  I have missed it though... and I think one reason I WOULDN'T blog is b/c I thought "BUT I HAVEN'T BLOGGED IN SO LONG!!  I would have to update on everything... I will when I have time!"  Hmm.. I have now realized I will never have "time" so why not just post a lil somethin somethin? ;)

It has literally almost been a year since I last posted!  I see my last post was my HUNDREDTH post and that I was just coming back from being in NC with the Werner family... funny enough b/c I'm just about to go see them AGAIN! :)  This time in Flo-RIDA! :) So let's do a little play by play on this past YEAR so I can just get it over with!

August 2010- I finally was DONE with the crazy doctors office I had for some reason subjected myself to working for... I had a vacation in NC and interviewed at Chesapeake among a few other places.  AND WE GOT GOLLY OUR KITTY :)

September 2010- Started an accounting job b/c Chesapeakes hiring process took forever.  Oh and I ran a half marathon with Debbie, Suzy, T.J. & Mike- IT WAS A BLAST.  Best 1/2 for sure.  (Only my 2nd but hey) :)  Oh and T.J. turned 25!

October 2010- Had a great 25th bday... T.J. surprised me with a fun dinner in a little town 40 minutes away with carving pumpkins after! (I had never done this before and he felt very sorry for me!) LOL

November 2010- PUERTO RICO BABY!!!  T.J. and I went to PR to have an AMAZING vacation with Susan and Christian.  Then I came back and started my job at Chesapeake with a sunburn.  Oh, I guess I quit the earlier job in October. :)  We also had a great Thanksgiving with our friends here in NY.  Oh my word, I almost forgot :) I shot the buck of a lifetime!

December 2010- I become a coffee addict.  We have Christmas in NY (T.J.'s family came up) b/c I couldn't miss 1 day of work for the first 3 months of my new job!

January 2011- I hate the cold.  I hate winter.  I hate snow... I hate the cold.  That pretty much sums up January.

February 2011- Valentine's group date.  Fun!  Still really cold... still a lot of snow.  This makes for some snow days at home and still hating the cold.  Oh and I'm officially a Chesapeake employee- I made the 3 month probation period (phew!)  AND MOST IMPORTANTLY!  My brother in law Troy proposed to my future sister in law Kaley!!

March 2011- NYC trip.  Still cold!! (Seriously).  Looking forward to warmer months.

April 2011- Cody and Emily come out!  Yay!

May 2011- Andy and Jen come out!  Yay!  Finally getting some warmer days at the end of the month!

June 2011- here we are guys!  Celebrating 3 years with my hunny on the 28th!



Wow, that truly just bored me out of my mind so I'm sorry to put you through that!  All in all it has been a great past year and I'm looking forward to this fall b/c T.J. will start JOB HUNTING!  This is super exciting for me!  We will pray pray pray and ask that you stand with us in prayer while we ask the Lord WHERE DO YOU WANT US!?  Obviously, Oklahoma would be great it is just hard b/c the job possibilities there are looking a little bleak at this point.

By the way, on a totally different note- just stating the obvious here but I feel like everyone is getting pregnant!  No... I am definitely NOT pregnant and you won't be hearing that statement from me anytime soon!!  (Right God?) :) But really, 3 of my good friends are totally preggers- some in secret :) but I.LOVE.IT.  Keep it coming guys!  Aunt Kelly is ready!! :) 

Lots of exciting things coming up though!  A trip to FL, Mike & Debbie are coming up in August, THE WEDDING a month later and then T.J.'s papa and mom will come up this hunting season.  T.J.'s papa will get to hunt with T.J. in NY!  This is super exciting b/c T.J. LOVES IT HERE and since Huston, T.J.'s papa showed T.J. everything there is to know about hunting it will be super cool to see them hiking around upstate NY together. :)  T.J. is super pumped and ready to "beat me" with a bigger buck... We'll see if that happens!!! :)

Love all my blogging friends and I have still kept up with you!!  I will try to do this blogging thing more frequently!!

I think all in all I can say this past year God has really worked through me and T.J., binding us closer together even though I didn't know that was possible!  And showing us how much HE can do THROUGH us.  I love the Lord with all my heart and I can only pray He will use me for His glory and plan!!!!