Counting the days!

Wow...9 months is already here! As of this tuesday (10/7/08) we are 37 weeks along which means that Carson can come at any time and he would be considered full term. I think that this has kinda started freaking Matt and I out...we could have a baby with us any day now! I must admit that my biggest worries are breast feeding, lack of sleep, and lack of knowledge about how to take care of a baby! I think these are all pretty reasonable fears though. However, we heard a great sermon today about uncertainty. The pastor suggested that God purposefully leaves some uncertainty to life because that is what faith is all about, and he doesn't plan to change that. But what he will help us with (if we have faith) is taking the fear away that is associated with uncertainty. This was TIMELY...God doesn't desire for Matt and I to be terrified... but I know He is chuckling up in heaven every time he brings a new life to new parents because we just have no clue what we are doing! God's little sense of humor, ya know?

Matt and I have stayed busy despite me slowing down quite a bit. Exercise is getting tougher...I've pretty much been sticking to water aerobics. Yup, me and the old ladies... it's awesome! We are still hitting up as many sporting events as we can. We got to see our rammies beat UNLV this weekend in football and then watch the girl's vball team take down #25 Arizona in the evening. We have started checking out all the families at the events now (rather than strictly the game)...we can't wait to dress up Carson in his CSU garb and take him out! I have enclosed a picture of Matt and I at the CSU game...oh what a belly I have!

I have two weeks left in work and that is starting to freak me out as well. I am really excited to be done with my current job because certain people I work with will not be too missed. I am probably going to be in shock though not having a job anymore as this has been my identity for a while now. I can see myself pursuing part time or per diem work in about a year...but who knows! I just have no idea what to expect (See paragraph #1 - uncertainty).

Our nursery is nearly complete except for a bit of tidying I still need to do. I was told that if the nursery is completly done, you're baby will be late. Thus, I am leaving a few things to still be put away (hee hee). My dad was AWESOME and built Carson two model planes that we have hung up in the nursery. He is a proud Papa...and Carson will love the planes. I have enclosed pictures of them. I have also enclosed pictures of my prego belly at 36 weeks. I'm gettin big!

Thanks for all your continued prayers and thoughts. Hopefully next blog will show Carson in person! AHHHHH! Keep praying!

Baby Showers!

Well I tell ya...it feels like Christmas in September! We have been so blessed to have amazing friends and family spoil us (and Carson of course) rotten! I have attached a few photos from one of the showers (at Becky Veith's) of friends from WAY back when and family too. I believe Carson will be the most well dressed little guy out there...not to mention all the fun toys, books and play equipment he'll get to use too! Quite honestly, I am really excited to give him a bath because of all the really fun bath stuff we have gotten so far! We re-did our bathroom with a whole new beach theme and now how lots of wash clothes, hooded towels, bath toys, etc to go with! What fun!

Carson continues to grow and grow (as does mama) and I look more and more like my mom's prego pics when she was carrying me... ALL BELLY! Fitting through tight spaces has become quite a bit more difficult! I am 34 weeks now and feeling the aches and pains associated with the end of pregnancy. However...those aches just remind me that the end is NEAR! YEAH...here he comes! I did have a little craziness when Matt was gone to Alabama on a boys golf trip with my dad... no big deal but still ended up in Labor and Delivery triage at the hospital. Sounds like a combination of kidney "gravel" (not a true stone) and his head wedged nicely in my sacral area was enough to make my back pain appear like pre-term labor! YIKES! Thankfully Carson stayed in and Matt was able to stay in Alabama. I am hoping to keep all that hospital business until I actually deliver, from here on out. PS: Matt did amazing at golf... he apparently needed that little vacation!

We just finished our childbirth classes...something I would encourage EVERYONE who is prego to do. It takes away all the fear of the unknown...well not all the fear...I'm still terrified! However, it helps to know a little about what I can expect and some truly needed reassurance from an OB nurse. I was really hoping that it would consist of Matt having to practice giving me back massages...but well, that didn't happen. Oh well...he gets practice at home already!

Well, that's all for now. We have one more appointment every two weeks and then it is every week from 36 weeks on! That means we're close! Matt and I both think we are going early...38 weeks would be fabulous! But you never know when God decides that Carson is done cooking. We'll let you know!

29 weeks...the dreaded 3rd trimester

So here we are at nearly 29 weeks (on Tuesday, Aug 12), and the ugliness of the 3rd trimester is kicking in. Besides definitely having a heavy watermelon hanging from my belly, Carson is kicking like crazy and the lethargy I dreaded has returned from my first trimester. However... with all bummers, there is usually a silver lining... and that is that we are THAT much closer to seeing our little guy! I can't believe we only have 2 1/2 months until we get to meet our son!
Our weekends have been filling up with all sorts of things in preparation for Carson. First, Matt just went skydiving a few weekends ago... hopefully getting that out of his system for good before he becomes a daddy. I am not sure if I was nearly peeing my pants watching him fall from the sky because of my pregnancy or because I was nervous to be a widow. Nonetheless, it was a close call to the bathroom. However, Matt made it safely to the ground with a smooth landing... PHEW!
This weekend my close friend Cory Morgan, a fabulous artist, came and painted our nursery. I will post a picture as soon as I can... but it is AWESOME! We have an airplane theme as you will see and it turned out just great. I even added my artistic touch (hee hee, yeah right) on the clouds. I actually impressed myself!
Matt and I went registering at Babies R' Us last weekend and were COMPLETELY overwhelmed. It was a mistake to start with the bottles because there must be nearly 400 to choose from (and 800 nipples to choose from) all with different characteristics. We spent 20 minutes on bottles alone! Ugg. I thought this would be like registering for a wedding, but then I realized I have no clue what I need when it comes to babies, so that makes things a bit more difficult. We still have some things to still work on but we're getting there. Thankfully we won't have to make the long trek down to Westminster anymore to get to a Babies R' Us, because we have one coming to Fort Collins at the end of this month. Perfect timing!
Well, i am getting sleepy so I better quit for. I am due to show you all my new prego belly and our nursery... pictures to follow! Thanks for your continued prayers!

IT'S A BOY!!!

This is a few weeks delayed (momma and papa have been super busy), but as of June 13th, we now know we are having a boy! His name will be Carson Thomas Lenhart...well we are 99% sure. I guess if he comes out looking like a Wilbur or Gaston, we'll have to change the name! Haha. Carson is a healthy, 14 oz little guy (big for his "age") with LONG legs and BIG feet (just like his mama!) The ultrasound was amazing to see and all appendages, eyes, nose and necessary parts are there! It's amazing how God works to create these little things! Carson was very shy to show his face...but he was quite ready to show is "boy parts" to us all so that it is NO mystery! You'll see the enclosed ultrasound pictures... one even shows that we may have a thumb sucker! Just like his daddy when he was a little guy! We have another high intensity ultrasound with fetal echocardiogram this tuesday to make sure that the heart looks good. Everything looked good on the other ultrasound but this will have better eyes looking at the heart with higher sensitivity. Can't be too careful I guess!

Matt and I are so excited for our little guy to come in the world, yet we still need all the time we can to prepare! Jenna has gone a little crazy on the baby clothes so far (well, not too crazy!) and has been blessed with several people providing socks, outfits, booties, etc. We feel very loved! I think Carson will be the cutest dressed boy on the block! Thank you for your continue prayers!

17 weeks!!!

Wow... I took a little sebatical there from writing another blog! I guess it is because we didn't have fun pictures anymore to show. So let's see, we have now heard the baby's heart beat twice (once at 12 weeks, and just recently last week at our 16 week appt). We had a little squirmer at 12 weeks because every time the doppler machine would touch my tummy... that little bugger would move so we could never get a clear reading. Little Lenhart decided to cooperate at the last appointment and we heard a solid 150 bpm heart rate which is smack dab in the middle of PERFECT range. So far, so healthy! Matt and I are really eager to get these next three weeks over with because as of June 13th we should know what the sex is (well...that is if Little Lenhart decides not to cross his/her legs the whole ultrasound!) The good news is, if we have an uncooperative baby the first time, we have another fetal echo cardiogram with ultrasound two weeks later. I don't mean to sound scary...it's just a precautionary test because my momma had a congenital heart defect that could have been passed down to my baby. Just want to make sure we have no holes in the heart! I said...hmmmm, that would probably be a good thing to check out! So, we have to chances to find out if we have a little weeney or not down there on Little Lenhart. Matt is still desiring to have a boy first, and I have become COMPLETELY impartial to either. Truly, I feel as though I am having a boy... just a momma's hunch. I am only gaining so far in the belly (not the usual muffin top location) and have had a really easy pregnancy so far. But who knows... those little myths sometimes don't pan out. We are both just excited to know we have a healthy baby!

Matt continues to work hard on finishing the basement for two reasons...one, he has deadlines with the baby coming, and two, he needs a place to crash and drink beer once the baby is here! Haha! I think he fears too, that once we know the sex, I am going to MAKE him start working on the nursery. We are going to go broke because I will finally be able to start buying nursery things and CLOTHES! YAY! I haven't bought a single outfit yet!

The other news is that Little Lenhart had it's first trip to Mexico...and first encounter with Montezuma's revenge! We went down about a week ago (didn't have the greatest time, but yet still relaxing), and Little Lenhart thought it would be the perfect time to have a growth spurt! Now this would all be okay, except for the fact that we were down there for a wedding (that I was in) and had a dress fitting a week and a half before the wedding. Thought that would be close enough to the wedding...but um, no. It took 3 girls to zip me into my dress. That honory Little Lenhart! Just wanted to make mama suck in as much as possible (hard to do when your belly doesn't suck in anymore!) But we made it without any ripping or tearing and the wedding went on as planned. I think Little Lenhart is just ready for mommy to feel better in the tummy department.

Last but certainly not least... I felt Little Lenhart tickle me last friday. Weirdest feeling ever but I am sure it was the baby. I am enjoying it now because later on when I am told you get kicked in the ribs and such... it's not as much fun!

Well, I have carried on for quite too long so I'll say good-bye for now. Expect another blog shortly after June 13th...then we can call the baby Tessa or Carson!

7 1/2 weeks...and our first appointment!

Hello to all that continue to follow our exciting journey to being parents! Matt and I went to our first appointment together where all the question asking, poking, probing and blood work takes place. BUT... the best part was that we got to see our baby's heart beat! 143 beats per minute (which is apparently great). Isn't that crazy that something that is only 1.25 cm long needs it's heart to beat that fast to deliver blood to the rest of it's tiny little body?? Truly, it would be hard to be pregnant and deny that there is a God... it is just amazing that a tiny little life form could be growing inside of me and growing at an incredible rate. It already has it's spinal column and eyeballs?!? I will attach our first ultra sound pictures for everyone to see. You will notice that the round ball like structure is not our baby's head, but actually the yolk sac. It's hard to tell, but the baby's head is actually at the bottom, you can see a black mass (our baby's brain...phew, it has one!) and then his little body with a tail. Didn't realize we were having a tadpole! I swear, Matt's the daddy!
Matt has been an incredible husband through all of this so far. He has helped through the back pain, fear of fatness, fatigue, nausea (which now occurs after every meal), and day to day emotions that strike me at any time any place. He is a star and I know that he is going to be the most incredible father a child could have. I'm lucky huh?
So far, the only things that I truly can't stomach right now are bacon, coffee and lemons. Not too bad! I have had my occasional cravings... mostly just for potatoes (random) and cheeseburgers. Trying to keep those to a minimum when possible...sometimes it just isn't possible.
Well, stay tuned for more posts! Praise God for a healthy baby and a healthy mama-to-be!

5 weeks and counting!

Well, being that we are parents-to-be for the first time, we feel the need to go ALL OUT for our first lil' Lenhart...so here's our blog! We found out last friday, February 22nd, that we were going to have a baby! Being that I (Jenna) jumped the gun last month and took two prego tests only to be disappointed both times, Matt was a little hesitant for me to test this month...especially because we didn't think we were pregnant! Well, I was late by a week so we decided to give it the go ahead...at 5:45 am. Matt stayed in bed and I peed on the stick...lovely. I saw the two lines appear and immediately started to scream, bawl, roll around in excitement, etc. You get the point, we were DARN excited! Those who will have access to this blog so far are the lucky ones because we are slow to tell all the friends just yet... family, you get first dibs on knowing! So we are officially 5 1/2 weeks along and it feels like it is going to take FOREVER for our October 28th due date to get here. I think we have two VERY excited Grandmas (and Granpdas too) and of course two excited parents. Mackenzie, our two-year-old neice, even got on the phone to tell us she is ready for her cousin. AHHH. So anyhow...let the pregnancy begin and many fun times of Night sickness (yes, I'm a little backwards), back pain, crying for no reason, and 10 pound breasts (not to get too graphic) begin! It's all worth it though...we are ready to add to our family. Poor Moxsen will have to get over being an only child any more. Enjoy our posts to come...there will be many! PS: Notice the gender neutral font...this won't last forever!