Celebrating 4 years

This last Tuesday, Steve and I headed out to Hilton Head Island, SC for our 4 year anniversary! Every year we make a point of going somewhere to celebrate our marriage and so far it's always been somewhere near the beach or water. I was so eagerly awaiting this trip, especially because I have been sick these last couple months. I knew it would be such a refreshing time and so fun to get so much time with Steve.

We were so blessed to be able to stay at the Westin Hotel. A sister of a guy that Steve works with works there so we were able to get the employee rate. We checked into our room and I immediately went to see what view we had from the balcony. I was disappointed to see a bunch of trees and a walking path, especially since there were 3 pools and the beach that could have potentially been our view. I asked Steve if he could call down to see if there were any other rooms available. So he went down to the front desk and mentioned it was our anniversary and the woman said she thought she had the perfect room. So we grabbed all our stuff and headed one more floor up. We were caught off guard when we approached our room and discovered there were double doors, The Heron Suite. A suite?! This can't be right!! Steve put in his key and our jaws dropped. WHAT AN AMAZING BLESSING! We had the most amazing room for the next 3 days. A full dining room, living room, separate bedroom, 3 balconies and 3 bathrooms!! We were blown away! And boy did we sleep well :)

We filled our days by relaxing by the beach and the pool, eating, shopping and walking around seeing the town. We had a blast! Thank you Steve for the last 4 years!! I can't wait to spend so many more with you!! You bless me in so many ways and I am so proud and happy to call you my husband!! The Lord has blessed me with the most perfect best friend to share this life with and I am so grateful for each day we have together! I love you!

The water fountain in front of the hotel

Hotel doors

Bathroom with baday (we were too scared to use it :)

Mother of all bathrooms

Steve took a hot tub bath one night and watched part of a movie (there was a TV in the bathroom too!)

Sauna that Steve sadly never got a chance to use

Our bed

Dining room/living room

View from the living room patio

Dinner at Skillets the first night

First trip to a Piggly Wiggly!!

View from the balcony, what a view to wake up to!

This is the most I've attempted to eat in months!! I only was able to eat about half :)

Relaxing by the beach

Me and Baby (12 weeks)

Notice the sign. Steve thought I took a picture of the guy's wedgie :)

Shops

He loves him some sorbet

Restaurants and shops surrounding Salty Dog Cafe

Lighthouse

Oof, 114 stairs in no air conditioning!!

But we made it to the top!! (golf course on the left)

Our anniversary dinner, Chinese food from Yummy House. I was so tired after walking all that day that I took a nap from 7-8PM and just didn't have the energy to get up and go for a fancy dinner. So my loving husband said we could eat it.

Their portions were insane. This is a picture of my sweet and sour chicken AFTER I was done eating. 39 pieces left!!

Pool #1

Pool #2

Pool #3

It was raining the last morning we were there but Steve couldn't leave without swimming one last time :) We had the best time!! Can't wait for our next getaway together!

Fountains

I love when a so-so day turns into a wonderful day. That was Saturday. We had lots of unexpected fun! I didn't have much energy to really do anything but really needed to get out of the house. So we headed to Birkdale so Audrey (and Steve :) could play in the fountain. It was so fun to watch them together from my comfortable bench in the shade. A guy from Starbucks kept coming around and giving the kids small strawberry frappachinos. Audrey loved it! Then we stopped by Qdoba. I ran into one of my friends and her little girl and she told us kids eat free the month of June. I wasn't ready to stomach a big mexican lunch so Steve just got him and Audrey something to eat. I guess the owner and workers are Red Sox fans and since Steve used his Red Sox debit card, he got his meal half price. I did end up eating a bit of Audrey's lunch so for the 3 of us was $4! Pretty awesome! Small unexpected blessings! I love family days!

Our sweet miracle

Side view

This is a view from the back. You can see the spine, a little head, arm and look at those long legs!!

Yesterday my heart grew even bigger after seeing my sweet baby in the ultrasound. It's just something you can't prepare for. The emotions are so overwhelming. I had a friend watch Audrey and Steve was able to come to the appointment with me.

The ultrasound tech said everything looks great! The baby is 9 weeks and 5 days old. The ultrasound was scheduled because I was unsure of the dates but I guessed I was exactly that much along :) The baby's heartbeat was 162 per minute. I was blown away by how much we were able to see in the pictures with the baby being only 4 centimeters long!! And we actually saw it move its arm!! Steve immediately said he thought it was a boy and the tech played along. She pointed out the head, arms, legs, feet then she said, "And there's the penis!" She caught Steve by surprise :) She said the baby was much too small to predict the sex this early on. So we will wait, I'm guessing my next ultrasound will be sometime in August!

And now for a praise report!! I am feeling so much better! Definitely not back to normal yet but I'm on my way! I haven't thrown up in 3 days which is huge!! I'm still not able to eat a whole lot at this point but I'm trying to slowly introduce food back into my diet. I have been flooded by encouragement and have felt such love and care from so many!! It's so wonderful to have so many friends and family praying to the Father on our behalf!! THANK YOU!!

Time

Isn't time an unusual thing? When you want it to pass slowly, it always seems to go by much too quickly. But when you want time to speed up, it seems like torture watching the minutes tick by. That has been my life the last month or so. There have definitely been some times of relief but the majority of my days have been spent listening to the loud TICK TOCK of a dreadful, ominous clock in my head. The culprit? Morning sickness.

I found out May 6th that I was pregnant with baby Nilsen #2. I had been ridiculously over emotional that week and knew something may be up. So I was on the phone with my friend Crystal and being newly pregnant herself, had a bunch of pregnancy tests available and offered to run one by. I was in disbelief as I took the first test and the two little pink lines showed up in two seconds flat. Since she had brought two tests with her, I just had to take the second one to double confirm. I've never been one to chart or keep track of what my body was doing but on the other hand, we weren't preventing getting pregnant so it could be possible. So I took the second test. And the same result, just as quickly. Crystal was hysterical, jumping up and down in my kitchen hugging me! But I felt very strange. Caught off guard a bit. But after she left and I had time to let it all sink it, I was elated! I knew Steve would be home soon so I put the tests on the box and cleared everything off in the kitchen except for the box. He came in and there was nothing. Just silence. I peeked around the corner and he was wearing the biggest grin. If you know my husband, you know he's a smiley guy. But this smile, it was extra special. He was so proud. And he asked, "Are those yours?!" I confirmed. We got to spend time together that night by going out to dinner, then to Target to get prenatals :)

So all was well at 4 1/2 weeks pregnant but I gave it a couple weeks and the sickness came in like a bull. I didn't experience much morning sickness with Audrey. I do remember having a hard time brushing my teeth because of heightened gag reflexes but that was about it. I was also working full time out of the home so that was a big distraction as well. With a lull of about 5 days where I could eat small meals and actually get up and do normal things, the last 4 weeks have been spent on the couch. Some days I can eat crackers, some days cereal. Other days, I try to get adventurous and go for noodles or something more substantial but then sometimes my body doesn't agree with it.

It really has been a test. I wait until the very last moment to get up for I know I have a little girl in the other room that needs me to get her breakfast. As I sit here crying (yes, over emotional I am) I think back to the last month and how Audrey has been such a sweet, caring, loving and content two year old. She now refers to the couch as "Mama's couch bed". When I'm resting, she comes and kisses my head and makes sure I'm covered up. When I get up to get something to drink or go to the bathroom, she enthusiastically says, "Mama all done?" Some days I just don't have the energy to fix her lunch, the other day she had cheese and crackers and was pretty excited to have a snack lunch :) She really has been great. We've explained to her that I have a new baby in my tummy and even though I know she doesn't completely understand, I think she gets it a little. It's amazing at such a young age she already knows how to be a comfort.

Another amazing blessing to me has been my loving husband. He works 10 hour days and comes home to no dinner on the table most nights because I can't bear to smell anything cooking. He's been eating lots of Ramon and frozen pizza :) He has been so helpful with Audrey and with house duties that I've had to neglect. He's been grocery shopping and took Audrey to the library last week. You really have been so wonderful and I am so thankful for you, Steve! You're the best husband and baby daddy I could ever ask for :)

I think I'm about 9 weeks pregnant so I'm praying that there are only a few weeks left before I start feeling normal again. I know that a lot of women have it much worse that I do and I am very grateful that I am able to keep most of my food down. I know at this early on, it's not what I'm eating but that I'm eating something. This month has been long and hard to endure but I know that I'm feeling this way for a very good reason. I have a sweet, little life growing inside of me. What a blessing!! I have been tempted to get angry some days, frustrated at feeling this way and desperately hoping it would pass. But God has met me, has been giving me strength and endurance to run this race. Most days, I haven't had the energy or desire to read. But I've missed God's Word so much. I am looking forward to spending more time with the Lord soon. But these verses I've been clinging too and they continue to minister to my soul:

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope

Romans 5:3-4

I have an ultrasound this Thursday (June 10th) to get a precise due date. I am very much looking forward to that and to be able to see our new little sprout :)

Oh and for those of you who have been asking, no news on the house being up for sale. No showings in the last couple months. We dropped the price about a month ago and no action. Lots going on in our lives. Please keep us in your prayers.