What a Week

This last week was quite the week...right after the clock struck midnight on New Years Eve, I started to feel pretty bad.  I couldn't sleep that night, and the next morning I was coughing, throwing up and feeling pretty bad. I spent the whole day on the couch, and slept in the next morning.  I thought that was going to be the end of it, but I was wrong....

I went back to work Tuesday, after an awesome Christmas break.  I diffidently didn't feel 100%, but made it through, and came home and went to sleep.  Wednesday I went to school, but should have stayed in bed.  You know that's the case when a student says, "Mrs. Bernard you look horrible." That comment didn't sting as bad since I felt exactly like he said.  Wednesday night is when my cold took a turn for the worst.

I woke up Thursday morning with a 102 degree fever, was throwing up...and then became dehydrated. My doctor scheduled me for that afternoon to get IV fluids, and medicine.  I've never done that before, and when they say, "This medicine may make you sleepy," IT REALLY DOES! I was out for two hours at the hospital, and woke up after it was all done.

Thankfully after all that, I can say that I am feeling a lot better, and we seem to be back to our busy "normal" lives.  The baby is 13.5 weeks along, and we are looking forward to our next check-up appointment this next week.  I am over the morning sickness (for now) and I have more energy than I did even a couple weeks ago.  We also found out we will get to find out the gender of our baby around week 18; only about a month away.

Merry Christmas

 

10 Weeks 5 Days

We got to go into the doctor for another check-up today and were surprised when we got to have another quick ultrasound to make sure the baby is growing well.  We were laughing out loud because the little guy or girl was pushing off and springing into the air.  Even the doctor said we have a very active little one.  Maybe a athlete in the future?  I don't think I have felt any of these movements yet, but I am sure that will come soon. :)

We watched the baby use its' little arms to grab its' feet, which was sweet.  The heart is beating strong, and the baby is growing right on track.  We did find out today that we have about 7.5 weeks to wait until we find out for sure if it is a boy or girl...I am leaning towards boy, but we will see.  We have another check-up in four weeks, but thankful for the little show we got to witness today.

Nolz Side Family Christmas 2011

On Sunday we had the Nolz Family Christmas at my parents house.  It is always good to get the family together, especially now that there are so many kiddos growing up and running around.  It cracks me up because each year the "little" girls find Jason and climb all over him and follow him around.  My cousin said they always ask if, "Lauren and her boy are coming?" Now that they are getting bigger he gets overpowered more often than not. :) I love this time of the year....thankful for family and friends.

Growing.

The last two weeks have been us waiting and looking forward to seeing our little one again to pinpoint "exactly" when he or she will make their appearance into the world.  So, on Thursday this last week, our waiting was over, and we were once again blown away.

In just two weeks our little baby almost quadrupled in size, and weight.  This time she put the jelly on my tummy...which is growing a little bit. :) Instantly there on the screen was our little one. The red arrow is pointing to the head, and if you follow it down you can see the little arm, and then the two little feet. Our baby is about an inch long right now, and is about the size of a green olive. :) It's little fingers and toes are almost done forming, and the brain is growing at an amazing rate.  It is amazing to think that all that change and growth is happening without me doing anything.

9 Weeks

While we were listening to the heartbeat, we saw the little feet start kicking! I knew that I loved this little baby, but the second I saw the little feet move my heart literally felt like it was bursting out of me.  To think that already our baby is moving blew both of us away!  The rest of the night we couldn't stop talking about what we had seen on the screen, and how something so small can have us loving it more than anything else.

The doctor says the baby is looking healthy, and the heartbeat is strong; all good signs, and something any expecting parents want to hear.  He also let us know that our "official" due date is: July 14th 2012

Thankful for Baby Bernard!

It is official....I haven't written for awhile due to the fact we wanted to keep this secret for a little while.....
Jason and I have been keeping a secret, and are so excited to share with the world that we are.....

HAVING A BABY

We feel so blessed that it is happening; and that for us it happened so quickly.  We officially found out on Halloween; even though I told Jason at the beginning of October that I knew I was pregnant....I took at least five tests in three days because I couldn't believe that it had actually happened so quickly.  There is nothing like the feeling of seeing the word, "Pregnant" pop up on the screen.

Test #5....I couldn't believe it for some reason until this one said "YES"

In less than two weeks we will have another sonogram to verify our due date of around July 14th.  Normally they wouldn't test again, but our dates are a little off considering how quickly we got pregnant.

I am thankful that we get to see our little one again.  It was amazing seeing it for the first time.  We got to see it's bitty heart pumping...God is so amazing to make something so small already have life flowing through it.  In two weeks we should not only see it moving again, but should actually hear the heartbeat.

Once again, AMAZING.

We have so much to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving from Our Growing Family!

Coach Bernard

Well...we are still waiting on the house....us Bernards are good at waiting.....we have worked on it a lot the last few years....just because we have worked on it though, does not mean that we enjoy waiting.  In a nutshell, we were informed after-the-fact, that the owner of the home had filed bankruptcy.  So we are in limbo, waiting for a judge to say that yes the best interest of everyone is to give us the house, or no it will also fall under his bankruptcy.  Apparently, his listing agent forgot to include this "minor" detail on all the paperwork that we signed....praying that it will all work out smoothly, and quickly.

On a better note, Jason got to be Coach Bernard this fall!  In late August he was asked if he wanted to be head cross country coach in the same week he was offered his position at Straub.  I think he was more excited about the coaching. :)  He ended up having over 70 kids run consistently the whole season! 

His team was AMAZING this year.  

All-City Cross Country Meet 2011

His top two runners, Reece (8th grade) and Brooke (8th grade), finished first in every single meet, and were the All-City Champions this year! I would say that is pretty good for a first year coach? :)

3k Girl's team before the final race: They finished 4th overall

 

3k Boy's Team: These boys were amazing and finished FIRST as a team at All-City

Start of the 6th Grade 2k Run

It was so much fun to watch him coach, and see the passion he has for running rub off on all the kids that were running.  This is a sport that Jason introduced me to almost 10 years ago when I went to watch him run for the first time.  I love watching the strain and the fight it takes to be a quality runner. 

Nice work Coach B.

Home Sweet Home

We got the house! I can hardly believe it myself, considering we were thinking we were going to have to wait until at least after Thanksgiving to hear back from the bank.  This whole process actually went quite smooth.  I think a lot of it was due to the fact that we were willing to wait if it meant getting a home that we really felt was meant to be our home.  I never would have thought we would put an offer on a short-sale house.  In fact we were warned to NOT get into that because they are so hard complete the sale. 

For awhile there I was wondering if we would also fit into one of those statistics, since we found out that two banks had loans on the home (rarely does a house get approved and sold when two banks are involved).  But....WE GOT THE HOUSE! : )

Needless to say, this has been a VERY exciting week at the Bernard "apartment." 

Introducing our future home....that is if the inspection goes well:
 

Our Home: Salem, OR 97306
2,165 square feet
3 bedrooms/2 bathrooms
Living Room/Family Room/BONUS Room!
$150,000

 

Front Living Room: Vaulted ceilings with cozy fireplace and bay window.



Kitchen: Has a HUGE pantry...needs some TLC, but great size!



Master Bedroom: Walk-In closet, bay window and large room overall.

Master Bathroom: My FAVORITE detail in the master bathroom!

Backyard: Patio and perfect size yard for what we need, and can take care of right now.

Some of our favorite parts that we don't have pictures of yet...
1. Bonus Room: located up a few stairs, right over the garage.  This room is half the size of our apartment :)
2. The fact that there is a separate living and family room.
3. The fact that there are three bedrooms, and a separate full bathroom in the master bedroom.

Needless to say, we are SO thankful and feel so blessed for this opportunity. Awesome week! :)

Fall into Fall.

Happy 'almost' Halloween!

I love this time of the year.  I love the days where the sun is shining, but there is a coolness to the air.  I love all the traditions that begin in the fall.  I love spending time with friends and family, and getting to sit by the fireplace.  I love fall.

Jason and I are helping out with the middle school youth group again this year.  We had a superhero night last week....it you "Super-Starbucks" and his sidekick, "Half-Cafe." Creative huh?

Coffee Power!

Jason and his guys had a "Pumpkin Smash" last night.  They had pumpkin pinatas, and played video games.  Sounds like a good guys night to me.  This last week, I got to take my middle school girls to Bauman Farms.  Kinsey also made the trip with us, which made it even more fun.

Nial and Kinz :)

What was that?!

Zip-Line!

sisters.

This is the reality....love her. :)

We went through the dark maze, slide down a slide, jumped on a giant "pillow" (see video) and ate caramel apples and apple-cider doughnuts. I know we all had fun because the girls were falling asleep in the car on the way home. :)

Jason and I got to take care of our sweet little niece, Cayden, for a few hours this last week as well.  It has been so much fun getting to watch her grow up and to see her little personality come out.  Uncle Jason had a lot of fun making her laugh.  I think she has diffidently stolen part of both of our hearts.

Gotta love your aunt and uncle. :)

Loving spending time with each other.

Sweet little sleepy eyes. :)