Baby Bentley is on the way!

Expected Due Date: August 24, 2016!

Week 4: December 16, 2015

Baby Size: Poppy seed

Symptoms: None 

Richard and I found out that we were pregnant on Friday night, December 18, 2015. I know you're supposed to take the test in the morning, but I had been 4 days late at that point. Too nervous to go out and buy a pregnancy test by myself, Richard and I went to a local drugstore after we ate our weekly Mexican dinner with Leslie.  We drove home and said, " There is a high chance of it being negative since we had only started that month (November)". I took the test and waited the "long" 3 minutes before we checked the results. To out biggest surprise, there was one faint pink line and one strong pink line (2)!!! Shocked, Richard gave me a biggest kiss and told me that I have never looked better. After talking about how blessed we were, we decided to go to bed and would take the two remaining tests the next morning; however, I was way too nervous/ excited to wait. I was waking up every few hours but by 3:30 a.m., I decided to take another test (positive again!) Even more excited, I took my pillow and "slept" on the sofa for the reaming night since I was so restless. Still not able to sleep, I took my third test at 6:30 a.m. and POSITIVE again! Finally, Richard woke up and I told him the wonderful news. That night we had plans to see Cole and Ashley for dinner where we told them the great news, too. The next morning, Sunday, we met Leslie at church and told her the wonderful news over breakfast where she cried tears of joy. Then that night for dinner, we drove to my parents home and told my parents, sister, and brother. They were all thrilled and starting crying, too!

{After dinner at the Avalon}

Week 5: December 23, 2015

Baby Size: Apple seed

Symptoms: Waves of nausea (only in the morning & late at night)

This week was so much fun as it was the lead up to Christmas, yay! But, what was so hard around this time of the year was keeping the BIGGEST secret from all of our extended family and close friends. Even though it was hard to hold the secret, we had a wonderful holiday with our families. The next big step in the process was waiting anxiously for week 8, which was when I would have my first scheduled doctor's appointment.

Week 8: January 13, 2016

Baby Size: Kidney bean

Symptoms: Waves of nausea & extremely tired

The days leading up to our first appointment were a little uneventful. However, it was hard getting back to work after a wonderful two weeks off for Christmas break. My first OB appointment was on Tuesday, 1/12/16 (just one day before 8 full weeks). I was so thankful that Richard was able to take off work and be there with me. We were taken in a small room where we had our first sonogram. She quickly found the little "baby";it was such a relief to see and then hear the wonderful heartbeat. It really put all my fears to the side. 

{Our first picture of our small but precious gift}

Week 10: January 27, 2016

Baby Size: Kumquat 

Symptoms: Tired but feeling more myself.

Today, I have officially hit 10 weeks. To me, 10 sounded pretty solid and felt like a small milestone in this process. Even though I have been very lucky and only got sick once, I'm chalking it up to back to work jitters. I have felt more myself this week than any other time. I still get really tired after I take Addie for a walk and eat dinner, but I'm not feeling the waves of nausea throughout the day where I can only eat: goldfish, saltines, and pretzels,which seemed to be my main food groups for a few week. Not much is going on with our lives, but I am getting very antsy to tell my extended family and close friends at work. Until then, I'm counting down until my next appointment at 12 weeks. 

Week 12: February 10, 2016

Baby Size: Lime

Symptoms: a little tired but feel very much myself

I had my 12 week appointment where they did the blood work for the genetic testing along with an ultrasound that was followed by a regular OB appointment. I feel so relieved that I have hit the "safe zone". This week was a ton of fun because Richard's Aunt Sheila flew in from California with her son Max. We had dinner Friday night at our typical Mexican restaurant where we told them and out favorite waiter, Juan the great news. They were both over the moon and were gifted a delicious plate of churros.  Then Saturday night the entire Bentley side went to dinner at Table & Main in Roswell.  

{Second picture of Baby B. He/She looks very healthy and is doing well. It was very crazy to finally see a "normal" picture of the baby that morning.} 

Week 13: February 17, 2016

Baby Size: pea-pod 

Symptoms: Feeling good but a little tired and not having energy to make dinner. 

This week was super fun because we reveled the exciting news that we were pregnant! This is how I shared the fun news to my friends at work :)

Week 14: February 24, 2016

Baby Size: Lemon  

Symptoms: Feeling more myself but still lacking energy to do much after work/ coaching.
Cravings: Still having food aversions when it comes to anything with pork and greasy food.
Missing: Jimmy Johns, sushi, and wedge salads with blue cheese crumbles 

I'm officially in the second trimester!!!  This week has been a little slow with track & field season starting up, which has been accompanied by a ton of rain and cold weather. Either way, I'm feeling great and looking forward to my next "big" appointment when we find out the gender on March 23!   

 

{Week 12-13-14}

Week 16: March 9, 2016

Baby Size: Avocado  

Symptoms: I am feeling really good, but I am still really tried by the end of the day with teaching and coaching. However, I am still wearing my normal clothes even though my pants are starting to get a little more tight. However, I feel bad because I have no urge to cook dinner for either Richard or myself. Thankfully, my mother-in-law is bringing over 1 meal a week, which is great because we can usually get a good re-heat out of it too!

Cravings: Still more food aversions, especially with  liking pork or super greasy food.

Missing: cocktails with friends. Now that it's getting warmer (almost 80 degrees this week), I miss having a nice cocktail when we go out for dinner. Instead I usually get sparkling water and a lime wedge to do the trick. 

{Courtney's baby shower}

{Sweet, tired Addie}

Gender Reveal

Wednesday, March 23, 2016, was one of the most magical days of our lives!
  That morning I had my 18 week ultrasound to check the health of Baby B and to find out the gender. Since Richard couldn't take a day from work, my mom went with me; however, I did mention that I wanted to keep the gender a secret since he wasn't able to be there.  Throughout the entire appointment, it was such a joy to have my mom there and experience the miracle with me. We saw the entire body from the head, lungs, heart, to the tiny little fingers and toes. Little Baby B was moving so much that we couldn't get a clear measurement of the tummy though.  At the end, our ultrasound tech finally was able to get Baby B to cooperate so she could finalize the gender. We turned out heads and she snapped the shot and put the little picture in the envelope for us to open later that night.


{The suspense was killing me knowing that this envelope held our biggest secret}

 
{Little Baby B at 18 weeks old and "his or her" little toes} 

Since I took the entire day off from work, my mom and I headed over to Buttermilk Kitchen off Roswell Road in north Atlanta. I had never been there, even though I had passed by it a million times prior; however, what excited me the most was the fact that Reese Witherspoon ate there just a few weeks ago. The entire meal was beyond delicious- I would highly recommend their breakfast selection. I had their pimento omelet, which comes with two hasbrowns and a homemade biscuit that comes with their house blackberry jam. My favorite parts were the hasbrowns that were topped with rosemary salt and their biscuit, of course!

Our predictions were: Richard-girl/ Alexis-boy ( I even wore by blueish earrings)

That night we had dinner reservations at our favorite restaurant, Milton's! We ordered appetizers and tried to hold off as long as we could, but the excitement was killing us. Since we couldn't wait any longer, I had Richard open the envelope and see the results first, but our ultrasound tech typed the results so small that Richard couldn't find it quick enough. I immediately looked down and saw the sweet white font on the top left corner saying, "Its a GIRL!!!"

{Our little family full of girls}

I was in shock and so thrilled that words could not express the joy I had or more importantly, we had! Richard wanted a girl since he never got to experience a sister and this just filled his face with the biggest smile. The rest of the night we talked about how much our lives were going to change for the better and how special this little blessing of a girl would bring us closer as a family. Oh, we also talked about how many sweet little outfits, bonnets, and bows we were going to buy.

Since Ashley and Cole couldn't be at out family dinner Saturday night because they were traveling to Birmingham for Easter weekend, we faced time them to tell them our exciting news. The weekend prior, Ashley bough Baby B the softest bunny and one set of boy onesie and girl onesie. Their predictions were: Ashley- girl/ Cole- boy. To their excitement, I held up the sweet little floral onesie as Ashley screamed!

Saturday, March 26, 2016 Richard and I had our families over to our house to have our "official" gender reveal dinner party. We bought all things blue and pink to help with the festivities! 

Once everyone arrived, "we" had to cut the cake first. Since we both knew the gender prior to the party, we figured it would be so special for out mothers to cut the cake . Thankfully, Caroline's fiance, Chaz, was nice enough to get them cutting the cake on video ( it really was a priceless reaction).  

 

Everyone was over the moon with excitement as they dreamed and already spoiled our little girl. 

We couldn't be more excited about our new journey as soon- to- be parents this August. With each waking moment I think about this baby girl and how she has already blessed us with so much joy and happiness. 

Psalms 127:3

Happy birthday, Ashley!

This past weekend we celebrated Ashley's 31st birthday a couple days earlier. But we actually had two things accomplished: another restaurant off of out check list St. Cecelia's and celebrated my BFF! We had such a wonderful night!

{My meal- delicious trout}