New Year with New Updates

A lot has taken place since my last post. We traveled home for Christmas and we were able to split the time between our two families over the span of a week. I was really exhausted by the time we were done driving back and forth and flying. I was definitely not ready to leave family, but I welcomed the rest we got when we returned home.  Here are a few pictures from Christmas and New Year's.

Me, Haley and Melissa on the hay ride looking at Christmas lights.

My mom's Christmas present, a Shiba Inu.  His name is Pheonix...so precious!

Matt & Jessica in Wilmington on Christmas Day about to open presents.

My family on New Year's Eve

Both families got to celebrate New Year's Day and Brenda's Birthday together.

While we were home, our family and friends also threw us an ECU couples baby shower!  We really enjoyed seeing everyone and appreciate all the hard work they put into making the shower so nice.  Here are some pictures from the event.

The ECU diaper cake!

Some of the ECU decorations/ECU outfits...so cute!

All the food....everything was so good!

Most of the ladies that hosted...minus my sisters, Melissa and Haley.  Thank you ladies!!!

The ECU girls and precious Kaylin

all of our gifts

Matt's family

My family

25.5 weeks-who's winning?!?!

Current Updates:

1. Anniversary: Matt surprised me with flowers and some of my favorite candy (Reese's) on the anniversary of us dating/being together for 11 years, Jan. 27th.  Many people don't know this, but it's actually the day of our first kiss...not the day we starting dating.  Neither of us know the date we started "talking/dating" because we never official asked the other what our status was...so, we've always gone by the date of our first kiss. :)
2. Staying Busy: This month is going to fly by with all of the busy weeks and weekends we have planned. 
• We started a married couples small group and we're doing the Fireproof study.
• Matt joined a men's small group that's doing the Couragious study, and then plays pickleball afterwards.  (We didn't know what pickleball was until we got involved with the church, but it seems to be popular here.)
• We have parenting classes at the hospital every week.
• On the weekends we have our childbirth class (all day, 9-4pm), a baby shower, maternity pictures, and a babymoon!  I'm so excited about everything we having going!
• By the way, we also try to go to the gym a few times a week.  We joined the YMCA, so I can swim or walk and Matt usually plays basketball or swims with me.
3. Work:
• I started working part-time at the church we've been attending, Journey.  I make their worship guides for the weekend service, other marketing materials, and basic admin work.  Although it's not in my field, it's nice to get out of the house and work with some great people.
• Matt is still liking his job and he's staying very busy being responsible for his facility, as well as three others (Jacksonville, FL; Waco, TX; and a new facility in Elkader, IA).  Thankfully he doesn't have to travel again until closer to June.  He's an amazing man, and I'm so proud of all his hard work and success!
4. Kansas:
• We've had a very mild winter.  At this point we've only had a few snow flurries, but plenty of very cold days with harsh winds.  The locals keep telling us this is not typical and some think Feb. could get pretty bad, but only because they're still waiting on all the snow.  I was told it snowed around 26 times last year between Oct. and Feb.  I guess they're breaking us in easy this year...
• We're still trying to figure out some of the social norms and culture around town.  There are certainly differences between here and back home...the south!  One for instance, people don't seemed to be concerned about personal bubbles here.  When I'm at Wal-Mart people get waaay to close to me in line and while shopping for groceries!  Fashion is also different.  We've notice most people dress very casual and some even wear pj pants to the store or mall.  Having moved from Charleston, I have to say I really miss seeing new fashion trends and people dressed in cute clothes....I also miss the boutiques, so I can shop for cute/unique clothes.  That is, once I have the baby and get back into my regular clothes.
• They have different words for things here...at the store they always ask me if I want a "sack" for the items I've purchased.  The first time I heard sack, I had to ask him to repeat himself.  They call the inside sink faucet a "spigot" (which is what we call the outside water spigot)...and they all call soda, "pop".
• They're pretty funny too because they have no idea where our accents come from so we've been asked a few times if we're from Texas.
• However, the people we're meeting have been extremely nice and welcoming.  It's been easier to meet people and make friends than it was when we moved to Charleston...which is nice when you're so far from home!

Matt and I before our 1st 4D ultrasound....27.5 weeks.

Pregnancy Updates:

1. Currently: as of Feb. 7th I started my 31st week (only 9 weeks to go!!)
2. Cravings: I still haven't had any cravings...although I'm getting hungry more often.  I also don't like the aftertaste of food, so I always want a mint or something sweet after dinner. 
3. Discomforts:
• I get out of breath easily.
• My lower back and hips have started aching at night (and when sitting too long) which is making for some restless sleep.
• I bought a support band for my belly and it's made a big difference in the amount of pressure I feel in my back, tummy and feet; especially when we're out walking around all day.
• I have two gift certificates for prenatal massages and I'm try to hold out a little longer until I get even bigger and more uncomfortable...I'm looking forward to them!
4. Test Results:
• I passed my glucose test!!  It wasn't too bad, but I did gag a few times because the drink is thick like syrup, and I only drink water or skim milk.  Plus you're not allowed to rinse your mouth out, so your saliva gets really thick...or at least mine did.
• My iron came back low meaning I'm anemic.  I had great iron in the beginning, but like many pregnant women turned anemic later in pregnancy.  It's explains a lot of weird symptoms I was having but just attributed it to pregnancy.  (I was dizzy, extremely tired, confused, cracked/chapped lips, the skin on my palms were sensitive, and my fingernails turned fragile and pale.)
5. OB Apts: I'm going to the OB every two weeks now.  After Feb. I'll start going every week.  I like my OB doctor, but I'm still not very happy with their front desk staff.  She's never happy when we go into the office.
6. Maternity Pictures: I'm so excited because we just found a photographer to do our maternity pictures, and she's also going to take pictures of Paisley once she arrives.  Check out her webiste to view her work, ImageWise Photography.

29.5 weeks

Paisley Updates:

1. Heartbeat: 145 bpm at last OB appointment
2. Size: a little over 3 lbs and measuring somewhere around 16-18 inches long
3. Features: We got to see her precious face during our 4D ultrasound at Topeka 4D and she sure does have some chubby cheeks and a cute pouty lip. Can't wait to kiss on her! By the way...she got her cheeks honest from both her mommy and daddy!  Check out her pictures below from her 4D ultrasound.
4. Activity: She's a busy girl and we're enjoying watching her move around.  (That's right...watching her.  She's pushing out on my tummy so we watch her almost every night.)  She also likes for some body part to stay bundled up in my right rib cage.  I told Matt the muscles and ligaments on my right side are definitely going to be more stretched out than on the left.

Profile picture of Paisley's face at 29.5 weeks.

Most of her face is covered but you can see her pouty lips and hand in this one.

She seems to have long skinny fingers like me.

Here's a video of Paisley stretching and yawning....so cute!!!  Can't wait!!

Here is a link to watch the entire 4D ultrasound.  (The link will only be available for another month.)

Don't Forget Toby:

Toby has been doing great since his injury.  He's able to play like he used to and jump for his toys.  The hair on his leg has almost completely grown back as well.

At the end of January, we celebrated his 9th birthday!  It doesn't seem like he should be that old already.  You can tell the hair on his ears is starting to turn slightly grey.  However, he's still the same ol' playful puppy!

We're also trying to get him used to the idea of a baby coming into the home soon.  We put together the pack and play and the swing so he can start to get used to the changes over time.  He doesn't seem to mind any of the new additions.  He's a bit concerned about the swing when I have it running, but only for 5 seconds...then it's no big deal.  Even when he's concerned about it, he just looks at it with his ears perked up...and then he just lays down. 

He's such a good boy and we know he's going to do great with Paisley. 

Toby loves snuggling up in front of the fire.

Gender Parties/Update

Ok, so this time it really wasn't my fault I wasn't able to post before now.  Our computer got a virus and it was completely unusable.  It took two weeks to get it fixed!

People want to how we got the virus, which I think is funny because the answer is...Matt.  Anyone who knows him, knows that he has a passion for knowledge and he is very curious.  Anytime he doesn't know something...he has to Google it.  It truly bothers him until he finds the answer.  He even gets very eager and excited to share what he's learned, when other people don't know the same thing.  Sometime people take this as him being corrective, but he truly has the best of intentions and a passion for learning.  You gotta love him for that!  Anyway, because there is a new crazy fake anti-virus that can be caught through searching random things on Google...that's how we got it.  Our free anti-virus didn't catch it, but now we have the trusty Geek Squad package and a nice expensive anti-virus...so now we're up and running!  Ok, on with the story...

Baby Rice Gender Story:

Everyone always asks, what do/did you and Matt think you are having?  I truly wasn't sure, but Matt was completely convinced from the beginning we were having a GIRL!

Before we knew I was pregnant, I told Matt I thought I might be, but was starting to doubt it due to all of the tests that were negative.  He responded by walking up to me very confidently and telling me, "you're pregnant and your going to have a girl."  I was a bit weirded out because he was so confident and serious at the same time.  Then he told me why...

Matt and I order take-out Chinese food on occasion and we always read our fortune cookies.  On occasion, Matt will keep really good ones (for a while anyway...we don't have a random bag of fortunes sitting around).  Well, right as we found out we were moving to KS, we had Chinese food and Matt's fortune said, "sometimes traveling to a new place leads to great transformation."  We both thought it was really fitting, so he kept it in his wallet.  (I think it was one more way to encourage us we were doing the right thing by moving.)

A few weeks later, one day when Matt went to get something out of his wallet, his fortune fell out and landed face down showing him what it said on the back..."daughter."  Wouldn't you know he never looked at the back before that day...which also happened to be the day I told him I was worried about being pregnant!  Matt has joked that was God's way of talking to him about our baby.

The interesting part, months down the road I become very stressed and impatient waiting to find out the gender.  Then, about a week or two before our appointment we ordered take-out for the first time in our new town.  Here's what my fortune said, "instead of worrying and agonizing, move ahead constructively" and on the back..."daughter."  So needless to say, I was leaning towards a girl when I walked into my appointment that day.  You can say coincidence, but we think it's pretty neat!  Of course we put both fortunes in our pregnancy book.

Matt's fortune is on top.

Matt and I decided to go ahead and find out the gender of our baby at our appointment on Nov. 21st.  Most people usually wait to find out the gender until their gender reavealing party, but our families live in different states we were having two different parties.  Since there was no way to be surprised at both parties, we wanted to go ahead and find out early. 

The morning of the appointment, I drank orange juice, ate a big breakfast, and finished with hot chocolate.  I was hoping this would help the baby move around enough to find out the gender.  It took some work at the appointment, but our sonographer told us she is 90% sure it's a GIRL!  Due to the baby staying so low, she said she will confirm at our next appointment which is on Dec. 19th!  I'm very excited to see her again! 

this is a profile view of her face at 20 weeks

Matt and I wanted to wait to make the big announcement to everyone until we could tell our families in person, since we would see them for Thanksgiving at the end of the week.  For the parties, we decided we would use the cake idea to share the exciting news at the party, but instead of Matt and I cutting the cake we wanted to let our parents.  (For those unfamiliar with this idea, you order a cake and have the bakery make the inside icing, or actual cake, pink or blue.  Then when the cake is cut, everyone finds out if it's a boy or girl.)

The first party we had was with Matt's family in Charleston, SC on Thanksgiving Day.  They were all very excited and eager to find out the gender.  Here are some of the pictures from the event.

Publix (the local grocery store) made a very cute baby buggy cake for us!

Matt and I got pink and blue plates for everyone to make guesses about the gender.  Matt and I obviously already knew, but we couldn't both hold up girl plates.

Matt's family and their guesses. (9 boys and 6 girls)

Matt's parents finding out it's a girl!  Charles looks a little confused because he thought the actual cake was supposed to be pink or blue and it was chocolate...lol.

The family's reaction.  I love his younger cousin Haley's reaction...
she was pointing at her plate like haha, I'm right!

Lawson (Matt's younger cousin in the front) was hoping for a boy, but he was a great sport!

The second party was with my family in Clayton, NC the weekend after Thanksgiving, and we used the same cake idea to the reveal the gender.  Since we had been talking about the gender with Matt's family, it was really hard not slipping up and telling my family too soon. 

Matt & I with the cake!

Lowe's Foods (the local grocery) made this cake and it was sooooo good!!

My family and their guesses....7 boys and 5 girls.

My parent's reaction!  They both thought boy...hehe!

The inside of the cake...it's a girl!

We had so much fun getting to celebrate with our families and share the news in person!  The only thing, everyone wanted (and still wants) to know the name, but we weren't ready.  We shared that our boy name was going to be Pearson Asher Rice.  Pearson after my maiden name Pearce, and Asher after Matt's father's middle name (and long running family traditional middle name on the Rice side).  If our next baby is a boy, I'm sure we'll use this name for him.

At this point, we've only shared initials for our possible girl name, which are PJR.  I'm about 95% sure on her name, but I'm not sure about Matt.  I know he really likes the name, but he's worried about committing.  I'm hoping to get him pinned down within the next week!


Belly Update:

Here are a few pictures of my growing belly, since my last post at 19.5 weeks (just before finding out the gender).

the weekend after Thanksgiving-20.5 weeks

Dec. 10th-22.5 weeks

Toby and I in front of our Christmas tree....22.5 weeks.

Our little girl's first toy...purchased by Matt on his work trip...love it!! 
Thank you baby for being so involved and supportive!!  I love you!

Don't Forget Toby:

Toby has recovered from his surgery and is doing great.  The hair on his leg is growing back normal and he's finally allowed to start running around and playing.

It was sad not being able to have him with us at Thanksgiving, since we had to kennel him to fly home.  Here is a picture of how sleepy he was when we picked him up from the kennel.  

He was too tired to play, and he didn't care that Matt stacked his toys on top of him.

It's going to be even harder to leave him at Christmas.  Every year we help him open his presents on Christmas and we won't get to do that this year.  Here is a family picture of all of us in front of the tree.

I love his expression....can I please get down now?

I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Christmas!

What is Baby Rice...Boy or Girl?

This morning was so much fun!  Matt and I had our third ultrasound and we were able to find out the gender of our sweet baby!  The sonographer is 90% sure on the gender, but will double check at my appointment in December. 

Unfortunately....I can't make the big announcement yet as we'll be sharing the news in person with our families for Thanksgiving.  So, I will blog after Thanksgiving with the big news.

The good news, all is going well with the baby.  Also, I can't get enough of hearing Baby Shrimp's heartbeat and looking at that plump little tummy.

To have a little fun, I thought I'd take a pole to see what everyone thinks we're having.  So, do you think we're having a Prince or Princess?

Let us know by leaving a comment...

Baby Rice...aka...Shrimp

I had every intention of writing our pregnancy story a few weeks ago; however, I was delayed with our trip to Vegas, trying to find a job, Toby getting hurt and having surgery...and just plan ol' procrastination. Haha!

So here goes...

When we got married, we decided we wanted to accomplish a few things before bringing a little one into our lives.  These are a few things we felt were right for us, and would help our story transition a bit more smoothly. 

1. We wanted to establish a christian marriage and foundation we believe is critical to the success of family...as well as just to enjoy being young and married.
2. We wanted to travel.
3. We wanted to prepare our finances. 
4. We wanted to wait since we felt we were too young/not ready.  We felt four years would be about right.

Well...it seems that our plans also worked within God's (this time).

1. We feel we have been able to establish a christian marriage and stable foundation for our little family (although we know this is a long term process).  We did so with a lot of work on our parts, but also with the love and support of family, mentors, and small group (bible study group).  
2. We've lived in and traveled to many places.  Our top most enjoyable places we traveled to out of the country: St. Maarten/St. Martin, St. Lucia, Barcelona, Venice, Rome, and Florence.
3. We've worked hard to live well within our means and maintain a budget (although we're far from perfect).  Last year, we took Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University.  We're not completely debt free as we're still working on Matt's student loans, but we're working hard to accomplish the goal.  Plus, we were able to squirrel away some money for a little one! 
4. On Oct. 27th we celebrated our 4th anniversary and we both turned 28 within the last few months.  I have to say, we both feel more mature/prepared to bring a little one into our lives, but we also have to keep reminding ourselves we're no longer 24...haha!

So that brings us to the actually baby story...I figure the easiest way to do this is with a timeline.

• July: 
• I suspected I was pregnant at the end of July, but I took three tests that came back negative.  After the third test, and much disappointment, I decided to call my doctor and they told me to try again a week later. 
• A week later, we were in Clayton for a going away get together with friends.  Before the get together, I woke up very early to take another test.  I told Matt since we had been disappointed before with the negative results, I would check the results myself (thinking it wouldn't be as big of a let down if it's negative again).  Much to my surprise...it was positive!!  My mouth literally feel open before I started smiling really big.  (However, then I felt guilty about Matt not being there to see the results.)
• I decided to tell Matt, who was still snuggled in bed asleep the news (but with a twist...I wanted him to be able to see the results himself).  I went in and sat down on the bed and told him sadly...no, still not positive.  He was so sweet and comforting and offered his arm out to hold me.  I held out the test to him and said, "see."  He was confused as to why I wanted him to look at the test because of course I had just peed on it....but he took it, lol.  He still had sleepy eyes and wasn't processing a lot at the time since it was so early, so he held the test and looked at it for a while.  Then, all of a sudden he popped his eyes wide open and looked up at me...then back at the test...then back at me and said...REALLY?!  It was too cute to see his genuine excitement.
• We decided it was important to keep it a secret, until we felt our baby was big enough for the big news.

the morning we found out...5 wks

• August:
• The first few weeks of August I was exhausted, having morning sickness, and very sensitive to smells.  We also decided we wanted to give our baby a nickname until we knew the gender, just so we didn't have to call it, it.  We went through various options but then settled on Shrimp. 
• Mid-August I went to stay with my family to visit for a week before our final move.  Unfortunately, I was really sick the entire time and I spent most of the week in bed or on the couch...I'm sure I was great company.
• We didn't plan on telling anyone until after our first OB appointment, but if I didn't go ahead and tell my family while I was home I wouldn't get to tell them in person.  So, Matt and I came up with a plan.
• My immediate family has a strong bond and we're all about each other...'The Pearces'.  It's hard to explain, but if you've spent time around us you would understand that last part.  When we were younger there was the 4 of us (Mom, Dad, Melissa and me).  When they found out my younger sister was on the way we of course became the 5.  We've had a way of tying in the number which represents each of us into various things within our family in meaningful ways.  Then, when Matt and I got married, my Dad made the announcement at our rehearsal dinner we're now 6, as a way of telling Matt he was one of us...and Matt knew exactly what it meant.  Even my family's boat is named Toe Dirt 6...for each of us (Toe Dirt is a whole other story, ha). 

my parent's boat

• We wanted to make the announcement to our families with an ultrasound picture, but that wasn't an option for my family.  So, we decided what better way to announce to the family there would be 7 of us than to show them a picture of the boat, but with the name changed to Toe Dirt 7!  I gave each of them a picture frame to open at the same time, and we must have done a good job with the photo shop, because they didn't notice the 7 for a little while.  Haley was the first one to notice the 7, and then the rest of the family caught on pretty quickly.  (Matt wasn't able to be there due to working in KS, so I had him secretly on speaker phone so he could share in the excitement.)  They were really happy for us.




This is the picture we gave my family.


• Our first OB appointment and ultrasound was on August 22nd.  During the ultrasound we got to see our baby's tiny heartbeat, but it was too early to hear it.  We also found out I wasn't as far along as we originally thought.  I was about 6.5 weeks that day.  We were extremely happy to see our tiny Shrimp. 
• In addition, unfortunately our doctor told us I miscarried a twin.  On the ultrasound, there was a second gestational sac, but it was empty.  (Twins run in both of our families.)  Although we were disappointed, Matt and I didn't focus much at the appointment on the loss of the twin, as we were elated to know we had a healthy baby on the way.  (I think our doctor was also great in helping us focus on the positive.)  Later that day we talked and prayed for the loss of our baby and decided to name him Byron.  I felt it was really important to name our baby (even though we obviously don't know the gender), because of the book I just finished reading "Heaven is for Real" by Todd Burpo.  The book shares a true story about a boy that goes to Heaven and meets his sister, who he didn't know about that had been lost to miscarriage, but didn't have a name because she was never named by her parents.  It gives me a piece of mind, knowing God has a plan for everyone and that Byron is there with him.
• That weekend, Matt's family came to Charleston to visit before our final flight to KS.  We wanted to share the news with his immediate family, and now we had an ultrasound picture to share!  We set up a time with just his mom, dad, sister, Jessica, and brother-in-law, Justin, to go to lunch.  While waiting for our lunch to be served, we told his family we got them a little something while in KS on our home finding trip.  So, we gave his mom and dad a gift bag and one to Jessica and Justin.  We told Jessica and Justin to open their first gift, which we got them a small shot glass from KS to throw them off with thinking they really had gifts from KS.  Next, Matt told his parents to open their bag, but that they needed to open it together.  So, Brenda and Charles pulled out their gift and unwrapped the tissue and then...confusion, haha.  Brenda was looking at the ultrasound picture upside down (and couldn't read the frame that said Grandchildren are a Blessing) and Charles was trying to figure out what it had to do with KS...haha!  However, they both caught on pretty quickly and Brenda started crying while Charles kept saying, no way!  Due to the way we were sitting, Justin and Jessica couldn't tell what they got and didn't understand what was going on.  Before we could tell them to open their second gift, Justin quickly reached in the bag and pulled out their picture.  They were all very excited for us, but we swore them to secrecy.  It was a great experience!

first ultrasound picture at 6.5 weeks-this is what Matt's family saw

• September:
• I went to my first OB appointment at my new doctor's office in KS.  Things are quite different here, but it went well.  They had a hard time finding the heartbeat, so they did an ultrasound.  It was great seeing how big Shrimp had gotten.  Matt was also in awe watching the baby move as he didn't realize Shrimp could already move that much. 
• We also have confusion about how far along I really am due to this ultrasound.  The sonographer told me based on my measurements I was 13 weeks...however, our doctor decided to keep me on track with my original ultrasound, meaning I was 11 weeks at the time.  So, I don't know if my due date is March 28th or April 10...I will find out more later.

our second ultrasound (between 11-13 weeks)

• We also decided it was time to share the exciting news with everyone!
• Also, to track my tummy growth we decided to start taking pictures of me wearing the same thing to make it easier to see my changes.



around 13.5 weeks

• October:
• At this month's appointment we got to hear Shrimp's heartbeat for the first time.  That was incredible!  Here are a few pictures of my growth in October.

around 17.5 weeks

for Halloween I was a peanut M&M...18.5 weeks

• November:
• On the 21st we will find out Shrimp's gender...as well as hopefully some more insight on my due date!  We can't wait! Also, we have a few top baby names on the list for each gender...although we haven't shared them.  Hehe, aren't surprises fun!! :)
• We just booked a trip home for Thanksgiving (previously unplanned)!  We're so excited because this means we'll get to share the gender with our families in person at two gender revealing parties!

19.5 weeks

Sorry I turned this into a short novel, but most people haven't been able to hear our full journey up to this point.  We'd like to ask each of you to continue to pray for us and our sweet baby Shrimp.  We greatly appreciate all of your love and support.

Don't Forget Toby:

Toby has had a hard month in October.  He was boarded during our trip to Vegas and got hurt.  We don't know how he was hurt, but he had three puncture wounds to his back right ankle and wouldn't walk on his leg.  He ended up having to have surgery at Kansas State University Vet School (they were great) to repair a torn tendon that makes his toes curl.  Thankfully he is doing much better, but he's on limit restrictions until the beginning of December.  He will get his stitches taken out next week.  Here are a few pictures of his injury and soft cast afterwards.



two of the puncture wounds on the inside of his right hind leg




the third puncture on the back of the leg...you can also see the knot just below the wound which is the torn tendon




Toby quickly learned how to walk on three legs...




Toby post-surgery.  You can see his shaved leg and purple K-State wrap.




His poor "peg"leg went nicely with his pirate costume for Halloween. 

Again, thankfully Toby is much better and he is walking on his leg.  Thank you to everyone who has kept him in their prayers.