17 Weeks!

17 weeks this week! Getting closer and closer to that half way 20 week mark. Derc and I are anxiously counting down until 4/15 when we get to find out the sex! Thanks to those of you who took our little boy/girl poll - it looks like many of you (63%) think that Baby A will be a GIRL! We'll let you know if you're right in just a few weeks :)

This week Baby A is the size of an onion and his/her skeleton is forming, transforming from cartilage to bone. Fat is also developing on the baby. Also, Baby's fingers and toes are creating their one of a kind prints this week!

Not much else new this week...I have to work late tonight so won't be able to see the UNI game :( But Derc will be updating me throughout the night so I can cheer the Panthers along! Have a fantastic weekend!

How 'bout them Panthers!?

We had a great weekend - got to help our good friends celebrate their son's first birthday AND got to see the UNI PANTHERS BEAT KANSAS!!!!! Needless to say, Saturday was a fun day for us! Derc has been on cloud nine the past few days talking up UNI to all his friends. I know it killed everyone's brackets, but we don't care :) We wish we could go to the game on Friday but I have to work all weekend, so Derc will be watching it with friends.

GO CATS!

16 Weeks!

Baby A had it's 16 week check up today. They listened to his/her heartbeat and measured my belly. The heartbeat was 154 today, much slower than last time! The doctor said it sounded good and my belly is right where it needs to be (which means there is probably only one in there!). At the four month mark I've gained 5-6 lbs. so far. I think it's kind of funny how each time I get weighed in I immediately wonder how heavy my tennis shoes are, and my belt has to weigh at least 4 lbs. right?! Needless to say, Derc is already sick of hearing about how big I'm getting and how tight my clothes are.....and we've still got 5 months left!

My weekly updates tell me that Baby A is the size of an avocado this week! Since I work at a SuperTarget, I walk over to my produce section each week and pick up whatever fruit or vegetable Baby A is the size of and wonder how it's fitting in my belly. Yesterday was interesting, I don't know that I've ever examined an avocado so closely...people were probably very confused as to what I was doing :) Baby A is growing eyelashes and eyebrows and is forming tiny bones in his/her ear, so it can hear us now!! That is kind of a scary thought....guess we're going to have to start watching what we say!

Not too much else going on in the Albrecht household this week. Derc is loving his new job and is getting to the point that he is understanding his role and seems to really like it. I'm working overnight at the store tonight and tomorrow since we have an exec out on vacation, should be interesting! Let's see if I can stay up all night, cross your fingers!

Also, it's Cory's (Derc's brother) birthday today! Happy birthday Cory!!!

Mark your calendars for April 15th...no not just tax day my friends, that's when we find out if Baby A is a boy or a girl :) You can vote on what you think the sex is on this little poll to the right!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Drink some green beer for me :)

15 Weeks!

15 weeks this week...starting to feel it! This was the first week that I got ready for work and couldn't button my pants :( Baby A is the size of an orange this week! My updates say that he or she is developing fully functional joints this week. Next week is our 3rd doctor's appointment. Nothing crazy from what I've heard, they will do the heartbeat again, measure my belly and will do the dreaded weigh in.....my least favorite part!

As you can see, Mack wanted in on the picture action :) He's not quite understanding why he can't lay on my belly anymore. He's used to hopping on the couch and laying about half of his 90 pound body right on my stomach...Derc about has a heart attack each time he does :) Poor guy has no idea what is coming....cross your fingers for us that he becomes a gentle giant!

I passed!!!!!!

For those of you who don't know, I have been in the process of interviewing for a new job within Target for the past few months. It was a pretty tough interview process, all together I had a total of 8 interviews with 14 people. On Tuesday evening while Derc and I were watching a heated battle on American Idol, I got the phone call to tell me I passed!! Needless to say there was some screaming going on in the Albrecht household! The position is Human Resources Business Partner and I will be a partner for 2 districts which is about 20 or so stores to work with Talent Management, Employee Relations issues, Team Culture, etc.

Derc started his new job this week too! He is in a new building and it's right by my work! He is liking it a lot, but is a bit overwhelmed with all of the new things to learn. He'll be up and running in no time though!

Trip to CR

(The pictures posted backwards...the bottom one is Pre-haircut, top one is post-haircut :) )

This last weekend we got to go to CR to visit the family! We always have a great time there, and because we both had Friday off, we got to arrive in time to go to dinner with my sister, Justin, Mom and Pete....we chose Granite City which is always a winner! Had a pregnancy moment while we were there...We sat down at the bar area to wait for our table and I set my purse down. About an hour and half later when we were going to pay for our meal at the table I realized I didn't have my purse! Thank God for honest people, someone had turned it in to the hostess stand...Derc reminded me how lucky I was that someone did that and didn't take both of our wallets, both phones, car keys and work keys that were in there.....whoops :)

On Saturday morning Baby A's Grandma June made some kringler for breakfast which happens to be my favorite! Baby A had sent Grandma June an email earlier in the week saying he/she would love to try it because I always talk about it so she was gracious enough to make it :) (Thanks again, Mom!) We got to spend the rest of the day with Jordan because Sarah and Justin had to do some work! They took a break from work for a bit to meet us for Jordan's FIRST haircut!! That's right folks, he's one and a half and the little guy hadn't had a haircut because his cute little hair didn't really grow much the first year. He LOVES playing with it and swirling it around, so he was not a happy camper when the lady started cutting it. Luckily he had his mom to calm him down!

On Saturday night we went out to eat with Mom and Pete and had some wonderful food at Elmcrest. After that we went back to Sarah and Justin's and spent the evening sorting through my Dad's personal belongings and had a great time looking at old pictures and reminiscing.

Sunday, before we headed out of town Derc and I visited my dad's resting place at Cedar Memorial. It was a yucky rainy day and as soon as I knelt down and touched his name on his plaque the sun came out....I think he was saying hello :)

On our way out of town we stopped by Jacqui's new house to see it and it was beautiful! Luckily she has a pretty nice boyfriend who helped her paint...I was jealous because she has lived there about 3 months and has all her rooms painted! We have lived here 2.5 years and are way behind her :)

This one's for you, Dad!

Ok.....I thought this was a hilarious picture! For those of you who had the pleasure of knowing my dad, you knew that he had a great sense of humor. As soon as I walked by the couch and saw this I quietly rushed for my camera because I couldn't pass up a photo op like this! I immediately thought of my dad and how he would laugh until he snorted when seeing this picture...I couldn't wait to show Sarah and Justin this picture because I knew they would feel the same way! Small things like this make me think of him every day and how great he was, so this one's for you, Dad! Hope you're having a good laugh over it :)

Ok...here's the real 14 week picture!

Grew a lot this week!!

Just kidding :) I was trying on some maternity pants since mine are starting to get a bit snug, and in the dressing room they have these fake bellies you can try on!! It was kind of weird, you just velcro it on, so of course I couldn't resist. Hopefully we have about 5 months before this becomes a real picture!

14 Weeks

Happy Monday!

We are officially at the 14 week mark today! Our little one is about the size of a clenched fist this week and is growing fast. The books say that he or she is starting to suck their thumb this week....kind of hard to imagine! Really starting to show this week in my opinion :) There is another girl at my store who is pregnant, she is about 4 weeks ahead of me so I can kind of gauge where she's at and where I will be in a few weeks. All the people at work call her baby 'Peanut' and mine 'Nugget'...I have taken a liking to the lil' nugget :)

I'll post some pictures later in the week to show you where the belly is at in it's evergrowing state.

Yesterday was Derc's birthday (Happy Birthday honey!). I had to work at night so we went out to brunch at IHOP...yep, big spenders! We ate enough to hold us over for the whole day and it was scrumptious!

This weekend we will be going back to CR to see Steph's family. Should be a fun time, as it always is! We can't wait to see Jordan (our nephew), we love getting to spend time with him and now it's a great preview at what we should expect!