Pregnancy update

RELIEF!!!

I am very happy to say that I have moved past the first trimester of this pregnancy and into the second!  This means that I am feeling so much better!  Thank you, Lord!  I am 18 weeks pregnant today and feel wonderful.  I am no longer experiencing any nausea and my energy level has increased.  My belly is growing by the day...I feel so much bigger at this point than I did with Cole or Raleigh!  But, I guess that's just baby #3 for you!  Cole is so cute!  He loves to rub my belly and talk to the baby.  He walks past me often and says, "Mom!  Look at your belly...it's SO big!!!"  To which I have to remind him, "You think this is big, you just wait!"  I am feeling the baby move everyday and both Eric and Cole have been able to feel the baby move as well!  It's always nice to be able to share that with my husband, and this time with my son.  He was only 2 1/2 when Raleigh was born, and even though he felt his sister move when I was pregnant with her, he has a much better idea now of what is happening.  A few weeks ago, I had my surgery for the cerclage and everything went perfectly.  I didn't think I would be as nervous this time since I had this procedure with Raleigh, but I was!  I found myself repeating Scripture in my head while in the operating room!  It was comforting, and I am so thankful that everything is okay.  My doctor is amazing...he prayed with me before the surgery, and when Eric and I saw him in the office that morning, he handed us a picture and said, "This is my partner."  It was a picture of a doctor in the operating room and Jesus was standing over him guiding the doctor's hand.  Very moving.  We are so blessed to have such an wonderful Christian doctor.

We will find out in 2 weeks (February 15th) what we are having.  I have no clue or feeling about what this baby will be, and it honestly doesn't matter.  We are just thankful to be having another baby.  Now Cole, on the other hand, is hoping for a boy.  He even went so far as to tell some people at his preschool that he was having a brother!  He told Eric and I a few weeks ago that he would be disappointed if the doctor told us it was a girl.  We explained to him that it was not for us to decide; that God already knew what would be best for our family, so it was His decision.  Then last night during story time, Cole looked up at me and said, "Mommy, if the doctor says it's a girl, I'm still gonna love her anyways!"  Haha, so cute!

Raleigh will be turning two on the 17th.  I cannot believe it!  She is so funny, so beautiful, and so full of life.  And very dramatic!  What can I say; she's a girl, and she is my child!  It's so fun to watch how she reacts to certain situations and she says the funniest things.  She still copies everything Cole does.  When asked what we should name the baby the other day, she said, "Bear."  This apparently goes for a boy or a girl.  Sorry, Raleigh, but we won't be naming the baby Bear!  So, yes, I am about to have a two year old.  Crazy.