A Leadbetter Celebration

It all started on the heels of Blake Patterson Wisneski's birth. Did the Wisneski's make it look so sweetly simple??

We were coming back from a wonderful weekend skiing in Austria and Chris and I were chatting in the car. The discussion doors were open with regards to trying for #3. Sure, once all our buddies leave this summer, it would be a good time to start trying. Alright, lets download the calendars and start tracking. Sounds like a plan right???

Fast forward two weeks - I had two afternoons of just being exhausted. I took several legitimate naps with Nick. Even with teaching a 6am spin followed by a 9:30 pump, I am still not a napper... odd and noted... The end of January is approaching and so is an exciting girls weekend away. No kids, lots of wine and two carefree nights!! I opted to buy a few pregnancy tests that week. Surely I would be using them in July - but I was thinking I might take one before our girls weekend as a piece of mind in case I opted to finish the entire bottle of wine (or two)

The morning of the trip arrived and something else didn't. So I hopped up, took a test and went back to bed before reading the results. A bit later Chris and I got up and started brushing teeth etc. I popped into the bathroom to confirm the negative result and about passed out when I saw what looked like two rather dark lines. Let me also say, Chris had NO IDEA I was taking a test. So I tore into the box in search of the directions (as if I had forgot, gheese....) Yup, two lines means prego..... I walked into our bathroom and could barely speak - showed the test to Chris. Of course he was still waking up and wondering what it was i was showing him. I said, 'baby, I think this means we are pregnant' Speechless!!

Somehow we make breakfast for the boys and get them out to kindergarten and mutter-tutter. Both of us were looking at the breakfast table imagining a 3rd. Seriously?

Next onto Farrah's house. We were all meeting there to convoy for our girls weekend. In my haze, I was trying to get there early so I could chat with her before everyone showed up. I made it just in time. She was lugging the final bag full of wine, Rum, Vodka etc to the car. My legs felt like absolute jello as I went up to her and said, "there is something I have to tell you and my legs are just shaking - I'm pregnant!' She about lost it as that came from a total left field!! Big hugs and tears! Funny how telling Farrah was about as memorable as tell my hubby.... Now what about all that alcohol?!?!

Angela pulled up 5 minutes later thinking she was walking into a much different conversation/celebration. Natalie and Lindsey were shocked by the news while we were crystal shopping and I told them I came up hot on a pregnancy test. We waiting until a more reasonable stateside time and opted to text ms. chelcy. Now that is a text message conversation that I hope to keep forever!!

Let's remember, this is very early on - having the girls weekend encouraged me to tell my buddies who I know would be praying for this little one to make it through a few tough weeks. Saturday morning I took another test just to make sure I hadn't received a factory reject. Nope, still positive.

Lets recall this picture at Girls Weekend.....Best virgin bloody mary ever!  Plus, she charged me for juice.

Monday morning I called my OBGYN to make a pregnancy appointment (at least that is what I thought I made) When Chris and I popped in on Tuesday, the Doctor was surprised to see us both and asked how we were doing. I think we surprised him as well. He took us back to the office and knocked out a quick ultra sound which discovered the sweet little beating heart. Everything looked great and the due date is Shane’s birthday present, October 2.

The next week arrived with horrible nausea which I haven’t been able to shake since. My motivation is low but my responsibilities seem quite high (especially when you consider keeping Shane and Nick motivated all day!) Thankfully Chris is taking up the slack as we all get through the first trimester together. Our families were totally shocked! My folks toasted a bottle of Champagne the night we told them. They always have one in the fridge just in case =)

We booked flights to the states. This is Shane’s final free flight so he is considered a lap child on my ever decreasing lap size. We coupled the trip to coordinate with my best college buddy Nicole. Her gift to me was a visit out here – my gift in return was joining her for the flight home. She is leaving her 3 kids at home – so I am pumped to have a few helpful arms as we make the trek home to Camp Carlson.  My mom will meet me in Michigan as we pop in to see my Aunt and a quick trip to Ann Arbor - the most wonderful city!

On Tuesday we had another Doctor’s appointment. The Ultrasound confirmed that the little one is growing along right on schedule. A healthy baby is just the birthday gift I needed. I was thankful to be able to connect with my close buddy Amanda as I am sending her pregnancy vides She will be diving into a more delicate situation shortly and I can only hope to share this pregnancy with her!!  For my birthday, I celebrated with some of my most favorite Stuttgart ladies at a yummy Mexican restaurant. The margaritas were flowing, strawberry, mango, traditional, you name it!! I had some sips and boy were they good. My hubby watched the kids and corralled them into making sweet birthday cards and lemon cupcakes – the sweetest surprise to come home to. I felt the love all day long!! Its amazing how quickly FB can spread the news =)

Here's that first ultrasound for the record books!

As we continue to work through the nausea and exhaustion we are excited to complete our family with a 3rd little one. To those inquiring minds, yes we will find out if it’s a girl or boy – sometime in April. (my Doctor is aware we are having a girl until he tells me otherwise!) Yes, we would love the opportunity to raise a little girl – however if we are blessed with another boy, I will be proud to carry the only girl torch in the Leadbetter Family.

Thanks for all your love and prayers.