19 Weeks

I'm 19 weeks today. This pregnancy is flying by. I'm offically free from nausea and much happier. I feel like a new woman. I've gained 10 lbs...seems like more then last time but what do you do. I still run 3-4 times a week but no more then 3 miles. I've been running on the treadmill and most days its torture to get to 3 miles. The days I run outside are much more fulfilling and I feel like I can get myself to run further. I'm having lots of cravings and I really love food. Salt and Vingar chips and oranges have been a top choice. My ultrasound is scheduled for a week from Thursday but we decided we don't want to know the gender of our baby. We think a surprise on delivery day will be extra exciting and special this time! People seem to be very opinionated about this, either people love the idea or they seem to be upset I'm not finding out. I'm not finding out for myself and my intentions are not to torture you!! (Except for Jamie...You're cute about it and I am trying to torture you).I feel the baby move all the time now. I'll post a pregnancy picture next monday on my 20 week mark.

Colorado Hunt & Erickson Kids

Bret went to Colorado earlier this month with his brothers and dad. They've been planning this trip for a while and they finally drew out. They had high expectations for this hunt and I think they didn't see as many bucks or as big of bucks as they wanted. They still had a great time and everybody but Calvin came home with a deer. I'm glad Bret has a hobby like hunting but I'm always glad when hunting season is over. It seems to last forever and usually means long lonely weekends without him, but I will continue to be the great supportive wife that I am.

I had some extra kids this past weekend. Jill and Bret went to Vegas to celebrate their anniversary. This was their first time leaving their kids together and I was honored they asked me to watch them. Jill has great kids and they're a lot of fun. Cody is easy going, he played computer games and spent a lot of time with aunt Emily and his other cousins, we also had a movie night! Carly didn't stop talking for 3 days straight. Seriously, that girl doesn't shut up, but she's so freakin cute! When Jill got home she asked Carly if I told her to stop talking and Carly said, "you mean settle down". lol. She's so funny. She also told me she colored on her wall and her mom got mad at her. I asked her if she got a spankin and she said, "Amy, thats not even possible." Halle was an angel baby during the day but decided she didn't want to sleep as good as she does for her mom. I think she knew her mom was gone and wanted to help me prepare for a newborn. It wasn't bad though. Halle is probably the easiest baby I've ever seen. She's always so happy and content! Cody is 7, Carly just turned 3, Emmett is almost 2, and Carly is 7 months. The youngest 3 together was my biggest challenge. Nobody should ever have kids that close in age! Carly and Emmett loved playing together but also fought a little bit. Emmett is mean to her which is weird because he is normally the kid that gets picked on. Maybe he senses how nice Carly is, and he takes advantage of her. Anyways, it was a good weekend!

Sweet Halle

Emmett and Carly watching elephants on youtube

Bret and Cody playing Cabelas Big Game Hunter! I wonder if Bret gave Cody a turn???

No pictures of me because Bret never takes my picture. It's ok cause I'm chubby right now. I'll post a pregnancy pic soon!

15 Weeks

Today I had my 15 week pregnancy appointment. Same old story...discussed my nausea, listened to heartbeat :), talked about my SI joint, and I expressed my fears of vericose veins. I pray I never get them. I think I'll keep exercising and stop crossing my legs to increase my chances of NOT getting them. I also had too much sugar in my urine (+4...whatever that means but I guess its as high as goes). Same thing happened when I was pregnant with Emmett. They made me do the 3 hour glucose test and I passed with flying colors. This time I talked him into the 1 hour test and we'd go from there. I'm not nervous at all, infact I feel like its a waste of my time. Better safe then sorry. Also babycenter.com says my baby is the size of an apple and i've gained 5lbs so far.

Halloween

Emmett was a duck for Halloween but he thought he was a chicken. Close enough. We went trick-or-treating to a few houses before the rain came and we got poured on. We booked it for the car. Luckily Emmett could have cared less and didn't mind that we skipped out on more trick-or-treating. I love seeing the kids in their costumes.


Kelsey the cowgirl :)


My embarrassing sisters! I know it was Emily's idea to pretend like they were getting "poured out". Jill would never do that on her own.


Doesn't Max look so cute in his costume? I don't think his dad appreciated that he was a "girl" for Halloween. Great idea Emily!

I wish I had a picture of all the kids in their costumes. Carly was a tinkerbell, Cody an army soldier, James was superman, Katy a BYU cheerleader (darling), Andrew was a phantom. I didn't see Kole, Hailey, or Michael but I'm sure they were cute. We went to see Brinley and Austin, which was the highlight of Emmett's night. He loves those two. Brinley was a 50's girl and Austin a power ranger. Natalie took some cute pictures of the kids and said she'd give them to me...hint hint :)

On a side note, Emily told me that her and Jill were driving up to Salt Lake yesterday and as they passed the prison they talked about what they would do if I were in prison. Interesting topic ... They concluded Jill would come visit me once a week. Emily on the otherhand, would come visit me 3 times a week and re-arrange her life to help me through my "hard time". How sweet is that! They also discussed the questions they would ask me, etc...(but didn't go into the detail about what those questions were. I probably don't want to know) I have some great sisters.

good night

Each night Emmett gets a bottle, teeth brushed, and then put in his crib. He usually cries for a minute and its over. Tonight he drank his bottle and said, "crib". I brushed his teeth and he kept saying it. I put him in his crib, and then he asked for his blanket. I tucked him in and he said, "bye mom". That kid was ready for bed. It made me so happy...I almost wanted to get him out just to be with him longer...but I didn't ;)

Albrecht Baby #2

We are expecting our second baby around May 2, 2011. I'm 11 weeks today and feeling slightly better then the past 5 weeks. I've been unbelievably sick this time around. (people keep saying that maybe it means I'll have a girl but I think that whooohaa.) After constantly throwing up I decided to drive myself to the ER at 3:00am one night. Bret was hunting...the story of my life ;) My mom met me there and stayed with me while they gave me IV fluid and zofran. Zofran is normally a miracle drug but didn't touch me that night. I had 3-4 bad weeks of throwing up multiple times a day and needing IV fluids, and then about a week ago it started getting a little better. At this point I would say I'm nauseated all day but can keep food down. I also started running again this last week, which makes me happy :)

I went and saw Dr. Taylor today. He always compliments me on my running and good health, makes me feel good. We finally heard the heartbeat with the doppler, which is always a relief and made me cry. It took him a while to find it and he was going to order an ultrasound, but luckily we didn't need it. I love hearing the heartbeat for the first time or really anytime. It's one of the first bonding moments I have with my baby, and reality hits that there is a baby inside of me. Gives me a more positive outlook on morning sickness!

St George Marathon & Utah State Fair

First things first..I LOVE THE ST GEORGE MARATHON. I love everything about it, the course, the organization, time of year, spectators, etc... Everytime I'm in St George in the fall I can almost smell the marathon in the air. (not meaning sweaty runners...its hard to explain) Unfortunately I didn't register for it this year...hmmm...anyways, but I did go down to support my running buddy of 8 years Larry Evans. This man is an animal. I have no idea how many marathons he's run but its a lot. He's a great runner and still kicks my butt. Bret and I spent about an hour and half cheering on runners waiting for Larry and another friend Kurt Evans to come through. I got teary eyed about 4-5 different times watching these runners. You can see the pain and agony in their faces and it's so motivating. There is nothing like end of a marathon. I love turning the corner and seeing the finishline 5 blocks away. I love how you want to stop so badly and the end can't come soon enough. I love when they block the crowd from the road and everybody is cheering for you. I love knowing I can stop running after 26 miles, and I pushed my mind and body beyond what I think its capable of.

One day in the near future I will blog about my St George 2007 experience..its exciting!!!

We went to the Utah State Fair this year. It was actually really fun. Emily had no idea what a fair was about and why people were receiving ribbons for fruits/vegetables they had grown. Bret rolled his eyes and took the time to explain to Emily a little bit about farming and fairs.

We paid $4 for Emmett to ride a pony, which is just silly since we have horses in our backyard. He wanted off the entire time until I took him off, and then he wanted back on.

I would be scared too if a turkey was eye level with me!

The Albrechts

Our baby chick

Random picture of Grandma Jude with Emmett and Max. This was the day my mom told me red wasn't really Emmett's color. I was slightly offended ;)