Baby Hogan - Weeks 4-12

For the remainder of the pregnancy I will try to do a monthly post on how things are going! So for now I'll catch you up on what has been happening with Baby Hogan!

Weeks 4-7

Feeling: So tired, but overall felt great until week 7 when I got an upper respiratory infection...it all went downhill from there

Craving: Salmon, veggies, baked potato (thinking to myself, "Good for me! I'm craving foods that are so good for me and the baby!" ...hahaha that was short-lived), personal pan pizzas from Pizza Hut

Milestones: Found out I was pregnant!! Stopped being able to button my jeans at 6 weeks, Belly band to the rescue! First bit of nausea. Telling family and close friends!

Anticipating: First Dr. Appointment and ultrasound in week 8!

                        4 weeks (there are no belly pictures of weeks 5-7 because I felt horrible)



Weeks 8-12

Feeling: Sick, sick, sick. Upper respiratory infection on top of morning sickness, on top of extreme fatigue left me at home and in bed until week 11

Craving: Bagel Bites, pop tarts, taquitos, Kraft macaroni and cheese (Aka all the foods I ate in middle school...)

Milestones: Little baby bump appeared, bought my first maternity shirts and jeans, baby sighting at our 8 week ultrasound, listening to baby's heartbeat at our 12 week appointment, Going "public" with our exciting news!

Anticipating: Morning sickness going away and the magical second trimester everyone kept telling me about. Our 18 week ultrasound where we will find out the gender!!!

                                                 9 Weeks - still feeling (and looking) rough

                                                                          11 Weeks

                                                                         12 weeks

What about Adoption?

So as promised here is the update on where we are with adoption now that we are expecting a new arrival in March!

As we have mentioned before we are in Asheville for 2 years, well 1.5 years now. We knew that might be tricky with the adoption process and had talked in detail with each other about what that might mean for starting our family. We prayed and talked, and prayed and talked, and decided to stop over thinking things and just talk to a social worker when we got situated in Asheville.

About a month after moving [and don't be impressed we were in NO way shape, or form "situated" at that point - there were boxes in our apartment for FOREVER. We just got antsy and wanted to know what the situation looked like..!] I called a social worker. I laid out our unique situation and just asked her to be completely honest with me. While the answer she gave me was what I expected it was still really hard to hear, "I would not recommend starting the process. I just don't think, for a variety of reasons, that we could get a completed adoption in that time frame."

After I thanked her and hung up, I continued to wonder around Target and soak in what she had said. [Because of course I was in Target...odds are good that if you call me I will be...!] Again, it was what we expected to hear but as soon as she said the words the realization came that once again our expectations were being adjusted. While we took some time to grieve those changing expectations we both felt that this did not mean putting off starting our family for another 2 years.

Once again I found myself grateful for the year that 2014 was and wasn't. That year and all its shattered expectations and shifting plans taught us a valuable lesson. Hold on to your dreams/plans/expectations/hopes loosely because God is the one who actually holds them - and its better that way.

We still feel the call to adopt on our hearts and this doesn't change that at all. We are still excited to see God lay out the road for that journey whenever the time comes! Don't worry we will keep you informed all along the way!

What's New?

After a long and quiet 6 months on the blog front we are breaking out silence with a pretty big update.

Though we started this blog when we announced we had started the adoption process, I have always viewed this blog as our family blog. A place where we can document and share how our family is growing and what we are doing. A place where friends and family all across the country can stay updated on our lives.

With that being said I will just get to the point:

We are so beyond excited to share that our family will be growing by 1 in March!

As the picture at the top of the blog says, we were praying to find whichever one fit, and this beautiful baby will be the perfect first "fit" for our family!

Wait? What about adoption? Great question. I have a whole blog post dedicated to sharing how we arrived at this point coming soon!

But for now we are just thrilled to share with our family and friends our exciting news! We ask for your continued prayers for us as we start our family!