Surprise! Number 4 is on the way!

April 9, 2014, we got a big surprise!

I knew right away that I was pregnant...before I could get a positive test. However, I was anxious so I tried to test at 9dpo and 10dpo and got negatives. Finally, on 11dpo I got a faint positive. I had gotten my first positive at 11dpo with all of my pregnancies!

Baby number four certainly came as a surprise! We are a little scared, but also very happy. We always wanted to have four kids, just not quite yet. However, this little guy or girl has other plans! My husband, Valon, and I are both 30 and our three kids are DS age 5, DD age 4, and DD age 2. We are in the beginning process of building a home and wanted to wait until we were settled in the new house until we expanded the fam! Oh well! :)

Here, I will outline all of my very early pregnancy signs (I recognized many from my previous pregnancies). Many people may say it's too early to feel any signs, but I believe everyone is different. I know my body very well and here is what I noticed:

2-3dpo - light cramping (I never get abdominal cramps, unless I'm pregnant. Not even during my period.)
5dpo - dizzy in the morning, slight low back pain, metallic taste in my mouth
6dpo - thirsty, light cramping, slight headache in morning, metallic taste in my mouth
7dpo - thirsty, metallic taste in my mouth
10dpo - thirsty, full feeling in tummy, light nausea in morning, tired, leg cramps, slightly sore/full boobs, cannot sleep at night, light headache in morning, light cramps at night, feeling like I have to poop often
11dpo - wake up with light headache, slightly sore boobs, thirsty, light breakout, burping, possibly blurred vision, slight abdominal cramps at night.

Michele's Etsy Shop, One December.

I am Michele, a creator and a collector of cool vintage items. I live in Connecticut with my wonderful family, our Newfoundland dog, Ela, two overly-friendly cats, and a backyard speckled with goats and chickens. I love this location and the changing seasons, especially in October. We live in the country, but are only one hour from all the hustle and bustle of New York City! I have a terrific husband/best friend and I'm a Mom to three fabulous kids! They're awesome and they keep me very busy! I have a BA in Anthropology and Sociology and love to travel, both near and far. I love the outdoors, hiking, biking, thrifting, nature, and rustic things. We are always dreaming and enjoy scheming up new adventures for the future.

My home is an old, very rustic converted barn. My walls are cluttered with rusty tools and could pass as an antique shop. I love my house, its huge cozy fireplace, and all of its amazing uniqueness! My barn is decorated to match the feel, which is why I am drawn to antiques and old, rusty, vintage items. If I find something I like and don't have a spot for it in my home, it ends up in my shop!! Vintage and rustic items are unique and perfectly imperfect!

After finding myself home with the kids, I wanted to find a way to work from home. Etsy has opened my eyes to a whole new world of possibilities I never knew existed! It is so wonderful! I still get excited with each sale or every time someone "favorites" one of my items or shop. It makes me happy that someone else out there actually likes what I'm doing! Etsy is such a wonderful community to be a part of! I'm so glad that I get to do what I enjoy and be home with my kids! I love being able to connect with people all over the world!

My speciality is making tumbled marble coasters and I love it! In my spare time like to find interesting vintage items, try new eateries, make handmade goodies, photography, and anything nature-related! I enjoy eating chocolate, the outdoors, beachcoming, quadding, hiking, camping, and taking walks. :)

My Etsy shop is called One December, featuring rustic chic home decor items. Please feel free to check it out! www.onedecember.etsy.com


Michele

life is full of adventures...

...and if it's not, create one! so, we are in the beginning stages of planning a three-month stay in hawaii. yes, we are so excited. we've never been there and can't wait to do tons of hiking, exploring, and see many new things, like volcanoes! we will be staying on the big island...it might be difficult to be away from home for an extended period, but as long as we're all together, we'll have a blast and it will feel like home. i think it will be a fun and fabulous experience for us. we want to travel with the kids, see things, and experience different places. we don't want to wait to get started on our adventures!

michele

what will the future hold...?

who knows?! and this is really starting to excite me! my husband and i love our home, our little family, and where we live...but we also want to experience other cultures and see the world. he is not happy with his job and is honestly bored of it. same thing, everyday, sitting at a desk...and i'm at home with the kids. we want to be together! spend time together, do things together, work together, whatever! well, we decided that things aren't just going to change on their own...we have to make a change...so we are planning an adventure! lol! in the near future we will set out on a three month "journey." we are still narrowing down the exact details but are considering a cross country trip to alaska or spending a few months living in another place. perhaps bali or hawaii...we are so excited and i think it will be a great experience! we will still have our home to come back to, but i think we might enjoy this and will find more time for long-term travel in the future! hopefully for a month each year!? hehe. everyone we have told about this, so far, has the same reaction, "what about valon's job?" we're not that concerned. yes, valon has a "good" job where he makes good money. but honestly, we have realized that we are after something else in life. we would rather have time together and we'll figure out work when we return from our trip! perhaps we can work primarily on the internet, so it's portable! lol! there will always be money...there won't always be time. we want to do this now, while our children are young and we can enjoy time with them! if we can afford this trip now, and our lifestyle allows for it, why wait?! i'm sure this topic will be coming up again and again! lol!!!

also, please check out my etsy shop, featuring a variety of rustic home decor:
http://www.littleshopofphotos.etsy.com/

michele

so, who am i?

i'm really starting to figure this out. now that i have my own family and i'm getting a little older i realize that i'm the one who has to be happy with my life, and i'm worrying a lot less about what other people think, expect, and want me to do. my husband, valon, and i are starting to focus more on what we want and how we want to live our lives, raise our children, and spend our time...and less on satisfying the expectations of others..."the norm." everyone has an opinion, and that's fine with me. they can live their lives however they want. doesn't bother me. ;)

i've been thinking about starting a blog for quite a while now...i guess i finally did it. to be honest, i don't really know anything about blogging and i still have no idea what i'm supposed to do. lol! i just figured i'd start it and i'll see what happens...i'll figure it out. lots of people do it, it can't be that hard. haha.

i started a shop on etsy several months ago. it's going pretty well so far and i'm really excited about it. i'm always trying to come up with new ideas! i have so many that i'm anxious to try! my husband and i hope to be able to work together, ideally from home, so we can all be together as much as possible. hopefully, etsy will make that possible in the near future! my biggest problem is, i wish i could change the name of my shop. why, etsy, won't you let me change it?! just once!! lol! check out my site: http://www.littleshopofphotos.etsy.com/

i like doing almost every activity with my husband and kids, enjoying nature, the outdoors, camping, hiking, biking, traveling, creating, trying new pizzerias, photography, putzing around flea markets, hanging out at home on a saturday night and watching a movie...and a bunch of other things. lol.

i'm 27, married to my best friend of almost 10 years, and we have two fabulous, fun little kids. my son is two and a half and my daughter will be one next week! wow, time flies! we live in ct in an old converted barn. it's really cool and we love this house. we have two overly-friendly cats, and a new few baby goats that still need to be bottle fed twice a day. they are a huge hit with the kids. lol. i graduated from wcsu with a b.a. in anthropology and sociology. that's enough info for now. don't wanna leak it all at once. more to come. ;)

life is getting so exciting. i'm thoroughly enjoying the right now, but can't wait for the rest, and all of our upcoming adventures we're planning...and not planning. ;)

michele