Sharing Some Big News

It's time to share some big news with you all that I've been wanting to share for a while now. It's been pretty hard to keep it a secret considering all the lifestyle changes I've had over the last few months, which you may have noticed. There have been fewer paleo dinners and more carbs appearing in my meals on a regular basis; there have been fewer workouts and more early bedtimes; and there have been no Friday night glasses of wine or weekend beers, even during big football games. If you haven't guessed it by now...

We're expecting Baby Baratta #2!

I'm 5 months pregnant now and can hardly believe that on or around June 10 (so soon!) we'll become a family of four. Eek! We are so happy and really looking forward to this next stage of our lives. Even Riker is excited - he can't wait to become a big brother. He is always asking to see my belly and "kiss the baby". Every time we sit next to each other on the couch he protectively keeps his hand on my tummy. Guh cuteness overload.

The first trimester was pretty rough, as it was with Riker too, in that I was exhausted all the time and plagued by morning sickness non-stop. I had tons of food aversions and could really only bear to eat plain toast, pasta or other carby foods with little flavor. It also didn't help that I was sick with a bad cold and bronchitis for almost two months, which lingered on since I couldn't take medication. But thankfully as soon as the second trimester came on, everything cleared right up. No more sickness, my energy came back and I've been able to work out again, and I don't have food aversions anymore so I can eat seafood and veggies again (woo!). I still need to eat more carbs than I normally do when I'm not pregnant - they seem to be the only thing that keeps me full and not on the verge of nausea - but hey, my motto is to listen to your body. And if the body says, feed me grains, I'm not going to object. ;)

So at 20 weeks something exciting happens. We finally learned the sex of the baby this weekend!

The "gender reveal party" trend didn't exist when we had Riker, so with him we found out the regular way at the ultrasound office. I'm glad we experienced it that way our first time, since we could have a private moment just the two of us to get all emotional and teary eyed when we found out it was a boy. But with our second one, I wanted to do a gender reveal and share the experience and excitement with our whole family.

We decided to keep it small and just have our immediate family, so I was really happy that all my out-of-town family was able to come. My mom, stepdad and grandma came down from Vermont on Friday night, and my sister Amanda and her boyfriend Justyn came in from Philly on Saturday. All of Matt's family arrived to our house around 6:00 last night and the party kicked into gear.

We had a simple spread of appetizers to start off - spinach dip, crackers with some fun cheeses (peperoncini asiago seemed to be the big hit), olives and roasted red peppers. I didn't snap any pictures of dinner, but we made citrus rosemary whole roasted chickens (I buy free range organic chickens, which not only are more humane and healthier, but apparently taste a lot better too), green beans almondine, mashed potatoes, salad and garlic bread. I made a piece of cedar plank salmon for my protein since I don't eat chicken. We had a bit of a snafu with the chicken cooking (it was my first time making whole roasted chicken...thank goodness my mom was here to help me!), but everything came out great eventually.

After dinner it was finally time to cut the cake and see if there was pink or blue inside. The anticipation was killing me!

Matt, Riker and I cut the cake together, and I really, really, REALLY expected to see blue frosting on the inside. It was a boy for sure. Except when I made the first cut and pulled the knife out...

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It was PINK! A little baby girl is on the way. :) I actually squealed and jumped up and down like a little kid. While I loved the idea of having "my boys" and two little brothers to play with and torture each other, Matt and I both secretly wanted one of each. We feel so lucky to be able to raise both a boy and a girl. And for months Riker has been insisting that he wants a baby sister, so he's pretty excited to have gotten his wish. ;) The whole family is ecstatic. Time to redecorate the nursery!

So there you have the big news. I'm hoping the next few months are a smooth ride and before we know it our new little bundle will be here.

And with that, I'm off to get ready for another baby celebration. My friend Lindsay's baby shower is today, which means I get to spend the whole afternoon with my best girls and dote on the new mom-to-be. Can't wait!

Enjoy your Sunday. :)