Well I had an ultra sound at 13 weeks and then again at 17 weeks (4th one will be around 21-22 weeks....having more than normal due to the RNY and turning 35....err...during this pregnancy) and both ultra sounds showed that we are having a boy!  My hubby and son are quite excited over this.  I didn't have a preference either way, as I already have one of each anyways.  The baby appears healthy and normal.  I had a screening done for downs and other syndroms (spell?) and all came back with good results!  The food issues still continue to linger and I have gained around 16 pounds so far, which is totally scary.  I feel myself getting so fat.....I don't know if it's mainly weight gain in my belly or other places as well.  I do feel that I have gotten a little bigger other places as well...err.  Still trying to control the food demans.  I find myself eating so much more and things that are not good for me and I'm also eating when I'm not hungry.....just craving foods (usually sweets).  So far today I have been good and I just try to do better each day.....thats about all I can do at this point in time....to try to make each day better than the previous.

We moved into our new house about a month ago and everything is going well.  There are tons of improvements that we want to do and many things that will need to get done.  It's overwhelming to think about all we want to do and how much money it will cost and then add in there the expenses that a baby brings along and all the things we still have yet to buy for the baby.  I just pray that God will help us to achieve these things.  My hubby wants to start his own business and is doing all the required research.  I think he has a good idea on what he wants to start and I feel that it will probably do well.....but the time and market will tell.  I will post more about this later once he actually gets the business started.  We hope to have it started sometime in the fall.  Of course what he wants to build and sell will 1st be tested here at our house.  I know my hubby will have his own business.....he is motiviated, talented and mechanically and technically inclined and he won't be happy just working at an average paying job.  I just hope he makes the right business move and becomes successful with it!

Well I had my 1st ultra sound and my due date is definately August 5, 2008.  I'm feeling well, just tired alot and everything seems to going really well.  I feel like I can eat way to much and I totally hate that.  I have gained around 5 pounds so far and I hope to keep it under 30 pounds for the whole pregnancy.  At the rate that I'm going and how much I have been eating, I just hope it don't go over that and I hope I can break these bad habits after the baby is born.  I'm terrified that I will not be able to lose the excess baby weight, but that is a bridge I will have to cross once I get there.  For now I need to focus on controlling my food quanaties and how much I'm eating in a day.   On a positive note, my kids are soo excited to have a new brother or sister.  Of course my son wants a boy and my daughter don't care.  My hubby says its a boy and my intuition tells me it's a girl (though I don't care either way as I already have one of each).  We should be able to know what we are having in mid to late March.  This will make things so much easier to buy things and pick out names.

I posted a couple of new pics of myself as I have gotten a new hair style and color.  I'm normally really dark haired and wanted to go back to a color that was closer to my natural color (also much easier to maintain).

We got the house we made an offer on and should be closing on it in the middle of February and moving in by the end of that month.  This will require my kids to switch schools, which I'm not crazy about.  I think my daughter will like it better as she will go to school every day for half days (she is in kindergarten).  My son seems fine with the move, but I know he will really miss his teacher and friends.  Luckily we won't be moving that far away.  This house has so much privacy (1.97 acres) and is set back of a dirt road (not to far down a main road).  We will have plenty of room to move and grow into this house, so we are very excited to be in it.

I'm so excited to say that my husband and I are expecting a baby.  My due date currently is August 5, 2008.  I'm also very nervous as this baby will be born almost 7.5 years after my last child was born (my oldest will be 9.5).  It's like starting completely over for me.  The only thing I have left from my 2 children before is the crib and changing table and looking at prices, everything seems so darn expensive......oh well...it will be fun to buy all new things.  This is my hubby's 1st baby and he couldn't be more happy.  We are also looking to buy a house and currently have an offer on one....we pray that we get this house so we will have the room for our expanding family.

Well the good news is that I'm back home in the USA with my hubby and kids.  We arrived home on August 28th at almost midnight.  The other good news is that I'm maintaining my weight at between 155-158 pounds.  I still would like to lose another 5-20 pounds, but still feel very thankful that I have been able to maintain thus far.  I guess this is the weight that my body is happiest at.  I still want to have a lower body lift and possibily some lipo to my thighs and maybe a mini thigh lift, but time will tell if that will happen.  I still want to wait for plastic surgery until we decide if we will have more kids or not.  I can't wait for the day to be rid of this lose skin and finally feel comfortable to show some skin wearing low rise jeans.  My goal after plastic surgery is to get my belly button pierced.

So I have been on this site quite a bit lately and I have to be honest and tell you all that I'm so very scared of gaining weight back.  I have maintained my weight within 5 pounds for nearly 2 years and I know and have seen people gain weight back.  For some reason lately, I just feel really fat and I know more than ever that I want to have the LBL sometime in the next couple of years.  On the most part, I have always tried to stay focused on not overeating and watching what I eat and I've been doing that even more so lately, including increasing my water intake.  I know I need to increase my activity level as well.  Not that I'm activity-less, just not nearly as much as I feel I should be doing.  But I have to admit, I'm not one that likes to exercise, so most of my activity is walking/hiking with my kids and hubby.

I would love to hear from people that are dealing with the same issues as me, also for any of those people that have had a LBL, I would love to have all the information I can regarding that and would love to see before and after pics.