Halloween Celebrations

This Halloween was so much fun to celebrate! Most of all because we chose Halloween to announce our having a baby. I decided to wear my little skeleton costume to the kids fest and it was a lot of fun seeing everyone's reaction when they would really look at it and figure out what it meant. Plus hanging out with all the cute kids all dressed up was super fun. The kids fest this semester was obviously Halloween themed and there was face painting, a photo booth, cookie decorating, and a haunted house. The haunted house was actually pretty dang scary. Most of the kids and maybe even an adult or two came out screaming or crying. I only went in so I could hide behind the kids and have them protect me.
In the weeks leading up to Halloween some of us all got together to watch Halloween movies! The first movie night was practical magic and it was really fun watching it with so many ladies who hadn't seen it before. It is pretty scary in a couple spots and it was great watching everyone scream or jump. The next week we watched my all time favorite Halloween movie, Hocus Pocus! It is a classic and was so much fun watching with everyone. I can honestly say that this Halloween was a success and doing all of the fun things I did made me miss home a little less.

Practical Magic girls night!

Kids Fest Halloween Fun!

Just a couple of the many cuties at kids fest!

Hocus Pocus night with my girls!

Probably my last bake sale here in Dominica.

Halloween themed of course!

Our special Halloween treat

It's official...Stephen and I are going to be parents!!!

This last April I got off "the pill" and we officially started trying for a baby! We both have wanted to start a family but didn't know when would be the best time. After going back and forth and changing our minds for when to start trying, we decided all that mattered was that I didn't have a baby here in Dominica. So we planned to start trying when it came close enough to us moving back to the states that we could both be at the birth. Which meant April was the month to start. I started taking prenatal vitamins in February and began reading way to many blogs and articles about pregnancy right away. I wanted to know everything! May came and went with no baby. We weren't to surprised with it being our first month trying. After June and July passed we became a little discouraged but again just had to remind ourselves it has only been a couple months. Towards the end of July I started tracking my ovulation through my temperature and I guess it worked because while we were in Martinique celebrating Stephen's break from school I ovulated which meant two weeks later we got the biggest surprise ever!

September 7, 2014!
Today was a pretty exciting day for Stephen and I. We have been trying to get pregnant since April and this morning the stick read "Pregnant!!!" I had decided a few days earlier I would wait to take a test until Sunday morning because then I would have officially missed my period. So when 6:30 Sunday morning came I couldn't sleep any longer. I got right out of bed and headed to the bathroom. While waiting for the result to show up I hid it out of the way, washed my hands and as I was drying them grabbed the stick which read that I was pregnant. I stood in a daze for a few seconds, then with still pretty wet hands I ran to the bed to wake up Stephen and show him. I turned the lamp on first and that just wasn't bright enough so I quickly opened the blinds so there was plenty of light in the room to read it. My hands were shaking as I handed it to him and I've been a little on edge all day. Of course the reality of me being pregnant hasn't quite sunk in and I'm not exactly sure when it will. I've felt a little sick all day, though I'm not sure if its because of the baby or my nerves. We looked up the size of our little baby and its the size of a poppy seed. So we immediately started referring to it as our little poppy. Baby Poppy Peirce is due May 15th 2015 and we couldn't be more excited!!!

Of course I had to take two just to make sure!
Then I took a third the next day.

4 weeks!

This Halloween someone new is Brewing!
Our treat arrives May 2015
(12 weeks in this picture)

Me not realizing the picture was being taken.

Stephen liked this one the most.

Lasts

With only ten weeks left on the Island everything we do is becoming the last time we will do it. Stephen is in his last semester of medical school, he just took his last first exam, we went to our last beach bash this week, had my last beach clean up, and are most excitedly down to our last months living in Dominica. It has been quite an adventure living here but I am ready for it to end. Being extra home sick and missing the American Holidays and weather changes is making me that much more anxious to move home. So far the semester has dragged quite a bit but I am trying to stay positive and every week I get to remind myself we are one week closer to moving back home. Besides Stephen being super busy trying to tough out his last semester not a lot has been going on. We celebrated our two year anniversary from when Stephen proposed and he was so sweet and bought me flowers. He said he has been meaning to get them for me for a while now with celebrating different things over the last month but the flower lady had been out of flowers. (only in Dominica does that happen) It was a fun surprise to get them no matter what the occasion was. He really is the greatest thing that has ever happened in my life and I love him so very much! I am getting so excited for our next many adventures to come. This Island adventure sure was a surprise but I wouldn't have changed any of it. I'm just glad our next adventures from here on out will be done in America!

Pitch Perfect Girls Night! These ladies are the best!