It's Friday!!

We are 14 weeks today and our little gummy bear is not so little anymore! It's about the size of a lemon! We are getting so close to finding out if it's a boy or a girl... 3 weeks from today!

Even though Joe had to work a few extra hours this week, it was a great week! I'm feeling so much more like myself and much less hormonal! On Monday we put misters in the new patio cover and tried to enjoy them on Tuesday, but ended up having to make a few adjustments, then the same thing happened Wednesday! Finally, yesterday, after a few MORE adjustments, we were able to hang out on the patio comfortably! When we did the concrete, the guy that helped us didn't quite order enough and there is a little bit of a difference in color where they did the second pour. It turns out that the concrete had too much of a certain something in it, so the concrete company is going to pay for a stain! We had wanted to do this anyway and now it's not going to cost us anything! I voiced my opinion on color but trust Joe's good judgement and think we're going with "Cobble Brown." It's going to look so nice! Now we just need some nice patio furniture and landscaping and it will be perfect! Haha!

We have a busy weekend planned. Tonight we are going to Joyce's for a wine and cheese party. We won't be staying late though since Joe has to work tomorrow morning. (They have really been working hard this week!) Tomorrow night is Frank's "White Trash Birthday Bash." We are going to dress the part so it should be pretty funny! I wish I looked more pregnant- that would definitely complete the look!

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Please say a prayer for my new friend who just had a daughter born with T18. Baby Marisol is going on her 8th day of life!

xxoo

Jimenez Family in SoCal!!!

My sister and her family were here this week! We met them at Park Moabi on the Colorado River and camped Friday night and Saturday night. It was so much fun! It was about 115 degrees outside but the water was crisp around 70 degrees. We went through the Topock Gorge- it was so pretty! There were red rocky cliffs on both sides of the river. Pictures definitely don't do
it any justice! It was about 18 miles from our campsite to Lake Havasu so it took us about an hour, maybe a little longer, to get there. We went through the channel where everyone beaches their boats and hangs out in the water and stopped and swam for a while. It's a lot of fun to people watch and see all of the nice boats! We went under the London Bridge which wasn't as exciting as I think maybe the kids were thinking it was going to be! We had some lunch outside in the sand at Joe's favorite- The Naked Turtle then put the tube in the water and had some fun! It was hilarious watching Ali and Kalah ride it together! They were so funny! Both of the guys got to ride too and all of the kids too- I was a little jealous- it looked like so much fun! We stopped at the sandbar on the way back to camp and Saul and
Eli played catch and Bella collected sand in a water bottle. It was a beautiful relaxing day but it would have been so nice to have had another one just like it! We left Sunday and came back to Canyon Lake and Joe J. made us some really good spaghetti! The next day we slept in and went down to Newport after Joe got home from work. We planned on just getting our feet wet before dinner with Kalah, but Saul could not wait! He took off his shirt and went for it! It was really shallow for quite a ways and the break was fairly gentle so he got out there pretty far (or it looked far from where I was on the beach!). Of course Elijah was right behind him and little Bella couldn't be left out so she went in with all of her clothes on! They were so excited! It was really cute! After Kalah got off of work, we met her at my favorite place on the boardwalk, Mutt Lynch's, for dinner. I like it because it has big open windows facing the beach
and we sat right by them! Tuesday was their last day here! I had 2 doctor's appointments that day so I didn't get to go back to the beach with them. That evening though, Kalah came out and we grilled and had time to hang out! We sat out on the new patio and had a few cocktails (I missed out on that part!) and a few laughs! It was so nice to just be with my sisters and spend time together! I really miss being able to do that more often and hope that someday we can live closer to each other! I am just really thankful that Joe and Ali spent their vacation coming out to visit us! I'm really REALLY excited that we made plans to get together again! I have been hoping to talk Joe into travelling this winter before the baby's born since we will probably stay here for Christmas. He had been talking to Dad about getting out there to pheasant hunt- sounds perfect! So the plans are (loosely) for us to visit KC sometime in November when Dad and the boys can take the weekend to go down to GC to hunt and then hopefully we can spend the rest of the week! I would have really missed home if we weren't able to make it there this year and with a new baby, who knows when we'll be ready to travel! I'm looking forward to showing off my baby belly too! (I say that now... maybe I'll rethink that when I start getting bigger :)) We'll see as the time gets closer, but I am so excited! So it was a sad goodbye, but at least we have November to look forward to!

First Trimester Screen

We had our second ultrasound today for our first trimester screen! I was so nervous so I started crying right away when we saw the baby and it was moving! It's an active little one and it was sooo cute!!! It was sucking it's thumb!!! The doctor said the measurement was excellent and we should have the results of the blood test within a week. I'm not nervous for that though! We felt very relieved and reassured when we saw the baby and they told us that it looks great! The countdown is now on till our next ultrasound on August 14! It will be with the perinatologist as well just because we're at a slightly elevated risk. I don't mind though because they will do the diagnostic ultrasound 2 weeks before our OB will! We will find out the sex of the baby then! The tech today told us that if she had to bet on it, she thought it looked like a boy!!! We won't start shopping until after the next ultrasound when they can tell for sure! I've been dreaming about a boy and the old pendulum-over-the-belly trick said boy too! Only 4 more weeks until we know for sure! It really doesn't matter- it was just so amazing to see our little one has grown and is doing well! Today it is 2.6 inches from crown to rump and measuring right on schedule. It's so crazy that this little face we're seeing is so tiny! Still working on the belly bump- not much to see from the outside! He/it is very active though- too bad I can't feel any little flutters yet! Check out the last picture- it says "1st Footprint"! If you double click the photos they will get bigger!

We're having a really great time with Ali and Joe and their family... I will blog about that tomorrow! I haven't gone through the pictures that we've been taking yet. This is our last night with them. We're going to grill and Kalah is going to come stay the night too!

xxoo

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FYI

I figured out how to enable the comments!! It couldn't just be as easy as just clicking the "Allow Comments" button... I had to back up my widgets (who knew?) and voila! :) Anyhow, I can proudly announce that you may now leave comments! We're looking forward to your feedback!

Summertime!!

Woohoo! Summertime is in full swing and we're loving it!! Thankfully our first trimester is almost over (officially July 21) and hopefully the worst parts of pregnancy will go with it! I haven't had a hard time, I'm just ready to have some energy back and I'm sure Joe's ready for the moodiness to go away! He would probably tell you that I haven't been as bad this time as last- I think last time I wasn't always "nice" but this time I feel like my negative moods are more on the sad side. It's been a pretty emotional last couple of months! It isn't fair that our pregnancy

experience has been jaded, but we're doing our best to think positive! I think it will be a different story in a couple more weeks when we get past our 18 week diagnostic ultrasound and when I start to feel the baby moving and I get a belly! I cannot wait!!!! We have our first trimester screen next Tuesday. I'm apprehensive because I've heard that false positives are somewhat common, but our doctor told us that she will be able to tell us with 98% confidence whether the baby is "normal". We declined this test last time so it will be a new experience! I'm super excited to get to see the baby again! It should look more like a baby this time and less like a bean! It should also be fairly active so I just can't wait! They'll do a detailed ultrasound and measure the nuchal fold on the back of the baby's neck and combine the statistics for that measurement with a blood test to see if we're at an increased risk for abnormalities. We're really looking forward to hearing that everything appears to be okay!!

We had a great time last weekend out on the lake! We and 2 other couples spent the day floating and the weather was perfect! We even brought a little grill that clamps onto a side rail of the boat and enjoyed hotdogs for dinner! :) We met up with Marcus and April's family and had a front row view to the fireworks. I think they were probably some of the best (if not THE best!) that I had ever seen! It's really cool being out there in the dark with so many other boats around celebrating together- just awesome! Isn't the picture of Joe and Adelle adorable? He is going to be an amazing Daddy!

This weekend we are heading to Park Moabi to meet up with the Jimenez family! Yay!!!! I can't wait to see them!!! Kalah, Joe, and I are taking the boat and leaving around noon on Friday. It's about a 4 hour trip but since we'll be pulling the boat, it will probably take 5 or 6! :) We'll spend Saturday in the water and probably go down river to Lake Havasu. Then on Sunday, we're all coming back here! I feel so lucky that they are using their vacation to visit us!

We have some exciting things going on this summer!! Stay tuned! xxoo