Baby's First Photos!!!!

We got to see our little man's face for the first time last week!!!! It was the most incredible experience! He is soooo cute! Only about 9 more weeks until we get to kiss those chubby cheeks!!! It was so amazing to see him smile!!!! He has hair on his head and has Joe's lips!


Such chubby little cheeks!!


It's kinda wild that you can see the bones in his arm! I love this one because it really shows the hair that he is growing on his head!


This one might be my favorite- so precious!


He seemed to be a little irritated that his feet were in his face! Every other ultrasound we've had he was sucking his thumb- he didn't quite find it in this picture but he seemed to be satisfied chewing on his arm!


This is a cool shot of his ear, hand, and foot- it's getting cramped in there!


I'm going to try to put the video on YouTube- it's the wrong format right now though. Anyhow, I hope I can figure it out so everyone can see what happened when we took this picture- he smiled!!!!! It was amazing!!! He was definitely reactive to mine and his daddy's voice!


Good to see he has found something to play with to pass the time! :)


We had an awesome visit and trip home! I'll write more about all of that later. I'm unpacking and doing laundry but was so excited to share these!!! Hope to have a YouTube link soon!! :)

80 More Days!!!

I can't believe how much this lil guy has grown over the last 2 weeks!! So this is what the 3rd Trimester is like... :) He's supposedly about 15" and 2.25 lbs. So big yet still so tiny! I am counting the days until we get to meet him! We are looking forward to a glimpse of him at our 3d ultrasound that we have scheduled in a couple of weeks! Awww! I haven't ever posted to YouTube but we're going to get a video and try it!

We had a fun Halloween and as predicted, it feels like we're on the backside of the hill and picking up speed! We had 2 parties and I went as a nun to the first and a trailerpark mechanic to the second. We forgot the camera at the first! It was funny- Joe was a priest!

We are so ready for the holidays! Our big trip home is in a just a couple of more weeks and we can't wait!! Joe's got all of his hunting gear out and he's been out shooting a few times. We're hoping to finish the nursery this weekend so we can start moving the baby in! I'm looking forward to shopping for diapers and Christmas gifts and am going to do my best to get it done in better time than ever before! I'm always in the stores last minute and I don't know if my big belly or my feet are going to stand for that this year! I'm crossing my fingers!! Next post: 3d baby photos and memories from KC!!!!!!!

Growth Spurt!! 26 Down- 14 To Go!

He is getting so big!!! According to babycenter.com, he's now about 14" from head to toe and 1.7 lbs! I feel like he went through a growth spurt in the last 2 weeks- I'm huge! I love my baby belly but I'm a little nervous about how big it will be in 14 weeks! We had an appointment last week and got to hear his little heart beating! The doctor said he is measuring a little bit big- maybe that will mean that he will come a little bit early! :) We only have one more "monthly" appointment then we will start going twice a month. That means we only have 6 more before his due date! We're making a little progress on the nursery. The ceiling, shelves, and doors are done- now I just need to paint the walls and Joe has some lights to put in and we need to put up the beadboard paneling and chair rail. Seems like a lot still! I'm not worried though. I know it's going to get done and it's going to look great when it does! Our weekends are filling up though and we're going to be pretty busy this next couple of months. I feel like we're on the downhill and it's going to go by really quickly! It's so exciting!!

The bigger my belly gets, the more nervous I'm becoming about never fitting into my clothes again and, more importantly, how he's going to be arriving! We've started a class on the Bradley Method of natural childbirth, and I'm really hoping that it will help me build my confidence! So far I really like the class and our instructor. Joe wasn't too excited about having to go to 10 classes! I'm really glad that we'll have some preparation though and hope that he can feel included in the birth process! Only 14(ish) more weeks! It sounds like forever, but at the same time right around the corner! We've been making the most of our time together and have been enjoying each other a little extra- we're never going to be a family of 2 again! It's been amazing, but we're ready and really super excited about growing our own little family tree!

24 Weeks and Growing!!!

It's definitely sinking in that we're really going to have a BABY!!! Holy smokes! It's a little hard to imagine how much our lives are going to change, but I'm so ready! I had a moment of panic last week thinking about how much we still have to do! We don't have a single diaper, the nursery's not even close to ready, and I'm going to give birth! Luckily, it really was just about a moment, and I remembered we have plenty of time... after all, it seems like it's taken forever to get to where we are! We don't have too much longer left though really. My Belly Book says that the third trimester starts in Week 26 although I think it's really Week 28... either way, it's close! I am sooo excited to get a 3d/4d ultrasound so we can see our little guy's face!!! I'm even more excited for him to get here so I can kiss his cheeks and hold him and love on him! :) He weighs a little over a pound now and is about a foot long. It's amaaaazing how strong he is getting too! He seems to be most active late in the evening while I'm laying down. This week I have been putting one hand on my lower belly and one on the upper and I can feel him with both hands! It's like his head is down and his butt is up and I can feel it in the palm of my hand! I love being able to feel him just kinda wiggling around! I know that it won't be long before Joe gets to feel some different kinds of movement and see them too! We don't have a lot going on this weekend. We have one more coat to put down on the patio before we "move in" and a guy's is coming to texture the ceiling in the baby's room!! One project almost done and on to the next! xxoo

Moving Right Along!

We haven't had a lot going on lately so I haven't felt like I've had much to write about! I wanted to blog last week, but I accidently erased the pictures I wanted to post... oops! I was so impressed last weekend that I took pictures of the amazing breakfast that Joe made for me- they were the most beautiful Belgian waffles with strawberries, blueberries, and whipped cream! I am so lucky to have such a loving (and super handsome) husband! :) We've really been enjoying each other and looking forward to welcoming our son! It was a fun summer, but I'm really ready for fall. We are all set to stain the concrete on the back patio and are just waiting for it to cool off a little! I think this may be the week that we're able to get it done! Joe installed some outdoor speakers under the eaves and after the concrete's stained I'll paint the cabinets that we're moving out there and our patio project will be complete! We've been dreaming about it for years now so we're very excited to enjoy it!

We are 22 weeks this week! The baby is doing great! We had a doctor's appointment last Friday. My belly measured right where it was supposed to and our weight gain is looking good! The baby weighs a whole pound now!! He's about 11" from head to toe. It's really awesome feeling him growing! Joe felt him move for the first time last week!! It was really exciting for me- I've been feeling him for a while now and I have been so anxious to share some of this lil miracle with Daddy! He is pretty active. While the doctor was listening for his heartbeat he was kicking a lot! We did get to hear it though and it sounded great at 144 bpm! Joe had his ear up to my belly yesterday and got a little punch on the cheek! I read that the baby already has the same sleep pattern as a newborn. He's most active later in the evenings. He seems pretty laid back for the most part though, so I'm hoping that he won't give us too much of a hard time after he gets here! :) I also read that his hearing is developing and he should be able to hear us now. I've been reading to him everyday out of Where the Sidewalk Ends. They say that babies will become familiar with rhythms in utero and they will recognize them after birth! We listen to music everyday also- I know that classical is supposed to be best, but I've been more in the mood for jazz! I am sure that he's going to be a pretty smart cookie no matter what! :) Speaking of smarts, the doctor mentioned that I need to get a lot of Omega-3's to help with that! My prenatal vitamins already have DHA which is an Omega-3, but we bought a big bag of walnuts for me to snack on and we're going to start eating more fish. I don't really care much for cooked fish or really any freshwater fish, so if anyone has a good idea or recipe please share! We grilled salmon last night with lemon and lemon pepper, zucchini, and mushrooms. It was pretty good, but still fish! I'm hoping that the more I eat it, the better it starts to taste! We'll see!

We should start growing a little quicker! I'm hoping to have a nice round belly for Halloween! xxoo

Labor Day 2009

We had a great Labor Day Weekend! We stayed home, but Joe and I had a lot of fun together! Saturday we took some old friends and some new friends out on the boat. There were 13 of us but we fit surprisingly well!! 4 of the 13 were kids so they didn't take up too much room! We took the giant island and tied up with the Lambertz Family and had a ton of fun! I forgot the camera that day, but it was a good one! Sunday we went out on the boat again, but didn't have the crowd riding along. We tied up with the party though and ended up with who knows how many people on and over the boat all day. At first it was a little boring, being in the middle of the party and not "participating", but as the day wore on, the entertainment picked up! Haha!! I had a great time watching everyone else and meeting new people! Then, on Monday, we got up and had the best breakfast at The Lookout. We sat out on the patio looking out over Lake Elsinore. There is a giant water plane that floats on the lake there and fills up with water to help with firefighting. While we were there we got to see it take off and land! The plane is from WWII and has been neat to see flying around. There are several wildfires in Southern California right now so it gets plenty of use! After breakfast, we came home and relaxed for a while and watched Gran Torino, then we took the truck out behind the lake and did some 4x4 exploring! It was a beautiful day and we found our way to a spot on the backside of the lake that we'd been wondering about for a while! We grilled some yummy kabobs for supper and it was the perfect end to a lovely long weekend!

A narrow view of the string of party boats!

The lake from a hill we crested while we were exploring!


We're officially halfway and, although I probably looked a little chubby in my bikini, I love my belly!!! It's really cool that my belly button's changing too. It's really soft on the bottom. I hope it pops so I'll have an outie! I'm also getting a really light linea nigra- a line that runs up the middle of my belly. I heard that it's darker with boys so we'll see how dark it gets!

19 Weeks

I can't believe we're almost halfway through the pregnancy! The reality of it is starting to sink in and I'm getting a little nervous but mostly just so excited!! He's about 6" crown to rump this week and I imagine him to be the same size as my favorite sandwich from Subway but with arms and legs! That seems so big compared to the blueberry I was just thinking of a few weeks ago! He still has so much growing to do before he gets here too... it's hard to imagine! I really feel like I'm starting to grow along with him. I think it's easiest to tell what is baby when I'm laying down- when I stand up I think I just look chubby. :) I can feel that he is putting on some weight! At first his movements felt a little like popcorn, but now they are stronger and more noticable.

Courtney came out this last weekend! It was great to see him! We spent Saturday afternoon on the boat. It has been over 100 degrees for the past few weeks! I'm about ready for it to start cooling down though so I can start walking again. When I said goodbye to Joe at 4:30 this morning it was already really warm and muggy feeling. It's forecasted to get down to 90 this weekend and that seems like it will be a relief! I think Joe's ready for some cooler weather too! He's been talking a lot about camping lately and we're planning on going in the fall. We're sticking close to home for now though and will be here for Labor Day!

Hope everyone has a great holiday!! xxoo

Brutus is excited too! We were checking out the pack-n-play that Ali and Joe brought for us!
Baby belly! 19 weeks 4 days!