14 Week Update...

Last night, when I was updating my memorial day blog, I figured I would give a pregnancy update today and put on some pictures of some of the cute presents that we've gotten so far. I've been really feeling good and finally looking a little bit pregnant. Little did I know that last night we would get a scare in the middle of the night. I had some bleeding last night that didn't stop, so today I went to the doctor today. They couldn't find anything specific that was causing the bleeding, and the baby looked and sounded good.The bleeding has finally pretty much tapered off, so I'm just going to take it easy for a while! I have another appointment in 2 1/2 weeks and then another sonogram a few weeks after that. But the good thing about this ordeal was that I got to have another sonogram today!! Our baby has sure grown a lot since 10 weeks, and is actually looking like a baby! We got 3 really cute sonogram pictures--hopefully you can see them clearly! You can click on the picture and see it bigger. Enjoy!

This is me two nights ago, looking pretty worn out, and in Justin's big shirt, but I figured I'd put on a face picture since Justin cut off my head in the one below! =) Below is what my belly is starting to look like. Not the best shirt to show off the tummy in a cute way, but hey, it was comfy!!

Here are the sonograms of the baby. I'll put an explanation underneath each. Sono #1: Profile shot with the baby's hand up by its head. The baby was waving it all around and looked like it was hitting its forehead!! You can see two shapes in the belly--The one on the right is the heart and was beating like crazy on the screen. I'm not quite sure what the other one is--stomach, lung?? You can just faintly see the legs as well.

Sono #2: This one is the best and clearest profile of our baby's face. You can see the whole head--forehead, eye, nose, lips, and chin! Absolutely amazing to be able to see the baby that clearly!! You can also see a bit of the spine.

Sono #3: This one was pretty neat, too. The curved line with lots of white dots that you see was actually the baby stretching its arm out all the way and resting its hand on its knees. It just looked like it was lounging in there! Right before this you could see the fingers and hand, but then it stretched out. Amazing to see how the bones are starting to form. You can also see the legs kind of bent if you look closely!

I hope that you can see these okay--they are truly amazing in person! Can you tell that I am amazed by the fact that I can see my baby inside of me?? Right now the baby is 3.3 inches from crown to rump, so if you add the legs in, it is probably about 4 inches. The heartbeat went back and forth between 149 and 159 beats per minute, so right on track. Thank the Lord that everything is okay!

I just wanted to post some of the adorable presents we have gotten so far. I can't believe that we are already getting presents, even thought we have 5 1/2 months more to wait until our baby is born!!

These books are from my cousin Lynnea and her family. Our first baby presents!

My friend Michelle from our church group MADE this baby blanket for us! It is so soft!!

My cousins from Northern California gave us some adorable presents when we saw them at my brother's party. They are so thoughtful--they got one outfit for a boy and one for a girl!!

This was the rear-end of the boy outfit--how cute!!

Here is the girl outfit with a cute matching hat!

Lastly, we got this little cuddly frog. Isn't it adorable?!

Thank you everyone for your sweet gifts!! Thank you also for your continued prayers for us, and for our sweet little baby!! Have a great weekend!

Memorial Day 2008

What a fun Memorial Day weekend!! We were very busy at my parents' house in California. It was a long plane ride, since we were delayed out of Dallas by 3 hours. All four of us (Aaron, my brother, Kristen, his fiancee, and Justin and I were definitely ready to be there!)

First thing we did when we got there was meet Molly, my mom and dad's new cocker spaniel. She is just as precious as I thought she would be, and such a sweetheart!!! She is a lot smaller than Betsy, and is black and really curly. We all had a lot of fun cuddling with her--I'm sure she probably wondered who all these people were who wouldn't stop petting her!! Here are some pictures with her...

Kind of hard to see because of her coloring, but she is so precious when she sleeps!

Mom grooming Molly--Betsy would never sit this still. She will not even let me come near her with a brush!!

Kristen and Molly

Justin cuddling with Molly, too!

Molly curled up on my lap--so cute!

Molly's spot right on Dad's chair.

Somehow we didn't get one of Aaron and Molly, but can you tell we are all a little crazy over our dogs?!!


Saturday morning was great. We got together with my two best friends from high school, Andrea and Jenny, and their husbands all were able to get together for breakfast at Jenny's house. Jenny and Jeff are the only ones still in town, Andrea and Josh live in Southern California with their two boys, and we are here in Texas, so no surprise, we hardly ever can all be in the same spot at once! Andrea was in town for her little brother's graduation, so we jumped on the chance to be together--first time for everyone since our wedding!!

All of us: Josh and Andrea (and their boys Noah and Micah), Jenny and Jeff, and us.

The girls (and Andrea's boys)Noah was so adorable...we had all the food on the table, and he just sat there looking at all of us like "who is going to come and sit with me?" He was so cute and small at the end of the table!

Here's a close-up of Noah, who is 10-months old. Andrea's boys have the most beautiful eyes!

Little Micah--what a precious little man! What a great two-year-old!!!

Forever friends!!While we were there, we had to try out boxing on the Wii. I knocked my husband out!! Sorry Justin! =)

We had a retirement party for my mom on Saturday night. Her best friend and co-teacher, Janice, threw it for her and it was wonderful! I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of it. One of my mom's friends was the photographer, so I'm hoping that they will be shared with us soon! I'm so proud of my mom and her 30 years of teaching. She has always been my role model, and I know that I wouldn't be half the teacher that I am without her example all these years! I felt like I grew up in her classroom. It will really be strange to not have her teaching next year, but I am really excited for her as she starts her new phase of life--grandma!! Well, Gigi, as she has requested to be called! I know that she is going to do some other really great things as well, now that she will have a little bit more free time! You're the best, Mom! I love you!

As if all this wasn't enough, we also had an engagement party for my brother and Kristen on Sunday afternoon. What a fun party!! My parents opened their house up to at least 65 friends and family to come and celebrate Aaron and Kristen. It was a fiesta theme, and there was delicious Mexican food!! It ended up being a rainy and slightly cooler day, which altered the plans a little bit, but I think it was quite a success!! Justin and I had fun seeing people that we hadn't seen in a while, some since our own wedding 5 1/2 years ago!! What a great party!

The cake...

The adorable couple!

Getting ready to cut the cake

Justin and I having fun!

Kristen coloring with my cousin Erica's daughter, MacKenzie.

More of my cute cousins (l to r) Grace, Hannah, and Olivia. All of these little girls had such a great time playing together and petting Molly!! Molly was EXHAUSTED by the end of the day!!!

My first cousins with their kids, with Gram in the middle.

Like I said at the beginning, a great, but busy weekend!!!

Our Second Trimester!!!

We've made it to our 2nd trimester!!! I woke up this morning thinking "13 weeks"!!! I'm so excited!!!
I am so thankful to have made it this far with relatively few problems--I really am feeling that we're out of the danger zone and we couldn't be happier. My belly is starting to show now, enough that people are noticing it at school!

I got my email update from babycenter.com this morning, and am continually amazed at the process that is going on inside my body! Check out what is happening...

Fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head — which makes up just a third of her body size now. Your baby is almost 3 inches long (the size of a medium shrimp) and weighs nearly an ounce. As you start your second trimester, most of your baby's critical development will be completed and your odds of miscarriage drop considerably.

AMAZING!! Isn't it??

More great updates to come!

Where I will be this summer...

Our new pool is where I will be!! (Eventually we will get a real one, but this one works for me right now!!) I am SO looking forward to floating around in my 10 foot pool all summer long! My little floaty has a mesh middle, so it will be perfect for my growing tummy!! This is the life!!!

Ignore the blinding whiteness! Summer sun-tan to come!! =)

12 week appointment

Hi everyone!

We had our 12 week appointment today--2nd official pregnancy appointment. Everything is still going well--thank you Jesus! It was a pretty short and sweet appointment--mostly questions and answers of things I had been wondering about this week. No sonogram--bummer. We should get one in 6 weeks and we will find out then if it is a boy or girl!!

The most exciting thing was that we got to hear the heartbeat again. We heard it a week and a half ago with our sonogram, but this time was a milestone. My doctor said that when we are able to hear the heartbeat with a doppler (used on the stomach) the chance of miscarriage goes down dramatically. So I am definitely starting to relax (a bit) knowing that I have made it to 12 weeks, and now have heard the heartbeat!!

We were able to record the heartbeat with our camera, and I'm going to post it below. It looks kind of strange, turning different ways, but hopefully you can enjoy the whooshing sound of our little one's heartbeat! It is at 164 beats per minute, and sounds great! Please ignore the tummy--not quite a cute pregnancy belly yet, but I figured I'd let you see it so you could hear the heartbeat!! I'm also posting another cute pregnancy outfit!! Enjoy!

Click play to hear the video!

I like this outfit!!

Due Date Update!

I just got a message from my obgyn today after she reviewed my ultrasound from last week. My due date is now November 22nd, not the 25th like I thought! Just a few days closer--I can't wait to meet him/her!! This is going to be my favorite Thanksgiving ever, I just know it!!! Who knows if I'll get a full turkey dinner, but I'll get my baby!! =)

11 Weeks Today!! First Maternity Clothes...

Here is a picture of my first maternity clothes!! Well, actually, just pants, but shirts today look so much like maternity shirts! I guess I'm lucky that that is the style at the moment! I was so frustrated with my clothing getting uncomfortable yesterday that I stopped by Ross after school yesterday. They don't ever have much in the way of decent looking maternity clothing (I've been scouting, even though I'm not really ready for full on maternity yet...), but it must have been my lucky day! I got a pair of pants, and 2 pairs of capris. They won't last too long, but they are very comfortable for now! I also got 3 cute (non-maternity) shirts that will last for a little bit too! Here is the full length--you can't tell, but the pants are pin-striped. I meant to have Justin take a picture of me this morning when I don't look so exhausted, but I forgot! So ignore the tired-looking face!! My friend Amy has been begging me to post belly pictures, and I will, but not until I have a cute belly. So if you're even interested, you'll have to wait a while yet!! =)

Extras...

I was just about to delete all the pictures from my memory card, and I realized there were a few pictures not downloaded yet!! Yikes--I'm glad I caught them!

This picture is of Betsy enjoying one of her birthday presents. She turned 4 on April 21st, and we (well I) always have to get here some presents! For those of you who read Justin's blog you know how conservative we are. So of course, I just had to pick up this stuffed elephant! When I got home, Justin said I should have gotten the donkey one instead, since Betsy takes about 30 seconds to rip them open and start pulling the stuffing out. He thought that it would be appropriate for her to rip the donkey up--ha,ha! Sorry to those of you who are more liberal--I really do love you! =) True to form, she had a hole in it about 25 seconds after these pictures, and I removed the stuffing and squeaker. But the outside cloth is still being carried around our house daily! What a good conservative dog!!

This is our good friend Ginny with her son Trent. We spent a really fun evening at their home a few weeks ago. Trent is 13 months old and is a cutie-pie! He was just getting over being sick, so was kind of unhappy, but we finally got a smile with those adorable dimples!!

One more very random picture...While we were in Seattle, my husband came up with this new hat. He cracks me up with all the crazy stuff he comes up with! I just couldn't resist posting it!!

"Swammy Justin"

My WONDERFUL Husband!!!

Can I just brag on my husband for a bit??

Justin is sure taking care of me lately--I sure feel special! On Saturday we spent the morning pulling out our scraggly pansies and weeds that had grown up in our flower beds. Of course, I didn't want empty beds, so we went out and bought some flowers to put in today. After Saturday morning, my back was hurting, so Justin informed me that he would do all the work today planting the flowers! We got up this morning and all he would let me do is set the flowers out where I wanted them! He spent about 3 hours this morning digging holes (about 50 of them!), planting, putting down mulch, and spraying our trees. What a man!! I'm so thankful for him and feel so lucky to have this wonderful, thoughtful man as my husband!!!

See the pictures below of his handiwork--I know it will be even more beautiful once all the plants grow up big!

I LOVE THIS MAN!!

By the way, I posted three blogs today, so scroll down to read more! =) Have a great week!