Okay, so I don't know if these pictures tell the story, but this past week, it seems like there have really been changes with the baby! I literally woke up a couple mornings ago and felt like my stomach got noticeably heavier overnight.
Our precious little guy has been moving around a lot more too. He gets active in the morning when I wake up, at night when I lay down for bed, and usually two or three VERY active times during the day. The sweetest thing is that the baby really seems to like Daddy's voice. Whenever Jeff gets close to my belly and talks to the baby, he starts moving around a lot. We have even been able to see kicks (punches? elbows?) from the outside of my belly. THAT is cool :)
This is my makeshift craft station where I make the numbers for the sign every week :) Heeeello baby bump, nice to meet you!
Jeff and I went out this weekend to celebrate the 6-month mark for our little nugget AND the purchase of a new home! We went to our favorite sushi place in Dallas, Steel. It's so yummy!Everything looks official for us to be moving into our new home at the beginning of October. We are so excited :) Here are a few pix.
Jeff and I decided to take a trip out to West Texas and New Mexico earlier this summer. We had a blast! We spent one night in Lubbock and then drove on to Ruidoso, passing briefly through Roswell, the UFO capital of the world. We spent a couple days in Ruidoso, and it is a beautiful mountain resort town. We played golf, putt-putt, go carts, went out to dinner, hiked and relaxed. Then we drove down to Carlsbad to see the underground caverns, and that was really cool - unbelievable the formations that exist 750-800 feet underground! Here are some pics from the trip. On our way to the Caverns, we even got to see an example of Obama's Stimulus Plan in full effect. They are taking a very lightly traveled 20-mile stretch of highway and expanding it by one lane on each side. Tax dollars at work, whether we need it or not!!!
At the end of July, I went up to Chicago to spend an extended weekend with my girlfriends at Sarah's beautiful beach house in Michigan. It's becoming an annual tradition, and it's always one of the highlights of my summer :) Lauren, Emily, Tina, Catherine, Sarah and I all enjoyed catching up on each others lives, reminiscing about good memories, and celebrating all the exciting things happening with everyone. Catherine just got engaged, Tina is due in a few weeks, and of course we have a baby on the way too!
My sweet girlfriends threw a SURPRISE baby shower ... we had a fabulous dinner out, and then celebrated with games back at home. You girlies are the best!
A few weeks ago, Jeff casually brought up the idea of moving into a proper "house" before the baby arrives in December - you know ... a yard, a driveway, neighborhood kids, not 3 stories of stairs. At first, I thought nah - we are so happy in our townhouse right now, we can wait 2 or 3 years until we outgrow this place. No reason to rock the boat during the last few months of this pregnancy. But, the more we thought about it, the more we realized now is probably going to be the easiest and best time to move in the next several years - before we have kid stuff to juggle and while the interest rates and financial considerations are to our advantage.
So, after a couple days of analyzing the situation, we decided we would put our place on the market to test the waters and see if there was a possibility of selling it within the next couple months. We met with our realtor, and she had it listed by the next day. Within 2 hours of her putting the sign in our yard, she received a call from an interested couple who wanted to see the house the following morning. They put an offer on it, and we had a contract on the place by the end of that day.
Our happiness and gratitude in finding buyers for our place was quickly accompanied by excitment and some anxiety about finding the right house, neighborhood, community for our soon to be family of three! We have spent the last two weeks viewing 1,000-plus properties online, 125 properties in-person, and lots of conversation, prayer and thoughtful consideration about the best town, neighborhood and home for us. After an initial review of the towns in the metroplex, we narrowed it down to Frisco and Southlake. We then visited homes in each and really felt like Southlake was the best fit for us. It is a smallish town of about 25,000, with a real community feel built around family. The public schools are considered some of the best in the state, and they have done a great job building a solid infrastructure of shops and amenities to support the community. They have many nice neighborhoods, and lots of playgrounds, parks, walking trails, etc. It is also centrally located in the metroplex between Dallas and Fort Worth, so when the traffic isn't too bad, it is a relatively good location for Jeff's work.
As of last night, we think we found the perfect place for us! We've put an offer on it, and will hopefully be able to come to an agreement within the next couple days. We are really excited about this next step and know that the future has some wonderful things in store!
The day you turned 18 weeks old in my tummy, I felt you move for the first time! It was this past Monday night, and Daddy and I were laying in bed. Daddy was talking to you, and he bounced his hand on my tummy to see if you would give us a response. You sure did! I could tell right away it was you, with a very determined, purposeful kick inside me. Mommy laughed and cried, Daddy laughed and smiled and we hugged and thought about all the movements you will be able to accomplish in your lifetime. I also thought about how in a couple months, that little flutter of a kick will be much stronger - enough to wake me up at night!
You are about 5 inches long right now, and you weigh about 5 ounces. You've recently begun to pick up on sounds outside the womb. We are getting a device that will project sounds into your little home so that your brain, memory and senses will be stimulated while you spend the last few months inside me. Baby Boy, you even have your very own set of toe and fingerprints now :) You are truly one of a kind, and we love you very much!
Here is a picture of what Mommy is looking like these days ...
Over the July 4th holiday, we took a wonderful trip to (sort of) sunny California. It turns out, there is a thing called "June Gloom" that no one seems to mention til you get there, but it involves mostly cloudy, cold, dreary weather along the coast during June and the first part of July. Once you go inland a little bit, it clears up. Apparently it has to do with the cold Pacific air meeting up with the hot inland air. Despite this, we had an AMAZING trip and created a lot of great memories of quality time with the fam.
My mom and I flew into San Jose, where we rented a convertible and took the quick trip south to beautiful Carmel Valley, CA. Aunt Sandy, Uncle Chris and my cousin Kyle live there, and I had never had the chance to visit their hometown before. They were wonderful tour guides and hosts (thanks guys!) It is gorgeous there ... we visited Monterrey Bay, Pebble Beach, Pacific Grove, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Big Sur, and more. Some of my favorite experiences were seeing seals and otters in Monterrey Bay, eating Clam Chowder on Fisherman's Wharf, visiting Clint Eastwood's Mission Ranch in Carmel, taking the 17-mile drive through Pebble Beach and seeing the golf course there, and the yummy fireside dinner we had at the local Fish House in Carmel Valley.
Can you spot the seals all lined up in the middle of this ^ picture?! They look like rocks!
After Carmel, we drove down the Pacific Coast Highway through Big Sur (breathtaking!) to the Hearst Castle in San Simeon. A very cool experience all around.
As my mom and I were driving from San Simeon down to LA, we realized we were going to drive RIGHT BY Michale Jackson's Neverland Ranch - 5 days after his surprising death. So, we googled the exact location and plugged it into the GPS ... sure enough, it would be about 10 minutes off the highway as we passed through Los Olivos, CA. So, being spontaneous and curious voyeurs on vacation, we naturally took the detour :) Wow - totally worth it. The small farm road was packed with satelite trucks broadcasting around the world, reporters were primping and finding their best angles for the camera, and many fans (or just curious observers of pop culture, like us). We saw the front gates of the ranch and the large memorial with flowers, notes, posters, etc that had been created. It was a *unique* experience, and I'm glad we were able to see that, especially at such a memorable time. We got to LA around sunset, and heading right to our hotel on the beach in Santa Monica - we were staying one night at the newly renovated ShangriLa Hotel - it was gorgeous, and the people couldn't have been nicer. Totally different than my other experiences in LA. After a yummy steak dinner down the street at BOA, we settled in for the night. The next day, we had a goal of seeing all the typical LA things - Rodeo Drive, the Hollywood sign, the Hollywood Hills, a couple famous peoples' houses, Grauman's Chinese Theatre, the Walk of Fame ... turns out, there was a bus tour that went to exactly the places we wanted to go! It was perfect ... navigating to all the "must see" spots around LA without having to find our own way and read about the stuff in guide books. Then we drove down to San Diego to meet up with Jeff, my Dad, Uncle Randy, Colin and Patrick. The rest of the weekend, we explored around San Diego and Camp Pendleton and spent some good quality time as a family all together. We had fun dinners out, went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park (like an African Safari in SoCal), and saw the Cobras Colin flies up close and personal. Man, those are some mean machines! This may be the last time we all get to be together before Colin deploys for Afghanistan in October, so it was a really special visit I will always cherish.
This weekend, we went to a GREAT concert ... Earth, Wind & Fire AND Chicago. It was so fun! They played together and separately. We were very impressed with their talent, especially Earth, Wind & Fire - they seemed to still be at the top of their game, even though they are celebrating their 40th anniversary as a band. They still have 3 original members, including Phillip Bailey, the guy with the incredible, unique voice, and they were all SO good. We had a blast singing along to songs like September, Sing a Song, Let's Groove Tonight, 25 or 6 to 4, Make Me Smile, Saturday in the Park, and many more :)
Daddy and Mommy have been given the most wonderful gift to have you as our son. We already love you and are so proud of you as you grow healthy and strong. You are getting bigger everyday, and at 4 months along, you are about 4 inches tall. On Friday, when we saw for the first time the very good evidence that you are a BOY, we also got to see your strong heartbeat, your sweet profile, your arms and legs and fingers and toes. You are getting so active inside Mommy's belly, and we got to see one of the cutest things ... you began sucking on your thumb (see picture below)! You moved your head and your hand around until your thumb found your mouth. Mommy and Daddy laughed with joy at your sweet little movements. We can't wait to meet you in 5 months!
Life is a great adventure, and we are so excited to share it with you, son!
Jeff and I are on the brink of a big surprise tomorrow! Will it be pink or blue for our little Baby L? Tomorrow, we are going back to the ultrasound doc to find out whether we are having a girl or boy. We are soooo excited :) We can imagine so many wonderful things that will be in store for our baby, whether it's a boy or girl. Of course, our primary concern is having a healthy, happy baby and we don't have a preference either way. I am just really looking forward to setting up the nursery and getting some real shopping started - ha! There are so many cute clothes - for boys and girls - and I am excited to know which to be buying for.
For some reason, from the beginning, we have both thought "it" was a girl. But over the last couple months, I have been liking meat even more than usual - especially bacon ... yum ;) - and that makes me think possibly boy because my mom was a vegetarian for like 10 years until she was pregnant with my younger brother Colin. He made her eat a hamburger, and she has never looked back!
Either way, tomorrow the big question of boy or girl will be answered!
Here are some baby bump shots. I have to say, I am surprised at how long it takes to really get a baby bump. I'm 15 weeks, and even though my clothes definitely let me know I'm bigger in the waist, I think I have been looking more like I ate a big dinner rather than looking pregnant. Apparently that's normal, and the real bump action will be coming soon enough. (I know in a few months I will be wishing for these days again!)
So, this is our first blog post in a while, and by now many of you know why we have been a little "distracted" :) On April 24, 2009, our lives changed forever when we found out we are having a BABY! WOW! Even just typing that word B-A-B-Y seems surreal. Jeff and I have never been more joyful, shocked, and excited than this. What a miracle life is.
We have spent the last several weeks learning about what is happening with the baby and its development and beginning to plan and prepare for this new chapter in our lives. We have had so much fun tracking the baby's growth as it went from the size of an orange seed (when we first found out) to a peach (about its size as I write this today). It is awe-inspiring to think of all the important things happening each day ... brain cells developing, fingers and toes forming, eyes, ears, nose appearing, bones beginning to grow ... I never really thought about all the little miracles that happen to form each individual person. It makes me realize that each person isn't a miracle, we are all a set of millions of miracles that came together to give life. What a profound and beautiful process.
On May 15, 2009, we had our first doctor's appointment. They call this a "confirmation of pregnancy" appointment, and to be honest, that's kind of how we viewed it too. Other than the positive pregnancy test (well, tests - we took 2 at home), we didn't have any outward, tangible signs that there really was a little baby inside me. This made the experience of seeing that little baby on the ultrasound screen and hearing a precious, strong heartbeat all the more powerful and meaningful. Here is what we saw on the screen!
In the picture above, the head is to the left and thefeet are to the upper right. You can see a little arm bud in the middle/upper part of the body, and the leg buds at the upper right end of the body. The baby was 7 weeks, 4 days old at this time, which makes its due date December 28, 2009! It was about 12mm long when this picture was taken, and its heart was beating at 150bpm. The doctor said everything looked and sounded perfect for that stage of development. We were amazed and excited, and so grateful that everything looked good!
Well, after the experience of seeing the baby and hearing the heartbeat, things started to feel a little more real. I continued to feel very well throughout the first trimester ... just needed to eat small meals regularly in order to keep nausea away. We began to rethink the way rooms are laid out in our house, and began clearing out the guestroom that's across the hall from our room, as that will be the nursery. We moved Jeff's office upstairs and made our lower level an "apartment" for guests (and it has now become my favorite room in the house because all the air conditioning sinks to the first floor!) We haven't really purchased any baby stuff yet, but maybe we'll start to get a little more proactive with that as we enter the second trimester.
The next big milestone happened last Friday, June 19, when we went in for a screening ultrasound. The pretense for the ultrasound was screening for chromosomal abnormalities, but our doctor encouraged us to go also to be able to see the baby again at this stage. I'm so glad we did - the screening checked out fine, and we got to see the baby move around quite a bit! It had grown so much in 5 weeks. It had a CUTE little nose, arms and legs, hands and feet, fingers and toes - I never thought I'd be so excited about those body parts ;) ha! Jeff's family was up for the weekend, so we invited them to come and see the baby with us. At first it wasn't really moving, but then the doctor bounced the wand on my tummy above the baby, and it got pretty active. So cool!!!
They allowed us to take a couple short videos of the screen as we watched the baby.
We want to find out if we're having a boy or girl, and they couldn't tell during this ultrasound. So the doctor invited us to come back for a quick peek in a couple weeks, as she is confident she'll be able to tell then. Can't wait to start going blue or pink crazy! :)
We are now at 13 weeks, and I feel wonderful. I am starting to have a little baby bump, and got a few maternity shorts and capris to accommodate my growing waistline. The store I went to offers FREE prenatal yoga classes, so I have started going to those as well. I'm really enjoying them.
Now that our big news is out there, I will be sure to stay current with postings as we prepare to welcome Baby! We have a few trips planned for the summer - during the "easy" 2nd trimester - and we're looking forward to seeing family and friends over the next few months!
Our precious little guy has been moving around a lot more too. He gets active in the morning when I wake up, at night when I lay down for bed, and usually two or three VERY active times during the day. The sweetest thing is that the baby really seems to like Daddy's voice. Whenever Jeff gets close to my belly and talks to the baby, he starts moving around a lot. We have even been able to see kicks (punches? elbows?) from the outside of my belly. THAT is cool :)
Everything looks official for us to be moving into our new home at the beginning of October. We are so excited :) Here are a few pix.
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