August 05, 2008
Baby Update
We're halfway through the pregnancy! It's an exciting and slightly overwhelming thought that it's August and the baby will be here in December! Wow. Time has flown by so fast, it's incredible!
Brian felt the baby moving for the first time last Friday. He was so excited and I was thrilled for him!! The look on his face was priceless - something I'll remember forever! I feel the baby moving a few times a day, but he's been able to feel at least once a day. I love it. He'll talk to the baby and I love spending time just sitting with him and his hand on my stomach.
Today was our big ultrasound for the anatomy. If we had wanted to find out the gender, this would have been the time. But, the baby listened when we told him or her to keep their little legs crossed - we couldn't have seen the gender even if we wanted to. I'm glad that we didn't go in there hoping to find out because we would have just been disappointed. This way, there was no disappointment, only anticipation. The baby is healthy. The ultrasound tech used the word "perfect" quite a bit. The health of the baby is the most important thing, and knowing that it's healthy is wonderful news.
We tried to get a clear shot of the face with the 3-D imaging, but the baby wouldn't cooperate (must get it's shyness from Dad ;) ). It's little hands were up near it's face most of the time (like a boxer's stance). The baby moved quite a bit, flipping all over and rolling and it was fun to see our little one moving all over the place. We were able to count the 10 little fingers and 10 little toes on the two little arms and two little feet that have been battering me from the inside out! I'm getting used to the thumping, actually, but it will still take my breath away once in a while. Sometimes the baby will roll so fast that I feel like I'm losing my stomach like on a roller coaster!
We're making progress on getting the second bedroom turned into the nursery. Again, when I say "we" I really mean Brian. The computer is moved and most of the junk has been filtered out to the basement or attic or to the part of the house where it actually belongs.
We made a preliminary trip to some stores to see about registering. It's a little overwhelming to think about all the little things we need (not to mention the big things)! We found the stuff we want for the nursery (classic Winnie-the-Pooh set) and now we're just trying to make other decisions. My sister has already been sending things that I might need - a little feeding kit with everything to get me started. She also gave the baby his or her first outfit - a yellow onesie and pants set with a matching bib. It has a duck face on the butt - which Brian loves. If you know his sense of humor, you'll understand why he thinks it's funny to have babies wear things with ducks on the butt (think about noises babies tend to make a lot!). Even with some hand-me-downs from family it just seems like we'll never get everything we need. With setting up our house it seemed so easy because we could always get something whenever we needed it. Somehow it seems so much more overwhelming with a baby! I think I wouldn't feel so overwhelmed if we had family members nearby. They'll visit when the baby is born and during the following weeks, but that's different from having someone close by that can be there anytime.
Overall, life is good here. We're gearing up for the college group / young adult group we lead to start again in the fall. We had a break from the praise team at our church and Brian is so glad to be back at that. I've decided to step down from the team because it's getting too hard to drum with my stomach sticking out the way it is now, so our break from the team was a natural transition. I'm now his personal roadie and I run sound during practices. Brian's work schedule may be changing sometime in the near future, but we're just waiting to see what's decided.
Oh - AND THE OLYMPICS START THIS WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm such a freak - I love the Olympics!!!!! They are my favorite thing about sports and they are one of the greatest things that humans have created. So, everyone will know where to find me for the next two weeks - screaming and cheering at my TV and waving my American and Russian flags!!
21:36 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this | Tags: Life, Baby
August 04, 2008
Vacation!!
Last month Brian and I got our first real vacation since our honeymoon. We love visiting family, but that's been the only
type of vacation we've had. So, this year we went with Brian's dad and his brother Steve's family to Sandbridge, Virginia (just a few minutes south of Virginia Beach).
We were only minutes away from where my family lived for 4 years while my dad was stationed there - and I do have to say that I was comforted by the soothing sounds of the jets flying overhead day and night. I loved being around it again so much that I even got a bumper sticker at a store there that says "I love Jet Noise" - because I do. I really do. It's the sound of freedom to my ears. Brian thought it was relatively novel the first day and enjoyed the first sonic boom...but it got old for him after that.
The vacation was so relaxing and so much fun. We even got the chance to go out for a date night for our 3rd anniversary, which was wonderful!
Brian enjoyed helping Jenna and Jack build sand castles every day on the beach.
Yes, I messed up the date stamp on the pictures. Oops.
Brian and Steve boogie boarding.
Brian catching a wave!
Brian really started to get the hang of things...
...until the board got away from him!
One rainy afternoon we went to the aquarium and science museum. The kids and Brian got to pet a sting ray and the kids and I got to pet a baby aligator!
The shark exhibit was also a huge hit with everyone!
Jenna loved playing football with her Uncle Brian.
Jack loved the giant Star Wars frisbee.
While babysitting the kids, Jack got to show off his Leapster pad.
Jenna loved that her Aunt Lorraine taught her new ways to braid hair - and then let her practice on real hair!
This was the first of many hair-dos by Jenna. We didn't get more pictures because Brian was outside catching a catfish!
It only took about 45 minutes to get all the tangles out when she was done, but it was worth it.
The morning of our last full day of vacation, Brian and I got up early to watch the sunrise over the beach. Most of our pictures are dark, but once the sun started to come out from behind the clouds, it was gorgeous!
Jack decided he was going to pose his dad and Uncle Brian in a picture. He picked out their hats and how to wear them.
The house had it's own dock on the bay behind the house.
It was a wonderful vacation and so relaxing!! It was the perfect way to wind down before all the rest of the craziness of getting ready for the baby starts!!
13:38 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this | Tags: Life
June 16, 2008
Brian's First Daddy's Day
Yesterday was Brian's first Father's Day as a dad-to-be. We started the morning off with his gifts - he kept wanting to open them earlier in the weekend and I had to persuade him to wait until Sunday! So, the baby got him a new Tigers baseball hat - which was the one thing he asked for. Then, the baby got a bib (the first bib!) that has the Tigers' logo and "Little Detroit Tigers Fan" on it. Brian and I think that little girls look cute in sports stuff and it doesn't have to be pink so Brian was very excited about the bib! And I got him a video game he really wanted (it may be Father's Day, but he's still Brian). We also went to a Chinese buffet for lunch because that's always Brian's favorite!
I also got him a card that sums up Brian's attitude about the baby perfectly. It shows a guy trying to play catch, but no one is there, so he keeps walking to the ball, turning, and throwing it to no one again. On the inside it says, "You really can't wait to be a dad, can you?" Now, I'm definitely the more sentimental of the two of us (no surprise there, right?) but this card was one that Brian really loved and he put it on the mantle and kept looking at it all morning.
Life here has gotten pretty quiet since school got out. I'm not working for the summer - but after our vacation in July I might try to find something small to do. We're very excited about our vacation! Since the first week of our honeymoon, we haven't had a vacation that wasn't just visiting family at their house (which we love to do and it's actually how we spent the second week of our honeymoon). In July we're going with Brian's brother, Steve, and his family and Brian's dad and Patti to Virginia Beach for a week! We have a beach house there that's close to the beach and other water. Even though I'm nervous about going and being 5 months pregnant on vacation - I'm a wuss about heat and getting sunburned and I'm worried I won't be any fun. But, I'm sure we'll have fun once we get there.
As for a pregnancy update......I'm officially in my SECOND TRIMESTER!! The time has really flown by! It's hard to believe!! The morning sickness (well, "random time of the day sickness" for me) stopped a few weeks ago, but I'm still overly sensitive to certain smells or tastes. I haven't had any strange cravings that lasted a while. Well, the last few days I was fantasizing about hot wings and so Brian got me two big bags from the store to make at home. I polished off 2/3 of the bag myself of Saturday (Brian ate the rest) and I have another bag to get me through this week. I still get little cravings - like one day I wanted sour cream really badly and we were planning on eating lunch out of the house anyways so we got Taco Bell so I could have something with sour cream on it. That was enough to make me happy.
We have decided that we don't want to find out the gender of the baby before he or she is born. We've talked about all the pros and cons each way and we've even done some preliminary window shopping to see what decorating and newborn clothing options are available in gender neutral stuff. We decided that hearing together in the delivery room - not just on an ultrasound that may or may not be 100% accurate - will be a wonderful moment that the two of us will share.
We have also picked out names - but we're NOT sharing what those are. We actually have quite a few second and third options that we've agreed on, too, so I hope we get to have more kids! We decided not to share the names we've chosen because - good or bad - everyone has an opinion. And, frankly, I really don't care what anyone else's opinion is. My family knows the names we've considered but, other than that, it's our little secret and we love it.
So, here's the obligatory first belly picture. These were taken at 11 weeks and I've popped out a little more since then. The shirt I'm wearing makes me look a little bigger than I actually am, and I'll try to get some more recent ones taken soon.
12:10 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (5) | Email this | Tags: Life, Baby
June 04, 2008
Chicago
Brian and I spent Memorial Day weekend Kate and her husband David. Kate was my roommate in Russia and she's one of my oldest friends (not age-wise, but you know what I mean). They live south of Chicago and we spent Sunday in the city at the aquarium. The whole weekend was awesome - I haven't had that much time with Kate in years! Here are some pictures:
Kate and I on the train. I love her so much!!
Brian being sweet. I think he likes me....he might even LIKE me like me!
Brian and I outside the aquarium with the Chicago skyline...you can see the start of a little belly there!
14:06 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (3) | Email this | Tags: Life
June 02, 2008
My First Mother's Day
First, these are the flowers Brian got me when we first found out about the baby:
And these are the flowers from some of the girls in the College Group when Brian told them I was "sick" - they figured out I was pregnant before we said anything:
Second, my Mother's Day celebration as a soon-to-be mommy began the day before Mother's Day with even more flowers from Brian!
17:40 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this | Tags: Life, Baby