Baby Girl Montage

I felt the need to share some of my favorite songs about baby girls, daughters, powerful girls, etc. This is in honor of our sweet Elayne. These songs have been on my heart as we prepare for her arrival and start envisioning who she will become.

Daughters by John Mayer

[Because every baby girl deserves to have a dad who is wrapped around her tiny little finger. Phillip has two very great examples of dads - mine is especially good at showing how to master the fine art of being a loving dad to three girls who can't live without him.]

Isn't She Lovely by Stevie Wonder

[Because our precious Elayne will never understand the power of our love that created her. We can only hope to show her what true love in the form of marriage and parenthood is really like.]

Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys

[Because in my family the girls are strong, powerful, brave, independent, and bold. Elayne will grow to be "on fire" in everything she does and will prove to the world she can hold her own.]

Tough Little Boys by Gary Allan

[Because Phillip isn't a cryer but he will be once he holds this little girl. And he only has ever cried in dog movies. But this little one will change his life and I can't wait to witness that.]

P.S. I just saw her kick! No one has been able to feel movements her from the outside, but I just saw my stomach jump right as I felt a strong kick. Let the stomach touching by others begin!

Caution Ahead: Screening and Moving

I apologize in advanced for my scarce posting in the next week or two. Between packing, finishing up the semester, screening for work, and moving, there will be hardly any time to blog - much less even sit at the computer.

This afternoon starts the craziness of screening. I will be in Azle this evening, Waco Monday, Frisco Wednesday through Friday, and Lovejoy on Saturday. Oh and we'll be painting our new home when we get the keys on Wednesday. And packing throughout the week and moving in on Saturday. Oh yeah, and Murphy goes to his board-and-train on Thursday. Not to mention, I have a final exam in one class and a 15 page paper due in another that I want to finish before we move. Phew. As you can see, it is going to be a hectic time.

Therefore, I'm sorry for the lack of posting from me but know that I will have PLENTY to post when I get back. And maybe, quite possibly, hopefully, I will be able to check in here-and-there for some quick posting?

The BIG Announcement!!!

YES!! Baby Elayne Ruth will be gracing us with her presence in September - with her tapping feet, jazz hands, and acrobatics included. As seen on all of the ultrasounds.

We can't wait!

Busy Weekend

The baby movement is still going strong!!!

The motion has come-and-gone. It's so exciting and wonderful! Too bad no one else can feel from the outside yet. But you know, I accept my victories at face-value.

This weekend was a fun and semi-eventful one for Phillip and me. On Friday we headed over to my mom's to help my sister put together some furniture for her move (two weeks after ours) and watch some Stars and Rangers.

On Saturday, we bought paint for the "new" house! Phillip's man cave and the nursery are the only two rooms we're painting, but nonetheless we bought paint. Phillip's room will be gray with red accent walls. It'll look really nice with his sports memorabilia (wow, I just spelled that word correct, first try) and furniture. We also got him an astro turf rug for the floor. He didn't need it, but it was on a huge markdown from last year and we couldn't resist adding even more character to the space. After all, it'll be the first thing you see when you walk in the front door.

For the nursery, we are also painting it gray. Three walls will be solid gray, and one wall will be gray and white thick horizontal stripes. One stripe will be orange (for a boy) or pink (for a girl). Here's a picture I found online to show you...

Obviously we couldn't buy the orange/pink paint this weekend, but we got samples! I can't wait to tell all of you tomorrow!

Yesterday, we cleaned, I headed back to Bedford to help my sister more. And then we finished the night out cleaning some more. Our property management company comes today to walk through our house and take pictures to market it for future tenants. Did I mention that if our house gets leased before the technical end of our lease that they will refund us the rent!? Meaning, even though our lease technically ends June 30, if they lease it to a new tenant on, say, May 15, they'll reimburse us the six weeks worth of rent! Isn't that nice of them!? So we're crossing our fingers for the next few days as they show it. Hopefully it goes as fast as it did when we rented it a year ago.

Oh! And we have a new bedroom color scheme complete with bedding. That's what I get for going with Heather to apartment shop for her. I found a duvet/duvet cover and pillows and curtains. So I snatched them up! Our new scheme will be clean, modern, and hotel-like with shades of white and gray with silver accents. Very relaxing, simple, and easy to replace pieces when our new baby decides to destroy everything.

20 Weeks: I Felt Him/Her Move!!!!

That's right, readers. I felt movement!!

Thursday night, I was laying in bed and suddenly felt a rolling motion just below my belly button. Nothing huge but something I had never felt before. I was skeptical, but then all day yesterday, I felt the same movement off-and-on! So baby is officially moving and grooving now! And a couple of weeks earlier than predicted!

This weekend we're just kind of hanging out around the house and getting it cleaned up for showings. We're getting ready to move too - slowly but surely. While shopping with Heather for her new apartment, I caved and bought a new bed set. I still LOVE the one we received for our wedding (it will now become the guest bedroom set) but with the dark wood of our furniture, I realized we need to brighten up the space some. So we're going with whites and light grays with silvers and dark grays thrown in as accents. I'm actually really excited about this. I also got some beautiful soft white sheer curtains yesterday to flank our bed in the new house. Hooray!

We find out in only 3 days if we're having a boy or girl! Can you tell we are pretty excited and can't wait!?

Baby Long

Size: 10 inches (length of a carrot), and weighing in at 1 pound.

Important Developments: Finger prints, hair line, and tons of movement.

Noticeable Symptoms: Back pain, FIRST MOVEMENTS, round ligament pains.

Weight Gain To-Date: Only 9 pounds!!! (The average is 10 pounds.)

Belly Button: Innie still.

6 More Days

Can you tell how excited I am about finding out for-sure if this baby is a boy or girl? I am also so ready to see the baby and hear the heartbeat. This whole not-feeling-kicks-for-weeks thing is really no fun. Everyone else gets to feel their baby this early. But not me. It makes me wonder if he/she is still in there (until the 3am starvation, growing belly, and muscle pains give me reassurance).

Did I mention how much my back hurts these days? Since the baby is in the back, does that mean he/she is kicking my back instead of belly like most babies? Something to consider...

We also get the keys to our new place in a mere TWO WEEKS. Have I packed a single thing yet? Not at all. I need to get motivated. Stat.

Who Doesn't Love Countdowns?

So many exciting things coming up in our lives! I can't wait! Therefore, let the countdown begin. :)

8 days... We find out if the baby is a boy or a girl!
16 days... We get the keys to our new home. Yes. That soon. Woah. Then the painting will begin!
17 days... Murphy goes to his board and train program to become a nicer dog to all of our wonderful friends and family members.
19 days... Moving weekend! We will move a lot of our stuff, even though we won't be 100% finished until the following weekend.
26 days... Murphy returns home to us and we begin the new recommendations for follow-through.
33 days... Heather moves into her new apartment (just 15 minutes away from our place)!

Exciting! Exciting! Exciting!

19 Weeks! Almost 5 months!

Can you believe it!? I am one week shy of being halfway through this pregnancy. Where have the past several weeks gone???

Baby Long

Size: Heirloom Tomato (6 inches long, 8 oz heavy)

Important Developments: He/she can smile!!

Noticeable Symptoms: Round ligament pain all over the place.

We are moving to Frisco on May 1!!!! Woah! So fast!

We've been scouring the internet channels for rentals we'd be interested in, and realized the best location and best options were around Frisco. So we decided to narrow our focus to that area, and finally were able to view a property. Rentals go so fast in that area (we were scheduled to view other properties but before we could get out there, they had leased). The only reason we were able to look at this one was because by some chance miracle, the three applications they hand pending (you read that right, three applications were submitted) were rejected for some reason or other.

Because of how fast these properties go, we knew we had to move on this house as soon as we fell in love with it. That's why we're moving way earlier than planned and have to crack down on our budget for two months to pay for rent on two places at once. But it'll be worth it.

This house has four bedrooms! One for us, one for baby, one for my office, and a designated guest room for any/all company expected to help when the baby gets here - namely, our wonderful mothers. :) Two bathrooms are perfect since little one won't need his/her own until much later, so he/she can share with guests and me during the work day. THREE CAR GARAGE is probably our favorite part. We can have space to store things, Phillip can work on his endless projects, and we can just enjoy the extra space. It's rare to have a rental house with that large of a garage, but we'll take it! The house has a slightly larger kitchen than ours now, about the same sized living area, slightly smaller master bathroom (but still with the garden tub, large closet, separate shower, and double vanities), and Phillip gets his own living area for his sports room/man cave. Definitely necessary. Trust me.

The only real downside to our new house is a significantly smaller backyard. It's still a decent size for Murphy, but it'll be a change for us. We've gotten used to our nice sized back yard we have now. But unfortunately, with that wonderful three car garage located on the backside of the house, it cuts into the lot and minimizes the yard space. It'll be nicer to mow for Phillip, but Murphy will have to adjust a bit.

Speaking of Murphy, we will be sending him off to a ten day board and train program right as we move. We are confident this will help his behavioral issues and awful social skills. Perhaps a smaller yard will actually help with training? It's a thought... It'll be nice to have him boarded for a solid ten days while we move and get settled. Plus, we'll have a new home for our brand new dog to come home to!

So exciting! Time to get packing!

P.S. And update on Phillip's car. It is barely not totaled so they are currently fixing it. It'll take about two more weeks and we have a rental car. Still dealing with insurance on the medical side, but we're getting through it.

Hard to Keep Up!

18 Weeks!

Our baby is growing so fast! It's so hard to keep up with all the pictures, posts, and oh yeah, life.

Baby Long

Size: Almost 7 ounces! 6 inches long. Sweet potato baby!

Important Developments: The cute little ears are in their final place. Gender organs are in their places and noticeable on an ultrasound. Myelin is forming around the nerves.

Noticeable Symptoms: I got a foot cramp for the first time last night. Please don't be a sign of things to come. And this belly is growing pretty much every day.

Back from Lubbock

Sorry for the radio silence the past couple of days. I was out of town for work. I traveled to Lubbock to do some machine training for their athletic trainers and nurses. Had some news coverage too!

Here's the story!

It was a good trip and baby traveled great (duh). Now I get to stay home and work for a while before screenings starts later this month.

I registered for classes for the Summer and Fall too! I will be taking "Worksite Health Promotion" and "Curriculum Development" in the Summer and "Consumer Health" in the Fall - pending communication with the professor about the pregnancy/baby stuff. But I was assured by my advisor that she should be flexible. But just in case I have to drop the class, I am taking a heavier course load this Summer.

I am excited about these classes! Consumer Health and Worksite Health Promotion should be "big kid" versions of my undergraduate courses - I even have the same textbook for Consumer Health. But it'll be great to have a different perspective from a different university and have a more hands-on approach via the nature of graduate school. I am extremely excited about Curriculum Development! A new class I can learn so much in and get to do some really hands-on assignments. I am really looking forward to that class!

In other news... I am now a little over 17 weeks along! This little tid-bit was delayed due to the car accident and traveling. So here it is!

Baby Long

Size: Turnip (5 inches long, 5 ounces heavy)

Important Developments: cartilage and bone are really forming, sweat glands are developing, all joints can now be moved

Noticeable Symptoms: Belly is still growing. Those "round ligament" pains of the muscles growing hurt. But other than that, things have settled down for the most part.