Under Construction

This weekend we painted the nursery! I wanted to stripe it, but was worried that it would come out looking like a circus tent. Thankfully it didn't and it came out great! Here are the different stages of painting.

Trip to Washington, DC

For Valentine's Day I took Brian to Washington, DC. I wanted to go while we still lived within driving distance and before the baby comes, so the timing was perfect! Even though it was freezing cold and I thought my legs were going to fall off from walking everywhere, we had a great time and were able to see everything we wanted! I hadn't been to DC since 8th grade, so it was nice to go back as an adult. Here are some pictures of the trip.

Free Ultrasounds are Awesome!

Today I began my modeling career, and was an obstetrical model for students learning how to do sonograms. That meant that we got to see our baby again for free! It was at Baptist, so Brian was able to come downstairs and take some video of everything. I had one ultrasound tech overseeing everything, and then three students all practiced on me. We got to look at our baby for 45 minutes! Here are our three favorite videos from the experience. In the first one you can see the heart beating and the diaphragm jumping because he had the hiccups! The second one is a profile view and he's sucking on his hand, with his foot up by his head. The third one you can see his face and his mouth moving while he again sucks on his fingers. Apparently we will need to invest in several pacifiers!

Kicks and Punches

Our little boy has been doing a lot of moving and kicking lately. It seems that every time I sit down he starts moving. It has been lots of fun watching my stomach bounce, and I find myself just staring at it hoping to catch a glimpse. I think this has been my favorite part of pregnancy so far. I can already tell that feeling him move is something I will really miss once he is born. It is just so amazing to think of the person that God is knitting together inside me, and to imagine how he looks and grows each day. I like trying to figure out where he is and what direction he's facing when I feel his movements.

Time keeps on ticking...

I am so glad that tomorrow is the first day of February, because January has seemed like the longest month of my life! My friend Cherie told me that weeks 20-30 of pregnancy seem to crawl by, and boy was she right! I can't believe that it wasn't even a month ago when we found out we were having a boy. I am getting very impatient to meet the little guy, and there's still a long road ahead of me. I've been trying to focus on enjoying the time Brian and I have left as just the two of us. That helps a little :o) I also recently discovered that my ankles and knees enjoying swelling each day, so I have been spending a lot of time with my feet up when I'm at home. Fun times! These pictures were taken yesterday, when I was 23 1/2 weeks pregnant.

We're having a boy!

We went for our 20 week ultrasound on Monday, and found out that we are expecting a little boy! We are both very excited and can't wait to meet him! And Brian is really enjoying rubbing in the fact that he was right, since I thought it was going to be a girl :o) It was amazing to see him moving around on the ultrasound. We were able to see him moving his arm, giving a thumbs up, and making chewing and sucking motions with his mouth. On the ultrasound pictures, the top left is his profile, the top right is his arm with the thumb sticking up, the bottom left is proof that he is a boy, and the bottom right has his face and rib cage. Enjoy!

The holidays have come and gone...

Well, I think I may have finally hit the stage where I look pregnant, not just fat. At least I hope so :o) Don't let the horizontal stripes on the sweater fool you, I really am 19 weeks pregnant!



As for other happenings in our lives, we have been doing a lot of traveling for the holidays. We went to Biloxi for Thanksgiving, and then spent Christmas in Bradenton. It was great to have a break from the cold temperatures of North Carolina and be able to wear shorts outside! We were able to share Christmas with my parents, brother, and three grandparents, and then saw several friends at Mike and Alina's wedding in Tampa. Unfortunately our visit was too short, as it always seems to be, and we wish that we could have seen other friends and family as well. We were back in Winston-Salem for the new year, but decided to go see Band of Horses in Atlanta for New Year's Eve! We went with our friends Jeremy and Casey and had a great time. Like our trip to Florida, it was very short and we wish we could have spent longer in our old stomping ground.

On the way to Atlanta for the concert we had another exciting experience. Brian got to feel the baby move for the first time! I had been feeling what I thought were movements for the past few weeks, but wasn't sure if it was actually the baby. While we were in the car I felt them again, so Brian put his hand on my stomach. A minute later the baby kicked harder than I've ever felt it, and Brian was able to feel it too! It was quite amazing, and now I enjoy feeling the baby move each day.


Here are some pictures from our holiday travels. Sorry about the 2 sideways ones, for some reason they wouldn't rotate even though they are saved vertically!