whew...what a week!

It is truly amazing how much more real the whole pregnancy became once we knew this baby inside of me is a little girl! It is so much fun to be able to say "she" and "her," and I love dreaming about her now. Chris and I are definitely planners, so there was never a question whether or not we would find out the gender. And, this planning nature has definitely kicked into high gear since Monday around noon. We have been using almost all of our spare time to look on the internet for sweet baby girl things and going to fun baby stores. Here is just a little bit of what we have done:
*Ordered and received baby girl's crib! Can't wait to put it together soon!
*Searched and searched for baby bedding for many hours.
*Ordered the perfect crib bedding for our girl...I will post pictures once we get it!
*Glider and ottoman have been ordered by my sweet parents. Thanks again, Mimi and Pappy!
*Been to Target once, just to look.
*Been to Lonestar Baby and Kids twice--only because the first time we drove the 30+ minutes to get there, it was already closed!
*Received some sweet outfits for baby girl.
*Chosen her name, which we LOVE and is absolutely perfect. But, don't ask...we're not telling until she is born!

This is just so much fun, all the planning, and I can only imagine how that will be infinitely multiplied once she's here! I am so in love with her already, and I smile every time I feel her little kicks and movements. The creation of life is truly a miracle, and I am so thankful that God has given us this gift.

This week also brought the halfway mark of the pregnancy! UNBELIEVABLE. I cannot believe that in just another 20 weeks, our sweet pea will be here, in our arms. Even though we have obviously already done a lot of planning, there is a lot left to do in the next 20 weeks. And, we have some busy weeks ahead of us, but we are just thankful for this time in our lives. Here we are, me and sweet girl, at 20 weeks. Growing, growing, growing :)

Thanks for checking in! Stop back by soon for an exciting post...

It's a...

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GIRL!!!

We had a great day and couldn't be more thrilled to get the news that we will be bringing home a sweet little lady in December! I could have never imagined how excited I would be to know that the little sweet pea growing inside of me is a girl. It makes it so much more real. I can't wait to meet her and kiss her sweet little face, hands, and feet! The sonogram was absolutely amazing. They had a 32" flat screen TV that we got to watch it on. We got to see EVERYTHING--her brain, all 4 chambers of her heart, her kidneys, the umbilical cord, her spine...and, it was all perfect! That is one word I love to hear about my baby girl! Here we are after we heard the news that we needed to get busy buying pink {we hadn't even left the sono room yet!}

We called our families and got to share the exciting news with them, but we, of course, had to be creative about the big reveal. So, Chris wrote a poem for both boy and girl, I put them on scrapbook paper, and put them inside a Christmas card in separate envelopes. On the outside of one of the envelopes, we wrote "Merry" and on the other, "Christmas." So, when we called our parents, we told them which envelope to open (Christmas being the girl one :) It was exciting, and they are all ready to get busy in preparation for sweet baby girl! This is the first grandbaby for my parents, and the first granddaughter for Chris's parents. So much fun!

Daddy's first picture with his little girl...she already has him wrapped around her TINY finger!

After our sonogram, we had our first appointment with Dr. G, who will deliver this sweet girl. We loved her! She was super sweet, and we could tell immediately that she is passionate about what she does. Dr. G is exactly what I wanted in my doctor, and I am so pleased. She also said everything was perfect, and all my measurements look great.

When we left our appointment, we headed straight to Babies R Us to buy our little girl her first outfits. I love baby clothes, and I love them even more when I think about putting my daughter in them.

We had a wonderful day! I am so thankful that we got great news about our sweet girl today, and I am praising God for his faithfulness and amazing miracle! We are blessed!

tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you, tomorrow...

Tomorrow is the big day! We go in for our 20 week sonogram at 12:00pm, and we get to find out if this baby is a boy or a girl. We are super excited and can't wait to know! We still do not have any strong feelings one way or the other and no preference. Can't wait to see the sweet baby! I will try to post tomorrow evening {or at least Tuesday} to let you know if we'll be buying lots of blue or lots of pink! Check back soon...

Don't forget to vote in the poll if you haven't yet! It closes at midnight tonight.

a little late...19 (and 1/2) weeks

This week was a little more busy than I thought, and I had good intentions every night of sitting down to write my 19 weeks post. But, it just never happened...until now. I guess it's better late than never. I have been a little busy this week, but it has been a good one. Yesterday, I made a day trip to College Station to help my parents move. It was fun, and I was excited to see their new place! We enjoyed some laughs and got at least a little work done, and I really love their house. It is perfect for them! I was pretty tired by the time I got home though, and I realized that this pregnant body can't handle quite as much work. I will admit that I will kind of miss having an excuse for not being able to move heavy things and needing to take breaks often :) Thanks, baby!!!

Today, Chris and I ventured over to Babies R Us and Lonestar Baby and Kids. It was so much fun to just look at all the stuff and got us even more excited! We are ready to start making plans for this sweet baby, and I can't believe that we find out the gender on Monday!!! So crazy, but I can't wait. I have been surprisingly patient about knowing the gender through this whole pregnancy, but now that it is so close, I am starting to get anxious to know. So soon.

On Tuesday, baby and I were 19 weeks. I am really starting to show more and more, which means that I am definitely in need of the elastic waist pants. It's starting to get a little ridiculous to wear my pre-pregnancy jeans because not only can I not button them, but now I can barely even zip them! So, I think it's time to put those away for a while! Here is some evidence of our growth:


Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I will definitely be enjoying the "cooler" weather!

great weekend

We had a great but busy weekend! We got to see lots of friends {and make some new friends} and family, and even though we were worn out, it was well worth it. On Friday night, we met the elders and their wives up at the church to prepare for a big announcement they were making on Sunday {more on that later...another post probably}. Last Friday, at the Chick-Fil-A here in Rowlett, if you dressed up like a cow, you could get free food. So, after all the preparations were complete, the elders and their wives dressed like this to earn some free food...

I don't know about you, but I definitely think they deserved it! Unfortunately, Chris and I already had plans, so we couldn't join the bovine club for dinner :) We went to Matt and Kathleen {Spivey} Lee's house in Plano for a cook-out. We had fun meeting new people and seeing some people that we hadn't seen in quite a while.

On Saturday, my parents drove into town just before lunch, and the four of us headed out to Oklahoma City for my cousin's wedding. I had not been to OKC in a long time, so it was fun to take a little stroll through my old stomping grounds. We drove past elementary schools and old houses and reminisced for a little while. Then, we headed to the wedding. It was beautiful and a sweet ceremony! It had been a long time {since our wedding almost 5 years ago} since I had seen some of those family members, so it was fun to hug all of them. Of course, the baby makes it even more fun! Everything was wonderful, and the bride was just beautiful! I still think of her as a little girl, but it was really neat to see her get married and hear all the wonderful things said about her and her husband. Marriage is such a blessing! We left the wedding about 9:00 and finally made it back to our house at 12:45am! That's late people...especially when you have to be at church the next morning. But, it was well worth it!

On the road

All four of us...Dad, Mom, Me, Chris

My sweet husband and me enjoying the reception

My aunt and uncle, proud grandparents of the bride

The bride and groom... first dance :)


Finally, on Sunday morning, these boys came to church and to stay with us.

These are some incredible young men with great hearts for the Lord, not to mention that they are lots of fun! These guys were in Chris's youth group in Bryan, and we miss them a lot. They left EARLY Sunday morning so they could make it in time for church. We enjoyed spending time with them on Sunday, and I am confident that they enjoyed their day today at Six Flags. Thanks for coming Nate, Jordan, Josh, and David! You are awesome young men, and we love and miss you!

Whew! What a fabulous weekend! I definitely slept well last night, but I am so thankful for all the people we got to see this weekend. We are blessed.

cast your vote

I joined the club, and I put up a poll to see whether my readers think baby Field is a boy or girl. Chris and I go for our official sonogram on Monday, July 20, and we can't wait to find out what this sweet baby is! I honestly do not have a feeling one way or the other, but I am curious to see what you guys think. So let me know!

Happy voting!

More Fun Discoveries in Rowlett & 18 Weeks

I have encountered a couple more cool things in this new city of ours.

*Mariner Park neighborhood swimming pool - Thanks for our friends, the Westbrooks, I swim about 3 times a week at this pool. The best thing about it is that I go around 9:30 or 10:00am, NO ONE is there yet, and it is FREE! This may not seem like a big deal to some of you, but to this pregnant girl, it is wonderful! I have always said I wanted to swim for exercise when I got pregnant, and let me tell you, it is the best form of exercise. I feel light and cool, and it is really a great work out. I even get some sun too! I have really enjoyed the pool this summer.

*Mr. Mutt's Dog Wash - This place is incredible! Seriously. I don't know if they have places like this is every town, but I had never been introduced to one. Basically, it is a place where you take your dog to bathe them. They have about 5 "stalls" which are like metal bathtubs but at eye level when you are standing. There is a place to hook the dog's collar in, so he can't escape! The water, shampoo, and conditioner {yes, conditioner, for a dog!} all come out of the same sprayer, you just move the dial to which one you want to use. And, this is no wimpy sprayer either...it works good! Then, they have towels and mega dryers to use when you are done. So, for a minimal fee, you can have a super clean dog without a sore back, hair and water all over your bathroom, and the wet dog smell permeating your house. I don't know that we will ever go back to washing Wrigley at home. I will try to get pictures there next time we go because I feel like my explanation has been atrocious, but here is a picture of our clean boy.


Now, what you have all been waiting for {well, at least my mom and sister}... Today marks 18 weeks for sweet baby Field. The little lovey is about the size of a bell pepper, and it's nervous system is developing a lot right now. The biggest news I have from the past week or so is that I have felt the baby move! At first, I wasn't quite sure of what it was, but after it happened a few nights in a row, I decided that indeed it was the baby. It is a pretty awesome feeling... kind of like a little wave. I mostly feel it at night, when I am laying really still, but I know that will all change soon! I love feeling that sweet pea moving around in my belly. And, in two weeks we find out if we are having a precious little girl or sweet baby boy. What a miracle the whole process truly is, and I am trying to really enjoy each moment.
18 weeks


Blessings...

Fun on the Fourth

Chris and I were at the store tonight gathering all the supplies for our little Fourth of July get-together tomorrow night, and I started thinking about my fun memories from the Fourth of July. I don't know about you, but my greatest memories from that night do not include awesome fireworks shows {because somehow I seem to miss the best ones :)} but the time spent with family and friends--playing games, eating good food, and just hanging out. I distinctly remember sitting around outside at the George Bush Library playing Catch Phrase with about 10 of my closest friends and laughing until I cried. Isn't that always the case though? Our best memories don't always include things that are tangible but more often the cultivating and deepening of blessed friendships.

So, this is a little of what we will be doing tomorrow night...

Just a little food and some great fellowship with some wonderful people.

What about you? What are your favorite Fourth of July memories? How will you spend your evening tomorrow?