23 weeks

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We sure did. Lots of time with family and great food! On Friday, I braved the crowds and did some Christmas shopping. I got quite a few things accomplished (although I still have to shop for Greg - he's so hard to shop for!) and found some bargains on maternity clothes and baby clothes for Will...he's growing quite the wardrobe of sweet little boy clothes!

On Wednesday, Greg and I found an awesome dresser off of Craigslist. We'd been looking for something that could double as a changing table and found a great, sturdy one that was selling for a great price. It's an ugly green color that I'm not too crazy about, so next weekend we're going to be spray painting it white. We got some brushed silver knobs for the dresser that will look great on it once it's painted! When we got there, the lady wouldn't budge on the price but she did throw in a changing table. We'll have to paint that white too, but Will's nursery is definitely coming together! We're still searching for a rocking chair...but everything we've found so far is about $200 more than we want to spend!

Yesterday we spent the day doing some Christmas shopping and then put up our tree. It looks awesome and it's so exciting to have all our decorations up. I love Christmas time :) We also found some icicle lights in the attic of our garage that Greg is going to put on the house next weekend. I'll put pictures of everything up later.

As you can see, it's been incredibly busy around here! I graduate in three weeks (hooray!) and I'm trying to get all the last minute things tied up with my student teaching. I had a job interview last Tuesday that I should be hearing back from sometime this week...it would be an amazing opportunity and I'm really praying that it works out. Even if it doesn't, I know God will take care of us and that's all that matters.

I'm 23 weeks along this week...only one more week until his "viability date," or the day when he has a greater chance of surviving outside the womb than not. He's now weighing in at over a pound and is about the size of a large mango. He's able to hear talking and music from the outside and can even feel movement now when I sway from side to side! He gets so active at church when the music gets loud...it seems like he really enjoys it! I'm enjoying all his kicking and moving around too. He's getting so much stronger. Last night I could even see my belly moving from his kicks! I really can't believe how fast everything is going - we're going to be meeting him so soon, which is very exciting! Here's my 23ish weeks picture, taken tonight before church. I had many people commenting on how it looked like I'd "popped out" and was really starting to look pregnant. I'd say so!

Bedding Ordered!

This afternoon, Greg and I ordered Will's bedding from JCPenney! I had actually picked out a few weeks before we found out that he was a boy...and in the meantime changed my mind and decided to keep looking. Well, I kept looking and kept looking, just sure I'd find something else I liked better. I think I've looked at every single baby bedding available on the internet! After talking to my mom for a long time this afternoon, we decided to order it! It's on back order until December 5th, but I'm very excited to have it picked out (finally!)

Yesterday, I had my last wedding until after Will gets here...and boy am I thankful it was my last one! I've been in tons of pain all day today. I think being on my feet for 10 hours combined with the weight of my camera, lenses, and bag caused something in my lower back to get strained. I've spent most of the day laying on the couch with a heating pad on my back. I also took a hot bath. Everything helps temporarily, but the pain is still lingering. I'm planning to go to bed early (read: after I write this post!), take some Tylenol and hope that a good night's sleep fixes the problem.

He better be a kicker for a pro football team...

Will seems to be quite proud of his new-found ability to kick me right as I'm about to fall asleep. He then proceeds to wiggle around for awhile, making it impossible for his mommy to go to sleep. I'm hoping that all that kicking inside there is practice for when he becomes the kicker for a professional football team. Then he can repay me for lost sleep ;) He also enjoys wiggling around for me right after I get home from school. I usually have a little glass of orange juice and lay down on the couch for a few minutes. The orange juice really seems to get him going! It feels like pieces of popcorn popping all inside my tummy. It's very fun!

Our good friends Aaron and Veronica had their baby boy, Bryce, last night. We went to see them at the hospital tonight and it was so fun! It definitely made me want April to come fast - and I know it will be here before we know it! I know that before long, Bryce and Will are going to be causing chaos at church! It's really fun to have friends who are having kids around the same time we are - it will be neat to watch the boys grow up together.

Here's a 20 week belly picture. Will's getting bigger by the day :)

(On a side note: I hate the fact that my bellybutton is growing with my tummy. It is stretching and getting shallower, and I fear that soon it'll no longer be an innie. And I hate the fact that despite it being covered by TWO shirts in this picture, you can still see the indentation of it!)

What's in a name?

After going back and forth for a few days, Greg and I finally made a decision on a name! We will be naming the little peanut William Matthew and calling him Will for short. We really wanted something classic, but not too popular for a first name. William Graham was a close runner up, but we really liked that Matthew was a biblical name, and the meaning of Matthew is much better than the meaning of Graham! :) William means "protector" and Matthew means "gift of God." He certainly is a gift from God, so the name seems fitting :)

Greg and I went to Babies R Us yesterday and completed our baby registry. It was very fun, but also a little overwhelming at the same time. I had done tons of research on the safest (and affordable) carseats, strollers, bottles, etc. So it was more a matter of finding the items we wanted and scanning them with the little gun. Will also got his first real baby items - a onesie, a Kenneth Cole leather jacket, jeans, and white waffle-weave shirt, and then a UT pacifier (courtesy of Greg!) :)

Tomorrow, I will be 20 weeks pregnant! My pregnancy is officially halfway finished. How crazy is that? Time is going so fast! This week, Will is about the length of a banana and weighs about 12 ounces. He has begun to hear sounds, which was very evident at church this Sunday! He began wiggling around every time the music would start and would settle down when it stopped. Very cute! Sunday was also the first time that I'd really felt him move - I think the ultrasound helped a lot! I was able to see him moving on the screen and then put the butterfly-like feelings together with his movements. His eyebrows, different skin layers, and fingernails/toenails are also beginning to grow in this week. All of his organs are completely formed and will just continue to grow with him until he is born. He'll be growing much bigger in the coming weeks!

It's a...

...boy!! I'm not sure there's many people reading this who don't already know, but the little person who has taken up residence in me for the last twenty weeks is a boy! It's so nice to know for sure and to be able to say "him" instead of "it."

We had our very long anatomy ultrasound today and it was amazing! We got to see him squirming and kicking and sticking his feet in his mouth (yes, he did that a lot!)...and he wasn't afraid to show off his boy parts ;) We had two technicians in our room first who measured everything for about an hour. Then they left and cardio-thorasic specialist came in and did another entire ultrasound to capture some of the pictures that hadn't come out clearly the first time. He spent about 30 minutes studying the little heart (160 bmp this time - he was so active he got his heart rate up!) and he said everything looks perfect! We got to see all four chambers of his heart, his brain, his kidneys, stomach, bladder, hands, and feet. The second technician that came in said that he was opening and closing his hands, which is great because it means that he more than likely will not have Downs Syndrome.

Here are some pictures from the fun day!

His face (looking straight on) and his foot...getting ready to stick it in his mouth!


His precious tiny feet!


His legs (crossed at the ankles)


His hands (up above his head - he was lounging!)


Yup, he's a boy ;) He made sure we got several good peeks!


The technician who came in last definitely had a sense of humor ;)


This picture of his profile amazes me...you can totally tell that this is the same baby from the 12 weeks profile picture! I can't wait to kiss that sweet little nose :)


We do have a first name picked out, but we're still deciding a middle name. I'll let you know once we have the whole name picked out (hopefully by tomorrow!)

In less than 24 hours...

...peanut will have a new name! I hope that I can get some sleep tonight - I've been counting down the hours until our ultrasound since yesterday! I'll be sure to post an update tomorrow to let you know if Team Blue or Team Pink has a new addition :)

I'm 19 weeks and 2 days along now. This week the baby might be able to start hearing our voices...how neat is that? S/he is sprouting hair and has arms/legs that are in proportion to the rest of the body. The baby is about the size of a large heirloom tomato (one of the big ones)...there's a long ways to go until we reach the size of a small pumpkin, but there's no doubt that growing is happening! I had a stranger at school come up to me on Tuesday and ask when I was due. That was the first time that had happened! I'm glad that strangers are starting to be able to tell that I'm pregnant and not just chubby.

...13 and a half more hours!

Less than a week!

In less than a week, we will (hopefully) know if the peanut is a he or a she! I cannot wait...I usually am a pretty patient person. Heck, I can deal with sixth graders who throw binders and pencils at me and still be patient ;) But ever since I found out I was pregnant, I've wanted to know if our baby was a boy or a girl. I hate saying "it" all the time. And I want "it" to have a name! So I've been counting down the days until November 7th and hoping and praying that the peanut will be cooperative.

Greg and I both think that "it" is actually a he...although the poll says otherwise! No reason why, really...it's just something I've thought since the beginning! I've played around with some Old Wives Tales just for fun...There is a Chinese Gender Predictor calendar...according to that we are having a girl. Another one says that if you prefer sleeping on your right side at night (I do), then you're having a boy. I've totally craved salty foods my entire pregnancy...I was pretty turned off by sweets in my first trimester, and if you know me well at all, you know that that is weird! I love my ice cream! According to the wives tale, craving salty foods means you're having a boy. Lately though, I've been craving grapefruit. Wives tale says that craving citrus fruits means you're having a girl. One last tale says that if the heartbeat is above 140 you're having a girl; if it's below 140, you're having a boy. The baby's heartbeat was 150 at the first appointment and in the upper-140s at the second. So if we go by that, "it" should be a she! It'll be very interesting to see which tales proved true for us :)

If forgetfulness was a predictor of gender, we'd know for sure by now. Yesterday marked the THIRD time in THREE weeks that I've locked my keys in my car! Poor Greg had to drive them to me at school before he went to work so I could get my stuff out of my car. How do you lock your keys in your car with all your things in it too, you ask? Well, it's easy. I left all my bags in the passenger seat, planning to go around to open the door and get them out that way. I put my keys in my purse and set my purse on the seat too. Then I pressed the unlock button on the door...however, for some reason, that didn't unlock all my doors. Perhaps I pressed the wrong direction? Anyway, I walked around to the other side and the door was locked...Needless to say, the driver's side door was shut and locked too. I think I need to start wearing a car key on a necklace or something!

I've been battling a nasty cold all week long. And it wouldn't be half as bad if I could take something (anything!) that would drain everything out of my head. But I can't...so instead I've been complaining and sniffling and coughing and complaining some more. I even had to stay home on Thursday from school. I was feeling a little bit better yesterday, but after a late Halloween night, it's back in full force :(

Here is a tummy picture from last week. It was taken at exactly 18 weeks. Sorry for the awkwardness of the picture...I was trying to hold the black shirt out of the way so you could actually see how big the peanut is getting! I'll have to take another (better one) this week.