Happy 2nd Birthday Ella Bean

 Happy Birthday Ella Bean!

Ella turned 2 earlier this month, so we combined her birthday party with our Memorial Day picnic!

Ella blowing out her candle...

 She waited and waited for this cake... mmmm

She ate it so carefully, I don't think she missed a crumb!

 She opened presents!

...

Happy Birthday Ella!!

I love you right down to your grubby little toes!!!

Hello Belly...

HELLO BELLY!

19 weeks today! Almost 1/2 way there!

My belly is a growin'! .. I am lovin' it!

I have also started feeling Amelia move!

I had Pepsi at Sarah's last nigh... HELLO! 

Pretty sure Amelia was throwing a party in there!

It is the most amazing feeling! I cannot wait until they get more intense and regular!

This is the view from up here!

Hahahaha! 

Have a WONDERFUL DAY!

Bonus Post

And her name... for now... (and if it's up to me ... always) shall be...

Our Sweet Baby

OK... So for those of you who don't know... we had our anatomy ultrasound on Tuesday!

We are having a Baby Girl!!

The ultrasound went really well! My appointment was at 2:30, so I was really bummed when I was in the car, on my way (with a FULL bladder) when the called and said it needed to be changed to 3:15.

So, when we got there at 3:15 we started the ultrasound. The very first thing we saw was a little arm and hand waving to us! It was amazing! I immediately started to cry! Then she checked her heart rate, and she was at 160 bpm! Very strong! Then she started checking her out!

We were able to see just about everything. Her brain, all 4 chambers of her heart, her bladder, kidneys, stomach, spine, and of course her legs, feet, arms, and hands! She is amazing, she is perfect, and she is ours!!

She is PERFECT, and she is BEAUTIFUL!

It is so amazing to me how fast you can fall in love with a tiny little person!

Our little girl was being stubborn for the ultrasound technician! She did NOT want to show us what was or was not between her legs! She was very modest! The tech kept bouncing the probe on my belly trying to get our little one to move or roll over... or SOMETHING! She just responded with a punch or a kick! It was kind of funny to watch! She had her little legs crossed at her ankles... it was SO CUTE! The tech was FINALLY able get get a glimpse between her little legs... and told us that she was 80% sure we were having a girl!

I think Andrew was a little bummed at first... he was quite sure we were having a boy! I had no feelings either way and was STOKED when she said girl!! I think Sophie and Ella are going to have a wonderful time with her! It will be so nice for them to grow up so close in age and location! (all about 2.5 years apart!) And how lucky are they all to live so close to their grandparents and family! (We just wish Jamie and Stephanie would live a little closer!)

Anyway... we are so lucky to have a stubborn little girl because it means we get to go back in 2 weeks and peek again!!! The tech was not able to check the bottom of her spine. So, we will have another ultrasound in about 2 weeks to check that, and double check gender, and prob. check on a few more things! The tech said she will be bigger then and we can do some more 3d shots!

Well... we couldn't be happier!! She is growing well and looks to be healthy!!

We couldn't ask for anything more!

IT'S A.....

..........    ..........

Sorry... just practicing!!! 40 more minutes until the ultrasound! 

PLEASE PRAY FOR HEALTHY BABY!!!

EXCITED!

EXCITED!

I had a doctors appointment yesterday! 

Everything measured and sounded GREAT!

I also made the appointment for our anatomy ultrasound! 

I am SOOOO excited to find out what we are having!

SO...

I just posted a poll... on the right, under the "baby ticker" for you to guess what we are having! I am excited to see what everyone thinks! After you have voted, please leave me a comment... so I know who voted what!

EXCITED!

BOY or GIRL?!?!

My Mother's Day

 Mother's Day was pretty awesome this year! 

First of all, my mother is AMAZING... and that is all there is too it! I am so lucky to have her! She means the world to me! She has taught me over the past 26 years what it is to be a Mother. I hope that I can live up to her example! 

Thank you Mom!!

Andrew was so good to me on Mother's Day! Apparently he decided that pregnancy counts and I needed to be celebrated! He got up early and made me breakfast in bed. Yummy bacon, egg, cheese on a bagel. Fresh squeezed oj, kiwi, strawberries, and banana! I could not eat even eat it all! Lucky for me, he was right next to me to pick up the slack!

mmmm....

He knows how excited I am to get both vegetable and flower gardens in this year! So, he got me some hand tools for my gardening adventures!

 He also got me a dozen pink roses... that smell AMAZING! I woke up to them on my bedside. There was a cute little note stuck in them. 

"Happy Mother's Day to my BEAUTIFUL Mother-to-be. 

I love you so much. Thank you for for growing carrying our baby. 

Love Andrew"

This is kind of a joke between us. In our prayers he always refers to me "growing our baby" ... and I always tell him how weird it is... that he should say "carrying our baby"... lol!

PLEASE EXCUSE MY HAIR! I look RIDICULOUS.

The thing I am most grateful for this particular Mother's Day (other than my rockin' awesome mother) is that I get to be a mother soon myself. It is something that I have always wanted, always dreamed of. Finally it is becoming a reality! It is crazy!

I love this little one! I can't wait to meet him/her.

Here I am at 16 weeks. 

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

to my AMAZING mother (& to me)!

I'm Still Here...

Yup, I'm still here... and I have been really horrible at updating this blog. Many people have asked recently why I have not updated... I have no excuse really. Sheer laziness? Who knows.

Things are progressing well with this pregnancy, which I am very pleased to say! I passed my "Yahoo Day" about two and a half weeks ago. My "Yahoo Day" is the day that marked me being pregnant longer than ever before! It was a good day!

I had a doctors appointment the Friday before last... the 29th I guess it was. There was a big uproar because according to much chart I had lost 14 lb. in 4 weeks. My doctor and the nurse were baffled... and I told them that I thought maybe the previous nurse had recorded the number wrong. I mean, I know I am still losing weight, as a matter of fact, I knew that I had lost 4lb in that 4 weeks. None the less, Doctor Hight was concerned that I was still losing and I was told to eat more and come back in 2 weeks. If only it was that simple. It would help if things sounded good to me. It would also help if I could stop throwing up every morning. Oh well, I have no control over that... so I will take it with stride and do my best!

My doctor said that despite my weight loss the baby was growing well. The top of my uterus is just below my belly button! Baby is moving up in the world! He checked the heartbeat, which sounded AMAZING at around 150 bpm. Seriously, I cannot hear that sound enough!

So, here is a picture taken on our trip to Canada last weekend... this is just shy of 15 weeks. Hello baby bump! I can call it that because I can no longer "suck it in"... trust me... I tried!

I am even bigger now (again despite the weight loss)... maybe I will take another picture tomorrow... when I will officially be 16 weeks! Whoo Hoo!

Oh, things are busy busy busy. By the time I get home from work I am exhausted. There is so much work that needs to get done... eh... I'll get there! I did like 100 loads of laundry today... since it didn't get done last weekend! I am trying to catch up.

I will try and be better about posting. I guess now that my belly is actually growing, I will have something to post about! Being pregnant is hard work! 3 cheers to all the women out there who have done it! Even though it is hard work, often painful, very emotional, and a crazy time... I couldn't ask for anything more. I am just SO GRATEFUL that Heavenly Father has given me this experience. And for the experiences that led up to this one. I have learned to take NOTHING for granted, for life is too short. I love this baby SO MUCH! I cannot even put into words how much I love him/her! It is such a strange new feeling. One that I am eternally grateful for!

 I am optimistic, I am full of hope, I am happy!