It's a...

BOY!! We found out earlier today that our little one is a baby boy! Now we get to start deciding on a name, nursery colors, things to register for, etc. How fun! Here's a video of when we found out:


Be sure to watch the 2:45 mark! It cracks me up every time I hear what the sonogram tech says!!

Our little boy is active (although I did drink some cherry coke right beforehand). The sonogram tech couldn't get a picture of both feet because he was just kicking away! We loved seeing the little face, spine, arms, legs, feet....it's just amazing!! I love that we can peek into the womb as God knits together a life inside of me!

17 Weeks-Exciting Week!

This has been the most exciting week so far. I felt the baby move for the first time!!! I was laying in bed reading a magazine when I felt this tiny little spasm a few inches below my belly button. I called JD in-"BABE! Get in here! I think I felt the baby move!" He ran in and by the time got to the room, I had felt it again. I put his hand where I was feeling the movement, but he couldn't feel it from the outside. I could only feel it from the inside. That was Tuesday night. I was sitting at my desk at work Wednesday morning and the baby was going bonkers! Just kicking and jabbing like crazy! All I felt were tiny little spasms. Thursday I was on the phone with someone helping me with a design program and in the middle of her explaining something complicated, the baby kicked SO hard that I double over and said "OH MY GOODNESS!" really loud into the phone. The poor girl was like "uh...so anyway" and I just said "sorry about that!" It didn't hurt at all; it just surprised me that the kick was so strong!

The following picture was taken yesterday when I was 17 weeks and 5 days along. I like to get pictures at the beginning of the week, but I have fallen behind this week. My belly POPPED out this week!! I definitely look pregnant now! The night of July 4th, we decided to stay home and do a 3-D puzzle that someone gave us for Christmas (I think it was my aunt or my Grandma). We have been wanting to try it because neither of us have even done a 3-D one before. So, we just stayed in worked on it. It took FOREVER just to get the base done! We worked on it about 3 hours that night. The next day, JD was determined to finish it. I got frustrated with it (plus I was having ligament stretching pains really bad), so he literally worked on it ALL day long. I helped him here and there, but it was mostly his thing. Here is the finished product! It is still being displayed proudly on our dining room table:

16 Weeks

Sorry about this post being a week late! I won't post my 17 week pictures until later in the week. I'm eating SO much more and I can actually go into restaurants now. I have cooked a couple of times, which makes JD very happy!

I think this is the first week that I consider myself "showing." I love it! It's so fun and makes it all a bit more real. I haven't felt any "flutters" yet, but the doctor says they should be coming soon.

Here I am at 16 weeks along:

Also, we just got some AMAZING artwork from Mickie Winters (http://www.mickiewintersart.com/). She's an incredible talent and offers modern Christian art. We chose these 5 pieces:
1. The Fall
2. The Beatitudes
3. The Crucifiction
4. The Changed Heart of a Christian
5. The Work of the Holy Spirit in the Believer (the stitched heart) and Missions/Evangelism as Others See That Work in Your Life

The gospel message is now in our dining room! What a topic of conversation as we have others over to our house for meals.

15 Weeks Along!

We had our 15 week appointment and everything looked good. We heard the heartbeat and it was somewhere between 120-130 beats per minute. My baby bump looks like it shrunk a little bit when I compare the pictures! My weight has gone up a tiny bit, about a half a pound. I have started taking generic Zofran and have only gotten sick once in the last week and a half! That's pretty good! All of the baby books say that I should be gaining a pound per week from here on out, so hopefully that will start happening soon!

Our little one is now the size of apple, weighing 2 1/2 ounces and measuring about 4 1/2 inches. According to BabyCenter.com, "although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam." Isn't that amazing?!

I'm starting to look into different ways to prevent stretch marks. Let me know if you have something that worked for you!

I've been able to eat a lot more foods this week. I can really eat a lot for breakfast and lunch. Dinner time is usually when I feel the worst, so I usually eat a bowl of cereal or a veggie sandwich (JD laughs because I just put cheese, lettuce, pickles and mustard on it. Hopefully I'll be able to build it up even more next week!

Welcome to My Second Trimester!

I'm officially in my second trimester. I still FEEL like I'm in the first. I'm still getting sick a lot and don't have much of an appetite, but hopefully that will end soon. I am definitely getting a baby bump, which makes me very happy! Here are some pictures that JD took on Saturday, which was week 14 (of 40): I'm still not able to eat many things. I can eat pineapple, grapes, apples, bread, soup, and crackers. Yech...I'm so sick and tired of soup and crackers. I've found some alternatives, like tortillas and rice, but I'm really wanting to eat real food! Smoothies have been good too, but I can't find a single place in all of Augusta that makes their smoothies with fresh fruit. It's all with nasty syrup or "pureed fruit in a bottle."

Bojay definitely knows something is wrong with me. Everytime I get sick, she just sits and watches me. When I lay down to take a nap (usually right after I get home from work), she goes in my room and sits there until I lay down. Then she goes to her chair and lays down too. And everytime I look down, she's sitting at my feet. She's so sweet! Here she is relaxing in her chair:

11 Weeks Pregnant and a trip to Memphis

We had our 11 week appointment on Thursday. It was really incredible hearing the heartbeat again! It took the doctor about 10-15 seconds to find the heartbeat and I was getting SO nervous waiting! She kept moving the doppler around my stomach, but kept finding nothing. Then we heard a faint beating. She adjusted the doppler just a bit and the heartbeat came in loud and clear! It was somewhere between 150-160 beats per minute.

Let me just say that my nausea is still full force. I thought it was getting better, but the last three days have been bad. I'll hopefully only have 2 more weeks of getting sick! I can't wait to start taking "belly" pictures. I think you're supposed to start after the first tri-mester, which will be in 2 weeks. I might be showing a little bit...or maybe I'm just bloated. I'm not sure!

Here's a list of foods that I used to like 11 weeks ago, but now they make me vomit: carrots, strawberries, potato soup (that made me queasy to type), greasy anything, ginger ale, Club crackers, kettle popcorn and cucumbers. But I really like pineapple, watermelon, Cheetos, root beer, cherry limades, crunchy granola bars, and grapes.

On a better note, we met my parents and little brother in Memphis for a few days. It was so much fun! We went to Graceland, the zoo, and Beale Street. Here are some photos:

Here we are wearing our Graceland headphones. I'm pretty sure they don't disinfect those things. I was grossed out.

Here's the outside of Graceland.

Elvis decorated Graceland funkier than I expected him. I thought it would be elegant and ritzy. But it was 70's fantastic!

Here's Elvis' grave.

And the cutest little monkey ever! I'm not joking-he was looking right at me the whole time I was trying to get his picture!

This ape was HUGE. I actually felt sorry for him. He was staring at all the people staring at him. He went to the middle of his yard area and just watched everyone. He looked so confused.

Hey Jude

We are SO teaching our kid a cool song too!

7 week sonogram!

JD and I went to our first appointment last week and it was AMAZING! The baby is now the size of a blueberry. The sonogram tech explained what everything was and when she pointed out the baby, the baby was pulsating! The sonogram tech said that was the baby's heartbeat. She flipped a switch and we could actually hear the heartbeat! It was 136 beats per minute. I was speechless-all I could do was listen to the little life inside of me. JD kept saying "wow....wow..." the whole time. I am just amazed at the Lord's creation of life!

Psalm 139:13-16 says "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you,when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

PRAISE GOD for He is the maker of life!

Big News...

The Best Food On the Planet

I have just discovered my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE snack! I cannot get enough of these things! They taste exactly like the Girl Scout's Thin Mints. They are Keebler "Right Bites" Grasshopper Cookies. Only 100 calories per package! They are so good that I have to eat them 2 packs at a time, but that's still only 200 calories! You have GOT to try these jokers!