30 Weeks

I've reached the 30 week point this week. All is going great! We had our 3D/4D ultrasound today...which totally rocked our world. :) I love all the excitement that comes with pregnancy. First its the pregnancy test, then the first ultrasound, and then the gender determination, and next is the 3D/4D, and then labor comes and soon you're home with a new baby!! For me, pregnancy is a time when I get lots accomplished. Closets uncluttered, bedrooms purged, cobwebs removed from corners of the house I forgot existed. We have projects GALORE going on over here. Our list is about 2 pages long. Finish painting exterior of the house, fence in backyard, reseal the deck, replace deck furniture, replace front door, install storm door, paint kitchen, replace countertops, add backsplash, ...heck, decorate the nursery! And that's just the tip of the iceberg ;) I think I'm going nuts trying to get this all accomplished before the baby comes because I know I'll be doing nothing but nursing a newborn and trying to entertain a 2 & 1/2 year old everyday of my life this summer. Bring it on. :)


Picked up Stella's nursery bedding last week. Bedding #1 won our hearts and many of yours it looks like. :) I love, love, love that light blue color and pink together for baby girls. Many of the first clothes I picked out for Ava were that color, and I find myself drawn to the same color for Stella. Probably because blue is my favorite color. And Ava's too. She will pick out anything she sees that's blue and say, "oooh I yike bwue!" Never fails. :) It's a nice break from pinks and purples...although I love girly colors too, don't worry. ;)


Picture time!

This technology is incredible. I love that you can see her knuckles and even the bones in her arm, but it also shows off her chubbiness :)

She's got all my favorite baby parts. Button nose, kissy lips, chubby cheeks!!

This person is in my belly right now! 2nd pregnancy and 30 weeks into it and I still can hardly fathom how incredible it is to grow a baby. God gave women an amazing 'talent'.

I love her little hands up by her mouth. Wonder if she'll be a thumb sucker?

Love me some baby footsies!

...and it's officially undeniably official...baby Stella is a girl. :)

Click here to see Ava's 3D/4D pics!

It's a Girl!!!

We had our anatomy scan today and this baby is looking wonderful. So healthy, so wiggly, so absolutely precious. All measurements are looking perfect and I'm feeling fantastic. Thank You God!!!

We also found out our sweet baby's gender today...and yep, as the title suggests...it's a girl!! We are on cloud nine!!! I am so excited to have another girl and cannot wait to watch my two sweet girls grow up together as best friends...sometimes worst enemies...but mostly best friends. I know from experience having a sister is THE BEST and although mine is 11 years older than I, we've experienced the best things together. We've moved together, lived together, attended college together, worked together...you name it. I can only imagine how fun it will be for Ava to have a sister 3 years younger. Awesome. And although Eric didn't land a boy this time...he was all smiles for hours after leaving the OB office. He can't fool me...he secretly loves having all us girls around to fill his heart with sappy-love and occasional drama. ;o)

We've decided her name will be Stella. We haven't secured a definite middle name yet...but we have several ideas. I've loved that name for awhile now. I love that its classy & unique. And of course that it goes well with 'Ava'. :) Thankfully, I have an agreeable husband. I'm leaving the middle name up to him though...well, mostly. ;)

Here's some pictures from lately. I'm 20 weeks now...half way to the end...sadly. ;)

growing and growing!

 Belly smooches!

 Oh, the love I feel for my babies...

Stella's first outfit. I can't wait to have a summer baby!

Coming Soon...

Most of you already know by way of facebook... but I thought I would officially share our most exciting news of late. Ava is going to be a BIG SISTER!!!!! I'm due the beginning of July (which seems light years away today) which makes me right around 6 weeks right now. Eric & I are thrilled, as you can imagine!! We didn't follow through with any of the creative ways we imagined telling our friends and family about expecting a second baby... cookie announcements... Ava's "Big Sister" shirt... coming up with cute riddles... but, oh well... here's the news!

So how am I feeling so far? Well... I am feelin' fantastic! These beginning weeks always play mind games with me... I feel so good, so is it really true? Am I really pregnant? The 3, well 4, pregnancy tests all agree with the signals my body is giving me in more ways than one that I must be pregnant, but overall I feel so great! I took yet another test a couple days ago... you know, just to be sure... :) It's a wonderful thing knowing that we'll have another sweet little baby to love on next summer. I remember with Ava (I have a feeling I will be referring to my last pregnancy A LOT from here on out) that I always felt pretty good in the beginning as well. Mild queasiness that was mostly cured by sipping some ginger ale and heartburn that began really early were just about my only complaints.  I think so anyway... it's amazing how much you forget in a short 2 years. I'll try not to complain too much about something I asked for though... until my 3rd trimester that is, and at that point I can make no promises. ;)  I will say that afternoon naps have become the norm in the past couple weeks. I have had an interesting attraction to vinegar, of all things. I'm slightly obsessed with it actually. I clean everything with it, put it on my food, could drink it, and I might even go so far as bathing in it by the end of this pregnancy! So crazy!!! Just talking about it has my mouth watering! Overall, I'm feeling joyfully pregnant. Ask me again next week. ;o)

Your next question is probably regarding the baby's gender and whether or not we will find out what we're having. ;) The answer there is yes, we will most likely find out what we're having...I am not completely sold on finding out the baby's gender yet, but Eric totally is. I kind of think a surprise would be wonderful, since there are so few true surprises in life as it is, but my anal side tells me that I'll want to have the nursery decorated with a specific boy or girl theme. It's probably no surprise that Eric is rooting for a boy... but I will be satisfied either way. I can see Ava growing up with a little sister... but a little brother would be special as well. I'm just praying for a pregnancy and baby that's happy & healthy!