Just a Quick One

It's a boy!! We found out on June 8th that our little baby is a little baby boy! We landed on the name Gunner Cullen Babb. Gunner because it's awesome, and we've both loved it for like a year or more. Cullen because it's a family name on Daniel's side of the family. And Babb....well duh, that should be obvious. Did you even need to ask on that one? Come on now... =)

He is REALLY starting to move around now. I can pretty much predict when he will be the most active these days. Daniel got to feel him kick for the first time on the 15th, and again today! My mom felt him jumping around yesterday. It's pretty neat to have other people feel him moving around too!

We (Daniel) painted the nursery this week (which was a chore), but it looks fantastic. I will probably just post a picture of it once it's finished instead of posting pic after pic of one or two things added at a time. It's a work in progress. My mom is making his bedding and we picked out the material this week and made a mock up of the quilt she is doing...I am SO excited! It's going to look stinking awesome and cute.

My belly is really starting to get big. I read that in the next month he will double in size, and I'm sure I will do some expanding as well. I got some maternity shorts this weekend and I totally love them. They're also the only pair of shorts I own. Sad. I hate showing my legs, but I just got to the point of wanting to be cool more than caring what other people think about my pale fat legs. They can get over it!

Our third anniversary is on the 30th, and to celebrate we're spending a day in Tulsa, cause that's where all the fun is like The Cheesecake Factory, Babies R Us, and an aquarium. Ha! Not exactly sure of what all we are doing that day, but too much cheesecake is for sure on the agenda....ahhhh I am very excited about that.

I'll end with this week's "Bump Shot"!

Halfway There!

Today marks 20 weeks in my pregnancy! WHAT?!? I can't believe it. 20 weeks down, 20 to go. That's hard to believe. About three weeks ago I felt the baby move for the first time! It was so weird, but it was for SURE a kick. I've been feeling movement every day since then! It's pretty exciting. It likes to move more after I eat. At first I thought it was just because of the fact that my digestive system would start doing it's thing and making noise and things would start moving around, so it would kind of wake baby up, but I later read that eating raises your blood sugar a bit and gives baby a surge of energy! Pretty neat. No wonder it's moving a lot - I can't stop eating now! It seems that my appetite has returned with a vengance. I eat a lot these days. Which feels good to me since I hardly ate anything in the beginning months.

My last doctor's appointment went well and that day I scheduled the appointment for the big ultra sound where we'll find out the gender! That is THIS TUESDAY!!!! Oh I cannot wait. It seems like we've had to wait for ages for this day to arrive, but it's only been a month! What a long month. My belly is pretty sizable now, so I'm anxious to see how much I weigh. Last appointment I found out that since our positive pregnancy test, I have lost 10 pounds. I asked my doctor if that was ok, and she assured me that gaining weight is good for people who are at an average weight for their height. I was overweight when I got pregnant (still am of course), so it's ok that I am losing for now, but I should start gaining a little soon. The baby is getting bigger so I will be getting bigger. but losing a little weight is not a bad thing for me right now.

We signed up for our child birthing class this month!! It starts the first Monday in August, and will be every Monday for six weeks, except the class that falls on Labor Day will be moved to Tuesday. I am excited about that big step. We bought a changing table last weekend, and Daniel tore down our computer room! He was pretty excited about the changing table. It needed to be done though. We went from two computers to one, and moved it and a couple of other "office" things into the guest room so we could start the nursery when we wanted to.

Big changes have been happening! Things are going to get more exciting from here! We find out the gender on Tuesday and I am so looking forward to it! It's SO amazing to watch the baby move around on the ultra sound! Oh, and we don't have a preference on the gender, we'll be excited either way!

Baby Update - Baby Is Great, But People Are Frustrating

First off, nothing is wrong, everything looks good! Baby is doing well. So no worries.

Secondly, I am going to tag some people on Facebook when I post this link, so if you've been tagged, it's because I wanted to let you know about today's events, but there are several of you, so calling you on the phone wasn't as efficient.

Ok, so today was our second appointment! At our last appointment, they told me that at the next one I would get an ultra sound. I called them about three weeks ago to ask if there was a possibility that they might be able to tell us the gender, and they said yes. So, Daniel scheduled to go with me today, as did my mother. We arrived at the office and they sent us back to get the ultra sound.

We were sitting, waiting, and then the ultra sound tech came out and said: "It looks like there's been a mix up, it's too early to do the ultra sound so we're not going to do that today, you're just going to do your normal doctor's appointment." A few seconds went by with the three of us staring at her, and then I realized how mad I was. "Um, they told me last time that I would be getting an ultra sound, they scheduled it, we told them we didn't think we were supposed to get one but they did it anyway, and now that my husband and mother are here we're not getting one?!?!?" I shared with her about how at the last appointment, there was another mix up with our information, which ended with Daniel not being very happy with the lady at the front desk. I was very clear with my disdain for the way they have been handling things, and how frustrated we were and then said "Well, Mom, you should just go to work now because you've already missed work for this and it was all for nothing." The tech looked around for a second, and then said "Wait, you guys come back here really quick." (By this time I could tell that Daniel was about to rip his shirt in two and turn green and start throwing chairs...) So we followed her into a dark room...that had an ultra sound machine. We stood there for a second while she closed the door and said, "Jump up here, you guys came here to see the baby so let's take a look!" So I jumped on the table and thanked her and explained that I was not mad at her, I was frustrated and feel like things should be clear at all times on what's going on. She informed me that the people at the front were new...great.

So we got an ultra sound!!!!!!!! As soon as she put the thing on my belly, there was the baby! It was clear as a bell. You could make out it's head and facial features, and it's arms and legs and feet! Then it stretched all of a sudden and Daniel said "WOAH! DID YOU SEE THAT!" And it just moved like crazy! It kicked it's little foot out, and then it's hand went up to it's face, and then you could see it's cheeks moving.... it was sucking it's thumb!!! Amazing!! It was adorable. I don't have the pictures scanned yet to put on here, but I will soon.

She printed out a few pictures, and I thanked her again. Then we went back out to the waiting room to tell Mom goodbye, and to wait to see the doctor. Twenty minutes later a nurse came out and called "Rachel?" So we got up and followed her back. As she was weighing me, she said something about us having a different time than she did. I wasn't sure what she was talking about, so instead of asking, I just gave a nervous laugh. She marked my weight, and to me it looked like I lost a few pounds so I asked what I weighed last time. As we went into the exam room, she said "Well you've gained about 15 pounds, are you feeling better? Looks like you're eating just fine now!" I looked at her weird and said "I don't think that was my weight last time?..." She then said "So you're at 15 weeks now?" And I said "No I'm at 16 weeks.......wait a minute..." and I looked at her computer, my name was not up there. It was some other Rachel! I told her that was not me, and so she ushered me back out to the waiting room. Ten minutes later she came back for the correct patient, and called out again, "Rachel?" No last name AGAIN! Real smart, lady. You're supposed to learn from your mistakes!

We FINALLY went back with the right nurse, only to wait another half hour for the doctor. Daniel had to leave before the doctor came, but it was a quick appointment with her anyway and wasn't too eventful.

So I scheduled the REAL ultra sound for June 10th to find out the gender. On Twitter and Facebook this morning I said "We have our first real ultra sound scheduled for this morning!!! I'm excited, and a little nervous. Praying for a normal, healthy baby." What I should have said was "Praying for less confusion and more organization at the doctor's office!" After it was all said and done today, I told myself that the people at the front desk are not delivering this baby, my doctor is, and I have total confidence in her.

Seeking Advice

15 weeks pregnant tomorrow! In 5 weeks I will be halfway through this pregnancy. That's hard to believe! We're planning to find out the gender of the baby, and we might be able to find out as soon as next Monday. I have an appointment on May 10th, and by that time I will be 16 weeks along. I am having my first real ultra sound that day, and if this little Babblett cooperates, we might be able to find out if it's a him or her! How exciting.

So, with that said, this blog post is going to be an open forum on baby products. I am getting ready to start a registry, and I'd like to take my time on it (I felt rushed on my wedding registry for some reason). I know a LOT of people who have had babies recently, and I would like to know any and all of your suggestions on things you like, things you love, things you can't live without, things that are totally unnecessary, things that are fun to have but aren't imperative, and anything else I have not covered.

When you give your suggestions, please be sure to include where the items are available and any other important info you might have about them. This should be fun! Let's get going!

It's true!

Well, we're pregnant! After a week of telling all our family and friends, I kind of feel numb today. I've been so excited about sharing the news, that after a long week of being ridiculously excited and happy, I feel like I have no emotions left. Kind of sad. Also, I'm crazy tired, which is to be expected.

Here are the stats. We're due October 24th, so right now I am just over 11 weeks along. I'm almost to the second trimester! That's kind of huge. I have had a type of "morning sickness", but no actual throwing up yet. Around week 6 I was incredibly nauseous, and it got worse when I got hungry, so I had to eat, but I felt sick so I didn't want to eat, but I needed to eat because I felt sick....it was a crazy feeling. It's started to get much better these last two weeks, and I am thankful for that.

Daniel is pretty stinking excited, but like me, he is drained after this weekend. We have been tossing around some ideas for names, but nothing has been decided just yet. I assume we will tell everyone our choice of name when we find out what we're having, which should be in about 9 weeks or so. We still have time.

It feels really strange to talk about it openly now. We've kept it a secret for so long that it started to feel like it was keeping the baby "safe", and now I have been nervous that now that everyone knows something might happen.....I know, it sounds weird and I can't really explain it. I'm a weird person and I am also a worrier. Just pray that everything is going smoothly AND that I will stop worrying! I have been dreaming a lot about this baby and everything that goes with it! I need sleep!

Speaking of dreaming, I have had some weird dreams so far, and one of them is pretty funny. I dreamed that we had the baby, it was a boy, and 2 weeks later we decided to go out to eat. Well, Daniel takes the kid and sits him up on the table like he's 3 years old or something...and the baby slowly falls over! I grabbed him and said "Daniel, stop that! He can't even sit up on his own. He doesn't need to be on the table" and Daniel kept grabbing him from me and put him on the table again! Over and over, it was like a cartoon or something. Really weird.

My first appointment is Thursday, so we will see what all that involves! We are so excited and this is by far the biggest thing to ever happen to us.

These are a few of my favorite things

The simplest things in life are often my favorite. I have decided to list a few of these things, because I'm sure someone else has at least one of these things in common with me.

Warm
Really warm towels from the dryer are so awesome, and to make it better, they smell soooo good!

A warm fireplace on a really cold night is such a great thing. I enjoy curling up with a warm blanket with the fire going to watch a movie.

A really nice smelling candle is so great. I got a MacIntosh Apple Yankee Candle for Christmas and I love it so much.

Fuzzy
Really cushiony, fuzzy socks are my favorite. I currently don't own any, but my birthday is coming up in less than a week.......... =)

A super fuzzy scarf is so nice in the winter. I need things like this to get me through the cold months!

Clean
Opening up a new bottle of fabric softner is something I live for. I love shopping for new scents and really love trying them out for the first time. I'm currently using Downy's Spice Blossom Dare.

I really get a kick out of coming straight home from work to wash my face and brush my teeth. It sounds weird, but there's something about washing the day off you, it makes me feel refreshed and relaxed. I love having clean teeth too, so this one is a given. After I wash my face I love to use a really good night cream. I'm currently using this awesome stuff from Oil of Olay.

Organized
I really love organizing things that really need it. I love shopping for organization supplies and things.

Delicious
I really love the smell of bread baking in the oven, but then again, who doesn't!

There's something about the smell of sauteing onions that makes me feel like I'm back at home as a kid and Mom is in the kitchen cooking. Divine.

Surprises

I LOVE getting mail that's actually for me from a person!! None of this junk mail stuff. Christmas time is my favorite because of all the cards and picture cards we get. So fun.

I love love love little surprises! It doesn't have to be anything big or expensive. When I was a kid, Dad used to bring me home things like RC Cola and little toys. The other night Daniel brought me home a chocolate orange! I love these things!!

Well, that about does it for this edition of "Mandy's Favorite Things". I'd like to hear some of your favorites!

It's Quiet Here

Daniel is on a hiking/camping trip this weekend. He left early this morning. So I've got tons of free time! I'm filling it up with fun things like laundry, craft projects, and facebook. =) Actually, laundry is no fun, and it shall never be fun. But it is filling up some of my time.

I am looking forward to Christmas and I've been listening to Christmas music at work during the day. I have created a few awesome Pandora stations that are perfect, and our house is totally decorated. 1- because we love Christmas so much, and 2- because we didn't really have any other weekend to do the decorating. Our schedules are crazy.

So to get you guys (all two of you...) excited about Christmas, here are some videos!







My favorite Christmas cartoon.