loves.

my 2 loves. b is such a good daddy-to-be reading "Dad's Pregnant Too!" ruby is going to have a hard time when our 3rd love is actually in our arms and we're not just reading about how to prepare for her...

finley.

enough said. :)

reveal.

we finally decided on a name, but we want to tell our family in a fun way. we decided to put her name on the x-mas cards too so they say love, brandon, kara and ________. they went out today and should get there on tuesday. we're staggering the cards to make sure mom and mike, dad and heidi, erin and chris, sam and gayle, and tracy and brent get them first. the others will probably go out tuesday. we thought this would be a neat way of telling everyone and we're giving everybody a warning to make sure to check the mail in a couple days. when we told some family members today i think we actually stressed them out. hopefully just for a minute. i mean erin really tried hard to get me to tell her, but i resisted. i was literally sweating when i got off the phone with her she was making me work so hard. finally she just wanted me to narrow it down to 2 names, but i wouldn't even give her that. she was the one i wanted to surprise the most with the name since i didn't really surprise her in a creative way when we found out we were pregnant. so she can hold her horses a couple days. i made her put chris on the phone so maybe he can talk some sense into her. can you talk sense into a 37 week pregnant woman?

it's a huge relief to have a name picked, and one we both love.

plus not only did we pick a name, but b got to feel her moving around too! and i finally broke down and bought maternity pants. i thought it was difficult shopping before all this, but let's just say they don't make kids' maternity. which is a great thing, but i would really benefit from it. xs petite is still too big for me, but i found one pair that'll work.

mid.

well, we're half way there!! this is both awesome and terrifying. the first half really did fly by when i think about it. which means the second half will probably do the same. i feel like there's a ton to get done before april, but we're working as fast as we can. one big thing we crossed off the list was the crib and dresser. thanks mom and dad! we don't have it in our possession yet (about 6-10 weeks to get it), but here's what it looks like:

 

today we had our 20 week appt and everything was "perfect." what more could we ask for? as soon as the ultrasound was on her we caught her mid yawn. it was hilarious (and quite a yawn). i never thought about her yawning in there, but the ultrasound tech woman said she'll do everything in there that she'll do out here. it was pretty darn cute. but the recording wasn't turned on yet so we didn't get that on the dvd. :( oh well, i'm sure we'll see her yawn plenty in her life time. her heart rate was 142 (that's good), weighs .8 lbs and my weight gain is pretty good. i feel like i'm eating (or want to eat) all the time. teaching, however, is not conducive to eating or going to the bathroom.


so far things have been going great. my only "problem" is i'm pretty tired, but working with 6 year olds all day doesn't really help that and i'd probably be exhausted whether i was pregnant or not. this just gives me a better excuse to call it a night at 8:30. and i'm pretty sure i feel her move now, and that's pretty weird. awesome, but weird nonetheless.

while in the waiting room today i got to thinking that this was about the time 4 years ago i decided to take a job in houston not knowing ANYBODY. then remembering that a high school friend lived somewhere in houston. then calling him up once i actually moved. erin would call him my "houston husband" even though we weren't even dating. about 3 years ago he had the guts to tell me he liked me. 2 years ago asked me to marry him. and a little over a year ago became my husband. i guess everything really does happen for a reason. she's on her way.

name.

no we haven't chosen a name yet. it's waaaaay harder than you think it should be. i've loved a name FOREVER and as soon as we found out we were having a girl i thought, "yes! i get to use that name now!" but now that it's actually here i'm not so sure. and of course b is a researcher so he's not down with making a decision that quickly when we obviously have time. we have several we like so we're trying them out. every few days we call her something different. this way we can see what feels right. it really is a huge decision. you have to think of initials, nick names, ways kids might make fun of the name, etc. i even think as a teacher and what i would think if i saw that name on my roster at the beginning of the year. *le sigh...


and p.s. i weigh 101 lbs!!!! i've gained about 10 lbs which is awesome for me!

progress.

let's go all the way back to week 5 (so pretty much right after we found out the exciting news):

 

Needless to say, my stomach does not look like THAT anymore. Move right along to 17 weeks, then 18 weeks (tonight actually). The in between pics are not terribly exciting. It seemed like around 11 weeks she started to grow quite a bit and now I feel like I'm getting bigger by the second.

 

i always thought erin was crazy when she said she felt HUGE when she obviously wasn't, but i get it now. and my stomach itches like whoa. TMI? i think not, i'm just being honest. apparently my skin is not used to stretching like this. awesome.

bgh.

as if you haven't heard already....we're having a GIRL!!!!!!!!!!! i know either way we'd be this excited, but i can not wait to meet this little girl. b and i were both thinking girl (although i didn't really come to my decision until we were literally walking into the doctor's). not sure why i picked girl, but maybe i did have some sort of "feeling." people kept asking me if i had a "feeling" and i just thought i was broken. i had no idea what they were talking about. there really is nothing like seeing your baby. i knew seeing her was going to be incredible, but there really is nothing like it. the first time we saw her at 7 weeks, she looked like this:

and now she looks like this!!

i mean really. it's amazing.


we're a little over 16 weeks and i think i look like i'm pregnant, but i can't count on one hand how many times i've heard "are you sure you're pregnant? haha" insert their smile here. i, however, don't find it that humorous. good friends and family can tell i have a little bump. she's in there. :)

i told my kiddos the other day after one kid straight up asked me if i was having a baby. see? even a 6 year-old can tell. i digress. they were REALLY excited and had some interesting ideas for names. such as: spirits, skittles and stellaluna (we'd just read that book). we don't have a name yet, but i'm pretty sure we wont be going with any of their suggestions.

so if you were reading this blog just to keep up with my shopping, i'm sorry to tell you that's not really high priority any more. it's all about baby girl hawkins (bgh) now. :)