She is "perfect"

According to the specialist we saw today, she is perfect. He said it over and over, and that was great to hear. He said the heart, brain, and organ development looked great, there was the right amount of fluid around her- not too much not too little, the length and weight were on schedule with how far along I am, and they confirmed she is a girl. He said it is normal for some people to measure differently in centimeters than what week they are. The appointment couldn't have gone better. The staff were really kind, patient, and thorough. He said he predicts a 7.5-8 lb baby at birth which also seems normal. Her head was measuring in the 80th percentile, which is the bigger end of the scale, but as he said some people just wear larger hats than others. :)
We also got some great pictures.


Here is a profile shot


Each of her legs


4D of her face


And one of her fists.

My sister surprised us and was waiting outside for us after the appointment. We celebrated with a treat at Panera afterward. We appreciate all of the prayers, messages, and phone calls and praise God for the health of our girl.

Still here

We are still here. Things are a very busy right now. This week we could use some prayer.
At my last Dr's appointment I was scheduled for a special ultrasound due to measuring about 6-7 weeks ahead. The appointment for the ultrasound is on Tuesday, and I am ready to have it behind us, know what is going on, and if everything is OK.
We are packing this week and moving this weekend. I am looking forward to being back in our house!
After some things that happened at the last doctor's appointment we have decided we need to change doctors. It has been a little overwhelming for me to think about doing at this point in my pregnancy, but after prayer and talking with some people I feel at this time it is the right thing to do. Many of the offices I have called are not accepting new patients right now, and I am waiting to hear back from another one.
With moving, Dr. searching, and wondering if everything is alright with our sweet girl I have been a little overwhelmed. Through everything I know that God is faithful, and in my spirit I keep coming back to the word "simplicity". As I think about parenthood, I want to be content with what we have and simplify our life as much as possible. My prayer when we were discussing selling our house/renting our house again/where we should move was that if God wanted our house to sell it would and if it is better for us to stay there then for that to happen. We would love a bigger house but the house we have meets our needs and allows me to be flexible with how much I work. Anyway, enough rambling, if you would keep us in your prayers we would appreciate it. I know this busy week will fly by and we will be celebrating the 4th of July before we know it.
Here are some recent pictures. I haven't taken many over the past few weeks.

Hayli and I at my sister's 30th birthday party


27 weeks! Third trimester...here I come. In anticipation of this week I made sure we had some fun this weekend. Swimming, a pedicure, a trip to the farmer's market for fresh fruit and veggies, and time with friends and family was just what I needed. My mom has been working on the bedding and the bumper is finished and the quilt is in progress. It looks beautiful and I am so happy with it! Have a great week!

Beginnings of the nursery

After going to many fabric stores with my mom, I finally made a decision for the bedding for the nursery today.


These fabrics will be for the bumper and one side of the quilt.


The top fabric (the pink minky) will be the back side of the quilt. The pink satin is for the bed skirt and ruffle for the quilt and bumper. Our crib, dresser, and chair have been ordered and are *supposed* to arrive well before our due date. I hope to not make any more decisions for a few days! :) I get too overwhelmed with so many options.

Highlights of the week

1. Spending a night on the riverwalk in San Antonio on the way down.

We ate dinner on the riverwalk and strolled around for a while



2. Celebrating George's 7th birthday!


3. Dolphin Cruise/Eco Tour

We saw TONS of dolphins. It was really magical!



Michael and the butterfly sting ray. (After this picture Michael put his finger in the ray's mouth and it flipped in the air out of his hands.)

4. The last night always ends with watching fireworks over the bay


5. Naps every day
6. Fresh seafood
7. Having time to read three books
8. Being at the ocean and spending time with my family

10 years

We had our 10 year high school reunion a couple of weekends ago. Crazy it has been that long!


My boyfriend from high school


My best friend Callie that I met in 5th grade.


Some of our group from our senior trip


It was fun to see some of the people we spent every day with for many years. A lot has changed in 10 years and some things haven't seemed to change at all.

Sunrise over the ocean

We are at the beach with my family for our annual trip. You might be able to hear my sighs of relaxation all the way in Oklahoma City.

Our road trip west

We left after my 20 week dr's appointment and headed out on 1-40/Rt. 66

We drove through OK, TX, NM, and then AZ. It was really flat in NM but as we got closer to Arizona it got a lot prettier. We spent the night in Albuquerque and enjoyed good Mexican food.


The next day we made it to our bed and breakfast at the Desert Rose in Arizona.


They had turkeys that made fresh eggs for breakfast.


Awesome water feature in the back garden.


After we got settled we went out for a hike in Sedona.


Looking out from Cathedral Rock


The next day we drove to the Grand Canyon. We stopped at some smaller national parks along the way.


We finally made it!


The vastness of it all was incredible. It couldn't justly be captured in pictures.




We stayed for the sun setting over the canyon and then drove back.


The next day we spend time in Sedona. At the look out point of the chapel of the holy cross


I thought this sign was cute.


Sun setting over Sedona




Our delicious meal our last night at the barking frog grille.

We had a great time! We had lots of great talks, good food, saw amazing things, and both felt really relaxed after being away.

Celebrate!

A couple of weeks ago my parents took us out to celebrate me getting my license. I love to celebrate things, especially when it involves great deserts!


I just picked it up from getting it framed this week. Finishing my license is almost better than graduating to me. I am so relieved to have it done, and glad I finished before having kids. I will now have to start accruing continuing education hours every year, but that is no where near as strenuous as being under supervision for licensure. YAY!

21 weeks

I am past the 1/2 way mark! The diaper bag I ordered came in the mail while we were on vacation. I was excited to have one *tiny* thing to check off the list of the MANY things to do to prepare for our baby. I look so tired in this picture, which is due to waking up at 3:30 and staying awake for the rest of the night. The receptionist at work (who tells it like it is) told me this morning, "You don't look very perky." Well, it turns out, this pregnant girl with little sleep, and a hacking cough doesn't look too "perky" at 8AM!
I am off to the store to buy some of my current favs- OJ and natural peanut butter. When I woke up this morning I was wishing I had some hot peach tea to soothe my throat- so I better add that to the list too. :)

That guy...

Michael has been super sweet and encouraging to me throughout my pregnancy. A couple of weeks ago I randomly mentioned that a nutella crepe sounded REALLY good.


Luckily we have nutella on hand and he decided to try to make some. I just supervised the process, but it turns out they are super easy to make, even though we don't have all the "crepe making" tools.


It was SO GOOD!! :) I am very blessed to have him.

We are headed out of town now to go to Arizona for a few days. I wondered if I would dread being the car for that long, but I am not. It has been a really long last couple of weeks. With check out in the apartments for a week, and other things we have had going on, we have had something pretty much every night after work plus busy weekends. I am ready for some stillness, quiet, and downtime. I am looking forward to spending a few days alone with my best friend, seeing beautiful places God created, and checking off another place that is on our list of places to see.

Week 20

According to babycenter.com, our baby is the size of a banana this week!

It's a...

A couple of weeks ago, we went to our 18 week ultrasound with great anticipation. We could not wait to find out what we were having. Such a special moment- to see our baby again after 10 weeks and to find out if we were having a boy or girl. But to my great disappointment- our baby would not cooperate. The baby had its legs closed, put its hand down covering the area we wanted to see, and crossed its legs. The technician worked with me for a long time, pushing and poking me, but our baby was not having it. We had lots of phone calls, texts, and emails from people waiting to know the outcome. I just went to sleep after the appointment because the news was so anti-climatic! After my nap, I decided to call a place that does ultrasounds and see about scheduling another one there. My next one at the doctor would not be for a couple of months and I wanted to know. (I should note, that everything else went well. The baby's organs were all developing properly, the brain development looked good, all the things that they were really checking for! :)
We were able to get an appointment the next week. Our baby was still very "snuggly" with its legs closed and crossed for this appointment. But it was confirmed that we are having a baby girl! Michael wore a pink shirt and socks to the appointment, saying he knew all along.

Here is our baby girl at 19 weeks.


Leaving the appointment with our "It's a girl" water bottle. We have been talking about names over the past several weeks. I have loved the name Isabella for a long time. We are calling her Isabella, and still working on a middle name. (And NO, there is no connection to twilight.)


A snapshot of my maternity clothes and the clothes we have been given for Isabella this week.
I have no reason to have her clothes hanging up, as she won't be needing them for several more months, other than I just like to see them when I open my closet. :)


Mother's Day 2010


When my mom was pregnant with their first baby, my dad gave her an eternity band to symbolize his "forever" commitment to her and their baby as they began this new stage of life. I always loved that and had told Michael about it a long time ago. He remembered. This morning when we woke up he said sweet things about his commitment to me and our children, and then gave me my very own eternity band. So sweet! I love it!
I am happy to be feeling better and starting to feel her fluttering around!