27 Weeks

Today has definitely been a busy day!  My parents got us our crib for Christmas, so today my parents and brother came over to help put it together.  Of course, since our house was super messy, I was up early and did some super cleaning for about and hour and a half before they came over.  Then we spent a good portion of the day putting the crib together.  It wasn't a super tough job once we figured out what all the pieces were since none of them were labeled! :)  Here is what the finished product looks like!  I even had to go and get a new crib sheet to put on it.  The cute little basket on the shelf is from my friend Dana. :)

Also, since we're still renting our place, we can't paint and it's highly frowned upon to put lots of things on the wall.  I found these really cute wall stickers on Amazon, though.  They are removable and reusable, so we can transfer them to his new room once we eventually get into our own house.  They are supposed to be coming in the mail tomorrow, and I can't wait to start decorating his room with them!

These are all the stickers we get!

This picture shows how big they are.  The biggest one is 22" x 19"!

Just a short post today.  Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!!  This is my last week at the pharmacy.  (I put in my 2 weeks at the beginning of last week, for those that don't know.)  I can't wait to have some extra free time to get things done around here and get ready for BP to make his big arrival in 3 months!  His due date is actually 3 months from today!!  Amazing how fast that first 6 months went by....

Good night.  Have a fantastic and safe New Year's everyone! :)

26 Weeks

Merry Christmas!!

Our first official family picture. ;)

There's not a whole lot to update at this point.  Time is definitely flying by.  I'm not officially to the 3rd trimester until January 2, but I've hit the 6 month mark.  I can't believe how these weeks are flying by now.  At the beginning of the pregnancy, time was dragging along.  There seemed to always be something we were waiting for.  Waiting for our first appt, waiting to hear the heartbeat, waiting for the ultrasound, waiting to feel his first kicks.  Now, we are definitely in countdown mode.  I've been feeling our little guy move since 18 weeks, and by now, I'm definitely feeling him kick and punch.  Garret has been able to feel him move quite a bit too.  He actually got a big kick in the face the other day.  I read that if Garret puts his ear to my belly, there's a chance he might be able to hear BP's heartbeat.  He was trying that theory out last weekend, and instead of hearing his heartbeat, he just got a kick to the face instead.  It was pretty funny, and Garret loved it!  I've even been able to see my belly move a few times when he gives a big kick.  It's also pretty cool being able to feel where he's curled up based on which side of my stomach is really hard at the time.

Last weekend we went to Eau Claire to visit Garret's family for Christmas.  While we were there, we went to the fabric store to pick out fabric for his room.  Garret's mom is going to be making some bedding and accessories for his room.  Below are the 2 patterned fabrics we picked out.  They will be accented by light tan and light green.  I can't wait to see the final products. :)

                                                           

My parents are getting us our crib for Christmas, so my dad will be coming over the day after to help set it up.  I can't wait to start getting his room put together.  I've definitely been getting that nesting itch, and I can't wait to start on my (very quickly growing) to-do list!  Things will calm down a little after the holidays.  Here is a picture of the crib we are getting.  I will post a picture of our actual crib after it gets set up in a few days.

I guess I had more to update than I thought. :)  Hope everybody has a wonderful Christmas and New Year's!  Love you all!

Love,
Amy, Garret, Jackson, and BP :)

23 Weeks

22 Week photo

Oops, guess it's been a little while since my last post.  It seems like all I do lately is work, work, work! :(  Garret and I had a fun Thanksgiving.  We went to the cities and spent the day with his family at Kristine and John's new house (which is beautiful, by the way!).  But then it was back to work for both of us Friday morning and all weekend long.

Some big things have been happening since my last post.  I last posted after our ultrasound, which seems like sooo long ago already.  Since then BP (which Garret and I are calling him since it's easier to say all the time than Baby Prince) has definitely increased his wardrobe.  I'll post a few pictures of my favorites below. Also, I can definitely tell he's getting bigger each week, because his kicks and flips get more noticeable as time goes on.  I started feeling the first movements at about 17 1/2 weeks.  I felt him from the outside at 20 weeks.  I still am only able to feel him from the outside, though, when I'm laying on my back and press on my stomach a little bit.  I can feel him kick back at me.  Garret had been telling me how it was so cool that I could feel him moving around and he couldn't wait to get his chance!  He had spent a few nights with me pressing his hand into my belly so he could try and feel for himself.  Finally, about a week or so ago, he felt BP kick back!  He was so excited.  It was such an awesome feeling for both of us to share.  I could feel him from the inside at the same time Garret felt him from the outside.  We can finally interact with our little one a bit!:)

At the beginning of the pregnancy, it felt like we were always waiting for something.  Waiting for the next doctor appt, waiting to hear his heartbeat, waiting for the ultrasound, waiting to feel his first movements.  Now that we are past all that, time is really starting to fly by!  These next 4 months will be gone before we know it.

Since time is ticking by, we have started talking about things more as we make some fun decisions.  We have decided to decorate his room in a puppies theme (thank you Dana for the suggestion). :)  And since, we've been getting this questions non-stop......Yes, we have been thinking about names, and No, we aren't telling anybody!  Right now, we have 2 front runners that we both love, one more than the other.  That is going to be Garret's and my little secret until D-Day, though.  Reason #1: If we start calling him by a certain name, people will get used to that.  If, for some reason, the name just doesn't fit him when he's born, it will be a bigger hassle if people already assumed that was his name.  That's another reason we aren't getting any decorations or anything with a name on it before he is born.  Reason #2 (and more importantly): People make too many comments.  It doesn't matter whether it's a good comment or a bad comment, people always associate names with other people, places, things, etc.  I don't care or need to know what anybody thinks about the names we have picked out.  We love them and any comments from others could ruin them for us.  Reason #3: Garret and I want something that share between just the 2 of us until the little guy comes.

Whew, I guess this is what happens when I wait 4 weeks in between posts!  Hope everybody had a relaxing Thanksgiving.  Good night!

He has matching shorts for these shoes

My favorite purchase! This is also 1 of 3 puffy vests BP owns already....

The "classy" outfit Garret wants to bring him home from the hospital in. :)

19 Weeks

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!

I thought I would show you guys what I dressed Baby Prince up for Halloween...a Jack-O-Lantern!

I think all of you have heard about our ultrasound by now.  I can't believe it was only a few days ago.  It feels like so long ago already!  It was one of the most amazing days of my life.  It truly (finally!) made this pregnancy seem 100% real.  It all happened so fast, too.  When the ultrasound tech called us from the waiting room, we were in the exam room, I was up on the table, and there was a picture of our baby on the screen all in a matter of about 2 minutes.  I turned to Garret in disbelief that the day had finally come.  It was such a surreal moment to see the image of our little baby on the screen.  There was definitely no denying anymore that this wasn't real.

Obviously, we were also excited to find out whether we were going to be getting a little prince or princess.  Now, thanks to our good friend Pat Boos who is an ultrasound technician, we knew what we were looking for.  A turtle on a log means boy, and a hamburger means girl.  I had my eyes scrutinizing every image to see if I could guess before we officially found out.  The first structure the technician showed us was the baby's bladder.  It was an image from the bottom up.  As soon as I saw that picture, I looked at Garret wondering if he had just seen what I had.  I was pretty sure I knew at that moment what our baby was.  I didn't say anything just in case I was going crazy and seeing something else.  I got a little confused during the middle of the ultrasound because I thought I had seen a different image that looked like a girl, so I definitely kept my mouth shut at that point.  When it came time to find out the gender, the ultrasound tech printed out a picture with our proof and wrote on the picture so we knew for sure, then she left the room.  Before she left, I asked her how sure she was of what she had written down.  She calmed my nerves of having the wrong gender told to us when she said "I wouldn't tell you if I wasn't 100% sure."  Garret and I were then alone in the room together and I was nervous to pull out the picture.  I flipped it over, read the words "It's a boy!", and immediately started crying.  I would have had the same reaction either way, but we finally knew! We have a son!  The rest of the ultrasound went by in a blur.  We enjoyed seeing our little guy squirming around like crazy.  He must have been getting sick of getting his picture taken, because by the end of the ultrasound, he kept putting his hands up by his face so we could only get a couple face pictures.  We spent the rest of the day calling our friends and family and telling them the big news.  It's such a great feeling to be able to call our baby " son" and refer to him as "he" and "him".  No more "it" baby!  Before I leave you, I'll attach a few more pictures for your viewing pleasure.  Good night! :)

He looks so cozy in there.  :)

Our little guy getting shy

17 Weeks

Garret and I had our 16 week appt last Thursday.  I ended up being excited for this appointment, after all, because we got to hear our baby's heartbeat again.  It was amazing, again!  It was also sooo much louder and more intense this time.  Garret and I both had a moment of alarm while listening to the heartbeat.  Shortly after our midwife found it on the monitor (which took all of about 2 seconds this time!), the sound of the heartbeat all of a sudden changed.  Garret and I looked at each other with the same thought in our heads.  Garret was the one to voice our concern.  "What if there's two in there?"  Our midwife's expression never changed when the sound on the monitor changed, and she didn't seem to think anything of it, so I'm not too worried, but it definitely got our minds racing for a little bit.  I tried to get the recording posted on here, but I can't figure out how.

The other super exciting thing that happened at our appointment is that we got to schedule our ultrasound!!! It is set for....drum roll please.....next Thursday, Oct. 27!!!  I am sooo incredibly excited to be able to get a glimpse of our growing little pumpkin.  And of course, as the entire world knows, I CANNOT WAIT to find out if we're having a little boy or girl!  I feel like once we know that, Garret and I can really start planning things.  We can decide how we're going to decorate the baby's room, we can register, and we can also seriously start talking about names.  Wow, I can't believe we're 5 months away from adding this little one to our family. Whew....


My friend Jackie has been dying to see pictures of the baby bump.  I told her that it would be awhile until I posted some, but since I think I'm past the "Is she pregnant or is she fat?" stage I figured why not.  So, Jackie, this is for you.....

15 Weeks

It's crazy to think we're a month away from being halfway through the pregnancy.  I still feel like things are dragging along, but the months are definitely flying by at the same time.  Garret and I have our next appt next Thursday.  I'm really excited for it because we get to hear our baby's heartbeat again.  I'm definitely not as excited for this appt, though, as I have been for all the other ones.  Other than the heartbeat, I doubt there will really be anything exciting happening at this appt.  Another reason I'm not as excited for this one is because I know what happens at the appt after this one......the ULTRASOUND!!!!  I can't wait to see a picture of our little precious baby!  I thought that hearing the heartbeat would make the idea of this baby seem so real, and it did....for a little while.  I'm back to the point where I feel like there's nothing inside me anymore.  I listen to the recording of Baby Prince's heartbeat whenever I feel like this, but it only works for a little while.  I really feel like actually seeing pictures of our baby and being able to call it "him" or "her" (FINALLY!) will help this pregnancy feel more real.

Also, I'm (im)patiently waiting to feel the first little flutters of our little one.  I've been researching and found that I should be able to feel the baby move anywhere between now and 20 weeks.  I certainly hope it's sooner than later!  That will ease my mind at all times that our little prince or princess is wiggling away inside. I have a couple apps on my phone that give me daily tips and weekly updates on our baby's development.  One of them told me that starting this week, our baby can start to hear our voices.  They sound very muffled, but it can hear tones and voices.  Of course that means Garret has been talking to my belly even more than before.  I love it though.  He is going to be such an amazing dad. :)

Well, I can't wait to update you all on when our ultrasound gets scheduled next week!

12 Weeks

So, after 3 weeks, I suppose it's time for a new post.


                                            
Garret and I had an incredible week this week.  On Thursday, we had our next appointment and we got to hear Baby Prince's heartbeat for the first time! :)  It was the most amazing feeling to have that first real connection with your baby.  I had been having a tough time grasping the reality of the situation.  As I explained it to Garret one night, I know 100% that I am pregnant, but to me "being pregnant" just consists of a bunch of signs and symptoms.  I seriously didn't believe that there was an actual baby growing inside of me.  To me, being pregnant and having a baby inside of me were two completely different things.  Well, there's no denying they are one in the same now. :)  I feel like we just found out we were pregnant all over again.

Garret took a recording on his phone of the heartbeat and we have listened to it about a million times by now.  I get that mushy, sentimental feeling every time I hear it.  And of course, I tear up everytime too, but it's not like that would surprise anyone. :)

Our midwife (all our prenatal care and delivery will be through the midwife for those that don't know) said that we would probably be ready for the ultrasound around the end of October or early November.  That is the appointment that I absolutely can't wait for!  First of all, I'm especially anxious to find out whether we are having a little boy or girl.  (I'm going out on a limb and saying Mama's intuition says girl!)  More importantly, I can't wait to see a picture of our sweet little baby.  I thought hearing the heartbeat was amazing, I can't imagine how it will feel to actually see the baby.

A girl at work told me a cute little story yesterday about what her and her husband did when finding out what gender their baby was.  They asked the ultrasound tech to not tell them what the baby was, but instead write down on a piece of paper "boy" or "girl", seal it in an envelope, and to put the picture showing proof in another envelope.  They took the envelope with the word to a local grocery store, asked the bakery to make a small cake and either put raspberry filling or blueberry filling in the cake depending on what was in the envelope.  They then found out what their baby was when they cut into the cake.  I don't think I have enough patience to wait for a cake to be made to find out that kind of info, but Garret and I are discussing how we want to find out.  We want to have a special moment just between the two of us when we find out.

Anyways, there I go rambling again.  Have a good weekend everyone!