Pop!!! 22 weeks

It's here, it's round, and it's not going anywhere for another 18 weeks...yes, that's right, my belly bump has arrived. Up until last week (week 21) it was difficult for most people who didn't know me to even know I was pregnant...not b/c I'm looking so fabulous or anything (no, no, if only) but b/c my weight gain wasn't confined to just my belly so I really looked as if I had just been enjoying biscuits and gravy, french fries and dessert a little too much lately. (Doesn't that sound good though? not together, I'm not into the crazy preggers cravings yet).

But last week I seemed to start growing before my very eyes. Monday I went to San Antonio for work and when I came home on Thursday, Mike could tell my belly had grown. And by Saturday, well lets just say that my Aunt, Susie, thought it grew from the morning until the evening and I think she was right.

It's fun though!! Not only does it make me feel a little more pregnant but it is also fun for my pregnancy to be visible to others. So here are my 22 week bump pics (I'm 22 weeks today).

Oh and thanks to my Momma for the outfit...capris and cute green tank...part of my birthday present and SO nice to have while I'm "growing". I seem to really like that top since I was also wearing it for my 20 week pic. woops! And and just ignore the laundry in the floor behind me. :-)

And here is one with a tighter shirt so you can see a better pic of the bump...the bump that magically appeared in a week. :-) I think I really "stuck it all out there" for this one. ha!

And in other non-baby news, the house is coming along really well! I will post pics soon. Mike is working SO hard on it...landscaping, painting, etc. I'm incredibly lucky to have such an awesome man who cares about his family (wife, baby on the way and kitty :-)) and making sure they have a nice place to call home.

It's a Girl, wait, it's a Boy, no, it's a Girl

If you're confused, you're not alone, we were too. Mike and I went to our most recent doctor's appointment last Thursday (I was 21 weeks 1 day) to see the nurse practitioner and have her review our ultrasound from the week before. Actually I think the doctor had reviewed it previously but she was supposed to go over it with us. As she pulled up my electronic chart and was going over the results of the ultrasound (which were all wonderful and healthy...YES!) I saw, "BOY" listed as the gender. Whaaaaat? She said, "So I see you know the gender" and I replied, "yes, they told us it was a girl". She looked very perplexed and said, "um, well that's not what they have written on your chart".  After making sure she told us that no ultrasound is "100% accurate", she suggested that we call the Blacksburg office where our paper charts and the actual ultrasound pictures were located and ask someone to read them for us (we were in the Radford office for this appointment). About 45 minutes later we were able to call the Blacksburg office and ask someone to read our actual ultrasound.
And the verdict is........................................................still Girl.:-)
Seems like someone just mistakenly had a typo on our electronic file...at least that's what we're going with now.
The weird thing is, if we don't chose to do another ultrasound on our own at 28 weeks, we won't see the little one again until D day (Delivery day). Wild!
Either way, our little baby is measuring on-time and growing healthy...so thankful.

Half Baked

As of last Wednesday, I was officially half way through the pregnancy. It's been wonderful so far, a little morning sickness here or there, but nothing too bad. Oh and just in case I thought I was sooooo done with the sickness, I had the pleasure of losing it once on Wednesday AND on Friday. Both while brushing my teeth. ha! Of course it was short lived so no biggie.

This has been a wonderful week as we had our second look at the little one, found out she was healthy and growing appropriately and of course that she in fact was a "she".  Great week indeed!

Here is my 20 wk bump pic...well actually 20 wk and a day since Mikey took it the morning of my ultrasound.

Thanks to my momma for this great new shirt! Still same ol' jeans but they are getting tight in the waste, people...I'm talking undo the closure if I was taking a one hour trip in the car kinda stuff. yowza. I'll be loving/living in the bellbands that Cathy (via Hope) let me borrow...thank you in advance!!!

Keep up the good growing little one.

It's a...

Girl!!
Today was our 20 wk ultrasound where the technician checks the health and functionality of our little one and also tells us the gender. All measurements looked on track and healthy, thank goodness. Our baby is now weighing approximately 13 oz. My mom joined Mike and I for the ultrasound; it was so wonderful to be able to share it all together! Here are a few pics of the little one. The 3D pics are a little harder to make out since the baby doesn't have much fat yet, but you can still get a glimpse at the little one.

Without further ado, here is Baby Girl Jackson. 20w 1d

Here she is sucking her thumb. :-)

Here are "the goods". Imagine the little one is sitting on a glass table and you are looking up at her bum...that is the view here. You see two "cheeks", two feet and in between the cheeks you see white lines. Those lines are what makes her a girl. :-)

Here are a couple of the 3D shots.

She was very active the whole ultrasound (which we have heard each time we've had an appointment)...already a lively little bit.

And in other great news, Hope had the twins today!!!!! We were in the same hospital today so it was awesome to drop by and see her. And of course wonderful to later visit her and the boys (and Jim too of course). They are all doing well. Wow! Hope, you are just TOO good. You have rocked pregnancy out and now you can add rocking labor and delivery to your resume. Love you Lady!

Thanks to all of you who remembered us today...we LOVED your txt messages, thank you!!!

Hope's Twin boys are coming!

As many of you know, my good friend Hope is pregnant with twin boys...how awesome is that!!!
She will be having them today so send good thoughts her way for healthy boys and a smooth delivery.
I'll update the blog with info and pics once the boys arrive.
Here is a pic of Hope and I last week during our Blacksburg Junior Women's Club meeting. It's our only baby belly pic together. Hope has SO rocked out this pregnancy...working full time until yesterday...and she's 38 weeks!!! Go lady!

Congrats Hope and Jim!!

Little Lady or Little Man?

What do you think? Is Baby Jackson a boy or girl? Any old wives tales you have? Or just a "feeling" for what you think we're having? Or maybe it's just a guess...either way, comment and let us know!!

We have our "big ultrasound" this Thursday and are SO excited! Not only will we find out the gender, we'll also get to actually "see" our baby for only the 2nd time...AND it will actually look like a baby this time and not a little bean. Perhaps most importantly, we will get to see if all of the organs are forming to the appropriate size and functioning correctly.  It will be wonderful. We should have new Baby Jackson pics for the blog once we've had this ultrasound.

So which is it family and friends...Lady J or Stud-muffin J? 

The big 3-0.

How the hell am I 30? Ok, so this probably isn't the most eloquent way to phrase my feelings on turning 30, but it pretty much hits the nail on the head. It's crazy!!! Aren't I 26? :-) All kidding aside, 30 is going to be a fantastic year...married to the best guy, our first baby on the way, new house, new kitty, job I love and the greatest friends and family...I think I have it pretty good...even for an old lady. :-)

As usual my family and friends made me feel very special for my birthday. Here I am blowing our my candles from the birthday strawberry pie that my momma made me. (I am NOT a cake lady...but I LOVE so pie!)

And here are two pics of momma and me at breakfast the morning of my birthday. As I'm becoming a mom myself soon, I'm understanding the importance of your child's birthday even more...it's just as much a birthday for the mother!

I was also 19 weeks on my birthday so here is my 19 week pic.

The day Finn will want to forget

Yes, that's today. Finn said good bye to his manhood today. We're sad he has to go through discomfort for a couple days, but know it's for the best. We don't want him to run off searching for lady felines!
Sorry Finny! But one Daddy is all we can handle in this household, and Mikey has already filled that role.

Here's a few Finn pics...a couple he is a bit younger, but so cute. 

Mike and Finn are NOT amused with me taking their picture. They clearly want me to step off with the camera action.

And finally, our Finn is quite the technical kitty...here he is helping me on the Internet. He's really into working on the computer.

Traveling fools!

Yes, that has been us the past week and a half, traveling fools! :-) Mike and I have been on the go for work, he spent several days in Charlotte and Northern Virginia while I was on a whirlwind trip to Atlanta (for Katie's wedding reception...congrats Katie and Ryan, love you guys!), Orlando and Seattle for work meetings.  We both had good trips but were SO happy to be home together. AND, to top it off, we were apart on Mikey's birthday. boo. I HATE not being able to celebrate and make do special things on his birthday, but that's just the way it happened this year. blah. So, better late than never.....Happy Birthday Mikey!!!!!!!!!!!!

While we were gone there was a lot of work being done to the new house...very exciting. It won't be long until we're in the house, yes! Now to pick out paint colors; it's a tough decision. We'll keep ya posted.

This past weekend Mike and his friends had their annual Best Mans BBQ; a day-long celebration of their meatness. It's basically offensive lineman past and present who eat and have beers outside all day...they love it. I went to Princeton for Annie's annual Derby party. It was a lot of fun (and had blackberry cobbler with blackberries from Kentucky lake...oh YUM) and of course I wore a big Derbyish hat. :-)

You will also notice that it's 3am when I'm writing this...that's not a mix-up on the posting time, I'm really up at 3am (again). Insomnia has been hitting me lately...I would love a sleeping aid about now, too bad anything that helps put you to sleep is not good for this little one.  I give, and I give!!! :-)

Hope you all are asleep and dreaming!