24 Weeks

Sunday marked 24 weeks - that's 6 months - ohmygosh, that sounded really pregnant when I wasn't; it doesn't really anymore!  Anyways, here's the latest picture of the bump. 

We had a doctor's appointment last Thursday and everything looks good.  Abby has a good strong heartbeat and appears to be measuring right on target; however, we'll be better able to tell her size at our appointment next month when we get to have another ultrasound.

Happy 30th!

Today (Friday the 13th) Clay turns 30.  Happy birthday, honey!  I hope you have a wonderful day!

What's in a Name?

Well, yet to be officially named baby girl finally has a name (and, yes, Clay did end up making the final decision).

Abigail "Abby" Marie

Let the monogramming begin (just kidding - kind of)! :)  For those of you that are into that kind of thing, Abigail means of a father's love - I think that may have been one of Clay's deciding factors. :)

*FYI, some of you may have heard me say on multiple occasions that if we chose Abigail we would call her "Abi" (not "Abby."  Well, that changed when I wrote it out for the first time (after Clay picked Abigail for sure) and realized that it didn't look as pretty written out as it sounded in my head. :)  Go figure!

Nursery Update

I finally found curtains that I like and our chair came in (FYI, it's officially the greatest chair ever made!).  Here are the latest nursery pictures (the 4 wall that isn't pictured is an entire wall of closets - nothing fun to see there and hence the crib being in front of the window).

I still have to decide what I want to do on the wall above the changing table and eventually I'll have to decide what to do on top of/above the dresser (the tv is staying until late night feedings cease and then it's finding a new home in the living room - yay for finally being able to get rid of all of our "bubble" tvs). :)  Any suggestions are welcome.

On another note, I told Clay this morning that we HAVE to decide on a name because I'm tired of referring to her as Baby Jackson - people think we're having a boy!  It has been narrowed down to 2 and I told him to just pick one of them (I like both names - and he does as well, but every time I say let's use this one he hesitates so I decided that he could just pick the final name).  So, I'm hoping we'll have an official name some time in the VERY near future!

Nusery Update

The nursery got painted yesterday and I LOVE it.  Here's a sneak peak (it looks a little yellow in the pictures, but it's really green).

20 Week Bump-date & Presents

Here's the 20 week picture - we're 1/2 way there!  That's quite unbelievable to be completely honest!  In the past week or so I've definitely started to feel her kick a LOT.  She seems to be pretty active about 30 minutes after each time I eat and will kick for about 5 -10 minutes (I'm sure she probably does it more, but these are the only times that I can actually feel it and know for sure that it's her).  She's still not quite strong enough for anyone else to feel her kick yet, but I imagine that she will be any day now. 

Yet to be Officially Named Baby Girl also got her 1st presents last week as well.

Aunt Ashley, Uncle Will & Cousin Maddie gave her her first bib, spoons, and baby food (peas to be exact).  Clay and I were there when Maddie ate her first peas so they have all requested that they get to experience baby girls first pea experience (whenever that may be - I estimate somewhere around May or June 2011).

Mimi & Papi (Clay's parents) gave baby girl her 1st sleeper and teether as well as a super cute picture frame.

My grandparents (baby girl's great grandparents) sent her her 1st onesie, socks, baby blanket (2), and her very 1st lovey (it's super soft and I might secretly steal it for myself - just kidding).  They also sent 2 really cute picture frames.

Thanks so much, everyone!  She can't wait to use them all come the end of the year!

**  The painters are coming some time towards the end of this week to paint the nursery.  Once that's done, I'll post some bare-bones pictures to show the furniture and bedding.

10 Years - Really???

I just bought plane tickets to Raleigh for my 10 year reunion.  I can't believe it's been 10 years since I graduated from high school!  While it no longer seems like just yesterday, it definitely doesn't seem like it was 10 years ago by any means!  I guess that's what happens as you get older - the years just seem to pass by more quickly than they did when we were kids.  Crazy!

The Verdict Is In

Here it is - the post you've all been waiting for. Let me first start by apologizing for the fact that all of the pictures are so blurry - apparently it's really hard to take a picture of an ultrasound picture (even with a really great camera), but hopefully you can see our stubborn little one's sweet face. Yes, our child already has a stubborn streak. Our poor ultrasound tech had to poke and prod Baby Jackson (and my completely full bladder) on multiple occasions to get it to show us the goods! I will be completely honest when I say that I was 100% worried that we would be walking out of that appointment without confirmation of what our child was, but in the end it finally gave in and spread it's little legs to reveal the truth! I am thrilled to announce that Clay, our doctor and myself were all 100% wrong (however, just for the record I would have been thrilled to announce if we had been right as well)!

Image found here

We are so excited and can hardly wait for her to get here! But now comes the hard part - because we were so convinced Baby Jackson was a boy we hadn't picked out girl names yet. We have a few ideas, but nothing concrete yet - when we do, I'll be sure to let everyone know! Enjoy her pictures below (and again, I'm sorry they're so blurry - maybe now's a good time to learn how to shoot manually with my DSLR)!

The money shot!

Dear Baby Jackson

Dear Baby Jackson,

Tomorrow is the day we are supposed to find out whether you will be an Aiden or an Abigail, an Isabelle or a Caleb - please, please, please cooperate.  I know this just doesn't seem that important to you, but it is to me and your daddy.  Not because we want you to be one thing or another - we don't -, but because we want to be able to plan for you and make sure that everything is perfect for you when you arrive later this year.  I would hate for you to have a pink and green nursery if you really needed a blue and green one! :)  Thanks so much and we can't wait to see your sweet little outline tomorrow!

Love,

Your mommy & daddy

Boy or Girl - You Decide

Since the big gender reveal is in 2 days (crazy), I thought it would be fun to put up a poll (it's over on the sidebar) to see what you guys think we're having.  Don't worry, after we officially tell our families on Thursday night, I will definitely let everyone else know the official results.