Update! Film at eleven!

Walt Disney once said, "It all started with a mouse."

Well, for me it all started with a girl, a tray of brownies and Capt and coke.

Since MySpace, my life has included a my moms diagnosis and remission from breast cancer. Dedicating my life to Christ. My baptism. Starting a clothing co with my buddy. Superbowl and being a games teacher for VBS. Removal of my wisdom teeth. An amazing vacation cruise with the family. A 3rd move to Orlando. My buddy and his wife having 3 kids. Marrying my wife. Our Hurricane Honeymoon cruise. Katie serving in 2 trips to Africa. A grandfathers death and meeting the Ohio family. Numerous Halloween, Christmas and assorted festivities. Working at Triangle and making many friends as well as starting our first bible study. The marriages of 5 of our friends. The births of my neice and nephew and the explosion of our family. My wifes shoulder surgery, seizure on New Years Eve and my neices first febral seizure. Our adoption of 3 beautiful children. My brother working for the mouse and moving to Orlando. Asking my father-in-law for his daughters hand. Delaying countless proposals. Proposing on Christmas day. Living at 915 Princeton and meeting one of my best friends. Starting an arts ministry. Learning to drink and appreciate wine. Running my first 5k. Training for my first marathon. A Giants impossible Superbowl win. Yankees returning as World Champs. Moving to Savannah to return to school. Expanding my portfolio and getting bikes stolen. Becoming a father and thousands and thousands of laughs, hugs and smiles.

All this in only 4+ years!

God is so good
I am so blessed

Praise God!
-Ant

It all started here...

Arrival!

I just wanted to post a quick thank you to everyone who prayed for our little girl. It was because of the unbelievable outpouring of love and prayer that Amie recovered as quickly as she did. Never have I felt such nervous grief as I felt when they whisked her away from us, but I knew it was in God's hands. I am blessed to have such wonderful friends and family, and I thank the Lord everyday that you guys are in our life.

Thank you and God bless,

Ant

The coming! (or, the tribulations and anxieties of newfound parenthood!)

Dear Diary,



I saw Jimmy Fal-lone at the diner the other day... HE IS SO DREAMY!! but he totally ignored me, sigh... this IS a diary, right?



but I digress...



So, for some of you that may not have heard, the baby is home and thriving! I will upload pics ASAIC
(As Soon As I Can)

-Ant

a baby is born!

october 27 was my 38 week check up with my obgyn. mom had stayed in town from the weekend because we thought i might go into labor any day and she wanted to go to my dr appt with me to see how i was progressing. turns out i was already 4 cm dialated and about 60% effaced. so of course we got really excited and wondered if i was possibly going to have an october baby.

the next couple of days i was frantically working because i had a few projects that i promised my clients i would get done before my due date. i thought i would have a few weeks to get all of it done, but now it looked like it could be any day or it could even still be a few weeks away. mom stayed in town for obvious reasons (thank goodness!) and we decided to try to get things moving along a little quicker so we could have an october baby! i was having pretty consistent contractions, but they weren't getting any stronger yet. on wednesday we did some shopping and my contractions started to progress. on thursday we went downtown to river street to walk. we ended up walking for 3.5 hours! i actually felt pretty good and my contractions were getting a little stronger. when we got home they really started picking up and getting stronger. by about 9 or 10pm i was starting to feel more pain and the contractions were averaging at about 5-6 minutes apart. (figures that i would go into labor while the yankees were playing in the world series)















by 11:30 we decided to call the doctor to see if we should go to the hospital. we were concerned that if i really was in labor (which we pretty much knew i was), then i would be up all night and we were worried about my sleep deprivation. the dr said to go ahead and go to the hospital… YAY!

after taking a shower and getting our things together, we got to the hospital at midnight and i was admitted. (notice the 'not so thrilled' look on my face as lucie was taking pictures of me during contractions!)

































as you can see here, the contractions got MUCH worse as time progressed. i'm not sure what time this picture was taken, but i can tell you that i wasn't a happy camper.















at about 4am i got up to go to the bathroom and walk around a little bit to get things going a little faster. i was leaning on the bed during a pretty strong contraction and all of the sudden my water broke. about 5 seconds later i had an incredibly intense contraction that words can't even explain! now, during this whole pregnancy i was wanting to go natural with no meds during my labor, but after my water broke and my contractions REALLY kicked in, i quickly realized that i wasn't as strong as i thought i could be and requested… no… demanded an epidural. in a matter of minutes the greatest and quickest anesthesiologist came to my rescue and gave me an epidural in less than 2 minutes. no joke… he was awesome! soon after that i felt halfway human again. :)

skip ahead 3.5 hours… the nurse came to check me and i was 10 cm! she was shocked at how fast i had progressed and said the head was right there and i was ready to start pushing ASAP! so fast that dr stone barely got there in time! i was told that i pushed about 8 times (thank goodness!) and then i heard, "IT'S A GIRL!!" Holy cow… i was a mom!

























































































my fantastic doctor, dr stone and 'bubbles'… that's what she nicknamed her:


















































so, there she was. we had a baby girl who we call Amelie Faith! born october 30, 2009, 7:46am, 6lbs 9oz, 19in long. she is so precious and we couldn't love her more. her journey began rough (more on that in the next blog), but she is stronger and more beautiful than ever!

pimp that nursery

well, this post is WAY overdue, so i apologize, but i've been a little preoccupied. let's back up to october 23… mom and alice faye came to visit and take care of some important business: preparing our room/nursery for the arrival of our peanut. also, oct 23 happens to be mom's bday, so naturally we did some celebrating :)


















on saturday we did some shopping in preparation for the overhaul of our drab bedroom/nursery. here are some before pics:

the armoire that ant refinished (before):


















this is where the crib will go:














bed & windows (before)














this is mom & alice slaving away to finish the room in 1 1/2 days:
























































And here is the beautiful room, all complete!

(there are some really cool lamps on these nightstands now, but i don't have pictures of them)














(notice the refinished armoire with new hardware… ant did a fantastic job!)
































































it was somewhat of a rush to get this done because i was 2 cm dialated and having mild contractions during all of this and we were wondering if i was going to go into labor the whole time. luckily peanut held off so we could get the project done :)

the room turned out great and it felt so good to get all of that done before peanut got here. THANK YOU MOM AND ALICE FOR MAKING IT HAPPEN! you guys are so great and we REALLY appreciate it!

a baby ruth and a peanut

I got good news in the mail yesterday…

"Thank you for your faithful and generous support of your sponsored child, Amie Ellie, during a challenging time in her life. The purpose of this letter is to update and inform you about her pregnancy. We have been notified by our in-country staff that Amie delivered a baby girl in our COTN clinic. The baby's name is Ruth and she has been dedicated to the Lord at our COTN church. Amie and Ruth are both doing very well. Amie was able to take her school exams before giving birth and she passed the National Primary School Exams. When she returns to school, she will be in Junior Secondary School 1 which is equivalent to 7th grade. Enclosed is a photo of Amie and her daughter Ruth…"



















As much as I would like to see her smiling, I am so thankful that she is healthy and so is baby Ruth (HA!). This made my heart smile yesterday :) I am so happy that COTN understands that this is important to me and that they are keeping me in the loop. Please continue to keep Amie in your prayers as she raises baby Ruth (HA!).

In other baby news, Peanut is growing, thriving and preparing! We went in for my weekly check-up today and Dr Stone says we are 3cm dialated now! On Friday I lost my 'flower pot' (aka, mucus plug). We're calling it a flower pot (thanks to Lynn) because the real term is actually not very fun to say. So, after much debate I decided to go ahead and go down to Orlando for my last baby shower. Unfortunately Ant couldn't go at the last minute because he was assigned too much school work over the weekend. The whole weekend I just took it easy and prayed that I didn't go into labor! The shower was AMAZING!! I had so much fun (despite the fact that I was sans husband) and loved spending time with family and friends. It's always so good to be back and it makes me miss it so much. Thank you to everyone who made the shower so special. It was so cute and everything was peanut themed! It's always a bonus to have creative friends :) Hopefully those of you who took pictures will share so I can post soon!

So, here I am, back in Savannah and now we just work (a LOT) and wait. Peanut is moving around like crazy and sometimes I feel like he/she is going to punch out of my uterus. I can't wait to see him/her! We are so excited, but we are both SO busy, so hopefully peanut can keep cookin' for another week or 2 so I don't go completely crazy with unfinished work. Speaking of… I gotta get back to work now!

peace.

let the games begin!

We went to the doctor for our 36 week check-up today. All is good! I'm feeling great and can't really complain. I'm getting less and less sleep as time goes by, but I know this is my preparation for what's to come. My neurologist increased my medication AGAIN. I'm up to 600mg a day (I started at 150mg pre-preggo), so needless to say I am exhausted ALL the time. I'm having trouble staying focused when I'm working cause I'm so tired, but luckily I will only have to deal with that for a few more weeks. After that I will have to blame it on the baby, but the baby will be so cute it won't matter!

Back to the doctor appointment… I don't know i I mentioned this before, but I LOVE MY NEW DOCTOR!! She is so great and I'm SO glad I switched! Anyway, I had the streb B culture done today (no biggie) and she said, "do you want me to go ahead and check you?" "Why not, you're already down there," I thought. So, she checked me and much to our surprise I am 2cm dialated! She said she could feel the head and everything looks good… WOO HOO!!!! I couldn't be more excited! I'm praying that God will keep the baby cookin' for at least another 2 weeks, but I'm excited either way!

In other news, my showers in Spring Hill and OP were FANTASTIC! We are so blessed to have amazing people in our lives who are so generous and thoughtful. Thank you to all those who made those showers so incredible. The 'nursery' (aka, our bedroom) is starting to come together. We got the crib all set up this past weekend and it's so cute! The bedding looks adorable and we have so many cute blankets and owls everywhere :) (pictures to come later) Ant finished staining the armoire (which is now the baby's closet). All of the clothes and blankets have been washed, folded and put away, so now we just wait :)

I'm currently enjoying some much-needed girl time with old roommie and friend, Jenn (we're trying to get work done as well, but we have yet to be successful at that so far). She came to visit for a few days and then on Friday we are headed to Orlando for another shower! I couldn't be more excited to see everyone!

Here's a 36-weeker for ya, compliments of Ant's creativity:

















One last thing: below is a blog posting from one of Jenn's friends. I thought it was hilarious and well-written, so I thought I would share… enjoy!

You know its time to go into labor when:

1. Your maternity clothes don't fit anymore.

2. Your one year old has to help you out of bed.

3. Your one year old keeps falling out of your lap and grabbing on to your tender boobs as handles to help him back up.

4. Your baby can simultaneously kick your diaphragm and punch your cervix. I mean, really. There is Just. No. More. Room.

5. You can no longer sit or lay down comfortably and standing makes your back and feet ache.

6. You long for drive-thru grocery stores because the idea of walking back to your car that is parked far away in 95 degree heat when your one year old may or may not be screaming a protest about one thing or another makes you want to cry.

7. You are losing sleep because of being uncomfortable and it really seems like you might as well just have the baby because at least then when you are not sleeping, it won't be because you are uncomfortable, but because you are spending time with an amazing new little person.

8. Your belly button sticks out like a thermometer on a cooked thanksgiving day turkey signaling that you are indeed, "done."

9. When random strangers ask you when you are due you and you say, you aren't pregnant and that your husband just likes a little something extra in the middle, they know you are lying.

10. You start blogging about these silly things because that is all you think about when you are trying to go to sleep and can't because as I mentioned, you are uncomfortable.


well-said :)

So, let the games begin… I'll be keeping everyone posted on the progress :)

honeydew and a new doc

Your baby is now the size of a honeydew!
Things are heating up inside as well: Baby may grow up to a full inch this week alone, and his brain is developing like crazy. Pretty soon, he'll be able to coordinate breathing with sucking and swallowing. Also, his bones are hardening, and he's started to keep his eyes open when he's awake.















I can't believe how this time has been flying by. It seems like we were just telling people that we were pregnant. So, I'm 33 weeks now, which means only 7ish to go and we're really excited! For the most part, I feel good and I've had a pretty good pregnancy so far, so I can complain. Other than the minor aches and pains, I haven't really had any problems - Praise Jesus for that! Sleeping at night is getting more an more difficult and really, it's just more annoying than anything. I have found that if I power through that urge to nap in the afternoon, I sleep much better at night, so I've been trying to ignore those urges.

As of yesterday I was FINALLY able to get a new doctor! I have been contemplating on switching doctors for a few months now, but I finally made the move. I am SO excited! I haven't met my new doc in person yet, but I've talked to her on the phone and she seems much more personable than my current doc. With my current doc, I have always felt somewhat rushed when I go in for my check-ups. And when I tried to talk to her about my birth one day, I felt like I got no support from her when it came to my wishes to try to do things as naturally as possible. She kind of scoffed at me and said that I would probably change my mind anyway. ICK!! It gave me such a bad feeling. Then Ant and I went to take a tour of the hospital that she delivers at (there are 2 hospitals about a half mile apart here) and we weren't exactly thrilled. First of all, they only allow 2 people in the room during delivery which I'm not a fan of. Second, they have you deliver in one room and recover in a different room which was really tiny and not comfy at all. We felt like it wasn't horrible, but definitely not the greatest place, either. One plus with that hospital is that they have a level 3 nursery/NICU, so if anything were to happen with the peanut, they definitely have the facilities and drs to handle it. ANYWAY, I have my first appt with my new doc on Tues and I'm so excited! Updates to come on that.

Until then…

the blog of randoms

random thoughts by katie:

i do, in fact, have the best husband ever.

i'm not a fan of feeling like i've been riding a horse (bareback) for 5 days straight… every day.

the baby in my belly is most likely going to be a kickboxing-juggling-wrestler-insomniac.

multiple strangers in the past 3 weeks have told us that we are definitely having a boy (including a toothless, homeless man in atlanta). what do they know? no clue. but ant is convinced now.

i really don't like the show 'america's got talent', but for some reason i keep watching it. every week. guess that's what happens when you only get 4 channels.

i like atlanta, but not enough to live there.

if you go see 'bodies - the exhibit', don't do it in your first trimester… you might throw up everywhere. however, if you aren't in your first trimester, i highly recommend it. although, take a brochure to fan yourself b/c it's really hot in there.

i am really excited about our bambino showers coming up… the first of which is this weekend in spring hill!

my belly button has yet to 'pop'.

my sweet tooth is getting worse and worse every day, but i'm doing my best to supress it.

i'm still watching 'america's got talent'… WHY?!

i love it when my sister, brother, niece and nephew visit… it makes for a really awesome weekend.

my med dosage has been upped from 150mg/day to 500mg/day, so i'm pretty much a full-time zombie and i'm napping like i'm in my first trimester again. sorry, work.

we cut our cell phone minutes from 1400/mo to 700/mo, so if i don't answer during the day… now you know why. send me a text instead… i have a phone with a keyboard now!

i like our new friends in savannah. ant thinks that all of my baking gives off an 'i'm desperate for friends and must bake to win you over' impression, but really, i just love to bake for people. i doubt they are complaining.

our first anniversary was great. a trip to atlanta, 2 doz roses, dark knight, awesome t-shirt and guitar hero… great husband! fantastic first year!

i'm definitley not a fan of tossing and turning at night. it's happening more and more these days.

having a crib in my bedroom is very surreal.

i am now convinced that 'AGT' is fake based on who just won.

and now, some random pictures for you…

30 weeks:


















us at the 10th anniversary taping of Good Eats with Alton Brown in Atlanta:














us at the Atlanta aquarium on our anniversary trip:

































































up next: some awesome footage from the sib visit!

heartache

I got some bad news last week and haven't really felt like writing about it until now. It's hard to put into words how sad this makes me, but here goes:

As most of you know, I have been sponsoring a little girl in Sierra Leone since I met her in 2006. Her name is Amie and she was 10 or 11 years old at the time. For some unknown reason she took a liking to me and stuck by my side during that first trip. And when I went back in 2007, it was like no time had passed. She was my little side-kick — always there, but so timid, meek and quiet. She doesn't speak english and pretends not to understand it, but I think she understands much more than she leads on! (when i tell her that, she just smiles and laughs so I know it's true!) One day she took me into her hut and pulled out all of the letters and pictures I had sent her over the past year. She was so proud and everything was still in mint shape, like she treasured them dearly. I was brought to tears knowing that I had touched someone's life like that.













She has the most beautiful smile and the best laugh that is contagious. She is sprouting into a beautiful teenager and is now 13(ish… noone is ever really sure how old they are over there).

Last week I was so excited to come home from spending the weekend in Orlando. About 5 minutes after walking in the door, Ant says, "Did you see that letter from COTN? (that's the organization that we sponsor through) If not, I think you should read it." I got really excited and thought it was a letter from Amie. Well, it turns out it was from someone at COTN corporate:

"… The purpose of this letter is to update and inform you that your sponsored child, Amie Ellie, recently became pregnant and is currently not attending school. Amie is receiving medical and social care services through our program. Once she gives birth and is done nursing her baby, she plans to return to school. Your funds will continue to support her needs and the village programs and school she attends.

We would ask you to join us in continuing to pray for her and her baby's future. It is our sincere desire that all children in our programs would continue to grow and mature in their understanding and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ…"

Needless to say my heart fell on the floor and tears welled up in my eyes. I immediately thought the worst possible thoughts: could it have been RAPE? defeat by controlling men in the village? Or did she run off with a boy and bring this upon herself? And then a stream of horrific thoughts followed randomly: secret societies, female circumcision, I bet she's scared; fear, shame, embarrassment, regret, rejection, etc, etc, etc… Does she have a future? Will she really go back to school? Hopefully, but most-likely not (based on what I saw when I was there).

She wanted to be a nurse.

UGH.
I am
SO.
SAD.

my heart is physically aching for her.

All I want to do is talk to her, pray with her, hug her, reassure her that everything is going to be ok… you get the gist. But I can't. It's such a helpless feeling. Wanting to be there for someone so incredibly bad, but you can't. All I can do is ask God to fill that void that she might be experiencing. I pray that she is turning to Him and trusting that He will provide.

How ironic that my 'little girl' and I are both going to be moms soon. Never in a lifetime would I have thought she would be the one to go through this.

I'm still trying to get more info from my friend in SL, but I don't know how much he'll be able to tell me. If you would like to write Amie a little note, I am going to be sending her a letter soon and I know it would be really inspiring to hear from some of my friends and family. Please pray for her and her baby… it is a rough culture over there… no telling what she's going through.

drumroll, please…

i'm going crazy not being able to grasp onto anything with this pregnancy (aside from the fact that yes, we are definitely going to have a baby in november). no pink, no blue, no transformer toys or 'daddy's girl' clothes. you get the point. i feel like i can't fully prepare, but we all know that i'm not HUGE on preparation anyway. i guess where i'm getting is that i have felt like i just need something to grasp on to. something nailed down and solidified instead of saying, "nope, we don't know what we're having".

sooooo… we have finalized our names! (you thought i was gonna tell you the sex, didn't you?!) even though we don't know what it's going to be and still have absolutely no 'gut feeling' one way or the other, i now have something to tell people. names!

so, here they are: if it's a girl, her name will be Amelie Faith.

our inspiration?
Amelie is a French name and we were totally inspired by this movie:



If you haven't seen it, go rent it now… it's amazing! [it's in french, so be ready to read subtitles]
As far as where Faith comes from… our faith is the basis of our relationship and we have completely relied on God from day one… with our relationship, our jobs, school, finances, and especially this pregnancy and the fact that God has blessed us with a baby. so, how could we not name our little girl Faith? Plus, it's just a beautiful name!

And if it's a boy, his name will be Reece Anthony.

our inspiration?
If any of you know us at all, you know that we LUH-HUV reese's peanut butter cups! (we put them in our brownies, for pete's sake) Ok, so that wasn't the whole reason we like the name Reece, but we just really like the name (and we're spelling it with a 'c', not an 's'). After doing some research, i found out that it means 'enthusiasm'… and judging from the activity of this baby, i'd say it's pretty enthusiastic about something!! I think this retro commercial says it all:



I don't think you need an explanation for the name Anthony. Afterall, it's daddy's name and daddy is pretty amazing, so that wasn't a hard choice :)

So, there you have it! If you like the names, that's awesome! If not, too bad… it's a little late for suggestions now… I'm already attached! Hopefully you will take joy in having something to grasp onto as well.

athmp.athmp.athmp.

we were just sittin' around chattin' tonight and the baby was moving around like crazy, so we decided to listen to the heartbeat. and, we recorded it for you… :)

[sidenote: morgan wanted to say hi, too so don't turn your sound up TOO loud!]



as you can see (if you can read backwards) the heartbeat is about 140-145ish (a good heartbeat is between 130-160, so i've been told) so all is looking (and sounding) swell!

pretty exciting!

I just got an email from one of my clients and got pretty excited, so I thought I would share. They are a cupcake company in Orlando called Sweet! and I did their logo and some of their design back when they got started.







Needless to say, they are doing pretty well and this email was about them partnering with the Britney Spears tour (random, I know). Anyway, my logo is on the Britney Spears' website! Go check it out. Also, check out the Sweet! website… and if you are in Orlando, stop by and have a cupcake or some tart frozen yogurt. The cupcakes are a little piece of heaven!!

ch-ch-ch-changes

lots is changing around here… as you can see, the blog got an overhaul. i'm REALLY into gray and yellow right now, so when i saw this blog background, i couldn't resist!

another thing that is changing lots is my belly. we're at 23 weeks now, 17 (give-or-take) to go! here is a pic of me at 21(ish) weeks and then 23 weeks… it's crazy how fast my belly popped out! my belly button is still an innie, but we'll see how long it stays like that :)




















































also, one of ant's awesomely sweet classmates is giving us some baby stuff that she doesn't need anymore. how generous!! so, the other day ant came home from class with an awesome fisher price rainforest baby swing! it's VERY surreal having this thing sitting in our living room. every time i look at it, i'm reminded that it's not gonna be long until there is a baby hangin' out in our house every day. crazy!!

the baby is moving around more and more every day. sometimes i swear ant is going to be able to feel something, but so far he hasn't. i know it's just a matter of time, but i'm so anxious for him to be able to experience at least a little bit of what i'm feeling. until then, he continues to take care of me and talk to the baby, which usually comes out as yelling, but i know he means well!

i have a routine dr appt tomorrow and then off to orlando again this weekend for one of my bestie's (hazel's) engagement party luau! WOO HOO! we're gonna get to see lots of friends and hang out with the fam a little, so i'm pretty excited :)

nursery duds

After some extensive (and borderline obsessive) searching for the perfect baby bedding, I have finally found it! I had gotten to the point where I was going to pick material out and have mom make the bedding, but then I came across this set on Etsy and it was exactly what I had been looking for all along :)









































































And here is the crib/changing table I have picked out from Target:
















I am going to be decorating our whole room around this bedding since our room will be the nursery, too. I'm so excited and I can't wait to actually get it and see how it looks!

good news and bananas

I recently had my quadscreening test (just a simple blood test) last week and then the day after, we had our first appointment with our perinatologist (high risk doc) to have an ultrasound and make sure everything is going ok. I briefly talked about this visit in our last blog, but I didn't touch on the next topic because I didn't want to freak anyone out. So, while at the perinatologist, they ended up finding what they are calling a "hot spot" on the heart that could potentially be a sign of Down Syndrome. They also measured the length of all of our peanut's legs and arms and noticed that the femur was measuring a tad bit smaller than average, which could also be a sign of Downs. This definitely raised a red flag for us since Ant's little sister was born with Downs and a severe heart defect. She passed away at about a year and a half old and this is obviously in the forefront of our minds when they were giving us this news. Since we were still waiting for the results to the quadscreening (which would tell us if there is anything serious to worry about), the doctor assured us that they see many of these 'hot spots' multiple times a day and that, for the most part, we shouldn't be too worried. So, we waited a WEEK to get the results from the quadscreening! My intuition was telling me that all was ok, but there is always that reality of what could happen. Well, we got some good news yesterday… actually it was GREAT news! Our genetic counselor called with the results from our test and said everything looks 'phenomenal'!!! We couldn't have been more relieved to hear that. Praise God!!

So now, with that behind us, we're getting so excited about our little one. Only 19(ish) more weeks until he/she is here :) I have definitely been feeling the baby move a lot more… it's such an awesome feeling… I can't wait for Ant to be able to feel it also!

Here is our 21 week update from babycenter and thebump: (they are a little different, so i read both of them)
By week 21, your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces, and her length from head to rump is seven inches, about the length of a spoon. Ten and one-half ounces is also the size bear cubs are when they are born. Your baby has begun her main project for the rest of your pregnancy: putting on weight. She regularly drinks amniotic fluid for hydration and nutrition, urinates in the fluid and breathes in and out (fortunately, the fluid pool refreshes itself every three hours). Her eyebrows and eyelids are fully developed. Taste buds are forming on her tongue. Her eyelids are still sealed, but her eyes are active.

















The baby is now the size of a banana. Baby gulps down several ounces of amniotic fluid every day, both for hydration and nutrition and to practice swallowing and digesting. And, these days, those taste buds actually work! Studies show that after birth, babies are most interested in tastes they've already experienced through amniotic fluid. Meaning, think about what you want your future child to eat as you prepare your own lunch.

So, there you have it. Just for kicks, here is a list of things that have been on my mind lately:

1>
i thought i was going to be lucky and not experience heartburn in this pregnancy, but i was sadly mistaken and it has definitely set in the past 2 days… not fun!
2>
my belly has now surpassed my boobs when i look down. not too sure how i feel about that.
3>
i highly enjoy being able to feel the baby move, but don't appreciate the fact that it is using my bladder as it's own personal trampoline.
4>
i got my first 'are you expecting?' from a perfect stranger! thank goodness i'm actually starting to look pregnant and not just fat anymore.
5>
i have the most loving, supportive husband in the world! (although, he finally just admitted to me yesterday that i actually look pregnant now and that before i just looked like i had a pudge. at least he didn't say that before, cause i just might have cried, even though i knew it was true!)

more belly pics to come shortly… :)

ramble, ramble

Busy, busy and busy is what I would use to describe myself lately. I feel like I've been moving a mile a minute and traveling like crazy (which I love!). I'm pretty sure I've spent the majority of my time in Florida these past couple months and it's been great! Ant and I got a chance to go to Orlando to visit (and work for me) and we had the pleasure of spending time with some very missed friends and family. It was so nice! I also got to spend some time with mom and dad, Lucie, Tad, Reagan and Quin (more on that soon), and my girlfriends from high school. The past 3 weeks Ant has been on a break from school, but Monday he goes back. It's been nice to actually spend some quality time together and just chill, even though I've still been working like crazy. At least my job allows me to play a little on the side!

Our little peanut is growing like crazy and if what we're told is correct, it is about the size of a large mango this week - next week we will graduate to a cantalope… woo hoo!! We're almost half way there (19 weeks to be exact) and we've been seeing doctors a lot lately. It seems like every time we turn around, we're going to another appointment. I found a great neurologist up here and I really like her! At my appointment, she increased my med dosage, reassured me that my meds are the best to be on compared to the others out there, told me that it's perfectly fine to breastfeed (YAY!!! I was pretty worried about that) and referred me to a perinatologist to do some high risk testing and such. It was a pretty productive appt. and she wants to see me once a month to make sure everything is on track. Success! Yesterday we went to our regular OBGYN and had a quad screening done which will tell us if there is any major abnormality or birth defect and we should get those results by the end of next week. Today we had our first appt with our new perinatologist. We spoke to a genetic counselor and had an ultrasound. It's always so exciting seeing the baby moving around and this time we were able to see it kicking and putting it's hands up near it's face and all. Although, we did turn our heads when the tech explored the netherregions (is that even a word??) so that we couldn't see what the sex of our little peanut is. She seemed to know right away what it was, but she was tight-lipped and didn't spill the beans! All I could think of was how jealous I was that she knew and I didn't! It's a pretty strange feeling now that it's actually possible to know what the sex is, but Anthony is REALLY excited about being surprised, so we're stickin' to it! So far we have a girl's name picked out, but we are still undecided on a boy's name. Any suggestions?!

profile… not really cooperating!
















strong heartbeat :)
















On another note, I'm feeling MUCH better these days! Once the 12-13 week mark hit, I started feeling like a normal human being again which was such a relief. I got most of my energy back and now I don't feel like I have to eat every second of the day… that was getting REALLY old! My clothes started getting tighter and tighter and just the other day I wore my first pair of maternity shorts (thank you, GiGi Ma!). We haven't been very good at taking pictures of the belly, but we have a recent one that I can share. I'm not really sure if I've felt the baby move yet. Last night we were watching a movie and right in the middle of a really intense part, I said, "I think I just felt the baby move!" Ant just looked at me and said, "really?!" Then I said, "I don't know, but it feels different and I can't really explain it" So, all-in-all, I might have felt it, but I'm still not too sure! I think within the next 2 weeks I will be having a growth spurt and start to feel the baby move more and more. All very exciting!

12 weeks:





















18 weeks:























Oh, one last thing: I have to show off my new nephew Quin (Albert Winchester V) - He was born on June 7 @ 3:19am (lonnnng night!), weighing 7 lbs 14 oz… perfectly healthy little boy and just as cute as can be! See?!! ----->


































Reagan just turned 2… so big and such a great big sister!