Monday, July 27, 2009

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.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

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!!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

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 :)

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

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… :)