17 weeks....

and counting. Yes, I am now 17 weeks and growing by the day. We are so excited to find out the sex of this little mini. I'll go ahead and say most are betting on a boy. My sister called me last night at 10 and said she had looked at the baby gender calendar and it is definitely a boy, it's killing her. Reese has also now changed her mind to a boy and a "yittle gurl", scary! My mom and my friend Bethany are the only ones thinking a girl. I really still don't have a feeling one way or the other, but I can't wait to find out. Here are some belly pics at 17 weeks:

My Snuggie was officially stolen...

by my husband!! We spent last weekend relaxing around the house and enjoying the snuggie in this cold weather. As I was leaving Saturday morning to go to the Cudo's Christmas Open House (my local favorite store) I noticed someone wrapped up in my snuggie. That's right. David has decided that he really likes it.

I on the other hand, am in the Christmas spirit now. I love shopping Christmas open houses. It was absolutely insane with the amount of people, but yes I went Saturday and Sunday. I didn't do a whole lot of damage, I was mainly just there for the excitement of it all. I guess this kind of runs in my blood. My mom and I are the crazy people on the day after Thanksgiving up at 4am to go shopping and we really don't even buy much anymore. It's the thrill of the sale and the mad rush of crazy women waiting on the doors to open.

Tonight I am going to try to get around to some pregnancy photos. I just haven't had it in me to do it. Part of me wants it documented and part of me doesn't want to look at myself.

15 weeks and 5 days

Where is time going. The weeks are flying by and I'm not getting a chance to post. We have had some busy weekends spending time with family and starting to enjoy this fall weather. I am almost 16 weeks, crazy!?! Most days I am feeling wonderful which is a true blessing. I really can't complain about this pregnancy. David and I did venture to our first maternity store this weekend while in Atlanta; what an experience. I was able to pull a real shocker when I put on the "maternity pillow" which makes you look 6 months pregnant. David's face was priceless! Thankfully, I haven't actually had to wear maternity clothes yet, but it's just around the corner. We spent a couple of hours at the Fall Festival at our church last night and it was so much fun seeing all of the little ones dressed up. Everything hits us now, like omg, next year we will have one of those and be pushing a stroller.So exciting to think about! I'll be taking some pics soon of my "bump", but I haven't decided whether they will be published.

13 weeks and counting

I was so excited for my 13 week visit today. They were able to do a sonogram since I did choose to have the genetic testing done. So I got to see mini Cooper hanging out. He/She looked so relaxed in there. "Mini" would move around kicking and waving a good bit, laying on his/her side, but for the most part was pretty calm. The test took about 40 min. because mini was not cooperating to get all the measurements. Anyways, it was very reassuring to see 2 arms, 2 legs, movement and hear a strong heartbeat. The ultrasound tech offered to give an educated guess at the sex of the baby, but I couldn't do it since David was not able to be there with me. Our next appt. will be Nov. 6th and we will find out if "mini" is a girl or a boy. I am measuring 13 weeks and 4 days right now and "mini" only weighs 3 oz. So hard to believe, it is just amazing to see.

I know the saying that you are supposed to ask a child what you are having, with that said we've gotten nowhere. Katelyn states very passionately that it is a boy, on the other hand, Reese is for sure that it is a "gurl" (in the cutest voice) when you ask her. So we will all (me, David, Gigi and Mimi) be making the visiting on Nov. 6th patiently (lol) waiting to find out. Here are the latest pics of "mini" at 13 weeks.

Here's "mini" looking at the camera (ready for Aunt Jenn)

These 2 are the cutest little profile pics. Can you see the nose and mouth?

(head is on the left, the long oblong shape is the abdomen)

Sharing the news with our friends

This had to be good to because I knew they would be totally shocked. Let me preface it for those of you who do not know them. There are those people we meet in college that may leave an impression in your life, but merely for a short time; then there are those whom you know will be a part of your life forever, no matter the distance between you. The 5 of us girls have been through the best of times together. We all met in college, through our sorority Delta Zeta, and they really are like sisters to me. With that being said, if you would have asked any of them who would be pregnant 1st out of our group, the last person out of their mouths would be me. So I decided I was going to tell them at the first UGA homegame against South Carolina. I had it all planned out; I would make a shirt that said "Georgia Baby on the Way" and wear and see how long it took them to notice. The thursday before the game 2 of them called and said they weren't going to be coming so my planned was crushed; I was going to have to tell all but 1 of them over the phone which I hated the thought of. I wanted to see their faces so bad, but it came down to calling them on Friday before the game and emailing them individually a pic of me in the shirt. They were still shocked! I did get to tell Megan at the game which was priceless. Here is the shirt I made and our pic. I can't wait to see them all soon!

Our Announcements to the Family

It was so much fun trying to decide how we were going to announce to our family and friends this exciting news. At 8 weeks after the ultrasound we decided it was time to share the news with the family. The first was my mom, whom had a priceless reaction of pure shock, but we had to tell her over the phone and by email. We sent her an email pic of the sonogram and she screamed "what are you trying to tell me". Her shock soon turned to excitement.
The next weekend we were heading to Charleston to spend time with Jenn, Dallas, Reese and Dad so I knew this one had to be good. I made a shirt for the cutest delivery girl ever, Reese, to wear. I really wanted her to be apart of it, because she is such a special part of our lives and I know she is going to be the best big cousin. It was awesome! She thought she had done the best thing in the whole world when they all started screaming. Dallas' face was priceless, he spotted the shirt first, then Jenn screamed "You're Pregnant". Below was our announcement.

Unfortunately, we had to wait another week to tell David's parents and family because his dad had been sick with the flu. We made it there on our way to St. Augustine for vacation; We gave them a congratulations card and wrote on the inside "you have a grandbaby on the way". They were so excited! This will make number 3 for them, so they are pro's and ready to babysit and spoil.

We have the most amazing families and we can't wait to share this experience with them.

"From the fullness of grace we have received one blessing after another." John 1:16

God's blessings in our lives have been endless and our latest blessing has filled our hearts with joy. We are expecting a mini Cooper on April 7th. Our surprise has been turned to excitement and love for this little one God has created. On Monday, August 3rd I was home alone while still unemployed and decided to take a home pregnancy test. Much to my surprise the test was positive which almost sent me to the floor, but instead I hopped into my car, ran to CVS and purchased 2 more tests. After the 3rd test my contemplation went to how I was going to tell David. When he arrived home from work he was a little stressed, so I suggested we go out for a jog and then I would cook dinner; I knew a full belly would calm his nerves. During dinner I posed the question "what if I said I might be pregnant?", to my surprise David said "that would be great". (Really? I always imagined him as the type to hyperventilate and need a few days to think about it) I was sure to follow it up stating that I had already called the dr. and they wouldn't see me until I was 8 wks along. So the next 3 weeks were the most agonizing. Our conversations went something like, "well if I'm pregnant", who were we kidding, 3 tests were positive.

Our anticipation grew as the first dr's appt slowly approached. Waiting in the dr's office the nurse called my name and David just sat there. She laughed and waved for him to come too. I said, I think you might want to be apart of this. As we went in for the ultrasound, we were both in shock. What a surreal moment. Then we heard the heartbeat...I think that's when we both swelled up with tears and it hit us. What a miracle God has made and we are lucky enough to be the parents. The nurse took a pic of the baby and wrote Dad's first picture on it, from that moment on, David was wrapped.

Here is mini Cooper's first picture at 8 weeks:

I am due back at the dr. in 2 more weeks and I can't wait! Keep posted for the rest of the story. We had to be creative in telling friends and family. We knew there was a huge element of surprise coming!