This June...

we're having a son!!!

We can't wait to see his sweet face!

Oh the anticipation...

 Thanks to Skype and Blake and Morgan...

 the correct baby is in the cake...

now, we're just waiting for our friends and family to arrive! :)

Within the hour, we'll know if we're having a son or a daughter!

Like music to our ears...

I took the day off today and Landon took a long lunch and we got to see our sweet baby moving all around on the ultrasound machine for about 30 minutes today at our 20 week ultrasound.  It was one of the coolest things I've ever experienced.  He/she is about 15 ounces--almost a pound, which is about 5 ounces bigger than all the baby books I've been reading said he/she would be at this point.  We got to see the arms and legs and feet and face and his/her whole sweet little body, all stretched out, face down.  We got to see the baby cover his/her face with their hands and cross their little feet at the ankles.  The little heart was beating at 150 bpm and everything looked good.  We got to see the arteries and the kidneys and all the other little organs.  And the doctor said everything looked about as good as he's seen, which was so reassuring.  It was the craziest feeling to feel the baby moving and then actually be able to see what was going on on the screen.  Landon and I just stood (or in my case, laid) there, holding hands, staring at our little baby on the screen.  It was almost surreal, but at the same time made it so much more real that there really is a sweet, little baby growing inside of me. 

Then, after about 30 minutes of seeing our sweet baby move and twist and do headstands for a while (as the nurse called it when the baby looked like it was balancing on his/her head for a lot of the time!), she told us to turn our heads away and she would see if she could tell if it was a boy or a girl.  So, even though we wanted to see :), we turned away.  All of about 3 seconds later, she told us that she got it and we could look again.  And, she said she was about 99.9% sure, so it must have been pretty obvious!

She took it and wrote it on a cards for us and then put that card in the sealed envelop, which is now sitting on our dining room table, until our family and some close friends come over tomorrow night to find out with us!  We're ready to find out, but honestly, after hearing that everything with the baby looks good and that he/she is growing and developing right on track, getting to find out the sex of the baby just feels like icing on the cake.

And, to add even more icing to the cake on an already awesome Friday, tonight as we were lying down after eating dinner, the baby was moving or kicking or something a lot.  So I told Landon to put his hand there for a minute and see if he could feel it.  We've tried for him to feel it once before, but no luck.  This time though, the baby was moving a little that he could kinda feel but it didn't really feel like anything for sure to him.  Then, he felt it!  I think it kicked (or punched or something) and he felt it before I even said anything.  So exciting.  What a perfect ending to today.

What a difference a few weeks makes!

Any guesses??

We find out this weekend if our little one is a boy or girl!!  Any guesses?  We're ready to find out, but more so just praying that everything looks good on the sonogram tomorrow and that we have a healthy little baby! :)

So what are you thinking?  Pink or blue? :)

19 Weeks

We're counting down to Friday! :)

Early Morning Thoughts

This morning, we made some last minute plans for my parents to come down to our neck of the woods and go to church with us, since we haven't seen them in a while.  When we made the plans though, we were up and dressed to go to first service, so after we got off the phone with them, we realized we had about 2 1/2 hours to kill before they could make it down for second service. 

And so, here I am.  The house is quiet.  The dogs are still asleep.  Landon is (hopefully!) catching up on some much needed sleep.  The laundry is going and the dishes are done.  Chocolate chip cookies are baking for Landon to have after he finishes his crazy long bike ride this afternoon. 

I still have grading and planning to do (it's all sitting in a bag beside me right now, just waiting to be pulled out :)), but I figured it was time for an update.

I want to start off by bragging on Landon for a minute, because I don't do that nearly enough on here, or in general.  He started his Ironman training again about 2 weeks ago and has been pulling crazy hours.  He wakes up in the 5o'clock hour every morning, either to bike or swim, and then either runs on his lunch break or swims right after work, so that he can have his evenings at least semi-free and we can spend them together.  It would be so much easier for him to just sleep in to his normal time and work out after work, but he's decided to do it this way so that we can actually see each other, since I'm not training with him this time (which is WEIRD for both of us!) and I'm SO thankful for that.

His new job is going well too.  It's longer hours and he sometimes says it's boring, but it's stable and he seems to work with good people, so we're thankful for that.  And, underneath where he works are what's called the tunnels--a HUGE underground area filled with restaurants and shopping and all kins of stuff--and I never knew it even existed until he started working there.  A friend and I met Landon and her husband, who he works right by, which is also cool, for lunch on MLK day since we had it off an they didn't.  They decided to show us around the tunnels so we ate lunch down there--it was pretty impressive. :)

And, on a money/work note--he's been working so diligently to plan for the future and to make it work to where I can stay at home with our baby, and I am more grateful for that than he will ever know.  Since we've been married, the plan has pretty much always been for me to stay at home when we have kids so we've basically lived off of one salary this whole time.  But, when the time comes, I know that puts a lot of pressure on one spouse who's becoming the sole income provider, so I'm just so thankful for a husband who's willing to do that, because I know a number of women who would love to stay at home but their husbands won't consider it.  I'm not judging at all, I'm just thankful for Landon and his willingness/desire to make this happen for us as a family.

My job is going well.  Classes were better this week--I changed some stuff up and it seems to be working a lot better, thank goodness.  Other than that though, it's pretty much life as usual.  Some days when I'm teaching I'm so thankful that I won't be coming back next year, and some days I really think I'll miss it.  Overall though, it's exciting but a little weird at the same time to think about not teaching.  More exciting than weird though. :)

This Friday, we have our 20 week ultrasound and we can't wait.  We can't wait to see his/her precious little face (or whatever we can see!) on the ultrasound screen and are just praying that everything looks good and on track with our little one.  We're not going to find out what gender it is at the ultrasound though--we're having a reveal party with our immediate family and some close friends on Saturday night, so we're going to find out with them!  I think that those 24 hours when we have an envelope that says if it's a boy or a girl but can't open it yet, will be about the longest 24 hours ever!

I feel the last few weeks I've been saying this over and over, but it's hard to believe we're almost halfway there.  I'm showing some, but can still fit in to some of my clothes, which is nice.  This past week though I've started having people I work with that I don't know as well, and kids at work that I don't teach, ask me if I'm pregnant, so I guess I'm starting to look like it, which is fun.  And, I've started to feel the baby move more, at least I'm relatively sure that's what it is.  A couple of times I could put my hand on my belly and feel a little bump, which was so cool.  When I was telling my mom and brother about feeling it, I told them that I was pretty sure it was the baby, and my brother said "well, what else would be inside your stomach like that?"  Ha.  That made me laugh.  Anyway, I tried to let Landon feel once, but the baby quit moving.  We tried to get it to move around again, but no luck. :)  Hopefully soon he'll get to feel it too!

Pregnancy is weird though.  In general, physically, I feel good.  Aside from the couple of mornings I've thrown up this week (what is that about??), I feel pretty normal.  I've been walking almost every day, and yesterday I did 7 miles in preparation for my half marathon and felt good.  But even with working out, it's like nothing is simple anymore--I'm worried about my heart rate being up too high, or for too long, or if I'm eating enough or the right things.  And if the number on the scale goes down, it makes me nervous, and if it goes up too much, it weirds me out.  I'm trying to just go with it, but it just feels like there's so much we don't know.  And, I've definitely got the pregnancy brain, or whatever you want to call it.  I'll be saying something and forget what I'm talking about.  I have the hardest time thinking up things to cook for dinner.  I have to write down EVERYTHING I have to do, or else I forget.  I keep walking away from the kitchen and leaving the refrigerator door open, for goodness sakes.  Like Landon told one of his friends the other day as we were talking about babies etc, pregnancy is just weird.  Good and exciting, but strange sometimes.  There's so much about it that we had no idea, haha!  But, we're figuring it all out--and excited about the end result. :)

And that about sums up our life right now--work, working out and baby.  Hopefully I'll get up a 19 week picture sometime today and then next week...pictures of our son or daughter!! :)

And now, I hear those ungraded papers calling my name...

18 Weeks

Baby Speights weights about half a pound this week and is roughly the size of a bell pepper!  We went to the doctor this week and everything with the baby looked good and sounded good.  I gained 7 pounds between my visit last month though and this visit--YIKES!  Hopefully that won't happen two times in a row, ha!  I'm blaming it on the fact that it was the holidays. :)  My doctor reassured me it was fine because I didn't gain much in the first trimester, but still.

This week I'm still feeling good, which I'm so thankful for.  I've been hungry all the time (which also might have something to do with the seven pounds...) but I've been just trying to make good food choices an keep running/walking every day. 

We've also started looking at baby furniture and nurseries and things of that nature this weekend, which has been so fun!  I think we're both antsy for the 28th to be here, so we can start really making plans for our sweet baby's arrival!

And, can you please be praying for two of our friends?  They were pregnant, due about 2 weeks before us, and found out this past week that their baby boy had a terminal birth defect.  I can't even imagine what they're going through right now.  I am just praying for God's comfort and peace that passes understanding for them. 

The Best

This has been a crazy, hard week at work.  I'm not exactly sure why, but something is off in my classroom and teachers are complaining like crazy and it's just been one of those weeks.

Thursday night though, was one of the best nights I've had in a LONG time.  It was just so sweet and so perfect and so needed.

To begin with, it was the day I'd been counting down to for a few weeks--the day I got to go to the doctor and hear our sweet baby's heartbeat and hear that everything was still looking good.  So after work, I headed over.  When I got in the room, I called Landon and put him on speakerphone and together we got to hear the sweet, sweet swooshing sound of our baby.  It's heartbeat was a little slower this time, in the upper 140's, but sounder louder and strong.  The doctor let us listen for a while and I was in heaven.  It's still so crazy sometimes for me to think there's a real little baby in there.

When I got home I did a little cleaning and some laundry and was changing to go to the gym and walk some, when Landon called.  He proposed that we skip our workouts that night and, in honor of the healthy baby report, we go out and celebrate and just spend the night together.  It had been a long, busy week for us both and seemed like we hadn't seen each other much.  So, needless to say, I jumped on the idea.  I don't think he had any idea how much I needed a night out with him at that moment, but it almost made me cry when he suggested it.  He told me to put on something nice and he'd be by on his way home from work to pick me up.

We spent the next couple of hours at Kona Grill, eating and talking and catching up.  It was wonderful.  I probably talked his ear off, but he was nice and let me. :)  We spent the rest of the evening just hanging out and talking and watching a little TV.  As we were going to bed that night, I turned to him and thanked him for a perfect night.  Because literally, it was.  And he turned to me and told me "You're welcome.  Thank you for carrying our baby".

Melt. my. heart.  I think I fell even more in love with him in that moment than ever before.

Thank you for being you, Landon.  I could not ask for a better husband and am so lucky to be yours.

Two Words

Usually, every year I sit down and make some resolutions, either on New Years Eve or New Years Day.  This year, the idea of making resolutions was on my mind, but I really didn't make any.  Sure, there's things that I want to do this year, like learn more about gardening (and have a bigger garden!), learn more about cooking, read my Bible every day.  But, all of these things I'm going to try to do anyway, so it seemed silly somehow to write them down.

Then, a few days after the new year, I read a friend's blog about putting all of the things she wanted to for the new year in to a word (or two) and that resonated with me--it wasn't a to do list for the new year; it was a sense of who you want to become.  So, in between work stuff and home stuff, in the quiet moments during my drive to work in the morning or a run around the park after work in the afternoon or as I lay awake in bed at night, I mulled this over.  Thought about what my word for 2011 would be.   A bunch of words came to mind, but none seemed just right.   I kept thinking of the word "intentional" but kept asking myself "intentional about what?" and couldn't come up with a good answer.  So, I kept thinking.

Then, a few days ago, I did something that made me realize how selfish and self-focused I can be.    And how this is something that I've continued to struggle with--so often I don't do something for someone else not because I can't or don't want to, but simply because I'm too caught up in my own day to day life, crossing things off of my own personal to do checklist, to think to do it.  And I hate that about myself.  I know I miss so many opportunities to do good, big and small, because I can't see past what I think I need to/want to do that day.

And then the next morning, as I was driving to work in the dark, it came to me.  I knew what my resolution words for 2011 were.

intentional unselfishness.

I want to open my eyes and not miss opportunities.  I want to stop caring so much if everything I wanted to get done that day didn't get done and instead keep time open in my day to do something for other people.  I want to stop making selfish decisions and then pretending they're not selfish.  I want to be the most selfless I can be at home, with Landon, where it often (for whatever reason) seems to be the hardest.  I want to be unselfish with my money, and give sacrificially, not just when I have some extra.  I want to remember that life is not about being happy, but about being holy and faithful and joining God at work.  Life is about other people and serving them and showing them our great God, who gave up His son, so that we could spend eternity with Him.

I want to make it a point to be intentionally unselfish, beginning in 2011. 

17 Weeks

As I was lying on the couch watching TV with Landon tonight, I think I felt the baby for the first time.  I'm not totally sure, but twice in about 10 minutes I felt this weird thing, like a bubble popping in my stomach, that was different from anything I've felt before.  Too cool. :)

And, we're almost halfway there!  We go back to the doctor this week, which I love, because so far every time we've gone has just been more reassurance that the baby is growing stronger and bigger, just like he/she should be.  Hopefully this week will be more of the same!  Then, in 3 weeks, we get to go in for THE ultrasound. :)  We can't wait.

This week is the first week that I've started to, at times feel like I look like I look pregnant.  I know that anyone walking down the street who didn't know probably wouldn't think it still, but I just feel like my stomach looks different.  Weird.

Landon and I signed up today for the Cowtown half marathon in February and went for a run this afternoon in the 40 degree weather--it was cold!!  Well, it was probably alright for Landon because he ran 10 miles and warmed up, but I ran/walked 6, because I'm trying not to overdo things and to keep my heartrate down (which is SO counter-intuitive!)--and it was COLD while I was walked!  Oh well--it was nice to get outside and do something though. :)

Other than things like that, and my clothes getting tighter, I pretty much am still feeling normal again, which I am so thankful for.  The only weirdness I've still got going on is that our garbage bags (they're the Febreze scented ones) make me feel sick because I can smell them when I walk in to the kitchen.  For a while I was convinced that it was the trashcan that I was smelling, so I'm glad I figured it out before I went and bought a new trash can!  I want to buy new trash bags but can't quite convince myself to yet, because we bought a BIG box of the ones we have now and we have a lot left, ha!  I figure I'll switch when we run out.  For now, I just light a candle and pretend I can't smell it. :)

Happy Monday!

Pay It Forward 2011

This morning, a friend posted the following message on her blog:

I promise to send something handmade
to the first 3 people who leave a comment here. 

To be eligible, you must also post this in your blog,
offering the same thing to 3 other people. 

The rules are that it must be handmade by you and it
must be sent to your 3 people *sometime* in 2011.

So, I'm offering the same thing to you right now.  I'm praying that this project spreads like wildfire because it sounds like fun!!. Like her, I will also try to get all my stuff out by the end of January at the latest so that I don't forget about it! I suggest if you are playing along you give yourself an approximate *due by* date so the people that signed up aren't waiting terribly long. I think this will be fun and I hope you'll join.

Ready, set, GO!

"People will always follow a good example; be the one to set a good example, then it won't be long before the others follow... How lovely to think that no one need wait a moment, we can start now, start slowly changing the world! How lovely that everyone, great and small, can make their contribution toward introducing justice straightaway... And you can always, always give something, even if it is only kindness!"

*Anne Frank*

New Years Eve

Last New Years, as we sat and talked and waited for the fireworks to begin, Morgan and I were joking about how next year we wanted to be big and pregnant and just hanging out at home.  At the time it was kinda funny, even though we weren't totally kidding--but it was kinda funny that this year it was a reality, because it seemed SO far off at the time.

 

This year, like we have every New Years Eve since we've been married, we spent the last hours of 2010 with Blake and Morgan--this year we ate dinner at a haunted Spaghetti Warehouse in downtown Houston and then came back to our house and watched Despicable Me in 3D.  It was SO cute!  We planned on heading out a little before midnight to watch the fireworks show that Sugarland was putting on, but ended up staying at the house and watching the ball drop in New York as we rang in the new year.


This year, Morgan and I joked about how next year we'll have to get dressed up and go out and do something really fun--but then laughed that really, we'll probably just be at one of our houses, eating pizza and watching a movie and hanging out with a few babies.  Either way sounds fun. :)

Sixteen Weeks

Somehow with all the craziness of the holidays we forgot to take a picture for week fifteen and by the time we remembered it seemed silly to take one so close to this one.  In some ways this pregnancy is seeming to crawl by, because I'm so ready to meet him or her, but in some ways it's flying by.  It's weird to think that we're only a month from being halfway through it--and only a month from finding out if our little one is a boy or a girl!  It's funny because at first I was a little against wanting to find out if it's a boy or a girl, but now that we've decided to find out, I can't wait!  I kinda think it's a boy and Landon kinda thinks it's a girl, so we'll see! 

So, for a little update. :) This week Baby Speights is about four or five inches and about the size of an avocado.  So, we're both growing--though I don't think I normally look as big as I do in this dress!  I'm in that weird in between stage--my normal clothes are not super comfortable anymore, but maternity clothes are still a little big.  But, my mom and I went shopping over the break and she bought me some cute maternity clothes, which was a lot of fun!  I'm excited to be able to wear them!

Overall, I'm feeling great right now.  I'm a little tired still, but I think that has more to do with working with middle schoolers all day rather than the pregnancy.  I'm back to running 3-4 times a week, and actually planning to run/walk a half marathon with a few people at the end of February, which I'm excited about.  Some days I feel good running and can run 3-4 miles without a problem and some days it's just uncomfortable, so I end up walking, which is fine.  Either way though, I always feel better after I work out, even if it's just for 20 or 30 minutes.

So , so far so good. :) I go back to the doctor in about a week and we're praying that he/she is still healthy and growing strong and that everything looks good!  We're so excited and can't wait to meet our little one in a few (or five :)) months!