22 weeks and our 1 pound little girl

I am at 22 weeks now and only 6 weeks away from the third trimester! My belly seems to be growing every day and my coordination dropping as the belly grows. I am sure both will continue. :) Thankfully I am now craving apples and orange juice though we'll see how long that healthy trend lasts. The latest in the baby preparations is that we bought our stroller! I am pretty excited about it because it will be great for running and trail "hiking" if you can call it that. We are going to have an outdoor friendly baby! I also braved Baby's R Us on Saturday to look at car seats and will never make that mistake again. That place is a mad house!

Here is the latest from babycenter:
At 11 inches and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. Her lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and she's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath her gums. Her eyes have formed, but her irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers her body and the deep wrinkles on her skin, which she'll sport until she adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside her belly, her pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

Nursery- Before Pictures

Alright, here are a few "before" pictures of the nursery. We do have the crib and the dresser in there now but we still have the painting and all of the other decorating left. I spent a sick amount of time looking at fabric today because mom has graciously "volunteered" to make the crib bedding for me! I can't handle all of the girly options available, so I get to pick fabric that I can actually live with which I am quite excited about. Thanks MOM!!!! As soon as I settle on the fabric, I will get to pick out paint, dresser knobs, lamb/shade, and all of that fun stuff. I am looking forward to painting over the yellow and getting a light that doesn't make the room look muddy.

20 weeks and 4 days

Here is a picture from the afternoon that we found out we are having a little girl. It was a beautiful October day.

It's a GIRL!!!

Pat and I just came back from our 20 week ultrasound. We love seeing our little baby moving around on the screen. The baby looks so much more like a little person at this point. We were able to see her little hands and feet and watch her kick. You could see her face a few times and watch her open and close her mouth and eyes. It is hard to believe that there is a little person growing in me. It seems like and is a miracle. I know that God's hand is clearly at work in me creating a new little being. It is a blessing to feel the baby growing and to know that the Lord is in control of her little life even now. God is so good!

We also found out that our little person is a girl! That was a fun experience along with telling all of the family members and listening to them scream. :) I think that it helps make the process feel even more real. Pat and I are going to have a daughter and we love her already! Here are some pictures of our cute little girl.

Belly update

I forgot to include the latest belly photo in my last update, so here it is. It is growing fast but I am trying to keep it under control. Wish me luck! :)

20 weeks and the half way point

I am now officially half way through my pregnancy! The baby is kicking and moving around more and more these days. In fact, Pat felt a good kick last night which was exciting. I can feel the baby moving around at least a few time during the day but most often when I am sitting still in the afternoon at work or in the evening at home. I am sure it will just become stronger and stronger as the weeks progress. I am looking forward to being able to see the movements from the outside.

Pat and I took another hike this weekend up to Blue Lake in the North Cascades. The hike wasn't nearly as long as the last but was about 5.5 miles. It was quite cold but beautiful outside. The larch trees were also bright yellow as you can see from the pictures. It is always great to get out of the city, get a bit dirty, and feel like we got some exercise. I am sad that the hiking season is coming to a close for this year. The trail at the top was fairly icy in spots, so we will need to look for lower level elevation hikes in the weeks to come.

18 week update

A number of fun things have happened over the last week. The most exciting is that I started to feel the baby moving around. It is the greatest experience. I first felt the baby last Wednesday (October 1st) and have been feeling it move every day since. It really feels like there is a little person in there now. It doesn't move often but always seems to move when we are driving or when I am riding the train. Pat and I have decided that it must like roadtrips. We also went to the doctor today and he helped us feel the baby's head through my belly! Now we have to stop ourselves from over doing it and smooshing our baby around whenever we feel like trying to find it. Of course, we have already tried it again twice this afternoon. :)

We also have our next ultra sound scheduled! This is the 20 week ultrasound; 20.3 weeks to be precise. We should be able to find out if our little person is a boy or a girl! Only 17 days left! We are quite excited for that date!

The last piece of news is that the baby is now about 7 ounces and 5.5 inches long.