Running Errands - who knew it could be so fun?

This morning I spent the day with Amy, Emma, and Collin at Hershey's Chocolate World. We saw the Really Big 3D Movie. Good thing Amy had a BOGO ticket, because it was completely not worth it. They make you stand in this big room for like 15 minutes, waiting to get in, and then they tell you that you can go in. That means entering another, smaller, room, where you watch a boring short movie about the history of Hershey or something. This whole time, you and whatever children you have with you are standing. Then you finally go in to the theater and see the movie with 3D effects, which is pretty cool, but it lasts about ten minutes. Poor Emma was scared by the "silly, scary guy" on the movie, and just kept asking me to hold her more tightly. Then we got some lunch at McDonald's and Aunt Sara met us at the playground for some fun.

Moving on, later on this afternoon, Eli and I ran out to do some errands. We were looking at some baby bedding, buying some maternity undies (for me, not Eli :) and returning some things. Then we decided to stop over at Babies R' Us to look at a few of the things I registered for online and to look at their baby bedding one more time. We went over and looked at the carseat and stroller we chose, and we wheeled it around a bit to check it out. It got really good ratings and we liked it, so we chose it online, but hadn't really gotten to try it. I was showing Eli how to put the carseat in and close the stroller and stuff, and as he is carrying the carseat around, I had this "OMIGOSH" moment, realizing that in just a few months, there will be Eli's little baby boy in that carseat! It was weird, but really exciting.

For some reason, this time looking around at Babies R' Us was soo much more real than the last time when we started our registry. It was really cute to see Eli, who normally would have been pulling my arms off to get out of the store, actually participating in looking around and trying things out.

Well, I think that's it for now. This is my last week of my internship, and I only have two more nights of my social service class and then the semester is over!! YAY!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures of my beautiful baby boy!

3D Ultrasound?!?!?

Hey all!!!

Check these out:

This is my little baby boy!!!

So let me tell you what happened:

Yesterday I went over to Hershey to get another ultrasound, just because the sonographer couldn't get a good view of the spine last week. I went in and she started the ultrasound, and fortunately she was able to get some good views and everything was hunky-dory. There was a medical student in there observing. She was moving the little ultrasound-thingy around, and I was like, "Wait, are those 3D??" She was like, "Yeah, I thought I would do a couple for you." How awesome is that!!!?? The ultrasound technician, Jeanie, is one of the women that I work with in my internship at Hershey Med in Maternal Fetal Medicine, and she did our first ultrasound last week. She is so passionate about what she does, and a really great lady.

So then she says to the medical student, "Hey, I wanna show you the 4D ones." WOW!! 4D ultrasound is 3D, but in real-time. So I saw the baby moving, live, in 3D. It was soooo neat....we saw his mouth opening and closing, and we saw him doing some little boxing moves as well. Unfortunately, Jeanie is not able to record the 4D stuff, but she did give me the 3D images that she did.

Eli and I thought this was just gonna be a simple ultrasound to see the spine, and we had no idea that she would do a 3 and 4D one! So Eli wasn't there and didn't get to see them, but he has seen the pictures and he was pretty excited. Last week Jeanie told us that they only do 3D ultrasound for medical purposes, if there are concerns. But she so gratefully did it for me. I said "Wow, Jeanie, I guess it does help to know people huh?" She said "I guess so :)"

On a side note, during the regular 2D ultrasound, I asked if she still thought it was a boy. She zoomed over to the baby's little private area, and she was like "Oh yeah!" Haha...hilarious.

Anyway, I guess I forgot to officially tell you that our baby is a little boy!

Take a guess...

Ok, tomorrow I have another ultrasound just because they couldn't get a good shot of the spine last week. I will post more tomorrow after that...and I will post ultrasound pictures. I'm sure most all of you know by now what we are going to be having....if not, try to guess from this picture.

Don't forget to vote on my new poll!

The Ultrasound

What a day! Yesterday we had our 20-week ultrasound, which is the detailed ultrasound when they check out the anatomy, size, and other things, and they can see the gender! Going in, I oddly didn't have a feeling either way, I really wasn't sure if we were having a boy or a girl. But now we know!! I have to finish telling family and close friends, but then I will post it here later.

It was a great day though. We both took a full sick day, since our ultrasound and dr's appt were right in the middle of the day. We stayed up late and woke up late, then went in for our ultrasound. Our ultrasound was scheduled for 10:00 and then our dr's appt was at 11:20 down the street. Well, go figure, the ultrasound didn't happen until 11:10!! They were running reallly late, so we just kept sitting there waiting! It was frustrating, but it wasn't too bad. The whole time we were waiting, the baby was kicking like a maniac. I guess the baby was telling us to hurry up so we could see him!

This is us right before the ultrasound (what are we having???):

Since my internship works with Maternal Fetal Medicine at Hershey Med, I knew both of the ultrasound techs, and I was crossing my fingers that we would get the tech, just because she is really sweet and passionate about what she does. Sure enough, she calls us in for the ultrasound. So I lay down and she puts the jelly on my belly :) You know, they keep it in a warmer so it's nice and warm! So I lay down and she starts moving around, talking us through the entire time. It was amazing to see the baby kicking and rolling around, and then to feel it in my belly at the same time!! What a miracle! So she shows us all the separate pieces of the baby's body...brain, stomach, bladder, heart, kidneys, arms, legs, everything! It was so neat.

Then she says "Do you want to know the gender?" We told her we did, and she showed us the little baby privates we were looking for! We are soo excited!! I looked at Eli, and he looked at me, and I just felt so blessed. We are going to be a mommy and daddy!

Since I am on a medication and have been the whole pregnancy, our one concern was that the baby may have cleft lip or palette due to the risks of the medication (one of the main risks of this particular med). She looked for us, and the baby's lips and mouth appear to be perfectly normal! I am so thankful! She took videos of the baby moving all around and the heart beating like crazy.

At one point, she was trying to see the spine, and the baby wouldn't roll to the right position. She finally said "Mom, could you tell your baby to roll over so we can see the spine?" So I started poking my belly and coaxing the baby to roll over....AND THE BABY DID!! Haha....the tech said that she has only ever seen that one other time. What an obedient child we have already!

The doctor came in afterward and said there are absolutely no concerns at this point,but I do need to get another ultrasound next week just to see the spine since they couldn't see it yesterday. She put all the pictures and videos on a CD for us, and when I got home and tried to open it, it was empty!! I called over there and Jeanie said she would do another for me and have it ready for Monday when I go back for my internship. I can't wait to post it.

After the ultrasound (We know what we are having, and we are thrilled!):

It was an absolutely beautiful day! We went out to lunch at Panera, came home and took Rooney for a hike - what a workout! Then I took a little rest and we spent the rest of the day hanging out outside. It was just an amazing, wonderful, beautiful day! I praise the Lord for all of the amazing things He does in our lives, and especially for this little life growing inside, that will be out with us in the world before we know it!

I think Eli was just soo happy and he was taking all these pictures of me on the beautiful day...Even though they aren't the most flattering pictures, I will post them anyway:

Last but not least, we spent the evening together and watched the movie "Juno." Well, for some strange reason, it made me sob! Hormones, an exciting day, who knows? But it is an excellent movie...

Today it is off to Eli's softball tournament, then we head up to Allentown for college friends' Bruce and Steve's house parties. We can't wait to spend the beautiful day up there with friends! Tomorrow baby Collin gets dedicated.

I will post the pics and videos as soon as I get them from Hershey on Monday....

Until then, keep guessing the gender!

Sorry it's been awhile!

Here's the newest belly picture for you all:

Ok, Ok, I've been chastised for not updating this blog. But please, give me some grace. I am at the very end of my semester (only about three more weeks, yay!) and I have two GIANT projects I am working on. Just what I need, boo....

Anyway, the biggest news this week is that Eli felt the baby move!! Amazing! We were sitting on the couch Saturday night and I was feeling the baby kicking around a lot. Of course I told Eli the baby was moving, and like always, he put his hand on my belly, even though he knows he can't feel the baby yet. But, he goes, "I just felt it!" "Right there?" "Right now!" Oh my gosh! He was feeling the baby....he felt it like 5 times! I thought it was way too early for him to be feeling the baby; I mean, the kicks I feel are still not too strong yet. But sure enough, he was feeling the little one!

Once you feel the baby, it just makes everything so much more real! Having Eli feel it was even more amazing than feeling it myself (well, maybe not, but it was great!)

My belly keeps growing, and I am just about out of regular clothes that I can force myself into. So maternity clothes it is. Fortunately, empire waists are the style now, so I bought a bunch of cheap non-maternity ones to wear. I told Eli yesterday that I need to pull out my maternity camisoles. I wear them under my regular shirts every day, and yesterday it kept ending up ON TOP of my belly and I had to keep pulling it down! Then Eli said, "Yeah, if I reach over to you during the night, your shirt is always above your belly!" Haha....guess I got to move to some bigger stuff.

I'm eating like a pig, and it's actually kinda embarrassing. Yesterday before class I bought a foot-long sub at Subway (only $5 right now) because it was cheaper than a 6 inch. I knew I would only eat half, but I was planning to take the other half home. Well, I ate the whole stinkin' foot-long sub!!! Oh my gosh! Maybe I don't really have a pregnancy belly at all, and it's just all the food I've been eating! But my weight gain is still on-target, for now, so I guess I don't have to worry too much. And FYI, Blizzards are a pregnant woman's best friend...so if you ever want to treat me to one, I'm in!

This weekend we ended up moving the rooms around so that the nursery is ready to be started. I think we ended up doing a lot more than we actually planned, and I was exhausted at the end of the weekend! But it feels great to have that done, and the guest room actually looks a lot better where the office was. Now it is just time to get rid of the awful neon pink in the nursery! I never thought it was so bad and I just thought it was funny, but I can hardly wait to get rid of it now!

We also picked up our glider for the nursery this weekend. It is so comfortable! A Dutailier of course, thanks Aunt Duckie for the wonderful gift! It is so comfortable and will hopefully make nighttime feedings a little better. But Eli swears our baby will be sleeping through the night at 2 weeks! Haha....he's just teasing though.

This has all been really fun, except for the backaches...

We have our 20-week ultrasound on FRIDAY!! and we will be finding out whether it is a boy or a girl. I know, one of those "New Age" couples who doesn't like surprises. Haha...yea right. We just want to know. You all will hear about it as well, if you care that is :)

I WILL ADD ANOTHER BLOG AFTER THE ULTRASOUND AND APPT, I promise.

Amazing Day...for so many reasons...

So, the most amazing thing happened yesterday. A friend of mine came to know Christ! I have been praying for her for awhile, but God was moving in her life and yesterday was the day! I am so thankful for Crosswalk and the wonderful things that it has taught me about what it truly means to be an ambassador for Christ, and how we really need to reach out to others. It is so different from the things I heard growing up, and it's been tough, but God is good, and He has shown me amazing things! God bless my new sister in Christ and I can't WAIT to watch her grow!

In baby news, it is amazing that I can now feel the baby pretty regularly. I obviously can't predict it, but when it happens, I know exactly what it is. It is the most amazing feeling. To think that I am now 18 weeks! Time is flying!! I am just so thankful for all of the wonderful things that are happening in our life right now.

Eli is the sweetest thing too. When I tell him the baby is moving, he runs over and puts his hand on my belly, desperately trying to feel...I keep telling him that he won't be able to feel for awhile, but he just loves his little baby so much, so I just let him :) I am so thankful to have a husband and best friend that is so wonderful and loves the Lord and his family so much. It is going to be so special to be a little family and see him caring for his new little baby.

Only two weeks until we find out what we are having! Eli says to the baby last night, "Okay, baby, we will see you in two weeks..." I'm like what are you talking about? Then I realized he meant the ultrasound :) So sweet!

Here's me now:

Family and Friends are Great!

So this weekend was just a really great weekend...we went to this children's consignment sale at Sara's church and even though they have it regularly, this was the only time I've ever gone since I finally have a reason to go! It was so weird to be able to look at baby things and actually consider buying them...for myself! I took care of baby Collin most of the morning, and it just all of the sudden felt real to me. I did find some good stuff for good prices and I can't wait until the next one in August!

I talked to Eli's sister Cailer yesterday, who informed us that they will be having a little girl! That's what we all figured for some reason. But now I feel like we really are going to have a boy! Not ONE person has said they think we are having a girl, although I always felt like that's what I wanted, but now I'm thinking a boy would be great! Who am I kidding? Any kind of baby will be great! People comment that I am "carrying high," which apparently means there is a boy in there??? I don't get it!

Once again, my belly has popped a little. It kinda feels a little weird now almost. And after I eat a meal and my belly is really full, it feels like it is just pulling outward. Like my skin is stretching or something. It's weird, and I bet I am weird too, but oh well. Eli and I had dinner outside on the deck for the first tiem this spring, and we realized that next time we have our first dinner outside, we will have a little one with us! Weird...

I need a little leeway over these next couple weeks as I am finishing my semester. I have about 6,345,333 projects and papers to do, and it doesn't leave much time to write on here. And when I do, I feel guilty, like I should be working on one of those 6,345,333 things instead.

We took the funniest picture of Collin this weekend, but of course Sara hasn't posted it yet, so I will have to wait until I get it from her, and then I'll put it up!