Another on the way!

Yep, you guessed it! we're having another baby! (in case you didn't catch it in my previous post 15 weeks). We are super excited! I am 12.5 weeks along now and can no longer kinda keep a secret. Most folks know, but i haven't "officially" announced it to the world! (i know, everyone is waiting on their seats) so, officially, it's announced...i'm pregnant!!

so far, things have been fairly par for the course with the pregnancy. I thought i was further along, but went to have an ultrasound right before we left Arkansas and the doc moved my due date back 2 weeks! from July 15th to Aug 2nd! kinda of a bummer, but really, it's all ok. it's just that when you're pregnant, nauseated 24/7 and have the usual 1st trimester jitters, you get excited when you think you're almost out of the 1st trimester. so, when he told me i was 8 weeks 5 days instead of 11 weeks, i was slightly bummed. but now, i'm back (well, past) that point and will officially be out of the first trimester next week. the nausea is mostly gone, but i'm stil pretty tired a lot. either way I'm so thankful that all is still well and baby smith #2 is looking good!! next step, can't wait to find out the sex! (Feb 16th!!)

Here is one of the ultrasound pics from my new doctor here in Louisiana. I love her by the way, so thanks to all the gals who recommended her (thank goodness my brother has LOTS of friends who have babies or are with child and can give great recommendations!) Baby Smith was moving around like crazy this day! Looks like we've got another busy bee on our hands!!! Ruby Belle will be so excited (after she gets over the jealousy part!) to have a full time playmate!!

And this is how we broke the news to my parents! We weren't living here yet, so i made this silly shirt and texted it to them...now, they're getting old, so even on their fancy iPhones they had a hard time seeing the shirt, but finally caught on and were so excited!! Now they'll have 2 to spoil!!

(again, sorry for the iPhone picture quality!)

36 weeks

so, here we are...36 weeks! i'm headed to the doctor on Monday. he will start checking my progress at this appt so i'm pretty excited that these weekly appts from here on out will tell me how things are progressing. i'm apprehensive is more like it. i have 2 friends who were about a month ahead of me and they have both given birth now...that makes it SO much more real for me! crazy!!

so, here's the 36 week shot...my belly button no longer has hope of staying hidden. it's officially out.



and me again, after a friend's baby shower and a new hair cut! (and a bowling ball looking belly) yep, now i'm like all the other moms who cut their hair short with the coming of the new baby. (i swore i'd never do it, but here it is)



and still putting final touches on the nursery...will post pics sometime soon!

34 weeks!!!

the countdown continues...
i had my 34 week appt today (it's officially 34 1/2 weeks, but who's counting?!) i was counting, but NOW i'm really counting cause my old elementary/middle/high school friend who was due exactly a month before me had her baby today!!! i'm SO excited for her, SOOOO excited and can't wait to see pics of her sweet little girl!!...but man, that makes it SO much closer and real for me!! exciting...? YEP!!! scary...? YEP!!! i'm so excited though!! i go back in 2 weeks and he'll start checking my cervix then to see if/how i'm progressing! it's getting SO real!!!

ups and downs

this nursery thing is for the birds! well, at least today it is...and once a week or so. i get SO frustrated trying to decide what exactly i want! i hate decisions...and they are especially hard now for some reason...i guess pregnancy is not on my side on this one. i've decided on colors...black, white, and teal. we're having black furniture and 3 white walls and one teal wall. then comes the bedding...
i need help. and i've been working w/my mom and her dear friend, Carrie Jo, and love them and their help. just lately, i've been short. my attitude is short. i mean, they keep throwing more and more ideas out at me everytime i ask an opinion and then that leads to more dreaded decisions!!! then i get verbally frustrated. then i feel bad b/c i know i asked for their help. and the worst part is my mom gets the brunt of it. she's like the "go-between" between Carrie Jo and I. and that's not easy. for me, but probably especially for her. and i hate that for her :( she's my mom and i love her.

so what shall we call her???

after much thinking, debating, and discussion we finally reached a desicion for our new little girl...i really wanted a family name, but couldn't make any of them work or fit or we just both didn't agree. so family names went by the wayside...therefore, this post doesn't have much explanation except that we found a name we both liked and agreed on. (even though some of our family doesn't quite think as highly of it as we do :) so, we proudly announce to the world (or just those of you in my blog world) that our sweet little girl will be named:

Ruby Belle Smith

and that's that!! :) i guess it could change...we do have a little less than 3 months to change our minds, but i'm pretty sure they are made up. we fall in love with our little Ruby Belle more and more each day!

what's in a name...?!

so, we have a name...but only 1/2. we're still debating on her middle name. hopefully we'll have that soon, but, man are names hard!!! i am obsessed w/them, and i want hers to be perfect, so maybe that's what's taking us so long. i know, we have 4 months until she arrives, but i'm not patient w/this naming thing. my husband is SO opinionated, which i'm thankful for, but it makes it more hard to decide on a name we agree on. i guess for now, i'm glad he's opinionated b/c i am having trouble deciding everything these days! (as if i wasn't already decisionally challenged!...it's worse now that i'm pregnant!)

next...deciding on details of the baby room!

we did buy a crib today!!!! our first baby purchase!!! and we're (my husband) painting it black!

more to come!!!

22 weeks

so, here's yet another belly shot. i know...kinda getting boring if you're following my blog b/c i all i do is post pics of my beautiful slowly expanding belly. so sorry! :) and sorry about this one...can you tell i just woke up? (if you look close you can see the marks from the bed sheets! :)

22 week appt

well, this was my first visit w/my MD after my ultrasound. so i was excited and nervous to see what he had to say...what his professional opinion was after seeing the zillion pics (i had no idea they take pics and measurements of everything from the collar bone to the pelvic bone!) they took of our sweet girl. so, he walks in and says, "so everything looked good on your ultrasound,..but we need to talk about one problem." WHAT?! uh-oh...i braced myself. and he was silent, so i finally said, and what is the problem?! so, come to find out, i have a "low-lying placenta." this is apparently pretty common this early on, but i will be having another ultrasound at 30 week to see what it looks like then. if it doesn't correct itself by then, then i will have no choice but a c-section. and i really, really don't want to plan for a c-section. really, i don't want a c-section at all...unless of course i will be putting the baby at risk. i was really hoping to have this baby w/o many (if any) drugs and w/o an epidural. so, MUCH different than a planned c-section! so, in the meantime, i'm praying that this placenta will move on up away from my cervix...

belly at 20 weeks!

still not the greatest photo...will work on the back drop next time:) (and sorry for those of you who are already tired of "belly shots!" i'm gonna keep it up until i pop! but that's me at 20 weeks!! it really looks bigger when i'm looking down at it... i'm officially halfway!!!

proof that "i'm a girl!!!"

this is it...the picture that supposedly says "i'm a girl!!" wow. ultrasound techs are some seriously trained eyes. that's a view from the bottom up...like she's sitting on a glass bottom bench or something...it says Girl!! :)

i had a moment...

we can blame it on the so-called pregnancy hormones. i believe in them now! see, up to this point, i've been really calm. i mean, really. my best friend even told me that i'm a "cooler" friend when i'm pregnant. (nice compliment, huh?...does that mean i'm a "not cool" friend when i'm not knocked up?!) well, anyway, i'm usually pretty emotional...or i can be. but not while preggo!! weird. a lot less losing my temper, crying, fights w/my husband, having my feelings hurt, being self-conscious...weird. all of course, w/the occasional slip up. i AM female...we all do, right?!

so, i'm a "cooler" friend and i think my husband agrees that i'm a "cooler" wife. :)

not so "cool" moment...i was driving to work the other day very early...and listening to my favorite band, Cross Canadian Ragweed. and started singing along. that's when i had a moment. yep, i got a tear in my eye! and quickly thought...what the heck?! i'm listening to my Ragweed and the thought crossed my mind that my little girl could hear me!...and i got a tear??? wow. then i realized what a cheeseball moment it was...almost embarassed to tell anyone, so i'm blaming it on hormones.

gotta be the hormones!

you gotta get one!

so, it looks a little silly, but it's heaven in a pillow!! the dream of dreams you can have on this thing! it's huge...and you really don't get a feel for it unless you walk into the room and see what looks like 2 people under the covers only to find that it's really just a pillow! it's HUGE!!! (fits okay in our king size bed...but not sure my husband would love it if i had it in anything smaller!) but great! my husband even wants one!!! i've been sleeping so much better w/it! i know i'm not big yet, but even still i've been having a hard time sleeping since i found out i was pregnant! (part due to being excited, part b/c i have trouble sleeping often)! and it helps so much when you're not supposed to sleep on your back! it's awesome...recommended for prenant ladies and non-pregnant folks anytime!!

IT'S OFFICIAL...!!!!

well, as official as it can get until SHE pops out!!! yep, IT'S a GIRL!!!!
we're super excited...well, mostly.

• i wanted a girl at first - thought i'd know more of what i was doing if i got to try my mothering skills out on a girl first
• then a old pt of mine at the hospital who i hadn't seen in 9 months or so told me she dreamed i was having a girl (she didn't even know i was preggo at the time)
• decided i was having a boy and i would love it - cause i hear boys LOVE their mommies, and besides...i could have more "me" time by sending him off to bond and do boy things w/his daddy if i was ever tired (is that bad to be excited about??)
• couldn't think of any boy names and could think of millions of girls, so i thought i was doomed in naming my handsome man
• dreamed i was having a girl 2 days before my ultrasound
• still convinced i was having a boy...shocked when she said "it's a girl!!!"

..so?! that's my boy/girl story.

Daddy's story is a little different. see, justin told me all along that he didn't care what it was. even went as far as saying that if it was a girl he'd love it cause he "could learn a lot from a girl!" (i should have known he was lying then!) but, today when we left the MD office he got kinda quiet and said, "well, i didn't think i would be, but i guess i'm a little disappointed. i was looking forward to throwing the ball and going kayaking w/my boy" awww....it was kinda sad. but he's okay now...as long as we have a boy next!!! yep, those were his words....already thinking about baby #2 and #1 isn't here!

little does he know #1's gonna be wrapped around her daddy's finger!!

my mom is, of course, excited.

my dad...well, went like this:

Me: Hi dad! just called to tell you..."You're gonna have a granddaughter!!!

Dad: "awwww, man!"

(nice huh?!)

Ty (my brother): when i told him what dad said..."well, guess you know what his reaction was when he found out he was having you!!! :)

even nicer! :) good thing i know my family loves me!

ok, well, now on to baby naming!! i've been looking forward to this for like 10 yrs!!! (really, i have some weird obsession w/names...boys, girls, dogs, fish...whatever!)

oh, and almost forgot! our sweet little girl is looking good...measuring right along w/her due date and all is well and healthy as far as we can tell! God is so good!!!

belly shot - 17 weeks

belly shot #3 - 17 weeks. getting bigger (in more areas than this)...as you can see from my previous post i had to purchase my first pair of maternity pants. i went shopping again today...and it sucked. really, i didn't enjoy maternity clothes shopping today! i'm just kinda pooching out...so maternity stuff sometimes looks a little silly. so i searched and searched for "cool" and fashionable items. i'm still a little unsure of my purchases...may have to make some returns. we'll see!

my first pair

so, we went to my in-laws this last weekend for easter and a family reunion. i normally don't look forward to these events because i'm a little bit of a homebody and my husband has a HUGE family...i on the other hand have a very small family (I thought my family was pretty normal until i met my husband) and am only used to - and comfortable with - small family gatherings. well, anyway, i do it and i usually have a good time, but this time had a little added adventure. we had only been there 30 minutes when my mother-in-law insisted that we go maternity clothes shopping. this is tricky...i really, really, really don't like shopping with anyone (except my friend, Holli, and my mom), so saying yes to shopping is not something i normally do. but how was i supposed to say "no" to my MIL (especially since she insisted in front of a room full of people). so, i went. and i LOVE maternity pants!! thank goodness for MIL that insist upon shopping for fat pants! they are SO comfortable! i got a pair of jeans, 2 pairs of pants, and a dress!! love them all and have been sporting the big, stretchy band all week! :)

i think that's what that was...?!

so, i think i felt the baby move the other night...i think! it's such a weird feeling...and somewhat normal feeling. like you just ate something or drank a carbonated beverage or gas! :) but really, it felt more like butterflies...not like "butterflies in your stomach" but what you really might imagine that a fluttering little butterfly may feel like. i can't wait to feel it again!!!

i never believed...

a pregnant lady had to pee THIS much...especially at such an early stage! i'm just now OFFICIALLY done w/trimester #1 and now into trimester #2!!!! yea!!! and i'm feeling 1,000 times better! i actually moved off the couch last weekend and stopped taking my nausea meds and i'm feeling great!! ok, well, good. (but anyone who works a 60 hr work week is tired by friday, right?!) i'm so excited to be in my 2nd trimester!!...but really, i've been waking up at least 3, but usually 4-5 times a night to pee!! and that's after going 2-4 times in the last 30 minutes before i fall asleep.!! and it's all legitimate!! not just, "i think i may have to pee so i'll go anyway," it's the real deal! i almost hate to get in bed and read b/c i have to get out 2 or 3 times before i turn out the light! you know, i'm really starting to get a "pooch" as so many of my friends have pointed out (i'll post that pick soon), but i had no idea that little "pooch" could have so much affect on my bladder!!

sorry for the T.M.I...i've been reading Jenny McCarthy's book, Belly Laughs, and i guess her ability to freely share too much (i call it being honest...and i love it!) is wearing off on me!

first doctor's appt

Feb 4th, 2009 - 8 weeks

well, it was no biggie...i guess since i've been seeing this MD for the last few years, and i had just seen him a month ago, it was not what the books say. i just saw the nurse and she went over what not to do and all and just gave me an overview of the next 7 months. so, i get to go back at 10-11 weeks and get an ultrasound, etc! i can't wait! maybe then it will start to feel a little more real (as if morning sickness isn't real?!)! my husband will be w/me for that one and i can't wait to see how excited he is :)

constantly...

Feb. 13th, 2009

that's the way it's been for the last week or 2. i'm in week 9 and i've been constantly "queasy" feeling for the last week or 2. it stinks. i've only thrown up twice, but it really didn't do much good. it's so weird. i wake up queasy, go to work queasy, stay queasy, then it gets a little better and i work out, then i'm queasy again and stay that way. fun! really, i thought i was gonna go w/o the morning sickness b/c i didn't feel that way for a while, and my mom was only sick 2 days w/my brother and i. so, it kinda creeped up on me. i kinda feel better if i eat on a very regular (i mean like every 30min-hr) basis, but really making yourself eat when nothing sounds good...or it sounds like you want to gag, is hard! chicken noodle soup has become my friend! but just the other night...i thought i was gonna die (ok, i'm a little dramatic). i tried to work out after work, only to make it 20 min on the treadmill cause i was exhausted. on my way home i got to feeling nauseated very quickly...and my stomach was growling uncontrollably! so i tried to start thinking of something to eat when i got home. NOTHING sounded good. in fact, it all sounded grossly nauseating! so, weirdly enough, i passed McDonald's and immediately thought about cheeseburgers...and crossed over the lanes to get there quickly. man, that cheeseburger was GOOD! and i felt like a million bucks after that! i never do cheeseburgers! weird how that happens, huh?!

Telling people

so..."when can i tell people?" he asks...


you see, i'm kinda open...wear my heart on my sleeve. BUT, when people say you're not supposed to tell until your through your first trimester...that kinda leaves you in this state of limbo. it's weird. you're SO excited, but if you start telling then people are going to say "why are you telling people already?" so, i stayed true to myself and told at least a few people...my family and his. well, that only stuck for about a few hours b/c my dad (who is a male, i must remember) immediately told those who were around him when i called. he was a swim practice and i didn't think to tell him NOT to tell anyone b/c i didn't think he would. needless to say, i got a call from my mom a few hours later saying that she'd been getting calls and texts from friends who had heard i was pregnant from their kids while at swim practice! :) how could i be mad at that?! my dad was so excited that he had to tell! truly it made me smile b/c i knew he was excited! so, i kinda let it trickle out to those who are closest to me over the next few weeks. i figure...as long as i feel comfortable telling them if something (heaven forbid) bad happen, then i can tell them the good news! also, i figured the more people i have praying for us, the better, right?!



and i must say, why not enjoy all the attention for at least 8 months?! let your friends and family enjoy w/you and pray for you!