OOOHHH we're halfway there...

We're at the halfway mark! 20 weeks down, and 20 left to go. I can't believe this pregnancy is already halfway over! Steven and I thought now would be a good time to show everyone how I'm looking these days.

20 week belly

Sorry I look kind of sweaty. It's the end of July, I'm 4.5 months pregnant and our AC at work decided to break... again. The baby is now the length of a banana. We're running out of fruit!

So my friend Jamie (who, by the way, is Peanut's future mother-in-law since we have decided he will marry her daughter, Shay) asked me which concert the baby liked the best between Bon Jovi, Dierks Bentley, and Paul McCartney. The winner, by a mile, is Paul McCartney! Peanut tapped his foot along to Dierks and jumped to Bon Jovi but seemed to really get into Sir Paul's show. He even kicked in rhythm to "Elenore Rigby"- it was hilarious!

Speaking of the kicking, we were told at 9 weeks that we had a very active child and that seems to still be true. All of the pregnancy websites and books said that at 16 weeks I "could begin to feel light flutters as the baby moves." Flutters? Yeah right. I felt definite kicks at the end of my 16th week and it's continued since then. He jumps and kicks and stretches a lot- usually in the morning and around 10 o'clock at night (and apparently when I'm blogging because he's going at it right now...). I love it! He is such a great kid already.

I'll leave you with these pictures. Steven sent me flowers at work yesterday! He's such a sweetheart. I love, love, love both of my boys so much!

 

It's A...

Peanut is a BOY!!

I have to make this quick because Steven's about to pick me up. We're seeing Paul McCartney tonight! I can't leave without sharing some awesome new pics with all of you!

Sweet little feet and toes

My sister said he looks like James Bond... our midwife said Michael Jackson. Steven says Shooter McGavin from "Happy Gilmore"

We're in love with him already!

Yep. That's pretty definitive evidence right there. Sorry Peanut!!  Haha

The baby is completely healthy- all organs including the heart, brain, kidneys, liver, stomach, etc. look great and the doctor was very pleased! We get to go back in 5 weeks to see our little guy again! We are so happy to be having a son and can't wait to meet him!

...oh, and before you ask, we don't have a name yet. In fact, we're not even close to making a decision but we're working on it!

Off to see Sir Paul!

From Peanut to Pretzel

Every Wednesday Steven and I get an email from BabyCenter.com telling us what to expect in the coming week of pregnancy. The email includes illustrations of what the baby looks like that week as well.

Last week the baby was 18 weeks along, and looked like this:

Peanut

Pretty normal, right? Today we hit 19 weeks and somehow the picture changed to THIS:

Pretzel!

HUH?!?!

What the heck happened??!! As a first time parent, I am concerned. What do I do with a child that can literally plug it's own ears with it's toes when I play too much Lady Gaga? Should I be worried or should I embrace this, and sign up my child for America's Got Talent already? I will be pondering this for the next several weeks. Stay tuned.

We are t-minus 2 days away from the big gender reveal! On Friday we go to our first ultrasound since week 7 and will hopefully get a good look at Peanut's, um, bathing suit area. So far the votes have been split down the middle- or in thirds, I suppose, since so many of you seem to believe I will be giving birth to an actual peanut! We'll see who gets bragging rights very shortly.

Now that we are in week 19 the baby's hearing is coming along to where it can begin to hear voices, music and Steven's guitar playing. This major development comes at a perfect time! After our ultrasound on Friday we're off to the Hullabalou music festival where we'll see our good friend Dierks Bentley (who is also expecting in December), as well as Bon Jovi! This will be Peanut's THIRD Bon Jovi concert, if you can believe it. That's what you refer to as an "occupational hazard." On Monday we're going to see the one and only PAUL MCCARTNEY and a few days later.... it's baby's first Hanson show! Peanut is getting a great musical education- it's diverse and chalk full of some of Mom and Dad's absolute favorites!

I'll be back Friday, hopefully, with news on whether we'll be expecting a son or a daughter! Until then I'll leave you with this cute picture our tour photographer just sent me. It's from Bon Jovi's Atlanta show in April. It was my pleasure to take my mom and sister backstage that night! I found out I was pregnant a few days before and am 5 weeks along here:

Peanut and Turkey- delicious!

Our big sonogram is two weeks from today! I added a poll to the page. Be sure to answer the poll (below the Greece picture) and tell us if you think Peanut will be a boy, girl or an actual peanut. :)


Just now I was looking through pictures from our trip to Europe in 2009 so I could add that picture of us in Greece. I came across one picture we never shared with anyone. We were in Turkey visiting the home of the Virgin Mary. There was a wall where people would tie strips of paper, fabric, tissue, etc with their prayers/needs/desires written on them for the mother of Jesus to read and, hopefully, grant. 

All I had was a pack of Kleenex... we tied this prayer to the wall:

It says "healthy baby"

Please excuse my hideous hair and no make up- our luggage was lost for 5 days and we didn't have clean clothes, much less a hairbrush! The rule is if the Virgin Mary answers your prayer you have to return to Turkey and remove someone else's wish from the wall. Hopefully after December we'll be headed back to Turkey! Can't let the mother of Christ down, right? Ha.

Have a great weekend!

PS: the baby is kicking now!

Belly pictures!

After Steven's update yesterday we figured it would be a good time to post some belly pictures for those of you who don't get to see us on a regular basis.


16 weeks- shirt down:

16 weeks- shirt up:

So, yeah! Hard to believe someone is in there but hopefully I'll be feeling some movement in the next couple of weeks. Earlier this week I was feeling some pretty intense ligament and muscle stretching in there. It was uncomfortable but really cool! Peanut's getting ready for a growth spurt and I'm gonna bet the next picture I post will have a much bigger baby bump.


Steven wasn't kidding about chicken.... I never would have imagined that, of all things, CHICKEN would be my biggest foe during pregnancy but the look, smell and thought of a piece of chicken literally makes me gag. 


Here are a few things I've been craving:


Fresh fruits and vegetables: give me local homegrown tomatoes, avocados, black eyed eyes, cucumbers, hearts of palm and lady peas any time!


Sweet Cece's: The most amazing and delicious frozen yogurt shop in the universe!! There's one 5 minutes from my house and 5 minutes from my office. They have a bazillion toppings and let you create your own frozen treat. I like vanilla yogurt with Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Skittles, a chunk of brownie, a chunk of cheesecake and (to make myself feel like it's healthy) fresh strawberries.


Tony Packo's Spicy Pickles: My friend Sarah introduced us to these little spicy gems while in Toledo, OH for her wedding several years ago. I ordered some for Steven because he absolutely loves them... unfortunately for him I've taken them over, even though I don't even like spicy foods! This proves that the whole "pickles & ice cream" thang is very true.


I've been strict about what I'll eat. It's been suggested that pregnant women should not eat cold cuts unless they heat it in the microwave first. That may not sound so bad but have you ever tried it? 9 times out of 10 it becomes slimy and disgusting. Bleh. So no Jimmy John's for me until 2011. I've also sworn off soft cheeses unless I know for a fact they're pasteurized. I limit myself to no more than one caffeinated drink a day and if you know me you know that's a big change! I just want to be good to Peanut. Plus, it's not forever. I can do anything for 9 months.


I guess that's all for now! Love to you all....