tomorrow!!!

Guess who I'm picking up tomorrow from the airport:

yes!!! My best friend is coming to see me TOMORROW!
(with my parents, of course!)

I'm so excited for them to come! They'll be here until Sunday night, so we have 5 days of fun with them! Clayton's Army bed [yes, we have an Army bed in our guest bedroom.. we don't discriminate between branches :)] is ready and set for him! Piper and I have had a discussion about Grandma, Poppy, and Clayton coming tomorrow. She told me that she's very excited.

Hehe.


Cannot wait to share our sweet photos and memories with you!

profiles of a stubborn baby.

Today was my Nuchal Translucency ultrasound! What a fun experience! Like I said in a previous post - this ultrasound is to measure the thickness of the neck and to check for the presence of a nasal bone. They also take a vial of blood to analyze the "stuff" in it to check for chromosomal abnormalities. So, to do this, my baby has to be on its back with its nose in the air so you can get a nice view of the neck.

And of course, our baby wanted nothing to do with it.

We watched as our little one got in every position but the one we needed. Punkin was on its head, looking straight at the camera, in a ball, flailing around, and being one cute little button! The poor ultrasound technician tried forever - which was fine by us, because we got to see a LOT of our baby!

Initially, I asked the lady if she could make an educated gender guess. She said not really - because sometimes it's wrong, so they urge them not to guess. She said they used to be "really good at it" and had it "down pat." We also couldn't video tape due to legal reasons, which we understand.

So there our little babe was, looking as cute as can be:

Can I just take a moment to point out that my baby has nose holes? And lips just like me? I mean, wow! That is one cute little nose!

So I laid there as we watched our baby flop. She pointed out the fingers, the elbows, the knees, and all the sweet little baby parts. She let us hear the heartbeat - 154bpm [baby was napping at this point]. She wiggled my belly, poked and prodded, and even said, "Come on, Punkin!!"

But nope. Our child is stubborn. Great. ;]

Eventually, after while, she asked me to get up and go drink a coke. I had to drink a full coke - which sounds like a party - but it wasn't. I'd already had some serious morning sickness just one hour prior, so I was feeling pretty yucky. So it was a strain to drink that much coke. We came back in the room and found a pretty wiggly [still stubborn] baby.

They really aren't joking when they say that caffeine affects your baby. Wow!

At this point, I was able to see my baby's butt [or lack of butt - she said our baby's butt is flat, so it must take after dad. HA!!] and I saw its little "frog legs." I made the comment, "Well I don't see anything between the legs..." And she said, "You're right. I don't either. My guess would be girl..." Later, we saw another angle of the genitals, and sure enough, no outdoor plumbing! She said she is pretty certain that it's a girl.

Can you believe it? A GIRL!

(and you hear my family erupt with roars of applause and cheering! The first granddaughter!)

Now, it isn't 100% accurate, but it's pretty easy to see a penis at this stage - if your ultrasound is long and detailed enough - and we sure didn't see anything! Exciting!!! I've always felt like it was a girl. I would also like to point out that I am wrong 100% of the time when it comes to gender predictions - so it's incredibly surprising that I guessed my own baby's gender correctly!

I'm not running out to buy pink dresses or anything - and besides, they don't have fall/winter clothing out right now! And my sister gave us Hudson's bedding, which is gender neutral, so this doesn't really change anything.

Before our baby finally cooperated, Punkin posed nicely so we got many profile shots. Punkin even saluted Daddy! Can you believe it? We already have a military kiddo at heart:

heart rate photo

Our scanner is terrible, so I took photos of 2 of the pictures. Anyhow - our baby's neck fold measured 1.5, and anything under 6 is "good." She showed us a photo of a baby with a large neck fold, and it ended up having a heart condition. Our baby also has a nasal bone, which is interesting to note, since children with Down Syndrome do not have nasal bones. At least, that's what she told me :]


So our appointment went well! I met with the doctor, and everything looks superb. I have to be put on Vitamin D supplements (as do 90% of their patients) since it was cold and wintery when I was tested, so my VD levels were low. Other than that, it's all peachy keen over here!

My next appointment is in 4 weeks!

super cute pics.

really, really, really cute photos.
I just had to share.

Happy Easter, everyone!

an Easter convo:

Ring Ring!


Clayton?

What?

What're you doing?!?

Nothing. Who is this?!?

It's me! Shannie!!!

Oh.

*long pause*

Hey, can I ask you a question? Tell me about Easter. What is Easter all about?

God.

...What about God?

God died.

What? And what else?

Jesus was raised in the tomb.

Ok. And What is sin?

You do the bad things.

What's something you do that's a sin?

when I am stomping and when I yell

What did you get in your Easter basket this morning?

I got a big chocolate bunny, and I got some washable Crayola chalk


The end. You heard it from the mouth of a preschooler: Easter is about God dying and being raised in the tomb! Jesus is alive! :)

Saturday, April 3, 2010:

What a long day. In a good way.

We went everywhere today. We started out at the Williamsburg outlet mall this morning, which is always fun. They have a Gap outlet and a Carters outlet - fun! Afterward, we drove around the city [one of the oldest cities in the US], and drove right through the College of William and Mary. It's the second oldest college in the United States and was founded by King William & Queen Mary. So, let me just say - it makes WKU look like gross. The buildings on this campus are incredibly beautiful. It all looks prettier than a picture.. I would never imagine that a campus could look so perfect! Every single building looks to be built with such care. *swoon* Also, it's beautifully flat. Which is the most important factor if you went to WKU and had to climb that wretched hill.

Then we drove right to Virginia Beach [pause. when I say "right to," it makes it seem like it's just a zip and a skip away. It isn't. It's like an hour from Williamsburg with a TON of traffic. Driving through the underwater tunnel is a GIGANTIC PAIN..] to go to the other Carters. Why, you ask? Well, take a guess as to who these shirts belong to:

I know three little boys that will look mighty cute, come June!

After getting the shirts, we shopped around a little, and then headed to Atlantic Ave. It was a warm day - perfect weather for a tank top and flip flops. But not for the beach. It was fuhhh-reeeezing at the beach. Take a look at this photo - you can't even tell where the sky and the ocean meet.



Yesterday, I found the cutest little bargain at a local consignment shop [where we will be buying the bulk of our children's clothing]: A brand new small gDiaper with 30 flushable inserts for only $11.42! In case you've never seen these cloth diapers, they're deliciously cute.

gDiapers are the only cloth diaper (that I know of) that allows you to use cloth or use disposable inserts.

See, it's all elastic-y in the legs, so it curves right to your baby's bottom. It's nearly impossible to get diaper rash with these little diapers, too! So each diaper has a liner, and you just stuff the insert (or cloth insert) in the liner.

See? You can see the liner on the outer edges with the disposable insert in the middle. The actual orange part rarely gets dirty [or so all the moms say!], so you wouldn't be washing the actual diaper to death or anything. Mostly just the inside parts. If that makes sense.

Isn't that just so cute? It makes you want to have a baby and run out and gDiaper your newborn, doesn't it?


After a full day of running around, I'm pooped. Tomorrow's Easter. I wish I were home. Tomorrow will be a fun-filled day of cleaning and preparing for the arrival of my family on Wednesday! Such fun - I can't wait for them to come! Mark insists on going to the 745am Easter service at church tomorrow. Our church gets 7,000+ people on Easter Sunday, so maybe it's best to get there early!

Annnnd that's a wrap!

today's agenda:

I haven't blogged in two days! Yowzers! Sorry. I've got blogger block. Can't think of what to write!

But today we are going to Williamsburg. You know - to study our nation's rich history and to learn all about the settlers that founded this great country.


Just kidding. We're actually going to shop at the outlets there. But I do love history. A whole lot. But Williamsburg costs $40 per person.. and, well... once was enough.

When we come home, I will definitely blog. About something. So just get ready for that. Whatever that may be.



Oh, and right now? Piper is laying on Mark's chest as he sleeps. I would just like to throw this out there: Piper would never EVER wake me up. She knows better than to wake her mommy. But Mark? She has no problem crawling all over him at the crack of dawn to get him out of bed. Piper totally has Mark wrapped around her little paw. She even snaps her jaw to show him who's business! Can you believe it? *snicker snicker*...


I woke up sickly. Which is why I'm up so early. But it's nothing that a Powerade slush from Sonic won't fix.

Wednesday.

A week from today, Mark and I will be at the Virginia Aquarium with Clayton and my parents! Yep, just one more week until they come to visit. We still don't have an itinerary planned out, but it will definitely be five days of fun in the sun - with lots of good food and sites to see!

I was scheduled to have an ultrasound today, but due to "technical difficulties," it has been rescheduled for Monday. It isn't so bad - each day, our baby grows more and more, and we'll be able to see even more details on the screen! Hopefully we get some very detailed photos and an educated guess of the gender of our babe.

Speaking of which - what do you think we're having? A boy or a girl?

If you're into those old wives tale things...
-I don't crave sweets or candy. I just want hamburgers.
-The texture of my hair has changed, and it's weird. In a bad way.
-This baby has killed my complexion.
-Nausea hasn't been too bad; only threw up 5 times.
-The Chinese Gender Predictor says it's a girl.


Mark is off running 5 miles since some commander (?) wants everyone to run.

Piper is self-grooming like a cat.

I've developed some kind of severe allergies to Virginia. Sneezing is nearly as common as breathing now. Please, pass the Kleenex... aaachoooooo! ;]

I have no plans to cook an Easter lunch; maybe we'll go to Cracker Barrel. Pathetic, right? It just isn't any fun to cook a big meal for two people.

That about covers it. See you tomorrow!