Last blog post??

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving 2012 is already here and gone. Before we know it, Christmas will be here and then New Years...and then Brooklyn not too long after that! Wow!

We've had an exciting and fun week so far. Monday, we had a 4D ultrasound done before my regular appointment. I was so excited to get a sneak peek of what Brooklyn actually looks like! She's still got some fattening up to do, but we can tell who she's going to look like! The consensus is that she either has my nose or my sister's nose, so everyone has been saying she looks "just like me." I'm horrible at looking at babies and deciding who they look like, so I'm just going with everyone else's opinion. Guess we'll find out soon enough anyway! During the ultrasound, Brooklyn put her thumb in her mouth, smiled several times, stretched her head back, and put her hands in front of her face. So cool! I forgot to ask how big she was, but I'm assuming she's right around 2 lbs. Here are some of the best pictures we got. The whole time, she was nestled up close to the placenta, so we couldn't get a great shot of her whole face, but the pictures are still good...

Having sweet dreams :)

Long fingers!! She got that from both of us...

I'm glad we ended up doing the 4D ultrasound. It's not covered by insurance, so we had to pay for it, but it was definitely worth it! Knowing that I had the chance to see what she looks like was too hard to pass up :)

Tuesday, I had the pleasure of doing a 2 hour glucose tolerance test. They test everyone between 24 and 28 weeks for gestational diabetes, so this was the time! The morning started off badly when I got there at 7 AM, and I was already #26 in line for lab work. That meant I got to wait for over an hour just to get started. Basically, they drew my blood and made me drink this nasty sugary gatorade-type drink. Then I had to have blood drawn again in an hour and more blood drawn another hour after that. This was a fasting test, so I couldn't eat breakfast or anything else until I was completely finished. By about 10 AM, it was almost time for the last blood draw, but I was feeling horrible by then. It had been like 14 hours since I'd eaten anything and had nothing to drink but that sugary drink. Recipe for disaster! I finally left around 10:30 AM and ate something, but the whole rest of the day I had a headache and just felt terrible. I'd heard that if you fail the test, you have to do a 3 hour test the next time with an even MORE sugary drink, so I was hoping and hoping for good results. Luckily, they called Wednesday morning and told me I passed!! Glad to have that behind me :)

Yesterday, of course, was Thanksgiving, and it also marked 27 weeks along! This year, I have so much to be thankful for. We have the best church family, physical family, and friends. We have a baby on the way, and I've had a smooth, easy pregnancy so far. We have a comfortable house to live in and good jobs. God has really blessed us!

I wish I could post my 27 week picture and some of our Thanksgiving pictures from yesterday, but unfortunately Blogger is not my friend anymore. Actually, I guess it's Google. Apparently, I've used up my 1 GB of storage for pictures on my blog, and you have to pay for additional storage. Boo! I'm too cheap to do that, and I don't want to delete any old pictures, so I may be creating a new blog soon. I guess it's a fitting time to make a new blog since it soon won't just be "Trav + Erin" anymore! :)

Stay tuned for the latest! If I have to create a new blog, I'll link to it from here :)

Baby has a name!

Since I've been MIA for a while, I guess I need to do a 2-week catchup!

Last Week
This was a CRAZY week! I worked 40 hours, which I rarely do...thankfully. It made me appreciate what Travis does every week much more! Somehow I survived, but it left little time for blogging. I pretty much spent the week working, sleeping, and eating. Last Thursday marked 25 weeks. We had to move our weekly picture taking session inside because Travis isn't making it home before dark anymore. Sad day! Saturday, we made a quick trip to Birmingham to hang out with Aimee and Gary for Gary's birthday. We watched the A&M game while we were there, and it was a heartbreaker. I guess we didn't deserve to win the game because we played horrible, but they got my hopes up by making it SO close at the end!!

25 weeks

This Week
This week has been much more low-key...I've actually had a couple of days off from work! Monday, Travis was off for Veterans Day, so we spent most of the afternoon hanging a new ceiling fan in our bedroom. Bye bye, ugly white and brassy gold fan!! We won't miss you at all! I haven't gotten to take a picture of it yet, but our bedroom is a work in progress at this point. Two weekends ago, we moved Travis's desk into our room from the study (which will soon be the NURSERY!). So, now we need to hang a few pictures in our room, and then our room will finally be finished! Travis has adjusted really well to his desk's new home...haha...I guess this is just the start of making sacrifices for our little girl! :)

Speaking of our baby, Sunday was a new milestone. We not only felt her kicking....we could SEE it by my belly twitching! Really cool! She has gotten to be really active the past few weeks. Today marks 26 weeks, and right now, she is probably around 14 inches long and 1 2/3 lbs. I'm still jogging a couple of times a week. I've cut back to about a mile at a time. I can tell that my lungs don't have as much room as they used to...which makes it much harder to run! Our next appointment is Monday afternoon, and we are doing the 4D ultrasound then! I hope we get some great pictures!!!! :)

26 weeks

The cats are loving the new "nursery". It qualifies as a nursery because it has a changing table in it, right? Haha...I guess we'll get it done by February. Turns out that a changing table makes the perfect kitty bed. Felix and Gabby think we bought it just for them! Look who I caught up there the other day...

"It's the perfect size for a kitty!"

"You mean this isn't for ME, Mom???"

We've also caught Gabby up there, so it's not just Felix who's claiming it. What are we going to do with those kitties?? They're just too cute!

Gabby's favorite way to be held

The biggest news of the week is that Baby Grant now has a name!!!!!! I cannot even count the number of times we've been asked whether she had a name yet....I feel like it has been thousands of times :) So, now we can finally say yes! Travis and I hadn't been disagreeing about names; we honestly just hadn't sat down and talked about it yet. So, Tuesday was the night! Here's the play-by-play...

How An Engineer Names His Baby

Step 1 - Look at websites for possible names. Don't forget the Social Security website...it even tells you the most popular names by state! Have your wife make her own list. Do this separately so you don't influence each other! Your lists should have a minimum of 25 names each.

Step 2 - Rank your list of names in order. Put your most favorite names at the top and least favorite ones at the bottom. Make sure your wife ranks her list also. And, this is KEY....put each list into an Excel spreadsheet. Anything worth doing well must involve a spreadsheet. Amen.

Step 3 - Now, it's time to compile your lists into ONE spreadsheet. Beside each name, make a column for your own ranking and your wife's ranking. If a certain name is on BOTH of your lists, put each person's ranking out beside it. If a name only appears on one of your lists, the ranking from the other spouse should be designated "26". Once all the names are on the list, you will sort them by ranking from top to bottom. This new order will include the individual rankings from both spouses.

Step 4 - Eliminate any names from the list that either you or your spouse cannot stand. But, DON'T delete them from the spreadsheet....you simply need to "hide" them in the spreadsheet. This will simplify the list down to only names that both of you like. At this point, you probably will have narrowed your list down to about 15 or so names.

Step 5 - Now, using the new, shortened list, you should re-rank the names in order from most favorite to least favorite. Your wife should do this separately...on her own laptop. Email her the new list so she can accomplish this task.

Step 6 - Now, in a single spreadsheet, re-sort the list of names using each of your individual rankings. Sort the list from most favorite to least favorite.

Step 7 - At this point, the spreadsheet has done its duty. You must discuss the final list of names, and decide on one. Your preferred name will probably be one of the top two or three in the list. It's NUMBERS, remember??? :)

I do love my engineer husband...I just like to poke fun at his spreadsheet love :) So, that's what our Tuesday night looked like. It really didn't take as long as it might seem like it would. We were finished in maybe 1 1/2 or 2 hours I think. We finally narrowed down our favorites to three of them, so I guess we'll have other options if we have another girl in the future. Oh, by the way, that's another step....don't throw away your spreadsheet! Save it for the next time around :)

Our little girl's name is going to be...Brooklyn Reese Grant!!! Back in college, one of my clinical instructors had a daughter named Brooklyn, and I have LOVED that name ever since then. And....we just liked "Reese" with "Brooklyn"....no family names or anything. Now, apparently I biased Travis toward the name "Brooklyn" because I mentioned it as a possibility several weeks ago. Oops :) He does like it though!

We're excited to be able to call her something other than Baby Grant!!!

Latest Baby News + Mystery Plumbing Problems!?

Yesterday, we made it to 24 weeks along! I'm still feeling great; the only thing I've noticed lately is that I wake up a lot during the night. I guess it's because I don't like sleeping on my side, but sleeping on my stomach right now is definitely out! Jenn got me a Boppy full body pillow for my birthday, so that has really helped a lot. I may even keep using it after February! :) This week, Baby Grant is apparently close to a foot long and weighs over a pound. You'd think she's even bigger than that judging by the size of my belly!

24 weeks

We found out some interesting news this week. I don't think I mentioned that at our last appointment, Travis did the same genetic test that I did several months ago. You know...spit into a test tube and mail it off to California. Well, we got the results a few days ago. He's a carrier for Factor V Leiden Thrombophilia also!!! That was the only thing that came back positive, and of course, it would be the same thing I'm a carrier for too. Apparently, our awesome blood clotting abilities attracted us to each other :) Knowing that doesn't really change much, but it does mean that our kids could not just be carriers of Factor V, but they could have the full blown thing. That would increase their risk of a blood clot by 18 to 80 times in 1000, whereas a carrier's risk is 4 to 8 times in 1000. Just something to be aware of, I guess, especially as Baby Grant gets older. Factor V rarely causes problems in kids, but the risk goes up as you get older.

 We had a fun weekend in Trussville and Tuscaloosa! Thanks to my parents and grandparents, I now have all of the bedding and accessories for the nursery. That was my birthday present this year :) Can't wait to set it all up. We also went to the Alabama game on Saturday, and that was a lot of fun. It was a little cold, but not too bad once we got in the stadium. After not getting back from the game until 1:15 AM though, I was exhausted on Sunday!

I think I'm just about finished with my registries at Target and Babies-R-Us. Travis left it all up to me, so hopefully I picked out some good stuff. I'm sure I'll tweak it a little bit over the next couple of months, but at least I'm mostly finished :) While at BRU, I decided to go ahead and buy a baby book. I found one with an elephant on it, and since the nursery bedding has elephants, I couldn't pass it up. It is really cute! It's pretty detailed, so hopefully I will stick with it and fill out all the pages. I need to get started with the first few pages already!

We also got the neatest gift in the mail on Wednesday from Jennifer Baxter, a friend from Tuscaloosa. She made us the cutest tissue box holder and piggy bank. She patterned the tissue box holder after the nursery bedding, and it looks awesome! Thanks again Jennifer! :)

Changing the subject, yesterday we woke up with no hot water in the house. It wasn't just coming out cold; it was barely trickling out. The cold water faucets worked fine though. We both worked all day, and when we got home last night, there was still no hot water. When we turned the hot water faucet on, cool water just barely came out like it did yesterday morning. Travis checked the hot water heater, and when he pulled the drain, no water came out at all. We thought it had quit working. Then, around 10:30 PM, we magically had hot water again just like normal. Are we going crazy? I have no idea how the problem fixed itself, but hopefully it will keep working and we won't have to call any plumbers this weekend! Any plumbers out there know what was wrong??? Maybe someone was playing a late Halloween prank on us...

I'm looking forward to resting and relaxing some this weekend. Tomorrow, we're following tradition and making gumbo for the LSU game. Hope we win!

Enjoy your weekend! :)

Time is flying by!

23 weeks

We're officially 23 weeks in at this point! Hooray! We had our last appointment on Friday of last week, and everything went well. My blood pressure was good, and I'd gained 4 pounds, which they said was right on track. I dread getting up on that scale every time, but I guess it just has to be done! Baby's heart rate was in the 140s, so that was good. My doctor said I could keep "running" right up until the baby comes if I want to, so I took her up on it Saturday...haha. More on that in a minute...

After the appointment, we hit the road for Cookeville, TN. Travis's cousin Megan got married there Friday afternoon. It was a beautiful wedding and a really nice reception. Glad we got to go!

It was great to see Katie and Jon there! 

The happy couple! :)

Settlers of Catan cake...so cool! :)

Saturday was the Liz Hurley Ribbon Run, so Travis and I woke up early for it. He ran first and did great! His time was 22:16...he was really moving! I ran with Alisha and Melissa, and we were just a tad bit slower than that :) I did manage to jog the whole way without stopping, which I think was a pretty big accomplishment considering the extra load I'm toting! We had a lot of fun, and it was for a great cause...beating breast cancer!

Before we ran!

Sisters!

Travis getting close to the finish!

Tyler...almost there :)

Love my mom!

All the sibs...minus Emily...

Alisha and Tyler

Me and Mayra...my friend from work! 

This week has been pretty busy so far. I've worked every day but yesterday, and yesterday I spent a few hours in the morning babysitting Brady Hester...the cutest 3 year old ever. We had fun playing Candyland and playing outside. He is SOOO cute!!! Travis and I both work tomorrow, and then we are heading to Trussville for a belated birthday celebration with my family and then Tuscaloosa on Saturday for the game. Roll Tide!

I guess I'll blink and Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here, and then not too long after that, Baby Grant will arrive!! Eek!! Time to get busy picking out her name and starting on her nursery!! :)

Quick Notes

• Today I'm 22 weeks along! We're one week closer to February!! :)
• I've been feeling lots of movement this week. I've noticed that she is especially active in the evenings sometimes. Wonder if she's going to be a night owl?? 
• Travis has already decided that she is "stubborn and unruly!" He has been trying all week to feel her move when she starts kicking around.....and every time he puts his hand on my belly, she quits moving and won't for a while! Poor Daddy...
• Tomorrow is our next doctor's appointment, and then we are heading to Tennessee for Travis's cousin Megan's wedding. 
• Saturday is the Liz Hurley Ribbon Run...and unless my doctor says otherwise tomorrow, I'm planning to jog part or hopefully most of it. This week I've "run" 1.85 miles without stopping on two different days. Surely I can do 3 miles with maybe one or two walk breaks, right? It's a far cry from a half marathon, but when you feel like your bladder is being bounced on with every step, I think it's a pretty big accomplishment...haha :)
• Saturday is also my 26th birthday! I've been joking this week that I'm on the downhill slide to 30, but no one is feeling sorry for me. Actually, I'm really enjoying my mid-twenties. This is a really exciting time, and I'm trying to soak it in!
• We changed our minds about buying the carseat/stroller system on Craigslist, so we're back to going with a brand new system. Mom and Dad (and possibly others in the family) are going to give it to us as a baby shower gift (thank you, thank you!!), so we're excited. We actually found a pretty good deal online, so it didn't cost as much as I originally thought it would. Yay for deals!
• So far, 2012 has been a really awesome year with a lot of exciting times. 2011 was a tough year between the April tornado and Mom being diagnosed with breast cancer, but it was an opportunity to grow. I'm starting to see how life just goes like that....good times and hard times. I hope I'm making the most of these good times while still remembering the lessons I learned last year about faith and hope...

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths." ~Proverbs 3:3-4

Busy October!

Yesterday marked 21 weeks along, so I guess we're officially PAST halfway there. Pretty exciting! I guess I'll blink, and it'll be February. That's about how fast it seems like this has gone so far.

Other than sleeping and shopping a lot this week, so far I've felt pretty normal. Note: I am normally NOT a big shopper, but apparently having a baby changes that quickly. Since Monday, we've bought a glider off Craigslist, made plans to buy a travel system (car seat, 2 bases, and a stroller) off Craigslist next week, and I've gone BACK to Kids Market for the 50% off sale. This is a terrible time to be shopping so much because I have NOT been working much lately. I know Travis just shakes his head at me :) I'm lucky to be married to a pretty understanding guy! I really am trying to be frugal about all of this stuff...there's just so much to buy! I knew I did not want to pay full price for a glider, and this one was pretty much in brand new condition. I don't think it's ever been sat in..seriously. Hopefully it'll hold up good once we're using it every day! This week, it's been hanging out in our room, but I'm hoping to make room for it in the nursery once we do some furniture rearranging...

The travel system I found on Craigslist is the Chicco Cortina KeyFit 30. According to Consumer Reports, it's one of the safest and most user-friendly car seats out there. Brand new, the system costs around $300-$350, and buying an extra base for Travis's car would be an additional $85. Yikes! So, Craigslist to the rescue again. I know you have to be careful buying things off CL, but hopefully this will be a good decision. It's $100 for the whole system plus an extra base. Now, we won't be able to use the car seat as long because it will expire sooner than a brand new seat would, but I think we'll still be getting a great deal. Here's to hoping at least! We're going to look at it next Friday, so wish us luck :)

And, much to Travis's dismay, I went back to Kids Market today for their 50% off sale. But get this...smart husband of mine decided I should meet him at 11 AM to drop my car off at Firestone for an oil change/tire rotation, etc. Then, he would take me back home on his way to Meridianville for work for the afternoon. He's so sneaky...he knew I would spend all morning and afternoon shopping if I hadn't had somewhere I HAD to be! So....I really didn't have as long as I would have liked to spend looking at everything, but that's probably a good thing. I got MORE baby clothes (oops) and a maternity dress, khaki pants, and lounge pants for me. Baby's closet is filling up quickly, especially since Travis's stuff is still in there! :) We'll fix that eventually...

Speaking of Baby Grant, no (Mom and everyone else who keeps asking) we still haven't decided on a name...haha. Y'all should all know by now how slowly we get things done around here! :) She'll have a name before February though, so as soon as we know, you can all know. She apparently weighs around 0.75 lbs and is about 10.5 inches long. No wonder I've been feeling some pretty good kicks this week! I'm sure she's going to have big feet thanks to her mom and dad, so there must not be much room for them in there anymore :) Our next doctor's appointment is a week from today, so I'm looking forward to that. After that, I think we'll start going every 2 weeks instead of every 4.

Between this weekend and next weekend, Travis and I have been invited to one wedding, and I've been invited to three bridal showers. Whew! I thought wedding season was in the spring/summer, but apparently not this year. We also just went to Andrew and Stephanie's wedding in Pigeon Forge this past weekend. Yep, we drove there and back in a day. It was fun but tiring!

Next weekend is also the Liz Hurley Ribbon Run, my birthday, and the Tennessee game. I guess our weekends won't ever slow down before February, and definitely not after that! :) I've been "running" (if you can call it that) a few times a week lately, so I'm going to attempt to "run" part of the 5K at least. Running = a slow jog for me these days, but that's ok. Maybe it's at least offsetting some of this Halloween candy I've been sneaking...

Speaking of running, Travis has officially signed up to run a FULL marathon in April! That's 26.2 miles!!! He's going to run the one in Nashville...the same race we ran this year when we did the half marathon. I'm excited for him....I know he can do it!

We've also officially decided on going to Orlando for our 5 year anniversary trip/one last "just the two of us" trip. We knew we wanted to go somewhere relatively warm, so that eliminated a lot of places right away. We were looking at San Diego at first, but it got scratched once we realized how much the plane tickets would cost. Phoenix was also on the list, but according to our *spreadsheet*, driving to Orlando would still be cheaper than flying to Phoenix (even though the price wasn't bad at all to fly there). We'll just have to save Phoenix for another time. We're actually going to go on our anniversary trip a few weeks before 12/22 just to be practical about the holidays and family time. We're going the week after Thanksgiving because it turned out to be the cheapest time to get a hotel room. We may do Disney for one day while we're there, but we're also planning to do a lot of non-Disney stuff that we've never done before. We're looking forward to it! :)

I didn't realize I had that much to say! Maybe some of you made it to the end :)

Hope your week is going wonderfully!

OOHH...we're halfway there!

Today marks 20 weeks along.....halfway there already!!! It seems like the time has really flown by. Travis was saying the other day that it has been 3 1/2 months since the day I came home and told him he was going to be a dad. Pretty crazy how fast the days have gone since then. As you can tell from the picture below, I think this baby is going through a growth spurt! I'm definitely getting comments from just about everyone these days. It's hard to imagine how much bigger my belly will get, but I guess it happens so gradually that I'll just get used to it. Anyway, I'm still feeling great! Never had any nausea (minus one day last week when I threw up during my morning jog...but I think that was from not letting my breakfast settle long enough!). I'm feeling a little more energetic these days I think. I'm still doing the injections every day, and they are going fine. I'm really thankful that everything has gone this well so far. I just hope the last 20 weeks go as smoothly as the first 20! :)

20 weeks!

I got the shirt I'm wearing in that picture from Kids Market, a two week long consignment sale in Huntsville that they have twice a year. (By the way...it was $3.00....brand new WITH tags still on it). It started Monday, so of course I got there right when it started at 9 AM. Gotta get those deals, right? Well apparently lots of people are even crazier than me. This was the line 5 minutes before the doors opened!!!

Looks like Black Friday, doesn't it??

Luckily for me, most people headed right for the kids stuff when they got inside. I went straight to the maternity clothes. This store was as big as Wal-Mart and full of stuff....clothes, toys, books, games, baby gear, etc.!!!! It was INSANE! I ended up spending about $45 on 10 items of maternity clothes (dress pants, skirts, shirts). It was awesome! I decided to check out since I was finished before the long check out lines started, and so I put my stuff in the car, and headed back inside to look at baby stuff.

I could've spent all day there just looking at everything! (Travis is sure glad I didn't though....haha). My arms were sore just from moving clothes on the racks..haha. I ended up buying the cutest diaper bag. It looks brand new and it's made of material that can be easily wiped clean. I'm excited about it!

Isn't it cute? :)

I know Travis was hoping for a more "manly" bag than that since he'll be carrying it around too, so I told him I'd be on the lookout for a cheap black one too :)

And, of course, I couldn't leave without buying some cute clothes for our little girl!!! So excited about these! Most of these were $1-2 a piece, so I spent about $20 total. Not too bad since they all look brand new!

Can't wait to dress her in those clothes!!! :) Kids Market lasts through the end of next week, and on the last two days, everything is 50% off. I'm strongly considering going back to see what's left!! I can't resist :)

Hopefully when I go back next weekend, the checkout lines won't be this bad...

This was AFTER standing in line for at least 20 minutes already...

Today was my only day to work this week, so other than shopping, I've been staying busy with a little painting project at home. Several months ago, I bought a nightstand for our guest bedroom from Encore Furniture, a consignment furniture store in Huntsville. (Noticing a theme here? I'm thrifty!!) It was $25 I think. My plan was to repaint it and turn it into something that would match and look more modern. Well I finally got around to painting it this week, and I'm so happy with the way it turned out!!

Not the best quality picture, but this was taken at the store before I bought it...

It had been sitting in the guest bedroom for months, so Travis took it out on the back patio for me, and he took the hardware off.

Ready to be transformed!!

I sanded it all over and wiped it clean before we took it back inside. Then, Travis primed it for me with Kilz. I'd read that you shouldn't paint with oil-based paint while you're pregnant, so he did that part for me. Such a sweet husband! :) Next I painted it with two coats of light blue paint from Home Depot. After that dried, he carried the nightstand back outside for me so that I could sand it again around the edges. Then it was time to distress it with some dark brown paint. This was the part I was most nervous about! When I first started, I did NOT think it looked good. But, I kept going with it, and by the end, it really did look good! I also spray painted the hardware to cover up that ugly brassy gold color! After painting two coats of polycrylic to seal it, the nightstand was finished!! So...check it out!

So excited about it!! Next up...I'm going repaint an old chest of drawers that Mom is letting me have. It will go in the nursery when I'm finished. I'm seriously considering painting it pink or green to match the bedding I ordered. We'll see :)

Anyway, that's about all the news around here. We're heading to Andrew and Stephanie's wedding this weekend, so we're looking forward to that. Monday is Columbus Day, so Travis has the day off. Maybe we can book and plan our anniversary trip this weekend.....and maybe we'll even pick out a name for the baby. Is that being too optimistic?? :)

Hope you're having a terrific Thursday!

Shopping Dangers

I can already tell I'm a sucker for all this cute baby girl stuff! Someone, please keep me away from the stores!! :)

Actually, keep me away from my laptop too. That's where most of my looking is going on.

I've already broken down and ordered the bedding for our baby GIRL'S nursery. Most of the time I would say I'm a pretty practical shopper...not very impulsive. But, I absolutely could not resist this bedding once I saw it online. I seriously don't think I could find anything cuter. So, I didn't try. This is it!!!!!

Hottsie Dottsie by Cotton Tale Designs

I love it because it's got pink in it, but it's not totally pink. I love the polka dots and the elephants too. I can't wait until it comes! I've got a white crib picked out, and I'm looking for a white dresser/changing table combination. Soon it will be time to kick poor Travis out of his study and turn it into the baby's room. Travis is enjoying his room while it lasts though! :) We'll move his desk into our room, and I'm even going to hang his Alabama football prints in our room too. It's all about compromising! :)

We've made it to 19 weeks!! One more week, and we'll be halfway there. So exciting! I'm not sure if it's the leftover cupcakes or what, but when Travis took my picture yesterday, I was shocked at how big my belly looked! So, I did what any other normal pregnant woman would do, and I ate the last two cupcakes last night after church. Oops. For the most part, I really haven't been pigging out, so I guess it's ok to splurge every once in a while :)

19 weeks

Also, here are our ultrasound pictures from last week...

It's a girl! :)

View of her head and torso from the side

Her skull...she's working on her Halloween costume early! :)

Well, I guess that's about all that's happening around here. Now that we know we're having a girl, let the planning begin!! Just tell Travis to keep me on a budget! :)

IT'S A...

GIRL!!!!

We are so excited! It's still sinking though! On Friday at the appointment, it didn't take the tech long to tell us one way or the other. Travis and I were SO sure it was going to be a boy. That's what most people had been guessing, and I guess I just assumed it would be too. I'd pretty much picked out some cute boy bedding, and we'd even come up with a name that we both liked. Whoops! Guess I don't quite have that motherly instinct yet :) Travis was really hoping for a boy, but it didn't take him long to get excited about having a little girl. I may be biased, but I think he is going to be an awesome dad. 

The ultrasound took about 20 minutes, and Baby is looking good. The tech was able to see everything she needed to, and it looks like Baby Grant is developing normally. We were able to see her heart beating, and we could even see the 4 chambers of her heart. Her heart rate was 148. We also saw her brain, bladder, spine, ribs, and different bones in her body. It was really cool! We got to take home a DVD of the ultrasound with the video on it. She weighs 8 oz right now or about 1/2 lb. She's definitely growing...just like I am..haha :)

We hurried home after the appointment, and I got to work assembling the cupcakes. I'd made them the night before, but it was time to put some PINK filling in the middle! :) I had so much fun decorating them...

And here are the finished cupcakes!!

After the cupcake decorating was finished, we headed to Trussville for some time with my family. After we ate some yummy white chili for supper, it was time for the big reveal! Two of my aunts and one uncle were there along with my parents and sister. We asked everyone for their guess beforehand, and there were 4 guesses for a boy and 2 for a girl...

Mom was so surprised!!

Dad and Jenn were the only ones who guessed it right!

PINK! :)

Aunt Gale and Uncle Bill were so sweet. They bought two gifts...one for a boy and one for a girl. We opened the pink bag, of course :)

Our first baby gift...the cutest pink bathrobe!

...and some pink socks, of course...

Welcome sweet baby girl!

Aunt Ann also got us the cutest little lamb for the baby to snuggle with!

It is so soft :)

Aunt Jenn!

On Saturday, we headed to Tuscaloosa for the game. It was great to see the team play in person again! We got to see Jason and meet his really sweet fiance, Ellen. We also stopped by Emily's apartment after the game to see her. We took her a cupcake too! I forgot to ask her what her guess what, but she said afterward that she really had no idea either way.

I think she was pretty excited :)

Yesterday, we got to see some of our college friends at church that we hadn't seen in forever. It was so great to see them! Finally, when we got back home last night, Cheryl, Melissa, Tyler, and Alisha came over to eat their cupcakes. Thanks for being so patient, y'all! I know it was hard to wait that long :) From them, we got 2 "boy" guesses and 2 "girl" guesses. Time to bite in!

I love this picture! 

So, everyone was excited to find out, and now we can tell the world! Yay! We've got one idea for a name, but Travis wants to make a...spreadsheet...of names before we decide for sure. Don't act surprised! I really wish we could change his middle name to "Thorough"...it would be so appropriate. 

I've already had to restrain myself from looking at too many cute baby girl clothes. It could get out of hand very quickly I'm sure! :) But, I'm looking forward to registering, picking out bedding, and decorating the nursery. 

This is such an exciting time! We are so blessed and thankful for all of our supportive family and friends. Y'all are the best! :)