Our First Baby Gifts!

I (Rachel) had my last day with Perris Head Start on Friday, May 18. The girls from the office staff took me to lunch and gave me a HUGE bag of baby gifts (and unknowingly inspired my nursery colors and theme). There are a lot of clothes and blankets done in green and yellow, since we're not sure the sex of the baby yet (however, I prefer these colors to pink or blue anyway). There are also two lullaby CD's, a cow that sings when you pull the string, and a FABULOUS diaper bag (that's in the back of the picture; it's two bags in one with a changing mat, wipes container, and several handy pockets). It's all too cute, and I was so excited I had to share with everyone. Thank you Linda, Jill, Evelyn & Alicia! You're the best!

Our May 17th Appointment

Today was our monthly appointment with the doctor. Most exciting visit to date! We saw the baby clearly this month (much better than the "snail-shape" from our prior visit). There was a very identifiable head, body, arms, and legs. We even could see an eye (which, of course, had to be pointed out to us). We wish we had a video to attach, because this kid was active today. He/she was hopping, jumping, and moving in every direction. Looks like this child will be a runner like Mom and Dad.

Today's pictures are not as good as the actual sonogram we saw. The doctor said the baby was too active to get a good full body picture. So here you can clearly make out the head and his/her hands and feet are pressed up there too. Again, a very exciting day. This new reality is setting in more and more every day.

The Name Game

Since we announced the pregnancy, people continue to ask two primary questions:

1) Are you going to find out the gender before the birth?
2) What are you going to name the baby?

As to the first question, absolutely! Anyone who knows us knows that we are both 'planners' to the highest level. People who know us very well do not even ask the question; they know it would be impossible for us NOT to know.

And now to question #2: being the planners that we are, we do have a name (first and middle) picked out for each a girl and a boy. We have decided to keep this info to ourselves. Some friends of our used this approach with their children's births. Their logic was simple: people will critique names before the birth, but not after. We have followed their approach (Thanks Dave and Jennifer Fletcher!).

What we were unprepared for was the amount of disturbance this would cause...in OTHER people. Statements like, "We have a right to know," and "You have to at least give us the first letter," keep getting thrown at us. We had no idea that these 'rules' existed, but alas, there they are. Please forgive us since we will not abide by them.

For those of you with patience like Hammy (Steve Carell) from Over The Hedge, some suggestions:
1) Switch to decaf
2) Take a second to calm yourself and breath
3) Be patient; December will be here before you know it!

Just An Update

I appreciate everyone checking out this blog. I just wanted to give an update as to how everything was going. I've been dealing with morning sickness for the last month. (although whoever gave it that name doesn't know much about it, because it happens all day) It's been mostly nausea, with a little throwing up. Sorry if that's TMI for some of you. I've gained about 3-4 pounds, and have been craving mostly junk food. (and for those of you that know me well, it's been terrible to eat all the junk and sodium-filled food) The doctor said if I could keep it down, I should eat it. (within reason) I'm hoping I'll be able to go back to my regular eating habits in the next few weeks. I take a nap just about every day, and I'm very thankful my schedule allows me to do this.

Our next doctor's appointment is May 17, so we'll be able to give you more info then.

In the next couple of weeks, I'll start adding pictures of me from the side (aaa!) so we can all see the progression.

Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers! We love you all!

Rachel