It it a GIRL!!!

So without further adieu we would love the world to say hello to Emma Jean (or a least her current home in my belly!!)  We had our 20 week ultra sound yesterday and it was confirmed that the little guy, um gal inside me is actually a girl!!! We couldn't be happier!


People kept asking us if we cared what we were having and the truth is that we didn't care one way or another as long as the baby was healthy. But am I excited about a little girl...you bet! I will be able to have my very own dress up doll for as long as she will let me. If she is anything like me that won't last once she starts talking. I can't say that I remember this but I have been told that when I was in preschool and Mom would wake me up I would ask "What am I wearing", if I didn't like the option I wouldn't get up. :-) And that if I had my way I would change cloths 3-4 times a day!! Lets just say that this might be interesting!!

As for the name I wanted to give a little history about that too. Emma is my great great grandmothers name and Jean is both my Mom and my MeMe's middle name! Here are some pictures of the three of us at MeMe's birthday and a Christmas!!

 In the next couple of months I am going to get all the information I can about Emma so that I will be able to tell Emma all about her namesake. I think it's neat to have a name with history...my name was chosen from a character on a soap opera. :-D

And as promised here is a picture of me and my belly...covered up!!

 You may notice that something looks a little different with my hair...nope I am not adding red to it but Emma is!! :-) My hairdresser assures me that this is natural and that pigment changes in the hair is just one of those things that happen during pregnancy. Who knows...maybe I will luck out and get a beautiful red headed girl like my Mom!!! For week 20 it's same ole same ole! Growing baby...growing mommy...but the one thing that is new is that we are finally able to buy things!! Michael, being the amazing husband he is, went and put our crib, dresser and changing table/dresser on layaway yesterday! Next week when I am in Alabama with my mother in law we will start the fun registration process!!!! Sooooo excited to start the planning. :-D

That will do me for now!

Be blessed!

Riffraff

So  I have heard some amazing things about this place and I am finally going to get to check it out! :-) You should too!!! This Thursday they are having a holiday open house!! Come check out all the things you can't live without for the holiday season!!

Exploding Babies...

Well not exactly exploding babies but this week our baby's sensory development is exploding! She is in there developing her senses of smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Right now I would venture that the taste, and vision part would be very dull but being able to see what is in front of her, touch her surrounds and even hear Michael and my voice seem pretty big!  She is growing bigger and bigger and so is my belly! I think I finally feel like I look pregnant and not like I have been drinking a little too much. ;-) Next week I will see if I can post a picture of me with the belly! :-)

I am still shocked and amazed that this little guy is 6 inches long and 8 1/2 ounces!! All of that is happening under my skin...GOD is AMAZING! If you are like me and enjoy the quarter pictures...here is one for this week.

By the size of the shrinking quarter I can really tell that soon my baby is going to look like a small baby instead of fruits and veggies! ;-)

That's about all I know for now!

Have a blessed week!!!

JGW

Week 17 has come and gone...

So this post will cover both week 17 and 18!! ;-)

First things first...
Week 17 saw our baby's skeleton turning from soft cartilage to bone!! Her placenta is also growing stronger and thicker!! Good thing since she will need all the yummy nutrients she can get from now until she comes to meet us in person.!! The baby is now 5 oz. in weight (like a turnip) and is 5 inches from head to rump.

For baby, week 17 is more of the same...growing growing and more growing but for me it's causing some precarious issues with my balance. My trainer is working to help keep my balance from going the way of the dodo bird but just the same I have all but packed up my high heals for the next 22 weeks. :-)

And now...
We are in week 18!! Just two short weeks until we get the first real glimpse of what we are having!! :-D
The baby is now 5 1/2 inches long from head to rump which translates to about the length of a bell pepper and weights 5 1/2 ozs.





I don't know about you guys but this bell pepper looks smaller than a turnip. ;-)







Last weekend Michael and one of my best friends Bethany celebrated their 40th and 30th birthdays together with family from both sides and one of his favorite people Yoshi! Michael got his first store bought birthday cake and I may have ruined him for future cakes!

 

 We are truly blessed to have such wonderful families!! :-) 

That is all that is really going on in our lives right now...more to come next week!

Be blessed!

Anyone up for Mexican food?

No I am not have any of those dreaded cravings that you hear that so many people have but my baby is the size of an avocado this week! And when I think avocado I think guacamole!!

3 1/2 ounces and 4 1/2 inches long don't sound like much until you go back and look at week 4...

 

Now that was a seriously small thing growing then! It seems like  it's been sooooo long but at the same time it seems like yesterday when I was waving the positive test in Michale's face! :-D We are now for weeks away from possibly knowing what if she is a she or a he and we are very excited in anticipation!! We have been looking a cribs and bedding, but I am such a planner that it really depends on the sex. White Munire Bristol collection for a girl http://www.munirefurniture.com/bristol_05.htm and Newport in Espresso for a little boy! http://www.munirefurniture.com/newport_03.htm More decisions to come...after November 15th!

We have a super busy weekend coming up and we can't wait! My little brother, Buff and her hubby Garrison will be staying with us and one of my favorite former students Torrey and many of my pledge sisters are coming in town for the game too!! :-) Now I just hope we play amazingly and then it will be perfect!!

Saturday night the pups have a Halloween party at Dog Party USA and then off to a yummy dinner with Jana and Elizabeth and our other halves at Jana and Bret's in Rogers. I am even going to be crazy and try to make a cake that a dear friend Meredith posted on her blog http://meredithsadams.blogspot.com posted last week! Fingers crossed!!!

I will be sure to post some presh pictures of my pups in their costumes!! Be looking for cuteness! ;-)

Be blessed!

Jill

The "apple" of our eye

You guessed it...little Wheeler is now the size of an apple!!

 

Week 15 is off to a great start! Feeling really good but I am not sleeping to well. I had a normal check up yesterday and Dr. Partridge told me that I can take a Tylenol PM or a Benadryl if I go several nights with restless sleeping. Since I was already on my third night of tossing and turning I took her advise...and PRESTO I slept until 6. I could have slept until 6:30 like normal but Brinkley wanted to tell me that it was time to rise and shine! ;-)

I learned that she is now 4 inches long and 2 1/2 inches long and while I can't take fluid up my nose, apparently it is perfectly normal for her and it actually helps her lungs develop. (No you didn't miss anything...I don't know that it's a little girl but I am tired of calling it an "it" in this blog so for the next 4 weeks she will be a her and if we learn something different on November 10th then I will change my terminology then!) She is moving around now and soon I am told I will be able to feel her! :-D Her legs are finally longer than her arms and she just floats around in her happy little home! Her eye lids are fused shut but if I wanted to make her move I can shine a flashlight on my tummy and "they" say she will try to get away from the beam. All I can think about is Look Who's Talking Too Look Who's Talking Too trailer
When Julie is still in the belly. It's not even that great of a movie but thinking of her in there talking to me when I talk to her is just too exciting!!

On a non baby note our family has experienced a loss this week. Michael's Aunt Kitty passed away this week after a more than 5 year battle with cancer. Please keep her husband, daughter and son in your thoughts and prayers. They have been through a lot over the past few years but she is now at peace and no longer in pain. I pray that the family she has left behind soon are able to experience the same peace too.

I leave you with a neat list by Rebecca Woolf:

1. You finally stop to smell the roses, because your baby is in your arms.

2. Where you once believed you were fearless, you now find yourself afraid.

3. The sacrifices you thought you made to have a child no longer seem like sacrifices.

4. You respect your body ... finally.

5. You respect your parents and love them in a new way.

6. You find that your baby's pain feels much worse than your own.

7. You believe once again in the things you believed in as a child.

8. You lose touch with the people in your life whom you should have banished years ago.

9. Your heart breaks much more easily.

10. You think of someone else 234,836,178,976 times a day.

11. Every day is a surprise.

12. Bodily functions are no longer repulsive. In fact, they please you. (Hooray for poop!)

13. You look at your baby in the mirror instead of yourself.

14. You become a morning person.

15. Your love becomes limitless, a superhuman power.

Have a blessed week!!

Jill

Squinting to see

Week 14 is upon us! So this week many new developments are occurring in my belly. The little guy or girl can squint, grimace, pee and possibly suck on their thumb!! Baby Wheeler is now 3 1/2 inches from head to bottom and is about the size of a lemon and weighing only 1 1/2 ounces!!

At 5 foot even I can say that I am starting to show...not much but it's there. I am meeting with a personal trainer for the next 6 weeks (and maybe beyond too) to make sure that I gain weight appropriately and that I stay toned and fit throughout the remainder of my pregnancy. I want the delivery to go a smoothly as possible and the recovery after to be swift as well! By making sure to do the proper exercises correctly throughout my pregnancy I will keep up my energy and my spirits!

This week myself and four of my co-workers went to an Advising conference in Orlando, FL! It was a wonderful experience filled with laughter, fun and learning too. With all the excitement (and a trip to Magic Kingdom) I was still so ready to be back home! I missed Michael, my puppies and the comforts of home. It was a lot harder to find things I wanted/could eat while I was on the road and I ended up making more poor food choices than healthy ones. BUT I am back on the wagon and working hard to get all the good fruits and veggies this little guy needs to grow up big and strong! 

Oh and if you are a friend that I have EVER emailed from my hotmail account I want to let you all know that I am OKAY!! I was not robbed at gunpoint in Wales and you should not send money!!!! My hotmail account was hacked into this Thursday and the good criminals have locked me out of my account all together. I am working hard to cancel the account but until then DO NOT RESPOND to the email!! I am afraid even replying could potentially infect your address book! :-(

This weekend will be relaxing for the both of us! We are going to try and work on getting rid or things that we no longer need in the garage and maybe even go see the movie "Life as we Know it"

This week was short and sweet! More to come later!

Have a blessed day!!

Jill