These days..

These days life has been busy, which means it is also going incredibly fast! At 24 weeks, I cannot believe that we are nearing the third and final trimester. This is some of what we've been up to lately...

In April, we got this beautiful crib delivered to us. My sisters, Jenny and Rachel, bought this incredible gift for baby blue and Mike and I could not love it (or them) more!

We both got home late this night, but decided to put the crib together anyways. I may or may not have fallen asleep have way through, but Mike persevered. I only woke up a few times to some slamming and yelling....

The end result! We now have the mattress, but because baby blue did not reveal its gender we won't have bedding until he or she arrives. Yes, I am waiting to buy it until then.

As my belly grows, so does my love for pillows. As you can see I have taken them all, and Mike has had to grab one from the spare room. I'm pretty sure I took that one too. Mike bought me a body pillow, and that has been the perfect sleep aid. He is always looking out for us! Plus I think he wanted his pillow back.

My family came to visit the last weekend of April and we had so much fun shopping, talking baby, and hanging out. The boys left the house to rent a movie, and when they came back they found us sorting baby clothes. My dad, having had 3 girls, seemed to breeze by us, but I think Mike was a bit more concerned. Thanks to my sister Jenny and her adorable daughter Emily I have a small warehouse of girl clothes ready to go. Don't worry, if we have a boy we found 3 items that were gender neutral for the little guy.

I love this picture (20 weeks). You can see here my belly is attacking Rachel. My spacial awareness with it is not very good. I'll no doubt be bumping into things and people often in the months to come.

Here I am today at 24 weeks.

Our favorite family time is at night. This is when everything for Mike and I calms down, and when baby blue starts kicking. Mike has loved feeling the baby kick, and is trying to do that in this picture. He calls the baby little Ninja, and it seems to be a good fit.

Happy Mother's Day!

My very first Mother's Day card from my baby, and it makes me laugh every time I look at it! Thank you Mike and baby blue for a perfect day!

First Pictures of Baby!

As you know, baby blue did not reveal its gender to us, but he or she did give us some good first pictures. I know what it's like to see someone elses ultrasound pictures. You nod your head and smile as the parents-to-be gush over the often unclear and alien appearances captured on the film before you. And while you are wondering if the picture you are looking at is maybe the arm or the leg, or how much this feels like an intense game of pictionary, they ask you, "Isn't he so cute?!" Interesting, yes. But cute? Not until now. It all changes when the baby before you is your baby. You cannot help but fill in the gaps of what he or she will look like and wonder what its personality will be. You cannot be anything but amazed at the fact that God entrusted you with one of His children, and it's moving and growing inside of you. Seeing the baby move on the ultrasound, waving its hand and moving its arm, made everything I have been feeling so real that the gender seemed irrelevant to the fact that, WOW, there is a living being inside of me!

So feel free to play pictionary in the comfort of your home as you enjoy our baby's first pictures! I'll save you the gushing (or maybe I'm too late) and let you decide for yourself just how cute our baby is...

Count them...five little toes!

Profile...Mike is already claiming the baby looks like him!

Little ribs, spine, baby's arm above, open mouth, little nose!

Reason 1 why we couldn't find out the gender...baby folded in half. Look at that long leg! The foot is literally above baby's head.

Reason 2 we couldn't find out baby's gender...squeezed in half! Again, look at that leg!