99% Sure!

Well, the anticipation has finally come to an end! Joey and I can now call our little man by name. Westin Samual decided to finally show off his stuff yesterday for Dr. Moffett and for his eager parents. We are thrilled to know that we will have 2 boys to raise that hopefully will be the best of friends. They will be 3 years and 4 months apart in age, which is a nice age difference. Now I can pray for "him" and pray blessings on his precious little life. So many people (work friends and family) seem so disappointed that we aren't having a girl. But from the beginning, it never mattered to me. Would I have loved a girl? Yes, of course. But I will equally love and adore this little boy. God has chosen to bless me with boys, and I accept that blessing with my whole heart. We will call him "Wes"...our precious boys...Will and Wes!

This is becoming funny....

On Monday, Joey and I went to my monthly check-up and I saw Dr. Moffett. I made it known that we didn't know the sex of the baby, and how the tech said girl. Moffett assured me, we would find out that day.

At first the baby had it's knees together, and feet tucked under it's bottom. Basically my child was in the worst possible position when trying to determine the sex. The baby opened it's legs and Moffett said, "I think that's a boy". What?! A boy?! I don't say that because I am disappointed...I am just confused. It's either a boy, or it's a girl...how hard can that be, right?!

Well, Moffett tried to get the baby to move. At one time, when the legs were open, the babys fingers were right in the spot we needed to look. Moffett said, "Well that's a sure sign that's it's a boy". Actually, Moffett only had 2 quick looks at my little one's private (that's sounds funny). And both times he felt pretty sure he saw boy parts. But he did say for us not to paint the room blue just yet.

So yes...the mystery continues. But to be honest, I do think Moffett will be right. I really do think I saw boy parts too, but the baby kept moving right when we thought we had a good view. My baby just wants to surprise us I guess :)

The good news is, Moffett is letting me come back next Wednesday for a quick ultrasound so I don't have to wait a whole month. Maybe then, I will be able to tell you for sure if we are expecting a boy...or girl.

We are having a.........

BABY!!!! Woohoo! That much we do know! But what we don't know is the sex of the baby. Is this child being stubborn in the womb? What does that mean for our future??? Yikes!

Actually, the ultrasound at Lake Medical Imaging went great. Everything about our baby looked just the way it should at this point...praise God! I have never cared if this baby was a boy or girl...I have just prayed healthy, and thriving. And "she" is. Did I just say "she"...well technically I don't truly know the sex of the baby...but the tech said she was going with a girl as her choice. The unbilical cord was lying perfectly between the baby's legs, making it hard to determine the sex. A few times the cord moved away slightly, but the tech still found it hard to get a real good view. She thought she saw girl parts, but was only 70% certain. As the tech walked me out of the room, she apologized and said "I feel defeated with this one".

So Joey and I don't want to think girl until we are certain. My next appt. with Dr. Moffitt is Monday February 16, which is less than 2 weeks away. I am hoping I will get a more definite answer on that visit...fingers crossed.

Well, I am feeling great now and have started "nesting" around the house. My house looks like the inside was hit by a hurricane...I am hoping to get things in order soon. We are changing Will's room and so far it looks real cool. Once it's done, I will take pics to share with you.

Well, I guess you will hear from me soon...maybe I will have better luck.

02-02-02

Tomorrow, February 2nd, Joey and I will celebrate 7 years of marriage. We were married on 02/02/02. I use to always say that I wanted to get married on Valentine's Day, but Valentine's Day was not on a Saturday in the year 2002.

Actually, there is a little history in the date we chose. I am funny with numbers, I count everything, and I am pretty good in math. So numbers are just kinda my thing. So here goes:

The number 8 in the bible represents "New Beginnings".
We were married on 02/02/2002 (Add up all the 2's and you get 8)
We were married at 5:30 (5 and 3 makes 8)
We dated for 8 years before we married
Our current home which is also our first home has the address 4642 (4+4) (6+2)
We live on County Road 116 (8)
The difference in our age is 20 months, 2 weeks, 2 days, and 2 hours (all 2's = 8)
The first movie we saw together was "8 Seconds"
The last movie we saw (in a theater) was "8 Below"

So now you think I'm weird right!!! Or you are thinking...man they never go to the movies! 8 seconds came out in 2006...OMG...that too equals 8!! Not planned I promise!

There are many more significant numbers that equal 8, but I can't seem to think of them. I'm sure you don't mind at this point :)

The past 7 years have been wonderful. I know without a doubt that Joey is God's "perfect will" for me. I have never doubted. Joey is my very best friend and is the most amazing husband and father. He is caring, thoughtful, considerate, and passionate about the things he believes in. He is overall a wonderful man. When I was a young girl, I prayed for one thing in regards to finding a husband...I prayed that God would bless me with a man that loved me as much as I loved him. If the love is there equally, all the other stuff falls into place. Thank you God for blessing me with a wonderful husband...I love him more today than I did 7 years ago.

Tomorrow night we are going to the Cheesecake factory. It's our favorite! We had planned on going to the beach this weekend but the Super Bowl messed up that plan. We like to go to the beaches in that area (Treasure Island in particular) but everything was booked with the Super Bowl being in Tampa...and the prices to stay were rediculous anyway! So we have decided to go away Valentine weekend instead...just me and Joey. I am really looking forward to it.

Well, you will hear from me again this week because we find out what we are having on Wednesday!!! I can't wait to find out, and tell you!

PS I consider the song playing "our song". This was also our "first dance song".

I love you Joey!!!!! Happy Anniversary!!!

Quick Update

I just want to let you all know that I did not find out the sex of the baby when I went to my most recent check-up. Dr. Helms had a great view of the area, but for some reason he didn't feel confident about giving me an answer. I think the baby's hand was obstructing his view. But I go back Wednesday Feb. 4th for my ultra sound at Lake Medical Imaging. I am certain I will find out then. I am anxious to know! So far everything else looks great!

Please keep these expecting mothers in your prayers: Natalie Johnson, Sara Washburn, Jennifer Russ, Chrissy Reams, Amanda Gray, Krista Fay, and Wendy Craig. I apologize if I am missing anyone, let me know if I am.

PS-Tomorrow (January 26) is Cyndi's birthday! Happy Birthday Cyndi, I love you!!

Boy or Girl?

It's late as I type this...late for me anyway. I have been super tired this pregnancy. By the time I post this, I will be 15 weeks...almost 4 months. Yet, I am still having days where I feel horrible. Although I prefer to feel great and not bad, I at least know my baby must be thriving and taking everything from me.

Everything about this pregnancy is almost exactly like my pregnancy with Will, except I can't remember feeling this bad for this long. People say this means I'm having a girl, but I don't look at it that way. My sister had 2 completely different pregnancies and both were girls. So different pregnancies does not automatically mean different sex babies.

People ask me daily if I want this to be a girl. I can honestly say that I don't have a preference. I work with disabled children on a daily basis...so all I ask God (and I ask him every night) is to please bless me with a healthy baby.

Once I do know the sex of the baby, I will pray very specific things for his/her life. I did this with Will, and God answered my prayers...all the way down to Will's dimples. It sounds silly, but God of course can do anything...so why not ask him, right?! It's so important to pray blessings on our children even before they are born...even as specific as personality traits. No prayer is silly to God.

When will I find out the sex of the baby? I thought you'd never ask! My next appt. is Monday January 19th. I will be 16 weeks and could very well find out then! I wasn't going to find out...but I have since changed my mind. That's if the baby cooperates.

I do have names picked out, and will share them with you now. Let me know what you think.

Boy- Westin (Wes) Samuel (not sure if I will spell Westin or Weston, what do you think?)

Girl-Brinley Elisabeth

Well, I hope you all have a blessed week. I'm sure you will hear from me again next Monday!

Christmas cards, and a doctor visit.

**Before you read my blog, please take the time to turn up the volume, and listen to Kelly Clarkson sing O Holy Night, it's so beautiful and I promise it's worth your time**

I have not blogged now in almost a month. Mostly because I haven't felt great, and because I have been going to bed early. I am 12 weeks now, and it's so hard to believe how quickly the time has gone by! I am beginning to feel better these days, although I still have moments when I feel...well, pregnant!

So I've decided to pick two things and tell you about them. The first is my adventure with Will at Venetian gardens in hopes to capture that perfect pose for our family Christmas cards....that didn't happen. He was tired, ill, and didn't care if Santa needed this picture for Christmas (I absolutely did not tell him that was why we were taking pictures!). Instead I got this...



Yes, he is really crying with tears!

Anyway, I have to be honest. I was so mad at him!! It was 11am, and his nap wasn't till 1pm! Why was he ill!? Why was he tired!? I didn't punish him for not cooperating...but I sure wanted to! I had procrastinated until the last minute to even take pictures, so I was putting pressure on myself...but really I was pressuring him. He fell asleep in the car on the way home. He was just tired. That's all. So simple. Now that I type this...I am remembering that Amy puts him down around 11:30. On the weekends we choose 1pm because it works for us. So he reacted honest. It was me who needed to be punished. I felt bad afterwards, when my blood pressure had gone down (we all have those days...right?.

Here are a few pictures from that day...notice he won't look at the camera for Santa...I mean me.





Another reason you can tell I was feeling pressure was because you should NEVER take pictures at 11am! Anyone with picture sense knows that rule. The best times are early morning and late afternoon...unless it's overcast. It wasn't overcast that day.

A few days later, I took this picture just before I left for work. He was outside on his bike. And this is the picture I used for our Christmas cards.



No...it doesn't look like a "Christmas" picture...but it worked, and it was precious!

The second thing I wanted to tell you was in regards to my OB check-up. I went yesterday and all looked good. I met Dr. Helms for the first time, and I felt a little rushed. He was very nice, but we have to remember it's Christmas week. Most people are in a different mindset. But he said the baby looked great and was pleased with the visit. Oh, and by the way...I have not gained any weight...I actually lost 1 pound! I was pleased with the visit also!!

Well, I hope you all have a very blessed Christmas holiday with your families. This will be a fun Christmas for us now that Will is almost 3. I can't wait to hear all about your day and I hope to share our story soon.

God Bless, & Merry Christmas!!!!!