Happenings...

I am so exited to have my parents here this weekend!! The anticipation has been building since April when I left. It is SO nice to have families that we both get along with. It is a HUGE blessing!! My mom had surgery almost a month ago & I am pregnant, so I don’t foresee long days of outings, but it will still be fun to just hang out with them. I have obviously really missed them.

The only thing that will be a downer is that my brother isn’t able to come with them this time (he has a good excuse). I’m not mad that he’s not coming. I’m just disappointed that I won’t be able to hang out with him. Sam will miss him, too. Hopefully we’ll be able to see him in September when we head to Paducah.

Speaking of our September trip to Paducah, it is getting very complicated to work out. Ryan will be in Korea with the Navy for part of August & we’re trying to plan the trip to Paducah right after he returns. But since he will not be going back to work, they may not let him have that much time off. We were really hoping to be able to be in Paducah together for about a week, but now it looks like it is just going to be part of a weekend and a few days the following week. It is definitely not ideal by any means! We’re trying to work it the best we can because I know if we wait until later, the risk is greater that the doctor will say I can’t go. AND…we have to figure out what to do with Sam since somebody (read: Nathan) moved from Abilene to KY! Oh well. I guess we couldn’t mooch off him forever! :-)

Now you have heard my excitements and dilemmas! That’s about all I have to tell. Life here has been a bit on the boring side besides our little one--that I have really felt kicking lately!! She has not been kicking to where Ryan can feel yet. I have felt it with my hand a couple of times, but of course she won’t do it again so that he can feel. We just may have a stubborn one on our hands. I can’t imagine where that would come from! ;-) It does tend to run in both sides of my family, so I guess she comes by it naturally. It will be neat to see if she keeps it up & if we’re reading her right or if she’ll have Ryan’s laidback personality. The anticipation is growing there, too!! I’m 22 weeks so only 18 to go!!

Ryan's blog

Ryan now has a blog!! Ryan's Blog I'm not sure how often he will be updating it since he is going to school & working! He barely has time to eat and sleep. But feel free to check it out sometime when you get a chance.

Love you, Baby!!

It's...

It's a girl!!!!

We found out today that we are having a girl!! We're so excited. Can you tell?! Now we just have to figure out her name. We have 4 more months, so I'm not really worried about it. I'm just thankful that we have a healthy baby girl on the way.

Thank you, Summer!!

Summer and I went to Babies 'R Us and Target this morning. She showed me things that I would need to register for when the time comes. I was SO relieved to have her go with me today. Ryan and I went to Babies 'R Us a few weeks ago, and frankly I was overwhelmed!! I had NO idea what the difference is in so many things. "Are they just brand differences, or are they really different?!" To have so many questions answered has me completely relieved about it all. That may sound strange, but it is completely unlike registering for a wedding!! You KNOW what you want and need there. Here, I had no idea. Obviously we will need bottles, but which?! Questions like that were keeping me quite anxious. So, to have most of those questions answered makes me feel so, so much better! THANK YOU, Summer!!!

3 days & hopefully we will know the sex of the baby!!! Yay! I just pray he/she cooperates this time! It will be fun to do either way.

While Summer and I were at Babies 'R Us, we ran into this lady that is 35 & having her 2nd child with her now boyfriend. Her 1st child is 15 years old. She was quite overwhelmed with knowing this child is coming & struck up a conversation with Summer and me. We all talked for about 10-15 minutes. It was quite evident in the conversation that she does not go to church. Does she believe in God? I don't know, but she was so lost. I don't mean that all people who don't go to church are lost and depressed. I know several that aren't. BUT this lady was. She was short of having a nervous breakdown or just flat crying. She never teared up, but she did spill her guts to two complete strangers. That just reminded Summer and me of how many babies come into this world in very stressful situations. It is sad really. It makes my heart break that she can't be excited about this miracle. I pray that God will heal her heart and work in her life. I'm sure He is already, but I just request a special prayer for this lady who really needs someone to lean on.

The big day...again

The 20th is yet again the big day!

Last Friday I had to go to the doctor for some problems I was having. They did an ultrasound, but couldn’t find the sex of the baby because the he/she was keeping it’s legs together & the umbilical cord was also in the way! So frustrating!! We were so excited to get to find out early and then couldn’t. Well…that definitely shows it’s a child of mine!!! J Oh well.

BUT I scheduled an ultrasound with a place that does them just for fun. It is basically to get the pictures & to find out the sex of the baby. Since Ryan’s boss originally gave him the day off to be with me & go to the doctor, I scheduled this appointment for the same day. Hopefully my child will be less stubborn than me, and we will find out that day. I’ll keep you posted!!

Playing

I've been playing and have a myspace account. If you would like to check it out, it's www.myspace.com/ryanandlesli. Enjoy!

Starting to look pregnant

Thank goodness I'm finally starting to look pregnant. For the past few months I have just looked like I ate too much. But now, I look like I'm pregnant. I really feel the pics make me look like I'm showing more than I am...maybe it is the dress or the camera. Ryan says it looks about the same, but it doesn't look like what I see in the mirror. Anyway, I'm very happy to be in this stage! I have felt fat up until now...not that I don't still have those days. But now I know that people look at me and realize that I am pregnant. I had a lady tell me today at church that I got pregnant overnight because I wasn't showing at all when she saw me last week. For the most part, that's true. I really have changed in the last week. What I wear also plays a part. In some clothes I'm still able to hide it a bit. In other clothes, like this dress, I'm not at all! There are occassions and moods for both. Some days I want to shout it to the world and really show and other days I just want to look as skinny as possible without showing. Moods...

I thought I would share the pics with you. We finally found a camera that we could upload to the computer...still haven't found the good one yet. Oh well. We will.

Hope you've all had a great weekend!

Me at the apartment. I feel like the picture makes me look like I'm showing more than I really am. Ryan says it doesn't. Who knows!  

Me at 19 weeks...starting to show!  

Me and Sam 

NOT a pic of our baby, but cute

This is NOT a picture of our baby, we won't see him/her for another 2 1/2 weeks. I was sent this link in an email this morning and just had to share it. It is at 18 weeks, where I am now. So cute!!! It makes me anticipate our next appointment so much more! I've said that we won't pay for the 3-D sonogram, but seeing how clear this is...it really makes me wish we would.

Hope you all have a GREAT Friday!!!

Pics

I have been asking Ryan to help me find the camera so that we can take a picture of my belly, but so far we haven't had any luck. I am really starting to show now. I'm not huge, but it's starting to look obvious that I'm pregnant & didn't just eat too much. My mom got me a scrapbook for my pregnancy, but so far I only have one picture to put in it!! You really can't make a scrapbook without pics! Hopefully soon I will be able to take some soon. I will post them when I do.

I was told when I got pregnant how much weight I should gain over the 9 months. It definitely isn't easy to watch that scale go higher and higher. So, I've decided not to watch the scale at all. I honestly have no idea where it is at the moment & would love to keep it that way. I'm staying in check by my doctor's visits, but I don't plan to watch it more than that. Looking in the mirror is definitely hard enough without watching those numbers climb! Since I haven't been watching the scale, my attitude has been much better about the weight gain. So, I must be doing something right. :-)

Those are my random thoughts for the evening. Sorry I don't have anything deeper to say. I can think of a few topic, but honestly don't want to think enough to put them down in writing. It's 8:42 PM and I'm heading to bed in 18 minutes!!!

Hope you all are having a great week!! (2 1/2 weeks until we find out the sex of the baby!!! whoohoo!!)

Love you all!