Ooo Baby, Baby!

well, i hope most of you have heard by now...but let me just get down to the most exciting news we have to share...we're having a baby! yippee! chris and i just couldn't possibly be more excited to welcome a little one into our home sometime around september 8th :) we're already absolutely totally in love of this little one, even with the nausea that kept both of us on our toes for a few weeks of the first trimester and my growing frustration with finding pants that fit in the morning! my little pooch that has popped out now that i'm 15 weeks along just makes us both smile every time we notice it.

these past few weeks have just been the most fun ever as we have gotten to shock our friends and family with the good news. i'll still never get over the look on dad's face when he realized the picture in the frame he was holding was an ultrasound of his first grandchild or mom shouting, "i can't believe you told me after parisian's has closed for the night"! we also got to share the news with "uncle" casey and "aunt" sara, grandmother, julie, scott and natalie in person...they were sooo excited! it's been so fun to tell jeannie, steve, "aunt" MOH (katy!), "uncle" craig and "aunt" marla over the phone, though I wish I could have seen their faces! of course everyone at work has been a lot of fun, too. there's no shortage of baby name suggestions, coworkers pooching out their bellies when they see me coming and i just know that any day now they are going to start tracking my belly size! the ladies in the neighborhood were so excited about our news...i think they are so thrilled for us to finally join the "parents" club :)

so far things are just wonderful! i was actually pregnant in kuwait, but we had no idea! our little one is going to come out loving humus, pita, shwarma and 4-wheelin'! we started to suspect we would have an exciting late christmas present around new years, but we didn't know for sure until we drove by rite-aide on our way home from the airport back in memphis to pick up a test :)

we had our first doctor's appointment at 6 1/2 weeks where we got to see a picture of our little peanut and see the little heart flutter about 135 beats per minute...what a special moment that was! our next appointment at 10 1/2 weeks was amazing as we got to listen to peanut's little heart beat at 180 beats per minute using the doppler. i had no idea i would ever look so forward to going to the doctor. the most recent time i got to check in with our sweet pea was last wednesday, at 14 1/2 weeks along. unfortunately, chris couldn't come...but i got to hear peanut's heart beat at 150 beats per minute and dr. cole said everything sounded perfect. i had gained 6 lbs in the last month...goodness gracious! i've never seen a scale climb that high for me, but i'm more than happy to watch those numbers soar as long as it means the new love of my life is healthy and growing just like a baby should. besides...there are two of us on that scale now :) our next appointment is april 11th and we'll hopefully find out if we're having a little miss or a little mr...i can't wait!

it's been extra exciting for us as the whole thing starts to really become real to us as i have felt baby's first few little flutters and people have started to notice my little belly. i could first tell my stomach was bigger about 10 or 11 weeks, but it took until about 14 weeks for others to notice the difference.

yesterday was chris' birthday. happy 28th b'day, schmoop-a-loomp!! we had a great time going to see a movie together, having dinner with friends on saturday, lunch with church friends on sunday, and playing at the park with tilly. everything we do these days seems to just have this special happiness surrounding it knowing that we're a mommy and daddy now and that in just a few short months our lives will be forever changed. please keep all three of us in your prayers as chris and i prepare to be parents and our little one grows and develops and prepares for the life God has in store for him or her.

here we are at 12 weeks.....

here we are at 14 weeks......

happy birthday also to jabob (march 12th) and crazy tonya (march 17th)!! can you believe it's been a year since our shrimp boil party that almost didn't boil?? fun times!!