The Tillster:

with all the attention baby is getting already, i'd hate for our other baby to get jealous :) check out these great pictures of our hairy-four-legged baby, tilly. we just got a new camera, so we were trying out on till-till with a trip to the dog park. she's never happier than when she's at the dog park. she will seriously run herself completely into the ground chasing the frisbee and swimming and then sleep for a couple days to recover. what a cutie.

here she is diving into the pond after her frisbee....

here's till posing out in the field...

what a pretty girl....

here's tilly with the squirrel she "caught" in our yard. well, actually the poor thing caught itself in that little nook in the tree. don't worry, he eventually figured out how to get out of there. for a couple days later, though, tilly was hoping he'd meet her right back there :)

Mother's Day Present:

chris' mother's day present to me this year was getting some big-time work done on our bathroom renovation. it's really tough work for him and it's taking a long time, but he's having a great time buying new tools and learning new skills for the project. this past weekend's big task...laying brick to patch a window he removed (so we won't have a window in the shower...who puts a window in a shower, in the first place!!). i'm so amazed at the skills he secretly possesses! all that "this old house" watching really has paid off! watch out tom sylva!!




and, no, the brick doesn't match...but our brick is painted, so we'll fix that :)

mother's day weekend i was 23 weeks along! our little peanut is passing the big one-pound mark. yay for peanut! here's my preggo belly...i have ditched the non-maternity jeans, you'll see, in favor of a stretchy skirt ("Sometimes I like to wear stretchy pants." Jack Black...Nacho Libre, anyone?).

and just in case anyone out there is actually wondering how the daddy-to-be is doing these days...here's schmoopy's 23 week picture :)

that's stinkin' hilarious!!! i love you, schmoop!

Happy Mother's Day!

check out the beautiful flowers that my sweet brother, craig, and his wife, marla, sent to me for my first mother's day :) that really made my day! thanks craigery and marley!! y'all are good peeps! i know that i can't really be celebrated as a mother the way other mom's who have put years of service into raising their children are celebrated, but i'm so looking forward to what lies ahead! our little guy has changed my life forever in making me a mom and even though right now he's just wiggling around in my tummy and i'm doing my best to keep him healthy, one day he'll be walking around, then he'll learn how to talk, he'll go to school, go to college and hopefully get married one day and have little one's of his own...what an adventure we have laid out in front of us thanks to God's hand in blessing us with this little one. while he's wiggling around today, i just want to hug him and tell him how much i love him and how happy i am to be his mommy :)

happy mother's day to my mom and grandmother, too! they are two women who have really given years of time, energy, and love into mothering their children. i wish i could get to see you both today :) i'll get to see mom in just a couple weeks when we go to the beach over memorial day! we'll have to continue mother's day celebrations then :)

and happy mother's day to mama jeannie and nana! i'm so blessed to have you in my life and be able to call you mom and nana, too :) thank you for the love you put into your son/grandson's life, who is the love of my life. i know part of the reason he is so good to me is thanks to your examples and your nuturing.

happy mother's day to all of the mommies out there, whether your journey is just about to begin or you are on to your years as a grandmother or great-grandmother!

Bowling a Strike:

it's a funny thing to talk to people while you're pregnant. i just absolutely love it because i always end up with a crazy story that makes me laugh!

a couple weeks ago i was over at the lab i've worked in at ut wrapping some things up and i got a chance to visit with my friend dr. ahn from korea. of course, he was very polite and waited for me to bring up the fact that i'm pregnant in conversation rather than him commenting on my obviously growing belly :) we talked for a while about that and of course he was very excited to hear the news and offered lots of congratulations to me and chris. the funniest thing was when i told him we were having a boy! "A BOY!", he said (with now an even MORE excited tone than before). "OOO...CONGRATULATIONS!", he shouted while doing a little dance there in the office. "that's WONDERFUL! in my country, having a boy is like bowling a strike!" i just thought that response was hilarious!!! of course, i am thankful we live in a country where either boy or girl the child is an endless source of pride and joy for the family...but knowing how happy dr. ahn is that we're having a boy just makes me smile :)

Over Half-Way There!

i'm a little behind with posting this picture, but for all of you interested in how me and our little peanut are doing here's a picture to let you know that we are both growing just as we should be!

we've passed the half-way point and today we're 22 weeks along in this amazing journey! i always think i'm so huge until i see these pictures and then i realize we've still got a long way to go!!

our favorite foods right now are fruit (and anything fruit-flavored), subway sandwiches, and lenny's chef salads...yum!!

regular pants certainly don't fit at all anymore, and haven't for many weeks, but I can still manage to wear some of my tops...i don't know how much longer that will last though, so just in case i wake up tomorrow having gained 5 more pounds, maybe i should go ahead and go shopping today :)

he and i have a busy weekend with a bridal shower, girls night (only boys in utero allowed), and a baby shower tomorrow. i hope we find some time in there for a nap!!

March of Dimes WalkAmerica:

saturday, i spent the beautiful, clear, sunny morning with my friends out at shelby farms walking for the march of dimes walkamerica. thank you so much to everyone who donated! thanks to you, i was able to raise $300 and our team raised $3,605!! this day really meant a lot to my friend who organized our team to raise money and walk in memory of her sweet baby boy, cooper. i appreciate her drive to get us involved in such an important cause and hope we can continue to help save babies.