Life of Lorin

Trying out the new carrier

2012-02-07T17:29:00.001-06:00

After trying out multiple baby carriers, I finally found one Knox and I both like. We got a Pikkolo, and I'm super excited about it. This will make grocery store trips SO much easier.

Getting ready for our walk...

I think he likes it!

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Nonnie and Knox time

2012-02-07T17:01:00.001-06:00

While Logan was out of town last week, my mom came and stayed with me to help out with night duty. We're going on 12 weeks of waking up every 3 hours to eat, so I'll take all the help I can get! :) I took this picture one morning of some sweet Nonnie and Knox time.

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Knox "talking"

2012-01-30T08:38:00.001-06:00

Logan had been out of town for the past 4 days, and I was able to catch some of his "conversation" with Knox on my camera when he got home. I think they were glad to see each other, and all this talking and cooing is a new trick for Knox. :)

YouTube Video

And one more...

YouTube Video

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Sweet Boy...

2012-01-25T17:00:00.001-06:00

So I'm trying this new app where I can blog from my phone, which will hopefully help me be able to update my blog more often. These days it gets overwhelming when I sit down and realize I have about 75 pictures to upload and talk about each time! We'll see how this works...

Today Knox and I met my dad for lunch at El Chico. Mr.Collins was there and doted on him as usual. :)

Knox is becoming more and more alert and learning new tricks every day. On January 22, 2012 he gave me a sweet giggle when I picked him up from his bassinet that morning, and on January 23, 2012 he started batting at his toys while he was playing under the play gym. He'd even open his hands to feel the toys and scratch at them. Later that day when I leaned down to smooch on him, he reached up and touched my face and put his fingers in my mouth. :) It's pretty cool to watch him learn that he can do things with those hands of his!

I've said it before, but this mommy-hood thing is seriously the best thing I've ever done. I wish I'd done it sooner, and I can't wait to have and meet the rest of our kids. (I know... tap the brakes, LaPrade. This one's only 10 weeks old!) I never understood how people didn't get bored staying at home with their babies, doing the same things every day. But I totally get it now, and I love it. It's a lot of hard work, but it's all completely worth it. My favorite place to be is at home with Knox snuggled up asleep on me. Best thing in the world. :)

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What we’ve been up to…

2012-01-21T00:41:00.001-06:00

Well, now that Knox is past the 8 week mark, we’ve been allowed to leave the house, and get out and about! Of course, I don’t leave the house without my travel sized Purel, but that won’t surprise anyone that knows me. :) We’re getting the hang of taking Knox out with us, and we’re actually pretty fast at getting the stroller set up. (Mostly because it’s an amazingly user friendly stroller, but still!) We’ve gone out to eat several times, and Knox does pretty well. We try to time it just right so that his tummy is full and he’ll sleep through dinner, but he usually ends up waking up once our food arrives. Now that he’s much more aware of his surroundings, he’s not as content to just chill out in his car seat while we eat. He wants to see what’s going on!

Ron Ron came to visit the other day and got in some quality time with him.

My new favorite picture – I finally caught a smile on camera! So Logan and I both had colds recently and I was so worried Knox would get it, especially when he woke up with a bit of a crusty nose one morning. But apparently the antibodies to my cold get passed to Knox through my breast milk, so he never really got sick. Pretty amazing! Anyway, since Logan and I were sick, and Knox’s nose was crusty, I broke out my stethoscope to make sure his lungs still sounded clear, and I got the biggest grin out of him! So sweet!
The next day I tried to get a good shot of him wearing his new Valentine’s outfit from Kim. He wasn’t in the mood for a photo shoot though, so I eventually had to give up. I know it’s a little early for Valentine’s clothes, but I really think he won’t be able to fit into this outfit by then!

The next day, we had lunch with Ron Ron at El Chico and then went back to his house.
My dad was getting some really great smiles, and even a few giggles, which was a first!
I was able to catch a couple of them in a video with my phone. Not sure why it’s such a skinny picture, but it’s sweet all the same.

An attempt at a self portrait of the two of us.

The following day, Knox and I met my friend Aren and her baby Simon for lunch at Northpark. Simon was actually due 11-11-11, the day Knox was born, but he decided to come a couple of weeks early. I can’t believe I didn’t take any pictures of Knox and his new buddy Simon together!

After some mall walking, we stopped by my mom’s office and Dr. Warren and his wife Stacy got to play with Knox for a little bit. Then he decided it was nap time, and he got comfy on my mom’s lap. (I don’t know how she does it, but he loves laying like this on her!)
My mom tried to take a picture of us as we were leaving, but this guy was having none of it!

He finally calmed down a little, but not enough for smiles!

We had some more fun firsts this week! January 18th 2012 was a big day – Knox smiled at himself in the mirror for the first time, pushed himself up onto his forearms during tummy time, and had some little laughs at Ron Ron. On January 19th 2012, he had a little “conversation” with Stacy Warren. He’s been making little coo-ing noises for a few weeks now, but this was the first time he would coo back and forth with someone. So cute! That was also the day he fell in love with his fingers. :) He’s started sucking on them for comfort, which is fine with me! It means he’s beginning to learn how to self soothe! I’ve noticed yesterday and today that when I go to pick him up after naps and in the morning, he’s broken his arms out of his swaddle so that he can get to those fingers. Also, instead of immediately crying when he wakes up in the middle of the night for feedings, he now starts sucking on his fingers for several minutes first. That’s what actually wakes me up now. :)

Next week we have several lunch dates lined up, and I’m looking forward to introducing him to a few more of my friends. I’ll be sure to get pictures this time!

Happy Two Month Birthday, Knox!

2012-01-14T23:49:00.000-06:00

On his actual 2 month birthday, Knox was feeling pretty crummy after getting three shots. Oh, that was so hard to watch. I didn’t think it would affect me since I actually love giving shots at work, but it was completely different watching him get them. He turned beet red, and did the cry where he was crying so hard no sound was coming out. And it was the first time he cried actual tears. It absolutely broke my heart, and by the third shot I was tearing up with him. He was so pitiful the rest of the day, so lots of extra cuddle time was needed, which was just fine with me.

So, because of that, we did our 2 month photo shoot extravaganza the next day when he was feeling a little perkier! Look at my happy baby!
Our monthly “Knox in the chair” shot with his blue bear. He’s definitely bigger! He’s also recently discovered his tongue, and loves playing with it.
The monthly shot of his baby feet.
Next, we played under his activity gym for a bit until he got sleepy.
And then we tried to get in some tummy time. He’s still not a huge fan, but he’ll tolerate it for a little bit.
He was giving me all sorts of smiles when he woke up from his nap that afternoon, but of course, I couldn’t catch any with the camera.
I take so many pictures of him, the poor kid’s gonna think his mother’s face is silver and flashes at him.
Daddy gave him his bath this day, which Knox enjoyed as usual!
At his two month doctor’s appointment, we confirmed what we already knew: the boy likes to eat, and is growing like a weed. :) He weighed in at 12 lbs 13 oz and was 23 inches long. 90th percentile for both! He’s actually just about outgrown most of his 3 month onsies, and its really hard for me to believe he needs to be wearing 6 month clothes. It’s all going so fast!

He’s still doing great with sleeping at night. He now goes to bed around 9 pm and wakes up for feedings around 1:30, 4:30, and 7:30. Apparently most babies that go to bed at 9:00 wake up around 11:30 for a feed, and then sleep for four or five hours, so for a while I kept waiting up for Knox to wake up so I could feed him and then get several hours of uninterrupted sleep. Turns out he didn’t read that book, and his longest stretch of sleep starts at 9 pm. I’m trying to start going to bed then, but for a night owl like me, that’s really really hard!

On January 12, 2012, he discovered his new favorite trick which is to stand up – supported, of course. He loves facing me and pushing off my stomach with his feet into a standing position, and then sitting back down again. We do this over and over, and he loves it. He’s so proud of himself every time he stands up. :)

Happy Two Months, Knox! We sure do love you!

Bath Time!

2012-01-10T23:06:00.000-06:00

After seven long weeks, we were finally given the okay to get the tape off Knox’s ears, which meant we could give him a real bath instead of the sponge baths we’d been doing. Now he loves bath time! We get lots of smiles during his bath – especially when we’re washing his feet. Somebody’s ticklish!

My Love…

2012-01-10T22:55:00.000-06:00

This immediately became one of my favorite pictures…
You’d never know these days that he was such a colicky baby the first 6 weeks of his life. He is SO happy and smiley! Laying on his new quilt made by Aunt Lyndsie. Such a sweetie! How did I get such a blue eyed baby?!? His eyes are beautiful!

Happy New Year 2012!

2012-01-09T22:39:00.000-06:00

Watching some TV before bed. ;)
Once the little guy was off to bed, Logan and I had some champagne and tried to watch the New Year’s Eve ball drop in New York, but apparently Dallas thinks it’s New Year’s Eve celebration is superior to that of New York’s. They stopped showing the Times Square action at 10 pm! We were forced to watch the horrible programming on MTV to see the ball light up. I felt really, really old seeing the “kids” on MTV and realizing that I am waaaay out of their targeted demographic. Really. Old.
Regardless, we still had a great New Year’s Eve, and even stayed up past midnight. (This is something we’ve neglected to do for the past few years.) Party animals. ;)

Christmas Season, 2011

2012-01-08T18:36:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas! We had a wonderful holiday season this year, with an extra special little blessing to be thankful for. :)

Even though we were still completely sleep deprived and learning how to juggle caring for a newborn with just living daily life, I insisted on a Christmas tree – so we picked one out and had a great time decorating it. I love how Christmas trees smell when you first bring them home.

My mom got us a really cute ornament for 2011. :)
And Knox got his own ornament from Nonnie and Ron Ron too.

Knox is doing a little better tolerating tummy time, but it really just depends on his mood at the time. I’m completely in love with those chubby cheeks and big blue eyes! A picture with Mom.
His favorite place to be is up on your shoulder so he can look out and see what’s going on.

Uncle Ross came to visit.

On December 18th, we celebrated Christmas with Logan’s family in Rockwall. The sheer number of gifts under their tree is something you have to see in person to believe. :)
All the Lowrys.
Our little family of three.
Moo dressed up for the occasion!

Somebody got a full tummy and fell asleep… on his chins. :)
Leah getting her turn holding Knox.

Followed by Aunt Lacie.

And then he spent some time with La La. Lacie and Moo took a nap together. :)
Pops finally got his turn to hold Knox.

We had a few days at home to relax between Christmas celebrations.

He was starting to learn how to smile at this point, but they’re so hard to catch in a picture! He looks like a little Chinese baby here. :) Logan decided to pop Knox’s collar for that tough guy look. Knox was not impressed. :) On December 23rd, we celebrated Christmas with the LaPrades at my parent’s house. Love this picture of Knox on Logan’s shoulder. My mom was so excited to get her hands on this little butterball!
Ross had to stretch out after we ate. :)
Cowboys gear for me to match Logan’s old faithful sweatshirt. I promise he has other clothes…
Parker! Mamaw opening her gifts.
Another sweet face. :) And then there’s this sweet face… ;)
Aunt Jessica sure loves her nephew!
Waking up on Christmas Eve morning! Yes, Knox was still having to sleep on my chest at this point in order for any of us to get any sleep. (I miss that sweet time, so we still take a morning nap this way.) All dressed up for the Cowboys game!
How can you not love that sweet face??
Christmas Day!

Knox’s first Christmas!

We had a great time celebrating Christmas with our families this year, so much so that we did it three times. :) On Christmas Day, my parents and Mamaw and Papaw came out to our house for another round of gorging ourselves with food. Isn’t that what the holidays are about?? Well, that and sweet baby Jesus, of course. ;)

And once again, so I can keep track of his “firsts”: Knox first started having little smiles on December 13, 2011. He really started having big, real smiles on December 22, 2011. One of my favorite things is when he smiles when he sees me, especially when he’s just waking up. It completely melts my heart. I actually teared up the first time he smiled at me. :) I just think it’s the coolest thing that he recognizes me and likes me!

Another HUGE milestone is that on December 28th, Knox slept in his bassinet instead of having to sleep on me! He has started going to sleep around 10 pm and will sleep between 3 and 4 hours before waking up for feedings. He goes back to sleep pretty easily until 7 or 8 in the morning, so we’re getting much better sleep these days. Like I mentioned earlier, I actually miss the snuggle time of him sleeping on me, (and I know he won’t want to do it forever) so we take our morning nap that way. It’s actually nice because if he’s on me, he’ll sleep for 2 to 3 hours. If he naps in his bassinet, he’ll only sleep about 30 to 45 minutes.

He’s doing better with his feedings too. Instead of wanting to eat every hour and a half to two hours, he’s now able to go two and a half to three hours, which is so nice. I’ve given up on the idea of having a set daily schedule, and instead am striving towards a consistent daily routine. Things might not happen at the same time every day, but they typically happen in the same order, and I think the consistency working for us.

He’s definitely growing and changing every day, and I’m really enjoying being able to be home with him right now.

Our Sweetness…

2012-01-06T17:06:00.001-06:00

We had Knox’s newborn pictures taken when he was just 6 days old. He was a champ, and did great! He let the photographer pose him in so many different ways, and for the most part just slept right through it. I love how they turned out!

LOVE that little grin.

Look at those sweet lips…

The photographer was so excited that Knox was grinning for this picture. Little did she know, it was because he was pooping in my hand. ;)

Such a sweet picture.

I love my boys!

Knox’s First Month

2011-12-12T22:14:00.000-06:00

Wow – I can’t believe how quickly time flies! I’m so far behind on updating my blog, but having a newborn doesn’t leave much time for anything other than nursing and diaper changes. :) When I look at these pictures, I can’t believe how tiny Knox was when we brought him home! He’s changed and grown so much already. Logan and I were just talking today about how even though Knox is still really young, it feels like he’s been around forever, and we can’t imagine life without him. Parenthood is seriously the best thing I’ve ever done. It’s impossible to put into words the love I have for Knox. No, we’re not sleeping much – someone has their days and nights mixed up, a touch of colic and some reflux – but it’s totally and completely worth it. This saying is so true: “The days are long, but the years fly by.”

And now for the best part: the pictures! If you have kids, you’ll understand the total picture overload here, so I won’t even apologize. If not, you’ll understand someday. :)

When we brought Knox home from the hospital, Logan’s family was there, waiting patiently to get their hands on him! This is one very loved little boy.

Meeting Aunt Lacie.
With Aunt Leah.
With Aunt Jess.
I love that Ross is sound asleep on the couch!
Proud Daddy Logan.

Three Days Old:
Logan got the late late shift (4 am to 6 am), and when I came into the living room, I found he and Knox having a slumber party. Logan was pretty proud of his “couch fort” he’d built. There were pillows all around them so Knox wouldn’t fall off, and he was on top of the TCU blanket so he wouldn’t slip between the cushions. :)
Hanging out in the swing.
Snoozing on Daddy.
Lori stopped by after work to meet Knox!
And Laura Morton from work came that night and brought flowers and made us a three course Mexican dinner – which was amazing!

The feast! Home made tortilla soup, enchilladas, rice, guacamole, and a corn salsa dip. It. Was. Fantastic.

Logan’s boss sent us a fruit arrangement! Four Days Old:
More snuggle time with Daddy after the late night shift.

Enjoying the swing again.
Hanging out with a very tired Mommy.

Bundled up and enjoying the WubbaNub pacifier. :)
Five Days Old:
A sleep deprived Logan and I decided to call in the reinforcements, and my mom (aka Nonnie) came to the rescue, taking the night shift so Logan and I could get some sleep between nursing sessions. She loved it. We loved it. Knox loved it. And we got some sleep!
On the way to his first pediatrician’s visit.
Knox’s birth weight was 7 pounds 3 ounces (19.5 inches long), and when we were discharged from the hospital, he had slightly dropped to 6 pounds 13 ounces. Three days later at the pediatrician’s visit at 5 days old, he was back up to 6 pounds 15 ounces, and at his two week check up had gained all the way to 8 pounds 6 ounces (20.5 inches)! His one month weight was 9 pounds 13 ounces (22 inches). My boy likes to eat! Later that night, evidence of his love for eating: this milk coma.
He also got his first bath at home that night! He was not a fan. :) Daddy getting in on the action.
Apparently the hood on this towel was a little too big… All clean, but not very happy about it! Uncle Ross warming him up after his bath.
Wide awake in the middle of the night again. :)
Six Days Old:
A little bleary eyed after another late night shift… but look who’s finally asleep! On the way to get our newborn photos taken.
A sneak peek that I couldn’t resist taking with my camera. :) Getting him posed for another shot. Taking a pacifier break, during which he peed in her nice wagon. Oops. All that picture taking wears a boy out!
One Week Old:
Excuse the awkward shot of Logan’s lap, but this guy sleeps like his Momma! Mouth wide open and hand over his head. He’s mine alright!
Using our monthly onsie stickers – this one says “Just Born”. He’s so tiny in his rocker!
Tiny feet! I love this one. Right after this, he kicked his leg around and rolled over onto his back! Probably just a coincidence, but maybe he’s the youngest baby to learn to roll over? ;) He found his hands! During his 4-D sono, we couldn’t get a good view of his face because he was always sucking on his fingers. :) With Ron Ron.

And Mommy. Sweet Angel.

He LOVES his bouncy. This is a good thing because it allows me to actually get to take a shower!
Working on some tummy time with Aunt Lyndsie and Daddy. Yet another milk coma…
Chilling in the bouncy again.

We LOVE the floor mat from Ken and Nancy Smith. It’s perfect for working on our tummy time.

Happy Thanksgiving! We went to my parent’s house this year and had all the usual Thanksgiving food, which was amazing. Knox spent the entire day being held and doted on, which he didn’t mind at all.

Family portrait. :)
Chowing down.

With my little turkey!
Turkey booty. :)
With Great Mamaw and Ron Ron.
Oh, how she loved snuggling this baby! More Nonnie time. Daddy leaning in to give Knox a kiss. :)
Thanksgiving milk coma? Two Weeks Old:

Hanging out in my activity gym! Done with tummy time. So mad!

Not sure what to think about those flashing lights…
Knox’s first bottle of breastmilk. He took it down like a champ!
Think he looks like Daddy a little? Grinning with Mommy. Aunt Bari came to visit! So did cousin Shea. Somebody is wide awake! (And super cute!)
Three Weeks Old:
Leanne and Mike came to meet Knox.
Mike’s a natural! Getting so big!
Maybe tummy time isn’t so bad after all!

Such a cutie pie!

Our first trip to BluFish.

Auntie Jess took a break from work and came to see us.
Reindeer booty! :) I love snuggle time after baths.
One month old!!
I still can’t believe how much Knox has changed in just a month.

Tiny feet! Posing with the bear from Jacqueline and Henry.
K is for Knox!
Elvis lip. :) And just so I can keep track of some of Knox’s firsts:

He started making real eye contact on December 8th, 2011, and started following and tracking objects with his eyes on December 9th, 2011. He’s started being more alert when he’s awake now, so it’s fun to be able to interact with him more. It’s so cool to watch him take in all his surroundings

He is still colicky at night – usually between 1 am and 6 am, but that’s starting to get better. I finally decided part of it was related to reflux, so I got the pediatrician to write him a prescription for some Zantac, which seems to be helping. It tastes absolutely awful, and he hates taking it, but if it helps him feel better, it’s worth it! He’s been wanting to nurse about every hour and forty five minutes to two hours no matter how hard I try to stretch him to three hours to get him on a better routine. This means by the time I’ve nursed him (which takes about 40 minutes), burped him, changed his diaper (and probably his outfit too from spit up), we only have about an hour before we start all over again. Since it’s flu and RSV season, the pediatrician doesn’t want us taking Knox out to public places until he’s 8 weeks old, but with this feeding routine, we wouldn’t have time to get anywhere before it was time to feed again anyway. :)

I can’t believe the little guy is already a month old. It has really flown by. I’m so looking forward to watching him grow and change even more, and seeing his little personality develop!

Introducing: Knox Christopher Lowry!!

2011-12-06T23:43:00.001-06:00

It is with great pleasure that I introduce our perfect and precious son, Knox Christopher Lowry! Knox was born on November 11, 2011 (yes, that’s 11-11-11) at 9:36 pm. He weighed in at 7 lbs 3 oz and was 19.5 inches long. We are so blessed and thankful for a happy and healthy little boy.
Now, let me back up just a bit to tell the story of his big debut! I had my 39 week appointment on Thursday November 10th, and was 39 weeks 4 days along. Much to my disappointment, Dr. Ryder informed me that I was still only dilated 1 cm and Knox hadn’t moved down any further. I had decided against inducing the previous week because I wanted to give him the full 40 weeks of “baking” time, and hoped he’d decide to come on his own. But when Dr. Ryder told me it didn’t look like I would be going into labor any time soon, (her actual words) we started talking about scheduling an induction for the following Monday when I would be 40 weeks and 1 day along. The problem was Monday and Tuesday were already booked for inductions. So, we scheduled ourselves for induction Wednesday night and would have a baby by Thursday afternoon. I was excited to finally have light at the end of my pregnancy tunnel, but wasn’t thrilled with the idea of being pregnant for another week! :)

Here I am at 39 weeks and 4 days, after my last doctor’s appointment. Little did I know, we would welcome Knox into the world the very next day…

The morning of November 11th started out pretty normal. After the usual night of waking up about every 2 to 3 hours to pee, I finally got up around 8:30 and had some breakfast. By 9 am I noticed I was having what I thought were Braxton Hicks contractions, but these were a little more “crampy”. They weren’t regular or painful though, so I decided to not worry about it. By 10 am I decided to start timing them just to be safe, and they were around 11 minutes apart. I’d read that true labor contractions start in your back and radiate forward, and these were still just crampy in my front lower belly. I went ahead and called Logan to give him a heads up, but told him this was probably no big deal. I hopped in the shower just in case it really was labor. Hey, if there’s ever a time to be really clean, it’s when you’re about to have a large quantity of people poking around all your places… Anyway, by the time I’d finished getting ready, these “Braxton Hicks” were getting more painful and coming about every 6 to 7 minutes. I decided to go ahead and call the doctor and see if they thought I should come in. In our childbirth class they told us not to bother going to the hospital until the contractions were every 5 minutes, lasting for 1 minute for at least an hour, but since I could hardly speak a full sentence without pausing in pain, the doctor told me to go ahead and come in. I called Logan and told him to come home and get me, and by the time he got home, my contractions were happening every 4 minutes and were much stronger. We checked in to the hospital at 1:30 in the afternoon, and when they checked me around 2:30 I was already 3 cm dilated!

Logan took a picture of the monitor showing Knox’s heart rate (in the blue) and my contractions (at the bottom) so I could see them.
Around 3 pm they started my epidural. I was glad I went into labor on my own because I wanted to feel what contractions felt like – but once I’d experienced them for several hours, I had no desire to see how strong they’d ultimately get. :) I was really nervous about the epidural, but it ended up being easy. While getting it placed, they were surprised that I was more comfortable sitting indian style on the edge of the bed instead of dangling my legs over the side. Apparently most people can’t sit indian style anymore at 9 months pregnant. :) Anyway, the anesthesiologist had trouble getting the epidural to thread the first time, so he did have to start over and do it again but it wasn’t painful compared to the contractions, and it was totally worth it. After getting the epidural, I was probably the most comfortable I’d been in months.
They checked me again at 4:30 pm, and I was still only dilated 3 cm, so the doctor broke my water and started me on a very low dose of Pitocin to get things moving along. When they checked me again at 8 pm I was already dilated to 8 cm and 100% effaced. Around 9 pm Knox’s heart monitor quit picking up, which initially concerned the nurse, but she quickly realized it was because he had descended low enough into the birth canal that it wouldn’t pick up anymore. I was already dilated to 10 cm and ready to push! This was the part I’d been most nervous about during the 9 months leading up to labor. Would I be able to actually get this baby out?? Would I be one of those women who push for 3 and a half hours, and end up still having to get a c-section?? Turns out it went great! I started pushing when Dr. Garner got there, and only had to push for 10 minutes! We did 3 rounds of pushing during each contraction, and it only took 4 contractions for Knox to be born. I found out later that Knox had the umbilical cord looped around his neck 1 time, but Dr. Garner fixed it before it caused any problems. It couldn’t have been a better delivery. Logan and I kept saying how surreal it was – we were parents! We had a son! And he just got here so quickly! I think we expected the pushing part to take a lot longer, so when Knox was born in 10 minutes, we couldn’t believe we were already parents! :)

Here’s a brand new Knox getting all cleaned up. (Both his APGAR scores were 9’s!)
Welcome to the world, sweet boy! Meeting each other for the first time.
Meeting Daddy.

Our new family of three.
Ron Ron and Nonnie holding Knox. Pops and La La Aunt Jess and Uncle Ross Aunt Leah
Heading to the nursery to get Knox weighed and measured. 7 lbs 3 oz, 19.5 inches long.
Not happy!

Laying under the warmer.
Such a sweet, tiny bundle!
Already so in love. :) Knox’s crib card. I love this picture of Logan looking at Knox. It’s really cool – I loved Logan so much before Knox was born, but watching him love and play with Knox makes me love him even more. I didn’t realize that was possible, and I think it’s pretty amazing.
Knox’s first outfit. He peed all over it a few minutes later. :)
A very sleepy mom…

…and Dad. :) Getting his hearing screen done.
Mamaw and Papaw came to meet their great grandson!

Testing out the car seat.

Ready to go home! Snoozing in the car on the ride home.
We are so in love with our little boy! A friend told me a saying they’d heard - “Having a child is like having your heart walk around outside your body.” That is so true. I know people always tell you that you’ll never know a love like the unconditional love you have for your child. They are so right. What an amazing thing. We are blessed!

My Sweet Lucy…

2011-12-05T23:31:00.001-06:00

November 7th was a very difficult day for me. Actually, “difficult” is an understatement. It was the hardest day of my life. Not only did I say goodbye to my childhood dog, Toby, but I also made the decision to put my own dog, Lucy, to sleep. This decision was definitely not made lightly, and is by far the most painful thing I’ve ever done. Being 39 weeks pregnant certainly didn’t make it any easier – but doing this wouldn’t have ever been easy anyway.

I spent months trying to figure out a way around this, but ultimately I felt I had no other options. Due to her inability to share anything with other animals, I just didn’t trust that she wouldn’t attack our child when he started crawling and getting near her things. She never gave any real warning before attacking other animals, and I just couldn’t risk her hurting my child, or anyone else’s for that matter. A friend of mine put it best when she said that the guilt I would feel if Lucy ever hurt a child would far outweigh the guilt I feel for not being able to keep her.

I tried to find her a new home, but even if someone had been willing to adopt a 9 year old dog with separation anxiety, incontinence, hypothyroidism, and dog aggression issues, I don’t think Lucy would have ever settled in somewhere else, and I doubt that new owners would have been as patient with her as I was. It would have been unfair to put Lucy in a situation where people may have abused her when she misbehaved, and I hated the thought of those new owners giving up on her and sending her to a shelter where she’d live in a cage until she was put to sleep - alone. She deserved better than that.

So for months I cried and cried about the decision I knew I was going to have to make. It just didn’t (and still doesn’t) seem fair that I spent 9 years pouring literally everything I had into my sweet girl for it to end up this way. Our vet agreed that due to her age and aggression issues she wasn’t really adoptable and that our only other option was to put her to sleep – but I still have such a hard time with that since she didn’t act sick. Yes, she had medical issues and needed 6 pills a day, but she felt good, and was happy. Logan reminds me that I did pour everything I had into working with Lucy and her quirks for 9 years, and because she had me for an owner she was able to live a really great 9 years that she probably wouldn’t have had otherwise.

As I said before, this was the most painful thing I’ve ever had to do, but I did it out of love for her, and for Knox. Our vet was absolutely amazing, and even though I wasn’t sure I’d be able to handle being in the room while they put her to sleep, I knew I’d never forgive myself if I wasn’t, and I felt I owed it to Lucy to be there and be as strong as I could be for her. Fortunately, it was very peaceful and humane, and she just fell asleep into my shoulder.

I went through all of my pictures – including old school film ones – and wanted to take a walk down memory lane. I know there’s a lot of pictures here, but I want to have them all in one place, and they’re what I have left to remember her with. She may have been a crazy, quirky dog, but she was my dog and I love her.

This was the day I brought Lucy home. I adopted her through the Giant Schnauzer Rescue Network when she was 7 months old. She and her mother and brother kept escaping from their owner’s yard, and they were tired of paying the fees to bail them out of the animal shelter. Their loss was my gain!

Sweet puppy!

Lucy wasn’t really much of a snuggler, but occasionally she’d tolerate it for me. :)

I remember having the hardest time getting both Lucy and Toby to “sit” at the same time for me to take their picture, so I eventually gave up and settled for Toby facing the other way.
Lucy and I participated in the Rescue Parade a few months after I brought her home. It took place at the dog show in order to bring awareness to purebred rescue groups. Lucy stole the show when after making her way around the ring, she stopped and begged for a dog treat from the lady handing out the certificates. :)

Showing off our participation certificate!
Oh how Lucy hated her crate! I tried crate training her, but apparently when left in her crate, she would throw her body against the door until one latch opened, and she’d squeeze out and destroy everything in my apartment. I tried to outsmart her and pad lock the door shut, but she resorted to chewing the metal wires of the crate and started breaking her teeth. She won, and we gave up on the crate.

She always looked forward to medicine time, which she took in a big spoonful of peanut butter.
Happy puppy!
At one point, I read about how great “real” bones from the butcher are for dogs teeth. So, I headed to the grocery store and asked them for some of their scrap bones. Lucy LOVED it, and I’ll admit her teeth were super clean after eating this. The only problem was that when she was finished, her beard smelled like a dead animal. We didn’t do many real bones after that. :)   She was not happy when I made her pose like this.
Sleepy girl.
I think I’d hidden a treat up on the shelf to see if she could actually smell it. Turns out she could! Nothing like tearing up a new toy.
I looked over one day and saw she’d done this herself.
I remember when I lived downtown taking Lucy for a walk to the Farmer’s Market in order to take pictures of her in front of all their pretty flowers. Someone did not want to cooperate, and kept giving me the evil eye instead of posing pretty. :)
Love this one. Loving on my mom. Being nosey and helping my dad open his present. She always loved opening her Christmas presents, and she was actually really good at it! One afternoon Logan and I looked over and saw that Lucy had somehow literally put my swimsuit bottoms on. No idea how that happened.

The one and only time this ever happened… Love those schnauzer noses. She kept hiding under my chair when we went to the vet’s office this day.
I guess she eventually decided the vet was alright because she came out all smiles!
Begging for goldfish crackers.
I never understood why she always laid on her bed this way…
What dog doesn’t love sticking their nose out of the car window?
Christmas collar!
Howling. As usual. :) Excited to open her presents! Getting some loving from Ross.
Loved that peanut butter!
She wasn’t quite sure what to think about all that snow…
But once she got out there in it, she had a blast. One of my favorite pictures of her. While I was browning beef, I looked over and saw somebody being very, very nosey.
Relaxing with me on a lazy Saturday.
On the way to get a bath.
Running around, excited to be all clean and pretty!

One night, Logan and I had an extra taco from Taco Bell. We put it in Lucy’s bowl and watched as she ate the whole thing with her butt sticking up in the air. :)   Silly girl. New soccer ball toy.
Getting some Logan love.
Lucy LOVED riding in the car with her head hanging out of my sunroof. Not the safest thing, so I’d only let her do it when we were driving slowly in the neighborhood.
I decided to stick my camera out and start snapping pictures just to see what I got. I still crack up when I see these. :) A couple of winters ago, our heater went out and Lucy actually let us tuck her in. Enjoying her new toy. Time to open another Christmas present! These will show just how good she was at it!
I think she likes it! Such a happy girl!
Being patriotic.
Showing off her Halloween costume to Summer. Thanksgiving 2010 at the Lowry Lakehouse. Checking out the view. Sitting in her favorite spot at our new house – from here she could see down into the kitchen, into the living room, and out into the front yard. One of my last pictures of Lucy, and it has quickly become one of my favorites.

I know I’ve posted these before, but I love looking at them and remembering this day. During the big snowfall this past February, Logan and I took Lucy outside to play – and she loved it.

In this second video, you get to hear that famous Lucy Chewbacca-style howl. :)

I’m still adjusting to life without Lucy. I still haven’t been able to clean out her room of toys and her bed yet, and I have to stop myself from calling her over to finish off my pizza crust, or eat the food I dropped in the floor. But God’s timing is perfect, and 4 days after I said goodbye to Lucy, I got to meet my sweet and perfect little boy.

My Sweet Lucy
October 8, 2002 – November 7, 2011

Our Little Toby…

2011-12-04T19:22:00.001-06:00

On November 7th, my family had to say goodbye to the best dog that has ever lived. I know, you probably think we’re biased – but he truly was the best dog ever. Toby was so well behaved. He was obedient, never destroyed anything, and wanted nothing more than to just snuggle in your lap.

Toby was our family’s first “real” pet, which is one of the main reasons he is so special to us. Sure, we had a couple of cats, a turtle, and one small dog over the years, but those were all outdoor animals, and none ever stayed around for very long. Toby was our first indoor pet, and that makes a world of difference. I remember begging my dad to let us get a puppy for years. (And I do mean years.) After doing loads of research on the perfect dog for us, I came across the Miniature Schnauzer, and after a lot of discussion, I finally convinced my dad that we “needed” one. (Honestly, I think after the years of “discussion”, I just wore him down. I’ve never denied being persistent!)

I remember driving out to the country to go and just look at some mini schnauzer puppies with my family. At the time, I really wanted a girl, but the girl puppies were all wild banshees running around all over the breeder’s house. As I tried to coax one spunky girl puppy out from under the couch, Toby waddled up to my brother, crawled into his lap and fell fast asleep. That sealed the deal, and we were sold. A few minutes later we were driving home with our new little family member. My parents said I needed to share and let my brother hold Toby too, so I reluctantly handed him over to Ross. Minutes later, Toby was pooping in his lap. :) Good boy, Toby. Good boy.

A few years ago, Toby developed what the vet believed was prostate cancer, which surprised us since he still acted like he felt so good. He still always greeted new visitors with a happy smile and a wagging rear end. Over the past year, he developed some arthritis which would slow him down for a day or so, but then he’d bounce right back to the happy little guy he always was. He also became pretty hard of hearing, so if you ever wanted to get his attention, you literally had to yell and clap as loud as you could. Between Toby and my dad, I’m surprised my mom has much of a voice left! (Love you, dad!)

A few weeks ago Toby woke up one weekend and couldn’t stand up to get out of his bed. He wouldn’t eat or drink anything, and stopped being able to go to the bathroom. In the past, if he’d had a rough day, he’d always bounce back the next morning and feel fine again, but this time was different. It was horrible seeing him struggle to try to get out of his bed to come say hi to you, and just not be able to. He was always happiest when laying in someone’s lap, but being anywhere other than in his bed was just too uncomfortable for him. Ultimately, the kindest thing to do was to let him go. Fortunately with pets, we are able to end their suffering – but it doesn’t make it any easier for us.

I’ve gone through my computer and found some pictures of Toby over the years…

Showing off his begging skills…
Snuggling on the couch.

Whenever I’d come home from college, he would always sneak up into my room and sleep in the bed with me.
He was probably terrified while posing for this picture with Lucy!
Happy guy!

Checking out what’s going on in the backyard.
All bundled up!

My parents asked me to come over and groom Toby one weekend since their groomer left the fur on his legs too long. Here was his “before” shot…

And after!

Sleeping in mom’s lap.

Toby and Logan always took a nap together in the recliner after a big lunch.

Toby was an important part of our family for 14 and a half years. Everyone who met him fell in love with him – and how could they not? If my parents ever decide to get another dog, it will surely have some mighty large paws to fill.
Sweet Toby
April 2, 1997 – November 7, 2011.

New House Pictures

2011-11-01T16:52:00.001-05:00

I’m excited to finally be able to post pictures of the updates we’ve been doing on the house since we moved in! We’ve been here just a little over 2 months now, and things have really taken shape.

The first thing we did was hire some tree trimmers to shape up the trees out front and in back. They’d become completely overgrown – so much so that you couldn’t even really see the front of the house.

Front of the house before:

The huge mess during all the trimming.

After:

Love our beautiful house!

The oak tree in the backyard before:

After:

Since this picture, we’ve actually removed that oak tree by the pool altogether. It was dropping a ridiculous amount of acorns into the pool, and I was having to clean out the Polaris bag at least 4 times a day… when it hadn’t gotten so heavy that it became disconnected and sprayed water all over the place, forcing us to add tons of water to the pool every day. Yeah. The tree had to go.

We initially moved in and unpacked for a couple of weeks, then decided we really wanted to paint the whole house. Since we were still waiting on the majority of our furniture to be delivered and a lot of things were still in boxes, we decided it would be better to paint sooner rather than later. So, we repacked most of the things we’d already organized (not recommended when you have an 8 months pregnant wife who is desperately trying to nest…) and moved in to my parents guest room for a week while the painters were here. In the end, it was all completely worth it because the house now “feels” more like us. It’s funny – after looking at tons of paint swatches, we ended up choosing the same main colors we’d chosen when we painted our condo a couple of years ago.

Here’s the before and after photos. (In some of the pictures it doesn’t look like the paint color changed much, but I think it’s just the lighting. It was much more golden before, and now it’s more of a khaki.)

Kitchen before:

Kitchen after:

Den before:

Den after:

Dining Room before:

Dining Room after:

Formal Living before:

Formal Living after:

Master Bedroom before:

Master Bedroom after:

(Please excuse my hospital bags packed in the corner. Yay!)
Master Bath before:

Master Bath after: (I love the blue! So relaxing.)

Upstairs Gameroom before:

Upstairs Gameroom after:

We re-did the pool bath too. Originally it had an ugly pedestal sink, no mirror, and horridly dirty gold lighting fixtures. I don’t have a before picture, but here’s the after:

Logan and I also changed out all of the door knobs throughout the house from this gold, covered in old dried paint:

To pretty silver door knobs:

The official test to see if you’re a grown up – how excited you get about household appliances. :) I was SO excited when our new refrigerator came! It has a special snack drawer in the middle that has it’s own temperature control for wine/cheese/meats/soft drinks. And I love the crushed ice dispenser! My refrigerator. Is. Awesome.

We also had to get a new washer and dryer since ours was a stackable pair that’s staying in the condo. I’ve decided I really like the front loading kind. And instead of just buzzing when the cycle is over, they sing a little tune. So cute!
And last but certainly not least – something I’ve been wanting for about 8 years… The Pottery Barn Manhattan Leather Recliner!! My new favorite spot to sit/sleep/read/be.
We’ve been busy at work here, and there’ve been lots of unforeseen obstacles we’ve had to deal with in the process, but it’s definitely all paid off. Our new house really feels like home, and we completely love living here. Not only that, we’ve fallen in love with our neighborhood. We’ve met most of our neighbors who have all been so nice. Apparently our street even organizes a block party twice a year in the cul-de-sac right across from our house, and everyone cooks out, and they have a bounce house and activities for the kids. Everything is very family oriented, which is exactly what we were looking for at this point in our lives.

I’ve also started cooking again, and have taken up baking too! I’m all kinds of domestic. :)

Happy Fall!

2011-11-01T15:14:00.001-05:00

Since I’ve started maternity leave, I’ve been feverishly trying to get the house organized, unpacked, and decorated. I’m happy to say, I think it’s done! It officially feels like home now. Pictures are on the walls, all of the furniture and appliances have been delivered, and I’ve scrubbed it from top to bottom. We’ve decided to wait until the spring to do the overhaul the flower beds need both in front and out back, so I was super excited to find this little potted plant that is perfect for the front porch. :)
And I wanted to include a picture of Lucy in her new favorite “perch”. If you’re ever wondering where she is, 9 times out of 10 she’s resting on the first landing of the stairs. From here she can see out into the front yard, the front porch, and into the kitchen. She loves this spot.
Happy Fall, everyone!

Happy Howl-O-Ween!

2011-11-01T14:14:00.001-05:00

This was our first Halloween in our new house, and our first time to have Trick-Or-Treaters! Tons of kids stopped by and got the good candy. (That was another thing I promised myself growing up: I’d give out the good stuff instead of the nasty candy no one wants!)

Lucy got in on the action this year too and wore her cow costume. She didn’t keep it on for long, but I managed to get a few shots of her in it.

I liked this first one best – looks like she’s smiling!

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween!

Nonnie Nora Shower!

2011-11-01T13:55:00.001-05:00

The sweet ladies at First Baptist threw my mom a surprise Grandma Shower! Now she’s all set with tons of goodies for Knox when he comes over to her house.

Tons of gifts!
One of the tables was decorated with all the different names for “Grandma”. Cute idea!
Yummy cake balls, lemon bars, and chocolate caramel squares.
Opening some of the loot! :)
I was so happy they invited me to come and watch my mom celebrate her first grandchild. The ladies at FBC were so generous to do this for our family! :)

Bump Watch!

2011-11-01T13:29:00.001-05:00

I feel huge. My belly is really heavy and I can’t get comfortable in any position. I’m waddling like crazy, and I have a hard time walking without shuffling my feet so it sounds like an old person at a nursing home coming down the hall. Nice. :) I am SO ready to meet Knox… but also getting more nervous about the impending delivery. I try not to think about that part of it and just remind myself that people survive childbirth every day, right??

I’m now going to the doctor every week, and I’ve made it through two major hurdles: 1. I didn’t deliver last week while my doctor was out of town. 2. I didn’t deliver on Halloween. :)

35 weeks:

36 weeks: At this doctor’s appointment, they did one last ultrasound to get some final measurements and see around how much Knox was weighing. Everything looked great, and they estimated his weight to be right at 6 lbs. If he continues to gain the average 1/2 pound each week, he’ll be 8 lbs at delivery! It was around this week that he “dropped”, and I could finally start to breathe again! They also started checking my cervix every week at this time (not the most comfortable thing…) and I was not dilated or effaced, but he was –3 in station, and Dr. Ryder even said “Wow, his head is low!” (-5 is a floating baby, 0 is when the head is fully engaged, and +5 is crowning.)

37 weeks: Another good doctor’s appointment this week. This time I was dilated to 1 cm (not much, but I’ll take it!) and he was at –2 in station. I saw a different doctor this week, and he also commented on how low the baby’s head is. I think that’s good?

I can’t believe I’m posting these, but here they are...

38 weeks: This is me last night. My next doctor’s appointment is this Thursday, so we’ll see if I’ve made any more progress then!

Shower #2 for Knox!

2011-11-01T10:08:00.001-05:00

On October 9th, my very sweet coworkers threw baby Knox a shower! Everything was perfect – the food was amazing and Martha Stewart Jr (aka Terri) was at work in full force with the cute decorations and amazing diaper cake!

Here’s some of the yummy desserts!
The girls know how obsessed I am with Terri’s home made eggrolls, and my newest craving has been mini burger sliders, so we had both! Delicious.

The beautiful diaper cake! The bottom two layers are wrapped in cute blankets, and the top layer is wrapped in a burp cloth with Knox’s name that Terri made. She also made the chocolate covered Oreos spread around the cake. I want to be crafty like her in my next life. :)

Bumbo seat!

The boppy.

A couple of Eric Carle books, which I love. Since the shower, I’ve decided to decorate the walls of Knox’s nursery in Eric Carle prints. They actually just came in the mail this week!
A sweet cozy sleeper.

The hostesses – Sarah, Lindsay, Kim, Terri, Amanda, and Margarita.

I am so thankful for these sweet girls, and all my coworkers who contributed to all the great stuff we got to bring home for Knox. Now we’re just waiting on the little man to make is big debut!

Suckered in… and okay with it

2011-10-14T09:48:00.001-05:00

A couple of days ago my doorbell rang, and standing on my front porch was a sweet little boy scout in full boy scout attire. This little guy was only made cuter by the fact that he couldn’t pronounce his ‘R’s correctly. He was going door to door, selling “Boy Scouts of America Popcorn”, and while my initial reaction (silently, of course) was to think “Don’t you guys have Thin Mints??” I remembered back to my childhood…

I can vividly remember every year of elementary school going door to door in our neighborhood trying to sell whatever cheap-o junk the school gave us to sell in hopes that I’d raise the most money and win the big prize at the end. I remember thinking how nice the people were who would actually buy something from me, and how much I disliked the people who turned me down – or worse, wouldn’t even come to the door. I also vividly remember how mad I’d get at the kids who cheated and let their parents take their catalogs to work with them to sell to their co-workers. They’d always sell the most and win the prize that they hadn’t even worked for, while I’d walked door to door in the sweltering Texas heat for miles and miles. (Cue dramatic music.)

I remember making a promise to my little first grade self back then. I promised that when I grew up, if a child came to my door selling something - anything, I’d always buy from them. I’ve stood in their shoes, and they deserve to be encouraged for their hard work! And now that we’re in our first house, it’s time for me to make good on that promise.

And that, my friends, is how I paid $20 for popcorn.

Bump Update

2011-10-05T23:06:00.001-05:00

I’ve been a bad blogger and haven’t updated in over a month! So sorry. I’ll start doing better – especially since I start my maternity leave on Saturday!! Just two more shifts before 5 blissful weeks of organization and relaxation… as long as Knox cooperates and stays put that whole time. :)

Since my last post, I’ve had a couple more visits to the OB. Two days before my 32 week visit, I had a little bit of a scare. During the drive home from work that night I noticed I was having quite a few Braxton Hicks contractions. I’d been on my feet all day though, so I tried to not worry about them. But as I was eating dinner when I got home, I noticed they’d actually been pretty regular. I timed a few and discovered they were exactly 8 minutes apart. They didn’t necessarily hurt, but since they were so regular and had been happening for a couple of hours, I decided to call my doctor. We decided they were probably from being on my feet all day at work, and being dehydrated. So I drank several glasses of water, and took a warm bath – as ordered. They slowed down, and I was able to sleep that night without any problems. Because of the contractions though, they did another sonogram at my doctor’s appointment that week. At 32 weeks, Knox was weighing in at 4 lbs 3 ounces. If he gains the half pound a week like most babies should at this point, he’ll weigh around 8 and a half pounds on his due date. Yowza!

I still feel him moving around all the time, and in the last week or so his movements have gotten HUGE. At least they feel that way to me! I can see my entire stomach move, and sometimes see his little heel pop up. Logan can even feel his hiccups now, and the top left corner of my abdomen is always very firm – right where his little booty sits. :)

And now for the pictures you’ve so patiently been waiting for (Mom and Dad).

30 weeks:

31 weeks:

And for the truly brave, a bare belly shot, also at 31 weeks. (I spared you the frontal bare belly shot. You can thank me later!) :)

32 weeks – I didn’t get around to taking a picture at home, so here’s one of me, bump to bump with Marcy at Knox’s shower:
And I accidentally skipped 33 weeks, so here I am today – at 34 and a half weeks. He’s really popped out in the last couple of weeks!

To finish up, I just wanted to show a couple of outfits I couldn’t resist. First, the sock monkey onsie. Who doesn’t love the sock monkey?? (There’s a giant one on the hiney of this outfit!)
And I know it looks like a jail uniform, but it’s really Knox’s first Polo! It’s super soft, and I just fell in love with it.
And then there’s Lucy Loo – pre haircut. She has no idea how much her world is about to change!
Also, one day a couple of weeks ago I woke up to find not one, but two bouquets of beautiful flowers in my kitchen! What a sweet husband I have!
I hope everyone’s having a great week! T-Minus 45 hours until maternity leave for me! Not that I’m counting… ;)

A Shower for Knox!

2011-10-04T23:44:00.000-05:00

On September 17th, several of my sweet friends hosted a beautiful baby shower for Knox! I had such a great time getting to visit with everyone and playing with all the fun baby stuff Knox now has. Everyone’s generosity has definitely helped me feel like we’re more prepared to bring a baby home in a few weeks.

With the hostesses: Lori, Jacqueline, Whitney, Shara and Rachel.
An adorable diaper cake in his nursery colors!
Amazingly delicious cupcakes with Knox’s monogram, and some of my favorites – hydrangeas. (They know me well… chocolate and flowers!)
Lori made her famous fruit salad in the watermelon carriage.
I loved this – guests wrote little notes to Knox in a Dr. Seuss book whose main character is also named Knox!
Everyone also wrote Logan and I messages on diapers to cheer us up when we’re doing those middle of the night diaper changes. So cute!
Sweet high school friends, Amanda and Ginni.
Marcy and I – I was 32 weeks along, and she was around 24 weeks.

This picture is incredibly special to me. It’s the last picture taken of Joyce before she passed away unexpectedly two days later. I am so thankful I got to visit with her at the shower. She was such an amazing lady.
Leslie and I
And Angela and I. Angela gave birth to her sweet little girl, Addilyn about a week later!
My mom, Lynn, Bari and Peggy
Jacqueline and I
We played the perfect shower game for me. We had to match the celebrity baby names with their famous parents. Loved it!
Cute blankets!
Sweet little penny loafers.
Cowboys pacifiers – Logan loves them. :)
Aunt Bari had a sweet story to go along with her gift…
…an amazing handmade quilt. I love it! I’m super sentimental, so I love that she and Joyce worked on it together for Knox.
The Grandmothers-To-Be!
Me with my sweet Mamaw. Sure do love that lady!
All the Lowry, LaPrade, and Sheppard family.
I had such a great time, and am so thankful for wonderful friends who came to celebrate Knox!

Bump Watch and 4D Sono Pictures!

2011-08-31T23:54:00.001-05:00

Things with the pregnancy are moving right along! My last doctor’s appointment went well, and I passed my glucose tolerance test, so no gestational diabetes for me! I did have to have an extra ultrasound because apparently I was having some contractions, which I’d passed off as Braxton Hicks. Fortunately everything checked out okay, and Mr. Knox looked great. My doctor just told me to slow down and take it easy for a while, which has been pretty much impossible to do since we were in the process of moving, and are now settling into the new house and getting everything organized and set up. (More on that in another post!) But the further along I get in this pregnancy, the more I realize that I just can’t physically keep doing as much as I’ve been doing, so I’m trying to tell myself that the house is a work in progress, and everything will get done at some point.

Knox is moving around like crazy – especially at night when I’m trying to go to sleep. Wonder if we’ll have a night owl on our hands?!? Feeling him move around is the craziest thing. Just about every time I rest my hands on the top of my belly, he literally kicks them off. Sometimes it’s so forceful it startles me, which then makes me laugh. It’s also so strange to be able to see my stomach moving when he’s wiggling around in there. It’s pretty amazing, and I can’t wait to meet this little guy.

And now for picture updates!

24 weeks
25 weeks (and in Cabo!) 26 weeks
27 weeks (I had some requests to mix it up and not have only “headless belly shots”.) So there’s the full view!
28 weeks
29 weeks

A couple of days ago we had our 4D ultrasound, and it was absolutely amazing to be able to see what Knox looks like, and watch him move around and even yawn in live motion. Most of the time he kept his hands up near his face, so it was hard to get many good pictures, but we were able to get a couple. They gave me a DVD of the entire ultrasound, but I’m having a hard time figuring out how to make a still shot from a video. Once I figure that out, I’ll post some better pictures, but here’s what we have for now.

In this picture, you can see his hand and arm up near his face on the right side, and some distortion from the amniotic fluid on the left side, but there’s his sweet little face! I think he’s beautiful – and I’m not biased at all. ;)

This one didn’t turn out as well since I had to take a picture of my computer screen to get it, but I love it anyway. :) It’s crazy how in love with this baby I am and I haven’t even met him yet. I can’t wait for him to get here!
This past weekend Logan and I went to our Childbirth class. It was actually really informative, and I enjoyed it a lot. I loved that they taught infant CPR, and Logan did great learning that. (Yes, I’m a total medical nerd and loved watching my husband do effective compressions.) At the end of class, they passed out baby dolls to teach everyone how to swaddle and change a baby. While the teacher was giving directions, I looked over and saw this:

What a natural, right? ;)

Happy 60th Birthday Mr. Lowry!

2011-08-15T23:05:00.000-05:00

We recently celebrated Logan’s dad’s 60th birthday with a surprise party! He knew something was going on, but I don’t think he expected all the people that showed up throughout the afternoon!

Part of the spread…
Opening gifts after everyone had gone.
Logan… saving me a seat? :) Sweet Moo, the nicest pit bull you’ll ever meet.
Moo, Ruxton, and Boomer all asleep in Mr. Lowry’s lap at the end of the day. Apparently this is a frequent occurrence. :)

Happy Birthday, Mr. Lowry!! We love you!

Cabo 2011!!

2011-08-09T22:10:00.000-05:00

This was our third trip to Cabo – our second trip using our timeshare there. As always, we had a relaxing, wonderful time. Aaaannnd, as always, I may have over-packed. :) One of these days I won’t have to have the “HEAVY” tag on my luggage!
Beautiful flowers as we arrived in the timeshare lobby.
Lunch at Girasoles.
Mike and Leanne got to come with us this year! They are perfect vacation buddies.
Somebody enjoyed the 2 for 1 happy hour… ;)
The next morning, we had breakfast in town at The Office on the beach.
My own private water bucket.
Our breakfast view.
Back at the time share, we had a beautiful view from our room!
Later in the day, we hung out at the Del Fins pool. We love this pool because there’s usually not very many people there.
Logan has finally found an author he loves, and he enjoyed reading on the bench under the bridge.
There are always big lizards running around the Del Fins pool!
Dinner at Tomatoes Restaurant.
My relaxing view at the pool the next day.
There are all kinds of fun tile animals and flowers on the floor of the pool!
Sweet Logan. :)
Big Cabo waves!
Happy 25 weeks bump! Fun cacti during happy hour. No worries - several rounds of water for me! Next we had dinner at the steak restaurant De Cortez.
Mike wanted a challenge and ordered the 24 ounce T-Bone…
…and he just about finished it! (Followed by the meat sweats, obviously.)
I had a little 5 ounce steak. Much more manageable.
I finished mine too!   All you can eat breakfast at Girasoles!
Lovely view.
We also had a view of Michael Jordan’s Cabo home. Not too shabby!
Basket of goodness with a side of nutella. Mmmmm….
I am obsessed with french toast.   Logan had the banana macadamia nut pancakes. Our little breakfast visitor. I definitely did not share my french toast. :)
That night Logan and I ordered in room service while Mike and Leanne went into town for a date night.
Beautiful waves down on the beach the next day.
The pictures don’t do them justice. They were huge! Not the best picture of us, but we had just been pummeled by the waves. :)
On the way to dinner on our last night.
Can’t wait until next year!

And he shall be named…

2011-07-22T21:59:00.001-05:00

Oh, Baby!

2011-07-22T21:52:00.001-05:00

Some more good news to report since the last update: the fetal echo went well! Everything checked out perfectly with the little guy’s heart! I can’t thank Dr. Tim Thomas enough for offering to do the exam for us, and in turn giving me some piece of mind.

I also had another doctor’s appointment yesterday and everything is looking good. My blood pressure was actually back to normal for me – 98/54. (Last time it was up to 114/76, which for me is high.) I’ve been having some right hip and right lower back pains, but according to the doctor they’re just normal pregnancy pains. I did finally break down and buy one of those giant c-shaped pregnancy pillows and it’s actually helped a lot. Granted, it’s about the size of a kindergartener and it’s not easy to adjust positions once I’m “in” it, but it’s solved the problem of my waking up at 4 am every night, so in my opinion it’s the best invention ever.

As for the baby, he’s growing and moving all around. I finally knew I was feeling him move around 20 weeks or so, but it was nice to be able to confirm it during the fetal echo – I’d feel something move and be able to watch it happen on the sonogram at the same time. His movements are getting bigger and stronger, and if I’m sitting still you can see little movements on my tummy. Crazy. Logan has also been able to feel him move a few times now, and that makes me happy. Every day when I come home from work, he asks me “How’s the little guy?” and pats my belly. It’s really sweet.

Based on yesterday’s sonogram, little man now weighs 1.8 lbs, which is the 55th percentile. Not bad! The sonographer printed off a couple of pictures for me yesterday:

His sweet face.

Yep, still a boy… still showing it off.
His hand and arm.
A tiny foot.

And for the weekly bump updates, here’s 21 weeks.
22 weeks.

23 weeks.
I was really dreading the weigh-in at the doctor’s office yesterday, but it turned out alright. (I’m still not convinced there wasn’t something wrong with their scale… but it was in my favor so I kept my mouth shut!) People at work keep telling me I’m all belly, and that’s encouraging to hear. My close friends are a little more straightforward and tell me I’m all belly and boobs, which is way more accurate. I’m already in my second new bra size, and really giving Dolly a run for her money. I told Logan the other day that I can’t see my toes… but it’s not because of my belly…

In other news, we ordered the nursery furniture! We’ll have a crib, 6 drawer double dresser that will also serve as a changing table, a nightstand, and a super comfy glider/recliner. The store actually had the chair on display in the fabric we chose, so I snapped a picture.

I love it, and look forward to spending plenty of time there with a sweet little one in the near future!

New House!?!

2011-07-19T12:08:00.000-05:00

After about a year of looking, Logan and I have finally found the perfect house for our growing little family! I’ve been trying to wait to post about it until everything is finalized, but I’m too excited. :) We put an offer on the house last week and have been getting inspections done, and are currently in the process of negotiations before everything is finalized. If all goes according to plan, we would close August 10th.

As an interesting side note, I recently realized that I end up grouping my “stressful life changing events” in two’s. Last year I got married and changed jobs within a month of each other, and this year I’m buying a house and having a baby at the same time. Funny. :)

Now for pictures! The house has two huge trees right out front, so it’s a little hard to get a good shot, but here’s the best I could do. I think it’s a really cute house!

Entryway

Dining room. (Also, for some reason the paint looks yellow in the pictures. In reality, it’s more of a tan-neutral color.)
Formal living room
Kitchen
Bonus room right off the kitchen, which we’ll use for a treadmill room.

Den

Master bedroom
Master bathroom
Upstairs gameroom
Guest bedroom #1
Guest bedroom #2
Nursery!
One of the guest bathrooms:
View of the pool from the back porch

And from the other side of the pool. Wish us luck as we nail down the final details!

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-06T23:32:00.000-05:00

For July 4th weekend, Logan and I headed out to his parents lake house for some quality family time and to check out their new boat - which is awesome. :) I actually forgot to take my camera the afternoon we pulled each other on the tube behind the boat, but I did remember to take it later that night when his dad gave us a tour of the lake. Clearly, I missed out on the action shots!

This house was all decked out for the holiday.
And this one was just huge. :)

Beautiful sunset view from the boat while touring the lake. Sean’s birthday was over the holiday weekend, and since we hadn’t celebrated my birthday with Logan’s family yet, Logan’s mom made Sean and I a chocolate cake, which was fantastic!
As Logan and I were leaving, we saw a mama and a baby deer in the field.
I loved the little baby deer!
It was a much needed relaxing weekend for us, and I can’t wait to get back out there!

Happy Wedding Day Amanda and Josh!

2011-07-02T23:06:00.000-05:00

Amanda and Josh are married! They were married at a castle out in Rockwall. Even though someone who will remain nameless may have gotten a speeding ticket on the way there (Logan…), and someone else who will remain nameless may have looked at the invitation wrong and planned our arrival for 7 pm rather than the 6 pm start time (Lorin…), we made it there in one piece and had a great time. Amanda was beautiful, and both she and Josh looked so happy. Here’s a couple of pictures from the reception.

First Dance:

Logan and I:
The newlywed game with Barbies:
Congratulations you two!

Baby Lowry Updates

2011-06-26T23:25:00.001-05:00

This past week we had our big 20 week ultrasound where they not only confirm the gender, but also measure all of the baby’s bones and organs to make sure things are developing on track. I am thrilled to report that everything looks perfect!

Being a pediatric nurse and working with sweet children that have to overcome health obstacles makes me that much more thankful that so far everything looks good with our little one. And since I specialize in cardiology, I paid extra close attention to the heart. I was beyond relieved to see 4 healthy heart chambers, a right ventricular outflow tract, and a left ventricular outflow tract! One of my cardiology doctor friends has offered to do a fetal echo for us, so in the next week or so we’ll get an even more detailed view of the baby’s heart.

Now for the fun pictures! Here, you can clearly see that it’s a boy! (I’m sure one day when he’s older he’ll hate that I’ve posted this picture.)

I think he’s yawning in this one.
Profile shot.

I’ll admit it – this one kinda creeps me out a bit – but it’s a view of his face straight on. His head is on the left side, and he’s resting on his hand. You can see his arm extending towards the middle of the picture, and it stops at his elbow.

This was really amazing to see in the live motion. We watched him suck his thumb, pause to yawn, and then go back to sucking his thumb. It’s crazy to me that he’s literally just hanging out inside of me.

We found out I have an anterior placenta, which explains why I haven’t been feeling a ton of fetal movement yet. An anterior placenta means that the placenta is between my tummy and the baby, so any movements he makes go into the placenta which absorbs them like a pillow. So it might be a few more weeks before I’m feeling big movements, although lately I’ve been feeling a few more twitches and bubbles, and that’s pretty cool. He’s also breech right now, but the doctor says there’s still plenty of time for him to rotate into the correct position.

And now for the weekly belly shots.
18 weeks:

19 weeks (and after a long day at work):

20 weeks:

Halfway there!

Happy 30th Birthday to me!!

2011-06-26T22:54:00.001-05:00

I can’t believe it. I’m actually 30 years old. I remember being a kid and thinking the 17 year olds sitting with the youth group at church were SO grown up. Ahh, how your perspective changes! It’s true what they say: With age comes wisdom. And I proved that this year by successfully spreading out my birthday celebrations for an entire 10 days!

A few days before my birthday Logan and I celebrated with dinner at Trulucks, which is always a favorite. A little birdie must have told the waitress that it was my birthday, because they brought me two incredible cupcakes – one carrot cake, and one double chocolate.

After dinner we headed to the Meyerson to see Ben Folds perform with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. We love Ben Folds, and getting to hear him play backed by a symphony was an amazing experience. He truly is a talented musician, in every sense of the word.
I was able to get a picture of the symphony before the show started, but no pictures were allowed during the performance. I tried to sneak one, but Logan caught me and I had to put my camera away. :)

A few days later we celebrated again with my family, this time at my favorite Italian restaurant, Momo’s. Not only is the food wonderful (they hand make their pasta from scratch daily), but the waiters are always so good to us.

Logan snuck out of the house while I was getting ready and decorated our chairs with black balloons. He’s been teasing me about being “old” now and really enjoying it since I’ve been doing the same to him for about 3 years now.
Ross and Jessica.

Mom and Ross.

Logan and my Dad.

Since the next day was Father’s Day, my parents had a couple of gifts for Logan to open for the baby. Love this sweet puppy dog onsie!

And some bibs.

My mom made brownies, and even cut out the stencil for the “30” powdered sugar decoration.
On my actual birthday, Logan took the day off since we had our “big” sonogram that afternoon. (More about that in the next post.) We ended up looking at a few houses and then met my family for lunch (again!) before our appointment. Jeff was also in town and met Logan and me for dinner at Brick House, which has amazing food. We always love when Jeff visits!

And then finally, last night we celebrated at Taverna with Chris and Leslie, Whitney and Cody, and Mike and Leanne. It was fun getting everyone together – so much fun that I forgot to take a single picture!

So I have to say, 30 has been treating me pretty well so far, and I’m really looking forward to everything this year has in store. Lots of big and exciting changes!

Bachelorette Look-Alikes

2011-06-07T20:56:00.001-05:00

Every season I promise myself it will be my last to watch the trash-tastic real life soap opera that is The Bachelor… but every season I am completely sucked back in. I can’t help it. There’s just something about watching crazy people “fall in love” after knowing each other for all of about 3 seconds that I can’t get enough of.

That’s not the point though. Today, the point is that this season ABC has cast several Bachelorette contestants that look exactly like a few B-List celebrities. Allow me to demonstrate:

William…

…also goes by the name Josh Lucas and can best be viewed in the chick-flick favorite, Sweet Home Alabama.
J.P….

…got his start many years ago, and is most known for his work in Clueless. Stage name: Breckin Meyer.
And, Constantine…

…clearly won’t win anyone over with his name, so he’ll try serenading his lady love, like his identical twin Josh Groban.

Balsamic-Glazed Filet Mignon

2011-06-07T19:40:00.001-05:00

I recently ventured out in my cooking skills and decided to try my hand at filet mignon. Luckily, Logan is a dream to cook for since he’ll generally oooohh and aaaahh over whatever I put in front if him, so I knew that even if it wasn’t Truluck’s quality, he’d probably be happy just to be eating steak. :) Turns out it was actually very good – and easy! LOVE my cooking light cookbook Lyndsie got me for Christmas, which is where the majority of my recipes come from. At Haley’s request, here is the recipe:
Ingredients:
4       (4 ounce) beef tenderloin steaks
1/4   tsp salt
1/4   tsp freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray
2      tsp bottled minced garlic
1/8   tsp crushed red pepper
3      tbsp dry sherry
2      tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1      tbsp balsamic vinegar
2      tsp honey

1. Sprinkle both sides of steaks evenly with salt and black pepper. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add steaks to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. (Mine required much longer than 3 minutes on each side, so I just kept flipping them and sticking the thermometer in them to check the temp.) Remove steaks from pan; keep warm.

2. Add garlic and red pepper to pan; sauté 30 seconds. Add sherry to pan; bring to a boil. Cook 30 seconds. Add soy sauce and remaining ingredients; bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat, and cook 1 minute. Serve with steaks.

Yield: 4 servings. (Serving size: 1 steak and about 1 tbsp sauce.)

Calories 215; Fat 9.2g; Protein 24g; Carb 4.7g; Fiber 0.1g; Chol 70mg; Iron 3.3mg; Sodium 406mg; Calc 9.7mg

Whew!

2011-06-05T22:30:00.001-05:00

Well it’s been a busy month! Between work, birthday celebrations (Happy Birthday Jessica!), doctor’s appointments, out of town family visits and bachelorette parties (Congrats Amanda!), it’s been a little crazy around here.

A few weeks ago we celebrated Jessica’s birthday with the family at Chuy’s. It turns out the manager there used to be the manager at our local Cyclone Anaya’s and is friends with Logan. It was good to see him, and he definitely hooked us up. Anyway, it was great to hang out with family, and some good Tex-Mex and Sprinkles cupcakes didn’t hurt either!

I also met up with some of my high school friends at Studio Movie Grill to see the movie Bridesmaids. Loved it! And a few days ago Logan and I went to see The Hangover 2. I have mixed feelings about it. I mean, it was funny, but it was the exact same plot as the first. They could have made at least a little effort to mix it up a bit, right?

My dad’s brother Steve and some of his family came in to town for their grandson’s high school graduation. I met up with everyone one day for lunch at the LaPrade family favorite, Highland Park Cafeteria. (Gotta love their baked squash and zucchini bread!)

And last night I got to celebrate at Breadwinners and Hotel Lumen for Amanda’s bachelorette party. It was so great getting to see my sweet friends Haley and Christy from Children’s, and also get to hang out with two of my new nurse friends Laura and Mandy from Medical City.

As for Baby Lowry, all is well! I just read today that he’s now the size of an onion, and my uterus is the size of a cantaloupe. (Working my way right through the produce section, aren’t I?) We had another doctor’s appointment at 15 weeks, and everything is moving right along. No sonogram this time, but we did get to hear the heartbeat with the doppler. Such an amazing sound! Our next appointment is June 22 (my birthday!), and that’s when we’ll do the “big” sonogram, where they take lots of measurements, check out all of the organs, and (if someone cooperates) verify that he’s really a boy.

I’ve been feeling a lot more like myself lately. The nausea is pretty much gone, unless I go too long without eating. When my stomach is completely empty it gets a little upset. You’d have to ask Logan to be sure, but I feel like I haven’t been having as many emotional meltdowns and mood swings as before. Apparently my body is adjusting to the raging pregnancy hormones now. :) As for food aversions, I’m still not eating chicken – unless it’s in crispy fried form, and since that’s not healthy I try to stay away all together. And as for cravings, I think I crave more sweet than salty these days. Luckily I found a Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt nearby, and while it’s not sugar free, it is fat free and way “healthier” than the marble slab I could be having. (That’s what I’ve been telling myself anyway.)

I’m really ready to start feeling the little guy moving around in there. There have been a few times that I think I’ve felt him, but I’m not 100% sure yet. The books say that this week I may be able to feel movement, but it could also be another 5 weeks or so. I’m hoping for sooner rather than later.

We also think we’ve picked out a name! I’m not quite ready to share it publicly yet though – for a couple of reasons. The main one is that I’d like to wait until his gender is verified in a couple of weeks before announcing it. I don’t feel right “officially” naming the baby until we know he’s a he. The other reason is that even though the name we like doesn’t have any possible nicknames, a relative of mine who shall remain nameless (Uncle Steve) chose to make jokes about it directly to my face. Yes, I know he was just teasing, and yes, I know he thought he was just making people laugh, but the truth is it was incredibly rude, it hurt my feelings, and a 60+ year old man should know better. But, I digress. I’d say we’re about 90% sold on the name. Logan is 100%, but I take a little longer than most to commit to big decisions. :)

Lastly, the weekly belly pics! My sweet friend Terri from work got me some fun belly stickers that label how many weeks along you are. They come in 2 week increments, so be on the lookout for those on the even weeks.

14 weeks:

15 weeks:

16 weeks:

17 weeks:

I also realized I never posted pictures of a couple of baby outfits we have. I’ve been restraining myself until the gender is confirmed, but I saw this little crab onsie and couldn’t resist it, especially since it was on sale.

My favorite part – the crab on the butt!
I saw this and knew I had to get it. The baby will be born right in the middle of football season, and since Logan fully intends to brainwash our child into loving all sports I figured he’d need a Cowboys outfit to wear while he cheers on the ‘Boys. Here it is with the bib:

And without the bib. Love those tiny socks!
The next outfit is from Aunt Jessica, and I love it! Especially the little lion hat. Knowing how much Jessica loves to shop, and how irresistible baby clothes are, I imagine this will be one well dressed baby! ;)

The doctor’s exact words: “Don’t paint the room just yet, but it looks like a…”

2011-05-10T13:56:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I had the first trimester screening done, and it includes a Level II ultrasound which is more advanced than the typical sono. Yes, 13 weeks is very early to be able to distinguish gender, but according to my OB, the doctor who did my ultrasound has never been wrong in his predictions. I asked him how sure he was, and he said 90%, so those are pretty good odds! We’ll see if he’s right when we have our 18 to 20 week mega ultrasound. :)

In the meantime, Logan is thrilled, and I’m having fun looking at cute baby boy nursery ideas, and seeing all the cute boy clothes which apparently do exist!

We got two pictures to take home from our ultrasound yesterday! (By the way, it’s really hard to get a good shot of a sono pic. Sorry for the shiny-ness!)

First, the little one’s sweet profile. Looking much more like a baby these days!

And of course, according to the doctor, the boy parts.
I also got some beautiful Mother’s Day flowers from my family on Sunday. So sweet!

And lastly, the bump this week at 13 weeks and 1 day.

1 + 1 = 3!!

2011-05-01T22:54:00.001-05:00

That’s right! This November Logan and I are going to be parents! This has been THE hardest secret to keep. We knew we were pregnant for about a month before telling our parents, and then we waited another month before spilling the beans to everyone else. We finally started telling people this past week, and it has been so much fun!

But let me start from the beginning…

Having to wait the couple of weeks to find out if we were pregnant was not easy for me. Turns out I’m not too patient when it comes to stuff like this! So, I started taking pregnancy tests (yes, a couple per day…) a few days earlier than I probably should have. And of course they kept coming back negative…. until March 3rd.

I’d taken one test in the morning before work, and it was negative. After work I went out to dinner with friends, and came home to find Logan on the phone with a good friend he doesn’t get to talk to often. I decided to sneak off and take another test while he was preoccupied. (Yeah, I’d been informed by my husband that I was going through them too quickly since they’re not particularly cheap. So I’d resorted to sneaking them. Anyone who knows me knows this sounds about right!) I wasn’t expecting the test to be positive, so when I saw the faintest second little pink line, I couldn’t believe it!
But before getting too excited, I took another one – a digital one this time. That one came back positive too!

I wanted to run into the living room right away and tell Logan the good news, but he was still on the phone with his friend, and I obviously wanted his undivided attention when telling him. I had to wait 20 excruciating minutes before being able to tell him! I showed him the positive test with the faint pink line first, and he didn’t believe me that it was actually positive. So I pulled out the digital one that makes it impossible to deny!

Here he is after realizing the tests were really positive. :)
And of course, a shot of the happy Parents-To-Be!

Three days later, I wasn’t feeling particularly pregnant yet. (I guess I thought it would happen overnight?!) So in order to make sure it was still real (and because I had some leftover tests stashed away…) I took another one. That faint little pink line was much darker this time!

I have always enjoyed seeing pictures of my friends growing baby bumps, so I decided start taking mine from the very beginning. Since we had to keep the news a secret until recently, I’ve got quite a few weeks worth of tummy shots to catch up on!

4 Weeks:

5 Weeks:

6 Weeks:

7 weeks: (and the start of the dreaded morning sickness…)

We had our first doctor’s appointment at 7 weeks and 1 day and got to see the little peanut for the first time! Granted, it’s pretty hard to make anything out in the picture, but on the live sonogram screen we could see things a little better. We got to see the heart fluttering away (132 beats a minute!) and that was really, really surreal.

9 Weeks: (and on the cruise ship)

10 Weeks:

11 weeks: This week we had another doctor’s appointment and got to see the baby on a quick ultrasound. We didn’t get a printed picture since it lasted literally about 3 minutes and was only to check the heart beat – which was 172! It was so amazing to see an actual baby up on the screen. It’s hard to believe how much he/she has changed and grown in just a month.

12 Weeks:

Over the last week or so, I’ve started to feel a bit better. The nausea is definitely getting a little better, but I’m still pretty tired. Chicken still repulses me – the sight, the smell… even just the though of it – but I’m hoping that will get better soon since I’m running out of creative ways to eat beef. :) As for cravings, it varies. Initially I wanted salty things – particularly cashews – but lately I’ve wanted sweet (peanut M&M’s and ice cream) and sour (sour gummi worms). Who knows if these are really pregnancy related cravings, or just Lorin cravings? :)

Our next ultrasound will be next Monday, and I hope to get a new printed picture of Peanut! We are so excited, and very thankful for all the kind words and well wishes we’ve received. We would appreciate your prayers as we prepare for the journey of parenthood.

Just 196 days to go until November 13th!