Fun Decisions

There have been lots of things we've been thinking about as we prepare for a baby.  As soon as we found out we were having a girl, we knew we could start making more decisions. So, here are the few big decisions we've made...

NAME
Our little girl will be named Jolie Mae!  We are finally officially telling everyone our baby's name!  I say finally, because we picked the name quite a while ago--before she was even on the way.  When it was confirmed that she was a girl, we decided that Jolie was definitely the name we wanted.  Aside from just loving the name, it is also special because she gets to share it (or at least parts of it) with some special people.  My Gran, my dad's mom, is JoAnn so Jolie will get to share the "Jo" with her.  The middle name is after several people.  Cole has two great grandmothers whose middle names were Mae, and my Granny, my mom's mom, has the same middle name.  We are enjoying calling Jolie by name now!

CRIB
We actually picked out the crib pretty early in the summer.  Cole spotted a children's furniture store that was going out of business, so we decided to check out their nursery sets.  We found a crib and changing table that we really liked, and it is now assembled in Jolie's room just waiting for a baby!

NURSERY INSPIRATION
I can't say I have all of  Jolie's bedding yet, but I do have the quilt that I ordered for it!  I didn't find a nursery set that I really liked, but I found a quilt that I love.  The quilt arrived on Saturday, and I am excited now to get going on the rest of the nursery.  I hoping to find some fabric that will go with it well, and then my mom (she is a much more capable seamstress...) and I are going to make everything else we need.

I hope to update soon about Cole's football season, but I am waiting until I have some pictures.  I hope to get some from a friend soon since I have not remembered to bring my camera to a game yet!

Half Way There

I am now twenty weeks and officially half way to the due date!  Now that Cole is very busy with football and I have started subbing, time is moving much faster.  I know the last half of the pregnancy will fly by quickly with Cole's crazy schedule, the holidays, and preparing for our baby.

It is very obvious that our little girl is doing lots of growing, because I seem to be growing at least as fast!  It has been very bizarre to put on a pair of pants that I wore earlier in the week and suddenly not be able to button them.  Baby is also getting stronger, too!  I really haven't felt as much movement as I expected, but I have felt occasional soft flutters over the last few weeks.  Last night during church I felt the first real kicks!  I was very excited...and then she stopped.  They were strong enough that I felt them with my hand on the outside of my belly, and I was so hoping that she would do it again so that Cole could feel.  No such luck, but I hope to feel more soon! 

20 Week Belly

Wonderful Weekend

This has been one of the best weekends!  Cole had today off for Labor Day and to make it even better, since Mac doesn't have a game this coming Friday, he didn't have to work on Saturday or Sunday either!  It has been so nice to have him home, and I know he has enjoyed getting a little more rest than he usually would get.  On Saturday, we had a lazy day that involved Chick-fil-a for breakfast, a little shopping, and an afternoon nap.  Cole's grandparents, his brother, Ty, and our nephew, Drayton, were all in town for the weekend so we went to his parents' for dinner Saturday night.  Sunday was another restful day and Cole and I went out for a little date after church that evening since we didn't have an early morning on Monday.

Today has been great too!  This morning we went back to A Miracle to Behold for another ultrasound.  Jennifer was pretty certain last time that we're having a girl, but they allowed us to come back after two weeks to confirm it.  Of course we weren't about to pass up another chance to get a peek at the baby so we went back for another look. 

It's still a girl!  Whew...I was going to have some dresses to take back if we'd found out otherwise! 

We got some great 3D images.  I love this one!  You can see a little smile on her face!

This picture cracks me up.  I looks like she is covering her ears...we weren't being that loud!  And check out those fingers!  Looks like she is already taking after mom and dad with long fingers. 

She did seem bashful again today.  Most of the time her hands were over her face. 

We had such a good time getting to see our girl again.  It was especially fun since our parents were able to come too!  We are so excited about going back around 28 or 29 weeks.  They said at that point her features will be developed enough that we'll be able to get an idea of who she looks like! 

Now that you've seen the little one, this is what I am looking like these days...18 weeks.  I think next time, I can do without the flash.  It is casting a nice shadow behind me that makes me look a little larger! 

I hope everyone else had a wonderful Labor Day weekend and is enjoying this beautiful weather! 

17 Weeks Update

I had another doctor's appointment yesterday.  It was the first one that I didn't get an ultrasound so we didn't get to see our little girl, but we did get to listen to her heartbeat again--155 beats per minute!  It always amazes me to hear it!  We are so thankful that all seems well and that baby is developing just as she should.  I also signed us up for Childbirth classes at the hospital....Cole is so excited!

I will leave you with a picture of the excited Daddy from the day we found out we're having a girl!

It's a GIRL!

Today was such an exciting day!  Cole and I have been so curious as to whether we are having a boy or a girl and have been looking forward to today for weeks!  This morning we went to A Miracle to Behold and our sweet friend Jennifer did our ultrasound.  It was so fun to see how our baby had grown and learn that it is a girl!! 

She made Jennifer work pretty hard to get this shot!  Her legs were crossed and her umbilical cord was between her legs the entire time!

 I think that this is my favorite picture to date.  I love seeing that sweet profile! 

Here's me at 16 weeks...I thought the angle for this picture was pretty unflattering, but Cole reassured me that I am just getting that big!  Thanks, honey! 

Just knowing that we are having a girl makes the entire pregnancy seem much more real.  We are even more excited now, and I can't wait to see Cole with his little baby girl!  

Hello!

After much encouragement from my sister, I have decided that I will enter the blog world.  I never thought I would have much reason to blog since both mine and Cole's parents live near us and are therefore always up to date on what's going on in our lives.  However, my two little sisters both leave tomorrow to go back to college and are already expressing concern about missing out on what's going back home.

Now I know my sister's love me, but I really think that the true reason for their concern is that it is going to be an especially fun year here!  I think that anyone who would probably read this knows by now, but we are expecting our first baby the beginning of February.  We could not be more excited!  Future aunts, Rachel and Melanie, are pretty excited too, and now (assuming I keep up with this) will hopefully stay up to date while they are away.

We have already been able to see our little one a few times, and it has been amazing to watch it grow.

From a tiny little dot at six weeks...

 to looking more like a baby at 9 weeks...

 to seeing little arms and legs at 11 weeks!

Our most recent ultrasound was at just over 13 weeks and we loved getting to see our baby's face and watch it kick and wiggle around!  

On Tuesday, we are going to get our next ultrasound and find out the sex.  I can't wait to know what we are having!