Miracles...

Our friend, Stephanie, gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on September 29th. She and her new family are so blessed and happy. It is wonderful to see pictures that are so full of joy and love. Padg and I are incredibly happy for them. I have to admit, though, that I am just the slightest bit jealous. I have to wait four whole months before experiencing those same joys. I want so desperately to hold my precious little gift from God. But I know that these next few months are going to fly by and I'll be doing just that before I know it. And it's not as if I'm not experiencing joy already. Every single time I feel those little legs kick or those already strong arms push, I feel the same joy and excitement that I felt the first time it happened. It's like every time is the first time. And it's awesome. It happens alot now, especially about 30-45 minutes after I eat, right before I go to bed, and sometimes in the middle of the night. There's no other feeling like it in the world. I know I'm going to miss that part of pregnancy once it's over.

It's actually a really good thing that we've still got four months before baby comes. We've got tons of preparation to do. Bryan has been studying for his LA licensing exams over the past few months and he actually took those exams this week so now that that's over with, we can start concentrating on what needs to be done to the house. Our first big project will be constructing a new tool shed/work shop in our backyard...from scratch! I know, I know...bad idea to start a home improvement project in the last months of a pregnancy, but you see, we really have no choice. Our spare bedroom is currently being used as a tool shed/work shop. Yes, that's right. Our second bedroom, which will need to be a nursery in only 4 months, currently houses all of Bryan's saws, drills, saw horses, work table, rakes, shovels, lawn mower, weed eater, and even a wheelbarrow. So in order to make it into a nursery, we have to build a new house for all those things...hence, the shed/shop. And, since we live in a historical neighborhood, we have to build something that keeps with the style of the home. So we can't just go to Home Depot and buy one of their pre-made ones. But no worries. I have all the faith in the world that this project will go super smoothly. Bryan's parents will be here over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays so we'll be enlisting the help of my wonderful father-in-law, Bruce and my equally wonderful brother-in-law, Jon. And hopefully, we'll be able to sucker a few of our wonderful friends into helping as well...hi Rob, Eric, & Scott! ;) My wonderful mother-in-law, Shari and I will of course be supervising. And after that project is done, the fun of creating a beautiful nursery will begin. I am so excited about that and I can not wait to get started.

I want to take a minute to say a huge THANK YOU to my friend, Lauren, who let me borrow her beautiful maternity clothes. They are all so cute and so nice. So when you see me, you'll be seeing me in Lauren's good fashion taste, not mine. I dress better now than I ever did before I was pregnant. And another friend of mine, Laura, will be loaning me some of her clothes as well. I am so thankful to both of you for saving me a fortune. Thanks a million!!

Man...sorry I got so long-winded this time around. I really had alot to talk about. ;) Thanks so much for visiting and come back soon.

Update...

I just wanted to update everyone on Baby Padgham. He/She is doing great! Bryan and I just got back from the "screening" sonogram and there is absolutely nothing to worry about. There are 10 fingers, 10 toes, no cleft lip, the kidneys, brain, heart, and bladder are all looking good and according to bone measurements, it's right on track for my due date. I'm currently 20 weeks and 4 days. Just a little over 4 months to go. I doubt I'll have another sonogram until the 8th month or so. But I'll keep you posted.

Also, the most exciting news, Bryan and I were finally able to feel the baby kicking. It started last Friday night. It's so crazy. Feeling the movements from the inside is great, but being able to feel it from the outside and, most importantly, Bryan being able to feel it was just unbelievable. What a wonderful miracle.

Gettin' bigger...

Here I am at 19 weeks and 3 days. Had a midwife appointment yesterday and all is well. I think I must be the luckiest pregnant woman ever because I'm having such an easy pregnancy so far. I am so thankful for that. I go for a "screening" sonogram next Thursday (9/21). That's where they'll be able to determine if everything is developing and functioning well. We'd appreciate your prayers that all goes well with that. I'll be sure to post again after we get those results.

Sono pics ;)

I hope you all enjoy the first pics of our baby. I'm 16 1/2 weeks today. Bryan came with me to get this sonogram done. We heard the heart beat and saw it beating on the screen. When we first started, the baby was on it's back facing up, but a few minutes later, it turned all the way over onto it's belly. The picture of the spine is really cool. And if you look really close, you can see it's hand right by it's head (close to where it says "Face Down"). I also love the one showing its arm bent as if its hand is resting on its chin. The humerus, radius & ulna bones are so vivid. I think that's pretty cool. The face one is a little spooky looking, but I love it. It's so amazing to see. It's only a little over 4 inches in length (top of head to the bottom of its bottom) and almost 4 ounces.

Thanks for taking the time to visit our blog and get a glance at our pride and joy. A little more than 5 months to go before we get to meet him or her. Will it ever get here? ;)

Here comes the belly...

Well, I finally had to go out and buy some new clothes today since everything I own is getting pretty tight now. Here's a picture of my belly...15 weeks today...

We had a wonderful visit with Lynne, our midwife this morning. We got to hear the beautiful heartbeat on the doppler, which was Padg's first time to hear it. That was thrilling. All is going quite well and we seem to be right on the estimated due date schedule of February 4th. I'm at 14 weeks and 1 day today. I'm officially in my second trimester now. YEA!!! Hopefully, I'll have an ultrasound picture to send with my next post. Have a great week everyone.

We had a wonderful time on our Colorado camping trip. We were very happy to escape the Dallas heat for a while. The weather was great there and it even rained on us a little each day. We really welcomed that seeing as how we haven't seen rain in Dallas since who knows when. ;) During our vacation, we had alot of time to think about and discuss whether or not we wanted to find out the gender of our baby. Our decision ended up being no. We're actually going to wait and let it be a surprise. I can't think of anything I'm more excited about than having Bryan be the first to know the sex and to be the one to tell me what it is.