Healthy Baby Makes for Happy Parents!

We had our 24 Week appointment and Targeted Ultrasound this week. One word: FUN! Unfortunately the ultrasound didn't record on our DVD. I spent the last couple of hours crying over it until I realized that my pregnancy hormones were absolutely raging, which did nothing to help me control my emotions. Luckily we have 5 pictures that the tech printed out. We're going to call my Doctor's office tomorrow and hopefully get the video issue sorted out. But here are the the beauty shots that we did get of our little girl:

Our most recent 3D shot. You can see her right eye, nose and cute lips. I think she's going to have Todd's lips!

Look at that foot!

All 5 fingers accounted for. Can't wait to hold those little hands!

Her beautiful profile. You can see her little nose and lips again.

Starting to feel a little bit big and uncomfortable, but trying to enjoy it!

The ultrasound tech said that everything is looking good and that Miss Lily is nice and healthy. We got a great look at her heart, spine and brain. She was not extremely cooperative though. She was cuddled into me the whole time, so we barely got a view of her face. She was moving around quite a bit, but always nuzzled up right against me. It seems like we may have a cuddler on our hands.

She's enjoying her new found space in my torso now. One end will be pushing around in my rib cage while the other end is kicking around in my pelvis. She has officially found her "happy place" in the right side of my rib cage, making things slighly uncomfortable at times. But it's so fun to feel her moving! She's not kicking hard enough for Todd to feel yet, but that will happen soon I hope.

Although emotions are high at times, Todd and I are happy and doing well. Getting more and more excited for Lily to come. We're using our upcoming Spring Break to organize and deep clean our apartment and to go on our BabyMoon. We're going to get ready for all of the new baby things we'll be getting over the next few months, and will be taking a much needed vacation to rest up before long nights with baby. We're going to stay in Salt Lake and endulge in a prenatal massage, dinner out, and whatever fun activities we can think of. Can't wait!

5 months... how time flies!

We did it, we made it past the half-way point. Hard to believe! It has gone by so fast, yet so slow at the same time.

Week 20 - Half way!

Week 21

Week 22 Ultrasound - Head on the left facing up

Week 22 - 5 Months!

We saw another 3D view of her this appointment. It's strange how "skin and bones" they are at this stage. Absolutely no body fat, so they almost look like a skeleton. That will have changed by week 26 though. She is already kicking so much, way more than I expected. It's been really fun to get to know her movements, even though they're a little uncomfortable at times :) I started having Braxton-Hicks contractions about 3 weeks ago. My doctor isn't concerned, as long as I don't have more than 6 per hour. They're not too uncomfortable, just a very new sensation.

My sister, Tiff, gave me a book called HypnoBirthing. It is AMAZING. I've only read the first few pages and I already love it. Todd and I are looking into HypnoBirthing classes. I've come to realize that if I want to deliver Miss Lily naturally, I'm going to need education. If I go into it blindly I won't succeed. So we're going to start educating ourselves on different methods and techniques to prepare for the big day! Todd has agreed to be my coach :) We recognize that we will have to prepare together and go into labor with a clear understanding of what his roles are to minimize stress and confusion.

We have our targeted ultrasound in 2 weeks, then our 28 week appointment 4 weeks after that. I can't believe I'm that close to being in my Third Trimester. I'm starting to feel the time crunch a little bit. There is so much to do! We need to select gifts for our registries, get our apartment for baby, sign up and take our child birthing classes, let alone finish up this semester! It's definitely time for me to put a "schedule" together to keep track of all of these things to make sure they get done in time.

I had to leave one of my classes for an hour to go to my last appointment. I e-mailed my professor about it ahead of time, to which he replied that he had absolutely NO idea that I was pregnant. When I got up and walked out of class on Thursday night he told the rest of my class where I was going. Except for the couple of ladies I had told, none of the other 20 people had any idea I was pregnant either! I definitely expected to be showing more by this point, so NOT showing feels almost foreign. I just need to be grateful for it and not complain :) At least my family and close friends can tell I'm pregnant now (I think). I keep forgetting that I'm so tall, and that Lily simply has a lot of room to grow before it really has any effect on my body.

Todd and I are doing wonderfully. We're feeling a little overwhelmed at times, but we've never been happier. We're enjoying this time together, and anxiously awaiting the day we get to meet our little girl. Thank you all for your continued love and support! You've made this journey even more exciting for us :)

~A Night at the Ball~

Our friends Kayla & Trevor Muhlestein invited us to join them at the Jane Austen National Society of America Annual Regency Ball this last Saturday night. In short, it was AWESOME! Todd and I procrastinated a little, so it was fairly difficult to find good costumes, but it all worked out in the end. It was the perfect Valentine's Day outing with my sweet husband and our good friends.

Todd had just as much fun as I did. Here's an outline of our evening:

6:30 Dance Instruction: The society invited a local dance team to come teach us some of the favorites from Jane Austen's era. We learned the Mother Goose, Basket Dance, and a couple others. They were much easier than I thought they would be, and so much fun.

8:00 Roast pork and mashed potatoe dinner. It was delicious! We had a wonderful berry trifle for dessert as well.

9:00 Costume contest. They had different contests for best female, male, time period, and modern costumes. The lady who won the female costume looked absolutely stunning! She wore a very simple but elegant dress that looked straight out of Pride and Prejudice. The man who won the male costume looked awesome! He looked just like English royalty. The couple who won were dressed up from one of the war eras (can't remember which one) and a cute couple won the modern contest because they didn't wear costumes. It was very fun to watch, although we didn't participate ourselves.

9:30-11 Dancing! We were so exhaused by that time that we decided to head home. I was sad to leave early, but we enjoyed every minute that we were there.

We definitely plan on making this an annual tradition. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone! Todd was extremely reluctant to go, but he filled the role as soon as we got there. He loved learning the dances, and had a smile on his face the entire night. It was extremely romantic :)

JANSA puts on various events throughout the year, if anyone is interested. The link is above.

Happy Valentine's Day to all you lovebirds!

Disappering Bellies and Baby showers

Is it just me, or has my baby bump been slowly disappearing over the last few weeks? I saw my sister, Liz, on Sunday and the first thing she said is "Where is this belly I keep hearing about on Facebook?!" I've had other people comment on my severe lack of belly, to which I respond "Lily is trying to show...but failing miserably." All in due time, but now all I feel is extra chunky around the middle...

Please excuse my puffy eye... Pink eye got the better of me!

Baby Lily seems to have stopped migrating upward, and has retreated back toward my spine a little. It will be interesting to see where she ends up!

On an exciting note, SHE'S KICKING! Yes, I officially felt a real kick this last Sunday! I had felt her moving around before then, but nothing so defined. Now it happens once or twice a day, and is so fun to feel. She must have hit a dandy growth spurt because my poor uterus is just too small for her now. I've spent the last few days stretching, and not enjoying it one bit. Oh the joys of a growing baby in the tummy! I've been sick almost non-stop for the last two months, bouncing back and forth between colds, sinus infections, bronchitis, and asthma. I can't wait to be out of cold n' flu season! 

Last week I had the pleasure of throwing a little baby shower for my friend and neighbor, Natalie Tams. We had 5 girls show up, and had a blast! She got the cutest little home-made onsies that were super creative, along wtih some fun bath supplied. Their little boy is going to be super spoiled by the time she's done with her other showers. It's fantastic!

Look at that cute tummy. You'd never guess she's in her 3rd Trimester!

Christina Taylor helped me make these cupcake toppers. Lifesaver and jelly bean pacifiers :)

Yay for Zurchers baby shower decorations!

We had our 18 week appointment on Wednesday and got some fun new ultrasounds. She was just sleeping upside down the whole time. The doctor had to poke her around a little bit to get a good view, but she is OFFICIALLY a girl.

Can you see her?? You can just see her face and hand. So exciting!

Chillin' upside down. Good view of her heart!

Still chillin' upside down, and you can really see her spine.

After seeing that 3D Ultrasound, I can hardly wait to see her sweet little face in person. 21 more weeks to go. I'm almost half way there! Thank you all for your continued love and support. It means the world to us.

Guns, Babies, and a New Year!

When I plugged my camera memory card into my computer today I realized that I haven't posted some of these pictures since Christmas Eve. So here we go :)

Christmas Eve
We had the opportunity to eat Christmas Eve dinner with my side of the family this year. My sister Tiff and her family had just moved back to Utah from Florida a few days prior, and offered to make us a traditional Italian Christmas feast! How could we resist? While they were preparing the food a few of us decided to go up the canyon a little ways further and try out my brothers new shotgun.

Me and my sweetheart up in Echo getting ready to go shooting. I love this picture of us!

My brother, Matt, waiting in line to shoot some skeet! Todd is geared up and ready to go :) 

Todd did great this time, he averaged about 4 out of 5.

I got 4 out of 5 my first round, but didn't do so hot my next rounds...but I look pretty awesome, so who cares! ;) Not bad for being preggo, I guess.

My sweetheart again, waiting patiently for his next turn.

We had a fantastic dinner that night, and enjoyed time with each other. It was a perfect Christmas weekend!

New Years Eve Eve :)

Our friends Kayla and Trevor came and visited us on Friday. We had a blast! We made home-made pizza, attempted to make a "dessert pizza" that didn't turn out horrible, but not great either, and then played a rousing game of Farkle and watched Kung Fu Panda 2. It was a great night! And of course, we talked baby stuff all night too :) We always have such a great time with them.

New Years Eve

On New Years Eve we got together with Matt, Krysta, and my Dad and decided to go shooting again. Although the sun was a bit warmer this time, the wind was freezing! Atleast there wasn't any snow on the ground.

Don't we look GREAT? The wind was so cold we had to figure out some way to cover our ears. Fashion was not our goal :)

My Dad's 357 Magnum that he's owned for about 45 years. I LOVED shooting this gun! The kick-back wasn't too bad, and it didn't even hurt my hand. I did pretty well with it, too.

Krysta's new 38 Special, the "Lavender Lady." I loved shooting this one too! Very easy to handle, and very stylish :) If you can't tell in this picture, it is purple!

Me shooting the magnum. My target is a single skeet propped up in a tree. I got it on my first shot. Woohoo!

Todd shooting my Dad's 30 ot 6 (30-06) hunting rifle. We had a few skeet propped up in some trees about, I don't know, 100 yards or so? He got 2 of them on his first round. It was awesome!

These are the skeet they were aiming at.

We took some video that I'll post later.

After shooting we enjoyed a great lunch at Taggart's Grill and shot off some INSANE fireworks at my brother-in-law's house. Although it was absolutely freezing outside, we had a great time! We got to spend a little bit of time at my Mom's house too, sipping hot cocoa and talking about baby.

After talking to my Mom for a little while, she helped me realized that I've already felt Baby Lily moving around!! On December 23, while driving, it felt like someone slid their finder right down the inside center of my belly. I wasn't sure if that could be her or not, but my Mom through it was most likely baby. Since then I've felt little tiny movements or flutters here or there, but only when I'm really paying attention. She's not much of a mover yet! We'll see how long that lasts :)

New Years Day

I am now 14 weeks, almost 15 weeks, and am feeling great!

We enjoyed a fun New Years night with our friends, Chris and Christina Taylor, sipping sparkling cider, playing Farkle, and chatting. Perfect way to greet a new year!

A New Year calls for some new organization, right? My sister in law lined a picture frame with screen mesh to hang earrings and necklaces from. I finally put it up and organized my stuff!

Now just to keep Fanta away from it... :)

Happy New Year!

It's a GIRL!!

To all who have been waiting anxiously for the news:

As Todd and I sat in the room waiting for our doctor to come in, he asked me if I had any final guesses as to our baby's gender. He said boy, and told me that I therefore had to guess girl. I consented, but was not convinced. I had been feeling that it was a boy very strongly, but the thought of having a girl kept creeping up. I thought it was just me getting my hopes up. Who knows, maybe it was! Well, I kept thinking boy until the second he put the ultrasound on my stomach. I knew instantly that we would be seeing a little girl. It looks like my instincts finally came through last minute! (Phew!)

We found out that we were having a very modest little girl! She had her legs crossed almost the whole time. However, as the doctor pointed things out and told us that he was certain enough that we were having a girl that we could start spreading the good news. I called my mom right after and told her, while Todd called his parents and siblings to tell them as well. I had deliberatly changed our appointment time to today before our family picures so that we could tell the rest of my family while we were all together. Everyone was so thrilled, supportive, and happy for us.

Our little girl is already so precious to us, and we can't wait to meet her. We got to see her little face, nose, hands and feet today. She was definitely squirming around in there! It's amazing to think that I can't feel that much movement when it's right inside of me. But the doctor told me that she's getting big enough that I should start to feel her in the next couple of weeks. That feels like our next big milestone, feeling her move. I can hardly wait. 

We have had a special name picked out for her since we got married:

 Lily Fay Parris

I hope she loves it as much as we do! (Spelling of Lily is still up in the air.)

We feel so blessed and grateful to have this sweet little girl on the way. We are very nervous, but even more excited to see her cute face in person! Only 26 more weeks to go :)

Boy or Girl? Our greatest Christmas present EVER!

Hello all! So, as you may have heard, we have our next appointment on December 29, at which time we should find out our baby's gender! Although it's a couple of days late, we couldn't ask for a better Christmas present.

I've always wanted to be one of those moms who just KNEW what they were having even before the doctor told them. So, I've done a few things to help myself along, as sill as some of them have been :) Here's what I've done so far:

• Listen to my family and friends. I truly believe that some individuals are very intuitive (or just good guessers?) when it comes to guessing the gender of up-n-comin' babies. The final consensus of ALL OF THEM (Mom, sister, aunts, co-workers, best friend)? GIRL!
  
  
• Dangle a necklace over my hand and belly. So, this has been an interesting prediction test. My mom and sister helped me do this originally, and it went slightly back and forth (boy). Then, at work, my two co-workers both did it on me and it consistently went in HUGE circles. Consensus? GIRL!
  
  
• Chinese Lunar Calendar. I've heard from a few people that this calendar has proven fairly accurate. So I thought I'd give it a shot. You take your age at conception, and the lunar month you conceived, and find the cross-section on their chart. What did it say? You got it, GIRL!
  
  
• Old Wives Tales. I found a fun little thing online that combined a bunch of old wives tales and made a cute little quiz out of them. Final results? GIRL!
  
  
• Heartrate prediction. Our baby's heart rate was a whoppin' 160 bpm when we saw the doctor. According to this site that means? GIRL!
  


• JustMommies.com quiz. This silly little quiz also says? GIRL!
  


• Parents.com quiz. Another silly quiz that, you guessed it.  GIRL!
  


• Last but not least, Mother's Intuition. Ever since I was little I have known I'd be blessed with a little girl someday. When I first got pregnant I knew it was her! Then, I had a dream about a little boy, my friends found out they were having boys, and I felt like we were having a boy at our 10 week ultrasound appointment. So, I switched to thinking it was a boy. Well, I think I'm ready to stick with my original feelings. So, along with popular vote, I say GIRL!

Now that is a LOT of pink! :)

DISCLAIMER: I reserve the right to continually change my mind about the matter!

As I was looking through my pregnancy pictures today I had fun noticing the little changes that are happening. Although it's not much, I am showing! Well, it's more of a "filling out" then anything, but that's completely OK. Wanna see comparison pictures?

 

Me at 3 weeks (left) and 13 weeks (right).

Anyways, I've just had fun with this pregnancy the last few days (not being so sick helps with that). I'm in the last week of my First Trimester! WOOHOO! Baby is growing fast and is very healthy. We couldn't be happier for our little munchkin.

Happy Holidays!