January 7th-Our 3rd Anniversary!

I have an amazing husband. I could go on and on but without a doubt, he is my best friend and the love of my life. I cannot think of anyone more perfect for me. We have been through a lot in five and a half years but I cannot imagine my life without him or any differently than it is right now. Most of all, I already know what an incredible father he is and cannot wait to see him with our little boy! We celebrated our 3rd anniversary on January 7th and had a wonderful dinner at Silver Fox.

Our fun Mercedes we got to drive for the night!

Sean being silly

Tiff & Sean

25 week update

I am finally catching up on my posts! I went to the doctor last week and had my glucose screening test done which is a pre-screening for gestational diabetes. Besides the test it was a short check up. Dr. Matthews listened to the baby's heartbeat (148 bpm), measured vertically across my belly, and said everything looks great. For the test I had to drink this orange sugar water, wait an hour, then the nurse took my blood. I used to be terrified of having my blood taken but now I am used to it, as long as I don't watch! My doctor said if I didn't hear from him by the end of the week then the results are good and he would go over them at my next appointment. I didn't hear from him so I do not have gestational diabetes, which is wonderful news.

I continue to feel the baby move and kick, which still amazes me every time! We even watch my baby bump at night now as it jumps and moves. Our baby boy was about the size of an ear of corn last week. Here is how he is developing at week 25:


Your pregnancy: 25 weeks
How your baby's growing: Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. His weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but he's beginning to exchange his long, lean look for some baby fat. As he does, his wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and he'll start to look more and more like a newborn. He's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

My next appointment is on Monday February 2nd. It will be a routine appointment where they check my weight, blood pressure, protein levels, the baby's heartbeat and measure across my growing baby bump! We are going to make the appointment then for our 3D ultrasound, which my doctor recommended having done between 28-31 weeks. I can't wait to see that picture!

I have a pretty big to-do-list for the rest of this month. We are busy planning the nursery and getting everything ready! Everyone is asking if we have chosen a name yet and while I love monogrammed things so much, we can't have anything quite yet. We have narrowed our baby boy's name down to two and they both start with the letter "J" so his nickname is now "J" instead of little booger. I was beginning to think that might stick!

New Year's Eve

We had so much fun on New Year's Eve. We had the kids this year so we went over to our friend's Trey and Jennifer's house to cook dinner and ring in the new year. Their two year old Julia missed the fun since she was already asleep but we still had a great time!

Tiffany & Ellie

Simon & his Daddy

Trey & Jennifer opening champagne


Jen & Tiff "toasting" to the new year

Happy 2009!

Christmas 2008

Ellie excited about her watch

Ellie & Simon on Christmas morning

Sean & Chloe

At the table ready to eat

Parents-to-be!

Busy...

I think everyone is busy this time of year but it seems like the past few weeks have flown by. We have had Simon & Ellie for almost two weeks, family in town for the holidays, and Sean started a new job in new car sales at Park Place Mercedes! He has only been in training so far but loves it.

I am almost 6 months along and feel great! All of my mommy friends tell me to enjoy the second trimester and how I feel now because the third trimester tends to be a little more uncomfortable. I have energy, am used to being pregnant, and am amazed daily as I feel the baby move all the time. Sean felt the baby kick for the first time on Chirstmas Day. It was the best present we could have wished for! The look on his face was priceless and I will never forget it.

I have pictures to post from Simon's basketball game and Ellie's holiday dance performance from two weeks ago, Christmas, and will have some from New Year's Eve. My camera battery died so it is charging now and I promise to post pictures soon. In the meantime, here is what babycenter.com says about how our baby boy is developing at 23 weeks:

How your baby's growing:
Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With his sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that he's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see him squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in his lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing him for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze him when he hears them outside the womb.

I love that he can hear our voices and is getting used to the normal sounds of the house. My mom says that I need to read to him and I told her that he gets read to and Kindergarten lessons every day when I am at school! Speaking of, I have to get ready now. I am having lunch with my friend Courtney that I used to teach with at City Park. She lives in Frisco now and is a busy stay at home mom with her 1 year old Jacob so we don't get to see each other as much as we would like!

Happy New Year!

5 month update & more pictures of our baby boy!

We had a doctor's appointment today and everything is wonderful! I cannot believe I am 5 months already. I am getting a little spoiled with the ultrasounds and getting to see our baby boy but I think this will be the last one for a while. This is only the second ultrasound with my regular doctor, the other two were with our specialist testing for down syndrome. Once again, our little guy is measuring a little over a week ahead of my estimated due date so we expect him sometime the last week of April! His head, brain, stomach, and arm all measured around 20 weeks 5 days but his femer measured 21 weeks 6 days which means he has long legs! We are not surprised. We know he is going to be tall so as long as he is coordinated and an athlete like his Daddy. =)

The first picture is "evidence" again that yes, he is definitely a boy. The second picture is my favorite, he is sucking his thumb! We are going to frame this one. The last two are of his head, body, and arm. In the third one his little fist is up by his head. If you click on the pictures you will be able to see them enlarged. Thank you Aunt Alli for scanning, spacing, and aligning the sonogram pictures for me!

We picked out nursery furniture this week and are currently looking at bedding and deciding on a theme. A lot of you have asked if we have decided on a name yet and no, not yet. We have our top two first names but have several middle names we like. We may not decide until he is born so I guess there won't be any official monogramming anytime soon! I guess you can just call him my family's nickname anytime they ask about him which is "Little Booger" which Sean has shortened to "Booger". I guess we should decide on a name soon because I would rather not have that one stick !

I almost forgot, here is what babycenter.com says about how our baby boy is developing:

How your baby's growing:Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, he's measured from head to toe.)He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).

Well, it says our baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces but he actually weighs 14 ounces right now, almost 1 pound already! We realized weeks ago that this will not be a small baby! I asked the ultrasound technician about his length but his legs were curled up under him and she wasn't able to get a measurement from head to toe. Our next doctor's appointment is Monday January 5th and I will have a glucose test done, which is a pre-screening test for gestational diabetes. I have 8 more days of school then will be on Winter Break! We have Simon & Ellie for 10 days over Christmas so I know we will be busy and the time will continue to fly by. I will post again next week!

Love,
Tiffany & Sean

Still in Red River!

We are still in Red River, N.M. We were supposed to spend several days at my brother's house in Eagle, CO but my nephew Adyn came down with the measels! He had one vaccination for measels already but isn't due for his second until after his 5th birthay in February. There was only a 5 to 8% chance he could actually catch them and the measels seem to be so rare these days. It was the first case in Eagle County in 18 years! We were all very worried about him but he is doing much better now! We were so sad we did not get to spend the holiday with them but tried to enjoy ourselves by having a small family Thanksgiving in R.R. Here are a few pictures:

Tiffany, Mom, & Grandmom getting everything ready

Tiffany, Sean & Chloe relaxing after dinner

Papa, Mom, Sean & Tiffany at the treelighting ceremony


We went to the treelighting ceremony in the middle of town after we ate dinner. It snowed all day long on Thanksgiving and hasn't really stopped since! I am watching it snow out the window now and even though I have been here 10 days, I wish we could stay longer. We had a wonderful week and are driving back to Dallas & Ft. Worth tomorrow!

Love,

Tiffany & Sean

18 week update

We are still in Red River, N.M. but I thought I would go ahead and post what babycenter.com says is going on with our baby boy this week! I have been feeling him move all week long, especially when I am eating or at night when I am going to sleep. It is amazing!

Your pregnancy: 18 weeks
How your baby's growing: Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and he weighs almost 7 ounces. He's busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Love,
Tiffany & Sean

Oh Christmas tree!

Sean's mom and the kids were here last weekend. We decided to put up our Christmas tree and decorations. Since we will be out of town for Thanksgiving, I thought it would be nice to have the house already decorated when we get back. Thank you Janie for all of your help!

Simon & Ellie helping put up the tree

Sean putting on the final touches

Our Christmas tree!


Simon & Ellie at home after their Chirstmas portraits were taken
That is Ellie's favorite "model" pose!

It's a BOY!!!!

We went to our follow up appointment with the specialist yesterday and had an ultrasound. We are so excited to announce we are having a boy! Dr. McGhee said everything looks perfectly normal. We feel so blessed and cannot wait to meet our son. The doctor even said he is "princely looking and has a strong jawline". Not sure how he can tell this already but of course I wasn't going to question him. Surely he knows what he is talking about since he sees so many babies via ultrasound pictures each day! Again, our baby boy is measuring about a week and a half ahead of my due date of May 1st so we expect him to arrive sometime in mid to late April.

In the first picture our baby boy is kneeling. You can clearly see his head and spine. The second picture looks like a face and part of the body to me but I am not really sure. The third picture is, um, "proof" that he is definitely a boy! We will have another ultrasound at our 20 week appointment on December 9th with my regular doctor.

I am packing right now and will be leaving for Red River, N.M. early in the morning with the family. We will be there until Monday then will drive to Vail/Eagle, CO to stay with my brother and family for Thanskgiving. Sean has to work but will be flying in on Wednesday! I am sure I will have a little time to write on the blog since I can't ski! I even asked my doctor (ok, I wasn't really serious) and he said no, skiing right now would not be a good idea. My brother suggested that I can ride the gondola in circles and occassionally get off for hot chocolate. Not exactly what I had in mind. =)

Love,

Tiffany & Sean