We had our ultrasound 2 weeks ago at my 23 week appointment. I MAY have drank 1/2 a Coke prior to the appointment in an attempt to make sure Walker was 'up and moving' - bad idea. He was so active, the ultrasound took an hour because the ultrasound tech couldn't get him to be still long enough to look at and measure everything she needed to. Oops. We did get a good look at him though, and it really never gets old. I'm still amazed that there's a real baby in there. I mean I know there is because he moves ALL THE TIME, but seeing him just took my breath away. The first thing I wanted to know (after hearing the heartbeat) was if we were 100% sure he was still a he!

Well thank goodness he's not shy:)  It's definitely a BOY!

And despite him moving so much and constantly facing away from the camera OR covering his face, we were able to get a few other good shots!  Here's our handsome man:

 I'm pretty sure he was getting a little mad with us - check out that wrinkle in the forehead:)

 Already posing for the camera!

 Yes, that's the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, and no it's nothing to worry about (at least that's what they told us)!

Here's my current pregnancy stats:
How far along (at time of this ultrasound 2 weeks ago):  23 weeks
Weight gain:  9 pounds since my first doctor's appointment, but I'm back at my original weight that I started at the day I found out I was pregnant.
Maternity Clothes?  Absolutely, although I have found that I can wear some of my summer dresses:)
Sleep:  I can't complain.  It's not great, but at least I can still breathe when I lay down.
Best Moment this week:  Seeing our baby boy:)
Cravings:  These are really going away.  Every now and then I'll crave something salty, but for the most part, I just eat like normal.
Gender:  It's still a BOY!  Walker Brice Pyle
Size of the Baby:  At the ultrasound he was measuring 1 lb 7 oz.
Movement:  ALL THE TIME!  This child is an acrobat.  I think he likes to see how many ways he can flip and turn.
Randoms:  While doing the ultrasound, the tech kept going back to look at the stomach.  I noticed that there were two black areas  - one was his stomach because she had already pointed that out.  I started to get nervous, but I try really hard not to be 'one of those'.  The tech finally said she thought she knew what the other dark area was, but she wanted to get the opinion of another tech.  She left the room for what seemed like an hour (although I'm pretty sure it was less than a minute), and she was smiling as she said it was all nothing to worry about.  It was just his GALLBLADDER!  Really!  What are the chances.  This poor child doesn't stand a chance.  Evidently you don't normally see the gallbladder of a baby in utero.  Only my child:)

And just for fun, here are some comparisons of Becca and Walker.  Becca's ultrasound was done at 21 weeks and Walker's was done at 23 weeks, but they were close enough.

 I'm definitely thinking they don't look alike, but I guess we won't really know until he's here.

20 weeks and counting

So, this post is 2 weeks late, but that's mostly because I can't figure out how to blog from my iPad. O'well, better late than never. Here's a comparison shot of me at 20 weeks with Walker (on the left) and at 21 weeks with Becca (on the right).





+


I feel like my stomach is huge, and this picture just reiterates my thinking.
Anyways, Dr. Estes said everything looks great.  I'm measuring right on time, and we'll do our next ultrasound at 23 weeks (next week) to check on everything.  Overall, I'm feeling MUCH better!  Thanks to everyone who's prayed for me - for a while there I didn't think I was going to make it.  Here are my stats:
How far along?  20 weeks (at least I was in the picture)
Weight gain/loss?  I've gained 6 pounds since my 1st doctor's appointment, but I'm still down about 6 or 7 pounds from the day we found out.  YAY!  I'm pretty sure with Becca I had already passed the 20 pound mark!
Maternity clothes?  Yes - About 16 weeks I hit the point of no return.  I needed them much earlier in this pregnancy.
Sleep?  I'm sleeping, but it's not great.  I'm a stomach sleeper, so I struggle with that during pregnancy.
Best Moment This Week?  hearing that heartbeat - it was in the 140's.  That sound never ceases to be amazing!
Cravings?  Red meat (especially steak), vegetables, and salt:)  Totally opposite from my cravings with Becca.
Gender?  It's a BOY!  At least it had better be:)
Size of Baby?  the size of a banana (at 20 weeks)
Movement?  This child moves like crazy!!!!  JP was able to feel him at 17 weeks, and Becca a few days later.  He moves a lot when I first lay down at night - so much that you can watch my stomach move.  He also kicks a lot if I sit in certain positions.  He definitely prefers for me to be standing or laying.
Randoms:  I haven't actually thrown up in a few weeks, so that's definitely a positive.  I had an ultrasound done of my gallbladder at 12 weeks, and we found out that while I don't have gallstones, I do have 'sludge'.  Yuck!  For those of you who aren't aware, gallbladder problems run rampant on my  Mom's side of the family.  I knew it was just a matter of time before they hit me, I just wish it wasn't while I was pregnant since there's not much they can do.  Thankfully they've started me on a fantastic reflux medicine that seems to help a lot.  I just have to be really careful what I eat.
Check back next week - I'll be sure to post pictures of what Walker looks like now:)

Now I lay me down to sleep

I'm writing this tonight because I want to remember sweet moments like this forever. Tonight, while putting Becca to bed, we ended our nightly routine. I always begin our prayers with the ever popular: Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. Angels guard me through the night, and keep me safe til morning light. I will then begin thanking God for various blessings in our life, and that's when Becca will begin interjecting her prayer requests. Tonight, this is what she prayed: "Thank you God for airplanes and skyscrapers." (side note - I had to stop and ask her what she thought skyscrapers were) "Thank you God for dogs. Thanks you for Molly Brown, Jack, and Grace. Thank you for our baby in Mommy's tummy." (She stops at this point to talk to Walker for a few seconds.) "Thank you for our tummies and our pants. Mommy, is baby Walker trying to get out of your belly button?" Me - No baby. Let's keep praying. "Ok, thank you God for baby Walker growing big in Mommy's tummy. Don't come out until you get big! Ok, Mommy! Now you pray." My heart melts when I hear her talking to God through prayer. I've prayed since I found out I was pregnant with her that she would know God and have a relationship with Him. While many of her 'thank you God for...' are silly, it reminds me of her innocence and how much we take for granted. When was the last time you thanked God for your pants?

Kids say the darndest things...

Now that we officially have a 3 year old in our house, we are constantly laughing. Laughing at what she says, what she does, and the looks on her face. Sometimes I have to laugh to keep from crying, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Since JP and I live with the comedian, I thought I would share some of our conversations from tonight in attempt to share the humor with the rest of the world. Dinner conversation: Let me set the scene: Becca was quite full of herself and wasn't really acting appropriately at the dinner table. If it must be known, she was being quite the smart aleck, so JP made an attempt to correct this: JP: "Becca, you need to sit in your seat and watch your mouth!" Becca: "When you talk like that, you make God sad. You need to tell Him sorry!" Nothing like having the "God" card pulled by the 3 year old! Conversation 5 minutes later when we realized Becca had stepped in dog poop and had it on her shoe: JP (in all of his maturity): "Ewww, you have poop on your shoe!" Becca (with her arms crossed): "Daddy, that's not very nice! You need to say sorry to your little girl!" I'm not sure where she gets this stuff! And then to end on a sweet note, below is our conversation after I read her the story 'God Gave Us You.' Me: "God gave you to us." Becca: "Yeah, because you and Daddy didn't have a little girl and you needed one." Me: "That's right. And you'll always be our little girl." Becca: "Yes, and I'm never going to leave you!" Be still my heart! It's moments like these that make the sassy mouth bearable!

It's a BOY!

So, I know it's been almost 2 weeks since we found out that our newest addition is going to be boy, but I posted the news on Facebook, so I figured most people read that anyways!
JP and I chose to wait and find out the sex of the baby with our families, so we had to keep our eyes closed for several minutes during the ultrasound.  Our sweet Lala went with us, so she was the only one who knew what this baby was for the first few hours.  I thought all along that this baby was a boy, but JP felt just as strong that it was a girl.  We chose to do a balloon release so we could all find out together, and it was a lot of fun.  Below are the pictures from that day, and also the video of the the families' reaction!  Too funny!

 We are so excited to be welcoming Walker Brice into our family this September, and big sister Becca could not be more thrilled - most days, anyway!
And now, here is the video of the families reaction - priceless!

Beau or Bow?

Well, tomorrow’s the big day!  The one you’ve all been waiting for!  Ok, maybe not the day you ALL have been waiting for, but definitely a day I’ve been waiting for since we found out we were pregnant on New Year’s Eve. 

Just like last time, JP and I both have our own feelings about the gender of this baby – I am 150% sure this is a boy, while he is going with girl.  I didn’t have much of a feeling either way with Becca, but because this pregnancy has been so very different, I have to think this is a boy.

Of course our main concern is that this baby is healthy – boy or girl really doesn’t matter.  Either way we’ll be very happy!

I’m not 20 weeks yet – I’m only 15 weeks – so many people are wondering how we’re finding out so early, and the answer is Wee See.  We used this ultrasound facility with Becca so we could find out early, and I had to do the same with this pregnancy. 

In the morning, we’ll go to Wee See at 8:30.  We are NOT finding out while we are there – instead we’re going to have the ultrasound tech put the ultrasound photos in an envelope, and our sweet Lauren will take the results home with her.  We are having the family over at 1:00 where we will do a balloon release to find out the gender of this sweet baby.  I’m very excited to find out with our family what our new addition is. 

Becca has her own ideas about the baby’s gender.  I’ve tried to convince her she’s wrong, but she won’t budge.  She is convinced I am having ‘2 babies’!  She has thought this from the moment we told her we were pregnant, so I’m hoping this doesn’t mean anything. 

(I have a really cute video of her talking about how SHE is going to have 2 babies, but I can’t get it to upload.)

I also let my students predict whether they think this baby is a girl or a boy – they love being a part of it.  Here is a picture of their results!

I didn’t share my thoughts ahead of time in order to keep them from choosing boy because I am, but they still are obviously for Team Blue!  I can’t wait to find out tomorrow!  Please make sure you check back tomorrow to find out what we’re having.

And PLEASE, comment on this blog post letting us know what you think we’re having!

You, Me, and Baby makes...4

So, this is my 1st baby post for this pregnancy.  With Becca, we shared the news with the world immediately.  With this baby, we chose to wait.  We waited because after a devastating miscarriage in August, and a rough start to this pregnancy, we wanted to make sure this was real.  And real it is.  We prayed for this, we waited for this, and now that's it here, there is no doubt.  No doubt because I have been miserably sick the ENTIRE time.  
Let me back up.  2012 proved to be a trying year.  I lost two people who were are very special to me.  In August, we lost our baby - a situation that hit me much harder than I could have imagined.  Don't get me wrong, 2012 wasn't all bad.  God certainly blessed me beyond what I deserved, but I was ready to say goodbye that year.  New Year's Eve came, and my period was a day late.  I didn't want to get my hopes up because this wasn't the first time this had happened.  We had plans to spend a quiet evening with a few close friends, but I couldn't stand it.  I had to take a pregnancy test.  So I did, and after the three minutes if you held it just the right way, under a bright light, there was a faint line.  Could it be?  I was scared to get my hopes up, but after texting a picture of it to Lauren, she confirmed that she too thought it was positive.  I was pregnant!  I waited until JP got home to share the news with him, and he was elated.  We chose not to tell Becca - just in case.  The next week 2 months was scary.  I had 3 hCg tests to watch my levels, and an ultrasound at 6 weeks where we were able to see a heartbeat and find out our due date is September 11th.  I've had a few more appointments since then, and so far everything looks great.  We were even able to hear the heartbeat last week.  There is nothing like a heart beating at 160 bpm to bring a smile to your face.
Now, this pregnancy has not been all bliss.  In fact, I have been pretty miserable.  It started with horrible heartburn, nausea, and vomiting, followed by horrible stomach pains that we believe could be my gallbladder.  I had some tests run last week that will hopefully give us some answers.  I basically go to work, and then come home and go to bed.  I don't know what I would do without my amazing husband who has taken on all of the housework, laundry, cooking, and taking care of our very busy 2 1/2 year old:)  I'm very thankful for this miracle of life growing inside of me, but I would totally be ok if all of this sickness went away!  I'm going to try and do a better job of updating our blog especially now that we have another one on the way.  
Here's a picture of me at 13 weeks.  I definitely began showing much faster with this one.  Other than being horribly sick, everything else about this pregnancy is different, too.  I'm going to try and do monthly stats, so here goes nothing:

How Far Along:  13 weeks (tomorrow)
Weight Gain/Loss:  Lost 13 pounds (the only positive part of being so sick)
Maternity Clothes?  No
Sleep:  Normal, other than not being able to sleep on my stomach
Best Moment This Week:  hearing a heartbeat
Cravings:  vegetables!!!  totally opposite of my cravings with Becca:)   
Gender Guess:  BOY!!!  I feel like this pregnancy is totally different, so I'm going with boy!  We'll find out on Saturday, March 23rd.
Size of Baby:  the size of an egg;  almost 3 inches long
Movement:  every website says you can't feel movement this early on, but I beg to differ.  I constantly feel flutters on my left side, and that's where they found the heartbeat last week!