Well, this little guy continues to kick and kick. It is so amazing to feel it! It seems like when I lay down at night and in the late afternoon are the two times that he is most active. Dean has gotten to feel it a good bit too, and we have seen my stomach move a couple times. So, he is definitely growing and moving for sure!

I go back to the doctor this Friday, the 2nd. It should be a pretty uneventful appointment, weight, blood pressure, heartbeat,etc. Hopefully, it will be short and sweet. My appt is at 9:10am, so hopefully, I will get in and out pretty quickly!

We have picked up a few more baby things here and there and have started getting some gifts. It is fun to come home and find packages for Baby Whitaker in the mail! We finished up our registries at Target and Babies ‘R Us and although the details are being kept very hush-hush, I do know that baby shower planning is in full force. Of course, it is killing me to not be involved in all the details but the organizers want me to have lots of surprises and not worry with anything, which I love them all for, however the party planner is me is going nuts, ha! So, anyway, I am looking forward to both showers (the one in Roanoke and the one back home in Wythe County) with great excitement and know that they will both be just wonderful celebrations!

So, our one year anniversary is coming up here in two weeks on the 11th. So hard to believe, this time last year we were in final wedding planning mode and now a year later here we are in house and baby planning mode! So exciting. Oh, and good news from the builder this week, in case you haven’t been on the house page. Clarke told us earlier this week that we are running slightly ahead of schedule and if things keep this pace, we should be in by the first of August, well, even if he is off by a couple weeks, we still should have plenty of time to settle in before the little boy makes his arrival!

Today will be a fun day! We are going sailing with the Gardners and Zimmermans. So maternity bathing suit, here I come!!!!! I MIGHT share a picture, or after I see myself, I might not!

Oh, and you probably figured out we still haven’t definitively named him……. Stay tuned!

Well, the most exciting thing happening right now is KICKS and lots of them! I felt him kick for the first time starting last Thursday night, right at 21 weeks. I wasn’t so sure at first. I was watching tv and kept thinking I was feeling something. I got Dean to come and see what he thought and he definitely felt something too! I have continued to have the same feelings off and on ever since, sometimes more pronounced than others, but definite movement. It is a feeling that is so hard to describe, really truly amazing!!!! I love it!

We also got Dean’s blood work back this week. He is O Positive, so combining that with my O Negative equals a big ‘ole shot for me at 28 weeks! That is also the same appointment where I get more bloodwork done and have the one hour diabetes test, so that sounds like a fun day! We will find out the baby’s blood type when he is born and then I may have to have another shot! It will be interesting to see whether he is positive or negative!

We are still in limbo about his name, such a big decision! We are just really struggling with settling on one for sure, but hopefully it will come to us soon! It is so nice knowing that he is a he! We did order the most adorable bedding from Pottery Barn Kids, blue material with multi-color sailboats all over it, very, very cute! And, we have picked up a few more little outfits, so hard to resist, everything is just soooo cute! We still need to tackle furniture too, and now that the stairs are in at the new house, and I can get in the nursery, we can have a better idea of how to furnish the room!

20 Weeks, wow, half way! So hard to believe! What a week this week was. All the excitement building up to the appointment on Wednesday and then all the fun of sharing the news with everyone! Our minds are racing, (well, at least mine is! ha) We are trying to decide on bedding and trying to nail down a name and need to start looking for furniture, so many things to do all of a sudden!

Me and the baby boy continue to grow as you can see this in photo from this morning. Thank goodness for shared maternity clothes. I have bought quite a few things, but with contributions from Kelly, Sheri and Amy, I have quite the new wardrobe now. Luckily, I can just pack up all my old clothes to prepare them for the move and make room for the maternity stuff. This outfit is one of Sheris and was perfect for today, I had to go to Va Tech Vet School Graduation awards ceremony and present a couple of awards that we gave two students. So, that was nice.

I dont go back to the doctor until June 2nd and it sounds like it will just be a pretty routine visit. Boy, I would love to see those 4D ultrasounds every time! (no pun intended!) As of right now, we dont have any more ultrasounds scheduled, which I guess is a good thing, meaning that everything is okay and they dont think another one is necessary at this time. It will sure make the next appointment seem dull though!!!!!

Today, was the big appointment. We got there about 830am and waited about 10 minutes before they called us back. We went straight to the ultrasound room and in just a matter of minutes, the baby was up on the tv screen. She asked us first thing if we wanted to know what it was and we said yes!!!! We gave her our videotape and she told us she would be recording it!

First, she did lots of scientific stuff, measurements and such of different things and then she started pointing out different parts of his body, the spine, heart, legs, arms, feet, bladder, kidneys, head, brain, eye sockets, on and on. It was truly amazing! She was measuring everything along the way and said everything was normal. He weighed 12 ounces already!!!!! His heartbeat was in the 140s, same as what we have been getting at home. After about 10-15 minutes of this, she asked us again if we wanted to know what it was, we again said yes and she said it is a boy and pointed! Dean (who was intently watching the screen) said he thought he had seen something.....At this point, I was crying, just so happy and relived to see such a healthy little guy on the screen and at that point that was all that mattered in the world!!!! She gave us six pictures and our video and sent us on our way!

Then, we made a couple quick phone calls and then had to wait on Dr. Keene to get in. In the meantime, we went to the lab to have Deans bloodwork done. He was a trooper and they took a small little vile. They will send it to the lab and we will know in a couple days the results (meaning if I have to have a shot in the butt!!!!!) He survived and we went back to wait for Dr. Keene.

Dr. Keene got there about 920am and she went over a big stack of pictures that she had been given and reiterated that all looked good. She asked if we had any questions and we chit chatted for a few more minutes and she said see you in four weeks! At 28 weeks, I will start going every 2 weeks.

Of course, the rest of the day has been filled with phone calls and emails, so much fun (Oh and some work too!!!!) We are in name mode now. We had pretty much quit talking about it for awhile until after todays appointment, so we will get back to that hot and heavy now! We know for sure we will be doing the nursery in sailboats with light and dark blues being the dominant colors. We have lots of seagulls, lighthouses and boats to decorate with! (Remember all those decorations from the rehearsal dinner, ha!

So, here are some pics, this new 4D ultrasound technology is truly amazing! I cant wait to get another one! Right now, I dont have another one scheduled, which I guess is a good thing, that things are all so good. So, she said we would just play it by ear to see when we should have another one. We will continue to listen to the heartbeat each night and hopefully I will start feeling him move around soon!!!!

So, enjoy the pics and thanks to everyone who voted in the baby poll, for those of you who were right, congrats! There isnt a prize, just the pleasure of knowing you were right!!!!! I told Dean that I want him to make a poll for when my due date is near so that you can all take a stab at guessing the delivery date and weight, so stay tuned for that!

love to all! Look closely…

Well, here I am at 19 weeks, now bear in mind that the camera does add like 10 pounds or something! Ha! We had so much fun this past week with the baby poll! Thanks to everyone who played! I told Dean that we will have to do another one later on to guess the baby’s arrival date and size! How fun!

We are just so anxious for this Wednesday to get here, to see if we can learn the gender and also get our first real look at our little one. Then, we will really start to focus in on some names and work on the nursery theme and furniture and on and on!

It is a gorgeous day today and we are off to the lake for an afternoon of sailing! I told Dean this morning that he needs to go ahead and find the smallest life jacket that they make so we can take the baby sailing next spring! Might as well get them started early! He is tickled at that prospect!

I will be in touch via email and /or phone as quickly as I can on Wednesday to let everyone know about the Doctor’s Appt! So, stay tuned!

Well, the big doctors appointment with the ultrasound to try to learn the gender is next Wednesday morning at 830am, so we thought it would be fun to take a little poll and see what everyone thinks I am having! Go to our Baby Poll (www.deanandshelly.com/babypoll) and cast your vote.

You can see pictures of me on the baby page to see if that helps you determine which way to vote. The most recent picture is from this past Saturday morning, at 18 weeks. Of course, we will let everyone know as soon as find out next Wednesday what the "official" result is! (that is as long as we can tell, of course!)

Happy Voting!