Belly Shot

We are 20 weeks today - half way to meeting our little girl. No names yet...I guess we have until August to come up with it. We are enjoying pondering what the Lord would have us name her...All I can tell you is that it will be easy to spell, not a double name and she'll be called by her first name. That's as far as we have gotten. I made it 18 weeks without nausea then it began but even what I have experienced seems minor to some stories I hear. It's mostly in the mornings and passes by the time I get going at work. I have had the amazing experience of feeling her move...it does feel like a butterfly in my stomach. Jeff and I went with friends, Keith and Amy Stephens, to hear Boston Brass last Sunday. When they got to their Latin music section, baby girl was dancing. I think she's got rhythm!

Good friends, Sam and Paige Allison, will be having Baby Allison on or near Easter Sunday. Sam gave Jeff a great book, The Expectant Father. He saw in the book that she should be able to hear now. So Jeff has play the guitar and piano for her and she's enjoying that! Maybe she'll get her daddy's musical talent.

So here's my progress in belly growth to this point. I can tell I'm growing and am now out of all but one pair of jeans...So thankful for Andrea, my sister-in-law, for many many reasons and the latest one is the huge bin of maternity clothes and other helpful things she is sharing with me to prepare for what's ahead! Thanks a million!

It's a GIRL!!

Big news! We had our ultrasound at the 18 week mark and saw we are having a sweet baby girl (that is what my mom called me...now I can pass it on!) Jeff and I wrote on a piece of paper what we both thought the baby would be and he won. I thought it might be a boy because boy names came easier to us as we pondered names. He guessed it would be a girl because 98% of everyone around us thought we'd have a boy. Jeff's dad is the only one who called it!

It's very exciting and makes me a little nervous too. I look forward to so much like dressing her up and making her cuter than I would ever let my mom dress me. But those preteen and teen years already scare me. I guess this is a good time to apologize to my parents for pushing their buttons in those years, Sorry!! Jeff, in his steady nature, reminded me that boys have their issues that keep you up at night too. His response to having a girl as she approaches those teenage years was, "I guess I have 13 years to learn to use a shotgun!"

We thank God for how she is developing...all the vessels and anatomy looks very good. She waved at us and we saw 5 fingers. She wiggled her toes at us. We saw the heart chambers and all the big vessels in place. We saw her stomach, kidneys, brain, vessels in the umbilical cord and much more. I have gained 6 pounds and pooching a little. Can't tell much by looking at me but I can tell! I rub my belly every morning and can tell she's growing so much. It's amazing!

We left the next day and drove to Baton Rouge to spend time with Jeff's parents and brother, Bobby. We arrived to find on our bed the cutest pink dress with "LSU Tigers" on the front.


The challenge has begun to keep her "appropriately" dressed :) It was a restful weekend of getting to see Bobby's new house and watching MSU in the basketball tournament (Dadgum Kentucky Wildcats!!) and eating lots of Cajun food. Crawfish are in and the strawberries are in...I think they put Miracle Grow in the strawberry crop! Sweet and juicy! The rest of our southeastern tour consisted of a pit stop in Brandon, MS to visit Aunt Bobby and Uncle John, and my cousin, Lacey and her adorable 5 year old son, Ryder. Thanks for the wonderful meal and great visit!

Getting Ready for Baby Carver

What do you do at 17 weeks to get ready for your first child? Well, here's what we've been doing...Cathy had a conference in San Diego then Jeff went to Seattle for a meeting. In the midst of all that we had hardwood floors put in the entry of our home and in the living room and dining room. It was a little dusty and fumy for a day or 2 but worth it!


We have enjoyed the challenge our pastor has put out to the church called "Next Door". We, along with many others, have committed to pray daily for our immediate neighbors and look for opportunities to serve and share Christ with our neighbors. This was a fun weekend to be at home to see many of them out in the yard. Your perspective on seeing people in your path changes when you are praying for them. From what might be "random" friendly interaction, you now see as a divine appointment to build a relationship with them to share with them the love of God you have received.

Since Jeff can't carry Baby Carver, he is doing daddy things to help us get ready. The last 2 Saturdays he has changed our our garage door openers from a chain-type to belt-driven to help with the earthquaking noise that we were living with. Might wake a sleeping baby in a few months! House projects can be a marriage builder or stressor...for us, we are a good team. Thanks, Sweetheart!



I am 17 weeks along and feeling great. Feeling very blessed to not have any sickness and good on energy. We go back to our OB on Thurs for some tests and if Baby Carver cooperates, we might be able to tell if boy or girl. Hoping we can tell because I don't feel nice calling this little one an "it". We will post something this weekend with an update. We likely won't have names for some time...
Thanks for all your prayers and interest in our lives!

Dogwood Garden Club

Let me introduce you to the Dogwood Garden Club. This group of ladies are the definition of good neighbors who really care. I was invited to join withing 24 hours of moving into our house. I heard it was a good idea to join that way you don't get talked about but not true in a gossip way. They know what's going on in this neighborhood because they care. It was founded in May 1985. Flower is the Dogwood, Bird is the Cardinal and Colors are Green and White. Meetings are the 2nd Tues of each month and the annual picnic is in May and Christmas party in Dec. and the husbands can come to those. There are rules, bylaws, officers, projects and dues are $20. Worth every dime for the camaraderie and wisdom the 3-4 of us under age 65 who come to the meetings receive. Not all meetings are about gardening...matter of fact, not one I've been to is on gardening...topics vary. I got to host it this month as I found out last month, since I was next in the alphabet. A speaker from the Lovelady Center spoke this month. The host has coffee (be sure it's decaf)and a dessert of some kind. What I like most if the genuine care this group has. A lady on the street lost her 30 year old daughter recently. The Garden Club got on the horn and notified all the members and our neighbor was not short on food, care or concern. I dare a thief or prankster to set foot on our streets...may get a cane or Geritol somewhere it doesn't belong. They keep up with Hoover city events and watch each others' backs. Our baby will be the first one on this street in at least 8-10 years and he/she will have more great-grandparents than ever dreamed. I got to chat with 2 ladies after the meeting. One will celebrate 61 years of marriage and one 48. I asked their advice/wisdom on a strong marriage: They said "We don't fight and we ENJOY spending time together - even the little things...and don't forget to laugh a lot!" Love that! So take it from the Garden Club: Get to know your neighbors and care for them and if you are the youngest on the block like me: Listen to what they have to say!! HEre's a pic of the group that came to this month's meeting and here's a pic of the genuine interest one generation has for the next.

First Trimester Screening

So there are some benefits to being over 35 years old and pregnant. You get a few extra tests and screens to let you know if your baby may have some congenital issues. They test for lots of stuff but one of the benefits is an extra ultrasound. We got to see Baby Carver moving around and hear the heartbeat again. We could not get enough of that! At 2.5 inches long he/she has everything needed but needs to develop of course. We saw the nose, eyes, spinal cord, arms and legs...arms went up as if to say "Touchdown Bulldogs...and Tigers"...or as Uncle Bob said, "...Touch down, Crimson Tide..." Those feet were going as if treading water or doing the "happy dance." I sure can't wait for that day to feel this baby move. We are thankful that all is going well and so far we are at very low risk for having any problems. Either way we know God will provide as He has done so faithfully so far. Wanted to share an updated pic with you. We continue to absorb the whole miraculous notion that another life is growing in my belly that seems to continue with hunger like a lion! I continue with fatigue most nights that demand a 8:30 bedtime. I obey since I'm sleeping for two! No belly to show so far and I think I've gained one pound. More to come I fully expect! :)) We are checking out day cares and wow, are they all different! We think we have found one but will keep you posted! Enjoy a look at baby Carver whose heart was beating strong at 166 beats/minute!

Birthdays

Jeff and I celebrate our birthdays one day apart, with 2 years in between but we don't have to talk about that...:) Mine is Jan. 16 and his is Jan. 17. We had lots of ways to celebrate this year. Mom and Jim took us out to eat at Crazy Cajun's to celebrate Jeff's birthday. And a week or so later, we went to the Summit Club to celebrate mine. We were spoiled and had lots of fun above our expectations! Jeff's parents, brother (Bobby), and Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Bob came to visit us to celebrate the weekend after our birthdays. It was tons of fun. We took them to Tuscaloosa to see Jeff's new office, came back for some rounds of bowling on the Wii, and out to a nice dinner at Hot and Hot Fish Club. Great food and we had a small world experience: We bumped in to Dawn Kirkland, Dave Ramsey's #1 realtor for the Birmingham area and our dear friend! I love seeing friends when you don't expect it! We enjoyed all getting together for Sunday lunch after church before everyone went home. Thanks for bringing the King Cake, because I have not mastered my baking skills. I attempted once again to make a birthday cake for us and it turned out ok but a little more like a brownie consistency. Recipes for desserts imply you should no more about baking than they give me credit! Mom, I should have paid more attention when you were trying to teach me things in the kitchen when I was a little girl! One special birthday gift we got was from my sister-in-law's 5 year old kindergarten class Advice on Parenting. I'm going to try to put the Video here but not sure I can do it... - Thanks everyone for making us feel special!! We love you all!

We've got Great News...

You know, all you have to do is say, "We have good news to share" and everyone knows that means you are pregnant...or at least that's what everyone hoped we'd say. Well, it is true! Jeff and I are expecting and due August 12! We are at 10 weeks now. We give God all the Glory! We found out the day before we left for our Hawaiian vacation. What news to head out of town with! We are so excited. We had been trying for some time and praying and trusting that in God's timing it would happen. God doesn't always guarantee you'll get what you want, but I know he loves blessing people and watching them experience joy. That we sure have had! We had the joy of telling our families over Christmas and loved watching their faces when they heard news. We held out on going public until we had the amazing experience of seeing our "Little One" on the ultrasound and hearing that rapid healthy heartbeat. WOW! We have had a lot of fun sharing this good news with many friends and family. We have been so encouraged by how many had been praying for us that we didn't realize and how many have shared in this joy with us.

Answers to the FAQs: How's Cathy feeling? Great! Very few moments of nausea but nothing to complain about. A little more tired at night. Are you going to find out what the gender is? Yes. We'll find out mid March. (Jeff and I are too much of planners to wait and we figure we'll be surprised in March!) Have you thought of names yet? No. We'll wait to see what gender we get and go from there. What will Cathy do about work? I'll go part time after 3 months of maternity leave. Being a little older doing this, I think I'll need all the rest I can get to keep up with this little one and want to enjoy this phase! We waited a long time for this and I'm not going to miss this for a little extra money!

Thank you all again for all your prayers and support. We are excited and have lots to learn to get ready and will be seeking advice from those of you ahead of us in this journey.