Happy Easter!

I hope everyone has has a wonderful day as we have celebrated the resurrection of our Lord and Savior. I have had a fantastic break so far, and I am looking forward to one more day of rest before returning to a busy week of work. As I remarked to my husband (while looking at the above photos). "Hey, I actually look pregnant in those pictures." Christianna is, as usual, absolutely adorable.

Benjamin's nursery is slowly transforming from a spare room into a nursery. I've made a dent in it so far, and I hope to get more done tomorrow. My first baby shower is next Sunday, and I know we're supposed to be getting the crib, so I need to get moving so that there is room for it. Fortunately, I have completed my registering at The Baby Place, Target, and Amazon.com.

I'm off to shower (after working in a dusty spare room), and then I'll probably head to bed shortly after. My allergies don't like the dust very much, so I've taken a Benadryl to help aid my stuffiness, and consequently, my sleep. Here's hoping for a productive day tomorrow!

And they shall call him...

Benjamin Thomas Holder

Why?

Well, they're both Biblical names.

We both like the name Benjamin, and it means son of my right hand. (i.e. He's favored.) We're not opposed to possibly calling him Ben.

Josh's great grandfather (on his mother's side) was named Thomas. There are some who say Thomas was an excellent cook...which is probably where Josh gets his cooking talent.

We are so happy to have a name picked out! :)

A few pictures taken over the past few weeks...

I'm 23 weeks and counting...

I'm doing well. I've had a good case of hormones over the past few days, and I'm hoping that my emotional normalcy this evening will carry on for a while. That's all I have for now unfortunately. I'm doing some last minute things getting ready for tomorrow.

Toddler Photo Session

Here's some more pictures of Christianna from the other day.

She looks deep in thought...

She was trying to push her hair out of her face (It was windy), but I love how it looks like she posed.

Thankful Thursday

There are more pictures to come, but I couldn't resist sharing these tonight. I had the privilege of spending a few hours with my sweet niece (and her mom & dad) today. It's hard to believe that she's already 16 months old. Even more amazing to me is that I'm now 23 weeks along. Our little man will be here before we know it!

I couldn't resist sharing some of her unabashed joy. She loves the outdoors, in case you hadn't noticed. :)

In case you missed that expression...

We're having a....

BOY!

My apologies for the lack of pictures this evening. The combination of excitement of getting to look for baby boy items on Amazon.com & having an observation (of my teaching) in the morning have kept me from getting my latest pregnancy picture uploaded and my ultrasound pictures scanned in to the computer.

Our appointment for the ultrasound went well. Everything about my pregnancy is nice and healthy right now. The baby is about 1 pound right now, and everything in his body...organs, limbs, growth, etc. looks great! His heartbeat was 159 the other day, and it was 154 today.

We don't have any ideas for names right now, but we will get there soon enough I'm sure. I'm looking forward to being able to focus my energies towards nursery preparation and registering next week during Spring Break.

That's all I'll write for now. I've got to put some finishing touches on my lesson plan for tomorrow. To God be the glory for our healthy baby! Thank you for all of your well wishing and prayers. :)

Signs of Spring

Some of my hard work this winter paid off. I have some early signs of spring starting down by our mailbox. Makes that afternoon in my 1st trimester struggling with the bulb planter, bag of topsoil, and digging 30 or so holes completely worth it.Strangely enough, they're not miniature tulips. It's the first year for them to bloom from bulbs. I don't know if it is just early for them to be blooming, or if the soil has stunted them. lol
Either way, they're beautiful. Can't wait until the other ones come up. ;) There may be a few other colors to bloom. Looks like all but maybe one bulb decided to produce a plant.
And in other news, I do believe I'm officially showing. I've started feeling the baby move. It is both weird and wonderful. I look forward to the little one getting big enough for Josh to feel him/her through my belly. We are eagerly awaiting the ultrasound on Monday to find out if Baby is a girl or a boy!

20 weeks and counting

Growing Pains: Check
Ravenous Hunger: Check
Feeling the baby move...Maybe? ;)

20 weeks pregnant. Halfway there!

It's hard to believe I'm already this far along. I go back for a routine monthly checkup on Monday. The following Monday (the 19th) is the ultrasound. I'm not placing any guesses. I 'm just going to be happy if baby is healthy. And yes, we'll be telling people once we know if we're having a girl or boy. ;)

Now, I'm off to go eat again. Apparently the baby needs about 4 meals and 3 snacks each day. I can't believe I'm already hungry again. Can you say growth spurt?