Sweetest Gift of All

Baby Branton moved!!! I was so excited I could barely contain myself. Saturday night I was laying on the couch half asleep when I felt something 'thump' me. At first I woke up thinking Frank did it, but I was by myself. And it thumped my stomach again, almost as if to say "Mom, it's me...I'm down here!" I was so excited and I couldn't wait for Frank to get home so I could tell him.

Now he is moving and squirming all day long. I can be in a complete daze and I will feel him move and it reminds me that I have a sweet little baby inside of me. It may be strange, but some mornings I would wake up and forget that I was pregnant because the only evidence was a growing belly. But now I feel pregnant.

So Baby Branton gave his momma the sweetest gift of all for Christmas!! Now I can't wait to meet my little man.

I'll post pictures of my growing belly and Christmas in a few days, but I couldn't wait to share my exciting news!!!

Great Check Up

I had my 20 week check up today and everything is looking great. The baby's heartbeat was 157, so we've got a strong little guy in there. I still haven't felt him move, but my doctor said that should happen any day now. Probablly next week while I am in Disney World.

I promise I will post pictures next week so everyone can see my growing my belly. It's starting to really stick out there. I've only gained 2lbs. since my last check-up, but my doctor told me it's all baby. And from here on out, he said I will probably begin gaining 1 pound per week. So I should probablly go ahead and wave bye-bye to my feet, b/c after this month, I won't be seeing them for a while :-)

It's A...

It's A BOY!!!!!

Frank is bouncing off the walls with excitement. He's already talking about tee-ball teams, boy scouts, and hunting. It cracks me up just listening to him. The baby got his first camouflage outfit from my sister-in-law Crystal, and Frank just beamed when I showed it to him. I think he would do the entire nursery in camo if I let him. Crystal also picked up a lion costume for him---and what ADPi would not LOVE this. Frank on the other hand was not thrilled. He said he needed to be something more "manly---like a deer or something." Now let me remind every one that our little boy will only be 6 months next Halloween...but his daddy already wants him to be a man. HA! How funny is that.

I on the other hand am thrilled about having a momma's boy. I can't wait to cuddle up with him. It's hard to believe that at this time next year, I will be a mommy. (Kind of scary too.)

And I am so excited too about our good friends Brent and DeAnn having a little boy as well. DeAnn is about 2 weeks ahead of me, so our baby will have a best bud from day 1. And it seems like so many of our friends have little boys, that Frank will have no problem recruiting for his tee-ball team!

Who Shrunk My Clothes?

Well this is the first week I can actually say my pants are snug. To be completely honest, I'm actually sitting at my desk with my pants unbuttoned. It's really hit all of a sudden. Last week my clothes fit fine. I choose to believe that Frank accidentally dried my jeans and they shrank. But deep down inside I know the truth...baby butterbean is growing strong. And it only gets bigger from here!

The all day sickness is easing off. Now I only get sick in the mornings, which is extremely nice. I still don't have much of an appetite. I do however love sweets right now. I made funfetti cupcakes for Halloween....they lasted a day. I had no self control. Although I did have some help since Frank couldn't let me eat alone. I actually had cupcakes for supper! How sad is that. Hmmmm....maybe that's why my clothes are snug today......

Everything Looks Great

I just had my 12 week checkup and everything went well. I've gained .9 lbs this month, so that was wonderful news! I heard the baby's heartbeat and Dr. Coker said it was really strong. That was exciting. The best news of all...I get to find out what I am having at my 16 week checkup, which happens to be the day before Thanksgiving! That's going to make the 'day after Thanksgiving' shopping a complete blast! I can not wait....this is going to be so exciting.

When Will It End....

The morning sickness is starting to ease up. I still get sick about 2-3 times a day, but nothing like it was. But now the tiredness has set in. I thought this was the one thing I was going to skip, but this past week has been awful. I feel so lazy. I sleep in, lay on the couch, take a shower, and then I have to take a nap. My house is in desperate need of a cleaning, but I have no desire to get off the couch. Is this normal?? I have my 12-week check up on Wednesday and I hope Dr. Phillips can give me some advice on how to increase my energy.

Some of you have asked me what my cravings are, and to my disappointment, food in general does nothing for me right now. It's become a chore to eat. And for someone who normally LOVES to eat...this is quite a change. I'm ready for the 'good symptoms' of pregnancy to start kicking in.

Chinese Prediction...

In the past, whenever one of my friends gets pregnant, we always look at the Chinese Calendar to see what they are having. And to my surpise, it has always been accurate for us. So I finally found the Chinese calendar online, thanks to Ashley, and it says....

Baby Branton will be a BOY!!!

So...we'll have to wait a little longer to see how accurate it is. Here's the link to the calendar if anyone wants to take a look.

http://www.thelaboroflove.com/chart/cal.html

Girl or Boy?

Everyone keeps asking me if I want a girl or boy. And it's the strangest thing, because for forever I've always said I wanted a little girl. But now I am not sure. Of course the decision isn't up to me, but I honestly think I will be thrilled either way. When I found out I was pregnant, I immediately started calling the baby "He". I told myself that I was going to go ahead and assume it was a boy, that way I wouldn't get my heart set on a little girl and get disappointed. But as time passes, I am beginning to think a little boy would be so much fun.

My little girl wish most likely stems from my close relationship with my niece Madison. She was the little sister I never had. I dressed her up, put make up on her, painted finger nails and did all that girly stuff. And now that she's almost 10, we're still close. We even call each other each week during "Dancing with the Stars" and talk about the dresses all the girls wear. And now I have another niece, Isabella, who I call Izzie. And now that she is 22 months old, she is quickly becoming a girly girl too! I love it. She prances around in my high heels and gives the sweetest little kisses followed by a hug that just steals my heart! Me, Izzie, and Maddie are going to be 3 trouble makers together...I can already tell!

But then there's my nephew Walker, who I swear has the most tender heart out of everyone. He is all boy. He loves playing video games and lets me play with him, until I start losing. Then he takes away the control and explains if I can't play right, then he's not going to let me play. HA! How funny is that. And he has the biggest vocabulary---everything is beautiful, or exceptional. He is so smart.

So I have been surrounded by these 3 forever, and when I got married, I became an Aunt to Mary Katherine. She's a little explorer...always wanting to know why something happened, or how something happened. She loves My Little Pony, Dora, and all things girly. And she reminds me so much of Frank it is not even funny! She acts like him and I swear she looks like him, although I know she looks just like her mom and dad, I swear I can see Frank in her. After my mom saw her for the first time, she said "I know what your kids will look like." And Frank purposely aggravates her sometimes. I keep telling him to leave her alone b/c Mary Alice is going to pay us back one day. And that day is almost here! And now Baby Will is here. Only 9 weeks old. I am so curious to see if he turns out to be a little hunter like his daddy and Uncle Frank.

So as you can see, I have such a mixture in my family. I thought I wanted a little girl...but now I think I would be happy either way. I just can't wait to meet our little one. I am getting so excited!

Meet Our Little One!

Frank and I had our ultrasound today and this is our little baby. He is 8 weeks and 6 days old and we even heard the heartbeat! It was beating 152 times per minute! It was really neat seeing a tiny little baby, that actually looks like a baby. You can see the head and the body really good. My baby already knows how to strike a pose! Takes after it's momma!

Also at today's doctor appointment, I begged for drugs to cure my morning, noon, and night sickness. The doctor weighed me and I have lost 3.5lbs in 2 weeks. So he wrote out a perscription. But my main question....why can't I loose weight when I'm not pregnant? It just isn't fair. But I'll take this as another blessing my little one is bringing me. :-)

Baby Butterbean

Tomorrow Frank and I will get to see our baby butterbean. We have an appointment for an ultrasound at 9:30 and we should get a more accurate due date. I didn't think I would be nervous but I really am. I am hoping they will give me some medicine for my Morning, Noon and Night Sickness. This baby is already grounded for a week for making me sick! HA!!!!

As for the "Is it a Boy of Girl" vote.....it's 6 to 5 favoring a girl. I think Frank would be completely devastated if he doesn't get his little "Tank". But mommy would be tickled pink!

Frank is really getting into this baby stuff. He was watching a show on babies inside the womb, and it was showing how babies learn flavors based on what their mommy's eat. He said butterbean is going to love chicken fingers. Which to everyone's surprise...I have not wanted chicken AT ALL!!!! Mashed potatos and corn though....that's another story.

I'll let everyone know how butterbean is doing tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed!

The Shock of a Lifetime!

Most of you know that Frank and I weren't expecting a little bundle of joy any time soon. Or I should say, I wasn't really planning on it but Frank has been hoping and praying since the day we said "I DO". I was thinking more along the lines of maybe trying next year....the end of next year to be exact. But some of the greatest blessings in the world are also the biggest surprises of our lives. You see...this is how we found out.

I went to the doctor for a small kidney infection and he was writing a perscription when he casually asked, "You're not pregnant are you?" and I said, "I'm 99% sure I am not pregnant." When I asked him why he was asking he said the medication he was perscribing has been know to cause birth defects. I left his office and went to CVS and never gave it much thought until I was walking out the store and thought....hmmmm, I better double check since it causes birth defects. So I went back inside and bought the cheapest test I could find.

I then swung by my house on the way back to work, because again, I was 99% sure I wasn't pregnant. Well let's just say it only took .5 seconds for that pink line to show up. I was in complete shock. I immediately called my doctors office b/c I was positive it was the kidney infection that caused the positive test. I went back to work and waited. I knew it wasn't a good sign when the doctor himself called back to congratulate me on my good news.

So after it all sunk in, I am very excited. Frank was bouncing off the walls from the first minute I told him. I on the other hand kept thinking, "Oh my gosh...I am going to be responsible for another life." But the more I thought and prayed about it, I realized that although this baby is a surprise, it's also the biggest blessing God has ever given me.