THE NURSERY - PART ONE

Baby James' nursery has been painted and his furniture has been purchased and assembled! I did the taping, but the painting was all Jay, and so was the furniture assembly. In just 2 nights, he covered the old hunter green (it took 2 coats of primer) with a cool new celery green. We wanted something different than the traditional blue for a boy's room, but don't worry, there will be plenty of blue in the bedding and room accents! Jay also replaced and updated all the electrical outlets in the room (as he's been doing throughout the house). I think it looks great! Here is the "before" picture:

And here are a couple of "after" pictures, with the furniture in place:

We're saving the decorating for later this month, when my mom and grandma will be here to help!

BACONS' FIRST ANNIVERSARY!

Happy Anniversary David and Taryn!

IT'S A... SOCCER PLAYER!

Fun news - Jay felt Baby James kick!

Late in the evening, I joined Jay on the couch with my nightly ice cream and after about 3 bites the baby started kicking (he likes ice cream, or, at least, cold food items get him moving). The kicks were getting stronger, so I had Jay put his hand on my belly. We've been doing this for about 2 weeks now, with no results prior to tonight. Jay didn't feel anything for the first 5 kicks (I didn't say anything because I didn't want to influence him), then Baby James gave a really big kick and Jay looked at me with his eyes wide, and I said "Yup, that's your boy in there". He was pretty impressed, and he was able to feel a couple more kicks (not in a row, just the big ones) before we went up to bed. Cool, eh?

So, 17 weeks was the "flutters", at 18 weeks I could feel little kicks, by 20 weeks they became an everyday thing and they were getting stronger and less sporadic (I could even feel them with my hand on my belly now and then), and at 21 weeks exactly, Jay could feel them!

Hooray for baby milestones! I'm feeling particularly happy tonight, and the little guy has been kicking almost nonstop!

WESTWARD BOUND

We had our first non-family visitor this weekend! Kelly stopped in Vicksburg for a couple nights on his way to California, where he'll be starting a new and amazing job in Monterey. Jay made his famous catfish dinner, we roasted marshmallows over a campfire and played some Wii, and basically just enjoyed catching up with a friend we hadn't seen in over a year. Thanks for stopping by Kelly, and we wish you the best of luck out west!

CRAFTY...

My husband is crafty... Although he had surprised me back in July with new (non-peach!) paint in the living room, stairs, and hallway, there was the lingering question of how to safely finish the out-of-reach spots above the stairs. I came home from work today to find him concentrating very hard...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

So, what does a pregnant woman want for her 30th birthday? Just a quiet day at home with her husband and lots of phone calls/emails from friends and family. And that's just what I got, so thank you all very much, you really made my day! We started off the morning by sleeping in, followed by chocolate-chip pancakes and bacon with orange juice (my newest craving since becoming pregnant, and oddly, something I used to hate). Then, I had a nice bubble bath before retiring to the back deck with (decaf) coffee and birthday cake to open my cards and presents with the birds and chipmunks (we saw 6 at one time!):

Mouton and Jude watched us from upstairs:Then we decorated the house for Halloween:And finally, we enjoyed a delicious dinner at the "other" nice restaurant in town (the one we hadn't been to before), Anchuca, a historic antebellum home that is also a bed and breakfast:

SWEET BABY JAMES

Yay! We've reached the halfway mark!! We had our 20 week appointment today for the anatomy scan and Baby James (to be named after his daddy, of course) is doing great and measuring right on schedule for his due date (he's at 13 ounces now). Everything looked great and it was awesome to see the little man in there, just doing his thing. He was very busy squirming around (actually, it took a while to get all his measurements because he was so wiggly) and touching his face and ears with his hands. Jay did a great job reading the sonogram, saying things such as "that's the umbilical cord, right?", "cool, you can even count his fingers", and "check out his little biceps"... whereas I pretty much just laid there staring at his little face every time it wasn't covered by his hands, mesmerized, and not sure what else I was seeing anyway! Cut me some slack though, these pictures are amazing, but certainly not clear. We got to hear the heartbeat again, 148bpm this month. I've been feeling the "flutters" for about 2 weeks now (it's less like a tickle to me, and more like that stomach-dropping feeling you get when you're nervous), with the actual kicks starting about a week ago (I prefer the kicks... the nervous stomach is actually a bit unsettling, even if it IS cool). The kicks aren't strong enough for Jay to feel yet, but at this growth rate, I bet it won't be long... Did I mention I had a growth spurt while I was on the cruise? I had about 2 days of stronger-than-usual belly tightness and round ligament pain, then woke up on the last day of the cruise to find a significantly different belly shape than I left with (and it wasn't JUST the buffet indulgence!) Jay couldn't believe the difference in both look and feel!

So you can see for yourselves, here's a photo of me today at 19 weeks 4 days:

And now for the sonogram photos, after a quick look at some belly jelly (hey, it's a memory...)

Our little lucky charm is getting cuter by the month! Here he is in 2D, a nice profile shot, so you can see his little nose

And this one is in 4D, with one of his hands up near his face as he was wiggling around

And finally, a good close-up of his face - you can see his nose and sweet little lips!

I'm going to miss these sonograms... They are no longer monitoring the placenta or umbilical cord for cysts because my doctor feels certain now that there is nothing there worth worrying about, so we won't have a sonogram at our 24 week appointment next month. Hmmm... whatever will I blog about? Anyway, that means our next sonogram will be the 28 week 4D-only sonogram (not covered by insurance, but too fun to pass up) where we'll get VIDEO of Baby James moving around in utero and some 8x10 color photos!

BABYMOON/BIRTHDAY/ANNIVERSARY CRUISE

That's right, we're going to be parents soon, so we figured we better get some practice at multi-tasking! We will be celebrating our 5th anniversary this December, my 30th birthday is coming up this weekend, and all the pregnancy books we've read recommend taking a "Babymoon" before the baby arrives. So, in the interest of saving time and money, we decided to combine all these celebrations in a fun cruise to the Bahamas with some friends and family (not necessarily our family, but our family by choice, if we could have a 3rd - the Birdsong Clan!)

We set out from Jacksonville on Thursday for a 4-day cruise to Nassau and Freeport, taking advantage of the federal holiday on Monday for Columbus Day (see, aren't we good at multitasking already?) Here are Jay, Jackson, Betsy, and John boarding the ship:

The cruise was a perfect getaway. We did a great job handling the buffets. We swam in the sea-water pools on the ship and even hit the hot tub the first night (before the water temperature got too hot for this Bahama Mama!) We went on a 2-hour birding tour where I saw 11 new species (including the Smooth-billed Ani and Bananaquit, the species I was most hoping to see). I even got my first pregnancy comment from someone who didn't know that I was pregnant... our tour guide looked me over as I was staring up into the trees and said "Oh, I see you two are making a baby" in her English accent! I absolutely LOVED it and almost cried I was so happy (what a pregnant sap I am!) Anyway, on with the details... We made it to every sit-down dinner and heavily enjoyed the Captain's Dinner menu (mmmm... lobster). We went to a couple of the on-board shows. We ate at Senor Frogs and snorkeled in Nassau. Jay played in the Slot Tournament, but wasn't a big winner (it's the fun that counts though). I spent a lot of time reading my first book on how to take care of a newborn (I'm getting tired of the pregnancy books, and it's about time to start planning ahead anyway). And there was lots of time to catch up with our friends. They even threw us a surprise Baby Shower during our day at sea! Thank you all (especially Betsy, for putting it together), again and again, for the lovely baby boy gifts, the delicious blue chocolate suckers, and for making us feel so special! We are so lucky to have friends like you guys! All in all, we have to say it was a great vacation! On with the photos! Here is Jean waving farewell from the dock at Mayport as the cruise ship passed by (2.5 hours later than we thought it would!)

Here we are passing underneath the Dames Point Bridge (also known as the Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Bridge), which is America's longest cable-stayed bridge, spanning the St. John's River

Dianna took a lot of photos at our surprise baby shower (Thank You Dianna!), so here is just one, where the two of us are actually looking at the camera!

Dressed up for the Captain's Dinner

Pulling into port in Nassau, we spied a pair of rainbows

In front of the Cloisters on Paradise Island, on our birding tour

Jay, Jackie, Jeff, Jay, and Eric at Senor Frogs in Nassau

John and Betsy joined us for lunch with a sleeping Jackson (not pictured)

There were 4 cruise ships in port by mid-day. Ours is the white one (hee hee). And yes, Jay is enjoying cheap beer before getting back on the boat...

While in Nassau, Jay found us a beach for swimming and snorkeling. We saw a lionfish, a damselfish, a big red starfish, and lots of other little silver fish. Jay and John jumped off the sea wall. Jackson found lots of seashells and Hunter practiced his doggie-paddle skills. That's Betsy with Jackson and Scott with Hunter in the photo below:

Last night of the cruise... the Birdsongs all got together for some family photos, and we decided to take some of all us "kids" while we were at it! Here are Jackie, Scott, Hunter, Jenny, Jeff, Betsy, John, Jackson, Jay, Denise, Jay, Dianna, and Greg (and yes, most of the Birdsong Clan is clad in Jaguars apparel or colors, and they won!):

Luckily, we flew out of Orlando, so we had some quality time in the car with Jean to tell her all about the cruise. Here she is with Jay at the airport:

GEARING UP

Part fun, part frustrating - that's what we've decided registering/creating the list of things we'll need for our first baby is! Babies-R-Us is an intimidating place for new parents-to-be, and the list of registry items they hand you at the door is LONG! We figured we'd start early so we could start buying things monthly to break up the cost. After we found out Baby Lindsay's gender, we went straight from the appointment to the store. I had been doing my research online, along with some tips from my mommy friends about what to get and what to ignore from the "suggested items" list the store gives you. However, Jay was in for a big surprise! Here he is struggling with one of the travel system strollers (the one we ended up choosing):

And here he is actually having some fun, just like he did with our wedding registry, because I let him hold the scanner the entire time (I found a few interesting items on the list when I got home and checked it online later that night... seems he had more fun than I thought!):

IT'S A.....

After our first ultrasound, I decided to try out a couple of the old wives tales to start predicting Baby Lindsay's gender. The heart-rate (174 bpm at 8 weeks and 167 bpm at 12 weeks) said Girl. Then the Chinese Birth Chart said Boy, but the Moon Phase method said Girl. Our dreams have said Boy (Jay dreamed he was holding his newborn son when I was at 10 weeks, then I dreamed about chasing a crawling baby boy around the house when I was at 12 weeks), but the Penny Test said Girl (5 out of 7 tries, anyway). Morning sickness (or lack thereof) said Boy, but acne (plenty, unfortunately) said Girl.

Obviously, we knew we'd have to wait until the 20 week "anatomy scan" to figure this one out, but it was fun trying to guess in the meantime. I even polled all the mommies I know to estimate an accuracy rate for the Chinese Birth Chart, which is suppose to be over 95% accurate, and it turned out to be only 77% accurate in my circle. Then I polled all of you loyal blog readers to see what your instincts said, and 60% of you guessed Boy, while 40% guessed Girl. Interesting, eh? We didn't feel like we had any intuition one way or the other, and you guys didn't help! And neither did the old wives tales!!

Well, it turns out we didn't have to wait until week 20 to find out Baby Lindsay's gender! Because the doctor has been monitoring a possible cyst or "vanishing twin" (which is fine by the way, still only at 1 cm, and nothing to worry about), we had another sonogram at 16 weeks 3 days, and the technician was able to tell us with obvious certainty...

Baby Lindsay is a BOY and we are having our first SON!
(That's his booty in the photo, with his legs tucked back behind... boy parts obviously in the middle!)

We are so very thrilled! We purchased our first gender-specific baby clothes right after the appointment!! I guess maybe we did have a little intuition, since we both had dreamed that the baby was a boy. Oh, and by the way, we were both able to tell the gender of Baby Lindsay before the technician even said anything! He was only being half-shy... although he was covering his face with his hands the whole time, his legs were wide open! Here are a couple full-body views of Baby Lindsay at 16 weeks 3 days, 2D and 4D (he's come a long way from that gecko-looking baby at 8 weeks, eh?):

Doesn't he look like he's relaxing in a hammock?

And here's our shy little baby boy, hiding his face. Looks like he has a mohawk growing in...

In other appointment news, Baby Lindsay's heartrate was at 153 bpm this week and he is still measuring on schedule. I'm doing well too. I've gained a few pounds (OK, more than a few, but not more than I'm suppose to), but there's no real "baby belly" to show for it yet. I can feel it in there though, so it won't be long! I woke up at 16 weeks 5 days and all of a sudden, WHAM!, there it was! A hard, little, round ball just sitting there below my belly button. So exciting!! Now that I can feel the weight of the uterus and baby, I'm definitely "feeling pregnant"! And I'm feeling good too - much less tired and almost no nausea at all anymore. I'm anxious to start feeling our little lucky charm move "for real". I noticed a few "knockings" (like popcorn popping) at around 12 weeks, which is supposedly way too early to feel anything, especially if it's your first pregnancy. It was probably just gas, though it was REAL low in my abdomen, right where the uterus was at the time. Then, at around 15 weeks, I felt what seemed like 2 "kicks" in a row as I was falling asleep. Honestly, I was cuddling Jay and I swear my belly pooched out and touched his twice. Indigestion just wouldn't do that, would it? I know, impossible to feel kicks that eary, and I was probably dreaming anyway, but it's still fun to think about it... Anytime between now and 22 weeks I should start feeling those "first flutters" (and maybe some soccer kicks) and I promise to blog about it as soon as I do!

We now have an online baby pool going with ExpectNet.com (click on the box in the upper right-hand corner of this page to enter your vote), but lots of you sent us your gender votes before we even asked (although some of you mentioned it after we started that original poll)! To give props where they are earned, those of you who guessed correctly include Taryn, Robyn, John, Amber, Jeremiah, Amy, Kelly C, Dianna, Angela, Giri and Sharmila. But don't worry, even if you guessed the wrong gender, you still have a chance at winning the game - there is still weight, length, and birth date to come, none of which we'll know for 5 months!

On a final note... all you family members out there with baby boy hand-me-downs that you'll never use again, you now know where to send them (if they haven't been consigned yet)!

LITTLE GROWING BELLY

There isn't much to show yet, but I know some of you are curious, so here is my growing belly at 8 weeks (we'll call this the "before" picture, although my belly was much flatter just 2 weeks earlier when we found out I was pregnant, and even though I hadn't gained any weight at this point, my muscles had already relaxed enough that it was difficult to "suck it in"), 14 weeks (not a huge difference), and 16 weeks (I think I've "popped"). After I hit the 16 week mark, I started wearing the maternity pants I had ordered a month earlier, mostly for comfort's sake (I'll wait on the maternity tops until I have a REAL belly to show off)!

GRANDMOTHER'S 93RD!

Happy 93rd Birthday Grandmother!

Here is Finn, waiting patiently for his piece of cake (and grandmother's left-over piece)!

Julia, MacKenzie, Tanner, and Wyatt (being Wyatt): Julia and MacKenzie show off their impeccable balance: Too many cousins on the raft? Nah...

Gerald entertains the boys as the sun is setting (and that pole is for the retrieval of items thrown into the water by Wyatt, an unfortunately common occurrence!):

Group shot (it only took two tries to get everyone looking at the camera this year!)

Fun on the sunset cruise with Stephen, Heather (Jill, in the back), Beverly and Kate, Karen, and Marv. Jay and I had the front row seats!

Thanks for another great weeked Waddells, we can't wait to see you at Christmas!

OUR LITTLE LUCKY CHARM

Dental work over the years to maintain those big smiles: $5000

Digital camera to record the moment: $250

Pregnancy test: $10

Knowing there are really THREE people in this photo: PRICELESS

However, waiting 2 weeks to tell our family and friends was extremely difficult! We found out on July 16th, but wanted to wait until we had our first doctor appointment and ultrasound on July 30th before we shared our good news.

Here is Baby Lindsay at 8 weeks 3 days!

Our little lucky charm is due on March 8, 2009

It was absolutely incredible to see the heart beating (174 bpm) and hear how strong it was already! We cried and laughed through the whole thing, and I think Jay was glad when I finally stopped squeezing his hand like a vice grip (I had been anxiously awaiting that little flicker!) Then came the REALLY fun part - FINALLY telling our parents! The next day we sent overnight packages with a framed ultrasound photo (engraved with "Love Grows Here") and a card that said "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in the baby carriage!" Next, we sent cards to our brothers, then to some of my other family members and a few close friends shortly after. It wasn't long before we started receiving daily phone calls as people started receiving the news! (Sorry that you had to wait Waddell family, but we just couldn't resist telling you all in the same place at the same time at our annual get-together in September!) And if anyone ever doubted Jean's ability to keep a secret, I can tell you that she is a star! Can you imagine having to wait 2 whole months before telling ANYONE in your family that you're going to be a grandma?

So, what kind of reactions did we get?

Jay's mom started out by fussing at the delivery man that her kids would spend so much money on overnight postage just to send her a book (that's what she thought it was at first)! When she got inside and opened the package, she was still confused (we'd addressed the card to "Grandma") and wondered why we had sent Grandmother's birthday gift to her house when we were planning to attend the annual party ourselves. Then, she noticed the wrapping paper... little baby feet stamped in various colors with the words "pitter patter" interspersed. She finally understood and started jumping up and down, barely able to get the paper off. She smiled and laughed at the card, then sat down with the ultrasound and cried. THEN, she called us!

My parents were out to dinner with my grandparents when their package arrived, so they all got to open it together. My mom knew what the card and wrapping paper meant as soon as she saw it! My grandpa said that he had already suspected I was pregnant when I was home 2 weeks before, so he wasn't even surprised! I ended up having to call them (when I couldn't wait any longer) to hear their reactions. They were all just so happy and thankful and overwhelmed!

It took another 3 days for our brothers to find out! The cards had probably arrived on Saturday, but Jamie rarely checks his mail (we finally had to call and ask him to), and David & Taryn had left their mail in the car over the weekend! It was worth the wait though - we must have been on the phone for 2 hours or more talking and making plans for the next 7 months. For anyone who doesn't know by now, I think it's plenty safe for me to say that Taryn & David are also expecting a baby, due on April 2nd! They had found out on July 20th and told most of their families and friends by the following weekend, still a week before we were willing to spill the beans (and let me tell you, it was really hard not to with that news going around)! Needless to say, my mom is in heaven!

That same night, our best friends Robyn & Stephen and John & Betsy found out the news. Betsy called us right away with congratulations! Robyn and Stephen's reaction was pretty funny and unique... They sent me a text message asking me to check my email, and this is what I found waiting in my Inbox:

Robyn told me that as soon as I had pulled out of their driveway after my visit with them 2 weeks earlier, Stephen told her that he thought I was pregnant! She didn't think so though...

Later that week, we talked to my cousin Jamie, my aunt Margie, and our friends Ryan & Amber, and Jenny. Then I told my high school friends Nicole, Michelle, and Jenn. I found out that when my uncle Daryl had returned to Idaho, he told my aunt Margie right away that I was pregnant (remember, I saw a LOT of folks on my trip to California and Oregon, so I had to hold my news in the whole week, and it was HARD)! So, it seems that although I was able to fool all the ladies I visited, 3 of the men figured it out - even though they couldn't convince their wives that it was true! Too funny... and we women think that men aren't intuitive!!

At the end of August and after our 12 week appointment and ultrasound, we spread the news at work (I had already told my boss at the 11 week mark while we were in the field). Sorry some of our other friends had to wait to find out until this point, but we didn't want to risk the news leaking at work before we were ready! Anwyay, we made cupcakes with yellow frosting and green sprinkles for the occasion (we tried to make them in the shape of 4-leaf clovers, in honor of the March due date, but that didn't work out so well), and placed them in holders with little baby feet on them. It was really fun telling everyone why we had baked cupcakes in August (not prime baking season around our office)!

Our 12 week ultrasound was just as a magical as the first. I had been feeling anxious (again) and couldn't wait for the comfort of hearing that strong heartbeat. This time around, it was 167bpm (heart rates start to slow after they peak around weeks 9-10). We watched our little lucky charm do a flip and wave it's hands (both at the same time - one hand waving at mommy and the other waving at daddy, or so we like to think)! Baby Lindsay measured right on schedule, at 12 weeks 3 days. In addition to the regular sonogram, we had a 4D sonogram done (due to potential cysts spotted on the umbilical cord and placenta at the first ultrasound), and we could see how cute Baby Lindsay already is (can you believe how well-defined the baby is by 12 weeks? Amazing!):

In the middle of September, we FINALLY told the rest of Jay's family! We showed up at his grandmother's 93rd birthday weekend wearing our "share the news" shirts. Mine was a tank top that simply said "Due in March" and had a little clover on it. I made Jay a custom shirt with the Lindsay Clan crest and the words "2009 Addition Due in March", and we bought Jean a shirt that said "Grandma to Bee" with a little bumble bee on it. It was so much fun! Here are the 3 of us with our shirts and smiles:

Well, that's our GREAT BIG news! And now EVERYONE knows (everyone who ventures into our blogging world, anyway)!

Please keep Baby Lindsay in your prayers, and we promise to keep you updated with our progress!