Our little blessing!

We can now pray for our baby by name.  Meet Raleigh Kate! 

We found out at my 18-week appointment on Feb. 9.  

We could not be any happier about having a girl!  

I'm 19 weeks today and feeling great! I have been lucky to have not gotten sick at all, with the exception of one night a couple of weeks ago, but I don't think that was prego-related.  My worst symptoms have been a lingering headache (toward the end of the first trimester) and random breakouts on my chin and under my nose.  I haven't had either of those in the past few weeks.  I am so grateful!  Besides a few weeks of fatigue in the first trimester where I wanted to do nothing but sit on my butt, I have been trying to keep up with my muscle pump class and get some cardio in at least twice a week.  

Here are some quick notes and belly pictures if you're interested

     

                                                    

                                                             15 weeks 

17 weeks, 2 days
(at the bowling alley!)

18 weeks, 4 days
(Going out for Valentine's dinner!)

How far along? 19 weeks

Total weight gain: 6 lbs

Maternity clothes? Loving some maternity pants, but still trying to wear my normal work clothes and tops.  My favorite jeans just started being too uncomfortable to wear last week.  I think my butt is getting bigger!  What? Baby's NOT in my butt!  

Stretch marks? None (yet)... using Mustela cream every other night.  

Sleep:  I think my body wakes me up a few times during the night to get me off my back.  But, I haven't had to get up to pee like so many people told me would happen.  Sleep is good!  

Best moment this week: Finding out she's a girl and sharing the news with family and friends!
Miss Anything? WINE... watching the Bachelor does not help.  

Movement: She was moving like crazy during the ultrasound!  She kept grabbing her feet and then playing with her tiny hands.  I think I've felt her a little bit, but I haven't convinced myself that it's not other kinds of bubbles if you know what I mean. Ha! 

Food cravings: Subway - turkey sandwich w/pickles, jalapenos, and mustard; pineapple - which I haven't been able to give in to 

Anything making you queasy or sick: not really, but I don't like to look at or smell raw meat (but I was like that pre-pregnancy, too!) 

Gender: Girl!

Labor Signs: I'm not even halfway to that point yet. 

Symptoms: Heartburn!  Staying away from any triggers after experiencing a full day/night of heartburn on Monday.  I never knew it could be so bad! 

Belly Button in or out? In - I wonder if it will pop out, it's pretty deep! Haha

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Ray would say moody... actually, his words were "like a pendulum." Haha... I'm happy most of the time, but the house not being perfectly clean really brings out the worst in me! 

Looking forward to: Really feeling her move!

Fun with Friends!

I wish we lived closer to our good friends, but at least they are all within a reasonable drive!  It's so nice to catch up.  I just wish "goodbye" didn't mean "see you in a few months, hopefully!"

RBC Center for the NC State/Virginia game on 1/28.  (We lost by a point!)

We decided to go to Raleigh for our anniversary weekend.  We stayed with Adam & Faith and ate at some of our favorite places... the Farmer's Market with Amy & Brent for lunch on Saturday and Amedeo's for dinner before the game.  On our way out Sunday, we ate lunch with David A.  

Adam "Pook" (Ray's best man) and Faith are also expecting... due just two weeks after our girl!
We had such a fun weekend talking all things pregnancy.  Really wish we lived closer so we could experience it all together! 

Group shot... smiling even after the loss! 

This is the only picture I took while we were with Amy and Brent at the FM--with my phone.  

My next catch-up with friends was the following weekend in Charlotte.  I surprised Jane for her birthday celebration at the bowling alley on Friday night.  It was so much fun to hang out with some of my best friends!

Me with the birthday girl!

                                

                                            Courtney got engaged in January. Here's her gorgeous, sparkly rock!

All the party people! 

On Saturday, I had planned to stay in town for the morning to run a few errands.  But, I found out Friday night that this girl was going to be in town!  I got to catch up with Jennifer for a little bit on Saturday afternoon.  

What would I do without my dad?  He makes everything better! I had to get my complimentary car check-up on Saturday morning at 7:45 a.m.  (Yeah, I made that appointment before I put any thought into it!)  He came with me to the dealership, mainly because we dropped my mom's car off to get the tires fixed and he needed a ride.  But, no matter what the reason, he made the time go by much faster.  And later that day, he took me maternity clothes shopping... he is the best!

Little Guy on the way!

Ray and I found out on October 30th that I was pregnant.  Since I had just gone off the pill at the end of September, I had been taking a HPT every weekend in October to make sure it was safe to drink...after all, we had a UT tailgate one weekend and a NASCAR race another weekend!  Well, the last weekend in October, I took about 5 tests before I could convince myself that there were two pink lines.  We still didn't want to get too excited until we had the doctor's confirmation.  We went for the first ultrasound on December 1st and we got to see that, indeed, we had a baby on the way!  We were thrilled!  That night, we took our "Little Guy" to his/her first concert.

So little!

We're gonna be parents!!
(Justin Moore @ Western Carolina)

We decided we would wait a while before telling anyone so it could be our special time.  We ended up (unexpectedly) telling my parents when they took us out to dinner because my mom asked if I was pregnant.  She asked because I wasn't drinking any wine at dinner.  Haha!  Naturally, we wanted to tell Ray's parents soon after, so we made a special trip to Knoxville to share the news.  We waited until Christmas with family to tell my sisters and a week later to tell friends.  This is such an exciting time and we feel extremely blessed to have so many people supporting us!

Here are the first few belly shots...  let's see how long I can keep wearing my jeans! ;)

12 Weeks

13 Weeks

14 Weeks

Snow on January 3rd

I forgot to add the pictures of the first snow of this Winter.  I had to go in for an optional Teacher Work Day (school was cancelled for a day), but Ray was off and took Fancy out to play.  He snapped these photos.

Front yard

Delayed update!

I am the worst at keeping up with a blog.  Maybe I'll do better now that our secret is out!  I plan on posting weekly pregnancy updates.  Let me catch you up real quick...

Getting a real Christmas tree was a must for our first Christmas in the house!
 

Hung the family stockings: Fancy, Kimberly, Ray, and Tink! 

Decorated the tree and then...
it fell to the hardwood floor  on its own at 2:00 in the morning.
Shattered some of our favorite ornaments.
Bought a new (bigger) tree stand and had to redecorate.
Lesson learned!

Ray's high school played in the 4AA State Championship game.
(Garner vs. Page @ Wake Forest)
Sadly, Garner lost.
Scotty McCreery was there with the Blue Crew.

While we celebrated Christmas in Greenville (on Ashley's birthday),
I gave her a birthday card from "Little Guy."
She and all the sisters were surprised and happy! 

Excitement all around.
Glad the secret is finally out! 

We finally got to go to my parents' house for Christmas Eve.
It was a blessing to be able to attend the Candlelight Service,
hang stockings with the family and wake up there on Christmas morning.

Amy and Brent got engaged on Dec. 21st.
He took her to Birmingham, Alabama to celebrate
with his family on Christmas Day.

Daphne, Randy, and Casey came to our house on Christmas Day.
We opened presents, relaxed and then...

We ate at Ichiban Japanese Steakhouse for dinner.
A fun first! 

NC State played in the Belk Bowl on Dec. 27.
The little Guy's first tailgate and NCSU Football game! 

We beat Louisville!
Thanks to my parents for the awesome seats!

If it's State football or a NASCAR race,
we get to spend some time with Kim.

  

Ray got to catch up with an old friend, Brian M.
He drove from Wilson to watch his team lose!

I got to see one of my old best friends, too.
So happy to catch up with Laura!

Thanksgiving!

I spent Thanksgiving day at Jane and David's house in Greenville.  Enjoyed seeing all the sisters, my grandfather, and most of my mom's side of the family.  Unfortunately, Ray had to use that time to sleep to be prepared for the Black Friday retail madness!

I'm holding baby L, Courtney's got little E! (Ashley's little ones)

Little did we know, Anna would be delivering a healthy baby girl in less than 24 hours! 

Amy, Ashley, Daddy, Anna and Courtney

Little E loved my cookies! 

The big brother, Little W!

Pretty W! 

Ray Ray and W

Cheraw

We wanted to relax and enjoy Ray's last true weekend off until January, so we spent Friday and Saturday night at my parents' house and went down to Cheraw on Saturday.  It was just what we needed! Fancy had a great time, too.