Whoaaaaa Momma!!

Ok fine.. so I'll break down and do it.. I might chicken out and take them back down.. but here they are!!! Sigh. ha ha!

I'm 22 weeks tomorrow!! My belly is definately growing!! I'm sure it has nothing to do w/the desserts, fast food, and cheese puffs I'm grown a liking for :D :D

IT'S A.....

GIRL!!!!

We are soooo excited!!! We found out this past Wed and were really shocked! I actually had a "girl" feeling but since males are so dominent in Chadd's family, I had convinced myself it was a boy. We had our sonogram 1st thing Wed morning.. we went into the sonogram room and for about the 1st 30 min or so the tech looked at every part of the baby to make sure she looked good. Everything looked great so she asked if we wanted to know the gender.. of course we do :D Before we knew it "Looks like a girl" comes on the screen. I wish I had a camera of Chadd's face.. it was priceless!! He couldnt believe it.. we were both in tears.. tears of joy!! We both really wanted a girl and were absolutely thrilled to hear the news. After the sonogram, I had an appt w/ the doc, where he went over the sono results with me. He said if he had to give her a grade from her sono results, she would get a 100%!!!! YAH!! That made us even more happy.. to know we have a healthy little baby girl!! We are sooo excited and cant wait to meet her!

Surprise, Surprise!!
Since we went through fertility, the whole pregnancy wasnt much of a surprise to anyone. We didnt get to do the whole, "guess what... we're pregnant" thing. So... we decided we were surprising everyone w/ the gender. When we went to the dr and scheduled our sono appt for 2 wks out, we told everyone it was actually 3 wks out, sneaky sneaky.. hee hee. Prior to our sonogram appt, I bought 2 iron ons: 1 said "baby boy" and the other said "baby girl". After our sonogram appt I went home and iron'd on the "baby girl" to a white tshirt. I then went by my sisters house and surprised her first. She didnt notice it at first.. I actually had to say "Do you notice anything on me??".... then she saw and couldnt believe it. She and my Mom thought for sure I was having a boy!

After work I went by my Dad's house to surprise him and my step-Mom. I walked in and Dad says "baby girl.. ya, you're my baby girl. What?? Are you having a girl?" haaa.. He and Barbara are really excited and cant wait for the arrival of their new baby granddaughter.

I had talked to my Mom earlier in the day and asked if she wanted to have dinner. She lives 45 min from us, so we were worried we wouldnt be able to get her to come. But, since sis just had baby Brenden it wasnt hard convincing her. We both headed Southbound from work and all planned on meeting for dinner. Since I stopped by my Dad's on the way there, I was running a little later than everyone so it was perfect timing. They were all at the table when I walked up... Mom looked at my shirt a bit confused at first "baby girl??? baby girl !!! omg, a little girl!!!! I thought you weren't finding out til next wk??" Thats when we all said "SURPRISE!".. she was really surprised and SO excited we set her up for dinner.

After dinner, we gave Chadd's parents a surprise visit. Chadd had called his Mom beforehand and chatted w/ her a bit to make sure they were home. We walked in and his Mom was on the phone.. we were in the kitchen talking to his Dad but he never noticed.. MEN, ha! I went and sat down in the chair in front of his Mom.. she was on the phone w/ her sister and when she finally noticed what my shirt said, her jaw dropped.. she couldnt believe it!! We all exchanged hugs and kisses and their eyes filled w/ tears. They are really excited for a little girl.. she'll be the 1st girl on that side after Chadd and his brother, and his brother has 2 little boys. She wont be spoiled at all.. :D

All in all, this was one of the most amazing days and I will NEVER EVER EVER forget this day!! We have both agreed that now that we know she's a girl, the bond has just grown fonder and we cannot wait to hold her, kiss her, and love her every day of our lives.

Her name will be ........ Dakota Grace (Grace after my Mommy!!!)

I'm #1 !!! :D

17 weeks..

Ok so I haven't blogged in an awfully long time (over a month) about our little Beeb. I'm 17 wks today (4 months & 1 wk) whoooo hoooooo!!! I cant believe how fast this is going by. So far pregnancy has been a breeze (knock on wood) cause I haven't been sick at all, except the occassional acid reflux/heartburn which the doc gave me some meds for (and boy do they help!). Yes, I'm starting to get a little baby bump, and I'm in maternity clothes. They are OH SO comfortable!

Our little one this week is about 3.5 ounces, 4.4-4.8 inches long, and is about the size of your hand opened wide.. so amazing how fast they grow!!

We had a dr's appt yesterday and there's not much to tell. We listened to the heartbeat, but I bought a doppler so we can listen to the heartbeat anytime we want. We just really talked to the dr, asked ?s, and went over diet (since my darling husband decided to "tell" on me that my diet hasn't been so great). I know how to eat well, and have started eating better this wk. No more fast food for Momma! :o( I've gained 6 pounds through the whole pregnancy, but 5 of that has been this past month.. not good! ha!

BEST NEWS of the whole appt was scheduling our gender sonogram for 3 wks!!!!!!! We are BEYOND excited to find out what baby M is! I am SO ready to decorate and buy stuff for the little one. I can barely stand it anymore! Alot of people are asking me what I "feel" it is.. and I have noooo clue. I always have an opinion for every other preggo, but not for me. Sometimes I feel boy, and sometimes I feel girl.. so who knows. I did a poll and most everyone is saying GIRL. We will be thrilled either way, we just wanna know! :D :D

Will try and update more :D :D Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!!

I heart faces- Wedding Bells

This weeks theme is... Wedding Bells! Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE weddings!! Here's a beautiful bride from the very 1st wedding I shot, as a 3rd shooter. Check out the other pics from other amazing photographers on I heart Faces blog.

I heart faces "Let's hear it for the boys"

In honor of Father's Day, the theme this wk on I heart faces blog is "Let's hear it for the boys". All pics of boys, no girls allowed :D

Here are my entries:

Visit the I heart faces blog to see other great photographers!

San Antonio Fun!

This last weekend we went on a mini-vacation to San Antonio with our GREAT friends Tracy and Eric. My bday was last wkend so it was partly for my bday trip (and Eric's from back in May). We had SO much fun! Friday we started the drive early at 8am (which I cant believe we actually hit the road by 8:15) and stopped at a wildlife park on the way down there! It definately wasnt what I thought, it was kinda lame actually! The burgers and fries we ate at the restaraunt were quite yummy so that made the stop all worth while, ha! The only animal we even ended up getting to feed were the zebras and we could have fed the ostrich but we were kinda scared of it- ha!

We made it into our hotel in San Antonio around 330pm, changed, and headed out to the riverwalk. Our hotel was brand new and right on the riverwalk and was SUPER nice.. the Grand Hyatt in case anyone is heading to San Anton. It was about 100 degrees so it was really really hot but it was nice walking around and seeing everything. We went to the Alamo and I had a really yummy sno cone which was another highlight of my day (ha!). We hung out at Dick's for a couple drinks (virgin Pina Colada for me!) and then had dinner right along the riverwalk.. it was SO nice! Please excuse my messy and no makeup look.. the heat wiped my makeup off after being outside for oh, about 1 minute!

Sat morning we woke up early again and headed to SEA WORLD! OMG, 103 degrees outside! It was definately HOT and we had a TON of walking to do.. but let me tell ya, I was a TROOPER!! We headed to ALL the shows and just made sure to stay in the shaded areas and drank water all day long, to stay hydrated. At the end of the day my feet hurt a little, but after a great shower at the hotel and a little nap, I felt GREAT! All 6 hours at Sea World was WELL worth it!! We had a BLAST! We stayed at a hotel right by Sea World that night.. it was a Comfort Inn but was also brand new and was really nice.. had a great breakfast in the morning too for those of you looking for a cheap, fun vacation. We ended the night with some YUMMY food at TGI Fridays, which I have missed since they shut them down around where I live :o( Notice how my days revolve around food?! hahaha!

These were about the only pics we got from that day. It was WAY too hot and sticky to take many pics.. and yes, our husbands are holding hands!! They thought they were hilarious!!!! You should have seen the looks they were getting !

Sunday we got up and headed home. We stopped along the way at a snake farm so Eric could get a t-shirt (if you know him, you know this is SO him!), then we stopped off at the outlet mall in Round Rock (which I had WAY too much fun in the Coach store!!!), and then met our GREAT friends who live in Austin for lunch at my ALL-TIME fav Chuy's. Their little one is SO adorable!! He just turned one!

Kam & Uncle Chadd!! What a GREAT ending to a GREAT vacation!!! Great times w/ the Gacy's as always!! I cant wait for our next trip together.. they are our FAVORITE vacation partners!! Next time we'll prob have a little one w/ us ! :D :D

Well Poo...

Ok so someone just made me aware that I'm actually NOT in my 2nd trimester yet :( The 2nd trimester begins AFTER the 12th wk. Trimesters are:

1- conception to 12 wks
2- 13 wks to 28 wks
3- 29 wks until birth

So I guess I got a little ahead of myself ! Oh well, I'm still excited for hearing the heartbeat tomorrow!

AND SOME GOOD NEWS!!! My best friend Staci just gave birth to a healthy baby girl at 1:37pm today. I dont have the measurements yet, but will update as soon as I have them. I cant wait to get off work and go see that precious baby girl and take some pics of her. This is her 3rd and she was scheduled for an induction today so we were all just waiting to hear the news! SO EXCITING!! I'll post pics of her tomorrow too! Hope everyone has a great evening!

12 wks today- YAH YAH YAH!!

Happy dance!! I'm sooo excited!! I'm now in my 2nd trimester!! Not only am I 1 step closer to being a MOMMY but it's said the 2nd trimester is much easier, you get alot of your energy back, and I should start showing more. Right now I just feel like a bloated chubby girl. I still haven't taken any pics of my belly, which I'm now kinda depressed about. I wish I would have taken pics of my tummy when I 1st found out so I could see the progression. Oh well.. I'm gonna start 2night, I promise!! If they dont turn out too bad, I'll post them tomorrow! We'll see :D

My baby is now almost 2.5 inches long and will weigh between 8-14 grams. She/he has more than doubled in the past 3 wks! The most dramatic developement this week: reflexes. Baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, the little toes will curl, the eyes will clench, and the mouth will make sucking movements. The eyes have now moved from the side of the head to the front, and the ears are now right where they should be. It is finally developing to look like a normal little baby.

We go in tomorrow to hear the heartbeat on the doppler and I'm really excited!! I'm also a little nervous cause I've heard stories of ppl going in and there not being a heartbeat. Staying positive though cause I know little baby M will be GREAT and this is going to be the MOST amazing birthday present ever! Hope everyone has a very blessed day!

I heart faces "Happy Birthday"

It's been a while since I've entered the I heart faces contest. I have been crazy busy!! Here are my entries:

Make sure and check out I heart faces here to see other great photographers!!

This is my sweet princess neice on her 5th birthday. She had a dress up princess party.. she is wearing her crown as the birthday girl!!

Here's my baby girl, Piper!!

Ooops...

I didnt realize it has been so long since I've blogged. I've been keeping up w/ reading everyone else's but haven't kept up w/ posting my own, ha! I turned 11 wks this past Thurs. We go in for an appt this Friday, which is also my bday, to hear the heartbeat w/ the doppler. We heard the heartbeat w/ the sonogram but doc couldnt hear it w/ the doppler at my 1st appt w/ him. It'll be a quick appt and will be such an amazing bday gift!

Baby is now the size of a large lime.. he/she has grown SO much and will grow 3 times its size in the next 2 wks! Its soo amazing! I'm still not feeling pregnant, other than the occasional heartburn and acid reflux. I got clearance from the doc to take Zantac and that and tums seems to be helping ALOT. I started having lower back pain this morn, which kinda worried me caucse I haven't had that yet. I called and the nurse assured me that as long as there is no spotting it is just muscular and is normal. I went and bought a pillow for my chair at work and Chadd is getting me a heating pad. I took some tylenol and that seemed to work great too!!

It's been crazy the past couple months for me.. I have been working SO much with weddings and doing photography. I just bought my 1st big purchase since I got my camera!! I got a new Canon L series lens!! YAH YAH YAH!!! I'm soooo excited and I cant wait to use it.

Hope everyone is going well and I'll try and update my blog more! :D Love to all ! xoxo