Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice...

Well, life has been unbelievably crazy the past few weeks, but thankfully I would say it's all good!

For starters, I spent 5 days in Baltimore for the ABA conference for work. It went wonderfully, but man was I exhausted when it was all done!! And you would think that having a nice king sized bed all to myself without Scott hogging the covers, pushing me off the bed, or Hailey waking me up in the middle of the night, or licking my ear like she's going to eat my brains at 8 am would mean that I would sleep like a baby, right? Guess again. I slept like total crap. I must be a glutten for punishment. Though, I have a feeling Scott wasn't too lonely in bed:

And man had Hailey put on some weight when I got home! Then again, Scott said I got bigger too. Hahaha. Amazing what happens when you leave for a few days!

While I was there, I started to feel our little one move A LOT more though, and even during the day when I'm acitve, not just when I was sitting down or laying in bed. And by the activity level, I would have to think baby is training for the Olympics!

Once I got back, I was home for about 48 hours before getting back on the road to spend a "Girls Weekend" with Scott's mom Mary-Lou and her family. Everyone was so wonderful, and I finally had everyone's names down by the end of the weekend! I did have some beginners luck too at winning a few games of Nickels with the ladies, but the group Wii activities really kicked my butt, or more like my arms! I was still hurting 3 days later! hahaha. The pictures were totally worth it though!

Scott and I also want to thank Mary-Lou from the bottom of our hearts for buying us our travel system so our little one has a comfy and safe way to travel. It is a beautiful and very well made set that I am sure will last us not only through this baby, but any future ones we have! Thank you Mary-Lou!!!

So other things going on include that Scott (being the amazing man and baby daddy he is!) put a contract down on a townhouse for us! It will be a welcome upgrade with 3 stories, 3 bedrooms, a nice garage for Scott, a big kitchen for me, and a nice sized yard for the Hailey and Dolce, and of course baby! :-) I am so over the moon happy that we will have a dedicated nursery for the baby as well as a good guest room for family and friends that want to come visit. We should be able to close on the house quickly, and be in by the time our lease here is up on July 1st. The only major thing the house will need right away is for us to fence in the back yard, and a couple coats of paint to help make it ours. :-) We have some ideas for upgrades later, but it is pretty much move-in ready which will be a huge blessing for us as I get bigger! I will try and post more pictures soon!

 We had our latest midwife appointment this last friday. (Yes, I am intentionally keeping you all in suspense!) I have gained about 10 lbs already and they are happy with the weight gain saying it's right on track with where they want me to be. Here is the latest belly pictures:

Hmmm... from the front I still look pretty darn skinny!

From the side, definitely Preggers looking!!

And, Drumroll (I know, I am mean making you read this whole blog post just to find out if it's a girl or boy...)

As the Ultrasound Tech said... There's the LIPS!

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

I am pleased to introduce everyone to the little miss Ellaina Nicolle Drugo! The midwife said she is developing beautifully and is perfectly healthy. She is about 12oz right now, right on target, and we got to see all the chambers of her little heart beating, and the hemispheres of her growing brain. She still looks a bit like an alien, which they said is normal until they get more body fat which develops the facial features, but she is beautiful to us! She is soooo very active and was such a good girl during the ultrasound letting us get to see all of her little parts.

And to celebrate, I had to get her a little outfit. :-)

We know our little girl is going to be surrounded by sooo much love, and I'm sure she will have her daddy wrapped around her little fingers in no time! :-) Halfway to getting to meet her in person! Till then, I will have to settle for her pounding on me from the inside. She is getting strong enough that I think Scott should be able to feel her soon also. Thank you all so so very much for all of your support and love. It means so very much to Scott and I to know the world of love our little Ellaina will be coming into!!

We hope all is well with all of you! Love you!

Nic

A Grown Man Cries & Lastest Check Up

I feel better that I'm not the only one getting the "weepies" with this pregnancy, and that small things can trigger the weepies for a grown man as much as it can for me. Last week while Scott and I were at Ollie's, I came across a little board-book called "I'll love you no matter what" and decided to grab it for the baby. Upon giving it to my big strong man, I hear "uh, I need to go check something." Thinking that maybe he forgot something in a different aisle, etc. I asked him what he forgot, and when I look up at him, I see the glassy eyes filling with tears. :-) Yes, my grown man "just thought about the fact that I will have a child to read books to" and became a bit overcome with emotion. It was absolutely one of the sweetest things I have ever seen, and it was so wonderful to know that this is something that makes him so happy also. :-D

Friday was our most recent midwife appointment, and so far we have seen 3 of the 6 midwives at the office. 2 of the three I have really liked, but one I thought could jump out a window. Hahaha. Baby had a good strong heartbeat, and we were able to find it right away with the doppler. We discussed induction and my strong resistance to the use of potocin if at all possible. The midwife said that everything sounded great with the baby and that we are able to have our next ultrasound right at 20 weeks, which is just under 3 weeks from now, and that will be when we can find out gender. Our next appointment is Friday the 22nd, and hopefully we will be able to find out if we will be having a little boy or a little girl then!!! :-)

Other than that, Hailey is almost completely house trained! YAY! Scott was at drill this weekend, so I relaxed since the next couple of weeks are going to be kind of nuts for me. Next week I have the final prep for a big conference at work, and then from Saturday through Wednesday I will be in Baltimore to work the booth for the conference. I will definitely be good and tuckered out by the time I get back!

Hope all is well for all of you!

Nic