gender reveal session!

i knew when we started planning the gender reveal party i wanted great photos captured of the moment! i went back and forth about what, how, and who would help take pictures. i did not want natalie or our parents to feel obligated to take pictures and not be able to enjoy the reveal. 

finally, we came across jordan!  she is a friend of ours at church and had taken their engagement photos!  i loved them and thought she would be perfect for our day! and luckily, she was available the weekend we needed her!  

i got the cd of the photographs in the mail today and was excited to share them with you!!

                                           

thank you again jordan maunder!!

half way there...boom!

woo hoo! its the half way mark, 20 weeks!  (11.7.12)

I can hardly believe we are 5 months pregnant! these last 20 weeks will fly by. the time we've all been waiting for finally came....the gender reveal ultrasound!  Matt and I were so excited to go to our appointment and get to see our little one on the screen!  we were amazed at the changes that had taken place from our last ultrasound at 9 weeks.  what a miracle GOD has given us!  our little baby had all the right body parts, everything measured correctly and baby was sleeping soundly :)  the heart rate was around 138 this time which threw me off in my guess of gender. until now the heart rate had been around 150-160's!
I told the ultrasound tech before we started that we did not want to find out the gender at the appointment! I asked her if she would not mind writing it down in a sealed envelope so that we could reveal the gender with our families! of course, she did not mind and said that many couples ask for the same thing!  she spent about 45min taking pictures of various body parts then it came time for the gender!  matt and i closed our eyes for what seemed like forever. i could hear the pictures printing out and i resisted the urge to peek :)
once she was done she handed us a few u/s photos of our little ones face and arms! how fun to see baby before it is even born!  we took the sealed envelope home along with a cd of the ultrasound and promised each other not to cheat!
I knew I wanted to surprise our family and friends in a fun way we would all enjoy and remember instead of just calling everyone on the phone. I came up with another pinterest idea to reveal the gender with a box of balloons. I got Natalie to help me and decided to let her be the only one who knew the gender ahead of time, which was a super fun secret for her to have!
She came over that afternoon after our appointment and the envelope was passed along to her!  not five minutes after she left the house she texted me that she had opened it and was beyond excited for matt and I to find out!  we planned and invited our family over for breakfast saturday morning and told them we would reveal the gender after eating!  i didn't realize how many people did not know matt and i were unaware of the gender as well until they all arrived :)  Saturday morning Natalie went and got balloons and then stuffed the box in secret and taped it shut!

at the brunch we had guest put $1 in the pot and place their guess on the gender/date/weigh/time!
and before the reveal we all picked our lips or mustache for girl or boy!
here are a few photos from the gender reveal party!
(we had a friend of a friend come and take photos for us so I will post more once I get copies from her :))

then it was time to go outside and open the box to finally see if we were having a baby girl or a baby boy!

ITS A BOY!!! matt and i both guessed boy and you can kinda see us holding our mustaches in the photo! we were beyond excited to find out we will be expecting a little handsome man!  now i have a house full of boys!  boy husband, boy dog and now boy baby!!


finally, the 20 wk photo!!

our next doctor's appt is 2 weeks away!

halloween (19 wks)

hope everyone had a wonderful halloween!  here are a few pics of skeleton baby brooks :)  

i luckily got off work early on halloween and got to see davis and eliza dressed up!!

(the shirt is curtsey of one of my favorite websites, etsy.com!

i could be on there for hours looking around)

baby is 19 weeks now! wow, this is flying by! next week we will be halfway to our due date!
and the exciting new thing is I'm starting to feel baby move!  it is such a surreal feeling. to know that there is really a little human growing inside me. i have to lay still and relaxed to feel some movement but it is so awesome! i cant wait to feel it stronger and for matt to be able to feel the baby!

one more week and we find out what gender our precious little one is!  as long as baby is healthy we don't have a preference :)  I'm looking forward to sharing that news with you!

in other news, matt and i are still looking for a new house. we have found one we really like!!  its exciting to come across a house we love after looking at so many! so pray with us everything works out and we can have a new home to bring little baby to!!

how far along?  19 wks 1 day

baby milestones: (according to thebump.com) baby is size of a mango, weighing in at about 8.5 ounces and 6 inches long! baby is working on all five senses and hair is starting to sprout!

total weight gain? about 5 lbs (well, at least at my last appt check)

maternity clothes? yes! i lucked up with some clothes from a friend but i've bought a few pieces of my own.  i can still fit into most of my regular clothes with help from the belly band! (which is awesome)

stretch marks? nope :) still lathering up in various stretch mark prevention lotions :)

sleep:  sleeping much better now! around 16 weeks i was not sleeping well at all, tossing and turing all night and keeping matt up. then my sweet mom bought me a maternity body pillow and all has been well since!

best moment this week: realizing im almost halfway there and feeling some movement!

miss anything? a nice glass of wine, especially with the holidays coming up! and laying flat on my back

sick/queasy?  nope!  its been smooth sailing!

showing yet?  yep! but not as much as i thought i'd be by this time. im sure that will change soon ;)

gender?  eek! leaning towards boy..

belly button? in

rings? still fit, no swelling!

looking forward to: 20wk ultrasound, shopping, nursery planning..