Our Little Boy

In case anyone's interested (yes, I know you ALL are!!), we've decided on a name for our little boy.


It took us a while to come to an agreement because I can be pretty stubborn sometimes. I had my heart set on a few names and it took some work to actually move away from them since Robert wasn't as thrilled about them. I really wanted saint or pope names or names from the Bible. I have this thing about wanting a name with strong meaning instead of just "something I liked the sound of". For those of you who don't know, Benedict and Alexander are/were both popes.

I'm getting so anxious to meet him, now! I can't believe I still have five full months to go!

Prenatal Exam - Ultrasound

We had our ultrasound today. It's a boy!!! The heartbeat was right at 150 bpm again. Everything looked great (to me). I could tell all the little parts before she even pointed them out. He didn't want to show us his face, but we finally got a glimpse of it (as you can see below)! He was moving his arms around while we were watching. So sweet!



We went out and bought a couple outfits afterward. I've been waiting to do that for a while now since you can't get anything "gender neutral" besides sleepers. The light blue with the helicopter I bought as a 'coming home from the hospital' outfit and the other one is spaceships - just thought it was cute.

Meeting, Class & Gifts

I went to my first La Leche League meeting on Thursday. It was very informative and I enjoyed getting out of the house and meeting new people. They have meetings every month on diffferent topics, so I will most likely be attending regularly.

Today, I went to a free Budgeting for Baby class. I don't feel like I learned anything new because the woman never talked about children "affecting" your budget except to say that they would probably add $50 per month to the clothing budget. Other than that, everything was just "fill out this budget sheet and see if you have a surplus/deficit". Anyway, it was nice, even if not informative. And I got some lovely free gifts too!!!

Prenatal Exam - 17 weeks

I had another appointment Wednesday. All of my worrying about weight gain and here, when I step on the scale at the office, I'm up 4.4 lbs since my last visit! ~If you don't know, I was worried that I wasn't gaining any weight and even losing some at one point between my last appointment and this one. But I weigh myself every day (hoping to see the scale change) so that probably contributes to my worrying!

I heard the heartbeat again this visit. The midwife said the heart rate was in the 150s. And by the way, I looked it up, the old wives' tale about heart rate predicting gender is completely false. There's no correlation. (Bummer, though, I was looking forward to using that info!)

I measured at 16 cm, which the midwife said you normally measure at your week (ex. 17 cm for 17 weeks) but +-1 is still normal. So even though I don't think I'm showing, I can still wear my pre-pregnancy jeans at four months, and I have a tilted uterus -- I'm still normal!! lol

I haven't bought any maternity clothes yet (but I have two shirts that my mom bought for me) because I can still fit into everything so far.

We have our ultrasound (the only one) next Friday, January 22nd. Hopefully, baby will give us a good position so we can find out whether it's a boy or girl! Pray that Robert can take off from work so that he doesn't miss this!

Cleaning and Other Things

Well, I have been cleaning up a storm! I won't list all of the items I've accomplished since I started on Monday, but I've been B-U-S-Y!!! And I still have quite a bit to do. Hopefully, I will get the whole house finished by Thursday or Friday, then I can relax over the weekend and start my daily chores on Monday.

I'm feeling so much better about this house and about myself since I started cleaning. I think the exercise I'm getting along with the accomplishment of achieving my goal is really helping me.

I've also finished reading one book (a "small" portion of my goal for the year). I can't wait to get my other two breastfeeding books in the mail so I can get started on those.

And just for fun, a picture of the "new edition" to our family. He's still outside until he gets all his shots and gets neutered. He started his first round today and goes back in two weeks for his booster and rabies vaccine. His name is Snowflake and he loves to cuddle. Such a sweet boy!

Goals for 2010

I have a lot I need to work on this year. I may add, subtract or otherwise modify these as the year progresses, but I'm going to re-post this at the beginning of every month with my progress!

Parenting:
** Finish/read all baby books on my list (currently 14 on the list)
** Stick with my current "goals" for labor and delivery
** Inform myself as much as possible about drug-free labors
** Sign up/take all free baby classes offered
** Remember to take vitamins EVERY day
** Stick with the budget when it comes to buying

Homemaking:
** Get back into menu planning and cooking our meals (instead of eating out)
** "Deep clean" the whole house while Robert's gone
** (then) Get back into following my daily chore list
** Go through all magazines (tear out articles I want & recycle the rest)
** When the "nesting" comes - make sure I take criticism and suggestion from Robert well!!!

Spiritual:
** Try to focus my mind more toward God in my daily activities instead of just on Sunday
** Set a prayer time (even if it's just once per week)
** Start reading the Bible (again...)

Personal:
** Finish scrapbook pages
** Finish Robert's uniforms (so we can donate them)
** STICK TO THE BUDGET