Merry Christmas!

21 Weeks (Please excuse the confederate flag...blech.)

Merry Christmas from SC! It is amazing how different this Christmas is for us. We've spent too many Christmases being sad and this year we can truly celebrate! Even though it is a joyful time of year, we've had a tinge of sadness for the last 4 years, thinking about what we've lost and what should have been. Now, we look forward to next year and the joy of sharing our first Christmas as a family of 3. I hope everyone has a joyful holiday!

Half-Baked!

I can't believe I am halfway through my pregnancy! I am so blessed and amazed to have made it this far. I've been so fortunate to have a great 4.5 months and I hope the second half goes just as well!

19 weeks. I love this photo!

20 weeks.

Our Big Ultrasound!

Today was an amazing day. Mr. C. and I got to see our baby for the first time since our 8 week u/s. Wow, how things have changed! We have a beautiful baby who's organs and body parts are measuring perfectly! Everything is intact and as it should be at this point. We stayed strong and did not find out the gender. The ultrasound tech could clearly tell what it is, so we do know that we have one or the other!!

Actually, the baby looks so good that the OB's office asked me to come back on Friday so that they could train their new u/s tech by looking at my baby! They'll do another anatomy scan and for my time, they're going to throw in a 3D u/s. Fun! Here are some photos from this morning:

Beautiful profile!

Baby was flipping all around during our scan!

Five fingers waving hello!

Baby foot.

Sitting cross-legged. (Knobby knees to the right, crossed feet to the left.)

Giving us a thumbs-up to let us know everything is okay!

18.5 weeks update

I've been a slack blogger! Things have been going well...I'm feeling great and have lots of energy. I've been feeling the baby move fairly often and I love it! It is the most incredible feeling. I had a heartbeat check a few days ago and it was beating away strong and loud!

Our big ultrasound is a week from today. I'm so excited but very nervous, as well. Mr. C. and I are sticking to our decision not to find out the gender. I'd LOVE to know but he feels like since nothing about this process has been a surprise, it would be nice to have one unknown thing. I think it will be an amazing moment when he announces, "It's a ____!" to everyone. We have two names picked out and a gender neutral nursery, so we're set for a boy or a girl.

Here are some photos from this week:

18 weeks belly shot.

I couldn't resist buying this precious onsie!

I found this cute ornament at the Holiday Market...perfect for our tree this year!