Mark your calendars!!

Things haven't slowed down here one bit, but that's ok with us...we loved the busy, fast-paced life!  We had a great time with my family in Athens & with my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew for a visit in early September.  Then we loved having Matthew's family here for a visit two weekends ago.  We were supposed to use last weekend to rest, but instead, we stayed busy preparing for our Colorado trip and visiting Babies-R-Us to obsess about strollers (it's Matthew's thing...he wants the baby to have great wheels!).

I had another appointment today.  Matthew couldn't make it, but it was a quick appointment, so he didn't miss much!  The doctor told me that all my test results from the previous appointment came back looking great, I heard the baby's heartbeat (which never ceases to be amazing!), and I got a flu shot (which still hurts).  And MARK YOUR CALENDARS...We will be finding out if it's a Baby Boy Powell or a Baby Girl Powell on October 27th.  Matthew won't miss that appointment!!  And we will be able to get another picture to post and maybe even a video.

I can hardly believe that we hit the 4 month mark yesterday!  I have been feeling much better.  I'm still struggling with sleep (it was one of my very first pregnancy symptoms!) because I have a hard time getting comfortable, so I'm tired quite a bit.  Otherwise, I feel great...I've been STARVING lately.  I need lots of snacks and one of my favorites is cottage cheese.  I've also been craving sweets...which is very strange for me since I'm not a dessert person.   We've also been eating alot of pastas and meals with rice, since those sound great to me, too.  Chipotle, salads, and Arnold Palmers still rock my world!!  I have only gained 7 pounds (according to the doctor), and none of it in the last month.  I couldn't believe it because in the last two weeks, I've noticed a belly and most of my pants fit too tight around the midsection!  I was a little worried about the lack of weight gain, but the doctor's not worried and says I'm still on track.  I'm sure I'll make up for it before too long!

Matthew took some pictures of me today with my new belly.  I swore I wouldn't do this, but I'm doing it anyway!  Below are my 16 week "belly" photos.  (clothes courtesy of Madeline!!   -Thanks, Sister!)

 

Look how big! :-)  Matthew wants to see what I'll look like in a few months.

  

Placenta brain...that's all I can say!

Baby's close-up.

Can't believe it's me...and a BABY!!

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers!  We're leaving on Saturday for our Colorado trip.  We're very excited about spending some time by ourselves without work/laundry/stress.  The weather should be fabulous and I think we will have a blast.  I'll post pictures when we get back!

Love you all!!

Courtney

Welcome to our little world!

As your probably already know, Matthew and I are expecting a new addition to our family sometime around March 15, 2011.  The journey here hasn't been easy...we've been through ALOT in our first 4 years of marriage, but we are both very excited about this new change.  I've had my moments of pure panic (maybe it's hormonal!), but I love, love, love seeing how excited and happy Matthew is and it helps to make me feel at ease again.

We recently had a big ultrasound and I've posted the picture below.  Turns out, I got the time for the appointment messed up in my mind, and I was really late (my sister calls it "placenta brain"), so I ran up to the office while Matthew parked the car.  I was still reeling from being late when they started the ultrasound and then Matthew walked into the room and his face lit up when he saw the baby.  I finally got a look at our precious little gift and suddenly felt so much better!  It's hard to wait so long between ultrasounds because we love looking in on our babe.

We are officially in the 2nd trimester now.  I had a very easy 1st trimester.  I felt very tired and a little nauseous, but not bad at all.  I feel a little better now, but still a little on the tired side.  I don't "feel" pregnant all the time.  I still fit into most of my clothes, but I am noticing a bit of a belly...I'm SURE I'll feel plenty pregnant soon, but it's hard to believe we're having a baby when I don't feel pregnant all the time.

My cravings so far have been Arnold Palmers, soups, salads, and Chipotle.  The only aversions I have are mushrooms and garbanzo beans.  Matthew has been great about food...When I don't feel like cooking or when nothing we have in the house sounds good, he will get back in his car (after being at work all day and driving home) and go get me anything I want.

Everyone keeps asking me when we are going to find out if it's a baby boy Powell or a baby girl Powell.  I believe it will be sometime around the end of October or the beginning of November.  We're currently taking votes on what the gender will be...So far it's 2 for girl and 1 for boy (Matthew and I aren't voting!)

We're super busy for the month of September and then we are taking a vacation/2nd honeymoon/babymoon to Colorado in October.  We are looking forward to the trip because we haven't been on a vacation with just the two of us since our honeymoon 4 years ago...and we'd better do it now because it will be awhile before we will be able to do anything like it again!

It is my plan to use this blog to keep everyone updated and post pictures of our family.  Thank you so much for all of your thoughts, support, and prayers!

Our little kumquat!