So much to catch up on!

OK, so I've been terrible at updating this lately! I apologize. With us buying a house and moving up north of Denver, it's been a little crazy around here. I'll try to post a few pictures of our last couple of months so you can all see a bit of our lives recently:

First off, we managed to squeeze in a trip to the lake with friends during October, before things got too hectic. It will probably be our last trip :( until the new addition is here since I don't want to get stranded up there in bad weather and go into labor. Here is the baby belly at the lake! (28 weeks)

After that we closed on our new house on Halloween. That's when chaos ensued! :) I may have overdone it a bit by being on my feet too much, but I can't stand having boxes everywhere. However, we managed to get settled fairly quickly and are just trying to finish up some final boxes and get to work on the baby's room. So far, the crib is set up but we have yet to purchase the rest of the furniture. We will get there eventually...

Here are some photos of the new house:

On to baby news, all seems well so far. Baby is growing well and is an incredible kicker. My ribs are taking a beating! My mom says it's payback because I did the same to her, so I guess that means he's a smart kid. :) The baby shower was held last weekend by Mike's sister Laney and her husband Joel. It was a great time just getting together with our friends and families and I couldn't have asked for a better shower. My stepmom Deb and aunt Roxanne flew in for the event and my best friend Heather and her daughter made the long drive as well. It was a great time!! I will have to post some pictures soon! Here is the current belly photo, at 34 weeks:

Baby Bump @ 25 weeks

Getting bigger and bigger every day, it seems! I find it surprising that some people still can't tell (or don't want to ask) if I'm pregnant because I sure feel huge. That's OK,  I'm not a fan of random people touching my belly so it's better to just leave them in the dark. :) I seem to be gaining the right amount of weight, not too little and not too much, so I must be doing something right. We'll see what the next 3 months have in store...

Week 24 doctor update

Not much new to report on the baby front, which is a good thing I think! We had a check-up yesterday and all was good. I didn't get in trouble this time for losing weight, at least. I actually gained more than I thought, but the doctor didn't seem concerned and I'm still in the healthy weight gain range, so I'm not too worried. It was a very quick appointment but we did get to hear Baby Boy's heartbeat again and it sounded loud and strong! I will post another "baby bump" picture once I feel photogenic enough to take one, haha!

I've been working on putting together a list for everything we need for his arrival (3 months!) but haven't actually gotten around to actually purchasing anything yet. Well, I did break down and buy a couple onesies and we got an adorable Broncos onesie, but who's counting? I think I'm addicted to this little "virtual shopping" thing...

We do have some other big news to report however. After over two years in business, we have decided to close the gallery. I had big plans of taking only a month off when the baby arrives and then bringing him with me to work, but we've decided it's in all of our best interests to close now instead. It really has been a relief to not have to constantly worry about planning the next show, then the next and so on. I think it will really be a benefit in these last few months of pregnancy to not have that weighing on me as well. I will be keeping the website going and hope to sell from it in the meantime, along with continuing doing freelance graphic design. Someday we'd like to reopen the gallery with more focus on the retail aspect and less on artwork and probably in a new location. We will see what the future holds for us, I guess! Thank you all so much for your support and help these past couple years, we couldn't have done it without you!

We will continue to keep you all updated on all of the happenings in our neck of the woods. You know us, why just do one thing when you can do several stressful things all at the same time?

And now for the "up" on our emotional rollercoaster this week

After having such a sad day on Monday, we went to our scheduled ultrasound appointment on Tuesday, hoping for some good news. And we got it!! Baby Fall's measurements are looking normal. That's what we like to hear! And.....drumroll please....IT'S A BOY!!! Oh man. I'm going to be outnumbered. Time to start narrowing down the names and working on the registry! Guess I'd better register for some Broncos gear now, huh?

Saying goodbye to our best friend

This has to be one of the hardest things I have had to write. We had to say goodbye to Kismet the Cat this past Monday and it has absolutely broken our hearts. She lost her battle with kidney disease after being such a trooper for almost 3 years since being diagnosed. What a great kitty she was, acting like a kitten instead of a 12 year old almost up until the end. We can't thank you all enough for all the love and support you've given her and us over the years. We are so happy to have had her for as long as we did. She was our best buddy in the whole world and we can't wait to see her again someday.

Baby Bump @ 20 weeks

It's getting much more difficult to get dressed in the morning! But we're halfway there, whoo-hoo!

Baby Bump @ 16 weeks

Not the prettiest picture ever, but hey, it could be worse! We really need to remember to get better at taking pictures of the progress. Most days I just feel too fat for them! :)
PS - this was taken on June 26th, so I'm a bit further along now (18 weeks today!)

I think I'm nesting

I finally was able to get to a project I've been putting off for a long time! While Mike was out of town on a bachelor party trip, I made this quilt out of his old shirts and an old bedsheet. It wasn't nearly as easy as the instructions made it sound ("super-easy" my @#$!!) but I was able to finish it in a few days. It turned out really well, if I do say so myself. Just don't look too close! I know it looks like it's for a boy, but we still don't know if the baby is a boy or a girl. Mike just doesn't wear a whole lot of pink! :)

Yesterday's Doctor Visit

Mike and I met our new doctor yesterday and it went really well! She was incredibly nice and patient, answering whatever questions Mike & I could come up with. Of course, when I got home, I thought of a few more questions I had, but they'll have to wait until next time. We didn't do another ultrasound, but we did get to hear the heartbeat again through Doppler. Once the doctor was able to hunt down Baby Fall, the heartbeat was loud and clear. That little guy/girl doesn't like to stay still!

Our next appointment is just some more bloodwork and tests, and THEN we do another ultrasound mid-August and get to find out if it's a boy or a girl. We can't wait! Mike is leaning one way and I'm leaning the other, so either way, one of us is right. :)

Still playing catch-up

I'm getting closer to being caught up to the present, yay! Our last doctor appointment was on June 28th at 12 weeks and 3 days. We were able to see the baby jumping around like a little jellybean and trying to suck his/her thumbs. We were able to get some great ultrasound pictures as well, and now it looks like there's a real baby in there, instead of a gummy bear. According to one of the pictures, it's a boy, but I'm pretty sure that's just a leg.  :)  We probably won't be able to find out the gender until 20 weeks, which seems like a really long time from now!

Mike and I are doing great as well. I've been feeling pretty good so far and hope that continues. I'm mostly just tired and hungry all the time. Hopefully I've avoided morning-sickness since I'm almost into my 2nd trimester, but I'm still I'm going to jinx myself, so knock on wood! Mike has been feeling fine too, haha! He's just having to adjust to me falling asleep at 9pm and constantly wanting to eat everything. Luckily I've only gained a couple pounds so far, so I must be doing something right. I did have to break out my "expand-a-pants" rubber band the other day, but most of my clothes still fit fine. Mike's been a great support for me and we're both getting so excited!

Our next appointment is this Tuesday, July 12th where we will be meeting our new doctor. Our last one only sees patients for the first trimester, so it's on to the next. I hope we like her!

Here's Baby Fall at 12 weeks:

That's a leg!

Baby heartrate is 162 bpm, so cute to hear!

No, we're not having an alien.



Baby Fall trying to suck both thumbs



Skipping back a few weeks...

Since we chose to keep quiet on the baby front for awhile, I'm having to do a little rewind in my blog. Please bear with me, by the way, on my blogging abilities! This is my first try and I have to admit it feels a little weird to be writing about ourselves. But I thought this would be a great way to share our experience with our family and friends that live far away, so here goes...

Mike & I found out I was pregnant in early May. Our first doctor's appointment wasn't scheduled until after my 7th week, which came out to be June 1st. Needless to say, we were on pins and needles waiting for the appointment! Finally it arrived and we got to see our very first pictures of Baby Fall and got to hear the heartbeat as well. What a relief! We knew we still weren't out of the woods and were still very early on in the pregnancy, so we tried our hardest to keep our little secret, as much as we wanted to blurt it out to everyone.

Here is the very first Baby Fall portrait at 8 weeks and 4 days. Our doctor refers to this stage as the "Gummy Bear" stage and we agreed!