Up to speed ...

I was well over due for updating our blog, but I think it is up to speed now.  We have a lot coming up that we will be so excited to share with our family and friends!  Travis' upcoming graduation from the U of A in May, the arrival of baby girl in July and Travis' new beginnings starting a career in the business world very soon.  We have so much to look forward too and so much to be grateful for! We are counting our blessing and getting very excited for all the future events ... stay tuned for the sharing of events and pictures!!

Happy 30th Travis!!

Travis turned the big 3-0 this March.  Happy Birthday!! 

For his birthday, Travis asked that we be able to decide on and finalize baby girl's name.  He knows me all to well and knows I have a lot of difficulty committing to things, especially something as permanent as a name.  He could easily see us deliberating about the name in the delivery room if not decided and committed too well in advance.  So, I gave him a few options, knowing his favorite, and he made it official with ..... Ansley Shea.  

Baby girl ... Once we decided, your daddy picked out this blanket and had it embroidered with your name and brought it home as a surprise for me to get excited about our decision ... and I think a little bit of piece of mind knowing he could safely call you by your name.  You can't see your name very well because of the color of threading used .... but thats ok ... we will forever have to help him with color choices. Ha! :)

I have always been so concerned about our ability to agree upon and commit to a name, but I am so happy with our choice and so excited that it happened with enough time for you to receive such sweet gifts with your sweet name personalized upon it ...

Travis' contribution to baby preparation ...

So, it just comes natural that a lot of preparation for baby becomes my responsibility with picking out bedding and colors, taking care of the registries, ordering the furniture, decorating etc.  Travis didn't want to be left out of all the baby planning and preparing so he was more than thrilled to announce his contribution .... which would be to ensure maximal safety during all of baby girl's traveling with her daddy.  What does that mean?  Of course the single cab truck had to be traded in and upgraded so baby girl could enjoy her very own spacious back seat. Ha! Very clever ... 

Preparing for Baby ...

So far we have picked out and ordered baby girl's bedroom furniture and expect it to be delivered in the next month or so.  My friend Christie helped me with what seemed like the monumental task of picking out and committing to fabrics for her bedding to be made.  Hooray for finally making that decision and having that sent away to come back as her beautiful nursery bedding.  Thank you Lisa and Christie!!!

On March 3rd, Christie introduced me to my first Rhea Lana event .... and Whoa was that a ton of fun for this first time expectant mommy of a little girl!!  Rhea Lana is an enormous consignment event here in NWA that happens twice per year.  There are a ton of consigners that enter clothing for kids with heavy focus on all that baby and toddler.  Christie and I lucked out to be able to use my "expectant mommy" pass so we could begin the dig several hours earlier than the general public.  Hooray for that!  I learned the ways of pilfering through the never-ending racks of cute outfits and clothes to find the perfect little ensembles that came home to baby girl's closet.  I paid a few dollars for each piece of gently used or never used outfits and left with 42 pieces.  Job well done!!

Christie and I at Rhea Lana.  After the initial dig through the racks you sit on the floor and separate your large pile of treasures into what goes home with you and what has to stay ... so much fun!! 

Baby girl ... you may not have furniture, bedding or any necessities in your room ... but I have a jump start on your closet :)

A few of my favorites ...

These are your daddy's favorites ...

Growing Baby Bump ...

So this may be my least favorite part of all the pregnancy festivities.  I started out trying to use the cute little signs in the picture to indicate the number of weeks, but it annoyed me to have to make my outfit match the sign, so that idea was quickly tossed.  I find the side profile pose to be awkward and I get tired after several attempts made by my patient husband to make it look the least awkward as possible.  I felt like I really started to grow from week 24 to 25 and beyond.  Here we go third trimester ....

8 weeks

12 weeks

16 weeks

20 weeks

24 weeks

25 weeks

27 weeks

Its a GIRL!!

Happy Valentines Day from our sweet baby GIRL!! Such an exciting appointment.  At 17 weeks and 4 days we had an ultrasound that looked very closely at all her developing structures, organs, neurology etc. The doctor could not promise we would be able to find out the gender at this appointment, however once we were there she reported without hesitancy that we had a sweet little baby girl moving all about. 

Baby girl ... You put on quite the show and we were so excited to see you from a variety of angles as you moved all about.  You were so active kicking, flipping and turning that it took the US tech a while to chase you down and get the pictures of important structures she was looking for.  We watched fluid travel through your throat as you took several gulps, probably thirsty from all that moving and playing.  True to your daddy's form you stuck your tongue out at the camera and blocked your face with your hands when you had enough of the poking and prodding .... 

17 weeks 4 days on 2/13/12

A fun little surprise for us .. the US tech wanted to play with the new US machine the office received just the week before and asked if we would mind for her to switch it over to 3D for practice ...

We had the best Valentines day yet staying home with take out Chinese food and starting our first baby registry for our baby girl ...

13 week ultrasound

It looks like a baby!! This appointment was a lot of fun.  We were both so excited to see baby look like an actual baby  ... and what a sweet little profile.  Daddy was gleaming!  Healthy heart rate at 157 bmp and not much else going on this early in the pregnancy. 

13 week ultrasound on 1/12/12

Due July 19th ...

There's really something happening in there ... Our first doctor's appointment on 12/19/11 at 9 weeks.  The doctor confirmed with this pic of something tiny and not at all looking like a baby. Ha!

We shared the news with all of our family in Texas when we went home to celebrate the Christmas holidays.  Travis' family is large and informal and enjoys each others company celebrating over food and relaxation in the lucky hostess' home ... so it was fitting to have one of his nieces read a loud the christmas card to the family as everyone relaxed after lunch.  "Merry Christmas from Travis, Danielle, Chopper and the newest addition of the family, who will be looking forward to all your hugs and kisses in July"...

As for my family, sitting at the breakfast table with my parents, brother and uncle, we had my mom open the Christmas card with this picture inside that said Merry Christmas from the newest addition ...

November 11th 2011 ....

A typical Friday morning.  Up at 5:00 am getting ready for work, thinking I am going in early to get paperwork done before my first clients arrive.  Being quiet, knowing Travis will be sleeping a while longer until he has to start his day.  Looking around the tiny little apartment thinking how excited I am to be closing on our new house in only 2 weeks and being able to enjoy all the new space.  A very typical morning, until a thought crossed my mind, very casually.  I gave this thought some consideration and then a little investigation ... and moved on to brushing my teeth ... and for a few minutes forgot about it all together.  Until I looked down, tooth brushing still in progress, and my heart stopped .... this time there were actually TWO pink lines.  I expected there to just be one, as it were several times before ... but this morning ... there were two.

Previously, I thought a lot about all the cute ways I would someday share this great news with Travis.  And, I had quite a few fantastic options to go with ... but at 5:00 am, with the tooth brush still in my mouth and shock on my face, that all went out the window as I turned on his bedside lamp and shoved an unfamiliar object in his face waiting for him to clarify that yes in fact ... the two pinks line were there and this time ... I am Pregnant!!!!!

Welcome Home ...

Hooray for Moving Day!! After much anticipation we finally closed on our new home on Wednesday, 11/30/11 and began moving promptly on Friday afternoon.  Thanks to great friends who persevered through until the wee hours of the early morning, we stayed our first night in the house Friday night and worked through the weekend to have everything unpacked and livable by the time the work week rolled around.  So here we are, home sweet home in Fayetteville, so close to work and school. The 5 minute commute is way better than 45 minutes as it was before ....