Belly, Big Belly, Bigger Belly…

7 months

6 months

5 months

4 months

3 months

2010 Will Be a Year of Many Changes

Happy New Year!  I don’t need to prophesy in order to tell you that 2010 is sure to be a year of many changes for Ryan and me.  At this time last year I had no idea that only one year later I would be 7 months pregnant!  It still seems so unreal that this is happening for us, given our history.

We have truly been blessed this year in so many ways.  Thank you, Jesus.

I’m Really Happy That I Married This Guy…

I can’t seem to think of a way to say “I am so proud of my husband” or “my husband rocks” without it being totally cheesy, so I will just say that I am so happy to be married to him. He never ceases to amaze me in all that he does.  And it is obvious that he amazes others also.  Ryan has recently been voted “Employee of the Quarter” at his work (that’s Employee of the Month times three, FYI)!  He also changed my flat tire for me, which I have to admit makes me feel so special and loved. Congratulations, Husband! I am so proud of you and thankful for all your hard work!

Employee of the Quarter

Who has two thumbs and just won Employee of the Quarter? This Guy!

The totally blown-out tire

Fixing it!

“How’s the Baby Coming Along?”

We have a friend and neighbor, John, who is in the third grade.  He will stop by from time to time, and ever since he found out I am pregnant, he likes to check up on how things are going.  “How’s the baby coming along, Michelle?” he will ask me.  I think it is incredibly sweet and funny of him to ask.  I always say, “Good! She’s still in there,” or something to that effect.  Now he wants to know the baby’s name, but Ryan and I have decided to keep that a secret until she is born.  (This has been very difficult for me!  I love letting the secret out because it is fun!  I never would have been able to hide the gender after finding out, as was our plan at one time.)

Anyway, I came close to giving in and just telling him, but I knew Ryan would be disappointed, so instead I said, “I’ll give you hint; it is a girl’s name.”  That actually made me feel better, as if I had indeed given him a big hint as to what her name is.  After watching television for about 10 minutes, John turns to me and says, “Is it…  Jane?”

Now I do like the name Jane, but that is not the name we have picked out for Baby Girl Gossett.  John didn’t venture any other guesses that night.  I don’t know if he has given up completely or if he will keep thinking of girls’ names and guessing!

Random Pregnancy “Symptoms”

In the last month, I have had two nosebleeds.  This is a normal thing in pregnancy, I have learned, especially during the “dry” months.  Thankfully they weren’t that bad, and we have a humidifier so that keeps the air in the house “moist” much of the time.

Another weird “symptom” I’ve had is leg cramps. I do tend to get cramps anyway, but pregnancy leg cramps seem about 10 times more painful.  I had one a couple weeks ago, and even after it was gone, the leg muscle was sore for about three days afterward.  The midwife suggested magnesium for when my legs start feeling bad.

One more funny thing that has been happening… Every so often I will feel this sort of “kick” coming from inside my stomach area. It is like there is a person moving around in there. Oh yeah, there is! That one is not so weird then.

That’s My Daughter

The concept of being parents was finally starting to sink in… and then I mentioned the words “your daughter” to my husband, who looked at me like he was completely shocked!  I admit it took me a day or two to adjust to the concept too, when I first thought of it.  In my mind, the progression was:

1. I’m pregnant!

2. I’m going to have a baby!

3. I’m going to have a baby that is totally my kid!

4. (After finding out the gender) I’m having a baby girl!

5. I have a daughter.

I know all of these statements seem terribly un-profound, not to mention similar.  But there is just something in the brain and heart that goes on, call it a chemical reaction or something, that is a new emotion for each of these separate realizations.  I thought it was just me at first (pregnancy hormones?), but I know Ryan has felt the same things.  I had to laugh at his reaction when he started to realize he has a daughter.  Now things are really starting to feel real.

It made us think of this song from the movie “Knocked Up”:

Belly Progress

September 20, 2009 :: 3 months pregnant

October 13, 2009 :: Almost 4 months

October 19, 2009 :: Officially 4 months

November 2009 :: 5 Months Pregnant

December 2009 :: 6 months pregnant

Another HUGE Cloth Diaper Giveaway!

This one is over at The Cloth Diaper Whisperer’s Blog: http://www.theclothdiaperwhisperer.com/2009/11/bum-flipn-genius-super-fluff-friday-56.html

This is a huge deal and the winner will receive lots of cloth diapers plus a Flip Video Camcorder!  Hurry to enter because the deal is done tonight at 7 pm!  I’m so excited for this giveaway!!!! (Can you tell?)

Shopping For… and Winning (?) Cloth Diapers

As many of you know, we plan to use cloth diapers upon the arrival of Baby Girl Gossett.  We decided to do this for many reasons, but the two most obvious ones are (1) Environment, and (2) Cost.  (To learn more, check out the Diaper Facts at The Real Diaper Association’s website: http://www.realdiaperassociation.org/diaperfacts.php)

That stated, the initial cost of setting up a cloth diaper stash can be quite daunting, leading some to believe that it won’t be worth it after all. Yes, the snazzy new All-In-One style cloth diapers can be pretty expensive (anywhere from 14.95 to around 30.00 EACH), but I truly believe that there is a way to get the diapers you need (and maybe even a few fancy ones) without sacrificing the aspect of saving money (versus buying disposable diapers every few weeks).

I follow a blog called The Cloth Diaper Blog (http://www.clothdiaperblog.com/), and every Friday they have a giveaway called “Feed Your Stash Friday.”  This means I can get FREE cloth diapers just by adding a comment to the blog, if my comment/name happens to be the lucky one drawn.

Last week’s giveaway is one of the biggest I’ve seen on the site yet.  It is running for two weeks this time, and there are ten ways to get your name in the cyber-hat.  Basically, I could win about half the diapers I will need for the entire time Baby Girl is in diapers!  This giveaway package is valued at just under 250.00 dollars!  The contest can be found at: http://www.clothdiaperblog.com/fysf-super-sized-giveaway-nov-20-dec-4-2009/

Along with this potential score, I looked online last night and discovered that there were more giveaways and sales going on at Diaper Junction (the store connected with the blog), too.  Some of the diapers on my wish list were 20% off, plus if I was one of the first 20 orders made on Black Friday, I could get another diaper TOTALLY FREE.  So I stayed up until 11 pm (12 am Eastern) and placed an order.  Oh yeah, and placing that order gained me another entry into the BIG contest that is going on until December 4.  AND I got free shipping!  I now have about half the diapers I am going to need, and I have spent less than 80 dollars so far.

Now I understand what all the excitement about Black Friday shopping is–it is so much fun to share when you know you’ve scored a great deal!  I am now a huge proponent of online Black Friday shopping, as you can score some deals while in the comfort of your home.

“The Blue Room” Becomes “The Nursery”

Hello Blog-Readers:

I haven’t posted in a while, partly because there hasn’t been much exciting news since finding out this little one inside me is a girl (!!!!!) and partly because I’ve been busy (ok, and lazy, too).

It has been fun to finally feel the baby in there. These past two days I have been feeling some definite movements. Ryan even got to feel it once when Baby Girl was especially active. I placed his hand on my ever-protruding belly in the spot where she was, but he didn’t realize it was actually her at first; he asked me if I was flexing a muscle! (The muscle in my uterus? What?)

In other news, we have successfully assembled the crib, and the nursery is really coming together! We have pretty much everything where it needs to go (except wall hangings, etc.).  Because we are turning our guest room–known as “the blue room” for obvious reasons–into Baby Girl’s nursery, she will indeed be surrounded by blue walls. I’m sorry if this bothers some of you, but we don’t care and I don’t think the little one will either. I won’t DRESS her in blue or anything, but there was no good reason for us to re-paint this beautiful room after only two years. Without further ado, below are pics of us putting together the baby bed and where things are arranged in the nursery right now.