Crib....

A very close lifelong friend of Clay's family, Roy Hughes, is making our baby a crib!  He does AMAZING woodwork.  He is retired and he does it for pleasure.  His shop where he works in his backyard is the size of a small house!  He told us early on to go and pick out one that we like.  He has made a few, including one for his son (Bryan) and daughter(Lacee).  Their son Bryan has a little girl so he has one at his house.  Roy and Linda keep Lacee's bed at their house (since she doesn't have kids) to use when the grandbaby comes to visit.  I have seen Lacee's several times and I love it everytime I see it.  I knew that I wanted one just like hers.  Well Roy called this weekend and said it was finished and he wanted us to come look at it before he starts staining it this week.  Here is a look at our bare naked crib.  

Here is a picture of Lacee's crib.  I took it so you could get a better idea of what ours will look like once it is stained.  We are actually going with a little darker stain color than hers, but not much.  


Isn't it gorgeous?!  We love it!  We are so excited that he is making it for our baby.  It is so special to us.  It will be something we will want to keep and pass down to our children since it was made from someone who is practically a part of the family.  I will take more pictures when he is done so you can see the finished product!    Here is a picture taken after church this morning.

22 weeks - 5 1/2 months

Clay felt him move.....

Clay felt our baby boy move for the first time Thursday night!!  I usually feel him move after I eat.  It usually lasts for 5-10 minutes with a few big kicks but mainly small ones.  Well Thursday night I was laying in bed and he kicked (I say kicked but he could just be moving around and bumping into my organs) for 30 minutes!  I had a hard time falling asleep because he was kicking a lot of hard ones.  Clay has tried to feel before but he was not patient enough to hold his hand on my belly and wait for a big one.  Well Thursday there were so many big ones that he felt him several times!  It was really neat for Clay.  Another date to write in the baby book!

Tag you're it.....

Thanks Melinda.  I'm with you, I don't reply to chain mail but since you tagged me for the whole word to see I guess I must follow through.  It sure was hard to think of 6 random facts about myself.  Ok here goes.

1.  I don't like to touch untreated wood.  Wooden steak knives, toothpicks, oh and popsicle     sticks are  the worst!  It gives me goose bumps to think about it.  
   
2. I will NOT wash my hands with out putting lotion on immediately after.  I can not stand  for my hands  to be dry.  I put lotion on my hands at least 20 times a day.  I have a bottle  of lotion everywhere, in my purse, each bathroom, by the bed, in the kitchen, my desk at  school.  If it came down to having dirty hands or washing them without lotion, I would  pick dirty hands.  
   
3. I still have a baby tooth.  The permanent tooth is in the roof of my mouth behind it.  Gross I know. The dentist keeps telling me I need to get it pulled and then have surgery  to get my permanent tooth put in the right place.  Then I would have to wear braces for 3  years.  As the dentist tells me this each time I go in for a cleaning all I can think of is $$$$.  I am too cheap to get it fixed.  I should have done it when I was in high school so my mom would pay for it but I was too cool then to have braces. 
   
4. I have 2 metal bars, 4 screws, and a cage in my back.  (Thanks to Ginny's dad!)  I had back surgery in 8th grade because I had Isthmic Spondololesthesis.  I was out of school for a month or so and out of sports for a year.  I am great now and so glad I did it.  I was in so much pain then (at 14) and none now!  I just hope my back will hold up during this pregnancy so I can have a natural birth.  Dr. Wilks says if I have any trouble I will have a C-section.  
5. I HATE going to the bathroom.  I wait until the absolute last minute I can before I go.  I have gotten better since I have been pregnant because I know its bad for me and the baby and I haven't had much of a choice to hold it!!
6. I use to have an obsession with sour cream.  I still love it, but I don't eat it with as many random things.  I use to sit down with a bag of potato chips and eat the sour cream as dip.  I still have to have it on many things, baked potato, taco, burrito, soup, I could go on and on.  We always have it in our freezer.  Clay hates it.  

Okay there are my 6 random facts.  Hopefully you aren't asleep.  It is now my turn to tag 6 people.  I am going to apologize before I list my 6 people.  Sorry!  Okay here goes:  Clay, Susan, Emily, Elizabeth, Ginny, and Annika (I am not sure how to get to your live journal).  Have fun!!

Our first boy purchase...

Yesterday Clay and I were running some errands and we made our first boy purchase.  We found this onesie at Old Navy for $3 and the frame at Babies R Us.  Clay was amazed at Old Navy about how there was a much larger selection of girl clothes than boy.  I have been looking for a frame to put the ultrasound in.  We found this for $6.  

"Watching you grow, loving you so."   I thought I would put the full body picture of him in there instead of the one exposing his boy parts.  It's hard to tell but you can see his head and spine.

One of my co-workers, Heather Williams, bought this outfit for him.  We love it!!

Here is a close up of the onesie.  So cute!!

I will leave you with a 20 week pregnancy shot.  This was taken after church this morning.  

It's a.............

BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!

We found out today we are having a boy!  We are SO excited!  Clay is beaming!!!  The ultrasound was so neat.  We were able to see legs, arms, hands, and 5 little fingers!!  The technician was laughing about how much he was moving around.  Clay was amazed.  I kept telling Clay how much he moves but it is different for him to see it since he can't feel it yet.  Hopefully he will be able to feel it soon.  The coolest part was to see the brain with the line down the middle.  You could see the two hemispheres!  It was amazing.  We also have a profile picture that looks like a skeleton.  I will try to get the ultrasound pictures scanned soon so we can post them.  

Reality really sank in today.   Neither one of us cried at the ultrasound, we were so excited!  I have to admit I was shocked, I really thought it was a girl for some reason.  Now don't get me wrong, I want one boy and one girl so I didn't care at all what this one was.  I just figured for some reason it would be a girl.  There are baby boys on both sides of my family so he will have playmates.  A boy sure will save me some money. :)  More than anything I am shocked to know that there really is a person inside of me.  I can actually start thinking about names (I have been asked all day if I had a name for him and no we don't), nursery, and so many other things.  It makes this pregnancy even more of a reality.  

God truly is amazing.  Being pregnant is such a spiritual experience.  I don't know how anyone can say that abortion is okay as long as it is before a certain point.  And no one can tell me that the way the baby is made and forms is just happen stance.  God truly is an amazing God and he knows exactly what he is doing.  I keep thinking about Psalm 139:19 "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb."  God is forming my child inside of me.  That is so amazing, and something I never could really understand until I was pregnant.  

Well Clay and I are off to buy something boy.  I'm sure I will post about what we buy!  Yeah for blue!!

We have a mover....

About 2 1/2 weeks ago I started feeling the baby move.  I wasn't for sure if that's really what it was but now I know.  I am having the same feeling, kind of like a muscle spasm is the best way I could explain it.  The feeling is getting harder.  I don't know if I am feeling the baby move or if it actually is a kick.  The most I have ever felt it move was Saturday during the OU game.  It was moving around like crazy!!  The books I have read said that the baby can hear noises on the outside now.  It was very loud in the stadium so I don't know if that had something to do with it.  It is so awesome to feel it.  

Well tomorrow is the big ultrasound day!  Clay and I are so anxious.  He is counting down the hours.  I am trying not to think about it too much or I'll drive myself crazy.  It is kind of like Christmas Eve where you want to go to bed early because the sooner you go to bed the sooner you get to wake up and open gifts!!  That is the best way I can describe it.  We wanted to tell our family the gender in a special way like meet them all for dinner or something.  Since the appointment is at 11 am and I will go back to school the last two hours there is NO way I will be able to keep it from my co-workers and kids much less my family until dinner!!  We completely surprised our family when we told them we were pregnant so I guess that will have to work for surprises.  Well stay tuned, I will be making a big post tomorrow!  And for all of you pessimists out there, the baby will cooperate.  I know it will!!

A week from now....

we will know the gender of our baby!!!   The nurse called today and the ultrasound is set up for next Tuesday at 11:00.  The latest appointment they have is 3:00 which means I would have to leave school early.  My plan is from 10-11 then I team teach a class from 11 - 12:30 with lunch in between.  I am sure if I beg my partner teacher he will watch our 8 kids while we have the ultrasound, that way I can get back for class by 12:30 and not have to take any time off.  I can not believe that I am far along enough to find out the gender!  Knowing the sex of our baby is going to be such a turning point in the pregnancy.  I can actually start looking at clothing, bedding, names etc. and know what I'm buying for.  It will also make it a lot more real to me.  I have hardly done anything to prepare for the baby.  I keep thinking, oh its early on and I'll wait until I know the sex of the baby before I start preparing for that.  Well now that time is here!  It is so exciting, and overwhelming!!  

In preparation for the baby coming, we spent our Labor Day cleaning out the baby room.  The closet in the baby room has been our main storage so we actually cleaned out other closets in order to make room for the stuff in the closet currently in the baby room.  So technically we haven't touched the baby room, but we are close!  Clay made a couple of items to help with our organization.  

He made this rack to put my shoes on.  There is a huge space to the left of the closet that you can't see but I was able to stack some clothes in tubs that I won't be able to wear while I am pregnant.  

This closet is in our living room.  It only had a bar at the top and no shelf space so the floor was all that was used.  He built shelves so we can stack stuff in there.  This is what it looks like now after we cleaned it out on Monday.  There is plenty of room for stuff from the baby room closet.

So within the next few weeks the baby room should be cleaned out and ready to start becoming a nursery!  And next Tuesday we will know if that will be pink or blue!  Can't wait!!

A Family Tradition....

This past Saturday marked the beginning of football season.  For as long as I can remember, my family has taken me to the OU football games.  Not only would my immediate family go, but also my uncles and their families on my dad's side.  I grew up going to home games, OU vs. Texas, along with several bowl games and away games.  I have to say my favorite away game trip with my family was to Notre Dame.  (Melinda you will appreciate this - I almost didn't go to Notre Dame because I didn't want to miss the big Hinton Fair.)  Clay jokes around about how he married me for my OU season football tickets.  (He comes from an entire family of OSU fans.)  Since we have been dating, OU football is a hobby that Clay and I have always enjoyed together.  We go to all the homes games and OU vs. Texas every year.  We have been to the Big 12 Championship game twice and last year we were able to go to the Fiesta Bowl thanks to Nathan.  With the baby coming we wonder how many games we will continue to go to together.  My mom has offered to keep the baby each game while we go, but we'll have to see what our financial situation looks like at the time.  Meanwhile, we went to the home opener Saturday with my brother Todd and his girlfriend Marlee.  Here are a couple of pictures from the evening.  

The Pride of Oklahoma....

The new HD Jumbotran screen....

Here they come....

Opening Kickoff    OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!

I'm sure that most of you know that OU was leading 50-0 at halftime.  The sky was starting to get dark.  Clay was preaching on Sunday and needed to go over his lesson.  So we decided we would leave at halftime and beat the storm and let Clay get back and work. There were tons of people leaving the game.  As we were walking out it began to thunder.  We had just got back to the car and inside safely when it started to POUR for about 15-20 minutes.  We were SO glad we were dry!  However, we were blocked in.  We thought surely with that may people leaving that one of those families would be in the car behind us.  To make a long story short, the family didn't come until after the game was over which was after the hour and a half rain delay!!  We were at our vehicle with no place to go for 2 1/2 hours.  However, we were laughing about it and not complaining because we were some of the very few people who were dry!  After about an hour and a half we walked to campus corner and ate dinner.  We figured being dry and listening to the rest of the game was better than being soaking wet and at the game.  Here are a few pictures of our boredom.

Todd and Marlee trying not to get splashed by vehicles that drove by.... 

He was ready to eat....

Goofing around....

Here is an 18 week pregnancy shot of me before the game.  I don't think I will be able to wear this size small t-shirt much longer!

All in all we had a great time at the game and we are really looking forward to this football season.  Boomer Sooner!!