It's a.....

Mixed Doubles partner for me!! Yes, Specken is a boy. Eventually he will go by Harold Hutson the IV, or Harris, but right now he's still Specken. We will have to keep Anna Adare in reserve for the next baby. We braved the heavy storms and crazy drivers, but made it to the appointment on time. We were able to see lots of views of various body parts before the goods were finally shown. Of course, we had to take the tech's word for it, as it's hard to tell what's what! Specken is doing well, growing as he should. It was fun to see him jumping around on the screen and feeling him move at the same time (though sometimes I could only see and not feel). He's about 12 ozs and 9 inches right now, just a little baby! :-)

Here is a picture of me about 5 months done:

Halfway through! So we had a nice weekend. We ordered the last two pieces for the nursery, and some fabric for the curtains (now just have to figure out how to make curtains!!!) All the pieces should be in place around mid-August. Very exciting to look forward to that!

Nursery Inspiration!

On the eve of the 20 week doctor's appointment, (well, sort of eve- it's on Tuesday), I had a horrible dream last night about running late for the appointment- cause my mom and I had to pick up my brother and drop him somewhere, then I was constantly mis-dialing the doctor's phone number (kept hitting "8" by accident) when trying to see if they would still fit me in, and having my sister not help out in the dialing in my extreme frustration, as I was now 2 hours late for the appointment, and I just knew that I had to find out that day or not at all the baby's gender. Sorry for the run-on sentence, but that was how my dream felt. Glad to wake up from that one!

I did have a positive experience last night- I had a stroke of inspiration on how to decorate the nursery! I was troubled over that for a while, as I didn't have a vision, and felt I was fumbling along. Having an image helped out a lot in our master bedroom make-over a few months ago. So while I liked the nursery paint color, I couldn't figure out how to use it in the room. While watching "Myles of Style" (thanks, Kim Myles!), I saw the perfect solution!! I put it to paper so I would remember (not something I can count on these days) and shared it with Hut when he got home. He's on board, so I'm raring to go! I think I will hold off on sharing until we have pictures to show. Have to leave something as a surprise! :-)

So my next post should be on Tuesday, after the appointment, with the baby's gender!

New Carpet!!

The carpet was installed today in all the bedrooms, and it looks great! We are so excited with how it turned out, and the installation process sure was a lot easier (and quieter) than the tile. First picture is the nursery, which the new paint color (doesn't look like it in real life- it's hard to get a good picture of the color).

Laney loves the nursery. Now to get some furniture in there!!

Busy weekend!

We had a busy weekend last weekend! We painted the nursery and got the bedrooms ready for the carpets to be replaced tomorrow. Here is a picture of the before color and the primer coat (we had it tinted). I'll post the nursery color up after the carpet is replaced.

Hut was able to feel a little of the baby movement last night. We were watching TV and I could feel Specken moving around, so I had Hut place his hand on the belly bump and sure enough, by pressing down, he could feel the movements! It freaked him out a little, but it was a nice moment.

Specken did a great job at tennis this weekend, but it's getting hot now! Today's high was 99!!! It will go down a bit by this weekend. It's too early to be getting this hot. :-(

Bella Bands Rule!!

My friend Natalie lent me her Bella Bands, which I used for the first time this week. I love them! I think everyone (pregnant or not) should use them. They are stretchy fabric bands you wear around your belt to help hold up your pants. So far I'm still wearing my regular pants, but I didn't like wearing a belt with them, to help keep them up. The Bella Band works great instead! They are designed to hold up your old pants that are unbuttoned when you outgrow them, or help hold in maternity pants when the belly isn't bit enough to fill them out. Then help after the baby with the same problems- pants being too big or too small. Anyway, I think they are a great invention and many thanks to Natalie for sharing them with me.

Nursery Transformation, step one

This weekend we start the first step of the nursery transformation- painting! We've run out of time, and now have to decide on a color by tomorrow, as step two, carpet replacement, is happening on Tuesday. So it will hopefully be a busy but productive weekend for us.

Not too much on the Specken front. Getting back into my walking, which will hopefully benefit Specken. We've had some nice weather this week, but the heat is coming. We'll see how Specken does at the USTA match tomorrow- maybe having it three against two will help us win!

Starting the Nursery

The guest room furniture was cleared out on Saturday, so now we can start working on turning it into a nursery! We ordered our crib and glider chair on Saturday, and will be painting this weekend (still debating on the color). Carpet is going to be replaced on Tuesday, so it will be a busy weekend getting ready for that. Two more weeks from today till we (hopefully) find out what Specken is- boy or girl! Can't wait!!

Mother's Day 2008

Here is a picture of me and Hut on Mother's Day (our new kitchen floor is done, too!).

Baby Burps?

I was sitting watching TV last night with Tasha on my stomach, purring, when I felt what I can only describe as burps and bubbles coming from the left side of my stomach. It could be a) protests from having dinner at Taco Bell (yes, I know better) b) echoes of Tasha's purring, or c) the baby moving! I'd like to think it was c), and Specken and Tasha were talking to each other. Haven't really felt them since, so we'll see. Had some strange dreams last night, so everything could have been the effect of a). Three more weeks till the 20 week ultrasound!! I really don't know how people can wait till the baby is born to till out the gender. I can hardly wait three more weeks, much less 5 more months!

Big Brother Boris and stroller

Big brother Boris checking out Specken's stroller.

4 month picture

Here is a picture of Specken at 4 months.

Blogging for baby

Hello, everyone-
Welcome to the Countdown till Specken blog. If you are here, it's because you want the boring, mundane details of the progression of my pregnancy till the Big Day! Or cause you want to see the pictures. Or just cause you're bored. Any reason is okay with me. So right now I'm starting my 17th week- yes, a bit slow to start the countdown. So far the pg has been going very well. Not much morning sickness, haven't lost that much energy, still excited about getting bigger. We've shared the news with pretty much everyone, and the response was really great. It was nice to re-connect with some family members I don't talk to that often. I have two friends who are at different stages of pg (one is 4 months ahead of me and one is one month), so I have a nice preview of what to expect. Pretty much right now is a waiting game... waiting till the 20 week appointment, when we find out if Specken is a boy or girl, waiting to purchase baby furniture (though we do already have the stroller and car seat, and enjoy getting used to them), and waiting for the first time I feel Specken move. Just starting wearing some maternity pieces, though I don't think my belly is bump-ish as much as mound-ish. Took some yoga classes with my friend Natalie, which I enjoyed, though with USTA starting up again, I won't be able to go again till later on this summer. I hope to continue playing tennis for a few more months, but we'll see how it goes with the Texas heat. We're close to picking out our nursery paint color, and carpet is on the way. Excited for progress!! I guess that's it for now...