The finished product!

I could NOT be more pleased with how Liv's quilt turned out!  It is fun, colorful, cheery, and coordinates with the colors in her room very nicely without really matching...  It's perfect!

As you can see, I'm getting quite the belly these days!  We're almost 33 weeks along now...
This heart detail is along the top and bottom of the border...
Check out that perfect edge AND the adorable green polka dot fabric!
This striped material is solid on the back of the quilt, and the quilting detail is this ADORABLE hearts and hands stitch.  The hands are almost the exact size of Jillian's hands right now...  Aww...
I'm not sure if you can tell in the photos, but the stitching all the quilting was done in is a beautiful multi-colored thread.  It's so perfect!

I feel like I can say (without stretching the truth too much!) that I made this quilt, but I have to give a HUGE shout out to Shere and her friend Bobbie in CA.  I mailed my pieced front off to them, and they added the teal border to the front for me, the green edging, and did the heart & hand quilting.  The attention to detail and love that went into this blanket is obvious!  Thank you so much ladies for being such a huge part of creating this blanket- I love it, and I'm sure Liv will feel the same way!  :)

30 Weeks this Thursday!

Things are really flying now... hard to believe it is only about 9 weeks until we meet Liv!  We're working on getting things in place for her- the furniture is in route, and we got a large bookshelf purchased and assembled already...  Once the crib comes, I'm sure her room will come along quickly- I'm feeling anxious about it!  (and, judging from the solid kick to the ribs I just got while typing this, Liv wants us to get on it as well!  haha!)

The other day, Ryan and I took Liv's bedroom set with us to the fabric store, and picked out some materials that featured all the different colors in her room.  I've been working hard for the past few days- cutting, ironing, sewing...  

Liv's quilt:

I think it turned out pretty darn cute so far, and now I just need to have it quilted and edged.  My girlfriend Heather said she has just paid someone with a quilting machine to do this in the past (rather than hand quilting) and I think I'm going to follow suit.  Shere, are you reading this???  ;)

Hope everyone is doing well.  We're great, and aside from an aching back by the end of the day (compounded by sewing!) I don't have any big complaints!

Take care,

Nancy

Decorating for Liv...

I love to plan, and be organized.  Please know however, that does not mean those things actually come naturally to me.  I am often fighting my inner clutter bug and procrastinator in order to get things labeled and designated to a particular space!  It's a lot of work.  That being said, I can truly say that I love organization because once it's all done and there's, "a place for everything, and everything in it's place"  it makes me happy to the core.  Honestly.  I think I was 100% sure of my decision to be a Kindergarten teacher early on when I saw those labeled cubbies and play kitchens with a photo/label for everything.  Pure bliss.  :)

Anyway.  Perhaps it's that desire to have things in place, or perhaps it's the fact that I look like this:
But Ryan and I went out today and ordered the furniture for Liv's room.  The photo below shows it in a dark brown, but we picked white.  And, the actual dresser we chose is slightly different than the one pictured (it has 6 large drawers instead of having a door in the middle) but you get the idea.  The crib, dresser (which we will use as the changing table) and a large mirror are the three pieces we purchased.

Aside from that, when our dear friends Sarah and Chris were in town (they were SO sweet to fly in from AZ to watch Jillian while Ryan and I were having fun at Indy 500 earlier this month) we got the room painted!  I'm holding off on the paint reveal (until we get everything in place) but I will share a stock photo of the sweet bedding we picked out:

So that's all the update for now!  Just had to share our purchases with you!  Babies are so fun!

And her name is...

Okay, we're decided. 100%, no more changing our minds!

Our little girl's name is going to be:

Liv Madeline Kules

Jillian loves saying- "baby Liv!" and kissing my belly. She has also already changed it to "Livvy" which I'm sure is going to be a popular nickname...

I'm feeling fine- starting to have quite an aching back by the end of the day- seems about on par with what I dealt with while carrying Jillian.

Hope all is well!

Nancy

She's growing!

As you can see, I've got a little belly going on!  :)  We had our comprehensive ultrasound today (where they take a long time and check the baby for any abnormalities) and it went great.  Our little girl (confirmed gender again) was swimming around, and everything looked as it should for this stage of development!  

First Belly Shot:

Over the past few days, Ryan and I traveled to Arizona and Las Vegas with Jillian.  I have a funny baby story to share:  Over the week of being in Arizona, I didn't feel the baby moving at all.  It concerned me (since I had been feeling little flutters consistently for a short while) but I tried not to worry about it too much.  As we arrived in Vegas, I was happy to feel a quick kick of reassurance letting me know she was okay.  After that, she was pretty quiet again UNTIL Ryan and I went to the Beatles LOVE show...  For the first 5 minutes or so (when the music started) the baby had a dance party in my stomach!  It was hilarious!  I have never felt her that active before- it was really cool.  I think she's a Beatles fan!  ;)

We just could not wait...

When we went to our 16 week ultrasound appointment, we thought there was a very good chance we would find out if baby #2 was a boy or a girl.  So, when the ultrasound ended up not answering our question, we were disappointed. 

So- we decided to go to an ultrasound technician in our area and pay out of pocket for a gender check.

The result:  IT'S A GIRL!!!

16 Week Ultrasound!

I see a few more people have cast a vote on the girl/boy poll.  I'm sure you'll be happy to know if you've thus far missed your chance to weigh in on the gender of baby #2, you've still got time.

However, if I put in a vote for the doctor who did our ultrasound today, it would be: 

"Um...Uh...Boy.  As a percentage? 51% boy to 49% girl"

So, as you can see, she is ULTRA confident about her guess. (Please read extreme 

sarcasm here!) We are putting off the purchase of linens and paint until someone gives us a little better indication than that!  The machine she used was not of the highest quality, and we only had a few minutes to peek as she was just doing the ultrasound as a favor to us.  Also, baby was squirming around and not too revealing...  

In about a month (I think the end of April) we're setting up the "big ultrasound" where they take the time to check for LOTS of detail, and are sure to get a picture of the genital region if you are interested.  

Anyway, here is our favorite shot we got of baby today.  I was online with my sister and proudly shared this "really clear picture" of the baby.  She responded that, "I obviously could see more than her in the photo" so, at the risk that Ryan and I are filling in the fuzzy gaps of an ultrasound with our visions of chubby cheeks and wrinkled thighs, I'll try my best to "point out" a few features for those of you less imaginative than we are.  Haha!

Anyway-  I'm posting the same photo twice.  Once with explanation, once without.  

Enjoy!

#1- Right knee

#2- Big Belly

#3- Right eye

#4- Left eye

#5- Chin

Hope that helps, Marilyn!  Haha!!  

Oh, and here is one more... you can sorta see the profile and spine on this one:

16 Weeks... appointment today!

I got a call this morning, and they tried to cancel our appointment for 3pm today because the Dr. I was supposed to see is out sick.  No way!  After a little bit of a conversation with a supervisor, I'm seeing someone else instead, still 3:00.   

So... the reason for this update prior to the appointment (rather than after) is assuming we get an ultrasound, there is a good chance at 16 weeks we will be able to see if our little one is a boy, or a girl!!!  I think it is hilarious that the poll is currently 50/50...  I didn't need the input of over 60 people in order to know it's 50/50 between boy and girl!  LOL!!

So, if you have not voted yet, there's a good chance today will be your last day to get your input in...    Happy guessing!  

15 Weeks Along- 2nd Trimester!

Well, we're officially in our 2nd trimester now!  

I can't say I feel much different- I'm definitely much less tired now than I was at the very beginning of the pregnancy.  We're anxious to have another appointment/ultrasound... just over a week before we get to do that...

March 20th is our appointment so I'll update again then!

I found the picture below of a fetus at 15 weeks on one of my favorite baby websites... pretty cool! 

13 Weeks Along...

It's been a week since we went 'public' with our news.  It's so nice to hear from so many people wishing us (and baby!) well.  Thanks to everyone for the comments, emails, and votes!  Looks like more than 60% of you think (so far) that's we'll have a boy this time around.  We'll see! 

I found this really cool image of a baby at 13 weeks- WOW!  We can't wait until our next appointment (late March) and hope to get another peek at our little one in there!

So far, I've been feeling pretty good.  I am still a little tired in the afternoons, but I was lucky to (almost) completely miss dealing with morning sickness at all.  This was the same with Jillian's pregnancy...  I know, I'm very lucky!  (For so many reasons!!!!)  I also caved and pulled out the maternity pants already (MUCH earlier than I did for Jillian!)  I'm not really 'showing' yet so I can't post a belly pic, but it is SOoooo much more comfortable to wear things that don't restrict me at all when I sit down.

Anyway-  Just wanted to give a quick update with how things are going!

Take care,

Nancy, Ryan and Jillian too!

Nervous, anxious, & excited!

We're officially 12 weeks along tomorrow so it seems like the time to share our news has come! 

I feel totally anxious about making our pregnancy public, and ended up calling Bethesda this morning (where our OB appointments are) and begging them to double check our baby's heartbeat with a doppler.  It was loud and clear, beating in the 160's, so that's good news!

Although every pregnancy is filled with unknowns, Ryan and I feel a lot better knowing that we have safely gotten to this point.  Wish us luck as we work toward becoming a family of four!

Check out this cool photo I found online of a baby at 12 weeks- I guess he/she is already about 2.5 inches long!!

Another Ultrasound

You would think that the nauseous feeling I've been dealing with in the mornings, or the increasing discomfort I'm dealing with in some of my jeans would be enough to comfort my stress in regards to this baby... but no.  The image of a heartbeat on an ultrasound however, ahh..... it does wonders...  

Ryan and I are feeling pretty darn great after our appointment this morning, and the new snap shot we got of the baby!

Relief with one photo:

First Ultrasound

Because of our miscarriage recently, we were able to get an ultrasound appointment at 6 weeks.  We are very happy to report, that even that early on, our tiny baby had a nice strong and visible heartbeat!  This was great news as the odds of a miscarriage drop to something like 4% after seeing a heartbeat...  

The day we found out...

We found out we were expecting on Dec. 23rd, 2009.  What a wonderful early Christmas present!  That morning, Ryan had gone out early, and came home with Chick-fil-a for breakfast. (A personal favorite of mine.)  My oh-so-romantic husband came into our room where I was still sleeping, and set my delicious box of Chick-a-mini's on my pillow next to me.  The delicious smell of chicken woke me, and I enjoyed breakfast in bed.  After eating, I got up and decided to take a pregnancy test.  We were hopeful it would be positive, but planned to wait until after my birthday on the 26th to try to avoid a false negative.  I couldn't wait.  So, when the test came back with a shining plus sign, I quickly stashed it inside my discarded chicken box, and set it on Ryan's nightstand.  When I called him in to, "look in the box!" he said- "oh, no thanks baby...  I'm pretty full" (Thinking I had saved him one of my mini sandwiches... yeah right!  lol)  Anyway, after another tiny prompt, he opened it and lit up like a kid on Christmas.  We are so excited!  We shared our news with Jillian, and then waited a few more days before spreading the info to immediate family.  We're being a little cautiously optimistic about the situation because a few months ago, we had a miscarriage at 12 weeks.  It was difficult to deal with, but we knew at the time- should we be blessed with another child in the future, we would not be able to picture our lives without that exact little person.  And so, we anxiously await the arrival of our newest family member, on September 3rd.  Wish us luck, and please use this website to follow along with our pregnancy, and the first year of our new baby's life!