It's Confirmed!

IT'S A BOY!

We had our 20 week appointment with Dr. Cowan today with the mid-pregnancy anatomical ultrasound. Baby looked very good and healthy and very active. Everything was where it should be and looked to be in working order. We were also able to confirm that this baby is definitely a boy!

what a sweet face!

bits and bobs between the femurs :-)

Also, here are some comparisons between this pregnancy and the last one:

Baby Love:

1. blood pressure: 102/60 (low- normal for me)
2. weight gain: 5 pounds
3. Baby's heart rate: 150 bpm
4. cravings: HEB Creamy Creations Intense Chocolate

Claire:

1. blood pressure: low
2. weight gain: 2 pounds
3. Baby's heart rate: unknown
4. cravings: none

Vacation- Saturday through Monday

We weren't able to do a lot on Saturday except travel. We were flying standby again to Denver and everything looked good- until we got to the airport in Orange County. The plane we were supposed to take was struck by lightning in Denver and the flight was cancelled. Of course all the revenue passengers got priority over us and were rerouted to other flights. We were not so lucky. That meant all the other flights out of Orange County were full for the rest of the day as were all the flights from Los Angeles. San Diego looked good though! So we ended up driving almost 2 hours to fly out of San Diego. I don't know if I've ever not enjoyed something so much, because, unfortunately for me, the backseat of the car we were in was not large enough for 2 carseats and me. Guess who was squished the whole way. Oh well, at least we finally made it to Denver!
We're halfway home!

Before we left, though, we decided to take another drive along the coast. We were driving along Bolsa Chica when we got these great shots.

Denver was great! Steve's family was so welcoming and hospitable even though we arrived at midnight. They greeted us the next morning with coffee and doughnuts and were happy to let Gigi run around and be energetic. Claire still had a high fever so she slept most of the time and wasn't able to do a lot of playing with her cousins or see her great-grandparents.

We were supposed to leave Denver for home on Sunday afternoon, but when we called to check the flights to Austin we were told that it wasn't looking good for us to get on, so we decided to stay another day and fly out on Monday morning. It was such a joy to be able to relax and have a good time and not worry about going somewhere or seeing someone. This was probably the most relaxing part of the whole vacation!

Unfortunately I didn't think to take a lot of pictures of the family in Denver, but I managed to get some of Gigi eating a cupcake for her cousin Keegan's birthday. Yummy!

Thank you again Jenn and Jeff for putting us up for those days!

Vacation- Wednesday (cont.)- Friday

The last half of the week was very busy for us. We were trying to pack in as much as possible before we had to leave town. On Wednesday after the beach we rushed down to south Orange County to have dinner with friends. They have a 2-year-old son, Maddox, who we caught holding hands with Claire during dinner. Talk about cute! Afterward we let them play in the "kiddy" fountain area. Claire, of course, was unhappy with being wet in the fountain. I'm seeing a pattern here...

On Thursday Claire ended up having a fever so we left her at home with Nana and Papa and we took Gigi by herself to Downtown Disney and to the Rainforest Cafe. We contemplated going to Disneyland, but we realized that it would have been fun for the girls for about an hour, and the high admission prices weren't worth it! Maybe in a couple of years....

Gigi seemed to like all of the outdoor music and entertainment of Downtown Disney, and she especially liked the decor of the Rainforest Cafe. She smiled really big every time the sky darkened and it started to rain inside. She pointed out the "twinkle, twinkle stars" shining just above us. However, Tracy Tree was a different story! I guess I would freak out at a moving, talking tree too if I wasn't old enough to understand what it really was.

On Friday we went to spend more time with Eric, Cathy and Ethan Wayman. We knew Cathy would kill us (literally) if we brought a feverish Claire around her 1-month-old, so we left both girls at home with Nana and Papa again. How nice it is to visit without little velociraptors screeching around!

Here's a picture of Ethan... what a cutie!

Vacation- Wednesday

On Wednesday of our trip to California we went to Huntington Beach to play in the ocean and do some shopping on Main Street. We knew from previous beach vacations that Gigi is fearless when it comes to the water and loves being at the beach. We mistakenly thought Claire would be the same way. The first time she got knocked down by a tiny wave, she screamed and cried. That was it for her- she was done with the beach! Gigi, of course, was still fearless.

Vacation- Tuesday

On Tuesday of our vacation, we had the joy of visiting with Uncle Chip and the privilege of being on his boat "Simply Bliss". We had a fantastic time letting the girls explore since neither had ever been on a boat before. We actually had to drag Gigi off kicking and screaming when it was time to leave! She loved everything about it- seeing the water, sitting in the dinghy, wearing the Captain's hat and pretending to drive the boat. It was just such a shame that the boat's rocking in the water would bring back my nausea!

Oh, well- maybe we'll try it again after the baby is born.

Thanks Uncle Chip for a great time! Sorry I was such a party pooper!

view of the "Queen Mary" from Chip's boat

the Aquarium of the Pacific (with original artwork by Wyland)

Vacation- Saturday through Monday

This last week, we took our biennial trip to Southern California to see friends and family. After waiting at the Austin airport for 6 hours and flying standby **eek!!** we finally arrived in California at midnight. We were all exhausted, but didn't have any time to waste, so we hit the ground running. We woke up early to attend Sunday morning services at our OC home church RockHarbor, and then met many of our dear friends for lunch.

Later on we were able to leave the kiddos with Nana and Papa and go to La Creperie. Rusticana- YUM!! This is a restaurant that we started going to right around the time we got engaged and when the restaurant was still a hole-in-the-wall and very quaint. What a treat this was for us!

Monday Steve went to his office to see his co-workers and I went to visit the Waymans and introduce Gigi and Claire to their new son, Ethan. We also left a present for them in the form of Cheerios sprinkled all over their carpet. Sorry!

One of the things we got to enjoy while here was Claire's first spaghetti dinner. Isn't she cute?!