It's a GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's our proof! That little rump is too adorable... the ultrasound technician said that it was DEFINITELY a girl. A tear rolled out of the corner of my right eye and Joe was speechless. The arrow in the middle is pointing to the "girl parts".

I was amazed at the detail we could see on that fuzzy screen... here's our little munchkin peeking out at us. The technician told us she was a little shy and didn't like having her pictures taken (she must get that from Aunt Lindsay).
She was squirming and kicking all the way to the doctor's and then when we got there she decided that she was going to tuck herself into a little ball and take a nap.

We were pleasantly surprised to find out that the doctor's office could do 4D pictures for us. In the picture above she has her chin tucked to her chest and her right hand up by her forehead... I put a red dot on her nose so you would have a point of referrence. The technician said she had a cute little nose (it's Joe's nose!).

Here's another 4D picture where you can see the profile really well.

She started to wake up toward the end of the ultrasound and we got to see her open her mouth and stick her tiny little hand in it.

In this picture you can see her right hand is opened up abover her forehead.

Here's my baby dady in the "Daddy" chair. Joe only sat in this chair for the picture, he was actually standing up close to the monitor studying it carefully the whole time.

Doin' It Rodeo Style

Joe and I went to the the San Antonio Rodeo on Saturday to find out what all the fuss was about.
I wasn't able to go on any of the rides but we did get to go on the Ferris Wheel. (Above is the self portrait on the Ferris Wheel) The Carnies were especially entertaining this year. I wish someone would have warned me not to eat an icecream cone in front of them... soooo gross!
Above you can see the view from the top of the Ferris Wheel. I made Joe promise me that he would take me to an amusement park for some cheap (or not so cheap) thrills after the baby is born.

Below is a picture of our lovely carnie who made sure everything was ship shape before turning on the ride. It's good to know we had experts like him looking out for us. Sorry for the bad quality of the pic, but for some reason anytime we pointed a camera anywhere near his direction, he literally dove for cover. Maybe he was just shy.




We went there mostly because I wanted to look at all the animals. And there were plenty of animals for me to delite in.

There was an animal show that had an adorable Llama and some funny little goats that liked to climb on top of things.


These are baby Quail Chicks... I love baby animals!

We came across a rare Joe Goat. It was my favorite animal of all.

This little lamb was not much bigger than our cat Bunker (he is a big cat). I just thought this was the sweetest thing ever.

Mooma and Grandad, we found the perfect little pony for your first grandchild. It was only about 2 1/2 feet tall. It was so cute and furry.

Here is an update on the baby bump, 19wks and counting, almost halfway there!

A Visit from the Home Health Nurse

I get my very own home health nurse that comes to my house and talks about my fetus every two weeks (compliments of the USAF). Her name is Debrah and I think she is wonderful. Yesterday she brought these little silicone fetus models with her and a really cool video showing a 3D developing fetus (Joe and I watched it last night). The picture below is Debrah holding a 16wk fetus and a 22wk fetus. (I will be 18wks tomorrow.)
I just set an appointment for our 20wk ultrasound this morning for February 12th so that is when the next blog will be to let you know the pressing question on everyone's mind... boy or girl.

This is me holding the 16wk fetus... I think it is sucking it's thumb/hand.

This is what our baby will look like when Joe and I celebrate our 4 year Anniversary on Feb 18th. They grow up so fast!

Potato Baby

I went to another prenatal appointment today and before I left the house I read up a little on our little bundle. The literature said that right now our baby weighs around 5oz and measures 4-5" crown to rump (or the size of my palm). I wanted to get a better idea of how big that really was so I broke out the tape measure and the food scale and searched for a comparable object...

There is the story of the potato baby. I was also compelled to draw a picture of a fetus on it for Joe's viewing pleasure (and he was pleased).

We introduced our new potato baby to our other babies... as you can see Bunker is playing "Nanny Cat". (Above) Pinkerton wasn't quite ready to nest with it like Bunker but she was willing to give it a small kiss on the head. (below)

I figured I would hold the faux baby up to my belly to show the size comparison... black is a VERY slimming color!

Can you believe that my uterus is the size of a Cantaloupe now?!

It's Fetal Heartbeat Time!

Here is a video clip of our baby's heartbeat.

And there you have it folks.

I think it sounds like a little horse galloping toward the end.

Pinky was very curious so I had to include her.

Atlanta Adventures

Joe and I took a quick weekend trip over to Atlanta to partake in some festivities, but before I get into that I have to squeeze in a picture of my adorable cats: Also a few pictures of my new car:

And now for the pictures everyone really wants to see...

Little Kathryn (aka "baby sister") was absolutely precious, I just couldn't help myself. I was kinda ridiculous, I just couldn't bring myself to put her down or stop staring at her. At one point when someone else got to hold her and Joe caught me looking on longingly he whispered, "This is killing you isn't it?" (I knodded) and he said he was proud of me for sharing. Thanks for letting me have so much time with her Megan!

Saturday was Grandma Gerken's 90th birthday party and we were supposed to be a surprise guests but the surprise was accidentally lost when Grandma cleverly figured out that we would be there... she was still very excited to see us and I tried to upload a video of her reaction but it didn't work, but it was cute, just take my word for it.

Here is the picture of Grandma with her family. There are better ones on someone else's camera. This picture was taken last and we were all starting to tire out.

This is a cute picture of Joe and I with Megan, Steve, Kate and Nate.

Joe's cousin, Amanda, has a daugther also named Emma and I absolutely love this picture of little Emma holding Kathryn.

And here is the guest of honor with her surprise package.The next day we went to church and Kathryn was baptized. Joe and I got to stand up as her Godparents. Can you tell how nervous we were from the photo?

Adventures in California

My Dad and I took a road trip over to Ukiah

to see Steph & Hannah. Steph took us on a really

cool hike through the Redwoods and Hannah kept

us entertained the whole time. Here's a clip of

Hannah showing of a firebelly newt she found.

On the way to the Redwoods Hannah tried out my glasses

(the sun was in her eyes).

Steph and Hannah and I had to get a group photo.There were free range sheep wandering along the side of the road.
Then Joe showed up and the real celebration began... My dad showed off his new house...
and his cooking skills:

And no California Christmas would be complete without Grandma Pat.

Mooma and Jobie took us to one of our favorite restaurants, Morning Thunder.

It is small family owned place but the food is HUGE. Wow, I just can't stop thinking about it...

We took a stroll through Bidwell Park after breakfast. While at the park we came across this strange auto...Can you believe it was for sale?Too bad Joe had already bought me a new Ford Fusion, I would've looked good cruisin' this monster.