5 months

Oh! Just What I Wanted!

We'll post ultrasound pics as soon as we get them scanned in, but I had to express how just plain happy I am that we're having a girl. The feeling of getting exactly what I wanted is exhilarating.

I'm humbled that the God of the universe would take my requests into account. He's given me the desire of my heart and I'm so humbled and thankful. He didn't have to do that, but did. James 1:17 has come to mind over and over again this week. It says, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights..."

You know those moments where you just can't believe how amazing your life has turned out? That's been me for the last... well, three years. I've always been blessed, but God has outdone Himself in the last couple of years. And now this, I've been walking around with a goofy smile on my face for days. I'm beside myself. Giddy!

I'm excited about a lot of things when it comes to having a baby girl. I've been doing a lot of planning and dreaming in my mind since before we even knew she was a she; but mostly I'm excited about the daddy she's going to have. It makes me tear up when I think about all the love she's going to be drenched in by him. Much like I got from my own dad. What a gift.

I surprised Mark with a cake that said "It's a girl!" the night we found out. I got him champagne and Martinellis for me ; )

Recent Highlights

1. I look pregnant. And please don't tell me I didn't. I get irritated when people say, "I thought you said you popped?! You can hardly even tell you're pregnant." Because this is not normal.

2. I feel GREAT. Like pre-pregnancy great. I have energy, can eat more than Asiago cheese bagels from Panera, and don't even want to bite the head's off innocent strangers and husbands for no apparent reason at all. Praise the baby Jesus! I started getting a little panicky there when I was waiting for that second trimester energy boost to kick in and instead week 12 and 13 were some of my most lethargic and I started puking for the first time. Ya, that's a story. It involves loosing it on the very popular 2nd Street in Long Beach THREE times, not one of which I managed to make it to one of the trash cans they have on every block. Ooops. It was 10am on a Saturday morning after taking down an original-sized Jamba Juice. That's when you wish they made t-shirts that said, "I'm not still drunk from the night before, I'm pregnant.

3. We have our anatomy and gender ultrasound appointment scheduled. We'll know our fate on Dec. 20th. We're not one of those couples that say we don't care what gender the baby is. We both really want a girl and aren't very good at hiding it if one is supposed to. Maybe it's because Mark's family is all boys and it's time for a girl Russell, or maybe it's because Makayla was (is) a girl, and she's the closest thing we've been to being a family of three, or because my idea of a boy is my brother; rowdy and a bit of a hooligan at times. Although I will say, I'm becoming more and more team "as long as the baby's healthy" the closer we get to knowing, which is a relief, because I really, really didn't want to cry in front of the ultrasound tech.

...still praying for pink.

4. I can feel the baby move. I can only feel it from the inside, not with my hand's on my tummy yet, and only tiny little movements, but it's still an incredible feeling. I love the reminder that this is all really happening, that something really is growing and living inside of me.