15 Weeks and Counting

Jim and I attended our 15 week appointment yesterday to make sure everything is going well with BF. The doctor gave us a good report, so nothing too new to report. She listened to the heartbeat and said it sounded good at 130 beats per minute. That was a good bit slower than the last time we heard it (168 bpm). At this point, if she had to guess the gender based on the heart rate, she'd say a boy. Following that statement she said, "Don't go painting the room just yet, though." We have our BIG ultrasound on August 21st, so we'll know the gender of BF then!! We can't wait!

Marriage and Mice

Jim and I celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary on Saturday. Guess what we did?? Absolutely nothing and it was awesome! You know those days when you have nothing planned except to relax and your day is anything but relaxing? I promised myself Saturday would not be one of those days and it wasn't! We rented movies, ordered a pizza for lunch and my sweet mother-in-law brought dinner for us! How nice is she?? We had yummy steaks, sweet potatoes, broccoli, rolls, and homemade peach cobbler for dessert! Mmm! I'm getting hungry just thinking about it! It was an awesome day with my sweet hubby! Each day I'm reminded how blessed I am to have him in my life.

On another note, Jim and I were playing with Hana in the backyard last night around 8pm. It was pretty dark, but you could still see a little bit. I was walking towards the back of our yard when I heard something moving. I looked down and ran super-fast away from the little critter that was at my feet. I think it was a mouse! Now, I'm not a bug/rodent lover by any means, but I wanted to go back and check him out. He was cute! I think since seeing the movie Ratatouille I have a new appreciation for mice...not that I would want them cooking in my kitchen or anything! Jim went inside and I wasn't about to walk up to Remy by myself! That was the end of that!

Who is Hana?

Hana (pronounced Hawna) is our baby for now. She was my birthday present back in 2005 and she has been such a fun addition to the family. During one of my parents visits, they went to the Spring Hill Vet to get a 'special' food for their dog and came across this little black fluffball. My mom knew I'd wanted a puppy for a long time, so Jim and I returned to meet the little gal and fell in love with her (at least I did)! The vet was running out of room for her and she was going to be put to sleep the next day. Talk about pressure!!

When we brought her home we didn't have anything; no fence, no food, no toys, no crate...nothing! We didn't even know what kind of dog she was or how big she would get. We found out later her birthdate is March 15th, she had a home before us, and she is a lab/setter mix. We were a little nervous about her size after hearing that, but she is the perfect size for us. She is about 30 lbs and definitely has more to her than the lab/setter mix.

The story of her name is pretty cool. For our honeymoon, Jim and I went to Hawaii and spent a few nights in the rainforest of Hana. The neat thing about the location Hana is that the beaches are black due to the volcanic ash and lava. We were sitting around trying to think of what we would call her and Jim mentioned Hana...it just fit.

She has completely taken over the Forrester Mansion (it's not really a mansion, but that's what I call it!). She's a great pet and loves hanging out with her mommy and daddy. We've been able to teach her a few tricks one of which is playing dead. She tries really hard, but she never really stops moving. We need to work on that!

The top picture is about a week after we brought her home and the picture below is on our Thanksgiving journey to Houston in 2006. She is a road dog...she loves traveling!! Isn't she sweet? Oh yeah! If you come to our house you may want to ignore her for about the first 10 minutes or she'll pee...Cocker Spaniel??

BF's (Baby Forrester) First Video

Hot off the press! We had an appointment this morning and some of the footage is below. It was so amazing!! It's crazy to think BF has come all this way since the blob back in May. BF was good and seemed to wave to us a few times. We were able to see the head, arms, hands, legs, and feet! How fun is this!

We are going to find out the sex of BF, but we have about 6 more weeks to go. I am eagerly awaiting that day and ready to plan!! Nursery, here we come!

Serious Traveling

Jim and I recently went on the longest two-engine flight in the world - Newark to Hong Kong - 16 hours in the air! It was crazy! Let's put that in our baby books! Everything went fine for both of us. My doctor suggested I wear compression hose to prevent blood clots in my legs. Sure, no problem! Wow! I have never experienced anything like those. I could barely get them on by myself!

We went on a mission trip to Thailand with our church from June 8th to June 21st and had an amazing time! We were able to help lead worship for a conference. Most of our trip was conference related, but we did get some free time as well. One of the extra things we did was go to an elephant camp where we rode an elephant! It was so fun! There were elephants everywhere bathing, eating, playing, etc. Here is a picture of us being hugged by a big hunk of love.

We spent the last 3 days of our trip in Hong Kong. Below is a picture of us on a boat ride with the city in the background. There were buildings like this EVERYWHERE!! It was wild!

About the Pregnancy...So Far

I am 12 weeks along this week and have been feeling normal for most of my pregnancy. Towards the beginning I felt a little nauseous, but I just told myself to eat (even though I wasn't hungry) and it was fine. I haven't had any 'hanging over the toilet' moments and I am very grateful for that! No weird cravings either...the only thing I had to have was Fazoli's which is Italian fast food. The funny thing about that is the last time I had it was about 5 years ago. I have no idea what made me think of it but I loved every minute of that meal! It was the breadsticks I was really wanting...yummy!

Blob with a Heartbeat

Back in May, we had our first ultrasound and were able to see our new blob. It's about 3 mm long and 6 weeks old in this picture.

Good luck making it out. Hint -- look in the lower right-hand corner of the big black hole.