17 weeks

At 17 weeks (according to my app) baby Hale weighs about 5oz, is the size of a sweet potato(the last time I ate one it was way bigger than that!), and is starting to yawn! How exciting! 

To see more belly pics click here. 

Recital

Yesterday 21 of my students ages 6-13 performed in a music recital at our church. I teach guitar, piano, and voice lessons here in Salado. Here they are:

They did SO well!  They sat and listened to each other, performed everything from Beethoven to Bieber (yes that is Justin Bieber...), bowed beautifully, and enjoyed a cookie party afterwards. There were over 125 people in attendance!!! 

At the end of the recital, they all surprised me by showering me with baby gifts, home made cards, and singing "Mrs. Mary had a little lamb". haha! I was blown away by their thoughtfulness and generosity! Baby Hale got some serious gifts and a generous gift card! Some of the cards and gifts are posted below. 

Right before the recital- while a group of the kids were practicing, a man from our church came up to me and told me he was so proud of me for what I am doing for these kids. When he was my age someone gave him some seed money to help his business grow and he wanted to pass it on by doing the same for me. He handed me a check, I hugged him, and cried from his kindness. I was floored by his generous donation to supporting music education! 

I can't really describe in words how moved I was yesterday. I had NO IDEA what a powerful day it was going to be. I told Sean at lunch today I don't think I have ever been this happy in my life. I mean...I have had a wonderful life, but right now it is just really good- I LOVE my job and feel like I am making a huge difference, I have a wonderful husband, I live in a cute town, and have a baby on the way. What more could I ask for? I am so blessed. 

Learning

Yesterday we had fun shopping at a baby store in Round Rock :) I have sat and registered for things while sitting in the living room but haven't gotten the chance to see much of it in person, so that was fun! 

At this same store, we went to a free cloth diaper 101 class. We both feel like we learned a lot and that it is worth a try. The thing I learned the most is that you just need a big variety of cloth and disposables around...then just see what works for you.

Fun day :)

starting to get real

This weekend we have a cloth diaper 101 class to try out, the church choir in Salado is planning a baby shower for sometime in September (probably the weekend after labor day), and we find out if it is a boy or girl in 10 days! 

It is starting to get real! Our little wiggle worm likes the sound of the guitar. My work days are filled with live music, especially this week (getting ready for my students' recital), so baby loved hearing it all :)

Can't wait for the gender reveal party!!

Turnip

At 16 weeks (according to "What to Expect") baby Hale is as big as a turnip!

I had to google image turnip because I couldn't find it at Walmart or Brookshire's. I honestly wasn't sure what one was...haha! The guy in the produce department at Brookshire's recognizes me when I go in and told me that they are close to potatoes and a lot of people use them as potato substitutes...Turnip lesson for the day! 

"What to Expect" says the following about week 16:

What I should be expecting: "The 2nd trimester can bring on a truck driver's appetite" (that wording is a little offensive and judgmental if you ask me! haha!) I have been eating well, but not noticing that I am wanting to eat way more than usual...we'll see how this goes! 

What is new with Baby:"Loud noises can startle baby, baby's eyes are moving from side to side and can even perceive light, and fingerprints are forming!" How cool are all of these things?!

Mom and Dad couldn't resist the sale (plus extra discounts) at Target and bought this CUTE baby swing last night! We are excited about it :)

Our friends (the owners and winemakers) at the Salado Creek Winery  were concerned they hadn't seen us in a while. We bumped into them at one of the coolest restaurants this last weekend and they unexpectedly paid for our dinner! haha! How sweet of them! That shows you how much we used to go in there :) If you're in Salado- go support them and drink their delicious wine! Here is a picture of us walking around the restaurant before our dinner.

 Georgetown is beautiful!

16 weeks

*To see more baby bump pics, click here. This page will be updated regularly*

Happiness

Yesterday we had a wonderful day! We slept in, got a couples massage (from a gift card I had), ate some yummy tacos from Salado's 1 and only amazing food truck, snacked on stovetop popcorn while catching up on our DVR, and made the best homemade pancakes from scratch for din din! 

Such a great day!

Sean and I were talking during our coffee time yesterday (which usually lasts 30-45 min every morning because we can talk to each other forever!) I told him I feel like I have just had this wave of happiness the last few days. I kind of feel bad with all the tragedy going on around us, but I am just getting overly excited about everything baby! I never thought scheduling birthing classes, reading about breastfeeding,  or just daydreaming about our future family would make me so HAPPY! 

I finally had a dream about the gender of our baby! I won't share until 

May 10th (the gender reveal party), but we'll see if my prediction is correct :) 

I can't wait! 

*I added a new tab on the top of your screen labeled Belly click here to watch my belly grow!*

Daddy of the Year

Sean is already earning the daddy of the year award. He is going to be such a great father!

He's been so supportive- wanting to go to every appointment with me, willing to go to a cloth diapering class and become an expert, singing to baby, and showing so much excitement!

We've been through so much together knowing each other for more than 20 years and our love has grown so strong. It is exciting, but hard to imagine our love is going to grow a million times more once this little baby comes into our lives. 

I am so thankful for having the BEST friend anyone could hope for.

Avocado!

At 15 Weeks Baby Hale is the size of an avocado (in my hand)! At this stage, baby can HEAR! Sean has had fun talking and singing to our little one :) I have been feeling more and more little movements!

I've still been keeping up with running at the Doctors request. It is hard at almost 4 months pregnant, but still very important. 

The doctor said I would probably only gain about 15-30 lbs and loose most of it within the first 6 weeks...that sounds amazing! We'll see if that is true.

Getting very excited about our gender reveal! We will know in less than 3 weeks if it is a boy or girl!!

New tabs on the blog

I have had fun creating new pages/tabs for this blog.

On a computer: they're listed at the top of your screen: "Blog", "Registry", "Timeline...", and "pregnancy advice". Just click on them one by one.

On your phone: click on the icon to the right of the word "blog" at the top of your screen...I think that will get you there...


Here is an intro to what the tabs are all about:
blog- entries I will continue to post
Registry- quick way to get to our registry
timeline of baby Hale- self explanatory, but so fun!
pregnancy advice- also self explanatory. Will be updated every few weeks.

Babymoon/5 year anniversary

This Summer we will be celebrating our FIVE year wedding anniversary! As our last vacation just the two of us, I booked a babymoon/ anniversary trip at a romantic B&B in the Texas Hill Country!

This place includes breakfast, dinner, and we'll be getting a couples massage! I can't wait!

14.5 weeks

Work

I have made a really hard decision to cut back on work when baby comes. I currently see 25 students/week with music lessons, I have 16 students on my waiting list, I have 3 music therapy client hours (with 2 clients) that I commute to go see in Temple/Belton, help take care of a dog, and voluntarily help Sean with the church music stuff a lot. I don't feel too busy since I work mostly in the afternoons- I love having lots of free time during the day to work out, fix dinner, eat lunch with Sean, etc...but I need to cut back a little when baby comes.

I LOVE my job and clients as a music therapist, but logistically, It makes more sense for me to drop my clients and just focus mainly on students. I've thought about every possibility and this just works best. I WILL come back to music therapy some day!

I'll be moving my private lessons studio up to the church in June! I already got permission for that. My hope is to grow the studio up at the church by hiring some other part time teachers- like college students. I could receive a small portion of their paycheck in exchange for getting them students, dealing with invoices and payment, and scheduling. It could be a win-win! 

We won't have to pay for childcare this way because Sean works about 8:30-4 Mon-Thurs and I would be starting a little before 4pm. baby could just hang out at the office for a little while :) 

I will be sad to say goodbye to my clients, but happy things are working out :)

Registry and Things

Ever since I moved off to college in 2004, I have been comfortable sitting on the floor in front of a full-length mirror to do hair and makeup. Recently I realized it will be harder to do that when I get bigger, so we bought a really nice desk and mirror from garage sales in Salado :) I'm growing up I guess!

We will also be shopping for some new furniture for the baby's room! Things we want are a crib, a dresser that can also be used as a changing table, and maybe some other storage piece of furniture. We are NOT opposed to garage sale finds or hand-me-downs!!

People have already been asking me about our registry. We will still be editing it a little here-and-there, especially when we find out the gender, but here is the link so far:

Baby Hale's Registry

This is different than other registries you've seen, so let me explain: This website is cool and lets you add items from as many different stores as you would like! Most of our stuff is from Target and Amazon. We are also registered at Target and Amazon separately if you can't figure out the other registry link. Most of the things on the registry are just ideas of what to get, but the actual gift doesn't have to be that EXACT thing...for instance if you know if a great place to get cheap baby washcloths that are cute-that works just fine! It doesn't have to be the ones we picked out. I am trying to keep most everything for the nursery gender neutral so it can be used again. For diapers- we want to try them all. All different brands and even cloth diapers. We like the color green and we like cute little animals on stuff for baby. Let me know if you have any questions!!

Overall, I am trying to remember what my friend Melissa said (that a friend told her):

"Your little baby doesn't need things, it needs you!"

Testing

Our doctor mentioned if we were interested there are some tests that they can do for baby Hale to check and see if baby is at higher risk for a disability such as down syndrome, spina bifida, neural tube defects, and so on.

Not sure how many people get these tests done and I am not trying to offend anyone, but here are my personal thoughts about these tests...

What will be will be. If our baby is born with down syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism, or any number of  other diagnoses, our baby is still going to be born whole and perfect. Baby Hale has not been made broken. These are not disabilities, but are just part of what make people who they are.

Maybe my comfort level is high because as a music therapist I have worked with countless families who have children with countless diagnoses. I am familiar with many physical and mental "defects" that people may have. I am also familiar with the ways the parents of these children handle these issues.

For the most part, parents of children with various diagnosis are not sad. They don't seek pity. Their home may be different from a home environment you grew up in, but it is happy and normal to them. Sure, it would be hard do deal with any abnormalities, but it isn't going to change the way Sean and I love our child.

So in conclusion- No thanks, we're not interested in the tests :)

2nd doctor's appointment/1st movement!

At 14 Weeks, baby Hale is the size of a Naval Orange!

This morning we had our 2nd doctor's appointment. It was a lot less rigorous than the first, but still very exciting and informative! 

First, we got to hear about the blood results from the last appointment (that I was curious and slightly worried about). My hemoglobin count is at 14.4 which Dr. P. said is really good for pregnant women and they hardly see levels that high...don't worry, it is not too high :) My blood work showed that I was well hydrated, have plenty of iron, and it can carry plenty of oxygen throughout my body. This is great because the day I took the test I was worried that I was malnourished and dehydrated because I had just been in the ER 2 days before with lots of vomiting. Also, YAY for no anemia! I was a little worried about that because I've had low iron counts when I tried to give blood...all is good. AND it was confirmed I am blood type O+ which means I can give to anyone but can only receive type O blood. Hopefully I won't have to worry about a transfusion, but I need to try and donate blood again after pregnancy! 

Next, we got to hear the baby's heartbeat through a doppler. That is so neat, but even cooler (to me and Sean) is that we got to hear a flutter in the sound which Dr. P. said was movement. She was exited and a little surprised about that :) She asked if I had felt baby move yet and I said no. At our first appointment, we got to see baby move, which she was also excited and surprised by...so Sean and I talked on the way home about our little wiggle worm.

This weekend was a little busy with a trip to Houston and going to 2 college student events at 2 different universities around Salado, so when we got home this morning I was very busy doing laundry, dishwasher, putting dinner in the crockpot, sending emails, etc... When I bent down to pick up a basket of laundry I felt a movement in my tummy! Dr. P. said if I thought I felt movement and I was not so sure that is what it was to go lay down on my back, place my hands on my lower abdomen, and push down slightly to see if the movement happens again...so I did. Baby Hale moved again! Such a wiggle worm! It felt familiar, yet unfamiliar at the same time. It felt like digestion, but it also felt like butterflies in my stomach...it was totally an out-of-body experience. So surreal! How exciting!!! 

I am so thankful for Sean and baby Hale :)

13.5 weeks

2nd Trimester!!

I am starting out my 2nd trimester! This is most pregnant women's favorite part of pregnancy because your tummy starts to look pregnant, nausea goes away (for most people), traveling is still ok, you get to feel the baby kick for the first time, AND you can find out if it is a boy or girl! 

VERY excited about all of these things! 

What to say?

Just FYI, here are some good examples of what NOT to say to a pregnant woman:

• "You're looking very pale"
• "You look like you're thinning out- are you ok?"
• "You get to be the designated driver!"(I've heard and done this one a lot...doesn't always bother me, but it gets a little old...)
• "It is a good thing you already have wide birthing hips"
• "sleep now because you will never sleep again"
• "at least you're not to the gross, fat part yet"
• ...basically anything negative. hahahaha! 

If you're wondering what is appropriate to say to a pregnant woman, just say anything positive like

• "You're glowing"
• "You're about to enter the most beautiful time of your life"
• "Pregnant women are the most beautiful women"
• "Having kids is life's greatest blessing"
• ....anything positive :) 

I am not really writing this to put anyone down (none of the poor comments were from my blog readers), I just want to let people know the things that lift me up :)

Nursery Ideas

I may totally change my mind once we find out the gender, but for now I am thinking about doing a pretty gender-neutral nursery so we can reuse as many things as possible (if we are so blessed). 

As ideas, here is sort of the color palette/theme I am thinking about:

I am really gravitating towards green which is Sean's favorite color, so he loves it! I like the combo of green, yellow, orange, brown, blue...Also, I like the idea of little animals ....no specific animal, just a variety...like the giraffes, hippos, turtles, frogs, elephants seen above :) 

Cute, Cute, Cute! 

At 13 weeks, baby hale is as big as a LEMON! Unfortunately, the lemons we have are texas sized so I don't think I will take a pic with one because it must be way bigger than baby! Still not showing much yet. Many women don't gain weight in their first trimester- some even loose weight if they've been so sick! I've just kept pretty steady. I just don't feel pregnant yet, especially weighing in at 102.8 lbs this morning! Don't worry, I eat all the time and my belly will grow soon! Our next doctor's appointment is in a week so I will update on that soon :)