Random Updates

Not much has been happening with Baby Elliott, she's kicking alot. My lower stomach is tight, like I did too many sit ups, wonder if that's normal? No more appointments until March 11th, and that will just be a routine visit. I have one more "monthly" visit after that and then it's a visit every other week. Otherwise, everything is all good with her!

The in-laws are coming down tomorrow. Mandi and Ryan are here for the first time! We're going to the Nascar race on Sunday, I've been to a race one time before in 2006...it's more fun seeing them in person than on TV. I'm not a huge fan of Nascar but I've decided to jump on the Dale Jr bandwagon, I've gotta cheer for SOMEONE!

We got a new grill this week. Our old one just decided to stop working. We tried cleaning it, getting a new propane tank, trying the new propane tank on our neighbor's grill (it worked on theirs!). Nothing worked so we did research and got one from Lowe's, it's really nice! Shawn is a bit of a skeemer...he found out that in the "new resident" packet at the Post Office had a 10% coupon for Lowe's so he went and got one! We didn't even have to put the grill together, it came assembled! We cooked on it tonight for the first time, it cooks so even compared to our old one! But I guess our old one was 4 years old, cost about $80, and was pretty dirty.

We have our crib, dresser, and bedding set for the baby's room (thanks Mom!). I'm so excited to get the room and closet cleaned out and get the furniture put together! Here is the crib: http://www3.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6E.aspx?GrpTyp=ENS&ItemID=14ba562&RefPage=x6&cmOrigID=RN343-8294B&cmPosID=2&CmCatId=58824|eob

And here is the bedding: http://www3.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6.aspx?ItemID=14e7a79&ItemTyp=G&GrpTyp=PRD&ShowMenu=T&ShopBy=0&SearchString=tivoli+garden&RefPage=SearchDepartment.aspx&s4PageSize=15&CmCatId=searchresults&Search1Prod=True

And thanks to Art and Julie, we got all the matching accessories for the bed set! The room will come together pretty quickly after we clean the it out. Right now there is a bed, dresser, and desk in the room and we plan on selling it all on Craigslist. We didn't want to sell it until Art and Julie left after their stay this weekend, one last use before we sell it! I have also purchase a few things...mostly clothing, but it sure is fun!

Sam and my Mom are working on the baby shower which will be on April 11th and will take place at Sam's house. Sam is working on the invitations and such but I'm always looking for fun little things to include in the shower! And if anyone has any "can't live without" items that I should register for, feel free to share your ideas!

Shawn and I have both been pretty busy with work. Shawn went out to dinner at a fancy restaurant at the Palazzo casino with the bank executives. I think he is pretty well liked at work! The CIO of the company actually has a hand in organizing the a baby shower for Shawn! I can just imagine a baby shower for Shawn...a bunch of women oohing and aahing over baby gifts as Shawn is all shifty and uncomfortable. I sure hope someone takes pictures of that:-)

So there are some random updates about our life! I thought I better post something before people stopped checking back:-) I hope everyone in the north is keeping warm!

But the greatest of those is love...

19 and a half weeks now!

Flowers Shawn got me:-)

Shawn and me at The Lodge

Valentines day was interesting this year. I decided that we should do something different and go up to Mt. Charleston for dinner at the Mt. Charleston Lodge. They had a special where everyone had the same meal and the executive chef, Chef Simon, prepared some of the meal in a demonstration. I thought it sounded like fun! Also, you can't beat a romantic dinner in snow capped mountains!

The beauty of the mountains did not disappoint. The cabins, lodges and huge homes were amazing. The drive, winding through the trees and homes was everything we thought it would be and more. The climate definitely changes as you go up 4000 feet as well. When we were in town it was 51 degrees, when we got to the top of the mountain, it was 13! But it was alot of fun to experience some different weather.

The lodge looked alot like a "lodge" should, the decor was 1950's reminiscent. The staff was small town nice, which was appreciated! We had to make reservations and when we reported to be seated, we were seated at a table for four...hmmm. We asked if others would be sitting with us to which the answer was yes. Sitting with two strangers on Valentines day did not sound like my idea of fun. I asked the hostess if we could sit at the table for two by the fire place and she said that would be fine. We sat...and it was a child sized table! Poor Shawn spent the rest of the night with his legs straddling the table because his legs didn't fit underneith it! But we didn't want to complain again so we endured! Chef Simon did a nice job of showing us how to make different parts of the meal. However, from the time we got there until the time we left, it was almost three hours! We had not expected to be there for so long! Then, on the way home, we stopped to get dessert at one our favorite places. We put in our order, paid and sat down to wait...25 minutes later we still had no dessert. It wasn't that difficult, it was some pie and cheese cake! I asked the young lady we ordered from where our dessert was and low and behold it had been done for about 20 minutes! She appologized and give us the desserts. So in general we felt it was a night of waiting! But the food was decent and the company was great:-) As long as we got to spend the night together is all that mattered. We had a nice time talking and laughing. And as of today, we have been together for 11 years! Boy how time flies:-)

The last of the ultrasounds...

My beautiful face:-)

A great spead eagle picture...I AM A GIRL!!

My feet!

We had our last ultrasound (providing everything goes well) on 2/11/09. I was officially 19 weeks, which is crazy! It seems like it's going so fast, and I can imagine it will only go faster the closer I get to the due date. Well the appointment went great and Shawn actually made it to this one!

SHE (yes it's officially a SHE!) is doing great. She's is the right size, about 5 1/2 inches long and right on target for 19 weeks. They measured every part of her body to make sure she is growing at the correct rate. We also got the results from a blood test that was done a month ago, it was to test for trisomy 18 and down syndrome and although there is no guarantees there is only a 1/7000 chance she has trisomy and a 1/<10,000 chance she has down syndrome. I also had a check up with my doctor and the very first question I asked about was weight gain...seriously I have been eating alittle crappy and I've gained about half the weight I am suppose to gain during the entire pregnancy...oops! So now I feel like a huge tubby but at least its inspired me to eat MANY more fruits and veggies! I still have a few of my cheat treats but not as many as before. I guess I just need to remember that it's not just me that I am affecting. I also don't want to end up with gestational diabetes or anything like that. So I am striving to eat 7-9 fruits and veggies per day and only whole grains and good protiens. We'll see how long that lasts.

I hope everyone enjoys the pictures from the ultrasound. Sorry there isn't any videos, she was very uncooperative that morning, she didn't want to move at all. She was very quiet, even when the sonographer was pushing on my belly, making her bounce up and down! It was kinda funny but all I could think was "you're gonna give my kid brain damage!". Well she finally looked over at us so the sonographer could make measurements of her facial features, but otherwise she slept through the whole thing! Shawn made the comment that she's probably just like her mom and doesn't get out of bed before 9am...come one now, I'm out of bed by 8am!!

I'll try to post again after Valentines day. I hope to have some pictures of our dinner excursion, we are going up in the mountains for dinner, lots of snow:-) Until then, Happy Valentines day!!

The Name Game!

Who knew naming a child could be so difficult! There are SO MANY name books out there with a million different names in each one. I grew up with such a common name, I graduated with 5 other Jessica's/Jessie's in a class of 75 people. We don't want to saddle our child with a name that every other little kid has, I know what it's like. However, we also don't want to give the child a name that he/SHE will have to explain/spell for the rest of their life, that's no fun either. A name kind of defines a person, I think naming her Jane could name her one way and naming her Angelina could make her another. So what to do?

I have suggested names but Shawn shoots them all down! I started with Annabelle, that was a big fat no. It went on to Isabelle, Dylan, Grace, and other numerous names. They were all no's as well. The problem is, Shawn doesn't suggest any names...if he had his way we'd name our child along the same guidelines as our pets: Boozer and Captain Morgan Elliott, Morgan for short. Seriously, her name would be Tequila Rose or something! I have been stuck on the name Chloe for quite some time, however Shawn described it as a "stripper name" however I've never met a stripper named Chloe, I think of Bambie, Candy, Cherry, or Trixie. To me, Chloe sounds like a librarian or a teacher! So defeated, I moved onto Regan...very cute, not too common and Shawn actually said " yeah, that's ok"! That was the most positive thing I've gotten him to say about a name EVER! So I was pretty thrilled. Then the other shoe dropped. About two months ago, I was discussing names with a neighbor. I told her I liked Regan and she said that she and her husband (who were not pregnant) were going to use that name. Well I thought that since she wasn't pregnant and I was, I had dibbs on the name... then she found out she was pregnant three weeks ago (I am VERY happy for them!). I told Shawn the story on the name and he said "they can have the name"! So there went the one name we semi-agreed on:-(

So my favorite name is still Chloe and Shawn still says no. I keep saying the name and even call her that now however to no avail. Maybe it will grow on him. Maybe he is holding out for the February 11th ultrasound and thinks it will reveal that we are really having a boy and he can pick a boy's name. Who knows! I tried to make a deal with him, if it's a girl I get to pick the name and if it's a boy he gets to pick the name and neither of us can complain, he did not agree. We do have a few months to pick and any suggestions would be helpful. Phew this is a big job!