Lil' Ri's Real Name

How many of you have been waiting to hear the name hubby and I have chosen for Lil' Ri?

It wasn't hard because we have both loved this girl name for quite some time, but actually revealing it makes me anxious. Every person has different ideas of what is a beautiful name, a perfect name, and so on. Here is Lil' Ri's beautiful, perfect name...

(meaning: to strive, excel, or rival)

Mommy thinks she is going to strive to do her best at everything, excel at many things, and be a little competitive (like both her parents).

Her middle name is our one little secret until her birthday. Partly because we are still making certain of it and the other part because we want to have some suspense during this pregnancy.

Has anyone thought of her initials yet? So far, they are E.R. Where did Emily put mommy twice in the 1st trimester? Oh! That's right...the E.R. (emergency room). Again, back to the meaning for her name...she strived to survive and we love her dearly for her efforts. Love you Lil' E! Thanks for hanging in there. BTW...I come from a nickname for every thing family, so Emily already has a handful or more of nicknames.

Kick Me, Kick Me

Who would actually want to be kicked? Well, I can't speak for all mommies-to-be, but I have been dying to be kicked by my baby. My wish finally came true on week 20 as you know. Since that day, Lil' Ri has been kicking (or hiccuping) daily. She has a schedule too. The times I notice and feel her most is at around 4pm and late at night when I lay down for bed. She will be awake somewhere between 8pm-11pm. It all depends how long mommy stays awake and if I eat a snack before bed she is definitely movin' and groovin'. Right now as I'm typing this post, she is moving. I love knowing her schedule! I've even been able to see my tummy pop outward as she moves. I'm not quite sure how to determine if she is hiccuping, so if anyone knows that answer let me know.

Full Time & Preggers

This week I had to work full-time again because I hosted a book fair at my school. The students and their families seemed to really enjoy it especially the family breakfast Wednesday. I woke up SUPER early for that too. Then, Thursday, I stayed SUPER late for a family night.

I bought Lil' Ri four books, but none were her first book. I think I forgot to post the title of her first book, it is "Guess How Much I Love You?" I love her to the moon and back.

Below are the pictures of my book fair. It was also Red Ribbon Week (drug awareness), so Thursdays theme was Put a Cap on Drugs. That explains my hat in the last picture.

The Way to a Woman's Heart

One of the ways to a woman's heart is flowers. Another way is expensive jewelry, and a third is sweets. Hubby gave me two out of three this week. Guess which one wasn't included? LOL! Hubby has given me lots of beautiful expensive jewelry, so I have no complaints.

You need to know the story of how it came to be that he brought me roses and chocolate (Kit Kats to be exact) last night. Last week, I bought two small to moderate sized bags of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Kit Kats as Halloween candy. Naturally, I placed them in a festive container by the front door. It has now been established that hubby lacks total self-control when it comes to sweets and junk food. So Sunday, out of all the small chocolate bars, there were only six Kit Kats left. I told him that the rest were off limits to him and went up to bed. Monday, I went to work, came home, ate some healthy snacks, and then had a little sweets craving. Remembering the Kit Kats, I walked to the container. To my surprise, there was one Kit Kat placed perfectly in the center of the container. He ate FIVE Kit Kats that night!!! I was so disappointed. So, I texted him my disappointment and we played a little back and forth game. He said, "It took all my will power to leave you that last one." That was cute at least. However, I should have known better than to leave the candy out, but I thought he would control himself. He made a big stink about how he has no self-control and that I need to hide all sweets in the future.

The next day (yesterday), I was cooking dinner when he walked in the door with a gorgeous bouquet of red roses and a huge bag of Kit Kats. My heart melted at the gesture. Needless to say, the first thing out of my mouth was "Thank you, I love you, babe!" He replied, "You're welcome, now just hide those from me." LOL!!

These are the insignificant yet meaningful moments in a marriage you can't help but cherish.

Love you, Hubby! Thanks for keeping life playful and romantic.

P.S. Kit Kats not in picture because I had to hide them before it was too late.

The Sweetest Day

If you keep up with all the hallmark holidays, you knew that yesterday was The Sweetest Day. I was out with my friend yesterday who is a card fanatic, and she reminded me that it was The Sweetest Day. We were in the card aisle, and I was reading thru some of them. I found the perfect one for my hubby and bought it.

Last night, The Sweetest Day couldn't have ended more perfectly. While laying in bed watching TV to unwind, I felt Lil Ri' kick me for the first time. Now when I say first time, I mean this was no-doubt-about-it a growing baby kicking from the inside out. She did it eight times, and I was yelling for hubby to come into the room before it stopped. He got there in plenty of time to feel her, and his eyes lit up. I could see it in his face that he was thinking, "Mommy isn't crazy and fabricating ideas in her head anymore." I wrote my card to hubby after the eventful evening, and wrote our memory in the card. I left it on his pillow, and all I remember is waking up to a really late night kiss and an "I loved your card." Today has been a wonderfully relaxing day as well. I love when our love is rekindled. Our daughter-to-be adds to our love for one another each day. It's so incredible!

All in a Days Work...

Today, Lil' Ri has made me incredibly tired to start and then gave me a surge of energy tonight. Let me share...

It was incredible hard to wake up this morning. I made it to work, had a half day with the kids and managed to see 8 classes in 3 1/2 hours. BTW, it usually takes 6 hours. Whoooooo! Then, I had a dentist appointment, had to buy a birthday card for a co-worker (I also bought a little Halloween candy and a present for Hubby just to tell him I love him). Then, I came home to bake a dark chocolate bundt cake, make meatballs for sandwiches for dinner, ate, listened to 90s music that made me cry a few too many times (hormones again), and then made icing from scratch to drizzle over the cake. To top it all off, I washed all the dishes. Whooooosh! I'm spent! Now to fold some laundry, lay down in bed, and watch a TV show to unwind before lights out.

I'm so delighted to go to bed with a clean kitchen and a full tummy. Praying I make it thru tomorrow considering my legs have been aching since this morning and are throbbing now. Going to put them up.

Like I said, "All in a days work." What we can do when we set our mind to it.

Need a Laugh?

Hubby made me laugh and smile again by making me listen to the youtube video below. We promise we did not get our name for our blog from this, but it must have been in our subconsciouses somewhere.

Click Here for Video

Telling the Coworkers

Here is how I told my coworkers I'm expecting a little girl. I worn PINK of course! I went to bed planning to wear blue the next day. When I woke up, I said, "I can't wear blue. It will be misleading." So I quickly picked out something pink. Every time one of my coworkers asked, "So...boy or girl?" I tugged on my sweater. Let me just say that I had at least three blank stares from ladies going what is she doing? They each figured it out after a few moments. It was such a fun day telling people in person.

The story behind the picture titled Mommy Hearts Lil' Ri's Tooshie":

Where my hands are placed on my tummy is where her tooshie is right now. The ultrasound technician found it first try. I've decided to keep her girlie parts sonogram in her first album so as not to embarrass her this early in her life. It's a cute shot though. ;)

Our Girl

Introducing the first profile sonogram of Lil' Ri. She is my everything (just next to hubby of course). I'm in love with her little nose and lips already. She looks like her daddy so far. Oh...and her tummy is "well nourished" according to the ultrasound technician. She said I was feeding her well. Yay, one thing done right!

Lil' Ri's 1st Wardrobe

Tuesday, hubby and I went baby clothing shopping to buy one outfit (like I mentioned in the last post). She is her mommy's daughter though, therefore, she needs a closet full of clothes. Practically a new outfit for each day of the month...LOL!

Super excited to start buying for her in general but especially for her nursery, so I have to leave some moola for all that's on the design board.

Ooooooo!!! I'm just so happy I could burst. Well, I could burst if I wasn't so tired out from all the excitement and going to work. Enough said...check out her new apparel. She's going to be stylin'.

Look What the Stork is Bringing Us...

...sugar and spice, and everything nice because that is what little GIRLS are made of. Yes, we are delighted and overjoyed to announce that we will be bringing into the world a little girl. She is going to be the apple of her daddy's eye (& mommy's of course)! Hubby was hilarious today when we were leaving the doctor's office. He said to me as we were walking out, "The third thing that ran through my mind was how we have to pay for her wedding." I immediately laughed and then asked, "Well what were the #1 & #2 things to enter your mind?" He said, "#1 was 'WOW! How amazing! #2, I can't remember right now." Daddy is already slightly worried about keeping his little girl safe and happy...awww...how cute (for now).

We immediately called family. To start the conversation, we asked each, "so what do you think we're having?" Each mom, dad, sister, grandparent said the same thing..."a boy." We were shocked because every friend of mine immediately looks at me and says, "it's a girl." Hubby agrees, it is totally 100% expected that I would have a girl even though we all know the man's swimmers are what decides it all. I'm just so "girlie" he says all the time.

Her ultrasound pictures are coming. I'm honestly too tired from shopping and baby registry stuff this afternoon to upload it all. She is adorable if you ask me. Her nose and lips are too cute for words. She was yawning and sucking her thumb a little. It was the first time we ever saw her facial features. Really words cannot describe the feelings I had during the ultrasound, so I promise to post the pics soon.

P.S. We bought several outfits for her already and hung them in her closet. She's already costing us big bucks and we're just getting started. Coupons were handy though so it wasn't awful. We love her dearly, so money doesn't matter.

Curiosity Hasn't Killed This Cat

There are three possibilities for tomorrow's ultrasound. Three you ask? Well, here are the choices...

1. A boy

2. A girl

3. An uncooperative baby

The curiosity for hubby and I (plus everyone else in our lives) ends tomorrow. It has been so wonderful to hear all the excitement around us from family and friends wanting to know as desperately as we do what we are having. So far the vote is..."It's a girl!" My close girl friends in town all think it is a girl, my students think it is a girl, and hubby had a dream this weekend that it is (go figure) a girl! Well, I still believe there is a good chance of there being a baby boy in my tummy. All the pregnancy myths have been completely useless pertaining to me. For instance...

It's a boy: My bump is sitting low and, in general, I've had no major symptoms.

It's a girl: My chest has grown and I have had acne.

In about fifteen hours, my life will change one more time this year. When hubby came home tonight, I told him that I know understand why some couples want to be surprised in the delivery room. The tension building on tomorrow's ultrasound is making me anxious. So far, I have just loved knowing that hubby and I created a little version of "US." I love for my life to be symmetrical and even. Even numbers are my favorite, even years are my favorite, and even numbered birthdays are my favorite. No reason for it, just has been like that since childhood.

Having twins (one boy, one girl) would keep my life perfectly symmetrical. I manage to make it thru each odd year and odd birthday without any upsets, so it's just another year of so of being a little unbalanced with the numbers. All I know is mommy and daddy are going to love, loVE, LOVE this baby to pieces. We both can't wait to spread and share our news with you all tomorrow.

Last chance to get your vote in. I won't except any, "that is what I thought" or "I knew its" once we let the cat out of the bag tomorrow. So, do you think it is a boy or a girl?

Productivity Heaven

Hello all! This past week has been uneventful in Babyland, yet extremely productive. For the last two weekends, I've forced myself to curb my urges to spend countless hours online surfing the Web for baby stuff. With both possible nursery designs complete and registries for the most part put together minus the gender specific items, I told myself to get to the real work that needed to be done.

Real work = preparing our home for a baby in almost five months to the day.

On my non-work days, I managed to organize and reduce the amount of stuff in our master closet. In turn, this freed up almost 100% of space in the soon-to-be nursery's closet. The other 5% maybe of stuff is Christmas stuff that is moving into the garage. The garage is still in the process of getting a minor face lift to support the additional boxes. My cousin was in town Friday, and I put him to work going to the hardware store to by a sturdy shelving unit. Hubby and I began putting it together yesterday, but the hammering of metal was too much for the baby's teeny tiny ears. We'll finish it soon. That's the productivity report for this past week. Twenty-two more weeks of small jobs here and there, and our house will be a perfect, sophisticated, baby-friendly home. I'm refusing to let our home turn into a disastrous playhouse.