Almost 23 Weeks

My turkey timer has gone off. As of this past week my once innie belly button, is now an outie. It did transition through a flat stage and now it's just hanging out there. The baby has been very active this past week. It surprises me how quickly I can feel her move in once place, then in another so far away. This past week I have been feeling a little nauseous again, but it isn't too bad.

I renewed my passport (which had expired in April) because Andrew and I would like to go to Victoria while we're in Washington for the holidays. We're thinking of it as celebrating our 3rd anniversary since it's likely we won't get to do anything around April 8th (a week after the due date). We're not sure if we want to do an overnight visit or just a day trip. It will sort of be our last hoorah.

We also have started a registry at Target. It will likely change a lot in the next few days as we tweak a few of the items due to what was available at the store. We just started it this morning and even though they gave us a nice checklist from which to work, we still had no idea what to include. We're thinking we might do a Winnie the Pooh theme for the baby's room. We'll see.

Today's weight = 132 lbs.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It appears that Baby Garrett loves the classic Thanksgiving Day foods: turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green beans, dressing, lime jello salad, spinach salad, and pecan pie. I'm sure I've left something out, but only because I'm sitting in a food coma. Baby Garrett was moving around all day, but I think she's also in a food coma now. It was so nice seeing the family. Unfortunately, I switched between taking photos with our camera and my mom's so here are just a few.
Momma and Alexandra
Chris and Wesley
Laura and Wesley
Chris and Todd watching the Seahawks play the Cowboys.

22 Weeks

I have a weekly photo that was taken on Sunday, but due to traveling, I haven't had the chance to download it. Maybe later today. This past week there has been several firework shows in my uterus. At night Baby Garrett likes to move around like crazy. I've been feeling a little nauseous this past week, but I'm sure that can also be attributed to the busy time of year.

Today's weight = 131.5 lbs.

Ice Cream, Mmmmmmmm

As it turns out, Baby Garrett is already taking after her Momma in her love for ice cream. Surprisingly enough, it had been almost two weeks since I had eaten any ice cream. Andrew and I decided to have some Ben and Jerry's last night around 8:45pm (I rarely deviate from my "everything, but the..." and Andrew branched out from his usual "half-baked"). We went to bed around 10pm and Baby Garrett was moving around so much I didn't know if I'd fall asleep. It was a fun feeling though.

Almost 21 Weeks

New this week is that last night Andrew felt Baby Garrett kick for the first time. As I was working on the post yesterday I had my hand on my belly and noticed the movement. Then, I ran into the living room for Andrew to feel it. She kicked (or punched) a few times very fast, so I'm trying to catch her in the act again so Andrew can get a longer feel. Last night we went to a "black-tie optional" fundraising dinner held by Centenary. I was ecstatic that I could fit into a dress that I wore to my brother David's rehearsal dinner. Andrew looked great in his suit that he wore to his sister Jennifer's wedding. A friend in HR took a photo of the two of us that I'm going to try to get a copy of and post.

This week my back has stayed pretty achy all over. I'm sure this will come and go throughout the pregnancy, so I was kind of expecting it.

Today's weight = 130.5 lbs. (I may have over-indulged in birthday cake last week. :))

Is This How Baby Garrett Will Look? Part II.

After following the "rules" for what photos to use in the Routon BabyMaker website, here are two new images of how Baby Garrett might look. I did it twice with the same photos. This might confirm Andrew's theory that the baby photos are generated at random. What do you think?

20 Weeks Down, 20 Weeks To Go

We can't wait to meet you Baby Garrett!

Happy Birthday to Laura and Me

Today is my (and Laura's) 29th birthday. We had a great time celebrating this weekend. Alex and Laura listened in on my 8am Organic Chemistry lecture. Alex fell asleep, but Laura said she actually learned a few things. She said, "I learned that carbenes have no charge and long hairs." I corrected her by saying, "Not 'long hairs,' a 'lone pair.'" (Only the scientists will truly get that one.) Here's a photo of Laura and Alex.

After work, Andrew and I came home to open presents and spend quality time with Molly. I got some wonderful gifts: maternity clothes, gift certificates, bath items, earrings, a plush robe, CD by Keane, DVD ("Baby Momma"), and a cute onesie and blanket for Baby Garrett. We went to dinner at the Olive Garden and walked to Maggie Moo's for dessert. At 8pm, we'll go to the Chirhart's to watch "Heros" and I believe they have some sort of dessert planned as well. At dinner we talked about names a little. We both really like the name Bennett for a girl, but I'm still a little hesitant thinking it sounds a little choppy with Garrett...."Bennett Garrett"...We're still thinking.

Almost 20 Weeks...Halfway There

Because Laura and I will celebrate our 29th birthday tomorrow, she, Chris, Wesley, and Alex came to visit us for the weekend. We've had a wonderful (and exhausting) time. A true preview of how our lives will drastically change (for the better of course) in 20 weeks. Aunt Laura bought Baby Garrett a Diaper Gene, some onesies, some bath items (including an adorable hippo towel), toiletries (nail clippers, brush, comb, etc.) and has brought several sleepers that Alex has grown out of for us to start the Baby Garrett clothing collection. Here are some photos of our weekend.

Andrew and Wesley picked up sticks in the backyard.

Andrew and Molly take a break on the couch.

Andrew holds Alex while we try to get lunch together.

Wesley and I take a photo op in the living room.

The girls take a photo.

As for this last week, the biggest change of course knowing that Baby Garrett is a girl. Now we're trying to mentally prepare for raising a little girl.

Today's weight = 127 lbs.

It's a Girl!

We found out this morning that Baby Garrett is a girl! She was moving around quite a bit. We saw all four chambers of her heart, a nice long spine, some good curled up legs, her cute little bottom, and of course her "taco." This means we'll need to do a little more thinking about the name. Even though we both thought it was going to be a girl, we hadn't really found a good name yet. I guess we still have about 21 weeks to make that decision. Here are the images.

Here you can see her nice spine.


This image shows her "girl parts."


This is a cute shot of her bottom and hands.

Is This How Baby Garrett Will Look?

Our expecting friend Victoria, showed us that on the Volkswagon website, you can "make a baby" based on a photo of the mom and dad. (Thanks to Brooke Shields' commercials for the Routon.) Here is the composite made of Andrew and me. It's a little creepy. (We didn't exactly follow all of the criteria for the photos, so the next time Andrew shaves, we'll try with new photos.)

Almost 19 Weeks

We're getting very anxious to find out whether Baby Garrett is a boy or a girl. The search for a name has taken a hiatus until we find out. I have felt great this week. Some mornings I wake up with a huge headache, but it ends shortly after walking Molly. I did find this past week one change that I wasn't expecting to take place so early. While teaching labs, I spend the three hours walking back and forth down the rows of benches where the students are working to assist them. I found myself not fitting through the same spaces that I normally do and bumping students with my belly. They weren't too bothered by it. Their cell biology professor is 8 months pregnant.

Today's weight = 127.5

Welcome the Newest Chirhart to the World

Our friends Scott and Katie Chirhart were expecting their second child on November 18th, but had scheduled a C-section for Friday, November 7th. So much for planned C-sections...Kyle Ryan Chirhart was born Saturday, November 1st at 2:00 am. It must have been the trick-or-treating the night before that got him so excited he wanted to make an entrance. Here are some photos of us visiting the Chirharts in the hospital. It made our pregnancy even more real because we will be in the same hospital on the same floor in March or April. Andrew was wondering if they have king size pull-out couches.

Here's a photo of Andrew and Kyle.


Scott and daughter, Samantha, read a book together.


Katie read a book to both Samantha and Kyle. As one might expect, Samantha (20 mo. old) didn't want much to do with her new brother.