25 weeks - 6+ months!

And here are the pics proving he is a little man! The third picture is pretty amazing - it shows the outline of his spine. It's almost dinosaur-like!


So, if I thought my belly had grown before, it really popped as soon as I turned 6 months a week ago! Some friends that I had seen just a week before were really surprised to see me this past weekend and find that my belly has literally grown overnight! I attribute that to the little one's daddy's genes - there needs to be enough room for his long, long legs!!


Okay, so I'm finally showing my bump at 20.5 weeks - Christmas Eve. I thought it was big then, but it's not even close to what it is now!! Bottom pic - 25 weeks (kind of hard to see - my belly blends into the background :)

One of my favorite things right now is how sweet my little Pre-Kers are with the little guy. Now that my tummy is out for all of them to see, they cannot take their hands off of it! They are constantly rubbing my tummy, telling me they are giving him a massage. One boy, who normally holds my hand any time we go somewhere, instead keeps his hand on my tummy, telling me he wants to hold hands with the little guy! They are also constantly talking to him and telling him all the fun activities we are doing. It almost makes me tear up sometimes! I'll never forget the cutest comment that was said the other day. One little boy said, "Wow, the baby is really quiet! I never hear him cry! He's so good!" To which I responded, "This will be the quietest he'll ever be in his life!" And that may be so true, especially since the name we picked out means "The loud one" in Welsh!!

Speaking of names, we're still not completely set on his yet, but I have heard Brian call him it a few times. And I honestly cannot come up with any other names. Although our friends have already come up with quite a few nicknames - Jorge, Junior, J-R-period. My Pre-Kers told me the only name I cannot call him is George. Georgie is fine, George just wouldn't work. I have a feeling that no matter what his name ends up being, he'll still have the ridiculous nicknames from his "aunts" and "uncles"!

We have also been blessed by many friends, family and even parents of my one of my students for giving us some of their baby stuff that they no longer need! It has really helped us to focus on the "fun" stuff, like shopping for the crib, dresser and all nursery needs. Well, at least I think that part is fun! And Brian has actually commented that he enjoys looking at all that, too. We are a long ways off from a completed nursery, but will post pics as soon as it's finished!

Here are some pictures over the past month or so that I forgot to put on the last blog posting:


All of us preggo friends!! Top pic -One of our twice monthly happy hours - Erin-21 weeks, Ali-34, me-18 & Lo-8 weeks! Bottom pic - Yearly ornament exchange at Falks' house - Erin-22.5 weeks, Ali-35.5, Lo-9 & me-19.5 weeks! Ali was such a trooper -she gave birth just three weeks after this pic was taken!


Here are the some of the first pics of Ali & Cameron's sweet little Aubrey Paige, born 1-9-2010!! Congrats to the new Jackson family!!


Meanwhile, on the same day Aubrey was born, some of us were at the UP/Gonzaga basketball game. (Daddy Cameron is a huge college basketball fan - and little Aubrey was born on the same day as UP's biggest game!) It was almost like a college reunion at the T-Room that night after the game. And Baby George got to experience mama's Thursday night college hangout for the first time! (And next time will be 21 years later, I'm sure :)

Happy holidays = growing belly!! 20-22 weeks

So, I thought the two weeks off around the holidays would mean that I could finally catch up on sleep and get EVERYTHING done on my to-do list. (And if you know me and my to-do lists, they are never-ending and constantly updated!) Well, I was sorely mistaken...

We started the break with Brian's parents, sister, niece and nephew in town for a few days. It was a great way to kick off the holiday season, especially since they came bearing early Christmas gifts :) B's mom kinitted us a couple of beautiful blankets and hats - baby's first gifts!!! She also gave us Cody Bear, Brian's fave teddy he had growing up, that she had been saving for many years! There was also a letter from Cody Bear to the new baby - I couldn't stop from tearing up with that gift!

Cody Bear with the blanket Grandma George made for us! And the letter from Cody Bear to our little one!

But the best Christmas gift of all was our doctor appointment on Wednesday, just two days before Christmas!! That is when we found out that we're having a precious little boy! (See earlier post.) That was such a wonderful moment for us, especially because we were able to see our little guy on the screen during the ultrasound for 45 minutes. It was amazing!

We spent Christmas Eve and Day with my family. And that is when the non-stop goody eating began!! I have been trying to be good and only letting myself splurge on the weekends, but as soon as Christmas hit, it turned into a two week "over-the-top-eating-frenzy"!!! I'm not sure if I can blame Little Boy George or his mama for the sweet-tooth that has snuck up on me, but anything sugary and cold (ice cream shakes, smoothies, whipped cream, etc.) has now replaced my old obsession for french fries!! I'm just thankful that the family got a Wii for Christmas because I'm hoping that the hours we spent staying up until 1am playing Wii Fitness helped to counteract that holiday goodness!

Lincoln helping us open the family gift - the Wii!! Trav and Brian demonstrating some good boxing skills!

The day after Christmas we went to Bend to see Brian's family again for a few days. We had a lot of fun playing with little Eli and taking Emma out on the town with Uncle B and Aunt T for a day. Brian's sister, Michelle, very generously gave us a lot of Eli's things that he has outgrown. We were able to pack the car on the way home with many baby items. And also thankfully for us, Eli is a very fashionable 11 month old! We got a lot of great outfits that we're excited to fill the little one's closet with!

Emma's day out in downtown Bend with Uncle B & Aunt T!

After just spending three days back in Portland, we packed up the car again and drove back to Central Oregon. This time we went to Camp Sherman (very close to Black Butte and Sisters) for a New Year's weekend celebration! It was a different kind of experience to be preggo in a house with 15 other people for three nights over New Year's! But since I've had a lot of experience over the last five+ months with all the 30th/31st bday celebrations, weddings and other holiday events, I was pretty prepared for what I was up against. Staying up until 2am every night didn't feel as awful as I thought it would. There was enough entertainment to keep me laughing and energized until the house quieted down enough for me to sleep! And it was also VERY nice to have my fellow preggo friend, Laura, there. She and I had a good time sitting back and laughing at the ADD card games and late night dance parties! But, I'd be lying if I were to say that it didn't take me a whole week to recover from that weekend! And unfortunately for me, it just so happened that school started the morning after we got back...5:30 wake up calls were rough!!

The girls and I on New Year's Eve. You can kind of see my bump that I'm trying to hide here :)

And you're probably wondering why I haven't posted a side "bump pic" for awhile. Ever since hitting 21 weeks, I feel like my belly has decided it would no longer grow slowly, it is now literally jumping out from my body! The pics from 18 to 21 weeks are so drastic, I'm just not ready to post them yet. Maybe I'll be brave in another week or so and show what it looks like, but prepared to be shocked!! Even my dear Pre-Kers couldn't hide their surprise when they saw me on Monday morning and exclaimed, "Woah! Look at that belly!!"