November 25 - He's gonna be a soccer player?!

The baby has been kicking me for a few weeks now, but when I've tried to let Titus feel it, he has never been sure he did - until last night! I think maybe the Thanksgiving food was crowding the baby, so he was kicking for some more room. Titus definitely felt the kicking!

We had a great Thanksgiving break, celebrating with both sides of our family. We are so thankful for all of you! Titus finished putting up the Christmas tree tonight as well.

We wondered what Maddy would think of all this baby stuff. Well, in the past month she has chewed up five books and a couple notebooks - very unusual for her! We are chalking it up to the baby. In the pic here she is showing her super cuddly side, which I only get to experience when Titus is gone - otherwise she is Daddy's girl.

November 20 - 21 weeks

We have officially made it past the halfway mark!

This picture was taken Wednesday, November 21:

Below is the start of our baby hand-me-downs! The rocking chair originally comes from Lance and Marny, so I've rocked their babies (now 6 and 10) to sleep in it already. Then it went to Asko and Teresa, and finally it's landed at our house! The pile of clothes comes from Erin, and we also have a little 3-D activity gym from Lance and Marny (not pictured). Knowing there are a million things we will need for this baby, we are grateful for everything people give or loan to us! :)

November 16 - 20 Week Ultrasound - It's a.....

Boy!

I could not have been more shocked when the ultrasound technician told us we are having a boy. Titus and I had a fun argument going for the last 15 weeks or so about what the baby would be. I just knew it was a girl, and most people agreed with me. However, Titus was sure it was a boy... and he was right! This is one of the few arguments he will win, I suppose. :)

It took me the weekend to recover from the shock and get used to the idea of a little boy running around our house. If he is anything like Titus, though, I think we should be safe.

We decided to bet on the gender, and the winner got to choose the restaurant we went to after the ultrasound. Titus was very chivalrous in choosing the restaurant he knew I would have picked anyway - Bello Cucina. We had a great dinner before he left for Young Life fall camp at Castaway for the weekend. He was the only male leader for 10 boys in his cabin, and he definitely came back wondering why he wanted a boy so badly! I reminded him we are having one, not 10, and he won't be a teenager for quite some time.

Since finding out, I've been getting nursery ideas (yes, from Pinterest... they should probably pay me for this blog since I'm always mentioning them), and I've found that it can still be exciting to decorate a boy's room.

Here are some pictures from the ultrasound, a 20 week bump picture, and our way of telling Facebook friends the news.

Baby's head and body

Baby's footprint

Baby's lower body

Baby's anatomy in the middle... pretty easy to see!

Announcement!

20 Weeks - Nov. 16, 2012 - the blue ribbon is there to indicate the gender!

November 6, 2012 - 19 Weeks - We Voted!

I suppose this will be the last time our baby is in a voting booth for 18 years, so I thought I'd mark the occasion. Thanks, Emily, for the photo idea. I'm 19 weeks pregnant here, and it is one of the first "bump" pictures I've taken - I've been slacking on that. It's not quite as big as it looks in this picture, but I'm sure it will be soon!

October 2012 - More Babies!

When I first found out I was pregnant, one of the million thoughts going through my mind was who else would be pregnant at the same time. I already knew our friend Abby was pregnant, but she lives in Michigan, so our comparing notes would have to take place via Facebook.

I soon found out that I would be joined on this crazy journey with two great friends! Brianne is due just two weeks ahead of me, and Belinda is due about a month and a half after me. It is so exciting to go through this together! I've known both Brianne and Belinda since kindergarten, and it seems quite serendipitous that this is happening to us at the same time!

September 2012 - School Days

Near our 12 week appointment, I decided it was safe to share our news at school. A couple close friends at school already knew, but for the rest it would be quite a surprise! Our school is pretty unique in that our students love to know pretty much everything about their teachers, so I knew they would be excited, too (not to mention the fact that some of them had been asking me when I'd have a baby for over two years!).

I had already told our principal about the baby a few weeks back, and he told me to let him know when the information was public. I emailed him one morning to let him know it was, and not two minutes later he sent an email to the rest of the staff telling them all! In our small school, that also means the students knew in about five minutes flat. They've been excited ever since - especially with helping pick out interesting baby names - usually their own name or a variation of it, or something crazy like Sage Loveblood.

Here's a picture of my College Writing 2 seniors during Homecoming Week, right around when they found out:

September 2012 - Announcement Pics

To announce our big news to others, I wanted to do something creative, and again Pinterest had some answers! I took some ideas from them and asked our friend Courtney Draxten to take some photos for us. We had a great time with her on a wonderful fall Sunday at the Kirkbride (state hospital) in Fergus. Maddy was such a trooper - I am pretty sure she loves being the center of attention and having her picture taken. Here are a few of our favorites. Thanks, Courtney!