…towards the baby count down.

I got through the Christmas holiday and realized I only have 10 weeks left. No more procrastinating my ‘to-do’ list.

So this week I signed up for 5 mostly free (nice!) baby classes at the hospital including delivery, breast feeding, breast pumping, infant care, and safety/CPR. So practically every Saturday in February is booked with classes (oh and YW basketball games…ps did I mention that I’m coaching the girls team this season?)

Also this week, I made my very first  baby related purchase…wipes and one-sies I found for a super deal. Woot!

But in case you think I have gotten nothing yet in preparation, don’t worry. I’ve already received some great gifts including a crib (thanks BJ!), a really nice breast pump (thanks JH!), and lots of other super cutesie necessities from family and friends.

Fun boy clothes (thanks MIL and JS!) I love the ‘Future Rebel’ and ‘I Rule’ prints…

Nursery toys, books, and monkey stuff (thanks Mom!) I’m starting to see a trend in placing animal appliqué on the baby bums and I like it

Handmade (wow!) activity book for when junior gets a little older (thanks MIL!)

More hand-crafted. And soft! white baby blessing blanket, burp rags, receiving blankets, etc (thanks SS and MIL!)

I also got some great reads (no pic) from my sister-in-law for Christmas (thanks AH!) including ‘Secrets of the Baby Whisperer’, ‘Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems’, and ‘The 5 Love Languages of Children.’ If you have other must-reads, I’m all ears!

Now, the next few things to tackle are to finish registering (I couldn’t get away with not doing that so we are registering at JCPenney and Target), paint the nursery, find a nanny, and last but not least…decide on a name!!

I think it’s getting more and more real for WE too. He’s having dreams about being a dad (ha, some probably more like nightmares) and getting more anxious about keeping up with his workload (i.e. work, school, church, side business, and ME of course!) when the baby comes.

But life is good and we are so happy to be grounded in the gospel/our faith and to have such an awesome support system in our family and friends! Bring it on – I say!

Nephews and Niece (picture taken from my sisters blog)

The only thing I already have is the sock monkey stuff (thanks to mom!)

The rest I saw on etsy for ridiculous prices. (The ABC blocks are vintage and $80 – so I’m still trying to talk myself out of them because who buys blocks for $80 just because they are the exact right colors??? No one!)

It’s a BOY! It’s a BOY! It’s a BOY!
As much as I would have liked Hailey to have a side kick – I’m also really happy it’s a boy!

We almost didn’t get to find out today…my appointment time got moved as my dr was in delivery earlier today. When they changed the time, they mistakenly didn’t reschedule the sono along with it. Luckily the sonographer agreed to stay late and see me anyway. I think I would have died trying to wait another day or two. At first glance, she was very sure it’s a boy and I of course always was

My arm shot up in the air triumphantly and a squeal came right on out. WE was beaming that it was definitely “an Anderson.” And then we went on to see shots of each little body part and to hear her say “that’s normal.” The little guy got a big stamp o’ health and we went on our merry way!

Anyone got any good costume ideas this year????

WE and I are thinking about being ninja turtles…maybe

Well, I’ve been getting email, vm, and txt complaints that I’ve gone MIA so I figured I was past due for an update.

Now that we are ‘facebook official’ – why not blog about the pregnancy, right?!??

So, I’m 17.5 weeks and feeling great! I had a rough start but pretty much the trip to Italy cured (okay well, not really cured – but thankfully followed shortly after) the morning sickness and cramps. I was telling my mom this weekend that now I sometimes even forget that I’m pregnant (except for the fact that my pants are a little tight). I’m really not showing too much yet so I’m at the awkward stage now where I just look like I’m eating too much and gaining weight – but not enough to tell that I’m expecting.

I’ve got my ultrasound appointment scheduled for the 26th and we’ll find out if it’s a boy or a girl! We already have 1 boy name and 1 girl name we like- so that’s not an issue. I’m dying for a boy – but my grandma, VT-er, and at least 2 perfect strangers have said I’m having a girl. So we’ll see! I’m just hoping that boy OR girl, that it doesn’t come out perfectly bald with big, bushy white eyebrows

Official due date is March 15 so it’s still plenty of ways away. We haven’t really started planning or preparing much (except mentally and emotionally – and let’s be honest that preparation is suspect too) and I feel super clueless about all the odds and ends that I feel like I’m supposed to know. We did go take a tour of a day care near WE’s work and felt pretty embarrassed that we hadn’t even thought of questions to ask. The lady kept saying what else do you want to know and then preceded to tell us what others usually ask when we replied by shrugging our shoulders.

Anyway, life is good and we are super excited!

I’m going to convince him.
See he’s already making new friends

M, C, and N stayed with us for a night and we went out to eat at Red Lobster. It was fun to see my little nephew. Seems like he’s growing up so fast and he was jabbering away much more than even a few months ago at Christmas time. I was flabbergasted that he ordered crab legs from the kids menu and then proceded to actually eat them all!

But probably my most favorite thing of the night was when he started calling WE “Peter Sam” in honor of his favorite character in Thomas the Train!

WE and I are stoked to travel to Italy in September for our family vacation. We finally bought our flights this week (we got a great deal on American) and have decided on a basic itinerary. We’ll spend a few days in Rome, Florence, and then conclude with the Cinque Terre (pronounced ’Chinkwa Tera’). We fly into Rome and leave from Genoa.

Hopefully it will be a great mix of the busy cities, museums, and cathedrals – as well as the quieter countryside along the coast. Also, we plan to mix up our accommodations a bit – staying in some nicer hotels as well as give WE a little taste of European hostels (woot! woot!)

Who knows, maybe I’ll even convince him to go cliff jumping with me?!?

Here’s a little Rick Steves video about the Cinque Terre:

If anyone’s got any suggestions for us on ‘must sees’ in Rome or Florence – do share!

A few weeks ago in Sunday School, the topic was strengthening families. Someone made a comment about how one thing that was important to their family was that any time one of the kids had a musical or athletic event, the whole family would attend the event in support. They found that this time together was really valuable in building their family unity.  Certainly celebrating each other’s wins together and mourning each other’s losses would build great sibling relationships.

I wholeheartedly agree.