Pay's 4mo Checkup

Ok, the stats are in! At Paytin's 4 month checkup she was 13 lbs 12.5 oz, 24 1/4 inches long, and head circumference at 16 1/4. Mike and I happened to be going through Brayden's baby book a little bit yesterday and noticed at 4 months Brayden was 13 lbs 13.5 oz, 25 inches long. And I didnt catch the head circumference. She's catching up and I have a feeling she'll have him beat by 6 months :). She's healthy and right on track! Did pretty good with her shots considering we had a practicing nurse student do them and it was her first time ever giving them to a baby! She was very sweet and I gave my permission for her to give them to Pay. The only bummer was when she stopped after 2 shots to ask a question before giving the 3rd, and I couldnt pick Pay up to comfort her and just had to wait. It wasn't excrutiatingly long or anything, but still a bummer to watch her in pain! Literally as soon as she felt my arms she stopped crying and was just minorly fussy with a low grade fever that night. Very happy with how things went! Paytin does have very very mild torticollis, which just means one side of her neck is slightly shorter than the other side. With some extra stretching, feeding positioning changes, and encouraging her to use the other side more, we should have it completely fixed by her 6 month check up!

When I have

a bad morning. When things just aren't going my way. When things aren't terribly wrong, just not perfectly right. When the to do list is a mile wide and growing by the second and it seems like I get one thing done and eight more pop up. When one kids crying, one kids whining, I have a headache and we're out of milk. When I feel overwhelmed and emotional and overdue for a nap myself. When it's just one of those Mondays. When its the first day of hopefully a "new" schedule and setting new goals for the week. When it's clear that its not going down like you had it perfectly pictured in your mind.

When it's just like that, I've reminded and thankful for this:



and, for kids that LOVE each other. One day they will have their sibling quarrels I am sure, but in moments liketoday, in times when I am so frustrated, I can just sit them in front of each other and let them play and talk and read and laugh to their heart's content. They are already the best of friends and the love they have for each other is huge and obviously very mutual.  I really can't think of a bigger blessing or a thing to be more thankful for than them having the sweet little bond that they do.

A family day gone Kincaid :)

Tis the season for Mike to work like crazy, and with this less-than-booming economy, we make the effort to praise God for the business of Mike's schedule as it just one way God is showing us His constant provision in our lives. However, that leaves family time few and far between these days. Seems like most of "family time" in our house lately has also been "sleeping time". Anyways, we had a day outing to Chico today to get some very much needed errands ran.  We started the day out by doing something fun, and taking the kids to the movies. Paytin is usually pretty easy going these days as long as she can nurse frequently, so I figured a movie wouldn't be bad since I could put on my coverlet and let her eat to her heart's content. Well, the poor Lilypie got a very upset stomach only 5 minutes into The Lion King, so I ended up going out with her to calm her down. Well, Mom fail, and I left my diaper bag in the theatre. Paytin would NOT calm down for two seconds, much less long enough for me to run in and grab the bag, so I "manned up" and asked one of the very nice gentlemen working at the theatre to run in and grab it from Mike which he did. After changing a poopy diaper, trying to nurse her, etc. I realized Paytin was being consoling and I took her out to the van. I laid her down on her tummy in the very back after I had turned the van on, and just sat next to her. In 2 minutes, she was OUT. So, I wrapped her up, and carried her back in and watched the rest of the movie from a solo seat at the side of the theatre (silently wishing that people hadn't sat right next to us so I could have watched the rest with Bray and Mike).  More importantly the boys had a great time and Brayden loved loved the movie. I really enjoyed being able to sit behind them and watch Mike whispering little tidbits to Bray throughout the movie and making Brayden smile.
Then we go to pickup our pictures from Sears that we got taken over two months ago. We just havent found the time to get to Chico to get them since then....well, long story short, they were HORRIBLE quality. I had gotten the CD and printed a couple from home, and my laserjet copies honestly were 10 times better then what I saw today. I nicely complained and we should be getting better quality ones within a few weeks. I'm just not going to get family photos at a studio again point blank. I know I have a wonderful camera and that my skills just aren't up to par with what kind of photos I would like to have of my kids yet, but I will still with local photographers or my own shots from here on out. I'm very much looking forward to getting our pics done from a friend hopefully next month, outside up here in the Basin while the leaves are changing colors :)

Anyways, we were able to get the kids a couple more fall clothing items, and I did get a few things for this crazy idea of an art project I am tackling, so all in all, not a complete failure, just another Khaotic Kincaid day ;)

3 and 3

Brayden and Paytin had Dr checkups today and here's the results:

Brayden is 30.5 lbs (slim for his age, I dont remember the percentage) and 38 inches tall (between the 65-75 %) He's got a big noggin, almost 18.5 inches.  He is doing great according to his pediatrician but still needs some work on his speech (which we figured). He is quite the talker and picks up new words quickly, he just has a hard time getting all the pronunciation out and slowing down enough to say all the words he needs too :) He was a ham during the appointment and especially loved when his dr. checked the reflexes in his knees and let him help out too :)

Paytin is a growing growing girl! She weighed in a 12 lbs 9 ounces!! She has officially (more than) doubled her birthweight! Way to go baby girl! She's also about 24 inches long (if I remember). She's quite the alert, active, talker little baby according to our doctor :). Unforunately our little Lily Poo has her first ear infection (probably left over from that flu bug we had) which hopefully explain the LACK of sleep her and Mommy have been getting this week. She just had her first dose of antibiotics which she is on for 10 days, so hopefully it will kick the ear infection's bootie and we can be on our merry way!

The doctor mentioned that we seem to make tall (which I think Brayden is actually pretty tiny for his age, but I guess the stats dont lie) lanky little kids because they are both around 75% in height, and less in weight, though you wouldn't know it by Paytin's CHUB everywhere! Paytin I think was in the 55% for weight this time around.

Yay for getting both kids to the doctor and getting out in one piece without Daddy there to help!

Pregnancy Week 37

Well, I'm not going to do a regular pregnancy post, but just kinda of a rambling about what's been going on lately. I had my 37 week check yesterday and found out that I am 3cm dilated and 20-30% effaced, with Paytin at a -1 station. My doctor was pretty surprised that much had changed since last time I was in and even moreso when he got to feel my stomach during one of my contractions. I dont think he really believed that I really was having a contraction till he felt it! I was super hopeful and prayerful that he would be open to setting up an induction for us. We live 45 minutes away from the hospital, and with the crazy weather, and Mike's super busy work schedule, I just didn't want to risk a multitude of things happening like having to drive myself, Mike missing her birth, etc. Because of how everything is progressing, he was happy to schedule an induction date for us for June 15th! Now, to keep her in until then! It's so funny that so many people can't wait to meet their babies and want them to come, come, come and here I am having trouble keeping my little ones in! I guess they are just too excited to meet us ;)! I write that as Paytin is going absolutely CRAZY in my belly at the moment! I took a TINY spill the day before yesterday, which we think is making my body kind of go into overdrive. I was giving Brayden a bath and trying to stand up and I just kind of teetered back onto my tailbone from about 6 inches off the ground. I'm sure that's not what caused me to dilate (or I would have been in much harder labor) but it has caused some nice pain in my hips and pelvis area that isn't helping our current situation ;)! I'm also typing this as it's raining/slushing outside, another huge reason that I pray Paytin waits 13 more days to make a break for it because I am hoping this weather STOPS! Anyways, there's my updates for now!!

A couple more

for memories sake, pregnancy differences

• Paytin continues to move MUCH more than her older brother. She's a pretty darn active little girl and unlike Brayden, where I constantly had to drink juice and lie flat to do kick counts, I dont even have to take time out of my day to feel her squirming around (like she is right now)
• I am considerably smaller this pregnancy. It's still strange to me, and no, I wont be worried about eating my words in my last 5 weeks of pregnancy, weight gain is all apart of the whole journey, but just my overall belly size and everything is just very different.
• I did not, ONCE feel Brayden up at my ribs when he was in utero, the kid was a low rider. Paytin on the other hand is much higher and I can occassionally feel a cute little footsie up in my lower ribs.
• Paytin LOVES being on my right side. I dont remember Brayden having a preference, but 90% of the time, you can look at my belly and see how much bigger it is on the right than the left. It's actually very very entertaining.
• I had one of those pregnancy belly lines with Brayden and don't even have the faintest one with Miss Paytin.

Ok....that's it for now!

34 weeks down! 6 weeks to go!

Pregnancy: 34 weeks along! Yes, that means 6 weeks, or roughly a month and a half until our due date! Crazy how time flies!

 

Weight Gain: Roughly 22 lbs. I have to say I'm very happy with my weight gain this pregnancy. Very little water weight that I have noticed and when I compare myself now to pictures of when I was pregnant with Brayden, I seem a lot more slender this time around. Hopefully I don't swell up like a balloon these next weeks now that I have said that, hehe!

Sleep: It's a love hate relationship. I love sleep but I hate trying to sleep. I'm glad I didnt get a pregnancy pillow now because I sleep in the most awkward positions with pillows being moved several times a night. Right now, as much as I was enjoying my "no nap" streak, taking 2-3 cat naps (20-30 minutes) a day has been helping me get along. I dont even have to "sleep" during those times, just put my feet up,  and close my eyes.

 

Name: Paytin Lily, also known as P Lily and Pay Kay, "P", Monkey, Payty Pay...the list keeps growing though my favorite is how Brayden says her name, it just makes my heart totally MELT. I think I will have him call her "Paytin Lily" just so I can hear him say it all because its too precious!

Feeling: pregnant and anxious and patient all at the same time. I can't WAIT to see my daughter, and hold her and coo over her, but at the same time, I want her to WAIT as long as she can. Wouldn't it be awesome if I actually went the full 40 weeks? I know there is probably a less than 1% chance of that happening, but its still fun to think of. 

Health: I don't feel like going in depth about all my kidney/bladder issues, but we'll leave it at me having kidney stones in both my kidneys and all the pain and symptoms that come with them. We'll add to that my "high risk" caution because of having pre term complications with Brayden, and just say that we've had to slow life down these past couple weeks and I've had to accomplish a lot while sitting or laying down. But boy am I ever grateful for those moments that I feel totally awesome and not sick at all!

 

Belly: Measuring right on track, big, in the way, and makes me laugh. Things like shaving and painting toes arent really a problem, but trying to sit up straight in a hard chair is just about as uncomfortable as it gets ;)

 

What I am looking forward to: her. :-)

 

What I miss: being more physically active, being less stressed out, getting to wrestle and rough house with Brayden

Milestones: Each and every day and week that Paytin stays in is such a milestone to me. I've been reflecting on that a lot, but when you've dealt with pre-term labor, and high risk pregnancy problems it really does give you such a greater appreciation for pregnancy and your body and the little one you are carrying. By this time last pregnancy I had already been to and from the hospital in active labor, YIKES!

Movement: She's crazy. I was worried the medication I'm on would slow her down or "drug" her out, but she is excelling, at least movement wise, like never before. I can feel her all times of the day, and feel nice big movements. She's heads down and down in my pelvic bone now, so hiccups are especially entertaining ;)!

 

Cravings: Food in general is a toughie. I think I can thank my kidney infections for the lack of weight gain this time around because I'm either not hungry, naucious, or can eat very little without feeling stuffed and having heartburn. I'm just thankful to be able to eat, thankful to have our kitchen done enough that I can make what I want when I want and only eat as much as I want :)

Oh Paytin girlie, Mommy cannot WAIT to meet you. Today is the first day in awhile where I have really tried to push the stress of everything that is going on in our lives aside and just realize fully for a few moments how close we are to holding our little princess in our arms. We prayed for you, pray for you, and praise God for giving you to us already, and are more in love with you than you will ever know! Brayden is so excited to be your big brother and has tons of stuff he wants to teach you, tell you, and show you! Get ready little girl, being a Kincaid is a WILD ride :-) 

Funny Braydenisms

• "Da Puppy Eated my Face" (afterDottie was licking him like crazy)
• "Shh Mama, be QUIET (emphasis) I talking." (holding my phone to his ear)
• "Hello. Whatsup? Oh,...ok. Bye bye" (holding my phone to his ear
• "Shh Mama, Shh. My turn." (yesterday as he was talking to strangers at the grocery store)
• "Daddy's Addison" (Daddy's medicine) anytime he finds a cough drop or cough drop wrapper.
• "I eated the giraffee" (Sunday at the Sac Zoo after we fed the giraffes, so funny)

Any man...

who will wash dishes in the bathroom sink for an hour, is a keeper!

Yet, just another reason why I love my Mike! Dishes aren't my favorite thing. I'm getting better at not minding them so much because I don't really have an option, but I really just don't care to do them. Because of the work being done on our house, we have no sink and no dishwasher right now. We finally got home today to dishes we had left rinsed, but not that well, and in need of a good cleaning with nothing but a bathroom sink, or a tub (upstairs) to wash them in. I just really appreciate all that Mike does for our family, but its those little things that show so much love to me! Love you babe!

Pregnancy Week 30!!!

Pregnancy: 30 weeks down, 10 to go (tomorrow)! Wow! 

 

Weight Gain: Too much ;)! HAHA! No, um somewhere around 18 lbs. It's a good thing I've gained weight like I have this past month, but I want to do a better job of making sure its healthy weight and not just eating everything in sight!

Sleep: Yuck. I've gotten used to it being not normal and not comfy. I HAVE to sleep with a pillow between my legs now thanks to the pain in my pelvic pain. I get up at LEAST 3 times a night to go to the bathroom, and with the cold we've been fighting up, we've all been up coughing and blowing our noses even more than that!

 

Name: Paytin Lily, also known as P Lily and Pay Kay, "P", Monkey, Payty Pay...the list keeps growing

Feeling: Somedays I barely feel pregnant, other times I feel hugely pregnant and sore all over! But overall, great!!

Health: Great! Aside from the pain in my pelvic bone which has gotten continually worse, the heartburn comes and goes at night time. I talked to the doctor about the pelvic pain and it's within "normal" even though its SUPER painful! Hopefully Paytin will be an easy delivery!

 

Belly: There! Though I keep getting told how "small" I am, I definitely don't feel small anymore which is a good thing.

 

What I am looking forward to: Mike FINALLY felt her move last weekend and saw it too which was such a huge blessing to me. I'm looking forward to Brayden feeling her, and being able to finish her room!

 

What I miss: Sitting on the floor with ease, something that the pelvic pain has made almost impossible, sitting indian style...haha.

Milestones: Daddy feeling his little Princess move last week :)

Movement: We're doing kick counts and it's been great! I never have to sit or lay more than 5 minutes to count as many movements as I need, as long as I do it during the times I know Paytin likes to move!

 

Cravings: I think I'm over that part of the pregnancy. Some things sound better over others, but nothing too special!

In case you've missed us

here's what has been going on in our lives.  On a side note, I think I am going to re-title our blog Kincaid Khaos because of our fun filled, never dull, always busy lives!

• blogger is still not allowing me to upload pictures. I dont have time to figure this out right now because so far it doesnt seem to be Picasa's fault, and I am doing everything the same way I always have. When I have the time to investigate, we'll see if I can fix it, or if I will have to do another blog hop...if so...I really might just take up journaling instead :-)!
• Paytin is doing great. I had my 29 week checkup earlier this week and we are right on track! We have another ultrasound in about 2.5 weeks and we're really looking forward to it! I can't believe I will be 30 weeks pregnant tomorrow or that we will have this sweet babe in our arms in just 2.5 months! We also had our diabetes test this week and so far, no news has been good news!
• In case you haven't heard, which I know most of you have. We're currently dealing with a mold and water damage issue in our house and have been staying at hotels and at family's house for the last week while they get the first step of the process done. We're SO looking forward to be home tomorrow even if it will be without a kitchen and during construction!

That's just a few things that have been going on, thanks for sticking with checking in on us! Hope to have more updates for you soon!

What happens...

when your baby becomes a little boy? My friend Casey asked me a month or so ago in a comment on our blog if I still look at Brayden as my baby, or if I see him as older now, especially now that I am expecting. I don't know that I ever answered her, but have thought about her question SO much in the past month or so as I've watched Brayden master new skills, develop even more of his own personality, gain an independent streak, and get injured more and more as well! Brayden will always be my baby, and Mike will gladly tell everyone how I baby him too much ;)! We still cuddle on the couch every morning, he still wants to be held and carried especially in new situations, he wants Mommy and only Mommy when he wakes up, and so forth. I'm thankful for all of those things and so many more, because it doesn't matter that he's getting older, that we're having another baby, or anything else, Brayden will always be my baby. Just like Paytin will too :)! But there is no argument he's getting older and bigger and more and more Brayden and less and less Mommy and Daddy (hope that makes sense). We've taken him to parks several times in the last month, not once without some sort of injury; first after decided to jump off the big boy swing mid swing (a nice face plant into the wood chips resulted and he was going HIGH!), others from falling off equipment, tripping while running, and one, Mommy caused accident where he ran behind me while I was swinging and I clipped him (talk about feeling AWFUL!). He's beginning to assert himself more and more, knowing that he can say no and tell us why he's saying no, knowing he has choices, and that there really are certain things we can't force him to do like eat all his food, or go to bed on a certain time (sure we can put him to bed, but that doesnt mean he's going to sleep!), and potty training too. He can totally go, but its a when he wants too if he wants too kind of situation right now. It's SO much fun, and sometimes really hard to watch all this independence come out at once along with talking more, having more energy and all the other thigns he is accomplishing. Some of my favorites are the continued good manners like please and thank you, with the added "bless you" whenever we sneeze or cough. He's also super sweet about if we are sick or injured at all and always wants to "kiss it better". He's really into pirates these days and animals of all kinds. He can count to 13 or 14 now, even including the number six, which took awhile. And not only can he ratlle off the numbers, but he can count items pretty well too. He still doesnt recognize which letters or numbers are which, but that will come in time! He's been telling Daddy to "be careful" everyday when he leaves for work for some time now, but now has added those words to anything he thinks we do that might be dangerous, that includes vaccuming, anytime I go anywhere and leave him with Dad, when I'm bringing the trash in, sometimes even bending over to pick something up, its so cute and very very sweet. He loves to help with chores, so much so that I am thinking about making him a piggy bank (I want to at least paint one myself) and starting a chore chart and doing a mini-allowance. He can pretty much do the laundry on his own, if he could only open the machine doors without me and reach the soap dispenser! But really, he can put all the clothes in, shut the door, and knows which buttons to push to start it. The same with the dryer. It helps me a ton and he loves helping! He always wants to push the vaccum or the mop too so we have to take turns to make sure the job gets done. He gets his hard work ethic (along with many other wonderful traits) from his Daddy, and I appreciate it so much! It's been awhile since I posted some of his "milestones" or new happenings up here, so I thought while I had a second, I would give it a try!

Park Time

Pregnancy Week 27 Day 4

Pregnancy: 27 weeks and 4 days

 

Weight Gain: I'm too lazy to get off the couch and double check, maybe 12 lbs by now?

Sleep: Last week I had two or three of the best nights of sleep I've had in a long time, YAY! Followed by last night, with the worst night of sleep I have had during this pregnancy. Thankfully it wasn't because of heartburn or charlie horses, but surprisingly, because I had to pee. I dont know if I drank a lot before I went to bed or what, but I honestly peed 6 times last night, so dumb!

 

Name: Paytin Lily, also known as P Lily and Pay Kay, take your pick :)

Feeling: Great :) 

Health: I haven't had heartburn, charlie horses, or problems with my hips since my last post, but my two newbies this week are pelvic bone pain and hot flashes. The pelvic bone pain has been the kicker though. Its just my actual bone that hurts and its not an alarming pain or something I am concerned about, but just an ache and soreness that I know comes from my body getting ready to have Paytin. I definetely don't remember having pain like this with Brayden, or for this long, and it has really limited physically what I can do. The hot flashes make me laugh :). They just started last night, we were heading home from getting groceries and all of the sudden, I felt like my fact was on fire, I turned on the air and Mike asked me what was wrong because my face was BEAT red. We were cracking up by how red my face got, and it really stayed hot for a good 5 minutes. It's happened twice today but nothing like last night. Doesnt bug me a bit, just really funny and hoping it doesnt happen in public!

 

Belly: There, the same :) I did get asked "if" I was pregnant today, which made me laugh, and made me laugh even harder when I told the lady, almost 28 weeks along!

 

What I am looking forward to: Mike feeling her. A ton of my high schoolers were able to feel her this weekend at the girls' conference we went too and that was fun :)

 

What I miss: Energy, not having aches and pains.....SLEEP

Milestones: Nothing new!

Movement: She moves when she pleases and only when she pleases! She doesnt move around all day long, at least not that I can feel, but enjoys moving around the most when I am resting and taking a break

 

Cravings: Nothing really, still loving fruits and sweets, but salads with italian dressing are a fave right now too!

Time is of the essence...

7,948,800 seconds

132,480 minutes

2208 hours

92 days

13 weeks (rounded down)

3 months

until our due date with sweet little Paytin Lily Kincaid!

Can you tell this Momma is excited?!

Pregnancy Week 26 Day 5

It's snowing outside, and I just got back in from a horrible attempt at shoveling. I probably would have kept trying longer in my futile efforts if it wasn't for this babe inside me that let me know I needed to come in and rest. Anyways, for some reason today more than others the weather has me in a gosh darn stinky mood. I have a feeling that along with my headache and pregnancy aches, today is going to be a restful day in our house. I figured with the "down" time I would go ahead and do another pregnancy update, so here we go!

Pregnancy: 26 weeks and 5 days

 

Weight Gain: Ugh...I want to say about 10 lbs. Which I'm happy with :)

Sleep: Bad. I don't have a hard time falling asleep, but still with getting comfortable and staying asleep. I wake up probably 4 times a night and at least one of those times takes me about an hour to fall back asleep everytime. Mike and I really enjoy falling asleep on the couch together watching a movie or a tv show a couple nights a week, just relaxing to just cuddle and hang out for a bit, but it's been getting harder and harder for me to be able to do that because I wake up really hurting in various spots depending on how I lay. I got a pregnancy pillow when I was pregnant with Brayden (that we trashed afterwards as it had lost if's poofiness under my chubby pregnant body) and wasn't planning on getting one this time around, and both Mike and I are re-thinking that. I have a lot of pain in my neck, my hips, my shoulders, and my back. Not to mention the heartburn. That's going to be fun fun fun for the next 3 months :) The heartburn now doesnt just come based on what and when I eat, but whenever I lay down flat, so it's taking 2-3 pillows, wadded, rolled, and folded to prop me up to help with the heartburn each night. NEEDless to say, this pregnancy has been such a blessing in good health minus a couple UTIs and other flu/cold illnesses and none of these sleep issues or other issues means anything in comparison to the love and thankfulness I have for this little girl growing inside me!

 

Name: Paytin Lily, also known as P Lily and Pay Kay, take your pick :)

Feeling: Tired and Sore. I don't know if I should just give up my endeavors to get up earlier each morning before Brayden wakes up. I was doing better about not sleeping in so much until sleeping really became a problem, now the best sleep I seem to get is from 5 to whatever time Brayden and I get up in the morning.

Health: Good! Another difference in this pregnancy is my hip pain/sciatic nerve (right?) pain. It's more of a nuisance than anything, but also something I want to mention for my own journaling sake. Some mornings when I wake up, I can really feel a "catch" in one of my hips. It's only one hip at a time and varies in what hip it is, but on those mornings, I have to be really careful going up and down the stairs for the first couple hours. It's like one leg won't work sometimes and I have gotten accustomed to holding onto the rail during these times and taking each step with both feet before I move on because I can't tell when it will "give out" and I've had a couple stumbles because of it! Must just be the pressure she is putting on the nerve but it really isnt that painful, just makes my body act weird!

 

Belly: There, the same :)

 

What I am looking forward to: Mike and Brayden being able to feel her. One of our high schoolers was the FIRST person to feel her move last night which was really neat-o! She's such a stubborn one!

 

What I miss: Energy, not having aches and pains.....SLEEP

Milestones: 3 months and ONE day till my due date! I can't tell you how happy I would be to get to that due date with no pre-term labor or amniotic fluid loss like with Brayden!

 

Movement: She moves when she pleases and only when she pleases! She doesnt move around all day long, at least not that I can feel, but enjoys moving around the most when I am resting and taking a break

 

Cravings: Nothing really, still loving fruits and sweets, but salads with italian dressing are a fave right now too!

First Day of Spring

These pictures don't do the amount of snow we got justice at all, but they will have to do!

The sky was so pretty with the blue peaking through all the clouds, wished these had turned out brighter, but I still have lots to learn :)

My hard-working, snow shoveling, totally wonderful mountain man resting after 2+ hours of snow removal....after a 10 hour workday!

Thoughts today

• It's 9:15 and Brayden is still sleeping. Nice right? Would help if he wasn't getting up anyhwere from 1-3 times a night between 9 and 11 because he can't sleep. This is happening because of his nap schedule. I am NOT about to have a 2.5 year old who won't nap, especially because I know he still needs it (gets way cranky, cries more, etc. on days he doesn't nap) but if he does nap, he has such a hard time falling asleep.  I'm working on trying to move his nap up earlier in the day and make it shorter to try and fix this, but apparently by last night, it didnt work so well :-).
• I'm 26 weeks pregnant today! In roughly 3 months and 6 days, I should be somewhere close to holding our baby girl in my arms, and I just can't wrap my head around that! I am getting more excited everyday!
• Brayden is doing great in his language skills, and still talks a TON of jibber jabber when he is excited and trying to explain something. I'm working with him on using more short sentences when he wants something as well instead of just saying "Juice, Please" something close to "Can I have juice please?" or whatever. He said a great sentence the other day that made me CRACK up, "Excuse me Mom, that's MY cereal." Came out pretty much exactly like that except excuse is "Coos".
• I scored this super cute Zebra stuffed animal for Paytin's room at the Thrift Store the other day. $3, and I just threw it in the washing machine when we got home. It matches her bedroom perfectly but hasn't spent much time in there because Brayden loves when I wrap it up so he can carry it like a baby.
• Bear, for those of you who knew about his ear problems and our concerns about surgery for him, is doing GREAT. The medicine, steroids, antibiotics, and food change have all been working wonders...oh wait...I should say I have been working wonders ;-) Being his nurse is a full time job!

• And lastly....there's a foot of new snow outside, and...oh wait....it's still dumping snow. I had just started to see about 4 inches of grass on either side of my driveway, and its all gone, now I can't even see my car! I was just telling someone that for some reason it's so hard to start getting ready for Paytin to be here when there is SNOW outside. It's a mental thing, but it still seems like having her is so far away when there is feet and feet of snow in my backyard and I'm having her at the end of JUNE. Ugh. I digress. 

Hoping to snap a couple shots today, one of Preggy me at 26 weeks and another of me and my Brayden for my AWESOME buddy Casey's new Blog Join In, Momma in Focus! Check out her blog at jcmfamily.blogspot.com or come back later when I post my picture to check out the link up!

More Outside Fun

Mike was trying to show Brayden how to hop on one leg for hopscotch, and this is what Brayden got down and did. We were cracking up!

Another sweet shot, all boyish and dirty!

Fun playing on the snow tube in our front yard!

Fun Outside!

The temperature reached 50 degrees here today and we quickly hopped on the opporunity to play in the driveway as a family. Here's some shots I was able to get during our playtime :)

One of my favorite shots to date of my sweet Bray

Hopscotch!

White boys CAN jump!

Car Cutie

This cutie always falls asleep like 10 minutes away from his grandparents. But here he is in all his cutie pie glory!

Waiting for Daddy

Had to get my camera and snap a couple quick shots of these cuties waiting for Daddy to get home! We don't usually have these blinds up or else Bear would live his life in that window, but I knew Mike would be home soon and they were so cute waiting for him!

"I see him!"

Pregnancy Week 25

Pregnancy: 25 weeks and 1 day!

 

Weight Gain: Ugh...I want to say about 10 lbs. Which I'm happy with :)

Sleep: And this is what made me remember to do the update. I'm at "that" part in my pregnancy where sleep is starting to slowly slip through my grasp. I've tamed the heartburn monster but am still dealing with charlie horses, potty breaks (now 3 times a night) and constant repositioning. I think its funny that I'm always having to move around and re-position and my belly isn't even that big yet! I just get uncomfortable a lot easier this time around....we'll see where we go from here :-) 

Gender: A Princess :)

 

Name: Paytin Lily, also known as P Lily and Pay Kay, take your pick :)

Feeling: Good! Finally starting to get over completely the illnesses that plagued us for a couple weeks!

Health: Good!

 

Belly: There, like totally there, yet I still have people come up to me who havent seen me in awhile and dont know I'm pregnant who are SHOCKed when I tell them. It happened yesterday at the bank and I just laughed...

 

What I am looking forward to: Mike feeling her punch and kick. She definitely moves around enough and hard enough for him to feel her, he just hasnt been able too yet. She's a stinker when it comes to someone putting their hand on my belly!

 

What I miss: It being easier to pick up Brayden or throw him around. And it being ok for me to be clumsy. See, I fell on the stairs, AGAIN this week, slipped on ice (but didnt fall) as well as a handful of other clumsy activities. These aren't abnormal for me when I'm not pregnant, but being pregnant doesn't seem to help either ;)!

Milestones: Um... in 3 calendar months I will have a baby girl! That's a big milestone!

 

Movement: She's in there! Likes to move mostly in the evening around 7-8:30ish if I can sit down long enough for her during that time. She moves the most when I am reclined on the couch. I feel her everywhere, so I can tell she's a wiggle worm. Sometimes my belly button, a lot on my sides, and yay for kicks to my bladder too :)!

 

Cravings: Apparently not enough. Hahah. Ok, really, sweets. It's finally hit me. I can be easily persuaded and bribed with fruity jelly beans like hawaiian punch ones or jolly ranchers ones...a hostess cupcake works too :)

Our Favorite Songs...

I love it when people share music and I have found some of my favorite songs and artists through suggestions from friends and family, so with that in mind. Here are two songs that are totally rocking Mike and I's world right now and stirring our souls! Hope you enjoy!

Mike's current favorite song "Whom Shall I Fear?" by Lincoln Brewster (I love it too!!)


And here's my favorite "Christ is Risen" by Matt Maher

GASP, a belly pic!

Here's a Belly Picture of Paytin Lily and I at 24 weeks and 2 days.  Thanks to my awesome Hubby for snapping this for me as we were running out the door to church on Sunday and thanks to Elissa and Casey for staying on me to get a picture up on here :-)

Braydenisms

Been awhile since I have done this, but here's some funny Brayden moments for the records:

• He loves to pray. Usually it's the same prayer that goes like this, "Jesus, Thank you, You're Welcome Jesus, Amen, Amen". It's precious, because he puts his hands together and bobs his head with each word or phrase as if to try and show how much he means it. We're working with him on some other things to say to Jesus, where Jesus is (if you ask him, he'll say Jesus went bye bye, or maybe point to a picture we have in our house), and other such stuff.
• At the Winter Camp we went to with the High Schoolers, Brayden would bow his head with the kids for prayer and then just say "Amen" repeatedly, during their prayer. Also, we listen to worship music all the time in our house, and one song must have stuck with him, because he'll sing "Holy, Holy, Holy" over and over again while raising his arms to his sides. At camp, after we sand worship at the bonfire, he looked up at me and said "Holy's all gone!" All the kids started laughing.
• His favorite words right now are "Nope" and "I can't" Those are NOT my favorite two words from him, but we're working on that.
• When Brayden is being disciplined, I often have to ask him to "look at me" because I want to make sure what I am telling him is sinking in and that he's listening. We've since caught him telling the dogs to "look at me" and even gently grabbed their chins so they will be face to face with him!
• I dont know why I find this entertaining, but he calls Mike "Da-ey" and always has. But me, I realize, he only calls me "Mom", not Mommy or Mama, just Mom. I try to get him to say Mommy, and sometimes he will if he's super tired or something, but usually its just plain ol' Mom. 
• He kisses Paytin and hugs her and talks to her all the time. Sometimes I ask him too but most of the time, he'll come up to me when I am sitting down, or on the couch and just kiss my belly real quick and run off. I think its super adorable :)

Fun Preggy Moments...

• I've been having insane contractions the past two days. Not enough to warrant me freaking out and going to the hospital or anything, just the kind where your whole tummy tightens and stays that way for awhile. I think Paytin's position has something to do with all the pressure I am feeling, but I'm not  too concerned at this point and will have a regular doctor checkup this week and will ask.
• Speaking of Paytin, the little girl decided that Mommy's bladder problems weren't bad enough already, so she decided to move in a position where it feels like each kick is pointed directly at my bladder...it's been like that for over a day now....lots of fun!
• Heartburn...I woke up like choking at 2 am this morning with horrible heartburn, like I felt like I had to gulp, and gulp, but nothing was coming up or anything. SO strange.
• Charlie Horse/Leg Cramps, oh my goodness. I only had a couple of these with Brayden but I got one three nights ago and holy toledo. I know I over-exaggerate my pain sometimes, but I really thought my leg was going to like spontaneously combust or something! It hurt SO bad and oddly enough still aches in my calf muscle.
• Paytin seems to like to move the most in the evenings around 8ish, when I finally settle down on the couch, recline, and lean back a little bit. These are the moments that I get to feel her the most. However, she always stops when I try to put a hand on my stomach, and therefore Mike hasn't been able to feel her ONE time yet...not once! Argh little girl! :)!
• If I hear...honestly....if I hear one more time how skinny I am, I just might spontaneously combust myself. I know I haven't gained as much weight as I should, but I have a nice little preggy belly going and am gaining weight, just not a ton. It's not that I am trying to not gain weight, my eating habits totally prove that, its just different this time around. Trust me, I still have about 4 months to get to whale status and I am sure I will. But in the meantime, pulling at my clothes, gawking at me, and making numerous comments in single conversations about how thin I am doesn't make me feel good, contrary to popular belief :)! I even had a lady I know grab the side of my pants by my thigh at the post office this week to point out to me how I need to fill my pants out and how tiny I am! I had another lady press my sweatshirt down around my stomach at the grocery store to try to see if I really did have a baby bump!

24 weeks with Paytin Lily

Yesterday we went for our "20" week ultrasound at the hospital. Due to illness, weather, insurance, etc. we ended up having to wait a little bit to have it done but that was fine with us. Paytin is doing great and is one active little girl! The tech had a hard time getting some of the measurements that he needed because she wouldn't stop wiggling everywhere! However, Mike and I have decided she is going to like being swaddled up and cuddled just by seeing how tightly she likes to shove herself against my placenta. We had to wait about 45 minutes to an hour to get into our appt (with Brayden who behaved FABulously in the waiting room;go Bray!) so the tech did some 3d/4d shots of Paytin for us as a thank you for being so patient. It was fun being able to have that twice with this little one so far!  Paytin is measuring pretty close to right on track, about 3 days shy of her due date (6/24).  She's got LONG legs and feeties and loves to have her hands and arms by her face. She weighs 650 grams, which converts to 1.43 lbs give or take of course. Her little head measured a bit smaller than everything else ;-) I might have to call her peanut.

Here are the shots from yesterday. I will do my best to explain what you are seeing!

This one is Paytin's face with a hand somewhat blocking her eye on the left side. It looks like she is looking out at us in between two posts, hopefully you can make it out. Then it looks like its her thumb and forefinger on her face!

Even harder to make out, this was the first shot she let us finally take of her face, little booger. Her face is on the very right lower side, you can see an eye, and the shape of a nose and mouth.

One of our little girl's long legs and foot ! I love this shot!

Another shot of Paytin, "peeking" through, look at the circle in the middle and you can make out eyes, nose and mouth! (We think that is still her hand on her eye in this one too)

And yes, we have changed the spelling to Paytin Lily, instead of Payten Lily. Mike and I just thought it was too much like Brayden with the "e" instead of the "i"!

Cool Whip Painting

I woke up noticing how dirty our counters were this morning, and then decided that meant it was the perfect time for Brayden to paint with the Cool Whip his Mee-ma Kincaid had left at our house from Mike's birthday party! So I busted out the jar and dumped it on the counter and let him go at it! Here's some cute shots of him having fun!

Hopefully he doesn't try to lick the paint next time he paints!

Love this ^ facial expression

Oh look, it's on my elbow!

Pretty Flowers

I love flowers, love love love flowers and my sweet hubby gets them for me just often enough so that I truly appreciate them and love them each time. If I got them every week (not only would it be a waste of money) I wouldn't appreciate their beauty and how awesome and unique each bouquet is as much as I do.

I posted a picture on Facebook on Valentine's Day (when he gave them to me) of the entire bouquet, but this bunch is still going a couple weeks later! My favorite ones, the lillies and the gerbera daisies have passed on. 

The first two pics I know look the same, I am trying (ergh, ugh...TRY is the key word) to learn more about my camera and the top two were playing with the aperture. For you non-camera people (like me) you can notice in the top picture the flowers are all that is focused and everything else is blurred, not so much in the second shot!

Getting Big

Sometimes I look at Brayden and am just amazed at what a little boy he is, how grown up he is already, and how fast these beautiful moments fly by! I got this shot real quick when we were at Boreal Ski Lodge and just loved that it seems to show how big he is getting even though he's far away and not looking at the camera :).

Preggy Differences

I think I hear myself talking more about how different these pregnancies have been for me than much else about my pregnancy, and I keep telling myself I need to write down some of the differences before I forget them. So here's a small list for now, that I am sure I will add too throughout the next 4 months!

• Sleep. I slept all the time during my pregnancy with Brayden but now have a hard time sleeping. Sleeping at night and staying comfortable is much harder with this one as well, I toss and turn a lot.
• Oranges. They gave me the worst heartburn when I was pregnant with Brayden, along with orange juice and I am loving them this pregnancy.
• My Hair. Last pregnancy I dont remember my hair really being all that dry and this pregnancy it really is. I just had Mike's mom cut about 4 inches off my hair a few weeks back. It needed it desperately and she did a great job.
• Skin. It's really dry this time around too. Also, a lot more breakouts this time around as well.
• Weight gain. It just feels different this time. I didnt lose so much weight in the beginning of this pregnancy like I did with Brayden, but I am constantly hearing how "small" I am this time around. I am anywhere from 5-8 lbs under weight for this pregnancy, but the belly is definitely there!
• Where my belly is. I know this will show even morei n the coming months, but I can already feel Paytin is higher than Brayden was. When I sit down, I feel my tummy hitting high, like against my chest, and it was always so low when I was preggy with Brayden.
• Heartburn. I stayed away from it during Bray's pregnancy by staying away from acidic foods, but this time around, its night time that brings it on. If I dont eat anything big after about 730ish, I'm ok. But if I snack a lot, or drink a lot of something, I can expect heartburn all night long.

Ok....that's it for now. I'll have more to come but that's actually better than I was expecting for this late at night and a post on a whim! Ultrasound coming up soon so more info and pics to come. And surprise, I actually got my camera out today and played around with it so I will have a few pics to share with you all soon enough!

While I've been gone

from blogging....

Here's a few things that I've missed posting about, and still, alas no pictures, but this time I have a very good excuse.

First off, It was Mike's birthday this past Monday. My sweetie celebrated 26 years of life, and we were able to celebrate how much we LOVE him with a small family birthday party on Sunday afternoon. In typical Mike fashion, instead of letting his birthday be about him, he spent it doing what he does best, putting others before himself. He surprised me with a quick trip to Chico to eat Olive Garden as a family, and with the cutest darn puppy stuffed animal and most beautiful bouquet of flowers a girl could ever think of. That night, we had Youth Group and I made Mike's Small Group a batch of chocolate cupcakes with strawberry frosting (trying to mimic a Mike-favorite dessert of chocolate covered strawberries) and then we called it a night.

I'll spare you the long story of the rest of our week, but it can be summed up in one word, illness. All of us have thrown up, all of us have had aches, chills, pains, all of us have slept way more than usual, and none of us have eaten very much at all. The three of us all got some sort of flu/cold/stomach bug/virus that has zonked us out, on top of me getting another bladder infection that has been extremely persistent to say the least. We are still hoping and praying that the medication they put me on for the bladder infection starts to kick in more than it has in the past three days as I am still not feeling well at all. Thankfully, we were able to quickly check on Paytin today just to hear her heartbeat, which was strong at 150 bpm, praise the Lord!

Those are all the updates I have energy to type up now, sorry for the lack of blogging in the last few weeks! I hope to get caught up soon!

Big boy bed

This was last week, but Braydens first nap in his big boy bed! He is doing great in it and is so proud of himself :). He loves to show it off when people come over too!

Pregnancy, Week 21

Pregnancy: technically 20 weeks and 6 days, but in two hours, 21 weeks! More than halfway!

 

Weight Gain: I'm guessing 7-9 lbs. I'll find out at my next doctor's appt in a couple weeks!

Sleep: Still not the best, waking up a lot to pee or rearrange to get comfortable. Not hurting from my belly still, I know it's still small, but just can't get comfy! That goes for pretty much everywhere I sit or lay down these days which is such a change from my "I could sleep standing up" habits!

 

Gender: Baby GIIIIRRRLLL!! Though I posted her name a few days back, Mike and I have since seen a spelling we like even more. We're still deciding for sure, but I will keep you posted!

Name: Payten Lily, spelling still in the works, sorry little girl but we want it to be perfect for you!

Feeling: pretty darn good! sharp pains in my belly every now and then, but know they are just growing pains!

Health: Great!

 

Belly: Bigger everyday now. If I am wearing a sweatshirt people cant tell most of the time, but a regular shirt is impossible to hide. In fact, I'm to the point where, you better make a comment about me being pregnant and not act surprised if you dont make a comment, when I tell you that I am, because that just makes me feel fat ;)! 

 

What I am looking forward to: decorating her room, shopping for her, feeling her move more (praying that my placenta shifts and makes this possible!)

 

What I miss: it's just now starting to get hard to pick Brayden up and stuff, not very hard, but just a tad so that I notice. I know I will miss the ease of just picking him up easily and even tossing him around, soon :)

Milestones: Over halfway there!

 

Movement: I can honestly say I have felt her less than 20 times total. I feel hardness, and sometimes a little flutter, but it's REALLY hard to feel anything and I have found the best times I have felt her has been when I have a pillow against my belly, or Brayden leaning on me on the couch! Other than that, braxton hicks contractions every now and then, which even those have been better the last few days! I only had 2 today!

Cravings: Nothing! Something totally different about this pregnancy is my love/enjoying oranges. I couldnt even look at orange juice when I was pregnant with Brayden, it was so acidy and made me so sick, and here I am buying oranges in bulk! Never been a huge orange person in the first place but they are growing on me now!

A little bit more...

about our baby girl. For those of you who don't know, I have what is called an Anterior Placenta in this pregnancy. We found out during our last ultrasound but it's nothing to be concerned about. Basically it's where the placenta is in front of the baby at my stomach, instead of at my spine, which makes it harder to feel the baby moving around, harder to hear their heartbeat, etc. It's totally normal, safe, and no harm to the baby at all, just makes things a little bit more difficult.  I found a great article that explains it better than I ever could, here it is for those of you who are interested: http://www.whattoexpect.com/pregnancy/ask-heidi/anterior-placenta.aspx

Nursery Theme

Finally a picture! Not one that I took though, but still a picture and that's what counts! Here is our little sweetie's nursery theme. It's called Cocalo Jacana and we couldnt love it more! We wont have everything in the picture, just the bedding, hanging diaper holder, valance, and three piece art set.  I am planning on tackling a huge endeavor though and painting the animals on some of her walls! We've got it all mapped out and planned out in our heads, and now have about 5 months to execute it!

Her name among names...

In announcing that we are pregnant with a Baby Girl this time around, we tried to call as many of our loved ones as we could and at least tell them on the phone. Well, we have officially decided on the name of this dear little babe, and decided to share it publicly on the blog for everyone to read! Come June,

Payten Lily Kincaid

will be joining our family :-). Just like with Brayden, we found a name that we loved and it just stuck. We weren't intending on doing such similar names for the little ones, but both Mike and I couldnt change our hearts from Payten, though the spelling was hard one to agree on (someday Payten will be mad at her Dad for not letting me spell her name the way I wanted too) or the name Lily, which is so dainty and feminine . So there you have it! And for those of you to whom I have already mentioned that I have a ridiculous nickname for baby girl already that has stuck, her nickname from Mommy is P Lily. Sounds like P Diddy, didnt come up with it for that reason, but seems like when I talk to her I call her that more than Payten!

Potty Training

What Potty Training has taught me:

• You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.
• I wanted Brayden to be potty trained when I was ready, and wasn't even aware that he wasn't ready yet. Though for some people this method works, the method of having Brayden sit on the potty until he "accidentally" went, didn't work at all for him, he just didn't get it.
• It's alright to have accidents.
• That's another one of those "bigger than the situation" lessons I feel I was taught again. We have accidents in life, we make mistakes and it's ok. That's what I tell Brayden (in 2 year old form) when he has an accident. Sometimes he isn't too bent out of shape that he has had one, and other times he has this serious look of dissapointment on his face that I can see go away when I tell him its alright and encourage him to keep trying.
• Encouragement works.
• Something I have enjoyed even more than Brayden succeeding at potty training, is Brayden's pride in his accomplishments before his Daddy and me. He runs to us SO excited every time and does his little "potty dance". I love that he seeks out that praise from Mike even more than me, and I love how much it means to him when Mike makes a huge deal out of his success. I attribute Brayden's potty training success to Mike's encouragement. Both to me, to keep trying and finding new ways to teach Bray, and to Brayden to keep it up.
• Take it a day at a time.
• Brayden isn't potty trained. He is training. And we are all ok with that. Today he had two accidents, but had some major successes, like #2 on the potty, waking up telling me he had to go, and asking to go on his own without me having to ask him. For the past three days Brayden has gone through his naps completely dry, even though he wears a diaper just in case. It will be awhile before we try to "night" train him because he is such a deep sleeper, but that's ok, we're taking it one day at a time, just like I need to remind myself to take my life and my problems one step at a time!

These are just a few of the things that have been on my mind while we've gone through this process. I didnt realize that something as silly as potty training would make me think of how it relates to life, but since I struggled so much with wanting Brayden to be trained, and how to train him, etc. I realized how much I have been taught through this. Poor Brayden has had it much harder than his little sister will because I am learning everything with Brayden, and hopefully will be better at it the second time around.  But yes, potty training has been successful so far, a couple of accidents here or there, not making it to the potty on time, etc. But Brayden is really enjoying training and doing it at his own pace and it's fun to watch him learn and become more independent too!

Bed Time

The growing bump of my belly that now holds our 20 week old daughter is proof that time stops for no man. It seems like just yesterday I was in this position with Brayden, dreaming of the child he would be, and of watching him grow up. And today, he grew up a little more. With potty training going so successfully (another post to come) we decided to go ahead and move Brayden to his big boy bed. Note to self, thank hubby again for convincing me during my pregnancy with Brayden to buy a convertible crib. I didn't realize it at the time but it will save us a lot of money in the long run as his crib converts to a toddler bed with rail, and eventually to a full size bed (I didnt even remember this until a couple days ago!). For some reason, I thought, we're not going to have to buy any furniture for this baby, we have it all! Oh but wait, Brayden still needs a bed and a dresser too, whoops! So, we decided to go ahead and keep Brayden's room the way it is and let him "grow" with his bed. Either way we'd have to spend money getting a kid new/used furniture.
Anyways, another thanks to my hubby for dealing with my requests to put the toddler rail on Bray's bed, when he really didnt have too, and it cost him an extra hour's worth of work. The bed looks awesome, and what's even more awesome is how well Brayden is doing in his new bed and how much he likes it! He was so excited that we "fixed" it (I didnt know it was broken) and thinks its the neatest thing ever that he can get in and get out. But wait, it gets better. Bray still has the mindset that once Mommy and Daddy put him in bed, he doesn't/shouldn't get out. Amazing right? I know it might not last long , but I am enjoying the fact that he is staying put right now and not wandering around!
I got some great pictures (I'm always telling you guys that) but will post them at another time. You see, I blog from our laptop, and for space reasons, have decided to only use our desktop computer for my pictures. I will get better at blogging from that computer to post pictures because we moved the computer desk downstairs today to make room for the Baby's room (goodbye office!)
Anyways, that's the end for this post!

What I would miss

if we didn't have dogs.

Conversations like this" Brayden running and screaming : "Mine!" "Mine!" "Mine!" "Mine!" which I soon realize is at Dottie, our dachshund, who has run away with a stolen matchbox car. Then I remind him to say "Please" for no other reason than to try and teach manners after hearing the much dreaded word "mine". Then I hear him say "Please Puppy, Car Please!", Dottie promptly drops the car, and Brayden then pats her on the head while picking up the car and says "Thank you Puppy, You're Welcome, Good Girl" all in one sentence. Too cute for words.

Bear and Brutus letting Brayden "ride" them like a horse, since he can now manuver onto their back, they are so gentle and know they can only take a step or two before Brayden falls off onto the carpet, then the shower him with kisses.

Brayden laying on the couch yesterday covering in his blanket, sandwiched into two dogs (who aren't allowed on the couch and were milking this opportunity) and gave them both kisses before pretending to fall asleep watching a cartoon.

Baby GIRL Kincaid

Another wordy update, and pictures will come tomorrow because they are on our other computer. I will also try for a belly shot since I'm hard to miss these days and asked constantly how far along I am :-).

Yesterday we went for a fun Ultrasound almost 2 hours away in Paradise, CA. It was a birthday present for Mike because he has been dying to find out the gender of our little one. We had a wonderful ultrasound technician who made our experience even more beautiful! There was one large room that we went into that was nice and dark, and Mike and Brayden say down while I layed on a nice cushy and comfy table. Within minutes we heard the words "It's a GIRL!" and couldnt believe it! We both had hoped to have a girl this time around since we are only planning on having two children, but had plenty of pros for either gender! When she announced that we were having a girl it was all grins ear to ear in the room.

Our little girl was happy to show she is a girl. She showed us four separate times as if to warn us ahead of time that she expects a lot of pink and purple in her wardrobe! From what we have heard from friends and family, we know there can be concern if a girl is truely a girl or just hiding boy parts, but our ultrasound tech was awesome to explain to use exactly what we were seeing and that in fact our little one is for sure a girl!

Little Girl was a little less forthcoming with her face and for the entire 45 minutes got to see her, stayed tucked up into the corner of my placenta. There needs to be a 1/2 inch pocket of fluid between the baby and the placenta in order to see the baby clearly in 3d, and baby girl was NOT willing to budge. Jumping jacks, pokes and prods from the ultrasound tech, tootsie rolls, and even going to the bathroom did not help get her to move. She was happy where she was and showed us her stubborn streak at only 20 weeks along :-). Like I told the technician, our kids had a 50/50 shot at getting blue or green eyes, but they had a 100% chance of coming out stubborn!

We got to see beautiful shots of her feet, kicking legs, umbilical cord, chubby tummy, arms, a hand, and her face sporting "Angelina Jolie" lips but tucking her chin the whole time too! She even showed us she is going to be a talkative little one and probably a little chubbo too because she was moving her mouth a lot as well!

She weighed in at 11 ounces and was just perfect in measurement for her gestational age. They showed my due date two days later than it actually is, so she's doing great! Her heartbeat was strong at 153 bpm and we loved being able to see her little heart flutter too!

We got a video tape of the whole thing from the place we went (included in our package) that we have enjoyed watching bits and pieces of yesterday and today. We also got a DVD of pictures, over 40, from our ultrasound as well!

Brayden did really really well and kept talking about the "baby on the chee-bee" (baby on the TV). He was super patient and quiet and well mannered but was a little concerned about why I had to lay down and he had to sit with Daddy. He looked at my tummy, and then at the screen a couple times as if trying to piece it together.  Today he's talked about the baby a couple times even mentioning in his own words that she isnt here yet when I asked him if he would share his blanket with her!

Mike and I thankfully had the easier decision as far as baby names go, because we already had our girl name picked out awhile ago. What I didnt expect was us to disagree on spelling of her first name as much as we have :)! We decided that since its a treat enough to be having a little girl to add to our family, we would go ahead and share the name we have picked out with everyone rather than wait. Once we nail down the spelling, we will share it and then share it on the blog as well!!