23 weeks

I thought I would give a quick pregnancy update.  I'm at 23 weeks (5 months along).  The crazy thing to me is that I am past the halfway point...and my to-do list to prepare for baby is just beginning!  Whew lots to do!  I'm excited about my Ikea trip tomorrow with my mom to upgrade my home photography office!  It seems every room in our house needs some sort of small change or organizational clean-out.  I'm trying to tackle all of the other rooms before the baby's room.  We have the baby's room empty which is a great feeling!  The crib should arrive shortly.  Once the crib arrives, the fun process can begin!  So here's a picture from 2 weeks ago at 21 weeks.  Around week 19, I went from that awkward stage of "is she pregnant?" to a definite yes, she is pregnant.  It's a great feeling!  The baby is doing lots of kicking and moving around, which is the coolest feeling.  Sam has been able to feel some kicks as well!  So here's my 21 week picture - and yes, Hans is making an appearance in all pictures - he is so good at posing for the camera : )

Ashley at The Biltmore

I definitely need to share more of beautiful Ashley with you.  We enjoyed a beautiful evening at The Biltmore Estate.  Except for all the rain, we are having really lovely weather in Asheville (the rain certainly is making everything super green!)!  We haven't reached the unbearable humidity and heat that comes with summer - you can really enjoy being outdoors when it's in the mid-70's.

I had to warm-up Ashley in front of the camera (which made me think back to my senior pictures).  I actually had my pictures re-taken.  The photographer kept making me smile without showing my teeth (which isn't how I smile)...he was trying to get semi-serious pictures of me...I don't get it.  Anyways, the poor guy delivered the proofs to us, and we didn't like one of them!  Technically speaking they were great pictures, but my smile didn't look like me.  Luckily, he did a re-shoot and they were much better the 2nd time around.  And luckily we got my re-shoot in about a week before I broke my nose in cheerleading practice.  

Enough about my senior pictures, here is more of Ashley!  She is headed off to NC State in the fall.

3.5 Generations : ) !!!

I guess this is sort of like my public announcement that I'm pregnant.  I didn't really want to make a big announcement - but I do want to share pictures with you along the way of my journey through pregnancy (now that's it's halfway over - I'm 20 weeks already).  Here's a picture from Mother's Day with my mom, my grandmother, and me.  I'm 16 weeks in this picture - for me I am showing - to strangers I probably just looked like I had a beer gut.

Sam and I are very thankful that every test and visit has been normal!  I really just walk away in more amazement from each doctor appointment - I finally feel at 20 weeks that this is really happening.  We will welcome our little baby at some point in October (hopefully October) - my due date is October 23rd.  

I don't know how much "mama updates" you want on the blog, but I will share with you that I have had a great pregnancy so far.  I can't really complain.  I had morning sickness in the first trimester but never got sick.  I was 8 - 10 weeks pregnant on our trip to Europe - prime time to deal with morning sickness and thankfully I felt great!  My biggest 2nd trimester symptom has been fatigue, but I think that is expected when your body goes through so many changes and is growing another human being!  Oh and one last thing to mention...we don't know if we are having a boy or a girl.  We had our ultrasound last and skipped that part - the ultrasound tech didn't find out and our doctor doesn't know either - it's not in my chart.  We are looking forward to welcoming a son or a daughter - either way will be so so exciting!