Reveal Party!!!!!!

Sooooo, this past weekend was the big REVEAL Party!!!! I loved every minute of it!!! We had a great turnout of about 30 people--mostly Mike's family (since he has a lot of local family) and a few close friends.

People arrived, we mingled, ate a delish lunch and....well, I'll cut to the chase...

WE ARE HAVING A BABY BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We did the 'cutting of the cake' and low and behold the cake was BLUE!!! It was so fun to find out in front of our family & friends!!! I was pretty much in shock! I did all of the 'old wives tale' tricks to find out boy/girl and ALL tests pointed to GIRL. Funny huh!?! BUT my vivid dreams kept telling me boy. So my guess was a boy! (When everybody arrived they were able to choose a blue or pink necklace of beads to 'guess' the baby's gender!). It was great fun!!!

Here are a few pics of our special event. Thanks to great friends who photographed our memories!!!

Belly Belly Belly!

My belly is starting to groooow! I love reading about the baby each day and how much s/he is growing, it's amazing!!! Here is my 19 week picture. I'm still waiting for Saturday to see if this sweet baby is a boy or a girl!! I'm STILL antsy and losing sleep over it!!! I had a super vivid dream last night that we found out that we were having a BOY! The dream seemed SO real, I actually woke up my husband and told him we were having a boy. He was confused to say the least! haha! I'm able to feel the baby move & kick A LOT recently! I love it! We lay down at night and Mike tries to feel the movements too...but he can't quite feel them as much as I can inside! I'm sure that'll change soon once the baby grows even MORE!

Boy or Girl, that IS the question!!!

I'm DYING to find out if we're having a boy or a girl!! We had our 'gender sono' last Friday and since we are keeping it a secret until our Reveal Party--we have the answer sealed in an envelop!!! I was SUPER tempted ALL day on Friday. I swear that envelop grew eyes an it was staring at me all day and whispering to me "ooooopen meeee". My mom came to my office to pick up the envelop and she'll take it to a bakery to get the pink or blue cake made for the party. It'll be covered in white icing--so we'll find out when we 'cut the cake'. The party is in less than 2 weeks, it couldn't come any faster!

I would usually post pics of the sono--BUT since the boy/girl pictures were captured on the CD with all of the upper-body/profile photos, I don't want to take the chances of putting the CD in and uploading any photos. Soooo, those will have to wait! The doctor appointment went great. We were able to see the upper body sono and the baby was moving EVERYwhere! Eeee! So exciting!

Cousins!!!!

I can't WAIT for our baby to meet his/her cousins!!! They are ALL in California so Mike & I are already planning on make a visit or 2 next year--especially since my SIL is due with her 2nd baby in February and my sister is due with her 4th in March!!! Our family is multiplying by the month!!! We are thinking of visiting next Summer and maybe again in the Fall/Winter!! Ahhh, I can't wait!!! Here is the latest pics of the kiddos...

Aiden, Logan & Skylar

Austyn--she's getting SOOO big...and cuter by the minute!!!

This is Aiden's most recent 'work'. He is on every boot-cut pair of jeans at the GAP!!!
Me & my sis always talked about how CUTE the Gap model kids are. Low & behold Aiden booked this job a few months ago!

This is Aiden's larger than life poster in Santa Monica, CA. They were just walking by and noticed he was in the window!!! It's HUGE! Of course, they had to snap a pic! I've searched high & low here in Dallas for this poster--but nowhere to be found! :(

Survey Time!!

About the mommy.
Name: Erika
Age: 28
Is this the first child?: Yup

About the daddy.
Name: Mike
Age: 36
Is this the first child?: Yup

Finding out.
What day did you find out you were pregnant?: May 23, Mike's birthday!
How did you feel when you found out?: Super thankful & in SHOCK!
Who was with you?: Nobody, until I came home to Mike.
How did the daddy react?: Hugged, kissed, & smiled ear to ear!!

Telling the grandparents.
How did your parents react?: My mom & step mom cried & my dad & step dad were super excited. Typical dads... :)
How did his parents react?: All very excited!!! It'll be their first grandchild!! (Mike's the only child!)
How often do they call to check on you?: I talk to my mom just about everyday--Mike talks to his dad every Sunday, and the rest pretty constant.

About the pregnancy.
When is your due date?: January 18th.
How far along are you right now?: 15w 4d
Have you had an ultra sound?: Yep, THREE so far and another in 2 weeks!! We are lucky!
Have you heard the heartbeat?: Yes, so precious!

Sex of the baby.
What do you want. Boy or Girl?: I don't care. I am just excited we are having a baby!
Do you know what you are having now?: Not yet. Find out August 28th!
Are you happy with what you are having?: Yes!! A baby! :)

About the birth.
Who is going to be with you?: Definitely Mike...and that's all I know of.
Are you going to video tape it?: That just sounds weird!!
Natural or medicated?: Drugs please!
Do you think you will have a c-section?: Hope not.
Do you think you will cry when you first hold your baby?: I'm sure, if I have the energy.
Do you know what you will say to the baby when you first hold it?: Humm, haven't thought about that one...
Are you scared about the labor?: Totally!

Names.
Do you have a name picked out?: Yes
Is your baby going to be named after anyone?: No
Did the daddy help pick the name?: Yes

Other random questions.
Where was your baby conceived?: umm... TMI!! But I'll tell you anyway, Vegas BABY!! :)
Have you felt the baby move?: Not yet that I know of. :/
What was your first symptom?: Vomiting & nausea, blah!
Will you have godparents?: No.
Who will be the god mommy?: n/a
Who will be the god daddy?: n/a
What is the babys room theme?: Not sure yet. Still have to do some research.
Are you ready to be a mommy?: YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!
What do you think the baby will be a "daddys girl/boy" or a "mommys girl/boy"?: Hummmm, both???

The Mom Song!

You pretty much HAVE to watch this! Anita Renfroe is one of my favorite Women of Faith speakers. This is hilarious...and ME in 10-15 years!!! EEEK!

13w2d!!!

Today was exciting since we got to the our sweet baby again!!! I'm so amazed every time I see the baby in action...rolling around, sucking his/her thumb, waving arms & feet!!! Today was the genetic/chromosome tests. The sono lady said the back of the neck measured perfectly. They also took blood as standard procedure to research further...but the doc said everything looks wonderful to him!!! YAY! I'm starting to feel a bit better too. My appetite is still altered but I'm still eating and keeping everything down! Whew! I'm done with my first trimester so I'm really hoping to get some of my energy back soon!!!

My next appointment is a month from now. That seems so far away...BUT that is the day where we will find out the sex of the baby. Well...let me rephrase....that is the day we COULD find out the sex of the baby. Here's the deal...

Basically at our appointment we'll tell the Sono lady to write down 'boy/girl' on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope. Without knowing the answer we'll take the paper to a baker and have them make a cake with pink or blue cake--depending on the answer, of course. The cake will be covered in white icing in order to keep the secret until Mike & I 'cut the cake' at the Reveal Gathering in front of family/friends that my mom is hosting. I thought it was a super cute idea when I heard about it--so we are going to go for it! I have ants in my pants already, I can't wait!!

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Sucking his/her thumb! (Takes after me already??? I was a thumb sucker during my early years!)