Movin' & Groovin'

When I was told about feeling the baby move, my mom told
me that it would feel like little butterflies, and I will say others
say it would feel like air bubbles, or gas (weird) but for me personally
it totally feels like a mix between butterflies and someone
tickling the inside of my belly with a feather!

But I like to think that baby bear is doing something more along the
lines of something like these little ones! :)

19 Weeks

Let me just preface these pictures, and say that they are the worst.
I have now experienced life without my digital camera, and I
would like to have my normal camera back NOW PLEASE!
I promise to never complain again that i don't have the camera
that I REALLY want, and promise to be just grateful that I at least
have a digital (and pretty great) camera at that!

Michael is quite the camera man! Don't mind the cut off head!

My bump is so high, it looks like I am carrying baby bear
in my stomach! Can't wait to be kicked in the ribs constantly!

Lookin' fine before church!

This is the last and only "Pre-Pregnancy" dress I can
fit into anymore. All my skirts don't fit this gut!

My belly button officially looks like one from a Cabbage Patch Doll!
It has popped out and it makes me laugh every time I look down and see it!

I am enjoying this stage of pregnancy, as I start to look more pregnant with
each passing week! My belly is starting to harden more and more, and I
continue to rub all sorts of stretch mark cream all over my back, belly and boobs!
I am excited that the baby has decided to continue to reside in my belly, and love
feeling bear move around. It kinda feels like someone is tickling the inside
of my big ol' belly! I have been exceptional at working out this week, and want
to continue on this roll I have going! It is slightly weird though that I hardly
sweat these days, and how often I check my heart rate to make sure
I'm not pushing it too hard! Haha, that is something I am definitely NOT
used to at all! I still have a VERY healthy appetite (minus red meat). And my
sweet tooth has made a comeback :) But luckily it's not too out of control,
and I don't have any late night or midnight snack cravings, when I wake
up at 2 and 4 to go pee! I love the morning and nightly kisses Michael gives
my growing belly, and loves when he says "Goodnight Girls" :)
Melts my heart every night! He is the best!

Deep in Thought

As time has gone on now, I continue to think of baby names.
It's a little harder since we don't know the sex of baby
bear, but it's also fun to think of names for both genders.
I honestly think we might narrow the list down to 2 or 3
names that we agree on for each sex, and take that list with
us to the hospital. I think I will need to see our baby before I
can KNOW, what this kid will be named for the rest of his/her
life. Some names just fit faces better than others.

So since we are waiting to find out the sex, we can at least
have fun making up names for our sweet little one to come!

Boy Names:

• Brady
  
• Russell (my grandpa's name)
• Connor
  
• Jett
  
• Dylan
  
• Jackson
  
• Lane (like the football coach for USC now!)
  
• Lang
• Beau
• Carter
• Cade
  

Girl Names:

• Brynne or Brynlee
• Charley Nicole
• Emerson Rose (Rose was Michael's Mom"s name)
• Avery
• Paige
• Reagan
• Madison (Michael likes this one, but I'm not sold on it)
  

For me, it is way easier to come up with awesome boy names, where
as girl names I am very critical and picky. I have either known one, and
those girls left a bad taste in my mouth( i.e. "loose ladies" ;) bratty, obnoxious,
"lover's of food", or just down right crazies!) or I think of how the name
could be made fun of while in elementary school when kids can be so cruel.
I luckily did not have a problem getting made fun of by my name, BUT a
few boys I would beat in kickball, or handball or dodgeball at recess, often
referred to me as "a boy" (apparently they couldn't think of anything clever to
say so they just kept it simple) but it was enough to really hurt my feelings,
so much that I was crying to my mom and we marched right over to Mervyn's
(which was the place back in the day...at least to me)and bought me a brand new
outfit for the next week at school. One i felt cute in, and girly but that I could still
run around if I wanted to! Oh what exactly did we buy? Oh none other than a
"SKORT" yep! I totally tricked out those boys! One of them, named Ben, who I
can't believe I remembered his name, made a comment while lining up for
class the next week. "OMG, Brooke is wearing a skirt?!" "That's right you
little weenie I AM wearing a skirt! haha only it also has shorts so I can still
make a fool of you later at recess!" BOOYA! Brooke=1 Ben=0

Anywho, let me know what you think of the names we have so far, and I
am always down for suggestions! :)

Looks Can be Deceiving

From the front I look normal....well there is that
tummy area that maybe looks like I have gained
some "love" weight, but all in all I feel like this
isn't all that bad of a picture, if I was to walked by
you, you being a stranger, might not even think twice
about my budding tummy.

GOOOO! Then I turn sideways, and all bets go out
the window! So maybe yellow isn't exactly
a sliming color and you can't see where my
my back ends, because it's not as wide as what
this polka dot cardigan looks like!

But my belly is starting to get hard and not as mooshy
anymore! I am super excited about this turn in the
pregnancy because up until this point I have just felt
chubby and not pregnant. But now that the belly is starting
to get hard and round out a bit more,
I can start to embrace pregnancy a lil' more. I still
get stares from people wondering if I have had a
recent weight gain or if I am in fact pregnant, so I
have still contemplated having a few rotating shirts that
state "Bump NOT Plump!" But for now I will continue to
endure the chubby stage just a little longer, I am hoping only one
or two more weeks and I might actually be recognized as
PREGNANT!

A Rack & 2 Shelves

Before my camera took a nose dive (without my consent first),
I was able to get a few pictures at my friend Kristy's baby shower.
Her and her Hubby Brett, will be having baby Owen at the end
of February! She is THE cutest pregnant girl, and so tiny and
petite. Me on the other hand, not so much! But I have made
it a goal to no longer compare myself to others who may be
pregnant or who have been pregnant. I need to learn that everyone
carries weight differently, and that no matter what happens
over the next 5 months, I am going to gain weight, but wow
that is so hard for me to accept some days!

Me, Kristy, Traci
(Traci keeps losing weight but really I think she sends it
directly to ME somehow! Not a big fan!)

One day my bump on the front will be as big as the bump on the
back! Then I will officially be a walking Home Depot.
(A HUGE rack and 2 LARGE shelves!)

Isn't she just a DOLL? She will be an amazing mom too!
One lucky little boy that's for sure!

Earlier this week I went to the doc's for a check up for me and
baby bear. It had been 5 weeks since my last one, so I was super
excited/anxious to get in there!
(Which I posted about last post, so I will just recap)
We got to hear the heartbeat again,
and I must say hearing Bear's heartbeat never gets old!
Although I am leaning more toward Bear
being a SHE! No, I did not cheat and receive inside information
from the doctors. It's just this feeling I have, so call me crazy!
Anywho, I was so happy to hear the heartbeat again, and recorded it
again for Grandma Kip to hear too. I still continue to feel so
blessed to have this lil' baby inside me, and that I will be bear's momma!
It is so fun to learn what each week brings for the baby's development,
and watch my body grow to fit this kid inside! I THINK, and I only
say I think because this is a new feeling, but I think I have felt the
baby moved based on how people have described it to me. It's
amazing to me to be able to feel something so small, about 5-6 oz.
and about 6-7 inches, move inside your belly. I am so excited for the
day when I can feel the baby kick and move and squirm, and I will know
for sure what's going on down there! I am starting to get used to
sleeping on my side now, for the most part. I still wake up a few times
a night to pee, and then struggle to get my mind to shut off so I can go back
to sleep, but after 4 weeks of trying to learn on my side, I am finally
gettin' the hang of it, which means I'm not as cranky! :)
So, since I don't have a camera, this next week we will be figuring
out how to fix that problem! I might just have to go old school on
this pregnancy and bust out the disposables! I need
to show this child what I went through, so that it could grow to
be strong and healthy and one day hopefully bear will thank me!

Listen to Baby Bear's heartbeat below at 18 weeks: