Halfway there!

We are so excited to be at 20 weeks! The halfway mark is here! I definitely expect the next half to be much tougher physically, but emotionally the first half was much more draining, so here's hoping this is a very uneventful finish to the pregnancy! We really can't wait to meet this little guy! We drove around to a ton of fabric stores yesterday trying to figure out what to use for his room. We got a LOT of ideas, and are narrowing it down. Hopefully we'll finalize things this week, but no rush since he's not coming for a LONG time still! Thanks to all who've offered to contribute stuff--we're so blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family who want to help and share their cute stuff! We're also extra lucky we know so many with little boys!! We have a busy week ahead of us but had a restful Sunday after a busy Friday and Saturday, so hopefully we're ready for it!

On Friday I did some scrapbooking with a friend--we're working on do it yourself baby books she found a cute template for on another blog. They're turning out really cute! We went to a scrapbooking store called Archivers down in Orem, which is pretty far, but a great store with a huge room in the back where they do crop nights for free, so we checked out their stuff, bought a few things, and had a great time working on our projects.

Ok, here's the latest view of Baby Sampert's ever-increasing home--I feel like it's much bigger in person, but clearly my perspective is not a flattering view--from above I have a shelf! :) I know I've got a long ways to go and am trying to appreciate how not large-and-in-charge I am now! I can still tie my shoes and do a lot of things that I know are going to get less comfy each day.

Hope you all have a good week! Thanks for any advice and all I've received so far! My question for this week is, what are your favorite parenting books? I know a ton of people like The Happiest Baby on the Block, so that's on my list, but let me know your favorites and why!

Also, anyone else ready for winter to be done? It's not been a terrible one here, but I'm ready for warmer weather, especially since I'm not snowboarding this year anyway!

19 Weeks and it's a......!!!!

We had our ultrasound on Tuesday and we're having a BOY! We're very excited to know what we're having and that he looks great! We got a one hour tour of his whole anatomy because he's was quite wiggly and made the tech really work for it!

Our other exciting event of the week is that I felt him move for sure for the first time today! I know everyone feels it at different points, but I only had flutters that were "maybes" until today so we were pretty excited! In honor of his boyness, here is my growing bump in blue! Hope you're all having a good week!

Thinking of themes for baby... drooling over many things on Etsy, including lots of mod elephant and giraffe items... thinking a jungle type theme featuring those may be the winner!

This is the cute fabric:

This is one of the adorable onesies:

These are vinyl stickers for each month that you put on a onesie for photos--cute!

I like how he can be a fancy baby for a big night out in this one!

The reason we're behind on things... ;)

Somebody would like to wave hello!

We are SUPER-EXCITED to be parents! I'm due on June 19 and I'm 17 weeks now so we'll find out gender in the next week or two! These pics are from my visit on Thursday--Baby definitely is looking more like a baby now!

Standing on his/her head

Baby was moving a LOT so it was tough to get a profile shot... this one looks a bit more like an alien, but you can see part of a leg, the belly, and part of the skull. Bob would like to add that you also see the UMBILICAL CORD. :) Baby was kicking the placenta the whole time--this likely explains why I'm not feeling the little peanut move yet--hopefully soon!

I'm starting to have a bit of a belly. :) Just after Christmas I felt like I had a little belly, then the next week it was doubled, and now I feel like it's that much bigger again! It's definitely a visible bulge now!

I'm way behind on blogging and hoping to catch up eventually, but for now, at least our big news is official! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's! We're excited for all that 2011 will bring and especially parenthood! Thanks to all who sent Christmas cards or letters--we always love hearing what you're all up to and it was wonderful to get to visit so many friends and family during our Christmas trip home! I'll post those pics later. :)

I am actively seeking baby advice from all-comers, so if you have a fave product or tip please feel free to share! We're still figuring everything out and have a lot to learn but are grateful we have the benefit of many friends and siblings who have plenty of experience in this area! :)

~Cathy