Happy four month pre-birthday, Little Muffin!

The cutest thing in the world

Kirk was so excited to give me this little trip treat when he got home from California. We had briefly discussed decorating the baby room (assuming we actually have one) in sock monkeys, and he brought one home for the little muffin. Although this probably won't be the room theme, I was so touched, I almost couldn't stand it!

It's been a "big" week

I think I'm finally settling into pregnancy a bit. It's been a miracle not being morning sick, but who knew it would be followed by the intense tired feelings I've ever had? I kept asking Kirk to please quit drugging me! Luckily, he went to California to be with his mom for her breast cancer surgery, and I've felt a little more myself ever since. :)

My big stress over the past 10 days is that my only maternity jeans will NOT stay up! I would say this week has been my biggest growth week, and let's just say my regular jeans are no longer an option. My new jeans were cheap, but still! I was yanking on them all day. So last night, I made a trip to the mall and got some different jeans, jean capris, black yoga pants, and black dressier pants. I feel so much more prepared for life now!

I have a weekend to myself, and I'm planning to relax and get some things done!

The greatest gift – A healthy baby

Today we got the news we dreamed of – our little muffin tested very low risk for downs. We couldn't be happier. Because of my AMA (Advanced Maternal Age), my risk was 1 in 28 going in, but then a combo of blood test, ultrasound and family history reduced our risk to 1 in 2,700. I can live with that risk!

It will be interesting to see if this changes my take on wanting to know the gender (so far, we don't), plan the nursery (so far, not a big deal), etc. I'm just excited to go through the journey and most importantly, I'm trying to remain calm and peaceful throughout. So far, so good! But I have to say the enemy to peace can sometimes be information. I am really enjoying taking one day at a time, but I find that with one false move, you know more than you ever dreamed about a topic that you are months from needing to know. Mental note: continue my mantra of "I'm not there yet" when the advice, information, etc. gets to be too much.

A milestone of a different kind happens on Thursday. I will have been married to Kirk for 15 years. I always joke that marrying him was the smartest thing I did in my 20's. Luckily I still feel the exact same way. We're having a great time with all this, and true to form, he's my rock. We tried to think of what to do for our anniversary, but truth be told, we really couldn't care less. We'll go out to eat, but as corny as it sounds, we feel like we've already got our gift.

Week 12 – A new milestone

We made it to the second trimester! Things sure get busy when you decide to let the cat out of the bag! It's been so fun telling people, and hearing people's reactions has been awesome. One favorite is my cousin Kevin, who after seeing our JibJab featuring us dancing with the Gerber baby, responded:

Trip to Mexico for Kendra's 40th.....$1200pp (where I found out I was pregnant)
Family reunion for 38ppl.....$6000+ (where I went 2 weeks later)
Kirk and Kendra having a Gerber baby!!!....PRICELESS!!!!

It was also great hearing Kirk's Mom Mom saying "oh my Lordy" 15 times and be so excited with us. She also gave some great, common-sense advice:

• Love them – don't spoil them. Make sure they have respect.
  
• Mean what you say and say what you mean.
  
• And like Gomer Pyle says, every day will be a "Surprise, surprise, surprise!"

Now who could argue with that?

But the most fun reactions have been from Kirk. Having this baby has given me whole new reasons to love him. He's been so supportive and excited and funny. His newest thing has been reading about what the baby can hear in vitro. He heard that one man would poke the belly once, yell ONE! and the baby would actually kick the number of times he poked. Kirk is completely committed to learning this cocktail party trick. I've never been poked so much in my life!

We also got some genetic testing done, which meant another ultrasound. Kirk videoed this one, until he got busted. This one isn't as good as ones before, but watch the bottom of the screen for a little wave.