Well yesterday we had our 32 weeks appt. It went fairly well. My weight gain is good, my overall health is great actually (Praise God!) But baby measured at 29 on the fundal height vs the 32 at this gestation. Normally I wouldn't be too concerned as even Megan measured "off" via fundal height at this gestation...but because of our history of IUGR with Julia, he has ordered a new ultrasound for October 3rd. Good news is Dh will be able to attend this time! (yay!) otherwise I am trying not to stress or think about it too much...if baby proves "smaller" than doc is comfortiable with, it could throw a wrench into some of our birth plans...once again, trying to "let" it go and trust God will work it all out in the end. Doc measured 3 different times and each time got the same reading...but he did say that baby was laying sidways and sometimes that affects the measurements, if baby was completely vertical then fundal measurements would prove larger...so, hoping upon that! hopefully ultrasound will give dh his first time of seeing baby since the ultrasound photo pictured above this blog taken at 10 weeks, and hopefully will give us another chance to check on gender!

I grabbed this picture from the website: www.spinningbabies.com According to doc, our baby is in the ROA/ROP position right now. He isn't really lying front or back, but sidways...head is down though and body curves around my right side.Ideal position for delivery is the OA..so we're still a little "tilted", but have some time before delivery 

Just a short note. I'm not going into too much detail here, but I would like to request prayers on guidance, peace, and strength. Nothing is "wrong", everything is great actually! But with moving closer to duedate it has come time to make some decisions and I just would like clear guidance and peace with them. Especially through my husband...i make such a terrible "head of house" and whenever he feels a peace or guiding about something it is SO much easier for me to trust in that.  I'm not going to disclose details yet, but may at a later time, just holding us in prayers would be greatly appreciated!!  

This will hold very little information physiologically about baby as I have yet to have another doctor’s appt. (It’s next week by the way) Instead I noticed a funny little phenomenum while I was reading a new book I just picked up from my post box today…”Ina May’s Guide to ChildBirth” By Ina May Gaskin.

All cozy and settled into a small nest of blankets and pillows on my new “makeshift” bed of a former couch, I had my book opened to a new crisp page 5 and was enjoying some Dutch Banana Yogurt with Chocolate krispies mixed in (I know, real healthy right? And it’s not rice krispies “krispies” but ones that actually come with this yogurt that you mix in with it..and I do have to point out it isn’t chocolate flavored krispies, but ACTUAL Hershey-like chocolate coated ones...Yummmmmm!!) when all the sudden my book goes up, then down. About an inch in height. I did nothing to cause it, but again a few second later…up…then down…I smiled. See, I had my book resting on my belly bump and propped against my knee. Seems baby decided to say “hi”..either that or he really likes the banana yogurt… or chocolate… or both! (And I must admit resting a book on the bellyl gives much better results than say, a drink. One leaves me grinning, the other leaves me scrambling for a towel and shirt!)

So this prompted my thinking to other things that have happened with the expansion of the Belly Bump, ways belly or baby are making their presence known more commonly in our everyday lives. As I came up with a short, rather amusing list, I thought I would blog it…afterall, one can only take so much reading about fundal height and weight gain after a while, right? *grins*

Belly bump has helped me locate walls.

You know, those big things that usually divide rooms. To anyone none pregnant, periphery vision usually takes care of this for you. There is a reason cats have whiskers and we humans don’t need them…usually. Add in the pregnant woman whose depth persception seems to take a hike at some point and an added amount of weight to the front end and the loosening of hip joints at the other end and well clumsyness is just a small *side* effect…seems I need this growing bump to help me ward off those pesky “in-the-way” walls when I tend to want to turn too quick, have no fear! Belly bump is there to make contact with the wall way before other bodily parts, such as head or hands or toes…although I will admit it would be nice, particularly in the times I clip the wall with more enthusiasm than I would’ve liked, to have had my hands greet the walls first. Doorways are particularly pesky during this phase. Belly bump has become rather intimate with a number of doorways in this house lately…rest assured no bruises have developed…yet.

Belly bump has rescued me from dishes!

Well, not really, but has helped in gaining the growing compassion of my amazing husband who, in turn, CAN rescue me from the evil dishes! Muahhh haaa haaaa! Most of you recall we have no dishwasher here and all dishes have to be done by hand. With the growing belly bump pushing me farther away from the sink I can’t help but assume it is unhealthy to do dishes in the late stages of pregnancy! Certainly it can’t be good for the baby to be putting a constant stream of pressure against him against the counter tops as I must now lean further in to even REACH the sink. It isn’t healthy for my back which is bent over more due to having to reach further in, and of course you don’t want a poor preggo woman to be on her feet for long periods! *winks* while it hasn’t completely rescued me from them, it has bought me frequent breaks and this sweet little look on my hubby’s face…one that says “she is so darn cute, look at her struggle trying so hard, I need to go help her out. Tell her to take a rest and put her feet up..” okay okay, he hasn’t used those words exactly YET, but I have seen that look on his face and have complete confidence that eventually he may.

Belly bump has helped me locate the children!

Okay, I know that sounds odd, but when they are under yourwaist line and your feet disappeared long ago, sometimes listening for voices is the better part of how to find them. And when that fails, or if they are particularly close to your feet the Belly Bump steps in! *bump*, “oh hi Megan! There you are!”… *Bump bump* ”oph!! Julia? You okay? Did my big belly just knock your head lol?” although I feel bad for all the times the girls have been belly-head-butted, I can’t help but giggle or snicker. It doesn’t hurt them or me, just is funny and awkward since the belly is at the exact same height they are. Any of you had a cat, or small children, or a dog? Ever had them literally “get under your feet”? Make you trip and stumble over them, you apologizing as you attempt to regain your balance making you feel like a complete klutz, them looking at your wide-eyed furiously backing away wondering if the crazy lady is going to kill them in one fast swoop…yes? okay, you can relate!! Belly bump has rescued both myself and my children of this as they can never get close enough to my feet for me to stumble over them without the belly knocking them out of the way first. Saved from the awkward-stumble-rumble-possible-killer-tango by none other than the Belly Bump! Let’s here it for the belly bump! Hip hip horuumph! (although there was incident where megan was running and I was walking pretty fast and we ran into eachother and she bounced right off my bubble-ball belly and fell into the ground!! I felt terrible! She had this wide-eyed look like, “where did THAT come from?!”)

Belly bump has afforded me a new wardrobe….and one that didn’t cost a penny!

I honestly don’t understand why some pregnant wives turn a snoot nose upon wearing their husband’s attire! I mean really now ladies, you KNOW they make men’s clothing SOOoooo much more comfortable than women’s already, and don’t even get me started upon the conspiracy and heinous crime of men designing maternity wear! I am choosing to walk away from that topic real quick before my blood pressure rises. I will just leave it at this, If men can get away with developing the fit of women’s maternity wear (which I would liken to us females designing a jock strap) then I see nothing wrong with me wearing my husband’s lounge pants and 10 year old ratted tshirts with holes under the armpits and stretched out necks! Point taken.

The best one so far has to be when hugging or kissing my husband. Our two bellies vie for attention, and up to now, his has always won. But NOW mine literally kicks at his, hi Ya, I finally have an added advantage!! The first time his belly felt baby kick through contact with my belly was awesome…

I will never forget his face!

(All pictures taken just

2 months away from delivery,

or 31 weeks)

We had an amazing appointment last week, both with the baby, and with addressing some of my concerns with a Nurse Midwife..my first time ever meeting with a midwife! Joe and I both were so impressed and bonded with her right away! I have actually since then been praying, "God I don't know when baby will come but at this point I don't really care, just let her be on duty that night!" LOL! Baby is growing wonderfully! Fundal height measured right on target for 28 weeks, My weight gain has increased steadily as it should at this stage, I have gained 14 pounds total thus far this pregnancy which is perfectly normal for me. If this pregnancy continues to follow suite so closely as my others have gone, I will continue gaining aprox a pound per week from this time until delivery, possibly adding another 12-14 pounds or so (I personally wouldn't mind gaining even more as I usually end up needing any "extra" weight afterwards to help fuel recovery and Nursing) Baby's hearttones were in the 140's (veryhealthy for this stage!) and I feel movement ALL the time which i LOVE! 

I can feel kicks from squirms, squirms from punches, and even punches from when he "rolls" his wrists! It is the neatest thing! Two nights ago was my first time experiencing baby actually waking me up with kicks! Joe can feel him move all the time now and baby has officially found my ribs lol. I believe we'll have *maybe* 2 more weeks (around my 30 week mark) and then we'll be able to watch the too-cool "ripple effect" of baby dragging heals, knees, elbows, and fists across my belly. This is one of my favorite times of pregnancy, being able to *watch* in real time what i *feel* happening! PLUS i have been waiting for this visual "ripple effect" to take place before I really begin engaging the girls into "meeting" thier baby brother, whom as of right now still believe that my belly button is the actual baby lol! I still can't beleive we are in the last trimester! (Praise God!) They have started scheduling my doctor's appointments to every 4 weeks instead of every 6 as well. Our next appt will be at the tail end of Sept when I'll be 32 weeks. Here is the latest belly pic contrasted with the belly pic from last month on the left.

last month at 24 weeks, and this month at 28 weeks:

we've "popped" out a bit more hunh? Isn't it amazing? I get so excited when I see how belly is expanding and growing....signs of Life Thriving...just amazes me!!

Then I also found this new ticker that I thought was hilarious! I put it on my MySpace page as well, but thought I'd try to include it in here too (hope it works!)

On another note, a very good friend of mine has lent us her old baby stuff...God using another to meet our needs and provide for us!  Yesterday her hubby brought over a Travel system, swing, bouncey chair, a box full of bottles and another box full of blankets and clothes! The Travel system is the only *real* thing we needed, and all these others were "extras" on our list...extras we were going to wait to buy intil baby arrived, but having it all here is SO nice! The kicker is the details! These are the exact same brand we love to use, that we have trusted and used in the past. In fact the swing itself is the exact same swing we had before we moved, well maybe not the "exact" same one, but same model, make and brand! This left me amazed and thankful, not only were the needs provided but all the way down to silly details lol, like noticing they have the same tastes in brands as we do. (Now don't get me wrong, I would have been equally happy if the childcare equipement had been other brands, I am not a "brand name only" gal....what is so NEAT about this is that I am already familiar with this stuff. I already know how to properly work these items, care for them, and clean them...and to anyone whom has been military or whom has moved upon occasion (especially across country or overseas) you understand how exciting it can be to see something, even the smallest things...that are familiar! It can bring an extra sense of comfort.) sometimes I can't help but get amazed at how such a BIG God, whom is far more concerned about my Spiritual journey with Him, can also be concerned enough to look at the smallest desires and details of my heart and even address those! It leaves me so humbled....and leaves me asking why as I have done NOTHING to earn any favor, or to understand why He even keeps His eyes turned upon me at all.

The Italics emphasis is mine, because that is SO where I tend to be, swinging back and forth between being fearful, chiding myself for it and feeling guilty for it, and then swinging to hope and excitement, extreme thankfulness, and then I'll begin to swing the other way...and it goes back and forth, back and forth like an unending pendulum. At least in it all I am reminded of my humanness and am humbled...not letting that humbleness cross over into self-loathing though is the ticket...sometime I get so frustrated at my inability to seperate self from spirit, I long for the day when I can take this flesh off like a dirty, tired garment and cast it aside...

Until then I am trying to echo what I heard a wonderful speaker say at the Hillsong conferance earlier this year say to thousands of hurting, struggling, and redeemed women..."Rise up...Rise up and overcome... Rise   Up!"

it's just so darn hard...I'll "Rise up" only to fall again a few feet ahead...sometimes I think sitting in the dirt would just be easier, take a break, rest a bit, and sometimes I do... many times I want to say, God when this baby comes healthy and living then I will trust you again...and then i get discouraged because it never seems enough...didn't I say that before?...God if you let us conceive again, then I will trust you...God if you get us through the first trimester, then I will trust you...God if you get us far enough I can feel kicks and rest assured each time I feel them, then I will trust you...God if you get us to delivery day and help us bring forth a live child, then...*sigh*

SO I come back to Jesus:

"And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" ~Matthew 27:46

At least I know God understands. At least I know He looks upon me with compassion having walked these shoes. At that last moment on the cross all the sins of the world were put upon Jesus, including all the "results of sin"...all the pain, all the confusion, all the hurt, all the "trust issues" that I will ever have, were put upon Him so that I may now walk in grace and not condemnation...I find such comfort knowing He looks upon me gently and compassionately, that his mercies are new every morning, that while we both may hate the struggles I am going through, He will never hold them against me, even when I do, He will never give up on me, even when I do..and while I don't understand why He loves so much, I am so thankful He does for I truly need that kind of love!

(p.s. If you'd like to pray for me in these areas, I sure would appreciate it!)

And now I am off to clean house and tend to my "special" project for today...wash and lysol the stroller, the bouncey chair, the infant carrier....

"It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed,

because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning:

great is thy faithfulness.

The LORD is my portion, saith my soul;

therefore will I hope in him."

~Lamentations 3:22-24

 "He tends his flock like a shepherd:
       He gathers the lambs in his arms
       and carries them close to his heart;
       he gently leads those that have young."

~Isaiah 40:11

"Shout for joy, O heavens;
       rejoice, O earth;
       burst into song, O mountains!
       For the LORD comforts his people
       and will have compassion on his afflicted ones."

~Isaiah 49:13 

Hey everyone! I am now at 24 weeks gestation, or 6 lunar months along. Here is a new belly pic and the comparison to lunar month 5. As our doctor here only sees patients every 6 weeks, we will not have our next appt (at 28 wks) until the 1st of September.

20 week photo (5 months, on left) and 24 week photo (6 months on right)

Newest news on the home front are the changes as of late! We have decided to move the girls into one of the downstaires bedrooms so that the upstaires bedroom can become a nursery...something I really was unsure about doing at all, since baby will be co-sleeping with us for at least the first few months. But we realized it would be easier to go ahead and have that space done now than worrying about it later, as well as providing the girls plenty of time to adjust to a "new" room *prior* to baby coming, in hopes of protecting them from a "my room/bed has been taken by the baby" resentment that may have occured if these changes had happened just before, or right after baby's arrival. (Wheew! whatta run on sentence there!)

First we tackled the girls room. We spent one weekend cleaning it out, that following week buying brand new bedding and Wallies off of Ebay and waiting on shipment of those items, and this last weekend we assembled it all together! It truly looks great and was so much fun to put together. Really quite easy too as this was our first "themed" room that didn't involve the mess or hassle of paint. Reminded me of the excitement of having my own "redone" room as a child! They have slept in thier new "Big Girl Princess" room for 1 week now and so far have done great! This will also facilitate night potty training with Megan since the bathroom is 6 feet from them, instead of a trip down the staires + 6 feet in front of them. I am SO proud of them! I think they have "handled" the change better than I have lol. Last night I caught myself wondering into thier old room, so quiet, and dark, and empty... and missing them!! Julia does still find her way snuggled into our bed by morning time though, which I love. She has the brightest face to wake up to, grinning right at you! More and more I am truly loving our early morning snuggle sessions.

Some pictures of Their Disney Princess Room: (thier first themed room since Julia's Butterfly room in our old house in the states)

**Wallies and Bedding bought off ebay, are sized a "UK Single" (between an American twin/full size) and will grow with them. Wallies consist of the different Princesses and flowers.

**Toddler beds and posters bought on base.

Megan's Side

Julia's side (Wallies extend all around the poster)

Photo of Room from Hallway:

Julia cheesing! I'd say it's a winner! 

(She insisted on this picture lol!)

Now that we have the girls room done and moved, We are just waiting on the arrival of the boys bedding to begin on his. All we'll have to do is move a few peices of furniture around and revamp Julia's old toddler bed back into a baby's crib. (One of the advantages of finding a convertable crib lol!) Since we have fallen in love with these "wallies" (They are restickable stickers that donot harm paint or walls and are reusable; perfect for military!!!) we will be using those for our theme and notworry about painting, repainting or dealing with borders. As I had mentioned before, the boys nursery has been completely left up to Joe and these have been his decisions thus far (and I am in 100% total agreement with him!) He picked out and ordered the boys bedding a few days ago and now he is just deciding on what theme to put on the walls.

Here is the boys bedding, a "Denim Patchwork Quilt" Joe has picked out...

Have I mentioned the fabulous job he did? Have I mentioned the practicality? I have been SO impressed! By choosing to stay with a "plain" set, we can pass this down easily for any other future boys and create a "whole new nursery" for them by simply changing the accessories.....i.e., Frogs and critters for one boy, firetrucks for another...etc (themes easily found and done by purchasing 15 bucks worth of wallies and voila! done!) I never would have thought of this on my own! My hubby is SO smart! He is still undecided on what "themes" he wants to wallie the walls with lol, but I am so excited to see what he chooses! As I said, I have been so impressed thus far and have truly enjoyed watching him "nest" lol! I know no matter what he chooses, it is going to be perfect for our son.

(24 weeks, 6 lunar months)

Our appointment went fabulous! Absolutely no porblems at all. my weight is right on where it should be, no signs of swellings, baby is looking very good. Joe was able to make it to this appointment and we had both girls there. last time we were able to try to hear baby's heartbeat via doppler was at 16 weeks and it came through fleetingly, and very light. this time we found it right away, a very strong and unmistakeable "whomp whomp whomp...." Julia's face lit up when she heard it! When i explained to her that was the sound of the baby's heartbeating her eyes got real big and she pointed to her own heart and said, "his heart beating just like Julia's?" and i said yes, then her mouth dropped to the floor is this huge, satisfied open-mouthed grin! it was so precious! both girls are so extremely excited about this baby coming! Yesterday I went to a Car-Boot sale with my friend Alison and I found a "Pregnant Pound Puppy"...do you remember these? Came with a velcro tummy and 3 tiny puppies that fit inside and you can take out or pop back in. I bought the set for a pound-fifty, or just under 3 American Dollars! They love it! although it does pose some issues I am trying to make clearer to them:

1) Mommy is not pregnant with puppies

2) Mommy is not having triplets

3) Once human baby comes out, there is not an option to put him back in! lol!!

Baby's heartrate was a strong 155 bpm, exactly what the girls heartrates were at this stage. I am also measuring right on track, measuring at 23 cm's at 22  weeks gestation. Which is actually a first for me. I have *never* measured "bigger" to our gestational time frame. I relooked in my pregnancy journals for the girls and by this time we were 1 inch behind with Megan and 2 inches behind with Julia. This baby is diffinetly measuring bigger than the girls did, which I guess is normal for boys to be a bit bigger than girls?

The ultrasound report came back wonderful! very healthy! This was such good news. We are really getting excited now!! It did show that I have an Anterior Placenta (means it is sitting in the front) which only confirmed my suspisions. I have suspected that I had an Anterior placenta since around 18-19 weeks or so. It took so much longer for us to feel baby's kicks and even now when i feel them they are so light, nothing like what I remember with both the girls. It also could explain why they were not able to detect hearttones via doppler at 14 weeks, and why it came in so light and faint at 16 weeks, when we were easily able to hear both the girls at 11-12 weeks. There is no cause of concern with this as thankfully placenta is no where near my cervix. Only reason we'd need to be concerned about a placenta attached at the "front" is in case we had to do an emergency c-section, in which case they'd probably have to do a quickie ultrasound to know where to safely make the incision. (i am still uninformed, but from what i understand, if the incision was poorly placed and cut into the placenta it would cause a tremendous amount of bleeding and may be cause for an emergency hysterectomy) BUT..since we have had two "normal" deliveries and thus far this pregnancy is flying by as one of my easiest pregnancies yet, I am clinging onto the fact we have no reasons to believe a c-section may be imminent, so i am not worrying. i am just so thankful everything is moving along so smoothly and healthy.

I have my energy back for now, i'm way past the sickness hump, and my belly is expanding beautifully as I have waited for it to do so for over 2 years. This pregnancy has been such an awesome blessing to my heart. As much as I know I am going to love having my little boy here, in some ways i know I will grieve not being pregnant anymore...(yeah i hear you, "easy for you to say at the honeymoon phase of 5 months kristy! just wait until you are overdue and moaning that your baby is taking so long to arrive!" lol...i know i know, just journaling where i am at THIS moment ;)

Joe has taken full charge of any decorating! This has been a neat process for me to watch, a blessing to my heart, watching my husband being so very involved and getting so excited over bedding as i usually do lol.

in 2 weeks, when we hit 24 weeks or 6 lunar months, I will be posting a new belly pic.

otherwise a good friend sent me an email link the day we found out baby is a Boy and I had to pass it along just for laughs! She had written, "In honor of your son..." (and to all moms of boys, introducing "Pee Pee Tee Pees!!!")

A few fun facts on baby's developement:

~*~ Baby continues to practice reflex movements that will be essential to it's survival after birth. Lips and mouth are sensitive, and if the baby's hand floats near the mouth, it may suck it's thumbs or fingers!

~*~ Baby will develope a strong grip during this month---far more powerful than that of the infant after birth.

~*~Baby's nostrils (which until now have been plugged up) will open and begin to make muscular bfreathing movements as its body prepares to draw air into lungs at birth.

~*~Blood vessels are developing in the lungs. After birth they will allow blood to flow through the lungs and intercept oxygen and circulate it to the baby's tissues.

~*~ Buds for the baby's permanent teeth will come in this month.

~*~ Baby's spine will be made up of 33 rings, 150 joints, and 1,000 ligaments, all of which are used to support its body weight. All of these structures will begin to form this month.

~*~ By the end of this sixth (lunar) month of pregnancy, baby will measure at least 9 inches long and weight at least 1 3/4 pounds.

** All above facts taken from The Pregnancy Journal

by A. Christine Harris, Ph.D**

Well folks after a long 22 week wait we had our "big" ultrasound today! I am happy to report he looks very well and already weighs 1 pound! He was moving and kicking everywhere (must have been the frappachino I had...), even the tech remarked a few times "this kid is quite active!" More than half of the movements I could not feel myself and that surprised me. So maybe my baby isn't as quiet as I previously thought!

and yes...in case you haven't caught onto my syntax,

baby is indeed a

 BOY!!!

And yes..we are all still in shock!

How it all came to be, the story:

So I meet my friend Kay and we sit and talk and I drink drink drink while waiting to be called, when I am situating myself on the table I tell the tech I understand they have SO many measurements they have to take and in a limited amount of time, but if he did happen to see the gender we'd like to know. He responded with,

"How about I even let YOU guess?"

I thought GREAT!!

So he does some measurements and then comes to the legs, freezes a frame and says

"there ya go."

 i'm looking at the screen, I swear it all looks the same to me, just a bunch of orbs lol, and I say,

"that's the shot?"

and he says, "that's the Money Shot!"

and i'm looking for 3 little white lines and i'm not seeing any and yeah i see a nub but man, those lines have to be somewhere...(DID NOT even occur to me the nub was a "turtle's head!"-as most of you know a "turtles head" means boy, 3 white lines like a "hamburger" means girl- i was thinking that "nub" was the umbilical cord lol!!)

so I say, "hmmm...It's kind of hard to tell, but I am terrible at these things.."

hoping maybe he'd tell me or give me a hint. So he magnifies the picture so it's the size of my PALM and it was SO obvious then!!! but still being disbelieving, thinking in my head, that can't be a boy...is it really? can it really? i finally say,

"is...is that...a boy...????"

and the tech smiles or says yeah or something affirmative lol.

then i practically scream something like

"NO WAY" or "HOLY COW" or maybe i said both,

 i dunno, its kind of a blur now lol! i sat there trying to let it sink in and said,

"we have 2 girls at home...i didn't know we could make boys!!"

of course everyone laughs! Kay has two boys highschool age and she confirmed diffinitly a boy and even remarked she had seen the turtle earlier and thought that it was that but didn't want to say anything just in case. So I have her confirmation too!! I still can not believe it!!....a BOY!!!

baby weighs 1 pound and heartrate is 150 bpm..the exact same both the girls were at thier 20 wk ultrasounds!

(on his back, profile view, head tilted up. can see head, nose, lips, chin, neck, stomach, and chambers of heart at top of chest!!)

How I told Joe:

Appt only lasted 30 minutes so quickly I ran to the balloon shop and ordered 3 green and 3 blue ballons. They had a tiny blue bear there that was holding a sign that said "It's a Boy!" So I grabbed that as well. I reserved two of the ballons for the girls to keep, and had the other 4 tied to the bear. Then i picked out a small card. On the green envelope I wrote "Congratulations Papa" and on the inside card, "Your SON is on his way!" I tucked the card into the bears arms behind the sign he was holding and taped the above ultrasound picture to the strings. Then i quickly scurried off to pick up the girls then off to Joe's work to drop off the balloons at his office.

When we arrived I snuck inside and put them on his desk, then snuck back out. As I was just finishing up loading the girls into the van Joe came out and had me pull over to the door of his building. I hadn't realized I had parked right in front of his classroom LOL!!

He says, "I saw you drive up"

(so I'm thinking, ah then he saw the balloons and this is why he is grinning so big, but he didnt see them!)

He peeks in at the girls and sees megan's blue balloon but not Julia's green and i find out later he is thinking at this point, "ah, she must have left the pink one in my office" so he is thinking girl!

and i am thinking at this time, ah, he's seen the blue/green balloons now too so he knows it's a boy...but no! he's thinking girl.

so i put my hand on his cheek thinking he's just wanting confirmation and gently say "yep, it's a boy. congratulations daddy"

he literally stepped back and said, "It's a BOY?!?!!! but we only have girls! are you sure? how sure are we?"

So i tell him about everything that happened and that i am PRETTY darn sure. He was in shock lol. thrilled, big o' grin on the face, but in just as much shock as i was lol!!

After I leave Joe walked back inside to his office, grabbed his balloons, read his card and brought the entire thing back in for his class to see. Everyone together now....awwwwwwwww!

So that's the story! I won't have completel confirmation on everything today until we see the doc on friday, but for now I am going off of the tech's last words..."all is good" :) ...and yes, we are still in shock!

(I think this is looking from the ceiling onto baby laying on his back. You can see the head, eye sockets and nose, 1 arm cradled next to the head, neck and belly with ribs on each side and heart at the top, and maybe knees curled towards the bottom!)

We are back from the cruise and it was awesome! Belly gained 1 whole inch during that time! LOL! I have blogs in the making, should have the first one posted on our other site in the next day or so.

Update with the belly! well, we are 21 weeks along now. I have a belly pic taken at 5 lunar months (or 20 weeks gestation) to post. *grins* I can feel baby move on a regular basis and it is THRILLING each and every time! I don't think i will ever take this feeling of life for granted, at least I hope I never do. It is so precious and so fragile and frail. I am by far enoying this pregnancy far more than I ever did with either of the girls. (must be Isaiah's gift to me :) Joe was also able to feel baby move for the first time last week and when our family came to visit last week, Aunt Terra was able to feel baby move too! (SO exciting!!)

Our Ultrasound is in 3 days and I can not wait! A good friend of ours, Kay (we had a great time together at the Hillsong Conference last March) will be going with me and our other good friend, Erica, will be organizing a fun playdate with Julia and Megan and her girls Aubrey and Ella! I am really excited! If I had my way I'd have Joe and the girls with us, I know they would LOVE to see the baby on the screen, but hospital policy won't allow small children in the room, and only 1 other individual other than the patient. I have thought of a creative way to reveal the gender to Joe after the ultrasound as well. Overall I am very excited! I can not wait to see more of this little baby and compare him/her to what I remember of the first glimpses I had of the girls at thier ultrasounds. It seems time is moving so slow, but I know it will be here before I realize it!

As for the name game, Joe thought of a beautiful girls name the other day. I am trying to be hesitant to become attached to it as I halfway expect him to veto it in a few weeks...as has been his track record for this entire pregnancy, and if we have another girl her name probably will just be a narrow-downed list up until birthday.

  We did this with megan. for 8 months of the pregnancy she was "Jamie". We took "Jamie Noelle" and "Megan Elisabeth" to the hospital with us. Minutes after her birth Joe pinned her as a Megan and I quickly agreed, but I could not bring myself to let go of "Noelle," so we blended the two names and voila! Megan Noelle!

  Knowing this is what is going to happen with this child (should baby be a girl, the boy name has long been finalized)...you won't get a "final" girl name out of us before delivery day, mostly because we won't know it ourselves! having said that, here is a very very preliminary list of girls names thus far:

First name possibilities:

Natalie

Jamie

Hailey

Middle name possibilities:

Grace (special meaning since losing Isaiah)

Helen (family name)

Rose (a favorite of mine since Julia's pregnancy)

Faith (Also special meaning with this pregnancy)

Elisabeth (family name on both sides)

Michelle (my middle name)

My favorite name that I am so afraid Joe is going to veto (yes this is the one I spoke about above, the same one he thought of a few days ago) is:

"Amelia Rose"

she would probably go by

"Ami"

"Millie"

or "Leah" as possible nickanmes.

But we will see come ultrasound time (crossing fingers, toes, and shoelaces that baby is not shy!) And we will see if Joe sticks with "Amelia" or vetos it as has been his habit. We have already agreed, no matter what ultrasound shows, we will be prepared for the ultrasound to be wrong come birthday....means we will have names chosen or narrowed down for both sexes. I have also chosen both a boy and a girl premie Coming Home outfit. (Premie because we seem to produce small little "tidbit" babies lol) Wish us luck for Tuesday and that baby isn't Stubborn!

Belly shot at 20w2d:

6 days to cruise time, so I thought I would write a quick update. Nothing too new to say really.

M/S is officially gone! YAY!!! took 17 weeks, but finally I can really really 110% enjoy this pregnancy!

I feel baby kick and move more. i *think* i might have felt a stretch for the first time the other day, but not sure. This baby seems to be in a weird position and it makes it difficult to feel movement unlike with my other two pregnancies.

Speaking of baby's position. This little one is sitting right inside my pelvis. I feel kicks on my pelvic floor or on the inside of my pelvic bone. I carried Julia high, and megan lower than Julia, and this one i carry even lower than megan! I think it is just weakened uterine muscles as we progress from one pregnancy to the other. I do seem to be carrying straight out front like i did with the girls though.

My belly doesn't seem to "grow" really. the last updated picture ont his blog was right after i had eaten a HUGE meal and before i had gone pee, my belly does not look that big normally, even now 2 weeks after that pic was taken. And i seem to be "growing" quite slowly, although i can feel baby growing stronger with kicks and such, it just don't "see" it. I think this also has to do with where baby is sitting. it makes sense that as baby is sitting so low and literally *feels* like s/he is sitting in the middle of my body and not more to my front side. and it also makes sense that my belly would change shape and size so easily according to if i have eaten, pooped, or peed recently (sorry if that is TMI) as it seems baby has pushed my bladder, intestines, and stomach up higher, thus why belly changes with those events and not so much according to baby's growth. also explains why my belly is all sqooshy lol.

I have embarked on the crazy preggo dream fest. dreams heightened by hormones lol. The latest crazy dream I had I was on a plane coming back home but i only had 30 minutes to be there. the plane landed in the drive thru of a taco bell! LOL! (now this really makes me laugh! TACO BELL! lol) i get off the plane and realize i am only a few blocks from amber's house, so i pull out my cell phone to call her to bring the kids up and so i can meet the newest one for the first time. As i am dialing the manager of the taco bell comes out lamenting how her son just joined the army and was sent immediatly to iraq. trying to not be insensitive i listen to her and try to comfort her, all the while my time fleets by and before i now it i have to leave again! but i NEVER even got to tell anyone i was home for awhile!! i was SO dissapointed! I remember thinking, "do i even tell Amber i was here? that's just so horrible. hey hun, i was 3 blocks from your house for 30 mins and i never got to tell you!" i was so upset! and i never got ANY taco bell to boot! LOL!

our ultrasound is set for July 18 (22 weeks gestation), despite how many times i called both radiology and my doctor to have the date changed so Joe could be there. There's just no way, he's not going to be able to be present.  i know things could be worse, he could be deployed for one, but none the less it is very dissapointing. my next doctor's appt is July 21st, 3 days after ultrasound day. I will get "official" results from the ultrasound then.

well that is all i have to say. oh and Joe has re-vetoed all the names he previously mentioned that i had fallen in love with. this is twice he has done this now! mentions a girls name, i fall in love with it, then x-amount of weeks later he vetoes it. argh! So we're back at the drawing board again with girls names.

 6 days until we cruise and we are getting really excited! the maternity swimsuit i have is still too big for my belly to fill out, so i will probably be sporting my old two peice. I am a bit nervous of this, but i keep reminding myself in europe where people are accostumed to women going topless on the beaches, my sqooshy stomach hopefully won't be insulting lol.

We had a doctor's appt a few days ago for our 16 week check. We were able to hear baby's heartbeat via doppler for the very first time this pregnancy, so that was a HUGE milestone for me! Joe was unlable to come as he had a class to teach, but it was Julia and Megan's first time to accompany me and they did really really well! Baby's heartrate was aprox in the 130's (lowest heartrate I have ever had in any of my pregnancies, the girls were always in the 150-160's consistently) I have managed to gain 4 pounds from pre-pregnancy weight which is *really* good for me at this stage. with both my girls I had lost weight and was despretly trying to make it up by this point. My belly is also measuring 1 inch larger at this point than it did with both my girls, now whether that is because i have managed to actually gain weight, or if that is bigger baby I don't know, but I am thrilled. I am hoping by next month people will be able to tell I am pregnant through my clothes. You can diffintely tell when i lift my shirt up, but since I don't walk around constantly lifting my shirt up, no one can tell yet. And I am in that weird inbetween stage, nothing fits but materinity wears like a tent. As I said probably another month and that will *hopefully* change.

Our Ultrasound is set for July 18th. I was upset that they make you wait until 22 weeks here, but nothing I can really do about it. It truly varies from doc to doc I suppose. My main concern is that we took all of Joe's leave time for around the time of our cruise and when I'll be 20 weeks, with this being set later I am not sure if he will be able to be present. I really hope so.

I can feel baby move all the time now. Some days baby is very quiet, other days baby seems quite active. I don't know if i am able to tell sleep/awake patterns this early yet, or if it is just baby rolling around into some positions that make it more difficult for me to feel movements.

The girls are strangely fascinated with my belly button. Julia seems to think belly button is the gateway to baby. One evening she got severely upset at me that I could not "let her" go through my belly button to bring the baby out so she could hold him/her. When I told her no we oculdn't do that, she then proceeded to ask,

 "well, then can i go through bewwy buttun to see the baby?"

oh i wish it was that easy, to have the motherly bellybutton as the telescope to check on baby lol!

Julia is actually quite protective of baby already. She was highly disturbed at the doctor's visit of some "strange" man (the doctor) putting a "strange contraption" (the doppler) on "baby's belly" (as she calls my stomach) As soon as i laid back and he came close she hopped off her chair and stood on the step at the end of the examining table. she actually glared at him. When he placed the doppler on my stomach she quickly gave him a dissaproving look and siad, "what's THAT?!" i said, it will help us listen for baby's heartbeat. in goes her thumb, sucking on it as she is thinking this over. she would not stop glaring at him though, which i thought was very funny. After that was done and i sat up, she insisted on staying there and standing by me, got mad when i put my shirt down, when i folded it back up she put her hand on my belly and glared at the doc again, as though to say, "it is MINE." lol! daily she asks me questions about the baby. It is so sweet. When Megan came Julia would help, even for her small 1 year old self. she would get diapers and give megan kisses as i changed her. everytime megan cried I would hear Julia echo "Baby crying!! Baby crying!" to alert me lol. (as though i needed it, but none the less sweet of her to look out for her sister) I have a feeling she is going to be quite the "little momma" when this one comes.

without further ado, here are some recent belly pics: I think we could call baby "the bump" at this point and it would be quite fitting!! we really popped out in the last months growth.

here are weeks 12 (from last month for comparison) and week16 (The Bump), now 4 months along:

And here are some adorable pictures of Megan, taken 4 days before the above picture was taken, at 15w3d along...i LOVE her expression in the second one:

As I said before, the Belly Button is "magical"

(and you can see all of these pictures and others as well on our flickr site. I have made a complete album just for belly pics, so it isn't hard to find them)

***Quick Facts on Baby's growth right now***

~*~ Baby's fingerprints are developing

~*~ Eyes and ears have moved to thier final positions.

~*~ Many of Baby's bones have begun to harden.

~*~Baby measures 5 1/2 inches long and weighs aprox 3-4 ounces right now.

~*~ This month is a period of rapid growth:

In 4 short weeks baby's height will nearly double from 5 1/2 inches long to 8-10 inches, and Baby's weight will increase nearly 26 ounces!

Photo of baby at 15 weeks gestation:

This was our baby last week. Notice this one sucking his/her thumb? Amazing what "behaviors" these little ones do in-utero that continue life outside the womb.

(this image taken from this site)

I wanted to check in as the germany trip was a no go. it was a horrible, horrible, frustrating, aweful story that i'm not going into or i will get myself all upset again.

        I also had a scare today. Basically I was feeling unusually weak, dizzy, and faint. I almost passed out twice today at the bx. I was also cramping and I hadn't felt baby move at all today, so I went in for a heartbeat check. at 14 weeks they could not find it via doppler. I started crying. we heard both my girls with ease via doppler from 12-14 weeks. I guess the nurse felt sorry for me and she talked to another doc and they did a quickie ultrasound. baby was not moving and the machine was silent, but finally I could see the little heart WAS still beating. I started crying all over again. she couldn't pick up the sound on the machine and she didnt count BPM (beats per minute), but it was just so good to see, at least as of now, heart was beating okay. Baby had his/her back to my abdomen, so chances are any movements baby was doing I couldn't feel because they were aimed "inward." baby has grown quite a bit since our last u/s 4 weeks ago. this time I could make out all the little notches on the spine and the little ribs. I don't know what has made me feel so weak and shaky. I have been eating fine and drinking plenty of water. I wish baby had been moving, I think it would help me feel alot better...but for now I will take the small beating heart and try to rest in that. I don't have an appt until June, and it feels so far away.

okay okay..here they are as promised. Not much to look at for now though, but I am measuring the same at this point in time that I did with both the girls...still rather annoyed you can't tell at all that I am preggers with clothes on lol. *shrugs shoulders*...I just don't see what is wrong with looking 20 wks pregnant at week 6 or week 9 or week 12 lol....*giggles*

Okay, these two pics are at 9 weeks, and at 12 weeks along. We are *officially* in the 2nd trimester, but I am still getting sick and worn out quicker than usual, but it will all come in due time I know.

well, I apprantly have been feeling baby off and on for the last week, but was just so unsure if it was baby or my digestive system! I know, strange to think you could confuse the two, but baby right now is still so very small, *maybe 2 1/2 inches* from crown to rump which makes its little feet and hands the size of cheerios at best. Then put that baby in the protective covering of the amniotic sac, then the uterus, and then the various other layers of mom's human body and well...what you feel doesn't "feel" like kicks or punches...more like bubbles lol. light light light bubbles! "Flutters." In fact, the only way I am sure at this moment it is baby and isn't gas bubbles is b/c of where it is, a completely different place than my digestive tract. I especially  feel it when laying on my stomach or side. It is the coolest thing!! Just knowing THAT is the baby! ...signs of life thriving...just soooo precious!

So that is my newest and most exciting news baby wise!

And No, I am not showing yet, despite I will be 12 weeks tomorrow. *sigh*...I find that *highly* annoying, I can't wait to be showing.

The Morning sickness has hit an all time high. What I hoped would taper off around this week (as happened with Julia at week 12) is pressing forward and seemed to have become much worse during this last week. I have heard of some women having mild, sporadic Morning Sickness until week 11 and then it worsening until week 16 and then stopping. So now, My goal is week 16 instead of week 12....1 more month. Bummer. But hey, as long as baby is healthy and thriving I will take whatever! It is a SMALL price to pay for a healthy beautiful baby in the end!

My 16 week appt is set for June 8th! No ultrasound for that one, but I will get to see my original doctor whom has been on vacation the last 6 weeks or so. *smiles* 

Some Baby milestones for weeks 12-13:

*Baby's vocal cords will be forming in the larynx, or voice box,

although baby will nt be ale to make sound until birth since sound travels through air, not fluid.*

*Baby's hand is becoming more and more functional. Baby is beginning to use it's thumb in opposition to the other fingers now*

*Baby is beginning to practice breathing, sucking, and swallowing motions.*

*Baby is now quite active,

but still so small it could easily move inside the egg of a goose.*

All above mentioned facts taken from the book:

The Pregnancy Journal written by A. Christine Harris, PH.D

okay, all you ladies whom have been pregnant before I am sure are very well aware of what "Pregnancy Brain" is. For those that aren't let me give you a quick explanation...all the blood that normally goes to your brain, is suddenly being diverted to the uterus...thus, many many Brain fart moments. Well, ya know, in the middle of being sick and worring how your little bean is doing, at least it provides some good comic relief. So I have decided when these moments seem to build up pretty well, logging them all down so everyone can laugh with me...WITH me!!! *clears throat*  *coughs*  okay....

my oy! moment today: i go to grab a rootbeer from the fridge with my dinner. i notice, hmmm...it feels like it is partially frozen...not a new thing since it was at the very very back of the fridge...so what do i do when things freeze partially? well, shake them up of course...can anyone guess what happened when i opened my rootbeer? ....D'UH!!!!!

my Oy! moment yesterday: i have a bottle of water i brought home form the conference. it is a new brand i'm not familiar with and as i've been in a habit of doing since we moved, i closely examine what i am not familiar with. I discover it had an expiration date at the top. hmmm...any water with an expiration date shoud be viewed with caution. so i turn it around, begin reading all the minerals listed on the back..there were quite a few and i'm like man! it sounds like it needs to be shaken or something...so guess what i do. yep, guess what's worse, the top was open....wiping down mineral water off my keyboard going, good grief!!!!

a memorable moment shortly after Megan was born: (yes, "pregnancy brain" strangely morphs into "mommy brain" shortly after baby arrives....actually in some rare cases, it never leaves!!)...

 Don't leave sterilizing pacifiers....just don't...never ever ever!

i had the boiling pot going, threw in the two paci's, had them going, i'm like okay, 2-3 minutes..i can run and do this and when that is done, these will be done....well, i got distracted to say the least. i am back in my bedroom and suddenly Joe starts yelling for me to get out of the house, almost on cue the smoke detector goes off...that's right...they boiled straight down to the pan! MELTED the darned things to it!!! Joe is rushing around my smokey house with 4 pot holders on taking a smoking pan to the FRONT porch...really honey, the BACK porch would have been suffice, but let's worry all the neighbors while we're at it! i was so dang embarrassed. to top it off, later that evening we had some friends come over (pot is still outside for it is beyond any home of redemption) and when our friends saw it on the side of the porch the first things they said were, "oh, is Kristy cooking again?"

*blush* Blush* and BLUSH!!*

Hello everyone!! Welcome to our journal celebrating the new baby, due November 25th, 2006!!! I thought this would be a great way for me to journal about our doctors appointments, post ultrasound and belly pics, and celebrate everything exciting as this new life unfolds before us! I hope you enjoy visiting here as much as I will enjoy writing about this new little baby as he/she grows. At the end of each entry I will write when our next doctors appointment is, so you have a general idea of when to check back for news.

Our Latest Ultrasound Photo, Taken at 10 weeks along exactly:

Here you can see baby laying on his/her back, head is to the left, and the feet were to the right:

This latest Ultrasound was a very exciting one to watch as baby began making movements just the week before. I can't feel any of them yet, as baby is really only about 2 inches long, but it was such a neat thing to watch on the screen! Apparantly we have a pretty active baby! We watched as little hands punched upwards, and little feet kicked outward! We were able to see and hear the heart beating again as well. Such a precious, precious sound!!! The heartrate was around 159 beats per minute, which is very normal for baby's at this early stage. Doc said it would probably slow down some as baby grew. This matches up very well with Julia and Megan's heartrates in thier pregnancies as I believe they stayed inbetween 150-160 bpm.

How am I feeling? Well, pretty good considering. I am still struggling with bouts of sudden fatigue and morning sickness. The Morning Sickness seems to hit whenever I get tired, or am riding in the car. I have always struggled with motion sickness anyway, I just get sicker in the car quicker than usual now. This bout of morning sickness is so weird when I try to comparre it to what I experienced with the girl's pregnancies. I was my sickest with Megan, and it lasted from week 3 to week 14, UGH! With Julia it began around week 7 and lasted thru week 12. This one began around week 9 and as far as I see, has no means of slowing down by week 12...but we can hope eh?! In an odd sense, it is encouraging to feel though. It let's me know the hormone levels secreted by baby/placenta are high and baby is thriving, which of course is very encouraging, especially since we lost Isaiah in January. With the girls the morning sickness was worst in the mornings and lasted all day. With this one it is worse in the evenings and sneaks up on me sporadically through out the day. I can't wait for the second trimester! I am so very very thankful for how far we are now, nearly 7 weeks past the point we lost Isaiah...but I also long for the "honeymoon" phase of the pregnancy. In the Second trimester I will begin to really show instead of just looking and feeling bloated. I will get to start feeling movements, the morning sickness and fatigue will begin to ease off, and sometime near July we should be able to find out who this little person is! I truly loved the second trimester with the girls and only 2-3 more weeks until we *hopefully* hit it with this one. I will mark the celebration of reaching that milestone with a belly pic!

Some quick and fun facts about the growth of the baby right now:

*fingernails, toenails, and hair follicles begin to appear.

*The iris's in the eyes are beginning to form, and the eyelids will meet and temporarily fuse shut to protect the delicate optical nerves until ater int he pregnancy.

*Ossification centers are established in the skull and those in the long bones continue to develope as baby becomes more solid.

* Baby's bones and muscles are growing rapidly right now.

*Baby's skin is touch sensitive all over,

any type of touch causes the baby to move.

*New reflexes are present: now when the baby's face is touched, it will open it's mouth!

**And last but not least: Our next doctors appointment will be in another 5 weeks or so...somewhere in beginning-mid June to put me near 16 weeks. I will probably make a few updates within that time though...I would like to log the point the morning sickness subsides and I'll probably log when we begin to feel movements...etc. Still a few milestones to reach in between that time. *winks*

Thanks for coming alongside us in this wonderful journey

and celebration of new life!

(All facts listed above taken from The Pregnancy Journal by A. Christine Harris, Ph. D.)

"....Is There Anybody in There...?!?!?!"

We can't wait to meet you!!!

Julia and Megan greet thier new brother or sister with giggles, hellos, and kisses...

Finally!!! We have the results back from our bloodtests and ultrasounds so that we can announce with much joy and anticipation that a new Thanksgiving Baby is on the way!! We have been waiting to make any official announcements until we could establish a heartbeat on an ultrasound as the risk of early miscarriage goes down from 30% to UNDER 5% once that heartbeat has been established! Last friday we were able to both see AND hear that beautiful sound!!

Pic from Our ultrasound at 8w1d

Here you can make out the head, to the far right, and the body to the left. If you look closely you can even see two little black spots that are the eyes. we were very easily able to watch the heart beating at this scan as well. The baby already has arms and legs, hands and feet, although too small and hard to see here. Baby is not quite an inch long yet. TINY yet amazing!!!

This is a picture I found on the internet of a baby at the same gestation ours was when our scan was done. It was also this picture that helped me see the head, body, and eyes on our own Little One. Once again, this is at 8 weeks gestation.

We are so very excited! It has been hard not to go around announcing it off the rooftops, we just had to wait until we were far enough along to detect the heartbeat.

Some quick facts so far:

**Estimated duedate is November 25th.

**Baby has been affectionatly nicknamed "ButterBall" in reflections of His/Her Thanksgiving duedate.

**We have the sweetest doctor. He and his wife had endured a loss at some point of time, so his heart is very tender towards us. He also ordered a scan for us at 5wks along although it was too early to detect a heartbeat, we COULD see a good intact sack with a yolksac inside, and although it didn't hold the confirmation of the heart beating, what we did see looked very good for that time along. And he put forth a good effort of reassuring us and ordered us to come back in 2 weeks to get the scan that you see up above. Both Joe and I feel very confident in his hands, which was a big thing I'd been praying about...you never know with military doctors where typically no ultrasounds are given unless "medically neccessary"...I'd been praying for a compassionate doctor and we've been given this as well as a very sweet and seemingly compassionate staff too!

**We go for our next appt in 2 weeks. It will be our 10wk appt, and rumor has it we will receive another scan then, but since our doc is on leave we're not quite sure what the new doc will do. I hope to look for a heartbeat on a doppler, but I do realize it will be early for that still. I think we had to be near 12-14wks before we could get a Hb on a doppler with the girls. I will be exstatic if we get another scan, but I'm taking it as it comes as well, completely happy with what we received last week for now. *grins*

**Sometime in July, if given a scan and a non-shy baby, we would be far enough along to know if boy or girl.

**If Boy, his name will most likely be Joseph James IV.

Girls names are in the air, but you're welcome to vote in a babyname poll I was playing around with, or offer other suggestions. All these names are so early in the preliminaries and would do good to not change before the next trimester sets in lol, although so far, we both really like them.

**Julia will gladly tell you "the baby will grow real real big and make mommy's tummy get really really REALLY BIG!!!" (her eyes get bigger each time she emphasizes the "really's" lol)

**When we asked the girls if they want a new brother or sister, these were thier replies:

Megan: "ummm...umm....ummmmm...I want a Baby brodder...."

Joe: you want a baby brother megan?"

Megan: "ummm...NO!!!"

Joe: oh you don't want a baby brother? do you want a baby sister then?"

Megan: "ummm...Noooooo...BaaBy CAREBEAR!!!!"

Joe: *laughs* "you want a baby carebear?"

Megan: "Yeah!!!!!" *BIG smiles* *eyes twinkle*

Joe turns to Julia: "Julia, do you want a baby brother or sister?"

Julia: "I want a baby brodder....no, *stutters*..a baaaaaby shistwer.."

Joe: "oh you want a baby sister?"

Julia: "uh hunh."

Joe: "What would you name her?"

Julia: "White"

Joe: "You'd name your new sister white?"

Julia: "yeeeeah."

Joe: "Okay, what would her middle name be?"

Julia: *long pause*..."Blue!!!"

Joe: "So her name will be Sister White Blue V*****?"

Julia: *half distracted at this point*....."nooooo....ummm....Baby Carebear!!!"

So, according to our girls we will have a baby carebear named Sister White Blue.

Think that would be a hyphenated name?