It’s a…
GIRL! Arabella Marie is on her way.
Story of her name: We came across the name Arabella in a baby name book and thought it was cute… then we saw the meaning – “An Answered Prayer.” So true. 
Marie is my middle name, my mom’s middle name, and my Nana’s middle name.
So… the blog will get a bit of a facelift over the next few days to reflect Baby Bella’s name! hehehehe
Let the games begin!
Cross your fingers…
… that the baby’s legs aren’t crossed this evening! We’re going to get a 3D sonogram to hopefully find out Tater’s gender for sure.
I’ll share any news as it becomes available!
Introducing Operation Nursery!
OK… so Mikel and I officially started on the journey towards getting our home ready for baby this weekend. While you might think this is a bit early, you’d be surprised at the to-do list that we are already accumulating for the house. You see, as I started pondering what we needed to do for the baby’s room, I had an epiphany – Wouldn’t it be great if I had a natural light studio in our house that I could use for baby and young children sessions? This winter has been so unusually snowy and cold for Texas, and that has made scheduling photo sessions tricky. Plus, it would be so great to have after the baby gets here – clients could come here for sessions while baby naps instead of us having to find child care every Saturday and Sunday (Mikel usually comes with me to photo shoots to assist me). So, I brought this idea up to Mikel and he jumped on board with the idea. But now, instead of 1 room to prep as we get ready for baby, we have 3! Here’s a (partial) to do list:
- Create linen storage space in our laundry room – this step was completed this weekend! Hooray for Ikea!
- Add plywood decking to our attic to provide more storage space up there
- Clean out guest room (purple room if you’ve been to our house) – this is becoming our new office. Store bed, etc. in attic
- Move phone / satellite lines from current office to new office
- Move office stuff (computers, desks, office supplies, etc.) to new office
- (Re)Paint old office (red room) to a more neutral, photo friendly color
- Tear out a ton of the carpet in our house and stain the concrete (we have nasty builder’s carpet… oy)
- Move photo props – most of which that live in the baby’s room right now – into closet in the new studio space
- Clean out baby’s room
- Hold garage sale to get rid of a lot of the stuff in baby’s room
- Get baby’s furniture
- Decorate the nursery!
There’s about a million smaller projects that accompany this list, but you get the basic idea… we’ve got a lot on our plates! We’re hoping to knock a lot of this out next weekend and over spring break… we shall see though!
But now… for the real star of this show: the “before” photos of the nursery. Oy. I’m a tad bit ashamed. Let me say this, though. This room has become the dumping ground for just about everything we didn’t know what to do with after we moved into the house 2.5 years ago. It also became the holding bin for all things that we intended to sell on Craig’s List or via garage sale many moons ago, but never got around to it. So in these pictures, you’ll see a lot of odds and ends. I have given you a tour of some of the more interesting items on a couple of the photos. So, here we go!
Looking into the nursery from the door:
Stepping into the nursery…
Standing in the corner with the window (or as close to it as I can get with all the stuff in the way):
Wish us luck… we obviously have a LOOONNNGGGG way to go!
What’s Cookin’ :: Week 16
Your Baby: Week 16
Watch what you say… tiny bones forming in baby’s ears mean the little one can now pick up your voice. Eyebrows, lashes and hair are starting to fill in, and taste buds are forming. And, if you’re interested, an ultrasound might be able to determine gender.
What’s Cookin’ :: Week 15
Your Baby: Week 15
Continuing the march towards normal proportions, baby’s legs now outmeasure the arms. And, finally, all four limbs have functional joints. Your fetus is squirming and wiggling like crazy down in the womb, though you probably still can’t feel the movements.
What’s Cookin’ :: Week 14
Your Baby: Week 14
Your adorable little fetus is busy with thumb sucking, toe wiggling, and (not so cute but equally amazing) making urine and breathing amniotic fluid as the liver, kidneys and spleen continue to develop. Lanugo (thin, downy hair) is growing all over the body for warmth.
PS – Purple People Eater? Really people? I put that on the baby gender poll for a couple of giggles – I didn’t think it would be a front runner!
PPS - A “real” update is coming soon… we may start the nursery adventure soon!
What’s Cookin’ :: Week 13
Your Baby: Week 13
Your fetus is forming teeth and vocal cords… savor this, their non-functional phase. Baby is approaching normal proportions, with a head now only one third the size of the body. Intestines are in the process of moving from the umbilical cord to baby’s tummy. (Much more convenient.)
PS – Check it out! Posts are now tagged “Second Trimester”! Wahoo!!!
Tater or Taterette?
We had to go back and do a “real” NT scan with the perinatalogist on Friday – my doc basically insisted we do it at my check-up on Thursday. The good news is Tater is measuring in the “normal” range for everything, so it doesn’t appear we are at any great risk for things like Down Syndrome! Hooray!
The perinatologist and the sonogram tech both made a guess at gender separately and came up with the same result. Tater is most likely a… ha! Did you think I was going to tell you?! What would be the fun in that?! I want to see what *you* think Tater is… I’ll reveal the doctor’s guess in a few days. (PS – Those of you who already know the gender guess – *ahem* Mom, Kara, etc. *ahem* – keep it to yourselves!) Vote below and tell me what you think Tater is!
by Deena
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