5 Month Belly

Here I am with my 5 month belly. I can't believe we're half way there already! Some people ask me if it's gone by fast. In some ways it's gone kind of fast, and in other ways time is dragging on. I can definitely say that I love being pregnant, other than my really bad acid reflux/heartburn.














Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement.

He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).

5 month appointment

Well, we were reassured- it's a girl in there! It was an exciting appointment, for other reasons as well. All of her measurements (which they can tell a lot about regarding genetic disorders and what not) are perfectly normal, and the blood work last week to test if I had any blood disorders which can cause stillbirths came back negative! Praise God! I know there is always something that can happen, but a lot was ruled out today; which made John and I both feel better! I think the ultrasound pictures are pretty clear to see what you're looking at.

Here are some pictures from our appointment today:

Beach Games 2010

The awards ceremony

Claire, Katey, and me

Self-explanatory

All the girls: dry and pretty

John and Stew competing in the wake board wheelbarrow race!

Dan and Cam competing in the wake board wheelbarrow race!

Fierce competitors

Dan bobbing for shovels...in nasty ocean water!

This past weekend we had a great time with friends at Beach Games 2010! A small group of us started this 'tradition' last year on Easter, where we played games on the beach. It was a pretty simple idea we and the Tollers came up with, and since it was so much fun, we decided to make it an annual event!

This year was a even BIGGER! There were a lot more people (18 instead of 10), and there were 7 events instead of 3. The events this year ranged from wake board wheelbarrow races to water jug relay races. It was so fun to watch the guys compete (some more competitive than others), and enjoy company of awesome friends as well!

After the events were over (which lasted about an hour and a half), we had a nice BBQ on the beach. Everyone pitched in by bringing/making food so the expense was spread amongst a lot of people.

I think the best part was just watching, and enjoying a day filled with laughter! John and I are so incredibly blessed with amazing friends! Funny, outgoing, adventerous, amazing friends!

Fear vs. Truth

Before you're pregnant, you meet/her of people who have had miscarriages, and then when you are pregnant the stories don't stop. They just keep coming, and coming...

Just when you think you're in the 'safe' zone of being past your first trimester, you hear NEW horror stories that make you even MORE nervous than when you were just a few weeks along in the pregnancy.

I'm a little over 18 weeks pregnant, and so far this pregnancy has gone smoothly. There have been so many times however, that the words people say to me fuel fear about losing the baby, instead of fuel confidence in God, and His will for this baby.

I just in the last three days read two terribly sad stories of women who lost their babies at 35 weeks along for various reasons. And although this is very uncommon, it clearly still happens. When I tell people these stories, everyone's response (including the doctors') is "Well, that is very uncommon, and the chance of that happening to your baby is so rare." When people say that, it makes me think that it can't be that rare. I mean I hear stories almost every week about women losing their babies during the 'safe' zone. And I'm sure the women who lost their babies would never have imagined that they would be part of that very rare statistic.

Constantly I have to remind myself (with a lot of help from my awesome husband), that God has a plan for this pregnancy, and our baby. Even though I can fill my mind with discouraging stories, God's truth is so much more powerful than my fear!


The following verses have been helpful to me during our pregnancy, and I keep them in my purse so I can read them when I get fearful:

"I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted what I asked of him"
~ 1 Samuel 1:27

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb."
~ Psalm 139:13

"From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another."
~ John 1:16

"For God has not gives us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." ~2 Timothy 1:2

Veggie Baby and 18 Week Belly...

Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and he weighs almost 7 ounces. He's busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

Here I am at 18 weeks along. I kind of think I look bigger than I really am in this picture, maybe because the tank top I'm wearing is loose, and not form fitting.

Surprise Appointment

As a lot of you guys know, our scheduled appointment to find out the sex of the baby is May 24th. One of our good friends is an OBGYN, and asked me if we wanted to come to her office, so we could find out the sex of the baby a few days sooner...um, yea! (She works at a different office, with different insurance, so I wasn't sure if that would be ok.) She assured me it was totally fine, and just something we'd do for fun, and advised me to keep my other appointment coming up. The appointment on the 24th will reaffirm that it's girl, and that ultrasound is used to check for any abnormalities, check the due date, and so on.

Needless to say, we took her up on her offer, and was SO excited! We got there first thing in the morning! Our friend was so patient trying to find girl/boy parts. The baby was a little stubborn at first, and kept her legs locked for a while. It took about 15-20 minutes, but Avery opened her legs a little bit, and it was pretty clear to see. Our friend said she's about 90% sure it's a girl. She said when it's a boy, the parts are 'right there', and easy to spot. It was so neat to watch Avery on the screen, moving around like crazy all bendy and cute! We're still really excited for our appointment in a little over a week, because we'll get to see Avery again, and because hopefully it's confirm that SHE is a SHE! Here are two pictures from right after our appointment!

It's a G-I-R-L !!!!!!!!!!!

There's a story that goes along with our appointment being today, instead of a week from now...which I'll share in a different post with more pictures from the morning. Super excited to announce that we're having a GIRL!

Avery Paige Dorr is one modest little girl!

(Click on the ultrasound to enlarge it.)

Craft Night #2

Here are the backs of the shirts I made. Can you tell I'm excited?!

Craft Night

I've had some time to think about how I want to announce to people the sex of the baby. There's the traditional way of just saying the words, 'It's a BOY!' or 'It's a GIRL!', or I could be more creative...

We find out in about a week and a half, and our appointment is in the morning. I'll be going right back to work, and I know everyone will be dying to know (since people ask me everyday anyway...)! Instead of saying it to every single student, parent, and teacher I pass in the hall, I decided to make t-shirts saying, 'It's a...BOY' and 'It's a...GIRL'.

I made the shirts tonight, and I'll bring them both to my appointment. I'll wear whichever shirt back to school, and that's how I plan on sharing the exciting news!

I'm definitely going to take pictures, and obviously post them on the blog and Facebook too! This is such an exciting time in our lives, and I want to relish every single moment! I'll be adding these pictures to my pregnancy journal as well, knowing it'll be cool to look back on!

The shirts I made...

Small = BIG Difference

Our builder put up white trim around the back of the house a day or two ago, and installed the new gutters. It's pretty amazing how such a small thing can much such a big difference!

We are eventually (not sure exactly when) going to have a new back deck built. The one we have now is pretty rough! When we bought the house, the home inspector said it was 'amateur at best'! After the remodeling of the exterior of the house, it's gone through some wear, and tear. They've had to rip up some boards, and so it's not in the best shape.

Waters Edge Church Dinner Party

Our church is hosting a dinner party this week for all the different community groups that meet on Monday, Tuesday (that's us!), and Wednesday nights. Carrabba's catered the event, and it was super yummy! It was beautifully decorated, and the night was really neat. Our pastor and his wife were able to give a few more details (not many) about our multi-site campus starting in the fall, and what the next few weeks will look like for the Capacity Campaign. It's a really exciting time in our church's life, and we're so honored to be a part of it! I took a few pictures, not many...but here are a few.

Danielle, me, and Carlyn

Danielle and me

WEC Games

WEC Games

Pretty ladies from community group

17 Week Belly

Here is my belly at 17 weeks! Not much of a change at all since last week! 2 weeks and counting until we find out the sex of the baby!

S-U-P-E-R excited!

17 Week Vegetable

I am 17 weeks today, and apparently Baby Bean (will will only be Baby Bean a few more weeks...we find out if it's a boy or girl in only 2 weeks!!!) is the size of a turnip. The baby weighs 5 ounces this week, and is a little over 5 inches long.

Here is what the website says for this week:

Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.

Grow baby, grow!

In & Out

Here's what's happening on the outside of the house:



Almost all of the siding is up on the back of the house, with the exception of white trim here and there. It seems like what's left is to put trim on the dormer windows, as well as put the new windows in. I'm not sure exactly when, but sometime soon our builder is going to start working on building the front porch, which I am super excited about!

Here's what's happening on the inside of the house:



John has been working here and there on the nursery, and it's starting to look really good! He installed cherry hardwood floors a little over a month ago, right before my family came in for a visit. He also made and put up wanes coating on the walls. It's not anywhere near done (still a lot of priming and painting to be done), but I am so excited with how what the end result will be! The coolest part- John thought, and planned the nursery 100% on his own! He said he wanted it to be his own little project, and he's doing an awesome job! In every project he works on, he's diligent, motivated, and works every last detail out...and this project is no different! Part of why we can't wait to find out if Baby Bean is a boy, or a girl is because we want to start painting, and decorating his/her room! We kind of have an idea of a theme/color pallet we're going to go with, but we're not totally positive.

4 Month Baby

We had an appointment today to hear the baby's heartbeat, and it went great! This was John's first time hearing the heartbeat, and it was a really special appointment for us! The nurse practitioner said, "I just love you guys...how about an ultrasound?" We were like, "Uh, yeah! We'd LOVE that!" It was so neat to see how much Baby Bean has grown in 4 weeks since our last appointment. He/she moved around a lot, so we got to see little feet, arms, legs, fingers, the heart beating, head moving all in great detail! We weren't able to see any girl or boy parts because he/she had its legs crossed...hmmmmm. We left there super excited, and so relieved that all is well with Baby Bean! I read a few verses before going into the appointment, which helped calm my mind a little.

Meet Terresa

Meet Terresa. Love Terresa. Book Terresa.

We are so excited to have Terresa Shaw from Virginia Beach do our maternity pictures! We're scheduled for the second weekend in July (I'll be a little over 6 months pregnant). Our best friends Matt and Katey Toller know Terresa somehow, and had their family pictures done a few months ago to help get Terresa's portfolio and website started. I fell in love with the pictures, and posted a few on the blog a month or so ago. Click on her name - TERRESA SHAW - to see her webiste. If you're local, think about booking her for any kind of session. She's super reasonable, talented, and she'll come to you!

4 months and expanding

Here I am (along with Baby Bean) at 16 weeks! We have an appointment tomorrow (Tuesday) to hear the baby's heartbeat again. This time, John will be able to come, which I am so excited about!

They clean up well...

The lovely bride & groom (Melissa & Rich)

Monica & Danielle

A couple from our community group (Melissa and Rich) got married over the weekend at a beautiful outdoor venue- Jasmine Plantation in Williamsburg. The grounds were beautiful, the food was great, and the company was fun! And not to mention the bride and groom looked great! They clean up pretty well... :)

Jamey & Carlyn

Us at the wedding