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