23 wk little girl

today we went to the doctor for our january appt. we had to repeat our ultrasound because last month they found cysts in her brain. they expected them to be gone by now so they wanted to check. praise God the left one was gone, and the right one is half the size it was. so they believe it is on it's way out. they don't even feel the need to do another scan. 

after they checked her brain and her growth they let us look at her for a while. she is so active she was making us all laugh. then the tech said...let's see if she will cooperate and let us look a little closer. she switched the screen so we could watch her move in 4d and she was capturing 3d images. it was such an awesome gift because i know they don't normally do that. 

she made that tech really work hard. just like every other ultrasound we have had she wants to keep her hands at her face. she touches and rubs her face and touches her head. we were amazed watching her move in 4d. there was so much activity- kicking, stretching, moving her head all around. it made both of us cry. 

the tech had such a hard time getting her to put her hands down. she kept taking the wand and shaking my belly saying "come on little girl, let us see your face". she took this picture of her hands- this is from the front, with her hands in front of her face. her left hand is putting her fingers in the palm of her right hand. 

this is her profile. there is a lot of interference in these pics because she said she was really close to the uterine wall. but we were still very pleased with these images. i love her little nose in this one.

safe in her house. such a beautiful little one. it was such an amazing appointment- we had so much fun spending time with her. i am also doing well- everything checks out well. next month i have to do my glucose testing and we soon need to sign up for our class/hospital tour...which should be fun/terrifying. i have three weeks left of my 2nd trimester and have been so very blessed to be feeling well. i am enjoying our time together, looking forward to what is to come.

23 weeks

i am currently 23 weeks so i am a little over halfway there. we thought we would use one of daniel's snow days to take some portraits of the progress. 

our little girl always amazes me. she loves music, especially something with a good beat. she loves listening to her daddy talk or read to her. if he puts his face on my belly and talk, chances are good she will be kicking or pushing where his face is laid.

she is truly an amazing gift of God. i can't wait to meet her, see her face and know her personality! but for now i am content feeling her kick, roll, and push her presence into knowing.

coraline

daniel was looking online at the coraline trailer, which looks like a beautiful film...and saw on their site where you can take portraits and set in button eyes. i liked the one he did so much we all did one. hey what are snow days for?


we also saved some of the pics without the buttons just because we really liked the effect.

this storm is causing problems

we had a 2 day winter storm come through tuesday and wednesday.  it is beautiful out.

the college has now been closed for 3 days. it is pretty rough out and it doesn't seem to be changing. the worst part is our phones don't work. daniel's will flake in and out- but mostly out. i really don't like not being able to use our phones.

so for now we are just trying to enjoy the scenery while it is here... hoping that it won't be here much longer!

he is just so cute

daniel was leaving for a faculty retreat and i just had to get a picture of him because he looked so cute. i am a lucky girl!

oh so great to see bethany

bethany's friend was making a trip to lexington and she tagged along. so we got the benefit of a quick visit. 

she was gracious enough to bring her guitar. she used to always come over when we lived in georgia and let us hear new songs she had written. always so talented, we couldn't wait to hear the material she had recently been working on.

she played songs she has been singing with her band, sunday paper, and songs she had written for herself. it was such a pleasure to hear her again. tune into daniels facebook page to hear a couple clips if you have not already.

we had a lot of fun crammed into one short 24 hour period. it was so great to see her, we will take what we can get! hopefully we will get to see her again soon!

nursery progress

we had some target gift cards from christmas and thought we would spend part of it on the nursery. we got a rug, bins for the changing table and hanging boxes.

this is the progress. it feels really clean and calm in design. we like that.

over the crib we have hanging a set of three illustrated cards, a cast bird, and a cast rabbit- all of which we got in athens. the illustrations are 1. a little boy with a giraffe head flying a kite 2.

a woman with a purse and elephant head 3. and a girl with a bunny head unwrapping a gift. they are beautiful and we love them. we have been saving them for years for this very reason.

these are pillows daniel's friend rizzie made. he traded her these pillows for prints of his when he was at UGA. one has a sloth on it, one has three plants with teddy bear heads.

when i directed/curated the gallery in athens we had an artist market. one of the artists made all sorts of great handmade things, including stuffed animals. we stocked up on a few, and here they make their appearance. we are very excited that the room is simple with somewhat quirky elements. i guess kind of like daniel and i.

registering

we had some target gift cards so we went to target to pick up some things for the nursery. while we were there we finished our registry. everyone tells me to get done what i need to in the second trimester so that is what i am doing.

of course during registry we got stuck in the abyss of cute and awwww. evidence #1.

evidence #2.

and of course daniel did a great job with the registry gun. 

no fatalities or flesh wounds :-).

and she is on the move

i am now 20 weeks and the girl is on the move. people say it is like a flutter. i have been waiting for a flutter but instead i have gotten somersaults and kicks. she definately wants me to know it is her. it has been really neat. she is most active when i am at rest. which is typical. i wake up sometimes in the middle of the night feeling her move all over the place. it is so wild. but i am enjoying every minute of it. daniel can't wait until he can feel her too. i am sure that will come soon enough. but for the time being she is satisfied just giving me a run for my money :-).

great graham visit

we were visited by the grahams in the beginning of the new year and we had a great time. we watched movies and talked and here we are playing sorry. 

daniel always wins so i wanted to see if one of us three could beat him.

mrs graham hustled all of us and won. we treated her to a victory run to brusters ice cream!

the thompsons were in kentucky so we all had dinner 

with them and the thomases. 

we had some great visiting time and of course 

sonya and guy had tons of play time. 

it was great for the thompsons and the grahams to spend time together. it is hard to get everyone in one place. 

soon after mr. graham had to go back to virginia, 

but we got to keep mrs. graham for the rest of the week!

here is a belly shot for beth. this is one day when i was getting ready. daniel couldn't believe how big my belly had gotten. our little girl is really showing herself lately :-).

one day we got to eat at max and erma's and go to the half price book store.

mrs. graham got some novels and gifts for friends and daniel and i 

found some books for little one.

daniel has such fond memories of making bon bons with his mom...

and of course 

how yummy they are, so we made some.

it was a really fun process and produced quite a great result.

we all got a turn trying our hand and dipping and finishing them.

my request was that she teach me how to make a basket. she graciously agreed

and brought all of her basket making materials.

she did a great job teaching and supervising, and after 2 days working...

i had a beautiful basket and wonderful memories to accompany it. we had a great time the rest of her visit. we hung out and chatted, read, and watched movies. it was great having her to ourselves in kentucky.  

a visit we will always cherish.