Blog Post By Chris:

So I am officially back from my Canada trip. It was a really fun trip, and it was great to hang out with Nate before he leaves for Afghanistan in 15 months. Nate's mom has also turned her eye of doom onto Nik after she found out about his criminal record. I think this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. On the way into Canada and the way back we got stopped at the border and had our car inspected both times. Although it was a pain to stop, all of the border police were really friendly, not like 4 years ago when they had to bring out the drug sniffing dogs and interrogate 2 members of our party. Anyway enough about Canada, being away from all my girls was really tough for 5 days. I did get a lot of time to read one of the baby books that we have. There are so many things that you can learn about babies, that I think sometimes you just have to stop listening to advice and raise the kid your own way. The worst you can do is have all your buddies over the night of senior prom and have everyone take turns questioning her date about his intentions. But come on I would never do anything that crazy. Hey if I can't pull a gun on him then the best I can do is let Big Dave and Dan have a crack at all the boyfriends. I AINT GOING BACK TO JAIL!!!

Some cool news that we found out last week is that our next door neighbors are pregnant too! But shhhh they aren't really telling anyone yet so don't say anything. When I was telling the husband Mike that Kati and I are going to have a baby he laid the news on me. At first I thought he was joking, but soon realized that he was serious. They are a little behind us with a due date in mid March, but it will be fun to help them along with the process, at least the fun stuff :) The nursery room upstairs is finally all painted. Mari did an awesome job and both she and polly picked out a really nice yellow color for the room. Now we just need to figure out what to do with all the crap that was in that room. Does anyone need a 300 pound filing cabinet and table tops?

Well that is all for now, it is getting late and I have to work tomorrow. Please keep making comments on all the posts as they are fun for Kati and I to read about what everyone is thinking.

Carrot

Blog Post by Kati:

Week 21!

Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. You may soon feel like she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to her activity as you get to know her better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now, and if you're having a girl, her vagina has begun to form as well.

I have started feeling the fluttering more and more the past couple of days. It is kind of like rumbling in my stomach...somebody is definitely moving around in there! :) And I feel like I'm getting bigger every day. It is funny to see people I haven't seen for awhile, or even in a week, because I can always tell that they notice my growing belly. I don't mind people rubbing my belly, so if you see me and want to touch it- go ahead!

Chris seems to be having fun in Canada with his buddies. Fishing, boating, swimming, eating, drinking beer...rough life! Kona and I are getting along fine at home...working, napping, hanging out with family, etc. But we'll be glad to see him on Sunday!!!!

More baby bump

Blog Post by Kati:

It has been about a month since I last posted belly pictures and have gotten some requests, so here you go! The first one is from last month and the second one is from today.

Chris is on his way to Canada until Sunday for some hang-out time with a few buddies, so Kona and I are having a girls week! :) My Grammy and Aunt Margie are coming in to town tomorrow so I'll stay plenty busy seeing them!

We have a 2nd ultrasound scheduled for next Tuesday morning, and it will be fun to see more pictures of the baby...and they said I don't need a full bladder for this one! Yay! :)

B-A-N-A-N-A-S

Blog Post by Kati:

Week 20!!! Halfway there!!!!

Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. She'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 her torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of her head to her bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, she's measured from head to toe.) She's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for her digestive system. She's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in her bowels, and you'll see it in her first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).

4th Anniversary!

Blog Post by Kati:

While we have been together for about 10 years, today is our 4th wedding anniversary! So I thought I'd post a few pictures of our wedding day for fun. We were 23 years old! And we look pretty little. ;)

If you'd like to reminisce a little more, here is a link to an online photo album I have of the wedding that has a lot more pictures!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=6941&id=650686819&l=150e7a1e71

We're hanging around the house tonight, and then heading to a Stillwater B& B tomorrow night for some R&R.

Naps, Names and Dancing

Blog Post by Kati:

Well, I'm back at work this week, so no more nap time for me at 1:00! And sometimes 3:00. And occasionally 10:30am. :) But it has been good to get my brain engaged in real life stuff again. I don't feel like as much of a lazy oaf. Of course, now that I'm back to work, there are so many things I think I should have done while I had all the time in the world to do them (cleaning, organizing, preparing, etc.) but alas, I was too busy napping. ha ha

We've been hanging out with college friends a lot this past week since one of our friends has been in town. And a couple of them have become accustomed to calling the baby G-G-G-G Gosselin. Like stuttering. Like G-G-G-G is her first name. It is pretty amusing. Maybe its just me. Thanks to Dave for the name suggestion. :) (Remember how I mentioned a few posts ago that some name suggestions have been more helpful than others?...yeah...)

My baby bump is getting pretty, um, obvious. I went to a dance aerobics class yesterday. And this exercise class always has all participants facing a mirror. I felt pretty ridiculous trying look cool doing dance moves while my baby belly was bouncing around. But I was entertained, and it is a great class because I can still participate while not getting my heart rate very high. So I love it even though I'm sure I look hilarious. I hope our little one wants to take dance classes some day!

Ultrasound Pictures

Blog Post by Kati:

Well in honor of all things girly, I added a little pink and purple to the blog page!

And on the pictures. My dad scanned them for me and lightened them up a little so hopefully you can tell what the pictures are, with a little description from me. :)

Here is a profile picture of the baby. She is upside down with her head on the bottom in the middle and the rest of her curving up to the left.


Here is a picture of the baby's feet. It is hard to tell but her ankles are crossed and her second foot is partially hidden behind the front foot. The ultrasound tech was trying really hard to get a cute foot shot!

Here is a picture of the baby's arm. Not sure where the rest of her is, but she looks very squished in there. :)
Here is a picture of the baby curled up with her leg sticking out:


And here is the creepiest picture of all! The ultrasound tech asked if we even wanted this picture. She said a lot of people don't want it- but of course we did! It is her face head on- she looks kind of like a skeletor baby!I'm continually amazed that something so special is growing inside of me. And I'm also continually amazed by and thankful for the support of our wonderful family and fantastic friends. Everyone is so excited for us. We've already received little gifts, ideas for names (some more helpful than others! ;) ) and words of encouragement and love. Thank you to everyone who has made this such an incredible time for us! I've said it before, and I'll say it again: We are truly blessed!