Twenty-four weeks & a strong kicker!

It’s so exciting to feel Sophie’s kicks every day. It used to be pretty random, but by now I can feel her moving around pretty frequently. With her movements becoming stronger, I was looking forward to the day when Sheldon would be able to feel her little bumps.

And he finally did! Laying around on the morning of July 5, Sheldon had his hand just resting on my belly. I told him Sophie was moving, but he didn’t seem too thrilled about it because every time before he wasn’t able to feel anything. So he left his hand on my stomach, but he wasn’t poking or prodding around trying to feel anything, like he usually does.

All of a sudden she kicked right under his middle finger. “Did you feel that?!” I asked. At the same time, almost before I got the question out Sheldon said, “Oh my gosh! I felt that!”

I imagine she was making a move that looked something like this…



It was really neat to be able to share that experience with him. It’s hard for me to imagine having a living being inside my belly, so I know it must be even harder for Sheldon to imagine it. Being able to feel the kicks is like confirmation that I’m not just gaining weight in one concentrated area, and that we’re actually going to be parents in about 109 days!

According to BabyCenter, Sophie should be about twelve inches in length and just over a pound in weight. Amazing! It also says her brain is growing quickly and her taste buds are continuing to develop. That must be why she LOVES it when I eat sweets. I can tell, she’ll be a sweet girl.

Farewell to Our Sweet Lady

(Lady front, Jack back)

One of our sweet little girls, Lady, died Monday night. She was one of our two puppies (I say puppies because they’re our babies, not because they’re actual puppies. They’re both about six years old.) Lady was our golden retriever, lab mix. We got her when she was about six months old at the Humane Society in San Angelo. She had been abused and was initially afraid of Sheldon.

She finally warmed up to us in a few months and her little tail started to wag. It was the beginning of a fun six years with her. We got Jack, our husky mix, when Lady was starting to lighten up a bit. They became inseparable. Even when the little devils escaped from our backyard (on several occasions), they were always found together. They never left each other’s side.

Lady’s eyes always gave her away. She couldn’t speak human language, but I’d know what she was thinking most of the time. She had deep brown eyes and golden eyelashes. One movement of her eyebrow and you’d know if she was annoyed or happy. When she had done something wrong she’d put her head down, but her eyes would look up at you and she would bat her eyelashes slowly hoping you’d think she was really cute and no longer in trouble.

Our little Lady seemed really depressed when we came back from vacation at the end of June. We thought she’d snap out of it once we gave her more attention, but that wasn’t the case. She stopped eating and she would barely move all day long. Sheldon tried to feed her dog treats, ham from our fridge, and soft dog food. She wouldn’t go for any of it, which was unusual.

We let her stay in the house at night, and we’d have to carry her outside in the morning because she refused to move. We noticed her nose was dry and she stopped drinking water also. We thought we’d try taking her for a walk because she’d always get really excited about walking.

We took the leashes outside and she actually got up and was wagging her tail waiting to be leashed. Her eyes looked so excited, but her body wasn’t following. We walked out to the driveway and we passed two houses when she stopped. She wouldn’t budge.

After 15 minutes of trying to coax her into moving, we decided that wasn’t going to work so Sheldon carried her back to our backyard. This was Friday, July 4th. We tried to call our vet on Saturday, but they weren’t open their usual hours because of the holiday weekend.

Monday morning Sheldon was able to get Lady in to see the vet. After a series of tests, the vet called Sheldon in the afternoon to let him know that Lady had a pancreatic disease and had a 50/50 chance of living. However, the vet said if she responded well to the IV they had her on, she would have a good chance of making it.

Around 5 p.m. I called to get an update on Lady. Sheldon said she was responding well to the IV, so she should be fine overnight. I decided not to go see her.

The next morning around 7:30 the vet called to tell Sheldon that Lady didn’t make it through the night. Our little girl was gone.

I was devastated. Though it’s hard to lose a pet, I’m thankful that she died peacefully on her own, and Sheldon and I didn’t have to make the decision to put her down.

We were both scheduled to leave town Tuesday at noon for work functions – Sheldon in Galveston and me in Austin. Jack was taken to a boarding kennel where at least he would be with other dogs while we were gone and we wouldn’t have to worry about him.

What’s amazing to me about dogs is their sense that something is wrong, or new, or changing. The morning the vet called Sheldon Jack went to his side and started whining. At that point, I didn’t even know Sheldon was on the phone with the vet, so I hadn’t been given the news yet, but Jack knew.

With a new baby on the way, we can’t even think about getting another dog right now. I hope Jack will do ok by himself. I guess we’ll have to spoil him even more and enjoy the time we get to spend with him.
(I’ll post a picture of Lady soon).

On Cloud Nine

Sheldon (a.k.a. Sophie’s Daddy) came home today from San Antonio with gifts for me and the little one. As soon as I saw the bag it was in, I was speechless. He picked the most perfect diaper bag ever…and it’s Coach!! I’m so excited I can’t even type! And he picked out the cutest little clothes from Carter’s. They are one of my favorite baby clothing lines. The best part of it all – it was a total surprise.

Here are some pictures of the happy momma and her spoils.

Crazy busy two weeks! (Twenty-second and third weeks)

It’s been crazy at the Anderson house for the past two weeks. We just returned from our vacation to Alabama and Destin, Florida last Friday. We were in Alabama celebrating my parents’ 25th Wedding Anniversary! They made it 25 years! That’s exciting to me because there are so many marriages that don’t make it that far anymore.

Anyway, it was a great party. My Aunt Vicki, Sheldon and I decorated the hall the night before the party. I had made many of the arrangements from out of state, so I was a little worried how everything would come together, but everything worked out perfectly. The wedding cake was beautiful, the flower arrangement was perfect, and Sheldon the chef cooked a lovely meal of hamburgers and sausages! (My parents request was for a cook-out – they didn’t want anything too fancy.)

After the party, my parents, Sheldon and I headed to Destin, Florida to the Henderson Park Inn, a bed and breakfast on the beach. Beautiful! I loved it! The water was a perfect tropical blue color and the sand was white and soft. The bed and breakfast provided a gourmet breakfast each morning, a chef-prepared bag lunch each day at noon (that you can pick up anytime you want), and free bottled water, soda, and candy bars stocked in the mini-fridges around the inn. Oh, and they also served homemade cookies and lemonade everyday from noon to two! Who would ever want to leave this place?! Not to mention each room has its own private balcony, a huge bathroom with whirlpool tub for two and a comfy king-size bed. Ahhhh…

Sadly, we had to leave on Wednesday. My parents stayed through Friday. Lucky. We arrived in Waco at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, just in time for my doctor’s appointment. We were able to find Sophie’s heartbeat right away – a strong 148 beats per minute. The doctor said everything else looked good and sent us on our way. I’m supposed to have the glucose test appointment at my next visit. Fun stuff.

This weekend was nice, but didn’t provide much rest. After being away for a week and realizing we only have an estimated 120 days until Sophie’s debut, we decided it’s about time to start clearing out the soon-to-be baby room and making space for the new furniture and fun baby stuff. We were successful in moving stuff from one room to another, but we have a whole list of other projects that need to be completed before we have our little bundle to take care of.

I don’t feel like we’re too far behind though because we’ve already ordered the crib, picked out the paint colors for the walls, and started our registry (though it’s not finished yet). I have a feeling that every weekend until go-time in October will be filled with one project or another. Life won’t be the same anymore, but it’s a good change.

I have more to fill you in on, but I’ll stop for now. Here are some fun vacation pictures to enjoy!

Twenty-one weeks and counting

Today little Sophie is 21 weeks (gestational age). Only 19 more to go! Time is flying by and Sheldon and I have barely just bought the crib! Pretty soon we’ll have a little girl who will be taking all of our time, so we’ll have no time to clean out, organize, decorate…or do anything else.

Sophie’s kicks have become more frequent and stronger in the past couple of weeks. I can pretty much feel her every day now, but not for very long periods of time. It’s a weird-cool feeling. It’s nothing that I can even remotely explain. You mamas out there will know what I’m talking about, as for everyone else just try to imagine the feeling. It’s like a light flick on your skin, but coming from the inside of your stomach. Or a gas bubble without the end result. Or like a rubber ball rolling on your skin, from the inside. Whatever the feeling, it makes me smile when I feel it.

We still can’t feel or see her little kicks from the outside yet. I’m looking forward to that day when my belly moves by itself and I can see Sophie’s little body changing position. I’m sure that’ll be another weird-cool experience.

Since my belly has grown considerably in the past few weeks, I find myself belly-gazing a lot recently. When I’m riding (not driving…haha) in the car or thinking about something at work, instead of staring off in the distance, I’ll stare down at the bump that is my stomach. I still can’t believe there’s a little living, breathing human in there. It’s amazing.

Speaking of the bump, here’s a recent picture of the growing belly and some friends from work.



Oh, BabyCenter says, "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."

Celebrating the half-way mark!!

My baby’s half-baked! Haha! Just kidding…but she really is to the half-way mark on her pre-birth development. I’m so excited I can’t stand it. I have 20 more weeks to go and I already want to meet her. But I’ll be patient and give her time to finish be created.

Sheldon and I decided to celebrate the half-way point by making a trip to Austin in search of the perfect crib for our little girl. We found it! And we bought it! But we don’t get it for another week or so. Apparently, Babies-R-Us’ definition of “this item is current IN stock” means the item is in stock in the warehouse, which is up north somewhere. So we’ll have our perfect crib in about 7-11 business days.

Here is a sneak preview…





We also threw in a little treat for the mom-to-be and went out to eat at a Greek restaurant. Soooo yummy! I’ve been craving Greek food for at least a month now and sadly the closest Greek restaurant to Waco closed several months ago. The place in Austin we went to is called El Greco and it was near UT, so it was kind of an artsy area which was fun. I indulged myself in all the tsatsiki sauce I could handle and the fresh pita bread and baklava weren’t bad either.

Back to the baby stuff, we also picked out the crib bedding set we plan on registering for and I broke down and bought the fleece blanket that goes with the set. I couldn’t help it, it was so cute! And I have to have something to hang over the edge of the crib.




(This is the crib set we're planning on getting. It's little ladybugs.)

Sheldon also picked out a little dress for little miss Sophie. Of course I had to buy it because Sophie’s daddy picked it out. It’s a little cream-colored corduroy dress with light pink polka-dots. The back is button-up and the little buttons are pink, heart-shaped buttons. So cute. I don’t have a picture of the dress, so you’ll have to wait until Sophie is wearing it on her birthday this year.

And last but not least…Sophie’s full name will be Sophia Kate Anderson. (Pause for “aw’s”). I know, it’s so cute, isn’t it?

Nineteen Weeks - Almost half-way there!

I can’t believe I’m almost half-way through my pregnancy. I don’t even think I’ve grasped the concept of being pregnant yet. I stare down at my belly in awe, wondering what our little girl will look like when she makes her debut. I also like to poke at my belly because it feels so weird. It’s like a large water balloon has permanently attached itself to my stomach, but I don’t “feel” any different in my abdominal region unless I poke the outside of it.

I see the pictures from the ultrasound, but it’s still hard for me to believe that the little person portrayed in the pictures is actually a living, breathing, being inside my stomach! It’s so crazy. I’m not sure how one is supposed to “feel” when she’s pregnant. I feel all the side effects – like my whole body is falling apart – but I don’t feel the baby as much yet. So I guess that’s what I’m waiting for. I’ve felt Sophie’s “flutters” and I’m ready to feel her really move!

BabyCenter says that my baby’s sensory development is “exploding” and her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. It also says that she should be able to hear my voice now! I hope she doesn’t pick up on my off-key singing voice when I’m jammin’ out in my truck.