Friday, January 28, 2011

CORRECTION!

Well, we are shifting gears!! Apparently, the ultrasound picture of girl parts I have on my fridge is lying :) Our most recent ultrasound, according to our midwife, shows definite boy parts! (I should have had her print out a picture for me because I keep looking at the picture on my fridge and thinking of how sure I've been all along that its a girl and I'm still trying to convince myself we're having a boy!) 

Our precious boy's name is Tucker Kreg Kell!  Tucker has been Kreg's favorite boy name for a while now and I wanted him to have his daddy's name as his middle name-- I think he will be proud when he's old enough to understand :) 

I can't even begin to explain the emotions I have felt over the past few days!  I've heard of this happening quite a bit, but never really thought through how it would feel!  I can just imagine God up there "flipping on the boy switch" and laughing at me as I put my faith in modern technology :) I've been bonding with my daughter over the past month, praying for her and dreaming about her and I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that this little boy I love SO much already is actually the same person as the little girl I've been loving the past month... it seems like it should be a much easier transition!

Things I have learned/been reminded of these past few days:
* Plans RARELY work out exactly like we think (God reminds me of this a lot!)
* I bond with my babies in womb more than I ever knew!
* I do want more than 2 kids :) now that I have all this girl stuff, might as well try again :)
* I am SO excited that my boys will be the right age to be playmates and life-long buddies
* I believe God has His hand in planning my family and that this BOY has big things in store!


All that being said, we are all excited all over again!  Two boys is something my family has never done! We are gearing up for all the energy, competition, and EATING that will characterize our family in years to come!  Kreg is super excited and already dreaming of his two hunting/fishing/football buddies! I am praying for the energy to take on raising two boys and that Kreg & I will be able to raise both of our sons to be strong, godly, leaders who respect and treasure women and desire to be pillars in their families, churches, and communities.  OH, AND I'm dreaming about matching church clothes until they're old enough to dislike it... I always liked doing that with my dolls when I was little, haha!


A few pictures for you... 
 the beautiful flowers Kreg brought me when we found out this baby is actually a boy!




the fabric I bought to do his bedding-- it'll be a safari theme!

Friday, January 7, 2011

Thinking Pink

In case any of you have not already heard, we are having a little girl!!!! We are so very excited to add a daughter to our family and so thankful that our awesome God is keeping her safe and healthy! 

Her name will be Emerson Anne Kell.  We chose Anne to honor my mom, Tami LeAnne, my grandmother, Priscilla JoAnne, and my great-grandmother, Doris Ann.  These are three of the strongest, godliest, most beautiful women I know, all of whom have influenced my life in such amazing ways.  I am so excited for my daughter to have such wonderful women from both of our families to learn from and love! 

I knew it had to be a girl because this pregnancy has been SO DIFFERENT from Westin's.  Different symptoms, different feelings, different eating & weight gaining patterns... it HAD to be!  I have not been nearly as sick as I was with Westin, as of today, I am still 2 lbs lighter than my pre-pregnancy weight, & I have NO baby bump at 17 weeks with baby #2! I'm not worried, though-- we saw her on Wednesday and she is growing right on schedule and seems to be doing just great :)  Here are some pictures of she & I so far on this little journey!




 

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

The Holidays With Westin

Well, it's over... I'm still trying to catch my breath :)  We had SUCH a fantastic holiday season and I'm sorry that I couldn't pry myself away from all the busyness to get on and blog so I could include you all in our holiday fun! It just goes by way too fast every single year.  And then, I'm left with the feeling that it should be time for summer.  A HORRIBLE feeling when you live in Colorado and the biggest snow months are still ahead of us!  Facebook had me trapped yesterday... I was on doing something completely harmless when the photos that popped up on the right-hand side of my screen were from our honeymoon.  Ohhhh, it made it that much worse!  All I could think about was the time we spent in Cancun with all that sunshine~ we were tan, we ate and drank like there was no tomorrow, and we SLEPT.  A LOT.  I realize now that sleep is such a luxury :) 

SO, back to our holiday fun :)  Here's a photo synopsis from the month:
Westin & Daddy sippin' on hot chocolate, ready to go look at Christmas lights!  Westin was so enthusiastic, giving each house a "woww" or "cooool"
The Good Insurance Agency, Inc. Office Party at Biaggi's... 
 Making Christmas Cookies at my mom's house!  The favorite cookie of the day was a Elmo "Melmo" cookie Aunt Taylor made just for Wes!

We hosted our church's College & 20-something's Christmas Party at our house this year!  I'm sorry that I didn't get a group shot of everyone-- we had around 25 people in our little house!  Suffice it to say, here's what the food tables looked like afterwards:
A tour of the main floor main rooms all decorated :)




My little tribute to my FAVORITE night before Christmas ever :) 4 Christmas Eve's ago when Kreg flew in to surprise me & ask me to marry him!
Westin & Daddy making cookies for Santa!  Santa gets no-bake cookies at our house!



Christmas Eve with my family at Biaggi's (AGAIN!)
The surprise waiting for my Dad in the driveway when we got back!

I LOVE getting everyone's Christmas Cards!
Before opening presents at my parents' house Christmas Eve
Westin opening the first gift!  He loved opening gifts :)
This boy has some awesome fine-motor skills!  He got a tool set and amazed us with his building skills...

Playing in the pile of wrapping paper

 My cousins, siblings, Wes, Kreg & I at my grandparents Christmas Day

I hope you all had a very blessed Christmas season as well!  I've enjoyed catching up with many of you and all the fun things you did with your loved ones :) I'm praying God's blessings on you with this new year-- thanks for being a part of my life!