A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...

Jason and I went to the doctor on Thursday for our first ultrasound. It was absolutely wonderful. The ultrasound technician spend about 30 minutes with us and took about 15 pictures of our new little fetus. We told her that we wanted to know the sex, but asked her if she would write it on a piece of paper so that we could look at it when we left the office. She did, but it took her the entire time to get the baby to cooperate enough to get the right pictures.
After we checked out of the doctor's office, we ran to the car - it was the excitement of Christmas times a thousand. We opened the envelope and read that we are having a GIRL!!! We cried, laughed, and I am still in a little shock. I was for sure that the belching and gas oozing out of me for the past month had to be from a little boy.
This is my favorite picture.
We called Julianna (she was visiting her grandparents in Ohio) and told her that she was going to have a little sister. She said "oh, I love girls!" and then asked if we could name her Rainbow Rose.

Here Ye, Here Ye

Okay, so this weekend we went to a Renaissance wedding. Yes, a theme wedding. No, it wasn't my family- it was Jason's. The invitation asked that we all dress in typical Renaissance attire, but we decided that hats would be the extent to our dressing up, although we did allow Julianna to wear her Belle gown.
The wedding was interesting to say the least. The bride was over an hour late for her own wedding. The entire bridal party was in costume as were most of the guests. The reception was held in a room behind the church with long tables and two wooden bowls per seat. Dinner consisted of a large platter of meats- turkey, beef, venison, corn on the cob, fresh bread, yams, and steamed potatoes. All family style. A pregnant woman's worst nightmare. Family styles means that you have to be polite and allow all of those people around you to be served, and then you delicately fill your plate praying that the rest of the table ate a healthy lunch. We did have silverware (although I was told that we were lucky to have that as they did not have it in the Renaissance period) but the bride forgot the napkins, so we kindly used the tablecloths.
I have been to a lot of weddings, I have been in a lot of weddings, I have watched a lot of weddings on tv- I have NEVER seen anything like this wedding in my life.
Today Jason took me to CiCi's Pizza. I had to remind him that even though last night I was accommodating and even though I didn't fuss too much when he suggested CiCi's, that I was still the same pretentious woman that he married, and the next meal out I would expect us to need leave a tip.

Here are some pictures for your enjoyment...The Lovely Bride and Groom
The Wedding Party's Feast

Grandma, Grandpa, and Julianna

What Not to Wear...

Today my mom, Julianna, and I went shopping together. It was a lot of fun, and I think that my mom instilled some life long fashion lessons in my daughter (and reminded me of them as well). Before I became a mother I thought that I would be incredibly anal and not allow my child to wear anything wrinkly, mismatched, or too large (or small). Then reality and hit, and as long as we make it out of the door and are dressed relatively well for the weather, I am happy. As long as tears have not ensued on any given morning, I am happy. As long as hair has some sort of order, I am happy. My mother, on the other hand, has not become a mother all over again. Being a grandmother is much easier and much more fun. She isn't here in the mornings or when we are rushing out the door to make it to church. She buys white shirts for 5 year olds (granted they are very cute white shirts)!!!
Julianna has a tendency to love anything with sparkles, bright colors, cut-outs, anything that some chick on high school musical would wear. So today, the three of us went to Kohl's. My mom had gotten Julianna some spring outfits, but we decided that a 6x would probably fit better, so we all went to exchange them together. After Julianna showed my mom some her favorite outfits (including a hot pink, polyester, layered dress with a large cutout in the back, sparkles all over it and a big hot pink flower), my mom decided to teach a little fashion lesson. My mom showed Julianna what nice cotton felt like opposed to cheap material. She also pointed out things that little girls shouldn't wear- cutouts and "older" girl clothes. Then being the teacher that she is, she quizzed Julianna on her new fashion knowledge. Julianna loved it. She wanted to do it all afternoon and she was so proud of herself for picking out the "sweet" outfits.
The only thing I am worried about, is her calling me out on my polyester maternity shirt tomorrow morning! Hopefully she won't notice.

Catching Up

I don't know of a worse time of year for a high school guidance counselor- March and April. And on top of that I am trying to do a year's worth of National Board work in 2 weeks...pray for me!!! Oh, that is my excuse for not updating in a while- I know, I am full of them.

Julianna is doing great. We have officially moved to the Friday night advanced dance class. Last week her dance teacher told me that Julianna was going to be a ballerina, and that she had girls in the class that were still working on things after 2 years that Julianna picks up in one lesson. The class is one and a half hours long and she absolutely loves it. I think that it is much more challenging and she appreciates that. We watch her from the window. She is always so focused. We are so proud of her.
Oh, and she is READING!!! She has been working on 3 letter words for about a month now- spelling them and reading them. She loves to write letters to people and mail them. If you haven't gotten one lately, check the mail, I am sure that one is on the way. This weekend Grandma Fran had some great little books that are for first readers and Julianna read 3 of them to me. She was so proud of herself. It is so neat to see how kids learn. From learning the alphabet, to sounds, to reading...
Here are just a couple pictures. One of me in all my pregnant glory and one of Goose in a cute new shirt that TT got her.

Life's Little Sparklers!!!

Things are about the same around here. Oh, I did gain 2.5 pounds this week. Jason is so sweet about it and says it is good for the baby. Maybe it is, but it isn't good for my butt!!!

We have laid low lately. This past weekend we were really lazy. The weather was cloudy and chilly so we spent a lot of time inside. I guess with all of the down time, Julianna has been very creative and decided that she wants to be a songwriter. The other night I was tucking her into bed and she sang me a song that she made up- it was about kissing a boy (don't tell Jason). I told her that she was really good at writing songs and she said that she wanted to make songs for other kids to sing. How creative is that??? When I was 5 I had no idea that people made up the songs that we sing, and that it was possible that I do that. I am raising a creative genius.

My sister did a sweet thing on her blog that I wanted to share. Life's Little Sparklers!!! Her list was 125 items long, I will just list my top 15:
1. Being called Mommy
2. Being called Aunt Stephie (thanks TT)
3. Having a baby in my belly- and feeling like Christmas everyday
4. Being hopelessly in love with my husband- it is probably the hormones
5. Finding myself becoming more like my mother everyday
6. Having 2 dads that are both amazing in their own and very different way, and both being what I need.
7. Being within 20 minutes of my entire family
8. Oreos (especially the Spring ones)
9. Grandma Campbell's genes
10. Autumn in Charlotte
11. Having a house (bills not included)
12. Worship service at church
13. Law & Order
14. My Grandmother Leete's wisdom
15. My sister's ability to see sparkle in everything!

Wild Weekend

We had the most fun weekend with Papa, Nanny, Aunt TT, and Dawson visiting. The weather in Charlotte was perfect, so we enjoyed the parks, playing outside and taking walks. Since spending the weekend with her cousin, Julianna has decided that she would like a brother. I would be happy either way- but if I had a little boy like Dawson, I would be thrilled. He is so much fun!!! Here are some pictures from our weekend. We look forward to them visiting again, although Uncle J would like Dawson to be potty trained first!

Hard to believe that this time next year, we will have 2 more to fit in the picture!!!

He is a big boy- he has options!!!


How sweet is this...

Are You a Hot Girl?

According to my daughter, I can't be because I am preggers!!! But to all of you that have hope- these are the rules:
1. You have to stand like a hot girl, duh (see pictures)
2. You can't bite, hit, or punch people.
3. You have to be nice.
4. When a Hot Boy walks by you have to look at him like you want to marry him.
So, no this isn't the newest craze- just something that Julianna and her friends have made up. But she is very into it. Everything is "hot girl" this and "hot girl" that.
We have had a really nice week. Tonight is Valentine's Day, but Jason has class- so we enjoyed a romantic dinner of hot dogs and baked beans. I will probably gorge on candy later and watch Law & Order- sounds like the perfect night to me.
And to all of you that want pregnancy updates- things are going really well. I feel great, getting bigger everyday. I have gone to maternity clothes and I am not looking back- I love them. The pants are amazing. Today marks the last day of the 1st trimester (according to my journal). I have been eating about 20 peperocini peppers at lunch each day- can't get enough of them. I don't know if that is "normal" but I did read that Halle Berry also craves them (and she is pregnant too). At least it isn't chocolate milkshakes!