It's a...

BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So excited! We found out today during my 15 week OB appointment. I've been having horrible migraines and I think the doc felt a little sorry for me so she gave me a little pick-me-up in the form of a little "sneak peek" ultrasound. Here's what we saw:

15w2d
15w2d
One VERY active little baby (HB = 155) wiggling all over the place and practicing soccer kicks. And yup, those are little boy parts according to the tech and then the doctor. I know one thing for sure, I never saw anything like that with Grace so I'm hoping they are right, otherwise we'll be in for a big surprise! I know they are pretty accurate these days, but you still hear of the occasional "we had everything set up in pink/blue and then BAM! our little he turned into a she and vice versa" YIKES!!!

Most importantly, about a week and a half ago I had the nuchal translucency ultrasound which measures the amount of fluid in the back of the baby's neck and other markers such as the nasal bone, etc. as a screening for Down's and other chromosomal abnormalities. The ultrasound combined with the bloodwork I had at 11 weeks is what I guess they call the "first trimester screening" (I don't know if this is a more popular elective screening now, or if it's due to being 30, but I don't remember having this with Grace). Anyhow, everything came out normal, and we're so excited that baby seems to be a perfectly healthy growing little bean!

At first, baby wasn't in the right position for the neck measurement so after walking around/drinking water/prodding the belly/learning more than I care to know about what a partial contraction of the uterus looks like on screen/asking baby to listen to his/her mama and TURN because it had been over an hour and Grace was growing restless, I decided we needed to switch gears and look at baby's other end :) Julie, the tech, humored me and we soon saw what looked to me like a little pyramid (he, he, he) - not quite the "turtle" that everyone kept telling me about for boys. Though she wouldn't commit to typing "BOY" on the ultrasound picture since it was so early, she said if she had to guess, she would say boy and printed this little picture for us:

14w1d
Excited but wanting to wait until we had confirmation that baby was indeed a boy, we figured we would have to wait until the "big ultrasound" at 19 weeks. But today, a little peek-a-boo surprise...So all this to say it looks like Hudson Rowe will be joining our family this June! Hudson because we like the name and Rowe in honor of Lance's grandpa Woodrow. Thank you God for the blessing of this little boy!

I heart Tiny Sprouts

I love hand embroidery! So much so that my dear friend Heidi bought me an embroidery how-to book this past year for my birthday. Sadly I've done nothing more than look at the pretty pictures, but I have plans for at least learning the basics in 2009, yup along with that photography class we're taking :)

Which brings me to...Tiny Sprouts!!! I big puffy heart Tiny Sprouts. Tracey, the creative genius behind Tiny Sprouts is such a sweetheart and in this day and age of mass-produced merchandise, I love that she hand-dyes all the cotton herself. One of my favorite pictures of Grace is from Fall 2007 and she was wearing the cutest little wheat cord dress from Tiny Sprouts. So if you're in the market for some unique gifts from newborn to toddlers, check out Tiny Sprouts. Everything in their site is 20% off right now, so you're bound to find some great deals! I just ordered the sweetest itty bitty newborn set as a baby shower gift and I can't wait to see it in person. I even had to skip the eco-friendly gift wrap just so I could ogle over it before giving it away :)

Here are some of my current favorites:

Cotton Candy Pique Dress with Bubble Gum Ric Rac (I'm thinking...add wellies and a cute umbrella and sing your little heart out in the rain!) Itty Bitty Apron (you know I had to throw a little apron in there ;) Milk Pique Dress with Bubble Gum Ric Rac (such cute names, don't you think?!) Pique shortalls (this adorable little guy reminds me so much of Grace when she was that age...same blue eyes, same chubby cheeks, same sweet smile...ahhh) So check out Tiny Sprouts and Have Yourself a Fun New Year! I'm off to organize my disaster of a wallet (one of my 2009 goals) into the cute mustard yellow one I just got :)

I Am...

So first, my disclosure: I am not good at following through on tags, email quizzes, or any other sort of chains. So, if you send me one and I don't do it, please don't take offense. I do like to read others' answers though! He, he, he

Anyhow, with it being the end of the year and all, I thought a little self-reflection would do me good, so here it goes...


I am: IT...again!
I have: no idea why I'm doing this rather than being in bed trying to fall asleep.
I had no idea: that pregnancy the second time around would kick my behind so badly.

I Am: tired but not sleepy
I Think: about things and projects way too much
I Know: that my loved ones know how much I love them

I Want: to not feel queasy the rest of this pregnancy
I Have: so much to do before new baby comes this June
I Dislike: waiting in line or in traffic

I Miss: being able to just go away for the weekend at a moment's notice

I Fear: losing my loved ones
I Feel: blessed
I Smell: like the new vanilla almond lotion I received for Christmas
I Crave: big buttery pretzels with cheese dipping sauce, fuji apples, corn pops, mandarin oranges, ginger ale, spicy spicy Chinese food (gotta love those pregnancy cravings!)

I Cry: watching St. Jude infomercials and anything else concerning children these days
I Usually: go grocery shopping on mondays

I Search: for affirmation that I'm following the right path
I Wonder: what I'll think of my life when I look back 50 years from now
I Regret: not taking that trip to Europe senior year

I Love: seeing Grace's smile first thing in the morning

I Care: to raise Grace (and New Baby) to be kind, caring, compassionate, polite, confident, trustworthy and trusting, God-loving individuals
I Always: make sure to kiss, hug, and tell Grace I love her everyday
I Worry: about something happening to me that would prevent me from being there for my family
I Am Not: very patient or good at sewing (hmmm...somehow I think these two must be related)

I Remember: the sound of my grandpa's laughter and the gentleness of my grandma's touch
I Believe: in keeping my promises
I Dance: with Grace to the Sesame Street and Dora tunes
I Sing: mostly in the car and in the shower
I Don't Always: make good use of my time
I Argue: with myself most of all (yikes! this makes me sound delusional :O)

I Write: to give my brain a chance to slow down
I Win: at thumb wrestling with Lance (although he says I cheat by "creating new rules")

I Lose: my keys way too much

I Wish: I could bottle up Grace's squishiness factor forever

I Listen: to my mom
I Don't Understand: how people hurt innocent children every day

I Can Usually Be Found: in Grace's playroom or at target
I Am Scared: of people hurting my family
I Need: to go to bed
I Forget: to water plants

I Am Happy: that God loves me with all my imperfections
I hope: to be as good a mom as my mom and grandma have always been

Here's to 2009, a New Year full of possibilities!
~Jessica

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, Noonie and Papa A.J. came over to celebrate with us. After going to Mass, it was time for delicious food and opening presents!

Having just seen the wagon, Grace was not into posing for a photo :)

I'm ready!! Who needs wheels anyway?? We had quite the little helper this year :) Of course after our pretend baking session, we had to make the real deal for Santa, so on Christmas Eve, with Noonie's help, we made sugar cookies and decorated them BEAUTIFULLY :) for the jolly old fella.

Rolling out the dough Carefully placing our cookie cutters Learning all about frosting (yes, we cheated with the ready-to-go icing in a can) Oooh, I like that! Grace do it! Grace do it! Let's add sprinkles, LOTS of them! Yummy!! Our masterpiece (aren't they gorgeous?? He, he, he) All the while, the guys were busy doing this so the little pumpkin could enjoy one last ride before calling it a night (not happy to be buckled in). And then it was time for the wee one to get snuggly in bed so old St. Nick would soon come her way. Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!

Christmas Morning

Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus!!! Cheesy pj's and morning faces! A certain little dollie was quite the hit. It went EVERYWHERE with Grace! Thanks, Angel!!! Opening her gift from Santa Checking out the Princess Castle Our attempt to get a family photo - YIKES!

Christmas at Mimi & Pop's

Grace had a lot of fun at Mimi & Pop's seeing lots of family members and playing with her cousin Jade. The present opening festivities were a little wild and I had a bad migraine so I didn't get as many good pics as I would have liked.

Here's Grace helping Pop open a present Getting a little help from Aunt Lexi Opening a favorite present wrapped in Dora paper Checking out the shiny ornaments (and rearranging just a few) And finally, sneaking away with lots of tasty treats from one of Mimi's candy bowls Thanks for a fun time, Mimi & Pop!

Baking Cookies with Santa

Grace had a blast baking cookies with Santa. The mini marshmallows were a big hit - she must have eaten over 20 of them, but hey whatever works for a smile, right?! And so long as Santa didn't talk to her she was alright! He could hang out right next to her, but as soon as Santa tried to talk to her...Waaaaaa!!!

Here she is checking out all the goodies

A little taste test Oooooh, it's Santa!!! Here Santa, this is how you do it: you put LOTS of sprinkles in! Just Santa and me And tomorrow we'll be baking and decorating real cookies for Santa!!!

Ho, Ho, Ho!

Merry SPARKLY Christmas!!!