... and growing...

We are now in week 22 and racing towards the due date... at least, it feels like that way sometimes. Each passing week, our little guy makes himself more apparent and the anticipation grows to see what he will actually look like. So we come to this week's size comparison...

"At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily." (from pregnancy.com)

Ok, first off... I've never even heard of a spaghetti squash, much less ever ventured to actually eat one (and have no plans to). But here's a picture anyways...

We really hope that you all are enjoying the blog. We decided to put it together weeks back due to our many distant friends and family, as a way for them to keep up with us. We are happy that we've received so many positive comments about everything and we're thrilled that it's actually helped us stay in better contact with so many of you.

Keep reading because we'll keep posting! love to you all, Jon & Emily

... and growing...

Wow, I almost missed this week! Ok, time to stop slacking... this week our growing son is about the length of a carrot (about 10 1/2 inches long) and weighs approximately 3/4 of a pound.  Seems amazing to think that he will probably be 8 times that size at the end of 40 weeks (no bigger, boy! you gotta take it easy on your mom!).

At least he doesn't look like this guy...

Seriously, we'll have to talk if I ever see him dressed up like this.

(P.S. Isn't my wife wonderful!!!!!)

Almost Fall!!!!

The weather has gotten much chillier the past two days. Today it was in the 60s and raining. It feels very fallish. This makes me really happy for a few reasons:

1) fall is my favorite season. It means beautiful weather, spectacular colors, warm clothes, cuddling (with Jon - *wink*), warm drinks, soup, the start of the holiday season (not that I have a particular affinity for the actual holidays - just the general season), and family.

2) it always reminds me of 'back-to-school'. You know, the new pencils, new teacher, fresh paper smell of the back to school time. It automatically causes me to want to start something fresh. Hmmm...combined with nesting I wonder what THAT will bring?

3) this year it means that the baby is that much closer to being here. I'm not rushing you little guy - I'm just enjoying being excited about you.

Here are some sneak preview pictures of what the fall will bring around here. I'm cheating a little because they're from a few years ago - but I just can't wait!

The river from walking on the canal.

What the driveway will look like. A perfect carpet of brightly colored leaves. BEAUTIFUL!

In other funny news - and totally changing the subject - this is what I did this week to illustrate the dangers of having a smooshy brain.

Our dear friend Marcia (remember - just had adorable baby Evan) had one major food aversion while she was pregnant.

Chicken.

I mean - she couldn't stand to be in the same place where chicken had been. It was really, really bad.

The lovely Marcia.

After Evan was born I decided to make her and Mark a meal that they could heat up in a crockpot when they needed. So I got everything ready and sent it over with Jon one evening. I made them...

Chicken Stew.

I didn't realize until just yesterday (three days later) and was horrified...absolutely horrified. Marica was so gracious though and said that she ate it anyway. She is wonderful.

Ode to Jon

Could I please, for just a minute, tell you how wonderful my husband is?

He is my hero in every way. My greatest love, confidant, inspiration, leader, and best friend.

Monday I woke up to a bad day. A cricket jumped on my face, I cut my finger making breakfast and then threw up. I crawled back in bed and told him my troubles. Jon pulled me next to him and said, lets cuddle for a bit and then start the day over again.

Then he rubbed my back while I laid my head on his chest. It made my day much better.

I think he took all my sickness for me because later that morning he felt awful.

Yesterday I was a grump. Not pleasant to be around. He talked to me on the way home and knew what he was facing. But he gave me a big hug, made me laugh, talked to me about my day, and made me a nice steak on the grill.

Then we watched Chuck - which made me laugh more - and I felt much better.

He is always there for me. How the heck did I end up with such an intelligent, creative, accurate, handsome, funny, nurturing, strong, super-hot (did I mention that?), wonderful...

MAN.

I'm a happy woman.

Week 21

Two days late - the week 21 picture. But I promise that we actually took this on Sunday. I've just been too busy or too sleepy to post it.

But...*yawn*... more about that later. It's 10 pm - a full hour past my bed time.

Evan is Here!

A big, big welcome to Evan Rhys Nathanael Headley. He was born at 12:07 AM (!) on Thursday the 18th after a long, long labor. Remember Mark and Marcia? We had a baby shower for them a few months ago. (hmmm...maybe my wonderful, handsome, and oh-so-smart husband will show me how to put in a hyperlink to that blog post so you can go back and see it).

I haven't yet met Evan (I think we'll see him tonight) but this picture of him melted my heart just a little bit. He's so perfect. :)

.....I can't can't can't can't wait to meet ours.

our first baby clothes

While I was down in Trinidad this past weekend, a friend of ours who is expecting and is due just a few weeks before us, gave us our first baby onesy.  

It's a bit large but he'll be able to grow into it.  I hope he looks good in red :)

... and growing...

Our boy is about the length of a banana this week, from head to rump.  Of course, he's not that skinny... lol

Em is starting to show more and more every day.  I even felt my first kick on Monday before we went to see the doctor.  Everything checked out well and the his heartbeat is around 140 beats/minute.  

I haven't yet had the chance to upload any pictures from my trip,  so I'll try to get that done this weekend and show you our first baby onesy!

love you all, Jon

Nesting

Mother duck mode.

I'm not sure if it's the article on organization that I read in the New York Times today or the fact that I constantly have to clear stuff off of whatever chair I want to sit on, but I've had the urge to purge recently. Transitions are wonderful times to clear out the old and create a new environment for the new - and motherhood happens to be a nice transition point.

I'm more and more exciting about making this jump into the new world of parenthood. I can't wait to get all the supplies organized and put in their proper places. To paint and create and imagine. But I think that more than anything Jon and I have felt a deep need to get ourselves in order. As has been told to me many times, if it's not in place before (fill in here...school, marriage, children, whatever) you may just find it harder to put in place afterwards. So we've spent a lot of time examining our own lives. Are we properly 'watered,' is our relationship strong, etc.

I guess it goes with what I was talking to my mother about recently. Everyone wants a healthy, perfect child. But in my mind, way more important is that this child has a strong spirit, a strong knowledge of God and His ways. After all, life consists of way more than we see externally.

Week 20 - the Halfway Mark!

Week 20 is the midpoint of the 9 months and we officially passed it this week!! I think to mark the special occasion I received my first couple pregnancy inquires. It's a little funny to have people ask you if you're pregnant while trying to shield their question just in case you're not. It's a little hard to see how obvious it is now...but in person the little guy is making his presence known. :)

Jon just got back from a great trip to Trinidad. I'll have to post a picture of the outfit he bought down there...our first baby clothes!!!

... and growing...

The books say the boy is about the length of an 'heirloom tomato' (as opposed to an empire tomato, which I think sounds cooler) - that's head to rump.  All of you who know me know my intense love for all things veggie... so I may have gotten this picture wrong... but here we go anyways...

That looks pretty big to me... especially considering he's supposed to be the length of a banana next week.  But you be the judge.  He certainly didn't look so bulbous in the ultrasound photos.

To be honest, this picture doesn't make me want to eat tomatoes any more than before... and probably less.

Anyways... I can't wait until I can feel my first kick.  I'm going to go pick out hockey skates for him next week ;)

love to you all!

Week 19

Yes - it is almost week 20. But here is the week 19 picture. We were helping our friends Mark and Marcia move to their new appartment on Sunday so we didn't have time to get a picture. Marcia is pregnant with their first child and her due date was the date of the move! Thankfully the baby decided to wait until they got fully settled in. He's still not here...but any day!!

We took this picture early Monday morning. Apparently the flash wasn't working so well - you can tell the picture is dark. We're playing around with getting a brighter shot right now but trust me, there isn't too much to see yet. Hopefully with fall right around the corner we will have a more conducive environment for podulation pictures.

The baby is moving around more and more. He hasn't done any strong kicking yet - still just rolling around and twisting, but I can see a little growth every day so I'm sure strong kicks are just around the corner!

Latest Baby Pics!

Hey everyone,

As promised, here are the latest pictures of the baby from our recent ultrasound.

This first one is a shot of the baby's arm covering its head...

This one is another shot of the head, arms and hands...

And here is a shot of the feet...

And finally, proof positive that it's a little boy!

(this one may take some explaining but suffice it to say, the proof is there)

What a great birthday present for me... Em is wonderful for setting it up that way.

Love you all!

Apologies...

Sorry guys... we didn't get around to posting the new baby pics last night.  We'll post them for sure tonight!

... and growing...

This week the baby is about the length of a bell pepper...

... we still don't know if it's a little boy bell pepper or a little girl bell pepper, but we're excited either way.  

Just hope it's not green ;)

Westmoreland State Park

Last Tuesday I drove about 1.5 hours south of DC to vacation with my brother Dan and his wife Trish and daughter Ava at Westmoreland State Park. It's a place that Dan visited multiple times growing up - and I went once on a family camping vacation. They had rented a 'rustic' cabin as a "tester" for real camping. Westmoreland's main draw is Fossil Beach. It's a short section of beach with limestone cliffs on either site. The sand is course - but with a little sifting you can usually find sharks' teeth. The park also has a few hiking trails, a big pool, and a fishing pier.

Here are a few pictures of adorable Ava.

Ava and Dan 'swimming' in the river. She's fearless. Mostly though, she liked eating sand and shells. And finding trash on the beach and carrying it around.

Ava and Trish. Ava just turned one on August 17th.

Playing in the cabin. Yes - it was a real log cabin. With spiders.

It rained a lot of the week but on the last day we were there the rain was scattered so we ran down to the pool. For a swim. It was cooooolllddd but Ava didn't care.

Jon came down by train on Friday. It was a long week and he had just flown in from Florida late Thursday evening - so this was one of his well deserved naps that day.

Here's a video of Jon awake and practicing for the 2012 Olympic diving team. His fan club is HUGE - so just remember to keep your comments short to let others tell him how awesome he is. (Jon will happily note that I didn't post the underwater video example of the dangers of loose diving shorts.)

And here is an example of my brother Dan's skill diving. Not too bad! :)

It was fun to spend a few days with family. :)