Callyann's Surf Shack

Yay! We finally finished the nursery...not to mention the office, dining room, guest bath, and guest bedroom. Remember all of those pictures of painting in the earlier posts? Well, check out a few of the updated pictures below of our progress. I'm so glad that we got this all done before my belly grew to the size...well, let's just say before it got to big to be able to move and be useful. Lord knows I can't have Brian doing things on his own...my control freak nature would just jump right out and pounce on him...and that wouldn't be fair, now would it?! :o)

We decided since Cally's parents are originally from Cali, we would do a surfer themed room...and I must say, it came out even better than what I had imagined! Thank you to my mom (Nana G) for suplying the crib, the soon to come: changing dresser and tall dresser, and of course the super cute surfer bedding! Thank you also to my sister, Jess, for supplying the glider and ottman as well as the mobile. Speaking of the mobile, Brian has aptly named the surfer bears: Bodhi and Special Agent Johny Utah, and the hula bears: Wahini and Gidget....sigh....cute, isn't he?!

We just love the paint job! Sand dunes and sea grasses on the bottom, the horizon of the ocean, and the sky complete with flying birds and puffy clouds. Even "Windy" our Costa Rican wind chime that we picked up on our honeymoon made it to the palm tree...along with signs letting you know exactly wich way the luau and ticki bar are located. Some grass skirts for curtains, a surfboard clock, shelves with various nick-nacks, and my favorite, the hula girl lamp from Hawaii complete the room. And the best part?.....we won't have to change it for kid #2! Dang, I'm smart :o) Check out pics below...

It's a Girl!

Hey there again!

Well, it has been confirmed...it is most definitely a girl. We had a second ultrasound last week and there was still nothing in between those little legs...and believe me, she was giving us a great view. I can't believe how flexible babies are!

She's still holding true to her nickname...Wiggle Worm...she wouldn't sit still for pictures (we did get one...see below) and her new favorite thing to do is keep mom awake when it's actually bed time. Don't know how she knows that I just want to fall asleep, so that gives her the perfect chance to kick me right in the bladder making me have to go potty about 4 times a night...oh, what fun!

The first ultrasound, Brian wasn't able to make it to...so, I had the doctor write down what it was and put it in an envelope so we could open it and find out together. Needless to say, and we'll be perfectly honest, we were a little disappointed to find it was a girl. Not sure why, but we just had it in our heads that it was a boy...who was going to grow up and play football for UGA and get us free sideline tickets to games! So, when we found out it was in fact a girl, we knew we needed to come up with a name right away so we could start bonding and getting excited.

We decided on: Callyann Quinn

It means beautiful, grace. Believe me, after many veto's on both sides, we are thrilled to have a name that we both love and think is beautiful...just like the name sake.

Anyhow, back to my story...so again, we confirmed this past week that she's still a girl, she's very healthy, growing like a weed, and doesn't have any known or possible issues according to the blood work and ultrasounds. Because Brian is adopted, we were a little scared to find out what our family history could possibly bring, so we are relieved that everything is moving along normal and healthy!

Here's a pic of Miss Callyann and of me at 22 weeks now...finally starting to show! Everyone says I'm tiny for 5 1/2 months...but I don't feel tiny!

Under construction...

Well, guys...so sorry, but it's been a while since I've posted a Baby by Betsy blog. We had some tragedy in our family as my pop passed away, but I realize more and more each day that he is still with us, just as excited as ever for the baby to come into this world. I see him a lot in Brian...not the handyman part :o)...but the storytelling, laughing at life, going with the flow, loving and caring parts are all there. We will miss him so much, but won't forget to tell the baby all about him and teach the baby everything he taught us!

Such as....construction! You don't need no stickin' directions when you've had a pop teach you all he knows! Thanks to my mom, Mamma G...soon to be Nanna G, we have a crib! She is letting us use my sister Amanda's and my brother Robert's crib back from 21 years ago! It's beautiful and comes with a long dresser/changing table and tall dresser that matches. Actually, we have been getting lots of stuff from family and friends who have been gracious enough to bring over their old baby items for us or the grandparents houses. Now, we will each have big items like cribs, highchairs, strollers and car seats that we won't have to lug from home to home. Thank you so much, moms, for giving us your old items and for being such great friends! And thanks in advance to the grandmas: Nanna G and Grandma R for watching our little one while we are at work or when daycare isn't an option. And I can't forget my best friend, Kimmy, who will be ready with a pitcher of margaritas as soon as this baby pops out of me! :o) Can't wait for those...have been craving them like crazy...I think it's the tart, fruitiness...mmmmmm!

New Nickname...Wiggle Worm!

We had our second doctor's visit yesterday. It was so wonderful to have the two grandmas there...Nana G, and Grandma R. I think they were actually more excited than I was to see the baby wiggling around on the sonogram monitor (if that's even possible)! I wish we had video of the two old birds just laughing and carrying on...precious!

So, we have now re-named the baby Raglin, yet again...Wiggle Worm! The baby just wouldn't sit still during the sonogram. It was actually really cool to see how much fun life already is for this little baby. I guess all the strawberries and chocolate, activities, fun music, etc are really making an impact!

As you can see from the first picture, the baby likes to smile. In the second picture, it showed everyone just how much like its momma it really is...turning its head and actually smiling at the camera! Finally, you can barely tell due to scanning distortion, but it was sucking on its thumb or fingers (I have a picture of me doing that when I was just a little baby!).

The doctor said that pretty soon I will be able to feel the baby wiggling around...it is supposed to feel like little flutters in my tummy...can't wait for that!

First Baby Pictures!

Hey everyone!

We are so excited to report that today was our first doctor's appointment...8 weeks along! Everything is looking normal, which is good. The little pollywog is now 7.5 cm long and has a heartbeat (which you can see in the first picture) of 140 beats per minute.

Brian was so cute...he even took video from his camera phone! Of course there were tears. It's just so overwhelming when you can actually hear and see the baby...it really starts to sink in that you are going to be a parent.

We are on cloud nine!!!! Stay tuned...nesting is starting to really kick in...we should have some interesting posts soon about all of our redecorating. :o)

Baby Names, Baby Names...can't be Pollywag forever!

So we had a fabulous holiday!

Everyone's excited, and in fact, rubbing it in my face that I can't drink...even though I sneaked a few sips of Kimmy's peach chamagne and o.j. :o)

While over at Ian and Pammy's for the New Year's eve celebration, our neighbor's boyfriend did a little magic joo-joo on me and predicted what we are having! He says we will have a boy...then a girl...then that's it. (it better be it, b/c Brian's getting fixed after that!) He didn't know if it would be twins, but we would definitely have both genders. My feeling is, well, I guess he's got a 50/50 chance of being right! Hee hee...anyhow that got us thinking about baby names.

I figure, it can't be named pollywag forever, so we came up with a short list for both genders, just in case.

For a boy:
Jackson Wilder
Jameson Davis
Hunter Hurst

For a girl:
Gracelyn Mae
Carrington Quin
Addison Lee

Nesting isn't just for the birds....

So, apparently nesting isn't just for the birds...We had a serious case of it this past weekend, and it's still going strong!

We took all the junk out of every nook, crany, and cabinet space and reorganized the entire house including the garage. Then, we went through every room and put together what I like to call our "wish list" which consists of to-do items such as crown molding throughout the house, granite counter tops in the kitchen and bathrooms, tile floors, new and updated paint, etc. I have even convinced my dad to come out for a couple of weeks if he can...Brian and I will take some time off work and help to do the major construction projects like our master bathroom and renovating our backyard!

Other than that...pretty normal so far...I can't believe I'm ten weeks along. Just 6.5 more months! Everyone says I should just relax and everything will get done before the baby arrives...but 6.5 months is not a lot of time when you work full time and do real estate on the side! Houses don't clean themselves, you know :o)

Well, better get back to organizing...we have a lot of comic books to sort through...and Brain says I am the one that doesn't know how to let things go, sigh! Here are some pics of our work in progres...we'll post some soon of the finished products. So far, we've redecorated the guest bedroom, guest bathroom, office, family room, and dining room. Stay tuned for more updates....