Just call me Momma-Can't-Wait

So I've been telling a few fibs since Saturday, and left out a little chunk of Saturday's events of celebrating my 30th birthday.  :)

I decided I couldn't wait until March 1st to find out Baby #2's gender, so I made an appointment at a local 3D/4D Ultrasound office (not linked to our doctor's office) for this past Saturday afternoon.  Keith and I went, while Knox napped under the supervision of our neighbors, and found out that our sweet second child is, in fact...

A SWEET BABY GIRL!!!

Since we've never been able to do anything fun revealing that we're pregnant or Knox's gender, due to distance between us and family/close friends, we wanted to do something fun to tell our parent's the gender of this baby.  It will be our last child, after all (two's our limit--man on man defense in this household--no zone!)  We hardly told anyone so we could get packages in the mail and to our parents before we told the whole world.  :)

Here are a few pics of what we put in the package to tell our parents:

 

 Knox holding a balloon similar to what we sent.  Keith thought I was crazy since I bought them the Thursday before we went for the ultrasound Saturday.

Balloon again.  My thought was that when they opened the package, the balloon would pop out.  Mylar balloons stay inflated forever--and apparently mail well too!

 

 The "balloon weight" was pink M&Ms in a favor bag and a favor topper I made to match the cards I sent with the package.

The card I sent... :)

We obviously would have been thrilled either way, but we are beyond excited and extremely blessed to have both a boy and a girl.  So let the pink buying begin for little Miss Cecily Blanche!

Ready to Rock 30!

Yesterday was my 30th birthday, and I got to "celebrate" today by hearing my second baby's heartbeat yet again.  What a glorious sound!

Pics of the current baby bump and the baby bump of Knox are on the left.  Baby's heartbeat is great, and I have actually LOST 4 pounds--back to pre-pregnancy weight.  The doc isn't too concerned since I just got over the stomach bug a week ago, and my eating habits are entirely different than they were when pregnant with Knox.

Of course, we celebrated my birthday in other ways as well.  Mexican food Friday night with our sweet neighbors, fancy dinner in Atlanta Saturday night sans Knox with surprise guests, Holly, my ATL BFF, and her hubby!!!  They brought me flowers and a card and we inhaled amazing food and desserts!  Yesterday was a lazy day, and I didn't even cook dinner last night as all three of us ate something that didn't agree with our tummies--but we did manage to "force" down a piece of chocolate ice cream cake Keith and Knox got for me.  I received many wonderful cards (one of which was from BOTH of my children :), several texts and phone calls, and Facebook birthday wishes that would make anybody feel so special on such a special day.  Honestly, I thought turning 30 would be a tiny bit difficult, but it's really not.  I'm just so thankful everyday, and every year, that God lets me be apart of this world, and that he has blessed me with so many amazing people and things in this life of mine.

Happy Monday and Happy February, y'all!

Technical Difficulties

Let's try this poll thingy again.  Check out the new one on the side bar...

Quick Week in Review & a POLL!

Just wanted to let you guys know were still here--but barely, after this past week.

Knox and I headed to my parents house this past Sunday for an early birthday celebration (my 30th is in one WEEK!  EEEK!) while Keith headed to California for a work week on Monday.  We had a great day Sunday and Monday, and had plans to head to Keith's parent's house for Wednesday and Thursday.

Plan we may, but the germs came to play.  Knox woke up Monday night with an absolutely horrid stomach bug.  After being up with him for about 30 minutes to an hour, I notice my stomach was not feeling normal.  My hunches were correct, and I joined Knox in what turned into a 4 day battle with the bad bug.  It was the most terrible sickness I've ever had next to the flu.  To see such a little body of Knox's go through what I was going through was torture--immensely scary.

I don't know what I would have done if we were home alone.  My mother was definitely my saving grace taking care of both Knox and I, while doing laundry we produced for the three days we were there.  Thankfully, neither she nor my father have caught the bug yet and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Keith doesn't get it.  We managed to make it home on Thursday afternoon with only minor "difficulties" on my part, and Keith made it home at 8:00am Friday on the red-eye.

*Update:  Keith got it last night.  :(

The weekend has been entirely devoted to getting our house decluttered and organized.  Things looks somewhat in place to the passer-byer (sp?), but be warned--don't open most closets!  Some have been organized, but with time, they've gotten a little messy again.  Yesterday was clean out the storage closet day--it houses holiday decorations, luggage, personal affects, and some home decor that will be repurposed one day.  I managed to separate about 1/3 of the stuff to be given away.  And that's on top of the 6-7 bags of clothes, shoes and jackets that came from our clothes closet last weekend.  I'm not even entertaining the idea of a yard sale.  I don't want that stuff in my house for a few more months, while waiting for the weather to get warm enough.  The extra money would be nice for more storage containers, but I'm just going to find a shelter that needs all of those things.

Now, on to the really fun stuff--more baby stuff!  Keith and I have settled on a boy name, but we can't nail down the last two girl names to the final one.  We both go rounds of random reasons why we should go with one of the other.  At this point it's quite humorous.  So, I want to know what you think.  Vote in my little online poll on the side bar--you don't have to be a member of anything to do so.  Just click and vote!

*Is anyone having issues voting?  I think I need to set it up again...

I'm so NUB-SESSESED!

So, I'm already back for post #2 of the day.  I sent my sorority sis pics of Knox at gestational age 12 week 1 day and Baby #2 at GA 13wks.  She posted them on her member account of InGender, and within mere minutes she had 2 of 2 guesses for boy on Knox's and 2 of 2 guess of GIRL on Baby #2!!!  I'm posting pics of random confirmed girl US (ultrasounds) that are between the GA weeks of 12-13 then I'm posting Baby #2's for comparison.  Now, not all look like this, but I just picked the ones that I thought matched Baby #2's US.  I'm also posting a"classic" boy nub for contrast.

And now for Baby Rogers #2...

This is the "classic" boy:

Pretty cool, huh?  Thanks, Kelly!!!

Fun Facts for a Snow Day

I have a few random blurbs I wanted to share since there's no way you could get me out in the cold to do running around just yet, and I don't have too much work to do right now.  I'm sure there are other things that need to be done around the house (like finish the laundry) but it's just too cozy here on the couch in front of the fireplace with my warm blanket.

Knox is home from school today due to the "big blizzard" that came through last night.  (Ha!)  I wish Daddy had worked from home to be with us, plus I was worried sick about driving conditions.  Knox and I took it easy this AM, watching a few shows after breakfast (you'll see him chillin' in a storage container below!)  I finally decided to bundle him up and let him explore the snow.  His first actual accumulation since he's been old enough to actually play outside.  Poor thing--I couldn't find his gloves, so I just put a pair of socks on his hands, so I know they were frozen.  Despite temps in the teens, Wild Man loved it and didn't want to come inside.  He found the watering can and carried it around all over the place, poking the tip in the snow.  He didn't do too much more with the snow--just walked around checking it out.

Next bit of fun fact is that Wild Man is becoming such a big boy.  Not only has he been sitting on the potty multiple times a day since Tuesday, but he has pee-peed in the the potty at school at total of two times, and the tiniest bit once here at home.  I think the only reason he got some out at home is because we promised him that he could play golf on the Wii if he went potty!  The time after that, he got on the potty and immediately said, "Gol!" (aka Golf!)  Little stinker.

ALSO, he's now sleeping in a BIG BOY BED!!!  Since Wednesday, we have a wooden rail on the side of his bed and moved his bed to set against the wall.  The first night we had to intercept him as he was crawling off the bed about 4 times, but after that and explaining many different ways that he isn't to get out of bed unless Mommy or Daddy comes to get him, he finally stayed--and stayed the ENTIRE NIGHT until 6:15AM!!!  He's taking 2-3 hour naps there too!  Last night we hit a little glitch--he rolled out of the end of the bed about 11:30.  He didn't sleep so soundly after that, but never tried to get out of bed!  We're going to get a smaller rail to put at the foot of the bed since he doesn't have a foot board.

Lastly, a sweet sorority sister of mine sent me a message saying that she thought baby #2 was A GIRL, from looking at the ultrasound pics I posted.  She asked if I had heard of the "nub theory" or "the angle of the dangle".  Sounds funny, right?  But it's really quite interesting.  Not sure if most of you know, but male and female genitals begin to form the exact same way, but it's not until week 16 or so when they're finally in the correct places.  This "nub theory" is using ultrasound photos from around 12-13 weeks and using the angle of the "dangle" to determine the gender--boys point one way and girls the other.  Check out the link here for a better description and photos.  It's rather interesting!  I know that may be TMI for some, but just think of it as your daily science lesson!  :)

Anywho, another rather long post, but what else do you have to do on this pretty snow day?!

New Year, New Blog

I decided to start a new blog more appropriate for our growing family.  It won't be just Knox Rogers' Neighborhood come July!  :)  Make sure you update your blog roll and bookmarks!

First off, I've been bad about taking pics of the belly this time around.  I had a total of 7 photos of the progression of pregnancy with Knox.  I hate I didn't take a starting photo of this pregnancy.  I'll share previously "private" photos of my gigantic self along with current photos throughout this round.  You can see by this side by side view, my belly popped a little earlier than last time.

We had our second ultrasound this morning.  Everything is measuring perfectly and the heart rate is 146, down from the 174 it was at week 9 (it's faster at first because so much is growing!)  I've only gained 4 lbs. and I contribute that to all the good food I ate in the past two weeks during the holidays, since my nausea has dwindled.  I had lots of blood drawn for all the screening they do.  Next ultrasound will be March 1 (next doc visit will be Feb 1), and we'll know for sure whether we have a boy or girl.  The doc also told me that they prefer to do a C-section after you've had one, to reduce risks--which I was going to request anyway.  He said that they typically do repeat C-sections about a week prior to the due date so current estimated date of arrival is July 5!!!  Almost a Independence Day baby--and only FOUR days after it's Daddy's birthday!  :)

I labeled this ultrasound just for you Ma Jack!  :)

Other current preggy tidbits that I didn't share last time:

•  I'm finally over the all day sickness, and thankfully, craving fruits and veggies.  I ate so many clementines the other day, I gave myself heartburn.  :)

•  I'm getting heartburn more frequently now than I did with Knox.

•  While at home for the holidays, I took an Intelligender test at 11 weeks.  It's one of those that supposedly tests hormones in your urine.  Mine read BOY, but website claims 80% accuracy and from threads I've read, it's more like 50%.  Also the earlier you test, the less accurate.

•  I think I may be having a boy--my belly is low and more "football" shaped like it was with Knox.

•  We're hung up on boy names.  We have three names we love for a girl, so of course the baby will be a boy.  :)

Speaking of names, why don't you help us out a bit.  We don't go for the run of the mill names, but we don't want some weirdo name like "Sparrow".  Our two boy names right now are Asa Burks Rogers and Slade Hutton Rogers.  Burks and Hutton are family names.  I'm not sold on either name.  I had John Chapman Rogers and to call him Chapman (family name on both sides), but my brother claims that John Chapman is the brother of Dog The Bounty Hunter.  Even if it's not, the name has lost it's luster.  I think brothers named Knox and Slade are just ready to go out and bust some heads.  :)

I'm IN LOVE with our girl names:  Cecily Elizabeth Rogers, Kingsley Melia Rogers (would have been Knox's name if he was a girl) and Alden Blanche Rogers.  All of the middle names are family names.  I honestly go back and forth between which name is my favorite.  Let me know which names are your favorite for boy or girl!

Either way, the baby is healthy and on track, so we're blessed beyond belief!