so much to post about at 23 weeks!

We're at 23 weeks today, & have finally started getting quite a few things accomplished around our house to get ready for Little Miss' arrival!  Craig has been SO busy!  Since I'm not able to really lift much, he has worked his tail off moving furniture around our house.  Thank goodness, a great friend of ours', Herb Palmer, was nice enough to swing by & help him move a few pieces that he just couldn't move himself.  I can tell he's just as excited as I am.  He usually dispises doing things like rearranging furniture!  He was so awesome, though!  He didn't even complain ONCE...not even when he had to unhook the ginormous mess of cords behind our TV, get in the crawl space to run co-ax, & re-hookup all of the cords!  ANY other time, he would probably be using some choice words the entire time...this time, I think he wanted to do it.  He's a fantastic dad!  :) 

So, there really was reasoning for moving all of the furniture & putting Craig through all of that torture.  The last time we went for a baby doc appointment, we also were able to get her furniture ordered while we were in Springfield.  And, I really must say...I am jealous!  She's going to have better furniture than WE do!  We found a fantastic set & ordered her the crib, armoire, 6 drawer dresser, & a nightstand.  Unfortunately, the nursery won't have a closet in the room, so the armoire will double as that.  Although there is a closet off of our bathroom, I figured we would want most of her things in her room.  So, here's a picture of the furniture...although, you can't see all of the peices.  We love it!  And, we absolutely can't wait for it to arrive...which should be in the next week or two!  :)

Since we were able to get her furniture ordered, we also could finally start looking at bedding.  Long before we knew that she was a SHE, I really wanted something different for the nursery.  I had originally said I would like to have gray, yellow, & possibly accent them with teal, purple, or even pink.  BUT, I had no idea how hard it would be to find that combo!  Literally impossible!  After looking for three weeks at every single site I could think of, googling every combination of the words gray/yellow/bedding/baby, & beating my head off of my desk in frustration, I finally came to the conclusion that maybe there just wasn't a gray & yellow set to be had.  So, I started going through & finding other combos that I liked.  I had narrowed it down to three or four & had driven Craig nuts by showing him all of my different options numerous times.  But, I just couldn't bring myself to order anything.  I just wasn't crazy about the typical pinks...either they were too pink, too bright, too light, or combo'd with colors I didn't care for.  I just couldn't decide.  In one very last ditch effort, I started going to the actual websites of each of the makers/designers that I could find on Babies-R-Us, Target, or anywhere else I could think of.  And, wouldn't you know...THERE IT WAS!  On the http://www.bananafish.com/ website, under their MiGi bedding...GRAY & YELLOW!  I couldn't believe it!  And, to make matters even better...Craig loved it, too!!!  I was so excited, I looked at the picture numerous times over two whole days before I decided to order the whole set.  :)  So, here it is...obviously, all of the decals on the walls are not exactly my style, but I did order all of the rest of the stuff...decor & all.  And, you have to try to picture this on chocolate brown bedding (above).  We're so excited!  It's so different, but still girly...without all the pink!  :)

Not only has our house & credit card bill changed quite a bit in the past few weeks, so have I!!!   My baby belly has gotten bigger, & I'm certain Little Miss has hit a growth spurt again.  :)  She's definitely getting much stronger with her punches & kicks these days.  And, I've recently started feeling hiccups almost every day...most of the time, twice or three times a day.  I'm loving every second of feeling her movements.  What an awesome feeling!  :)

Last but not least, it's official...I have definitely hit the nesting phase.  I have been crazy about cleaning out closets, going through all of our clothes, reorganizing, & doing what my mom likes to call, purging!  :)  Anything that we haven't used in a few months...it's GONE!  It's such a great feeling just to decompress our house & get rid of all of the nonsense & clutter.  I figure it will be a while before I have time for all of this again!  :)  And, in the midst of this phase, I've definitely found a new little hobby.  I have been using our "Sunday Football Day" (which translates to "Lay-around-and-be-lazy Day") to sit on the couch & make hairbows for all three of our girls.  :)  It's been a lot of fun.  It's cheap.  AND, it's super addicting.  I've just about made one (or two) in every color.  I'm still on the hunt for Illini, Colts, & Cardinals ribbon, but I'm sure I'll find some.  Those are definitely my next ones on the to-make list.  :)  I'm also going to try my hand at decorating some onesies & making pacifier clips...but, we'll see how that goes.  I'm not sure how far my crafting skills will take me.  :)

We go for our next appointment on the 25th (right before Daddy's birthday on the 27th), so I'll be sure to fill you in on Little Miss' checkup! 

21 weeks & bye-bye to my old jeans!

Well, thankfully, it took me quite a while to start showing, but that is definitely not the case anymore!  I finally gave up on wearing my regular jeans this week.  I probably could have held off for another week or so, but the maternity pants are so much more comfortable.  Plus, with all of the kicking & squirming that Little Miss is doing, it doesn't hurt to have a little breathing room.  I know that in the next 19 weeks, I'll be more & more thankful for any breathing room I can get, so I might as well get used to it now.  :)  Here's my baby belly at 21 weeks...



21 Weeks



As you can tell, my belly is definitely NOT the only thing that is growing!  Hahahaha!  I'm very thankful, though, that I have still only gained a total of 7 pounds.  Hopefully between the treadmill & trying to continue to eat healthy, I'll be able to keep my gaining under control.  Now, if I could just kick the cravings for sweets all the time, I'll be in good shape!  :)

baby C is a GIRL!

Much to everyone's surprise, we found out last week (Dec 29th) at our 20 week ultrasound that our "Little Bit" is a GIRL!!!  Craig & I had a feeling we would have a little girl on the way, but almost everyone else thought for sure we would have a little boy.  We are MORE than excited!  Of course, Mama has already been online shopping for little girl things & loving every second of it!  And, Daddy is pumped...we already know she will be a major Daddy's girl!  Also, big sisters, Erica & Julia, are thrilled!  They think it's pretty neat that little sis will be inheriting all of the things they have outgrown.  They have already even gone through their playroom to see what toys she will want to play with!  Too cute!

Aside from finding out we were expecting a precious little girl, we got a GREAT report from the doctor,  although it took extra time to do all of her measurements & check all of her development because she is such a WILD child!  She moved around through the entire ultrasound!  Even Alice, our ultrasound nurse, pleaded with her to hold still for just a little bit!  :)  We did eventually get to see that everything was developing perfectly, even through all of her movements.  And, she weighed in at a whopping 15 ounces, which is actually ahead of schedule - the average babe at 20 weeks weighs around 10 1/2 ounces.  So, by her measurements, she could be here a little early.  We're not counting any chickens yet, though!

We did get some wonderful pictures from our ultrasound, & Alice had a great time adding bows to her pictures!  Here is one of our favorites...



Baby C's profile & wearing her first bow!


We both got a big laugh because the image to tell her gender was so clear that even if we didn't go there planning to find out, we would have known!  It was literally textbook!  I don't think I'll actually post it though...Daddy has already been having pep talks with her about not showing off her parts anymore!  :)

Merry Christmas at nineteen weeks

Here's a picture of my baby belly at 19 weeks...starting to be a little more evident now!  We go for our 20 week sonogram next week, & we're still deciding whether or not to find out the sex of our little one.  I still think we will, but I suppose anything's possible with Craig & me!  :)  Either way, we'll definitely be posting Baby's latest photo shoot next week!  Can't wait to see how big he/she has gotten...I know I'm definitely feeling lots more of his/her movements every single day!  What an awesome feeling!  We are already so blessed!

I also wanted to take a second to wish everyone a very safe & Merry Christmas!  It's hard to believe it's already here!  Be safe in all of your travels this holiday season, & enjoy all of those Christmas cookies & candies!  I know we will!  :)  Lots of love & Happy Holidays to you & yours!!!

All our love,
Craig, Ash, Erica, Julia, & Baby  :)

our little kicker

I just had to pass on that, although I have been feeling the little kicks & punches from our babe for about 2 weeks, Daddy finally got to feel his first karate chop late last week!  :)  We were laying in bed ready to fall asleep, & our (very active) little one started going crazy!  Although I haven't been able to feel anything externally yet, Craig was able to feel the movement that night!  I have tried several times to catch the baby moving, but I think he or she knows when I'm trying to feel the movements, so instead he/she freezes!  Go figure...already ornery!  I think Craig & I both already knew we'd have plenty of our own orneriness coming in paybacks!  :)

18 weeks & baby c's 3rd check up

It's hard to believe that Christmastime will be the halfway mark for our pregnancy!  So far, it's been going pretty quickly & very smoothly!  I have to say, there's not a thing I can complain about!  We went for our third check up last Thursday - December 9th, & Baby & I are progressing exactly as Dr Ertmoed said we should be.  Although, I still don't have much of a "bump", I have started to gain a little weight now.  I figure in the next week or two weeks, it'll be much more evident.  I'm definitely not complaining...& hopefully, with any luck at all, the weight will continue to come on slowly!  Here's a picture of my baby belly at 18 weeks...

We go back on the 29th for our next visit & our 20 week ultrasound.  We are still a little unsure if we'll find out the sex, but I'm thinking we probably will!  My impatience might be getting the best of BOTH of us!  :) 

We also went shopping for Baby's new furniture after our last appointment, & we found the perfect set that we both LOVED!  I can't wait until after Christmas when we can start rearranging our house so that the nursery can be on the first floor of our house with our bedroom.  We are both getting very excited for that change, & the girls are more than ecstatic!  They ask us nearly every hour (no exaggeration there) when we will start moving things & making their little brother or sister's room!  I think they are having just as much fun with the anticipation as we are!  They'll be GREAT big sisters...& I can already tell, they will be so much help to me!

Speaking of big sisters...we also celebrated Julia's 6th birthday this past weekend.  We had a bowling birthday party for her on Saturday with her classmates (we did the same with Erica for her first year in school).  Julia had an absolute blast.  There were about 15 kids total, counting a few siblings that came along.  Thank goodness it all went smoothly...no one went down the lane with their ball or anything!  So, we all had a good time celebrating.

Aside from everything else that's been going on...I am MORE than ready for those pregnancy hot flashes to start kicking in!  It is FREEZING here!  At least there's some snow on the ground to make it a little more worthwhile...but, I'm getting ready for May in way more ways than just one, now!

sneak peek!

Thought you all might like a quick sneak peek of our Christmas card for 2010!  So, here ya have it...

I thought we better get at least one more good picture as a family of four before we are PLUS ONE!  :)  Hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving!  It's still hard to believe it's already December - also hard to believe that little Miss Julia just turned SIX, in three & a half weeks, we'll be halfway through this pregnancy, & Christmas is almost here!  Where does the time go?!?  By the way...Baby Corzine is an avocado this week according to babycenter.com & is also starting to be able to hear!  Next Wednesday (Dec 8th) is our next appoinment for a check-up, & then the very next visit will be the ultrasound to determine the sex if we choose to find out (which has been a really tough decision for us)!  We'll definitely update on Baby's progress after we visit Dr Ertmoed next week!