Happy Halloween, Love Wesley

October 31st has come. Wesley and I decided that just because we are HUGE we didn't want to miss out on the festivities. SO I joined the entire city of Richmond at Party City today and bought some face paint. Now here we are. Decked out in Halloween fun. Enjoy the beautiful artistry that Daddy created for us by hand. We'll just call him Picasso:) Trick or Treat, yal!

What a perfect size pumpkin!

The full view! Ain't he cute!

Look out NFL...Here comes Wesley!

We ARE 7 months now! Finally! And today I had my 28 week check up. We started the morning on a great note. I got weighed...the un-fun part for most women, but the exciting part for me. Up until today I was still 3 lbs shy of my pre-pregnancy weight. I have officially gained back everything I lost in the first 16 weeks and have broke even. Everything from now on is going to be a positive gain for me and the baby. My blood pressure was perfect. This month was also the glucose testing so I had to have blood drawn and though I won't have the results til the end of the week, the Dr. said that she was not worried about Gestational Diabetes where Wes and I are concerned. THEN my Dr. came in and answered my two pages of questions, and proceeded to my favorite part of the whole meeting. We got to hear Wes's beautiful heartbeat. He came in right around 145 BPM and though it took her a while to find it, as he was moving like a crazy person, it was the prettiest sound I've ever heard. She saved the funniest part for last. She pulled out her special little tummy measuring tape. I'm supposed to measure in centimeters what I actually am in weeks. SO one would suppose that I should measure 28.3 or something along those lines. Wes came in right around 30 centimeters. He's actually about 2 weeks bigger than normal but my wonderful doc said that the only thing that means is that we might do the next ultrasound a little earlier than 36 weeks so that they can check his weight and height. She also said that at this point he is head down, which could change at any time.

I attached 2 pictures that David took this evening so you can see the progress Wes is making. Please continue to pray for us as Wes and I continue stretch and grow, lose a little sleep here and there and deal with the aches and pains of late pregnancy. We'll take all the praying we can get. David and I hope and pray that you are blessed this coming holiday season and we look forward to sharing our sweet bundle of joy with you after the first of the year:) Thank you for being the people that we love that love us.

My tummy actually looks bigger in person...believe it or not..

Drawstring pants probably won't last for too long..

My belly kind of blends in with the closet but if you look really close you can tell it's huge. I love it:)

A picture speaks 1,000 words

I figure that there's not a whole lot to say. I'll just let the pictures speak. Maybe a few thoughts, but more about the first baby shower later, in an upcoming post. Just for the purpose of bragging, these beautiful pictures were taken by Raymond and Julia Foster, close friends of ours, that live in Winchester, VA. They are budding photographers with an amazing eye and we love them very much for their gift of maternity photos. Enjoy!

On Mimi's front porch. It's the "Come Hither" pregnant stare...

Sweet kisses.

He was kicking. So we were watching.

This is one of my personal favorites.

Silliness. Just plain silliness.

This is an old throwback to a picture we had made during our wedding reception. Not pregnant then, pregnant now. Still a cute picture.

It's so nice that we can hug and be the perfect size for each other. I think, however, that we're beginning to be a little hard pressed to hug as closely as we did a few months ago...

couldn't resist the opportunity to do a picture like this. He's silly. We're silly.

Tummy was definitely in motion when we took this. The funny faces were just for dramatics.

This is my personal favorite. We might just frame this one and put it in Wes's room. Can't wait to meet him! Only 14 more weeks...

And the countdown begins

Well folks, it's time. Time to begin the countdown. The countdown to more room in my stomach for my organs. The countdown to nights of less peeing and more sleeping. (I know, I know, not much more) The countdown to getting rid of the body pillow in the middle of the bed that has lovingly been named "The Berlin Wall". And finally, the countdown the soft baby feet, freshly cleaned baby clothes and Johnson's baby lotion. I am tickled.

Now, on with the update. Wesley, Mom (Mimi) and I went in for my 24 weeks appointment on Tuesday of this past week. The doctor was running a little bit late but only because someone decided to have a baby right at my appointment time. The nerve. When we got in to see Dr. Murray we discovered that I have gained 4 more lbs! I'm still 6 lbs shy of my pre-pregnancy weight, which is really unbelievable considering how much Wes has grown. (note the pictures below) I'm sure that weight will come sooner rather than later, but right now I'm enjoying being smaller every where else but my tummy. Dr. M measured my tummy for the first time and it was exactly 24.5 centimeters which is perfect because I was 24.5 weeks along! (the size of your tummy in inches is supposed to match the number of weeks you are:) We got to hear his sweet heartbeat which came in at 140 beats per minute. Perfect for a healthy little boy. My blood pressure was 100/70 which the Doc says is awesome. SO all in all, other than some leg cramps, lack of room for food and a VERY rambunctious child...I am AMAZINGLY HAPPY.

Here are a few of tonight's photos. These were take at 25.2 weeks. Three weeks after the last pics. I can definitely see a difference in size. More in shape. Funny how that happens:) By the way, we promise, it's only one baby. I'm just short. Less room to distribute the baby weight. Thanks for being so supportive! We love you all!

A little bit more forward than I wanted but you can definitely tell there's a baby in there...

There we got. That's a little more like it:)

Just the belly.

He was kicking while we were taking the pictures so I was trying to get him to stop because it was making me laugh. Active, active child:)