20 Weeks ~ HALFWAY!

I am: 20 weeks pregnant
Size of Baby: Banana ~ about 10.5 ounces and 6.5" long (at this point, the baby is measured in length)
Total Weight Gained: 3 pounds
Maternity Clothes: I have a nice little maternity clothes section in my closet. I am wearing maternity jeans in this picture, but a regular top.
Gender: It's a BOY!
Name: Parker Holt
Movement: I feel a few flutters here and there ~ really neat.
Sleep: I have done some pillow adjusting this past week and it has helped. I'm still not sleeping great, but a little better so I'll take what I can get.
What I Miss: A solid night's sleep, caffeine and a few foods I have to avoid. It's really not that bad though - just have moments here and there where I'd really like something particular.
Cravings: No cravings ~ I wonder if I'll ever have any?
How I'm Feeling: Except for the sleep struggles and occassional rough heartburn, I'm feeling really good! I've had a really easy pregnancy thus far so I hope the second half goes as smoothly as possible too.
Best Moment last Week: We have gotten several more things for little Parker and his room this past week. It's been really fun going to a few stores to pick some things up or hearing the doorbell ring and a delivery being made. (More on this below)

We had a doctor's appointment yesterday and everything is looking and measuring great. Parker's heartbeat is still loud and strong. We will go back the first part of November.

I did a little comparison of me at 10 weeks and 20 weeks. My hair is a little longer and I'm a little rounder - hee hee!
This is the book I'm going to read Parker this week. My Mom (Mamaw) got it for us not too long after we found out we were pregnant.

I also don't want to forget about our first baby boy and Parker's big brother, Calvin. We aren't sure how Calvin will react to having a little one around, but we are hoping and praying he adjusts well. I'm sure he'll be fine after the initial transition. Thankfully, Calvin is such a sweet, loving and easy going dog so he'll be so good with Parker. It'll be fun in a couple of years when Parker is old enough to really play and interact with Calvin - a boy and his dog. How sweet!

When we found out we were having a boy, my dear friend Sylvia gave us a bottle of sparkling grape juice - mmm! With a suggestion from my pregnancy calendar, we decided to toast last night (after a long day) to being at the halfway point. Hooray!!

Here are a few things that we have gotten this week.

We had a Babies R Us coupon so we went looking around on Saturday (we were also looking at cribs), but John spotted this cute little shirt of his favorite Rangers player.

I had a Dallas Cowboys store gift card so I ordered a set of pajamas. With all of these pictures, the cuteness factor is just not done justice - you have to see them in person, hee hee! We also ordered Daddy a new Cowboys baseball cap.

We also had several Kohl's coupons and discounts so we combined them all and got a few things. Here are two of them...

These I got from Target (online) when I ordered Parker's bedding.

I got this with another gift card/coupon I had. We ordered something for our nephew Isaac a few years ago from Personal Creations and they sent me a $20 "we want you back" card...well okay then! All I had to pay was shipping - I love it!! We will us this for trips out of town to the grandparent's houses or for extra things to pack along with his diaper bag. Then maybe when he's older and bigger, he can carry it himself.

And finally, we got his bedding - YIPPEE!! We are doing a Snoopy sports theme in his room. The colors are cream, red and light blue. We plan to incorporate the blue gingham pattern a few places as well. The colors are more vibrant than this picture shows, but here's the comforter. There will be more pictures to come of the bumper pads, sheets and other accessories. It's so cute!

This will be a BIG WEEKEND in our house! My best friend Carianne is flying in late Thursday night and staying until Sunday morning to paint Parker's room! We will reveal colors and pictures later once it's done...then on to decorating, hanging items and placing furniture - so much to do, but oh the fun. I'm looking forward to having Carianne here just to visit and catch up ~ we don't get to talk or see each other as much as we would like. We've known each other and been best friends for 17 years. Never did we think we'd ever get married or have children and look at us now. I got married first, she had a baby first and we both will have boys - so neat! It will be a fun weekend of painting, talking, eating and maybe a little bit of shopping - we know time will go so fast!

One more thing to share. The last time we were in Arkansas visiting John's parents, his Mom let him have his baseball glove from when he was a little boy. She did such a good job of keeping lots of special things from John's childhood, so I asured her we would take good care of it. We are very sentimental people! We planned to put it in John's office which is where it has been since she gave it to him. Well, when we found out we were having a boy, we decided to put it in Parker's room. Right now we are envisioning a shelf on the wall with this on top and a baseball inside. John's going to write a message on the baseball. How special will this be in his room? His Dad's glove from when he was a little boy - I just love it. We are also on the lookout for a little football too to go beside it.

We are doing our best to thank them personally along the way, but I just want to say a quick THANK YOU to all of the grandparents - Grandma & Grandad, Grandpa & Mamaw and Granny & Grandpa. They have all done SO MUCH to help us - more than we can say. They've all given us money to buy some things or bought things for us, but more importantly been supportive and shared in our joy. We are so grateful!!

Lots more to do and many, many more pictures to come. We are so excited to share this with you all!

Until we meet again...

Riley