IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!

Melissa always joked and said that she was going to have two girls. Clint said he would worry too much about girls and said Melissa was jinxing myself by saying that. Obviously Melissa said it jokingly, because she really doesn't have a say in what we have and we'd be happy either way! After we told everyone, we had a lot of people tell us they thought the baby was a girl. A few weeks after that, Melissa started having A LOT of boy thoughts during the day, but dreamt twice that we had a girl.

They say Moms have an intuition. And hers was right....

The sonograms this week were very fun. It is amazing all that you can see ... face profile, belly, spine, ribs, hands (with fingers), feet (with toes!), heart, etc. At yesterday's sonogram the baby waved at us and then stuck his foot in front of the camera again so all we could see was FOOT and TOES! When he moved his foot, the tech also pointed out the cord and said that was causing problems for us to fully determine what we were having as it was right between his legs. So, the tech switched over to a 'blood scan' screen which lit up all the areas that had blood flowing. The major component with blood flow was the cord. Once it was lit up, the boy parts were visible!

We are SO very excited to meet our son! Not long now....we're over halfway there!

Shy baby...

Well...as most of you know by now...we had a shy baby this morning :(
The nurses and techs at the doctor's office were really nice and tried very hard to determine what we are having...but the baby did not want to show us its parts! So...we will go back on Thursday and try again! Stay tuned!! :)

Office Pool

Well...the results of the office pool are in....24 people have guessed what we will be having, when we will deliver and how big the baby is. 10 people have said we'll have a boy, with the 14 others saying we're having a girl. We'll know in two hours who is right!!! :)
On average, people think the baby will be born on July 11 (7/11...that has a ring to it!) at 11:23am, will weigh 7 pounds, 7 ounces (lots of sevens!) and be 20.1 inches long. Sounds like a pretty healthy baby to me!!!
So long as the baby cooperates....Watch for another post today....with EXCITING NEWS!!!

The baby's first Mardi Gras party

We had a BIG party last night....our 3rd annual Mardi Gras Shrimp Boil!! It was a lot of fun. Friends from work, Sunday School, running and school came by to celebrate. We boiled 15 pounds of shrimp, 5 pounds of sausage, two packs of mushrooms, 36 half ears of corn, and 10 pounds of potatoes. And it was EXCELLENT! We also fried some meat pies for those that did not eat shrimp. And for dessert....we had King Cake, brownies and peanut butter pie. The King Cake was sent to us from the Gallians, who this year could not join us from Texas. It had been a tradition for them to make their way over to Alabama for this party, but we missed them this year. It was very thoughtful of them to send the cake though and it was enjoyed by many! Greg found the baby this year, and was glad to hear that he did not have to have a baby because he found it! He did promise to bring the cake next year though!!! We have lots of leftovers....so we'll be making lots of meals containing shrimp this week!
Many at the party tried to guess what we're having. Two more sleeps until we find out!!!

Crib and Glider research

We have settled on a crib and dresser/hutch combo (for the changing table, dresser and bookshelf). It is the Babi Italia Pinehurst Collection from Babies R Us.


We will not be getting the wardrobe in the middle of the picture, but the crib and the dresser/hutch are exactly what we have been looking for.

We've also started to do some research on gliders for the nursery. We have looked at a lot of rocker/gliders, and found that many are reviewed poorly by owners. Several gliders out there are too small to be comfortable when sitting in them to nurse/feed a baby. That's not good, since that is what we will be using it for!!!! Others report that the glider squeaks after a few months of use. We definitely want a glider that is covered in microfiber. We just know the quality of this fabric is great and it cleans up well. We also know that we want the wood to be a 'pecan' color, as our furniture for the room is "tea stain" in color. And, we want an ottoman to match to rest our feet!

Here are our top finds:

GLIDER and OTTOMAN SETS:
Shermag Ultra Glider & Ottoman Set in Pecan
http://www.rockingchairs.com/glider-rockers/indoor-gliders/shermagultragliderwithottoman.cfm#ReviewHeader

Dream Collection Glider Rocker and Ottoman - Pecan
http://www.babysupermall.com/main/products/she/she37779pec.html

Crazy or not

Crazy or not...we have decided to cloth diaper (thanks to Kristin for putting this idea in our heads!). We are so very thankful for Mom and Dad Lloyd's excitement about cloth diapering too! Many many hours of research and thoughts have been spent on cloth diapering at the Lloyd household. But...just over a week after pitching the idea, we have a pattern and materials ordered. We'll be using the pattern from "Kayla Cloth Kits" (www.kaylasclothkits.com). Melissa and Sue both joined some co-ops for some great material at excellent prices. We'll be making 40 diapers in preparation of the many diaper changes to come this summer!
Other resources used:
www.verybaby.com
www.kidsinthegarden.com
Yahoo! Group for Kids in the Garden
Yahoo! Group for Covered Caboose

February 24th!!!!

Our appointment to find out what we're having was moved to TUESDAY FEBRUARY 24th!!! We are sooo excited! We will call/post as soon as we can!!! Once again...this is your last chance to put in your guesses! Melissa's office started an office pool for the gender, DOB, Time of birth, Weight and Length. We'll post some of the guesses soon. Some are amusing....17" baby that weighs 8.5 pounds! YIKES. Or...someone stated that we'd deliver on July 28th!! WOAH!!! No thanks! ;)

Maternity jeans are fabulous!!!!!

Just a quick update on "the mom-to-be"....

This is Melissa writing...and I am going to write about me....so no third person format (wink...wink...Kristin!). I am doing great. I feel well, am having no sickness and am "functioning normally" (eating, sleeping, working, studying etc.)! I am shocked at some of the long days I can pull, and by the fact that I have stayed healthy (many people around me are sick with colds and flu....it is that season!).

I am wearing my first pair of maternity jeans today...and I LOVE THEM! They are VERY comfortable and trendy (if I say so myself!). I am still able to wear some of my non-prego tops, but all my non-prego pants will be put up this weekend! I have "popped" (so they say) and am getting quite a little belly. :)

Some very special friends that sent me some maternity tops from their collection and I am very grateful! I will definitely enjoy the variety! Thanks Kristin and Elizabeth! I will take good care of them, clean them and return them in time for you to wear again! ;)

19 more sleeps until we find out what we're having!!!

All negative blood work is a GOOD thing!

We got word today that all of Melissa's blood work came back negative…so no downs, open spine or chromosomal defects. That’s good news! We weren’t really that worried about it since there is no history in our families…but you never know…
Anyway…now we’re really looking forward to the next doctor’s appointment on the 25th. And…we are pre-registered for a prenatal class on March 21st. That should be fun. Maybe Melissa will learn how to change a diaper, since she has never changed one!