It's a girl!

We had our 20 week ultrasound and are happy to announce that we are expecting a little girl! :)  Here are some photos!

Baby Waving

Baby's Leg

Halfway there!!!!

Well I am over halfway through my pregnancy.  Here's a photo at 20 weeks. I started wearing maternity clothes although they are pretty big on me. I am at that awful stage where my regular clothes don't fit but I am still too small for maternity clothes. I felt the baby kick at 3 am on Feb 17. It was very cool although I couldn't get back to sleep!

20 weeks: Baby the length of a Banana

Hiking at Starved Rock

We took Leia to Starved Rock on Sunday, Feb 13. She loved it. She was better with the passing people than the passing dogs so we hiked out a ways to get away from all the people with dogs. We hiked for about 3 hours but she did great.  She was exhausted and sleep the whole way home. Unfortunately, the frozen waterfalls were not as spectacular as some years.  Here are some photos.

Eager to Please

Brian and Leia in a Limestone Cave

18 week bump

Starting to show a little bit.

I should be holding a bell pepper to mark 18 weeks but when I got it out of the drawer, I noticed it was an extremely small bell pepper. Smaller than an avocado so I didn't want to throw people off. More fruit/vegetable photos at 20 weeks. Maybe then I'll have something to show!!!

Blizzard of 2011

We got a lot of snow and neither Brian nor I were able to get to work on Wednesday, Feb 2 so we got bundled up and took the dog out in the snow. Leia really enjoyed the snow but it was a work out for all three of us.  Leia was so tired after she came in, I am sure you can see why.  Here are some videos and photos:

Brian and Leia running in the deep snow

It was pretty deep for Leia.

Brian and Leia

Brian knee deep. Leia doesn't sink as much since she's light.

Drifts in front of our neighbor's garage

Digging for something...probably poop :(

Working Hard

Katie knee deep

Brian and Leia walking in the unplowed street

Even plows got stuck in the snow

Car stuck on County Line Road. We walked in the streets because there was less snow.

SUV stuck next to us. Normally this street (New York St) is very busy. We only saw a few cars go by.

Best Buddies

Juliana spent a lot of time at our house the last two weeks of December because of the arrival of her little brother, Connor.  We loved having Juliana stay with us.  She slept at our house two nights while Mom and Dad were at the hospital.  Her favorite thing about staying over at our house was getting woken up by Leia, our dog, licking her hand which was hanging off the bed.  We also made and decorated Christmas cookies. Here are some photos. Leia even got in the action by becoming covered with flour.  Leia adores Juliana probably because Juliana does nothing but gives her treats and food.  They truly are best buds.

Both helpers covered in flour

Leia and Juliana tired after decorating so many cookies

Juliana looks happier to be in the cage than Leia

Juliana's old time friend, Preta, our cat was also hanging around.  Preta often runs away when Juliana comes over because all the running around scares him but he got used to her being there.  Now that Preta has lost some weight, he is back to his acrobatic skills.

Preta balancing on our railing

College Roomies

My freshman roommate came into town to do some baby shopping!  So Brian and I met Holly and Michael for lunch at Oakbrook mall.  It's so neat that we are pregnant together and due only a few weeks apart!!  Courtney, our other partner in crime, is also expecting.  She is due early March.

Holly & Katie

Leia and Preta meet Connor

We had Connor and Juliana over on Saturday while Beth and Joe went out to dinner.  We were a little nervous at how Leia, our dog, would react to a baby and were happy to have Connor as our test baby (he was a good sport).  Leia was very curious of Connor and was happy to sit next to Brian on the couch and watch while he fed Connor.  Leia was very gentle with him and even licked Connor's leg.

Leia was a little more excited than I would have wanted with the diaper change though.  She really wanted to smell everything but was good and didn't steal the diaper away.

Preta, our cat, ran away and hid like we had predicted.  Here are a few photos:

The Gang: Juliana, Connor, Katie & Leia

Best Buds! Juliana & Leia

New Furniture

We had been looking at cribs at BabiesRUs and BuyBuyBaby and Brian was just disgusted with the prices. So I was happy when my sister sent me an email that JcPenney was having a 50% off all furniture sale AND Brian actually liked a few of the cribs.  Bad thing about JcPenney is that they don't have any baby furniture in their stores, so we couldn't see it before we bought.  Luckily they have a good return policy. So we decided to go for it!

We ordered our crib and changing table Sunday, Jan 16th and it was ready for pick up on Friday, Jan 21st!!  I couldn't believe how quick it came since I had read that sometimes it takes weeks for furniture to deliver from baby stores.  We (mostly Brian) spent the weekend of Jan 22 & 23 putting together the furniture.  Overall, we are happy with our purchase. Our next purchases will be a crib mattress and glider/rocking chair.

 The doll is for training purposes.  Leia is much better with the doll than Preta. I wouldn't be surprised to find the doll pushed off the changing table by Preta. He loves seeing things fall.

Preta, our cat, seems to enjoy the furniture too much.  He is very daring and even jumped in the crib although got a little scared since there is no mattress.  Wondering if we will need to invest in a crib tent to keep the cat out.

Our daredevil

Preta is scared since he landed on springs. Maybe now he won't go in there!