23 weeks and counting

I am officially 23 weeks along now. Here is my ever-changing body that is hard to get used to and will get harder as the time goes by. Everything is going great with the pregnancy so far. My official date is now September 20th.

And the winner is...

A beautiful baby GIRL will be joining us sometime around the 20th of September, 2010! We couldn't be more excited! Come soon, Georgia Mae!

Today's the day!!!

Today is the day we find out our little baby's gender. I couldn't be more excited. I am also so nervous. I'm beginning to think it was wrong to have my mind so set on it being a girl. I've acted as if I already know. I will probably fall off the table if it's a boy and have tears of joy and of shock!

I honestly couldn't care the gender. I want lots of each anyway! Also, I got a little ahead of myself and have quite the collection of girls clothing already. Including the dress I just made. I have to put the buttons on and then I will take pictures and post them. It is really cute, I have to say.

My sister, Shenna, finds out what hers is on Wednesday. I am guessing hers is a boy and can't wait to find out if I will have another niece or nephew. Hurray for babies!! Wish us luck, and I'll let you know tomorrow what it is.

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to my husband!

Today we celebrate our first anniversary. It is a perfect day. Nothing could go wrong. At least not for me. (Except for the fact we both had to go to work and that I just got a message from Nick saying his bus that was bringing him to me is broken down. Awesome.)

I can honestly say that this has been the best year of my life. Being married to the man of my dreams makes it just that. Perfect. While we do have our disagreements, we love each other, and that means more to us than anything.

To celebrate, we went on a little trip last week down to Capitol Reef National Park. (pictures to come when i'm not at work) It was so much fun. Just getting away and out of the daily swing of things was nice. We stayed in a hotel for three nights and got a good day of hiking in. It's really pretty there and we had good weather for at least one day-the hiking day. The others days were nice to stay inside and relax. I never realized that parts of Utah were so beautiful. All the red rock down south is so cool. I'd never seen it before this trip. All in all, it was wonderful.

Tonight we will celebrate by staying at the Little America and going to a nice Italian restaurant Nick has chosen to take me to. We will enjoy time just to ourselves and reminisce about how we met and all the crazy things that have taken place between then and now. And how much our lives together have changed.

When I first found out that I was pregnant, I was excited, shocked, and a tad bit disappointed. Not because I don't want children, because I really, really do. Lots of them! But because I didn't know if I was ready to give up spending time with just Nick. I was worried that it might change our relationship. I've been thinking a lot about that since then, and have come to a realization that this can only make our relationship better and stronger. I look forward to soon sharing all the joys of parenthood with the only man I love.

So, with that, Happy Anniversary to us, and congratulations to us for making it through the first year of many together! I love you, Nick!

Christmas 2008

Honeymoon

Engagement Picture

Our Wedding Day

April 30, 2009

Before his mission December 2005

Fall 2008

Summer 2009

One Lucky Girl

I got lucky last week. I mean really lucky. As most of you know, I love Brad Paisley. I was kinda bummed out because he is coming again this year, but not until September. I wasn't going to get tickets because his concert is the day before my due date.

There is this radio station 93.3 that I listen to fairly often. Every day Monday through Friday, they do a 5 o'clock freebie where you call in when they tell you to and if you are the 93rd caller, you win something normally pretty cool. Since I am always driving home at this time, I try to call in. I have done it numerous times without luck. This time, last Thursday, I turned to that station right as soon as they said to call. So I started dialing, getting the busy signal, hanging up, and calling again. You do this for about 15 minutes until the contest is over, and I never hardly get through. I was about to quit calling when someone picked up and asked my name. I was getting excited. I won TWO Brad Paisley tickets! I had no idea what i was even calling in to win, but I am so happy. Who knows if I will be able to go or not, but at least I have the chance to if it works out. Yay for me! Please come three weeks early, baby!

Baby Date

So I am getting SO excited to be a parent. I'm almost 17 weeks (tomorrow) and my stomach is growing. Not enough that I look pregnant, just look like I could lose a few pounds. I bought my first few items of maternity clothes, and I like it. I think I will love being pregnant. I haven't had the sickness that is always so dreaded, and I have really not had many "bad" side effects of pregnancy. I have a sore back most of the time, and nasal congestion. I will take it! Compared to what my poor sister went through her first twelve weeks, I will take it! Oh, and I'm crazy. Like really, emotionally crazy. It has to be the pregnant stuff, and Nick can attest to this, because on more than one occasion I have been laughing hysterically and then it turns into crying hysterically. Back and forth in the same minute. Funny, yet sad!

I also went out on a whim and bought some baby stuff. Girl stuff. Nick's mom bought a few things too. I hope its really a girl. Plus, I am really wanting to make a quilt, so I went to the fabric store last night and started looking at possible options. I saw the CUTEST fabric I have ever seen and knew I had to make something out of it. It is turquoise with white little figures on it, but they are old-fashioned kids like from a 1920's picture book. Adorable. I found a really cute dress pattern, and will be starting my project soon. If it turns out not to be a girl, Shenna, I hope yours is a girl so I can at least see it on some cute baby soon. Yes, my sister Shenna is expecting too, and is due about a week after me.

I have my next appointment on April 22 and will find out two weeks from then what we are having officially. When we went in at 14 weeks, the ultrasound tech told us she thought it looked like a girl. So, who knows!! It's what I have had the feeling of all along, and Nick has too.

The most exciting thing happened about a week and a half ago. It happened the next night too, but I felt a flutter in my stomach. Not gas. Not sickness. The baby! I felt it. It is in there, and now I know it for sure. We went swimming the next night at the gym and something about the water made it so I could feel it then too. It was so cool. Nick could feel tiny little movements in there too. I love it. I will love being a mother, and love what has been happening with my ever-changing body. I hope it's a good baby.

That's all for now!

A Love Letter

For my husband:

Nicholas James Walker, I love you. You make me the happiest girl in the world. I just want you to know that I think the world of you. You make me smile, laugh, and live the happiest life I ever could. I can not wait to become a parent with you. It is the most exciting/scary thing I have come across yet, but I know we will both do the best we can, and that you will be the best dad there ever was! We have so many adventures lying ahead for us that we have no idea about. I hope you are able to do graduate school this fall and do what you will love for a living. We would have so much fun moving to a state we've never lived in and making it our own. I have loved these past almost 11 months of our marriage, and look forward to a million more. I just wanted you to know that I love you!

XOXO
Linsey