4 months along- in Cape Cod!

I cannot believe I am 17 weeks already- it seems like time is flying.

According to the Baby Center, this week the baby is "very mobile" and is developing sweat glands. He/she weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip) and is around 5 inches long from head to bottom. I've noticed my pants are starting to get a little tight so I've been wearing the belly band to get me through the in-between stage of regular clothes and maternity clothes.

This week, we've been spending time with Chris's family in beautiful Cape Cod. We've had gorgeous weather every day and have been playing on the beach, shopping, and eating a lot of great food. We've also gotten to see Chris's aunt, uncle and cousins a lot which has been really nice. Danielle pointed out to me that the baby is only 4 months old and has already been on a Carribean cruise and to Cape Cod- that's pretty good! Baby will definitely be a world traveler like mom and dad. :)

Here are some pictures from this week:

Laura and I in front of the Hydrangeas

Cousin Dane playing in the sand

Family Reunion

I just realized I don't have too many great pics of Chris and I from this week so I'm going to try to get some on our last few days here.

Off to shop!

What's in a name?

So, every set of parents does it. At some point, you have to pick a name for your children. For some parents, its probably easy. For me and Chris, not so much. We've been chatting more and more about baby names and cannot seem to find "the one" just yet. We do know we want something that is kind, gentle and will reflect good behavior. We picked a sassy name for our dog and frankly, she's crazy. We always say that if we would have named Stella something more tame, like Ashley or Sarah, life would be much easier.

Here are some names I've suggested to Chris and his responses:

Me	Chris
Lexi	No one is calling my daughter "Sexy Lexi"
Abby	Nope, I know someone named Abby and I don't like her
Peyton	I hate the Colts
Jordan	That is a country
Isabella	Sounds like a princess
Grady	That's the name of our old boat

So- I think we may wait to discuss names until August when at least we can focus on names for one gender!

We tried to ask Stella what she thought but we couldn't find her. And then we did...

Gotta go get my shoe back!

Week 15!

Chris and I went to the doctor today and had a pretty good appointment. I have officially begun gaining baby weight- I've put on 2 lbs! We got to hear the baby's heartbeat (in the 140's) for the first time which is kind of surreal! We also scheduled our "survey" ultrasound which is where we get to find out the gender!!! I'm so excited and counting down the days until August 16th. Until then, I'll be driving myself crazy analyzing all of my symptoms. So far- I'm pretty much split down the middle.

Signs I'm having a boy:

I'm craving salty or sour foods (lifesaver sour gummies are incredible!)

Dad-to-be is gaining weight (ha- I'm not sure how this actually could predict anything.)

I'm having headaches

The Chinese gender predictor says boy (supposedly its 90% accurate)

Signs I'm having a girl:

Heart rate is at least 140 bpm

I had morning sickness

I'm craving sweets and fruit

My face has broken out more than usual

Now Chris has reminded me that I'm not really craving anything outside of what I normally eat so...I'm not sure I can use those in my guesses. AUGH- only time well tell! I'm still leaning towards boy but...who really knows?!

This week Baby is the size of an apple- he/she measure 4 inches long and weighs 2 and 1/2 ounces.

Chris and I have been talking about names lately and have come up with a few options. Chris is pretty picky so we may still be deciding at the last minute. Let me know if you have any ideas!

Lemonade, anyone?

We are 14 weeks now! This week baby is the size of a lemon. That seems smaller to me than a peach, but I guess the folks on baby center know better than me so...we'll go with lemon. The baby continues to grow and can now suck his thumb. It seems so amazing that something so tiny can do so much!

Now that the room is cleaned out, it seems much more official. After some paint and furniture, it will look completely different!

I just love looking at all of the wonderful presents Baby Hughes has already gotten.

Mercedes used her new sewing machine to make a baby blanket- I cannot believe she made such a good blanket on her first attempt! Its really soft on one side and satin-y on the other. She did let me know that it would retail for approx $30 if someone would like her to make them one. Ha!




Look at this onesie from our closest friends, Kyle and Danielle. They want to make sure Baby is styling when we watch UK athletics. Danielle, who is much more fashionable than me, already told me what to pair with the onesie depending on if Baby is a boy or girl! I love it!

Chris's favorite toy so far has come from Laura- the bumbo! I'm not quite sure what about it fascinates him so much, but he loves this thing. When Danielle was over the other day, he made her come upstairs and look at it. It cracks me up. Laura is great at sharing some much needed toys and accessories from Dane with us. I love that our kids will be close in age and hopefully good friends as well as cousins.

And- of course- we've got Mr. Bear. This is Dane's favorite thing right now. Robin got us this sweet little guy.

I am addicted to baby items! I think everything is so cute. August may mean trouble for our bank account!

Making room for baby!

Happy 4th of July!

Chris and I had a great weekend. On Friday we went out to dinner with his parents, Laura, Cory & Dane at the Fish Market to celebrate the new addition coming soon to the Hughes family. Yum!

Saturday I went shopping at Ikea with my mom and Mercedes to find Cedes some things she needed for her college dorm. We got a lot of really good deals- I cannot believe she is going to college in August! We stopped at a Carter's store that was having a huge sale. Since we don't know if Baby Hughes is a boy or girl yet, we just bought a few things. Thanks mom for buying the clothes!

Today has been the busiest day. Chris and I completely emptied the room that will be the baby's nursery and combined our guest room with the office. Surprisingly, its not too crowded in the new guest room/office. The nursery is completely empty- next will be paint and furniture! We'll wait on those two things until August, but we really wanted to get a head start today since the next few weeks will be really busy for us. In addition, we also cleaned the house top to bottom. Dusting, vacuuming, laundry, you name it! I haven't had much energy the last 3 months so I really took advantage of how good I felt today. Hopefully this trend will continue!

Enjoy the last bit of your long weekend!

"Test results are normal"

Last week my mom and I went to the screening ultrasound. The tech took a ton of pictures and said they would test for all kinds of birth defects: down syndrome, trisomy 13 and 18, cystic fibrosis, etc. I was imagining that I would get this long report of all the results but when I called, all I heard was "All test results are normal." I know that this is a good sign, but I had just hoped to get a little bit more info. Oh well- we are so thankful for a healthy baby at 13 weeks!

This week has brought a lot of change for me. To begin, I have an appetite for the first time in 3 months. And boy- did it come back with a vengeance! These last two days, all I have wanted to do is EAT EAT EAT! And, here comes the baby weight. :)

I would be remiss if I didn't mention sweet little Stella here. I think she's struggling with the baby. In fact, she just ate her second (YES, second) bill associated with the baby. I'm not sure if ultrasound bills taste better than regular old water or electric bills, but that's all she seems to eat. We also caught her running around the house with a baby toy in her mouth last week. I think some therapy may be in order for Stella. In case you need a reminder, here she is:



So, we FINALLY took a "bump" picture. I cannot believe its been 13 weeks and I am just now taking a picture. We are going to have to do it much more frequently now.

13 Weeks: Baby is a peach!

So, I've finally hit the second trimester! Very exciting. I'm really hoping the nausea and fatigue start to subside now. I think Chris is too. It cannot be fun watching me sleep and run to the bathroom so much! He did all of the laundry this weekend and cleaned the house- what a super husband! On second thought, maybe I'll keep this up...

Last week, my mom and I went to my 12 week screening ultrasound. Everything looked pretty good to the tech, but I'll get my full results later this week. I cannot wait to find out if its a boy or girl- August seems so far away!

A friend at work gave me the Your Pregnancy: Week by week book so Chris and I are starting to read that together. This week the baby is the size of a peach!

Thanks to both sets of our parents and siblings for the kind gifts already given to Baby Hughes- Chris and I are blessed with wonderful families! We'll probably start cleaning the soon-to-be nursery out this weekend and its exciting that we already have a few things for baby!