These are the moments we live for.

This past week has been a very busy and exciting week for Johnathon and I and our families.  Hence, the reason I am almost a week behind posting.  We found out the sex of our baby Monday, Tuesday marked my 16th week of pregnancy, and I did a lot of shopping for our baby.

Johnathon and I (our mainly me) decided to have dinner with our family and friends with a reveal cake to find out the gender of Baby Poole.  I couldn't make up my mind on whether to just find out that morning during the ultrasound or wait to do dinner with our family that night and find out with them.  I finally decided on doing dinner and cake on Thursday night and our ultrasound was on Monday morning.  So, I only had a few days to throw everything together.  I contacted the cake lady (Mrs. Cyndi) and she said that she could do the cake, so we started inviting everyone.  Needless to say, we were still inviting people on Monday and our dinner that went from about 16 people turned into 40 but I wouldn't of had it any other way.

It felt like Monday morning would never get here.  I even dreamed about the cake, lol.  One night I dreamed that my 8 year old cousin stuck her finger in it before Johnathon and I could cut the cake and found out and told everyone.  Yes, I was mad.  The next night I dreamed we cut the cake and it was pink. 

Anyway, Monday morning finally got here and I woke up...sick.  I have rarely had morning sickness during this pregnancy, so that was unusual.  I think it was my nerves.  Being sick put me behind on getting ready, so I showed up at the ultrasound looking like I just rolled out of bed.

I told the sonographer that we didn't want to know the sex of the baby and that I just wanted her to write it down and put it in an envelope.  So when we started out the ultrasound she turned the screen that we watched off (because Johnathon would have been tempted to look) and turned her screen so that only she could see it.  She took a few minutes to determine the sex and then we watched the rest of the ultrasound.  Baby Poole was all over the place, as usual.  After the ultrasound was over she went to her office and wrote the sex down and put the pictures that showed the sex in an envelope.  Before we left she asked us what we thought it was and I told her that I thought it was a boy and Johnathon said he had no clue.  She said that she wanted to see pictures of my face when we cut the cake because I was going to be surprised.  Since she said that Johnathon said it was going to be a girl but I thought that she was just trying to throw me off. 

After we left there we had to drive back to Salley which took an hour and fifteen minutes to take the envelope to Mrs. Cyndi.  When I finally got there she said that she had a dream that inside the envelope was a green piece of paper with the name Dal on it and it didn't say whether it was a boy or girl.  She said she couldn't figure it out and panicked because she didn't know whether the color of the inside of the cake should be pink of blue.  I laughed because I had been dreaming about the cake too.  I left the envelope with her to make the cake.  So, the sonographer and Mrs. Cyndi were the only one's that knew whether we would be having a baby boy or baby girl.

We still had about 10 hours before we cut the cake, so in the meantime I had other things I had to do.  Thank God it was a busy day to keep my mind off of that night.  I had a baby doctor appointment that day and as usual that took up plenty of time.  I am seeing a women's nurse health practitioner right now until I am closer to delivery and then I will see the OB.  Anyway, she is great but it is so frustrating when they take you back and then you sit in the room for an hour before you are seen.  She said everything looks great and all my blood work came back fine except I have a UTI.  I was shocked that I have a UTI because I have had one before and it was very painful and this time I have no symptoms.  She explained that is was normal to have a non symptomatic UTI during pregnancy.  She put me on an antibiotic to clear it up.  Maybe, that explains the ridiculous amount of pressure on my bladder right now.  I got to hear baby's heartbeat again and it sounded great.  That sound brings me to tears every time, it will never get old.

7 pm finally came.  We ate, laughed at Johnathon's baby pictures (haha, I love you), and made guesses at what baby would be.

We had to wait on Johnathon's daddy to get there before we got to cut the cake.  But eventually, after almost a 12 hour wait from the time of the ultrasound, we cut the cake.

and this is what we saw...

Yep, it's a girl and her name will be RaeLynn Taylor.

This had to be one of the best moments of my life.  I was very excited and shocked and cried lots of happy tears.  I was for sure it was going to be a boy.  and I wanted it to be a boy for Johnathon and I would have been just as happy if it was a boy, not as surprised but it wouldn't have mattered.  And I am selfish and wouldn't have to share Johnathon with another girl.  I know that is crazy but in my mind if it was a boy I would still be his only woman.  But almost every woman wants a little sweet baby girl and I am so happy that I am getting mine.  Johnathon on the other hand, went into a state of devastation a few minutes after these pictures were snapped.  It was terrible, almost worse than when I found out I was pregnant.  He walked around the rest of the night with his lip stuck out.  That really upset me and I cried, of course.  I hated that he wasn't happy about her being a girl and I hate seeing him upset about anything.  I have only seen him truly upset twice and this night was one of those times.  He is probably not sure how he is going to handle another one of me running around, telling him what to do.  I am ecstatic that I will have someone else helping me keep him in line and trust me I need all the help I can get :) and someone that can help me out when we want something and he doesn't want to buy it.  I will just send her to do the begging because I know that he won't tell her no.

Look at that frown on Johnathon's face.  I can't wait until the day I tell her not to do something and she goes running to her daddy.  I am going to pull out all these pictures and tell her all about how her daddy wanted her to be a boy.

He has got over his devastation.  Thank Goodness, it only lasted a day.  I know RaeLynn will be a daddy's girl.  Johnathon is a kid magnet, only because he is on their level, haha.  I get so frustrated with my nephew, Auden, because I play with him and take care of him all day when I have him but as soon as Uncle Johnathon walks through the door he wants nothing to do with me.  It's cute but I am a little jealous.

I know he will be a great father and I can't wait to see him with RaeLynn.  I love watching him with Auden.

This is Auden and his idol sleeping this week...

I can't wait for moments like these with our sweet baby girl.  And don't think we are throwing Audi pants to the side now that we our having a baby, he is still going to be with us just as much.  I am so excited that RaeLynn and Auden will only be a year and a half apart and will get to grow up together! I am sure I will have tons of pictures of the three of them being children; playing and laughing.

I am so glad that we decided to find out that we were having a girl with our family and friends.  I wouldn't have had it any other way.  I am so happy that we will have pictures and videos to show RaeLynn when she is older.

Thanks to my mom, sister, and Johnathon's mom for helping get things ready for this past Monday.  And thanks to Kim from Southern Sass Photography for taking pictures!! and Mrs. Cyndi from Cakes by Cyndi for making the most important part, the cake, and for keeping such a big secret.

Thanks to all of our family and friends who came out to celebrate.  We are so lucky to have such great people in our lives and is so happy that RaeLynn will have such great people to grow up around!

RaeLynn at 16 weeks gestation:

And so the spoiling begins...

I can't wait for her to be here so she can wear all the cute clothes!  In the meantime, I am trying to convince Johnathon to buy me a sewing machine so I can learn how to sew and make her clothes.  So far...it hasn't worked.  He doesn't think I will use it but he is so wrong.

As of this past Tuesday, I am 16 weeks.  I know y'all probably don't think I am showing much but I feel like I am about to pop.  I am still struggling with this gaining weight thing.  I am so ready to be able to go on a diet and workout after she comes.

Not much has changed.  I have been getting a lot of headaches.  And the pressure on my bladder and back is just unbelievable.  I am hoping some of that is coming from the UTI.  I just can't imagine what it is going to be like when I get really big.

I finally can eat a whole meal without feeling like I ate a cow. 

Besides that it's just a normal pregnancy for which I am very thankful!

I can't wait until I can feel her move :)

Moving right along :)

Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl- what will baby be?  Only a few more days before we can give our little baby a first name!  Who's excited?  This mommie to be!  I can't hardly wait for Monday morning or Monday evening...we are debating on having a gender reveal cake and finding out with our family at dinner that night.  Question is if either one of us can wait until that night.  I have only had three people predict it is a boy and everyone else believes it is a girl.  I am going with boy! Either way I don't care, I just want a HAPPY baby.  Johnathon on the other hand is probably going to have a mini break down if they tell us it is going to be a girl, haha.  Good thing for him if it is a girl, I told him we could discuss having another child one day but if it is a boy this is it.  I don't care what we have but he really wants to have a boy, so if we don't manage to get our way first time around I may reconsider having another baby one of these days.

The weeks are flying by, I feel like I just found out I was pregnant.  The bloating is almost completely gone.  Still can't eat too much at one time but I have learned to just eat little amounts throughout the day.  I eat Mexican food like it is my job.  No joke, I have eaten Mexican 3 times in the last 7 days.  I could just drink the queso dip and salsa.  Speaking of drink, if you could get drunk off of gatorade, I would be drunk all day, everyday.  I love gatorade and keep a bottle in my hand most of the day.  Pickles...no one ever lied when they said you will crave pickles while pregnant.  Problem is, I only like my papa's homemade pickles and we are out :( I have been wanting one so bad.  Last night I made a trip to the grocery store to buy pickles but they did nothing for me.  I guess I will have to wait on papa to make me some more.

Sleeping is going well, too well.  All I want to do is sleep, still.  I haven't mentioned this before but ever since I became pregnant I have been having CRAZY dreams.  It was actually one of the first signs that I was pregnant.  Before, I rarely dreamed.  Now, I have 3 or 4 crazy dreams a night.  I am not complaining though, they are really good, like a good movie.  It makes me so mad when I wake up and didn't find out what happened.

I went to get my blood work done yesterday, which I completely forgot about until the other day.  It didn't go so well...after giving 6 vials I fainted.  But I expected it, anytime I have to give more than one or two vials I always pass out.  I don't know why.  I don't have a problem with needles or blood.  I have stuck many, many people so that isn't an issue.  I am going to ask my doctor about it Monday.

The only other issue I have been having is pressure on my bladder.  I can only imagine how it is going to be when I get further along because right now it is terrible.  Other than that, physically I am doing great!

The last week being around some of my friends with their kids and keeping my nephew I have observed a few things that I am not sure that I am looking forward to.  I feel like I will never be able to eat a meal in peace again, whether is be in a restaurant or at home.  You can't eat anything without my nephew, Auden, in my face going mmmm mmmm and then demanding some of what you are eating.  And one bite is never enough, as soon as he swallows the cycle repeats.  When I am keeping him and no one is home with me, I never get a break.  I even have to take him to the bathroom with me to take a bath and he stands at the side of the tub wanting to get in.  Once he gets older I won't do this anymore but right now he doesn't understand.  I will never have a conversation without having to get up and do something for my child or to get on to them for eating out the dog bowl or pulling on the blinds.  I can tell I am not a parent yet because my friends and sister can tune their children out if they just keep on and on, me?  it drives me insane.  However, everyone tells me that being a parent is worth all this.  We will see.  Right now, I am thanking God for grandparents and date nights!

I am so excited to see our baby again, Monday!

Next week by this time we will hopefully know whether we are having a boy or girl and we can start spending lots of money on cute little baby things!  What's your predication?

14 weeks and counting.

As expected, I am behind on blogging.  That is ok though, this isn't school, there are no deadlines here.  It seems these days I am behind on everything though.  I guess that is what the first trimester of pregnancy does for ya.

As of this past Tuesday, I am 14 weeks pregnant which means I have entered the second trimester of pregnancy.  Supposedly, morning sickness is to cease this trimester and I am suppose to have all this amazing energy to clean.  So far, this morning I still had to hang my head over a trash can and well as far as that energy, I can't even see the floor in my room.

On a good note, the bloating has FINALLY went away.  I don't feel like I have ate a small animal all day anymore, which I am very very very thankful.  So far, I have only gained three pounds, all of which have went straight to my chest (so no complaints there).  I still haven't been able to eat much.  And even though I haven't gained weight, every time I eat my belly looks as if I swallowed a watermelon...seriously.  I envy people who can finish their entire meal.  I am still failing in the eating healthy department.  All I want is starches and something about meat is disgusting.  I still crave salt and sour stuff...so my purse stays stocked with warheads and sour skittles and I have even considered putting a salt shaker in there (I thought people would look at me strange when I pulled the box of salt out of my purse, so I have decided against it). I don't eat much at all but nothing I eat is very nutritious.  I have vowed to start eating better tomorrow.  Exercise would be great to but I am still waiting on all the energy to kick in!  When we were on vacation this past week I realized how out of shape I have got since becoming pregnant.  I couldn't even walk up the stairs to our beach house without feeling like I ran a marathon.  That was hard for me because I was in decent shape before...I am already planning how I will lose the baby weight and get back into shape after baby arrives.

Johnathon and I are still hanging in there.  We have are ups and downs. He still doesn't understand why I want to stay in bed all day, why I don't won't to be outside in the 105 degree Carolina muggy weather, or why I want to lay on the couch and watch the ID channel or baby story reruns all the time.  But he is trying, we both are trying to be more considerate of each other.  When I have a problem I try to let him know so we can work on it.  Needless to say, he probably wouldn't mind if I would go mute for a few days or he probably would even settle for a few hours.  Seriously though, Johnathon has been great and I wouldn't trade him for a million bucks or Magic Mike (well...Magic Mike may give him some competition, haha I am totally kidding Johnathon, your moves are way better anyways and I love you).

My emotions have calmed down some what.  I am not shedding near as many tears as before and most of the time they are happy tears.  I don't cry at the site of the baby clothes sections in stores anymore, so I would say I am doing wayyy better.  I think Johnathon would agree, too

We have so much to get done before the baby gets here.  I feel like we will never get it all done.  We are in the process of finishing our house right now, which is going slow but I know Johnathon is doing everything he can.  I will just be so glad to be settled and have the baby a room.  I think that will take a lot of the stress off of both of us, especially Johnathon.

We are hoping to find out what the baby is in a week and a half.  However, I have not been able to get in touch with the imaging center but I have been recommended another one so I am going to give them a call tomorrow.  There they can tell you at 15 weeks, which means we could find out next week but I highly doubt they will be able to fit us in next week.  It would be awesome if they could, though!

We have names picked out.  I have known the girl name before I ever dreamed of being pregnant: RaeLynn Taylor.  Rae is after Johnathon's father, James Ray and Lynn is after my mom Tammy Lynn. I have always loved the name RaeLynn (and it isn't pronounced Railing it is Ray Lynn). Taylor is Johnathon's mother's maiden name and my grandma's maiden name.  It is also my sister's name, she would be upset if I didn't though that in there, lol.  And no we are not kin, at least we hope not!  If it is a boy, his name will be Lane Michael.  Lane is a name Johnathon kept going back to time and time again.  I gave in and told him if it was a boy he could name it that.  Michael is after my Uncle Michael and Grandpa Mike (the two first men in my life!).  Unfortunately, I went to see Magic Mike this week and his name was Michael Lane, lol.  I told Johnathon we had to change the name but that isn't an option since he has been calling the baby Lane Michael for about two weeks...yes, he is still convinced there is a little boy in there.

Well that is it for this week.  Maybe I will blog again before the baby is here.  Maybe this time next week we will know whether it is a baby girl or boy!