An oldie but a goodie...

It's been a while since I've posted. Michael told me the other day that I should post something new, but I guess I've just felt like there's nothing too exciting to post about.

Things are still going smooth as can be. Luke's kicking like crazy. This morning at church I swear he was trying to push his way out of my side. He hasn't figured out yet that punching and kicking is not going to get him out any earlier. If nothing else, he's certainly making it known that he is starting to feel cramped.

I have a regular doctors appointment on Tuesday (I really look forward to those)! They are doing some routine testing for gestational diabetes. Although not a huge issue, I have a been a little nervous about it, so if you could pray that those tests would come back negative I would greatly appreciate it!! " The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them." Psalm 34:17

Other than that, we have begun turning "Michael's study" into a nursery over the past few weeks. Part of me was sad to see the huge (and I mean huge) desk go after seeing Michael spend all those hours sitting there, but we are beginning a new chapter and I can't wait! We assembled the crib (gracias Mom and Dad) and thanks to my sweet TriDelt friends in New York, we already have the cutest cowboy bedding all set and ready. Michael seems to think the hog head that currently resides in there goes perfectly with the theme and should stay when Luke comes. I am having second thoughts.

Here is an ultrasound picture from the appointment where we found out it was a BOY. He's grown quite a bit since this but I finally got this one formatted so you could actually see it. How cute is that big yawn and the roundest little head you've ever seen?

Baby Moon!

The last couple of weeks have been crazy with travel for us and I have been meaning to post pictures from our "baby moon," so finally here they are. We got plane vouchers on our way home from a trip this summer so of course Michael couldn't wait to plan a trip to the "waves" before Luke arrives. We found this quaint little town just North of Puerto Vallarta called Sayulita. Michael researched the heck out of places in the area, and decided this one had the best "swell." It takes about an hour to get there from the PV airport on one of the city buses. This is a must if you make the trip- the crazy things you see on those buses are priceless.

The city itself is a little rugged and less touristy than I was expecting but very fun. The only stipulation I gave Michael was there must be a pool wherever we stay because I wasn't surfing with him and was imagining sitting beside a pool being served virgin daiquiri's while he was catching waves. Lo and behold we get to the spot and there is no pool in site. Michael wasn't completely to blame since the website clearly showed pictures of numerous pools. I kindly informed the staff at Villa Amor that their website was very misleading and was not too happy about it. They may not have realized they were dealing with a hormonal pregnant woman. We had a great time and I finally had Michael take a couple of pictures of my baby bump.

Pictures of Luke

Can you see him? The left side of the picture is his head, you can see his eyes and even his eventual teeth. His little hand is up next to his right eye and on the left side you can see his other elbow and he's relaxing with his hand behind his head. The other pictures aren't cooperating but I will try to get those up too.

It's a.....

BOY!!!

That's right, Luke W. should be making his entrance into the world in mid-late January. The long awaited ultrasound was great. I was so excited I couldn't sleep Wednesday night and had butterflies in my stomach all morning. I don't know why the butterflies because it's not like we had anything to be nervous about.

First we had the regular doctors visit that went fine. She just checked Luke's heartbeat and asked how I was and we were on our way (pretty much). We had to go to a different location where they have a better ultrasound machine and wait over an hour to even be seen. :( They did all kinds of measurements and finally got down between the legs and in a very nonchalant voice she said "you're going to have a....... little boy," and I couldn't hold the tears back.

All I could think of was how Awesome our God is watching Him perform this miracle inside my body by forming our baby so perfectly. The Doctor said all of the measurements looked "great," and both the technician and the doctor confirmed he's got the boy parts. Michael even thought he saw "something" before the technician could get it out. Luke did a little yawning for us towards the end of the appointment as if we were boring him or something. We might have a little rascal on our hands! :)

Bring on the rascall though-We already love him so much. Here are some pictures from dinner with our families sharing the news.

No news just yet!

Yesterday Michael was finally able to come to a doctors appointments with me! Of course it was the most uneventful appointment I've had, but I was glad he got to meet the Dr. and hear the heartbeat (in person). Last time I called him so he could hear it because he was stuck in traffic on his way there.

I had this little ray of hope that we might get to find out the sex, but that was quickly squashed when they put us in a room that didn't even have an ultrasound machine. We go back for the "big" ultrasound on September 6 where they will check out all of the organs and give us the verdict on the sex. I can hardly stand it anymore. Four more weeks.

Happy Birthday to my MOM!

I just looked at my post and realized I can't have a post on my mom's birthday without mentioning her special day! Mom, you are the best. Thank you for all of the sacrifices you have made in your life for the three of us girls. Thank you for teaching me what a great mom should look like. I am so glad I have you to walk with me through becoming a mommy! We love you and appreciate you more than you'll ever know!

Hooray for Michael!

So I'm still getting used to this whole blogging thing but I really like it! Nothing new to report about the baby these days except that he/she is growing like crazy and is about the size of a lemon. I have a doctor's appointment in two weeks, but we probably won't find out the sex for another 6 weeks. We can't wait!



I thought it'd be fun to take a tally of everyone's guesses. Michael and I are divided on what we think it is so our guesses won't help.



Other big news in the Merrick household is that Michael found out he did really well on his board exam that he took back in June, so my man is going to be a doctor!! I am so proud of him and we are so relieved to have that hurdle behind us. Praise the Lord for walking us through it. We would be lost without Him. Now Michael is in the midst of delivering babies on his first rotation and is going to be a pro by the time Baby Merrick is here! I will post a picture of him in his doctor garb as soon as he'll let me snap one. (Did I already say I'm proud?)

Other than that, my morning/all day sickness has started to subside! Woo hoo! Here we come second trimester.

Talk to ya soon!