Update

I felt a little like a human pin cushion today! All standard as I enter the 3rd trimester... flu shot and blood work up for gestational diabetes, thyroid, and iron levels. They said no news is good news so fingers crossed I don't hear from them. I am still on the small side weight gain-wise, but they're not worried because I'm/Baby's/We're(?) actually measuring a week ahead! I've also been given the final go ahead to drive or fly to San Diego to proudly attend Mark's graduation. Woohoo! Not too much to report at this appointment -- everything is "just perfect" -- love it!

Oh and today was my last monthly appointment! :) I will be going back in a little less than 3 weeks for a final sonogram (which can be in 3D/4D!) and then it's every two weeks... and then soon after that, every week! Whew! Where did the time go?? It seems like we just found out we were expecting and now it's almost time to meet Baby T!

*Coming as soon as I can stop crying my way through writing it -- Baby T's first letter from me.*

Top 10 Q's & A's

We've noticed since becoming pregnant {Yes, we, because Kevin's just as much emotionally and psychologically pregnant as I am. Lol} that it doesn't matter if you're related to us or you're the cashier at the local Target, y'all come out of the woodwork with questions and advice. And we don't mind answering them and we soak up as much of the tips as possible! Just for fun, here are some of the most repeated questions and answers...

1.) When are you due exactly?

Baby T is due January 23, 2011. We think it's pretty perfect that our new addition is estimated to arrive in January since as of right now, it's a birthday-less month in both our families.

2.) How long did you wait to tell Kevin? How did you tell him?

I wish this story was a lot cuter than it actually is. When we made the decision to start trying, all these adorably cute memorable ideas of how to tell him started flowing through my head. A few weeks later, I was given a prescription and was told to take a pregnancy test before I took the medicine (even though I had taken one a few days earlier) because the medicine didn't mix with babies. No biggie. I went to take the medicine on the morning of Friday, May 14th and was THISCLOSE to forgetting about the test. I only remembered because Kevin was taking the dog out to pee. Nice, right? I literally had the pill in my hand ready to take it when the little + sign appeared. I about peed myself (again)! When Kevin came back in with the dog, I told him I would need to take the car that day (we carpool together to work). He told me we were running too late for me to drop him off at the office and still make it to work on time. I told him I would just have to be late because I had to go to the doctor and held up the stick. I think his exact words were "No way! Are you serious?! Nuh uh! What?" And then giant hugs and smiles ensued. :D

3.) Do you know what the baby is?

Yup! And this momma had both the ultrasound tech and doctor confirm it for her at the last two appointments with them because she was paranoid. (17 & 19 weeks)

4.) Well, what is it?

A surprise! We get lots of grief over people not being able to get things pink or blue. But really, even if we accidentally slip the gender, we don't want 'em! We intend to have our kiddos fairly close together (*knock on wood*) and we're just too practical to have things that we can't use for the bunch of them. We're not the greatest at keeping surprises secret and are definitely struggling with keeping our pronouns to it, he/she, and her/his. But that moment of introducing our little one to all its family in the hospital is what keeps us going. :)

5.) What does Amy plan on doing after the baby arrives?

I plan on taking care of both our little one and our "surrogate daughter" (as her mom calls her!) Sara Beth. It was her mom's idea (and Kevin's and my secret wish) that I just bring Baby T with me to her house and watch both kiddos. So basically, I'll be able to be a stay at home mommy to my "two" babies AND get a paycheck! How amazingly lucky. :) I plan on working until Baby T is born and then taking about 6 weeks of maternity leave. When I return, 'baby' Sara will be almost 17 months old.

6.) Will y'all share nursery progress as you go along, or reveal at the end?

We looked into doing a gender neutral room for a while, but decided against it in the end. We'll do a big reveal after the baby arrives. I'm kicking myself for not doing before and after pictures of all the furniture Kevin refinished though. :( We just love how the room is coming along so far and can't wait to share it with y'all.

7.) Have you two discussed how many you want total? Will this be the only baby Trammell?

We have and we hope not! We would love to have three kids, maybe four. But we'll have to wait to see how tired and broke we are after this first one. ;)

8.) Have you photoshopped together pictures of you and Kevin as babies yet?

Nope. I've toyed with the idea of putting our pictures into those online baby picture machines where it takes both photos and predicts what your baby will look like, but as I was browsing around the examples of them, they all looked like little alien, ninja turtle, monkey children. I think I would cry if I did that with ours! Haha

9.) What's the best and worst stories you've been told since people have heard the big news?

WORST -- One woman was having back labor but kept getting sent home because the machine wasn't picking up on her contractions. She finally put her foot down (or body since she was curled up on the floor in the fetal position in so much pain) and had her husband take her back to the hospital. She was so far along when she got there that she ended up delivering in a storage room that had an extra bed in it. Her husband finished parking the car and arrived just as the baby was crowning. She wasn't even checked into the hospital until after the baby was born! Oh and side note - Kevin and I have watched a few of those "I didn't know I was pregnant" shows. We've never seen so many toilet babies in our lives! Lol BEST -- One woman went in when she started feeling contractions, had an epidural an hour later, did her makeup and hair when it kicked in, and had her baby 30 minutes later. An easy, breezy, beautiful cover girl birth.

10. What about old wive's tales?

Oh goodness, from carrying low and out front to having morning sickness and blemishes to strangling the baby if my arms go above my head... we've heard them all! I think the worst one we heard was from the woman that cleans my employer's home. She said that if I eat ANYTHING other than fruits and vegetables during pregnancy, my baby will suffer from a lifetime of colds and all of its baby teeth will come in with cavities. Hmmm... looks like the pediatrician and dentist will be buying mc-mansions because of Baby T. ;) We're too laid back to try and analyze all the old wive's tales, so we just choose not to believe any of them.

If your question wasn't answered or if you have a comment on any of these, just leave a comment below! {You don't have to be a registered member of this site.}

**Editors' Note**

We learned that Amy's parents (soon to be 1st time grandparents!) were given/lent a few things as well! Courtesy of Baby T's great grandparents and a great aunt, a beautiful buggy/pram, pac'n'play, bouncy seat, and a neat fabric high chair thing that helps keep the baby in place in a chair or old-school high chair that doesn't have safety straps are all ready to go in their house for Baby T to use. Thanks you guys!! :)

Blessed.

We've known for a while now how blessed we are for the family and friends we have. And this pregnancy is just bringing it to our attention once again... you know, in case we forgot or something. ;) Y'all have helped us out in so many aspects. Many of the materials/objects have been passed down from family members and we love how there's history in these 'pre-loved' items. We couldn't help but break it down in a list... (See Moms? We may not eat all our veggies, but we can be organized... most of the time anyways! ;) )

Nursery

~Cradle with bedding

~Crib, crib mattress, and crib mattress wedge

~Changing table & dresser combo and changing table pad

~Side table

~We've heard rumors of a tradition starting (continuing?) of a rocker as well :)

'Fun'

~activity mat

~bumbo

~boppy pillow

~bouncy/vibrating seat

'Practical'

~bottle sterilizer

~breastfeeding pumps

~prenatal vitamins

~formula

~books on pregnancy, baby names, and baby's first years

Clothes

~We have an enormous amount of people who have offered to pass down clothing from their kiddos to us. Therefore, it all works out that we're not revealing the gender!

~Amy's been so fortunate to have received many maternity shirts, pants, and jeans from her boss and Kevin's boss as well. :)

Emotionally (Most important!)

~Prayers from all of you guys during the scarier times of this pregnancy

~Visits, meals, and phone calls while Amy was on bed rest

~Advice and tips on everything pregnancy and baby related

~Constant love and support of this sweet baby and our growing family since the very beginning

Seriously you guys... You spoil us. We appreciate all of you so very much and consider ourselves incredibly lucky to have y'all in our lives. :)

Love,

Kevin & Amy

Let there be LIGHT!

According to my pregnancy books... "This week, baby's eyes, which until now were developing under fused eyelids, start to open. Of course, there's not much to see in there, but if your baby spots a bright light near your belly, you may notice an increase in activity." I've definitely noticed when there's loud sounds {like Frankie barking or listening to a live band play} Baby T moves around a whole lot, so we were really interested to see if our little eggplant ,work boot ,baby would react to light as well. So Kevin went rooting around and found a mini maglight and the experiment began. It took a couple seconds to figure out where baby was positioned, but once we did, on went the flashlight.... and tBaby moved! We wanted to make sure it wasn't a coincidence, so we turned off the flashlight and then turned it back on. We did this a few times, and each time our sweet baby moved, kicked, and punched when the flashlight was turned on and went still when it was turned off! It was such a cool experience for us. Muuuch more enjoyable than seeing my belly move like there's an alien about to claw its way out of there! {Or as Michael calls it, a sasquatch!} Baby is definitely feeling more like a sasquatch than the eggplant it supposedly is right now. Need proof? Check out this baby bump...

Yeah, in one week {since the fair picture was taken} my bump grew by 2 inches! *Insert gulp here* My expanding belly is really starting to make us realize how little time is left in this sweet pregnancy. And while it hasn't always been butterflies and rainbows, I have just loved being pregnant. And lucky for me, Kevin actually loves me in all my achey, craving, can't-take-off-the-above-cowboy-boots-without-his-help pregnant glory. How blessed am I? :)

The Fair!

One of our favorite times of the year is when the State Fair of Texas opens... The weather usually has just turned cool and breezy and it's the perfect weather to walk around outside! We've gone every year since 2005, with the exception of last year since we were marrying and honeymooning during most of it! Last time we went to the fair, we had such a pleasant time and it turned out, the reason behind it was because it was a "Senior Day"! Needless to say, it was a much slower, quieter crowd and the lines weren't long at all!

This year, we had the pleasure of being joined by Kevin's mom and stepdad. Unfortunately, we got there about an hour and a half after they did due to ridiculous parking traffic ~ we'll be taking a cue from them and riding DART next year for sure. We also plan on attending on "Senior Day" next year (this time on purpose!).... the crowds and lines were a little crazy!

Since we began attending the fair, we've developed some rituals we do every year....

Visit the auto building and all the other exhibit halls

This sculpture is made from BUTTER!

(It's a tribute to the infamous Red River Shootout, which sadly we lost...)

Take our picture by the fountains

*Note in Kevin's hand the special root beer that is a must-have on his list - they pour it from barrels and apparently there's just nothing like it!

{Kevin's mom wanted a "belly shot" in addition to our annual photo} :)

Eat Fletcher's corn dogs, tornado 'tater twisters, and of course the fried food

This year, the winner for "Most Creative" was fried beer! Kevin and I had heard mixed reviews, but figured if it won, it couldn't be all that bad.... WRONG! Kevin, his mom, and his stepdad all took one bite and promptly said it was awful and took a swig of their ice cold beers to wash down the nastiness. Why the people of the state fair thought that fake nacho cheese and hot dark beer ravioli would be tasty is beyond me!

Our favorite is still the fried s'mores!! Graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows all battered and deep-fried.... HEAVENLY!!!

We didn't get a picture, but Kevin also tried the fried "Texas Caviar" (fried black eyed peas) and said they were interesting... We really wanted to try the fried chocolate, fried lemonade, and fried frito pie, but the lines were close to an hour long!

All in all, we had another fantastic time at the fair. It's hard to believe that next time we go, we'll have an 8 month old with us! Crazy!