One Year

This blog was meant to be written on the one year mark of my first doctors appointment, the one where we officially discovered we were going to be parents.  I thought that was March 6, it was March 3.  My bad.  But here I am anyways.

We knew before the doctors appointment that I was pregnant. In fact, we knew about 2 1/2 weeks before the appointment, but it's still exciting and nerve-wracking going in and getting that first sonogram.  The morning of the appointment we actually closed on our house in Greensboro.  Talk about a life changing day. 

I'll never forget seeing that little bean on the screen though.  My heart filled with so much love the instant the nurse turned the screen to me.  Luckily for us at our OBGYN they attempt to listen to the baby's heartbeat in the first visit.  I wasn't prepared for that, but once I heard it I knew it was a sound I could listen to everyday.  The heartbeat really made it official for me.  I could finally believe that my pregnancy was real and I was going to be a Mommy.  It was like all of a sudden, nothing was about me anymore, and I was perfectly fine with that.  Now here we are, one year later and definitely nothing is about me anymore and I'm still perfectly fine with that.  As weird as it may sound, I really feel like we had our own 39 weeks of special bonding, a bond that no one else will get to have with her.  Some days I really miss having her in my belly, so close and so safe all the time.  But most days, I'm just so happy that she is here.  And she is perfect : )

What better way to reminisce about this amazing journey than with the pictures that documented to whole thing.  The pictures that I hope one day Ryleigh will really appreciate.  Enjoy.

The Belly Expansion

The Ultrasounds

6 Weeks & 6 Days...the very first glimpse

11 Weeks

13 Weeks

16 Weeks

18 Weeks...we found out it's a GIRL!!

23 Weeks

29 Weeks...the 4-D Ultrasound

29 Weeks...this is such a Ryleigh face!

29 Weeks...now we know why she always has her hands by her face when she sleeps

The Baby Shower

The Wedding

Jason & Bekah's Wedding in Buffalo, NY on October 1, 2010

Funny Pictures

My first (and only) Odouls before going to the Rascal Flatts concert. In Charlotte. Outside. In July. 24 week pregnant.

Barefoot & in the kitchen...for my wonderful sister-in-laws bridal shower

Bekah and I at her bridal shower...the only picture of the two of us from it

My giant swollen feet!  The sad thing is, they got even worse than this!

The hubby in the Empathy Belly during our birthing class

My belly mold.  This was done September 27, 2010.  I was 36 1/2 weeks.

Lucy protecting her pregnant Mommy...or just using her belly as a pillow.

Visiting Niagra Falls while in Buffalo, NY.  We walked around & tried to induce labor.  It didn't work.

The journey ends...but a new one begins : )

Weigh In Wednesday

So I'm not very happy with this weeks weigh in, so I'm going to keep it short and sweet.  I gained 1/2 pound this week : (  I thought I would do a lot better since my Mom was here to keep me on track, but I guess that didn't happen.  I've decided that since I've been hovering in the same weight range for the past 3 weeks now, that obviously what I'm doing isn't working.  So, I've signed up for Weight Watchers Online.  I'm really excited about it and have high hopes that I'll get back on track and losing weight soon.  The good news in this though is that at least my work outs are helping.  I do feel stronger and you can tell that I'm sliming down, so yay for that!  Hopefully next week will yield better results, if not, I don't know what to do from there!

Yaya Visits

For the past week we have had a visitor at our house...Yaya was here!!  It has been about 3 1/2 months since my Mom has seen Ryleigh, so we were very anxious and excited for her to get here.  She spent a lot of time with our little munchkin soaking in every little bit of her that she could : )  We pretty much just hung out around the house the whole time, but a couple days we did venture out.  We went to the outlet mall one day so Yaya could buy Ryleigh lots of cute things.  Then Friday night the Hubster and I had a date night while Yaya stayed in and watched the little ones (Ryleigh and Lucy).  On Sunday we went to church and then that night we went to care group, so we had a couple little "outings".  It was nice to have someone here during the day to watch Ryleigh while I worked out and took a shower and got ready.   We also discovered how nice it was when we had to grab multiple things out of the car, plus a baby, plus a stroller.  We decided that's what we needed, an extra set of hands : )  Anyways, enjoy some pictures and videos from Yaya's visit...we had such a good time and can't wait to see her again in 2 months...Poppi too!!

We had another physical therapy appointment with Miss Flavia while Yaya was here.  Miss Flavia says Ryleigh is doing soooooo good.  We are now down to appointments only once a month! 

Yaya saw how much we liked the light up piano toy at physical therapy, so she bought one for us to play with at home.  We love it!!

We also had our first taste of peas while Yaya was here.  They were not our favorite, but the next time we tried them Mommy mixed them with apples and they went down a lot easier.

Ryleigh tries peas

 dressed up pretty for church

 with Yaya before church

and with Mommy before church because she can't resist snapping a picture with me 

 showing off my piggies

 playing with my toy

swinging in my swing, watching some TV

 Yaya, Ryleigh (under the blanket), Daddy and Lucy all napping on Sunday afternoon

 watching Lucy run around..."I can't wait until I can run around with her!"

 tummy time

holding my own bottle like a big girl

playing with Yaya...Ryleigh laughs and Yaya gets a leg work out