21 weeks & baby L's Gender Reveal.

How far along? 21 weeks

Total weight gain: 16 pounds

Maternity clothes? Yes-siree. It's amazing how wonderful just a simple maternity T-Shirt feels. I thought for sure at least regular t-shirts would fit for longer....WRONG!

Stretch marks? Nope!

Sleep: Great! It's hard to get up sometimes though, I mean literally I have a difficult time finding a comfortable way to get up out of bed. I can't sit straight up because that hurts, so I have to do like, a combat roll off the side of the bed.

Best moment this week: Baby clothes shopping, and finally being able to add gender-specific items to my registries.

Miss Anything? Sleeping on my belly!
Movement: Yes! I have felt him several times this week, always when I'm laying around doing nothing. When I wake up in the mornings, I stay stick still for awhile to see if I can catch him groovin'.

Food cravings: Watermelon!! I've realized there are few things that taste better than ice cold, juicy watermelon when you're in the hot sun! I've probably consumed an entire mini watermelon on my own since Saturday.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope.
Gender: It's a boy!

Labor Signs: Nope

Symptoms: Let's see.... got some heartburn this week, but nothing too awful, and then of course, feeling baby move. Also, it seems like my belly is always tight/uncomfortable, and often cramping.

Belly Button in or out? still in...for now.
Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy-ish, this week has been a wide array of emotions!!

Looking forward to: Putting my nursery together!! I've had my crib picked out for a while, (of course, it's out of stock on like, EVERY site until mid-June) and I also have a sweet rug picked out from Urban Outfitters that I'm ordering this week! EEEEK!

Showing?: For sure!

 

Well, this week I finally had the moment I'd been waiting for--finding out my baby's gender! The gender reveal party came together wonderfully! We had so many people come over to find out & celebrate with us. I spent weeks making decorations and they turned out so great.

We put my friend Jen and her hubby in charge of the big 'reveal'. On Thursday, we had my ultrasound, and I had the tech put the gender into a sealed envelope. Friday night, we took it to our friends. Jeremy made the cuuutest cake (see below!), but for the reveal we actually did a pinata. I wanted something a little different than the normal gender reveal party. So we bought a pinata, along with tons of blue and pink confetti/candy, etc. and they were left to stuff it with the right color!

 

When the moment finally came to break the pinata, we had about 20 people here, and also about 6 on skype. (THAT turned out to be a mess when we lost them ALL at the last minute. :( But they were at least 'here' for part of the party). We Keith broke the pinata in about two swings, and BAM blue stuff everywhere. :) Yep, indeed, it's a boy. See for yourself. (The ultrasound tech put this picture into the envelope).

 

 

I was so overwhelmed that day, what with everything going on, trying to get EVERYONE on skype for the party, trying to be a party host, that I didn't have time to sit down and think about the fact that I was having a boy until later. If you know me, you know I was hoping for a little girl, so I was a little disappointed at first, but it's like I've said before, we are blessed no matter what God decides to give us. I know I will love my boy more than anything, and one day laugh at the fact that I was hoping for him to be a girl! And look at all the cute little boys that were at the party, how could I NOT be excited to have one of these?!

 The cake Jeremy made, isn't it ADORABLE?!

(I actually met a photographer at my work a few weeks ago, and she had been wanting to photograph a gender party for awhile, so she offered to come do mine for free! She took some beautiful photos, so as soon as I get them I'll share them with you all! These ones here were taken by Jen and her awesome camera)

 

A while ago we decided on Liam for a boy. We both loved the name, and then I read that Liam is short for William (duh!) and we knew it couldn't be more perfect! I'm sure he'll be just like his daddy in every way...

(We'll just hope he inherits some good traits from me, too.)

For now, we'll let him grow big and strong so he can conquer the world!!

xoxox

mommy, daddy, & liam pope