Pregnancy Announcement Mailed Thursday

I mailed out our pregnancy announcement last Thursday to all the family. Everyone should be getting it very soon.

Here is a sneak peak:

After Much Anticipation. . . . . .

After weeks of guessing and people saying it was a girl because the heartbeat was so fast or it's a boy because my morning sickness didn't kick in until the 2nd trimester....we have the results....



The pictures:
His profile and knee...he kept keeping himself all tucked together.


This 3D showes him grabbing his foot with his hand.


This 3D showes him smiling.


Gender shot.

Our Baby Photos

Here are some baby pictures of Raul and I. I often wonder who our baby will favor.

Yesterday's Doctor Appointment - 6/18

Yesterday's doctor appointment was very much like normal, except that I was finally able to see my OB/GYN. She asked how I was doing, which is actually great. My appetitie does come and go, but the morning sickness is practically gone, which is good.

I layed down on the table and using the fetal heart doppler tried to find "Baby's" heartbeat. All I could hear were loud static like noises. Dr. Reid said that those sounds were the baby moving around and asked if I could feel it. I told her no. She said I should any day now. She was finally able to get the heartbeat, which was found right next to my belly-button. I thought it was rather funny that it took so long because he/she was being a wiggle worm.

I'm excited and can hardly wait until Monday to be able to see the baby. We get the pictures on CD, but I'm going to bring my camera so that I can take some video. I would really like video of the baby moving around.

The Rewards of Parenthood

I have seen repeatedly the breakdown of the cost of raising a child, but this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way. The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle income family. Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition.

For those with kids, that figure leads to wild fantasies about all the money we could have banked if not for (insert your child's name here). For others, that number might confirm the decision to remain childless.

But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into $8,896.66 a year, $741.38 a month, or $171.08 a week. That's a mere $24.44 a day! Just over a dollar an hour. Still, you might think the best financial advice says don't have children if you want to be "rich." It is just the opposite.

So what do your get for your $160,140?
1. Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
2. Glimpses of God every day.
3. Giggles under the covers every night.
4. More love than your heart can hold.
5. Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
6. Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
7. A hand to hold, usually covered with jam.
8. A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites, building sandcastles, and skipping down the sidewalk in the pouring rain.
9. Someone to laugh yourself silly with no matter what the boss said or how poorly your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140, you never have to grow up...You get to finger-paint, play hide-and-seek, and catch lightning bugs.

You have an excuse to keep: reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh, watching Saturday morning cartoons, going to Disney movies, and wishing on stars.

You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths, hand prints set in clay, and cards with backward letters.

For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck...You get to be a hero just for retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof, taking the training wheels off the bike, removing a splinter, filling a wading pool, coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat to history; to witness the first step, first word, first bra, first date, and first time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal...You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren.

You get an education...in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there with God... You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost.