Christmas is coming! Eek!

I can't believe that we are so close to Christmas already! Where did 2014 go? As I get older, I realize how precious time is, and I am sure that this will only become more important once the little bambino is here. I think that we are caught-up with buying everyone's gifts, so at least we are covered in that department.. unless I think of anyone I missed :/ 

To catch everyone up to speed, we had a great week off of work in Mississippi for Thanksgiving. First we went to Atlanta for Allen and Brittany's wedding, and we had a blast. Then, we went to Oxford for the week. We had so much fun spending time with family, relaxing, and going to winning the Egg Bowl. The only problem is that it just didn't last long enough. Whenever I am home, time just flies by; and I am always so sad to leave. Here are some pictures:

We were having a little too much fun with selfies at Brittany and Allen's wedding

Enjoying the student section at the Egg Bowl

I got to see one of my besties, Liz Weissinger! 

My family in the grove! 

My bro, Austin 

The beautiful bride, Brittany Lamb! 

The best photo bomb ever- thanks Chris Rutland! :) 

I am already 23 weeks with Baby Boy, who is now the size of a mango or a grapefruit. Take your pick...

I think it's funny how both apps that I use have different fruits each week. Oh well. 

I am also finally starting to feel little movements in there, which is really crazy. It's hard to wrap my head around the fact that I have a tiny human being growing inside of me. Not to sound cliche, but it really is such a miracle. So far, so good as far as symptoms go. I haven't really had any strange symptoms or cravings- except that when its up to me to choose what to eat, I always want beef. Specifically, cheese burgers.. go figure. Good thing that there is a delicious hamburger place here in Augusta called Farmhouse. 

Here are some pictures of me with my finally-showing bump:

^ I took this one 3 weeks ago on Thanksgiving (before I ate my weight in casseroles) ^

My parents surprised me by treating me to some maternity clothes, and here I am trying on my new maternity jeans! My friend, Lauren Ellis, also sent me a huge box of her old maternity clothes, so I am really hooked-up now! I am so excited to finally get to wear them all. So far, I haven't had the true test of being pregnant- which is when a stranger asks when you are due. Apparently, that's when you really feel preggers. Ryan seems to think that it is because I am not large enough yet, and people are too polite to ask- in case I am not. :) I will let y'all know when I have a stranger ask about the baby. 

In case any of you missed it, this past Friday (December 12th) was National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day. My job really embraced this holiday (is it really a holiday though?), and we were all encouraged to send in pictures of us wearing our sweaters during therapy. Here is mine:

Pretty cheesy.. I know. Don't judge me. My kids liked it at least :)

Ryan is just beginning a very busy and stressful rotation, so I probably won't see too much of him for the next few weeks. :( At least he has the week of Christmas off, and we will be in Jonesboro, GA for the holidays. We are so excited! 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! 

It's a BOY!

We went for our anatomy scan/sonogram and found out some exciting news: It's a boy! Many of you voted that it would be a boy, so you were right!

Here is your proof

Profile picture

He loves to land shark

I told Ryan that Baby Keen looks a little too much like The Emperor from Star Wars here. 

See the resemblance? :) 

Here is his cute little foot! 

We found out that our baby was approximately 8 ounces (half a pound), but my pregnancy app told me that he is also the size of a bell pepper... go figure. 

So now that we know that we are having a boy, we need to pick out a name. We can also let the planning begin- which leads me to our next topic:

Registering for a Baby (cue the scary music)

Wow. I figured that this would be overwhelming, but I never really knew just how taxing this process would be until I bribed Ryan with Starbucks talked Ryan into going with me to Buy Buy Baby on Saturday. Who knew that a baby needed so much stuff? Which leads me to my next question: Do they REALLY need all of this? Probably not, but where do you draw the line?

There was a very helpful sales assistant who helped us. She had 5 kids, so I trusted what she recommended. She would ask us things like: "Do you have any opinions on swaddling?" "Do you have any concerns for safety?" "How do you feel about baby monitors?" And Ryan and I would blankly stare at each other and at her and say "Uh, noooo?" "We don't know..." "Huh?" After about 3 hours of going through the store and scanning things that we were told we needed liked, we had to call it quits. Ryan was a trooper, but I could tell it was time to go when his eyes starting glazing over. We sure do have a lot to learn when it comes to anything to do with a baby!

Anxiously Waiting...

So I haven't had much to report, so I haven't posted any blogs lately. Here is an update on where we stand! 

I am finally starting to look a little more pregnant:

It only took 17.5 weeks! 

I get these weekly posts from a baby app that I downloaded which keeps me updated on the size of our baby. It always compares the baby to a fruit or vegetable, which is pretty random/funny. Last Sunday, I got this one. Our baby weighs as much as a turnip... Right. Because everyone knows how much a turnip weighs...#turnipforwhat 

We find out if Baby Keen is a boy or a girl tomorrow morning, and we could not be more excited! I had some fun with some "Old Wives' Tales":

Not sure if you can really see the colors in the picture, so I typed it out:

Baby's Heart Beat- >140
Necklace Test- Circle
Cravings- Salty
Hair Growth- Slower
Morning Sickness- No
Headaches- No
Skin- Dry
Sleeping- Left Side
Mood- Happy

So, it's about half and half which means that these Ole Wives' Tales tell us nothing. :) What do you think Baby Keen is? Be sure to vote over on the upper-hand side of the page before we officially find out tomorrow. 

So we will be sure to keep everyone posted on our big news, so stay posted tomorrow! 

In other not-baby news, Ryan has joined an intramural soccer team, and they had their first game last night. Here is a picture of the athletic doctors from before and after the game:

I was pleasantly surprised at how well they did! They won! 

This is a little late, but I thought I would share anyway. Halloween kinda snuck-up on us, so we decided to recycle older costumes. Here is a picture from Halloween:

We had a small party with the residents from the hospital at our house, and we had a great time! 

Hope everyone has a great week and weekend, and I will be sure to make another post with the news of what Baby Keen is! So hasta luego!

Our Big News: We can finally let the "baby" out of the bag!

It's been so hard to hold the news in, but we are finally able to tell you that...

WE ARE PREGNANT! 

(Props to our friend Caroline Fausel for taking our picture and designing our announcement. Didn't she do a lovely job?) 

So, I am about 12 1/2 weeks (3 months for those who don't speak prenatal), and I have had 2 successful doctor's visits. Here are the sonograms:

This is the first sonogram that we did at 6.5 weeks at Dr. Braun's office.

Then, I went to the hospital the next day so that Ryan could be there and also to check the due date with the current measurements:

Pretty neat, huh? 

Then, I just went back last Thursday, September 25 for another check-up. Here is the growing baby, and it is actually starting to look like a baby. So cool! (I had a little fun with some of my photo apps adding the text.)

I love this because you can see his/her face with the hand up on the head. He/she is being bashful. 

As it says, he/she is just chillin' in this one. 

This might have to be framed because our baby is OBVIOUSLY doing the "land shark" already for our Ole Miss Rebels. Already a Rebel fan! :) 

It was so much fun telling our families, and we were sure to record their reactions. Here is the video of us telling my parents- Wes and Allison Wilson. My mom boo-hoos and my dad is speechless. Austin, my brother, was sitting nearby but didn't really know what was going on. You can watch for yourself:

Here is a video of us telling the Keens. I recorded this, so it was a little shaky! I was nervous and excited to tell them, so it was hard to hold the iPad steady! It worked out perfectly that not only Randy and Cindy Keen were there, but also MaryAnn and Ben were home. We were able to get everyone's reaction to the news :) 

Then, we headed over to Mary White's house- AKA- Mimi's house to share our news with her. She must be a professional at this sort of thing because she just kept on rolling with what she wanted her new great-grandmother name to be! We sure do love you Mimi! 

 

Baby Keen is due April 12, 2014. We are so very excited, and we can't wait to find out if it is a boy or a girl. We will have to wait about 6 more weeks to find out.. so stay tuned!

A lot to catch-up on!

Ok.. where to start?

1. Ryan and I moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana last September, 2013. 

2. Ryan matched in Internal Medicine residency at the Medical College of Georgia- Georgia Regents University in Augusta, GA. 

3. Ryan graduated this past May, 2014. 

4. We bought a house and moved to North Augusta, SC.

5. We bought a new car. 

Ok, I think that just about brings us up to speed. Phew! It sounds like a lot when I sit here and think back to all that we have done in the past year! 

Ryan is working the #residentlife which means that he is over-worked and under-paid: eating, sleeping, and breathing the hospital. He is very busy, but he is enjoying what he is doing- so that is great. I am busy working as a Lead SLP (I was promoted yay!) with my same company, and I now have 43 students on my caseload as well as my Lead duties! Yikes!

Everything is going pretty good so far. I am really going to give a good, hardy effort at blogging again, so please bear with me! :)  That's all for now! Later!