The Official Baby Bump

This is for all you out there that do not get to see me on a regular basis (especially for you Shawna:) I have been hearing for weeks from everyone that no one can tell I am pregnant so here is some proof that I in fact have a bun in the oven!

It's a Girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am finally writing in to announce the news that we are having.... a baby girl! I wanted to blog last Thursday when we had our ultrasound, but I wanted to wait until my Dr's appointment today to hear if all was okay. The Dr. said that if there was a report card, the baby would get an A+ (which we are not surprised about considering who her parents are:) The ultrasound was one of the most amazing things that I have ever witnessed in my life. I figured that I would just be bawling like a baby but really I just couldn't stop smiling - I was mesmerized by the fact that I was getting to see my baby for the first time...inside my stomach no less. It was bizarre seeing my insides so up close and personal. When the technician finally starting showing us the baby (after the excruciating pain of having to pee for like 2 hours was over), it was indescribable. Granted, we couldn't see every perfect little feature of hers, but we saw the basic outline of the new love of our lives. I did shed a few tears when I seen that little heart beating - the heart rate was at 143 - it was a sense of joy and relief. Its not that I had negative thoughts but I guess since my pregnancy has been pretty easy-going so far, I sometimes didn't feel very pregnant and was like - do I really have a baby in there? It meant so much to me and Brad to see her. The best part was when we had a really good close up of her face and she started opening and closing her mouth! To all you out there that have been through this before or have children now, maybe this sounds trivial, but my goodness, that was such a blessing to see! They said that she was 15cm and 11oz. Although that seems really tiny, she has never seemed more big or real to us. I am now half way through the pregnancy - 20 weeks! - and starting to feel some commotion from her - yea!!! I must say I am really enjoying pregnancy, but we cannot wait to have her out so we can meet her!

Macie May

We had the pleasure of house sitting for my sister-in-law's dog Macie for the past week. We are dog lovers but not a couple that has ever truly wanted one of our own because of how much work they tend to be. We like to have our own schedule and not feel tied down, but after having her for a week, it almost, I said almost, made us reconsider. We would rush home at lunch and home from work to be with her and almost found ourselves trying to go away separately so we wouldn't leave her alone. I almost had a tear today knowing she was leaving - wow - how unexpected. (Don't worry Elvis Geurink - no one could replace you though:)

Kolter Scott Rotman

On Tuesday, April 8, we were blessed with the news that little Kolter Scott Rotman was brought into this world at 6:56pm. He was born to my brother Bryan and his wife Daysha in Zeeland Hospital. He weighed 7lbs 3 oz and is 20 inches long. He is very healthy and a perfect mix of his sister Kennedy (3) and Kooper (1). We would like to give a shout-out to them for having 3 kids in 3 years and 4 days!!! It was so awesome to go to the hospital and see this little guy - he was so precious. It is weird how we viewed this birth a little differently because we are looking at it with fresh and curious eyes awaiting our upcoming pregnancy/birth. Daysha did so awesome and everything went so well and I really pray it is always that simple to pop a kid out! It is...right? The miracle of life is so beautiful and it was a gift to be able to welcome a new little "Kolt" into our family fold!

Baby Beat

Today we had the pleasure of getting to hear our baby's heart beat for the first time. I have been anxiously awaiting this moment since I found out we were pregnant. I don't know what it is, but I feel so much more at ease now that I have actually heard it living inside of me - that is so crazy! It was cool because Brad got to be there as well. At first she (yes, I ended up having some intern do it because my doctor was behind because of a surgery) couldn't find the heartbeat and I was getting a bit worried. She was pushing the Doppler into my gut so hard I thought I would scream - it's like holy smokes do you think that by giving me a snake bite in the stomach that you can hear it better? By the time she finally found it, she asked if we could hear it and when we agreed she just stopped. But, it was the best 3 seconds ever! Although I was a little frustrated at how short she let us listen, I could not have been happier that we got to hear our little baby. The heartbeat was 160 - start your bets on what you think that means ladies!

Mom and Dad Rotman's reaction to the news:)

Thought you all might find these pics funny...as you can tell, they were a little surprised to find out that they are going to be grandparents for the 6th time:)

Us...in a new situation

Since this is my very first blog posting I am not sure how to exactly go about saying things so that they are interesting...as I am not as eloquent at writing as my hubby... so I am just going to give it to you straight. Well, it is our turn to share the good news that we are having a baby!!! I am 10 weeks along and due on September 29! We could not be more excited about it. We have known since I was about 3 weeks along and it was the single most difficult thing ever not to tell anyone, especially my mother who thought for certain I would call her up the minute I knew, but I was actually able to keep the secret til I was 8 weeks! I cannot complain - I have felt pretty good so far. There was only a week or so that I was really down and out but other than that, I just have a rough time sleeping and feel only nauseated briefly in the morning and before I go to bed. I am happy to report that as of today, I have not throw up once (don't mean to sound like I am bragging Mere:) The thing that we are so thrilled about, aside from the awesome fact that as of September/October, we will be parents, is the fact that I get to share this awesome experience with my Mexico chicas! My friend Lindsey is due in a few weeks and my friends Mere and Jamie are only 7 and 8 weeks ahead of me. I (I mean we) feel so blessed to be having a child and feel so fortunate that we can share the experience with our dear friends. The picture above is right after we found out I was prego!

This is the picture that I used on a slide show the night that we surprised my family at our monthly "family night". I had recently taken pictures at a wedding reception and at my nephew, Reed's church event, so the whole family sat around the TV and watched a slide show of all the pictures (a common family night occurrence). In the midst of the photos I placed this picture and boy were they surprised - you should have seen my mother's face. The cutest comment of the night came from my 2 and 1/2 year old niece, Kennedy, who ran up to me in the midst of the congratulating, hugged my leg and said "Auntie Jill, you are just the luckiest!"

We were able to tell Brad's family the very next night which was awesome timing. It was my sister-in-law's birthday and we went to Pereddies for dinner. I knew this would be hard one to pull off because when we have dinner together, we usually get a bottle of Riesling and I didn't know what to do. I purposely didn't take my ID so that I could use it as an excuse, but my mother-in-law vouched for my age so I just had to order one anyways. Then Betsy's opened her gifts and we presented her with a baby blanket and said that it was for when she would babysit her little niece or nephew. Now if you know Betsy at all, she is famous in these parts for being the best nanny/babysitter ever so we thought it would be a fitting gift (especially since we intend to fully take advantage of that...in a good way I mean). Everyone was surprised, especially my father-in-law who didn't catch on for like 2 minutes:) They all had noticed that I got wine and that threw them off so we did a good job of surprising them.

It was a great weekend and it has been a blast telling people. Now that the dust is settling on our good news, life seems basically normal except that I feel like a heifer most days:) I will keep you in the loop from here on out and try to keep my future blogs shorter - sorry:)