Camryn in 3D!

Over our Christmas break we had the opportunity to get a 3D sonogram! We went on the Tuesday before Christmas to a place in Tyler called Stork Vision. It was a full house! My mom and dad, Tyson's mom and dad, Tyson's brother, and my sister and brother-in-law were all able to join us! Unfortunately, Miss Camryn did not cooperate with us. The cord was in front of her face the whole time, so we weren't able to get a good picture of her. The nice people at Stork Vision let us reschedule for the Friday after New Year's so that we could try again. So we went back and had much more success. Here are some of the best pictures that we got!

Profile view of her face:

Front view of her face. Chubby cheeks and a dimple in her chin!
Big yawn!
She had her feet crossed over each other...not much room in there!
Thanks so much to my mom and dad (and Aunt Babe) for this fun experience! Now we are just looking forward to seeing her in person in 7 weeks or so!

Tyson's Birthday & the Nursery

Happy Birthday to Tyson! The lucky boy got to celebrate yesterday by having the day off of work! When I got off of school, he opened his gifts, then we ate dinner at Abuelo's (yum!), did some shopping, and came back home and ate cheesecake...made by me! I love you so much, honey! I'm so blessed to have you in my life!! Here are some pics of his gifts:

Opening a new shirt from his mom and dad.
Now wearing the new shirt, and holding my gift!

Playing with his new toy from me...speakers for his iPod. :)

In other news...we've been working on Camryn's nursery lately, too! Today, we picked out a chair for her room from Ikea, and I bought most of the fabrics for the bedding. I also got some letters to put on the wall that spell her initials. Here's a couple of pictures of what the room looks like now:I have my next doctor's appointment on Monday afternoon, and shortly after that, we'll be heading to our 3 Christmases in Tyler and Houston, then our Kirksey family trip. We'll be back in town in a couple of weeks, and then I'll update with pictures of our fun holiday! Merry Christmas to everyone out there in blogland! :)

30 Weeks

Oh my goodness, how time is flying! On Friday, I will be exactly 30 weeks along...only 10 weeks to go! I have been so blessed to have an easy pregnancy that the time has gone by waaay too quickly! I am so thankful for how good I have felt, and that any "issues" I've had have been minor (Thanksgiving weekend I discovered what it feels like to have your heart burning!) I realized this week that when I go back to school after Christmas break, I will only have 8 weeks left! (That is, assuming that Camryn decides to come ON her due date! Ha!)

So here is what is going on baby-wise lately:

1. We picked her name! (in case you didn't see that in the previous paragraph!) Camryn Joy. Not Cammy. Not Cam. Not CJ. Camryn! :) We are keeping with a tradition in Tyson's family to have names that end with an "n", and both of us liked how it sounded. It's nice to be able to call her by her name now! :)

2. We regsistered! Everyone that we talked to said that Babies R Us was the best place to register, so that's what we did. Talk about an overwhelming experience! I feel like on every row I just stared at all the stuff thinking either "What is that for?" or "Do I really need that?" There are just so many of everything to choose from. I think that a few mommies should go check out our registry and tell me if we picked good stuff! :)

3. I passed my glucose test! Yay! And at my last appointment, my blood pressure, my weight, and the baby's heartbeat were all great and normal. I go back next Monday for another check up. By the way, the last sonogram I had was at 19 weeks, and I'm not going to get another one unless I start having problems...so disappointing! My friend Jamie is getting a sonogram every time she goes in for an appointment...lucky girl!

4. We are working on the nursery. I got some cute letters at Hobby Lobby today to put on the wall. The only problem was that I wanted C, J, and K, but they didn't have a C! I'm going tomorrow to a different Hobby Lobby near my school to see if they have one! If not, I may be sending my mom or sister to check out the one in Tyler! :) Also, over Christmas break, I will be bringing home fabrics for the bumper and crib skirt. A friend of my mom's (who is an amazing seamstress) is going to make them for us. I can't wait to see it all together!

5. Childbirth classes...I'm thinking we need to go ahead and sign up for some. Has anyone else taken these classes and were they helpful at all?? First-timer needs advice!

6. I felt Camryn hiccupping (sp?) yesterday. What a fun thing! All of her movements in the last few weeks have been big nudges that are mostly higher up (like around belly button level on me). But the hiccups were lower down, smaller movements, and rhythmic...that was definitely something different! I have been continually amazed at the little life that is growing inside of me. And she's not growing and developing perfectly because of anything that I have done, but because God is knitting her together himself! I love you, Lord! You are so good!

Anniversary Fun!

Happy 6th Anniversary to us! :) Tyson and I decided to do something special to mark our anniversary, so we booked a tour of downtown Dallas...riding Segways! :) I was a little nervous being 6 1/2 months pregnant, but it was super easy, and I felt very safe riding the Segway. Although it was pretty windy, the weather was mild, so that made for a nice experience. We got to see parts of Dallas and learn about the history in a way that we never would have before.


First, they trained us on how to "drive" the Segway. It was so easy! I felt comfortable riding on it after about 5 minutes of practice!
Then we made several stops as we "glided" around the downtown area. We stopped at Dealey Plaza where I got a picture of Tyson on the grassy knoll, and one of the book depository.

Then we saw the Old Red Courthouse...a really cool building!
We also stopped at Pioneer Park to see the bronze longhorns and cowboys.

Our tour guided (in the green jacket) was really nice, and did a great job leading us around and giving us the history of all the places we went.

We also saw this great view of downtown when we stopped at City Hall.

It was a really fun experience, and I would definitely recommend it! The tour company should be posting more pictures of our tour soon!

A Couple of Things

OK, here is a promised picture of the belly and the nursery! We stayed up late last night to put the crib together, and we love, love, love it! It looks a little darker in the picture than it does in person...maybe because of my day-glow bright orange shirt! :) I really like how it looks with the fabric that I picked out and with the wall color. Baby is going to love it! ;)


Also, in case you haven't looked at the comments from the previous post, my friend Larissa sent me the link to her post called "What Not to Say to a Pregnant Woman." After re-reading it, all I have to say is "Amen, sister!" :)

100 days

Well, it's official...the counter over on the side of the page says I have 100 days to go! I remember counting down to our wedding and feeling all of the excitement and anticipation...this is not too different from that. There are so many new things that we will be experiencing 100 days from now, and I don't really feel prepared for any of it! (Who does, right?)

We have been spending some time lately working on the nursery. We just finished painting the walls last night, and we are planning on assembling the crib sometime this week. We also just got home from picking up a second-hand dresser/changing table. It feels good to be making some kind of preparations and to see that things are getting done. I will post pictures soon!

I am still feeling well and enjoying being a 5 1/2 month pregnant lady. :) The belly is definitely growing, and people comment almost every day. It has been interesting to hear the variety of comments from people about the belly. I know that everyone who says something is trying to say something nice and to show their excitement about the baby, so I try to keep that in mind. Especially when someone says something like, "Wow, you're getting big!" or "I don't think that shirt is going to fit much longer!" **Tip for saying things to pregnant ladies (and I learned this a year or two ago from my friend, Larissa, but I can't find her blog post about it...) if in doubt, just say, "You look cute!" We know you're referring to the belly! :) I will post another picture of that soon, too.

And for those of you waiting for the next chapter of our testimony, I promise, we haven't forgotten! It's the best part of the story, so I will definitely be working on that post. In the mean time, be blessed, all you out there in blog-land!

Baby Update!

Geesh, it's been a while! It seems like it's time again for a picture of the growing belly, and an update of what's been going on with us baby-wise. Since I last blogged about Baby Kirksey (and this will be news to you if you're not family or a Facebooker!), we found out that we're having a girl! No, we have not picked a name yet. No, we/I have not picked out bedding yet. Yes, we're working on it! :) The doctor said that he was 100% certain that she was a girl, so my mom, sister, and mother-in-law went ahead and got us some sweet, pink baby things...it has begun! :)

As for me, I am still feeling really good overall. There are some minor discomforts that I won't discuss here, but generally I feel pretty normal. I am definitely bigger, though, as you can see. So far I've gained several inches around the waist and a few pounds...I'm sure it will be much more before she gets here!

I am feeling her move all the time now (right now actually!) , and Tyson has been able to feel her move, too. That is a little strange, but still so cool at the same time! I have heard it described as "a flutter" or "like having butterflies in your stomach." No way! First of all, it is way to low down to be in my stomach, especially at this point! And, it's not really as gentle as those descriptions make it sound. I think it feels like a nudge from someone, but from the inside instead. How would you describe that feeling??

The funny thing lately is that my students have started to say things to me about having a baby. I didn't feel the need to make a big announcement to them...I assumed they would ask if they were curious. For example, today I had a boy hang around after 2nd period and say to me, "Mrs. Kirksey, there is a rumor going around this school that you're going to have a baby. Are you?" Ha! I thought it was so funny how he said the rumor was going around the whole school...apparently I'm big news! :) All of the kids who have said anything have been so sweet and excited...I appreciate that!

So here are some pictures of baby and me. The sonogram pictures are from 2 weeks ago when we found out that she was a she! They are a little tough to decipher, so I'll try to explain each one. Enjoy!!


Me (and the belly!) at 21 1/2 weeks.
Sonogram picture at 19 weeks. She's in a crouched position, and you can see her leg bones and rib cage!
Another sonogram picture. Here you can see her face on the right, and a hint of ribs on the left. She's laying on her side, and her face is turned toward us. :)