The Yellow Shirt Still Fits! (...kind of)

We weren't sure how the yellow shirt was going to do in terms of covering the 8 month belly, but we thought it did a fine job. :)

It's amazing what 30 lbs (and counting) of baby and etc. will do to your body:

My poor yellow shirt....! :)

Happy Independence Day!

Baby started squirming around when the fireworks started! I think she liked them? :)

Practice Makes Perfect!

We now have a carseat and a stroller for Baby! Andrew has been in preparation mode, and decided it was time to get the carseat ready for the car, and put together the adaptor bar for the stroller so we can put the carseat in it. 

What do you do after you get everything set up? Why, you give it a test run, of course! Since Baby isn't quite here yet, our good friend Donald graciously volunteered to help us out. (This particular Donald was given to me when I was born! I have lots of baby pictures with him!)

Here's Andrew with the whole setup -- stroller, carseat, diaper bag, and "baby"!

We wheeled the stroller around the house to test out its maneuverability. :) We even made a little pit stop in the baby's room (still in progress!).

Practice makes perfect! I think we've got this one down! The countdown is on -- in about 7 weeks or so, we'll have a cute little human baby in this carseat instead of Donald Duck. :D

Photoshoot!

At 32.5 weeks, we had the privilege of having wonderful photographer Megan Tsang do a maternity photoshoot! Here is a teaser shot that she sent us this morning; there will be more to come, so check back soon! :)

You can check out her website at http://megantsang.com/ and her blog at http://craftyarchitect.wordpress.com/.

Baby Shower!

A few weeks ago, my dear friends threw me a wonderful baby shower. I was so, so blessed by all the friends and family who came to celebrate with me and to bless us with gifts! There was even a photographer on hand to capture all the fun moments!


It was great to have Andrew's mom fly into town to spend the weekend with us and attend the shower as well! I love this photo of my moms and my sister!

Here is a link to the photo album: http://gallery.me.com/actionanh#100693&view=grid&bgcolor=black&sel=322


Username: laffoon
Password: babygirl


Enjoy!

The Last Trimester!

It's that time again! Time for another "yellow shirt" picture -- it still fits!! (Wonder if I can make it to the last picture in this shirt!)

Andrew and I dressed up for a wonderful night out in San Francisco -- dinner and the SF Symphony! It was our daughter's first concert and I'm pretty sure she had a good time rockin' out. :)

We topped off the long weekend with a fun BBQ in the park with our friends. Here we are next to Vasona Lake!

We are so grateful to know that our baby is healthy and growing at just the right pace. All day long, she lets me know that she's figuring out how to move her arms and legs, and I can tell they are getting bigger and stronger! It's hard to believe, but this is the last trimester of my first pregnancy. I can tell that things are going to start to get a little more intense! Tonight, Andrew and I start the first session of our 8-week long birthing class to learn how to help this baby come on out. Here we go! 

The Burgeoning Bump and the Baby's Room!

So, the way people measure how far along you are can get a bit confusing. Most non-pregnant people understand progress in terms of months, but pregnant folks (and those who like to be more technical) count it in terms of weeks. Now, each month has a slightly different number of weeks -- which is what makes everything a little wacky. The reason I'm trying to explain this is because of this picture, as well as the rest of the photos in the sequence!

I've been taking a "yellow shirt" photo just about every 4 weeks, since I first found out I was pregnant. Andrew took this photo of me today, and I'm about 24.5 weeks along. But technically, I'm about 5.5 months pregnant -- not quite 6 months yet. Sooooo, there you go. Technically, this whole photo project is a bit inaccurate. But hey! We're having fun with it and we hope you're getting a kick out of it too! :)

Speaking of kicks, Baby has been doing her fair share of kicking me! I started feeling her move about 3 weeks ago, and it has just been getting more and more intense -- and more and more fun! It is an amazing experience to feel a little life moving around inside of me, and  now Andrew gets to share in it too! 

We've been doing some research on what we need (and want!) to prepare for our baby's arrival, and this was a big weekend of acquiring some of those things! 

Crib, glider, rug -- check! In the picture above, the cushions are missing from the glider and ottoman because I had taken them off to do some spot cleaning. We found the pair at a garage sale, and after a few touch-ups here and there, it seems practically new! I never knew I would love a glider so much until after I spent an afternoon rocking in it while I watched Andrew build the crib! The adorable pink outfits  hanging in the room were given to us by both grandmas who already have a penchant for making sure their granddaughter is stylishly dressed! The row of little booties on the nightstand came from my sister, who has been faithfully crafting and knitting accessories for her future niece since Andrew and I got married almost 5 years ago. :) Thanks, Bo!!

Ta-Da!! Andrew is awesome at building things! Didn't he do a great job building this beautiful crib for our daughter?!

Here's the glider in its full glory, cushions and all!

Baby Girl, we've only just begun preparing your room, but we can't wait for you to be here (well, don't come just yet; we're happy to wait for another few months until you're full-term!!)!

SHE'S getting bigger!!!!

BIG NEWS!! Baby is a girl! We are thrilled and delighted to be welcoming our daughter into the world in just about 20 more weeks! At our most recent ultrasound visit, we saw that she is growing just perfectly. We were able to see the lobes of her brain, the chambers of her heart and we watched her moving around too. Here she is, with her face forward, and hand drawn up to her mouth.

In the last three weeks, she and I have been doing a lot of growing! Check it out:

We are also getting settled into our new home. We feel so blessed to have found such a perfect little place for our little family.

Now, onto the task of figuring out what this cute little girl's name is going to be.... :)

Spring is here!

Spring is a time for budding leaves, budding flowers, and budding bellies!! So, here's the latest 4 month bump:

Baby decided that the living quarters were getting a little cramped so we took an excursion to get my first pair of maternity jeans! Let me just tell you that the shopping world discriminates against petite pregnant women. Finding a pair of jeans that were just the right length was a bit tricky! 

March is going to be an exciting month for us! We're moving into our new 2-bedroom home next weekend and in 19 days, we will find out if we have a baby girl or baby boy! 

The Intestinal Bump

I couldn't decide if the growing bump contained Baby, or if Baby and the uterus were still lying low for a while. My wise doctor told me that what I'm seeing now is my intestines getting pushed upwards by Baby's growth. So, here's what I call my intestinal bump! :)

This series of shots is really shocking to me! Ahh! We're going to have a baby!! 

Baby Wants to Say "Hi!"

Had a little scare with some abnormal symptoms, so I went to see my doctor today. Thankfully, everything is just right, and I even got to take a peek at Baby! At first, Baby was just laying on its back, just chilling...

Baby's head is on the left, cute little bottom on the other end! The little white dot above the rump is a little foot, and the horizontal line floating above the head is an arm! Baby is now 6.6 centimeters from head to rump -- that's not even counting the legs! Jeepers! Can't believe there's a little body that big inside of me!!!

My doctor and I were hoping that we would get to see Baby move around, so she pushed on my abdomen to wake up Baby, and we totally got to see Baby move around! Here's an amazing shot of the top of Baby's head, and Baby's whole arm!

Can you spot the elbow and the hand??? Baby has the cutest little thumb EVER!! We love Baby! Andrew was in a meeting and didn't get to come -- I didn't realize we would be getting an ultrasound today, but we are sure glad we caught some cool shots to keep! 

As I drove to my appointment and waited to see the doctor, I couldn't help but think of the very worst scenarios. It's been a while since I felt so anxious. My blood pressure reading was  literally about 40 points higher than normal. But, it was during this time that I found comfort in meditating on this truth: There's no need to fear. God knows and loves my child more than Andrew or I ever could. I wonder how many other pregnant mothers or fathers-to-be experience fear or anxiety during these early stages--it is rough! I really don't know how I could get through these times without His love swooping down around me, reminding me that I can let go and trust Him.

Facebook Announcement

In this day and age, we had to think about how/when we were going to announce our pregnancy to the world, ie. Facebook! After we told our family, close friends and then our coworkers in person, on the phone or via Skype, we decided to post this fun photo on our Facebook profiles for all to see:

Photo by Corrie Gaumnitz :)

The word is officially out! Btw, we have our next ultrasound on March 19 -- that's when we'll hopefully find out if Baby is a boy or a girl!

It's Growing!

First, the belly:

Not much of a bump yet, but my clothes are all getting a little bit tighter! (Could be all that extra food I'm consuming due to my constant hunger!)


Now, the Baby:

Look at how big Baby has gotten! This ultrasound was taken yesterday, at 9 weeks and 6 days. Baby is now 33mm long! 26 days ago, Baby was only 4.5mm long! Go Baby!! :) The head is on the left, the feet are obviously at the other end, and you can see the two arms at the side! So fearfully and wonderfully made by a most awesome God!

Our Babymoon

Before we had any idea that we would pregnant so soon, we had already booked a vacation to the Caribbean between Christmas and New Years. Turns out, we were going to be enjoying our babymoon at a beautiful resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

Our baby is quite a world traveler already!

We had a glorious time!

How the Laffoons Found Out

The hardest part was making sure everyone was going to pay attention to Mom when she opened her "special" gift. :) We tried to stage it as best as we could, and then the moment came...

She read the inscription in the angel figurine out loud:

"A grandmother's love is very dear, part of a beautiful plan that began in God's heart."

Everyone screamed, laughed, cried and gasped all at the same time!

It was so special to have Grandma and Aunt Laura there as well (they didn't make it into the photo; neither did Robs)! Later that night, we also got to tell Pete and Ana over Skype. :)

Congratulations, ya'll!!

How the Lees Found Out

The Lee family takes lots of photos. All the time. Anytime. Anywhere! So, Andrew and I decided that we would try to catch the moment of surprise on film.


[Take 1: Right before the camera took the picture, Andrew and I yelled, "Everyone say, 'Cheese!'"]

[Take 2: Before this next one, we yelled, "Everyone say, 'Merry Christmas!'"]

[Take 3: This was supposed to be it -- we yelled, "Everyone say, 'Andrew and Bekah are pregnant!!!'"]

Unfortunately, NOBODY got it. Look at them, smiling at the camera and dismissing the amazing news that we just delivered! We didn't give up though.

[Take 4: We yelled again, "Everyone say, 'Andrew and Bekah are PREGNANT!'"]

LOL. Nothing. They are just smiling beautifully for the camera!! Finally, we busted out the ultrasound pictures and they had no choice but to believe us! Apparently, they thought we were just fooling around with them, and since they saw us smiling for the camera too, they tried to pretend everything was normal.

[Take 5: "Andrew and Bekah are really pregnant!!"]

Congratulations to the new Ah-Gong and Ah-Ma, and to Aunt Bo, and Uncle Josh! :)

The Beginning

Here's the first baseline photo of my (non-existent) baby bump: I'm 1 month pregnant! 

We were seen by the doctor really early, so we got to see what my uterus looks like at 5 weeks:

That's the gestational sac! Can't see Baby yet, though! Apparently the dark area in the top left is my very full bladder. :) A week later, we had another ultrasound where we saw Baby for the first time! We saw the heart beating, and the doctor confirmed that there is just one baby. That's just right! Here, at 6 weeks, our baby measured in at 4.5mm long. This allowed the doctor to confirm that Baby should be making a grand entrance into the world on August 12, 2010!

We're Pregnant!

This was the first pregnancy test that made us wonder if we were really going to have a baby...

Not quite sure if that thin vertical line was real or not, so we went digital to see if Baby really existed...

Definitely pregnant! We found out on the morning of Monday, November 30 and both of us were stunned, shocked, amazed, joyous, excited, and crazily happy!

We're having a baby! :)