A Growing Brady Bump

You would think as much as I love photographs, I would be better about documenting this growing belly of mine, also known as the Brady Bump! However, I haven't been great about it. We have tried to at least capture some images at least every three weeks, so here it is...the growing Brady Bump!

17 weeks...
20 weeks...
23 weeks...
24 weeks...
26 weeks...

29 weeks...

32 1/2 weeks...

33 weeks...

34 1/2 weeks...

B-R-A-D-Y...where did this name come from?

Prior to having out anatomy ultrasound, we had fun talking about name possibilities, making lists, numbering our favorites, etc. It was definitely harder for us to come up with a list of girl names--we had a list and narrowed it down, but we weren't set on the same favorite. When it came to boy names, we had talked about 'Brady' for over six years! (When we were dating, Nathan heard the name and mentioned it to me. I really liked it a lot and hadn't heard it at that point. Since then, we have talked about the name off and on while always saying that it would be fun to have a boy and be able to use the name since we still loved it after six years!) However, we still wanted to make sure, so we came up with a list of other boy names to consider. We were considering other boy names, but we both kept coming back to 'Brady' as our favorite. So, as soon as we found out we were having a little boy, we were sure his name would be Brady Edward.

Since 'Brady' is not a family name, we decided to have a family middle name of 'Edward.' Nathan's middle name is Edward named after his sweet grandfather Edward Tie. Grandad Tie passed away in September 2009, and we wanted his name to carry on, so we were set on Brady's middle name pretty easily!

When we were searching for names, I came across a fabulous website that I LOVED! There are lots of baby name websites out there, but this one kind of blew me away. As I typed in each name that we were considering, it would come up with a short meaning along with my favorite two features..."If you like this name, what about these names"...AND "Suggested boy/girl sibling names." The bizarre thing about this is that almost EVERY time we typed in a name, the other names that we were considering were listed under the "If you like this name, what about these names." Then, I was again surprised to find the opposite sex names that we liked under the "Suggested boy/girl sibling names." If you have any names that you like, you should try it out--it was CRAZY!

(Pictured above: Brady's wall letters--one of my little projects that I finished over the weekend! The fabric is also in his bedding to be shown later.)

A Semi-Reveal Night

As soon as we found out we were having a boy, we told our parents! But, we decided to wait until our next gathering with Nathan's extended family to have a semi-reveal night with them. To tell his family that we were having a baby BOY, we made blue cupcakes with lots of white icing (to cover the blue), so they didn't know until the bit into the cupcake. It was pretty exciting and fun to see them all find out at the same time! Of course, we HAD to record this moment--too much excitement to miss out with the video :)

Finding Out We Are Having a Boy...

When I was 18 weeks (on the dot) pregnant, we went in for our anatomy ultrasound on February 10th! Thankfully, I didn't have crazy dreams that kept me up all night about if we were having a boy or a girl, but I was pretty anxious to find out. The week before the ultrasound, I asked Nathan if he had a feeling one way or the other, and he was thinking girl. I really didn't know if I had a feeling--I think I had wanted a girl for a long time but had always been surrounded by boys (3 brothers and the cousins that lived near us were all boys), so I was thinking I was probably destined to have a boy. When we found out we were having a boy, it took me by surprise because I thought just maybe I would have a girl, but I have heard so many great things about the mother/son bond, so I am excited to see what that's all about! I am really excited now, and I know that God knows exactly what He is doing, so here we go...life with a baby boy begins in just 14 1/2 weeks or so :)

Telling Our Families...

When you find out you are pregnant, it is SO hard to not shout it to the world--you just feel like you are hiding something from everyone! I love surprises, but I love doing the surprise...not waiting to do the surprise. We decided that we wanted to share our news with our immediate families pretty early because regardless of what happened, we wanted their support and love. So it began...how do we tell our parents?!?! Christi's dad loves a Hershey bar, so we decided to use that to our advantage when telling her dad and family (see picture and video below). We were about to leave on a cruise with Nathan's parents, so we decided to tell them that we were going to have a party of 5 on the ship, instead of the originally planned 4. Christi's mom recently mentioned that she was amazed by a co-workers ultrasound picture and how much it showed. So, we decided the ultrasound video (seen in previous posts) was the way to go to share with Christi's mom and family. To always have a memory of telling our parents, we decided to video their reactions--how did we do this? You have to be sneaky--our point-and-shoot camera has video, so Nathan just hid it in his pocket and by the time we were doing each surprise, our parents didn't even notice him video taping--we will treasure these videos forever, and we can't wait to show them to Brady one day!

Seeing Baby Brady for the First Time

At my first doctor's appointment, I was only 6 1/2 weeks pregnant! This little video shows just what little Brady looked like a such a YOUNG age in his first ultrasound. Basically, he looks like a little bean (or little peanut as the doctor calls him in the video) with a fluttering heartbeat, which was HUGE for us to be able to see at this point! To know that he was on his way to developing and already had a heartbeat was an amazing sense of relief...well, as much as it can be at this point in pregnancy. Isn't it amazing how quickly a little one begins developing?!?!

Here We Go...

Time to start a family blog as we await the arrival of our first baby...baby boy Brady! Today, I am 25 weeks along with 15 to go, and we just cannot wait to meet this little guy. It's Saturday, and we are spending this day getting a few more things ready for Brady's nursery! Nathan stained a dresser that we already had, so it would match Brady's crib and changer, and I am working on the letters that will hang above Brady's crib. Previously, my dad and stepmom came for a visit, and we put my dad to work as he worked with Nathan to put the crib and changer together (see pictures). We LOVE these two pieces that we found a JCPenney--I never would have thought to look there for cribs, but they have an awesome selection on their website, and the quality is great! More pictures to come as these little projects get completed :) Happy SUNNY Saturday!