Baby's got moves!

  I remember the first time I thought I felt the baby move. I couldn't be certain it was the baby or something else, but it was a very faint little butterfly feeling which is what most women say it is like. I paid close attention for the weeks following and got excited every time I felt that little flutter. Well now ladies and gents, he is out of control! (My niece Jenna would call him Baby Ninja!) I have nicknamed him my little athlete, not sure yet what sport though. Dave wants baseball, which I'm all for except I don't love the sport and its a little boring to watch, and of course I want a hockey player. The other night I woke up to a large kick around midnight, but was able to quickly fall back asleep. That is, until around 4:00 a.m. when this kid went nuts. It was like one of those dreams you have and you're asleep and all of the sudden you jerk really fast. This continued for about 30 minutes until I realized there was no way he was allowing me to go back to sleep until my alarm went off, so I just got up and took a long shower. Practice for the months of sleepless nights ahead? Perhaps...

  For the past few weeks everytime I feel him kick or move, I tell Dave and he comes running over and puts his hand on my belly, but nothing...until last week. We were sitting on our respective couches watching Survivor and all of the sudden I watched my belly move up and down. So once again Dave came running over and we watched him move from the left side of my belly to right under my belly button and then over to the right side, and Dave finally felt him. What an amazing connection the three of us had at that moment! I don't think either of us could tell you who was voted off Survivor that evening even though we watched to the end.

  This has been an amazing experience and I am loving every little new milestone (although I can't wait to love on my little man in a few months!)

XOXO

Courtney

Project Nursery

So I've been going nuts over trying to figure out what type of nursery theme I want. First is was shabby and vintage, then neutrals, then beach, then boats. This is exhausting! But, I think I finally figured out what it will be... WHALES :) They are too stinking cute! I bought this blanket from Etsy and I am in LOVE!










So, this started a whole whirl wind of "hunting and gathering" on my part, as my father-in-law would say. Now Im on this total lime green kick, so I registered for this bedding from Pottery Barn, which I also love!

This is just too fun! Stay tunned for more fun finds

Courtney

Oh Boy!

We had our 20 week ultrasound last week and..... ITS A BOY! We are so excited. I honestly thought through most of this pregnancy that it was a girl, especially when the tech told us the baby wasn't cooperating and we had to take several breaks. But, when she got "the money shot", there is absolutely no denying there's a little man headed into our lives. I can already picture all the fun to be had. The Chinese gender calendar said we were having a girl. When I told Dave this after the ultrasound, he said "well we're not Chinese, so" - I just had to laugh. Now that we know what we are having, it feels so much more real. (Well that plus my belly won't stop exploding!) In fact, if this is me at 20 weeks (well, a little closer to 21), I'm scared to see what the end has in store. The baby measured perfect in every way too. I think my favorite part was watching Dave in total awe. And, Baby Schoen was very happy to see us because we got a little wave.

I've been feeling pretty amazing. I didn't have a bad first trimester other than occasional nausea and extreme exhaustion. But now that has passed and my appetite is in full force. Good thing because I received a bad monkey report from my OB two weeks ago because I had only gained 1 pound. I actually replied "are you kidding me" because when you look at my belly you would guess otherwise. She said "no not at all, you need to play catch up". Well ok then. So, I ran to Maggie Moos for some chocolate/peanut butter ice cream and made it happen. My next appointment is in a week and if she tells me I'm still not gaining enough I may tell her she's crazy!

My favorite part of being pregnant is feeling him move and kick and flip around. (Apparently he loves Capri Sun and bedtime!) This is by far the coolest thing ever. I feel such a connection with him already. I wish Dave could feel him. I make sure I tell him most every time he kicks and he just smiles.

Stay connected for more baby fun!

XOXO

Court

17 Weeks - My How Times (and my belly) Are Changing

This weekend we attended Nick and Lauren's wedding in Annapolis. I was so excited to finally go to a wedding where we live. In the past 5 years, every wedding we've been to has been out of town so it was really nice to be home. Of course it had to come when I couldn't take full advantage of being home all day Sunday rather than driving up 95 North all day feeling rough. The wedding was black tie so finding a maternity dress to work was not easy. Luckily I found a stretchy dress at White House Black Market that I can wear again (Lord knows there will be more weddings!)

We met everyone out Friday night for drinks and dancing (well, no drinks for me). It was so nice seeing old friends and catching up. So many are getting married, having babies, etc. It feels like it was only a year or two ago that we were hanging out at our favorite bars in Greenville. We didn't get home until almost 1:00 a.m. and did I pay for it the next day! The wedding was at the Annapolis Yacht Club - what a gorgeous venue. I don't think they could have had better weather. What started out as a rainy day (which is considered good luck if you are Irish) turned into a beautiful, breezy evening. The band was awesome and the dance floor was packed the entire night. I lasted as long as I could with frequent trips to the bar for water or sprite (my how times have changed). I finally gave up and found myself a comfy chair close to the fun so that I could put my feet up. I just can't hang anymore. Its a bitter sweet feeling. On the one side, I am sad that I couldn't drinks with my girls and get crazy on the dance floor like we used to. But on the other side, I am incredibly thankful and blessed to be expecting our first baby and can't wait for the new year.

So I'm now just over 17 weeks, which is hard to believe. Sometimes it feels like I should be farther along and sometimes I can't believe how fast it is going. Aside from shortness of breath (and a few wardrobe meltdowns), I really can't complain. This pregnacy so far has been relatively easy. We find out if the bambino is a boy or girl in two weeks and we can't wait!

Spilling "the bean"

So the cat, or baby or bean or bambino, is out the the bag! We're due January 21 and cannot wait. We decided that when we found out we were expecting we would keep it a secret until the end of the first trimester. This proved to be a little harder than we anticipated, especially because it was during the summer and this is when we really shine, i.e. go out for drinks with friends, play on the boat, attend weddings, and so on. So I knew keeping this a secret from family and friends was going to be a little tricky. We put water in my beer bottle and for good measure added a lime! I made mixed drinks so that no one could tell there was no alcohol in them. Looking back I think if everyone had thought about it hard enough they would have figured it out because I love my wine! We were feeling more assured at about 10 weeks and when my parents came up to visit we decided to surprise them with the news. I put a picture of the ultrasound in a frame and hung it in the guest room/soon-to-be nursery. When my parents arrived we told them to put their bags in their room and we would get some drinks somewhere. My dad, in true Sparky fashion, looked directly at the frame and said "cute". Then mom looked at it, smiled and said cute, and started to walk away. She took a few steps backwards, stared at the frame for a long minute and then said "what...who..." and I replied, "yep, that's our baby". The reaction from my mom is one for the books. She screamed "SHUTTTTT UPPPPPPPPPP" and ran over and gave me the biggest hug I have ever received. Porter went nuts and started running around the living room. I wish I had it on video because it was absolutely awesome.

We spent the weekend swearing my parents to secrecy and I could tell mom was going to have a very hard time. Can you blame her - its her first grandchild! Katie and Ryan came to visit and mom begged me to tell Katie so that she could have someone else to talk to about "the bean". So, we told Katie and she was excited for us, but she had to keep it a secret until we could tell Dave's parents in person in two weeks. Sarah and her boyfriend Jonathan were coming to visit for the 4th of July (11 weeks preggers) and I knew there was no way I could go a long weekend without her figuring it out. So I three-way called Meghan and Sarah and then told them the news together. Again, best reaction ever. The screams went on for forever. I wanted to surprise Dave's parents, but I couldn't do it the same way as we did with mine. Katie picked them up at the airport and the plan was to meet for breakfast at Katie's. When we arrived at Katie's, I had on an old maternity blouse that Dave's Aunt made Dave's mom when she was pregnant with Dave and walked into the family room. Dave's mom knew right away, and being able to surprise them was worth the wait! We called Dan, Rhonda and the girls and Darrin and Ali that afternoon. Its overwhelming how excited everyone is for us. We waited another two weeks to tell extended family and friends and once it was out, it was kind of a relief for us because keeping a secret this exciting for almost 4 months is so hard! Good thing too because at 15 weeks now, there is a very obvious bump!

Since most of our family and friends are out-of-state, I thought this blog would be the best way to share our fun news and baby bambino progress. We hope you continue to follow us!