1/2 Way Mark...

At today's appointment the doctor announced that we were at the half way mark. At which Jamie and I both raised our eyebrows and looked back at each other with an expression of "How did that happen??" In all seriousness, how did that happen? I've been counting the weeks as we go along, but some how week 20 didn't register to me as half way to Little One's debut.

London shared his latest news on Facebook last week. His favorite color is now PINK!!

We had our anatomy scan two weeks ago. At that point Baby Girl was a full 10oz. She was pretty cooperative, letting the tech measure everything she needed and making it clear that she is in fact a she. Actually, the doctor told us today that the report sent over declared the gender as female, and he said in most reports they get don't state the gender since it is hard to be totally sure. So, girl it is. It is crazy the amount of detail these scans show. We could see all the chambers of her heart, every vertebra, each finger and toe. They even looked up her nose. We are so thankful that everything they saw looked perfect and healthy. We are praying that she continues to grow into the strong and healthy baby girl she is becoming.

Speaking of thankful, Happy Belated Thanksgiving. There is so much to be thankful for this year-but I could fill a blog post with things from just this past week:
1) We spent Thanksgiving dinner with the Middletons'. Renee and her sweet family live about 10 minutes down the road from us, but the "small world" thing about it-Renee has known me my whole life. We grew up next door to each other back in Delray Beach. For as long as I can remember Renee babysat Ryan and me. She was that babysitter that a little girl looks to and hopes one day she can be just like her. She went off to college, I grew up as well and our parents remained neighbors for quite a while longer. About 15 years later we live in the same place again, just this time its in Virginia. What a small, crazy world.

Renee and her youngest, Kian.

2) See the above mention of our anatomy scan.










3) There are so many gracious people who love this sweet
Baby Girl and have been spoiling her already. I am trying to snap
pictures of everything since those are guaranteed to last longer than
my memory... just a few of the goodies:

As soon as J's co-workers found out we were having a little girl, they set her up-going to be a daddy's girl.

Shelley, one of the cheer coaches bought Baby Girl her first dress.

Aunt Shelly send a sweet lovey.

Mom (Claudia) has been sewing her heart out as soon as there was news of a Little One. She has made Boppy covers, buntings & nursing covers. So awesome.

Mirian (another co-worker of J's) & Carlos brought us this sweet pink set.

4) J's parents have been in town this past weekend. It has been such a treat having them up here for an extended weekend. They have been working their tails off during their stay. So much for a vacation. They have been such a great help getting some major tasks checked off our list. Thanks to them we have a newly painted front door, house numbers you can see from the road, plenty of fire wood for the winter, a beautifully lit Christmas tree, & the start of Project Nursery. More than that has been done and it is so helpful. We took Sunday off and enjoyed brunch before we attended "A Christmas Carol" at Ford's Theater. We have been hearing that if you live in DC you have to experience that show in that venue. So glad that we did. For a history/government dork like myself, it was pretty awesome just to see the play in Ford's Theater.  


The thankful list is endless, but most of all we are thankful to God for  our family members and friends. You are each so special to us and we could not be more appreciative of your love and support for growing family.   xoxo

Happy Veteran's Day

Happy Monday and Happy Veteran's Day from These Rosey Cheeks.

I know it is Monday so we should be gearing up for the week ahead, but at the moment we are winding down from an awesome, fun packed weekend. This weekend was the Edmondson's first trip to NOVA. Shelly, Lee, Curt & even Scout made the trip up and we could not have been more excited. Call us biased, but we think our family is the BEST. We have so much fun with them, and Curt has quadrupled that fun.

Last night we had our best NOVA friends over for chili and brownies. Nate & a very due (tomorrow) Britt came. And our favorite neighbors Nick, Kasey and Khloe joined as well. I can't express enough how much I love having a house full of people. The talking, the laughing, the hollaring and eventual meltdowns-it all makes my heart happy. Curt and Khloe (about two months apart) eventually warmed up to one another. My favorite photos of their budding friendship...

Curt's "CHEESE" face.

Good-bye kisses.

The moment after the kiss. Priceless!!

I don't think either of them can get any cuter!!!










On the baby front, our Anatomy Scan is set for tomorrow. Praying for a strong, healthy little one!! And, assuming everyone (i.e. baby) is cooperating, we should know the gender...any guesses? I've done the Chinese gender charts and most say it is a girl. I've been pretty convinced little one is a girl. I've always envisioned being that soccer mom to a rowdy house full of boys, thus I'm positive God is up there saying "Oh yah...watch this..." Poof-girls galore. I could be wrong... In the meantime, doesn't matter how much people analyze the pregnancy thus far, it's a toss up:

18 weeks

In the meantime, here is the latest "bump" picture. Just now realizing I forgot to put the number of weeks on it. And yes, it is safe to say I am gaining the weight the doctors were asking for. 









We have not decided how we want to share the news of what Rosey Cheeks is-but we promise not to make you wait for long!! To help pass the time, another picture of the cutest nephew ever. (And if our Little One joins us looking just like their daddy-it is a safe bet this is a glimpse of two years from now.)

Helping Aunt Linds. cook dinner.

16 Weeks and Counting

I’ve been made aware that it is time for another update. The time really is just flying by.

I’m racking my brain for any “interesting” updates…
Mom came back into town and was a tremendous help once again. We ventured to our first major consignment sale (one of those held in a warehouse for just a weekend.) We pulled the trigger and got a great deal on a crib that seems to be new (i.e. no teething marks from previous babies.) It is now in pieces in our garage, waiting to be cleaned and painted. Maybe a Thanksgiving weekend project?

Hurricane Sandy came and went. It turned out not doing as much damage as they anticipated here in NOVA. We never lost power thankfully, and an added bonus- both of us had Monday AND Tuesday off together!! Is it wrong that we soaked it up by staying in bed till 9am (okay, 10:30am one day) and spent the rest of it on the couch watching movies and grading papers?? Friends with babies tell us to soak up these last “hurricane/snow days” because it loses its appeal when there is a little one still making you get up and function early.

Nothing too new to report on the baby front. I am finishing up week 16 and need to get the new camera working so I can post another baby bump picture.
The latest “symptom” has been afternoon headaches that turn into evening & then night headaches. It’s strange, but for the past week, like clockwork, I get a headache starting midday. They started out mild/nagging. As the week went on they got more intense. I’ve tried caffeine, Tylenol, a heating pad, food and sleeping but nothing has helped. When I wake up in the morning it’s gone. I’m just assuming it is one of those pregnancy things that will move on to something else at some point. But just in case, I have my next doctor’s appointment on Thursday. We’ll see what they say.

How far along are you?  rounding out the 16th week
How big is the baby?  about 4.6” long & the size of an avocado
Any weight gain/loss?  Not sure since last post…anxious to see on Thursday
Maternity clothes?  Hit up Old Navy for some black pants & jeans & they are the greatest things EVER!!
Sleep?  sleeping well and often, no more nightly bathroom visits
Baby Movement?  not that I can feel
Belly Button?  Still working its way out…so strange
Cravings?  Still on a Mexican kick-although Mom thinks it’s more about the beans than Mexican since I am also loving chili, pasta fagioli, etc.  Will randomly crave a Cherry Coke for no reason.
Aversions?  avocado/guacamole - still
Gender?  no idea & it’s killing me
Labor signs?  nope
Symptoms?  Just the daily headaches mentioned above & the skin has started itching-mainly the tummy.
What I miss?  Nothing really.
Upcoming appointments?  Thursday the 2^nd.
What is next on the To-Do list?  Still needing to learn how to use the new camera & getting the nursery ready to paint.

We've Gone Public...Finally!!

Rosey Cheeks has been shared with the world.
Phew-what a feat it has been getting in touch with everyone we have wanted to talk to. We are still playing phone tag with some of you. People are just not easy to get a hold of these days. I mean, yes there is e-mail and texting, but call us old fashioned,we  preferred voice to voice. I know, I can't complain, as it seems I never answer my phone when people are trying to get a hold of me, the husband included.

A little over a week ago we had our FTS (First Trimester Screening) appointment. This is a time that they run two tests: a sonogram & blood test that assess your baby's risk of having Downs Syndrome and Trisomy 13 & 18. This is an optional test but insurance covers it and in the spirit of always wanting to be prepared, we opted to have it done. During the sonogram we were able to see the little bean on the big screen. I have news folks, baby is no longer a little bean like the last time we saw it... it actually looks like... wait for it... a BABY. There were the arms, legs, teeny toes and fingers & a pretty big head. We got to watch the Little One stretch, roll over, cover its eyes & wave at us. It even got the hiccups while we were watching. A very cool moment for our little family. We also heard the heartbeat which they measured at 162.
After the sonogram we had a meeting with a genetic counselor in which they shared that the sonogram results looked great. A few days later they called back and said the blood test results came back with flying colors as well. We are considered a low risk pregnancy. While these tests are not 100% accurate, they say they are 94% accurate. So we are thankful for the news we have received thus far and will continue to pray for the Little One's growth and health.

Last weekend we took a quick trip down to Asheville to attend Jamie's 10 year reunion. It was a great time, and was so nice to share the news in person with Papaw, Fran & Aunt Kathy. This Baby Mama, picked up her first cold of the pregnancy. And I mean to tell you it knocked me off my feet. Seems that Little One is sucking up all of my defensive juices-so fighting the cold is not something my body is doing well. It has been over a week and seems to be hanging in there. I happen to have my 12 week appointment on the roughest day, and fortunately they were able to prescribe me Amoxicillin in case it is a sinus infection. I have been pretty diligent with that, but trying to stick to only Tylenol in addition. J has been a trooper, putting up with all of my coughing and sniffles and picking up my slack.

I think our first major step in preparing for baby happened this weekend. I finally pulled the trigger (most of you know how tight my fists are) and purchased a real, family camera. We opted for the Cannon Rebel T3i. I have been looking at these and doing my homework for at least 6 months now, and I think the husband is just happy I will finally stop talking about buying one. I figure I have 7 months to play with it before baby arrives. Be prepared for lots of London pictures. :-)  That being said, in the next post I will share a belly picture or two. In the meantime, here are some generic pregnancy updates:

How far along are you?  rounding out the 13th week
How big is the baby?  about 3" long & the size of a peach
Any weight gain/loss?  I was 115 before pregnancy, now at 121 - definite gain
Maternity clothes?  not yet, but the Belly Band is used just about every day
Sleep?  sleeping well, aside from the nightly bathroom visit
Baby Movement?  not that I can feel
Belly Button?  always been a serious inny- but its working its way out
Cravings?  Not really, but I could eat Mexican food any time of the day.
Aversions?  avocado/guacamole - I have no idea why
Gender?  no idea & its killing me
Labor signs?  nope
Symptoms?  I've been a little more short/irritable than usual (the husband says that's putting it nicely) & acne worse than most of my students'

What I miss?  nothing really-since there wasn't much I had to give up... Oh! Sweet Tea & Brie Cheese!!!
Upcoming appointments?  nothing until the end of the month
What is next on the To-Do list?  learning how to use the new camera & finishing up the last bit of unpacking around the house

And So It Begins...

It has been a month since my last post. (Long enough for me to forget my password to log into this thing.) At this rate it looks like I will post to this blog 8 more times before Rosey Cheeks makes their appearance. Yikes! I need to pick up the pace with the updates.

And to my credit, I haven't totally neglected the blog. I just learned the hard way that it may make more sense to start my post in a Word document so that I can save and alter it easier. Thus, I did do some of this post in Word quite a while ago. I will insert that portion later.

School has started and is back in full swing. I am teaching mostly AP Government & Politics again with one section of World History & one section of Leadership (the SGA class.) Per usual, I love my AP classes and seem to have an awesome group of kids this year. I was nervous, because my babies from last year set the bar pretty high. Those kids still constantly come by and visit, which I love, but now I have a whole new set. Our school's Homecoming is the week of Oct. 9th, so we are in full planning mode. I just got an e-mail today that tells me it is safe to assume I won't get much of a chance to go home during that week... This year I also signed on to coach JV Cheerleading. Yah...I know... but does this really surprise you?? Anywho, they are competing this year and that just happens to be on Oct. 6th. So slightly busy time right now.
We also moved on Sept. 8th. It is a great move for us (okay, for my compute, not so much J's.) But J does get his "man cave" & a deck for grilling, London gets a "yard" and Baby Cheeks gets a nursery. Mom came into town a week later and was a TREMENDOUS help to all of us. While we were at work, she was working even harder, cleaning the place, fixing things, unpacking boxes, cooking dinner. We are so appreciative to her & to dad for sharing her with us for all that time!!

But on the baby front (since that is really the point in this blog) our big moments actually took place in late August, early September. Here is the post I started back in August:

8/31/12
To think that the moments will only become more special with each one, because these past two days are as special as I thought possible. Wednesday (8/29) we had our first doctor’s appointment. Lo and behold, there is a baby in there. Doesn’t look like much in the picture, but sure enough, there they are, little heart just a flutter’in away. We couldn’t hear the heart beat over mine, but just seeing it…it’s real. Special moment for our little family.
Our next moment was last night. We knew we couldn’t wait to tell our families and as much as we wanted to tell them in person-there wasn’t any way we were going to be able to make the drive to Blowing Rock to tell my mom and dad. So we’ve been talking for months about setting up Skype & we figured that is as close to in person as we could get. So we Skyped for the first time, which was so cool in itself. Haven’t seen mom and dad since Memorial Day so it was so fun to see them face to face. In my usual style (which drives Jamie nuts) we talked about all sorts of stuff before I told them that I wanted to show them the latest sketch on the chalkboard I made…

Their reaction was PRICELESS. I don’t know what I expected their reaction to be, but moving doesn’t seem to do it justice. We are kicking ourselves that we didn’t figure out how to tape the skype session. Ugh. Mom was fanning herself in between “Really?” “Wait! What?” “Oh my goodness!”
Dad’s reaction…let’s just say, I don’t know that I have ever seen that emotion from him. (Sorry dad, cat is out of the bag.) The man sheds tears! I will never forget his reaction as long as I live. What a sweet, beautiful memory that will be for J & me.
Tomorrow we are headed down to Tarboro to share the news with J’s family. We can’t wait!!

That weekend we drove down to Tarboro and told J’s parents, Shelly, Lee & Curt. They were equally surprised and thrilled. Such a fun weekend.

So that about sums up the past month. I promise to update sooner, maybe even this week…  

Meanwhile, more chalk board fun:

Why ROSEy Cheeks?

So in the previous post I tried to explain where the title of the blog comes from. I kept trying to think of anything I could that included Rose-as in the root of our last name.
A Rose By Any Other Name...
Every Rose Has Its Thorn...
Sunshine & Roses...
I was going nuts trying to figure something out. Then I thought back to the real reason I am starting this blog in the first place: keeping friends and family posted on the happenings in our home...
CHEEKS- my husband has the sweetest face I have ever seen, with the most precious rosy cheeks. (They get especially rosy following a round of golf or an evening of frosty beverages with the boys.) I love those cheeks so much, and do you know what excites me to no end??

We are EXPECTING A BABY set of ROSEy cheeks to join our home this spring!!!!!!!! 

At the point that I am writing this post I am only in the middle of my 6th week, so anyone reading this may feel like they are playing catch up. But hey, you are all in the same boat. It is so early, that we are being super cautious with sharing our news until our first doctor's visit. I think we want these first few weeks to actually digest the idea that we are becoming parents, just the two of us. And to be perfectly honest, it still doesn't feel real and hasn't quite hit me. I don't know why, but its almost as if I need to hear it from a doctor for it to be real. Silly, I know. So please forgive us for holding out on the news. It has been so hard to not tell everyone we know. But on a selfish note, we are having fun figuring out how to tell our families.

So yes, the biggest reason for this blog is to keep all of our friends and family (from NC, to FL, to CA) updated on the progress of our expanding family. I also really like it for selfish reasons...I have a TERRIBLE memory, so I am hoping to utilize this as a pregnancy journal of sorts for myself.

Let the journaling begin...

What's in a name...

So here goes it... my attempt at creating and maintaining a blog. This is actually my 2nd attempt since 2008, but after one post I forgot about it and when I did remember to post again, I couldn't find it. Here is to hoping this one survives a little bit longer.

I have several friends who have blogs and of course I stumble upon random ones all over the internet-I am amazed at how cute, informative, & witty they are. I mean, how hard can it be... Ha. I will refrain from mentioning how many hours I have wasted in just creating this blog and getting to this point. I must admit the hardest part has been coming up with a name for the blog. So much pressure to match the previously mentioned cuteness. So the name... I understand "rosey" is not spelled correctly, but I'm playing off the last name-so I wanted to have Rose in there somewhere. As for the cheeks part-I'll explain that later.

My hope is to use this to keep friends and family posted on the latest happenings in our home. I can't promise they will be exciting happenings, but given that I am horrible at keeping up with people over the phone, this is another attempt at staying in touch with those of you we love and miss so much.

Here goes nothing...