*Official* Half way Photo Shoot

A mother's joy begins when new life is stirring inside... when a tiny heartbeat is heard for the very first time, and a playful kick reminds her that she is never alone. ~Author Unknown

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I've been wanting some nice pictures to commemorate making it half way through my pregnancy :).  But before I share those, I want to look back at these ones.

18 weeks.  My first belly picture.

20 weeks.  At the grocery store.

So, these are the *official* half-way pictures that I had Stephen do today at 22 weeks. :)

Let The Weirdness Begin

“Feeling fat lasts nine months but the joy of becoming a mom lasts forever“  ~Nikki Dalton

"Everything grows rounder and wider and weirder, and I sit here in the middle of it all and wonder who in the world you will turn out to be“ ~Carrie Fisher

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Oh my days, what is happening to my body? :-P

Baby Beckman is kicking harder.  I feel him a couple times a day now, and last night he kicked hard enough that I felt him kick on the outside to, but he only did it twice, and by the time I had Stephen put his hand on my belly he decided to stop.  He's a little stinker already :-P

I've been noticing some weird lumps and bumps on my tummy too, and the weirdest thing yet is that if I arch my back, my belly button pops out.  Haha, maybe I should have given a TMI warning with this post. ;)

Speaking of changing bodies, this animation is really cool.

In other less weird news, I am so proud of my Stephen.  He's had interviews at Epic in Wisconsin, and USAA in Texas, and is going to have a phone interview with Microsoft soon (In Boise). It's an exciting time, and he's doing awesome at the job search, so we'll see what pans out.

The Big Reveal

Boy, n.: a noise with dirt on it. ~Not Your Average Dictionary

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Excited, excited, excited!
I had no idea how completely terrified I would be to cut the cake.  In fact, I made Stephen do it.  It was so amazingly exciting.  In case you haven't figured it out.  It's a boy!

The ultrasound was so much fun.  Baby is upside down, so legs and arms were waving and the only thing we struggled to get a good picture of was the head :)  He is almost a pound now so measuring a tiny bit above average, but still in the average range. Here are a few of my favorite shots.

The profile shot (He really made us work for this one.)

Awww!

Look at that little hand!

Not shy. (He didn't make us work for this one :-P)

So many people came.  I really appreciate all the support from friends and family.  I'll have to post a video of the cake cutting at some point.
I am so excited to call the baby 'he' instead of 'it.'  It's making it more real!  I'm going to be a mom.  :)

Getting Excited

Babies are such a nice way to start people.  ~Don Herrold

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2 weeks.....actually less than 2 weeks until we find out if this little munchkin is a boy or a girl.  I'm pretty excited.  I think I'm most excited to get a chance to see the baby again.  He or she has probably changed a lot since his last blurry picture at 11 weeks.

  

I'm also getting excited for how we're going to find out.  We've decided not to find out at the ultrasound, but we are having them write down if it is a boy or a girl on a piece of paper and putting in a sealed envelope.  Then we are giving that sealed envelope to a friend who is going to especially prepare a cake that has a layer of either pink or blue frosting on the inside (and chocolate on the outside).   That way we get to find out if it is a boy or a girl when we cut the cake. 

So, this means that the baby needs to cooperate.  *Do you hear that in there?  No crossed legs or excessive wiggling.* :-P

In other news, life is going great.  Stephen has some very promising leads on the job search.  So far it's looking like we'll end up in either Wisconsin, Utah, Washington, or Florida.  Haha, so pretty much anywhere.  My work is going well.  My tummy is getting rounder by the day.

So many changes are coming, but so far they're all good.  Thank you all for all your prayers and support!