HALF WAY THERE!!!

We've reached the half way mark, twenty weeks!! Yesterday morning Ryan was able to feel Ethan move for the first time!!! It was a lot of fun to finally share that moment together. All previous attempts to feel the baby move had failed. This is how it normally went: the baby would be moving a lot, I would tell Ryan...he would put his hand on my belly. Then magically Ethan would take a long nap!! Haha!!

Mother's-to-be Day!!

Here are Ethan's cute little tootsies!!! He's got his left ankle crossed over the right, and he's definitely in more of a fetal position than he was previously. More proof that indeed we are having a boy!! Haha!!
This was a fun picture to take because during the ultrasound you could really see all four little chambers of his heart working!! All of these pictures were taken this morning, I am now 19 1/7wks.

This past week hasn't been the greatest. I finally went into the clinic after battling a couple of days with constant sneezing, congestion, and watery eyes. Apparently I had acquired allergies!! It took just over four extremely long days for the prescription I was given to finally kick in. Now that things are much better I no longer have to worry about hauling a box of kleenex everywhere I go.

Yesterday for Mother's Day we went to Ryan's parents house for a barbecue. The men did all of the grilling while the ladies relaxed. It was really nice having everyone together on such a beautiful day, I believe it was just over eighty degrees outside! I received my first Mother's Day present from Cindy & Joe....a bag of really nice chocolate!! What mother-to-be doesn't like chocolate?!?! Haha!!

FOOTBALL!!!!

Ryan plays football for the Oakdale Outlaws, and May 5th was their first game of the season! They played the Green Bay Gladiators just outside of Green Bay, WI in a VERY SMALL town called Reedsville. Thankfully their weekend forecast did not include rain...which is exactly what the Twin Cities was calling for! We lucked out on that one!!

Here is Ryan, he is a defensive lineman. The Outlaw's defense made several big plays that night. Their first score was due to one of many interceptions their defense made. Ryan played an excellent game...taking down guys left and right!!

Here is a picture of the score board with 5.7 seconds left on the clock. THEY WON 26 to 12....GO OUTLAWS!!!

After the game we went to check out Lambeau Field since it was only five minutes from our hotel.
Here is Ryan with a statue of "Mr. Lambeau".
Here is Anne with the Vince Lombardi statue.Neither of us had been to Green Bay before so it made for a nice weekend getaway. On Sunday Anne was 18wks along, and Ethan was definitely making his presence known! He was moving a lot throughout Ryan's game on Saturday, more than usual. So I told Ryan that it MUST mean he loves football...haha, I guess we'll have to wait and see on that one. Other than that everything has been great, just continuing to enjoy this beautiful weather!!

Stretching Out

At 16 6/7weeks, we are now well into the 2nd trimester! As you can tell from these pictures, Ethan seems to be quite relaxed in there. No fetal position for him...he likes having his legs stretched out!! I really love the last picture, it almost looks like he is posing for the shot. I have recently felt his little movements, it's usually when I'm sitting or laying down. If I am up running around I don't notice it as much, but I'm sure that will soon change.

A few nights ago Ryan came home from football practice and was banging around in the living room while I was getting ready for work. I eventually went to see what all the commotion was about. I peeked around the corner into the living room and I see Ryan in the middle of the room surrounded by nuts, bolts, screws, and other various pieces to a baby bassinet that rocks and plays music. Sadly I didn't think to take a picture and capture that "kodak moment". The cherry wood bassinet was a gift from Ryan's parents and matches our bedroom set perfectly!!

We've started to get more color on our white walls. The guest bathroom is now completely done. It is really wonderful what a little bit of color can do!! I'd like to get the kitchen painted next, but it seems that Ryan is moving onto Ethan's room already. Today Ryan went to target for something and came home with a comical onesie for the baby! It's so weird to see baby things around the house now. It definitely is making it more real to us. Only 23weeks to go...haha it's probably still a little early to start counting down the days!

IT'S A BOY!!!!!

We went for an ultrasound today and found out that we are officially having a BOY, Ethan Joseph O'Malley!!!! This picture isn't as clear as the first view we had, but the ultrasound tech didn't freeze the picture in time. You can still see his boy parts in this picture, just not as evident as the other view.Here is a pretty cute image of his little hand, five fingers and all. It almost looks like he is waving at us! You can clearly see his spine in this one. It's a pretty good profile shot too...he is just sooooo cute!!! Haha, yes...I may have a small addiction to having ultrasounds. It's just so interesting to see what he is doing in there since I can't feel his little kicks and movements yet. I am 13 4/7wks today. It's truly amazing how fast time has went by since we first found out we were expecting, three more days and we'll be in the second trimester!! I am still feeling great, some discomforts now and then....nothing compared to how I felt a few weeks ago though.