A lot of you have asked us where we are registered, and we have been waiting to find out we were having a baby girl to finish everything off. So here it is, if you wanted it!
Babies 'R Us: Search for Dan or Stacey Gaines (Registry #46330718)
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Target: Search for Dan or Stacey Gaines (Registry #014033500002870)
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
It's a Girl!
We had our 20 weeks appointment today, which is the appointment with the anatomy ultrasound. First, that was just amazing! I was such a kinesiology dork sitting there watching our baby on the screen and being fascinated over the different body parts. But even more so, just in awe of how intricately and perfectly we are created! It's amazing how words like, "For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb" (Psalm 139:13) become so much more meaningful when you really have a little someone being knit together by holy hands in your womb!
We also found out that we are having a baby girl!! Somehow after today it all seems more real. As if the 12 weeks of morning sickness, current pregnancy insomnia, and amazing tiny flutters aren't real enough!
We also found out that we are having a baby girl!! Somehow after today it all seems more real. As if the 12 weeks of morning sickness, current pregnancy insomnia, and amazing tiny flutters aren't real enough!
I am so anxious and excited to meet this precious princess growing inside me!
Thursday, January 6, 2011
20 Weeks: The Halfway Point
Today we hit 20 weeks! I can't believe this is the halfway point, I feel like it was just a few weeks ago that I peed on that little stick that changed our lives forever! I am definitely feeling, and apparently looking, more pregnant. Not that the first 13 weeks of morning sickness and crazy pregnancy symptoms didn't make me feel pregnant. I mean the, "OK - my belly button is now inside out," and "I can't squeeze through that space anymore" kind of I feel pregnant. I just told Dan when he took this 20 weeks belly shot, "holy cripes, I'm getting big!"
I guess this may be why people I don't know can feel comfortable with asking, "when are you due?" I have apparently passed the is she pregnant or just a little fluffier than normal point.
I am beginning to understand those women who love being pregnant. This second trimester business is MUCH better than the first! The only real negative symptom I am dealing with is siatic pain. I have been seeing a chiropractor, which is starting to help, along with doing a number of stretches. I am really hoping to be able to start walking/swimming in the next couple of weeks if this keeps helping. I think one of the hardest things for me has been not being able to work out at all because I'll get shooting pains up my back!
I have definitely felt the baby moving on a much more regular basis over the past few days. From about 2 weeks before Christmas until last week, it was here and there every day or two (or four). But lately, it's multiple times a day and for extended periods of time. The baby's location of choice lately has been tap dancing on my bladder...can't wait for that to continue for the next 4 1/2 months! We are so excited to find out on WEDNESDAY what we are having!! This Mommy needs to start planning a nursery! :-)
I guess this may be why people I don't know can feel comfortable with asking, "when are you due?" I have apparently passed the is she pregnant or just a little fluffier than normal point.
I am beginning to understand those women who love being pregnant. This second trimester business is MUCH better than the first! The only real negative symptom I am dealing with is siatic pain. I have been seeing a chiropractor, which is starting to help, along with doing a number of stretches. I am really hoping to be able to start walking/swimming in the next couple of weeks if this keeps helping. I think one of the hardest things for me has been not being able to work out at all because I'll get shooting pains up my back!
I have definitely felt the baby moving on a much more regular basis over the past few days. From about 2 weeks before Christmas until last week, it was here and there every day or two (or four). But lately, it's multiple times a day and for extended periods of time. The baby's location of choice lately has been tap dancing on my bladder...can't wait for that to continue for the next 4 1/2 months! We are so excited to find out on WEDNESDAY what we are having!! This Mommy needs to start planning a nursery! :-)
Friday, December 31, 2010
Celebrating the New Year
To celebrate New Year's Eve...it was out with the old and in with the new in my closet! Coming back from Colorado, we lugged back 2 big bags of maternity clothes and 1 of miscellaneous baby fun from my sisters. Between that and the new ones my Mom and sisters picked out for me, I'm just about set for the next 5 months!
First, it was out with the old. To make space for all of the new, I packed up just about everything that won't fit without a rubber band anymore. I kept a few of my favorites back to have something around to work to fit into after this little bundle arrives! Here's Dan's fun project for the coming days...getting these up into the attic for storage! Shhhh...I'm waiting to spring this on him until I have everything that's coming out of the nursery and going up into the attic ready as well. :-)
I think I have been doing laundry non-stop since we got back late Tuesday night with all of our vacation laundry and the new maternity wear. I suppose it's getting me ready for the new loads of laundry about to settle it's way into our lovely home! Once it was all done, it was in with the new...here's a shot of my new wardrobe. Seriously, only about 8-10 of these shirts are my old clothes - my sisters rock!
First, it was out with the old. To make space for all of the new, I packed up just about everything that won't fit without a rubber band anymore. I kept a few of my favorites back to have something around to work to fit into after this little bundle arrives! Here's Dan's fun project for the coming days...getting these up into the attic for storage! Shhhh...I'm waiting to spring this on him until I have everything that's coming out of the nursery and going up into the attic ready as well. :-)
I think I have been doing laundry non-stop since we got back late Tuesday night with all of our vacation laundry and the new maternity wear. I suppose it's getting me ready for the new loads of laundry about to settle it's way into our lovely home! Once it was all done, it was in with the new...here's a shot of my new wardrobe. Seriously, only about 8-10 of these shirts are my old clothes - my sisters rock!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Amy Grant Lied
"Well I know there's more snow up in Colorado than my roof will ever see..." Yep, Amy Grant lied. Because the only snow we saw was in southern Colorado as we drove into the state. Sad. It's now been over 365 days since we've been in snow. I think we need to move back north.
We spent the first 3 days in Colorado Springs visiting Dan's brother and his family. We always enjoy spending time when them when we are home, so I'm glad they live in the same state as my family!
After that, we spent the rest of the trip with my family in Greeley and then Wray. The following pictures are all from that time. It was nice to not have my Dad in the hospital this year! :-)
As always, it was a great trip filled with lots of laughs! We're already counting the days until next Christmas where we'll get to bring the newest family member along!
We spent the first 3 days in Colorado Springs visiting Dan's brother and his family. We always enjoy spending time when them when we are home, so I'm glad they live in the same state as my family!
After that, we spent the rest of the trip with my family in Greeley and then Wray. The following pictures are all from that time. It was nice to not have my Dad in the hospital this year! :-)
Uncle Dan reading to Katie and Ben
Making Christmas cookies...Dan was pretty excited because I'm kind of a kitchen nazi when we do cookies and don't let him help much. (I know...that's going to change soon!)
Me and Heidi...love this baby girl! She's the current youngest cousin.
Dan decorating cookies with all of the nieces and nephews.
My Mom's doctor recommended this stretch for my sciatica...so I was giving it a try when the others decided to join me.
Dan and I with my Grandma Eunice on Christmas Eve
Dan and I on Christmas Eve (sorry bump watchers...the black isn't helping you see the baby!)
Walking over from Mike & Aug's to Mom & Dad's for Christmas morning. Mom always gets everyone matching Christmas jammies...Dan's were a little highwater this year!
The baby's first Christmas gift!!
Grandad opening his present from Baby Gaines...a "come visit" card with 2 free Whataburger coupons!
My maternity Broncos shirt - love it!
Every year, my Dad gives his three daughters some type of jewelry. This year we had been talking about how he used to bring out yellow legal pads for either helping us with math or "family meetings" (i.e., someone was in trouble). He made our gift a scavenger hunt with the yellow legal pads this year!
We found our treasure!
Grammie and Heidi getting ready for some Broncos football!
Katie, Ben, and Mike sporting their Tebow gear.
Dan and Gav, sitting on the sidelines...kind of like Orton did (bittersweet - I love watching Tebow, but am sad for Orton being a Boilermaker!)
Uncle Dan trying to get Heidi to crawl during the Broncos game.
Tebow scores - Broncos win!!!
Hooray!!
Katie got a new hair salon for Christmas...so Dan was her first client! (getting him ready for Baby Gaines to be a girl...she told me numerous times, "Stace, I hope that baby in your belly is a girl!")
And now for his color...
And it's Uncle Dan's turn to be the stylist.
As always, it was a great trip filled with lots of laughs! We're already counting the days until next Christmas where we'll get to bring the newest family member along!
(to see more pictures from our Christmas in Colorado - check out the album on Stacey's facebook page.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Belly Pic #1 (for Carlee)
Per the request of my good friend Carlee, and many others...this is my first belly shot...we need to get better about taking them regularly! In this picture, I am 15 weeks pregnant.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Baby's Heartbeat (at 16 weeks)
Here's an audio of the first time we got to hear the baby's heartbeat!! It was at my 16 week appointment, but the picture is actually from our ultrasound at 13 weeks (I needed something to show!). It was so amazing to hear. I'm at that point in pregnancy where I don't feel the baby move often, and all of the yuck symptoms of the first trimester have passed, so sometimes I get nervous that everything is OK. Everything is going great, and we'll find out the sex on January 12th (my Dad's birthday!).
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
13 Weeks and no Avocados
I am now finally beginning to understand those women who say they "love pregnancy, it's a blast, I'd love to be pregnant again!" I must admit, in the first 12 weeks, I equated pregnancy with death because that's what I felt like. I thought it was so ironic that bringing new life into the world could make you feel like death! Ahhhh...hello second trimester. I can handle you! In the last couple of weeks I feel like I entered pregnancy heaven - no more morning sickness/nausea, I'm getting my energy back, and finally feel like eating again.
I still have some weird food aversions - like avocados. I love avocados, in guacamole, on salads, on hamburgers, just plain out of the skin! But the baby does not like avocados. I have a favorite sandwich at a little shop just off campus in Kingsville (shout out to Young's) - it's called the avocado. It's a little piece of heaven - avocado, tomato, and mayo on a nice toasted bun - delightful. At work, we are interviewing for two new faculty positions and we always take candidates to Young's for lunch. Well, day one (of five), I ordered my trusty avocado sandwich only to be told by the baby (ever so indirectly) that he/she does not like avocados. Interesting. How could this baby be so against something his/her mommy loves so much? Perhaps a lesson that will be 18+ years in the making...
Dan's favorite pregnancy symptom is my "bloodhound sense of smell." He hasn't had the pleasure of heading out for ice cream and pickles (yet), but he does get to deal with me yelling, "Baby - come get this!" while running out of the kitchen plugging my nose and trying desperately not to vomit. The culprit - our trash (and sometimes our dishwasher - that has decided if it doesn't run every other night it likes to smell). So just about every other morning, Dan gets to sweep in and save the day. He's now starting to empty the trash about every night, probably to eliminate the possible drama in the morning. I like to keep him on his toes.
I still have some weird food aversions - like avocados. I love avocados, in guacamole, on salads, on hamburgers, just plain out of the skin! But the baby does not like avocados. I have a favorite sandwich at a little shop just off campus in Kingsville (shout out to Young's) - it's called the avocado. It's a little piece of heaven - avocado, tomato, and mayo on a nice toasted bun - delightful. At work, we are interviewing for two new faculty positions and we always take candidates to Young's for lunch. Well, day one (of five), I ordered my trusty avocado sandwich only to be told by the baby (ever so indirectly) that he/she does not like avocados. Interesting. How could this baby be so against something his/her mommy loves so much? Perhaps a lesson that will be 18+ years in the making...
Dan's favorite pregnancy symptom is my "bloodhound sense of smell." He hasn't had the pleasure of heading out for ice cream and pickles (yet), but he does get to deal with me yelling, "Baby - come get this!" while running out of the kitchen plugging my nose and trying desperately not to vomit. The culprit - our trash (and sometimes our dishwasher - that has decided if it doesn't run every other night it likes to smell). So just about every other morning, Dan gets to sweep in and save the day. He's now starting to empty the trash about every night, probably to eliminate the possible drama in the morning. I like to keep him on his toes.
Friday, November 19, 2010
13 Week Appointment
We had a prenatal appointment today, and had another ultrasound. Dan's favorite part was watching our little basketball star work on his/her hops in the womb. The baby would kind of crouch down and bend his/her knees, then almost push off my womb to straighten back out. Can't wait to feel that at 8 months! We were also amazed at how distinctive all of the baby's features are at this point - being able to see the facial profile was amazing. It was too early to distinguish any parts, but such a joy to get to see the baby again! My doctor said everything looks great!
On the way home, we came across one of the craziest accidents I have ever seen. This poor elderly woman turned at an intersection and then somehow lost control of her car. It seemed like she had lost consciousness or something because, as Dan said, it looked like no one was driving the car. She veered into the far lane and basically jumped the curb, hit a tree, and the car flipped. Dan and about 7 other guys jumped out of their cars to run over and help. The poor woman was hanging by her seatbelt upside down, and wasn't able to unbuckle herself (which was probably good, because I don't think she could have supported herself while upside down and may have fallen on her head causing further injury) or unlock the doors (which, again, I think was good because I'm pretty sure some of the guys trying to "help" at the scene would have pulled her out not thinking at all about possible spinal injuries or injuring her further). While my heart was breaking for her, I thank Jesus that she did not hit anyone else. Had she veered the other way, it could have been really ugly. I haven't heard if she's ok, but she was conscious and talking to us, so hopefully she is! I knew my blood pressure must have gone up through it all because when I got home and took off the bandaid from my blood draw, the little cotton ball was soaked through! It was a little bit of a crazy ending to our prenatal appointment!
On the way home, we came across one of the craziest accidents I have ever seen. This poor elderly woman turned at an intersection and then somehow lost control of her car. It seemed like she had lost consciousness or something because, as Dan said, it looked like no one was driving the car. She veered into the far lane and basically jumped the curb, hit a tree, and the car flipped. Dan and about 7 other guys jumped out of their cars to run over and help. The poor woman was hanging by her seatbelt upside down, and wasn't able to unbuckle herself (which was probably good, because I don't think she could have supported herself while upside down and may have fallen on her head causing further injury) or unlock the doors (which, again, I think was good because I'm pretty sure some of the guys trying to "help" at the scene would have pulled her out not thinking at all about possible spinal injuries or injuring her further). While my heart was breaking for her, I thank Jesus that she did not hit anyone else. Had she veered the other way, it could have been really ugly. I haven't heard if she's ok, but she was conscious and talking to us, so hopefully she is! I knew my blood pressure must have gone up through it all because when I got home and took off the bandaid from my blood draw, the little cotton ball was soaked through! It was a little bit of a crazy ending to our prenatal appointment!
Monday, November 1, 2010
(Old) Wives Tales
Dan and I are definitely going to find out the sex of the baby - which won't happen until early January. But we are having a lot of fun reading about (old) wives tales that supposedly predict the baby's gender. So far, here's what we've found:
1. HEARTBEAT OF THE BABY - if it's over 140 it's supposed to be a girl, if it's under 140 it's supposed to be a boy. Baby Gaines was about 150 at 9 weeks.
Verdict: GIRL
2. CRAVINGS - if Mommy craves sweet and creamy it's supposed to be a girl, if it's sour and salty it's supposed to be a boy. Mommy Gaines craves chocolate milkshakes.
Verdict: GIRL
3. CHINESE BIRTH CALENDAR - uses Mommy's age at conception and date of conception to determine gender. (click here)
Verdict: GIRL
4. RING TEST - loop your wedding ring around one of Mommy's hairs and hang it over Mommy's belly. If the ring circles, it's a boy. If the ring sways back and forth in a line, it's a girl.
Verdict: GIRL
5. MAYAN CALENDAR - uses Mommy's age at conception and year of conception to determine gender. If both are odd or both are even, it's supposed to be a girl. If it's one of each, it's supposed to be a boy. Mommy was 32 in 2010.
Verdict: GIRL
6. MORNING SICKNESS - if Mommy is super sick, it's a girl. If she's not, it's a boy.
Verdict: GIRL
7. FRIEND EMILY TEST - if one of your best friends has an intuition, go with it. We had to call these (old) wives tales, because Emily is NOT old! :-)
Verdict: GIRL
Is anyone else sensing a theme here?? I think Dan and I better come up with a new name for Baby Gaines...so far it's been E'Tuan Robbie in honor of the upcoming Purdue basketball season. E'Tuan Robbie may not fit into those big boy pants!
1. HEARTBEAT OF THE BABY - if it's over 140 it's supposed to be a girl, if it's under 140 it's supposed to be a boy. Baby Gaines was about 150 at 9 weeks.
Verdict: GIRL
2. CRAVINGS - if Mommy craves sweet and creamy it's supposed to be a girl, if it's sour and salty it's supposed to be a boy. Mommy Gaines craves chocolate milkshakes.
Verdict: GIRL
3. CHINESE BIRTH CALENDAR - uses Mommy's age at conception and date of conception to determine gender. (click here)
Verdict: GIRL
4. RING TEST - loop your wedding ring around one of Mommy's hairs and hang it over Mommy's belly. If the ring circles, it's a boy. If the ring sways back and forth in a line, it's a girl.
Verdict: GIRL
5. MAYAN CALENDAR - uses Mommy's age at conception and year of conception to determine gender. If both are odd or both are even, it's supposed to be a girl. If it's one of each, it's supposed to be a boy. Mommy was 32 in 2010.
Verdict: GIRL
6. MORNING SICKNESS - if Mommy is super sick, it's a girl. If she's not, it's a boy.
Verdict: GIRL
7. FRIEND EMILY TEST - if one of your best friends has an intuition, go with it. We had to call these (old) wives tales, because Emily is NOT old! :-)
Verdict: GIRL
Is anyone else sensing a theme here?? I think Dan and I better come up with a new name for Baby Gaines...so far it's been E'Tuan Robbie in honor of the upcoming Purdue basketball season. E'Tuan Robbie may not fit into those big boy pants!
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