Merry Christmas!!!

Our Christmas card this year! Wishing Everyone a Very Merry Christmas!!!!

These pics were shot the same time we took my 24 week pictures. I’m so glad we took the tripod out!

Baby Carriers

I would love your opinions again...

Baby Carriers.

Which baby carrier have you used and what do you think about it? I've read the Baby Bjorn is great but once baby gets >15 pounds or so it hurts your back. Any thoughts? Which model do you recommend? Anyone use an Ergo Carrier? Or other carriers I need to know about.

Okay, thanks in advance for your expert advice!

Belly Pics–Weeks 20-25

John posted these on his photography blog so I thought I’d share them here. John and I will randomly go out and grab a few pics of the belly to document this fun time. It’s crazy to see how my body is changing and growing.

Also, I would love advice on things to buy for the baby. What things are must-haves? What things are a waste of money? What brand crib, car seat, stroller, everything, etc do you like… I would love your expert advice so please share! Please leave a comment or email me {sharpegal (at) gmail (dot) com}

20 Weeks

23 WeeksFrom John, “Quick little side not about the next 3 images. I had been taking photos that day and told Em she was hardly showing, just look at the photo above and you’ll agree.  It was the first image below when I joked and said, ‘Babe, you look huge from here.’ The subsequent two images were her reactions.  I just love this!!!”I grabbed a couple shots of John, the light was great and the subject was HOT!!!Here we were doing the typical “hold your belly” shot but I didn’t have much to hold…24 Weeks – This is when I really started to feel pregnant. I grew a lot between 23 and 24 weeks25 Weeks – I am Prego

Happy Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween!!!  Our friends Donny and LeAnne had a Halloween/Birthday Party last week. We almost didn’t dress up because I didn’t have the energy to come up with costumes. One of the CRNAs I worked with gave us the idea to go as a Bun in the Oven and a Baker. John of course wanted to add the wig because he said it “made” the costume. The only thing he was missing was a matching mustache.

So I present to you A Bun in the Oven and The Bun Maker: John getting ready to “deliver” the bun.

Anyone come up with some good costumes or see some great costumes this year? Hope you all had a Happy Halloween.

Boy or Girl???

So we had our repeat ultrasound this week and it was so much fun. The ultrasound tech was hilarious and she had us laughing many times. We found out the gender right at the beginning; there was no modesty or shyness that day. We are having a GIRL!! That is what most of you guessed so good job!! This also gives me the satisfaction of being right because John was convinced we were having a boy and has been referring to the baby as him since we found out.  In addition, my fluid levels were normal and we were able to visualize all the parts we needed to. Everything looked good and healthy! We are so grateful for a normal ultrasound… such a big relief.

Here are just a few photos from her first photo shoot…

Frontal View of the Face (Kind of looks like a skeleton or alien, right?)  

I’ve really started to feel her move a lot lately. It is crazy that there is a growing baby inside me and I can feel her move! Wow, I just love it!

21 Week Ultrasound

Well thank you for all your wonderful comments! It’s amazing (and unfortunate) how common miscarriages and infertility are. It is not a topic people usually talk about and so I think many people often feel alone as they struggle through these difficult times. Many of you mentioned that you didn’t know we were even trying to have a baby… and that was kind of the point. It’s much easier when people don’t know b/c then you don’t get the dreaded question, “Are you pregnant yet?” And of course when you are trying without success, it’s nice to not have one more reminder.

When I posted last week we had not had our ultrasound yet and so we didn’t announce what we were having because we didn’t know yet. Plus I thought it would be so fun to have a separate post with the exclamation of “It’s a …” and an ultrasound picture. Well, we had our ultrasound on Thursday and now I can proclaim:

“It’s a … we don’t know!”

Yeah, our child decided to be modest and had his/her legs crossed the entire time. I tried to blame the stubborn characteristic on John but he called me out and I will freely admit that I am definitely a stubborn person. And of course my sister quickly agreed when I told her the story. She said it had Behrmann/Anderson blood all over it! Well, the baby was face down as well so they weren’t able to get all the images they needed so we scheduled another ultrasound to get the rest of the pictures and as a bonus we will hopefully find out the sex. Friday morning I received a call from my OB (who I love) who informed me that she would like our ultrasound to be performed at the perinatology clinic for a level 2 ultrasound. I love how she has to preface things with, “Emily, now I’m not concerned but…” During my initial ultrasound my amniotic fluid was low. I had wondered about this and was going to bring it up during my next appointment but I guess we will address it sooner than that. So we have another ultrasound next week. I’m praying for normal fluid levels and a normal healthy baby. And of course, finding out what we are having would be an added bonus.

Thanks again for all your support! And I’m curious, what do you think we are having?

And since I don’t have a photo to go along with this post (and one person is on bed rest), I posted pictures from Venice below! Enjoy.

Venice Italy

Venice is unlike anything I have ever seen.  The architecture and history contained within this labyrinth of a city is unbelievable.  I would have loved to have seen what this city looked like in its prime.  The palaces here are breathtaking. John was in heaven and could have photographed here for days.  However, Venice is really crowded with tourists and I was okay with leaving… Enjoy!

(And I’m really behind on posting our Italy pictures. John has posted a couple more on his blog if you go there and search Italy, but he still hasn’t posted Rome.)

Venice has a pigeon problem and they don’t know how to exactly fix it.  I have never seen so many pigeons.Eating our daily Panini sandwich…Yummmm!   Mosaics on St Marks Basilica The image below shows the world’s first digital clock.  Pretty cool huh? John saw tourists doing this and thought…why not?       In the evening, the flooding around St Mark’s Basilica makes for some awesome reflections! Had to throw this image in…this would not fly in the US.

Venice at Night! 

In case you missed it, you can view other Italy photos here:

Burano, Italy