Yes, I haven't written in a while... but there's really not a whole lot different going on baby-wise. There's lots of movement now, and it's nice feeling her presence all the time. We've come up with the name McKenna, which was actually suggested by a co-worker of Noels... and lo and behold we actually both like the name! We've got it on our hot list of names (which is woefully tiny) but hey, we're getting there. We've decided if we name her that it will be McKenna Marie Noel, which I think is beautiful and ties in another family name, since Marie is used quite a bit on Noel's side. I told him the next kid will have to have some HUNT/HYNICK/SMITH in it! haha

Well, other than baby stuff, the house hunting is going well... We've seen lots of places that we really like but they always come short some way... either price or space or location. Right now we're looking at Corey Barton Homes... we like the Montico or the Tatom floorplans. They are both two-story so there would be extra backyard space, plus both homes are in either 1900 some or 2000 some square feet. One other bonus is that the washer/dryer are UPSTAIRS where all of the bedrooms are! And the space in the utility room is great for folding clothes... and the master bedrooms are large with really big walk in closets. But, we do have a great realtor who is keeping her eye out for other houses that we might like. We've decided if we go for Corey Barton, we're willing to pay more for the nicer subdivision. It's a lot closer to groceries, freeway, etc... the other subdivision is miles from the freeway and Noel's carpool buddy, and he really wants to be closer to amenities... and I just have this feeling that the area is going to explode in a really nice way. The subdivision has the nicer homes that he buids, too... which we like. If you go to www.coreybartonhomes.com and click on "floorplans" you can see the Montico and the Tatom. We also saw the Valencia, which has a master bedroom the size of our garage times two! It was huge, but at $158,000. it was out of our price range. So we'll see what happens. One thing I'd like is to put a fireplace in the wall between the living/family rooms, so you can see it from both sides. I think that would be really cool and they do that in some of their other models.

Okay, in regards to our own home, we've listed at 107,900. and have had one family see it so far (it's only been a week and a half) and the realtor that showed it said the only thing they didn't like was that the backyard wasn't big enough. Which, unfortunately we can't do anything about. And I'm still in the process of moving fish tanks. All of the them are empty except the large 80 gallon in the guest bedroom, which isn't in anyones way. I'll be able to move the entertainment center out from in front of the fireplace once I get some of the empty tanks moved. Man, I'll have to cut back on fish once baby is born.

Okay, well that's it for now.

Hi all,

It's been a few days, but man have things been happening! Okay, so everyone knows I'm having a girl! And now when I watch my belly when she's kicking I can see my tummy move. I'm not seeing any hand or foot imprints, though.
Noel and I have listed our house with a realtor and plan to buy a bigger home. We've looked at everything from old to new. There's a lot of nice stuff out there and even though we qualified for more, we felt comfortable at $140,000. So that's what we were approved for, and there's some pretty nice stuff out there. I really want a living room AND family room, as well as a nice large master bath and walk-in closet. Noel wants storage (we might bring our Stor-mor shed with us) and a work shop. We've been looking at the possiblity of getting a 3-car garage and turning one bay into a shop, or else trying to find a home with a basement, but those are pretty scarce around here. We found one home (haven't looked at it yet) that's 21-30 years old and has 5 bedrooms, a living and family room and a basement. Noel really would like it, I think. And it's been updated on the outside and is beautiful! Someone put a lot of work into the landscaping. Only thing is the neighborhood is older and a bit borderline on "nice" and "starting to fall apart". I'm worried about resale value. Anyway, the other thing is the kitchen is a bit small. Anyway, we've seen a few so far and have a personalized website we go to and it emails us recently listed homes that fit our criteria. It was provided by National City Mortgage. I'll keep everyone updated on the house hunt. I really want to be in a home before I get too big, and if we do a new house with our own personalizations, we'll have to start soon. A builder we talked to said they could get us into a house by August... so we'd have to decide quickly.
Anyway, besides that, we're good! We're doing really well on saving up for the baby and should have a nice chunck left over to go towards down payment in addtion to what we get back out of our current house. We've listed at 107,900 and hope to get 105,900. That would be ideal, anyway. Other than that, we're pretty happy. Now that we'll have people coming to look at the house, I'll have to get it cleaned. Hmm... maybe I should have waited a bit on listing... Haha We at least need to get the entertainment center moved to somewhere besides right in front of the fireplace!
Okay, time to get back to work.

All right boy and girls... guess what??? It's a GIRL!! I've had fun thinking about her as a girl now. Noel and I have already thought of all the stuff she'll put us through... like periods, training bras, paying for a wedding... but then I think of the great relationship I have with my mom and I hope that I'll have the same with my daughter. It'll be awesome...
So, we got some pictures and I've already emailed a whole bunch of people... if you didn't get one, see my previous post and give me a holler. The pic showing that it's a girl isn't all that clear, but the doc DID show us one earlier that clealy shows the lines of the labia and everything else. And if that baby is wiggling that much now and I'm not feeling it, I can't imagine what it'll be like when she's moving constantly and I'm feeling it more. She's already given me some really tough kicks directly to my cervix and that really doesn't feel as good as the other ones! So, that's it basically. Noel and I are really excited... we've been calling family all day and now we can buy pink!! Noel's not too crazy about that, but guess what?? TOO BAD! haha :)
See you cookies later!

So we're back from the doctor and we know the sex of the baby. However, I can't tell you yet. And the reason why is because I need to tell my parents over the phone and I had to leave a message. So, I'm waiting for a call back and once I get that call I'll let you all know the sex.
So, what I can tell you is that the doctor kept saying the baby looks to be in excellent health. He examined everything. The spine looks nice and strong as well as the heart, and the brain and all of its lobes looks great. There's no sign of Downs or Spina Bifida, so we're very happy with that. It was incredible watching it, and the little bugger wouldn't stay still. The doc would hold still and you'd see baby doing the jig on the screen. Quite funny indeed and VERY exciting!! He/she weighs 10 ounces according to the doctor. Noel forgot to bring the camcorder with him so we don't have video, but we do have 3 photos, one of the head (with the child looking very alien-like), one of the head and spine, and one of the butt and legs (looking up from underneath) so you can see the sex. Okay, we're going to scan in the pictures, so if anyone wants pics please email me. I've forgotten exactly who I've sent out my blog link to, so I don't want to offend anyone by forgetting. You can send pic requests to the email address of Sakmet@wowmail.com (not my main email, so don't send ordinary messages there). Okay, well that's it for now! We'll be trying to come up with names now, so don't worry... we will get him/her a good one! :)

Good thing I got up early this morning! Turns out the ultrasound is scheduled today and a regular check up tomorrow?!! Sounds a bit strange, so I'll have to inquire when I get there. Well it's about 8:40am now and the appointment is at 9:30am... I've already ingested the 32 ounces of water they required. We'll see how my bladder's doing at game time. Some people I've talked to say, 'Oh, it's horrible', others say 'it's not so bad'... maybe it just depends on the size bladder you have and if you REALLY drank all 32 ounces... I've got to say I came a little short of the goal. I was feeling like I was going to puke and I really did not want to have to do it all over again. Noel's gotten the camcorder out to bring along because they don't have the option to record the ultrasound, just take pictures. He's been the proud papa to be of late. Okay, well that's it for now. I'll wait out the rest of this time and when we're done, I'll make sure to update if we find out wether the little one has the jewels or not! :)

Well, yesterday my friend Patty and I went shopping. She had a day off so we took advantage and hit some thrift shops, and can I just say what deals you can find? I found an old Readers Digest Piano book (music from like the 40's through the 70's) I think. I have a few others in the series, I guess you could say. Also I picked up a few shirts that I found that looked very nice! Everything was less than $9. And all of the baby clothes there! We went through some looking for stuff for Patty's boy Joey, and there were some really nice things there. We hit the Mongolian BBQ and a movie. Saw Big Fish. I thought it was a fun movie, if a little strange.

Anyway, on to baby stuff. Ever since feeling the baby kick, it seems like I'm feeling it all the time. I've gone through my wardrobe and have pulled out stuff that I haven't worn in a while that still fits (mainly dresses). I also have a nice one that I picked up in Quartzsite, Arizona when Noel and I went out for a day to visit his dad.

This last week I've had a couple of dizzy spells. One while I was coming off of the highway (don't worry, I didn't crash!) and the other while Patty and I were in a craft store yesterday. I had to sit down for awhile. No fainting yet, though. Other than that, everythings pretty A-okay. I'm a little sore in some areas that I'll have to ask the doc about, but that just might be from added pressure of the baby and possibly the widening of hips? But, the next appointment is this coming Tuesday so we'll do the ultrasound and I'll ask the doc about continuing to work nights...we'll see what he says. Noel and I are doing pretty well on saving up some money... mainly most of my paycheck every couple of weeks. That'll help us out greatly once we go to one paycheck. I'm thinking of trying to stay on and work part-time for awhile after the baby is born if I can get a fixed shift, but I'm still looking at that. Nothing definite yet.

Well, that's it for now.