HAPPY HALLOWEEN:)

Happy Halloween! Jay and I finally got to carve our pumpkins. Jay has never done this before, so had to get into "pumpkin slayer" mode...really show that pumpkin who's boss!

After a couple of hours, this is what we ended up with:) Don't laugh at Sprout's pumpkin, clearly mommy was tired of carving and instead of planning the design, she thought she could wing it.

out side of our front door on the steps:)

Tonight, we had our very good friend, KeithAnn and her mother in law come for dinner and to hand out candy. This is Gabe, her little one, dressed as a spider. He was a good sport in the beginning...

but things deteriorated quickly and he let us know that he had had enough of the humiliation, despite how cute he was:)

After everyone was gone and the trick-or-treaters stopped coming, we dressed Sprout up in her very first Halloween costume

Mommy view..

Ta Da!

And one from the side so you can see our most recent growth spurt:) We're only a few days shy of the 6month mark!

Pumpkin picking:)

Today Jay and I went pumpkin picking. We are planning on carving them this week... we'll see if we actually do it, but that is the current plan none the less! Before we went, Jay took some pictures of my belly for you:) This is the best one. Jay makes funny comments while taking my picture, which often results in an odd look on my face. So here I am, 23 weeks along...that's 5 1/2 months into my 9month pregnancy... so for all of you not doing quick math... I AM GOING TO HAVE A BABY IN 3 1/2 months!!! Does anybody else realize how crazy that is???
random picture of what we found under our stove when we pulled it out today (there was a sauce incident that required cleaning in between the cabinet and the stove) Our cat, Moe, spends much of her day trying to get something from under the stove. We assumed she had thrown one of her toys under there... we had no idea it was this severe. Those are milk rings, her favorite. There were 15 of them, along with a name tape from Jay's uniform, a cotton ball, and a role of tape. She's a little crazy.

So back to pumpkin picking:)

Jay was a little unsure about this one... but I'm not sure why.

We finally made our choices. One for Jay, one for me, and one for Sprout:)

This is specially for Diana... This is what Sprout's closet looks like so far. Those clothes are so much tinier in real life than they look in this picture:)

And yet another reason that I'm starting to worry that we are not at all prepared for this child to arrive in 3 1/2 MONTHS! This is what her room looks like currently. That is a wall paper border. I'm not sure why anybody in their right mind would ever choose such a creepy theme for their child's room...of course I don't know that the person who chose it WAS in their right mind. If you look closely, you will see a monkey on a horse dressed as a clown, and a rooster on a ball wearing a party hat. I'm not OK with this at all. We've not had the time or know how to get that thing down, but it has to happen SOON!

So, to end on a happy note, I'll post a pretty picture:) These were from my hubby. They opened beautifully and smelled even better!

weeks 20 and 21

OK! First things first... I want to apologize to all of you who have been patiently waiting (hounding me) for belly pictures:). So I'm very sorry, here is what you've been waiting for...






This is me at 20 weeks...in my pajama's.

And at 21 weeks... again, in my pajama's.

Not in pajama's, but very close:)

Just in case you are wondering, I do wear real clothes during the day. By the time I get home, and take care of whatever has to be taken care of...dinner, laundry, etc and remember to take pictures, I'm usually out of work/real clothes and into comfy clothes:)

In recent news, I have finally started to feel her move! Its awesome:) What is not so awesome, is that she is most active between the hours of 2:30 and 4:00AM. During the day, she stretches, and pushes, and is generally quiet. But in the wee hours of the morning, she punches, kicks and wiggles, often waking me and keeping me from falling back to sleep.

Also in recent news... we've decided on a name for our daughter! I never imagined that we would have such a hard time agreeing on what the best name for our baby would be. I always just assumed that I would suggest a name that I loved and Jay would say "ITS PERFECT! Lets name her that!" It did not go that way...nor did it go that way for him:)

So we are very excited that we have finally agreed on what we think is the perfect name for our little one. We still call her 'Sprout' but the name that we have chosen to give her is

Joselyn Aurora Rivera

We hope you like it as much as we do:)

Our Honeymoon:)

Last week, Jay and I finally got our honeymoon. We went to Couples Swept Away in Negril, Jamaica. It was amazing:) Jay is already planning a return trip! We arrived very late on Thursday night, so it was dark and we just went straight to bed. Waking the next morning in paradise was so cool. I am now nearly 19 weeks pregnant, but this is what I looked like at the beginning of our trip... 18 weeks pregnant(Jay made me wear the hat... he won it the night before at the 'Couples Auction')

Before we even got there, we decided that if we were ever going to upgrade to first class, now was the time! This is the meal they gave us... suprisingly good for being fixed on an airplane:) The cookies were fresh baked!

Yay for honeymoons:)

This is what I awoke to the morning after we arrived. We had a balcony that looked into the garden, the beach and ocean are on the other side of of that far building, it was less than a 3 minute walk from our room:)

We quickly went down to the beach to check it out

Jay wasted no time enjoying himself... this was the start to what turned out to be a bad day....after a couple of those mojito's, he commenced to drink the entire mini bar... first all the beers, then on to Gin. Jay was sick for the next few hours... I was not happy. Jay quickly learned that was not the best way to enjoy his honeymoon, and didn't do it again.

Me at dinner the first night

Jay had to do homework while we were there...this is how we spent all day Sunday:( Of course having to sit on the balcony looking at beatiful gardens and listening to the fountain outside of our room while reading my book, wasn't too terrible:)

Taking a break...

We took a catamaran cruise one night, which was so much fun. We got to swim in caves just like these... I'm kicking myself now for not having an underwater camera. It was amazing in there.

Sunset on the way back to the resort

Sunset from the beach

More homework:(

More sunsets:)






The bonfire on the beach... there was a reggae band playing in the background. The sound of the ocean, crackling bonfire and great music made for a pretty awesome night




Jay's Bob Marley shot:) He waited all week for this one


The morning we left:( So sad to leave.

So all in all, with just a few minor hiccups, we had a wonderful time. We are so happy that we had the opportunity to go before our little one comes.

And for those of you who are wondering, No, we do not have a name for our little girl yet. We spent lots of time on our vacation discussing names and it is becoming more and more clear that Jay and I just do not agree about what her name should be. I guess we have time to decide still... well, not too much time... She'll be here in just 4 months!!!!!!

IT'S A ...

Jay and I had the most unforgettable experience today. We saw our baby... our baby GIRL to be exact!!!! She is perfect. She is VERY active in there, which was a little strange to see since I can't feel her move just yet.

So here is what you've really been waiting for...

This first picture is the best 3-D still we could get. She was turning her face into the placenta, and although we could see her on the screen, it didn't translate that well onto the film. Her head is at the top, the dark spot is one eye, and her mouth is open. Belly at the bottom. I think she has Jay's nose:)


This one is head on, I know its a little scary, that is her brain up at the top, and her belly at the bottom
These are her little legs, crossed at the ankles, and resting on... usually kicking my bladder.

Another head on one, and one with her mouth open:)

ITS A GIRL!!!!! No questions there:) This is looking up at her bottom, as if she is sitting on copy machine...taking pictures of her butt... this is the only time she will be allowed to do it, don't worry
And the last one is of her little foot.

So we're having a baby girl. No names just yet. It turns out, Jay and I have very different idea's about what our baby's name should be. We'll have plenty of time to talk about it on the beach in Jamaica! We leave on Thursday for our honey/babymoon.

We are so very excited!!!

BEST WEEK EVER!!

Although we usually dread Sunday, as it is the beginning of the week and the last day of our weekend... we are VERY excited to start this week! We have been waiting for what seems like an eternity for this week to come around, AND NOW ITS HERE!! On Tuesday we will be heading to the doctor for our BIG ultrasound. We will be able to see our baby and hopefully find out if Sprout is a little boy or a little girl:)

And then, just 2 days later, we will be on a plane to Jamaica for our long awaited HONEYMOON!!!! We will be at Couple's Swept Away in Negril, Jamaica for 8 wonderful days:)

So here is what my belly is looking like now. I am a couple days shy of 17weeks in these pics. I think it looks bigger from my point of view looking down at it, then it does it the pictures. But believe me, its definatly growing. I'm in a very awkward stage where I'm not quite fitting into my clothes, and maternity clothes are still too big. I have made the switch, for the most part, to maternity pants... which are amazingly comfortable. The pants in the picture are not maternity, but they are my 'big' pants and they do get unbuttoned when I sit:) Thank goodness that a week in Jamaica calls for lots of flowing dresses and skirts:)

So there you have it... my bump.
I will try my hardest to put aside my amazement and get some pictures of the ultrasound on Tuesday. Whether I do or not, I will make sure I make a post announcing what our little one is going to be!!! Well... already is;)