You and Me and a Baby Makes Three!

We are happy to announce to the world that we are going to be a mommy and daddy (on or around July 19th)! Now that I am successfully past my first trimester, we feel comfortable with spreading the good news. Even though all our family has known for a while, it's still been hard keeping it a secret from everyone else. So for the family who already knew and were keeping the secret with us, go ahead and tell the world now!

I have been very lucky and haven't been sick at all. At first I was feeling extremely exhausted every day, but that's getting better. I am still more tired, but not so worn-out-feeling, which is much better for my school day. There are a lot of times when I don't feel like I'm pregnant because I don't feel any different than normal. But I'll count that as a blessing and just hope that it lasts!

Ever since we found out about our soon-to-be-parenthood, Todd has been itching to get things ready. He has been talking and planning about how we're going to move all the furniture to fit the baby stuff, what things we'll need to pack in our bag for the hospital, and checks the baby section of WalMart every single time we go. He's definitely going to be a proud daddy. Of course I'm very excited for the adventure too (I've been waiting for this my whole life!), but I get the most excited by watching him getting excited.

We have looked all over the internet at cribs from different stores just to get an idea of what we like. But I don't particularly like any that are in our price range. I figured, "We'll find what we want..we have plenty of time to figure it out." But Todd thought more out-of-the-box and looked up crib plans. He found one plan that we both like (classic but not too old-fashioned), and printed them up. He bought the wood a couple weeks before Christmas, then we took it to Boise with us where he could borrow and use the proper tools. (Sorry to everyone in Boise we didn't visit over the holidays. We were a bit busy with the crib construction. We still love you, though!) After many many hours, lots of work, and lots of red saw dust, here it is...

I absolutely love the color! It's not stained or anything; just a little lemon oil is all. I much prefer a natural wood look to paint, and I'm very excited about how well it turned out. After the protective top-coat is on, it'll be ready for some hardware and a mattress. I'm also planning on making the bedding set for it after we know whether it's a boy or a girl.

Todd searched all over our area for some good wood to build it from and found this hardwood called Kayu Batu. We had never heard of it before, but Todd did his research. It's really really really hard, meaning durable and sturdy, and also very heavy. It was super hard to work with because of how hard and dense it is, and many a drill bit found its eternal rest in the making of the crib. Todd even had to go get special screws to put it together with because the normal ones just broke off half-way through. It was pretty frustrating at times for poor Todd, but he did a wonderful job with it. I know we'll keep it forever. For one thing, it will last forever. You could throw it off a building and it probably wouldn't break! But most of all, Todd made it and it means a lot to me that he would put all that effort in to make it special. It's not any cheaper to make the crib yourself, but it does mean a lot more. Thank you Todd! You're the best!

Here is our first ultrasound (6 weeks). It is not very baby-like, but you get the idea. It is that little blob in the bottom left. I won't have another ultrasound for a couple months, so I'll post it when it comes. That's when we'll find out if it's a Todd Jr. or a Kaila Jr. Until then, my appointments are just for checking the heartbeat and other basic stuff like that. I wish I could get an ultrasound every time just to see how big it is. According to WhatToExpect.com, this week our baby is the size of a peach and actually looks like a human now.

Todd's parents are excited to see their youngest baby start his family. And my parents are excited for their first grandchild. Our baby will be a decider on both sides of the family. Will the first Bell grandchild be a boy or a girl? And on the Myers side there are 5 boys and 5 girls, so we'll be the tie-breaker. We don't have a feeling either way, nor do we care what gender it will be. All we wish for is a healthy child, and we will be happy no matter what. But maybe just for fun we'll start a poll when the time for finding out gets close. I'm already in so much suspense, it's hard to wait it out. But at the same time, I need all the time I can get to prepare to be a mom! This parenting thing is pretty daunting. But I know that this is the right time, and the Lord will help us prepare and learn as we go as long as we let Him. We are so happy and so blessed! We love our baby already!!!