Boy or Girl?

Today was a really exciting day at our house. This morning we had our appointment to find out if our sweet baby is a boy or a girl! We are thrilled to announce that in November we will welcome a precious baby GIRL into our family.

Abigail Jane Rainwater

We were super excited and maybe even a little bit nervous as we headed in. Somehow I never considered the fact that our sonogram would be before we met with the doctor, but that makes perfect sense. They called us back and I didn't even have time to get my brained wrapped around it before I was on the table! She asked us if we wanted to know the gender and we answered very quickly...YES!

Once she got started we were blown away getting to see our precious baby's profile, which we had not seen in previous sonograms. She was moving all over the place, putting her hands by her face, puckering her lips, kicking her legs and rolling over. It was so much fun. She took pictures, measured this and that, and explained everything as she went. We were in awe at what a miracle it truly is.

About halfway through, she started measuring the legs and it was VERY obvious to David and I that she was NOT a boy. The sonographer didn't say anything at first...I think she wanted to get a really good look before she said anything for sure. David and I both felt like we knew immediately. After taking another look I asked, "What do you see between those legs?" She said, "Well, I've gotten a really good look and well, you guys are having a little girl!"

We just started laughing. David KNEW we were having a girl last night and this morning. He felt so sure of it and it turns out he was right! We were so thrilled and then we got to enjoy the rest of the sonogram imagining what we were seeing as a little girl. She was BUSY. The sonographer kind-of had to chase her around to get all of her measurements. My favorite part was seeing her stretch. She arched her back, stretched her legs, and put her arms up above her head. Precious.





This is a front view, she has her little legs and arms kind-of pulled up in front of her. I imagined her snuggling just a little bit.



They told us that everything looks perfect and she is about 9 ounces and measuring right on track for a November 20th due date.

We have had the name "Abigail Jane" picked out since before we even started trying to have a baby, so it was so natural that our first child be a girl. We still feel a little shocked and are just taking it all in, but we feel so blessed and thankful that God has entrusted us with a little girl to raise. Calling our families was also really fun...everyone was pumped and loved the name. We wanted a Biblical name and loved Abigail and Jane was my Nannie's name (my Dad's mom).

Abigail: Father's joy

Jane: God is gracious

Recently

Recently...I haven't been good about taking any pictures. In fact, this last weekend we went home to Little Rock for a nice long weekend to get some time in with the Rainwaters for Father's Day and I didn't take a single one. NOT ONE. Shame shame.

Anyway, we did have a really nice time in Little Rock for Father's Day. On that Friday David and his mom got to go play golf while my mom and I went to a store called Pickles and Ice Cream and picked out a great chair for the nursery. I think it's really cute.

We got to spend some good quality time with John (David's brother), Sarah and Shepherd as well. On Saturday we relaxed and then went to the farm to have lunch with Grandma and then just hang out for a while. We followed that up with some time on the lake!

This week is pretty normal. David is still working at the school (just for one more week after this one and then his residency starts) and I am still working at Barstow in the afternoons, but I am also working at HCA filling in for the receptionist this week and next week in the mornings.

We are less than a week away from getting to find out if Baby Rainwater is a boy or a girl. The appointment is next Wednesday morning and we are so excited about it. We really really hope the baby cooperates and will let us take a look. A lot of people have asked us what we THINK we're having. Right from the get-go David and I both felt like it might be a girl. But in the last couple weeks we've both kind-of been thinking it could be a boy. Who knows? Honestly, we don't have a preference either way and constantly talk about what would be fun about both. I'm glad the Lord makes the decision and not me...I could never choose!

I'm feeling really good most days. I'm having a little bit of trouble sleeping now that I have to sleep on my side, but I think my body is starting to adjust to the new positioning. Any complaint I may have is totally worthless now, because I am really starting to feel those tiny little kicks and turns more frequently. It's so fun. I haven't been able catch one with my hands yet, but David has, which is great. So far I'm just feeling them from the inside and by the time I get my hands into position he/she decides the fun is over. :)

We're still working on baby names...naming is hard!

If you have a guess or an opinion about the gender of the baby we would love to hear it! Post a comment on the blog and we'll see who is right next Wednesday!

Fourth Anniversary and Updates

David and I have celebrated our fourth anniversary and we cannot believe it! We decided that we had sufficiently celebrated our anniversary as far as gift-giving in Italy :) so we had a very low-key anniversary this year. We hosted gospel group as usual and then made home-made pizza on Friday night. We are so thankful for the past four years and look forward to all that's to come. It's been a great 4 years...here's to another 40!

On Saturday we headed up to HCA to clean out my classroom once and for all. It was kind of weird to pack up everything that I have worked so hard to collect over the past 4 years, but exciting to know that we are moving on to another fun part of life. We actually took Deuce up there and let him wonder around my classroom while we worked...pretty fun, but probably not technically allowed. :)

This classroom has been good to me, but now it has totally bare walls!





I didn't get too emotional about the whole process. I tried not to, which was pretty easy because it's fun to think about what I'm getting to move on to. I am so thankful to have the opportunity to stay home with our baby.

Speaking of our baby, we are 17 weeks today! Here I am!



Here are the most recent updates:

1. The baby is just a little bit over 5 inches from crown to rump and almost 5 ounces!

2. At our last appointment my blood pressure looked great, the baby's heart rate was right at 150 beats per minute, and we got to hear it loud and clear. The doctor said we had a very cooperative baby that let us listen to the heartbeat so easily.

3. Kicks- I HAVE experienced the "flutters" that everyone talks about. They have been few and far between up until this week, but I feel like I am feeling them more and more. It's so hard to tell though! Sometimes I think I feel something, and then I'm not sure. :) Today however, I feel like I have definitely felt "something." It almost feels like someone blew a bubble in my stomach if that makes any sense at all.

4. I'm totally in maternity pants and it is so comfortable. Thank goodness for elastic.

5. Boy or girl?!-We have only 2 weeks more to wait! Two weeks from tomorrow to be exact. The appointment is June 27 and we can't wait.

6. Names--now THAT you'll have to wait to find out! :)

7. Baby items-we haven't collected much, but plan to start soon. Maybe in July it'll pick up a bit. We DID order our crib today, which is super fun to think about.

Italy Part 4

I'm thinking I will try and make this my last Italy post, so it might be a little bit long, but the last couple days of the trip were a blast. On Wednesday we woke up and rode the train to Pisa and walked to see the famous building. On our walk to also made a short stop to check out the church that says they have a thorn from the actual crown of thorns. :) Of course, we had to take the typical Pisa pictures...don't we look strong?











It's amazing how much the thing truly leans. Apparently they've gotten it more secure and don't think it will tilt anymore and you can even go up into it if you want to. We elected not to. :)



From Pisa we hopped back onto the train and traveled to the 5th town in the group of towns called Cinque Terre. They are small villages on the Italian coastline and the Mediterranean Sea. They are seriously unbelievably pretty and words really can't describe it. I don't know if our pictures will capture it, but I hope they will at least partly. At some point in our lives David and I want to come back here and spend a vacation in one of the five villages. There is a hiking trail between all five villages, which Tripp has hiked. We didn't hike, we just rode the ferry. :)







Yeah, we dipped our little toes into the Mediterranean Sea. We also filled our pockets with pretty rocks to bring home. :) They're currently in my living room.





We ate dinner on the banks of the Mediterranean and watched the sun start to set. One of the coolest parts of the trip for sure.







On Thursday we headed straight for the Academia to check out Michelangelo's David. There were no pictures inside, but it is such an imposing structure. I think I stared at it even longer this time than last time. Another cool part of the museum were unfinished sculptures by Michelangelo that were intended for the tomb of a Pope, but never finished. The cool part was that we saw the replica that was finished by some of Michelangelo's students in the Peter in Chains church in Rome.

After lunch it was time for our tour of Tuscany! We went to the region called Chianti and got to tour a 12th century castle that the family still lives in and produces wine and olive oil. We also got to go down and check out their private collection. Their oldest bottles of wine were 6 from 1904. As a sidenote, the bus ride was terrible for me. I was so carsick up on those winding roads, but when we got there it did pass on.











Sadly, Friday was our last day and we finished up with a bang. We got up and headed straight to the Duomo to climb up all those stairs straight to the top. Tripp had a torn ACL, I was 15 and half weeks pregnant and Mom is afraid of heights, but dog-gone-it nothing was keeping us from the top. Parts were EXTREMELY narrow and made you feel super closed in, but it was well-worth it.













On Friday we finished up some souvenir shopping (some of us had more shopping to do than others:) ), and hit the high points of Florence again. We also got to see the massive Piti Palace, which at one time was a privately owned residence.





And so ends the Italy posts. Seriously, I have so many more pictures than I posted and who knows if I really even posted the very best ones, but I realize y'all don't really feel like scrolling through 600 pictures. To my parents...thank you for taking us all on a trip of a lifetime. It is something we will NEVER forget and the memories together are priceless and forever in my memory. You all are the blessings of my life and I can't wait to bring another little member into such a loving, caring, thoughtful, exciting, giving, God-fearing and up-for-anything family.



Mom, Dad, where are we going for your 35th? :)

Italy Part 3

Alrighty, two posts right in a row...I must not have much going on right now (actually completely true). So...on Tuesday we headed on the fast train to Florence! David, Dad and I had all visited Florence before, but Tripp actually lived there for a time, so he was our "no map needed" guide. He took us all around the streets without ever consulting a map. I spent the entire time in Florence basically having no clue where I was. :) This is the view from our hotel room...the open air leather market...yeah, WAY too much temptation with this bargain hunter and shopping lover. :)



After getting to Florence and checked in to the hotel, we headed to one of Tripp's favorite restaurants, The Cat and Dog. The name was something like that, except in Italian. We took some pictures as we walked around and also checked out the church of Santa Croce. Galileo is buried there. For the evening we walked up to the Piazza de Michelangelo to eat dinner up top and watch the sunset.







Rubbing the original hog's nose! Not only is there a couple replica's of this in KC, but there is one right in the middle of the Arkansas campus.





Checking out the Ponte Vecchio...the only one of the original bridges that was not burned by the Germans during WWII. Now the whole thing is covered in jewelry stores with apartments above them.





Up on the Piazza de Michelangelo...









Day 2 in Florence meant leaving Florence and heading to Pisa and Cinque Terre, but that is a blog for another day. :)

Italy Part 2

Hello again! It's time to finish up the Rome part of our trip! On Monday we were really pumped to head to Vatican City for our private tour. Mom and Dad had scheduled a tour for just our family with a woman named Sonia. She was great and super knowledgeable. Basically any question we asked her she somehow knew the answers. Here are some pictures from the tour...

This is a 2000 year old pine cone. :)



Touring the Vatican museums...







The staircase that leads to the Pope's apartment.



Tripp and David did their best to try and find the Pope and invite him to lunch with us. :)



After the Vatican Museums it was on to St. Peter's Basilica! It is truly such an unbelievable structure. It's massive and everything is built on such a huge scale!



This is Michelangelo's Pieta...one of his first sculptures. He actually signed his full name across the sash so that people would believe that he carved it.



Here's a couple more pictures from St. Peter's...under the giant alter (100 feet tall) is where they believe that Peter is buried. At one time, to prove that he was really there, an excavation took place and they uncovered a set of bones believed to be Peter's...the feet were completely missing (Peter was crucified upside down and they usually just cut people down at the feet when they were crucified in that way). We got to see the tomb downstairs but there were no pictures.





This is a sculpture of Peter...it's tradition to rub the feet...











U-S-A!...it was Memorial Day. :)



To finish up Monday we went to the St. Peter in Chains church and got to see the chains that Peter was led into Rome wearing. Pretty darn cool.



On Tuesday we went to Florence! Stay tuned!