Week 17 & 18..it's a BOY!!

So, it's harder than i thought to write once a week! I feel like the weeks are flying by these days, which brings me to my point of us being almost half way there already!!! we can't believe it either...things started to become really real at our last doctors visit when we got to see our baby BOY!!!! he is healthy and growing at just the right pace :) just hard to believe how much he has changed in 12 weeks since the last ultrasound...we have gone from a peanut to a baby with a profile...amazing!!!

I may not be the one to judge...but i am pretty sure everything about him is perfect already! the pictures of pictures didnt turn out that well on the computer, but im posting them anyways :) in the next few you can see his hands and feet! so cute! i am such a proud momma already.

hands

feet :)

And thanks to my wonderful mother...we found out he was a boy in a pretty neat way. We went to the doctor and had her put the "results" in a sealed envelope. My parents, my sister and her husband, and Richard's parents and their significant others all came up for dinner at my moms house. Since we only had a few hours to get everything ready(my family was leaving for Disney World early the next morning)...my mom had baked two different cakes to "reveal" the sex the night before. One with blue food coloring and one with pink...chocolate icing of course :) We let momma peak in the envelope so she knew which cake to serve, and might i add she was quite afraid of messing this up, kept checking herself before finally serving the proper "blue" cake. Me and richard then cut into it, and as soon as i saw a blue crumb, my heart sank! i have always wanted a boy first so he can protect any little brothers or sisters that come along in the future. Richard is determined we will have all boys anyways :) everyone was very excited, but i think his mom was extremely pumped! she knows just how to deal with little boys since she had 3 herself!! so i know who to call when i need advice :) and dont worry, i didnt let the other "pink" cake go to waste...i took it and shared with my coworkers and they were not upset about it!

So, now for the next big news...i felt him move for the first time two nights ago...what everyone has told me is so true, its an amazing feeling that i cant even describe! i instantly started to cry because i didnt know how else to express myself!! richard actually got to feel a little movement too, it was an awesome experience and glad he was able to share that with me :)

We have already started receiving baby gifts from friends and family which makes me realize how much this baby is going to be loved! it also makes me want to start getting his room semi-ready so i have a place to put his things...sounds like a weekend project for us!! ok, that was a long intro...had to catch you people up on all the amazing things that have happened in the past few weeks!

Stats:

• Weeks preggo: 18 weeks 5 days
• size of baby: about the size/length of a bell pepper; 5 1/2" head to toe, around 7 oz.
• My weight: 129
• Fun Fact: my baby is busy flexing his arms and legs! no wonder i felt him move ;)

How am I feeling?

• Emotionally: overwhelmed with joy from this baby! still sensative, but honestly thats nothing new!
• Physically: tired, but not as tired as before...starting to get my energy back a little. started to exercise again...just walking and a little dancing on the Wii...nothing too strenuous :) i have started to get some bad headaches and backaches lately...im sure more of this to come in the future!
• Cravings: nothing new really...fruit, burgers, pickles...and i have been drinking a lot more water lately...i down a bottle every morning when i get out of the shower. i still need to drink more, but for those of you who know me well, getting 3 bottles of water in a day is pretty much a miracle. Still drinking my cokes, but dont worry, im keeping up with the caffeine intake!
• Fun Stuff: trying to name our little man...and i have learned from my friend Emily that it is best to keep your ideas of names to yourself or you will get discouraged:) just because some people may not like it, doesnt mean its not the right name. so, i will be keeping our ideas to myself until we settle on something. its our baby people, so dont be dissing my names! :) if you know me and richard at all, you know it will be something unique, with character and meaning, but nothing too crazy...we dont want our kid to get made fun of either ;)

Well, i think i have ranted and raved enough for the time being...the Akin family is doing great overall and cant wait to meet my little guy, but we have a long way to go! i thought i would add some pics from our new orleans trip since i have figured this thing out now! hope everyone has a great rest of the week...halfway mark, here we come!!!