Reese Isabella -25 weeks

Yesterday we had the pleasure of seeing our little Reese Isabella. My OB wanted me to have an ultrasound to measure the baby and my cervical length in order to keep a pre-term labor at bay. Everything looked good with our girl. She was a wiggly little thing and quite stubborn. The tech wanted her to move her hands away from her face so she could see her fingers, but to no avail. Reese wouldn't move them for anything!  The coolest thing was feeling her move and actually SEEING a foot or leg move. 

Jaxon & my mom joined us for the sneak peak. Jaxon was excited to see his baby sister, until we got in the room. Turns out he was more interested in the jelly the tech used on my stomach than on actually watching his sister. He did see her open and close her mouth and was impressed by this. 

Here she is looking away from us. Her legs are curled up on the left side of the picture and I think the whiter oval thing on the right MAY be an ear. Or she could be looking directly at us and the whiter oval thing could be her nose. Who knows? (I feel like Rachel from Friends)

A close up of her head. Looks like she's going to have a cute little nose. One of her hands is in a fist right under her chin. Yup, this is her being stubborn already... God help me!

This one is is just weird to me. It's her lips and nostrils. It does seem like she will have cute pouty lips like Jaxon. How I love that little mouth. Her arms are once again right by her face.

My absolute favorite! She is looking straight at us. Her face already looks perfect to me. 

Notice her lips? don't they look pouty? So flippin' cute!

Reese currently weighs 1 lb 9 oz and is measuring perfectly for her gestational age. My cervix is"nice and long" according to the tech. Not sure what this means exactly, but it sounded like good news. 

I saw my OB last week and that appointment went well also. I now have to see her twice a month until I am 36 weeks (I think... there's that listening thing I'm no good at). I have gained a mere 6 1/2 pounds. I was quite shocked, I was certain my weight gain this last month would have been in the double digits with as much as I've been eating, but nope, just 4 lbs in as many weeks. 6 1/2 lbs isn't too shabby for 6 months! I may be wearing my pre-pregancy clothes sooner than I thought (knock on wood). 

I have the lovely glucose test next week... really looking forward to that tasty beverage! 

 25 weeks and a proud (& silly) big brother

Oh The Guilt!

I totally feel like a slacker mom. I have not taken as many pictures. I haven't done any field trips with Jaxon... not even to Target! UGH! It's this new work schedule. I still work part-time but every day. I usually leave school around noon, which is plenty of time to do fun things with Jaxon, but he falls asleep within 15 minutes in the car. So I'm tied to this nap schedule. Then we live SOOO FAR that doing something after nap is unheard of. So I feel this little guilt and then the other day Jaxon says, "Where are we going today? Are we going to do something fun?" Sorry, not today. "We NEVER do anything fun anymore! I don't want to go home!" So yeah. Thanks for reiterating my guilt.

To top it off, I miss Jaxon's first ever soccer practice because I had teacher parent conferences and I am missing his first ever school field trip because I have to teach. I could take the day off, but with a looming maternity leave i have no sick days to spare. Thankfully Brian will be able to go with him. I think it will be a great time for the 2 of them, but I still feel bad I will not be there.

To ease that guilt, I decided to take Jax to McDonald's (aka Old McDonald's) yesterday after school. This IS a treat for us! I think the one and only time I took him to McDonald's was 2 years ago... no joke. He did go once or twice with his babysitter in Rio Rancho, but that's it. I know. The kid is deprived. When I told him we were going to have smoothies & fries at McDonald's the first thing he says is, "Can we play?" Of course there wasn't a play structure at this McDonald's. So in his problem solving way he says, "Let's just drive to Rio Rancho. That Old MacDonald's has a playground. I'll be good for the long drive."

On another note... Jaxon started soccer! Yup, he is officially on a soccer team and I am officially a soccer mom. He looks so flippin' cute in his shin guards, knee high socks and cleats, but have I taken any pictures? Just one.

I wanted to take pictures of his first practice, but it was the day I had to work until 6:30 pm for Parent teacher conferences. Sigh. Brian said he was awesome. I went with him yesterday, but couldn't take pictures because parent participation is expected.

But can I brag? The kid is amazingly smart! The kids all lined up and Coach Kelly says, "What's the first rule of soccer?" Now, Jaxon is the youngest by 2 years. The rest of his teammates are 5. That being said... In a very small voice Jaxon says, "Don't use your hands." The other kids yell out... "Have fun! Run around! I don't know." I had Jaxon raise his hand, Coach Kelly called on him and he was able to tell her the first rule of soccer. Of course he was right. (see amazingly smart). Then she asked for the 2nd rule. Again, in a small voice, "Kick the ball with your feet." Yup. Again. Right. And the other kids... no clue.

That went on the rest of the practice. He always remembered what Coach Kelly had said last week. Not just that, but he followed directions, listened stayed with the group. I just couldn't be prouder. Even though he did take a rest about 30 minutes into the practice. Who could blame him really? It was hot and he's THREE!

Last night we were talking about Reese and I asked Jaxon what he thinks Reese looks like. this is what he said,

Brown hair, blue eyes and dark skin.

Time will tell.

Speaking of Reese. Jaxon and I saw my friend Mary's baby, Brinley, today. As we were leaving he says to me, "I can't wait to touch and see OUR baby."

Me too, Bud, me too.

Do you not just LOVE the happiness on his face? I cannot wait to see his smile when he meets his baby sister!

He read Brinley her first book :)

And lastly, our 24 week belly picture. Hard to believe this is the last week of my 2nd trimester! Where did the time go? I better get my butt in gear getting bedrooms ready!

Don't mind the pigtails... we were headed to soccer.

Finally!

We FINALLY know who this sweet baby will be...

REESE ISABELLA!

We love it and it is rolling off the tongue quite nicely. Even Jaxon is calling her Baby Reese.

It's funny because we first thought of Rees for a boy, but after a week or so I vetoed it. Then when we asked Jax what he wanted to name his baby sister, he said Reese. Brian & I both went, "HMMM". We kinda like it. The more we mulled it over, the more we liked it.

We knew we wanted Isabel as the middle name since my grandmother and mom both have Isabel as their middle name and the Belle in my name comes from Isabel. But, Reese Isabel just didn't roll off the tongue. Then Ami came to the rescue! "How about Reese Isabella?" She says to me as I stroll Target. "HMMMM. I like it. A lot!"

So there you have it... the story behind Reese Isabella, our precious new baby girl.

BTW, Reese already has quite the wardrobe! Thanks to my mom and our good friend Evelia!

I'll leave you with belly pictures from the last 2 weeks