Introducing Lincoln Otto

IT'S A BOY! I'm finally posting an update on the ultrasound we had almost a month ago...I'm a very bad blogger.

We found out on July 22nd that we're having a boy (for those of you who don't already know). We've decided to name him Lincoln Otto. Everything in the ultrasound looked good - so we're hoping for a smooth pregnancy and an uneventful delivery.

We're warming up to the idea of a boy... A boy is just so different than a girl. We're used to a girl. We are looking forward to being fortunate enough to experience both. Ava is very excited about "Baby Lincoln." She's already ready to surrender her room and her bed to him. She tells us stories about how she's going to feed him, rock him and "change his poops."

The blue invasion has begun courtesy of the super-excited grandparents. Lincoln already has little boy outfits in his soon to be room. Chris has the next 2 weeks off from school (hooray) so we're going to work on moving the office into our bedroom (my idea of romantic...) and moving Ava into the office/guest bedroom. It's a lot more work than it sounds like - we're waaaay behind on filing and organizing as far as the office goes.

Now for the pregnancy update (this is long):
Right now I'm 23 weeks along. This pregnancy is still very different from my experience with Ava. I just can't say it enough. It's amazing to me how completely different these experiences can be. I know it has a lot to do with the fact that I'm hardly exercising this time. With Ava I was at the gym every other day through my 2nd and 3rd trimesters. I've always been somewhat addicted to exercise so it's very frustrating not to have that luxury this time. And it's summer-time in Virginia...need I say more?? I'm completely hormonal this time too. My poor family. I don't even know how to deal with the roller-coaster of emotions - it's so new to me. With Chris in school I feel like a single parent most of the time so that's been a challenge. Thankfully, Ava is the sweetest little nugget in the world so she makes my job much easier. Having my parents nearby, and so supportive, also helps tremendously. My back is feeling it this time, already. If I vacuum, my back hurts. If I give Ava a bath, my back hurts. If I clean the bathrooms, my back hurts. If I do laundry, my back hurts. It's pathetic and I refuse to let it slow me down. Lincoln is a big fan of when Mommy lays down. I guess he finds he has a lot more room to jump around this way. So, I lay in bed every night for an hour waiting for him to chill out so I can fall asleep. This is frustrating because I listen to Chris' deep sleep breathing and think of how unfair the situation is. On the other hand, I enjoy that hour of hanging out with the little guy, so to speak. I somewhat look forward to all the movement and getting to know him during that time. If I start to feel really envious about the fact that Chris is snoozing and I'm not then I just pinch his nose for a few seconds ;-) I'm telling you, I'm hormonal right now, muwahahahahaha! I feel really fortunate to have made it this far along in my pregnancy without any real medical concerns (knock on wood) so I try really hard not to complain...too much...

Below are a couple ultrasound pictures and our first real belly pictures too. I documented every month through belly pictures when I was pregnant with Ava so it's very sad to say that these are Lincoln's fist pictures at 23 weeks. These were taken yesterday and today while we were visiting family in North Carolina & attending Chris' High School Reunion. I'm going to try really hard to do a better job with belly pictures moving forward. Actually, I think that's more of Chris' responsibility than mine...maybe one day he'll read my blog and pick up on the hint since all the family complaints and requests haven't given him a clue yet. In his defense, he's busy and stressed pretty much all the time now with school.

And that's enough rambling...here's our little man!