30 Days to Go!

We are officially 30 days out from Annalee's due date!  Part of me feels like I have been pregnant as long as an elephant, while the other part can't believe we are starting our 30 day countdown!  I am feeling great, still working full-time, and getting all the final details ready!  Other than morning sickness the first trimester and a hip issue that has resolved, I really have been blessed throughout this pregnancy!

A couple of weeks ago, we went home for a late Easter (since I worked Easter weekend) and a baby shower with a lot of very generous friends and family!

This is the last Easter without a great-grand child--looks like Annalee is going to be killing that Easter Egg Hunt all by herself!  I'm sure she will have plenty of help dying all those Easter eggs though!

The shower was so much fun and we got a ton of stuff and some big ticket items that are greatly needed.  We have almost everything we need at this point, I'm just trying to get everything organized and ready to go! 

The nursery is just about done--my mom has done so much! We have the curtains up and the dust ruffle on the crib.  There are just a couple of more items she is finishing up and it will be ready!  We are so grateful that everyone has remained healthy and just pray for the last 30 days to go smoothly!  She'll be here before we know it!!

27 weeks and a Name!

Well, we have made it to the third trimester! I have to say, it is a milestone that I have been looking forward to for weeks! At this point, the baby's organs have formed and now we will spend the next 13 weeks fattening up (hopefully her more than me...I feel huge!)

We have done a lot of things around the house, and I will have pictures to follow once it is all complete.  The nursery is painted and the glider and changing table are here!  We ordered the crib yesterday and my mom is currently working on the curtains and dust ruffle.  I'm hoping to have all of that finished before May!

We finally broke down and had tile put in the bonus room! We use our side door far more than the front door, and it was completely carpet---not so great on rainy days!  We also bought some new furniture for the room that Justin is still putting together---so again---pictures to come later!

Lastly, we are getting new doors! You know you are getting older when you get excited about these sorts of things! They are coming to install these next week!

But the most important thing that has happened over the last week or so is we finally picked a name.  We had gone back and forth with the same two for about a month and decided it was time to commit! It is really hard finding a name that you both like--especially since we wanted to use family names.  We had thought about having just one name from the family but the more we talked about it, the more I wanted both names to have family meaning.

Some of the good names in our family were already taken...and others just need to be retired!  So we spent a lot of time researching names that maybe we had not known about.  Turns out we didn't need to go any further than our grandmothers.  My granny's maiden name is Anne Brownrigg Lee and Justin's grandma's maiden name is Elsie Fae Tyndall.  So the baby's name will be...

Annalee Tyndall Hill

We are thrilled to finally have a name!  So many of my friends threw us a baby shower over the weekend, and like everything else---pictures to come!

Happy Heart Day and 23 weeks!

Happy Valentine's Day from the Hills and the 23 week old bump!

We have had a little mini vacation from work here in Charlotte. Due to all the snow, Justin and I have both been off since Tuesday! Kind of nice, I'm not going to lie! But I would much rather have some warmer weather! Most of you know I hate winter---down to my bones; I can't stand it! I hate wearing jackets, and shoes, and being cold, and having shorter days...really the only good thing about winter is college basketball and considering we are NC State fans, that isn't much to get excited about either!

Since we had been cooped up in the house for a couple of days, I was even more excited about our doctors appointment on Friday! This appointment was not nearly as exciting as the last ultrasound appointment, but it is always great to hear that sweet heartbeat!  The midwife was chuckling about how much this baby moves around. She was having a hard time hearing the heart beat for a long period of time because "Junebug" (my dad's new nickname for our no-name child) would not sit still.  I told Justin recently, this girl is going to be a gymnast---she is doing flips inside of me all day!

I have been able to feel her kick and flip for a couple of weeks now, but it wasn't until a few days ago that Justin could feel it too!  He didn't really know what he was feeling and I don't think it was what he was expecting, but I was excited!

We don't really do much for Valentine's Day each year, but we decided to go to a nice dinner last night. The place was packed---so that was annoying, but the food was really good!

My baby bump popped out a couple of weeks ago---so here is the first real "bump" picture!

My parents are coming this weekend to start on the nursery!! I can't wait to start!!

19 Weeks and a Party!!

Well, we are almost half way to June 17!  Last Friday, Justin and I went for our anatomy ultrasound and check-up.  We had our first ultrasound at 6 weeks, so it was amazing to see how much they grow in just 13 weeks!

We had planned a gender reveal party for the following day, so we asked the technician to keep that part a secret.  She had us look away at one point while she zoomed in on that "region" but we were able to watch everything else.  They checked everything from the brain, to the kidneys, to the lips, and the blood flow. She said that everything looked great, so we were relieved!

So for the next day, I walked around with the two ultrasound pictures that told us if our bean had developed into a little girl or boy. I thought waiting would surely kill me!!  Cindy came to pick up all the wrapping paper, the baby outfits, and the ultrasound pictures on Saturday morning! I'm not sure who was more nervous between her, my mom, and myself!

At the party, we thought it would be fun to make a little keepsake to remember the night.  I saw a couple of ideas online and we put our own little twist on it.  We had everyone put a pink or blue thumbprint on a canvas depending on what they thought it was. Justin used those thumbprints to make a bunch of balloons and a bassinet. It turned out great!

After supper, we finally got around to opening the gift!  I knew that it would be a fun little party and a great thing to share with our family, but it was so much more!  The room went CRAZY when we finally made it down to the little pink dress that was wrapped up inside. (There is a video on Facebook).  Justin and I had always said we didn't have a preference--and that is still true! We would have been happy either way!  But it looks like Baby GIRL Hill is coming in June!  

My mom and I have already started looking at all the precious little outfits we can put her in! We are thrilled that our little girl is healthy and growing everyday! 

17 Weeks!

Well, we are now 17 weeks along and only 2 weeks from knowing if our "it" is a "she" or "he"!  We had an appointment on Friday--not a whole lot done at this one.  We got to hear the little heartbeat again (still holding strong between 140-150) and they sent us on our way.

I am still feeling fantastic! There are times, just for a second, that I forget I'm pregnant because I feel so much like myself again.  The baby bump is growing, but not much to photograph just yet.  This past week I did start to feel some flutters in my belly! It tickles--almost to the point I want to laugh!  These aren't every day yet, but if I eat a lot of sugar the baby starts doing somersaults!

Our next appointment is January 17 and they will be doing the anatomy screening ultrasound and looking to see if our little one will be wearing pink or blue.  Although, we can appreciate the excitement of waiting to know the gender when the baby is born, we are so excited to find out soon! We decided it would be way more fun to find out with our families with us, so we are going to have a gender reveal party with everyone at home!

Luckily, our appointment is on a Friday, so we only have to wait one day!  We are getting the ultrasound technician to write the gender down and are going to have my friend, Cindy, wrap an outfit that we will open with everyone!

If it's a boy:

Or if it's a girl:

A lot of people have asked what we would prefer, and like all parents, our main concern is that the baby is healthy but Justin thinks it's a boy and I am feeling girl!

Over Christmas, we had fun with some old wives tales sitting around at Grandma's for supper! Here are just a few of what was concluded:

Heart rate: >140 = GIRL

The ring test = BOY

Sweet or sour: sour = GIRL

Sleep on right or left: right = GIRL

Morning sickness?: that was a big fat yes = GIRL

Acne? no = BOY

Either way, it will be fantastic! ALL of our friends...no seriously, ALL of our friends are having a boy! So that would be really fun! And then who doesn't want a girl to put in little precious dresses! I mean look at that thing!! It is too cute!

We feel very blessed to become parents and can't wait to share as many of these experiences with our parents as we can! 

Christmas Came Early!

And by early...I mean in September : )

By now, we have been able to share with all our family and friends that our little Hill family is growing! (and so is my belly) We are so thrilled to be expecting our first baby in June!

The last time I posted on the blog was to share all the pictures from our amazing trip to Hawaii.  Shortly after that last post is when we discovered that we brought home a little more than we thought from the Big Island!

The beginning of October I felt "funny" (I'll spare any details about that)---after seeing how expensive pregnancy tests were, I went to the dollar store and raced home.  I couldn't believe what I was seeing! Not long after taking it, I could see a little pink line start to get darker and darker!  I am off on Fridays but the mister is not---I could NOT wait until he got home after 5! So, I called him--and he was in the car with someone! whoops!  Not the most romantic way of telling your husband he's going to be a daddy--but I didn't care!

The next day, we went and bought a different brand and took 2 more tests---you know just to be sure! And, of course, they all said the same thing! A little bean was growing!

At that point I felt pretty good! That didn't last long though! From weeks 7-11 I felt nothing short of miserable! It doesn't help that I stand most of the day at work.  Luckily, I work with great people that would work around the chair I pulled up to my computer most days!

Now, I feel great! My energy is back, I don't feel sick all day, and we have been able to hear a sweet little heartbeat three times now!

My hope is to continue to update the latest and greatest with Baby Hill! 15 weeks down, 25 to go!

We are heading home on Christmas day for a few days! Merry Christmas y'all!!

Rainbow Falls, Akaka Falls, and Hilo

Sorry for a bit of a delay on this one....back to the Hawaii trip!

On Wednesday of our trip we headed to Hilo. It is about a 2 hour drive to get there, so we knew we would be spending the entire day there.

We had heard about Rainbow Falls from other people and had been told to get there really early (as the sun is coming up) to be able to see the rainbows through the falls.  So we did it---we got up at 4:30 in the morning to try and be at the falls as early as possible.  Come to find out, the clouds have to be just right for the rainbows to really show.  It was a cloudier day, so we didn't see any rainbows there, but it was still beautiful!

From there, the plan was to head over to Akaka Falls.  This was one of the top things listed to do on the Big Island.  As we were driving there, we saw a sign for the Scenic Route.  We were in no rush, so figured why not! It is only about 5 miles of driving off the main highway, but what we found was amazing!  There was a place to park at a scenic point that was also a trail head for a small hike down to the water. 

We then made it to Akaka Falls and did a small hike around that area.  The falls were bigger than I had envisioned, but because of the lack of rain lately, there wasn't as much water as usual.  We were able to see rainbows through the falls at this stop though!

As we were making our way back to the hotel area, we made one last stop at Waipio Overlook.  From what I had read, you could hike down to the bottom to a black sand beach.  What they didn't tell you was that it was STRAIGHT down---not fun!  We did about half a mile of this and decided this was not worth it!

It was a long day in Hilo and a lot of driving, but we really enjoyed our day!