An update...finally

It's about time for a new post...I've been a slacker lately!

quick update on our life...

Garth and I just celebrated 5 years of marriage on June 4th. It's hard to believe that we've been married that long already. It's been a wonderful adventure and I can't wait to see what awaits our future. We watched our wedding video (like we do every year on our anniversary-I highly recommend it, it's so much fun!) and then we talked about all the fun and exciting things that happened in the last 5 years of our lives. We've been busy people and have been very blessed in all that we've done. But we are most looking forward to our new blessing and addition-due in 3 months! Time has flown by these past 5 years and I can only imagine how quickly it goes by with a little one.

Our 5th Anniversary

Our Wedding Day- June 4, 2005

PREGNANCY:

I am now officially 28 weeks! I'm into my third trimester and I'm feeling great. It's been so nice not being sick and I just love my growing belly. It's amazing to feel our baby girl kicking me. It took awhile for me to really feel her. I was in my 23rd week, I believe. But now I feel her all the time and Garth can feel her every once in awhile. When she starts kicking, I'll tell him, and he puts hand on my belly...and then she stops.

It's amazing to watch when she's really going and I can see my stomach move around. We love talking to her and we are working on her nursery and I just love it! I still don't have any cravings, I haven't had any this whole time. I am able to eat chicken (most of the time) finally!

It's great to be off of work for the summer! I'll be teaching summer school the next two weeks and then I'm officially done and it'll be relaxing time!

Here are some recent belly pics:

Mother's Day 2010

27 weeks

Hopefully I'll be able to update more frequently, now that I'll have more time on my hands :)

It's a GIRL!!

This Saturday was so precious and special to Garth and I. We got to find out what we're having...a girl!! We wanted to make it special, so we came up with a fun idea. Our ultrasound was 2 days earlier, on Thursday, and so we had the technician put the sex in an envelope and we gave it to a friend of mine at work. My co-worker makes beautiful (and delicious) cakes, so I gave her the envelope. She was the only one that knew our little secret! She made an adorable cake that looked like a baby block and she was going to dye the inside blue if it was a boy or pink if it was a girl. Our families all came into town and some of our closest friends came to join in the fun. We are so blessed to have such love and support!

We were all so anxious to know what color was inside that cake! After yummy breakfast burritos and some hanging out, we all gathered together in the dining room. We put the cake on a pedestal and when everyone was looking, Garth cut the cake to reveal PINK! I was

completely shocked! I really thought it was a boy. If you look at our poll, I was the one and

only one to vote "boy." I wish I had seen a picture of my face when he cut it, because everyone said it was hilarious because I was so shocked. I didn't care what we had, but for some reason, I was pretty sure it would be blue...I was wrong! But we are so excited and we can't believe that

we are going to have a little girl. It was such a fun way to share that exciting moment. We were amongst our family and friends and we wouldn't have changed that for anything. It was a blast!

I realized later that I never gave my camera to anyone, so I don't have any pictures other than a couple from my sister-in-law (thank you Heather!). So once I get some more, I'll post them. I also have a video that I'll try to post once I get it.

baby block cake made by Deborah Petty!

about to cut the cake

the only picture of the two of us that I've received. I'll put up a better one when I get one!

Garth cutting into the PINK cake

IT'S A GIRL!!!

The technician also gave us a picture to prove that it's a girl and we had that in a separate envelope. We opened that later and it's definitely a girl! So fun!!

Boy or Girl

Next Saturday we find out what we're having!!! We can't believe that in one week we will know if we will have a son or daughter at the end of the summer. Keep posted for the fun news :) Anyone have any guesses?? Who thinks it's going to be a girl? Who thinks it's going to be a boy?

No such thing as morning sickness

14 weeks along

At our last appointment a couple weeks ago we got to hear the heart beat! It was amazing to hear the little beating of our baby's heart. It was so exciting!! I just wish we could see the baby again. I want another ultrasound so bad to see how much the baby has grown and to see it moving around. When we were listening to the heartbeat, we kept hearing a ton of swishing noises and the doctor said that the baby was super active and moving all around.

So I'm officially at 15 weeks, definitely showing (last week I had a stranger ask how far along I was for the first time) and the morning sickness has only gotten worse!! I thought it would be over by now, but the puking and nausea are hitting harder than ever this week :(. I'm hoping it will come to an end soon. It makes work pretty miserable. You know it's bad when you have an 8 year old tell you that you look really pale. I've tried a lot of things so far and nothing is consistent. The doctor gave me another prescription and wants me to stop taking my prenatal vitamins for a while to see if that helps. Keeping my fingers crossed that it works! We'll see.

I have had people ask if I am having any cravings and the answer is no. No cravings whatsoever. What I am having, however, is major food aversion. I can't eat most meats (I miss chicken and beef-oh how I wish I could have a hamburger), and some salads even gross me out. I like plain, simple foods right now.

I don't love my all-day-sickness, but I love my growing belly, and the fact that in 6 months I'm going to be a mommy! That is what keeps me going!!

Baby Gipson

We would like to announce that the Gipson family is expanding! Garth and I are expecting our first baby on September 2, 2010! We are very excited to be parents. We found out we were pregnant right after Christmas and we've been itching to tell people. My morning sickness has really gotten bad over the last couple weeks, so I decided to announce it to work, since I was having to run out of the classroom (no fun!). I am just about 10 weeks along and it seems that time has already flown by, I can only imagine how the next 6.5-7 months will be! My class was very excited and they are already guessing if we'll have a boy or a girl and they have even given me some name ideas. They are so cute!! Anyways, please keep our baby in your prayers during this time.

The magic little word!!

Hooray!!

First glimpse at Baby Gipson- I was 8 weeks along. It's head is on the left and it's body is on the right.

Baby's head on the left and it's little arm and leg buds are on the right! It was amazing to see our baby's heartbeat.

Right after our first ultrasound!!

This whole process has been amazing and I just am so thankful God has blessed us with this baby. Seeing the baby inside my belly reminds us of how amazing God is and we are just thrilled to be on this journey to parenthood!

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

I have always loved Christmas, with all of the lights and decorations all over the city. But this year was special to me because we got to put up lights for the first time! For the last several years, we've had our condo and I've put lights on the patio, but that's not quite as fun. Last year we were in Italy for a couple weeks, so we didn't do lights, but this year there was no excuse! I have to admit that Garth wasn't into it at first, but he actually ended up loving it and is already excited for changes next year. My dad came over and they hung them quickly and they look really good. It was a lot of fun. I got on the roof for a short time and I didn't like it-kind of freaked me out, so I let the boys handle it instead. I just supported them from down below.

The next day, the Roger's, and the Moss' came down to Visalia for the Candy Cane Parade. After a yummy Masarus dinner, we headed to the overcrowded streets of downtown Visalia. It was a cold night, but it was so much fun to sit and watch the parade. It was really fun seeing some of my students participating in our school float, or dancing, or in boy scouts. What a fun way to start the Christmas season!!

Then last night, Garth and I went to the Visalia Christmas Tree Auction. We had a really fun time. There was wine and food from all the restaurants around Visalia. It was so fun sampling all that food! The trees were gorgeous and went for a lot of $--all for a good cause!!

This was the tree that our school decorated to be auctioned off. Each student in the entire school (400ish) decorated an ornament with glitter, paint, and sequins. The tree skirt was made from each student's hand print that was traced and cut out. It was beautiful and it won the "Most Creative" award!

Some of the other beautiful trees...

Baby Shower for Madison

Last month, Jenny and I threw Erin a baby shower for baby Madison. We had a great time being with one another and Erin just looked beautiful! We can't wait to meet Madison in February.