What is Baby Pagel!?!?!??

It's a ...........

GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our ultrasound went GREAT!! She was moving around in there like crazy- she even kicked the tech in the hand- it was pretty funny!! We got to see her kicking and sucking her thumb and pointing at us and she even gave us a thumbs up!

And our tech said she is VERY much so a little girl!



Here is a profile shot of her trying to get her thumb back into her mouth- you can see her with her hand over her nose and her lips are open slightly.



So- we couldn't help ourselves- we had to go and get something cute and pink- so we went to Target and got a layette set- its a gown with pink flowers, a footsie sleeper and a onesie and pants- and it comes with a matching hat and bib! So much fun! Taylor is so excited to have a Daddy's Girl!



I'm just excited that FINALLY we'll have another girl in the house-- if she would have been a "he" I would have been out numbered- 4 to 1... so now I have someone to share my pink fetish with!



And me at 22 weeks! See- I really popped! And I think Joey is starting to catch on to something-- he just can't get enough of me today and had to be in the picture too! :)

21 Weeks

I'm feeling good at 21 weeks- but BOY have I popped!!! I think I woke up last Friday which was exactly 21 weeks and looked down and was like- where did that come from! I can no longer zip up my regular jeans so its time for maternity ones- and my shirts are getting pretty tight and don't stay down over my belly that well.

I had another emotional breakdown on Monday- I was wearing a cute white shirt- and went to get Joey out of his kennel and for some reason he jumped up on me and got his dirty little feet ALL over my white shirt- and we were having Ben and Bekki over for dinner and I wanted to look nice- so I went into the house just in tears- Taylor was like- what is the matter- you can wash your shirt- I said- But I wanted to look nice tonight and I don't have anything that fits me anymore and you just don't understand what its like--- He laughed at me and told me to calm down and that I'd be OK. Then we both laughed about it! Silly pregnancy hormones!

Speaking of Ben and Bekki-- we invited them over for dinner on Monday night to ask them a pretty big question- so- Ben and Bekki Bakken are our Baby's GODPARENTS!! :) We are so excited for them to be a part of our babies life! They will be PERFECT!

SO- Tomorrow- Friday, August 31 is the BIG DAY!! We have our ULTRASOUND!!! It's not until 4:15 and then we are going out for dinner and going to pick up an outfit- so stay tuned tomorrow night for the BIG SURPRISE-- is it a BOY or a GIRL??????

Breast Cancer 3-Day

This past weekend the Du-Bar Dolls walked in the Breast Cancer 3-day and it was an amazing weekend! Dad and I camped all weekend and went to all the cheering spots and cheered them on and gave them hugs to keep them going. They all did amazing- dispite a few blisters- they stuck it out and made it across the finish line. There were just over 2500 walkers at this event that raised 6.5 million dollars for breast cancer research!

Taking off-- they are all wearing pink Tilly (fishing type) hats- leaving the opening ceremonies.


Here are a few of them at the first cheering station- 7.5 miles into their walk on the first day.



Here is my sign I made for them.



Mom and Michelle wearing their parents rings close to their hearts.



The last and final day at the last cheering station- right in front of the Cathedral- it was beautiful!



Crossing the finish line all together! They made it!!!



Sisterly Love :)



With 60 miles behind them- sore blistered feet- they are still all smiles!

20 Weeks- Half Way There!!!!!!

Well- We've made it to the half way mark!! YEAH!! When I look back it seems like forever ago when I first found out I was pregnant- but then again it also seems like it was just yesterday.

So- at 20 weeks I have really noticed that my belly is starting to pop- it's time for actual maternity jeans- my tummy tube isn't working much anymore- this baby is sitting pretty low still right now so even atttempting to zip up my jeans even a little bit is becoming harder and harder each day.

This little baby moves around like CRAZY- it's so nice to be reassured every day- several times a day with it's little kicks and summersaults. The other night Taylor was trying to get it to kick his hand and boy did he EVER get a kick! It was the biggest kick I had ever felt, Taylor got very excited! It's fun to be able to share that with him now.

We have our first baby shower in 1 month so since we actually had a free weekend, due to all the rain, we went and registered to get that out of the way. It was fun picking out all of our baby gear! AND- I told Taylor that I wanted to get my baby gear registered for BEFORE we found out what we were having because I wanted to make sure all of our gear was gender neutral so we can use it for all of our babies. We went and registered at Target, Wal-Mart and at www.peppermint.com.

Names--- OK- with all the pregnant people around us I wanted to get dibs on our names. We aren't naming the baby until we see what it looks like so we have 4 names for each as of right now- I'm sure this will change- but this is what we've come up with so far:

Boy Names: Brody (Brodie) James, Logan James, Tanner James, Conner James
Girl Names: Marissa Kay, Hannah Kay, Lily Kay, Chloe Kay

James after Taylor's middle name and Kay after my middle name.

20 Week Belly Shot!!!!!

Front View

Lots of Movement!

OK-- So Baby Pagel has finally decided it was time to WAKE UP! It's been moving around like CRAZY today-- it's kicking me on my right side-- A LOT- its crazy- what a cool feeling! This is the first day where I've felt a TON of movement- usually its just a little fluttering here and there- but these ones feel like little kicks- maybe I have a tiny dancer in there practicing her high kicks already! :)

19 Weeks

Well- my pants are definitely starting to get tighter- but only in the waist- they fit every where else and thank goodness for my tummy tube because most of them not even the rubber band trick will work anymore. I told myself I was planning on holding off until September to go out and buy maternity jeans-- so we'll see if I can stick it out for a couple more weeks. And so far for changes in my body it's only my tummy- I haven't gotten bigger anywhere else- so I better count my blessings for that! And I don't know if its because its still early and my uterus hasn't come up yet or if I have a longer torso or what but I think I'm carrying this baby low because even in my low rise jeans I can't even zip some of them. It's quite funny though in the mornings when I try. :)

I've been feeling movement quite a bit- at least 2-4 times a day- no kicking or anything as some of the moms on my Mommy-to-Be chat rooms are feeling but just real strong fluttering- But strong enough that Taylor was able to feel it one night, we sat real still and he felt something flutter under his fingers 3 times- he was pretty excited!

Well- I'm looking forward to next week-- HALF WAY THERE! Boy is this pregnancy FLYING by! This little baby is now about 10 inches long if you were to stretch him/her out and measure from the tip of the head to the tip of the toys- but since it's all curled up its only taking up 6 inches of space and is 7-9 ounces! If I could take a peek into my belly- this is what Baby Pagel would look like right now!



On the Development part- the brain is now making connections so the baby knows when its making movements and is starting to hear things- I think I'll have to get one of those baby classical music CD's and start playing it and they say it's never to early to start reading with your child.... but I guess I'd have to get some children's books first in order to do that... :)

18 Weeks

Well YEAH!! I have officially made it over one week without getting sick!!! I finally made it over that horrible hump of pregnancy- and now that's what I am looking at- a hump- my little baby bump! My quad test came back normal so that was great news!! So that means little Baby Pagel is still super healthy and growing strong!

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before but I just have this really strong intuition that this little baby is a boy-- Taylor has thought boy along with my dad since day one--- so, I guess we'll see on August 31.... but to have it on record- my Mother's Intuition is claiming boy. And whichever sex it ends up being- we aren't naming it until we see what he or she looks like-- we have 4 for each gender and really can't decide on which one we really like best- but we know our baby will let us know as soon as it shows us its cute little face.

On the house front:
OUR CARPET HAS FINALLY COME IN!!!!!!!!!
It feels so great to be able to use both levels of our house again- its been almost 2 months! So we've been spending a lot of our time in our cozy basement again! And of course- Taylor is super excited to be able to watch our big screen TV again! :)

Let me take you back-- gross, smelly, red shag carpet....


Beautiful, fresh smelling, soft and sylish new carpet

DuBar Dolls

As you know my Aunt, Breast Cancer Survivor, Mom and cousins along with a few other ladies have made the commitment to raise money- which they raised a TON- and now the time is about here where they will walk 60 miles to help in Finding a Cure for Breast Cancer in the Breast Cancer 3-Day.

So, For anyone interested:

The DuBar Dolls can get mail when at their campsites in the evenings!

If you want to send them some mail to encourage them and give them strength to finish their walk send it to:

3-Day Camp Post Office
Their Name (DuBar Dolls or their individual Name)
PO Box 28069
Crystal, MN 55428-8069
It MUST be sent by Friday, August 10 or they won't get them.

They have worked hard to do their part in supporting the search for a cure for Breast Cancer so let's all give them some support to walk those 60 miles!! You can do it Dolls! We all believe in you!!

Dr. Appointment

My Dr. Appointment went very well. OK- I was VERY nervous to meet Dr. Saul- especially because Taylor was unable to go with me to this appointment so I was seeing my first male OB doctor all by myself.... It turned out great!! I really liked him!

On the vitals area: I have offically gained 2 pounds now! My blood pressure is low but he said it was a good thing as long as I felt good at that number- 90/58. The heartbeat was at 145 strong and steady. He said my uterus is growing perfectly and I have no signs of any swelling at this point-- he said it being so hot lately its very common.

I had the option of doing the quad screening/blood test at this appointment- and apparently I need to do to more research before I go to my appointments- I thought this test was for cystic fibrosis and Downs- but it isfor Down but also Spina Bifida- so I had initially declined the test as we have no cases of C.F. or Downs in the family- and I thought this was the test that almost 50% come back with a positive/negative result. Well- Dr. Saul so kindly took the time to really explain what the quad test was for and explained to me that now-a-days there are specialists out there that if your baby does end up having Spina Bifida they can go into the womb and fuse it together so that the baby is born normal. -Amazing what they can do these days. Well- I so graciously thanked him for taking the time to explain that to me and yes, of course I did the blood test. I appreciate those that take the time to make sure I'm really understanding something before just sending me away.

My next appointment is August 31st and we are meeting with Dr. Saul again for my prenatal check and then I get my ultrasound after that! I'm so excited to see the baby moving all around and to ensure that everything is developing correctly. I'll be 22 weeks to the date at that appointment so everything should be larger and clearly visible.

17 Weeks

Still moving along at 17 weeks

My belly is very slowly and gradually getting bigger.

I had a CRAVING for cotton candy this week and got some and it was SOO good!!!

I go to the Doctor today, Wednesday afternoon, so I'll update you tomorrow on how things went- its just a routine check up but I do get to schedule my next ultrasound! I'm so excited to actually get to see the baby moving around in there this time- last time it just sat there- it was too small to move around.

17 week belly shot......


And Joey is getting so big.... Us playing in the backyard