Hip Hip Hooray!

Today is the day we get our AT&T U-verse installed and finally will have a DVR! I am so excited and can't wait to record shows and watch whenever I want. :)

Chicken Tortilla Casserole

This is what's for dinner tonight ... Bon Apetite!

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked chicken, cubed
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 can diced green chiles, finely minced
1 onion, minced
1 (6 oz) pkg corn tortillas, cut into strips
6 Tbsp margarine
1 (8 oz) pkg sour cream
1 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup crushed tortilla chips (optional)

Instructions:
In large mixing bowl, combine soup, salt, pepper, green chiles, and onion. Stir well. Add tortilla strips and chicken. Melt margarine in 9 x 13 casserole dish. Pour in chicken mixture. Spread sour cream over top. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with crushed chips and bake 5 more minutes.

It's a BOY!

  

Source: etsy.com via Alina on Pinterest

And boy, oh boy are we excited! I'm so glad we found out and it's just been so fun looking at and picking out all things boy. People had been asking me if I felt like it was a boy or a girl beforehand, but I really didn't have a feeling either way. The morning of our appointment, I asked Jason if he had to say what he thought it might be and he mentioned our typical disclaimer first, "I'll be just as excited for either..." and then said "but I really think it's a boy." I told him I agreed. It was our first time verbalizing a prediction. So we headed to the doctor's office and it was the most amazing experience! The ultrasound tech was so nice, and you could just tell she LOVES checking up on babies. She called our little one "little munchkin, little sweetheart, etc" and was very thorough and told us a lot about the development and how everything looked. They checked the brain, heart, kidneys, bladder, umbilical cord, and checked for 10 fingers, 10 toes, and confirmed there was no club foot, no cleft lip and that there was skin fully formed behind the spine. Everything looked great and so then it was time to determine the sex. She said she could tell, but tried to get a good picture for us to be able to see. She joked that the baby was doing jazzercise and moving around like crazy.

The proof! :)

It took a while to get a profile and this is the best of the bunch. Sweet little face!

When we saw that it was a boy, I just started crying, and then the sweet teary eyes turned into a blubbering tissue-needing mess! I was just overwhelmed with emotions and thrilled that it was a healthy baby boy. Then of course the tech was cracking jokes left and right so then I started laughing so hard I was wheezing! I was a mess!! It was just such and exciting thing to see and we're hoping to remember to take a short video the next time we have an ultrasound. So fun to see him move around and practice his jazzercise! Ha!

After the appointment we texted/called family and then headed to Panera for a late breakfast, and to talk about our very eventful morning. We talked about names again, this time was so much more real since we knew it was a boy. We had basically picked the name at that point, but were still hesitant to just commit to start telling everyone. So, since we've now picked the name, it's no secret anymore.

CONNER GARRETT SMITH

This past weekend my mom and I went to Buy Buy Baby and Babies R Us to just basically go down every aisle and talk about everything you need when you have a baby. It was so helpful, and at the same time, very overwhelming. There are just so many things you need, that you have never needed before until you are expecting a baby. Mommy-hood from experience is the best information to have, because you can read all the reviews you want, but the advice based on experience of people you know will always trump the internet.

While at Buy Buy Baby, we picked out a stroller and got to talk to the sales guy who was uber helpful. Yesterday, Kylee and I put it together (it was SO EASY) and put it in Conner's closet (our new baby storage).

http://www.chiccousa.com/gear/travel-systems/cortina-30lb-systems/travel-systems-30-romantic.aspx

It's been fun trying to figure out what all we want his room to be. I've taken the simplistic approach to bedding, and am hoping to add pops of color and interest to the wall decor and accessories. And I'm pretty much in love with every single piece of boy baby clothing I've seen. It's all just so adorable!

I can't wait to get the crib in his room all set up and arrange the furniture how we want it. Jason's mom and Aunt are coming in mid-October and bringing the crib with them. I cannot wait!

So for all you moms out there ... what are some of the must-have items, or specific brands you love?

Halfway there.

This week is the official halfway point of this pregnancy! While I can't believe I'm already halfway there, I'm thankful for 4 and a half more months to get everything ready for our little bundle of joy!

Only 2 more days until we find out whether it's a boy or a girl!! :)

A lot has happened in this past month...

We went on a New Mexico vacation with our friends, Chris and Kylee, and had a fabulous time. I definitely learned the hard way to take nausea medication any time I'm planning on driving for long periods of time, but once I found out, it was an easy fix. The weather was absolutely beautiful and it got cooler in the evenings (which I love). We were able to meet a lot of their friends and spend some time with Kylee's family. It was a great time with our friends and a great trip. Looking forward to our next vaca with them!

One weekend I organized my laundry room finally. Of course I couldn't do it without help from my mom and Kylee. It was great to have someone to bounce ideas back and forth with, and in the end I think it was hugely successful. I'll do a post soon about the details of that project - it was a big one.

I also bought curtains for our living room, dining room, kitchen, and master bathroom - all from Ikea - along with a rug for our living room. My project for this week is to hem the curtains in the master bath, living, and dining rooms. I'll take pictures once they're done - my house looks so much more homey with curtains!

 Kitchen curtains

 Rug for living room

 Master bathroom curtains

Living & dining room curtains

We also went on a beach vacation last week to Orange Beach, Alabama with my family. We stayed in an awesome condo, ate lots of seafood, got some sun, and just relaxed. The 12 hour drive was rough, but totally worth it. It was so nice to get away from our regular responsibilities, and just spend time together. The next vacation Jason and I will have will be the last one before the baby is born - our "babymoon" - in Dallas. That's another thing on my list of things to do soon - book our hotel and make restaurant reservations for our weekend getaway. I'm super excited for that.

That pretty much brings us up to date! I got The Help from my mom (she read it on vacation), and I can't wait to start reading tonight. I'll probably end up reading all day tomorrow, too. It's just been too long since I've sat down with a good book and just read. I've heard great things about it and can't wait to read it and then see the movie with my mom. Hopefully we can see the movie sometime this week or early next week - that would be awesome.

Our next OB appointment is Monday (the 15th) and we have our 20 week ultrasound. I am so hoping we can find out if it's a boy or a girl! I can't wait to start picking things out and talking more seriously about names. We've narrowed some down, but are keeping it to ourselves until we decide. It's just too easy to get hurt feelings about names. And other people never realize that they are saying things that hurt my feelings, which makes it even harder. So ... we'll just let you know when we decide. ;) I also still haven't felt the baby move yet ... so I'm hoping that happens soon, too. I hear it doesn't happen until much later with your first baby - so I'm hoping in the next few weeks I'll be able to feel it. It's probably going to be one of those things you wish for and then when it happens all I'll want is for the baby to just settle down and stop kicking me! Ha! Maybe it's just me, but I think it will be so cool to feel and experience I don't even think I'll mind.