IT'S A........

Yesterday was our BIG ultrasound. This is how it went.. I am always a nervous wreck before each and every ultrasound, and this time was no different. We brought Isabella with us because we had not made other arrangements for her as we thought we would have my sister and Dad to take her out of the room if need be. Due to circumstances, they were not able to come. I really thought she would be fine because she has been to one of my other ultrasounds and she did okay. Anyway, the minute we got inside and they put the machine on me she screamed off the top of her lungs. Not a whiny scream, but an "I'm scared, what are you doing to my Mommy?" scream. So, Eric had to not only take her out of the room, but out of the building. He was pretty upset that he was unable to be in the room, and so was I. Anyway, they were able to take measurements of the head, legs, see the heart, see the way the blood traveled in the heart (so cool), and see other vital organs. The next part was to see the face. He would not cooperate at all! He was face down with his head up against my cervix. He would wiggle around and we could catch a glimpse of his profile but not enough where they could get a picture of it and take measurements of mouth, nose, and eyes. This is important to help rule out any facial abnormalities as well as syndromes such as Down Syndrome. The tech said, while we wait for him to flip, let's look to see what sex this baby is. Thank God his legs were wide open and could show us his little winky. I cried of course, I was so excited. Yet, sad that no one was there with me to share the awesome moment with. I knew Eric would be over the moon. The tech asked that I move around, drink some water, and go see my husband to try and get this baby boy to turn around. I went out to the lobby where Eric and Bella were and smiled and said "it's a boy!!!" Eric's whole face lit up, he was so excited. We both had said, no matter what, we would be so happy. I kept thinking a sister for Bella would be so nice, but at the same time, a boy would make for the perfect family. Of course I knew Eric deep down would love to add a boy to our family :) I really thought this pregnancy was so different from the last, that it must be a boy, but did not have a strong premonition like with Bella.
After some hugging and crying, I did some jumping jacks to move this baby around, went to the restroom and headed back to the room hoping my boy would turn his sweet face around. At that time, Jammie came by so she could hear the news in person. She was super excited! It was nice to have her in the room with me for a while to help me to relax. After she left, the tech came back and took a look at the baby, and again NO LUCK!!! The Dr. came in and said at this point there was nothing we could do except come back at a later time. We had already been there for almost two hours. THey had tried to put me in every position and even used a different machine. Still he would not budge! I am completely bummed at this point because all I wanted to do was make sure my baby was okay before leaving the office :( However, she mentioned that I could have a blood test to see the likelihood that we would have a child with a syndrome. I had originally opted out of this test, because I knew Eric and I wouldn't change our mind about having the baby so it didn't matter to us. However, after not being able to see his face and see that he was okay, I did the blood work. So basically now... we wait. ughhhh! I'm not really too nervous because Bella wouldn't show us her chambers in her heart when I was pregnant with her, and I had to have several ultrasounds to confirm she was okay. SO I think it's just my children.. they don't like to cooperate :) Anyway, all we can do is continue to pray that HE is okay, but at least now we know it's a HE :) I of course will continue to be worried sick until I know for sure he is okay, but I know there is nothing I can do but pray. Not to mention, we are in the middle of moving, and I have way too much packing and cleaning to do to stress even more about it. Needless to say, we are so excited about adding a boy to our already awesome family!
We are still working on names, and think we have one down, but don't want to post it until we are positive, but SOON I promise. Here are some kind of fuzzy pictures of our sweet little man...

A FEW PICTURES OF HIS FACE, JUST NOT CLEAR

FINGERS

HIS SKELETON


A PRETTY CLEAR PICTURE OF HIS HAND ON SIDE OF HIS FACE, AND FACE DOWN

A FUZZY PICTURE OF HIS BOY PARTS.

New Years Eve

Every New Years Eve, we have a couple of close friends over and celebrate the New Year with food and drinks. We have never really like to go out on New Years because of all the crazies on the road, but we always enjoy being with our closest friends to ring in the New year. This New Year, like last, we celebrated Christmas with Jen. Bella got a book and some college fund money, and Bella gave her tickets for Jen and I to go to Mary Poppins ! Yay, so excited! Then our friends Deb & Chris, Annelle & Carlos, Steve, Alexis, Kev, and were surprised by the Tortora's. We had a good spread of snacks and drinks. Bella played with Guiliana and us adults just hung out and had a great time. We also did Karaoke on the Playstation. It was lots of fun! Bella went to bed at about 9:30, and slept through all of us being loud and doing karaoke :) Thanks to all of our best friends for spending the New Year with us. We are looking forward to 2010 and all the changes that will come with it!
















THE NEXT MORNING. BELLA MAKES EVERYONE READ HER HER NEW BOOK FROM AUNTIE KATHERINE "THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FLY"

15 week appointment

On New Years eve, I had my 15 week check up. I had lost another pound, although I have NO idea how because all I did was eat over the Christmas break; blood pressure was good, and the heartbeat was nice and strong in the 160's. We have scheduled our BIG ultrasound for January 22nd. This is the one that we can make sure all the anatomy is growing how it should, and hopefully find out what the sex of this baby is.
I have no real assumptions of what this baby's sex is. I know that I feel very different than the first time. I have less nausea but more stomach pains, and heartburn. I am having to pop Tums quite a bit for tummy pains and acid reflux. I am also a lot more exhausted in this 2nd trimester than last time. That may because I have a toddler at home, but I just can't seem to shake this utter exhaustion, to the point where I am finding it really hard to keep my eyes open! I am now at the 16 week point and I am hoping I start to feel better soon! I had caffeine one day and I could swear I felt the baby move :) THat was always my most favorite part of pregnancy last time. So fun!
I have started to talk to Bella about there being a baby in my tummy, as she likes to sit on my tummy a lot and be rough. OF course she doesnt understand, but when I tell her there is a baby in my tummy, she pats my tummy. WE have an exciting road ahead, us Hoovers :)

Snow Day

While Eric and I were in Dallas, My Dad and RHonda came to be with Bella. They took her to see the snow at Desert Ridge. They said she wasn't too sure at first, but from the looks of the pictures, she had a good time with them and her Nino. She also went to play at the mall and had Becky and Tommy over to spoil her some more. Like I said before, I don't think she even noticed Eric and I were gone :) She is such a lucky girl to have so many people who love her . Thanks again to all those that help to take care of our baby girl! Here are pictures from her fun weekend...

Christmas morning videos

Christmas 09

We have really been talking to Bella about Christmas this year and all the fun things that come along with it. Eric has really gone all out in our yard and in the house to make it more fun for her. She says "Merry Christmas" and Santa, and HO HO HO! She also says snowman (we have one in our front yard), lights, tree, deer (reindeer). We started out the festivities on Christmas Eve with my family getting in from San Diego. She gets so excited to see them! We have a family tradition on Christmas Eve night, we go to my Mom's for dinner which was shrimp fettucine..yum!! We are always joined by Katherine in from Boston, which is fun. Some of her gifts included an easel, lots of clothes, a play vaccuum, more books and puzzles, a cabbage patch doll, etc. We had a great time. We got home and put her to bed and my Dad, Eric, Rhonda, and Cas had a building party by putting together her bike, kitchen, and table from Santa :) We were all exhausted by the time we finished!
Christmas morning was magical. Eric brought her out of her room, and I taped her reaction. She was just in shock of all the toys she got. IT was super cute. She was so excited about her table and chairs and decided to eat her breakfast there. We then all ate a yummy breakfast. Rhonda made homemade cinnamon rolls this year. Tradition has always been Cinnabons and her cranberry and banana bread. This year she decided to make the cinnamon rolls.. they were so yummy!!! The girls also drank mamosas. After eating, we all opened gifts. Us Hoovers really got awesome gifts this year, as always. We have many traditions that we all get every year, Eric a new pair of sneakers, me something from Tiffany, and Pajamas, My sister Suns Tickets. We all got awesome gifts! As far as Bella... I can't even list all that she got but like I had mentioned, she got a kitchen, a bike, a Tinkerbell chairs and table set, a Tinkerbell toy chest, and so much more. Christmas morning is always my favorite time spent with family, and watching Bella this year made it even better. Nino Steve then came over to open our gift and give Bella hers. Again, she was spoiled rotten! After Christmas morning here, we were off to Eric's dad and Barbara's house for Christmas with them, Grandma, and Brandon's family. Barbara made a yummy Italian lunch, in which Bella stuffed her tummy, and so did Eric and I. Bella loves her cousins, and loves playing with them. After leaving there, we head back to our house where I prepare our traditional Mexican meal. It was soooo yummy! However, Eric and I were still stuffed from lunch. Overall, our Christmas was perfect and really enjoyed our time with my Mom, My dad, Sister, Rhonda, Grandpa , Grandma, Great Grandma, Katherine, and Nino. Christmas has always been my favorite holiday and can see that it will be Bella's as well. :)

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THE YUMMY CINNAMON ROLLS

EATING AT HER NEW TABLE

THE BEAUTIFUL CARD MY SISTER MADE US, SHE IS TOO CREATIVE!






ERIC AND CAS ARE GOING TO SEE THE SUNS PLAY THE MIAMI HEAT

OPENING HER PRESENTS FROM NINO

BELLA AND HER COUSIN GREYSON HUGGING

ERIC WITH 2 OF HIS NIECES


HER NEW TINKERBELL ROCKING CHAIR