Squishee is growing...

...and so am I!!

So this was back in November
when I was 10 weeks along.

And this is me just a couple of days
ago when we hit the 20 week mark.

It's official, we're halfway there, although we know this second half is going to be a lot different than the first! Overall, I feel great. Here's what's happening currently...

• I've been feeling Squishee "flutter" for about 2 weeks now. Sean's excited for when he can feel the kicks and pushes, but I tell him not to rush it! :-)
• I've gained about 10 pounds... right on track with what "they" say I should have gained at this point.
• No funny food cravings yet. The main thing I've noticed is that I like to give in to a couple of the cravings that I've always had (I actually stopped by the donut shop the other day instead of passing right on by like usual). But anyone who knows me knows that craving of sweets is NOT a new trait!
• I still have a good level of energy, so I feel pretty lucky. Sean and I are having fun thinking about our little girl in there... we know she'll be here before we know it.

Baby Squishee is a...

...GIRL!!!

Let the fun begin! We went to our ultrasound appointment today and left beaming. We got to see Squishee's face, profile, hands, feet, heart, stomach, spine, kidneys, etc. We even got to see her brain (yep, she looks smart to us). According to the technician, Squishee looks as healthy as can be and is the exact size she should be for our estimated due date. We marvel that our parents didn't have this technology when they were pregnant with us... it's so amazing to get such an in-depth baby checkup when we're still months away from giving birth!

As for gender, Squishee didn't cooperate right away! "It" was keeping those legs crossed throughout the entire ultrasound. So we know our child is either shy or ornery. We'll let you take a guess as to which trait is more likely in our family! :-)

Anyway, after some pushing, prodding and a few cartwheels down the hall, Squishee cooperated and told us her tale! We would be excited whether the answer was girl or boy... but it is just so awesome to know.

Soon, we'll post some pics of Lisa's expanding belly... and also some other fun stuff going on in our lives (believe it or not, it isn't ALL about the kid... yet!).

An updated pic of Squishee. Don't worry... we saw the legs
on other ultrasounds, so they really are there! :-)

We are now entering the world of... BLOGGING!

I can't believe it... we are finally going to enter the world of blogging. Don't be scared mom... it doesn't involve drugs, pyramid schemes, or email hoaxes. It is just a place for us to get little bits of news (and of course, pictures!) out to our friends and family without a lot of hoopla.

So why are we FINALLY diving into the art of blogging after resisting for so long? Well... because we are expecting a little bambino (or bambina) in June of 2008. And although our life as the Shepards (with two furry kids) has been wonderful, exciting, and full of blog-worthy adventures up to this point, we have just never bothered to bore you with every detail. We have recently learned, however, that when having a child, it is an unwritten rule that you start bragging... er, I mean blogging... about your child and every little thing he or she does. I think it verges on child neglect if you don't! :)

So stay tuned. We promise to only write about the important stuff (yeah, right). We promise to keep the stories about poop and spit-up to a minimum. We promise to do our best to maintain a high ratio of pictures to babble so you won't have to block out an afternoon to get caught up with our blog.

Stay tuned... unless we are otherwise inspired, the next blog posting could very well be the announcement of Baby Shepard's (a.k.a Squishee's) gender! We should hopefully find out on Jan 22nd!

BTW - Here's Squishee's first picture (from November when Squishee was almost 10 weeks old). Just so you know... Squishee is the little peanut-looking thing at the top of the ultrasound... NOT the full-grown baby looking shadow that is in the lower right. Didn't want to confuse anyone! =)