Introducing Baby Brother Packard!

* Video's below!!!

Sooo........obviously, #2 is a BOY!!! I love that some of you cheated. The poll was like 70% girl and 30% boy until I announced that we were having a boy on facebook. Then suddenly a bunch of people voted boy on the blog, lol. Anyway, we are so thrilled!! Though we are pretty sure we are not done with the baby making, it's nice to know that we will at least have one of each now!! I really had no idea or feeling about what it was going to be. Kevin predicted correctly again and totally cried when the tech showed us that it was a boy. I am super excited and actually a bit nervous too. I have way more experience with little girls and though I took care of a little boy quite a bit when we lived in Florida, I still feel a little like I will be out of my element. Maybe it's because Josie and I have such a cool bond and I can't imagine duplicating it. Regardless, I know I already love this little guy so much and am so excited to meet him! I know we will have an amazing bond as well. I am really excited to see Kevin bond with his firstborn son. Since Kevin has all sisters, this child has the responsibility of carrying on the Packard name. He's already so special!!
I do have to say, the ultrasound was kinda weird. With Josie, I thought about the pregnancy all the time, felt connected to her immediately, and did quite a bit to prepare for her arrival. Because Josie is still my focus most of the time, I hardly have had time to even think about the pregnancy, who he is, and what I need to do to prepare. Seeing him, watching him move on the screen was like a big moment for me this pregnancy. It was like it finally registered that there is a real human being in there and he will be here before we know it! I have found myself feeling much more connected lately and actually enjoying being pregnant. It's fun after a long day to lay down at night and feel him kicking and moving around.
Of course, now we know what we are having, people have started asking about names. As of now, we don't have a name. Not even close. We have sort of tossed around a few possibilities, but that's about it. I'm not sure we will even have one before he's born!! With Josie, we had some possibilities that we liked and we decided to wait until we saw her to decide. We didn't name her until the day after she was born, but her name just stuck out to both of us as the right one. I am hoping the same thing happens this time. We are not planning on announcing his name until after the birth. You wouldn't believe the comments people make about names you are thinking of. I'd rather decide on my own and not have to hear the criticisms. Hopefully, we will have a perfect name for him soon after birth and we wont have to call him "baby" the first week of his life, lol!
BTW, I don't mind name suggestions. Don't get offended if I don't use it though, ok? : )

Here are a couple of the video's from the long ultrasound. Seriously, the ultrasound went on for at least an hour. She checked and measured EVERYTHING!! I think it was a little overkill, but it was still very cool. Anyway, here are a few of the less boring parts. BTW, when the video seems to stop, that was just the tech stopping it to type on the screen. It will continue in a moment.
If the videos are too small to see well, just click on them and you can see the larger version on YouTube.


This first one shows his profile. It's a little slow at the beginning, but if you keep watching he tries to suck on his own foot! You will also see him resting his hand on his nose. There is a really great view of the pulsing umbilical chord near the end. Its the big pulsating thing over his tummy leading up to his chin. The red and blue you see at the end are the 2 main veins of the chord. She is measuring the blood flow.




The second video shows a top view of him crossing his legs. Then you get to see the famous shot that made Kevin cry. It's definitely a boy! The next shot she stops on is his cute little foot. The part after that is kinda boring where she labels all the organs, but then it gets cool! It's a little hard to make out, but she shows our little buddy's mouth, nose and chin with his little hand up there, too. So cute!! Anyway, hope you enjoy meeting our newest member of the family!




The rest of the video's would probably be boring for most of you, so I'll spare you. Stay tuned next week for another belly shot! Going to be 24 weeks!!

First park adventure of the season!

I am planning another Josie update complete with pics, stats. AND videos!! In the meantime, I wanted to share some pics I took the other day.

The weather has been SO nice lately!! The last 2 years at this time it was still very much winter and still snowy and freezing. This winter was much milder than the last 2. It started a little later and seems to be letting up sooner too! Hopefully I'm not speaking too soon and the warmth really is here to stay! Anyway, it's been in the 50's and even up to almost 70 a couple days ago. Amazing! Especially since it was still in the 20's and 30's a couple weeks ago. It has been so nice, we just haven't been able to stay inside! I decided to take Josie on a walk to the park a couple blocks away. She's been there before many months ago before she could walk. When I first put her in the stroller, she didn't seem to know what was going on. We haven't really used the stroller in a while and certainly not while outside. After a moment, she started pointing to where she wanted to go.



Just a few houses down on our street is this awesome historic mansion. It was for sale a couple months ago and I guess it sold. Every time I walk past it I cry over the fact that we couldn't buy it right now. Stupid Florida home! Thanks for taking all our money! I don't know what it ended up selling for, but at one point it was down to a price that was ridiculously low! I started to think maybe we could afford it if we were looking to buy. (Well, I suppose we really could if we saved enough!) Sometimes I just stare down the street at it and imagine............ Ah well, I can dream. Our house is great in the meantime and I am truly thankful for it. The mansion is AMAZING inside and is a registered historic mansion in our city. It backs the golf course where the park we go to is. This pic is just of the main house. There is a guest house I think and beautiful grounds. You can take a virtual tour of it here.



As soon as we got to the park, the first things she noticed were the ducks and geese. She climbed out of her stroller before I could even help her out and ran over to the geese. I had to keep backing her up so she didn't scare them or go in the water. Trust me, she definitely would have jumped right in that water and gone after them if I hadn't been there. She just kept pointing at them and saying something excitedly unintelligible.

I love this pic cause you can see how long her hair is getting now. It is starting to really curl in the back.




I'm not sure if she remembers her last experience with a swing. Either way, she screamed with laughter.






We also tried the scary, rusty slide. She just liked climbing around the bottom.


She also loved this stone bridge. She kept trying to climb it.

Doesn't this look like some serious album cover?

Of course, "Snuggly" had to join her for a pic too.


The next day, when Josie saw her stroller in the garage, she pushed it outside, climbed in, and started buckling herself. I think she likes walks!

Baby update- 20 weeks

This past week I started having strangers ask me when I am due. I think that means I really am officially looking pregnant and not just pudgy in the middle. I also getting the "do you know what you are having?" question a lot too. It's not long now till we find out!! My sister is going to try and find out what she is having tomorrow. Hope the baby cooperates for her! Our appointment is next Tuesday. So, of course I have to put up the poll. Boy or girl?!?!? Please vote! 

So, I really was feeling the baby since 15-16 weeks, I just wasn't positive that's what it was at the time. As soon as I really started to feel kicks it was almost like "Huh, there really IS a baby in there!"  I feel strong kicks now and they baby is getting progressively more squirmy. 

I can't believe this pregnancy is already half over! I hardly have time to pay attention to it, so it goes by faster I suppose. At my last appointment, I had already gained 12-14 pounds. Looks like I may surpass the 40 lbs. I put on with Josie. I don't care as long as it doesn't plan on sticking around too long afterward!

There are a couple things I've noticed that are different this time around, but probably just cause my body has been through it before. For the most part, I feel pretty good just like last time and so far it is not interfering much with normal life. I'm lucky, I know!