a special week

a few short days ago i celebrated my 26th bday. what many people don't realize is that 12 days later i get to celebrate another just as important day. i'm adopted. my homecoming day [the day my parents held me in their arms & took me home] has always been a very special day. i'm blessed beyond blessed beyond blessed for the wonderful parents i have. i was reminded of the blessing of this quickly approaching day when reading my sister in law's blog. her son was also adopted. 1 year ago today. today is declan's homecoming day. although i love all my neices & nephews - i do feel a special bond with deckers b/c we share something many people will not ever be able to understand. being hand picked is priceless. such an amazing gift.


i'm so thankful for how my parents modeled what it means to sacrificially & unconditionally love their children. i'm amazed by erik's parents & how they raised 4 children to be God-fearing & loving individuals. of course this instills some confidence in how we will be as parents - but right now i feel mostly fear. a fear of messing up. we are reading all the parenting books & what not...but i am more thankful that the Lord has given us wonderful parents that we can turn to for advice. i know i was perfect child [ha!] so i'm sure our little one will be a princess just like me. :)

almost 23 weeks

half way!

a big woot for 20 weeks!  big milestone!  i am still feeling fabulous.  the baby is moving around like crazy now!  i can feel her doing gymnastics in my belly & its pretty amazing.  a few people have been able to feel her on the outside which is neat.  she's an active one b/c its a little early to actually feel her on the outside.  i can only imagine what she'll be like once she joins us out here!  

i've been waiting for cravings to hit.  nope.  i bought a jar of pickles to prepare for them.  still nope.  i have noticed an increased appetite, but nothing huge.  people tell me to be expecting a pretty rapid growth spurt over the next couple weeks.  we'll see what the pictures show.

we had a doctor's appt to go over the ultrasound and my doctor was feeling great about everything.  said the baby & my belly are growing steadily.  she gave me the approval to fly home next month as everything is looking good.  :)

i don't notice a big difference in my belly over the past 2 weeks...here are the most recent pics at 20 weeks.  

we had a wonderful weekend shopping for some baby room "stuff."  today we woke up & our crib was on our doorstep!  thanks mom & dad - soon to be grandma & grandpa haggar!  crib assembly itself wasn't as much fun as we hoped b/c it was kind of a pain...we messed up and had some pieces flipped around in the very beginning & had to start over.  but the end product was worth it!  we love our crib!

crib assembly take 1...

take 2...almost there! [clearly a very excited hubby]

ta da!!!

And the winner is...

Its a GIRL!!!

A beautiful baby girl.

We are so excited!! Here are some fun pictures from this morning's ultrasound!

[Curled up all cozy]

[Look at that sweet face. She already has her mommy's nose]

[Being bashful in front of the camera like her daddy]

Check out more ultrasound pics... 

We are thrilled! We are now half way through our pregancy! Everything looked great today. She has all 10 fingers & 10 toes! Her organs are developing & she appears to be very healthy! It's so fun to know what we are having! Although, props to the mom's out there who are patient enough to wait! She was moving around quite a bit during her first photo shoot! Incredible to see her...now I can't wait to hold her! 20 weeks to go!

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Erik's brother, Mark & his wife Ashley were visiting this past weekend! We had a wonderful time! Here's a couple pics from the fun weekend & my much more obvious baby bump!

4 hustads = good times

[Baby bump-n it]

[We can't wait to meet you sweet baby girl!!]

place your bets!

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BOY or GIRL?

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Winners to be announced on August 11th!



Best of luck!

18.5 weeks

a beautiful sound....

the heartbeat of our little one...

the fun stuff

so the waiting game takes patience [almost half way there]...but the planning is sure fun! i started to make a registry this week, and boy oh boy is there some fun stuff out there! here is the crib set that i have my heart set on! :)

i'm blessed to have all sorts of talented friends/family. my bff melanie is going to try to make something similar to the numbers on the wall for me. i absolutely love them, but on babies r us they are over $100 a piece. yikes! so my art loving best friend gets to be creative for me! :) yah! baby h is already spoiled.

i've been reading all the pregnancy & parenting books & my hubby has been joining in! here's a great picture of erik preparing to be a daddy [as much preparing as you can do...haha!] it's so fun to see him just as excited, if not more excited, than me!

apple of my eye

15 weeks & counting & the baby is now the size of an apple or an orange. what's with all the fruit comparisons?? i know...weird.

people are starting to be able to tell that i'm indeed pregnant. the bump i had a couple weeks ago was pretty mushy & looked like i had just eaten a big dinner. now it has hardened up and is starting to take the shape of a pregnant belly. friends & coworkers are starting to want to touch it which is so funny. i'm usually the first one to run over to my preggo friends and rub their belly & sing to the baby...so its different to be the one receiving!

a friend of mine at the restaurant is 36 weeks pregnant and her little girl just bounces all over in her belly. its surreal. not sure if i have felt the baby or not. i thought i felt flutters this morning...but its REALLY hard to tell if its that or just my stomach making noises.

i am feeling incredibly blessed by such a good pregnancy so far. its hard to stay focused on the everyday stuff. we upgraded our car! no more 2 door honda...i can't imagine putting a car seat in the back of a two door car. yikes! we are now the proud owners of a jeep grand cherokee overland. as you can see...erik's happy to have a jeep back in the family :) as am i...i love it!!!