the countdown begins...

i may or may not have started freaking out this morning. i woke up to the baby kicking me & it hit me...

i have 3.5 months until i am a parent. a mother. a life giver. a comforter. a consoler. a sheer & utter MESS. yes - that's right. 3.5.

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!

its this weird countdown b/c i'm BEYOND EXCITED but also BEYOND SCARED to death. there is no way to prepare for this! the nursery is beginning to fill up with goodies & everytime i put something new in there my heart beats a little faster. its amazing the anxiety level that is crossed with complete joy.

*deep breaths

i have nesting fever every other day. i keep rearranging stuff in our house. my poor husband can't ever find his clothes b/c i keep rearranging our closet and dresser. he told me today that it took him 15 minutes to find a towel the other day. oops! sorry babe. but to my defense we have a teeny tiny apt that we are trying to squeeze a bunch of new things in to. such a crazy time.

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i never knew it was possible to love someone so much never having met them. i can't wait to meet you baby girl.

24. 5 weeks

giraffes and then some!

when erik & i first started dating he asked me to go with him to the zoo. i couldn't go with him b/c nebraska was hosting texas that year and no way could i miss that game. yes, i'm a good husker GO BIG RED! :) an inside joke started and we planned to help marty the giraffe escape from the omaha zoo [marty even sent erik a package on his bday of items to help with the mission]. the joke continued and when erik asked me to be his wife he gave me a stuffed giraffe.

so...with our beautiful daughter arriving in just a few short months...we are forcing her to like giraffe stuff. :) we just got our car seat & stroller in. [thanks g & j for the wonderful car seat!!] orange is my favorite color & it just happens to have giraffes on it. couldn't be more perfect.




here is the most adorable outfit i just bought this weekend. i'm thinking she will probably come home in this. i loved this outfit so much i registered for it in two other sizes! i refuse to let her grow out of it! :)

so the fun stuff is arriving! my wonderful friend janelle & her husband brian have been incredibely generous in letting us borrow some stuff from them. they have loaded us up on baby girl clothes & even a rocker/glider for the nursery. thank you jensens!!!

we are anxiously awaiting our trip home to nebraska for a week. we can't wait for the hustad/lovelace/miller weekend at mahoney. each family has certainly grown & will continue to do so! i'm sure b/w all the ladies we will have thousands of pictures! :)

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...