People want to how we got the virus, which I think is funny because the answer is...Matt. Anyone who knows him, knows that he has a passion for knowledge and he is very curious. Anytime he doesn't know something...he has to Google it. It truly bothers him until he finds the answer. He even gets very eager and excited to share what he's learned, when other people don't know the same thing. Sometime people take this as him being corrective, but he truly has the best of intentions and a passion for learning. You gotta love him for that! Anyway, because there is a new crazy fake anti-virus that can be caught through searching random things on Google...that's how we got it. Our free anti-virus didn't catch it, but now we have the trusty Geek Squad package and a nice expensive anti-virus...so now we're up and running! Ok, on with the story...
Baby Rice Gender Story:
Everyone always asks, what do/did you and Matt think you are having? I truly wasn't sure, but Matt was completely convinced from the beginning we were having a GIRL!
Before we knew I was pregnant, I told Matt I thought I might be, but was starting to doubt it due to all of the tests that were negative. He responded by walking up to me very confidently and telling me, "you're pregnant and your going to have a girl." I was a bit weirded out because he was so confident and serious at the same time. Then he told me why...
Matt and I order take-out Chinese food on occasion and we always read our fortune cookies. On occasion, Matt will keep really good ones (for a while anyway...we don't have a random bag of fortunes sitting around). Well, right as we found out we were moving to KS, we had Chinese food and Matt's fortune said, "sometimes traveling to a new place leads to great transformation." We both thought it was really fitting, so he kept it in his wallet. (I think it was one more way to encourage us we were doing the right thing by moving.)
A few weeks later, one day when Matt went to get something out of his wallet, his fortune fell out and landed face down showing him what it said on the back..."daughter." Wouldn't you know he never looked at the back before that day...which also happened to be the day I told him I was worried about being pregnant! Matt has joked that was God's way of talking to him about our baby.
The interesting part, months down the road I become very stressed and impatient waiting to find out the gender. Then, about a week or two before our appointment we ordered take-out for the first time in our new town. Here's what my fortune said, "instead of worrying and agonizing, move ahead constructively" and on the back..."daughter." So needless to say, I was leaning towards a girl when I walked into my appointment that day. You can say coincidence, but we think it's pretty neat! Of course we put both fortunes in our pregnancy book.
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| Matt's fortune is on top. |
Matt and I decided to go ahead and find out the gender of our baby at our appointment on Nov. 21st. Most people usually wait to find out the gender until their gender reavealing party, but our families live in different states we were having two different parties. Since there was no way to be surprised at both parties, we wanted to go ahead and find out early.
The morning of the appointment, I drank orange juice, ate a big breakfast, and finished with hot chocolate. I was hoping this would help the baby move around enough to find out the gender. It took some work at the appointment, but our sonographer told us she is 90% sure it's a GIRL! Due to the baby staying so low, she said she will confirm at our next appointment which is on Dec. 19th! I'm very excited to see her again!
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| this is a profile view of her face at 20 weeks |
Matt and I wanted to wait to make the big announcement to everyone until we could tell our families in person, since we would see them for Thanksgiving at the end of the week. For the parties, we decided we would use the cake idea to share the exciting news at the party, but instead of Matt and I cutting the cake we wanted to let our parents. (For those unfamiliar with this idea, you order a cake and have the bakery make the inside icing, or actual cake, pink or blue. Then when the cake is cut, everyone finds out if it's a boy or girl.)
The first party we had was with Matt's family in Charleston, SC on Thanksgiving Day. They were all very excited and eager to find out the gender. Here are some of the pictures from the event.
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| Publix (the local grocery store) made a very cute baby buggy cake for us! |
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| Matt and I got pink and blue plates for everyone to make guesses about the gender. Matt and I obviously already knew, but we couldn't both hold up girl plates. |
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| Matt's family and their guesses. (9 boys and 6 girls) |
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| Matt's parents finding out it's a girl! Charles looks a little confused because he thought the actual cake was supposed to be pink or blue and it was chocolate...lol. |
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| The family's reaction. I love his younger cousin Haley's reaction... she was pointing at her plate like haha, I'm right! |
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| Lawson (Matt's younger cousin in the front) was hoping for a boy, but he was a great sport! |
The second party was with my family in Clayton, NC the weekend after Thanksgiving, and we used the same cake idea to the reveal the gender. Since we had been talking about the gender with Matt's family, it was really hard not slipping up and telling my family too soon.
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| Matt & I with the cake! |
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| Lowe's Foods (the local grocery) made this cake and it was sooooo good!! |
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| My family and their guesses....7 boys and 5 girls. |
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| My parent's reaction! They both thought boy...hehe! |
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| The inside of the cake...it's a girl! |
We had so much fun getting to celebrate with our families and share the news in person! The only thing, everyone wanted (and still wants) to know the name, but we weren't ready. We shared that our boy name was going to be Pearson Asher Rice. Pearson after my maiden name Pearce, and Asher after Matt's father's middle name (and long running family traditional middle name on the Rice side). If our next baby is a boy, I'm sure we'll use this name for him.
At this point, we've only shared initials for our possible girl name, which are PJR. I'm about 95% sure on her name, but I'm not sure about Matt. I know he really likes the name, but he's worried about committing. I'm hoping to get him pinned down within the next week!
Belly Update:
Here are a few pictures of my growing belly, since my last post at 19.5 weeks (just before finding out the gender).
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| the weekend after Thanksgiving-20.5 weeks |
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| Dec. 10th-22.5 weeks |
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| Toby and I in front of our Christmas tree....22.5 weeks. |
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| Our little girl's first toy...purchased by Matt on his work trip...love it!! Thank you baby for being so involved and supportive!! I love you! |
Don't Forget Toby:
Toby has recovered from his surgery and is doing great. The hair on his leg is growing back normal and he's finally allowed to start running around and playing.
It was sad not being able to have him with us at Thanksgiving, since we had to kennel him to fly home. Here is a picture of how sleepy he was when we picked him up from the kennel.
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| He was too tired to play, and he didn't care that Matt stacked his toys on top of him. |
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| I love his expression....can I please get down now? |
