20 weeks

We are now past the 20 week mark. Half-way!!!

I have now gained 16 lbs, 3 of those being added on during Thanksgiving... Have I mentioned that I actually enjoy being pregnant during the Holidays? It's the only time I can eat and not even think about watching my weight.

Cardiologist update: I had my echo around week 17 and was told that I have the normal, very common heart murmur. Both tricuspid and bicuspid valves have a small leak, but my overall heart function was normal. Thanks for the prayers.

We found out at 18 weeks that we are having a baby boy! His name is William Alan Hall, and will be called "Will." I'm a big fan of using family names with children and it's obvious where the name "Alan" comes from, but our baby's first name is also my Mother's maiden name. For those of you that remember, my Mom lost both of her parents within a 4 month period. My Pappaw returned "home" in October 2008 and my Mammaw followed shortly thereafter in February 2009. So, my baby Will is their namesake. I know that they will be celebrating with the rest of us in April when Will makes his appearance :)

Now I've begun looking for ideas for baby registry items as well as ideas for baby bedding. My wonderful and talented mother will be making the crib bedding, and I've had a blast looking at all different kinds of fabrics! We will be converting our office into Will's room and I'm going with a (hopefully) tasteful horse/cowboy theme. Alan used to own a horse and would probably get another one today if we had room on our lot. I have plans to hang his cowboy hat on the wall and get some letters made from horse shoes to spell Will's name on the wall. The bedding will have a simple horse shaped applique sporadically placed along with Will's monogram. I don't want to get too busy with horse/cowboy stuff... I'll post pictures when the room begins to come together.

I'll close with the latest US picture of Will. It's so nice to finally know the gender and start REALLY planning for his arrival.

Thanks for checking in...