IT'S A BOY!!!!

We are so excited and can't wait to meet

Carson Oliver Halstead!

Friday could not get here fast enough, and once we finally made it to the dr. I was little less anxious, that is until the nurse came in. She listened to the babies heartbeat and said it sounded great and was at 157, then she asked, "do you know what you are having yet?" I said, "No we were hoping the baby cooperates and we could find out today." Then she said, "O, I'm sorry our ultrasound tech is not here today." "WHAT, are you KIDDING me? I have been counting down the milla seconds and NOW you tell me..... NOT COOL! (I didn't quite phrase it like that, but thats what it sounded like in my head!) Then I am not kidding she left the room, I didn't know whether to cry, scream or chase her down. I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown. Really I know it is not the end of the world, but at that moment it was the end of my world. Then luckily Dr. Bradford came in and was so sweet about the whole thing. I explained (as calm as I could) that we were expecting to find out today (this is our first kid we don't know how these things work!), and that Fridays are the only days that Ben can be at the dr. with me. (The nurse told us before she left the tech is only there Tues and Thu) She was so sweet and said, "Come on I can work the sonogram machine and I am not going to deny a father getting to see his child!" Awww I felt like I could breathe again!

I was all the sudden nervous all over again. She squirted on the goop and as soon as she put the thingy (I don't know the real name) on my belly she said, "oup, baby has their hand between their legs, that usually means one thing!" She showed us all the parts and it at that point it hit me that there was a tiny person in there, it seemed so real at that very moment! Then she got to the good stuff and said "ladies and gentlemen IT'S A BOY!" She explained how sometimes the umbilical cord can be confused for the "goods" and then she showed us the cord and said, "there is the cord, and there is the little turtle with his head pokin out :)" I thought that was so funny! She said we would come back in three weeks and the tech would do another sonogram with a full breakdown, but that everything she saw looked good. She didn't really get a close look at the heart, but she said that was no need to be alarmed it's just that she wasn't focusing on it. We saw it for a second but he was moving all around the place! The grin on Ben's face was priceless when we heard the news and we are both very excited!

We spent the weekend at the Gaylord and it was beautiful and very relaxing. We shopped, ate, napped, swam and rested and enjoyed celebrating our 3 year anniversary! We stayed up all night friday night and were searching for baby names, we knew we wanted the name Oliver because it was his grandpa's name, we just were not sure if we wanted it as a first or middle name. Then we found the name Carson, and we both really liked it, and decided Carson Oliver sounded best and so it was :). To top it off that night was the first night I felt him move! It is possible that I had felt it before, but that was the first time I KNEW it was the baby :)

My mom has already been hard at work stocking up for baby, but as soon as she found out the sex the phone calls and text messages came pouring in, "what about this, look at this, do you need this? we found that thing you wanted" It was hilarious and it didn't help that she was with my aunt in Ohio, needless to say my mom is coming home with a trunk and a backseat full of must haves for Carson! (Don't forget about all the stuff she still has for him in Missouri mind you ;) We are so lucky to have such a wonderful, loving, bargain hunting family! We love them so much and we are so grateful for all that they do for us, now I just can't wait to see it all!

I wrapped up my weekend by registering! I had started online, and Ben and I picked a few things (or I picked them and said "look!") Sunday Kelsie and I registered at Babies R Us and Target, I might have gotten a little carried away with the gun (I think I am registered for like 5 Boppy covers) but I couldn't help myself and let's face it I am not the best decision maker ;).

Baby Development This Week: Baby is the size of a heirloom tomato, 8 1/2 ounces and 6 inches long. He can hear my voice now, and his legs and arms are now in proportion with the rest of his body. It is so weird to refer to "him" now!