29 Weeks

Wow! Are we really this far already??? I can't believe this little one will be here in 2 1/2 months! Scotty and I are so excited! Yes, as you can see this baby bump of mine has GROWN! I was looking at my 21 week picture and thinking, "Gosh I was so small back then!" If you think I've grown at least 3 1/2 belly inches within the last 2 months, you are right! It's not the easiest thing to watch your body blow up this way, but it's easier when you have a wonderful husband like Scotty. He's been great throughout the last 7 months.

About a month or so ago Scotty felt Baby Shannon for the first time. It was such an amazing moment! We tried several times to get him to feel her, but it's hard when she's small and not moving constantly. When he felt her he looked at me and said, "Was that you?" I said, "No! That was her!" He had this huge smile on his face. That is one of my favorite moments of the last 7 months. Since then she's been doing cartwheels in my belly! These days you can actually see the outside of my belly rolling. It's crazy, but I love it!

This week I've started to get tired and I've been taking advantage of my naps on the bus ride into work and back home. Scotty and I have had to compromise our sleeping arrangements. These days he has a couple extra blankets on him, while I try not to sweat during the night. Got to love the third trimester! All in all though, I'm still feeling good and in good spirits!

Scotty and I are both so excited about our baby's arrival! Once we receive a gift from someone Scotty immediately finds a place for it in the nursery. He makes me laugh, but I realize that it's his way of showing his excitement. I'm so glad that God put us together. There's no one else I'd rather share these precious moments with!

The Nursery

Before Christmas we ordered the nursery furniture. One of my friends ordered her nursery furniture and it came the weekend before she had her baby. I was nervous this would happen, so we ordered it early and then we didn't have a place to put it because we still needed to clean out the nursery room. Oh well! At least we have it and we love it!
As my mom has said, "The Nesting Bug has officially hit the Shannon house!" After New Years Scotty and I got busy cleaning out the room that would eventually be the nursery. This involved purging a lot of items into the guest room closet, our closet and the attic. It felt so good to get that room clean and clear! Scotty built a shelving unit in the nursery closet so that we could utilize as much space as possible. You know how I love organization! He did a great job! I love how it turned out! Of course, the items in the closet will be organized at some point, but for now they just needed to go into the closet so the room could be clear for painting.

Matt, Scotty's best friend, came this weekend to help Scotty paint the nursery. They did an amazing job!!! They painted the room, lined the stripes and cut, put up and painted the chair rail! I LOVE IT!!! I know our little girl will love it too! It's so cute! The bedding is on the bench if you want to get an idea of what everything will look like together. We'll get the carpets cleaned next week, move the furniture into the room and the room will look even more put together! This makes me so excited for little Shannon's arrival! Scotty and I are both so excited! She has no idea how much love she has waiting for her already!

Before

After

Christmas 2009

For Christmas this year we decided to surprise Scotty's family! This was planned for 6 months and they didn't even suspect it! Barbie helped us with the surprise and picked us up from the airport. We showed up at 11pm that night and they were very surprised. We were all excited that we could celebrate Christmas together.

Scotty & Natalie

Christmas 2009

The Saturday before Christmas my family got together to celebrate. We had a wonderful time! We are so blessed!

Pictures of Baby Shannon

Last Wednesday was exciting! We got to see our baby girl again! She is still adorable! Her measurements were great too! She even has Scotty's feet!! "How do you know she has Scotty's feet?" you say? Trust us, she DEFINITELY has Scotty's feet!! We have laughed and laughed about this all week!

Our baby is so precious!

21 Weeks!!

This has been one really great week!!! For one, I made it half way! I'm really excited, but at the same time I'm thinking, "Oh wow! We're going to have a baby in less than 5 months! CRAZY!!!" I am really happy and really embracing my pregnancy. I wish I would have known 3 months ago that things would be this great! Vomiting on the bus may not have been so bad. :)

Last week I started to feel our little girl!! I have to admit that there were plenty times that I told Scotty, "I really think I'm feeling her!!" Then, a few minutes later I'd realize, "Nope, that was just a gas bubble." Scotty and I have actually had a ton of laughs due to me thinking that I have felt her. Why is gas such a funny subject? This poor little girl! Ha! I love every minute of this! Feeling a baby inside of me has got to be one of the best experiences! It's a new connection with us to add to everything else. Then, just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I felt her on the outside of my belly tonight! I can't wait to share this with Scotty!

The belly is growing!!

William Gabriel Klemcke is here!!!!!

Leah and Nathan welcomed little William into the world on November 25th. He was born at 8:02am the day before Thanksgiving. I guess he didn't want to miss the Thanksgiving feast! William weighed 6 lbs. 15.5 oz. and was 19.25 inches long. He is so precious and is already giving such sweet smiles! Leah is doing well and enjoying him at home.

Alana meets her brother for the first time!

Random Thoughts at 17 1/2 Weeks

I have discovered how incredibly comfy maternity pants can be!!! I'm not sure why anyone would ever want to wear regular pants after wearing these super, cozy maternity pants! My mom has been finding some great bargain pants for me! Thanks, Mom!

I have heard of what the first feelings of the baby feel like. Sometimes I think that I'm feeling her move around, but I'm not certain. It's so hard to tell. It's ok though. I know I will feel her soon enough.

Second trimester ROCKS!!!! Why isn't the whole pregnancy this way? Everything is better! My nausea is completely gone, for the most part, I actually am back to my happy self and I'm starting to feel this '2nd trimester burst of energy' that so many people talk about! I love the second trimester! I'm really excited that I shouldn't be nauseous for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Don't you know that I'm really looking forward to eating all of that delicious food!!

One of my co-workers that did not know I was pregnant asked me if I was pregnant yesterday! I was so excited! I guess it's getting a bit more obvious that little Shannon is in there! How exciting!

And my last random thought ... On Sunday I went to Target to find some more maternity pants. I walked over to the baby section. This is the first time I have been in a baby section since I found out I was pregnant. I just stood there and my eyes started to swell up with tears of excitement. God has given me one of the most precious gifts. I just can't believe sometimes how blessed I am. I am truly grateful and so happy. God is amazing!

Baby Shannon is a .......... GIRL

We had our 16.5 week appointment last week. Baby Shannon looks amazing and is definitely getting bigger! We are so excited to be having a girl!!!