We're having a...

Yep! We're having a boy! Our long-awaited anatomy scan ultrasound happened on Monday. Within seconds of putting the wand on my belly, the technician told us we were having a boy. He made sure there was NO uncertainty! In that moment, I had flash forwards of the life our little man will have... and it just warmed my heart.

Our technician looked carefully over his little body. I can't get over his long legs and arms.... and TOES! He has little toes! He looks like a person! He's 11 oz. and he was measuring exactly the right size for how far along I am. Thank goodness!

It's surreal to me to know what we're having. I felt all along it was a boy... but this being my first pregnancy, I had nothing to compare it to at all. I even had a dream last week where I held my baby boy in my arms and I could see his face. But that's just crazy pregnancy dreams right? I would be excited either way, but now that we know... it's full steam ahead. We have had a name picked out for seriously two years.... and we've talked about it since before we got married. I'm happy to announce our little boy's name to y'all.

Wilder, of course, is my maiden name and I'm proud of the family it represents. It's a little bit cowboy rough and tumble, a little bit British, which kind of goes along with our last name. I had never thought of using is as a first name until I came across a cutting horse rider named Wilder Jones while reading cutting press releases for work at APHA (probably around 2009 if you can believe it). Once I saw the name... I was convinced. :-) Luckily, Zach agreed. I'm starting to see it crop up in baby name blogs and books like the Baby Name Wizard, but we didn't pick the name based on any trends... however, maybe it'll make the name a little more "acceptable" to people who might think it's weird. We don't really care though... this little one is gonna be wild! Dean is my father-in-law's first name, and I can't think of a better man to honor with our first boy's name than the man that raised Zach into the person he is today. If our boy doesn't want to be called Wilder as an adult, he can always go by Will or Dean... but he'll always be our Wilder.

I've had nursery ideas marinating in my head for a while--probably since before we got pregnant, so as soon as I got the word, I started putting them together. I have some blue and brown wood furniture from when I was a teen and I have always loved it. We're going to swap out a few pieces from one of our guestrooms to add the dresser and armoire that are blue and brown--and later we can get the bed and desk. I think we're going to purchase a convertible crib that can go from a crib all the way to a full size bed. A brilliant invention! We already have a kangaroo skin from Australia and a set of antlers, as well as that set of suitcases (do you recognize them from our announcement photos?). We have several world map prints that we are planning to frame for our house anyway, so I might take one of them and put it in Wilder's room. I really want that verse print... and there are a few other wall prints I'd like to pick out, but there's only so much room, so I'm not sure about that. I love that fake zebra skin rug, but Zach's not crazy about it so I might do a different kind of rug. Maybe fake cow skin. :-) Still need to decide about bedding, curtains and a glider chair, -- and maybe some more decor but these are the ideas I have so far! We want to keep using the room as a guest room for a while (it's the one with purple and grey bedding) so I probably won't convert it to a nursery till late September.

I was 20 weeks on Wednesday. I can't believe we're halfway there! I haven't gained much weight... the nurse keeps telling me I will eventually and the midwife isn't concerned. I've been trying to eat well and stay active, so we'll see how all of that goes. I've felt the baby move a little bit... maybe 3 times, but not regularly.

Two weeks ago we went to Red River, New Mexico with my BIL's group of teenagers. While Grant and the kids went camping, we hiked and walked and shopped around the town. I didn't know what we were having, but I did pick up a onesie because I couldn't resist. :-)

Gardening adventures

My beloved bougainvillea on the front porch.

Gardening with container plants at an apartment is a completely difference experience than landscaping a home. Zach put a lot of hours into our lawn and landscaping last fall, and he's on top of keeping it looking good this year with mowing and such. It's looking really nice! We planted one tree last fall, and that was about the extent of the gardening. This spring, I realized how hard weeding can be.... All of our flower beds had loads of weeds, and I turned over the mulch to prepare for fresh mulch in the process. It was a long process, but enjoyable. The weather has been fantastic.

I hadn't planned on planting anything other than moving my container herbs and irises into the ground, but the more we thought about it, the more we realized we did want some flowers. Having only owned irises and bougainvillea--and my cooking herbs--I'm not much of a landscaper. It's all overwhelming to me. What can be planted that will survive? I don't have much experience with plants outside of horticulture class at A&M--my childhood ventures into gardening were all a failure. Black thumb Abby here. But hey, my herbs are doing pretty well.

We enlisted Sharon, my mother-in-law, to help us choose plants and install them. She was such a trooper! We went to Redenta's nearby for the plants. After picking up some plants and odds n ends, we got to planting. Well... preparing the ground, and planting. Zach meanwhile ripped up three bushes we had growing along the side of our driveway to make way for ROSES! After many, MANY hours, Sharon and I got all the plants in the front placed in the ground. The next day, she came back and helped pulled up the whole back section of some kind of ivy that was getting bedraggled, and that housed tons of bugs I'm sure. We spent all morning preparing the ground back there, and the afternoon planting. Zach and I finished up with fresh mulch all around. We were totally wiped out after all of that, but it makes me so so happy to see our pretty flowers around our home. Crossing fingers that I can keep them going. Wish me luck!!


Here are some photos of the flowers and everything.

I replanted my irises in front of our office. Crossing fingers they will bloom now that they have sun and better soil. Also planted purple queen and lantana.

We planted white, pink and blue hydrangeas on the side of the house next to the porch. They're supposed to get 3-5 feet tall and wide. I can't wait to see them grow and bloom. I'm the most worried about their hardiness, but they are in mostly shade and I'll water them a lot.

More lantana and purple queen in front of the porch.

In front of the garage, we planted purple queen and knockout roses. So pretty!

One of the knockout roses 

Beside the house next to the driveway, we planted three rose bushes that produce beautiful scented roses we can cut. We can see these from our bedroom. I love walking by them and smelling their blooms. Also note--used to have a row of waist-high bushes here. Zach took them out!

Belinda's Dream

David Austin Golden Celebration - this one is getting an iron trellis to climb on soon!

Chrysler Imperial

We moved all my herbs to the back beside the kitchen. I hope they do well here--I've never put my herbs in the ground.

Sweet little celosia. We interspersed these with purple fountain grass and lantana along the back flower bed. They look like troll doll hair to me. *love*

Lantana

All this used to be yucky ivy, overgrown grass and wobbly bricks. Now it's a nice flower bed with planter's stone, mulch and pretty flowers! Such an improvement!

I can't think my mother-in-law enough for her help. It was a lot of work but definitely worth it. Everything but the celosia is perennials, so... if I don't kill them, we should have them for several years at least! We love looking at our pretty flowers! Y'all should stop by to see them. :-)

Mom's chair

My mom used to rock my brothers and I in this chair. Not a day goes by that I don't think of her sitting in her chair reading, petting her cat Frankie or resting. This was her favorite chair for many years. The last time I went to San Antonio (after we knew we were pregnant), we rearranged a bunch of furniture at my mom's house. There are two rocking chairs in the room. I sat down for a rest (moving furniture is hard work y'all!) and it was like a lightbulb went off, and tears actually came to my eyes. I'd been scouring the internet and stores for an upholstered chair for our bedroom, but I really wanted one that rocked. This is exactly what I wanted. Since there were two chairs, Zach suggested bringing it to our home. It was the best decision we could have made.

Every time I sit in this chair, I feel my mom with me. It's such a comfort to me. I look forward to rocking our baby here just like my mom did for me. It's my favorite piece of furniture in this house.

First Trimester: Complete

I can't believe Baby Boatwright has been cooking for 12 weeks! It's true what everyone says--I'm starting to feel like myself again. Not so much nonstop carsickness. My bump is starting to look like I'm pregnant--as opposed to just belly fat. And I'm not *quite* so tired, although I've been sleeping less due to work deadlines.

On Monday we had a midwife appointment. I was hoping we'd find out the gender, but she said it'll be another month or so. Sigh, But!! This time we got to hear the heartbeat. She found it right away, and it's good, strong and fast. Whew! Everything seems to be healthy at this point--Praise Jesus.

I have to tell you something cool though. Sunday night I woke up and as I was going back to sleep, I felt something like a little flick in my lower right abdomen. It didn't feel like anything digestion related or anything I've felt before. I think it was the baby! At the midwife appointment, she put the Doppler *right* on the same spot and that's where she heard the heartbeat! And the next night, I felt like a little poke there. I keep hoping I'll feel it again. :-D

Here's week 11's photo.

Pregnancy announcement photos

My dear friend Jena Miller took some pregnancy announcement photos for Zach and I a few weeks ago. She was the second shooter for our wedding, and it felt so comfortable working with her on this session.  Honestly, I think it was the first photo session of Zach and I together, EVER that was actually pleasant weather. :-) Normally we are popsicles! These were taken across the street from her home in Waxahachie, and they turned out just how I'd hoped. Thanks Jena!!

side note--I'm getting better at the chalkboard writing!

Telling the family

It's been very hard not telling our nearest and dearest. We told Zach's parents fairly soon, but we held off on telling my family because we wanted to wait until after my brother Jonathan's wedding April 20. Happily, he and Holly are now married and honeymooning, so we told my family April 21. Here's a video of us telling Sharon and Dean on their wedding anniversary. We gave them a card with a long poem and signed the bottom "Love Zach, Abby and Baby Boatwright, coming November 2013." The reaction is priceless.



At the hotel the day after my brother's wedding, we met with my family. My dad exchanged birthday gifts for Zach and I, and we gave him a gift. It's a t-shirt that says "World's Best Grandpa." Here's how he responded. :-)




We rushed home to Fort Worth to our spring birthday gathering for more of Zach's family, and shared with them our news. We've been telling more family over the past few days. It's wonderful to have the news out there! We'll be sharing with more people in the next week. :-)

Prego updates

Since we haven't announced to the world our news, I've been lax about writing posts on the blog. We just told our families this weekend, so... I need to catch up! I'll start with a momentous occasion.

We got to see King George Strait with my brother Jonathan and his then-fiance Holly and her parents. It was surreal seeing the legend and I felt so privileged knowing our BABY got to experience George on his farewell tour. Maybe it'll inspire a love for country music!

On to my not so successful countdown photos. I'm a chalkboard fail. Just putting it out there.

I missed week 7 because we went to San Antonio, and I've missed the last two weeks because I ran out of time for week 9 and I was in Houston for week 10. Needless to say, it's been a really busy first trimester. Baby Boatwright and I have floated the Comal River, worn a bridesmaid dress and traveled several thousand miles.

Speaking of being on the road, Zach and I traded in Hermione, my faithful 2008 Volkswagen Jetta, for a 2013 Ford Explorer we've dubbed Cora the Explorer, after the mother in Downton Abbey. :-) Poor Jetta had 170,000+ miles already and was quickly costing more than it was worth. The Explorer is so so comfortable and perfect for the constant road trips we have to make. When people see it, they start wondering why we needed such a big vehicle, but with a baby (and fur baby, and two cats) on trips, it makes sense. Here she is!

At seven weeks, we visited the midwife, and were actually able to see the heartbeat! Here's a blurry photo of the sonogram. You can't really see anything else yet but... there's our baby!