Annabelle Paige?

Baby's Name is Annabeth Sage Riley!!

In sharing our news mostly by phone people have come up with lots of creative ways of hearing Baby's name. So...here's an explination of her name:

Her First Name:
Part 1 - Anna: Named for my grandmother Betty Anne, my mother Suzanne, and my sister LucyAnne and because I LOVE the name
Part 2 - Beth: From my middle name Elizabeth and for all of the wonderful women I have known with Beth/Elisabeth/Elizabeth in their names

Her Middle Name:
Sage: Her middle name was the middle name of a very dear friend of mine who entered the life eternal five years ago. Brandon was a lifetime friend. He was wonderfully good and kind. He loved the Lord, his family, his friends, and music. I miss him every day.

We would love for Annabeth Sage to be a little like all of these special people: Amazing. Beautiful. Gracious. Kind. Loving.

Ultrasound 1

Saturday we met Baby, face to face. I had seen ultrasounds in movies and ones that family and friends had shared but meeting my own baby was a compeltely different experience, the most amazing experience of my life. I tried to stay calm during the ultrasound so I could hear everything the tech was saying but as soon as we walked out the door, I lost it. I just cried and cried and stared at those little pictures she gave us. Our baby is amazing and perfect. I thank God for our blessing.

Saturday we met our daughter, face to face. I had known from the moment I knew I was expecting that Baby was a girl. In private, we have called her she for months now. Our daughter is amazing and perfect. I thank God for our daughter.

Saturday, we met Annabeth Sage Riley, face to face. Annabeth is amazing and perfect. I thank God every moment for Annabeth. God's grace astounds me!

Week 19

We are in our 19th Week!

We go Saturday, May 21, for our first ultrasound where we will be able to see Baby for the first time! We are so excited! We have waited and prayed for so long for this one day. For years we have been told that a biological child was not possible for me, and in turn us, but Saturday will give us absolute proof (because sometimes this still feels like a dream) that God has blessed us.

We thank God continuously for Baby and all of our blessings.

4th Appointment Update

Baby and I went see Dr. Franklin last week. Here is the update:

Weight Gain: -25 pounds. We'll try to gain this next month but if I am still sick we will be working on a plan to stop the vomiting

Blood Pressure: 110/60 (coming from work! Impressive!)

No circulation or vein problems. Also, no swelling!

Restrictions: Just the normal two that they add at 4 months, no bike riding or horseback riding.

Baby's heartbeat is a strong and steady 154 just like last month. We'll be going the third week of May for our first ultrasound - where hopefully we'll learn Baby's flavor - and our next 4 week check up with Dr. Franklin! Things are looking good in our 17th week!!!

16 Weeks!

That's right, we are 4 months today! We celebrate by reading the "16 Weeks" entry in "What to Expect When You're Expecting" and throwing up all morning.

Cravings: Fruit and Ice Water

Aversions: All Meat. Yuck!

Weight Gain: -19 pounds (Trying to hard to gain and no progress...)

Feeling: Sick, more excited than ever, and ready for our appointment on Thursday when we'll hear the heartbeat again!

In about 5 weeks we should know Baby's flavor! We cannot wait to call him/her by name!

We're EXPECTING!!!

We are excited (and by excited I mean - THRILLED!!!) to share that we are expecting! We keep being asked the same questions so I'll try to answer them here:

• When did you find out? January 28, 2011


• When are you due? October 8, 2011


• Why keep it a secret so long? We had been trying for most of our marriage for this little one so we wanted to be "safely" into our pregnancy before sharing the news.


• Why did Mark post it on Facebook on April Fools? Our third doctor's appointment was on March 31st and we spent that evening telling family. It just ended up being a little inconvenient that everyone else learned on April Fools.


• How has Amy been feeling? Weeks 1 -6 FANTASTIC Weeks 8 - 12 HORRIBLE!!! I am very hopeful that the worst of the morning-noon-night sickness is over!


• How has Mark been feeling? Tired and tired of finishing Amy's meals for her.


• Have you gained any weight? No, unfortunately having been so sick Amy has lost 12 pounds and Mark has added a diet to the chaos of our lives and has lost 10. Our goal this month is for Amy to gain and Mark to keep loosing.


• Have you had an ultrasound? No, our first one will be around 17 weeks. We did hear the heartbeat on March 31 and it was an incredible sounding 154! :)


• Is this your first pregnancy? Yes. We thank God that while we have been trying for so long we have not had to endure the pain and loss of a miscarriage.


• We know you were told that this would "never happen naturally" by more than one set of doctors, did you use fertility treatments? Yes, the most effective of them all PRAYER and complete FAITH IN OUR AMAZING GOD.

March Visits

March has been so beautiful this year! The weather has been so wonderful that we've enjoyed great visiting this month!

Mama and Dad came up the first weekend to bring Cassidy's birthday gift - Dad made her a craft cabinet like mine. We spent the day at Matt and Jenn's new place and all went for ice cream in Columbus. It was also their first time meeting the girls so that was fun as well! Miss Kati is my kind of gal - she went right for Mama's rings!!

Brittany came up for a Sunday visit. We lunched and then went to Trader Joe's for baking supplies and food ideas. I am always so happy to see her and so excited for her bakery plans! I cannot wait for her to open her bakery and for more of her chocolate chip cookies.

Rose also made her way up for a Tuesday night date. With work we have both been so busy that I was glad to just have an evening together.

What a wonderful month spent with those we love!