The Last Week's Updates

So, we are back from Florida, and we had a lovely trip. We ended up spending the entire vacation in Daytona, and stayed at Nick's uncles rental house. His son was our ringbearer so it was fun to see them, and to see how much the little cuties have grown. Amelia and Dan were there as well, so we had a blast hanging out with them. It was like we had planned to be in Florida at the same time, but really it was just coincidence. As predicted the day that I put on a bikini was the day that I noticed my belly. Oh well, I sported it anyway :). Here are a few pictures from Daytona.

On other news we stopped in Atlanta to visit my cousin Matt on Sunday, and I was so excited to see him. He is progressing very well, and is now able to eat pureed food (not sure if that is how you spell that). He is loving milkshakes and applesauce right now. He was able to say hi to me, and he is continuing to work on sounds, and also movement of his right side. The hopspital he is at is an amazing place, and they offer sports for thier patients as part of rehabilitation. As soon as Matt no longer has a feeding tube or PIC line he is interested in participating in the water sports. I can't wait for him to get to that point. He is completely mentally aware, and he actually remembers up to Christmas Eve. Thankfully he does not remember his accident. I enjoyed spending time with him, and I can't wait to see him again. I have included a picture, of Matt, Uncle Mark, and Aunt Libby.

Tomorrow I am heading to Lexington to participate in a silent auction for Mr. Wildcat at the restauraunt I used to work at. I worked at Merrick Inn for two years, and I became very close to Mr. Wildcat, or as we all called him Bill. On this day last year, Bill passed away, and it came as a shock to all of us. He was at Merrick everyday and I would always sit and talk to him. I can still hear him saying "Oh my little Sarah, I swear to God you are the sweetest little thing I ever have met". I was heartbroken when I heard the news, and I truly felt as though I lost a close friend. I am excited to work the silent auction in his memory tomorrow. I have included a picture of Bill and I at Merrick's Halloween party in 07.

Final news my friend Blair found out today that she is having a boy. That completely surprised all of us because we all thought she was having a girl. It is the first time I have ever had the ring and string game give a false prediction. Oh well, I am so happy for Blair, and I am excited that Caleb will have a little boy to play with.

Daddy's Hands

Daddy has finally felt little Caleb move, and I must say it was a joyous experience. He has been waiting not so patiently for about 3 weeks now, and finally the moment has arrived. It was so cute because we were sitting on the couch, and I felt Caleb kick, and it was the strongest kick I had felt thus far. I grabbed Nick's hand and placed it on my stomach, and sure enough he felt his little boy kick two times. His face burst into a smile, and we both were so happy. I think the pregnancy is finally becoming real to him.

On another note I must say that I am so excited about tomorrow and the remainder of this week. We are leaving tomorrow morning for Florida, and then going to see Matt in Atlanta on Sunday. I can not wait to lay on the beach, and since my stomach has refused to grow, I am going to try to pull of my bikini while there. One day during the week we are going to Daytona to spend time with our friends Amelia and Dan who are also vacationing. I feel as though that will be the day my stomach appears and everyone on the beach will be looking at the fat girl in the bikini. Oh well, if I begin to feel to large I will wear a cover-up.

I am so excited to see my cousin. It will be the first time I have seen him since he awoke from his accident. I think it will be a day filled with emotions.

I will not be posting until we return but I hope everyone has a wonderful week. Please keep our travels in your prayers. I am including this picture of Bella simply because her face is hilarious.

Nursery Ideas

I have been looking at various bedding sets. Below I have included a few that I like. Two of them I would do in blue if I chose to use them. Though they are simple I kind of like the idea of spcing up the nursery with accessories. The blue and brown bedding I think is cute, but I do not know if I want to use the blue and brown color scheme. I really like green and blue together.
I dunno, I am still trying to decide what I like for sure, and I am waiting for a bedding set to just jump out at me. Little boy bedding is definetely harder to find than little girls.

Shopping!!

I definetely have already been dying to shop for little Caleb. It is soo hard not to now that I know I am bringing a precious little boy into this world. However, the other day we made an amazing discovery (THE GAP OUTLET). It was soo amazing. They had baby clothing from 45 cents to 7 dollars. We were able to but 9 nice onsies, two pairs of pants, 1 pair of swimming trucks, 2 pairs of pajamas, two hats, and a pair of shoes for Caleb, and a pair of nice pants for Nick for 50 dollars!! AMAZING!! It is definetely my new obsession.

I have also began planning the nursery. I was having some problems finding boy bedding that I liked but I am beginning to find some that I like. I will post a few in the next week or so and see what everyone thinks. I am thinking I may go more plain with the bedding and then spice up the room with accessories?? Still dunno for sure.

Nick and I are registering on Sunday and I can not wait. We have already learned the ins and outs of babies r us so it should be easy.

Caleb's Photos

I have included pictures of my little man. Enjoy. We have decided from these pictures (which look like an alien) that he has my forehead (ughh), and Nick's nose and mouth.

IT'S A LITTLE DADDY!!

My instinct has proven to be true, and this morning we found out we were having a sweet baby boy. I am beyond excited and so is Nick. The ultrasound was probably one of the most amazing experiences of my life. It was so amazing to watch our little baby kick, roll, move his arms, and he even looked as though he was clapping his hands at one point. His little alien face was the cutest thing I have ever seen. We are scanning the pictures tonight, and I will be sure to post them as soon as they are loaded. It is so cute because in one the baby looks as though he is throwing up the peace sign with two of his little fingers. It is so awesome to be able to call him he now instead of it. However, I have to say that knowing what the baby is just makes me want to go shopping!! This weekend my grandmother came in town and we went to Babies R Us. We actually purchased a few boy outfits just off of my gut feeling. I will post pictures of some of them as well. This has been the most amazing day ever.

I am also happy to report that his stomach and kidneys e functioning properly, he has two eyes, a nose, a mouth, two arms, two legs, fingers and toes and his spine seems to be perfect. I praise God that he is watching over my little baby and forming him day by day.

With that note I will go ahead and announce the name. CALEB MATTHEW CRAIG GARDELLA. Yes, I know it is a very long name. Caleb is a name that I have used my entire life. All of my boy dolls were named Caleb, and Nick just happened to love it just as much. Craig is a middle name passed down on Nick's side of the family and therefore the first son carries it on. After my cousin was in his car accident it made me realize how thankful I am that he is still here. This was a very tramatic time in my pregnancy and I wanted to honor my cousin by using matthew as a middle name (even though he will just laugh at me). Matthew means child of God, and I truly feel like God has had his hand in the timing of my pregnancy, and in blessing Matt's recovery. So yes, my baby will be one with two middle names which I did not think I would ever do. However, every name has meaning and I am so happy to report that Caleb is growing on track and doing wonderfully. I have included pictures of Nick as a baby for your viewing pleasure. I feel as though Caleb will look more like him than me, mainly due to the fact that the Gardella's genes are very dominant.

Boy or Girl?

The moment has almost arrived. I can not wait until tomorrow morning at 10 am because at that time we will hopefully find out if our little baby is a boy or girl. All of this time I have been thinking it is a boy, and other than a dream I had the other night in which it was a girl I am confident of my instinct. I have only had a couple of guesses from friends stating they think it is a girl so we will find out. I will be sure to post as soon as I get off work tomorrow to let you know what our little baby is going to be. I have heard that mountain dew gets the baby moving and therefore, I am going to drink one tommorrow morning ( i hate mt dew with a passion). However, I really really really wanna know what it is.

Bridesmaid at 25 Weeks!!

In a previous post I talked about two of my close friends from my hometown who are expecting a baby along with me. My friend Beth is getting married on April 25th to an old friend of mine and I could not be happier for both of them. It makes me happy because I introduced them and therefore I kind of feel like a match maker. Anyway, when she asked me to be a bridesmaid I had to admit that at first I was a little worried because I was afraid I would be horrible huge, and I would look like a beached whale in the bridesmaids dress. It made me feel a little better than Blair will also be a bridesmaid and she is only three weeks behind me. Anyway, I went to Davids Bridal today to get measured for my dress, and to try to figure out what size I would need to cover the baby bump (that better be there by 25 weeks). Anyway, it was really cute because they have a little baby bump pillow that they have you try on that will show you how dresses fit with a pooch. We started with a 6 and to my surprise it fit well over the baby bump but it was large in the chest area. The consultant said that we should try a 4 just to see if it fit in the chest and the stomach. I was cautious because I did not believe that a 4 could possibly fit me with a baby bump. However, to my surprise it fit, and I do not think we will have to do any alterations (which is really good because the wedding is in one month). The little pillow was fun to wear and Nick and I just smiled at eachother thinking about how our baby will be that big soon. I actually think I scared a customer because I moved the bump under my dress from side to side to make it fit right, and she looked at me like I was a circus act. I guess she thought the bump was real. It was really funny. I am so excited for Beth and Neil, and I can not wait to share in their big day with them. I have included a picture of our bridesmaid dress. I love it, and the actually color we will be wearing is clover (green).















I have also included pictures of the bride and groom taken a few years ago.