Reese Katherine Ybarra

These last few weeks have been filled with excitement with the reality that our little girl will be arriving in a little over 4 months. We've made a lot of decisions in the past few weeks and it feels good to start checking things off our giant to-do list. Most importantly, we've decided on a name (see blog title)! We've also painted her room (see picture below), installed new closet doors (picture coming soon), decided on fabrics for the room (bedding, curtains, etc), purchased a crib and dresser, and bought tons of clothes, bows, and a few packs of diapers. I'm feeling really good about the progress we have made, since half of the process is making the decisions. We still need to buy the bedding, make the curtains (thank you mom), find a glider (I'm picky) and of course assemble all the furniture we bought, but we've got the next 4 months to do all that. ;-)

No more blue! We're going WHITE!

Here's a sneak peek at the curtain fabric. :-)

We spent all summer looking through books and thinking about baby names. Elliott and I both loved the name Reese for a girl, so finding out she was a girl made it an easy decision. We hadn't decided on any boy names...so phew! I loved Katherine as a first name, but Elliott thought it was too old fashioned. It sounded great as a middle name and I'm happy we'll get to use it after all. 

One of the most exciting things that has happened in the last couple weeks is that I've been able to feel her kick! How amazing!!! Actually the first time I felt her kick was about 2 weeks ago. Elliott and I were sitting on the couch and I told him to feel my stomach where I thought I was feeling it. He looked up at me with huge eyes and confirmed my thoughts. It was an exciting night for both of us and I'm glad we got to experience it together. Since then, I notice her kicking every day. Usually when I first wake up in the morning I can feel her and then when I go to bed at night I can too. I think those are the times I'm most focused on it. It's fun to feel her kick in the middle of my day too, like when I'm driving or teaching or just out and about running errands. I forget what I'm doing for a second and catch myself just smiling. It's such a cool feeling to know that she's alive and well kicking around in there. 

She supposedly can hear now as well. So, I've been trying to play her all of my favorite songs, so that she'll learn to love them too. Elliott told me the other day that he hopes she gets his music taste, not mine. We'll see!

19 weeks

19 weeks

20 weeks! Halfway there!

Yowsers! 20 weeks!

Biggest Cravings: Candy and Chicken Fried Chicken with mashed potatoes.

Clothes/Body: There is no question there's a baby in there! I think most people off the street would be able to tell I'm pregnant, which makes being fat a lot more fun. A few people (people I know, not random people) have wanted to touch my stomach which I thought would be weird and uncomfortable, but it's actually kind of neat. It doesn't really feel like my stomach anymore, so it's not as personal and uncomfortable.

Energy/Mood: My mood has been fabulous (most days)! My energy has been great too. I've been working long hours at school and I am completely exhausted when I get home, but I am able to get everything done. My feet are the only things that have been sore. Since I started back at school, they have been killing me when I get home at night. I think it's because I stand almost all day long on hardwood floors. Lucky for me, I have a wonderful husband who has been rubbing my feet every night. I hope I don't get too used to that! :-) Sometimes I think I might be overdoing it a little. I forget that I'm not as flexible and agile as I usually am. I've finally given up trying to do some of my normal lifting and let Elliott do it for me, like carrying in bags of groceries and hauling the laundry down to the basement. I'm sure I can still do it, but I figure I need to get used to him doing it anyway. It's weird to feel kind of helpless in that way. I'm used to being more independent. 

When we finish up the room, I will post pictures! The only other big thing on our list is to start our baby registries. I think we're going to hold off until mid to late September, so that the winter stuff will be out. 

Lots of Love,


Erin, Elliott, and baby Reese

It's a GIRL!

 I never considered myself a patient person and I still don't. Waiting to find out what we were having was so hard! I can't imagine not finding out or not having the option to find out. The last few days leading up to the sonogram were completely nerve racking for me. Of course Elliott was totally laid back and fine (as usual), but I was a mess (as usual). Most of you know that I was really, really, really hoping for a girl. It's hard to explain, but that's just what I pictured for us. But, that doesn't always mean that's what you'll get. In fact, I was pretty certain I'd probably end up with a boy. I knew that in the end it really wouldn't matter and I'd be happy with a perfectly healthy baby, no matter what the sex. However, my heart was still set on a girl. And Elliott was leaning towards wanting a girl also, which made it doubly stressful! Thank goodness- it really was a girl! 

The sonogram was an amazing experience. I am so glad Elliott finally got a chance to see her in person. She's weighing in at half a pound right now, which is right on track. So tiny!!!! My favorite parts were seeing the heart beating and watching her move. Her heartbeat was beating strong at 142 beats per minute. I say that I loved seeing her move, but her movements were pretty limited. Last time she was bouncing around like crazy, but this time, she was totally snoozing and relaxed. It's kind of ironic because if you remember, I was totally stressed out. Obviously that didn't phase her! We decided she probably isn't a morning person, which is fine with us because we love to sleep in whenever possible!!! Anyway, after a little poking, she moved just enough for the sonogram tech to get the measurements she needed, but nothing more. In fact, she seemed quite modest. She covered her face several times and pulled her legs up to her stomach. We were wondering if she would even let us see what she was. She gave us just a small glimpse and then curled her legs back up. At that point, I questioned the sonogram tech on just how sure she was that it was a girl. I wanted to be completely sure before I got excited. She was finally able to show me again what she was looking at to determine the sex. She said she never tells patients it's a girl unless she actually sees the right parts. She showed us exactly where the parts were and assured us that it was definitely a girly-girl! Yay! Here are some pictures of our daughter!!!! 

Here she is relaxing with her legs up. Looks pretty comfy!

I think her profile looks just like Elliott's profile.

10 toes!

Arms moving to cover her face. I think she wants to be left alone!

Our little skeleton!

It's official! Somehow those are "girl parts." I'll take her word for it!

Since she wasn't super active or cooperative, we didn't get the greatest pictures of her, but that's okay. As long as she's healthy and happy, then we can wait a few more months to see her. I can't wait to stare at her in person, instead of just staring at her grainy pictures! 

I haven't felt her move yet, but that's the next milestone I'm looking forward to experiencing. The doctor said it could be anytime within the next 2 weeks (between 18-20 weeks). She showed me where to feel and I've been diligently trying to feel her move. I can't wait to experience that! 

Bear with me. I'm a little behind on posting my belly shots, so there are quite a few of them. I also decided that I wanted regular clothes shots too, not just ones in the same outfit, so there are two for each week. We missed one week in there, but other than that, we've been pretty good about it! Here they are!

16 weeks

16 weeks

17 weeks

17 weeks

18 weeks... It's a girl!

18 weeks

Biggest Cravings: Ice cream and candy are still pretty tasty, but I've tried to switch to fruit and go a little healthier. I've definitely been a lot hungrier lately and I think it shows in those pictures above...yikes! I've been eating meat again, but in pretty small quantities. I pretty much hoard food in my purse, so I always have something to snack on...granola bars, cereal, pretzels, grapes, etc. Eating small meals every few hours versus big ones seems to work the best for me. 

Clothes: I've gotten over my depressing slump! I have full embraced maternity clothes and all they have to offer. Now that I look a little more pregnant, I'm having a little more fun with it. I actually have some pretty cute outfits for the fall and I'm just looking forward to it cooling down, so I can wear them!

Energy/Mood: My energy is the best it has been so far! I worked out 3 times last week and felt great. I'm hoping to keep this up as long as I can. I'm able to lift weights and do the elliptical machine still and keep up most of my routine. Sometimes it makes me feel uncomfortable to put strain on my body because I feel like I'm hurting her or something, but I know exercise is good during pregnancy, so I'm just going to keep at it. My mood has been good too, except for a little stress.  


Next up on our agenda (besides completely crazy clothes buying, which I have to stop immediately) is picking out room decor...bedding, paint, furniture, etc. I've got some ideas narrowed down and we just need to decide and get started. I want to get the room finished as soon as possible, just so I won't have to worry about it later when it's harder for me to move around. But, Elliott seems to think we have all the time in the world, so we'll probably just have to come to a compromise!

Lots of Love,

Erin, Elliott, and Baby GIRL Ybarra :-)