What's in a name?

We finally decided on a name for our little guy (even though we'll still call him Little Bean). He is going to be named after my Pawpaw, who passed away last January, and take Ben's middle name. We went round and round with the cutesy names, but both agreed certain names are cute when they are babies, but eventually little boys do grow up to become men, so we wanted something classic and strong.

Below are some pics of Ben and I getting the letters for his name ready and a pic of his crib. We are so excited!!!!!!






William (Will) Joseph Pierce

32 Week Ultrasound

On Thursday, Ben and I went for our 32 week appointment and got to see little bean on an ultrasound to check him out. As always, he was in a great position for the camera. I feel like he always senses he is on camera because he always puts on a show by kicking and trying to put his thumb in his mouth. He is absolutely adorable. Our favorite part was seeing him try to practice breathing, which the ultrasound technician had to tell us he was doing. He weighed in at 4 pounds, 8 ounces already. Yikes, 7 more weeks for him to grow!!!! He continues to move around like crazy and I love every minute of it.

Until next time...

Baby Shower!

Yay!! I finally had my baby shower last weekend in Lafayette, LA. It was given by my mother in law, Jan, and was an absolute blast. I really enjoyed getting to see old friends and felt very blessed to have them share such a special event with me to celebrate the arrival of our baby boy! Everybody did way too much for us and we are so grateful for all of the baby toys, clothes, books, etc. we received. It was a little overwhelming as well, once we took everything home and realized that we will actually be using it all in a little over 7 weeks. Many thanks to those who helped with the shower, and a huge thank you to Jan for working so hard on it!

Here are some photos from the shower:

Diaper cake



LSU jersey

Pregnancy Photo Shoot

Here are a couple images from our photo shoot this weekend in Lafayette, LA. We still need to get some bare belly shots!

My first scare

This morning, Krissy and I were in bed sleeping, when all of a sudden, she jumped up (well as much as a pregnant woman can jump) screaming that she was in pain. I immediately thought that she was having contractions and the baby was on the way, two months early! My mind raced, "What do I do? We have nothing prepared. Are the sheets ruined?" Well as soon I figured out where I was, Krissy yelled "I have a Crazy Charlie (Charlie Horse) on my calf!" I responded, "You're not going into labor?" She assured me that the only pain she had was in her leg and I begin to massage it out. My heart was beating like crazy for the next 15 minutes, but I'm happy to report that I acted promptly and efficiently to resolving the situation. Hopefully the same way I'll respond when the baby actually comes.

All for now,
Ben

Welcome! Let's catch you up.

With roughly 9 weeks to go before our little man's arrival, Ben and I felt it was necessary to start a blog about our lives, so we could chronicle our journey as parents. My how things have been turned upside down over the last six months! Let me catch you up.

July rolled around and Ben and I were struck with the best news of our lives. We found out that we were pregnant, and at our mid pregnancy ultrasound in November, found out we are having a boy! He is perfect in every way and we cannot wait to meet him. The only thing we need to do now is figure out a name!

Not too long after we found out we were pregnant and life was starting to settle, Ben was offered a transfer to Austin, TX with Design Workshop. Due to the drop in the economy, many in his company had been laid off in July and we were expecting something to happen in the near future. So, in a month’s time we packed up the house, put it on the market, and went on down to Texas. While there, our priorities shifted and we realized that we wanted to be even closer to our families with a baby on the way, so Ben left Design Workshop and took a job with another landscape architecture firm in Alexandria, LA, only 90 miles north from Lafayette.

It was so hard to leave Asheville and we miss it terribly. We had such a great life there and made many wonderful friends that we still consider family. I also miss my job at Asheville Catholic School immensely.

The hardest part about this whole situation is that our home still has not sold and with this economy, it doesn't look like it's any closer to selling. It is quite a stressful situation right now as we are trying to pay a full mortgage on top of rent here in Alexandria, along with my Cobra insurance payments, since I am pregnant and no other insurance would take me on. So, needless to say, finances are a little tight. However, we are keeping the faith and know that it will eventually sell.

It's at times like these that it is easy to feel defeated and get a case of the oh poor me's, and of course, I have gone down that road many times. However, I also know that things like this happen for a reason and that there is some major lesson to be learned from all of it. The big guy upstairs is a mystery and our faith seems to have only been strengthened from this whole experience.

Ben has found a perfect fit for himself at Moore Planning Group and absolutely loves it. As for me, I found a full time gig as a teacher's aide in a pre K/K class at a Montessori school (I didn't want the stress of being a lead teacher while pregnant) and I also tutor in the afternoons at a local private school. I feel very lucky to have found a position considering I will be leaving in April.

Lulu will be 2 this month, and we still love every minute of being parents to a spoiled mutt. Right now, she is living with her grandparents in Lafayette until we can move into a place that allows dogs. Even though it breaks our hearts to be away from her (I cry every time I leave her) we both know that dogs are treated better than people in both Ben’s and my family, so she is well taken care of.

Well, that's it for now. I am having my first baby shower in Lafayette this weekend and am super excited! I can't wait to start getting everything ready for the baby!!!!!

Until next time, here's a picture of my baby bump at 27 weeks.