Results Are In--It'a a BOY!

Today was the day--ultrasound day! And it revealed a healthy baby BOY! I must say, I was shocked. I REALLY thought it was a girl! So much for mother's intuition?
The ultrasound was really fun. It was so cool to see pictures of what's going on inside the growing bump! It was much more detailed than I expected. We saw 10 fingers and 10 toes, and--you know--the boy parts. They were VERY sure that it's a boy. Very. I'm thankful that everything is healthy, growing, and moving. I'm just going to have to get used to the idea of no pink and no hair bows, with this one anyway. So here are our first baby pictures of Baby K to share with you!
Look, he's waving at you!


He'll have to just keep going by Baby K for awhile...since we, of course, had only girl names picked out! So, suggestions for boy names anyone?

Boy or Girl Cantaloupe?!

The baby books say that at 20 weeks the baby is the size of a cantaloupe. But is it a girl cantaloupe or a boy cantaloupe? Wednesday at 11:30 we will find out! We are SO excited! If I could find out this baby's future occupation I think I would. I want to know as much as I can about it! I get the whole "make it a surprise" thing for those that wait to find out the sex. It's still a surprise...just one that I can plan around! My mom and sister's were adamant about getting some baby bump pics...even though I'm really not a fan. I think it's just that a profile shot has never really been a good angle for me!
20 Weeks, end of the day, after several Christmas meals. But these are real jeans, not maternity. Points for that?

Definitely not buttoned or zipped.

Our families are recording bets on the gender of the baby...there's a rumor going around that a winner may be selecting the middle name. This is only a rumor. :)
But, please, weigh in and voice your opinion with a comment! Boy or girl? Results coming on Wednesday!

Sauder Christmas

We started out Christmas Day at Matt's parents with a nice breakfast, opening MANY great gifts, and then lunch with some Keeley extended family. We then headed across town (thankful that our families just live 10 minutes apart!) for more gift opening and then a yummy Christmas dinner at my parents. Here are some shots from the Sauder Christmas. Keeley Christmas pics coming soon--although we do open gifts in our matching Christmas pj's there--so pics will be limited. :)

Matt, Dad, and Grandma played pinnacle for hours! Matt said he had fun, but I think he's a saint for hanging in there that long getting beat on by my Grandma and Dad.

Dad and Grandma Sauder opening gifts

Our Cowboys fans

Matt got a Wii game system, Mario Kart and Toy Story games. I'm very nervous this will affect our productivity in the evenings!

We got some cute baby stuff from both of our families! How fun!

Gentry and I with our stylish new umbrellas

Not sure what's going on here, but I'm sure it was funny!

We feel so blessed to have such wonderful families! Thanks for another year of great Christmas memories being made!

Cul-de-sac Pressure

As December began we noticed that with each day a new house in our cul-de-sac had Christmas lights up...and pretty soon we were that dark corner of the street. I was feeling the pressure. Now Matt really is Mr. Christmas himself, but he's also Mr. Basketball Coach and those two things don't really go together. So his Clark Griswold-ish dreams really had no shot at becoming a reality because he just doesn't have the time. But we needed to do something. I had indoor decor under control. Didn't want to go crazy paying full price for items this time of year...but you don't want to have nothing up. (Even though, really, if you don't host the holidays at your house, does anyone see your decorations?)

9 foot pre-lit tree from Wal-Mart. Not a bad deal.

Hoping to catch some good after-Christmas deals to get some things for the mantle and banisters for next year.

Had to do something so the kitchen didn't feel left out of the decor?


Until Matt had the time to get some lights up I did hang up these bows in an effort to be festive. I know, kinda lame, kinda ugly. And one already blew away. Dang it.

Now here's Mr. Christmas himself!

Not a bad effort. On par with the rest of the neighborhood I'd say. Matt, of course, wanted to do more. I finally got him talked into just adding a little each year.

Perhaps we could aspire to one day decorate at this level!?

Wow!

Practicing for our New Year's card. :) Notice our little 3rd stocking?

Joyous Words

Classes are canceled today, Wednesday, Dec. 9, due to inclement weather.

I was completely overjoyed to awaken at 5:30 this morning to the sound of my phone ringing. This was it. What we'd been waiting for. The chance to use the MTMS calling tree. Yes! I proudly completed my duty of calling the next person and then was far too excited to go back to sleep. I had to watch the news for awhile to see who else didn't have school. All the "big dogs" had to go to school today: Blue Valley, Shawnee Mission, Olathe. I've never been so glad to work in the De Soto district!

Baby Buys

We have quite the pile of items stacking up in the "baby's room." Don't worry, so far the only thing denoting it as such is the pile of goodies and the fact that we call it the "baby's room." We are really enjoying window shopping for baby items. We've only pulled the trigger on a few small impulse buys so far.
Exhibit A--super on sale Halloween Costume. We are ready for Halloween 2010.

I can't just walk by these tiny holiday socks! Can't you just picture the chubby little baby ankles in them?

Who do we think purchased these?

Now some gifts from others: Matt's parents got us this "Advent" calendar with a door to open each week and info to read about what's developing. It's been really fun!

I think this is so special! My grandmama made this blanket for the baby. I just wanted to cry when I saw all the fabric she bought to make burp rags and blankets. How thoughtful!

Bibs from my parents.

Halloween package from my aunt Mindy. Fun surprise!

I went to a friend's baby shower this weekend who is having a girl. It was so CUTE seeing all the girly stuff. I just need to repeat daily between now and the 30th--I will not be disappointed if we are having a boy, I will not be disappointed if we're having a boy. Wish me luck on that one!

Random Catch-Up

Most recently...5th Annual KC Gamma Phi Beta Alum Cookie Exchange hosted by Katy. Since this is my first year as a KCer, this was my first one. Good eats with my favorite people--doesn't get any better than that!

Casting our votes and packing our doggie bags.

Thanksgiving in Tulsa with my mom's side of the family was super fun! (See crazy pics on Facebook). Uncle David made some pretty darn cool name plates for each person.

I found 3 at my place since Matt was in Nashville with the team.

Made a visit to Gentry's home (The Bachelorette Pad) and classroom at HWMS over the break.

Looks like Ms. Sauder is in complete control!

Caught up with some friends for dinner at Emily's house so Matt spent some time bonding with Sophie. So cute!

Matt and I went to see Wicked and it was fabulous! I've been wanting him to see it since I saw it in New York this summer. It's just one that I think everyone should see. I bought the soundtrack and have been listening to it non-stop ever since!

Bet you wish you could see my belly instead of me just trying to suck in here! I'm having some trouble with belly shots. Still working on a flattering angle, let's say.

This was actually a couple weeks ago. Keep in mind this is in the evening when it's at its biggest...and that shirt is making it seem exaggerated. But know that I CANNOT wear those jeans anymore!

In other baby news: We go for our sonogram on December 30! Can't wait to find out if it's a girl or a boy! Coming soon--a photo tour of all the little, tiny things we keep buying for Baby K. I'm sure the purchases will be much more frequent (dangerous) once we know the gender for sure.

A New Genre

A new genre of reading material has appeared on our night stand...

Yes! This is "that kind" of announcement! We're going to be parents!!! Weird, huh?

We are due May 15th and, of course, we're so excited. It doesn't really feel real except for when we're listening to that quick little swoosh, swoosh of the heart beat on the monitor. I haven't been sick at all except for one small incident where I got sick on myself in my car on my way to school one morning. Awesome. I'm still not to the point where I can laugh about it...but maybe soon. Other than that, it's been a piece of cake (and pie, and ice cream, and lots of Chinese food). :) Many more updates to come about all those fun topics like how I have no pants that fit, baby names, etc!

Cheer Competition

I'm really enjoying the opportunity to work with the Mill Valley High School cheer squads this year. I feel fortunate to still be involved with coaching cheer despite our many moves. It's helped me to realize that coaching is definitely something I love doing. We've been working hard to prepare for the Fall Competition that was held last Saturday. See the video below. They did awesome!

Pep-talk before taking the floor.

All smiles after a flawless performance! Huge trophy, I know! :)

A gym full of cheerleaders waiting for results!

Individual stunt groups also competed. I'm posting these so I can pull up the blog and show the squad at practice so don't feel obligated to watch. :)

Feeding the Pioneers!

We took our first turn hosting the after-game meal at our house on Friday. It was an exciting game and the Pioneers were victorious. What a great way to start off our meal! We served Grandmama's 3-Way Chili: spaghetti noodles, chili, fritos and cheese. It was a hit! They loved it! I could not have pulled this off without Matt's mom. She was a huge help! Thank you, Jan!

Getting all ready!

Sidenote: Look at my "Peggy Bundy" hair color underneath? Ah, the joys of moving to a new town and breaking in a new hairdresser. Anyway...

Waiting for their arrival!

Trickling in.

Chow time.

Film time.

And after all the guys are gone...the coaches break down and stat the game until like 3AM. This is a tradition that I'm not really loving so much.

I'm not a very gracious hostess as I definitely did not do this without complaining. "Matt, do you realize your crap is everywhere and I have to pick it up so we can have YOUR people over?!" Several text messages with that tone were sent on Friday evening as I prepared. And of course, it wasn't that hard to pull off and it was pretty fun so now I feel bad for being so whiny. I'll work on that before we host our next one. I promise. Or I'll be sure to give Matt a "to do" list earlier in the week? :)