Everything's great!

Well we had a doctor's appointment after school today and everything is perfect! We heard the baby's nice strong heartbeat and the doctor said I am measuring exactly right for being just past 20 weeks. The only thing they said that I need to do is eat more iron-rich foods...so I guess we need to go buy some spinach or raisins or something! They did say that I am right on with my weight gain, which is good because I thought I'd gained a ton already. Anyway, it was a great appointment and we really like all of the doctors in our practice, which is great since one of them will be delivering our little girl!

20 week tummy shot!

Alright, there's definitely no hiding it anymore (not that I was trying to)! I think it's pretty clear in these pictures that there's a baby there! In fact, today at school was the first time that a stranger noticed that I was pregnant. It was picture day at school and I had to go down to get my picture taken for my ID badge and for the yearbook and when I got there the photographer said, "Wow, it looks like we'll be taking pictures for 2!" It's a good thing I really am pregnant and not just chubby around the middle because he probably would have felt pretty bad!

That's about all the news around here for now. Other than that I'm just really excited it's finally the weekend! In fact, our principal just e-mailed the whole staff and told us to just go ahead and take Monday off if we want to (it's supposed to be a teacher workday). Kinda nice! I'll still probably go in for a couple hours to get some work done, but I definitely won't stay the whole day...so it's almost like a 3-day weekend!

First gifts from the grandmothers!

I promise that I won't post pictures of every single baby outfit gift that our little girl receives, but these two were too cute and from two very special people that they just had to make the blog! Luke and I are so blessed to both have wonderful parents who we know already love our baby so much! I love how these two baby outfits actually tell you a little bit about each of our moms:

First we have a little handmade Bolivian sweater outfit from my mom who lives in Bolivia. I think it will keep the baby nice and warm!

Next we have an absolutely adorable gingham and polka dot outfit with a cow on the front from Luke's mom who grew up on a cattle ranch in Texas...perfect!

Thanks Mom and Mom! We love you!

~Patty

Great friends!

Well, by 9pm last night we had already received a beautifully decorated cake and hairbow as well as three adorable outfits for our baby girl! We truly do have wonderful friends! First to stop by were Christy, Mike and baby Logan. Christy is one of my best friends from high school and she and her husband are now here at seminary with us. She baked and decorated this amazing onesie cake and made the hairbow as well!

Right after Christy and Mike left, our good friend Kelly stopped by with her two boys Seth and Levi. I think Kelly is a little excited to buy some little girl clothes for a change! I should have gotten a picture of Seth handing me the gift, but I didn't...so a picture of the outfits will have to suffice!

Thank you so much everyone! We truly have wonderful friends and we love you all so much!

Baby's first outfit!

Well, there it is! Luke and I went out and bought our little girl this outfit as soon as we left the ultrasound! We are so excited and she is absolutely beautiful...but I'll let you see that for yourselves!

Apparently she really likes to keep her hands up by her face! Anyway, it was probably the coolest experience either one of us have ever had. We got to spend a good 45 minutes just looking at our little girl...we saw all four chambers of her heart, all the parts of her brain, her spine, her kidneys, her arms, legs, hands, feet, and of course her pretty face! We now feel like we really understand what the Psalmist was saying when he talked about being "knit together in his mother's womb" and that he was "fearfully and wonderfully made." We serve an amazing God and hope that this little one will grow up and worship Him too!

Today is the day!

Well, we are headed to work and Patty can't wait for 3:15 to get here. Check back this evening for a blog post with the big announcement. Then we can start getting suggestions of names, especially if it is a boy - I don't think we have any boy names yet. I am not sure that it matters anyways because Patty is convinced that we are having a girl. So pray for Patty because I don't think she is going to be thinking about school at all today - good thing we are having assemblies during electives. Of course, a prayer for me and the baby would be good too.
~Luke

Ultrasound Tuesday!

Hey everyone!
We just wanted to let you know that we are scheduled to have "the Big ultrasound" on Tuesday afternoon at 3:15. So hopefully, by the time we get home, we should be able to update the blog and let you know whether we are expecting baby girl Tolbert or baby boy Tolbert! I'll go ahead and put my cards out there and say that I would honestly be super excited either way, but that I just have a feeling it's a girl...I guess we'll see if I already have that motherly instinct or not! Do any of you have any guesses as to whether we're going to have a boy or a girl?
~Patty

It's a baby!

Well, after many many requests from parents and siblings, we have decided to start a blog for our growing family! We are so excited to welcome our first little one on or around February 13, 2010. We will be using this blog to share how the pregnancy is going, and then of course tell you all about our baby! We are so excited about this wonderful blessing that God has chosen to give us and look forward to sharing our stories with you. Also, I know some of you want to see the first couple of ultrasound pictures taken at 14 weeks as well as pictures of my baby bump, so here they are!

Sucking a thumb!

Baby's back/ribs

This is me at 16 weeks. I'm now at 18, so the bump is a little bigger now.
We'll post more pictures soon!