It's a Boy!

It's true- and I must admit I was completely surprised (and pleased, too!).

The perinatologists checked everything out, and said that our baby looks healthy and great! There was no question as to the gender... definitely a boy. Good thing we had a boy's name picked out! It was kind of a funny transition for us to start calling "it" a "he", and then realizing we could call "he" by an actual name- Gabriel Benjamin Taylor. Yay!!!

Ultrasound pics

It was exciting for us to have somewhat of a picture to match with this little person we have been been thinking about so much. I have been thinking and dreaming about little babies for a couple of months now, so it was cool to finally know that it is a boy, and see him a little! I think for BJ, seeing the ultrasound was the first time it has really hit him that there is another person coming into our family. Maybe he can blog or comment about what his thoughts were after we found out. It is wild for both of us to think about!!!

I had another question answered that I had been somewhat worried about... I haven't really felt the baby moving much, but they could tell by the ultrasound today that the placenta is on the front of my uterus, so the baby's movements are pretty well cushioned by it. They said it might even be a bit longer before I can feel much movement, and definitely before anyone could feel anything from the outside of my belly. But it will come soon enough!!!

Anyway, that's the news for now. I will post other pictures soon.

It's a Boy!

Well, Rochelle has given me the floor, and I am to spill my thoughts all over it. Today has been one of those days that leaves you a little dazed and confused. As I took Rochelle to the hospital for the ultra sound, I felt like either way, boy or girl, I'd be happy and that would be that. I wasn't expecting to feel a whole lot of emotion, or to really think much about it beyond being able to call 'it' a 'he' or a 'she'. I had seen ultra sounds before. I already knew we were going to have a baby. I was excited to find out the gender, but hadn't put much more thought into it. But as we watched the images on the screen, and began to put a little bit more of an identity onto the baby, I felt overwhelmed with feelings and thoughts that I can scarcely identify. How do I explain my feelings? What do I tell people as I call them? About all I was able to say was: "We found out we are having a boy and we are excited about it." Today, excited was an understatement. But it left me speechless. Honestly, I really don't know what my feelings even are except that they are good ones. And my thoughts have little more clarity. About all I can say is that I felt an out pouring of love, joy, and happiness, for the baby, for Rochelle, for my parents, and everyone close to me. Feelings of gratitude for all of our blessings welled up in me. And all I could figure out to say was "we are excited". Well, excited we are. Feeling very blessed, we are. Trying to imagine what it will be like to hold that little boy in our arms. Trying to imagine what it will feel like to meet him for the first time. And then... trying to focus on work, and trying to be productive. Can I just say that today was not the best day at work for me? When I spoke to Rhonda today, she gave me some sage advice. I wish I could quote her, but as best as I can remember she said something like the following: "Kids bring you the greatest joys in life as well as the greatest heart aches." This is something that I have always known, but hearing it today after feeling the swelling of emotions that I had gave this concept new meanings to me. And honestly, I know I'm in for a roller coaster, but I'll do my best with the bitter, as long as I can enjoy the sweet. The bitter may be tough, but I truly believe that the sweet will out last it. And come what may, I am willing to give it my best.

Do you dig it?

Maybe this will be one of those blogs that carries absolutely no interest to you. I imagine many of you may feel that way. But I just wanted to say that I found a cool little program that I like, and that I think you might like too (if you are a nerd like me... what was your nerd score?). The program I have found does something very useful for me... it allows me to use one program to sign in to many chat clients, and email clients. Now, honestly, I only use a couple of chat clients in the first place on a regular basis, but at least I don't have to look at adds from Microsoft and Yahoo every time I log in now. Google, thankfully, has never put ads in their chat client. I digress... so maybe it isn't the end-all app for all of you, but you may like it all the same, even if you only use one chat client. Some of you probably will say that you don't use any chat client. To you, I say "Good for you." I don't suggest you install digsby. ;-) But if you do decide to install it, it is in "private beta" right now, meaning that you can't install it unless you have a special code from them to install with. But they seem to be pretty easy to come by. I've seen two codes online, blueball and cnet. You can use them to download and install the program if you so desire.

Oh, and I think the program looks pretty cool too, minus their weird icon, but I'll forgive them for that.

End of nerdy news for today.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I love you all, and hope you all have a wonderful day! I hope we can always focus on the love that our families share, and remember the many blessings that we have been given. Rochelle and I were thinking about our past recently, and thinking how incredibly blessed we are. She has started to keep a "blessings book" where she writes where she sees the hand of the Lord in her life. It's a good idea, and something that I feel like I should start doing as well. The amazing thing is that it never fails... come good times or bad, we can always see the hand of the Lord in our lives. It fills us with love for Him, and for each other, and we hope we can share that love with everyone around us.