Spaghetti Squash.

This week baby London is the size of a spaghetti squash. If you ask me, that's getting pretty darn big. He is 8 inches long and he now weighs 1 pound! I have been feeling him move a lot! I am getting pretty excited for the day when Justin will be able to feel him moving, too. It should be happening very soon!

This weekend I am lucky enough to get to spend some time relaxing at the beach. Blair and I arrived this afternoon around 4:00 PM to the "Fun Bunch" beach house aka Justin's grandparent's home. Some other Evans family members (including my hubby) will be arriving tomorrow night. We are staying through Monday and will be celebrating July 4th here. There is just something about being at the beach that instantly makes me feel relaxed and at peace. I just love to gaze out into the ocean and take in all of God's beautiful creation.

Last night Justin took me out for a birthday dinner with some good friends and Blair. We went to Ishi for some Japanese and then little did I know that several good friends would be waiting for me to surprise me at Baskin Robins! My hubby is the absolute BEST! He sure knows how to make me feel special. This morning when I woke up, he has sent me this video that he made me especially for my birthday. Hope you all enjoy!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Gny0y99ORA&feature=youtu.be

Happy Birthday to me!

Mere

Brooklyn June Rinaldi.

Brooklyn June Rinaldi made her entrance into the world Friday, June 17th at 7:07 PM. She weighed 7lbs 12oz and she was 21 inches long. She is the most precious little girl and I could just hug and kiss on her all day long. I am so proud of Alyssa and Joseph! They are already showing how great they are going to be as parents to their sweet Brooklyn. Here are some of the many pictures I have already take of her. Enjoy!

In the waiting room right before we met Brooklyn for the first time.

Mommy and Baby.

Aunt Mere holding Brooklyn for the first time.

Three generations of beautiful girls.

Gi Gi holding Brooklyn for the first time.

Aunt Blair holding Brooklyn for the first time.

Pop Pop holding Brooklyn for the first time.

The best family in the world!

Best Friends Forever.

Such a sweet girl.

Brooklyn posing with her baby cousin London. <3

Nap time.

I'm smitten already.

Look at those pretty eyes.

Playtime!

Love those toes.

Such a pretty baby.

BIG Yawn.

Snoozing.

Little glow worm.

Ok, I love this girl so much! I cannot wait until baby London arrives so that they can grow up and be the best of friends!

Hugs,

Mere

Pregnancy Survey.

About the mommy!

Name: Meredith

Age: 24 (9 more days until I'm 25!)

Hair color: Brown

Eye color: Brown

First child?: YES!

About the daddy!

Name: Justin

Age: 29

Hair color: Brown

Eye color: They kind of change depending on what he is wearing, green and sometimes blue

First child?: YES!

Finding out!!

What day did you find out?: March 3, 2011

How did you feel when you found out?: Excited! Shocked! Nervous!

Who was with you?: I was at home by myself when I took two tests

Who was the first person you told?: Justin, then called sisters and mom/dad

How did they react?: Super excited

How did the daddy react?: He was very happy and excited

Telling the grandparents(aka your parents)!

How did your parents react?: They were extremely happy for us and excited

How did his parents react?: Same as above

Are they helping with baby names?: Nope, we did that on our own

Have they bought anything for the baby yet?: Lots of cute outfits!

How often do they call to check on you?: Several times throughout the week

About the pregnancy!

When was your first appointment?: I have it written down somewhere, but I know it was sometime mid-March

When is your due date?: November 6th

How far along are you?: 20 weeks 2 days

Pre-pregnancy weight?: Ummmmm....right.

Weight now?: Floating around 160

Have you had any ultrasounds?: Two

Have you heard the heartbeat?: Yes

What was the heartbeat?: It has been in the 130's up to the 150's

Sex of the baby!

Are you finding out the sex or will you wait until birth?: We found out last week. It's a BOY!

What do you want?: I really didn't care. Just a healthy baby.

What does the daddy want?: Same as above

If you have kids, what do they want?: Minnie isn't sure she understands the difference between baby girl and baby boy

What do you think you are having?: ..

Have you had your big ultrasound yet?: Yes

If so, what are you having?: Again, Boy

If you have kids, are they happy with the sex of the new baby?: Again, Minnie isn't so sure about all of this

Are you & daddy happy with what you are having?: Absolutely

About the birth!

Do you know what you are taking with you?: I have no clue at this point. I'm sure I will be making multiple lists between now and then.

Who is going to be with you?: Justin will be the only one in the room during delivery.

Are you going to videotape it?: Nope Nope. I'm sure we will take some videos after he is born.

Natural or medicated?: Epidural, pretty much any woman that has done both has said GET THE DRUGS.

Do you think you will need a c-section?: I do not think so at this time

Will you cry when you hold your baby for the first time?: I'm thinking probably so

Do you think the daddy will cry?: I think he will

Do you know what you will say to the baby when you first hold him/her?: I love you

Are you scared about the labor?: YEP.

Names!!

Do you have a name picked out?: London Starr Evans :)

Girl names…: Not needed

Boy names…: See above

Is your baby going to be named after someone?: London is just a name we both really like and Starr is Justin's middle name.

Other random questions!!.

Have you felt the baby move?: Yes, he is quite the wiggle worm.

Do you have stretch marks yet?: Not yet!

What was your first symptom?: Slight nausea

Will your baby have godparents?: We haven't discussed this yet.

Who will the god mommy be?: n/a

Who will the god daddy be?: n/a

What is the baby’s room theme?: Still in the process of picking this out.

What was the first thing you bought for the baby?: Honestly, I don't think I have bought anything for our baby yet, b/c so many people have bought us sooooo much!!!

If you already have kids, how do you think they will adjust to the new baby?: Minnie will likely lick him a lot.

Will you cloth diaper?: Not decided yet.

BFing or formula?:Attempting the first

What is your favorite pregnancy book?: Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy

What do you look forward to doing again once you are no longer pregnant?: A good night's sleep!

What physical features do you hope the baby will get from daddy?: Really any feature that is from him I will be happy with!

What physical features do you hope the baby will get from you?: See above.

Is he ready to be a daddy?: He will be an amazing Dad! It will be a learning process for us both!

Are you ready to be a mommy?: See above

No real updates this week about baby London except that he is now the size of a banana. :)

Hugs,

Mere

London Starr Evans.

It's a BOY! I went into our ultrasound yesterday at 1:30 having absolutely no clue whether we were having a boy or a girl. The ultrasound tech asked if we wanted to know the sex of the baby if she could tell and we immediately said, "Yes!" I was nervous that she wasn't going to be able to tell or that it was going to take a long time. I had a Dr. Pepper, some Cheez-Its and some M&Ms about a half an hour before we got the to doctor's office. It only took the tech about 5 seconds to locate the "boy" parts on our sweet baby. He was very active during the entire ultrasound and he is currently in the breech position, which she said was fine. Everything looked healthy and he is weighing about 10 oz. and is about the size of a mango this week. We had a wonderful day sharing the news with family and friends. Last night we went shopping and got lots of cute clothes! It was so fun to shop now that we know that we are having a boy! We have decided to name our sweet boy London Starr Evans. I love the name London and Starr is Justin's middle name. I cannot wait to meet this sweet little one in November!

In other news, my sister is being induced at 7:00 AM tomorrow. I cannot wait to meet my little niece, Brooklyn June! She and London are going to be best friends I'm sure! This is such an exciting time in the life of our family.

Mom, Dad and Blair got a new puppy named Spanky last Saturday! He is the cutest little guy and I know he will make our family very happy. He and Minnie have been spending the week together since Justin and I are at Lake Norman for the week with his family and there are no pets allowed at our rental house.

He is definitely a BOY!

All of London's new clothes.

Minnie hanging out at Pop Pop, GiGi's and Aunt Blair's house.

Minnie and Spanky taking a nap.

They are just the cutest!

Love them.

Their first photo together. Spanky looks a little unsure.

The Lake House.

Until next time...

Hugs,

Meredith

Sweet Potato.

Here is a quick update on baby Evans. This week baby Evans is the size of a sweet potato. This afternoon I had a Dr. appointment just to check things out. Everything is looking good and baby's heartbeat was a normal 147. The most exciting news of the day is that 2 weeks from tomorrow we get to find out whether baby Evans is a boy or a girl! I seriously cannot wait!! I am very hopeful that our little one will cooperate and show us his/her parts. :) Other than that, nothing too noteworthy to report.

8 days left of school!!!!

Hugs,

Meredith

Avacado.

I was reminded today of a verse in the Bible that says, "This too shall pass." Well, I am currently claiming that verse and I intend on taking it quite literally. I have been home for the past day and a half trying to pass a kidney stone. This is my second one and I do not remember the first ever being this painful. I have been drinking so much water that I feel like I could float away. I am taking Tylenol to help ease the pain and I am drinking a yummy mixture of lemon juice and olive oil which is supposed to help the stone more easily. So far, nothing has passed. However, today I have experienced much less severe pain that I was experiencing yesterday. I could hardly move, much less get comfortable yesterday afternoon. Thankfully, I have the best family in the entire world. Yesterday my mom drove over here just to bring me some lemons and some olive oil (we were out) so that I could make that nasty drink. We sat on the couch and talked for a while and I could not have been more grateful to have her here. Then my hubby came home from work and brought me a chocolate milkshake and catered to my every need. Today I woke up still in some pain so I decided to stay home and try and rest and get this thing to pass. My dad came over and took me out to lunch and then spent the whole afternoon with me. It was so nice to just sit and relax at home and be able to spend some time with the man I call my hero. Then hubby came home from work today and brought me Chick Fil A ice cream with chocolate syrup. Oh, how I love that man! Needless to say I feel very loved and blessed.

Ok, enough about me...on to baby Evans. Again, not a lot has changed other than the fact that baby is now the size of an avacodo. We go back to the Dr. on the 31st and then we will schedule our ultrasound appointment! I still feel like my "baby bump" is really just a "baby is making me hungry all the time so I'm eating everything in sight bump." I'm sure it will start to feel/look different in the coming weeks. I think that is all for now. Until next time...

Hugs,

Meredith

Orange.

Baby Evans is the size of a navel orange this week and is 4.5 in, and 2-3 oz. Today is day 100 of my pregnancy and I am in my 15th week. I'm thankful to be in my 2nd trimester now. I have been feeling a little less tired. {Note I said a little.} We got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time at our last appt. on May 2nd. That was a really neat experience and I can't wait to get to hear it again and see a picture of our little one. Everything was looking good at our last appt. and we have our next one on May 31st. That appt. will be a regular check to make sure that everything is still looking good. The appt. after that will be our appt. to find out the gender of our little baby!!! So, sometime in June we will finally know! I am so excited about that appt. I can hardly stand it! Justin, Minnie and Baby made my Mother's Day very special! I got a very sweet card and some great gifts. I seriously have the most amazing husband! I can't wait to watch him as a dad. :)

Speaking of my hubby, he is sitting beside me on the couch and he cancelled his plans for tonight just to hang out and relax with me. With that being said, I'm going to end this blog by saying thank you to those who read my updates. As more things begin to happen/change with me and baby Evans, I will update more frequently.

xoxo,

Meredith