More of 16 Weeks

I was so excited to announce the news of our little lady I totally skipped over so much of what happen during week 16!

Our 16 week appointment was this week and started off with an ultrasound to check in on Baby Girl Walter and make sure she's having a comfortable stay.  We also got to hear the heartbeat while we were there.  Everything looked great and we got some new photo's of you.... not as great as the last visit and we didn't get one big picture, but there are some close ups. 

From L to R: Baby Girl Face, Baby Girl Hand and Baby Girl Feet that are crossed so cute!

We had a super busy Saturday which started with nursery furniture shopping, you daddy is very insistent in sitting in every glider every made to make sure it's to his comfort satisfaction.  We also have started to look for a new ride.  We've quickly realized that our lack of trunk space in our current sports sedan is just not going to cut it when it's time to fit a stroller and shopping bags and who knows what else.  We started test driving a couple small suv's over the weekend and will continue on our search over the next couple weeks.  So far the front runner is the Volvo, we'll see how this next batch of test drives go.  

Thanks to Aunt Kara and Uncle Ross for the adorable teddy bear, Baby Girl Walter will love it and in the mean time I think momma will  really enjoy it till she arrives :)

Week 17 is right around the corner!

It's A Girl! -16 Weeks

IT'S A GIRL!!

This week was so fun spreading the news that we are expecting a little girl.  Your Daddy and I are so very excited for your arrival and have already picked out your name! Sorry folks that will remain between Dave and I till she makes her debut in August so you'll all have to skip the monograms. 

This week was the week of announcements. We were so excited to share the news of our baby girl, I got inspired to make a pink cake for everyone to cut open at brunch.  Yay for Baby Girl Walter!  We had our friends join us at brunch at the end of the meal we had everyone cut open their mini cakes to a pink filling. 

My office also had a lot of fun with the news, turning the news into a bet prior to me sharing. My planner put a sign up outside my office door for everyone to guess boy or girl.  Later in the week I revealed with candy inside an Easter egg. 

You continue to get showered with love and goodies.  After telling my parents your Nana and Papa went right out and bought you a beautiful sleeper dress, hat and receiving blanket that we can use coming home from the hospital.  

From Nana and Papa

Your Auntie Britini is so excited about the news that she's already gone on a shopping spree and bought you the most adorable outfits! With her as your best auntie you will no doubt always be in style. Now all we have to wait for is to find out what she's having!! The suspense is killing me. 

From Aunti Britini

Chicago was an odd place to be this week in terms of weather; Monday we got 8 inches of snow and it was a whiteout for hours plus thunder which was weird in a snow storm.  Tuesday and Wednesday it was almost 50 degree's so snow started melting.  Thursday it rained all day and we had severe winds all through the night.  Friday we had another light dusting of snow and everything was pretty icy.  I don't know about everyone else but I'm ready for this winter to be OVER!! Looking forward to my visit out to Cali while Dave is there on work I get to go one weekend of my choice in March to enjoy Senoma... well I get to be a DD while Dave enjoys some wine tasting.  But knowing your soon to be Daddy I'm sure he'll set aside some time for me to get a massage or do a little shopping :)

How Far Along: 16 weeks 4 days 

Total Weight Gain: -1lbs (if only I could stay in the negative)

Baby Is The Size Of A: Avocado at 4.6 inches long and 3.5 ounces. 

Maternity Clothes: Gap jeans have saved the day!! I've also just accepted that my shirts no longer fit quite right so I've purchased a few tops as well.  

Sleep: Ok this week, I've definitely been waking up much earlier than I normally would which is a change for me since I am usually not a morning person. 

Best Moment This Week: Announcing that Baby Walter is a GIRL

Miss Anything: Not really this week, although still red wine... I think we can assume that will be the case for the next five months. 

Movement: Not yet

Food Cravings: Home cooked meals - and breakfast goodies, I'm making scones as we speak. 

Anything Making You Queasy Or Sick: Finally no!

Have You Started to Show Yet: Yes, I've kissed almost all of my pre preggo pants good bye. 

Gender: How Far Along: 14 weeks 6 days 

Total Weight Gain: -3lbs (if only I could stay in the negative)

Baby Is The Size Of A: Lemon

Maternity Clothes: Just pants - I officially gave up on my jeans, the rubber band through the button got old so gap maternity has saved the day. 

Sleep: Depends on the night, if I have a pillow in front of me and behind me it makes for a much better nights sleep. 

Best Moment This Week: Finding out the sex of Baby Walter

Miss Anything: No question Red Wine and also wishing I could take cold medicine for this cold I've developed. 

Movement: No but a little freaked out by that still

Food Cravings: The last few weeks it's been sweets in any form; cookies, candy bars, ice cream - however that's starting to fade and am now into veggies. 

Anything Making You Queasy Or Sick: The smell of sandwich meat is pretty nasty.  

Have You Started to Show Yet: Yes, however if you didn't know you would think I just ate a lot at my last meal, looking forward to it looking more like a baby bump.  

Gender: Girl

Happy Or Moody Most Of The Time: Happy this week, but that can turn on a dime... better to ask Dave :)

Looking Forward To: Picking some furniture for the nursery 

Blue or Pink What Do You Think?

Even though Dave and I have known for a few weeks what Baby Walter is we wanted to make it fun for our family and friends and see what the masses think.  Time to cast your votes!

You're also quite the popular baby to be as you keep receiving wonderful goodies and so many cards from family and friends.  This week Aunt Madde sent you the most adorable onesie from my old stomping ground.

Happy Valentine's Day - 15 Weeks

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!! Week 15 is almost over and what a fantastic week it was starting off by me traveling to Miami for work.  Even though it was for work I was thankful to be in warm weather.  Chicago continues to get blasted with snow and I realize that is part of living in Chicago but i'm totally sick of it.  It's amazing we got home today since there was another foot of snow falling all day. 

15 Weeks

Addy and I 

We then headed to Boston to visit our dear friends Aaron and Lorin Schaechterle and their beautiful daughter Addison. She just celebrated her first birthday so we brought her gift with us and it was so fun to watch her open it and see her reaction.  

In turn Lorin,  Aaron and Addy are so excited and supportive of the news of you Baby W that they gifted you with some adorable goodies as we prepare for your arrival. Goodies included a frame for a photo from every month, a puppy rattle, Curious George at the Park and some really good lotion for mama to avoid icky stretch marks. 

We had a fabulous time catching up with them, touring the city, shopping and eating at their favorite spots.  Day one we toured Cambridge and Aaron played tour guide through the Harvard Business School Campus, we had lunch at Cafe Luna and dinner at MET Back Bay that night.  Day two we headed over to Newberry street and did some shopping.  Since I can't really splurge on myself right now I did some much needed splurging on you Baby W - I'll post all the adorable things I bought next week once we reveal if you're a boy or girl. We had lunch at Joe's on Newberry and then dinner in Boston's North End their little Italy at Lucia's and then Italian pastries from Mike's Pastry.  

Cambridge

MET Back Bay

Boston Common's

Joe's

Lucia's

Had to take a pic under the Mellon Hall :)

Lorin and I Can't escape the snow

Second Trimester - 14 Weeks

Baby Walter is officially in it's second trimester and we are off to a great start! The week started out with Dave and I finding out the sex of Baby Walter, and while so many people want to know what you will be, we are enjoying this piece of information for ourselves for just a little bit.  However that certainly hasn't stopped me from already shopping for adorable clothes for you to wear!

14 Weeks

Dave and I have also finally gotten the word out officially about the Baby Walter news, all our close friends and family know and we've made it Facebook official.  Kind of crazy that we have to think about social media for news like this but it's part of the process.  Here's a peak at our post announcing. 

Dave and I are really excited for this coming weekend because we are headed out to Boston to visit our good friend Lorin and Aaron Schaechterle and their adorable daughter Addison who we get to meet for the first time.  We are really looking forward to spending some quality time with them since it's been over a year since we last got together. 

How Far Along: 14 weeks 6 days 

Total Weight Gain: -3lbs (if only I could stay in the negative)

Baby Is The Size Of A: Lemon

Maternity Clothes: Just pants - I officially gave up on my jeans, the rubber band through the button got old so gap maternity has saved the day. 

Sleep: Depends on the night, if I have a pillow in front of me and behind me it makes for a much better nights sleep. 

Best Moment This Week: Finding out the sex of Baby Walter

Miss Anything: No question Red Wine and also wishing I could take cold medicine for this cold I've developed. 

Movement: No but a little freaked out by that still

Food Cravings: The last few weeks it's been sweets in any form; cookies, candy bars, ice cream - however that's starting to fade and am now into veggies. 

Anything Making You Queasy Or Sick: The smell of sandwich meat is pretty nasty.  

Have You Started to Show Yet: Yes, however if you didn't know you would think I just ate a lot at my last meal, looking forward to it looking more like a baby bump.  

Gender Prediction: Not giving it away yet :)

Happy Or Moody Most Of The Time: This cold I caught from Dave is just making me tired and not interested in doing anything

Looking Forward To: Picking a name for Baby Walter. 

End Of First Trimester - 13 Weeks

It's hard to believe that we are through the first trimester of this pregnancy. Time really does fly!  This week was a big week for us as we began announcing the news to family and close friends. We have really enjoyed sharing the big news with everyone and the variety of reactions has been rather funny to receive.  

13 Weeks

Saturday we had my high school friends over, under the impression they were coming to a going away party for the Gullos, however Britini and I had another surprise up our sleeve.  Once everyone arrived we made our announcement that we were both expecting and only a week apart, me due 8/6/14 and Brit due 8/14/14.  Everyone was ecstatic and pretty sure one person thought twins were arriving. We also made a video for the girls that couldn't join us that night; Rena, Colleen, Caitlin and Whiteny.

Baked With Love

Baby Walter and Baby Wilkens

From L to R: Jaclyn, Jenny, Britini, Jesso, Kristin, Me, Jess R, Megan