Great Expectations!
I hope that one day this blog will be a way for our child/family to look back on the very beginning of his/her life(s). I would have loved to know what my mother was doing while I was in the womb. There are only a few pictures of her that I can find while she was pregnant with me. I don't blame her... I have not been documenting my belly size either. Maybe a few will be fun for our little one to see later on in life. Baby Opitz is now in his/her 25th week of existence! The little one has now been out of the U.S. to visit family in Panama (where my Dad was born and lived until he came to the US to go to the University of Texas in Austin). Related to the baby, we did have many firsts while on our trip which I am excited to share. I will make a separate post about the trip to Panama; there were many day trips and adventures to tell about.
WHILE IN PANAMA, BABY OPITZ:
-took his/her first international flight
-first experienced the ocean at the beach in Coronado
-celebrated Carnival in Penonome
-savored many Panamanian dishes, lots of sea food
-visited the birth place of his/her grandfather (my dad) and toured the Panama Canal
-had one too many amazing snow cones (best I've ever had)
-toured the jungle where we saw a beautiful waterfall
-STARTED MOVING A LOT! Matt felt him/her move for the first time!!!!
-Floated in the pool almost every day
THE 20 WEEK SONOGRAM
It's so fun not knowing what the gender is! Matt and I go back and forth, talking about how fun it will be to have either and how the experiences will be different. Before our last sonogram (while in Panama) I swore that this child was a girl! I even bought the most adorable hand embroidered dress. THEN, we had our big appointment, 20 Weeks, and even though the sonographer didn't tell us what it was (and steered clear of that general area) the baby looks like a boy to me. I think it's because it looks like Matt's profile as a baby. Matt has a big head, I have a small head, and from what I can tell the baby has a big head like his/her Dad! Matt has always thought the baby is a boy and is crazy for a particular name for him. Once we find the right middle name I will announce what it is! Turns out that this name is also a family name on my side... how convenient! As for a girl, which is what I thought the baby was, Adelaide Nicole Opitz is the front runner. And for short: Addie Opitz! Just the sound of this name allows me to visualize the perfect baby room for her!
The 20 week appointment was so fun to watch and stress-relieving! As expectant parents, all I think about is whether the baby is healthy and how he/she is progressing. My avid reading keeps me informed about the weekly progress, but I want to know more about ours specifically! At this stage, the baby's skin is still pretty transparent and we were able to see the organs: four chambers of the heart, liver, kidneys, etc. Matt actually took a video of the "baby tour" with our iFlip that I will post later on. Everything looks great at this point and time! We are so excited and hope and pray that we have a healthy and happy baby.
FUNNY STORY!
We did have a moment of weakness while in the room getting our sonogram! At the end of the 'baby tour' the sonographer asked us, "Are you sure you don't want to know the sex of the baby?" I looked at Matt with pleading eyes (yes, i love the suspense, but sometimes I want to find out!) and we discussed it for way too long without coming to a decision. The tech said, "How about this.... I'll write it down and fold it and put it in an envelope, sealed, for you to take with you and you can decide if you want to open it or not. Many couples do it over dinner or on a special occassion." SO WE TOOK THE ENVELOPE HOME!!! Matt held it up to the light and could not see anything (thick manilla envelope) so we couldn't peek. I put it on the refrigerator with our other sono pictures, thus giving myself TWO reasons to stand at the fridge during the day. It was painful not to open it. We thought about whether we actually did want to know (for 24 hours) and agreed that if we did, we would open it on our 1 year anniversary in April. But neither of us want to spoil the surprises of that special day, so we had to burn it!!! The guessing game is still on!!
A PLACE TO CALL OUR OWN
After a long and tiresome hunt for the right house for our growing family, we finally found the right spot! Last week we signed a contract to build a home with HD Homes on Belle Place in Fort Worth (which is about 5 blocks from where we live now). We know and love the area so much. Still in the historic parts of Camp Bowie, less than a mile to the museum district and a 5 minute car ride to downtown. Not to mention that Fort Worth has greatly improved the dining shopping experience on the way there. We feel really blessed to have found such a great spot to start our family. Even better we are 4 houses away from Curly's Custard (great frozen custard shop) and the city just improved the road closest to ours. Can you tell: I'm looking forward to our evening walks with Baby Opitz to get dessert!?!
The only catch is that our house won't be finished until September... meaning that we will be making the move with a one-and-a-half month old in some of the hottest days of the year. I have to say, the excitement overwhelms all of these potentially hazardous thoughts! The baby's nursery will be ready to move in and now we can plan to have a gender specific room even though we aren't finding out!
