GIRL!!!!

We are having a girl!! I am so excited about bows and ribbons and cutesy things!!
We went to our ultrasound today and it went perfect! Bo and I were so blessed by the opportunity to go to First Call and have Brook as our ultrasound tech. She did an amazing job and really knew what she was looking at.  We got lots of pictures of our sweet baby girl and are so blessed by everything!
Everything looked great on the ultrasound and she is growing strong and healthy!!
Bo is thrilled about a little girl as am I.  His mom got to go with us and she is tickled a well as the rest of the Fowler family.  There has not been a girl born in the Fowler family for generations and this little angle sure is going to be spoiled!!
No name decided on yet, but we will keep you posted.
Here are a few pictures of our little angel. She weighs about 3 ounces and is about 4 inches long.

here is more information on the development from babycenter.com
Her legs are much more developed, her head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of her scalp has begun, though her locks aren't recognizable yet. She's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, her heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.

Boy or girl??

That is a great question. I have several people telling me the baby is a boy...not sure why. Either becuase that is what their hunch is telling them or 1 person told me it was the way I am carrying baby Fowler. Boy or girl, either way I am excited and looking forward to this new journey to share with my hubby and all our friends and family. We are going to need a village to help us raise this child and I'm so happy you are a part of our lives!!
We find out tomorrow the answer to that question so stay tuned!!

tears, tears and more tears....:(

I have been crying on a dime. Thankfully it hasn't happened at school but my emotions sure are all over the place. 
It could have to do with the fact that my husband and the father of my baby is going to Israel in a week for 7 days.  With all the drama and unrest happening in the middle east,  I am not exaclty confident about him going.  We have had many dicsussions and he will not go if it is not safe, even if it is the day before he is supposed to leave. He is in close contact with the man who lives there and another man who is going and travels very often to Israel. My dad reminded me that they have been fighting in that area for thousands of years and probably will be fighting for thousands of more years.  People travel to Israel all the time to visit and are fine.  Bo will be staying in Bethleham and traveling same places Jesus traveled.  A sweet amazing woman of God reminded me to pray scripture and proclaim God's promises over and over again.  She mentioned this will be faith stretching and will help me grow in my faith with the Lord.  I have to minute by minute and second by second remind myself of God's protection and plan for mine and Bo's life!
Thanks for all your prayers!!

My silly brother in law...

We were celebrating my sweet cousin's birthday last Saturday and my silly brother in law decided to put a pillow in his shirt to impersonate me.  I hope I don't look quite like this...

moving furniture....

Today was the day we decided to move the guest room into the office and the office upstairs.  We have been working nonstop from 10-4. The guest room/sewing room is done and the nursery is fairly empty. We are both tired and Bo was a such a help moving and picking up all the heavy stuff.
Check out my hubby's amazing idea of putting all my ribbon on my clearance towel racks I got at tjmaxx.  He is so smart and I love to be able to see all my ribbon now!
Bo moved the desk upstairs as well as tons of books.  We had a very productive day and are both now pooped! Here are a few pictures of our achievements!

The empty nursery...(which used to be the guest room)

The nursery will hopefully be decorated soon beginning with painting and crown molding, then furniture!

The guest room before...

 The guest room after...

The office added to the Georgia room.

Belly Pics?

As much as I want to say it, my belly has most definitely grown in these passed few weeks.  I am still trying to get into my old pants while enjoying how comfortable my maternity pants are as well. I had a breakdown before work on Thursday, picture day of course and could not figure out what to wear. This was not just a head shot but the whole class shot. I was most definitely going to hide my "fat" belly behind one my kiddos and was very successful at it. I opted for nice brown maternity pants with a cardigan. Definitely not my best decision but it was one that had to be made quickly or I would really be late for work.  I have decided dresses and footless tights are a much better option for me at this point, until I get some more work maternity pants.
I am so thankful to my sister, sister in law and cousin for sharing all their maternity clothes with me.  I don't know what I would do without their generosity!!
I am going to try and take a picture in the same spot with the same clothes on every couple weeks, but no promising on the clothes...
Here I am at 15 weeks.

 

We finally scheduled an ultrasound at First Call on Wednesday afternoon. I am SO excited to find out if our little one is a boy of girl!! I will most definitely post pictures that night!!

Baby Fowler's 1st toys!!!

Baby Fowler got their first toys last night.  They are so cute! I think I am more excited than baby F will be!
There is a cute blue elephant, I named him Ellie, 2 teething toys, a rattle, and baby keys. I can just imagine our little sweetie drooling all over the toys and it makes me so happy!! Here is a picture of the cute toys!! I know these will be the first of many toys this baby will receive. Thanks Grandpa and Betsy!

Also....my sweet friend Stephanie bought us a diaper bag, onsie, and bib!! I absolutely LOVE the onsie and I know my Gator girls will love it too. As expected, Bo is not such a fan of the gator on it.
The diaper bag is perfect, especially since we don't know the sex of our baby yet.  The colors are great and it will match everything! I am ready to get it full of stuff for our little blessing!
I even asked Bo if he will carry it and he said yes! Thanks Steph!!

Kids say the darndest things...

So last night was a parental involvement night so I got to see many of my students and their families.  I know this parent pretty well and think she is wonderful. She asked me if I was expecting and I said yes.  She then proceeded to tell me that her son was absent the day I told the class and he didn't know whether or not "I was just getting FAT". I was like WOW! Thanks...
I guess it is some times that parents nor kids have a filter....

The tummy touching has begun...
I guess I am that type of person who always has the urge to touch pregnant women's bellys but know when is right and not right to do it.  I had my first real tummy touching experience this morning. This sweet women, I adore, politely asked me if she could touch my belly. I ofcourse told her yes, and she went right along. 
I just hope the rest of the people who touch my belly will ask before they reach out. :)
I was happy this morning that I can still wear my nice work pants. I just have to unbotton the top button. I know this won't last long but I am enjoying it while I can. :)

New name....

My kids have now named my baby Bill.  I guess Bob wasn't good enough so now he is Bill.
One of my students was absent when I told the class and he found out today. His response was "GROSS!".  I was like well thank you. He told me he didn't want to see it. I'm not sure if he meant me getting bigger or some thing else.  I do not want to imagive what is inside the head of a 9 year old! I told him well, he wasn't going to "see" anything!!

I finally told my kiddos...

So I had been debating on when and how to tell my fourth grade babies. I had so many teachers come up to me asking how I was feeling and mentioning "baby" and "getting sick".  I just knew one of my kids were going to catch on and I wanted them to hear it from me.  I decided to tell them the day after my 12 week appointment.  I told them that I wasn't just one anymore.  I kind of thought some one would catch on but after about a 10 second lull of staring at blank faces, I told them "I'm pregnant". I got so many responses.  My girls for the most part were so excited and I had some boys who were angry. I asked them why they were angry and they were concerned that I was going to leave them.  I assured them I was not going anywhere this year and would be here the whole year with them.  They were very relieved and from then on began getting excited for me. One girl said well, I'm not big enough to be pregnant. I told her thank you but that my stomach was growing quickly.  Then came the best comment of all, one of my "out to lunch" students said, "Well I was wondering why you were getting bigger". I was like well thanks!  I hope she doesn't turn into one of those people who ask total strangers when their baby is due, when they aren't even pregnant!
One of my boys has decided to name my baby Bob.  When he comes into the classroom in the morning, instead of greeting me with Mrs. Fowler, he says "Hey BOB!'.

In between pants...

I'm at that stage where I don't quite look pregnant but most definitely "feel" bigger than normal.  My regular jeans are tight and the maternity pants are a little big bit lots more comfortable than my regular jeans!! I invested in a "be band" where I can still wear my regular pants, I just unbutton the top button.
I got to see a sweet friend this weekend who is due a few days before me.  I am so blessed to share this time with her and talk to some one who is going through the same thing I am.  We both just feel "fat", but understand there is a baby growing inside of us and are elated at the thought of that.  We are ready to both feel and look pregnant. 

The first trimester....

As much as getting sick is unpleasant, I am fortunate that I was only sick for a handful of times. Weeks 3-11 were pretty rough and were the worst with nauseousness and vomiting. I was extremely tired and got sick about 2-3 times a week. After talking to other mommy's, they said this was not too bad. 
One my biggest fear was that I was going to get sick during school and I was going to have to run out my outside door.  Thankfully that has not happened and hopefully it won't. 

Week by week I was getting the emails from thebump.com updating me about this amazing baby growing inside of me. I constantly pray to God and am in awe of his awesomeness and how he is creating and living being.  I wonder how people cannot believe in God after learning about such an intricate process of going from an egg and sperm to a baby. 

We went to our first doctor appointment on January 3rd.  We got an ultrasound and was awestruck when we saw this little "peanut" with a very fast heartbeat inside of me.  A rush of emotions came through me as they have been doing the passed few weeks. I was crying and Bo was absolutely thrilled and in awe as well.  We got our first picture of baby Fowler or as my dad calls him/her BF1. 

Here is a picture at 8 weeks.
We scheduled our next appointment for a month later and the time flew by.  I love how my husband has come with me to every appointment and wants to come with me to every one. We went for our 12 week appointment on February 1st.  I am so thankful for working at such a wonderful school. My administration is so supportive of me leaving a little early to drive the 45 minutes to my doctors appointment and for having such wonderful teachers and parapros around me.  They constantly ask how "we" are doing and I feel so much love and excitement from them.

On the way to the appointment,  I was really quiet and Bo knew something was wrong.  I was overcome with crazy emotions and was scared of the ultrasound.  I was nervous about finding something wrong. The night before I asked Bo "What if our baby has 4 arms?" He answered without hesitation, "Well, he'll be a really great juggler!" Bo always knows what to say and do to make me feel better and make me smile. He never gives up on me and has a special way of making me smile even when I don't want it.
On the car ride, Bo assured me of God's plan and the verses that He tells us "He knit us together in our mother's womb".  He then started praying for God to calm my nerves and be with us, the doctors, and our baby during this appointment.  I immediately felt God's peace come over me. When we finally get there, we had the ultrasound and saw our little angel!! Allie assured us everything was perfect. Baby F does not have 4 arms!!! We got to see Baby F jump up and down.  Allie said at this point the baby has nerve endings all over his/her body and he is constantly moving around.  She checked the head and said everything looks right on track.  She measured Baby F and it looks like he is measuring at coming August 5th instead of August 11th. I bet at that point in our hot, humid Georgia, I am going to be ready to deliver.  Our ultrasound has both 3d and 4d which I am very excited about taking advantage of later on but for know the regular ultrasound picture looks the best.

Here it is!! BF1 is giving a high five!!
Unfortunately we could not find out the sex, and won't until 20 weeks at my doctors office.  However, one of Bo's friends works at First Call and offered to give us a FREE ultrasound!!  I am so excited about this and I'm so eager to find out if it is a boy or girl so I can start registering and thinking more about names. We are planning on going in the next couple weeks. 

Join Gifts to Grow now and get 100 Free Points.

From knowing exactly when they want teddy to comforting them at 3am, the list of love is endless. Gifts to Grow gives parents the rewards they deserve, simply by buying Pampers diapers and wipes. Join now and get 100 Free Points.

View >>

How we told the Parents...

This was so hard to hold in since we both love to share everything with our friends and family. We decided this would be a perfect Christmas present for our wonderful parents. A couple months prior to Christmas a wonderful friend of ours took some amazing photos at Bo's family farm to celebrate Bo's parents 25th wedding anniversary. After looking through all the photos we finally picked some out to put in a big frame.  We decided we would get a big frame and leave one of the spots empty. There we wrote "Coming soon in August".  We were excited about the idea and were anxious to give it to the future grandparents!!
After FCA Winter Recharge where I was taking 3 hour naps due to the extra sleepiness of the first trimester, we finally went to the Fowler farm to celebrate Christmas until Christmas Eve.  Initially, Bo and I were going to give the frame to his parents Christmas eve morning but we couldn't hold it in anymore and due to my morning sickness that morning we didn't want them to get suspicious about me being sick so often.  Bo's aunt, uncle and cousins were also there along with the whole Fowler family.  Bo handed the present to his parents, thankfully they were sitting next to each other and they opened it.  My heart was beating SO fast and I was nervous. Another crazy mix of emotions that comes with being pregnant. Mrs. Della looked at all the pictures and was not sure what the "coming soon" meant. Mr. Tony caught on immediately and they were speechless, only for a moment ofcourse, especially if you know my sweet mother in law. There were tears, excitement and joy, as well and surprise from everyone in the room!! Bo and I were so relieved we didn't have to hide this anymore!
How we told my parents....
My parents are pros at being grandparents by know considering they have 3 sweet nieces and nephew.  We told my parents the night after we told Bo's parents. I decided to do something similar to Bo's parents.  I made a photo calendar on snapfish. On the front it was a picture of my parents from our wedding and words below the picture that said "All because 2 people fell in love..." Throughout the months of the year were photos of my family including the grandbabies.  The picture for August was a baby carriage that said "Due in August". When they finally got to August, they were elated and very excited to have another grandbaby in the family. 
There were many hugs that were exchanged among all the families and we know this baby is going to be thoroughly spoiled with hugs and kisses!

Baby Fowler is on the way and I want to keep you updated!

After many hours of thinking about how this needed to be created I finally decided to do it! Since so many of my close friends and family live so far away, this will be a great way for y'all to be updated on our journey of our new little blessing who is growing!!
I can't believe God has blessed us with a baby!! Baby F is now the size of a lime.  We have been keeping up with the development with help from thebump.com and babycenter.com.
As for now, I would like to give you an update on the first trimester...
The Lord called Bo and I to get off birth control and allow Him to really take control of that part of our life. Boy, did HE!!
It wasn't but a couple months later that we found out we were pregnant!! We are confident in God's timing and that it is perfect (Romans 12:2). 
One early morning in December, I decided it was time to take a dollar store pregnancy test my doctor recommended.  As soon as I took it I noticed those pretty lines on the test. These were lines I have never seen before. I was filled with a mix of emotions as most pregnant women do. I was wondering how to tell Bo in the few minutes I had to spare before I had to get in the shower to get ready for school. I remember how he bought these UGA booties at a yard sale about 2 years ago.  I grabbed them and walked over to him as he was still half asleep in the bed and asked him while holding up the booties "Are you ready to use these?".  He looked at me all sleep eyed and was like "What?". haha Then I just told him "I'm pregnant!" He grabbed me and was excited, as much as he could be still half asleep. I wanted to enjoy the moment more but really had to start getting ready for school.  It was definitely a whirlwind and I went to school very distracted and could not believe I was having a baby!