This is one of the first ultrasound pictures taken of little Baby Powell. It was taken around 8 weeks. It's so great to be able to peek at the little one when I get a chance. It's so amazing to see how fast they grow and how quickly they change. Even after doing ultrasound for over five years, I am still blown away by what a little miracle it is to have a life growing inside of me.

Telling the Grandparents - Part 2

Steve's parents were flying up from Oklahoma to visit, part for business and part for fun. Seeing that we don't get to see Steve's parents very often, it was perfect timing for them to come up. We wanted to be able to tell them the good news in person and the timing couldn't be better. We were not too far along in the pregnancy, but knew we had to get the news out to them while they were here.

I had an idea in my head of how we would tell them. A friend had used wine charms that said "Grandma" and "Grandpa" on them to tell their parents their good news, and I thought this would be a great idea. We thought it would be a perfect thing to toast, and we know how Steve's parents can enjoy a good bottle of wine or champagne. My mom and I searched long and hard for wine charms with the appropriate descriptions on them and finally made some make-shift wine charms. They turned out really well, so I was excited.

Steve and I went to the airport to pick them up and tried hard not to spoil the news until we got home. Steve went into the kitchen and popped open a bottle of champagne and handed the glasses to his parents. Janet's birthday had recently passed, so Steve started in with his speech on how we wanted to give her a special birthday present this year, but wanted to wait until they were here in person to give her this gift. He continued on with his speech without them really noticing what their wine charms said on them. Finally, we told them they had to read their wine charms and when they did they were so excited. I think that the news of a grandchild for a birthday gift was just perfect. Dan claimed that he suspected that we might have some news for them because of some conversation he had had with Steve on the phone the week before, but I don't know how he guessed...intuition, I suppose. Hugs and congratulations went around the room, and then we went on to have an amazing weekend with the new grandparents-to-be up at Whistler. It was a great weekend to remember!

Telling the Grandparents (part 1)

We ended up telling my parents first, but Steve's parents didn't have to wait long, because they were planning a trip up to Washington in early February, so we waited to tell them in person.



I had a Sensaria spa party over at my house the last day in January, and my mom was coming over the night before to help me prepare. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep the secret from her for long, so we asked my dad to come over on Saturday after the party, so we could tell them together. It took some convincing to get my dad to come, but after some begging, he agreed. I think he might have figured out something was up since we were so desperate for him to come over. By the end of the day, I was very anxious to get the news out, so once everyone had left from the party and my dad arrived, we didn't delay.



A few weeks earlier, before I knew I was pregnant, my mom and I were shopping at Macy's and saw these little digital picture viewers that hung on a key chain. We commented on how that would be a neat thing to have for one day when she did have grandkids, so she could use it as a brag book and carry it with her everywhere she went. When I found out I was pregnant, I raced back to Macy's and bought one. I wrapped it up and gave it to her and Dad. Before she even had a chance to unwrap it, I was crying my eyes out, so she couldn't quite figure out what was going on. When she finally realized what we were trying to tell her, she screamed "Joana, you're pregnant?!!!" and a big "Congratulations" went around the room. Dad had us all figured out from the time I started crying or maybe even before, but they were both beyond excited for us. What a great day!

The Big News

This is my first attempt at creating a blog, so bear with me. Steve and I wanted to start a blog page so that all you out-of-towners could be kept up-to-date about our little bundle of joy that is on the way. For those of you who didn't know, yes, Steve and I are expecting our first baby at the end of September (the very end, the 30th to be exact). I was driving home from work one day near the end of January, and I just had a feeling I should go home and take a pregnancy test. I really couldn't imagine that I would truly be pregnant, so I decided not to wait for Steve to come home before taking the test. When those two little pink lines showed up indicating I was pregnant, I really couldn't believe it and ended up taking two more tests before I was really convinced. Of course, then I could NOT wait for Steve to get home and share the exciting news. I really don't think he was expecting anything at all, and I knew he would be quite shocked. When he got home, I told him I had something to show him upstairs. So, I led him upstairs and showed him the pregnancy test that was lying on the counter. Yes, he was completely shocked, but in a great way. We were so excited! I don't even really remember what he said, we just hugged each other for a long time, and of course, I cried.