20 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

How far along: 20 Weeks

Size of baby: 6.5 inches long and weighs 10-11 ounces....about the size of a cantaloupe!

Total Weight Gained/Loss: I've gained 8lbs so far. We'll find out Tuesday if that number has gone up. I feel SO big... so I'm guessing yes, the number has gone up.

Maternity Clothes: I'm just about in all maternity clothes. I still have one pair of jeans and capri's I can wear, a couple of non-maternity shirts and dresses, plus all my t-shirts, and stretchy/comfy clothes. But everything else is maternity.

Gender: We should find out Tuesday as long as the baby cooperates! We are so ready to know! The closer we get to Tuesday the more my girl/boy "feeling" is evening up at 50% and I have no idea.

Movement: I feel the baby every day now... and love it! He/She gave it's strongest kick yet the other night and I was able to feel it with my hand. =) Hopefully Terrell gets to feel him or her soon too.

Food Cravings: Mainly chocolate and ice cream. Definitely not a good thing since I appear to be expanding by the hour.

What I Miss: This week I've noticed how it's starting to get a little harder to squat down with Garrison... helping him with the potty, putting his shoes on, playing on the floor with him, etc. So I guess I miss all of that stuff being easier and not such a chore.

Sleep: I've been sleeping really good. =)

Symptons: Being hungry and having a feeling of tightness in my back after standing for a while or sitting in the same position for too long.

Best Moment This Week: Hearing Garrison talk about the baby and feel my belly and of course feeling the baby move around.

What I'm Looking Forward To: Finding out boy or girl and planning for his or her arrival!

The big brother (who insisted on being in a picture)

Boy or Girl??

Our big day is less than a week away. This time next week we'll be telling Garrison all about his new baby brother or sister (hopefully we'll have a name by then... that is if it's a girl, the boy name is ready to go) and we'll start getting ready for Baby #2 to arrive and I'll start wanting to buy him or her new clothes. In my opinion, there's not a whole lot we can do until we know boy or girl and if it happens to be a girl, we've got tons to do to get ready. I mean we don't have a single pink anything. Anyway, I am SO excited to find out. But I'm also sort of nervous because you do hear of some couples who can't find out on their appointment day because baby wouldn't cooperate. I'm praying that after our appointment next Tuesday we are 100% sure.


I'm also looking forward to celebrating with the family afterwards. We're continuing a tradition of sorts that started with finding out Garrison was a boy. Terrell surprised me with inviting our parents and my sister to meet us at one of our favorite restaurants in Conyers so we could share the big news in person. I was sort of bummed about having to tell everyone over the phone and not being able to celebrate with family, so Terrell arranged for everyone to meet for dinner the night of my appointment. Terrell's mom even brought in a pink balloon and a blue balloon and we had them both tied to my chair. Then we had to pop the "wrong" one so everyone would know "It's a boy". We're planning to reveal the gender the same way at the same restaurant this time! It was such a sweet surprise last time and we loved sharing our news and celebrating such a special occasion with family.... so we're keeping the tradition. I guess if for some reason the baby doesn't cooperate, we'll just have to reschedule.


The closer we get to Tuesday the more I'm analyzing every little thing and trying to determine if this is a sign it's a girl or that is a sign it's a boy. For example, when I talk to Garrison about the baby and refer to it as Garrison's baby brother or sister, he always says, "Garrsin baby sisser". Hmmm. And, recently I've caught myself referring to the baby as a "he" a couple of times even though throughout the pregnancy my instinct has been more girl. Again I wonder. Then there's the fact that so far we absolutely cannot come up with a girl name we love. There are plenty we really like, and a handful that we both agree on but for some reason non of them will stick. We always think of something about it we dont' like... it's too long, it will be mispronounced a lot, the spelling is different, so and so's baby is named that, etc. We also struggle with liking certain names but then deciding the name doesn't fit us. It might be a sweet, cute name but it doesn't sound like the name of our little girl. Crazy I know. The boy name on the other hand is decided and probably not changing. Sooo, is it a sign? I've also been thinking about the pregnancy in general and the baby's heart rate. This pregnancy has been pretty similar to the pregnancy with Garrison except the one week I was super sick, and I feel like I'm carrying the baby the same as Garrison. The heart rate is a little on the high end (faster than Garrison's) but also sort of in the middle. I know you can't go by any of these things but I still think about them. It's so funny because this baby has been a boy or girl right from the start but it's still so tempting to analyze everything and feel like it's just being decided this week.


It really doesn't matter to me either way, girl or boy, I'm just ready and excited to know! A part of me would love to have another boy. I love being the mama of a boy and I'd love to have another one. I picture them playing together and having things in common and being best buds as they grow up. I know how close my sister and I are, so I think 2 boys back to back will be close like that too. But, I would also love to have a little girl. I think the mother/daughter relationship is so special and I hope to experience that one day. I'd love a daughter to dress up in adorable girly clothes, plus to be able to do girl things with like shop and get our nails done. And I have to say I honestly think Garrison will be a great big brother to either one. I know every parent probably says that about their oldest but I really do think he's going to be loving and helpful and curious and sweet. (I guess I should start praying for those things now so I'm not disappointed!) Anyway, no matter what, we feel so blessed to welcome this baby into our family and know that God planned for this little one to make us a family of four.... girl or boy. I am looking forward to Tuesday and getting ready to become the mama of two sweet boys or evening things up around here and having one of each! Can't wait!!

Garrison's 1st Two Easters

I forgot to include these pictures yesterday and since I didn't start blogging until after Easter last year, I wanted to make sure to include pictures from Garrison's 1st two Easters so they would be here to look back at.

Garrison was 8 weeks old his 1st Easter

Last Easter... Garrison was 14 months old. (Notice I wore the same dress last year as this year. I'm limited in my choices with my growing belly so I think I have a good excuse. ha!)

The little man still couldn't walk at Easter last year. He could hold your hand and walk for a while but wasn't walking on his own. Things have changed so much in a year!

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Something else I forgot to write about and post pictures of: One of Garrison's new favorite things to do after supper every night is to go for a ride on daddy's back. He loves it and usually laughs the entire time or has his mouth wide open with the biggest smile on his face. Sometimes I get nervous watching them because I have a slight fear of him falling and us having to make a trip to the emergency room or something, but Terrell is careful with him and always catches him or pushes him back up if he starts sliding off. And, I have to say that right now Terrell is probably Garrison's favorite person. He asks for him every morning when I go in to get him up and is SO happy to see his daddy when he gets home from work. He still has his preferences with both of us and wants me to do certain things with him, but overall he can't get enough of daddy. =)

Easter Weekend

Our Easter weekend was filled with food, fun, family, and eggs. =) I think Garrison loved every minute of it. Just a warning... tons of pictures below!

Our weekend started bright and early Saturday morning when our clan got on the road to Barnesville in hopes of making it to the Easter egg hunt at church by 10:00. It was really foggy and wet and sort of chilly but the hunt went on as planned and Garrison found lots of eggs.

Garrison and Granna waiting to go outside for the egg hunt

The crew lining up and getting ready

The hunt begins....

Garrison found a bucket full of eggs and had lots of fun at his 2nd ever Easter egg hunt. He was in such a good mood he didn't even mind us taking tons of pictures afterwards.

Our family of 4

Both sets of grandparents decided to come to the egg hunt. I guess it was sort of a big deal. We thought so at least. =)

After leaving the egg hunt we went over to Terrell's parents' house to spend the day with them. Garrison had Easter goodies waiting on him at Nana and Pops'.

Flashlights were a big hit this year! He came away with 3 this weekend.

Opening an Elmo egg filled with stickers

After enjoying his Easter treats and having some play time, we all went to eat lunch and walk around town for the BBQ and Blues Festival. It actually turned out to be a really pretty day so we enjoyed walking around and being outside for a little while. That afternoon Garrison took a nap and had a snack and more play time before we left to go grill out with my parents for supper. We had a delicious dinner of steaks, baked potatoes, corn, and salad and sat out on the sun porch. The atmosphere sort of felt like summer. After dinner and giving Garrison his bath, he got to enjoy more Easter goodies. Oh my. Hopefully Garrison isn't too spoiled! As he gets older we just have to make sure he knows the meaning behind Easter and just how blessed he is.

Flashlight #2

Easter morning we woke rushing around and trying to make it out the door on time to church. We did pretty good, however, the Easter bunny couldn't come until after church. We enjoyed a wonderful Easter service at church and are so thankful to serve a risen Lord!

Our family picture after church

My handsome little man in his little man get-up

Garrison and AnAn

After church we gave Garrison his bucket of treats from the Easter bunny.

The Elmo book and sippy cups with straws appeared to be the biggest hits with bubbles as a close second

After Garrison went through his bucket we went to my Granny and PawPaw's house for Easter lunch. Garrison stayed outside on the swing with Terrell and Carter (or Meghan) while he waited to be called for lunch. I actually had to avoid the outside air as much as possible due to an unfortunate allergy attack on Sunday. It definitely put a damper on things for me but I most certainly enjoyed every bite of my lunch.

The food was about 2 minutes from being ready and these two were in a hunger daze as they waited.

Lunch was SO good. We tried to simplify everything for my Granny this year by having everyone bring something and by using paper plates, etc. It all turned out great and I think baby Selph enjoyed it too. I was able to eat way more than I thought I could! After cleaning up from lunch, we had my older cousins hide Easter eggs and then Carter and Garrison got to hunt them. Meghan was such a big help. She's like a little mama to him taking care of him and helping him with everything... and Garrison adores her.

Our Easter weekend was busy and filled with things to do from start to finish, but we are SO thankful that we can spend Easter with our families each year. Living in Covington and having to travel for every single holiday can wear on us sometimes and even cause us to feel sort of stressed out, but no matter what it's always worth it in the end. Family traditions are really important to us and we're so thankful that we've made these traditions a priority for our family.

"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!"

1st Easter Egg Hunt

Today was Garrison's very first Easter Egg Hunt! They had one at school for his class and of course I had to be there to witness it all, plus make pictures and help out if I needed to. (Another perk to staying home! I am so thankful I can experience all of his little firsts with him!) His teachers asked for a couple of volunteers to come about 15 minutes early to hide the eggs, so me and another mom did the honors. His teachers decided to have us hide empty plastic eggs and to put the filled eggs the parents sent in earlier inside their bags to go home. I thought that was a great idea. That way each child had the same amount of filled eggs and if anyone decided to open up the hidden eggs on the playground, candy wouldn't spill out everywhere and cause a distraction or disruption. Once everyone had their buckets and baskets ready, we lined them up and went outside to get started. I tried explaining everything to Garrison while we walked out and he seemed to sort of get it. I think he was more excited to be carrying his new bucket and getting to go outside than anything.

Garrison was one of the first 3 inside the gate to his playground so I immediately started telling him to look for eggs and put them in his bucket.

Found one!

Got another one!

Showing me all of his eggs. He was quite proud of those eggs. I think everyone found about 4 or 5. It was slow going for most of them... they just took their time and eventually picked up an egg or two.

Posing on the slide with his bucket of eggs

After they finished the egg hunt they stayed outside and played for about 15 minutes. Garrison loved that and even decided to give me a surprise inside his nice, clean bucket....

After discovering this lovely pile of dirt and mulch, mama took over the bucket and attempted to clean it out.

After seeing me take out the eggs and then empty his little surprise, he needed to perform a quick inspection to make sure the eggs were okay. Then he pretended to eat something out of the eggs. The little man is very sharp... he knew there was supposed to be a treat inside! ha!

The rest of the time outside was spent playing and having fun! He seemed to really enjoy the egg hunt and talked about it a lot on the way home from school. Now he gets to enjoy two more this weekend!

Saturday Fun

Saturday was a fun, laid back day for the Selph household. Terrell and I slept until the little man woke us up and then we took our time with breakfast and getting ready before doing some much needed laundry and cleaning of the bathrooms. (HUGE thanks to my sweet husband for cleaning the bathrooms and toilets!! Bathrooms and toilets have to be my absolute least favorite places/things to clean ever!) Garrison was Terrell's shadow all morning long. It was so sweet how he just couldn't get enough of his daddy. After finishing up some chores and having some play time with the little man, Garrison and I started our yummy Easter project... Oreo Balls, "Easter-style". This was sort of a trial run because it was my first time making them and I wanted them to have an Easter theme so I was testing out food coloring. But they turned out pretty good and definitely yummy!

The first step is to crush an entire package of oreo cookies. Garrison enjoyed putting them in the food processor for me and listening to the loud noise it made.

When he could resist temptation no more, he had to take a break and eat one of the oreos. In the meantime, I mixed the crushed oreos with softened cream cheese.

Then, it was time to roll the oreo/cream cheese mixture into balls (or eggs I attempted to do) Garrison loved this part and did a really good job!

After we had a cookie sheet covered with oreo "eggs" we placed them in the refrigerator for about an hour to stiffen up and the little man took a nap. While he was still asleep, I melted white chocolate and added pastel food coloring to it and dipped the oreos in the white chocolate and attempted to decorate them. I actually didn't have enough white chocolate to completely dip all 22 oreo eggs, so I had to improvise with the last 5. They didn't turn out very pretty (hence the reason there's no "final product" picture) but it was a trial run and they did taste great so it was semi-successful I guess. The little man and I will be making our second batch at the end of the week to take to Barnesville for Easter festivities.

Later Saturday afternoon, AnAn came over for a visit. It made Garrison's day! He showed her his new room and served her a picnic lunch at his table. They ate corn and mac and cheese with lots of ketchup. After he sat down in his chair and I pushed him up to the table, he immediately said, "Mama push AnAn up too". It was hilarious. Anna and I busted out laughing. I then explained that AnAn could push herself up to the table. =)

After their picnic, we all got ready and went out to eat at Pacho's and then out for ice cream at Baskin Robins. Everything was delicious and it was a special treat to have AnAn over for a while. I know Garrison enjoyed every minute. He was so excited to have company and officially became AnAn's shadow while she was here. =) We had a great Saturday and were so thankful for such an uneventful, low-key day.

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Sneak Peek at the little man's Easter goodies. I figured when we make pictures of him going through everything Sunday you won't be able to see it all. He's getting 2 new sippy cups, a Cars flashlight, a pack of HotWheels, a new Elmo book, 2 books for the bath tub, a book of stickers, a bubble wand for big bubbles, a regular bottle of bubbles, and a few plastic eggs filled with sweet treats. Plus a new Easter bucket that we found on Esty for $17 (definitely beats almost $50 at Pottery Barn), and the girl who made it lives in Covington! I can't wait for the upcoming Easter Egg Hunts. He can walk this year so he gets to participate in two, one at school and one at church! Lots of pictures to come. =)