Guess what?!?!?!

Hi everyone!

(**trumpet sounds**) Ta da! The day you have all been waiting for. The day to find out if I will be a boy or will I be a girl. So….what do you think? Do you really want to know? Are you super sure? Are you sitting down? OK, my official name that will be on my birth certificate on September 10th (or whenever I show up) 2008, will be:

Shannon Grace Ratliff………I’m a girl!!!!

So those of you who voted that I would be a boy….sorry but I’m not. Those who voted for a girl…good job being psychic or just plain lucky :o) Mommy, Daddy and Codey went to the doctor’s office today for the big ultrasound. Basically to spy on me :o) And spy on me they did! The doctor got out the big machine and put cold clear goo on Mommy’s tummy and started checking me out. I have a wonderful spine, great looking beating heart, cute face, 2 arms 2 legs and functioning hands and feet. I say functioning because I demonstrated by me waving hi to them and by flicking my feet around. Then came the other important picture. Well, did I have a surprise for them, my legs were crossed and I wasn’t uncrossing my legs for them or anyone! The doctor tried to get me to move around a bit by pressing down on Mommy’s tummy and moving the wand doodad around as Daddy and Codey watched. Still, I wasn’t going to uncross them. The doctor however was able to get a view of me from upside down kind of and make her determination from there. She pointed out my girlie parts and let them know that she was 90% sure I would be a girl. So, I cooperated but not a lot. I was trying sleep. I only woke up to wave and that was it. Then when the doc kept pushing around I finally just turned over onto my other side with my back to them. That’s when they got the point. The doc said well, I guess that’s all we get. Hey they got to check me out for a good 15 minutes and boy did she take her time! She said I looked healthy and big with no trouble spots or anything. I know this update is kind of short but me and Mommy are tired so I think I will let you go. I can’t wait to meet you all and I only have about 20 more weeks before I can! Until then, think pink! Hehehe. Mommy will attach some pictures for you to view. Much love – Baby Gracie…..

Another Appointment

Guess who this is? Ok, you probably don’t have to guess who this is reporting more stuff to ya. It’s me baby Ratliff. Well, a LOT has been going on with me lately. Now I am almost 6 inches long (crown to rump) and I weigh a couple ounces. But that is all changing by the day! I get bigger by the week and so does mommy! In my growth, mommy can now feel when I’m awake. I’ve been stretching out and around and she can feel it. So since I’m up, she decided that I should probably give an update. By now in my development, I am looking more like a mini version of mommy or daddy or a combination of both. This week the bones in my ears will finish developing so I can start hearing things. So if you come across mommy and it looks like she’s talking to no one, she’s actually talking me.
Last Thursday mommy had a baby check up visit with the doctor and all is going well. The nurse let mommy record my heart beat AGAIN! She said it was a very nice and strong one. Just let that be a warning to ya’ll, I’m strong buddy and I can kick some rear-end! Mainly mommy’s right now as I poke, jab, kick and punch her through the day. Today, I started giving hard movements so, she’s got a ways before I stop hehehehe. So, after the heartbeat was checked out, the doc came in and did a check up on me. She had to gently push mommy’s tummy around to see how big it’s all getting in here. Can’t she see by mommy’s bigger tummy that I’m doing just fine? No, of course not so she had to prod me as I’m trying to get my beauty sleep. Well, at least it didn’t last long. Since everything is going well, mommy will go back to the doctor with daddy on April 24th and they will do another check up and this time, they will do THE ultrasound. The one you’ve all been waiting for. The big ta doo, the big cheese, the whole enchilada…..the…finding out what I am picture show! That’s all if I decide to corporate hehehe. Mommy and Daddy think I’m a girl. So does Aunt Stacy and Aunt Cadie…Though Aunt Cadie only wants me to be a girl because she is crocheting a blanket and it has pinks a purples in it. At least you won’t have to wait long to find out! Only 17 more days left! Can you handle the pressure? The anticipation? The MADNESS?!?!?! Ok, I was just kidding about the last part….
In other baby news….My room is coming along quite nicely. Uncle Derek and Aunt Dina were so very thoughtful and nice and gave us cousin Layla’s old dresser for my room. It’s so totally cool! Mommy has her comfy chair in there and they are going to pick me out a crib and changing table next weekend. Today though, mommy will be taping off the base boards and trim in my room so she can paint it in the next few days. ***NOTE*** DON’T WORRY ABOUT THE PAINTING AND MOMMY!!! As long as she has both windows open with the fan going full blast and obviously the door open, she will be fine around the fumes. It’s not an entirely he room anyway and it will be done in no time. To decorate my room totally cool, mommy is buying some blank pre-framed stretched canvas and will be putting some cool art on it to decorate my room with. She’s so creative! Then I think at some point over the next couple months, mommy and Aunt Stacy and cousin Meghan and Abby will go to IKEA to get me some way cool stuff for my room.
I guess that’s really all for now….I’m getting sleepy….Talk more later….
Love-Baby….stretch….snore…..

I'm Under Construction!!!

Hey everyone!
I thought I would give you an update on what I'm doing and how mommy and daddy are doing. Let's start with the easy stuff...me! I am getting big and fast! The room in my temporary home is getting smaller by the day. So I decided to make some modifications to my home. I decided to make mommy bigger so I would have more room. The new expansion is a move outward on mommy's belly but I'm sure she doesn't mind. She found that she needed to go and get more clothes. So being the wonderful daddy that he is, he took mommy to kohls to get her some new bigger-belly-duds. To her suprise (and I swear I didn't know this before I made the expansion) there aren't many maternaty clothes to pick from that fit her. She can't help it that she's short. At a small 5'1'' most of the pants were too long on her and the shirts looked like night shirts. But never fear, mommy always has a plan B. She went to the petite section and just got wider clothes. She's been wearing her new stuff for about a week and it seems to be working for her. Although I can't tell you how she looks I can tell you I keep hearing her say, yeah, that looks real nice. Plus along the way I hear other people comment that they like her new mommy look. I guess she looks good. I'll let you know for sure my opinion when I see her from the outside in September. Anyhoo, with the expansion mommy is more and more uncomfortable. Sorry mommy! She keeps asking daddy to get her stuff if she drops it because it's harder for her to bend over. He takes such good care of her. I can't wait to meet this way nice guy!
So you must be wondering, if I'm growing what exactly am I doing in here? Good question. And I have a good answer. This week mommy is 15 weeks pregnant with me so here's what I'm doing this week according to doctors who say this is what babies do at 15 weeks. I'm not telling for sure if I'm doing this but I thought it would give you a good idea of what's going on. Apparently I'm barely 4 inches long and just shy of 2 ounces. By the end of this week, I should be able to form a fist with my wee little hands. The better to punch mommy with! I mean, the better to flex my Arnold Schwartzeneger muscles with......I guess I also have some hair "sprouting" from my head too. I'm sure I'll still be bald as a cue ball when I get there. Ooo you'll like this, my eyebrows are starting to form too! Now on the ultrasound you will be able to tell if I have a mad, sad or happy face. Or you'll just see the same blob. At least at the next ultrasound (April 24th or so) I will tell mommy, daddy and the doctor if I'm a boy or girl.
Let's see what else is going on...Oh, you know that cute baby peach fuzz that is all over baby's that protects their skin? I'm getting that installed this week too. From the sounds of it, I'm a hairy little beastie but I'm sure I'm still cute. I know I'm cute because my body is FINALLY growing in proportion to my ginormous head. Now I don't look like a weirdo I look a little more normal. I'm also pumping a lot of blood here lately, about 25 quarts, a day. This is why mommy has headaches now. Too much blood to her head. Speaking of mommy's head, I seem to have done something else to her. And while I can't exactly see what's going on, I hear her crying to daddy about her face looking like it's coming off! Yuck! I guess she said her face is very oily but it's peeling like it's been dried in a desert. Hormones maybe? Lucky for her, daddy is a very well trained EMT guy and knower of medicines. He gave her some Cortizone cream and it seems to have done the trick. Um let's see....oh yea, my skeleton is continuing to be built too.
With all this installing, building and expansion going on it's just one big construction zone. It even sounds like one in mommy's tummy. I need mommy to buy me an orange barrel and put it in my room heheheh. That is what Ohio is best known for the Orange Barrels of construction. Oh no wait. This is more funny. Mommy needs a maternaty shirt with a big orange barrel on it that says "Under Construction" hehehehe. I crack my self up!

Well, I guess that's what's going on. I'll talk more later...back to work on my construction!
Love - Baby