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Well, usually that would be "no news is good news," but in this case, it's just no news. Due date is now 7 days away and there has been no sign of baby. We went to the doc on Thursday, but he said that the show is "only just beginning." We'll let everyone know as soon as something happens.
So, getting ready for baby, we realized that my old digital camera was starting to give up the ghost. So we took some of the gift cards that people were giving at the baby showers and picked up this new camera. So here is the belly pic I took with it. Everyone around here says that she is "dropping," and that means that the day is close at hand. Who knows, but we just can't wait. I spent the evening putting together a stroller and the high chair.
Well, Mel is coming down to the last little bit of being pregnant. Now beginning Week number 35, Nathan is getting very close to full term. He's kicking like crazy now, giving us great hope of a black belt baby in there. The funniest times are when her entire belly moves from a kick. He's got some power.
We've got a busy week coming up with some youth ministry events Sunday and Wednesday, some new Tiny Tiger sign-ups, rehearsals for the play, and then the tournament in Austin Friday and Saturday. Follow that up with the beginning of my church's Revival services on Sunday. We don't know how we're ever going to be able to wait so much longer for Nathan to get here. We can't wait to hold him and to take care of him. Six weeks away, and we already love him.
Thanks to a consignment store, my sister, my mother, and the landlord of our taekwondo school, Nathan's room is nearly complete. It's getting so much harder to wait now that the room is sitting there empty, waiting for him to arrive!
We had the final ultrasound and everything is doing great. Nathan has turned to put his head down in position for delivery right on time. He's kicking stronger than ever before, and now scenes straight out of Alien are happening every night. We're trying to catch that on video and if it happens, we'll put it on here.
So today, the ladies from the taekwondo school threw a surprise baby shower for Mel at the church that some of them go to. They did a great job putting it on and we got some wonderful stuff for Nathan. We were treated to a cake with a little black belt teddy bear on top made of cake.
Things are starting to get very real for us as we put away all the clothes and things they gave Nathan. Now with the baby showers beginning and her belly moving on a nightly basis, this is going to be very soon!
holding the "bundle of joy" made of bodysuits, hats, and baby stuff.
the baby black belt cake.
So, Mel had to drink the most wonderful thing she's ever drank before in her life. (Please notice the dripping sarcasm). Another rite of pregnancy down. The glucose test came back normal. That means no more over-sugared water. YAY!
So far, the pregnancy is going so well. Every night she is getting attacked from the inside now. We definitely have a little black belt baby in there. Now you can even see the belly move.
So another preparation for the baby is complete. Nothing like a karate kicking giraffe!
I found this website that will take pictures and do all kinds of crazy things to them, like turn them into pencil sketches. So here is Meli's belly at 27 weeks if we had gone to a county fair sketch artist.
ht: ysmarko
Ok, so it has been a while since we updated the blog (sorry Mom) so here goes with the post
"What's been going on in our lives"
So I guess the first story is about the ATA World Championships. We went to Little Rock where I got the chance to take some training Ground Fighting that we're going to be using at the school. I had a really good time at that, however... well more about that later. Then I competed in the Top Ten Finals for 1st Degree Black Belt Weapons. I finished 8th which was one spot higher than I came in, so I consider that a kind of victory.
Then, Melissa went home, and I picked up a rental car and drove to Lake of the Ozarks Missouri, and met the youth group for camp. We had a wonderful time at this very big camp. I'll put up more about that later at my own blog.
While at camp, I couldn't help but notice that while the normal being sore in the muscles was going away, a pain in my ribcage wasn't. As the week went on, it got steadily worse. I was hurting the whole camp, but didn't want to go to a strange doctor, so I waited until we got home. It turned out that I had cracked a rib during the ground fighting seminar. So I'm just now getting back to where I can spar and do most of the taekwondo. Even with the cracked rib, I tested and am now a 2nd degree recommended black belt. One more test before I'm officially a 2nd.
Melissa is doing wonderfully being pregnant. Nathan is beginning to show his own black belt skills, kicking her almost every night. Some of them have been getting so hard that he is able to bounce objects off her belly. It seems to be that her big symptom is going to be in her legs. She has been waking up every morning with huge leg cramps and her ankles are swelling to the size of her shoulders. So now she has to wear these support socks (knee highs) to keep her circulation going... in Texas... in July... while doing taekwondo. She hates the the very idea, but it's been working. Of course, those are my pajama pants she's wearing in the picture. :)
In fact, we've been joking around that her pregnancy is going too well. We've only had the initial ultrasound and the 20-week one. We're probably only going to get one more before Nathan comes. We really want to see the little guy again, but since the pregnancy is going normal, we don't need to. :( Too bad.
The baby's room (or area of the room) is coming along nicely. My mom sent some wall hangings and the mobile all in the jungle animal theme we were looking for. It's going to finish up very nicely by the time all the baby showers are over. We can't wait for the little guy to come and be in that bed!
Last week, Melissa and I went out to Dallas to use the gift she gave me for our anniversary. We went to go see the musical Spamalot, based on the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail. So our little guy has already been to two Broadway musicals before he is even born.
Anyway, I'm hoping I've covered most of what has been going on in the lives of the Bilyeu family. We're going to make sure that these updates come more and more often. Later.
Today i felt the baby kick for the first time. Actually, i think he kicked me yesterday, but i wasn't sure if it was him kicking or just being overly active. but today i am sure-he's kicking. Everybody beware, baby black belt in training.
Consignment stores. What a wonderful place. We had been on the search for a baby bed and furniture for a while, settling on a model from Target. Then on a whim we saw a new consignment baby store opening up downtown, so we decided to at least go in and look. That's when we found this 4-1 baby bed, mattress, and changing table for $120. Now, we have our baby room!
Two hearts became one and joined together in a decision that would change their lives forever. Yes, this weekend we are celebrating our first anniversary together as husband and wife. It's hard to imagine that one year ago, we were both preparing for a wedding, and now we are together, and expecting our first child.
It especially was apparent to us because we spent the weekend at the wedding of one of Melissa's sorority sisters from college. Meli played the piano for the entire service so we were there all weekend, watching as they went through the same steps we did June 3 last year. I think we both agreed that although we would marry each other again in a heartbeat, we would only do it if there was no wedding involved :)
Then we went out to eat at a very nice restaurant in Rockwall and we went ahead and exchanged our gifts then. She got me tickets to Spamalot the musical and had a family bible engraved with our name "The Bilyeu Family" on it. I bought her season tickets to her favorite thing, the Texas Ballet Theater.
Finally, we spent the rest of the evening registering for Nathan at Target. It's wonderful seeing all that baby stuff, but a little overwhelming when you realize how much stuff it takes to bring a baby home. We picked up some great onesies that say things like "Instructions not included" and "Nothing's wrong, just testing you."
Anyway, it's going to be a long day today with church, youth, piano lessons, and a frozen cake top defrosting on the counter.
It's official. Nathan Bilyeu has made his appearance. Quite literally actually. Today we had the 20 week ultrasound and a very cooperative and funny baby emerged. When the doc started the exam, we immediately saw our baby holding up a "I'm number 1."
Knowing what our baby thought of itself, we were still wanting to know the answer to the big question. "Do we wear pink or blue?" The answer came when the little thing showed absolutely no modesty and gave us a full frontal view. It's a boy! Our little son.
Then he must have tired out from such a long day of playing up to the camera, because the doc caught him mid-yawn and snapped this picture. Melissa thinks he looks like a dinosaur in this one.
Now we know for sure that we have a little boy, so let the buying of baby clothes begin! I wonder what we'll dress our son up as for Halloween if he gets here before then.
P.S. Terry, Shellody, and Lara, you were the only ones to get the gender right, so you're in the lead.
Week 20. Halfway to the big day! In just about four more months, we will have a little baby around the house. We've been working hard all weekend long getting ready to add someone to our little home. We cleaned out a bunch of old things, filled up the storage shed, all to clear out a room to give to the baby. 
Now, if we just knew how to decorate it.... ballet shoes or jungle animals? :)
So last Monday, we had our latest listen to the heartbeat appointment. This time, doc had no problem finding the beat, but we picked up something interesting, too. There's that extra sound that the doc says is the baby moving around. Well, already the musical side of the kid is starting to show because the noise was in perfect beat throughout the whole time we were listening. Meli thinks that speck is going to grow up to be a percussionist, but I hope not. :)
Tomorrow, we will finally be heading over to Dallas to spend a night living totally above our station in life as I call it. We're going to dress up and go the Fair Park Music Hall to see Wicked. After having done the songs in the theater, Mel just fell in love with the whole production and set her heart on going, so I found two tickets for this day. We're both very excited about getting to see this in person.
This weekend kicks off the beginning of a very busy month for us as a family. Meli has her band concert, then a belt test, followed by the end of the school year, all leading up to her re-test on June 1st for her 4th degree black belt. May 30th will be the day to (hopefully) find out if we have Anne or Nathan instead of Speck.
I know this has been pretty random, but that's what you get when we don't update for a while. I'll put up pictures from Wicked as soon as I can.
I think the hardest part of this whole pregnancy thing for both of us has been the waiting part. Knowing that it takes nine months to create a healthy baby, we still both wish we could hold our baby right now. It especially got bad when we stopped at Babies R Us yesterday to go find one of those pregnant belly pillows for her. We already love this little fist sized creation, and very much want to see how he/she will become.
Since the first trimester will be coming to an end this week, here's a photo album of some of the highlights.
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The second trimester begins next week according to whattoexpect.com, and she's just now beginning to show.
