Happy Thanksgiving!

I feel so beyond thankful this Thanksgivng! Baby Brady and I are healthy, and Jeff is so supportive and wonderful. We feel Brady move so often now, and all of his tiny body parts are developing right on schedule! (Okay, so Jeff and Brady's Uncle Ryan don't think that EVERYTHING on him is tiny!) :) We have wonderful family and friends and we feel so undeserving of even the simplest of things during this exciting time.
Jeff, Ryan and I traveled to the Land of Lubbock for Thanksgiving to spend it with our grandparents. (Our grandparents go to the same church and have known each other for longer that we've been alive!!) It snowed big flakes on Thanksgiving and then was just cold the rest of the time. We were thankful for so many things on Thanksgiving, including the overwhelming Cowboys win. But even MORE than that, we are thankful for all of YOU who are a tremendous support and encouragement through this new stage of life. We could easily feel like we're walking blindly through this, but God has so generously given us family and friends who have gone before us and pray for us daily. Thank you ALL for who you are in our lives and what you mean to us. We love you!

Baby Leach is a Baby Bear!

I am a little behind in posting this one, but at the beginning of November, Jeff and I traveled the long 2 hour trek to Waco for Baylor Homecoming!! It was the best Homecoming ever! We just went down there on Saturday morning and had a front row seat for the Parade and saw my sister and the KKG pledge songs, then we went to Spice and Ninfa's!
What a wonderful, quick Waco trip!!! At the time of Homecoming, we were expecting Baby Madeleine and we bought a cute Pink BU T-Shirt for her, but now that we're expecting Baby Brady, we will need to get a new BU T-Shirt!!! (Maybe even a hat!)

Ooops!!!

So, even though we had recieved TWO "official" opinions on the sex of our little baby... we found out yesterday that there is now NO mistaking that Baby Leach is a Baby Boy!!!! Right when we saw the picture, I knew that something was different!! I would post a picture, but I don't want to expose our baby's "goods". Baby Boy Leach is now officially Bradyn Walker Leach. (He'll go by Brady...) Jeff really wanted to name him Antonio Romo Leach but I vetoed that so that when Brady is the star quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys he can make his own legacy! :) He will get to go to Texas Stadium before it closes though! So we're into all things blue now!!

Good Bubbles and Bad Bubbles....

So I've promised honesty in my blog... so if you aren't up for what I'm about to write, avert your eyes, please!

GOOD BUBBLES-I've begun to feel baby Madeleine move around in my belly! It feels like little bubbles right underneath my belly button. I especially feel her when I'm trying to go to sleep or I've just eaten a good meal. It is my most favorite part about being pregnant so far. I think this is where your glow comes from!!

BAD BUBBLES- On Sunday before the big game, I was having sharp pain on my left side. I mean gut wrenching pressure and I couldn't lift my leg to put my pants on! So, I called my mom and asked her if I should be concerned... (because, of course, moms know everything-what a scary thought that is since I'm about to be a mom and I know nothing!) She told me not to be concerned because it's just GAS! That's right, you heard me. I was a bit gassy on Sunday! Nobody tells you about these things before you get pregnant. So do NOT be concerned if this happens to you... according to my mom, it's just gas!

Baby Leach is a Baby Girl!

Our gut insticts were right! We're having a baby girl. Baby Madeleine Swann! I cannot wait to meet her! She is our little Wiggle Worm! She was moving around so much today that they couldn't get too good of a 3D shot of her, so here's the 2D one that is our favorite. She was waving to us! You can see the profile of her head on the right and her little arm sticking up in the middle and her leg is on the left hand side. I know I'm biased, but I am already in love with her!! :) More soon!

All Becky Can Eat....

So Jeff and I went to the fair and I, as any pregnant woman would, had a field day with the food!! Sadly, I had to nix the rides this year (even though I think Jeff was extremely grateful as I like to go on the scary, expensive rides) but I did get to experience the Dart Rail, the Petting Zoo and all the fried food I could eat while I was there....
After riding the germ-infested Dart Rail (although extremely cheap and convienient), we paid an unearthly amount to get into the Fair. Then we paid an even more unearthly amount for two Corny Dogs and drinks. Jeff had never ate a corny dog at the fair before! He finally understood why I had been talking all year about getting one!
After the corny dogs, we headed over to the Petting Zoo where we were exposed to who knows what kind of germs. Can somebody say "Hand Sanitizer, please!" But this is always one of my favorite parts of the Fair. And of course, any true Fair-Goer knows that the BEST Fair Food is right next to the Petting Zoo- Tornado Taters!! (And you HAVE to get them with the Cajun Seasoning....) Luckily I was feeling pretty good that day, so I able to eat my "fair" share! (I just laughed outloud to myself!)
Then we headed over to the Car Show where I picked out my Mom Car and Jeff picked out his Truck. (Of course it was the one with a t.v. in the tailgate!) Let's just say these two cars will have to be long after we pay for college!!
After the Car Show, we experienced what Jeff calls "Heaven in a Fried Nugget", A.K.A. Fried Cookie Dough. Who would have thought that three spoonfuls of chocolate chip cookie dough warmed up just right and then fried in funnel cake batter would be eight dollars? (Sorrry- to be fair, I did forget that they add powdered sugar and chocolate sauce too). It was so worth it though! All three of us enjoyed it!

How 'Bout Them Cowboys!

So I've become obsessed with the Dallas Cowboys this season. I've always been a "fan" in terms of wanting them to do well- mainly becaue I want my husband to be happy- but never this fanatic. It's actually borderline unhealthy. Especially for a pregnant woman whose hormones are all over the map. I was doing great, I was totally into it and I even used to have "fun" watching the games with Jeff. But now, I must say, it's like four hours of intense warfare. I not only want to beat the other team, I want Romo to throw 3 TD passes, Julius Jones to rush for a touchdown, and T.O. not to drop a ball. Anything less than that is unsatisfactory. I actually would consider it a bad game.


Needless to say, I was pretty happy with my Cowboys until the infamous Buffalo Bills game happened last night. Yes, it HAPPENED to the cowboys. Jeff was worried that I may go into premature labor. When Tony Romo had his 3rd Interception I think I threw Georgia across the room when I stood up to yell. (She's not a Cowboy's fan now.) I know we pulled it out of our back pocket and got the W, but I didn't get the game I wanted.

We have a tough schedule coming up and I'm going to be pregnant for all of it, so they better come to play!

Where's My Glow?

Halle Berry was quoted recently as to having said that she has loved every minute of her pregnancy. From the Morning Sickness to the Hot Flashes, she has found it wonderful. Well, all I can say is that either she is on some serious drugs or she's an oscar winning actress!

As far as I'm concerned, so far I've just felt yucky most of the time. The very very beginning was wonderful before the actual sickness kicked in. Then comes the hunger pains. You wouldn't believe how hungry you can get after a three course meal. So hungry that it will actually wake you up in the middle of the night and you HAVE to eat something. AND to add to that... if you DON'T eat anything, then you'll get sick right when you do eat something! (Believe me, I've experienced this...) To add to the morning sickness, there are hot flashes and constant bathroom breaks. Who in the world said pregnant women are supposed to be glowing? They must have never been pregnant!!

I've heard the "good part" kicks in around Week 20 and obviously I'm not there yet. It's when the morning sickness is gone, you're obviously pregnant instead of just looking bloated and you start to actually feel the baby. Well- I'm ready to have my glow. Wherever it is, I can't wait to get it!! I am so overjoyed to be having a baby and I don't understand how I can be green in the face and still be expected to glow!!

I liken the early part of pregnancy to pledging a fraternity. You get rushed for so long and you think it's going to be wonderful because everyone says it is... and it is, but no one talks about the pledging part. The part where all the hazing happens. Well. That's what I'm doing right now. I'm pledging the fraternity of Pregnancy and I can't wait to actually be a member!!

A Little Window.

So we went to the doctor again this Friday for a Downs Syndrome test. It took a while to measure what they needed to measure on the back of Baby Leach's neck because apparently I had a contraction and the baby's head was "stuck" for the first part of the sonogram. We didn't mind though, once we found out the baby was okay, because we enjoyed watching him/her squirm around. We actually had to push on my belly to get the baby to come out of their little nest!

He/She sure did put on a show for us! We counted ten fingers, ten toes and two arms and two legs. I love getting sonograms because it is so neat to see how much the baby has grown in two short weeks! The one picture that's really blown up, you can see five fingers that the baby is hoding really close to his/her face. I feel like each sonogram is a little window into the baby's home and we get to peek in just for a little bit every few weeks. It was sad when this one was over because it will be several weeks before our next one!

You know what sounds good.....

So unbeknownst to me, pregnancy cravings are very real. I kind of thought pregnant women just used it as an excuse to get their husbands to wait on them hand and foot, and kind of to just eat whatever they want.... but NO! It is a very VERY real thing. Here's how I know...

On Saturday night, we went to a wedding shower for Joanna's sister out in Granbury. It was beautiful driving out there (other than the Baylor game on the radio) and the house we went to was on a cattle ranch!! It was just finished in May and it's just a different world to live like that. The shower in the master bathroom had like 20 shower heads, and guess who's idea it was to turn them on? Of COURSE Jeff wants to see what it looks like when all the shower heads are on. Luckily he didn't get soaking wet!

Anyways, back to my story. I hadn't been feeling very well that day, and for dinner they had catered BBQ Briscuit and Sausage. For some reason, I just knew that I couldn't eat that.... so I just stuck with the sourdough bread and lots of fruit. (Oh, and they had PICKLES!) So when we were leaving at 9:15, I was a little bit hungry, to say the least. So Jeff, being the kind-hearted husband he is, said "What sounds good?" Oh, husbands of prego wives... NEVER EVER ask that question. Jeff learned the hard way!!

So I started thinking to myself, "Self-What sounds good?"

"You know what sounds good, babe? A hot pretzel! With Cheese!"

"Becky- where are we going to get a hot pretzel?"

Silence.

So Jeff called all the sports bars and movie theaters we could think of by our house. No pretzels. Where to get a pretzel?

"Becky, I think we're going to have to find you something else. What ELSE sounds good?"

"Nothing else sounds good. That's pretty much the only thing I can even think about eating right now." I really had never been more serious about eating anything ever before!!!

So, as we were driving down I-30 towards Dallas, I see these bright lights off to the right that I could swear were from a "Main Event" building. So I begged Jeff to pull over and see if they had pretzels. It turned out that the "Main Event" was really a ghetto movie theater!!! Nonetheless, they definitely had pretzels. So Jeff went into the theater, without buying a movie ticket and bought me a pretzel and hot cheese. It tasted SO good. Too bad for me though, after three or four bites I got really sick. It did taste good though!! :)

I haven't had another desire for a pretzel since. I'll keep you posted though!

The Little Heartbeat

Today we went to Dr. Bristow's office to verify that the pregnancy was "viable". This is what we've been waiting for for FOUR long weeks! To see the heartbeat. Jeff and I walked into the little room and luckily they had a little chair in there just for Jeff. I thought he was about to faint when he saw the "Stirrups".

Without going into the gory details, a small black thing popped up on the screen. I was panicked because I initially thought that I was supposed to hear something or see something and I didn't. Then ever so suddenly, we see a very small blinking light on the screen. That was the heart beating!!! at 8 weeks pregnant, we can see the heartbeat, can you believe it? I was so overwhelmed at that point! I cannot believe that anyone can think that this is anything less than a miracle. We even saw a little bit of an arm and a little bit of a leg, (although I might not be able to point that out to you now!)

So it was a great day and a great visit! Everyone at the office was wonderful and so excited for our little heartbeat! Now it's off to find an obstetrician!!

Honey, I'm Pregnant.

I found out I was pregnant on a Saturday morning when I just "felt like" taking a test-telling myself it was "just for fun". Jeff was in a test at school all day long and my sister was about to pick me up to go down to Waco for the morning and help her move in. So, I sprinkled my magic on the little stick (which is the most wonderful experience, I might add) and not just one line, but TWO came up!! I was in shock! So, what did I do? I took anoher one. I drank a whole bottle of water in five minutes in order to get what I needed to take another test! Low and Behold- it was positive too! About that time, my sister pulls up! Of course I couldn't tell her before I told Jeff- so what was I going to do for six hours?!?!

We made it down to Waco and back without a word of me being pregnant! While we were down there at Spice though, I got a Baylor "Onesie" (new vocab for us) and had it wrapped up to surprise Jeff with. Now some of you may ask, "how did your sister not suspect something?" I had a brilliant plan- I told her it was for Hillary! I don't think she suspected a thing!!

When I got back from Waco, I immediately handed Jeff the box to open. He first thought it was a little dog shirt and was thinking "AWESOME!" and then he realized what it was. So naturally, he just threw it back in the box and said, "What are we going to use this for?" and he almost got up and walked away, when he looked at me and I had tears in my eyes!! Then you could see the A-Ha moment that he was having!!!

After a tender moment, we headed back out to the drug store to get the Digital pregnancy tests just to "verify" the two tests that had two lines. We wanted it to SAY that we were pregnant. While at Walgreen's, Jeff was definitely telling everyone (and everything) that he was going to be a dad! When we got to the checkout counter and it rang up as $32, Jeff looked at me, and said... "That's like six tests in there, right?" He knew nothing! Somebody out there is making a lot of money off of playing the emotions of women who think they're pregnant. They will pay anything to read the actual words "PREGNANT" or "NOT PREGNANT". I mean really. Can a test like that really cost that much to make???

So sure enough- those turned out positive too!!! As Dr. Bristow put it- If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck- it probably IS a duck! So there you have it!! We're going to be parents!!!!!

After taking a year off, we've decided to start blogging again....

Hope you enjoy your glimpse into the Leach Life.

-Jeff and Beck

Quote of the Day:

"If your faith hasn't changed you, it probably hasn't saved you." - James Macdonald

Random Fun...

Want to do something random?

Go to: https://webmail.smu.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.maps.google.com
Click on: Get Directions
Type in: Dallas, TX to London, UK
Look at: Step #26