This is the story of us...

I have a new friend. Her name is Alice. Everyone needs an Alice. My Alice is wonderful. She's there for me when I need her, and stays quiet when I don't need her. And for those times when I don't realize I need her, she gives me a gentle nudge to remind me that she's here for me. She's such a great friend, that I'll even share her with you.

Everyone, this is Alice...

Alice...this is everyone.

Let me tell you more about Alice. Of course you could click on her picture and introduce yourself, but I'll tell you a little about her...

Alice is a one stop shop for all things non-perishable. Well, almost one stop. You'll still have to go to the grocery for perishable food items, but Alice will make that trip so much more enjoyable. With Alice, you sign up - quick and easy - and stock your pantry. You can stock your pantry with all sorts of things. From toilet paper to granola bars...and everything in between. She has a ton of different brands, so you're sure to find the ones you use. Your pantry always stays stocked. So when you need something, you don't have to go looking for it. It's right there for you. And here's the kicker...

Her prices are lower...well, lower than where I currently shop for those types of items. You see, I don't like to travel from store to store searching out the lowest prices. That's not only inconvenient, but a waste of gas money. So I typically buy everything in the same store that I shop for grocery's in. And I haven't been in Wal-Mart in over 3 years. I loathe that place.

So not only has Alice made my grocery trips quicker, but cheaper too. I've built my pantry on her website, and I just click and drag what I need to my shopping cart. I check out, and 3 days later...toilet paper shows up on my doorstep...and the shipping was free of course!

And I can set reminders...like I run out of shampoo about every 4 weeks...so in 3 weeks, I'll get a gentle reminder from Alice (aka...an email) telling me that I'm about to run out of shampoo. A quick click and drag to my shopping cart, and boom...shampoo on my doorstep just in time for me to run out.

But the beauty is that when I don't need Alice, she stays quiet. I don't get a bunch of spam email because of her, and she just lays low until I'm about to run out of something.

Everyone needs a little more convenience in their lives. And everyone needs an Alice.

Please keep sweet baby Isabelle (Belli) Smith in your prayers today and going forward. She is the 2nd cousin of a dear friend of mine from high school.

Belli will be 2 on August 1st. She was born with "Larsen's Syndrome which is a connective tissue disorder mainly causing loose joints and joint dislocations. More specifically for Isabelle this caused her to be born with dislocated knees, hips, feet malformations, and an abnormal curve in her cervical spine."

Today she had surgery to attach a halo and will have another surgery on July 15th - both in hopes to help straighten her spine.

I've never met Belli, and probably never will, but reading about her story on the blog her mom is keeping, I felt compelled to share with you, so that you too can pray for this precious little girl. She seems so full of life, and reminds me to live each day to the fullest.

Please remember her and her family in your prayers!

Only 16 more weeks to go!! We have officially entered the final stretch as far as I'm concerned. I realize 16 weeks will be the longest of my life, but it's all down hill from here. Until she arrives of course. Then we start the uphill battle of this game called life. But it's sure to be a fun journey!

Owen and I have started our registry at Babies R Us. The first trip to registry-ville was not very successful. It took us an hour to register for 8 items. 4 of which were diapers and wipes!! That hour seemed like an eternity for both of us, so we decided to call it a day. Owen helped me pick out some of the major items - the travel system (aka stroller and car seat), high chair and diaper pail. Basically the 3 biggest things we would both use all the time.

We then decided that some "mom knowledge" would be best for the rest of the things we need - like bottles, toys and bathing stuff. So yesterday after work, Mimi (my mom) and I met up at the store to go for another round.

We had tons of fun! Trying to decide what was practical and what was just plain fun and cute was difficult to say the least. But we were able to get a lot accomplished! We only have a few more big items to add, and then we can head off to the opposite side of the store for the layette items. (sleepers, onesies and stuff like that).

Then last night when I got home, I decided to start a Target registry. Mainly because all of my pregnant friends have both Target and Babies R Us. But after perusing their website for an hour, I decided that I already have most of the stuff we need at Babies R Us. So you may see an empty Target registry out there. I may add a few things to it, but we'll see.

So that's been our excitement lately. Here's what's going on in my baby bump lately...

We better watch what we say -- baby is now able to hear outside noise from down in the womb. Studies show that baby finds gentle music and mommy's voice most soothing. Baby's nipples are starting to sprout, and that little face is fully formed. And, she's starting to settle into sleep cycles, snoozing about 12 to 14 hours a day. It's not difficult to figure out when. She wakes me in the morning, and in the middle of the night a few times. And after any sweet meal.

I can tell she's getting bigger. Where she used to just be in the lower region of my pelvis, I can now see her moving up past my belly button. I can tell where her little feet are, and this morning she was doing a headstand right down the middle of my belly! Her little feet were just a kickin' right above my belly button. You could watch my tummy and see it move! It was so cute!

She's still very responsive to my voice. I talk to her every morning and on every car ride (that I'm alone of course). I crank up the music in my car and sing to her, and periodically she'll dance around. She's definitely got her favorite tunes and developing her own personality. I just hope she has her daddy's dance moves, because mine are non-existent!

Fun Facts about Momma:

• Banana milkshakes, cake icing and Tootsie Rolls are my absolute fav.

• I officially have cankles and puffy toes, which I'm sure the icing and milkshakes have absolutely nothing to do with!!

• I'm sleeping like a rock with my new Snoogle Maternity body pillow, and I don't wake up near as sore in the morning. (Hint -- You need this even if you're not preggers)

• My hair is falling out, but growing like crazy.

• I've accepted the fact that I will break out into a drenching sweat at any given moment, and there is no way to be prepared for that.

• Baby gulps down several ounces of amniotic fluid every day, both for hydration and nutrition and to practice swallowing and digesting. And, these days, those taste buds actually work! Studies show that after birth, babies are most interested in tastes they've already experienced through amniotic fluid. I guess this means I better have banana's, milkshakes, icing and tootsie rolls on hand once she starts eating people food!

• She's super active and kicks when we talk to her. I think she already recognizes her name.

• Her closet is already half-way full, and I've only contributed one item so far. Not because I don't want to, but we've had some very generous gifts and donations, and I haven't had to!

• She has more hair bows now, than I've had my entire life.

• We finally found her bedroom furniture, which we will be ordering this weekend...

On Tuesday we had our 21 week doctor appointment. In addition to our regular quick visit, where all my vitals are taken and we chat with the doc about any of our concerns, we got our regularly scheduled ultrasound.

Throughout the pregnancy, my doctor only does 2 regularly scheduled ultrasounds. From what I understand, different offices may do this differently. Some of my friends get more than 2 ultrasounds. You'll remember we did pay for an extra one to determine if Baby P was a boy or a girl. But normally, the first, you'll remember was to confirm we were pregnant at 8 weeks. The second, at this appointment, was to check her growth progress and to be sure she was growing according to plan.

The entire appointment took forever, but the ultrasound itself took about 30 minutes. The first thing we asked her to do, was double check that she is actually a she. And the result is....drum roll please....Of Course!! She is definitely a girl, and a very dramatic one at that! More on that later...

The next thing she checked on was her head size, which I don't know how big it was exactly, but it measured at 20 weeks and 5 days. So I'm technically a little less than 21 weeks along (well I'm 21 weeks now!), but not enough to change our due date. From there, since the little bugger was squirming around so much, the tech just tried to find whatever body parts she could!

She found her big pouty lips (which I'm sure SG will use against her daddy immediately!), her right ear, then her right arm with all 5 fingers...then her leg bones, knee bones, ankle bones and tiny foot...complete with 5 toes. Owen said "Well, at least we know she's got one good side!!"

Then she found her stomach, and determined that she has a stomach, bladder, kidneys and liver. It's just amazing what those machines can see! Her spine was perfect, and looked very long to me! But it was normal! The umbilical cord had 3 valves like it's supposed to, and the blood flow through it was good.

And then there was the heart. Oh my gosh the heart. I think my heart stopped when we saw it. This may sound strange, but it was such a beautiful heart. After zooming in, we could see all 4 chambers working beautifully. It was truly a work of God to see something so amazing. I mean, I don't know much about the heart, but you could see it so clearly, and working so flawlessly. I was in absolute awe.

After the heart, she found the left side of her appendages, so now we know she has two good sides! And while we were checking out her heart, the little drama queen took the back of her right forearm up to her forehead, as if to say "{Sigh} Are we done yet...It's time for my nap." It was so funny. Even the technician commented on it!

So after the ultrasound, we went back into the waiting room to wait to see the doc, while she reviewed the results. She called us back, and told us that we have a "very active fetus" and that all was well with the baby.

They did find a 4cm uterine fibroid in my uterus that was not there prior to the pregnancy. The doctor thought that it was very odd, but assured us that it's not a big deal. She said lots of women have them, and have healthy babies all the time. We asked her about the chances of it growing, or turning cancerous. She said it could grow, but that would probably happen after she's born. There's a teeny tiny TINY chance it could turn cancerous, but she said that is so rare that it's HIGHLY unlikely.

So naturally our next question was about removing it. The doctor was not a fan of this, because she would have to destroy my uterus to get to it, which means having other children goes out the window. Plus she said she doesn't want to remove it if it's not causing problems...and it's not, and probably never will. We never would've known it was there without the ultrasound, and it's not bothering me or Sayla Grace. We were asking so many questions, (which she was answering) that she told us "Seriously guys, it's not a big deal, and we're spending way too much time talking about it." That's what I like about her. She shoots you straight and doesn't sugar coat anything.

Even though, we left with our video, pictures and a slightly worried look on our faces. But after I researched the fibroids, we're not worried anymore. The doctor was very reassuring, and it's out of our hands anyway. We just ask that you remember my uterus and the baby inside it in your prayers!!!

I tried to upload the video, but it was taking absolutely forever, and I'm not even sure I was doing it right. I'll play with it over the next couple of days and see if I can get it to upload. So sorry!