18 weeks! Its a....

18 weeks pregnant

I'm still feeling really good - in fact, I think I just keep getting more and more energy!  I think I can do this pregnancy thing!   In the past two weeks, we've hit some exciting milestones:

1. We found out our sweet little baby is a GIRL!!!!  We are so excited!  I have been thinking it would be a girl for some time now, and so I was not too surprised when the ultrasound lady told us it is a girl!  We were kind of surprised that we could find out so early (16 weeks) what our baby's gender is, but when we learned that we could, we jumped at the opportunity (and we're so glad we did... we stink at waiting for surprises).  I can't wait to start making her little dresses and skirts and headbands....! If anyone knows of some awesome DIY baby girl clothes tutorials, I would love to know about them!

2. I started to think I felt baby kicking about two or three weeks ago, and in the days since, the kicks have gotten stronger, and I am positive I can feel the baby moving now!  Up until today, I haven't been able to feel baby kick with my hand at all, but tonight I felt her moving around, and so I put my hand where I thought she was, and she gave me a good kick!  It was awesome.

3. I officially have a bump, and have moved into maternity pants... I don't know why I didn't do that sooner, because they are AMAZING.  I have been pretty uncomfortable in my normal pants, and so when my sister Rochelle told me she had piles and piles of maternity pants, I got really excited. She gave me a few pairs, and it has just been dreamy ever since.


In other news, we have been LOVING the spring (summer) weather - it has been so nice and warm, and we can't stay inside.  Over the memorial day weekend, my brother Tayler and his new wife Heather came down from Rexburg to visit, and we all went camping with Rochelle and BJ and their two little boys.  We went to Hope campground up in Provo Canyon, and had a blast together!  It was R & BJ's first camping trip with their kids, so we were all glad that it was a good experience!  We had so much fun together, and especially with those little boys.

This weekend, Richard and I spent most of the time outside, it was awesome!  We went on a picnic date on Friday at Bicentennial park (a magical place), and then watched a movie back at our place with Rochelle and BJ (we love them).
 On Saturday, we spent the whole day with our good friends Nic and Janey Ratto (we love them too!).  We had been talking about doing a tandem bike date with them for a long time, and so we finally did it!  We went from BYU all the way to Vivian Park and back...a 23 mile bike ride!  It was a ton of fun.  Then, because we worked up such an appetite, we went out to Red Lobster with the Rattos (YUM), and went back to our house to watch a movie - Red Tails.   Overall, we have had a very fun and fulfilling weekend!  We love Utah in the summer!