If at first you don't succeed....

Today was a huge milestone in the Bass household. Over 3 years ago when we moved into our house in Owasso, Walt attempted to put up these shelves from Pottery Barn. We had received them as a wedding present, and I can't tell you how excited I was to put them up in our house. Walt spent the entire day trying to put up the shelves...take note, I said...trying. While he attempted he also succeeded in making a HUMONGOUS hole in our wall. After several trying hours, I vividly recall Walt throwing down all his tools, and telling me that if I wanted to shelves to be put up, "I could do it myself." At this point in time I started freaking out because we were having company in for the weekend. Not only did I not have the shelves up, I also gained a hole in the wall that could not be repaired unless the shelves were put up correctly. Walt ended up calling a "handy man" to come out to the house to put up the shelves. It only took the man about 15 minutes and he charged us $100. Nice. This started the beginning of Walt's obsession to becoming a "handy man" himself. See, Walt's dad is an engineer and obviously that side of him did not rub off on Walt. For the past three years Walt has been doing things to prove to me that he is in fact the man of the house. Well, when it was time to move out of our Owasso house we were forced to leave the shelves (because of the hole) and I told Walt that no matter what I would get some more shelves. Today was the day. Walt was determined to put these shelves up all by himself. After only 1 HOUR of working... WALT SUCCEEDED!! and the final result is the picture up top! I must say I sat there the entire time and offered Walt my moral support! I must say the shelves look great with our bed!! What a handy man my husband is!

I had to include a picture of our windows in our bedroom. The windows in our house must be my favorite feature! I love them!

Walt decided that not only would he put up the shelves, he would also put together our sweet-E's changing crib..and look he did it!!! without any problems! 2 for 2 in one day? His dad would be so proud!

This weekend Walt and I also made the trip up to Waco for Homecoming. We knew the Bears were not going to win, but we had a great time anyway. Although I only took two pictures the entire time, we were glad to experience Homecoming since we hadn't been back in several years. We were able to eat at Diamond Backs, go to Common Grounds, Walt ventured out to Scruffy's, and we had a blast tailgating! Maybe the Bears will win next year....let's just hope Griffin is able to come back and play! This picture is horrible of me, but I had to take a picture with My Sue Bear....she's definitely a blessing in my life and one of my greatest friends ever! Sue, or course took this picture with her camera and it is 100% better!

I love this sign. Just wish the outcome of the game would have been to my liking.

Here are some pictures of some of the gifts our sweet Eloise has already gotten. Sue and Matt surprised us with these oh so adorable Burberry booties!! How cute are they??!! Can't wait to see her tiny feet and put these on her!

These next two pictures are from Eloise's Gambi. (my mother) My mom went out and bought her a tutu, and believe me, she WILL be wearing this in one of her newborn pictures!! The shirt and bow are just as adorable and I can't wait for her Gambi to come and dress her up!

One of my precious students from Tulsa sent this to Eloise. (Is she spoiled or what?) Since Eloise is going to have a winter birthday, I can't wait to bundle her up in this!! Thank you Castleberry's!!

Is this not the cutest onesie ever?? This will be perfect for my precious girl!! Her wonderful Aunt Poco saw this onesie and couldn't pass this up! We love it, almost as much as we love Aunt Poco!

Another one of my parents from Tulsa went out and bought Miss Eloise this onesie before we even knew she was a girl. It's perfect! Thank you to the Jeffrey Family!

This picture is our girl's first doll (from her Gambi) and an adorable little carrier to put all of her stuff in...specially monogrammed for her! (thank you Castleberry's!) We are so blessed!

And this last picture....Walt's mom (La-Lee) bought this sweet lamb before we even told her we were pregnant. She just had this feeling and went straight to Neiman's and purchased the lamb. What a perfect gift!! The little lamb is right on top of a green and gold receiving blanket (BAYLOR) that we received from the Castleberry's. We just can't wait to get started using all of this stuff!! God has blessed us immensely and we continue to give Him our thanks and praises!

Now we are just gearing up for Thanksgiving... we will have ALL of my family at the house (Poco, Nichole, Greg, Jack, Spencer, Lauren, Momma, Nana, Poppy, Me and Walt PLUS all our dogs!!)! What wonderful and exciting times!!

Q & A session

I've had quite a few questions that people have been asking me, so I figured I would take some time to answer the questions.

Before I answer the questions...let me fill you in on something. On Tuesday, when Walt and I went to the doctor to find out for sure what we were having, we had a different doctor. My doctor was on maternity leave. As she was looking around she all of a sudden said, "Oh yes, it's a girl...there's her HAMBURGER." I just about fell out of my chair when she said this...then she added, "There's two buns and her meat." Am I the only one that would have been grossed out by this? Walt's mouth fell open, and then the second she left, he started dying laughing. Needless to say, the next morning while I was at work, I got a text that said, "hamburger" just from Walt.


1. Are you going to keep working?
Yes. I love my job, I love what I do. I know that after having a child things will change, and I will experience a love that I have never experienced before, but Walt and I feel that working for a couple more years would be best for our family. When we have our second child, then we will revisit the situation and see what would work out best for us.

2. Were you and Walt trying for a long time?
Walt and I actually were trying for an extremely long time. After much frustration, we went to see a fertility doctor. Some tests were done, and I had surgery last February to remove some things, and the doctors came to the conclusion that we would be better off going through artificial insemination. Our first round didn't work, but after our second, we were pregnant!

3. Have you had any cravings?
Well....only one actually. I am completely obsessed with the double stuff oreo cookies (Halloween Edition) I don't know what it is about the orange icing in the middle, but I am totally addicted. This is a double edged sword...good for me because it taste so wonderful, but bad for my body, because I think this is the thing that is adding the pounds!

4. Did you have morning sickness?
Oh goodness, did I ever! My sickness started right at 6 weeks, and lasted until I was 13 weeks. I was sick all day long. I never actually threw up, but I had the horrible, I have to and I can't feeling and it lasted all day. I went through 5 big boxes of Saltine crackers. I am so thankful that this took place during the summer and I was able to lay around ALL day!

5. What do you think is going to happen with Gracie?
Honestly, I think Gracie will be fine. Walt and I are actually going to buy baby furniture today, and we are going to purchase a baby doll. This baby doll will hopefully cry, and have the scent of a newborn (you know that awesome baby powder smell) I am going to start holding on to the doll when I get home from work while I am sitting on the couch. This will give Gracie the opportunity to smell her, and experience me paying attention to someone else. As crazy as this sounds, we think this will be best for her. Gracie is a jealous dog, but she is jealous of OTHER dogs....she's never been jealous of people, and she has always been great around kids.

6. Do you still fit into your clothes?
Yes and No. My jeans and pants don't technically button, but I have started wearing a BellaBand, and it is the greatest thing ever. I have the band in black and white and I pretty much wear it with everything. I know there will be a point in the near future where I won't be able to fit my thighs into my pants, and then my BellaBand will no longer be helpful.

7. How much weight have you gained already?
Well the first trimester I actually lost weight because I was so sick. I remember thinking silently in my head, "YES." But...that time has since passed. When I went in for my 4 month check up, I had already gained 4 pounds... FOUR pounds, that's one pound a week...and now that I went in for my 5 month check up I have gained 5 pounds. So I am right at 10 pounds. And according to what I've been reading I should expect to gain at least a pound a week from here on out. Oh yes, you better believe that I am power walking every single day. :)

8. What's the one thing that has bothered you with pregnancy?
This is an easy question. I have been SO annoyed with the people (who are trying to be sweet) that look at me and say, "What? You can't even tell that you are pregnant!" ARE YOU KIDDING ME? What are you saying that I am normally this large and in charge from the side? I mean seriously? I have never before in my life had a protruding stomach, but you look at me and tell me that you can't tell that I am pregnant? This has bothered me so much. If you can't look at me and tell me that you KNOW I am pregnant, then you are basically telling me that I have one HUGE beer belly! :)

9. How did Walt handle the fact that he is having a girl?
Well, first off, Walt and I would have been ecstatic with either. BUT....a girl is what Walt wanted all along. Let me put this in his exact quotes, "I want it to be just me and my three girls. You, Gracie and Eloise." Walt loves being the odd man out and I think he is going to be the most amazing dad. This little girl already has Walt wrapped around his finger. He talks to my belly every single day, at least 2 or 3 times a day.

10. Will you and Walt still travel?
We hope to. Walt and I are obviously aware that our "world" traveling is going to be put on the back burner for a while, but we want to be parents that still live our life. Traveling 4 hours to see family in Daingerfield or Dallas should not be a big deal. Walt and I have talked about exposing our child to the world at a very young age, so I think once Eloise starts talking and walking, we might possibly schedule another European vacation. Traveling is what Walt loves to do, and I want our child to have the same passion that her dad has.

What could it be???

When I went for my 16 week checkup my doctor was about to be gone on maternity leave. We knew that when I came back for my 20 week appointment, she would not be there...which also meant that she would not be able to tell me what Walt and I were having. So...we did a little sonogram, and she wrote down what she thought I was having. I had to have her write it down because Walt was not there. After she looked at the sonogram for about 20 minutes, she told me that Walt and I could not start decorating our nursery, but we could buy clothes. Clothes are always something that you could exchange. I rushed home, and let Walt open the slip of paper first....he was so excited. We knew that there was a possibility that when we came back for our 20 week appointment that our baby could possibly "be" something different. Of course this did not stop my family from buying things for us. Even though I told them...wait, wait until our 20 week, when I went to visit last weekend my mother had stuff for us, and when Poco came down to visit she brought me stuff. When I talked to Nichole today, she told me that our baby better have the same initials regardless because she too, had already gotten stuff monogrammed.
Well today when Walt and I went to our appointment we were SOOO happy to find out that our little baby was what my doctor that it was a month ago. Of course, we would have been happy with either, but we were so happy that we could keep all our cute outfits. So...what are we having? Well... let me tell you, Walt's parents are SUPER DUPER excited (my family is just as excited) because they do not have any of these in their immediate family. So yes, you guessed it...Walt and I are having a

GIRL!!

This is what Walt has expressed that he has wanted all along, so I am so happy it will be Walt and his three girls... Me, Gracie and our sweet baby girl.

Some of you have asked if we have a name picked out. Yes, we do. It is a family name, and we think it is perfect. I know how some people are with names, so I am a little scared to share. Walt never knew his dad's mother while growing up, and he wanted to honor her. I let Walt choose the first name. So we decided to go with her first name, Eloise. We agreed to let me come up with the middle name. I thought long and hard about this one. My grandmother, Nana, has been an important part in my life. She has been there for our family through everything, so I decided to name our daughter's middle name after her, Betty.

Our baby's name will be Eloise Betty Bass.

I know it is old fashioned, and I am sure plenty of you have an opinion about it, but we wanted our girl's name to have meaning. This way our girl Eloise has some pretty big shoes to fill....but we know that the Lord has wonderful things planned for her and she will fill those shoes just fine. Now we are just excited to get her room ready. As scared as we are to become parents, we really now can't wait to meet Miss Eloise!

Bump

Walt and I are officially half way there to becoming parents!! We have 20 weeks down, and 20 more to go. If this child is anything like his/her Daddy then they will be early or right on time. Walt is NEVER late to ANYTHING! We go back to the doctor on Tuesday for our 20 week check-up. At this point they will make sure that what they told us the last time was correct, so we can start telling people what we are having. Promise I will post on Tuesday after they tell us. I asked Walt how he was feeling since we are halfway to being parents...his response,
"I'm scared." It is a scary thing to think about....to know that we will be responsible for raising a sweet baby. It is just as exciting as well because this is something that Walt and I have wanted for so long.
I have two belly pics, but none with my face. We drove home today from Dallas and I honestly have not showered. I figured I would spare you the misery of having to look at my unwashed hair. But... I will give you a pic with my face soon. The other pics are just random pics from our new house. I told you about a week ago that Walt and I were repainting the bathroom. I need to correct that....WALT was painting the bathroom. The smell was so bad and so strong, I conveniently couldn't help. So he took down all the wallpaper himself, and painted the room. I should take a picture of the final product....but I haven't gotten around to it. I will do my best to take more pics of the house, because I know several of you have asked for pictures. I'm already looking for this week to be over, because we get next Monday off......can't wait for my three day weekend!

Walt doing such a great job painting the bathroom.