Andrew's Website

Since I have such a terrible time keeping up with one blog, I know for certain I can't do two.

Now that Andrew has his own website - http://thewillisfamily.babywindow.com - and I have my own journal there, that'll be my outlet for the time being.

Hope you're able to visit there often to see updates as my pregnancy progresses. It's been so much fun so far!

-JessWill :)

It's a Boy!!

We are pleased to announce that we are expecting a son, Andrew William!

Andrew William Willis, due August 5

This was a long-awaited day, and we are thrilled and soooo blessed to know that he is healthy and doing well. He was wiggling around on the ultrasound - kicking his feet, flexing his arms - it was such a miracle to watch!

Thanks to everyone for your prayers and happy thoughts. We cannot wait to meet our son and we are so glad he gets to be surrounded by such wonderful friends and family - he will be truly blessed!!!

Love, JessWill :)

What'll It Be??

So... the official countdown has begun! Only two more weeks until we find out whether our precious baby is a boy or girl!!

Everyone keeps asking me if I have a "feeling" one way or the other. Nope, no mother's intuition yet for me.

It's not a surprise to most people who know me that I've always wanted to have a daughter, so I would be thrilled to hear "girl!" But I would be equally excited to have a son. I've watched my sister Erica raise her precious son Quentin, and have fallen head-over-heels in love with him! I love how much a little boy loooooves his Momma!

Whatever God has in store for us, we are just excited to finally know! I'm ready to start saying "he" or "she" instead of "it." We haven't bought any baby things yet (although we've received two precious baby gifts - thanks Erica/Joe and Allison/Justin!) so once we know one way or the other, we'll start seriously looking into baby furniture and bedding.

It will be such a momentous day for Lance and me! Up until now, December 2nd has been our most life-changing day so far (the day we found out we were pregnant!) but I have a feeling that the day we find out the sex of our first child, that will overtake the top of the list.

We know how truly blessed we are - except for some pretty rough morning sickness, this has been a trouble-free pregnancy so far! We know God has His hand in this and we are thankful each and every day for the gift of this baby. We try not to take it for granted, as we know many people who are struggling with fertility issues right now.

I'll be coming back to share the news as soon as we know! Please be in prayer for our precious baby until we get to see him or her on the ultrasound screen again in two short weeks!

Until next time...
-JessWill :)

It's Official!

Yep, we're pregnant! God has truly blessed us - and we are counting down the days until we meet our son/daughter this summer. Our official due date is August 5th.

Today is day one of my second trimester. I honestly can't believe how fast it's gone already! I hope and pray that over these next few months, I am able to stop and be truly thankful every step of the way for this miracle of life that God has blessed us with!

So here's our pregnancy story, for those who need a way to kill 10 minutes :)

Lance and I began trying for a baby this past October. At the end of the first month, I was completely crushed when it became obvious that we weren't pregnant. I was really surprised at how upset I was - everybody told us that we needed to mentally prepare ourselves for at least a year's worth of trying, and I truly thought I was prepared for anything - but I guess my heart wasn't quite that stoic! So we pressed on - to November.

We traveled to Houston for Thanksgiving - and in the craziness and business of the week, it never dawned on me that I had missed having my "friend" visit. It was only once we got back to Memphis and were back in our routines that I started to add things up in my head. I had been a few days late in October, so I honestly thought it was the same that time too. On my weekly grocery run one night, I grabbed a pregnancy test and to be honest, I wanted to take it so I could mark the possibility off of my list (I was afraid of getting my hopes up again!).

To my complete awe and wonder, it came back positive! I took the second test in the box, and - of course - the results were inconclusive. The lines never appeared at all - it was a dud :( I wanted so badly to run to Walgreens to buy another set of tests, but knew Lance was on his way home for dinner. It had never occurred to me that I would be taking a pregnancy test without Lance knowing about it - we have shared every second of the journey together, and I just never pictured it that way!

I quickly finished dinner, and stashed the positive test under my napkin on the table. When Lance walked in the door, the table was set and dinner was waiting for him.

As a little side note here: growing up in our family, we had a dinner ritual where each person had to share "the three most exciting things" that happened to them that day. Yes, it's as fun as it sounds :) I have gotten Lance to indulge me every now and then in this little game, and thought that night would be the perfect day to play it again.

So I asked him about his top three. He got to number two, and as soon as he was finished - I interrupted him and said "Can I do your number three for you?" He was really confused but graciously obliged. I pulled out the test and held it up for him to see. The next few moments were among the most precious of my entire life!

It took him a second to register what I was showing/telling him - but once he realized our news, he broke down and cried the happiest tears! We hugged and cried and prayed together - it was such a wonderful moment, one that we'll never forget :)

I told him, through my tears, that I really needed - for my own sanity - to confirm the results by buying another box of tests, but that I would wait til dinner was finished. He looked at me and said, "Our dinner can wait - let's go to Walgreens right now!" What a fun trip to the store - the fastest I think we've ever had :)

I chose a different kind of test that allowed no room for misinterpretation - it either said "pregnant" or "not pregnant" in the results window. Let me tell you - both of them showed "pregnant" within 10 seconds! There was no doubt in our minds that we were pregnant! We both were still in awe and shock - our lives would never be the same! And the fact that it had happened so quickly - well, we are humbled once again by God's perfect timing and His reminder that it's not about what we want, but what He wants for us.

I went to my Ob-Gyn the next morning to take a confirmation test - and I was surprised to find out that it was a blood test. I honestly thought I'd be peeing on a stick (sorry, TMI!) and they'd tell me right away. But they said the results would take 2-3 days to come in. This was a Thursday morning, so all day I was sick to my stomach with the thought that we might have to wait until the following Monday to get our news confirmed!

I actually called my doc's office the next day and left a message on the nurses' line - asking them to please PLEASE get back with me that day, if at all possible, because the wait was killing me. Within the hour, my fabulous nurse had called me back with the wonderful news: I was pregnant!

Thus began the most exciting, nerve-racking, humbling, emotional, blessed journey that Lance and I have had as a couple!

We both knew that we wanted to wait a while to share this news with people, because of some family history on my side of miscarriages. So we waited until my first ultrasound on December 22nd - the week of Christmas, how perfect is that?? We asked the ultrasound tech to make extra copies of the baby's picture for us, so we could put together our surprise. We hadn't sent out Christmas cards yet, so we took full advantage. We printed off our own homemade cards - the outside read "Merry Christmas from the Willises" - and the inside "from all three of us!" with the baby's ultrasound photo.

Since we knew we wouldn't be seeing my family at Christmas, we decided to FedEx them theirs. My Mom, Dad, sister and Grandmother each got their own. We called them Christmas Eve morning and asked them to open the cards. It was wonderful to hear the shrieks of happiness! I hated that I wasn't there to tell them in person, but we're still so thankful to have shared our wonderful news at such a perfect time of year.

Lance's parents and brother were coming over for dinner on Christmas Eve, which was the perfect setting to tell them the news. Before we sat down to dinner, we passed out their cards and asked them to open them. It was so priceless - Martha, Lance's Mom, opened hers right away and began screaming! Bill, Lance's Dad, couldn't get his envelope open. Lance reached over and ripped it open for him, so he could catch up. It was such a memorable time for our family - Bill cried, Martha hugged me, and poor Reed - I think he was a little overwhelmed by it all :)

We shared the news on Christmas day with Lance's extended family, who was gathered at his parents' house for lunch. I had told my extended family the previous night on the phone, as they all gathered at my aunt's house for dinner.

The ultrasound at the top of the page was taken this past Tuesday - at almost 12 weeks. It was truly amazing to see our baby yet another time! (Lance wasn't there for this one, because I didn't realize I'd be having another ultrasound - everything I'd read said it would be a boring check-up and no reason for the Daddy to come - I really hate he missed it!) And it actually looked like a baby this time, not a little alien :) When the tech put the sensor on my stomach, we saw the baby kicking and punching and doing flips. Since I still can't feel the movements, it was a little surreal - but to see that beautiful heartbeat and get to witness God's greatest miracle up close, it was a wonderful wonderful day.

We've now shared our news with everybody, and are very blessed to have so many fabulous people in our lives to take this incredible journey with. We can't wait to fill you all in with more Baby Willis news as it happens. I go back to the doctor in a month, and our BIG appointment (finding out the sex) will be in six weeks. We can't wait :)

If you are reading this blog, I know you are a dear friend or family member to us - and I just want to thank each of you for being such a great support system for us. Lance and I are truly blessed!

Til next time,
-JessWill :)

Tagged!

I got this from Alyson's blog. Feel free to post on your own blog!

1. Are you usually late, early, or right on time?
I try to be early early EARLY everywhere I go! I actually hate arriving on time - I have some anxiety about this - I'm working on it :)

2. What is your middle name?
Legally it's Andrews, but I'll always claim Leigh - I love it

3. What are the last 4 digits of your cell phone?
6270

4. How big is your bed?
queen

5. What are you allergic to?
According to my allergist - every pollen, pet and grass under the sun. But I have no symptoms so that's good :)

6. What is the first thing you do in the morning?
Take my vitamins, brush my teeth, then shower

7. What was your favorite TV show growing up?
hmm... this one's hard... probably The Cosby Show

8. Will you, or did you go to your 10-year class reunion?
Yes, I did. I was one of the three planners, actually. It was LOTS of hard work but it paid off - it was a very fun weekend :)

9. If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it still make a sound?
umm... sure

10. What in your opinion is the great invention (you know, since sliced bread)?
Cell phones. I honestly don't know how we used to survive without them!

-JessWill

A Wonderful Year Ahead

Hello, 2010! We are thrilled beyond belief that the beginning of the new year is finally here. God has so many wonderful things planned for our family in 2010, and we are ready to meet them head-on :)

We had a very blessed Christmas here in Memphis with Lance's family. Lance, his parents, his brother and I all went to the Christmas Eve service at Bellevue together, then everyone came back to our house for dinner. I cooked an untraditional lasagna meal, which was nice considering all of the turkey and ham we would eat over the next week!

Lance and I drove down to his parents' house after they left, to stay the night. It is a tradition for us to be there on Christmas morning to do our family gift exchange before the day begins.

The extended family - aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, etc. - all came to his parents' house for Christmas lunch. It was nice to see a few out-of-town faces and to have (almost) the whole family together. I missed being with my family that day, but it helped to be surrounded by lots of other people who we love and love us :)

On Christmas evening, Lance and I finally headed home. His mom had sent us off with tons of yummy leftovers - but after a day of eating so much holiday food, that was the last thing we wanted to have for dinner. So we followed in the footsteps of my favorite Christmas movie - A Christmas Story - and had dinner at a Chinese restaurant. My very first time in a restaurant on Christmas. It was kind of fun!

New Year's Eve was a blast - Lance and I went to a party at our good friend Hang's house. We got to meet several of her friends, which was great. She made lots of yummy food, and we played Wii and laughed a lot. We didn't quite make it to midnight, but it was so much fun and I'm so glad we went. What a great way to ring in the new year!

Lance is back to working his long hours - til about 7:30 every weekday (except Fridays, woohoo!) and a full day on Saturdays. It's always a hard transition for us to make as a couple at the beginning of every year, but I'm trying to take advantage of some "me" time and also spend some quality time with my girlfriends.

We have a fun-filled weekend ahead - Mom, both sisters and two dear friends are coming to Memphis for a girls' trip! We have a few outings planned to see friends and Lance's family, and for them to join us for church on Sunday - then the rest of the weekend will be completely up to us! We can do as much or as little as we want. My sweetheart is graciously giving up his bed Saturday night so all of us girls can have a true Girls' Night In! Thanks, honey, for being so understanding.

I hope each of you had a very blessed Christmas and New Year - and that your 2010 will be a blessing to your families!

-JessWill :)