"Stranger Rub"

I was just reminded by Allison about my experience this past Friday and thought I should share. The term "Stranger Rub" may sound strange to many of you but automatically came to me after I was attacked by a older lady in the bathroom at a local restaurant. Up until this time I had not had the unpleasant experience of my belly being attacked by a stranger in a strange place. In fact I had just decided that no one did this anymore since I had made it 6 months already without it - so I had been going about my merry daily activities without even a concern that if left open a stranger would knowingly rub my belly for what seems like good luck. I am not going to lie - it is a very akward feeling - someone you have never laid eyes upon all of sudden pats and or rubs in a circular motion a singular body part of yours. In any other circumstance I could have had this women arrested or at least kicked out of the restaurant for such random touchiness, but no, because I am pregnant this action seems to be widely accepted.

Its not that I completely minded as this was a older lady who I was standing behind waiting to wash my hands. All I could say was "oh?!" while she was rubbing in that circular motion for what I thought was a tad bit too long. I have a feeling that this will not be the last time for the "Stranger Rub" - but one can only hope! Thank you for the table of friends I was able to walk back to with wide surprised eyes to share this momentous occasion with.

That is all. :)

Photo Update

I recieved a couple more pictures to share. This weekend my mom, Chelsea and I went shopping and picked out Nursery paint color for Adrian. They were a big help as we actually picked one out. Now we just need to get the painter scheduled and we should be good to go and will just be waiting for the furniture to be delivered (story of my life)!

Nick had the opportunity to go to the Cowboys game yesterday with our friend Rob and Robs best friends from home. Of course Nick went with all Bears fans and the Bears ended up winning. In that regard it was a sad day for him but I am pretty sure being so close to the action outweighed the loss.

We go back to the doctor on Thursday so we will have a new update then! In the meantime I am so excited that all of my shows start back up tonight and this week! I will be away from the TV 2 nights this week so tonight I will be preparing my DVR to begin working overtime tonight. Hope everyone has a great week!

Family photo from Indiana

Saturday with the girls - 24 1/2 weeks

Baby Moves

Well it has been some time since I last posted. I guess I have been delaying the post because so much has happened in this period of time that I couldnt imagine putting it all down on this proverbially paper. But here we go -

Just a few weeks ago I began feeling Adrian. Looking back I had been feeling her move around for sometime but just as they say when it is your first you never quite know if what you are feeling is truly a baby. It wasnt until I was sitting around the shop with some of my friends in Indiana when they informed me that " No Amanda that is not gas...that is Adrian!" At that moment it all clicked and I have never been so excited! Feeling your baby moving and squirming around in your belly is probably the coolest thing a woman will ever experience. There are no words to describe what it feels like and how it makes you feel. Knowing she is doing well and having that connection with her is amazing. Immediately Nick felt anxious to also feel her..I felt bad that he had not yet had this experience with her but knew that it would just be anytime that she would start kicking for her daddy. This past Sunday morning while laying in bed Nick just happened to have his hand on my belly with the hopes of feeling her and there she went- moving and kicking away! So much that my belly actually moved! Nick jumped and was all smiles from ear to ear. She knew what she was doing and for who (already a daddys girl!), she went ahead and did it one more time for her dad just to make it an even 2 times.

Now I feel her all the time - she especially likes to squirm about when I am in meetings which only helps to keep me entertained. She aslo loves the mornings when I am singing with the radio. So fun!

While in Indiana our family blessed us with a beautiful brunch shower! Jackie, Joy and Krista did a wonderful job at hosting and it was also a great opportunity for Nick and I to see all the women in the family, catch up with them and introduce them to my mom (Nick just joined us at the beginning at then again at the end). We walked home with more clothes than I could ever imagine..some of th ecutest things that I cannot wait to try on her! We also were given our baby swing, bouncy seat, and portable high chair. If you can believe it we were able to bring most everything home with us but Nick will haev to make the journey back up to Indiana to bring home our higg chair and swing- but as you all know he will be anxious to make this trip.

All in all we had a fabulous trip to Indiana. My parents got to experience most of Nicks favorite things- bon fires, beer, good food, bags and family. We spent alot of time just hanging out with each other and visiting. I havent recieved any of my pictures yet from the shower but below are a few hamilton family photos and pictures captured on my phone. When I get the pictures back from my mom I will post these as well.

Relaxing with the girls!


Right before we left for the airport.



23 weeks- ready for Sooner Game Day

Playing with the new stroller. Nicks new wheels!

Nick and Ciera and Jack.

Nick and his brother Matt trying to fix Jacks motorcycle.

Baby talk!

Today was our 21 week check up. Things are looking good - Adrians heatbeat is at a constant 140ish beats per minute. This was the first visit where I was not there for over an hour - props go out to Dr. Woodbridge!

My checklist is becoming shorter by the day thankfully! So far we decided on and have purchased her furniture and her bedding. Now all we need is to paint, decorate and buy my chair for her room and we should be all set!

Our first baby shower is coming up next weekend in Indiana- I cannot believe that it is already here! Not only will we get to celebrate little Addi but we will also get to visit all of our family for 4 days. Sadly this will be my last trip before she comes but hopefully soon after we will be able to take her back so we can show her off! My parents will also be flying up with us which will be so much fun because they have never been to Indiana and seen where Nick was raised. I am so excited to show them around and introduce them to the whole Hamilton clan that they have not had a chance to meet yet.

Nick and I have slowly been getting the house ready for baby - new couches, new chandilier for dining room, replace faucets, fix everything that is broken and has been put off, new paint etc. We want most of our list to be completed by end of the year so that way we will only have to worry about one little person - not that she will even know the difference but Mommy will! ha

I am so surprised by how fast this pregnancy is going. I cant believe that we are already over the halfway hump! Everyday I am surprised by my own reflection in the mirror because even just one day shows so many changes in my body. She is really growing and so am I! We have begun reading and talking to her so much more now since the doctor says she can now hear us. Just last night Nick told her about her family tree on his side and who everyone was- it was so cute!

Below are pictures of her new furniture! It will not be delivered till the end of October but thought you might like to see it now. Also included is a picture that Grandma Joy sent to us right after we found out we were having a girl! She went on a Adrian Joy shopping spree - this little girl is going to be so spoiled from all the people that love her! She is one lucky girl already!

Keeping up with traditions- Baby Hamilton is a Girl!

Elated! Is the best word I can use to describe how we have been feeling since Wednesday at 3:25 pm. As you may already know Nick and I found out some amazing, big news this week - we are going to have a baby girl! This news could not have been any sweeter to our ears especially because in our hearts we felt like this baby was our little girl.

We went to a Ultrasound shop called Blooming Baby in Dallas (I would highly reccomend). It is run by a women and her daughter-in-law. It was small, quiet and very cute. Mary our sonographer could not have been any nicer and patient with us since we told her about our "sad" story from the week before. The coolest aspect of this whole scenario is that they offer a web based program where for a small payment loved ones could tune into the sonogram from thier home computers and watch and listen to the sonogram Live. So needless to say my mom was down the street in her office sitting at her computer watching and crying while Nicks whole family (mom, dad, siblings and nieces and nephews) watched from Grandmas house in Indiana. They could hear us and our conversations and feel like they were right there with us. It was amazing and we feel so lucky to have shared this moment with all of them!

On another note - my mom and I took our first mother daughter trip last weekend to NYC! It was a much needed and long overdue trip and we both had the best time. It took us a while to actually get to New York - 3 planes to be exact. The first two had mechanical problems which put us getting in at midnight instead of 7:30 but at least it didnt cut into our day time there. Our first day was her birthday so we had a great day sightseeing, a fantastic dinner at a very old NYC haunt in the Theatre distirct and then saw the show Mamma Mia (which was my bday gift to her! On Saturday we did more sightseeing, had lunch with my old dear friend Jon who lives in the East Village, attempted to shop in Soho and ended the day with a carriage ride around central park. That night we went and saw Wicked which was the best production I have seen in my life! I didnt even know voices like theirs exsisted! We were only a few rows back on the floor so needless to say I was blown away. I recommend this show if it ever comes to your city. All in all - we made so many memories and we are hoping to make this a ritual moving forward and hopefully involve little Adrian when she gets old enough!

I have been overwhelmed by how blessed we have been which makes me so thankful for all our wonderful family and friends. I am so excited to bring Adrian into such a positive and loving environment!

BTW: If you were wondering about the title "Keeping up the Tradition" Here is what I meant- Everyone on Nicks side of the immediate family has had a girl first and then a boy. Which was one reason why we felt we were having a girl! The Hamilton genes are strong when it comes to this - so hopefully the next time around this will be titled 'Its a Boy!' We will just have to wait and see....for several years that is! :)

Baby Games

Today was the day that I had been looking forward to for 5 weeks...well, in reality I have been looking forward to this day for my whole life. Today was the day that we would find out if we were having a little Adrian or a little Brady! Can you just imagine how amazing this day would be?! Well, I am still imagining ha! Our little one seemed to be playing games on mommy and daddy- already! Oh, he/she stared right at us the whole time and in fact waved several times (which was very very cute)but decided that he was not going to open up his leags for anything! The baby was in a breeched position with his head up and his legs crossed. So not only was she in a strange position but the legs were closed tight! We tried everything - full bladder, empty bladder, laying flat, laying at an incline with my head down, Stacy the 1st Sonographer and then Jackie the 2nd Sonographer but our baby was determined not to move thier bottom half! I have a feeling that our baby was just not ready to show his or her true colors yet so he just didn't!

As you can imagine we were very let down by this anticlimatic event but we do have good news to report - everything is still looking good! We could see the babies heart beating away, his stomach, eyes, profile, all the fingers and most of the toes, her ribs and spine were also pretty amazing. The baby is measuring at 17 weeks and 5 days which is only 1 day behind which we were told is right on track. The baby actually wieghs 7 oz. now and should wiegh 1 pound in just a few weeks - the Sonographer said that was about the size of 4 sticks of butter! wow

We are not scheduled to have another sonogram for 2 more months due to insurance reasons but if you know me at all I cannot and will not wait that long to find out so Nick and I will be visiting an off site Sonogram place called Blooming Baby where they can take 3D and 4D images next Wednesday at 3 pm. You better believe that I will be giving little Hamilton a pep talk before we go in! :)

On a lighter note we did begin the registering process last Saturday at Babies R Us! Wow was that overwhelming but so much fun! My mom and Allison came along for the adventure and that is exactly what we had. We were able to register for all the necessary items such as bottles, bath stuff, healthcare, breast feeding and toys. All the larger items and gender items we will do at a later date so Nick can get involved. We will probably also register at BuyBuy Baby since they have a larger selection in some areas. But this has given us a great start especially since we have a shower over labor Day with our Indiana family. I think Allison now has a leg up for when it is her turn! She will be an expert by then!

I will post pictures tonight of the new sonogram so you can see just how big baby has come! Be thinking of us next Wednesday at 3 pm for baby to be prepared and for this future mom to keep her cool if he is not! Love you all! :)

4 months down 5 more to go!

We had our 4 month doctors appointment yesterday and we have no new news to report. Weight gain is on track, and the doctor said that the belly size is also right where it should be (whew!). The doctor did listen to the heart rate which stayed around 152to 154 beats per minute - still high! Other than that we just waited for a long time and they took some more blood for a spina bifida test. Before we left we set the date for our next sonogram which is August 3rd - we will finally know if we will be having a little Brady or Adrian! Stay tuned!