A girl or not a girl: That is the question...

It's only been two weeks since our last blog entry, yet this is probably going to be the most informative one since we announced our pregnancy and engagement. I know you are all sitting at the edge of your seats, biting away at your fingernails with anticipation, so I better get started! :)
First I want to start by saying that Brad and I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season filled with love, family, and laughter. We love you all and wish you all the best not only this time of year, but all year long. Our Christmas was a wonderful one. It was Brad's first day off since we returned from his brother's wedding so it was highly anticipated. The weather was warm in the low 80's and a tinge of humidity. Not exactly what you expect during late December, but we had a great day anyway. We woke up at our leisure, (I'm sure this is our last Christmas with that luxury) and got a pot of coffee started, the Christmas tune's playing, and the tree lights glowing.

Brad decided to take advantage of the golf course being closed to the public for the holiday and he played a free round of golf. He came back energized, sweaty, and in the best mood I have seen him in awhile.

With the baby quickly arriving, we decided to be sparing on gifts to each other so we ended up splurging on our fur covered baby, Sadie. Although Sadie got a lot of gifts, Brad and I got the better end of the deal. Brad got me the beautiful rocking chair and ottoman I had registered for and Brad got a BluRay player and "The Dark Knight" on bluray. We were both happy campers. Here are a few pictures of our Christmas. Brad might be a little sore at me for posting all these pics minus his shirt, but I warned him.

Santa's little helper. Yes, she was miserable so I took it right off after pictures.

Brad enjoying his annual tin of Christmas popcorn.

Sadie posing in front of the tree.

Brad checking out his new BluRay player.

Brad getting excited to see his stocking filled with Monster energy drinks.

My stash from my stocking. Brad is the best stocking stuffer!!

Sadie opening one of her gifts. It's her favorite part.

She can't decide what to play with first! Please excuse my bedhead hair. :(

After gifts, golf, coffee, family phone calls, and relaxing, we started on dinner. When I say "we" started on dinner, I actually mean I sat at the kitchen bar and watched Brad cook an amazing meal. How lucky am I? Back off ladies, he is all mine! Since we did the traditional dinner for Thanksgiving we decided to go with a different menu. Brad prepared a beautiful surf and turf consisting of 10oz. filet Mignon and hog snapper baked to perfection. He paired them with Gorgonzola mashed potatoes, broccoli and asparagus. It was fantastic!

Our yummy dinner prepared by Chef Brad.

Yummy!

I can't tell if I'm this big because of dinner or the bambino!

We ended the night watching Brad's new movie and passing out with grins on our faces. The next day, I anxiously awaited my dad's arrival. My dad and his wife Linda were scheduled to arrive the next day around 6 or 7pm. It wasn't until almost 9:30pm that they arrived. It turns out they missed a turn and almost ended up in Miami!! (sorry daddy, I had to throw it in here, but I love you!) No matter what time it was, I was elated to have them here. Brad came home shortly after and we all sat down for dinner and catchup chat. Unfortunately, even though I brought my camera with me the next day, I hardly took any pictures to document their visit. :(

The next day we had breakfast on our patio and watched the golfers play through as we planned our day.

We spent the afternoon shopping and checking out the HUGE Bass Pro Shop we have here. We then had lunch at Brad's country club, made a stop at Baby's R Us and headed home. Brad got off early that day to have dinner with us so we went to our favorite Chinese restaurant, P.F. Chang's and enjoyed our last night together.

My dad and his wife Linda at dinner.

The four of us sharing the best dessert ever! And yes, we are sitting outside in December.

Early the next morning they packed the car and left for their 10 hour drive back home. You know my daddy loves me to travel 23 hours in the car for a 24 hour visit. Even though it was such a short visit, I am so glad to have seen him. It was probably my hormones, but I spent most of that day crying my eyes out after they left. Brad thinks I am insane. :)

Now things are back to normal and we are patiently awaiting the arrival of our little one. Is it a boy or a girl? Dylan or Maya? The answer is..... hold on, Brad and I have one thing to announce and then we will announce the verdict. Sorry, but I have to make sure you people are actually reading these things from beginning to end.

There are numerous reasons for Brad and I keeping this information from you, but we decided it was time to get it out. Brad and I are married. We "eloped" in Las Vegas October 11, 2008 on our road trip to Florida. Aaaaah, that feels so good to get out! The main reason we kept it from everyone was that we did it for financial reasons. Although we were engaged long before this, we did it the way we did because we lost all of our insurance we had for the baby's birth. In Oregon we qualified for the state to cover all of our medical costs. We were declined in Florida. The only way Brad's company would cover us was if we got married, so that is what we did. I want to make this clear in case some loved ones are under the impression that we did this because we felt our child would be "happier" if we were married when he/she was born. That is NOT the case. We had no choice.

Another reason we didn't want to disclose our decision was the timing of it. Brad's brother was getting married in two months after we did and we did not want to take away from their upcoming plans. We also didn't really take our ceremony seriously. We knew our reasoning for doing it and that was it. I will not be taking his last name until we have a ceremony and nor will we exchange rings until then either. I haven't even ordered a legal copy of our marriage certificate and do not plan to until we do it our way. Ok, so that is that. And no, we are not letting our parents find out by reading a blog. We made sure to tell them first.

On to baby news!! Brad and I had our latest ultrasound on Tuesday. I have to say this visit was much better than the first two. The ultrasound technician was super friendly and explained everything to us in a nice way and answered all of our questions without making us feel stupid.

I have to say that these ultrasounds are amazing. We didn't do the 3-D ultrasound, yet we could still see so much detail. The first thing she told us was...yes, we are having a girl! We are certain of this too. She showed us some specific pictures to assure us. She has a head FULL of my curly hair, big eyes with Brad's long eyelashes, my lips, and a slim torso and long lean legs. I am hoping she is blessed with Brad's body shape since when I was young I was long and skinny. Now I am long and not so skinny, yet Brad still has this amazing athletic build. Brad has the ultrasound pictures in the car so I will have to post them on our next blog. I know I am being biased, but she is the most beautiful little girl I have ever laid my eyes on. Oh, and her name is Maya Jamie Jenkins. A lot of people have asked where we came up with this so here goes. Maya is the only girl name that we both loved and I thought of it as I was reading a Maya Angelou book that Odessa had sent me. (thanks Dess!) Jamie was the name that my mother wanted me to have as a middle name. She learned to speak English watching the "Million dollar man and the bionic woman". Her favorite character was Jamie Summers. My parents couldn't afford the fee to have Jamie added to my birth certificate so I am legally just Suki Little. So I am legally giving the name to our daughter for my mom. There you have it, Maya Jamie Jenkins.

Well, once we came back from the doctors we decided it was high time to put the furniture in the nursery. The room is not done yet, not even close, but at least it's put together. Last night after all the furniture was put in place we turned on some music, lit up the Twilight Turtle that Colleen and Matt sent Maya, turned off the lights and sat in the nursery and talked about Maya's future for about 2 hours. Such a great night! In case you are wondering, a twilight turtle is a stuffed turtle with lights and colors on the shell that light up and illuminate the ceiling. They are stars that form 8 different constellations in three different colors. An amazing gift! Thanks Colleen! Here are a few before and after pictures.

The room empty. There was a desk and office chair here.

A shot of the middle of the room.

We don't have a bedding set yet so don't be alarmed by the lack of a bumper on the crib.

My new rocker and mini ottoman! Don't worry, these curtains are not staying. Linda, my dad's wife who is an alterator, is making us curtains for the nursery! Thanks Linda!

Closeup of the crib with the blanket and monkey Grandma Sandi got Maya.

The changing table and rocker. We are installing shelving over the table for storage.

Well, that is all the news we have for now. We love all of you and are so happy to share the news of our lives with each of you. I will probably be doing only one more post before Maya's arrival. We are due in 7 weeks and I have an immense amount of school work to do before she gets here. Thanks again for all of the love most of you have sent our way as well as the gifts. They are greatly appreciated. Until next time, take care!