Under the sweet guise of purchasing it for our “new baby” - we picked up a new Digital SLR camera and are now in the process of learning how to use it in all it’s glory. We got a Canon Rebel XSi and took a few quick shots around the house etc to give it a whirl. Should be pretty cool for baby pictures once that baby boy/girl is crawling around!

I’ll be leaving for Maine on Wednesday for a good friend’s wedding. Although I am ecstatic about seeing my dear Kara, there are two things that concern me about this trip:

1) Attempting to fly from one corner of the country to the other in one day. Hopefully all my flights will be on time because I dont have much breathing room for my connections.

2) Fitting into a bridesmaid dress I bought BEFORE I found out I was pregnant. Three months and eight inches later, this dress is looking mighty tight around the bump. It’s a good thing this wedding is next weekend because I’m not so sure my belly can make it another week.

Maine will be exciting for sure. I can’t wait to catch up with old friends from college and celebrate the Fourth of July in cooler weather.

In other news, Andy will have a glorious five days of bachelorhood. I have a feeling these days will consist of hours of Sports Mogul, plenty of fast food and a western or two.

Andy and I went to the baby doctor today for my monthly appointment. We were in and out of there in five minutes which I’m guessing is a good thing. Andy got to hear the heartbeat for the first time and me the second. The doc told us it was at a perfect 156 bpm.

We also scheduled the “big” ultrasound for July 22nd. I’ll be 18 weeks on the dot so we’ll hopefully be able answer the big question everyone is dying to know: Is this little one going to be a Caleb or a Chloe/Claire/Lily? Andy is pretty certain it’s a boy; I’m completely clueless. In four weeks we shall know!

So we’ve pretty much settled on a Boy name (if it’s a boy), which is Caleb Michael Holloway. If it’s a girl, we’re not quite sure yet! Some of the names we’re pretty big fans of are Chloe, Claire, and I personally like Lilly a lot. What do you think? Have any good suggestions we haven’t thought of that aren’t Shaniqua or Delilah or Rudabega? Feel free to post them as comments to this post…we might just ignore your suggestions but you never know!

We’ve reached 14 weeks now and our baby is the size of a Lemon.  A vast improvement over the “medium shrimp” it was last week.  We have a doc appt in the morning tomorrow and we’ll get to see if everything is going well.  Around 20 weeks we’ll be able to see what gender it is…and whether it’s a Caleb or a Chloe….(names yet to be fully agreed upon…)

Be praying for us both, but mostly Bri as she endures all the random hormones, nausea, and fashion fun that comes with being pregnant.  Please also be praying for the baby’s development and for us both as future Dad & Mom!

In other news, we bought a nice digital camera this weekend, and I’d like to say it’s our first official “baby-prep” purchase.  “Baby-prep” purchases are also sweet excuses to buy nice things that can be moderately used for a baby.  Needless to say we’ll use it for lots of baby pictures and we’ll post em all up here for everyone to see

Keep your eyes on this blog for updates regarding the baby all the way through December and beyond…adios!

Bri is now past 13 weeks pregnant, which means she’s officially in the second trimester! This is exciting because the chance of miscarriage greatly decreases. The baby is now the size of…a medium sized shrimp! We have an appointment next Tuesday to get everything checked out. Our big appt is at 20 weeks when we can find out the baby’s gender etc. Should be neat!

Welcome to our brand new “Holloblog” - a Holloway family blog where Briana and I can share news about our lives, pictures, and also our thoughts and random things with family and friends! Feel free to leave comments on the posts and let us know how you like the site! Did you know? This site changes based on the time of day! You’ll see a serene sun and morning scene during the day and a dark night scene during the evening - so check it out!

I also imported all of my own posts from MyCrossDaily.com and TheBrokenView.com, as I will be posting exclusivly from here…