Our Life as Bloggers Begins!

The Super Shearer's have officially joined the blogging world! Please forgive us as we learn the ins and outs of creating a blog!

Where to start... WE ARE HAVING A BABY!!! Yep, we are super excited and expecting the little miracle around July 7, 2011 (or whenever he/she decides to grace the world with his/her presence!). We plan to keep track of the fun changes that are happening in our life as we prepare for the little one!

Here's the story of Baby Shearer:

We found out we were pregnant on Sunday, November 7, 2010, at 4:50AM! Yes, I did say 4:50AM (as I documented by a photo) because Ryan woke me up just before he left for work so he could see if there was any exciting news. Honestly, I wasn't expecting a positive since I had taken a home pregnancy test one week before which was negative. Ryan asked, "So, is it positive?" It changed super fast to a plus sign, and I responded "Yes!" We were both a little shocked but very thrilled and I was still half asleep! We hugged and then Ryan was off to work! Praise the Lord! It would be our little secret for a few weeks!

Our first appointment with the midwives at Women's Specialists of Houston was at 7 weeks on November 18, 2010, and we were able to see baby's first photos on the ultrasound! The most amazing part was seeing baby's heartbeat on the ultrasound at only 7 weeks of life (which is really only equivalent to 5 weeks after conception)! God's creation is truly majestic and beautiful to experience that such a teeny tiny baby is a living person with a heartbeat! AMAZING!

Here is a photo of the 7 week ultrasound (baby is between the two X's):

WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!!

Sharing the news with our families:

After our first midwives appointment, we decided to announce the baby news to family at Thanksgiving the next week. We went to Melissa's parent's home for Thanksgiving dinner with the family, and we could hardly wait a second longer to share the news!

I decided to have everyone write what they are thankful for on some little cards I bought and place them in a bowl, and my Daddy would read the cards out loud to everyone and we would guess who wrote it. In past years, we would go around the table and tell what we were thankful for just before eating, but I decided to change things up this year! Everyone filled out their cards, and I was planning to have my Daddy read them before we prayed. However, plans changed and the food was ready, so the decision was made by my Daddy to pray together, everyone would get their food, and then he would read the cards while we ate dinner. Ryan and I looked at each other like "oh ok..." We went along with the plan like it was no big deal, and Ryan slipped our card in the bowl at the last minute! After everyone sat down at the table with their plates busting with all the yummy food, my Daddy started reading the cards. The first card was my brother CJ's (I think), then my Daddy paused a minute before reading the surprise card! (Ryan had intentionally put our card at the very bottom so he would read all the others first, but my Daddy mixed the order up a little!) Daddy read,

"We are thankful for the new baby that is coming in July 2011! What a precious gift from God of new life to our family! Praise the Lord! 'For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.' -Psalm 139:13-14"

I think my Momma almost choked on her food and everyone was a little stunned, then teary-eyed! I got really hot, felt red faced, and then teary-eyed during the announcement! Lots of emotions of excitement! God has blessed us beyond belief! If you're wondering, yes, we did finish reading the rest of the cards after the surprise!

Next, we had a little gift for my parents- a picture frame that says, "Grandchildren are a precious gift from God" with baby Shearer's first ultrasound photo.

Melissa & Momma with the pic!

Us & the North Family (Melissa, Ryan, Daddy, CJ, Momma, Gene, Natalie)

We were hoping to see Mom and Dad S. (Ryan's parents) Thanksgiving evening to share the news, but they just didn't know why we were trying so hard to see them! After a little coercing, we planned to meet for lunch on Friday just before Mom and Dad went out of town for a week. We suspected they thought we were up to something when they kept asking "What do you have to give us?" Ryan told them we had to give them something as an excuse to meet up. When Mom and Dad arrived at lunch, we handed them a gift bag to open. They opened a grandchildren frame with baby Shearer's first ultrasound photo! They were very excited and couldn't wait to share the news!

Mom, Dad, Melissa, & Ryan at lunch

After making the exciting announcement with Mom and Dad S, we called Robin (Ryan's sister) and Brad and Taegan (Ryan's brother and sister-in-law) to share the news since they live out of town/state! When I called Taegan's phone, Ryan's brother Brad answered and we chatted for a minute about Thanksgiving. Next, I asked Brad what their plans were for next July? Brad answered with a matter-of-fact explanation that he was planning to be hiking in the mountains in Colorado. I then told Brad he'd be having a niece or nephew coming in July! This made me laugh because when I had asked Robin the same question, she said "I have no idea, why?" I fully expected Brad to probably say the same thing, so it made me smile when he told me his plans for July! Taegan was very excited to have a cousin for Grant and Maddie (our niece and nephew) to play with! We then proceeded to begin calling grandparents, aunts and uncles, and other relatives over the next few days! We can't wait for everyone to meet baby in July!

Sharing our news with friends:

We began slowly telling our friends in the Houston area in person and calling our out-of-town friends. One of my favorite stories was when we went to dinner with our friends Brad and Haley and their son Grayson (2 1/2 years). Ryan made a last minute decision as he finished the prayer before dinner to add in: "And thank you God for the baby that's in Melissa's tummy." Haley then explained to Grayson, "There is a little baby in Miss Melissa's tummy!" Grayson kept asking "where?" as he looked at my belly... as in, where in the heck is she hiding a baby in there? Haha Next, Grayson kept trying to lift up my shirt to find the baby! It was so cute and made us laugh so hard! We explained to Grayson the baby was very, very small and needed to grow in my tummy. Later, as we were outside the restaurant, Grayson looked up at me and said "baby in your tummy has to grow." He seemed to understand and was pleased the baby was ok! SOO cute! We have loved watching little Grayson grow up from being a tiny preemie to a sweet baby and now to a hilarious and fun little boy!

We have been incredibly blessed by our family and friends who have come along side us and celebrated this new life with such joy, prayed for us and the baby during this pregnancy, and been a huge encouragement to us in every way! You know who you are, and we thank you very much!

Baby is Growing!

We've had two more appointments with the midwives at 9 weeks (12/8/10) and 14 weeks (1/6/11) with ultrasounds at both since they were trying to get an accurate due date! We enjoyed getting to see the baby grow, move and wiggle all over the place, and hear baby's heartbeat which is like music to our ears! Below are the photos from the ultrasounds:

9 weeks
14 weeks

Finally, for a few belly shots!

5 weeks (baby is super tiny!)
16 weeks- tummy is definitely thickening!

This is probably the longest post I will ever write, but I wanted to share with you what God has been doing in our lives (& so I remember too)! Since I had the day off work today due to the icy weather, I had a good excuse to start a blog! Thank you, Lord, for our little baby!