I'm Bumpalicious!

Watching my body change has been my favorite part of the pregnancy process.  I have loved seeing the baby grow in both the sonograms and in the mirror.  I will miss resting my hand on my belly and daydreaming about finally having Tyler in my arms.  Kevin loves My Bump, too!

On the left: Pre-Pregnancy by 1 month, August 2010.  Right: 23 weeks.

Top view of The Bump in the truck at 24 weeks.

From Left to Right: 22 weeks, 24 weeks and 25 weeks.

I have also love the time we spend preparing for the baby.  Putting together our crib and stroller, buying baby clothes, making space... I would do it all over and over again if I didn't have to go to work every day! 

Daddy reading Dr. Seuss to Baby!

Kevin had a fondness of cows when he was a baby, so in honor of that... Blueberry's First Moo!  It even has a little tail in back!

Maybe Tyler will be a Soccer Player?

The beginning of the second trimester is wonderful for many mommies-to-be...  Mainly because the worst prego symptoms disappear, and that is also when you can first start to feel the baby's movements.  For me though, it was a bit different.  I haven't had any of the horrible symptoms so it felt pretty normal around that time and unfortunately, I wasn't able to feel the baby moving.  But now, at 26 weeks, I am finally able to feel him!  AND IT FEELS AMAZING!  We laid down for a nap this evening and even Kevin could feel him kick when he put his hands on The Belly!  We are so lucky to have this life!

Daddy-to-Be feeling The Blueberry kick for the first time, at 26 weeks.

Watching The Blueberry Grow

Our first few sonogram visits were amazing.  Hearing our son's heartbeat and watching him move around inside my tummy was life changing.  We will never forget those first few months.  As The Belly progressed, our sonograms got better and better! 

Here is a clip from Belly View in McAllen, TX.  This is a black and white image of Our Love moving around inside Mommy's tummy.

One of my favorites, here is the clip of him in his "boxer pose," with his hands up by his face.  Towards the end of the clip you can see his knee up by his elbow and the rest of his leg and foot!  Amazing!

This is Tyler's side profile... I think he has my nose!  We love you, Tyler!  We can't wait to meet you!

The Big Move

We immediately knew we needed to push forward with a wedding. I wanted to share my last name with my new family. I wanted Kevin and Blueberry's last name (Valencia) before the Blueberry arrived! We talked about the Whens and Wheres and decided the beginning months of 2011 would be best and we would get married in Texas. But I also wanted to visit my family soon... and two trips to Texas would be too expensive... and having the baby without my mom near would be so hard... so Kevin and I decided that we would make Texas our home!

Kevin posing with our "Welcome Home" poster!

Thanks to our nieces and nephews: Andy, Alex, Melynn and Loren, along with my sister, Lori for the signs!  We missed you, too!

Blueberry Surprise!

We found out we were expecting (a baby that is!) on September 29th, 2010 and we couldn't have been happier! I was a few days "late..." 6 days to be precise... and on that Friday morning we talked about whether we should wait a few more days or go ahead and take The Test. We decided we would take the test after work, just before date night. I took the test and... nothing... oh well... I threw it into the bathroom trash and started changing for our night out. We were quiet, trying to be numb to the disappointment we felt. After a few silent minutes Kevin asked, "Wouldn't it be funny if we went out to dinner, came back, and the test was positive?!?!" I told him that if checking the test again would make him feel better, then he should check it... and he did... And what-do-ya-know! POSITIVE! We celebrated at Outback Stake House and wondered if our lives would be Pink or Blue...

It turns out our lives will be BLUE! Before we found out that our Little Boy would be a Little Boy, we called him Blueberry, because that was about how big he was when we started this Adventure. In honor of his budding life, we started a baby book, written and illustrated by Mommy and Daddy called: The Blueberry Adventures.

When we finally were scheduled for our first sonogram visit, we were jumping out of our skin with excitement. Our Little Blueberry was the best surprise we could have ever hoped for and we wanted to see his cute little Blueberry body!



Here he is at 10 weeks along... Just a little Blueberry Jellybean! We couldn't believe our eyes! We had created life! Because we found out we were expecting so early in the pregnancy, it has made the pregnancy very long, and we have enjoyed every second of it!

Our Lives as New Yorkers...

After getting to know each other in Texas, we decided to get to know each other in New York. I worked for a Boys & Girls Club of the Educational Alliance on the Lower East Side (Manhattan, New York City) and Kevin worked for a Toys 'R' Us in Queens, right next to our house! Can you tell we're kids at heart? On our free time we went on dates around the city and Kevin showed me the sites!

After spending so much time on Texas' South Padre Island, Kevin wanted to show me what a "real" beach looks like! This is Jones Beach on Long Island in New York. It was beautiful and the sand was FLUFFY, and the seagulls were HUGE! However, despite how lovely it was... it was far too cold to enjoy the water. Only the "crazies" were in the water!

What a good sport! At Jones Beach...

What a sight!!! And I don't mean the beautiful blue water...

We also walked through about half of Central Park... We tried to walk it on two different occasions... but it is soooooo vast, it's impossible to do it at foot pace in one day... After a long walk one night we saw this Missing Unicorn post... Cute!

We moved to New York at tail end of summer, beginning of fall, so the leaves were just about to turn pink and red and orange. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen! Texas doesn't offer those kinda colors... We would love to go back and visit this coming fall.




Kevin on a little foot bridge in Central Park overlooking one of the many Central Park Lakes and the center of Manhattan in New York City.



One day we planned "quick trip" to Ground Zero (the site of the Terrorist Attacks on the Twin Towers on 9/11), but it took soooo long to walk around the site (which is still VERY under-construction) that we weren't able to do any of the other things we had planned that day... You can see the new Tower going up (the red building frame on left side of picture).



We also walked down 5th Avenue where all the "Fancy" stores are (Like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Bergdorf Goodman, Lord and Taylor, and OF COURSE... Saks 5th Avenue.



Here is the Verrazano Narrows Bridge connecting Brooklyn to Manhattan in New York City. We passed by this one day when we got lost driving home from the beach... It was worth it!




Here is Mr. Trump's Office... I know you're thinking it, so I'll just say it, "YOU'RE FIRED!"




Here is a New York City view from Central Park.



One of our favorite hang outs was in the Times Square neighborhood. Our favorite "Mexican" restaurant and movie theater were there, so we took the train there a few times a month for Date Night... "Chevy's and a movie!"




The sights, sounds, and people at Times Square were amazing... HECTIC... but amazing!




Here is Kevin, bottom center, looking up at the lights at Times Square! He's such a good model!



On another date we picnicked at Battery Park, with the Statue of Liberty in view!



We also spent our Thanksgiving morning at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! It was FABULOUS! There were soooooo many people!




And here is our Thanksgiving Family Picture! We had known about our Little Blueberry for about a month!


Kevin also took me to the Museum of Modern Art where I was like, "WOW!" and Kevin was like, "Even I could make that!" Hahaha!




We also survived a BLIZZARD! It was sooooooo cold!

We went all kinds of places and did all kinds of things in New York City. I'm happy to say I lived there, worked there, and started a family there. That is one of those amazing things you think you'll never get the chance to do... and thanks to Kevin and our families, I can cross that off my list!

Before we became "The Valencias..."

Before we were "The Valencias..." we were just Kevin and Kerri. Like I said before, our story is short, but full of love. We starting dating (online, that is) in January of 2010... Him in New York, and me here in Texas. We decided we needed to meet in person to see how things would work out in the future. Kevin came to Texas from New York in June of 2010 and spent the summer with my family and me.

Here we are at the movies... waiting in line to see Toy Story 3. We have since kept up with the Movie Date Night Tradition of our "courting" phase. We love those nights together!

Us spending time at South Padre Island. We spent many hours walking on the beach getting to know each other. We wound up getting married there, where we had our first date. A great place for memories! We can't wait to take Tyler there...

We stayed most nights at our family's old house, in which no one lived. It was up for sale so there wasn't any furniture, air conditioning, nor fridge! We got along by spending the days at my mom and sister's houses. We'll never forget the Yellow House! Since we had no appliances, we would spend some afternoons at the laundry mat. Here is us cooling off outside and spending our time playing with my camera.

We also spent time together walking around my mom and sister's new neighborhood... talking, talking, talking!!!

Kevin at South Padre Island, being lovely! ♥

By the end of the Summer, we were even more sure that we wanted Forever. I got rid of the last of my stuff and we moved to New York in August of 2010!!!

And then we became "The Valencias..."

The first picture I personally captured of "The Valencias."  That day was a fairytale!

On February 27th, 2011, Kerri (that's me!) and Kevin became "The Valencias." Our story is short, but full of love... and so was our wedding! We married barefoot on the beach at South Padre Island in front of our closest relatives and friends. It was the most beautiful moment of our lives. That day, we promised to love the people we were, are, and will become. We made this promise not only to one another, but also to our Little Blueberry, who will be here this summer! We love you, Tyler!

Our classic ring pose.  Thanks to Kevin's father for the rings, which Kevin and I designed; and thanks to Priscilla (my BFF) for the beautiful flowers!

Another special thanks to Randi for taking our wonderful wedding photos!

I loved the wedding decorations!

Kevin's favorite picture of us!

The best day of our lives! ♥