Then to Now..

I don't know who really reads this anymore but I thought since I have a sleeping baby at the moment I figured I would document all that has been going on and try to remember it in order!

So, we went in that Monday and found that she still had not turned so the doctor wanted me to come back on Thursday for one more check to see if it may be a last minute thing before our scheduled C-section on Friday June 19th. We spent another few days worrying about what was to be and pretty much preparing for it anyway! I think I was more nervous about my water breaking or something upredictable happening than the actual surgery itself. J was just worried in general, because that is just him! Wednesday I spent the whole day doing nothing. I figured it was my last chance before my life turned upside down! (Thank goodness I did, it was worth it.)
Thursday came and I had to go to the appointment alone because J had to work. It was pretty quick. The doctor did another sonogram to just verify and she was still in the same spot, and of course she was! So we went over everything - we had to get there at 530 am so they could do all the tests and get the epidural in for the surgery at 730. So I spent the day cleaning, went to the store to pick up some groceries for my family to have while we were in the hospital, and just preparing what I could. Mom, Dad and Robby all came up that night and we went out for a nice steak dinner at a really good resturant over by us. We stayed up late trying to get things in order as best we could so we were pretty exhausted when we woke up, but excited too! We actually showered and packed and made it out of the house on time!

We got to the hospital at 530, got registered and made our way up to the labor and delivery floor. I honestly wasn't nervous at all. I had this overwhelming calm mixed with excitement that I can't explain. Plus, the nurses were so awesome! They were the best and made me feel so at ease! They got us all hooked up to the monitor and IV and started to get us prepared for surgery. The anesthesiologist came in and she was so awesome. She reminded me alot of my friend Cindy so I felt really comfortable. The epidural itself is weird and was a little painful at fist but once it was in they were some drugs worth having! Not that I had a choice in this case because I would not have wanted to feel anything!! The best way I can describe it is like someone running an icecube down your back every time they put in a dose. So strange! There was a moment where my heartrate started going up and I just felt like I couldn't catch my breath. But they gave me some oxygen and it slowed. That was the only thing I can remember that really scared me. After all that was under control they started checking the numbness in my body. She would run an ice cube up my body starting at the feet asking if I felt anything. About 15 minutes later I was all numbed up. They got J in his scrubs and we were off to have a baby.

At that moment I started freaking out a bit. I was lying down so all I could see were the lights on the ceiling. It was like something out of a movie! I remember feeling really scared and my teeth chattering a little bit. But I managed to keep my cool. They got me to the OR and it was like something out of a movie too! But J was by my side and I was keeping calm. My doctor came in and talked to me and made sure I was ok and the anesthesiologist was there too. She hooked me up to oxygen and talked to me and reassured me that I was fine and to let her know if I needed more meds. They put a sheet up so I couldn't see what was happening but J could look over it and watch. They started the surgery and he would look over a bit and then come and sit down and make sure I was ok. At one point he's looking over and he says, "what does that feel like?" and I said " alot of pulling and tugging." He says, "that's not what they are doing, I'll tell you later.." and smiled. He was so good through the whole thing, he is probably what kept me calm.

Then Finally at 8:06 a.m, what seemed like only a few minutes later, they pulled her out and Catherine Georgia Montague was in the world! J said the first thing he saw was her little white butt and she immediately cried. We both burst into tears! It was one of the sweetest moments of my life. They wrapped her up and showed her to us. Then took her over and started getting her all cleaned up. I was in a daze but I remember I asked if she had my toes! He said he couldn't tell though. They were asking me also what i thought she weighed- i guessed 6 or 7lbs but she surprised all of us and weight 8.4! She was 19 inches long. So after that they took her off to have the doctor check her out while I was being closed up, J went with her. I was given something to sleep a little and the next thing I remember I'm done and being wheeled off back to the room we started in. They had an overflow of patients using the maternity ward so we had to wait for a room. We were there for about an hour or two and then were given a room. Soon after they brought Cate in and washed her hair then gave her to us to cuddle. J brought Mom, Dad and Robby in to see us then we sent them off to get some lunch. I was so exhausted I was just in a daze!

Finally they had our room ready so they took us up to the next floor. I was still numb and exhausted. Lucky for us, it was nap time and we got a few hours of rest in before Mom, Dad and Robby came back. The next few hours were me still exhausted, getting feeling slowly back in my legs, Nurses coming and going checking in about every hour. The next few days were just me getting strength back and slowly starting to function again while trying to breast feed and get to know our sweet little girl. It was a hard few days but we made it through! We got the go ahead to go on Monday and I was so happy to be home!

So now it's a little over a month later and we're doing great! We struggled a while with feeding but we are into our groove now, I think. It's still hard some nights to get up but we are working on that. I've gotten some good advice so hopefully we can get this little one to sleep through the night before I go back to work Aug 31st.

Well, I think my brain has reached it's limit but I hope all of you now know the excitement of Cate's birthday!!

Love to you all!

I can't believe it...

So here we are, in the final stretch. Wow! Less than 2 weeks left (possibly less depending on what happens at the doctor Monday!) I'm still feeling really good, just getting tired faster and this hot weather is not helping! I just need a day off of work where I'm doing nothing so I can just sleep and get ready for what's to come. I'm sure it'll be a long time before I get a chance to do that again!

I did manage to get all the baby gifts(thank you all!) sorted out and our dining room cleared out of all that stuff. It was baby stuff explosion all over the place in there. We got our travel system for the car and everything I can think of we'll be needing. I'm sure I'll be making more trips to Target for more stuff when she's here. Even with all the diapers we got!

Cate's room is done, other than organizing and putting away all those clothes we've been given and figuring out where to put what! We just got the dresser done last night so hopefully I'll get all that stuff done within the next few days. I tried my hand at painting some flowers on the wall but they just didn't work out. So J just painted over them and you can't even tell they were ever there! I found some wall stickers of butterflies and flowers and those have worked out well. So It all worked out!

So now is just the waiting game at this point. Tomorrow is our next appointment and we'll see what she has to say about everything. I'm getting both nervous and excited about all of it. It'll be a whole new adventure! Especially since we've been married so long and it's only been the two of us. Three will be a whole new thing!

Love to you all!
C

One month left!

Wow..a month left! I can't believe it. I've got so much to do!! I'm so excited, nervous and scared at the same time. I'm sure that is pretty normal. I'm feeling fine and happy. She is getting stronger and bigger so just her moving around can hurt. But it's a small price to pay! One of my friends just had her baby and she is just so happy. I hope things work out that well for us.

I had a great baby shower on the 17th! Brittney did such an awesome job and we had a really good turn out. Thanks for everyone who showed up. I felt so loved and special!

We are getting maternity pics done this weekend so I'll be sure to send them out when they are ready.

love you all!
C and baby C

Adventure!

I had an adventure today! I went to downtown Dallas to get a 4-D sonogram done at El Centro college. One of J's friends at work told us about it and that they only charged $30 for a scan because it's for teaching. Well, I bugged him for months to get the info about it and when he did I kept forgetting about it - flash forward to Monday. I emailed the director and she said that the students were in finals this week so they wouldn't be doing any scans BUT she would do one for me. Of course I was thrilled!

Let me tell you, this week has been a busy one. I've been going to product trainings for work, running around like a crazy person these last few days. Plus I had to go to a 7 am meeting this morning! After the meeting I start heading over there and it is just pouring rain until I get halfway there. I drive around downtown lost for a while then end up finding the college, only to discover I'm in the wrong frikin building. I'm already almost 30 minutes late when I get there but she is forgiving and goes ahead and does the scan for me. She squirted a ton of jelly on me and it was everywhere! She got a few good shots but Cate seems to have her head buried inside me, totally face down. We got a fairly good profile shot but after that she just buried in more. So she wasn't the most active but I did walk away with some good shots and confirmation that she is indeed, a girl!



After all that I took the pictures to J's work where he immediately started showing everyone. I'm sure everyone in that office was tired of him by the end of the day! But it's good to know that he is very excited!

Lots of love
C and baby C

A little disappointed

Well, we were supposed to go to Midland for my baby shower last weekend but we ended up staying home. It turns out that my best friend and hostess of the shower Amy's daughter (and our God Daughter) Chloe caught her the flu bug and had to go to the hospital. So the shower in Midland had to be canceled. Amy was very sad and so was I. But all that mattered was that Chloe was fine and she is! She is getting better every day but has been in quarenteen until Friday. They will also find out if it was regular flu or swine flu on that day as well. Seeing as I didn't want to get sick, we decided to stay home. I was very bummed! I was really looking forward to seeing all my friends and family but I guess that will have to wait until Cate is here and able to travel. But my mom, knowing I was sad, and my brother Robby came up on Saturday and we spent the day hanging out. It was nice of them to come and I felt alot better! Plus an extended weekend never hurt anyone either :)

As far as everything else, I'm feeling fine. Baby Cate has been kicking away! We have our next 2 week appointment on Monday. It'll probably just be the routine but I'm hoping she'll do a sonogram again. We'll see - but I doubt it. I guess you never know! We have our birthing class on the 16th too. That'll be interesting! I just hope they don't show a video. I would just rather not see it right now! Ugh!

I'm gearing up for my shower here on the 17th! I'm hoping there will be a good turnout. I'd love to see everyone!

Well, that's all I have for now. Love to you all!

C and baby C

Time is flying by!

Well, we are in the home stretch now it seems...less than 2 months! Yikes! I'm definatley feeling more pregnant lately. Which is what I was waiting for! Baby is moving around like crazy so there is no doubt about it anymore! I'm feeling more excited too, which is good! It took me a while. While I do still feel a little overwhelemed and weird, it's going away..slowly.

This weekend we finally got the room painted but it's not quite done yet. It's a very pretty purpley pink color. It looks great! And we had some really sweet friends come and help us paint, which made it go by so much faster! I think we got 2 coats done in less than 4 hrs. Pretty amazing. My next task is to do some stamping but I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet. My friend Jaime is going to come over and help me on Friday so hopefully I'll have that figured out by then! We've yet to put the bed together but that is probably a good thing since we're not completely done with the painting! I'm sure I'll have it all done by the time June rolls around. At least that is my goal! I'm on the lookout for a dresser too so I can get all those clothes organized! Whew! Alot to do!

Everything at the doctor is good. We got to meet Dr Woolridge for a whole 10 minutes (maybe) in case my doctor is not available when Cate decides to make her arrival. Next time, we'll see my regular doctor and I'm hoping she'll do a sonogram again! She said she'd do one around 35 weeks to see what position the baby is in. I hope she does! If not I'll probably have to wait another month. Boo! Hopefully that won't be the case.

This weekend we're going to Midland for one of my showers. My best friend Amy is throwing one for me! I'm super excited, I'm sure it'll be awesome! I'll post pics later! The next one will be May 17th at my friend Brittney's house in McKinney. I'm hoping for a good turnout on that one too, since most of my relatives live closer to here than Midland.

Talk to you guys later!
C and baby C

30 weeks!

So here we are at 30 weeks! I can't believe time is flying by like this. Pretty soon we'll have a baby and no sleep!! But it'll be worth it.

I'm happy to report that my 3 hour gestational diabetes test was normal! We were so happy! My doctor said that I had barely failed the 1 hour, she just wanted to make sure that everything was OK. She is so awesome. We had our routine appointment yesterday and everything is good. I love hearing that heartbeat. I have to fight back tears every time I hear it! I asked about another sonogram and she said they usually only do 2 but probably around 35 weeks they will do another one just to make sure baby is where she's supposed to be. I hope so! I want to see what she looks like now. Someone at J's work told him about a school that will do the 3D ultrasounds for cheap so I keep trying to find out where it is. I'll keep you posted.

Our next appointment will be with one of the other doctors in the practice so we can meet them and get to know them "in case" my doctor is not able to deliver our baby. There are 2 other doctors, both women. I've never met them so it'll be a good opportunity. Better than having a surprise if my doc isn't available!

I've been cleaning like crazy and on the 26th we are going to paint the baby's room! I can't wait. We decided to go with a lilac color and do a white stripe around the room. It'll be really sweet when it's done! We got a new bed for our room so our old bed is now in that room for those nights when we have a fussy baby and one of us needs sleep! It's getting exciting now! I'll post pictures once we get it all done.

Love to you all!
C and baby C

3 months to go

Well I've had a whirlwind of a week! Baby is good and I am good, well except that I will have to go take the 3 hr glucose test on Thursday. I'm not happy about that but I will take things as they come. I don't really have a choice, do I? I'm starting to go to the doctor every 2 weeks starting on the 13. I will get a chance to meet the other doctors in the practice in case my doctor isn't available when I have the baby. Yikes! Well at least I get to do that so it won't be a total surprise if that happens.

My wonderful friend Jenny has helped me come up with some ideas for the baby's room. We have a crib that has yet to be put together but at least I have an idea on what is going to go where in the room. Its amazing how much smaller a room becomes when you start adding furniture! Hopefully we will have it all ready for her when she arrives! Not like she's going to use it for a while, but still. I think all this thinking has kicked in my nesting phase. I've been more motivated to clean things and organize them, such as my closet and I actually hung things on the wall in our family room this morning! So hopefully this will help me get things in the house organized! We'll see!

Well, I hope all of you are doing well!

Love,
C and baby C

update

So we are now at 27 weeks. Baby has been moving around alot! It's so weird!! But I'm really enjoying being pregnant, although nothing has really changed. But I'm sure it soon will!!

Next week is the dreaded glucose test. I'm not looking forward to it at all. But I know it has to be done. I'm going to try not to be a nervous wreck until then! I've been watching my sugar intake and diet so hopefully my doctor will be happy with the results of that.

This weekend we went to Midland and had a really good time. It was fun seeing our friends and hanging out with family! But those trips always seem to fly by and I'm so exhausted by the end of it. Next time we go it will be for my baby shower on May 2nd! My best friend
Amy is planning and I'm so excited to see what she does. She's an amazingly creative person so I'm sure it'll be a blast!!

We FINALLY picked up our crib last night but it probably won't be put together for a few more weeks. J is going to have to get his Dad to help him because him and I just don't work well together when it involves assembling things. I'm slowly trying to organize my thoughts on decor for the nursery. We'll see how that goes!

I hope all of you are well. I'll update you next week when I find out about my test.

love,
C and baby

shy little me..

I think I have figured out why I'm having a weird reaction to being pregnant. I'm just not used to being the center of attention. I know it's short lived because in a few months, baby will be center of attention and not me. But still, it takes some getting used to. I am used to being the quiet one and I think that J and I work well together becaue he is always the loud one and usually the center of attention. I am a private person and I do want to share with all of you. I just don't know how to react to questions about the baby or what is going on because I'm not used to being asked and sometimes I just really don't know the answer. I think that I've always been the type that gets uncomfortable when put in the spotlight and sometimes it makes me come off snotty. I hope none of you feel that way. Its all just really overwhelming and I'm trying to take it one day at a time. Plus I'm a bit paranoid so talking about it makes me nervous about all the "what ifs." In any case, I'm trying my hardest not to be in the shadows.

Now that I'm done explaining here is an update...I'm feeling fine, baby is active and that is about it. The Glucose test isn't until the 31st and i'm sure I'll be a bit scared until then. We haven't started setting up anything yet for the nursery, mostly because we haven't purchased a bed yet. (My parents have given us money to do so, but things have just been a bit hectic and we haven't had the time) I have selected bedding, but that is about it. I'm hoping to get registered and get the bed at the same time and knocki it all out. We shall see what happens!

I hope this finds you all well and happy!

Love,
C and baby

24 week update

We had our doctor appointment yesterday. Everything with baby is fine but my doctor is concerned that my glucose levels and weight (a few pounds gained, not too bad) are up. It may have been the honey nut cheerios I ate before the appointment but next week I have to take my routine gestational diabetes test which consists of drinking a bottle of sugary fruit punch stuff and getting my blood drawn an hour after to see what my glucose levels are. If they are high, I'll have to take a 3 hr test after fasting. If I don't pass that, then I'll have to go see a nutritionist and monitor what my food intake is. If it can't be controlled through diet and exercise, I will have to start monitoring my blood sugar and taking insulin. The doctor said that if I do have it, it will go away after delivery but could mean that I am at risk for diabetes in general. And seeing that I am overweight and I have a family history of it, it very well could be a possibility. So please pray for me! I'm very nervous about it. But J and I decided right then and there (actually we had been talking about it the day before it even came up) that we need to step it up so we have both started monitoring our calorie intake and exercise. I'm glad he's doing it too, it's tough to do it alone! I will admit that I have upped my sugar intake the past few weeks, drinking sugary cream soda and indulging in too many bite size candy bars. So I'm cutting that out immediately! I'm upping my water intake and trying to stay away from anything overly sugary. I was doing fine before but I slipped a little as obvious by my weight gain. So I'm starting a new path and going to do my best.

Love you all!
C

More updates..

So it's been about 2 weeks since I've written anything so I guess I will to appease those of you that are getting onto me about it.

I'm still in the disbelief phase of pregnancy. Even though I feel her moving around and am noticing changes in my body, it's still surreal. I've been reassured that this is normal and totally due to hormones so I don't feel like such a freak! I'm trying to get excited, trust me! It'll come, I just hope that it's not the day before she is born! I think part of it is that I'm such a wallflower that the attention is something that I'm just not used to. I don't know that I ever will be but I'm working on it.

My best friend Amy and her husband John were up for the weekend just recently. We had a really great time but I was really worn out at the end of it! They have a daughter so they brought us three boxes of clothes that she can't wear anymore and a few other things, and they have more to give us! So seeing all that stuff did help me get excited, along with all the gifts that we've been getting. J is very bummed that the stuff that comes isn't for him. He said he'll just have to get used to it! So if any of you want to do something nice - send him something just for him so he won't feel left out. Maybe that is just the only child in him, but I'm used to having to share! haha!

My parents have decided to buy us a crib so we are really excited to get it. Maybe once that gets set up it'll feel a bit more REAL.

Anyway - other than that nothing special has been going on. Just working and thankful that I have a job. They laid off all the store hosts 2 weeks ago and it really scared me! But I guess whatever happens we'll make due. Its just something that is always floating around.

Next Dr appointment is Tuesday March 3 so I will let you know how that goes!

Love,
Christina

Freaking Out

Last night I had a weird dream. Anticipation I guess, about my eventuality of giving birth. Since I've never been through it I don't know what to expect. One of my friends just had a baby and she sent me a very informative email about all the stuff I will need going to the hospital. I guess that had something to do with it. But I dreamed the baby was very big - God help me if she is!! Aghhh!

I guess it's just one of those things that every woman dreads until she goes throug it. As my Mom and friends have told me your body does know what to do and will do it. You just have to be prepared. I plan on it!

It's just another one of those scary things that first timers have to anticipate. But I've also heard the end result is worth it! I believe it 100%.

Updates..

Yeah I know, I'm pretty lazy about this blogging thing. I knew that I would be. I should've warned you all ahead of time!

Anyway, we are at 21 weeks. We had our sonogram last Tuesday and everything is good. We are having a little girl! She was measuring at about a week ahead of what my due date is so the sonographer said it'll be sometime between June 22-26 at this point. She was in the breech position for most of the time so we had a time trying to find out what was between those legs. J said it was because she is a lady and that she didn't want to show us. I think she was just being stubborn! But after a while, she gave up and let us see! Poor Baby. She was mad for the rest of the day! I had the boy vibe for a long time but maybe that was just a hope. Not that I'm not excited as all get out to have a girl, I guess I was just trusting my vibe! But that is usually how it goes!

Sonogram pics are up if you want to see them : dropshots.com/Ladymontague (password is Prosper)

I am finally feeling those little movements and kicks. It feels like a mix between muscle spasms and bubbles. At first I really didn't recognize it but after the sonogram, I knew that was what it was! It was weird how I was clueless about it and then it just clicked. That is how it usually is with me though. It's exciting to finally know that she's ok.

I haven't started showing yet so I'm still anxiously awaiting the day that my bottom part of my belly evens out with the top part. Oh well, maybe it will happen, maybe not. As long as she keeps growing I'm fine with whatever my body does! I've been feeling good, just more tired and easily worn out. I'm still trying to organize the house and Sunday did finally get our closet cleaned out. Now I just have to hang up all the clothes I have thrown in the basket! I'm off tomorrow so I'm hoping to get around to getting some, if not all, those boxes in the dining room unpacked or at least try to figure out what to do with them. But thinking about it, it'll be just an empty space once all that is done. *sigh* Hopefully that'll encourage us to come up with something creative to do with the space! We have a small table that will go in there and maybe the other half will be a reading area until it becomes a playroom or something of that nature. Do people even use formal dining rooms for that purpose anymore?

I'm still not sure what I want to do for the nursery yet. I'm trying to keep it as simple as I can and not go too girly. I'm just not a pink lover, really. I have found some green and browns I like so that may be the colors. I'll have to consult my designer friends to get some ideas. But I did find some really cute pink sheets that were at Target. I don't know... I have found a crib and it's pretty resonably priced for a convertable one. Cribs apparently have come a long way from what they used to be. Most convert from a crib, to a toddler bed to a full size headboard. That is the way it should be! I do know, that more than likely, the baby's room will be the first room in the house to have a different color paint on the walls! I have all intentions of painting other rooms but there is just so much to think about right now I just can't even go there!

Well, that's it. I hope all of you are well!

Love,
Christina

Weirdness

So I went out looking at baby stuff with my awesome friend Jenny on Sunday. She and her husband Rob are adopting a baby soon, so since we are both in the market for stuff, we wanted to take the chance to research our options for bedding and furniture and whatnot. It was such a blast but so weird at the same time. I guess all this baby stuff is still so unreal right now that I just don't know how to react to it. I found a bunch of cool stuff and I think I found the crib I want too.

It's just weird. I have always loved going out and shopping for baby stuff for friends but I'm so hesitant to buy one thing right now. Mostly because I just don't know where to start but also because I just have that fear buried deep down that I could jinx it at any moment. Hopefully once we have our next check up and get to see the baby again my fears will subside. I truly hope that they do. Plus, I'll know what gummy bear is so I'll know for sure what to look for.

That's it for now..check back with ya later!

Train keeps a movin'

We are in week 19! Yay! One more week and we get to see our baby and finally start calling baby "he or she" instead of "it" or gummy bear (although I like calling baby gummy bear). I am not showing yet, that I can tell, but things are different (I'm a bigger girl anyway so I know it'll take time for it to be obvious that it's not just my tummy). I have been watching one of the girls here at work get more and more pregnant (I think she is at week 28) and I'm getting nervous. Just fear of the unknown, I guess. Plus, It doesn't help the fact that I go to yahoo answers and read weird questions either. I know it's natural to worry, there are so many things that could happen. Will they? Probably not. But who knows. If they do, then we'll deal with it and move forward. Please pray for us!!

We had a nice visit with the in-laws and grandparents last weekend. We even got our first baby gift!! I will post a picture of it. It's a little lamb snuggle thing. Basically an ultra soft blanket with a lamb's head on it. Sounds weirder than it is. Promise. Tomorrow my friend Jenny and I are going to go looking around for ideas for the nursery. Her and her husband have been trying to have a baby for so long with no luck. But they just got their adoption in order and should be on the list soon! Hopefully they will have a baby by the end of the year. I know they will make great parents and after all they have been through, they deserve the chance. Hearing their story makes me really want to adopt one day. But it is very expensive. No wonder there are so many kids in the US that haven't been adopted. The process is expensive and grueling. If only everyone had to go through the process to have kids naturally. We probably wouldn't have the kind of crappy parents that are out there right now popping out kiddos left and right.

ANYWAY -I'm totally off my soapbox now.

I want to tell Jaime how proud of her I am. She is finally getting out of a marriage that has left her unhappy for so long. I know it can't be easy honey but you are going to be fine. And once you are out there and ready, you'll find someone who will love you the right way. I'm always here for you.

I hope all of you are well. I'll keep you updated.

Almost halfway there!

18 Weeks today!! Only 2 left and we'll get to know what our Gummy Bear is! I can't wait. Plus, we'll be halfway through! YAY! It doesn't matter to me what we have, as long as everything is healthy and good. We did get the results of our blood tests and everything is good. No chromosome abnormalities like Down Syndrome or Cystic Fibrosis. That is a relief!!

For a while there I wanted to keep it a surprise because I could wait to find out, after all, it's one of life's biggest surprises, but J just can't. He said there is just too much planning involved to NOT know. And if he knew and I didn't, I would just want to know or it would slip out one day. (I could see it happening like it did on "Friends" - one of my friends would accidentally let it slip). But my friend Amy did point out something, as soon as you know, you can start calling them by their name. That way they recognize it. It's sweet.

Anyway, I'm feeling kind of blah and worn out today. Not sure why, just one of those days I guess. Good thing I'm off tomorrow so maybe I can get some extra sleep. I doubt it since the Grandparents and In-laws will be visiting tomorrow. OH WELL..

C

Starting this thing..

So, upon advice from my friend Kylene (who is a month ahead of me in the pregnancy race) I decided to give this blog thing a try in order to keep those of you far away up to date on goings on in my life. Now I'm not promising anything BUT I will try to keep this as current as I possibly can. I just know how lazy I can be when it comes to this stuff. You have officially been warned people.

I guess the first thing I can do is update you on bebe stuff..Currently we are at 17 weeks and last appointment everything was good. We heard the heartbeat again and the doctor was very happy with where we are at. Our next appointment is Feb 3 and we will find out the sex! We are excited. I don't really have a preference and I don't think J does either. I know if we have a girl he will be putty in her hands. But he has warned me if we have a girl we may not have any more since he can't risk having 2 girls. Just too many boys in the world he'd have to kill and he doesn't want to end up in jail. :)
I am still in disbelief about all this sometimes. I guess once I start feeling baby move around and stuff it'll get more real but right now it's just weird. Weird to talk about, weird to think about, WEIRD. Don't get me wrong, we are both really excited but seeing as some bad stuff has happened to some people we work with, we have proceeded with caution. I guess sometimes I feel like I might jinx it or something. Like I'll be overly happy for a minute and then it'll all just fall apart. But as I have been told J (who is incredibly comforting) its not in our hands and we have to trust that God will provide us with what we need. I truly believe that and it has provided me with some comfort to ease my worried mind.
We have been trying to map out all we can like daycare and trying to fit school in, in the fall. It's just weird to know that you are on the brink of this life changing event and all you can really do is try to hold on for dear life and go with the flow.
Something funny that J said the other day while we were lying in bed - he was making a sandwich and thought "soon I'll have to be making this for a kid too. I'll have to feed the kid." He said that thought made it a little more real to him. I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks this way!!

We had a late Christmas with my side of the family last weekend. My Aunt and Uncle have a beautiful house out on lake Granbury so they hosted all of us (I think there were 22 of us in all). I honestly love my family. They are all really good people. I'm lucky to have come from such a good lineage. The bad thing about those weekends is time always passes so fast. But we manage to get in a few good games of Monopoly, dominoes, cards, or trivial pursuit. We got to visit with everyone and enjoy the view of the lake on Saturday (it was really cold so we didn't stay outside unless we had to) but Sunday was so nice we stayed out there all morning. I wanted to stay there and just be outside all day but we had to get back to the real world and our dog Mia. She had been alone all night and we just couldn't leave her alone much longer.

This weekend we are going to see J's grandparents from Tyler. They are coming up to visit and see the house. I hope I have time to clean. YIKES!

Well, that is that for now. You all now know what I've been up to. I'll do my best to keep you in "the know"

Love,
C