Giving Thanks...

Thanksgiving was wonderful yesterday, and we get to do it again tomorrow! I had not seen all of Brian's cousins from Georgia since 2007, so it was nice to catch up with all of them. Brian's parent's house was packed with people, but full of love as well. We ate food, we shared what we were thankful for and we played some really crazy games that involved a lot of laughter!

Brian's aunt and cousin gave me a beautiful necklace that has two little footprints cut out of it and says "Our family just grew by two feet". It is the cutest thing I have ever seen! It was nice to get to share with our family my growing belly and starting to have everyone want to touch it, LOL. They are all so excited and we had a big debate whether it is a boy or girl (I think girl won).

Today we are excited to start putting up Christmas decorations, finish Christmas cards, and get to go on a date to see "New Moon" and go out to eat. It will be a nice relazing day before more family tomorrow and a Sunday full of football. We are also lucky enough to both have Monday off as well, since it is Brian's 26th Birthday. Then next week will be a fun short week until Friday when we have our next Dr. appt. (the last one before we find out what it is!).

We cannot believe how fast this year has flown by, and how crazy the holidays already seem! We are thankful for everything we have been given this year. For being happy, healthy and loved. For friends, our home and jobs. For our growing family, and existing one. For each other and the grace of our Lord. Happy Thanksgiving and remember what you are thankful for this year...

End of First Trimester!

Yay!!! As of monday I will officially be 14 weeks and in the second trimester! 1/3 of the way done! As of this week I all officially don't fit into my regular pants anymore, LOL! They work ok while standing, but while sitting (which I do at my work, on the floor with the kids, a LOT) they are not so comfortable. I am excited to be starting to get the cute little belly though, so I guess buying new pants are just going to be part of that.

I am also very excited for Thanksgiving next week! We get to spend Thursday with the Hanson's and a lot of extended family. Brian's aunt, uncle, cousins and grandma are flying in from Georgia, and his aunt, uncle and cousins are coming over from Bloomington as well. I think that will make 17 of us at his parents house... so it will be packed! Then on Saturday we are having dinner at my parents, which will be a little smaller. My brother Matt will be out of town, and my dad's parents will be at my step-aunt's in Missouri. That just leaves my parents, mom's parents and brother, so 7 of us. I am mostly excited to only be working 3 days out of the next 11!
It will be a nice break to relax and hangout with family.

We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and count your blessings! We know that we have a lot to be thankful for this year!

TGIF!!!

I am going to start off by saying I am SO glad it is Friday! It has been an incredibly long week. I had conferences at work with the preschooler's parents Monday and Tuesday. Then I had observations of my classroom for a kindergarten readiness program Tuesday and Thursday. Add a few meltdowns by the kids and a GIANT canker sore and that was my week in a nutshell. I am ready to spend tomorrow with the Hanson side of the family for my mother-in-law's birthday and relax a little.

Last Saturday we went to my cousin's wedding reception at Pier 500 in Hudson. It was the first time I have seen my extended family since we announced we were expecting. I didn't know so many people could ask you the same question in less than 2 hours... How have you been feeling/Have you had morning sickness? I also found out that my cousin who is a month older than me is expecting her first child, due May 12th. So our kids will be about 2 weeks apart. It will be nice for our kids to have somebody close to their own age, since I don't think they will have cousins of their own for a while!

Well, I think I am going to go enjoy my day off of work and maybe take a nap! I guess I should enjoy being able to do that before the baby comes! :-)

Heartbeats!

On Monday we got to go in for our second appointment. It was a crazy day, we showd up as our midwife was going to the hospital to check on a patient starting labor. The nurse said she should be back shortly, she wasn't delivering anytime soon so it wasn't a big deal. 5 minutes later the nurse came back to tell us the baby was coming now, and said the midwife wouldn't be able to make it to the appointment. Since the hospital/clinic is 20 minutes from our house, and my midwife was going to be out the rest of the week, they squeezed us in with another midwife between appointments.

Even with all this craziness, we got all of our questions answered and got to hear the little heartbeat! It was 170 bpm (normal at this stage is 120-180). The old wives tale is that if it's high it's a girl, so I am hoping that is true for us! :-) It was so cool to hear it going so fast and really feel like something is in there (because other than the boobs hurting and having to pee all the time you really don't feel pregnant yet!). Our next appointment is the 1st week in December, and then the one after that we should find out the sex of the baby!!! (It should be the week between Christmas & New Years, so it will be a good holiday surprise!) Hopefully all stays well!