Watch Out House! The Nesting Stage has Begun!

Well, the title pretty much sums it up. After nearly 2 years in our house, I am finally motivated to start making some of the improvements that I wanted to do ever since we moved in. I LOVE little house projects but for some reason just couldn't light that fire under my butt and actually start one. I am a very project-oriented person, so once I start, I'm not stopping. The satisfaction I feel once something is completed is incredible. Sometime I think I should have been a construction project manager. The tangible evidence of something that I was a part of would be really rewarding.

Anyways, my brother is coming to Nederland this weekend to be my "slave." I told him not to get me anything for Christmas, but to instead come stay for a weekend and help me around the house. Sorry David, probably would have been much cheaper and easier just to buy me something, but nonetheless, I am SO grateful that he was happy to come help.

I wanted to get a jump start on some of the projects I had for him, so I went ahead and completed one all by myself just to get motivated. I started with a small project - painting the cabinets in the hall bath. They were this ugly, honey oak color that I have not liked since day one, especially with all the pretty white trim in our house. (BEFORE)


So, with advice from my new favorite website/blog, http://www.younghouselove.com/, I got to work. I removed all the hardware, sanded, primed, and then painted two coats of a crisp and clean white to match the trim. AMAZING what a coat of paint can do! I still want to get a new mirror and paint the room, but that should be a breeze since it's such a small space. The hard part will be just choosing a color. I'll be sure to have an "After_v2" once all that's complete. After seeing this transformation, I am even more convinced that we MUST paint the kitchen cabinets and those in our master bath. I think Andrew was even convinced too (This is huge!)! (AFTER)


I'm optimistic that with David and Andrew's help, we might actually be able to get the living room and bedroom both painted this weekend (including ceilings). I'm really hoping we have time for the kitchen too (or at least the ceiling) since it's in between the living room and our room and might look kinda strange not painted. When we moved in, the whole house was tan. When I say whole house, I mean the whole house...every wall, every ceiling. As much as I love color, this was just too much tan for me. The problem with loving color, is that picking one is next to impossible. I know what I like when I see it, but I definitely do not have a designer's eye. I can't visualize the end result, so it's really hard to make a decision. I don't have enough time and weekends to repaint if I don't like it the first time. I think I have a big Tupperware with around 20 samples from Lowes...ridiculous...and I still can't decide. So...if anyone wants to make an appearance in Nederland this weekend and make the decision for me, be my guest. I guess I should consider this practice for when we get started on the nursery. I needed (for my own sanity) to get the rest of the house in order before I started on the nursery. I knew that if I didn't, the baby would get here before I had time to finish these other projects and they would never get done.

SO...hopefully next week I'll have some serious before and after pictures for you. Then, after I eventually get the furniture I've been talking about for months, I'll have the REAL after pictures. Until Later... Happy Home Improvement! Wish us luck!

It's Not Official Until It's On Facebook...

Well, it's "official" now... I'm pregnant! As most of us know, nothing is official until it has been plastered on Facebook for the world to see. So yesterday I finally put us out there... "Emily Morgan Peters has one trimester down...only two to go!!! Yep, that's right, Andrew and I are having a baby!!! Expected due date: July 27th!!! It's gonna be a FUN (and HOT) summer!!!"

It was fun to receive so many congratulatory messages and sweet notes throughout the day. I'm still not sure why I waited so long, but in a way I'm glad I did.

The other big news is that we now have a car seat. You're probably wondering... is this the same Emily, the non-planner, already getting geared up for all the necessary baby stuff. Nope, that's definitely not the case. One of the guys that Andrew works with had a baby not too long ago and his litte one has since outgrown the infant car seat. He generously donated it to Baby Peters for the mere cost of lunch. Andrew offered, but he didn't want anything for it. I pulled it up online and it wasn't a cheapie and was up-to-date on any recall notices. Who knew you had to get a sticker and affix it to the bottom after it had been inspected and approved once a recall had been issued. Crazy. It's navy and not really girl-ish, so either it will be perfect for a boy or I'll have to add a little pink trim somewhere. It's a nice car seat, and it was free... so who really cares what color it is. I'm too practical anyway to care.

Andrew has found a temp until the real baby gets here, so for now, Scooter is keeping the seat nice and cozy. What's crazy is that he's about the size of a real baby... and he's tiny!!!

One Down...Two to Go (Trimesters, that is)!!!

Well, today was the first official day of my 2nd trimester! One down, two to go!!! I still am in awe of how fast it's going by. Since I don't go to the doctor for two more weeks, there really isn't anything new to report. I just continue to pray that everything has been developing as it should since our last appointment three weeks ago. Since I probably won't have another ultrasound picture for a while, so I figured I would at least post a picture of my "baby belly." I put it in quotes because there's not really much to look at yet. I can tell a difference, but most people probably can't yet. It's most noticable to me when I look straight down versus sideways in a mirror. My lower abdomen seems to be filling out more and looking down I can definitely see it rounding out. I always had a little pooch (never really liked crunches), but it seems to have sort of grown into my lower abdomen. My cute jeans don't button anymore (but they were a little snug to begin with though). Right now though I just feel bloated and am excited for the real baby belly to start developing. At this point, I'm ready to look pregnant!

I felt quasi-pregant on Monday when I created my own Bella band with an old tube top... I knew I didn't give it away yet for a reason!

Yay for Weddings! Congratulations Merkords!

This past weekend we ventured northward to go to the Merkord-Kennebrew wedding. As I expected, it was gorgeous! Natalie was stunning in her dress...I just loved the train! The flowers at the reception were unbelievable! As a former florist employee, I had SO much respect for the time and energy that went in to creating these masterpieces. The groom's cake was also classic...gotta love anything with a fish on it! His fish actually looked like a fish, unlike the ducks on Andrew's cake that more resembled flying penguins than ducks. Oh well, it was still delicious! We got to see a great mix of friends from grad school, work, and then a few random people that I had no idea even knew Spencer and Natalie...what a pleasant surprise! A few pics from the evening...

Number 200!!!

I promised this blog would not be all about pregnancy and babies, so here is Andrew's triumph of the day... he shot his 200th duck of the season! This is not something that very many people can claim. He's been keeping a hunting journal for quite some time, which I know will be a treasure some day to not only himself, but to his children. Way to go Andrew! Thanks for not letting us starve. :-)

Triumph...

This post will be short and sweet.

Yesterday marked the FIRST day that I have done the following: 1) Gone without regular coffee (or any caffeinated beverage), and 2) NOT GOTTEN A HEADACHE or suffered from any other caffeine withdrawl symptoms.

This is HUGE! Now, let's just see if I can do the same today. Don't get me wrong, I am NOT opposed to caffeine, I just do not want to be dependent on it anymore.

Okay, that's all folks!

12 Weeks...

Tuesday I hit the 12 week mark! Only one more week of my 1st trimester... where has the time gone?!? I finally broke the news to my bosses and the rest of the work crowd. It was a huge relief to get that out of the way. Although I haven't made the big Facebook announcement, I guess you could say the cat's pretty much out of the bag!

And now... I think I am FINALLY caught up! :-)

The Best and the Worst...

The week after Christmas was pretty much spent doing my least favorite and favorite things...being sick and going to the Farm. After all the Christmas excitement, my body just got weak and needed a break. Monday afternoon I started to feel "ugh" all over and was getting really conjested. By Tuesday, I was miserable. I couldn't breathe and just felt beyond exhausted. This was a big notch above the pregnancy exhaustion. This was the kind of exhaustion that is incapacitating. Wednesday ended up being worse. Given my history of getting severe sinus infections during the "I'm just going to tough it out" phase, I decided I wasn't going to let it get to that point this time. I called up my NP at the Griffith Family Clinic in Orange and she got me in right away. They had me call my doc first to find out what he was comfortable with me taking. Luckily, the Z-Pack and Mucinex are still fair game for preganant people. Even though she didn't think I had a full blown sinus infection (yet), she went ahead and got me on the Z-Pack and told me to take Mucinex to relieve the conjestion in my head and ears. By the end of the day, I was already starting to feel better, not quite back to normal, but definitely better. We decided to cancel the trip out to my deer lease since the old farmhouse there is less than appealing normally, and even more so when you're sick. An old, drafty house with no hot water was definitely not where I wanted to be. We decided just to take it easy and have a nice, relaxing several days at the Farm. That's exactly what we did. We attempted duck and deer hunting, but both were pretty sorry. I just wanted to curl up by the old heater with a book and watch football. It was laziness at it's finest, but much needed to say the least! Man, I LOVE that place!!!

New Year's Eve was spent like old, sick, and pregnant people spend it... asleep by 10:30pm. I even missed the call from my dear friend Meghan to hear that she was ENGAGED!!! I am SO excited for the life that she and Ken will have together!!! New Year's Day we ate all the essentials - pork loin, cabbage, and black eyed peas. 2010 is going to be a year to remember for sure!!! We have so much to be thankful for!!!

1st "Real" Appointment...

Our first "real" appointment, and by "real" I mean with the doctor, was December 28. Much to my pleasant surprise, we got to see our little baby to confirm how far along I was! According to the ultrasound, I was right on schedule for a 7/27/2010 due date. At the time, that put me at 9 weeks, 6 days. Tomorrow will actually be 12 weeks (I'm a little behind in my writing, but getting there). The heart beat was 173 beats/minute and the little guy/girl was about 3 cm long. The legs were kickin' and he/she was quite lively! :-) Many of the screen shots while we were there really looked like a little person, but unfortunately the picture they took doesn't really look like too much yet, but nonetheless, it's a baby and it's in there! Things are progressing as they should, just keep praying that this little one continues to develop on track and is healthy. I'm excited that I will be 12 weeks tomorrow! I finally feel like we've finally reached that "safe" zone. Our next appointment isn't until February 1st. By then I'll be 15 weeks. I don't think we are scheduled to get an ultrasound then, but I wish we could see our little one because I know he/she will be so much more developed and human-looking. My dad thinks the last ultrasound looked like a hamster...thanks Dad, that's just how I want to think of my baby! :-)

Everyone wants to know if we are finding out the sex. I say "no" and Andrew says "yes", so the answer is most likely going to be "no". To me, there are so few big surprises like that in life and the excitement/anticipation factor would just be so much greater. I have to admit, that if I didn't love green so much, I may have been an easier push over to find out, but I'm totally cool with a green nursery. I just want to hear those words, "Congratulations, you have a healthy baby ______!" Wanda thinks we will have all girls and I think she's got Andrew convinced too. A couple of days ago, he said that in his dream, it was a baby girl. We'll see, I'm hoping I get some hunches a little farther along.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

Just like Thanksgiving, Christmas would be extra special for us this year. Months ago I had thought how fun it would be to have timed it just right to be able tell our families at Christmas that we were having a baby. What a perfect present for everyone! I had kind of lost track of that thought and also after the one negative test realized the reality of the fact that you can only time it so well. Things will happen when they happen. As it would work out though, we were far enough along that Christmas would be the perfect time to share our wonderful news with family and close friends.

Since we are not lucky enough to be able to be in two places at one time, we had to make a few announcements to Andrew's side of the family before Christmas, a couple in person and a few over the phone. Since Andrew's aunts, Vicki and Becky, had been asking Wanda frequently if I was pregnant, I thought it would be most appropriate to include in their card, "Merry Christmas!!! ....and yes, I'm pregnant! :-)."

As mentioned before, we had found out we were pregnant the same day as our good friends, Nick and Sarah. They DROVE down from Columbus, OH a little early for Christmas and wanted to have a little get together. Amanda thought of a great way to tell them. She had bought two little onesies, one UT and one A&M. She told the four of us that she had found something that we would all love and that we should open our gifts at the same time (except ours just a little slower so she could see what she got first). It took a second to register why we would be needing baby clothes too, but then it all set in.



Before we headed out to Dallas on Christmas Eve morning, Andrew's grandparents and his dad's side of the family came over for brunch. Nana loves pictures, so we had made a little photobook online that had a bunch of pictures of the family over the last year or so. The last page simply said, "This page is reserved... for your great grandbaby." They thought it was a little odd that we were forcing them to open our present before we ate and before everyone else started opening their gifts, but once they FINALLY got to the last page, it all made sense.
After already what had been a lot of excitement, we headed out on the long drive to Dallas. Andrew was worried the whole time because the weather in Dallas was supposed to get nasty. About the time we got to Corsicana, it started SNOWING!!! It's VERY rare in Texas to get snow at all, especially any that sticks. We would end up having a white Christmas! :-) A couple hours later we headed over to my aunt Marisa's house in Rockwall.

Chef Andrew was nominated to cook his world famous gumbo and etouffe. My uncle Kyle made crawfish cornbread. So here we were up in north Texas having ourselves a Cajun Christmas! This little get together was a blessing in itself. It was the first time I had been able to spend Christmas with everyone on that side of the family (minus Bill since he had to work...boo) in a long time. I'll leave it at that and just say we had a really, really nice evening as a family. Again, we insisted the grandparents open their gifts before we ate and before the gift exchange began. Why in the world they even make this, I will never know, but I found a "World's Cutest Great Grandmother THONG." Of course, I had to get it for Nina! When she pulled that thing out and started holding it up, we just about all peed our pants. In that world-famous "Nell Jane voice" she was commentating on whether she was holding it in the right place. Classic.


We did a new thing this year and did a generic gift exchange. We each brought something, either new or a re-gift, that any number of people might enjoy. The game was "white elephant" style where everyone drew a number and then the first person picked a gift and opened it. The next person could steal or open a new one. This went around the whole circle, and then the first person had the option of stealing or keeping their gift. In our case, the game kept going and many gifts were stolen the maximum 3 times. Poor Papaw opened all the popular gifts and had just about every one of his stolen. It was definitely a good time. After all the fun, we headed to the 11:00pm Christmas Eve service at church. After quite a bit of traffic on I-30 due to the idiots driving too fast on ice, we finally made it. I think the most dangerous part of the whole evening was walking through the parking lot and up the stairs to the sanctuary. There was some serious ice patches there. It was a beautiful service, as always. We were all worn out and ready to get home though. I know my parents are thankful that we would not be jumping on their bed at 5 AM ready to see what Santa had brought us. I think we were thankful for that too.


We woke up to still have a white Christmas and the pups spend most of the morning running around the backyard like crazies (sorry Mom & Dad for all the plants they broke). Lucy just liked to lay down and eat snow. After a nice breakfast, we opened gifts. As always, we are so blessed! A few highlights for me included a new GPS some beautiful and much needed stationary. Andrew will be undetectable in the marsh in his new ghillie suit and can now grind 176 lbs of meat in one hour with his electric meat grinder.



Lastly, we would head over to Meme & Dede's house for Christmas dinner. Unfortunately, not all the cousins could be there, but with any growing family and in-laws, work, etc., it's hard to get everyone in the same place at the same time. We spent plenty of time hovering over all kinds of little munchies. As always we had a wonderful meal that left us all a little overstuffed. We also did a new thing this year and did a gift exchange similar to what we did at Marisa's, except this one had quite a few more people. Before we let this begin, one again, I insisted that the grandparents open my gift before we started. We had made a photobook similar to the one we gave to Nana & Papa. It was a little strange because there were about 20 people in the room wondering what was going on and waiting patiently while Meme & Dede slowly flipped through each page. Dede just gave me the biggest hug and was so happy for us. For some reason, this was the only time I cried telling anyone. It must be that "only granddaughter" thing. I just got emotional though, which I wasn't expecting. Back to the game, once again, there were some hot items that didn't stay in anyone's hands for too long. The Cowboys hoodie, knife set, and Harry Potter DVD's seemed to be some of the top items. We went home with a nice skillet and some some really good smelling bath products. The evening ended with the traditional game of Shanghai. There's usually a lot of smack talk at the beginning, but I quickly kept my mouth shut. I probably had one of the WORST games EVER! Oh well though, it's just fun to sit in front of Dede and buy all the cards he needs, just to spite him! :-)

Saturday we got Andrew a new iPhone since his original apparently was corrupted, which explains a lot, spent his Dick's Sporting Goods gift card, then met two of my favorite girls, Meghan Richardson and Erica Sweeny, for brunch at Ozona. I miss these girls!!! Once we got home, we realized how unbelievably tired we were, so we put on the PJ's, took a nap, and did nothing the rest of the night.

So... that was the Peters' Christmas in a (big 'ole) nutshell!

1st Appointment...the Prenatal Interview

On December 21st we had our first appointment. It wasn't terribly eventful. I had gone in for blood work the previous week and since they didn't mention anything from that, I assume it was safe to say I was still pregnant. Well, since they confirmed I was still pregnant, I figured it was safe enough for me to tell the rest of the family. Most close friends would have to wait until after the "heart beat" appointment on the 28th. We talked with a nurse for while that filled out a bunch of paperwork, covered the "do" and "don't" list, and we asked questions. I don't think she had ever been asked if you could still hunt while you're pregnant. I don't know what kind of hunting she thought I was doing, but she didn't think it was a good idea. We opted to get a second opinion from the real doctor, and thankfully, he didn't see a problem as long as I wasn't out having AK-47 target practice. The other big thing was getting the scoop about insurance... let's just say it's a lot cheaper to have a baby if you have insurance than if you don't...unless your an illegal, where I'm picking up that tab for you (sorry, as I digress, I'll save that discussion for another day). The $40 copay just about covers everything, so that's a big plus. We got a little goody bag and that was that. The big appointment would be the next week.

So much to be Thankful for....

Thanksgiving definitely took on a little more meaning this year. Last year, I noticed a number of my friends on Facebook writing one thing they were thankful for every day in November, up until Thanksgiving. I thought this was a great way to stay positive during what is normally a very busy and stressful time of year at work. I was amazed HOW many things I could come up with that I was thankful for. Some were big, others were so minor but really were things that could put a smile on my face. Of course, it wasn't until the week before Thanksgiving that I had something new to be extremely thankful for! The whole concept of conception and the miracle of creating a new life is so amazing to me. To have God's artistry going on inside of me is sometimes too incredible to comprehend.

Thanksgiving this year (as well as most other years) took place at the Farm. Andrew and I didn't waste much time once we got there to break the news to his parents, Wanda and Dan. After we unloaded the car, they were just casually sitting outside on the deck when we said something along the lines of, "So, what do you think about Nick and Sarah (our really close friends that had just announced their pregnancy)?" They responded how we expected, expressing their excitement for them, when Andrew said something like, "well, they only got us beat by about 4 or 5 weeks." It took a second to catch on, but then they realized that we too were expecting. They were of course thrilled, but cracking up because just before we had gotten there, Wanda had been talking to a friend of hers telling her she wasn't sure she was ready to be a grandmother yet (yeah right, we all know that's not true). Telling Amanda (Andrew's sister) was pretty hilarious. She got in the next day and we asked her what she was doing in July. She looked at us dumbfounded like, I have no idea. We asked her if she could babysit. Immediately, she was quick to respond that she was "not watching our stupid dogs." I don't remember if those were her exact words, but the tone definitely implied them. We just stared back at her for a minute before she realized that we weren't talking about the dogs, this was "for real" babysitting. She was the most emotional so far, she was going to be an aunt and was SO excited.

The rest of Andrew's family was coming out on Saturday, but we weren't ready to break the news quite yet, especially since my own Dad and brother didn't know yet. I wasn't asked point blank if I was pregnant, but I know that Wanda was. It's amazing how much lying goes on when you're pregnant... I guess it's okay though in this situation! We had fun at Thanksgiving though. The little boys got to go on their first ever duck hunt. It was uneventful to say the least, but I know they had a blast with Cousin Andrew. Unfortunately, they picked the wrong day to hunt. We went from 18 birds the first day, slowly down to 1 the day they came. Oh well, that's how it goes!

The First Few Weeks...

To my (thankful) surprise, pregancy so far hasn't been too bad. All the books I got talk about how miserable morning sickness is and luckily, I haven't experienced too much of that. I've been exhausted, but the nausea seemed to be limited to week 6. Even then, it was more just have a queasy stomach sitting in my throat versus full-blown nausea and vomiting. According to Andrew, I've also had some serious "mood swings", to put it politely. His description of some of my behavior is more along the lines or rhyming with "itchy." :-) Reducing my caffine intake to one cup of coffee in the morning also seemed to play a major role in my headaches, fatigue, and moodiness. Thank goodness I have a reasonable doctor who isn't one of those who scares you in to thinking one cup of coffee with damage your child. He's been around long enough to know that the moderation approach is perfectly fine. After almost 8 weeks, my caffine "addiction" finally seems to be under control. I'm to the point now that some days I don't even have a cup, and I'm not suffering of a migrine my mid-morning. Now that I am no longer having withdrawls, this is probably a diet change that I need to keep even after the baby is born. So, aside from the initial caffine withdrawls, wanting to fall asleep at 8:00 (or earlier and often throughout the day), not wanting to get out of bed in the morning, and making frequent trips to the restroom, all has been good and I am SO grateful. My mom said she never really experienced any major morning sickness, so once again, the genetics have been in my favor. First, no problems getting pregnant, and second, no major morning sickness. Now, let's just pray that a healthy, full-term pregancy will also follow in the footsteps of my momma!

Aggie Game & Spilling the First Beans...

As stated in the previous post, I found out on November 19th and my mom and I already had a girls weekend planned for that weekend. I debated if I should say any thing yet or not, since I'd only known for two days and there was plenty of time for something to go wrong, but I knew there was NO WAY I could go a whole weekend, just me and my mom, and NOT say anything. We met up in College Station (whoop!) to watch the Aggies play Baylor. I always laugh at my mom when the Aggies play the Bears because she just looks confused... Aggie shirt, Baylor visor, cheering pretty much the whole time (like a person who doesn't understand football), because she wants them both to win (...sorry mom, it doesn't work that way). To my WONDERFUL surprise, my sweet mom and sweet best friend had been lying to me all week and Greta and Russell ended up driving my mom down to College Station because they were going to the game too. We all enjoyed a lovely lunch at Layne's Chicken Fingers (hands down, the best) where my mom noticed a young mother outside with two little ones. She made some comment about how she had her hands full and we needed to enjoy all our free time now before all that. Apparently, I made some kind of subtle smirk that my mom picked up on; however, she wouldn't know until Sunday what it was for. We walked in the cold and misty rain to the game where the Ags pulled it out for a big "W".

I think Andrew texted me a couple times during the weekend to ask if I had broken the news yet. I'm not sure why I waited until Sunday, but I did. We got up and got dressed and before we left I gave my mom her birthday card. It was something with a cat praying to the "Tuna God" to use the can opener... who knows... something my cats probably do all the time at home since my mom & dad have spoiled them :) Inside it had a phrase along the lines of "I hope all your birthday prayers come true", so I decided that was a good segway to ask for one additional prayer request... that her great grandbaby be healthy! There were tears, of course, so we figured a big breakfast at Denny's was the best way to handle that. We had fun already talking about names and other baby stuff then headed to the Barnes and Noble next door to check out what fun baby books they had in stock. My mom definitely took my picture in the Baby Book section... nerd! Love her to death, she was just so excited!!! It felt so good to be able to share our joy with someone else, I just felt guilty because she wasn't able to tell my dad. I wouldn't be home for several weeks and wanted to tell him in person. Looking back, that was pretty mean, but I didn't think I really had another option, oh well. :-)

Wow...We're going to be parents!

As I said in my first post, I need to back-track just a little bit. Andrew and I had made the decision late this summer that we were as ready as we'd ever be to become parents. I had come to the realization that no one was ever totally "ready" and that I could make excuses forever as to why to wait longer. The fact was we knew we wanted kids, we would have been married 3+ years when the baby would be born, we both had good jobs, we didn't have any major things we still wanted to accomplish before we had children, and we were willing to sacrifice our activities and travels for the adventures a new child brings. That said, we made the plunge to the "not, not trying" category.

We were very blessed to have no trouble getting pregnant. This is something that I definitely took for granted. I know or hear stories of people who try for years and have to explore all types of fertility treatments. I can't imagine the disappointment each month until it finally (if ever) works. I had taken one pregnancy test before we really knew my cycle and it was negative. Even that one time, I felt sadness and disappointment and wondered if we were going to be one of those people who had trouble.



On November 19th I decided to take an early detection pregnancy test. I honestly did not think I was pregnant. I didn't feel pregnant. The little old lady that worked at the cosmetics counter at Walgreens checked me out and right before I left, she patted my hand, winked, and said "good luck." For some reason, that gave me a calmness that I did not expect. I had taken a pregnancy test the month before when we had no idea what my cycle was and my heart was racing so fast and I was so nervous that I could barely even take the test. This time was much different. I took the test, left the room to see what the pups were up to and came back in a couple minutes later, and to my huge surprise, it was POSITIVE! I'm not really sure how to describe my reaction other than complete shock mixed with joy. I just sat there and thought "it worked!" and now what!?!? I immediately thanked God for this miracle and just prayed that this little baby would be healthy. I also remember praying that if something were to happen, that I would be able to be at peace knowing that there was something wrong and that was God's way taking care of it.

Of course, Andrew wasn't home and it was just me and the pups. I didn't want to tell him over the phone, so I had to wait several hours til he got home. I decided to let Shooter break the news to Andrew. I printed out a note with a picture of Shooter and Lucy that said, "Hey Dad! Guess what Mom told us?!?!.... We're getting another brother or sister next summer, but this one will only have two legs and no fur!" Before he got to the last part, he was thinking we were getting another dog. It took a second to register, but he was so happy and in shock too I think. The rest of the night was pretty much spent thinking... "wow, we're going to be parents!!!"

As if the night wasn't interesting enough, a few hours later we received a phone call from some of our best friends, Nick and Sarah, to tell us they were pregnant! They knew we were in "not, not trying" mode and asked how things were coming along. Of course, we had to lie and say we didn't know yet. They were trying to offer tips, ask if we'd used an ovulation kit, etc. The whole time we were just laughing to ourselves. This was a secret we would have to keep until Christmas. We knew they would just die knowing the coincidence of that night's events.

Long Overdue...

Well, I've decided to finally jump on the blogging bandwagon. I was always envious of people who could actually keep journals, but my handwriting was so bad and it just seemed to take too long to sit and write everyday. My grandmother, Meme, alway encouraged journaling as well. It's probably one of the reasons that my grandparents were able to write a personal memoire so many years later. I hope to be able to give that gift to my children and grandchildren some day as well. As much time as I (sadly) spend at the computer everyday, a few minutes to devote to blogging should be no real effort. This movement to begin blogging is no coincidence either since Andrew and I are expecting our first baby next summer!!! I'll get back to that and backtrack a bit. So for now, I've officially made my first blog entry! Let's hope that this is something I stay committed to. I know I won't regret it.