A Sad Day....

Today my brother, Nathan, left for Iraq. It was even sadder because Vincent and I didn't get to see him at Christmas since we didn't get to go to Georgia this year. So it's been a rough day for me. I held a brave face while on the phone with him this morning but as soon as I got off, I was crying and have been crying on and off all day. To be honest, Nate should be completely safe. He is in the Air Force and flies cargo planes so it's not a dangerous job but it's scary for anyone to have family over there because you just never know what could happen. I am a natural worrier so things like this I don't handle very well. On top of that the hormones are all out of wack so that makes it even worse.....
Since I am at work, I went onto Facebook and stole all the pictures I could find of Nate (thanks, Shelly!). He has several funny faces so I wanted to get them all in plus I just miss him so don't judge me for the millions of pictures.
He gets back in May so right before his niece/nephew will be born. Everyone here will be missing and praying for him! He definitely makes our family proud!
Good luck, Nate!!

Nate with the plane he will be flying

Nate and his girlfriend, Shelly

16 week pictures

Today Vincent and I decided to do a photo shoot of my belly on our front porch and one in the parking lot. Since my belly looks different from different angles, I'll share all the pics. I can't believe that in 2 weeks we will know the gender! Yay!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone and I hope everyone is having a great one (even Lauren........actually, especially Lauren!!). We have a long day of family ahead so I figured I'd sneak in a blog.

Vincent and I decided this year that we weren't going to get each other gifts and instead save the money to buy something for the baby. So I obeyed this and spent my time making our gifts for everyone (coolest gifts ever, I will blog later after everyone gets it).

Well, this morning Vincent wakes me up nice and early with a goofy grin and a "Merry Christmas". I mumbled something back to him and rolled over to go back to sleep. He nudged me again and said "I got you something." It took a few seconds to register but then I said "I thought we weren't getting gifts for each other.....I didn't get you anything." He nodded and said "I know but I saw this gift and immediately thought of you so I had to get it."

I slowly made my way downstairs and I see the tiny box that I don't recognize under the tree. I opened it up and I see a Scotch Brite cleaning sponge. I was completely confused as to why he had gotten so excited about seeing a cleaning sponge and buying it for me. Then I saw the note- 'this is a hint for where the real present is kept'. I knew it was under the sink so I ran over there and grabbed the very heavy box. In it was something I least expected- a camera! A Nikon D80 to be exact!! I have been wanting a Nikon D60 for awhile but I guess the D80 is the newest and latest one so Vincent got me that one instead! This should take some really great pictures of our new baby--yay!!!

So kudos for my husband buying a great gift!! As soon as I figure out how to use it I will post some pics from the new camera! I am so excited!!! If anyone has any hints on how to take great pics or any advice, please share! Hope everyone is having a great Christmas!!!

15 weeks

Have you ever heard a pregnant woman, whether in real life or on TV, complain that she feels like "something has taken over her body and is sucking the life out of her"? That's exactly how I feel. How do I know what it feels like to have something take over my body? I don't know. All I know is something is not right. There's a new sheriff in town and it's not me. I feel like I'm always on the verge of getting sick yet I never get completely better. It's like my body makes sure that I can at least get by and that's all. I can definitely tell I'm not getting all the attention anymore. Now I understand when woman who have been pregnant before know right away when they are pregnant again. It's a very distinct feeling. Hard to explain but very distinct once you've felt it.

Also, Vincent and I found out the appointment for finding out the gender is January 14. So we have been trying all the old wives tricks and then some. I have done several of the Chinese gender calendars and half the time it's a girl and half the time it's a boy- so that didn't really work. I also did the necklace-over-the-belly and it came out a boy. I have yet to do the Drano test. This test involves testing my urine with Drano and seeing if it turns a different color. I don't know how I'm carrying my belly- I can't tell. I haven't been craving anything sweet or sour. I did have a dream, which was very real-like, that it was a girl. Vincent wants a girl and I want a boy so we'll see. If anyone has any other tests that they think might work, let me know and I'll try it out.....

Right now the baby is all about moving around. I should start feeling movements soon or the next couple of weeks. This week eyebrows and eyelashes form. Also, a fine hair, called lanugo, covers the baby's skin now but will fall out later. Eyes are still sealed shut but can now sense light. The baby might also start hiccuping this week. In a few weeks, I might be able to feel that as well.

15 Weeks Pregnant

Baby M is the size of a stick of a Kit Kat bar

Drama Queen

Though you might think I am talking about myself I am actually referring to my adorable other half. He decided on Saturday that he was going to work out for the first time in, oh, about 13 months. Instead of easing into the workout, Vincent sees the "competition" as he calls it (or people that work out on a regular basis) working out hard core. He decides he has an image to keep up and therefore must "show" these guys he can keep up (I'm sure they were watching him). He came home all cocky and said he felt like that workout was really good and he actually felt muscle back on his body. I declined to comment when he asked me to look at his bulging muscles and admit that they had grown in the last couple of hours.
Fast forward to Sunday......Vincent wakes up and starts groaning. I ask him if he is sick and he says yes. He insists that his body couldn't handle the work out that his mind had been able to handle easily (whatever that means). All day long he acts like an invalid. He refused to take the dogs out for their bathroom breaks. He makes phone calls on speaker phone. He even had the audacity to ask me to feed him- like put the fork up to his mouth! Seriously??? He tells me that I have never experienced the pain that he is experiencing right then. This reminded me of the last time he was sick and said his throat hurt and I caught him limping around (since everyone knows the throat is directly connected to the leg). I don't mean to be insensitive but I really do think women can handle more pain than men. I know that men deny that but I think women were especially made to give birth because they have a higher pain threshold. I know there is no way to prove it but I told Vincent once he sees me giving birth (because you know that looking at that process from the outside looks even more scary) to tell me if he thinks that I have any threshold for pain. We'll see. I'll be surprised if he doesn't pass out while I give birth......
This whole situation made me think of a cartoon I found on the Internet. I think it correctly defines exactly how men would deal with being pregnant.