21 Weeks...

Hey Everybody!


Sorry for the delay in posting. It has been a little hectic with the holidays. Work has also been a little busier this month with Christmas and the end of the year. Overall, I had a good holiday season. My mom and brother came down and stayed for a few days and we had a good time. It's always good to spend time with family, especially since I live so far away.


I also got to spend some time with my dad and his side of the family before Christmas so that was nice. Everybody is very excited about the baby!


House Update: No house! Unfortunately it looks like I will be a renter for a couple more months. I foundout yesterday that I make $200 above the limit for the down payment assistance program, and no longer qualify. I got a raise about a month ago and that pushed me over the cap. If we would have closed on time (3 months ago) it wouldn't have been an issue. But Tony and I are looking at it in a positive light. I guess it wasn't meant to be. We are going to keep saving and hopefully buy something before Peanut gets here. Tony is looking into getting a second job so we can save more money up until my maternity leave. The only paid time I get is my vacation/sick days, so we're definitely watching our money a little closer. It looks like I'll be taking at least 6 weeks of unpaid time. Hopefully we'll be able to afford life on just Tony's salary.


Baby Update: It's a boy! For those that haven't heard yet, Tony and I are pleased to announce that it looks like we are having a son. We're both thrilled and reality is really starting to set in. We still haven't agreed on any names yet, but hopefully that will come soon. For now, we will continue to call him Peanut. Peanut is very very active these days. He has woken me up a couple of times in the middle of the night. So now, between going to the bathroom and his kicking I'm up 4-5 times through the night. Tony hasn't been able to feel him yet, but he should be able to soon. Everytime I call him to come feel him he stops moving! I have been able to feel him a couple of times outside my belly over the last couple of days.


Peanut is looking very healthy according to the doctor. He is breech right now, but they're not worried because it is so early. I hope he flips around! It was so neat to be able to see all the bones in his little body. It was such a change from his 8 week ultrasound. My scanner isn't cooperating, but I hope to upload the ultrasound picture soon. I have to go back for a follow up ultrasound next week. They couldn't see all 4 chambers of his heart, so they want to check again. he was laying in an awkward position and it was had to get a good look. He has always had a very strong heart beat so they aren't worried. I hope everything is okay and I'm just glad I get to see Peanut again!


I have been under the weather lately, but hopefully I'll be back to normal soon. I think it's just a head/chest cold. I'm pretty sure 80% of my office is sick, so I'm just trying to stay as healthy as I can.


Random Updates:


1. Happy Birthday Sember!!
2. I got gas today for $1.28!!!
3. I'm sure I won't post again before the New Year...so Happy New Year!!


Here are some pictures...


21 week belly shot...












My mom bought this monkey as a "Peanut substitute" until the real Peanut makes his arrival. Also in the picture is his friend, "Quackers." They're keeping me company for now!

18 Weeks!

Yesterday marked the 18 week mark in this incredible journey. I'm feeling better finally, although I was a little under the weather this week. I've been having a lot of migraines and might have to go to a neurologist. Other than that everything is going pretty well. I can tell my stomach is getting bigger, and it's more then obvious that I need to buy new pants! I still have a couple of pairs that fit, but they are slowly becoming more uncomfortable. Luckily I work in an office of all women and they understand when I walk around with my pants unbuttoned! Tony and I started buying a case of diapers a month to try to stock pu early. It's a little weird having diapers around the house, but I'm sure we'll get used to it soon. We also started our registry at Babies R Us and Target. It was a very overwhelming, but fun experience! We had so much fun picking out all the cool stuff for Peanut! Tony and I continue to argue about names, but hopefully we'll agree on something before Peanut's born!

According to my book, Peanut is 5.5 inches long (head to butt) and weighs about 7oz. He/She is getting bigger by the day. I can feel movement throughout the day, and it still throws me off. Today Peanut was doing what felt like summersaults. My doctor has been telling me from the beginning that I have an active baby. She always as to chase him/her around to find the heartbeat! Tony thinks that he passed his "extraordinary athletic abilities" onto the baby!

As far as the house goes...we didn't close. Our new closing date is 12/29. Hopefully this will be the last one. It's been a very long and frustrating 4 month process. It looks like everything is coming together, but I'm not counting my chickens yet!

My mom is coming down to Atlanta for Christmas! I'm really looking forward to her being here. I wish we would have already moved into the house, but we'll have fun nonetheless. My brother, Josh, is also coming so we'll have quite the house, er, apartment full! Feel free to send any holiday recipes my way, as this is my first time hosting Christmas!

Hope all is well with everybody!

18 week belly...

Tony's checking to see if his belly's getting bigger too :)

First Post

Hey Everyone!

I finally decided to join the world of blogspot! I'll do my best to update regularly, but I guess I should just start with some basic updates on life here in Atlanta.

1. Work: I am working for a Child Advocate office in the metro Atlanta area. It's basically a law office that represents all of the children in foster care (in a metro Atlana county) in court hearings after they have been removed from their parents' custody. I left the Department of Family and Children Services after 3 long years. Although it wasn't an easy decision it was definitely a good career move. I miss some of the kids on my old caseload, but I still get to see them because I work in the same county. My new job invovles me visiting about 300 kids on a quarterly (sometimes more) basis to ensure that their foster placements are appropriate and their permanency plan is being pursued. I love my job, and look forward to a long career there.

2. Relationship: Tony and I are still together. It will be 5 years in July. We currently live together and are in the process of buying a house. We've actually been under contract since 8/15/08, and it's taking forever. We're supposed to close this Friday, but I know it's not going to happen. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that it happens before Christmas!

Here is picture of our potential house...

3. Pets: I have 2 dogs, Rameses and Apollo. They keep me very busy as they have never ending energy. Rameses is almost 2 and Apollo is 10 months. They are fairly well behaved, but knuckleheads!

4. Other news: I'M HAVING A BABY!!! I'm finally allowed to tell people. I wasn't able to until I told my Grandma over Thanksgiving. Tony and I are very excited. I'm due on 5/12/09, and I'm currently 17 weeks along. The first trimester was rough, but I'm doing much better now. I actually lost some weight, and haven't started gaining any back yet. Who knew it took getting pregnant to lose weight! We find out if it's a boy or a girl on 12/23. I thought I could wait and not find out...but it's killing me! My mom knew I would cave, but I wasn't sure until recently. For now, we're calling the baby "Peanut," as Tony and I can't agree on any names. Peanut has been very active over the last couple of days. I didn't know if it was the baby or not, but now I'm sure that it is, because I have felt the same thing for about a week now.

8 week ultrasound...

17 week belly shot...

Tony wanted a belly shot too... :)

I think that sums up all of my updates for now. Right now I'm committing to updating at least once a week. Hope all is well with everybody!