Ah, Jamaica-Bound...

I'm thinking blogging will be non-existent this week as we rest and relax in Jamaica!!! :) Have a great week!

Baby has a Name!

Seth and I have finalized a name for our baby boy. We've pretty much agreed on only this boy name the whole time, and the more we said it, the more we loved it.

So baby's name will be....Carter Nicholas!!!

And, might I add, that little baby Carter was spoiled on his "not-quite-first" Christmas. Lots of books, clothing, toys, and blankets among many other things. Now we are super excited to get kickin' on the nursery! We picked out the bedding this week too and we love it.

Can't wait for you to all meet him! :)

Merry Christmas!

We hope you all have a Merry Christmas! It hasn't quite felt like Christmas today -- namely because we've exchanged gifts and "celebrated" with our families already, we didn't do gifts (except stockings) because Jamaica is our Christmas gift, and I am on call for work and spent my entire morning and early part of this afternoon at work. BLAH!

Now, my extremely swollen ankles and I are going to plop down for a bit and relax before we head to my aunt and uncles house for the afternoon.

Hope you all have a blessed Christmas!

Because I Want to be Sure you Laugh Today.

Disclaimer: The story I am about to tell would be SO much better if it had visuals, trust me. But I am going to try to make it as visual as possible for you to get the full affect.

We got pretty bad snow on Saturday into Sunday. We were up at my parent's house on Saturday celebrating Christmas with extended family and stayed at my sister's house overnight on Saturday so that we didn't have to drive back home in the bad weather. We had taken the Jeep because it is better in snow, and therefore the three of us (Bentley was along), his crate, his bed, the dog, our overnight bags, food from the party, etc. were literally stuffed like sardines into the small Jeep Wrangler.

As we pulled onto our street on Sunday afternoon, I could already foretell what was about to happen. We were the only people on the entire street that had not shoveled their driveway yet and the plow had come down the street and pushed the piles along the sides of the road, thus making a mountain in front of our driveway. Surely this would be a challenge in the Jeep. Seth drops it into 4 wheel drive and guns it up and over the pile of snow, safely to the top of the driveway.

As I pushed the door open to get out, I asked him to help me out by taking all of the things I was holding on my lap the whole way home. I look out the door and see about 10-11 inches of unshoveled snow and lo and behold, I am wearing my heeled black boots--by no means "snow shoes."

I kicked my right leg out of the passenger side and put it down, where it instantly sinks the whole way to the bottom, filling my boot with snow and soaking my socks. Super. As I go to swing my left leg out of the car, it got stuck on something--might have been my purse, the junk on the floor, or the seatbelt, I'm not sure--but I started doing the one leg hop on my right leg to get unstuck.

Seth, now holding the gads of stuff from my lap, is rendered useless and unable to help me gain my balance when I frantically start flailing and fall face first into a giant 11 inch thick bed of fluffy snow. I mostly fell on my knees for all of you who are thinking "oh my gosh, she's PREGNANT and fell!" Trust me, it didn't look graceful but I (and baby) was fine. The landing felt like I fell into a bed of cotton and I sort of fell on my lower legs...it was soft as could be and considering that the jeep's door was only a little bit above the snow it wasn't very far.

But we got the biggest laugh out of it. I seriously laughed until I cried and Seth was laughing so hard his wisdom teeth (or lack thereof) were hurting...

Good thing only my husband saw me because the neighbors surely would have gotten a kick out of it! :)

Baby Boy's First Outfit from Mommy and Daddy

Baby boy got his first outfit on Tuesday after our appointment. Our ultrasound/appointment was quicker than we expected so we went straight to Carter's to buy his first "boy" thing.

We got this one -- it says "dog gone cute" on the short sleeved onesie with a puppy on the butt. And OF COURSE I couldn't resist little tiny suede sneakers to go along with it! The puppy theme worked perfectly with his big brother Bentley, who I'm SURE will be excited to find out that he no longer has to be dressed up because mommy will have someone else to play dress-up on. :)

Three Years Already!?!

Today is mine and Seth's 3 year anniversary! Insanely hard to believe it's been that long on one hand, and also insanely hard to believe it's only been 3 years on the other.

I remember our wedding day so vividly that it feels like yesterday. I can literally remember everything -- what time I got up, the note I sent to his room the morning of our wedding, getting ready, seeing him for the first time, it being 63 degrees in December, what hors 'd oeuvres we ate, how bad the DJ sucked and ruined out first song, how the servers at the reception gave me white cake instead of red velvet.

But most of all, I remember how absolutely content I was as the day approached, knowing that I would be spending the rest of my life with my soulmate. Not a single doubt in my mind that he was the one for me. The song we danced to had the perfect lyrics (if you could have heard them, MR. DJ! I'm getting over the bitterness, I promise. haha):

It's always been a mystery to me,

How two hearts can come together,

And love can last forever.

But now that I have found you I believe,

That a miracle has come when God sends the perfect one.

So gone are all my questions about why,

And I've never been so sure of anything in my life

Oh I wonder what God was thinking, when he created you.

I wonder if He knew everything I would need,

Because he made all my dreams come true.

When God made you, He must have been thinking about me.

He made the sun, He made the moon,

To harmonize a perfect tune,

One can't move without the other,

they just have to be together.

And that is how I know it's true,

You're for me and I'm for you

and my world just can't be right without you in my life.

Three years later, I still have no doubts...that you'll always be the one I want to wake up next to every day, argue about hanging outdoor Christmas lights with, have a cutie little baby boy with, go on trips with, hold hands with, hug, kiss, stand in line at the long deli counter for the right lunch meat for, laugh with, and cry with.

And, as always, I love you way more than I did yesterday, and far less than I will tomorrow.

Happy Anniversary, love!

It's a......

BOY!!!!

Less Than 24 Hours!!!!!

I'm fairly certain that I won't be able to sleep tonight...no, not because my bladder is at the control of another, because I can't get comfortable on my side, or because my pregnancy stuffed up head has stolen my control of nostril breathing...but because in less than 24 hours, Seth and I will find out if we will have a baby girl or boy! EEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!

I think we are pretty much 100% settled on our names, have the furniture picked out, and bedding picked out for both genders (still some debate on that, but I feel like mommy might win that one.) Kidding!!!! Sort of. ;)

After our appointment, we are going to grab some lunch, but when I get back to my office (probably around 1:30 tomorrow), I will be sure to post the good news! We'll, of course, call siblings and parents.

Now, praying everything with measurements, growth, etc. is all perfect!

Yipee!!!!!!!

Show Us Your Life - Christmas Cookies/Treats

Today, Kelly's Korner Show Us Your Life theme is Christmas cookies and treats. One of my favorite things to take places at the holidays is baked goods so I'm all over this! :)

Cookies for an exchange at work...chocolate crinkles...YUM! :)

Mini Boston Cream pies for a party!

And not technically Christmas, but since Seth's birthday falls so close, it is always tacked right in there with the Christmas baking! I love to make and decorate cakes (nothing fancy of course), so it's always fun!

....making this pregnant lady hungry! :)

19 weeks!

I'm 19 weeks today, and I only have to make it through the next few days until we find out if I can begin spending all of our money a normal amount of money on tiny little baby clothing that say cute things like "Chick magnet" or "Daddy's princess."

I saw that pretty much everyone (except 2!) thinks I'm having a boy. I'll be sure to update Tuesday when we get back from the appointment to let you know if you were right or not! :)

And we're off to NJ tonight to see family, celebrate Christmas and Seth's birthday with Seth's parents and his brother's family, and MEET BABY MADELINE!!!!!!

Getting in the Christmas Spirit

Because it is snowing and cold, and because it is Saturday and I am taking a break from cleaning, I thought I'd do this little Christmas thing I saw on someone's blog. :)

Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Never even tasted egg nog, so let's go with hot chocolate :)

Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? He wraps them...or in the case of Christmas 2006, he put the gifts in my stocking and stuffed wrinkled wrapping paper around them because he didn't know that in our newly formed family, we wrap them.

Colored lights on tree/house or white? White, white, WHITE. I think I almost refuse to have any other color of lights. The ONLY exception is if the multi-colored lights all match...no orange-toned, then non-oranged toned. Know what I mean?

Do you hang mistletoe? Nope. I can kiss my love whenever I want. ;)

When do you put your decorations up? Usually as soon as Thanksgiving leftovers are safely stowed in the fridge. Or in the case of this year, a week before. We were going to be exchanging gifts with Matt and Erin the day after Thanksgiving and I wanted it to be Christmas-y and not a mess from the night before.

What is your favorite holiday dish? No idea...hamloaf probably.

Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Waking up on Christmas morning and coming downstairs.

When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I have no idea.

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? When I lived at my parents I think we did. We don't anymore, unless you can't the exchanging of gifts with my parents, siblings, etc.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree? White lights and the ornaments from when we were growing up (ones our parents got us every year, homemade ones, etc.)

Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it if I don't have to drive, hate it if I do.

Can you ice skate? Haven't ice skated in like 15 years, so I have no idea.

Do you remember your favorite gift? Honestly, no. I think there's a "real-meaning-of-Christmas" illustration in there somewhere...

What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Spending time with family and friends and reflecting on Jesus' birth.

What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Red velvet cake

What is your favorite holiday tradition? We don't have many traditions yet but hope to change that when little Ran enters the world. For now, probably decorating the tree together.

What tops your tree? Star

Which do you prefer giving or receiving? I like both, but I think giving people gifts is SO fun!

Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum? Yum, but only in moderation

Favorite Christmas Show? National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

Saddest Christmas Song? Christmas Shoes, hands down.

What is your favorite Christmas Song? Hmm, probably O Holy Night...Josh Groban style.

Baby Appointment Details

Just had my 18 week appointment. She said everything looked good -- the measurement of my stomach, blood pressure, no protein in urine, baby's heartbeat (146...hmm, boy?).

She did say that I just need to watch my weight gain. According to them, I've gained 7 pounds since I found out I was pregnant (according to my home scale WITHOUT clothing, I've only gained 4...stupid doctor's office scales), but what really drove me crazy is that 1) I was wearing all of my clothing AND my winter coat to get weighed and they didn't adjust for that; and 2) the doctor immediately followed this comment up by telling me about a brand new clinical trial she started about women's weight (at all spectrums) during pregnancy. I'm getting a little hunch that she needed someone my size to enroll....funny how those academic medical centers work, huh? ;) Plus, I am almost 1/2 way...7 pounds doesn't really seem like THAT much.

Anyway, I came back and did some research and according to everything I have found I am right on target, ESPECIALLY if you deduct the pound or 2 from my clothing and coat for cryin' out loud.

But she said everything was going smoothly and she still sees no reason why we couldn't go to Jamaica. One more appt. before the big trip so that will be the final call.

Oh....and I felt baby kick two times last night while laying in bed. :) Felt JUST like Erin described at Thanksgiving -- a gentle finger flick and popcorn popping.

Next appt: Dec 15....the big one!!!!!!!!!! :)