Week 12

Hello All!

I'm excited that we are finally in our 12th week of pregnancy! That means that we are officially out of the most "risky" time period in pregnancy (and lucky for me, out of the nausea part too!) Cody & I went to see Dr. Bradford on Monday & it was a neat bonding experience for us. I was a little alarmed to find out I've lost weight so far in the pregnancy, but the Dr. wasn't worried. I guess I'll just need to be starting to gain from now on. I actually had to by maternity pants this past week for my expanding tummy, so I guess my body is just redistributing my weight around. Who knows! We were so excited to hear our baby's heart beat for the first time. She let us hear my heart beat first for comparison & then went down to find the baby's. It was very fast (she said well over 150 bpm). Of course I read into that probably more than I should've & began researching what sex matched up with a faster heart beat online. I know that it really has no correlation but it's fun to predict! I think I'm the only one with no "feeling" about the sex of the baby! I am just praying it's healthy, of course & can't wait to find out so we can start planning! We will find out in 7 more weeks...

It's spring break for me this week & I've never been so excited to do nothing & maybe getting some organizing done around the house:) Of course being on a beach in Mexico would be a little more wonderful (Anna & Kyle!) but I'll take any break I can get! Have a fabulous week everyone!

Our little blessing

Hello all! After a long, 4 month hiatus from blogging, I thought it's probably a good time for some updates!

We spent the Christmas break on a long & wonderful carribean cruise with one whole side of my family. Yes there were 19 of us present on this vacation... for a week! Many families couldn't handle this type of situation, but luckily for all of us, there was no drama & lots of room to roam:) It was such a blessing though, as it was a gift from my Memaw to us all. It was wonderful timing too, as the first half of my school year came to a close & I NEEDED a break. Cody was hired on with his new job right beforehand & was allowed to start when we returned. The itinerary was amazing too. We cruised from Florida to Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Saint Thomas, VI; & a private island in the Bahamas. We thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful ship & the incredible beaches at every stop. I'll be posting pictures soon!

And the REAL news...
Not long after returning, January 11 to be exact, Cody & I were excited to learn we are expecting our first baby! We had decided that with such an amazing first 8 months of marriage full of incredible journeys around the world, it was the perfect timing to start our family. I tried to contain the excitement as long as possible, but have to admit I've let the cat out of the bag more times than I'd initially planned:) I am now safely in my 11th week of pregnancy & life is slowly becoming more pleasant with each passing day. I had a hard 4-5 weeks there with daily/almost hourly sickness and constant exhaustion. Many have clued into our little secret just by reading my Facebook messages saying I'm going to bed at 5:30 or 6 most nights! This week was much better (with the exception of having a cold), and I'm hoping it continues to ease up. Work is much more pleasant when I feel like being there! I know it's all temporary & just thinking about the life growing inside of me makes it all more than worth it.

Our baby is now in the "fetal" stage of development and is looking much more like a baby! That's good, because as you can see, the baby looked like a blob just weeks ago! My mom was able to go with me to the first appointment (Cody wasn't able to get off work), which was a really neat experience. I had prepared myself (& mom) that there was always a chance they couldn't find a baby. I know that sounds negative, however I've seen & heard a lot in my profession & wanted to prepare my heart for whatever we faced. Anyway, I think mom was more surprised than I was when the sonographer immediately showed us the baby pulsating there on the screen. That one minute sonogram changed my life. Everything I had prayed for was right there for me to see & the doctor said everything looks perfect so far! I'll post the sonograms as I get them. Hopefully we will know the sex of the baby on the next one in about 8-10 weeks.

My doctor is Amazing, which was incredibly important to me. I learned that she almost Always delivers her own patient's babies & is super-conservative about things such as risks, meds & foods I shouldn't eat. I feel at peace knowing our care is in her hands. Cody is hoping to get off of work for the next appointment in the coming week, as we will get to hear the heart beat for the first time. He is super-excited to be a daddy soon, he's even begun kissing my stomach every morning before leaving for work:) I already know he will be an incredible father.

Well, other than those tiny updates/changes occurring in our lives, I guess everything else is normal... We are loving the house & slowly making it our own. Of course we have a list of things that we would like to do around here, but with the economy in the shape it is, we are resisting the urge to spend for now! I'll have plenty of time for that in the coming months, especially when I'm IN doors during the long, hot summer I have coming:) I promise not to leave this one hanging for another 4 months!

All Settled

We finally moved into our house 3 weeks ago and have slowly settled in. I was painting walls within hours of closing on the house. I am always anxious to make a place feel like home, and couldn't wait to paint! Thankfully Cody has wonderful friends close that helped him move us. Cody did say that's the last time we'll move ourselves so it must have been rough! We have enjoyed making it our own, making small repairs along the way. It's nice to have a place of our own that we can do whatever we want to!

Last weekend I was offered a job I couldn't refuse. I was asked to babysit Nolan Ryan's grandbaby "Nolan" at his home in Fort Worth. Nolan's daughter Wendy was in town and needed a sitter for a few hours so she asked another friend of mine for her recommendation for a sitter. The whole family was very nice and down to earth. I couldn't get up the courage to ask for an autograph (which I'm still hearing about at home) but it was such a neat experience meeting him that I didn't much care.

We loved giving out candy to the trick or treaters this weekend for the first time ever. Cody laughed every time our door bell rang because he said my face lit up:) We went to a Halloween party after that at our friends house just down the street. It's been wonderful having friends so close and always having friends and family stop by. I'll post pictures as soon as I find my camera!

Life as Usual

I just realized it's been 6 weeks since I last blogged... I guess the excitement of blogging has already taken a back seat to life as usual:) I can't believe how time flies. We get home late on week nights and practically live for the weekends. I guess that's pretty normal though.

I don't know who came up with the saying that "the first year of marriage is the hardest" because thankfully for us this is farthest from the truth. I guess that's one of the only benefits of dating so long beforehand. We've been total homebodies the past few months which is really nice for a change, but I think our friends are starting to wonder where we are... With the holidays approaching, I'm sure this will all change very soon.

We are crossing our fingers to close on our house this coming week. We're getting tired of living out of boxes! I'll keep everyone updated...

Love you all

Week 1 down & a new house!

I survived my first week at Mambrino School & have to say I am very excited for a relaxing weekend full of sleep! Thankfully this will be a 3-day weekend! I actually didn't see any kiddos this week, however just figuring out my schedule & when I would see each of my speech kids was a full-time job. Teachers just don't want to give up 30 minutes of their day for their kids to come to speech, which made my life pretty difficult trying to please everyone! They were all wonderful to me though & made me feel very welcome. I know that this year is going to be so great & I look forward to all I'm going to learn from my incredible supervisor (I have to be supervised my 1st year as an SLP).

Tonight we FINALLY found out that our offer was accepted on the house!! We are so excited to finally have a place of our own. It has been a waiting game, as this was a foreclosure and the bank was not in any hurry evidently. I think it was good for us to learn patience though & trust that the Lord knows what's best for us. I have to say it was probably perfect timing though since I was just starting my first job.

Cody is working for a plumbing supply company in Fort Worth part-time this semester. They've offered him a position in sales when he graduates in December & they're giving him the opportunity to learn the business to decide if the job is something he'll really enjoy. He did so well in school this summer that his school was paid for his last semester which was such a blessing! I'm so very proud of him.

These are photos of my therapy room.

My first "real" job!

Well I've finally finished my first unofficial week of school at Mambrino School. It was "teacher work week" so I had many hours of listening to speakers and a lot of stuff that didn't apply to me as a therapist what so ever... but I did finish my fabulous new room! I'm blessed as a speech therapist in a school to have a HUGE classroom to do therapy in & it's all mine!! Most therapists are stuck in a tiny closet or share rooms with other teachers or administrators, so I'm incredibly happy! Mom came up 2 days and worked magic to make the room feel cozy and precious. We went with a beach/sea theme & used many things left over from the wedding, so it's bright & all coordinating! Now all I need are my kiddos! (I will have 45 of them from pre-k to 5th grade!) I met a few of them last night at "meet the teacher"night & it got me all excited:) I'm ready to finally do what I've been training for throughout the past 6 years! I'm blessed to have an amazing supervisor for my CF year that's been in the field for years & it still on fire for speech path. I know I'm going to learn so much this year & can't wait. Kids will be starting Monday so say a little prayer that I don't mess any of them up:)

Honeymoon!!

I'm finally getting around to posting on our honeymoon trip to Cyprus, Greece & Egypt. I knew our honeymoon was going to be wonderful, but I never could've imagined it would be a surprise trip to the Mediterranean! It is almost impossible to explain what an incredible trip we had. We spent our first night at an amazing beach-side hotel in Cyprus. We boarded a 5 day cruise to the Greek Islands the next day from a port in Cyprus. Our ship docked at Kos and then Rhodes, with plenty of time to explore the islands and soak up the culture. We rode bicycles along the beaches, shopped, and explored the sights. I had no idea how much culture & history we would learn from this trip. We treked on so many biblical grounds and historical sights were around every turn. It has been neat to come home & read about Paul's journeys to many of the areas we experienced first-hand. After returning from the Greek Island cruise, we boarded another 3 day cruise to Egypt. In Egypt we saw the mummy museum (including King Tut & his tomb!), the famous great pyramids, the Sphinx, and finishing the long day with a cruise down the Nile River. Cody & I even decided to crawl into one of the pyramids (an optional excursion) which was such a small entrance that we had to practically crawl down the long hallways. Talk about claustrophobia! After returning from the Egyptian cruise, we stayed another 3 days at a beachside resort in Cyprus. By this time we were exhausted, so we really lounged for the entire stay. It was a trip we will never forget! We now really have the Europe bug and can't wait to return! Here are a few of my favorite photos...