Happy New Year

Last year I did a sort of 10 year review. I guess you should normally do those on a year like 2010, when you roll to a new decade. I jumped the gun... mainly because 1999 was a big year for me and 2009 seemed like an appropriate 10 year mark.

As I look back on 2009, I again realize how blessed I am. The highlights of our year and the blog are:

• We built and moved into our "Dream Home". For me, it was a hard, stressful process. For Ryan, it was all fun. He'd do it again tomorrow (good thing since its his job) and I hyperventilate just thinking about picking out tile, paint, granite... breathe... breathe...
• We sold the "Best Boat Ever" (and promised each other we'd get another one one day)
• I gained two amazing sister-in-laws when Ryan's brothers Kevin and Eric tied the knot.
• We traveled to New Hampshire for Eric's Graduation, to Nashville for my friend Ross's wedding and to San Antonio/Seaworld with my family.
• Admiral gained 3 doggie cousins.
• And last but not least... telling our friends we are expecting a baby and finding out It's A Boy!

Since I've often devoted a lot of my blog to the food I cook, here are some of my favs from 2009:

• Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies - "Chocolate Heaven" and "Almost Molten Lava Cakes"
• Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies - "A Red Velvet Valentine's Day"
• Rockets Iced Sugar Cookies - "Baking for Sports"
• Fried Pickles
• Cheesecake Pops - "Cheesecake Pops -- The Easy Way"
• And a few more that haven't made the blog yet... I guess 2010 will get credit for those!

2010 is going to be a great year! I can't even begin to image how my life will have changed by January 1, 2011.

Big News Gets Two Posts!

We had our "big ultrasound" today to see the baby and find out the gender. See the Baby Blog for details!

It's a....

BOY!

We were pretty convinced HE was a SHE until today. The odds in our group of friends were leaning toward girl and I'd been the only one with any kind of Morning Sickness so we had convinced ourselves that it was a girl. Much to our surprise, the ultrasound showed clear evidence of a boy. So, here we are, on TEAM BLUE! Ryan can't stop smiling! He's so happy. He and Brandon are now officially planning the boys YMCA League basketball teams! Let the competitions begin!

He was super active during the ultrasound which was fun for us to see. Lots of moving his feet and arms, he even rolled over to his belly! He also had the hiccups so you'd see his little heart beating away and then his belly jump. So amazing! Here are the pictures.

Perfect profile picture.
Perfect little foot.
Either sucking his thumb or scratching his nose.



And now, for the R rated material. In case you want to see the proof for yourself... He's DEFINITELY a boy!


My doctor's office had just gotten a new ultrasound machine and the tech was teaching herself all the new buttons so she flipped over to the 4D mode. Normally you have to pay extra for this (though I've heard this tech likes to do free sneak peaks anyway). So we got to watch the little guy move around in a little more detail. He kept putting his hands up to his face and then he yawned and stuck his tongue out. I was afraid the 4D would look a little scary this early since there isn't much fat on the baby yet (if you pay for it, they tell you to come at 28-32 weeks), but I think he looked pretty darn cute!




So, we are almost to the halfway point. My first two ultrasounds (at 6 and 7 weeks), he measured a couple of days behind what the calender said my due date should be. Today, I'm 19weeks, 2days but measured right at 20 weeks. We'll see if this continues. I fully expect to have a big baby! Everything else is looking good. I'm feeling good except the once or twice a week morning sickness but I'll survive that.

Merry Christmas!

19 Weeks -- First Bump Picture

I'm entering the 19th week and finally starting to "show" but in normal clothes probably not enough for people to know for sure that I'm pregnant and not just fat. :)

I figure I better start taking the belly shots to document my progress. So here I am... 19 weeks.

I weighed myself at home earlier this week and weighed in at my pre-pregnancy weight. This is a good sign since I'd been losing weight slowly during much of the first trimester. I'm definitely eating more but probably still not enough. The mornings can still be hard and though I'm hungry, nothing sounds good until about 10:30 or 11:00am. It's not as easy to force yourself to eat as you might think.

Our "big ultrasound" is Tuesday morning. Please think good thoughts for the baby's cooperation in showing "the goods" then look for an update with gender news sometime Tuesday late morning/early afternoon!

Christmas Tree Additions

The tree is up and pretty much decorated. I might add a few more filler ornaments but I'm in no rush. I was finally able to get some pictures last weekend. Of course it was during the day so it doesn't really sparkle like at night. Oh well.


In my Christmas post last year, I reflected on how I decorate the tree. Again this year, I had a pretty easy time with the lights and was excited to use all 4 sections, though I made the EXACT SAME mistake when putting it up! (I missed a section and had to take it apart and start over). I enjoyed hanging all the meaningful ornaments and the memories they hold. The boat ornaments made me sad but happy at the same time (we'll get another one one day!).

Here are the new ornaments from this year: New Home 2009 (from my parents)
Mom To Be (from my aunts)
Snowmen making Sugar Cookies -- I got this one last year since cookies are my favorite thing to bake!

Hot Wheels aka "As Close to Darda as I Could Find" that I got for Ryan, Kevin and Eric after Christmas last year.

First Purchase

Today I made my first purchase for the little one. My first moment of parenting weakness I guess. One day I'm threatening to ground him or her (which the sentence should be increased by a couple of years but I won't go into that tonight) and two days later I'm buying him/her something frivilous.

Anyway, I was at Target buying some Angel Tree Gifts when I saw these cute Paul Frank onesies in the baby section. I haven't been buying anything since we don't know the sex yet so I was just looking at how cute the selections were since I love the little monkey.

And then, to my surprise and delight, I noticed a small little detail that made the outfit IRRESISTIBLE.

Do you see it? There is no way I could leave without one of these. I picked the most unisex one I could find, in the biggest size for next year use. I hope it fits!

And with that, I think we officially have a nickname for the nameless little guy (or girl)!

I'M IN LOVE WITH...

MY OVEN!

It's so pretty and big and roomy and has all kinds of fancy features and I don't have to bend over to use it and there are TWO of them!!!

And tonight, it made me so pathetically happy when I fit all 24 cupcakes on the middle rack. I'm talking so happy that I got my camera and took a picture! Ahhh, I'm in love.