Merry Christmas!

Christmas break is a time for relaxation and special moments with family, and I couldn't be happier about that right now.  School let out at 2:00 p.m. this past Friday and I have thoroughly enjoyed the past few days.  Saturday morning we headed to GA, where Jon & I joined my parents, grandparents, sister, brother-in-law, and baby nephew to celebrate the holidays.  We rented a farmhouse inn in a small town near my sister's home.  It was absolutely beautiful!  We had 4 bedrooms, a full kitchen, and an adorable living room - complete with a lit, decorated Christmas tree thanks to Michelle & Kyle!  We enjoyed visiting with the farm animals (mostly chickens & goats) and eating scrambled eggs from freshly-laid, warm eggs right out of the henhouse!  That was cool!  We opened all of our gifts together when we weren't busy passing the baby around or just watching his funny facial expressions.  I basically thought Jack had hung the moon on our past two visits with him in November, but this time was even better than that!  He's definitely way more alert now and awake more often, so he has such a fun personality.  The times he nodded off to sleep while laying against my chest were so precious and made me so very thankful for him and excited about the arrival of our own baby boy.

Speaking of our baby boy, I think he got more Christmas gifts than Jon & I did, and he isn't even officially here yet!  He got plenty of adorable outfits & bibs, and much to Jon's shock even a chicken Halloween costume for next year.  Thanks, Michelle!  :)  Perhaps the most exciting was when we opened up the crib bedding that we'd picked out for our son.  I love it and can't wait to now get his nursery all ready for his arrival!  It's amazing to think he'll be here in 4-5 months!

It's a BOY!!!

On Friday we finally had our first ultrasound at 18 weeks along, and there is no doubt that we're having a baby boy! The ultrasound was the best experience of my pregnancy so far and we are so excited. We got to watch him moving around on the screen, "waving" to us and stretching his little legs. He has all of his arms, legs, fingers, and toes, and twice he showed us his boy parts, much to Jon's happiness! Neither of us really seemed to care what our baby was, but we're both so thrilled that we were able to tell for sure. It's great to stop calling our baby an "it" and I've been picturing myself cuddling my tiny son in a few months. I can't wait!

Practicing Parenthood

Our first nephew decided to make his entrance into the world last Tuesday morning and I could not be more excited.  Jackson Tanner Webb came two weeks early, much to my sister's relief!  I spent most of that long night awake and on the phone getting updates on how everyone was doing.  I somehow managed to teach school for three more days and then we finally threw our bags into the car Friday and headed to Georgia to meet the little guy.  I spent two days staring at the little life that had only days before been inside my sister.  I couldn't seem to tear my eyes away from him.  Of course I'm not biased or anything, but I happen to think he's the most beautiful baby I've ever seen (at least until next May!).  His itty bitty ears and teeny tiny nose and those irresistible wiggly toes...what an incredible miracle.  Jon had never held an infant before, let alone a newborn, and it was precious to see how carefully he held the person no bigger than his own hands.  I caught him doing his own share of staring, too, which just tugged my heartstrings to no end.  As if we weren't excited enough about becoming parents, this weekend just made the whole thing more real and more perfect.  What more could one possibly want in this thing called life?

BELLY!

I gained a lot of weight during my third and fourth years of college.  I didn't realize it was happening at the time, but one day I looked at a picture of myself and hardly recognized the chubby face, chest, or belly rolls.  It happened over several years and I just slowly bought pants a size or two larger, without really noticing.  A few years later I lost all of the weight, over the course of about a year.  No big deal.

There's no way anyone except mothers can relate to going up two pants sizes within weeks or even days.  I went from wearing all of my pants comfortably to nothing buttoning in a span of about two days.  No joke.  I knew my belly would expand, but I thought it might take a few weeks.  48 hours seems a bit unfair, don't you think?  That's not even enough time for the Bella Band I ordered on ebay to arrive!  And I don't enjoy shopping, so it's not like I'm just itching to rush out an replace my entire wardrobe - ugh.

Thankfully I have a bag full of "fat clothes" left from college.  On a whim five years ago I tossed them in the attic "for someday when I'm pregnant" and boy am I glad I did.  Elastic waistband, meet your new best friend.

Jon here

Today we heard Little Dude's heartbeat. It was quite fast, suggesting he (or she; we're unsure which at this point) will be an espresso fan.  That suits me fine.  I tried to get Lisa to get her free Starbucks coffee for voting today and give it to Little Dude but that suggestion went nowhere.

We now are in the market for a fetal doppler machine, which may or may not allow us to hear the heartbeat from home.  I say may not because I am not sure either of us is coordinated enough to probe the right part of the body.  "Honey, your appendix is at 150 beats!"  "I wonder if your liver is a boy or a girl."

It did become real today.  Our 529 accounts numbers are as follows; direct deposits are always appreciated...

A new blogger

I think Jon's been surprised I haven't started a blog before now, but since we're expecting our first child I decided that this would be a good time to join the ever-growing community of mommy bloggers.  I enjoy keeping up on what my out-of-town friends' young children are doing through blogs, so hopefully some of our friends and family members will appreciate these updates, too.

Yesterday was a significant milestone.  I'm 12 weeks pregnant and officially past the most scary time when miscarriage is so common.  It's also the beginning of what's supposed to be the best part of pregnancy.  I've had very few symptoms thus far and look forward to soon getting some real evidence of a baby, like kicking and heartbeats and ultrasounds!  We go to the doctor next week to finally hear the baby's heartbeat.  I'm so excited and know how much more real this will all be once we experience that.  Just this week I've started noticing a little bulge in my stomach, so I don't think it'll be long before I can't button my pants.  Jon's been calling the baby "Little Dude," even though it could easily be a girl, and our friends got us a onesie with that name printed on it.  It was our first baby gift. :)

My sister and best friend are also both pregnant so it's exciting to compare notes and share all of this with them.  My little nephew, Jack, should be arriving in the next few weeks!