Turkey, lack of sleep, and an overall good weekend.

So, I realize that it's not really the end of the long weekend, but there was so much to talk about that I just had to go ahead and post. First things first, as promised here are pictures of my Christmas tree and mantlepiece. I added in a couple of pictures from previous years so you can see the difference.

This was our $20 Walgreens tree. It worked well in our apartment for three years, but I'm sure everyone would agree that we needed an upgrade for our new house.

This is our old fireplace with my mantlepiece.

Drumroll please....
This is our new tree. John pitched a fit when I told him how much it cost, but it's pre-lit, and 7.5 feet tall, and just so pretty. I love the red and gold look...so pretty.

This is the same mantlepiece, just on our new mantle...not sure if you can tell much of a difference.

Finally, this is our wreath that my mom made for us last year. She's super-talented at these things, and, as you can tell we continued the red and gold theme.

So, those are my Christmas decorations. John and I (well John will be doing most of the manual labor) are planning on hanging our lights on the outside of our house tomorrow. Now, on to the events of the weekend.

Thanksgiving day we spent at my Mimi and Paw-paw's. I tried to help out as much as possible, but I would get so hot in the kitchen, and have to go outside to sit down and cool off. I did make pumpkin crisp and chocolate truffles the night before though. I was really concerned about what I'd be eating because lately I've had a great aversion to foods that I normally enjoy. Sometimes, foods that I ate just the day before sound disgusting to me, and I get sick to my stomach just thinking about the fact that I recently ate that. It's strange, I know. Thankfully, I was able to enjoy my turkey and dressing, which is all I really care about anyway. I also ate a lot of fruit salad. Fruit and bread seem to be the only two things that I can constantly enjoy. We played games, of course, and just hung out with family all day.

Friday, John had to work, but Austin and I got up at 6 o'clock in the morning to cash in on some good deals at Best Buy. Austin's pretty good at getting up early with me when no one else will. Even though John could have gone to Best Buy, and still made it home in time to get ready for work, he didn't go. He was concerned that he'd be late for work...rrrrriiiiiiiiiiight. Anyway, we were able to get a tv for mom and dad, blu-ray player and receiver for John and I, plus a couple of blu-ray disks. That's pretty much it for Christmas presents for John and I. Now, we just have to focus on the rest of the family. We might be going about this backwards. To top it off, I stayed up until midnight last night. That's just crazy talk. I don't even think I took a nap yesterday. That's not true, I probably did.

This morning, I decided to put in some hours at work. Every little bit I can add up is less I'll have to worry about when it comes time for maternity leave. I was able to do a half day, so that's good. Thank goodness Audra was up there too though because otherwise that building is spooky, and I'm not sure I'd have been able to last that long. I met John, Austin, and Mom up at the Boardwalk for lunch because we were all going to the 1:30 showing of Twilight. It was a yummy lunch at Cheesecake Bistro, and we all had a really good time at the movie. We've all read the books, well John's got about 100 pages left, but pretty close. Afterwards, John and I came home to clean house for our visitors this evening. Plus, I needed to finish up Christmas decorations. Our friends, Josh and Amy came over, with their daughter, Abby. We had such a good time playing Wii. This was Amy's first time, and Josh's first time to play Wiifit. It was hilarious! Abby was even applauding when the pins would fall down in bowling. So much fun. I was smart enough to fill Lexi's kong with peanut butter and put it in the freezer so it'd give her something to do once the Beasley's got here. I know Abby's a little nervous around Lexi-sized dogs, so I wanted to do something that would keep Lexi from being in her face the whole time. It worked well. Abby was even reaching out to pet her by the end of the night. Also, Amy's sweet mom sent a gift over for us. She got us a rattle, baby lotion, and our baby's first book "Goodnight Moon." That was just too sweet of her.

Well, that's about it for our Thanksgiving weekend. Tomorrow will just be Christmas lights, I'm sure. I might lay around a little bit because it sure doesn't feel like I did a lot of that this weekend. Oooh, and I've got to remember to pick my friend from work up at the airport. I don't think she'd be too happy to be left there. :-)

This Thursday we've got our second doctor's appointment. John's going with me to this one as well because I'll actually get an ultrasound this time. I'm so anxious to hear the baby's heartbeat. That's all I really care about right now. I just want to make sure there's actually a baby in there. Sounds strange I'm sure, but I just think that'll make everything click that I'm actually pregnant, once we see and hear it. So, check back later in the week. I'm hoping to have a picture of Baby Vrana to post.

Oh Christmas Tree

I love the holidays, just thought I'd start out with that. There's a lot of pictures I should post with this blog, but I just don't have the energy (or most of the pictures). So, I'll try to do that later on this week. This weekend John and I drove to Bryan, Texas to visit our friends Jessie and Amy Casas. Amy is pregnant too. She's actually one week further along than I am (if you read earlier posts she was the one we were talking about), so it's nice to be able to talk to someone who knows exactly what you're going through, as you're going through it. We went to the Renaissance Festival Saturday, which was so fun. I was just proud of myself for being able to stay awake, and not so grumpy the whole time. I ate a a lot of food that now makes me feel gross to even think about. Once I got back to the house I crashed. Jessie and Amy were laughing at me because I would just wake up to say crabby things to John, but in my defense his phone was making the tv all staticky and it was waking me up. We came home to a dog that was oh-so-excited to see us, and howled at us for forever.

My good friend Kellie gave birth to a baby this Saturday. She's home now and everyone is happy and healthy. I saw pictures of him, and it just makes me so excited for our future. I can't wait until our next appointment next week. We'll get our first ultrasound and get to hear the baby's heartbeat. So exciting.

I was so happy to have a short week this week. In fact, I found out today that we'll be getting off at noon tomorrow. Tonight, I met Mom and Mimi at Splash to buy our Christmas tree. For the past three years John and I have had a tree that I bought from Walgreens for $20. It was just pitiful. This tree is so beautiful. It's 7.5 feet, pre-lit and so full and pretty. I planned on decorating it this evening, but I'm so tired, I think I'm going to put it off until tomorrow afternoon. As soon as it's completely decorated I'll get pictures up. I may even pull one of our old tree, just to show you as comparison.

Our Thanksgiving plans involve Thanksgiving dinner at my grand-parents' house. Last year I convinced my brother and cousin to sit outside in freezing weather in order to be one of the first in line for the Best Buy deals the day after Thanksgiving. John and I saw a couple of things that we really want, but I'm hoping that John will have Friday off, so he can be the one who sits out there this year. Either that, or I'll just get online at midnight to order what I want.

OK, John's got a nice fire going, and I really want to pull out some of the decorations, so I'm off to eat cookies. HA! It all makes perfect sense to a pregnant lady.

Scaring myself

Well, I did a wonderful job of terrifying myself today. I was looking at some of the boards on thebump.com, which is the site that's linked to thenest.com. One of the boards mentioned something about "blighted ovum". Not knowing what this was, I did the stupid thing of googling it. It turns out that it's a pregnancy where just the gestational sac is present. So, you get the positive pregnancy test, you get the symptoms of pregnancy, but eventually your body realizes there's no baby there. Once that happens, the hCG levels start to drop, and within a few weeks you will miscarriage. I just wish that we would have gotten an ultrasound at the first visit, and actually saw/heard the heartbeat. So, now I'm concerned that that's me....that I've got a blighted ovum. I know it's me just worrying without reason to, and guess what folks, should I not have a blighted ovum, then this worry will most probably continue throughout the whole pregnancy. My next appointment is December 4th, so two weeks from tomorrow. I think I'm going to hold out until then...unless I lose sleep over it, then I'll have to call and try to get in there earlier. On the plus side, I don't really feel like my symptoms are decreasing. I've been moodier than ever this week, and I'm still super-tired and sensitive to smells. Plus, I've got all sorts of aches and pains. So, keep praying for me, the olive (which is what it is roughly the size of this week), and John's sanity. :-)

Baby's first 5K

OK, technically this was my baby's second 5K, but we didn't know I was pregnant at the Pumpkin Run in October. It was so cold out there this morning at the Red River front, but John was nice enough to take me out there to support me. He stayed out there the whole time, with wild child Lexi straining to be a part of the race, in nothing but a pullover and jeans. I don't know how he did it. I run these 5Ks with work buddies, usually. Jessica is the best because she helps me to push myself, without running out of steam too fast. So, this morning Jessica and I started off, and, I'm going to be honest, we were two of the last people. This was a 5K and half marathon, and the people that were there were definitely runners. Throughout the race, there was a father and daughter running ahead of us. Well, I say they were running. The little girl, I'd say she was about 12 was getting tired, and kept walking. The whole time her dad was trying to get her to start jogging again. He'd use us as motivation. I'm not exactly sure why he picked us because there were plenty of people that passed them, but they chose us. So, they'd be walking, look back, and see that we were getting close to them and start running again. Keep in mind, the whole time, Jessica and I were just trucking away. So, with about a quarter mile to go, we were really going to pass them. They were walking side by side, and we got in single-file so that we could pass them. AS SOON AS we got even with them, the dad looked at the little girl and they started running again. OK, that ticked the pregnant lady off. After that I was mad. First, they should have gotten out of our way instead of making us squeeze by. Second, it's just tacky to wait for us to get even with them to start running again. So, we keep jogging, I'm saying mean things under my breath, such as, "Congratulations to everyone who beats the pregnant lady." I was so mad. So, as we were rounding the last curve (the father and daughter were walking again!), I looked at Jessica, and said, "Let's kick it up a notch." After that, I just started sprinting. I wish you could have seen the look on that little girl's face as a I flew by her. As soon as she saw me run by her, her eyes got big and she started to jog again. Poor Jessica, I left her behind me. After we crossed the finish line, she commented "The hormones were flowing today." Maybe so, but here's a word to the wise, don't piss off the pregnant lady. As I was telling this story to Mom, Dad, and Austin, Austin started laughing, and saying he wished he still worked at the shirt-printing place where he used to work, just so he could have put that phrase on my shirt from the race.

On a happier note, I drove up yesterday, and noticed another package outside my door. I didn't wait for John this time because I know he would have ripped into it before I got to see the return address. It turned out to be a gift from my oldest friend, Amy and her family. It was so sweet! There were some onesies in there (in neutral colors) with paw prints, one that says "I love Mommy", and one that says "I love Daddy." There was also a rattle and some receiving blankets in there. It's just so sweet. I know I keep saying this, but it's so hard to believe all these little things are for a baby that is growing inside of me right now. I just can't wait for the first ultrasound, maybe things will start to feel "real" then. So far, I'm still feeling pretty good, a few minor aches and pains. The only real bother right now is how sleepy I get at night...early at night. It's also really bad after lunch until about 3 pm. I wish I could just lay down and take a nap, but I don't think they'd look too favorably on that at work. According to what I've been reading, the hormones should be getting better soon (which John says I haven't actually been that bad - such a nice guy), but that I'll be getting even more tired, yuck! Only about 4.5 weeks until my energy is supposed to return. Thank goodness, but that seems so far away.

OK, I need to get to cleaning, since there's no telling how little I can get done before I get exhausted again.

Aww...

I told almost everyone at work about our good news on Friday. This morning I had to tell the big boss man, which I was a little nervous about. Everything went well though. So far it seems like everyone is being really nice about everything. The only drawback is there are some things I can't do in the lab, which means I'm going to have to hound some of the other analysts to help me. I'm sure that they'll all be OK with it, but after another 7.5 months, I'd be willing to bet that's going to wear on them. Sorry guys!



I'm still feeling fine, really. The only thing that seems to bother me is that I get so super tired at night. It's so bad. I have to make myself keep moving because I know if I sit down after eating dinner, that's about it for me. John is being super-wonderful. I bought him a Father-To-Be book, and he's so cute about reading it. He'll read something and ask me if I've felt like this, or I'll say something and he'll tell me that the book said that would be OK. Too sweet. He's also being so helpful, letting me rest as much as possible. He's wonderful.



When we got home tonight, I saw there was a package waiting for us at the front door. John ran around to get it, and he brought it inside. I've already started ordering Christmas presents, so John was thinking it was one of those. When we saw it was from Kidsarefanstoo.com we really had no idea. John ripped into it without even giving me a chance to look at it. It was the cutest present: Texas A&M booties and a knit cap. Two of my former co-workers, and bestest friends, sent them to me. I'm so cheesy that I just started crying. They were just so cute and tiny, and those girls just know me so well that it all made me so happy. So, here's a picture of them:

So sweet. I could just look at them all day. It's weird to think that our baby will one day wear these things. It's weird to think that we will have a baby to wear things at all. Thanks girls!

June 24th

Well, Michelle and I went to the doctor today. We found out that, yes, she definitely is pregnant, and that she is about 7 weeks pregnant. 7 weeks!!! We thought maybe 4, but 7!! That's almost two months. In another 10 weeks we can find out the sex of the baby. I know that it's like forever still until the baby is born, but knowing that she is already almost two months along definitely makes it feel real, and like it does't seem so far away...like, if 2 months have already passed, the other 7 will just fly by as well. Also, knowing that she is already 7 weeks along mean that she is just one week behind a friend of her's that is also pregnant. Wouldn't it be cool if we and our friend's had our babies on the same day? I think it would. We also got a little gift basket from the doctor's that has like 5 different type of vitamins, and like 3 books. With the books Michelle has already bought, I think I have more to read than I ever did for school. It's already all worth it though.

Tin Roof...RUSTED!!

For those of you music-lovers out there, you might know the urban legend that this line from the song "Love Shack" means that the girl was pregnant. Well, guess what folks, this tin roof is rusted. We found out on Monday morning, and John rented a billboard and bought a neon sign that said he was going to be a daddy that night. OK, not really, but he didn't hesitate to call and tell everyone, as well as post blogs and bulletins on both Myspace and Facebook. It's so cute how excited he is about this.

We had our first doctor's appointment today. I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to do an ultrasound today, but next time we will for sure. The doctor did tell me that according to the calendar I was seven weeks, but the examine seemed like I was more like eight weeks along. SEVEN weeks!!! John and I definitely didn't think that we were that close to being parents. We really thought that I was four weeks. That was our jaw-dropper of the day, for sure. I say that because a very good friend of mine had recently told me she was pregnant in the middle of October. We had talked about being pregnant at the same time and how much fun it would be. So, I tested that weekend, and it was negative. Come to find out, it was just my over-eagerness to be pregnant because fast forward three weeks and I start getting some symptoms and decide to test again. This time it's positive. So, you can imagine my surprise today when the doctor said I was seven weeks along.

We took pictures of me last night. I'm not anxious to show off the "pre-pregnancy" pictures just yet, but they'll be a good keepsake and a nice way to compare as I progress. So far, I'm feeling great. I do get tired really early at night, but that's completely normal.

Needless to say, John and I are super-excited, as well as our parents and grand-parents. Stay with us in the upcoming weeks to see how things progress. Although, I think most of my time will be spent reading the mountain of information that we now have. :-)