Holidays 2009

It has been awhile since I've posted, but not much has been going on! We have both been super busy at work and are hoping that dies down some once the holidays are past. We have been working like crazy to get stuff done around the house before Aubrey arrives - finishing the nursery and the bathroom, putting together toys/mats/swings, putting batteries in everything, etc. Every week I get these emails from various websites that tell me what I need to be doing that week to prepare for baby...I know these are supposed to be helpful suggestions but when I read them I feel as if someone is nagging at me to get things done ASAP. They have created more anxiety than they have been helpful, so I have stopped reading these emails. We are pretty much prepared as we'll ever be, now it's just a matter of waiting! We have a sono this week, so we should get to find out the weight of the baby - yay! Below are some holiday pictures...

Shower

For those of you who know me, I'm pretty anti-shower, so from the beginning I have said that I did not want a baby shower. I usually feel awkward and put on the spot, and shower games make me want to run screaming from the room. Somehow, the crazy ladies I work with talked me into having a small shower at Betsy's house last weekend. It was mainly the palliative care team, with the exception of my mom, Kay, Chloe & Leah.

Betsy provided her house and the food, and Eileen took charge of the theme and decorations. It was a diva theme, with a lot of pink, black, and silver; and of course, all things sparkly. Knowing my love for shoes Eileen had everyone bring Aubrey a pair of shoes that went on the table for decoration.

My mom got me a fabulous cake from Frosted Art that tasted just like Justin's grooms cake from our wedding. We skipped the shower games and were able to enjoy good company and good food. The whole shower was a blast and everyone out-did themselves. I was reminded how lucky I am to have such an amazing group of people in my life.

Childbirth Class

This past weekend Justin & I went to prepared childbirth class at St. Pauls - neither one of us was looking forward to it, but as new parents we want to be as prepared as we can be so we sucked it up and went. Unfortunately, it was not any better than we expected.

The first topic of the morning was the stages of labor - while I didn't like listening to it, it wasn't horrible. Then came the dreaded video. We had planned on not watching it, but then when we saw that it was mainly drawings we thought, ok, we can do this. So we're about halfway through with the video on birthing the baby when all of the sudden they switch from drawings to a live birth, showing EVERYTHING. As soon as it was over I looked at Justin and said I am NOT doing THAT. We immediately decided that I would request a C-section. Then, after some discussion comes the video on having a C-section. As soon as it was over I looked at Justin and we both said We are NOT doing THAT! So, the conclusion of that we came to was that some brilliant doctor, somewhere, needs to hurry up and find an alternative way for me to deliver because neither of the 2 current options are acceptable. The rest of the day focused on breast feeding (more graphic videos), and breathing and relaxation. We did learn how to bathe the baby, and also that the baby will need to wear hats the majority of the time since she will be a winter baby.

So, 7 hours later we had officially completed our class and are supposedly "prepared parents." I am not sure if we are any more prepared than we were before we started the class, but we are definitely more freaked out about the actual delivery part. I am hoping to block everything I now know about giving birth out until it is actually time, at which point I will be asking for LOTS of drugs!

Recent News...

It has been awhile since I've posted, but life has been very busy lately! The biggest news is that Justin recently got promoted to Market Manager, which we are very excited about. The timing for the promotion couldn't have been more perfect, what with Miss Aubrey on the way. The down side is that the job is in Ft. Worth, so it is a bit of a commute. We celebrated with dinner at Bob's...and then again at Jasper's. Justin has put in a lot of time and energy at Supplemental, so I am very proud of him. He has been in his new position for about two weeks and is loving it.

As for everything else, time is flying by! I can't believe I am almost 7 months pregnant. The nursery is almost ready, just waiting on the glider and rug to be delivered, then it will be time to hang pictures on the wall. I'll post pic's as soon as I'm through. My mom has been a great help getting everything ready - she has pretty much done the nursery on her own, has redone the upstairs bathroom, and has made sure that we have everything we need to be prepared. Now we just have a few more things to finish and then it'll be time to sit back and wait for January!

Daddy's Thoughts

Well as the daddy to be I thought I would give my own version of how the finding out of the gender went. For whatever reason, Tuesday was the longest day ever. I was sitting at my desk and just knew that it was getting close to time to leave. Looked at my watch, 9:30. Gives you a bit of an idea of how long a day it was and then on top of that I was a mix of nervous, anxious, and excited all mixed in to one. Like Mandy said I didnt care either way, if it were a boy I had a sports star to be and if it were a girl I had a Daddy's girl. The people at my office were making friendly bets that it would be a boy. I think one person in my office said it would be a girl. So as I got ready to leave the office to head to the doctor's office, I had it pretty much in my mind that since everyone else thought it was going to be a boy that it was without a doubt going to be a baby girl. As you have read, that's exactly what we were told. The moment they told us I was filled with excitement and a little bit of fear. It was all becoming very real now, I AM GOING TO BE A DAD SOON!!! So all of these emotions and thoughts are going through me then the lady doing the sonogram hands us our pictures from this time. I first see the picture of the head, this along with the thoughts of me having a daughter brought a couple of tears to my eyes (which I quickly and secretly wiped away so Mandy wouldn't make fun of me). I then see the picture that the sonogram lady said was how she could tell it was a girl. Right there on the picture she typed in "Girl Part", seeing that immediately made me laugh. As Mandy said, we immediately went and bought some girl clothes. After looking at the damage that we had done I was suddenly hit with a harsh realization: this baby girl has me right where she wants me and doesn't even know it yet. At 8 oz. she has this 28 year old man already wrapped around her finger. Mandy's mom helped with that realization by confirming that from this point on I am at the mercy of this little girl and that I won't be able to say no when she wants something. A bit scary but I am ok with it.

As much as my friends will probably give me a hard time, I am not ashamed to admit that I am far more emotional about this than Mandy is. She is very excited and already has the nursery the way she wants it in her head, she has everything planned out. Thank goodness for this because I know that I wouldnt be able to do it. This morning I got in my car and on the radio that song "Butterfly Kisses" was playing and I literally got choked up as I am driving to work. Was a little hesitant about telling Mandy about this for fear of her being poked fun of, so I told her and poked fun of myself. Well needless to say there are exciting times in store for the Daniel household and we look forward to every minute of it. All up until the day of her first date, I will have to get back to you on how I will feel about that one. Thinking of ways to scare the boy already though.

It's a Girl!

We have been anxiously waiting to find out what we are having, and on Tuesday we found out that we are having a girl! I had convinced myself that we were having a boy so I wouldn't be disappointed, so I was very surprised to hear it was a girl! Justin said that he didn't care what the gender was, but I think he was secretly glad it is a girl; of course, it was no secret that I wanted a girl all along! We have decided to name her Aubrey Grace Daniel.

We were so excited after our appointment that we stopped at the Carter's outlet store on the way home and bought tons of girly clothes. When we got home I immediately set to buying nursery decorations online...it was so much fun. Mom and I can't wait to do some serious shopping this weekend!

We're having a baby!

So, for those of you who don't already know, we're having a baby! The baby is due January 19, 2010.

We had been trying for a few months and then in May I suspected I was pregnant. We were actually flying to Amarillo and I took a pregnancy test in the airport bathroom - it was positive. 4 tests later, we believed it to be true.

Seeing as how I always think something is going to go wrong, we decided to wait until we had hit 12 weeks to tell everyone. The only person that knew right away was my mom, who we couldn't wait to tell. We gave her a card telling her she was no longer just going to be a dog grannie anymore. Needless to say, she is thrilled. Most everyone found out when we updated our facebook status at 12 weeks...we had just had our 12 week sonogram and appointment, where all went well, so we decided it was time to share the news. We recieved a ton of comments and were happy to see that our friends were excited for us. Most of my family does not know yet, but we are waiting until my grandmother comes to visit this week to tell her in person, and then everyone else.

So far things have been going really well. I was a little tired and grouchy in my first trimester, but was incredibly lucky and didn't have any morning sickness. I have a little more energy now, but still have my grouchy moments (I'm afraid this is just who I am!). Justin and my mom have been really patient with my mood swings and my sudden desire to redecorate my house; I am so lucky to have them!

We don't find out the sex of the baby for about 6 more weeks, so check back late August for an update! Keep your fingers crossed for a girl! :)

Big news...

We have big news, but you'll have to wait...