Sorry!

So, I keep getting requests for my latest belly pics and I was fully ready to take some pics and post them today. However, I have run in to a snag. My camera is dead. Under normal circumstances this would not be a problem for anyone with an electrical outlet. However, in our case you may remember that we purchased this camera while we were in Rome in May. So the plug for the charger only fits Italian outlets. We usually just use our handy dandy converter to plug it in, but I cannot find it ANYWHERE. We took it to ACL and that is the last time I remember using it so maybe we left it in the hotel or something, but I have looked all over and cannot find it. SO, basically unless Jason can find it somewhere I haven't thought of, I will have to go buy another one before I can take a picture of my ever growing stomach. And let me assure you, it is getting big. I swear just in the last couple weeks it has doubled in size. This baby is going to be HUGE! =)

Other than that, my friend Lacey had her baby Kiley and she is so cute! Got to see her for a little while a few days after they got home. She is so tiny! It is amazing how small they are at first. Then was my friend Tamra's birthday extravaganza with her husband Michael. They both turned 30 recently (welcome to the club!) and threw a huge bash at their huge house in Allen. She outdid herself on food and decorations and we got to play pool on the new table that Michael built from scratch by hand. That's right, all by himself...he's very handy.

This past weekend was spent Christmas shopping and wrapping presents and writing Christmas cards. We are going to be out of town every weekend from now until 2009 so I had to get a lot done. Still have a lot to do but at least I got a chunk of it started. Where are we going to be every weekend you ask? This weekend is Thanksgiving in Tyler, next is a visit to New York City to see my friend Serena, next is Christmas with the extended family in Tyler, then in Tyler again the weekend after that for Christmas with the immediate family, then the next weekend is Christmas in Norman, then New Years in Beaver's Bend. Whew! I am tired just typing that! Should be fun though, and then it will be all about baby from then until April! =)

Well I hope everyone is doing great and I promise there will be belly pics soon.

It's a Girl!!!

Yes that is right. We had our 18 week sonogram yesterday and we were informed that everything looks great and that we are indeed having a little girl. I am so excited!! I had gotten to a point where I didn't think I cared either way, but I think secretly I was still hoping for a girl. I mean I really don't know what to do with a boy and I just think Jason would be so good with a girl! So we are really excited and are just trying to narrow down a name now! We have a bunch that we like, but I want to have it picked sort of soon so I can put it in her room and all that good stuff. Now it is time to start shopping for all things pink! =)



And as promised here is your very first belly shot of my stomach! This was taken about a week ago and I feel like I am already way bigger now!






I promise to try to be really good about updating the blog with any new info and pics of my ever growing stomach! Thanks for everyone's prayers and kind words over the last few days. Your excitement gets me even more excited (if that's possible!). I love you all and can't wait for you to all meet our little angel!

I'm back...

Sorry I have been really bad about writing lately. I have been meaning to start doing belly shots and stuff so people can start to see how big I am getting, but I keep forgetting and then in turn don't write anything in my blog. But I took my first belly shot last week and as soon as I get it uploaded you will be the first to see it. So for now I just thought I would take a moment to let you all know what has been going on in my life. Honestly it isn't too exciting, but here goes.

This fall my friend KC and I have been taking Italian lessons. Some of you may know that I took Italian for travelers last Spring in preparation for our trip to Italy. It came in super handy over there and I really enjoyed learning it, as opposed to Spanish, which for some reason just never excited me much. Maybe because I live in Texas and everyone seems to know Spanish and I want to be different! =) Anyway, KC was nice enough to take the Beginning Italian class this fall with me. It is just a continuing education class at SMU and we go once a week. E molto bene! =) So I spend some of my spare time studying and making flash cards like the nerd I am so I can try to really learn it. I am sure most people have a 'things to do before you die' list, and on mine is to be able to really speak another language. I can get by ok in Spanish, but I want to be fluent in Italian. I have a VERY VERY long way to go, but hey, everyone starts somewhere right?

In keeping with the perpetual student theme, another thing I have been doing lately is studying for the GRE English Subject Test. Most of you probably know that one day I want to be an English Literature professor in a college. But to do that I have to get my Masters, at least, if not my PhD. And the plan for Jason and me has been to move to Austin in the next couple of years, so the dream would be to get in to UT's PhD program. However, it is SUPER competitive and you have to take the GRE and the English Subject Matter test. So there is a practice test online that you can take, and basically I did terrible. I mean maybe better than the average person only because I have an English degree, but way worse than the average applicants score to get in there. So I bought a Princeton Review study guide that tells you all the things you really need to know to do well on this test. Basically, I must know the Illiad and the Odyssey, which I am pretty sure I was supposed to read in high school but didn't, and then lots of poetry (which has never been my strong suit), some Shakespeare (this is my ONLY strong suit) and lots of novels that I have, of course, never read. I made a list of every literary source mentioned on this test and there were like 200 titles on there. Out of those I felt that I really knew about 8-10 of them. Pretty sad for an English major no? So I have bought the Illiad and the Odyssey, as well as the Cliff's notes to the Illiad and the Odyssey and I am beginning to understand why I didn't read them in high school. They are LOOOONG. Anywho...they only give the test three times a year, so my goal is to study really hard and take it next fall. Wish me luck!

Next up, and most important, of course, is the baby. My stomach has doubled in the last couple of weeks. For the longest time you couldn't even tell I was pregnant. Well now that is not a problem. I think I still could get confused for just being fat, but every day I swear it is more and more just a huge belly. I have two doctor appointments this week. The one on Wednesday is where we get to find out the sex of the baby! I cannot wait. The one on Thursday is just my normal checkup. I am sure I have gained a good ten pounds since my last visit. I feel gigantic. I promise my next post will be with belly pics and letting everyone know if we are having a little boy or girl!

This past weekend was fun. We went down to College Station with a bunch of our friends. Friday night we all went to eat at Wings N More, but being as chicken wings is one of my huge food aversions, it wasn't as good to me as normal. The onion rings were very tasty though as always. Saturday I had a delicious Snicker's Latte from Sweet Eugenes and then we had lunch at Fitzwilly's followed by some shopping on Northgate. Our tickets for the game were pretty cool. They were on the alumni side so we were in the shade and got to sit the whole time. The only down side of that is that no one does any of the yells or really gets excited unless there is a really big play. We got our butts kicked, but that was expected so we weren't too sad. Dinner was at La Bodega. They have the tastiest burritos and I hadn't had one in forever. Really after that we went to bed and left early the next morning. Jason and I got back in town around 1 and went and bought a bed. We had been debating about what to do with the nursery and guest bedroom, so we finally decided to move our current bed in to the office and get a new king size bed for ourselves. We have wanted one for a while and so we just went and got one. We will probably get rid of the bed we have in the guest room to make way for the nursery!

Sooo, that is all I can think of right now. As soon as we know if we are having a boy or girl we can really get down to planning for it and deciding how to decorate and such. And with the holidays coming up I know we will be SO busy with everything. Next post...all baby news!