Lots of Rest for the Weary

Happy Sunday!

I have had a very low-key day today, and really focused on trying to rest and recover.  I am looking forward to feeling normal again.

During the week at work, when others realized I was getting sick, they would say "It sucks to be sick during the holidays!"  I would keep replying that I didn't care if I was sick for Christmas, as long as I was not at work.  After missing 2 really big Christmas parties with my family and Arthur's family, I'm starting to understand why people say that it sucks.

I really was looking forward to going to my sister's Christmas party last night to see Jackson and Brielle and Adam and Whit and EVERYONE.  I realized as time got closer to when it was time to leave that there was no way I was going to be able to shower and get ready.  So I had to call my sister and tell her I couldn't go.  The good news is that I got to FaceTime with them and waved hello to everyone from my bed.  That made it better.

Today I've done little but nap and eat a little here and there.  My cough is significantly better.  I still just have those violent fits of coughing every once in awhile, and less often than before.  My congestion is much better, and I can breathe through one nostril.  :)  I'm still feeling pretty tired and generally out of it, which tells me I'm still working on getting better.

My parents and Grandma came out today so they could see our Christmas tree.  My Grandma has only been to our house once before, but it was very dark out, and so she couldn't see much of the house with just the inside lights on.  She sat in front of the tree for nearly an hour just admiring it and commenting about how pretty the blue ornaments were.  I stayed upstairs the whole time and just waved at my family from the "loft" of the kitchen.  I told my mom that if she was going to insist on coming over, then I was going to Lysol everything and stay away from them.  I did that.  I didn't touch anybody and Arthur did a good cleaning before they all came over.  It was nice to see my Grandma and my parents after being cooped up in my house for so long.

After they left, Arthur got ready and went to his mom's house to help her with wrapping her gifts for their family.  Arthur loves to wrap, so it's something he looks forward to every year.  He left me here so I could get some more rest.  I wanted to go, but I know that if I go outside in the cold air, it could set me back.  The freezing air just killed me on Friday when I went to work, and it took me like 4 hours to feel normal again after being outside.  So, I stayed home.  I'm marinating some chicken and Mike is going to BBQ it for us.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve.  I really hope I've got some more energy tomorrow so we can go to the Christmas Eve party at my parent's house.  I look forward to that every year.  The gift exchange is the best part, when we trade white elephant gifts.  It's also the beginning of the Christmas Day marathon.

The Christmas Day marathon begins on Christmas Eve night.  We go to my family's house for dinner and dessert and a Christmas program.  By about 9:30-10:00, we leave and go to Arthur's mom's house.  We get Christmas pajamas and open presents that the siblings give each other.  Then, we sleep there and get up super early on Christmas day for presents with his family.  We stay there until about noon and then go to my family's house.  We open gifts there until about 3 or 4 and then go back to his mom's house for Christmas dinner and gifts from his Aunt Joan.  By the time we get home to exchange gifts with each other, it's usually about 9 or 10 PM.  I'm always so exhausted, but it's always fun to look forward to our gifts to each other.

How far along:  11 weeks, 3 days
How much time left:  28 Weeks, 4 days
Top two symptoms:  Nausea today a bit, since my cold seems to be getting a bit better.  Cold-wise, coughing and congestion.  :(

Favorite thing I ate today:  My little brother Mike made me a grilled cheese sandwich.  He calls it a "Grilled Cheesus".  It's pretty funny.  :)

Mood:  I was pretty mopey/whiney today.  I think it's because I want to get up and do stuff, but my body just wants to drag, so that makes me feel like I can't do all of the things I want to do. 

Worried about:  The Christmas Day marathon.  After thinking it through... I hope I have the energy to do everything.  I will rest most of the day tomorrow and hopefully I'll feel better by tomorrow night. 

Excited for:  Christmas Food.  Maybe some mashed potatoes.  Maybe some turkey.  Not sure what's on the menu, but I'm hungry for it!!!!!  :)

Pregnancy + Sick = Bad News Bears

I normally post every day, but this past week I've been really sick.  :(  I've got the next 4 days off, so I'll definitely try and blog over the holidays.  

I got a lot of great feedback after posting my initial announcement to the limited number of people on FaceBook.  I got a lot of blog views, and a bunch of people who commented on the post.  It made me feel good to know that I have so much support.

So, about being sick... I always have a very dull headache due to hormones.  The headache usually gets worse if I haven't slept much or if I'm getting hungry.  It comes along with nausea and so if I don't eat at the right time, it gets worse.  I hadn't slept well on Sunday night through Tuesday night.  I scheduled myself to work from home on Wednesday because I didn't have any meetings in office.

As I was working comfortably from my office couch on Wednesday morning, I noticed that my headache was getting worse than normal, and I was feeling a bit congested.  I brushed it off as nothing because congestion comes and goes for me.  By Wednesday afternoon, I started feeling dizzy, and my back was throbbing.  I decided to log off a couple of hours early (I let my boss know) and go try and sleep.

I got into bed and I started having chills really bad, and so I plugged in the heating pad.  It was nice to get a nap and warm up.

A few hours later, I woke up with the worst headache of my life and a terrible backache.  I was worried about the backache because that combined with cramping (which I didn't have) can be a sign of the beginning of miscarriage.

Fast forward to Thursday morning.  I woke up very sick and had congestion like crazy.  Because I'd slept on my heating pad, it helped my back a bit.  I had to call in sick because there was no way I could go to work.

I stayed in bed most of the day on Thursday.  Arthur had the day off, which was nice for him.

I had to go back to work on Friday, because I had a mandatory 2 hour meeting that I had to run and my team's Christmas party.  I wanted to go to that, so I really pushed myself to get up and get going.  I got to work by 9:00 AM.  Barely.  My cough was so bad, I had to pull over a few times on the highway to cough a bunch before I could drive again.  Ugh!

At work I was in a daze.  I don't remember much of the meeting at all.  I do remember that my boss gave everyone on the team a gift, and I got a great present from my friend Ashley.  She gave me a funny Awkward Family Photos (siblings edition) puzzle, and my first gender neutral baby outfits!  When I say first, I mean the first from someone that's not me.  :)

One was a onesie pack of 3, with tan, white and yellow.  The white one has a super cute little duck on it, and the yellow one has a brown and yellow print on it.  The one on the left is footie pajamas with a hat.  The hat, it's the cutest part.  Arthur loved them as well.  :)  They're hanging in my office closet with some of the other stuff that Arthur and I bought (even before we were pregnant...)

Anyhoo, work was done by 12:30 PM and so I went with my team for our Christmas party lunch.  We went to the Olive Garden.  I was so sick before I went in.  I sat in my car and just coughed for like 5 minutes straight because I knew that coughing in a public place like that wouldn't fly with strangers.

I ordered my food (Chicken Parmesan) and was a zombie the whole time.  I had a few coughing fits, but made it through alive.  When the check was signed, I was OUT OF THERE.  I couldn't stand to be sitting up anymore.  I was worried about the drive home because of how I was feeling.  But, I made it home.  I don't remember the drive, but I know I ended up in my bed about 45 minutes later.  I slept until it was time for the Christmas party at our house.

We had Arthur's family over for the "Festivus for the Rest of Us".  It's a knockoff from Seinfeld.  We ate sandwiches and treats, and played games, including a gift exchange.  I was in bed most of the night.  I felt so bad because Arthur's family was so nice to me and no one was frustrated that I didn't socialize much.  I also felt bad because Arthur worked from early in the morning on Friday until his family got there at 7 on getting ready for the party.  He cleaned the whole house (every room, including my office) and prepared the meal.  I did nothing but lay in bed.  :(

Last night after everyone left, Mike gave me some TheraFlu.  I drank it so fast.  Within minutes I started feeling drowsy and so I was able to sleep.  I woke up this morning feeling a bit better.  My temperature was down (from 100 the night before) to 97.9.  I was so grateful for that!

Arthur woke up sick, unfortunately... so he is going to go through all this tomorrow through Christmas, probably.  I feel really bad for him, and I understand.  I'm going to do what I can to make it up to him for all of the hard work he put in while I was sick.  :)

Tonight, I'm feeling fair.  My cough has gotten significantly better.  I continue to have a few violent coughing fits, and it hurts pretty bad when I do.  The worst thing right now is my congestion.  The good news in all of this:  It's masked my pregnancy symptoms, so I haven't really dealt with (or cared much about) nausea or anything else.  Amazing!

How far along:  11 weeks, 2 days
How much time left:  28 Weeks, 5 days
Top two symptoms:  Pregnancy related...exhaustion.  Cold related?  Congestion.  I can't WAIT to breathe normally again. 

Favorite thing I ate today:  A Kraft Mac and Cheese bucket.  It was so good. 

Mood:  My mood was normal.  Not as grumpy as I've been over the past 4 days or so. 

Worried about:  Not feeling well enough to get the house clean before Christmas.  I hope I feel like a rockstar tomorrow. 

Excited for:  CHRISTMAS DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Announcement Thursday and Friday!

Happy Black Friday!  By the clock, it's actually almost 1:00 AM on Saturday morning, but to me it's still Friday because I haven't gone to bed yet.  It's a wonder that I'm still awake!

I didn't get to blog yesterday because it was such a crazy Thanksgiving day.  Arthur and I woke up early and he started cooking around 8:30 AM.  He cooked straight through until everyone arrived at our house, around 4:00 PM.

I am a terrible cook, so I didn't do much of anything to prepare the food.  What I did was clean.  I cleaned the family room, the living room, the bathrooms and the dining room.  It was a joint effort in that way.  I can't even imagine what it would be like to have to do all of the cooking and cleaning by myself.  I admire my mother-in-law and my mom even more now after seeing how much work goes into one Thanksgiving dinner.

Arthur was a rockstar.  He cooked a 24 pound turkey, mashed potatoes, two kinds of gravy, two kinds of green bean casserole, 4 kinds of stuffing, sweet potato yams, corn, cranberry sauce and 7 different kinds of pies.  Everything was from scratch.  He never sat down once, all day.  He cooked straight through the day.  His only break was to take a shower, and during that time I helped him by watching the potatoes to make sure they didn't boil over.

Dinner was delicious and we had a big group.  It was Arthur's family, including his mom, his dad, his brother Eli, his sisters Sunny and Autumn, his Great Aunt Joan, and his mom's friend from work, Patrick.  Arthur is taking the picture so he's not in it.  Here's our Thanksgiving table:

After dinner, we played a game with the group.  We played Scribblish.  It's a really fun drawing game.  After the game we were either going to play Settlers of Qatan or watch Arthur Christmas downstairs.  I asked if we could take a family picture in front of the tree.  I also asked Patrick (the visitor) if he could take the picture.  I showed him how to use the camera, and I went downstairs with the group.  He took a couple of practice pictures and then it was time for our big reveal.  :)

The first picture is right after two practice shots.  Arthur said "Ok, this one is the real one... everybody say... 'GENEVIEVE'S PREGNANT!'  It hadn't sunk in just yet, but the pre-reaction is helpful to compare the other reactions to.  Thank goodness Patrick was good at photography, because he kept snapping shots and got a bunch of great reaction photos.  

Everyone was thrilled.  It was a great way to document the announcement, and I really loved how happy everyone was.  Arthur's mom cried, and we were excited most to tell her because our due date is her birthday (July 11).

After we told everyone, we sat around for a little while and I answered the normal questions like whether or not I am sick.  It was fun talking about it really openly.

All-in-all it was a great day.

Today I couldn't get up to go Black Friday shopping because I was too exhausted from the day before.  I slept in and lounged around the whole day.  I spent a little bit of time working on my picture frame for my mom.  I printed out a picture of each grandchild when they were less than 6 months old.  I put them each in a picture frame with 4 windows.  In the bottom right corner window, I put a picture of the words "July 11".  Arthur and I wrapped it up and we took it to her this evening.

After we went to Chili's for dinner, everyone was gathered in the living room.  I gave my mom the present and she opened up the frame.  She looked at it for a minute and couldn't understand what the "July 11" meant.  She asked me "What's July 11?  Are you expecting?"  It then hit her and she started screaming.  I looked around at everyone's reaction, and everyone was freaking out.  Adrienne and Leo started to cry and I got up and hugged everyone.  They were all so surprised.  Adrienne was screaming and cheering, she was so happy.  My  mom was also very happy, and was crying.

Brielle and Adam were freaked out because everyone was so happy.  It was great to be able to tell my family because I have been so ready to share the news.  :)

I didn't get any pictures of their reactions because it wasn't really the time or the place to take a bunch of pictures... but the memories are there, and that's what matters.

It turns out that my sister was really sick with Brielle, for her first pregnancy.  She said she also had headaches.  It's comforting to know that she went through those things too.  When we asked Brielle if I was having a girl or a boy, she said I was having a girl.  She also said that I wasn't having twins, just one.  It was cute to hear Brielle get all excited.  I got more hugs from her tonight than I've ever had.  I loved it.

My mom also called my Grandma Frazer (her mother) and I got to tell her.  My mom also called my Aunt Zebby and told her.  It was cool to know that my family knows.  I'm not going to announce it on Facebook, because I really don't think it's the place for me to tell people.  I will probably tell people individually, as the opportunities come up.  I'm not an extremely public person, so the individual method will have to be what it is.

The announcements were a success overall.  :)

How far along:  7 weeks, 1 day
How much time left:  32 weeks, 6 days
Top two symptoms:  Headache and exhaustion.  I took a lot of Tylenol yesterday because my headache was so bad.  My nausea can be controlled by eating.  Exhaustion comes in with not getting enough sleep and feeling generally gross in the morning when I first wake up and not being able to go back to sleep.  :\

Favorite thing I ate today:  Leftover mint chocolate Oreo pie!!  Yummo!

Mood:  Calm, not overly emotional.  I have been able to keep my emotions in check pretty well these past few days. 

Worried about:  Keeping this pregnancy healthy so I can make it to my due date.  Now that I've told everyone, I feel an extra pressure to make sure that I'm not miscarrying.  I know it's completely out of my control, but I can still focus on the positive things I can control, such as my diet and activity level.

Excited for:  Christmas.  Everyone talked about gift ideas when we told them today - and it was fun to think about some of the different things we might get for the baby.  :)  Hurray!!!

Friday... Friday... Which seat should I take?

Happy Friday!!  Today feels like a Saturday, though, because I worked from home this morning and I had the rest of the day off.  Arthur's Great Grandma died last week and she was up in Washington.  They brought her back here to be buried next to her husband in Sandy.  Arthur was really supportive of me when my Grandpa died so I wanted to do the same for him.

It was a nice funeral, and I loved hearing about Arthur's family history.  I don't know much about it, and so whenever I can hear cool stories like I heard today, I love that.  I found out that his Grandma Nelson loved to play games.  I think that is where his dad got it from, and so now I feel differently about the game playing extravaganzas that his family has.  Qatan, anyone?  :)

After the funeral, Arthur and I went shopping for Adam's birthday presents.  He is turning 1 on Sunday, 11/11/12.  I am excited for the party.  I love birthday parties for my niece or nephews.  I sort of blame Brielle and Jackson for making me want kids again.  I had thought for a long time that I don't want kids.  And then when I got to hold and play with them, I realized that I wanted one of my own.  I guess that's what Baby Hungry is. 

There is always the random, occasional person who asks us when we are having kids.  It's usually family and since we're not telling anyone yet, it's difficult to keep a straight face or play it off like "it's just not time yet."  I am looking forward to when I can grin and say "In July!!!"  :)

I read some rubbish online today that says that children who are born in July are least likely to become CEOs.  They say it's because leaders are usually those who are always the oldest in their school class, and those who are developmentally younger (born in June, July, August before the cutoff date) are usually less likely to be leaders.  I don't believe that.  I am going to instill leadership in my children regardless of when they are born.  I was born in May and I was one of the youngest in my class, and I still am a great leader.  So there!!  If my child is reading this some day, know that the only person who can determine your ability to be a leader, and the only person who can judge your success is you.  If anyone ever tries to tell you that you are not good enough, then they obviously don't know you. 

How far along:  5 Weeks, 1 day
How much time left:  34 Weeks, 6 days
Top two symptoms:  Exhaustion and hunger (still)

Favorite thing I ate today:  Three things.  Sweet potato chips, Funeral potatoes and this delicious peach. 

Mood:  I've felt a bit weepy today, but I think that's due to the funeral and the fact that my mom had surgery yesterday.  I do go from normal to teary really easily.  It's hard for me to control my emotions right now.

Worried about: I had a slight worry about finances today.  About all of the things we are going to need to buy for a baby.  We have nothing... we just have a room and that's it.  We will need a crib, drawers, clothing, diapers... ugh!!  Now I know why people have baby showers.  I think I'm going to ask for Babies R Us gift cards for Christmas, lol.  In all honesty, I know that Arthur and I will be fine.  We have some time before next July and we just need to make sure we are planning on adding some additional expenses to our list. 

Excited for:  I am excited for our baby's first Christmas.  I thought about that moment on Christmas morning next year and I imagined bringing our baby downstairs and opening presents as a family.  It made me tear up, and it made me excited all at the same time.  I wish it was now!!  :)

Lazy(ish) Sunday

Today is Sunday, and I was both productive and lazy.  I had a really rough night, and slept in three different places up until 9:00 this morning.  I went to bed again last night after blogging around 3:30 and tried to get comfortable on the couch downstairs with the fireplace on.  I slept until about 7.  I then woke up and went upstairs because I was too warm.  I went to sleep then on my office couch until 9.  I went in to see that Arthur was already awake.  Since it was daylight savings time, I'd hoped I'd gotten at least another hour of sleep somewhere in there. 

Arthur and I had a relaxing morning watching some TV.  When our show was over,  He told me that if I wrapped up my chores then he would make omelets.  I jumped up and got cleaning, since omelets are delicious.  He made me a provolone cheese omelet with turkey meat, cucumbers and spinach.  I know that it doesn't sound amazing, but it's what sounded good to me.

After we ate breakfast, we watched Rock of Ages.  I fell asleep (of course) about halfway through.  After the show, Arthur got out the stuff to decorate the family room Christmas tree.  We realized that we our mantle twinkle Christmas lights were burnt out so we couldn't put them up.  So, we went to Walmart.

I picked up some new sweaters and tanktops at Walmart since I don't have a lot of things that fit me anymore.  I am not sure I care that I've gained weight, I think I just care that I look good in the clothes I have.

We came home and finished up decorating.  Here are some pictures from the family room!  :)

Here is the fireplace.  Notice the spot on the right for a baby stocking?  :)

This is Arthur's Christmas village.  Made out of Legos, of course!  Did you notice the cool edits I did with snow swirls?!  

 This is the family room tree.  We call it the "Red Tree".  It's much more Christmas-y downstairs.  My favorite ornaments are the red glass grape things.  They glow in front of the white lights!

How far along:  4 weeks, 3 days
How much time left:  35 weeks, 4 days
Top two symptoms:  Sensitive breasts and yeast infection.  (Blech!)

Favorite thing I ate today:  I'm seeing a theme... I LOVE anything garlic these days.  I had some delicious garlic bread with cheese on top.  *drool*

Mood:  I felt very productive today.  Anytime that I needed to get up and get something done, I was able to do it.  I didn't have to find that internal drive to start something, I was able to just start.  I hope I get more of those days soon, because it's nice to not think about pushing myself to get things done.  Now, if I could only find the energy to put 3 baskets of laundry away... :P

Worried about: This darn yeast infection.  I'm trying to manage it by not eating any sugar and eating extra yogurt, but I still worry that it will come on stronger.  I might have to go to the pharmacy tomorrow and get a Monistat kit.  UGHHHH!!

Excited for:  Today, when I was getting the downstairs tree up I was thinking about Christmas day at my family's house.  I imagined opening up baby presents like Onesies, bottles, diapers, and other baby things.  It made me a little teary when I thought about how teary I will get when I open these things.  I'm so excited!

Christmas Tree!

Arthur and I got the Christmas tree up last night... isn't it beautiful?!

I can't wait to wrap Arthur's gifts and put them under the tree!  Wooo!

Vitamins!

Because I am a Gastric Bypass patient, I have to take vitamins anyway.  But, now that I'm pregnant, I'm taking a few more vitamins than I usually would.  I take a prenatal, a fish oil, a folic acid (800 mcg), a D (5000 u), a B12 (sublingual) and a Viactiv calcium chew.  I take all of these in the morning with my meal.

 Today is Saturday.  It's been a lazy and a busy day.  Last night, Arthur and I stayed up really late eating dinner since we were out pretty late without eating.  Arthur made the most delicious Chicken Fried Steak and mashed potatoes.  It was amazing!!

I spent the morning catching up on all of my shows, particularly Long Island Medium and Dexter.  I hadn't had a chance all week to sit and watch TV, so today was that day.  I relaxed a bit and watched some YouTube as well.  In the later afternoon, I finally got around to starting my chores.

Arthur and I separate out our chores by kitchen/bathroom.  If you are on the kitchen that week, you have to clean the whole kitchen, the tile floors in the dining room, the dining table, vacuum the stairs, clean the floors/tables of the living room and family room.

If you are on the bathrooms, you do all of the laundry, clean all 3 bathrooms, and clean the bedroom.  You might think that the bathrooms are an easier job, but there is usually a lot of laundry and no one likes to clean a bathroom.  (I actually prefer it).

Once the chores are done, Arthur and I are going to put up the Christmas tree!  I'm excited about that.  :)  That's probably why I worked to get all of my chores done early today!

How far along:  4 weeks, 2 days
How much time left:  35 weeks, 5 days
Top two symptoms:  Full/sensitive breasts and minor cramping (not bad)

Favorite thing I ate today:  A delicious bowl of fruit.  Check it out!

Mood:  Today I felt contented and excited for the things that are coming up.  I haven't had a sad moment yet, really.  I've been really happy this whole week.  Anytime I cry, it's because I'm watching something emotional on TV.  It's nice to feel so happy all of the time... and I think a lot of it is because I'm pregnant now.  Not just hormones, but happy that it finally happened.

Worried about:  My stress today was related to the slight cramping in my abdomen.  I don't think it's related to a period starting... but I just can't put my finger on it.  I am sure it's just my uterus slowly stretching and getting ready to grow a baby.  It's probably nothing, so I'll try not to stress it too much.  :)

Excited for:  I remember a few years back my cousin posted a status on Facebook, and she was upset because her husband got to go out with his friends and she was stuck at home being a mom without a break.  I commented on the post that every day on my drive to work I saw packs of moms out walking together with their babies in strollers.  I told her that it made me cry nearly every morning because all I wanted was to be one of those people who had a baby in a stroller who didn't have to rush off to a meeting to talk about completely unimportant things (in perspective).  I said I would give anything to have this chance, but knew that it's not my time.  I thought about this today as I was cleaning (not sure why) and I realized that I will get to be one of those people now.  I will get to have a stroller and go out for morning walks with my baby.  I can't wait for this!  :)

The End of the Beginning

I titled this entry "The End of the Beginning" because this is the end of the first week of knowing that I'm pregnant.  The fact that I got through the first week is amazing to me.

Today was a very long Friday.  I woke up early and had to be to work early.  That is tough on a Friday.  I had back-to-back meetings all day and I was just really looking forward to coming home and decorating the family Christmas tree with Arthur.

After work, I drove home and met up with Arthur.  He had to deliver a birthday cake that he made for his niece, so we had to go back out.  We delivered it and then went to Babies R Us.

It was really fun looking at the cribs and the clothes and different accessories.  We didn't buy anything, we were just browsing.  We both commented that we can't wait to find out the sex of the baby so we can start to buy stuff.  There is some unisex stuff, but most of it is either blue, green, pink or purple.  I need to have brown stuff, but haven't decided on a decor theme yet.

Pregnancy-wise today, I felt good.  Not too tired.  I find that if I lay down at any point during the day, I almost instantly fall asleep.  I have to try to remember to stay up and awake until it's actually bedtime.  :)

Tomorrow is going to be fun, Arthur and I are going to finish putting up and decorating the tree.  I love the cool breeze and the sunshine through the windows while we listen to Christmas music and hang ornaments.  It's one of my favorite moments of every year.  I usually do a lot of watching, but that's OK. 

How far along:  4 weeks, 1 day
How much time left:  35 weeks, 6 days
Top two symptoms:  Full/sensitive breasts and tired

Favorite thing I ate today:  Pizza Hut Bread Sticks.  OMG!!!!!

Mood:  Today I felt like I was not on the ball like I normally am.  I felt foggy and a bit disconnected.  I think it's because it was a Friday and I just didn't feel like working.  Overall, I was in a mediocre mood.  Not too happy and not too upset.  I'm finding more and more that it is easy pick out where the stress comes from in my life.  I need to avoid those areas and focus on the things that make me the most happy.  :)

Worried about: I stressed less about my period coming today than I normally do.  I think I worried about how I'm going to figure out telling my family on Thanksgiving.  We are going to be at our house this year so telling both families would make it pretty chaotic.  I wanted to keep it intimate, because I didn't know everyone was coming here.  We'll work it out, it will just have to take some bending from someone, somewhere.

Excited for:  Shopping online for baby stuff that I know I want, and not just stuff that is on display at Babies R Us.  I know that when I see the theme I want, I will grab it up.  I think I just need to know if I'm having a girl or a boy.  Sigh...