And I'm late as always

It's been dang near impossible to get the computer away from Mike lately. I apologize for the lack of posting. And the brevity that this one will be as well.

Mike and I are heading out of town this morning to go visit his parents. Should be interesting as we haven't seen them in about two years. Please keep me sane.

Our Christmas was small but good. I got some books I've been wanting and a lap desk. Very excited about that one. And my mom got me a whole bunch of maternity clothes! Awesome! So now I actually look pregnant and not just chubbier. And can I just try to explain how comfortable the secret fit belly pants are? Seriously, I could live in my jeans. Love, love, LOVE them. When we come back from the in-laws, I promise to post new pics.

Other things around are going pretty well. Not much new to report. I'm just patiently (well, kinda patiently) awaiting January 9th for our ultrasound. I want to see the little bug again. And hopefully this time, it won't just look like a blob. :)

I hope all's well with everyone out there. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and that your 2009 is more fabulous than your 2008.

SNOW DAY?!?!?

Isn't my little welcome penguin cute? He stands guard in front of my house. :)

YEEEEEEEEEEES! I never thought I'd get one of these. Yes! I live in Vegas and there's snow all over the place. I took pictures and I'll update later with them. Just needed to let you all know that I'm at home nice and cozy. Listening to Christmas music, drinking hot cocoa with whipped cream, and cuddling with Chiisai. It's a good day. This is just what I needed to get into the holiday spirit. (well, that and Rach's lovely inspirational comment on the last blog. Thanks Rach :)


**Edit: pics are here. enjoy!

This is our house this morning. See the icicles forming? For some reason, I'm excited about those. Oh, and my poor tree doesn't even look like a tree anymore.

None of the poor trees know what to do.

This is just down the street. Palm trees with snow!

I did this on Monday the first day it showed. I didn't think we'd be getting more. Haha. That weird thing at the bottom of the heart is a "B" for baby. Mike didn't get it.

And for your pleasure...

My first belly shot! 16w3d.

And from the front. (please excuse the filthy mirror and horrible blurriness)

It's a fabulous post #101!

Or not. I can't believe I have posted on here over 100 times! Crazy.

Anyways, sorry for the absence. I am a sucky blogger. My laptop broke. :( I am going to have a hard time updating for awhile since Mike is a computer hog.

A few quick updates -

Pregnancy:
Going well. I think just about everyone knows now. I finally got in touch with my grandmother and let her know. (Very strange story. I'll have to fill you guys in on that one soon.) She's very excited for Great-Grandchild #11. Yes - 11!

Life:
It's going. Things just keep breaking down though. Mike and I are down to one car. His truck went kaput and we just don't have the money to take it in right now. Also, as previously stated, my laptop is being a pain as well. It won't load up. I'm in such a bah humbuggy mood that out house isn't even decorated for Christmas. And every day that it's not decorated makes me even less motivated to do it. Arg!
Mike and I went to The Magical Forest this week to try to get some spirit going. It was beautiful as always but neither one of us was really feeling it.

Work:
School winter break starts this weekend. Hooray! Conferences are this week. No kids on Wednesday and very few conferences scheduled. So, here's to getting things done for when we come back from break.
Mike finally had his annual review. They agreed to give him a raise (THANK GOD) and hopefully he'll be a little happier at work now. He was feeling really underappreciated and was able to get out a few of his issues at the meeting. He said last week was a much better feeling time to be there.

I hope all is well with all of you. I'm sorry I haven't been keeping up with blogs. ((hugs)) to all who need them and HOORAYS! to those who need those, too!

I'm out!

Of the pregnancy closet that is. My work holiday party was Friday night. At a wine bar. Yes, a wine bar. Perfect place for the pregnant lady. Most of the people that showed up are the people that show up for every get together so we're all pretty close. Some knew about our IF struggles. Most knew that I rarely drink. (an aside: In fact, I was getting teased at the beginning of the night being asked, "Where's your root beer?" It's a standing joke because I usually brought sodas of some sort to the happy hour gtg's (because most times I was in the dreaded 2ww).)
Anyways, I dodged around questions for most of the night. Finally during dinner, I broke down and asked for a glass of water. One of the teachers across from me said, "You're drinking water? Is that all you're going to have?" I answered back, "Probably." Her reply - "Why?" Here I paused mid sip of water and debated spilling the beans. My thoughts were flying. Should I or not? Well, I'm 15 weeks and things should hopefully be ok from this point on. I'm going to start showing soon and then they'll know anyways. I'd rather tell than have rumors flying. Then again, that's kinda rude to ask. Who cares why I'm drinking water?!
My answer came out mid thought. I didn't even look up from taking my sip of water through the straw. "Because I'm pregnant." Hoorays, congrats, and all that jazz followed. Questions about how far along I was and what my due date was. Lots of excitement over our "good timing" for the EDD. (I had to laugh at that one. We just got really lucky there.)
Then came something I wasn't expecting. From two different people on two separate occasions that night I heard, "I noticed you were getting kinda chubbier around the middle but it would have been really rude to ask anything." Apparently, I must have some sort of bump. I attribute it to the fact that I don't bother to "suck it in" anymore. But nonetheless, I will start taking belly shots this week to see if I can spot any differences.
All in all, I'm really relieved that people know and that word will spread on its own now. Yaay.
Now, off to write x-mas cards and then to the store. Then, I should probably write lesson plans for next week. Yes, I'm a fabulous teacher. Didn't you know? Haha.

One cranky cervix later

And the baby seems to be doing just fine! Strong heartbeat of 140 bpm. My blood pressure was high. I think that's just because I was freaking out though. Then they did a loverly pap exam. UGH! Not my favorite thing in the world anyways, but pregnant, it seemed to suck more than usual. And apparently I have a very sensitive cervix. It does not like being messed with. The doctor immediately said "Oh, you're going to have some spotting. I just barely swabbed and I can already see the bleeding." Wonderful. But everything's ok. And that's the best news I cold ever hope for.

The big ultrasound is scheduled for January 5th. I'm going to have to change it though because I realized on the way home that that is the first day back from Winter Break and I can't take it off. So hopefully I can get in just a few days later. We'll see.

So now you're as up to date as I am. Hooray!

Howie's been adopted!

Hooray! Another foster down. I think this one was the hardest for me. It wouldn't have been that bad except that I went with my friend to deliver him to his new family. They are VERY nice people with a beautiful home and just loved him right away. Especially their daughter (who was about 5 or 6). But Howie wanted to stay near me. He would wander around and them come jump back on me or sit right next to my feet. *heartbreak* I knew I had to leave him and that he would be very happy, but still, it just about killed me. I will definitely NOT be going on anymore adopt outs. It's much easier when I can just hand them off and know that they're going to a good place. But I don't have to feel like such an ass. And betrayer. :( Be happy Howie. We'll see you at a meetup soon I'm sure.

Wasn't I supposed to be past this?

Alright, I have to vent a bit.

I made it through pretty much the whole first tri with no sickness whatsoever (nausea-wise at least). Yaaay me! Then, THEN, I hit a bit past 12 weeks and the nausea and vomiting starts. WTH?! I suppose I shouldn't complain (and I'm not - much) but I thought that I'd be completely lucky in that department. Bah.

The stretch marks are appearing ALREADY and I haven't even "stretched." That's depressing. It's going to be horrid by the time I actually have a bump worth noting. (Mike swears he can tell when I'm lying down, on my side, in bed. Well, that's a great place to be able to notice my baby bump. In the one position I can't see it.) I was supposed to have those really good, non-strethc mark genes. My mom and my grandmother didn't get a single stretch mark. I was kinda counting on that. But oh no, that gene must skip a few generations at a time. Bah again.

On the brighter side of things, my face seems to be clearing up a bit. I found a toothpaste that doesn't make me hurl. And I have a doctors appointment on Thursday where I'll *hopefully* be able to hear the heartbeat. Seriously, I need some reassurances here. I'm still down in weight. A bit more than 10 lbs now. As long as everything in growing alright in there, I'm totally fine with that though. Especially since I think I'm only supposed to gain like 15 lbs throughout this whole pregnancy. We'll see what the dr says about it.

Anyways, vent over. I just had to get all of that out there.