BabyBeat - My New Love

So after my last blog, I received a call from my lovely cousin, Tanya. She had read the post where I talked about renting a fetal doppler for peace of mind and it turns out that she had actually purchased a doppler when she was pregnant with Madison, her first daughter. It was one just like they use in the doctor's offices (minus the digital heart rate reading) and she paid about $500. She proceeded to tell me that she had sold the doppler to one of her friends last year for $100, but her friend no longer needed it! So she sold it to me for $75! I was so stinkin excited. They cost about $30 to rent them by the month, so we got a pretty great deal!! So now I'll get to keep this one and lend it out to my close friends as they need it. I went and picked it up on Saturday morning and spent a few hours there with Tanya, her husband and 2 little girls. It was a great time. I don't get to see them nearly enough. She showed me how to use it and let me borrow 2 huge bags full of maternity clothes, which I'm getting very close to needing. So anyways, now I have the doppler at home to use anytime I need to be reassured that our little one's heart is beating away. It has given me so much peace of mind and I am so grateful to have it.
Another exciting note: I'm getting a new camera!! Yay!! My dear friend, Lee Anne, went out and got the Canon Rebel XS (a digital SLR) and let me play with it at church on Wednesday night. I, of course, fell in love with it right away. I tried to convince James that I needed it for when the baby gets here. He surprised me and went out and bought it for me on Friday! He actually bought the upgraded model, but after doing some research, I decided that there wasn't enough difference between the 2 to justify an extra $300. The XS model was out of stock, so we had to order it. I can't wait to get it, though!
Random picture: It makes me laugh! This is Ollie on one of his darting sprees. He's so fast!

Just a quick picture or 5...

I'll put up some more later, but I thought I'd go ahead and put these up!

Have a great day!

These are our cute little trees up in between the kitchen and living room

Stockings hung on the DVD bookcase...lol!

All the presents finally wrapped and under the tree

This is me a week ago. 13 1/2 weeks along here

And again..

A New Year and I Can't Wait!

2009 is going to be our year. I can feel it! It's off to a wonderful start. Nothing huge has happened (other than the continuous growth of our baby and my tummy, which I happen to think is huge in itself), I'm just so full of joy I can hardly stand it. At 14 weeks, I'm now into the second trimester of my pregnancy and loving it! Everyday, I am in awe at this little life that is growing in me and all that God is doing in our lives. I'm feeling pretty good nowadays, too. The good days are definitely outnumbering the bad ones. I am seriously thankful for that! According to some reading that I have been doing, the baby is about 3 1/2 inches long right now! Isn't that crazy! It's hard to believe that it'll be here in just 6 months! Last week, I watched the Friends episodes where Rachel has her baby and just cried. I know it's only a tv show, but I couldn't stop thinking about the love that you feel when they put the baby in your arms for the first time. Sweet stuff :) We go back to the doctor on January 28th, so continue to pray that everything goes fine and the baby is developing on schedule. The nerves in between visits is about to kill me. I've thought about renting a fetal doppler so that we can hear the heartbeat at home and have some reassurance. But for now, I'm just trying to have faith that God is in control and He'll take care of us no matter what.
Change seems to be a trend for the year. James is determined to get himself healthy and in shape before the baby gets here, and I must say, I think he's doing a pretty good job with it so far. Of course, the motivation of a visit to the Melting Pot with some of our best friends when they reach their target weight doesn't hurt. It makes me laugh because all these people around me are talking about getting in shape and losing all this weight, and I am putting the pounds on! I am working on eating healthier and I'm planning to join the aerobics class that a friend is starting at church. She promised to help me out with some modifications ;) I'm looking forward to it, though. It's fun to workout when you have fun people to do it with! I got my hair cut over the weekend. Apparently it's not as drastic as it felt like to me, as not many people seemed to notice. Lol! I got about 4 1/2 inches whacked off though! It's the shortest that I've had it in years. I like it!
Christmas was great this year. Busy, but great. I was worn out by the time December 26th rolled around! I was fortunate enough to have almost 2 full weeks off from work though, so that was nice and gave me plenty of time to recover. James got a new Blackberry that he's in love with, I got a breadmaker, a new Vera and some maternity clothes, and we got our backyard fenced in. Good stuff! I hardly took any pictures from Christmas day, though. I regret that.
We spent New Year's Eve with my family and had a great time playing games, eating, and laughing all night. I even managed to stay up and watch the ball drop! It was a good time. Mom played the Wii for the first time and decided she wanted one for their house! :) I just love her!
I've been able to get back into my reading. I've read a couple more Karen Kingsbury books in the last little bit. She's my fave. Currently, I'm reading one of her's called Ever After. It's great so far...a tearjerker for sure.
Okay, I'm done writing for today and I'm sad that I don't have access to my pictures right now! I have some cute ones to share! I'll have to post those later! :) Take care!