A Little Christmas Magic

It sure did fly by, but this Christmas was truly wonderful! I can't put my finger on what specifically made it so special, however, I think a combination of factors helped out. Besides enjoying the time with our families, it was fun to imagine how different and exciting all future Christmases will be once Baby P is here. I remember how much magic and anticipation surrounded Christmas as a child and I am so excited for my baby to experience that. I also think Christmas break was exciting because I officially started my 2nd trimester and as all the books and websites have said would happen, I am feeling SOOOOOOO much better. No more constant state of queasiness and no more pure exhaustion. I'm starting to feel like my old self again. Also, this year, Santa gave me the gift of a tiny little baby bump (another fun 2nd trimester milestone)! Only noticeable to myself and possibly people who know me well and if I'm wearing a tight top....but a baby bump nonetheless :)

Here are a couple pictures from this Christmas:

Andy went into a banana pudding coma (which is a whole other story...)

 And Baby P got a little something from each family!

Appointments, coming out of the closet, and raging hormones - oh my!

Goodness, its been a couple weeks. Well, can you blame me? Since the last entry we've been through Thanksgiving, preparing for Christmas, and work has been absolutely silly for both of us. So, lets update shall we?

We had our second appointment last week. It went wonderfully. I was so super nervous for no reason I could put my finger on. Blood work? Nope, we've already discussed my lack of fear of needles (except the epi of course). I suppose I was just nervous that I would hear something was wrong with the baby. And supposedly, I'll feel this way every time. I feel like it will get better when I can feel kicking but right now its tough when I don't feel the baby nor do I look pregnant. But I digress. This time there was no ultrasound but he used the doppler to find the heart beat and that was very cool. First he found mine and I was thinking "yeah yeah, I know my blood is pumping, lets move on", and then he honed in on one much more rapid than my own.....I'M IN LOVE ALREADY!!! Afterwards, I was told that based on the strong heart beat and the fact that the machine can only pick it up after 10 weeks (in which I thought I still had a few days), that I have a 95-98% chance of walking away with a baby at this pint. YAY!! So, based on these odds, we decided it was appropriate timing to start telling the world. Thus, leading to the 2nd piece of this post's title:

Coming out of the closet. There's not really a whole lot to tell here. We've enjoyed telling all our friends and are so excited for all the love and support we are surrounded by. It means the world to us.

And as for the last part of this post's title, I believe it pretty much explains itself. For those of you who know me well, or even just a little, you know I am one of the least confrontational people. I prefer peace and finding common ground. Or atleast I used to. Something has snapped and my tolerance for stupidity has gone out the window. Now these people (HEB cashier, various customer service reps, etc.) really know how I feel. I of course blame it on pregnancy hormones. Or perhaps my husband finally rubbed off on me :p.

One last thing to mention - Christmas cards. They take on a whole new meaning now. I've always loved receiving those cards containing various family pictures, but always felt too cheesy to do this just for us and the fur-babies. However, this year, since our news is out now, I thought it would be fun to create our first....here it is:

One last thing - we get to find out gender in just 5 weeks from now!!! Any guesses? The odds are pretty good that you'll get it right ;-)