18 weeks and 2 days
I think I look a little bigger? Definitely rounder. :) Apparently after 20 weeks, growth becomes a lot more regular and not as sporadic as it has been. I think I got really big fast and that it's slowed down a bit. I remember lots of pregnant women saying that they "popped." I don't think I ever popped. I feel like I've always been big!

I think that I can feel the baby kicking now. I've read that first time mothers mistake gas for the baby kicking, so when I felt the moving, I just assumed that I was making it all up and that it wasn't the baby! Now that I think about it, I think it's the baby moving. It's not very regular, but I do feel something going on down there! I've also read that movement can't be felt until 20 weeks, so it really makes me wonder. It feels like a tap coming from the inside of my belly and sometimes it's multiple taps, but it's very light. A friend of mine said that she could feel kicking at around 4 1/2 months, but apparently that's really early and she knew it was the baby because she was very in tune with her body, then there's me...I had no idea that I was even pregnant until I was a few days late! I don't think I just know these things, so I didn't think it was the baby at first! It's been going on for a couple of weeks now. Apparently movement will get more regular soon...I can't wait!

We had a great weekend. On Friday night, we went to the Salt Lick for dinner (yum!) and to the Shakira concert in San Antonio. The show was about an hour and 45 minutes long and in that time span, she sang 4 songs in English and the rest in Spanish. Even though we didn't understand much of it, we had a great time and she sounded great. Yep, that girl can move. The baby started kicking at the beginning of the concert and kicked a lot right before the last song, "Hips Don't Lie." Maybe the baby will turn out to be a latina superstar. :) Wyclef Jean actually came out and sang the lost song with her, the atmosphere at the AT&T center was amazing. We had a really good time. One of the highlights of Friday night came before the concert though. We went with a couple of friends of ours and when the guy saw me, he exclaimed, "You look pregnant!" I told him that he should say that I look good, not pregnant! I guess he hasn't seen me since I was 8 weeks along. :)

On Saturday, we went to Four Hands for their quarterly warehouse sale. There were a couple of things that we really liked, but we decided to hold off on until we move. We've picked out a few things already that we liked and hopefully they'll still be there the next time around. We're going to get our leather kitchen table chairs there, maybe a table too if they still have the one that we liked in the showroom, orange theatre chairs (hook 'em horns!), artwork, and a wrought iron swirly screen.

Afterwards, we headed over to the house and they've started bricking. The sheet rock isn't up yet, but hopefully it'll be soon. I can't wait for the house to be done...two more months left.
We then headed over to San Marcos and went to the Crate & Barrel outlet store. They've got really good deals on their linens, we'll definitely have to keep them in mind once we get settled into the house. We also went to the Pottery Barn outlet. They had a sale that was 25% off of everything in the store. They have stuff from Pottery Barn kids, West Elm and Williams and Sonoma. The place was packed with stuff. We found a couch that we really liked as well as a wrought iron fireplace grate. I can't wait to go house shopping!!!

For dinner, we went to Eastside Cafe. I love that place! Since I've been good and haven't had a pumpkin spice latte yet, we got the pumpkin gingerbread for dessert. It was so good, it was like eating carrot cake without the cream cheese icing.

Today we were suppose to meet with the dog trainer, but she never showed! I need to start looking for someone else. I'm not really that surprised though, she didn't call to confirm the appointment, oh well, she lost our business.

We ended up watching Jet Li's Fearless. This baby is definitely Chinese, I got kicked throughout the whole movie! I don't know if it was the movie, or the almond milk tea that I had before the movie, but the baby was going nuts! I wouldn't mind the baby becoming a martial arts genius. :) Hehe...no expectations here!

I've experienced a few more pregnancy side effects. I am down from wearing my three rings (engagement and two bands) to only wearing the largest band because it's the only one that fits! I'm glad that we bought it back in February, I would be really sad if I couldn't wear rings anymore. The other side effect is that my feet have gotten bigger! I'm up a full shoe size. I had to go out and buy new shoes today because there was no way that I was going to fit into my old shoes anymore! Another side effect is that my belly has gotten hairer! I read online that when people take professional pregnancy photos that they shave their bellies! I showed my waxist this weekend and she just laughed at me and said that she might start offering pregnancy belly waxing. Maybe I've started a new trend! I've also gotten the vertical line on my belly that runs through my belly button. It's not that big of a deal, even though I don't know why it's there, but what really bothers me is that it's not centered, it's crooked! I'm a big symmetry fan and it drives me crazy! Oh well...marks of motherhood I suppose. 

Month 4 is Done!

I am officially 17 weeks today! Yay!

We had our 3rd doctor's appointment on Monday and everything went really well. I gained the recommended amount of weight, unlike last time where I gained double! I blame it on training. Training causes me to gave 5 pounds each year! So, I don't blame those five pounds on the baby. :) My blood pressure was within normal range, but I think my systolic number was a little bit on the high side. My blood pressure has really improved since Labor Day weekend. I think it was because of the extra days I had off and that whole week wasn't stressful at all. I'm wondering if it's going to go back up again now that work has picked up. **Sigh** we'll see. The baby's heart rate was in the 160s. When we first got to hear the heartbeat, it was in the 170s and they told us that it'll start slowing down the further along I get. The doctor measured my uterus (weird, I know) and I measured normally which I find shocking because I feel really big to only be 4 months along. I now have the same waist size as Steven! I never thought I would ever say that! Oh well...I still think this is going to be a huge baby! =)

Our next appointment is October 12th where we get to do the big ultrasound for anatomy and we also get to find out the gender. Hopefully the baby won't be shy and cross it's legs! I just really want to know so I can go clothes shopping!!!

Which reminds me, Lydia is in town for ACL. She gave us the baby origami book that Steven really wanted! It shows different ways to swaddle the baby. We were looking at it last night before we went to bed and I ended up dreaming about swaddling babies all night! We also made a pit-stop at the Co-op and she bought the baby the cutest longhorn onesie and matching cap!!! I can't wait to see the baby in it's first longhorn outfit!

This is already one spoiled kid. We've gotten so much stuff from everyone already, it's like getting married all over again except that I can't plan everything out to the last detail. :)

Anyways, we're going to see Hairspray this weekend...yay! Also, a very happy birthday shout out goes to Tia Maria who turns 27 tomorrow!

Rocker Glider
I figured out how to post multiple pics at one time!

This is the Dutailier rocker glider that we picked out. It's got an adjustable back and lock. We also got the matching ottoman/nursing stool. It's really cool because it has a platform that comes out to rest your feet on. Baby Bargains said that mothers complained about the ottoman being the same height as the chair making it uncomfortable, so I think this was their solution.
We went with the matte black wood to match the nursery furniture and the cushions we picked out were burnt orange microfiber. Since we don't know yet if we're having a boy or a girl, we have no idea what color the nursery is going to be. We figured that we could go with a neutral color and ended up with burnt orange. We figured that once we're done using it for the baby, then we can move it up to the burnt ornage media room. We also probably picked burnt orange because the Ohio State game was on in a few hours!
The final thing we bought was the crib mattress. The one we picked out has pointed corners to fit the sheets better, it's antibacterial, and the coolest thing is that it's foam on one side (foam is recommended for infants) and coil springs on the other side (recommended for toddlers because they jump on their bed). Cool, huh? So when the little Tang gets older, all we have to do is flip the mattress over.

Yes, we were one of those couples that you could sell anything baby to. :) We realize that we might be buying things a bit early, but we weren't sure when their next sale was going to be (they do a once in a trimester sale) and we were worried about getting everything in on-time especially since some of things that we bought are special ordered which means a lead-time of 8 to 10 weeks. So, when we move into the house, we'll be baby ready! I don't think any other furniture will be able to fit in the nursery!

Which reminds me, we went to the house on Saturday and our brick and sheet rock have come in! They're also in the process of fixing the weird beam thing in the master bedroom. It's so exciting that we're going to have walls soon! Hopefully we're on schedule for November 24th. 

Dresser/Changing Table

This is the matching dresser/changing table that we bought. We only got the bottom half because we figured that we didn't need to top half until later. When we get it later, we can fill it with books and pictures. For now, we'll buy a changing pad and use the top to change diapers on. :) It has the same matching feet as the crib. There's also a closet in the nursery, so we should be okay storage wise. 

Shopping Spree

USA Baby had a one day sale on Saturday, so Steven and I went on a shopping spree! We now have all of the major furniture for the nursery which I'd like to add is much nicer than our Ikea furniture! This kid is spoiled already. :)

This is the crib that we picked out, it's from the Munire Newport collection. This crib is in bisque, but we opted for the rubbed black. It's black wood that's been weathered and the weathered parts show a reddish color. It sounds kind of weird, but it looks really cool. I didn't think we'd go with black baby furniture, but we were just drawn to it, so much for our all dark wood house. The bed is convertible, so we also purchased the conversion kit. What we didn't like is that the crib doesn't convert to a toddler bed, it goes straight from a crib to a full-sized bed. A toddler could get lost in a full-sized bed We'll see when we get there, no worries.

I'm not Blogger savy, so I have no idea how to post multiple pictures in succession, so I'm just gonna post them seperately. :) 

Hook 'em Horns!
Okay, I realize that we didn't win yesterday against Ohio State, but I thought that I would post this picture anyways because it's so cute. Button's winning streak in her longhorn jersey has come to an end, but at least that means that I got to wash it! Next year it'll be Steven, Button and Baby outfitted in longhorn gear...can't wait. :) 

Let's hope this baby is a boy! =)

We took these photo-morph pictures at Dave & Buster's a few ago when we were still in school. I always thought it would be funny to see how our kids ended up looking compared to these pictures. Don't ask me what's going on with the girl's hair! I have no idea where those ribbons came from. Steven says that she'll have a "great personality." Hehe... 

15 weeks and 5 days

What do you think? Bigger, eh? :) I don't think that I've gotten that much bigger, but definitely rounder. I really like this pink shirt that I'm wearing, although it does make me feel like a piece of pink Bubble Yum/Hubba Bubba! My stomach has definitely gotten harder...yes, it's all really weird, but in a good way!

Update on symptoms...my morning sickness has definitely improved, but I do have trouble getting breakfast down sometimes. I'm definitely not as tired anymore, and I don't have to eat dinner at 5:30 anymore either! Thank goodness for that. :) But, I think that I've developed allergies. I've lived in Austin for almost 10 years now and I'm just starting to get them! Yes, it's depressing. A couple of weeks ago, I had the same headache for three days before I called the doctor's office and the nurse said that a lot of people were calling in a complaining about the same thing and that there's a whole bunch of allergens in the air. I ended up going to Walgreen's and purchased Sudafed from the pharmacist. It was kind of weird because Sudafed is an OTC medication, but when you purchase it, you have to buy it from the pharmacist directly, they card you, and you have to sign a log. Apparently people use Sudafed to make crystal meth. I learned that from my Staff...you learn something new every day! :) I took it a couple of times over the weekend and I've been fine since. Hopefully my allergies won't flare up anymore.

I think we've finally narrowed down the baby names. For a boy, we are thinking either Ethan, Evan, Aidan or Joshua. For a girl, either Evangeline (Evie for short) or Julia (Jewels for short). What do ya'll think? Any other suggestions? We're having a really hard time with boy names, but we definitely both like Ethan.

House Update: the house is coming right along. It's so much fun seeing everything coming together. This past weekend, we even got to meet our neighbors who are building a Taylor Woodrow home. Their names are Wynn (sp?) and Dorothy and they have two cute blonde boys. They're from Harker Heights near Temple, TX. They both seemed really nice. I can't wait to move in! Steven has been updating the house pics on our website, www.stevenandrachel.com -> gallery.

Work Update: I met with our office managing partner to tell him the news and I was really surprised about how nice and open he was. EY warm fuzzies. Everyone at work has been so great too. Everything has been so easy and everyone has been so supportive, I'm really lucky to be where I'm at right now.

Steven Update: Steven, as always, has been great. I think that it's become more realy for him seeing my stomach grow. :) I can't wait to see a baby in his arms.

Baby Purchase Update: we haven't bought anything new for the baby, but we're doing a lot of research on baby stuff like cribs and strollers. Who knew that a baby requires so much stuff! As far as cribs go, we've decided on either Munire's Newport or Oxford collection. Which do you like better? Steven's been looking into the stroller department, but we're thinking either Peg Perego or Graco. He really wants a Bugaboo, but I don't think that's going to happen! We're still thinking about themes for the nursery, I guess it all depends on the sex. I still like the starry night theme (hopefully it'll make the baby sleep longer!). We'll see.

Hmmm...I'm sure I'm missing other updates...I'll try to update more often! 

Jealous Button?
I've been working on knitting a blanket for the baby for a couple of weeks now. The pattern is seven strips of seven colors each. Right now it looks like a seven colored scarf and eventually when I finish all seven strips, I'll sew them together and voila, a baby blanket. The pattern is from a book that Carolyn and Josephine got me for my birthday, Last Minute Knitted Gifts. The blanket was in the section labeled 8 to 10 hour gifts. But it takes me over an hour to knit each square! I guess it'd take 8 to 10 hours if I was a knitting genius. :) Oh well, I'm really excited about knitting it.

I laid out my two finished strips over the pillow and onto the couch and the next thing I know, Button is sleeping on the baby blanket! If you look to the left of her face, you can see the ball of yarn that I was knitting. Silly Button! 

We had our first ultrasound today at 12 weeks and 4 days for genetic testing. We got to do an ultrasound and they took a blood sample. In a few weeks, they'll take another blood sample and then we find out the likehood of the baby having any genetic disorders. Enough about the serious stuff...look, it's our baby!!!

I can't believe that this little baby is actually inside of me! This is what is currently making my belly look like the previous picture! :) It's craziness. We also got to see the baby's two legs and two arms, they're all there. :) It's just so exciting, I can't stop smiling! This was one of the first pictures that they took and I was so surprised at how well it turned out. They also measured the heartbeat and everything was normal. We're only 8 weeks away from the big ultrasound where we get to find out the sex! I can't wait, then I can officially start shopping! Let's just hope that the baby will cooperate. :)

As far as blood pressure goes, it's still high, but not as high as last week, so I'm suppose to monitor it daily and if it gets really high again, I need to let them know. Not too bad, right? It could be worse.

So the remarks I've been getting on my belly have been really funny. They've ranged from, "what a cute bump" to "you look 16-18 weeks pregnant." Hehe...it's all been amusing. What I think is really weird is that the baby is sitting really low and is barely at my belly button, but I still have such a huge stomach. I think the baby is taking up a lot of room down there and it's just pushing everything up...that probably explains why my belly looks lumpy! :) I've been reading Your Pregnancy Week by Week, and for Week 12, it said that I might start to feel my clothes getting tighter...that happened about 4 weeks ago! Oh well, I guess I'm not exactly on schedule in that sense. :) According to the weigh-ins at the doctor, I've gained about 8 pounds...I know! Let's just hope that that number slows down. At least the ultrasound confirmed that there's only one in there! I was worried about that for awhile. :)

I'm going to be 13 weeks on Friday, which signals the end of the first trimester...yay! So, I've scheduled my appointment with our office managing partner for Monday at 10 AM to tell him that I'm pregnant. It's going to be really weird considering that I don't even think he knows who I am...oh well, wish me luck!

I also want to say that Steven's been the best father-to-be ever. He's even woken up at 7 AM on Saturdays to get me (and the baby) food. As most of ya'll know, Steven is not a morning person at all. He's been great. :) Love you hunny!

This is me at 12 weeks and 3 days...I know, I'm huge! There's been a lot of growing going on down there...I don't think that I can hide it anymore. :) Anyways...will update tonight!

Second Doctor's Appointment

We had our second doctor's appointment yesterday, August 9th. We got to hear the baby's heartbeat! It was amazing...there really is something in there. :) It's made the whole pregnancy even more real for me. I really can't believe there's something with it's own heartbeat inside of me!

They look my blood pressure and apparently it's borderline high. :( I have to go back and have it checked again. I think it was high because I threw up yesterday morning after breakfast and whenever I throw up, I always feel so horrible afterwards, so I'm not really surprised that it was high. It's still not good news. It was high at my first appointment too because I was really nervous. I dunno, sounds like I'm making excuses. If my blood pressure is actually high, I guess I wouldn't be surprised after this past year I've had at work...oh well, I guess that we'll wait and see.

We also scheduled our sequential screen. Basically it's a series of two tests to determine the likelihood of the baby having Down's. We're doing the first part next week, hopefully everything will turn out okay!

Even more exciting news is that when we scheduled our next appointment, we also got to schedule our 20 week appointment with the big ultrasound! The big ultrasound let's us know if the baby is developing correctly and the gender of the baby (if the baby is cooperating). I can't believe that we're only two months from finding out!

This is going to be a big baby!

I am 9 weeks and 3 days along and I ALREADY can't fit into any of my clothes! I have no idea if this is normal or not, but I've heard that most people don't start showing until the end of their first trimester or early in their second trimester. If I already can't fit into my clothes, I know that I'm going to start showing really soon! I actually went out yesterday and bought bigger clothes for work (I am up two sizes!!!) and some maternity clothes as well. Whoever invented maternity clothes was a genius! It's so much more comfortable than my other stuff! I can actually breathe now. Some of it is big, but I figure that the way I am going, it'll fit by next week. :) It's crazy how much bigger I've gotten in a week. This past week, I could barely even fit into clothes that I wore the week before! I'll say it again, this is going to be a huge kid!

My lab results came back last week and everything checked out okay. I was really nervous when they called because I read in the handbook they gave me that they only call when something is wrong and when everything is okay, they'll just talk about the results at the next appointment. Yay!

We've told a couple of people already (certainly not everyone just yet, of course) and it's so much fun seeing/hearing their reactions. I know this is horrible to say, but I think some people have been more excited than me and Steven were when we found out! I think we were just more stunned than anything else. ;) It's still really fun getting to tell people. I'm trying to drag it out as long as possible. I'll be in Houston for a week and a half starting next week, so I'll get to tell more people then. Yay! I like spreading it out a bit because it's so much fun telling people. It's like being engaged all over again!

They've started framing the second floor of the house, I can't wait to move in! We finished picking out our lighting this past weekend, we just have wiring left. They need to call us back! Hopefully we'll still be able to move in on time, just four more months left. I can't wait to see everything to come together! House pictures!!!

We got the new Pottery Barn Kids catalogue in the mail today (thank you Aimee!) and we picked out bedding. Let me know what you think. It's the Twinkle Twinkle Nursery bedding. I think it would be good for a boy or a girl.

We also checked out USA Baby this past weekend. I picked out a crib with the help of Baby Bargains and they were selling it at USA Baby. The brand is Munire. I really like the Newport collection, but I'm not sure if that's the crib we saw. But, I found the cutest onesies! One said "My Dad is a Geek" and the other said "Honey Bunny." They were both so perfect (but expensive)! I always tease Steven about being a geek and I like to call him honey and/or bunny. Hehe...maybe I can splurge a little bit!

Now we get to the fun stuff...pregnancy symptoms! Apparently I've past the peak of the worst of my mornindg sickness. I really think it's getting better, but then again I am much better about eating more frequently. What really bothers me is my heightened gag reflex. When I gag, it really upsets my stomach. Luckily I haven't had any actual vomitting. Another thing that had really gotten me is the being so tired all of the time. I try to avoid working by myself because it just makes me sleepier! It really doesn't help that I waske up at 3:30/4:00 AM every morning to go to the bathroom and can't fall asleep afterwards. It takes between one to two hours for me to fall asleep again. I've read that it's okay to take any type of Tylenol, including PM. Wouldn't it be great if I got addicted to sleeping aids? Me not being able to sleep, imagine that!

First Doctor's Visit

Today we had our first doctor's appointment, I am 7 weeks and 5 days along. The first thing I had to do was give a urine sample...you'd think that any pregnant woman would be able to pee on demand! Anyways, once I got enough out, the nurse did a urine pregnancy test (kind of like the home pregnancy tests) and told me that I was definitely pregnant...yay! It was weird hearing it come from someone else, because I've been the one telling people that I am pregnant!

We sat down and had a little introduction on how the group works. Basically, it's 7 female doctors who share on-call responsibility and one male doctor who does the ultrasounds. Apparently my doc has a higher rate of delivering her patients as opposed to the other docs in the practice...don't really know how that works, but it sounds like a good statistic to me. :) She's also the head of the group, I guess it's like having Blue as my doc...hehe...

I'm suppose to write down any questions that I have and bring them to my next appointment. I've been reading the Babies on the Brain board on the nest.com a lot lately, so I feel like I don't have any questions at all! Those ladies like to tell all!

Then the doctor came in and examined me. She said that I was coming along right on schedule. Yay. It's so much more reassuring when a doctor tells you these things! Basically, what I'm saying is that - Maria, Kathy and Mae, lie to me! :)

My estimated due date is February 23rd...yay.

They asked me a lot about my symptoms. I'm feeling okay in general, but there's lots of little annoying stuff like morning sickness, which doesn't necessarily occur only in the morning! I get naseous when I don't eat, so they suggested that I eat every two hours. Sounds like a plan to me! It also helps with metabolism which slows down when you're pregnant. So instead of Steven worrying about me getting a headache if I don't eat, he worries about me getting naseous...hehe...I guess my need for food will never go away!

Another symptom I have is sore boobs! Steven can't get anywhere near them and they feel HUGE! Like PMS boobs, but worse. Sorry if this is too much information, but I feel like this blog is going to be like that!

Haven't had any real cravings, just the normal things like when I see food on TV, I want to go out and eat it. Or when we pass by a restaurant, I start craving their food. It's all pretty normal.

They said that I should gain about 25-35 pounds...I guess Britney putting on 60 pounds wasn't normal...

As far as exercising goes, no more regular person yoga for me...I have to switch to prenatal. It's kind of weird though because I'm not showing yet, so if I go to prenatal yoga, I feel like I'm faking it...I know, I worry too much.

That reminds me...the bloating! Geez...the baby is smaller than my pinky nail and already I can barely fit in my pants! Maternity clothes are looking more appealing...I hear people can't really tell the difference...we'll see. I've read that since my uterus is getting bigger, that it's pushing my stomach out too...again, a lovely side effect of motherhood. What's really sad is that what I weigh now will be the least for the next 9 months. I can see why women with body issues can have such a hard time with pregnancy.

Now for some fun stuff! We told Maria and RJ this weekend that we're making them an aunt and an uncle. We drove up to Dallas on Friday and gave them the news. It was fun stuff, they were very excited. They even bought us our second baby gift (the first was a t-shirt from Emili from her her trip to Oregon, thanks Emili!), a book entitled "Yum Yum Dim Sum." So, yes, I am now craving dim sum and am planning go to Kim Son this weekend while we're in Houston. Anyone else care to join a pregnant lady satisfy one of her cravings? Yum!

We also made our very first baby purchase, Ellie the Elephant Stuffed Chair. It was $20 off. With a deal like that, how could we resist? We thought the elephant would be especially fitting because of our trip to Thailand...hehe...lots of inside jokes with this baby already!

Our next appointment is on August 10th at 9:15. We will get to hear the heartbeat, which I am so psyched to hear! I've read that once you hear the heartbeat, the risk of miscarriage (which I'm still worried about) decreases and it'll decrease again once I reach the second trimester. Phew...got a long way to go...

We found out that we are expecting our first child on June 18th. Yep, that's right, Father's Day. Happy Father's Day to Steven. I'm sure that it's not one that he's ever going to forget! I was so stunned that I was speechless, I had to show him the test to tell him. I couldn't utter the words, "I'm pregnant." I'm still getting used to it, but it's definitely gotten easier to say. You can see that the test says "Pregnant" on the screen. I bought the one that makes it the most obvious.

The first time I tested was on June 7th because my stomach was completely out of whack for no apparent reason, but with the digital tests, you're not suppose to get an accurate reading until you've actually missed your period. I was thinking it was one of the ones you can use up to five days before you miss your period, but I got the digital instead. Apparently, it's either one or the other. :) With the home pregnancy tests, they are 99.9% accurate. There's practically no way you can get a false positive, but it's more likely to get a false negative. I have no idea how that works, all I know that it's positive and it's more than likely right! That, and I haven't had my period in awhile which is another obvious sign. It's actually very weird to not get it. It makes me feel like there's something missing, but there is definitely enough activity going on down there!

You're probably wondering when the due date is. According to various on-line calculators, I'm due on February 22nd/23rd. I'm really glad that next year isn't a leap year, or else the baby would only have a birthday once every four years. Think about how depressing that would be for a child!

I'm actually really excited about the due date because my birthday is in December, Steven's is in January, and the baby will hopefully come on time in February. February is also great because I won't be spending my third trimester in the Texas heat, which I am extremely grateful for. If the baby comes in February, then it gives us a few months before Steven goes to Edward and Sara's wedding in Taiwan and hopefully things will have settled down a bit by then. I'm really sad that I won't get to go, but I'm sure Steven will brings tons of pictures back for everyone to see. We're scheduled to move into our new house at the end of November, which leaves three months for me to get the house and nursery in order before the baby comes.

You're probably now wondering if this was planned and I can't say that it was, but it was a very pleasant surprise and now we know that we're not infertile! :) We were thinking that next year after Edward and Sara's wedding would be the perfect time, we're just a whole year ahead of schedule which is really surprising since I'm NEVER ahead of schedule on anything (just ask my multiple bosses at work)! It might not be what we planned, but we're so excited and for me personally this couldn't have happened at a better time. I think I've just been waiting for something huge to come along and it did in the form of a BFP (big fat positive)! Most of you who are really close to me know the struggles I was dealing with since February and it climaxed this past April and I couldn't see my path or purpose anymore which is why I really needed to go on that trip to Taiwan and Thailand, just to get my thoughts together and now we've been blessed with this baby and I am more confident than ever in what I want from this life.

As you can tell from the due date and that last paragraph, it happened on our vacation. Gotta love a vacation baby! :) It was funny because we were getting a lot of comments from Steven's family and it just looks like we gave into the pressure! It's just funny and I would love to see all of their reactions when they find out. :)

Will update more later. Sleepy......