Friday, September 25, 2009

Big Blog News!

It's now time for this fun news to go public! I finally told my office the news today, so it's time for the "blog world" to know. John and I are expecting our first child in early February! Our "official" due date is February 4th, but we'll just have to wait and see when our little one decides to be born. We're not intending to find out our baby's gender, so are just going to have to wait and see.
We're now at 21 weeks, so more than half of this pregnancy has already passed. It's been a lot of fun to feel our active baby move in the last few weeks. Sometimes I'm convinced that this baby is doing flips inside of me! Pregnancy has not been too terrible, but it actually has been harder than I imagined. I feel as though I slept through this summer. I was so tired during the first trimester, that I did little but work and sleep each day. Somewhat regular (mostly evening) vomiting and a uncomfortable stomach also kept us from enjoying food during that time. Thankfully, I now feel much more like myself and have been able to keep food down without problems.

We started a Bradley class nearby a couple weeks ago, and are enjoying learning more about what is to come. With the required tracking of my diet to ensure adequate amounts of protein, I'm eating more and gaining steady weight. We hope to give this baby plenty of nutritution during this time!
It's quite odd to now have such a big belly. I know that what I have is nothing yet, but even so, it's really strange to see it prodruding from my body! I just started wearing maternity clothes and have found them so comfortable. It doesn't look too big yet under my shirt, but it feels big! My friend Barb and my sister-in-law Michele gave and let me borrow a huge amount of clothes! I think I have more options to wear during my pregnancy than I do when I'm not pregnant! What a blessing they have been!
So, now those of you who didn't know thru some other means have a good idea of part of my reasons for not blogging much in the last months!

Sunday, September 6, 2009

One Year Ago Today. . .

One year ago today, John and I exchanged wedding vows in Alabama. To celebrate that wonderful event, we decided to come back to Alabama to visit. Last year, I drove to Alabama a week early and then John flew in a couple days before our wedding. This year, we cooked up a fun surprise. We drove down together, but didn't tell anyone in town that we were coming. What fun we had in surprising everyone and seeing family and friends again!

This year has been so very good. Some of the reading we did before marriage warned of how difficult the first year can be. It almost made me afraid to marry - but not quite! But this year has been good in so many ways. Having John as my husband this past year has been wonderful! To come home from work and have a constant friend to eat with and spend time with each evening is great. Having shared goals, struggles and joys is wonderful. John has been very kind, loving, sensitive and supportive to me. He is way more than I could ever have imagined or deserved. I'm so thankful that God brought us together!

We've done a lot of traveling this past year. Visiting Washington, British Columbia, Illinois, Alabama, Kansas, South Carolina, Florida and Pennsylvania has kept us busy and more in touch with friends and family than I imagined would be possible. Spending weekends at home relaxing or getting to know friends we've made here has been fun as well. We look forward to the many changes that God will bring us in the next year of marriage!