ho hum...

I haven't updated in a while simply because not too much has been going on...  Well, Thanksgiving weekend was last weekend and I would say it was probably one of the best I've had.  I took Wednesday and Friday off, so we had a 5 day weekend together.

We hosted Thanksgiving here at our house - our first time (obviously) in the new house and I think it went well.
Ryan's parents, brother and nephew came over.  My parents, sister and boyfriend and the three kids also came.  I was happy that our little house fit fourteen people comfortably. 
My mom and I split (a bit unequally - but split nonetheless) the cooking.  My mom cooked the turkey and stuffing (and turnip which only my dad eats!)  I did the mashed potatoes, squash and green beans.  My sister made a chocolate pie and a pumpkin chiffon pie and brought a huge fruit salad.  My MIL made an apple pie and rice.  Overall, the food was fantastic, the kids were so well behaved and we all had a great time.
My parents stayed over that night and we (last minute) decided to have Elizabeth stay over too!  Maddie and Elizabeth rarely get to play together without interruption - but this was such a great day/night for them.  They are so cute together and get along so nicely.  We couldn't say no when she wanted to stay over!!

We did something that night we've never done before and I hope we make it a tradition.  My mom and I got up at midnight (after going to bed around 10pm) and met Becky in Plymouth to do the Black Friday shopping!  We started at 1am at Target (when it opened).  I am not sure why were were surprised, but the huge line shocked us!! It weaved around the side and to the back of the exterior of the building.  People had been there since 7pm!! Nuts!!  We waited in the car with the heat on until the line subsided and made it inside about 10 minutes after the crazies who waited for hours!!

I had a specific list in mind and got great deals on everything I went for, so it was completely worth it for me!
We were at Target for about 2.5 hours.  After that we headed to Kohls.  (Last year I had gotten up at 3:30am and went to Kohls and knew that I could get the kids their gifts again this year).
All toys were 50% off, so I got just about all of the kids on our list done!

Becky went home after Kohls and Mom and I stopped into Walmart at 4:30am.  We didn't realize it but Walmart had just opened at 4am, so it was a MAD HOUSE!
There was no organization like that of Kohl's and Target, it was a complete free-for-all chaotic nightmare.  We grabbed the two leggo items we wanted and I think we cut people in line for the register, but we got out of there and were home by 5:30am.
I fell asleep at about 6am and then Maddie was up with my Dad (and subsequently woke me up) by 7:45am.
Take that first trimester!!!

Actually though, I think I suffered all weekend because of the lack of sleep.  I did take a little nap on Friday and a nap on Saturday (that was 2 hours long!)

Our town does a pretty decent job with a Christmas Parade on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and it goes by the end of our street.  So on Saturday we grabbed some chairs, walked the .25 miles to the end and watched the parade.  My hormones are clearly raging because for some reason, the marching bands had me tearing up.  I don't think there's anything emotional about a marching band so I have no idea where it came from - but of course, Ryan saw me and was loving every moment of that!!!

Sunday night we met up with our bffl's Mike, Tricia and Grayson and walked around LaSalette.  I plan to do this every year, regardless of where we live.  I love it, I have loved it since I was a child and feel that it is a great tradition.  I remember a few years when I was younger, the shrine was suffering for money and they didn't know if they would be able to do all of the lights each year.  Well, this year, that is certainly not the case.  They had hayrides, merry-go-rounds, fried dough stations, and there was barely enough parking even in their overflow lot.  The traffic was backed up about 6 miles down the road to get in!! I was so happy to see that it was doing that well.    

So that was our weekend.  It just made me very excited about our week off during Christmas break.  23 more days!! I can do it!!!

As promised (only a few weeks late!)

Here are the pictures from our New York weekend...

how cute are these two???

at the winery, playing around

Melissa was chasing them ... they loved it!

can you tell why Maddie absolutely adores Melissa?

yes, these look like scrotums, but we didn't care!

dancing girls!

I LOVE THIS PIC!!!  Clearly Maddie was so happy with them!

not sure why I'm the only one who looks happy!!

First comes love, then comes marriage... then comes baby #1, then comes a job, then a house, then baby #2...

And so here we are...

I think anyone could have predicted it this way.  We bought a 3 bedroom house for a reason - the timing was just our biggest concern.  I did not like having a baby in the middle of winter last time.  I felt confined to the house and barely took her out because it was so cold outside most of the time.  Plus so many people are sick in the winter, I worried a lot about her or myself catching something.
I knew our next baby would be a spring or summer baby.

In addition to the weather, Ryan has the summers off - so it really made sense to have a baby in the beginning of the summer so that we could spend the first few months with the baby together... But I do realize that God's timing doesn't always coincide with our wants... so planning this was going to be tricky...

We knew that I would go off the pill in June, (it's recommended to go off for 3 months before you start trying) so that's what I did.  We tried in August (because a May baby would have been fine - even though June was a better target)... and there were a few reasons it didn't work in August.  Firstly, I think my stress level was really high from work, we were not completely sure about my ovulation cycle at that point, and probably quit a little earlier than we should have...
So we tried again in September. 
When I knew that it was the day I should expect my period, I woke up at 3am and took a test.  I was practically jumping around the bathroom when that very faded pink line showed up!! Ryan and I were like kids on Christmas from about 3am-5am when he had to get up for work!!
From there, we kept going back and forth about how to tell and when to tell our families and my work. 
The only people we told at this point were our bffl's Mike and Tricia.  Tricia and I found out two weeks prior that we were both trying - so she knew when I was expecting to find out and I knew when she was!  (We're due 4 days apart!!)

My boss was really supportive (Summer is really my biggest responsibility time in my position, so although the timing is perfect personally - it's probably the least perfect timing professionally!)
We finally decided that at my half marathon, I would put "Baby's First Race... SURPRISE" on the back of my race number - and after I crossed the finish, I would flip the bib down to reveal our surprise to our families who were all going to be at the finish.

I was 7 weeks pregnant when I ran the half marathon.  I was very nervous that my tiredness (because I'm exhausted all the time now) would severely impact my pace - but much to my surprise, I stayed around a 9:30 mile and finished with my best time ever.  2 hours and 4 minutes.  I really wanted to beat the 2 hour mark - but I think if I were not pregnant, I could totally do that next time!

My Godmother was the first to see the bib and she immediately started crying... she was so happy for me.  She had been so supportive of my race training and it was perfect that she was there.  (She'd check in with me almost weekly reminding me that they'd be at the finish and to keep up the good work on my training - I loved the support).
Then my in-laws saw the bib next.  My father-in-law didn't read it so my MIL had to fill him in!
My parents were stationed on the opposite side of the finisher alley, so it took them about 15 minutes to come over to our side and when they did, they saw the bib and immediately teared up!!  My mom knew something was up because I was not calling her much and was very short on the phone when we did talk - I guess I was afraid I'd spill!!

Everyone came back to our house after the half and we all feasted.  Our bffl's Matt and Teresa came over too and we shared the news with them!
It was a perfect day and a perfect way to share the news.

Last Friday we had our first doctor's appointment.  The doctor was pretty sure that if I was less than 10 weeks along they'd not be able to find the heartbeat - but lo and behold, after searching for what seemed like forever - they found a very strong heartbeat!! THANK YOU GOD!!!

On Tuesday I had an early ultrasound (too early, they were hoping I was 11 weeks based on finding the heartbeat last week, but alas, I am 10 weeks, just like I thought)...  but we didn't care, we were ecstatic to see our peanut.  Literally, it looked more like a peanut than a baby but whatever, it's a beautiful peanut with a heartbeat, hands, feet, and a pretty big head!!

We couldn't be happier, Maddie is so excited and she tells me all the time how much she'll help me.  This morning she told me that she'd fold the baby's laundry for me... This was while she was scrunching up her laundry "helping" me fold it!