Eve of Christmas Eve 2010

I'm sitting here on the Eve of Christmas Eve 2010 and all I can think about is what next Christmas will be like with our little girl! :) I know she will only be like 8 months old, but still I cannot wait to do many things with her next year. So, here is the start to my list for Regan during the Christmas 2011 season...

1. Looking at Christmas lights with her and seeing the twinkle in her eyes.

2. Santa pictures :)

3. Putting a Christmas bow on her cute little head from a package and laughing

4. Rebound and Regan's picture in front of our tree

5. Regan's first Christmas ornament

6. Cute Christmas pj's

7. Our first family Christmas card

8. Silly Christmas songs

Thinking about these things make me so happy :) But I am going to enjoy our last Christmas together! :)

Merry Christmas

So this is love...

Who knew that you could love someone so much when you haven't even met her yet. It's crazy! I am so in love with all of her movement in my belly. I even love it when she moves at night, ha. Amanda is in love too! Regan Lynn we love you more than you know and we cannot wait to be your mommies :)

Getting ready...

We're getting ready for Christmas around our house. The weather outside doesn't exactly feel like December, but this week it's suppose to be a little cooler, so that's good. We have plenty of things to keep us busy this month. We do have our tree up and some presents wrapped, but to be honest more of our focus is on Regan and getting ready for when she gets here in April. Who would think that it would literally take 9 months to get ready for a baby. But needless to say, we have plenty of things to get done. My mom and Barry came this weekend and helped Amanda paint her room...it looks so great!!! It makes me even more excited to get her furniture and bedding and see how it all comes together. The best Christmas present I can get this year is a good checkup on the 21st.

Here's to the Christmas season and truly celebrating what it means along with spending time with family and friends and not sweating the small things in life!

Have a wonderful Holiday season...and don't forget to eat a few candy canes along the way! :)

Christmas Ornament

Every year we go pick out a Christmas ornament that represents the year. This year of course we chose an ornament that was centered around the fact that we are pregnant and going to have a baby girl. Amanda found this stork ornament and we knew that it was the one for this year. We love it! This year has been consumed with everything Regan and we couldn't be more excited for her to come in April of next year :)

Thanksgiving...

Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on what you are thankful for and this year it is totally different than in the past. I guess when you are a soon to be Mom your priorities definitely change.

I am thankful for Regan that is growing inside me. I am thankful that she is healthy and growing at the right speed. I am thankful for how wonderful Amanda has been through this entire process. I am thankful for my Mom who has supported our decision to start a family from the beginning. I am thankful for my sister and how excited she has been for us. I am thankful for all of our family and friends, everyone who has sent their love and support truly means a lot.

This year is totally different and I cannot wait to see how different next Thanksgiving will be with Regan around. My life is amazing and I couldn't ask for anything else!

Hope all is well.

We're pregnant!!!

On July 12, 2010 our life started changing and on July 26, 2010 our lives changed forever. We began a new chapter in our life. April 4, 2011 -- Let the journey begin!

To quote my dad from a conversation we had a couple of weeks ago now…”I always knew you were going to be a mom, I didn’t know when, but I just know you’re going to be great at it.” That has got to be the nicest compliment. I am so emotional these days and that definitely hit the spot. Amanda and I both hope that we can be wonderful mothers like we had growing up. Over this process we have talked about our childhoods and how great they were and the things that we want to bring into our kids lives. It’s just such an amazing honor to be able to be a Mom and neither Amanda nor I are going to take that for granted.

The process before was quite a long one. We had been talking about how we were going to expand our family for such a long time, that it kind of seemed surreal when we finally got down to doing all the medications and treatments. Talking about what was going to happen and it happening is two totally different things. Both of us had to endure different things at different times. Throughout the entire process we leaned on each other and realized what an amazing opportunity it is to be a parent. I cannot believe that it’s actually happening

We are 18 weeks and 4 days, we are getting so close to the half way point that it’s crazy! Gotta be honest and say it’s all finally starting to sink in. For a while, I would just randomly say…I’m pregnant, how crazy is that?! Now, I can feel Regan (if it truly is a girl…we will know more next week) move and it gives me the most amazing feeling. I cannot wait for Amanda to feel her moving around. Of course she likes to move at night, so that should be interesting if that trend continues when she’s born. I have been wearing maternity pants for a while. Amanda will tell you, that the first time I put them on it was the most amazing feeling because I could actually breathe!!! I was jumping up and down in the dressing room and she was laughing, quite amusing. At first I gained more weight than I wanted, but things have leveled out, that is until the past 2 weeks or so, my belly is starting to stick out even further. At least now I don’t look fat anymore, I’m actually looking more pregnant. I’m feeling not as tired as I used to feel, but overall I still feel tired. I have gotten the pregnancy “I forgot” brain, most definitely. I am missing my coffee in the mornings, wine at night, and my sushi dates. But at the end of these 9 months, it is most definitely going to be worth all of the sacrifices that I am making. Amanda is going to bring me sushi in the hospital and it’s going to be wonderful!!!

We have started registering and that is a process within itself as well. There are so many things to look at and so many things to decide on. I do have to tell a funny story. So, we registered for a lime green bottle brush. When we came home and we were looking at the registry, the bottle brush was pink, so Amanda changed it back. The day we look again and it had changed back to pink…and the same thing happened the next day. Needless to say, it changes every day and it frustrates Amanda to a point that all I can do is laugh about it; I finally went on and changed the type of bottle brush to multi colored so that she doesn’t even have to deal with it anymore. But she has been the greatest about researching and finding out what other people use in regards to bottles, pack-n-plays, diapers, carriers, etc. It has been fun looking at all the stuff, as well as overwhelming…I mean seriously how much could one little person need…according to the Babies R Us registry book – A LOT!!!

This is definitely the happiest time in our lives. We are so excited and cannot wait for our new addition to our family. I think Rebound is excited too, he just doesn’t know how to express it yet. Ha…I am excited for Rebound to meet our new addition; he’s going to be great! We are so happy that everyone has been so supportive throughout everything. Our family is very lucky to have people in our lives that are so wonderful!

Eat Pray Love

This movie was amazing. The critics didn't like it, people that I talked with said that they didn't want to go see, but the first time I saw the preview I wanted to see it and of course Amanda humored me, but she ended up loving it too :) It was about a woman who needed to find herself. Sometimes it's much needed to step outside your comfort box and do something different so you can find out who you truly are. I didn't go to different countries around the world, but I have had this experience in my life. Watching this movie was very inspirational on so many levels. It showed how much seeing the world can change your perspective, it showed that you can truly find yourself if you just look, it showed that sometimes you have to take a big step in life just so you can see that it is better on the other side. I know what it's like to be down on your life and have to figure out who you truly are and where you want to be. As she did in the movie, she met many new people that had many new things for her to experience. It was amazing journey of one woman who decided it was time to take a hold of her life and begin to enjoy it again. I'm so glad that I was able to see it, but now I want to read the book...haha, I've heard it's even better!