The Big News

Well, lots of people know this by now, so might as well make an official announcement: Nate and I are expecting a new addition to our family in July.

Here's the details if you want to know more. We found out around Halloween, but were able to keep it quiet for the most part. My due date is July 13th, also my little brother's birthday, but I told him not to plan on it. I think only about 6 percent of babies are born on their due date. We told our families at Christmas and have been telling other friends and family since. A few found out before, like the group we went to Vegas with. Hard to hide something's up when you're turning down free drinks. There seems to be quite a baby boom this year and lots of people we know are also expecting babies between now and the end of summer.

I've been feeling a lot better lately. For a long time I was queasy all the time, then the puking starting. I was so sensitive to smells, but mold and sour stuff seemed to be the worst. I had a real tough time trying to clean the fridge after we got home from Vegas, and I've been a little reluctant to work on it since so if you come over, don't look there. I had a bit of a cold the weekend after new years, and I hit the magic number of 13 weeks about the same time, so I've been feeling a lot better since then.

Nate and I went for my second appointment last week and got to hear the heartbeat for the first time. I've gained about 5 pounds so far (trying to avoid the 45 pound gain I had with Jacob), and everything looks good so far. The baby was really active that day when the doctor was chasing him (I'm saying he or him instead of it) so Nate's nicknamed him Flipper.

Unlike Jacob, we decided to keep the gender a surprise until he or she is born. Now I have to resist the temptation to ask! I want to know more than Nate does, but I promised I'd let this one be a surprise this time. I've got a few girl names in mind, but I'm stumped on boy names. Oh well, we've got another six months or so to figure it out.

Jacob seems to be taking the news in stride. I think it's more than his three year old brain can handle right now. He does say he wants a little sister. I've been trying to teach him that "Mommy has a baby in her tummy" so he doesn't jump on me when he's goofing around. It's only working so-so. If you ask him what mommy has in her tummy, you'll likely get this answer: "A baby puppy!"