The Holidays are Here!

Sooo....I've been a blogging slacker.   Oops.  For any of you who are still following, I apologize!  Just to make up for by absence, here are two fun pictures.  Granted, they were taken at the beginning of the month, and not the most attractive...and I am much bigger now!

Aren't the boys so cute?  They had just put together the crib!  Deacon insisted on being a part of the event.  I am still obviously very awkward with the whole belly picture thing.  You should see the attempts Scott and I have made at taking a "family pic" with my new belly.  It's even worse.  We're trying though, and will post as decent pictures are available!

We had a sonogram today and got to see Baby Girl kicking and squirming around.  She's so cute!! (I think only a mother can say that about a black and white 2D fuzzy picture...)  They tried to switch to 3D to show us her face, but she was NOT interested!  Every time she turned away or put her hand up - the tech said that some babies don't like the 3D, maybe it gives off a different sound?  Everything is perfectly healthy and normal!

We spent Thanksgiving in Reno with Scott's brother Brian, his wife Meagan, and their three adorable kiddos.  We had a blast.  Every time we are with them, Scott and I leave saying how much we wish we all lived closer.  This time was even better than normal - I think, for me, it triggered more excitement than I've felt so far about our own baby getting here.  We love Jake, Avery and Chloe so much - we're such a proud Aunt and Uncle, and they are just so much fun to be around.  We played, caught up on Disney movies, went on The Polar Express and had an all around great time.  Avery introduced Scott to dolls and princesses and fairy dust and hair clips and all things girly.  She even asked him for help "swallowing" (swaddling) her baby doll, which provided a good learning opportunity for both of us!  We loved helping out with Chloe and how smiley and lovey she always is.  It was so much fun to watch him with the kids and trying to figure it all out...I can just see him doing the same things with our little one!  One of my favorite things was that, having a year-old sister, the older two completely understood and were excited about our baby!  They would talk about their cousin and at separate times during the trip, each one would come up and put their little hands on my belly and say "I can't wait for her to get here!" or "How much longer until she gets here???"  I loved it!  Scott and Brian even ventured out to do some Black Friday shopping and returned with a "Dad's diaper bag" - duck blind camo, of course, and proceeded to explain to me how perfect the pockets are for diapers, bottles, changes of clothes, and even hooks for pacifiers!  I think I managed to squeeze every little bit of parenting info I could out of Meagan.  She had so much great advice and I was so thankful for so much quality time with her...not to mention all the hard work she did to feed us all a great Thanksgiving dinner (since I am never much help in the kitchen)!!

I am just so excited about this next month; all of the festivities and family and decorations...I only wish I could go ahead and buy one of those adorable Christmas dresses for Baby Girl!!  That will just have to wait until next year!!

Assorted Thoughts and Updates...

Happy Halloween!  We were all stocked up on candy and ready to go, and we had all of about 5 trick-or-treaters.  I think there must have been a carnival or gathering we didn't know about, since we are just about the only couple in the neighborhood that doesn't have kids yet.  If we were to have dressed up, this pregnant skeleton was first on my list!  Especially with the coordinating husband's costume!

I feel more and more pregnant by the day!  Every weekend or every few days I talk to my mother, I think I've told her, "now I really feel/look pregnant!"  I'm surprised how many ways my body feels different...

I'm getting much bigger - I'm even outgrowing my t-shirts. I guess I was really in denial about how much/quickly I would grow.  I laugh at myself that a month ago, I bought a few pairs of maternity pants and thought that those, combined with tops I already had, would get me thru the next 6 months.  My wardrobe options are quickly shrinking!  Scott still just laughs and laughs.

I eat like a pregnant person.  My hunger patterns rival Scott's now.  I crave french fries every day at lunch, followed by something sweet, followed by fruit/veggies at dinner.  I love huge glasses of apple juice, lemon in my water, pickles and olives.  I have not been able to stomach even the thought of fish and have not eaten it since the day I found out I was pregnant.  I also can just barely handle BBQ.

I am pretty sure I've felt a few movements.  I only feel her at night when I lay down to go to sleep.  The first time, I was sure Deacon (who curls up closer to my stomach with every bit it grows...I thought he'd hate it, but I think he feels it's his responsibility to help incubate her) had a strange heartbeat/flutter going on, as he was laying nearly on top of me.  I made him move, and continued to feel "butterflies" for a while.  I said to Scott, "either my stomach is really upset, or I feel the baby!"  I'm pretty sure she's brushing up on a high-kick routine in there!

I have joined Pinterest, for those of you that are into that sort of thing...and I have a pinboard for my current thoughts on baby's nursery.  I'm sure it will be ever-changing, but it's lots of fun looking at all of the girly stuff!

Slight homesickness has started to set in, as I knew it would around this time.  The excitement of the move has died down, hunting season will be in full force as of this weekend, and the Rangers' World Series run may have had something to do with it too.   I miss you Dallas folk!

So on that note, we have lots of room, y'all come visit!  :)

Bittersweet

This weekend, we travelled to Kansas City to see the Struby clan.  Grandpa Struby passed away a few weeks ago, so we went for his funeral service.  I just love family.  I love that I love the Strubys as my own already.  It's so strange to me that a good time can be had and so many wonderful memories can be made, even when you're brought together by a sad reason.  It was the same when Poppy died a few years ago - for some odd reason, those are some of my favorite memories with my family are from that trying time.  Grandpa died on his wife Irene's birthday.  They were married 65 years, and I just don't believe that can be a coincidence.  There was surely a party in heaven when he got home.  Here is a picture of me and Scott and my belly in front of his grandparents' house, where they lived for almost 40 years.  (I have obviously not mastered the "I'm pregnant" photo poses yet...)

It was wonderful to see the Struby side and share some of this exciting time in our lives with them.  Shannon, Scott's sister, even brought us a TON of Teigan's clothes....we came home with a whole suitcase of 0-6 month clothes.  I had a blast going through all of them and giggling at how tiny and pink everything is!  Deacon is not so sure...

Baby has also received her very first gifts, which is so exciting.  Her room is starting to look like a baby room already!  We got some adorable, girly burp-cloths from Taylor and John in the mail last week, and Scott's parents couldn't resist buying baby's first book the very day we told them we were expecting!

I'm getting bigger every day, and Scott just looks at my belly and laughs constantly.

Go Rangers!!!!

Scott's Thoughts:  I don't think I can eat any more Oreos and milk in an effort to make my belly look like Lauren's.  I don't feel good about myself right now.  What's that, Lauren?  You just bought me another pack of Double Stuffs? ....ok....

IT'S A GIRL!!!!

All of a sudden, this pregnancy seems so REAL!  There's no longer an "it" or a "he or she" or a "they" in my belly, there's a little girl!  This has, for me, been the happiest day of pregnancy by far.  I'm over the initial shock and the Is This Really Happening Phase and can actually enjoy the excitement of this new development.  

As I mentioned, I did not have a "feeling" about the gender...however, I do think I just kind of expected it to be a boy.  There are a LOT of (wonderful!) boys on my side of the family, so somehow that just seems like the default gender.  Scott said though (conveniently after the sonogram) that he thought it was a girl all along.  The doctor said several times during the sonogram that it is unquestionably, without a doubt a "guaranteed girl!"  We also got our first trimester screening results back and the doctor said everything looks absolutely perfect.  

My dear friend Jaime gave birth to her twin boys tonight.  All are happy and healthy from what I have heard.  I am in awe of her strength and endurance of carrying those sweet boys all the way to 38 weeks in her little body!  Her response to the gender announcement was maybe my favorite:  "Congratulations!!! You're going to be in endless trouble with Scott for your fun and frilly purchases, but I think it's perfect!!!"  Coincidentally, the second the doctor left the room and I asked Scott what he thought, he kissed me and said, "Things just got expensive around here."  Don't worry, though - he'll be in on it too.  He and his hunting buddies are already discussing what type of bow they should start her out with when they take her hunting.  She will be a well-rounded little girl!

I promise pictures very soon!  Off I go to work on names and nursery - let the games begin!!!

Scott's thoughts:  Yay, baby girl!!!  

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog!  I'm not sure I'm the best writer/blogger...but with all of this excitement happening so far away from the majority of our friends and family, we wanted a way to share news, progress, pictures, and adventures of our new life in Austin with y'all!


I do not particularly enjoy posting the intimate details of our life on good 'ole Facebook, so you'll find the majority of info {including the occasional ultrasound or even -eeek!!- belly picture} here.  


Bear with me, and I'll attempt to post updates on a fairly regular basis!


Currently: I am 16 weeks pregnant.  I started back to work two weeks ago, which is nice but tiring!  I'm feeling well - I didn't have much sickness even in the first trimester - but get pretty tired by the end of the day.  


We find out this Tuesday if we are having a girl or a boy!!  We are so excited, of course!  Everyone asks me what I think it is.  For the record, I have no "feeling" about the gender. 


Scott's thoughts: Yay, Baby!  


(We'll work on Scott's attempts to express himself...)