How are you feeling?

That's a question I've been asked a lot lately. Honestly, I have nothing to complain about. I haven't experienced any of the horribly unpleasant or scary pregnancy symptoms, such as morning sickness or spotting. In fact, I have been feeling so well that when I went to the doctor last week I told him that I was afraid there wouldn't be anything there when he did the ultrasound. He assured me there would be, and thankfully he was right. :)

So what have I been experiencing?

Bloating! Not long after I found out I was pregnant I noticed my pants were feeling tight. I knew this obviously had nothing to do with the lentil bean-sized baby. I don't guess I'd ever really been bloated before, because it took me a while to figure out what was going on. Enter my friend, the BeBand. I started wearing it about a week ago on days when my dress pants felt snug and it makes a world of a difference!

Acne! About a year before I got pregnant my dermatologist put me on some wonderful medicine. . .too bad the medicine is a big no-no when you are pregnant. At the very beginning of my pregnancy my skin was actually relatively clear. I had read about women whose skin clears up with pregnancy and I thought I was lucky. Boy was I wrong! In the past week or so the acne has come back and I can't really do anything about it. :( If anyone has a suggestion about what to do, I'd be willing to give it a try!

Restlessness! I wake up several times during the night trying to get comfortable. I flip from side to side and even onto my back, but I can never seem to stay in one position for very long.

Laughing fits! I suppose I can blame this on hormones. Last week I was trying to tell Eric a story about something funny that happened at school. Once I got the story started I could not stop laughing. I laughed so hard that I began to cry; I literally had tears streaming down my face. The same thing happened just the other day when we went to see a play at the community theater. The scene was funny, but I apparently thought it was extremely hysterical, once again to the point of tears. I'm sure the older man who was sitting beside me must of thought I was crazy! Have any of you other mommas experienced this?

Those are the biggest effects of pregnancy that I've noticed so far. Ask again in a few weeks, and I'm sure I'll be able to add to the list. Tomorrow marks 12 weeks, 28 to go! :)

By the way, thank you so much for all of the congratulations on the last post! It means a lot to know that y'all are excited and praying for us and the baby.

Our BIG News!

Your guesses were right, we are pregnant!

Yesterday Eric and I went to our very first doctor's appointment. It was a little awkward at the beginning with the pelvic exam and all, but once we were able to see the baby on the screen and hear that hard working little heart it was totally worth it! The doctor confirmed what the nurse had originally told us; I'm 11 weeks along and the baby is due on August 11. He said everything looked great and scheduled me for several future appointments, including the BIG ultrasound on March 9th. Here are the two pictures we got of the little one:

The baby's head is at the bottom and you can see a little leg and tiny foot sticking out towards the top. It's hard to see in this scanned photo, but on our original you can count the 5 little toes!

This is a shot from the ribs up. Once again the baby's head is at the bottom and you can see the arm bent at the elbow with the hand towards the face.

If you want to hear more about how I told Eric, read on. . . .

On December 1st I found out I was pregnant. I wanted to tell Eric in a memorable way so I insisted that I really wanted one of my stocking stuffers early. I told him I'd give him one of his gifts in return. I opened my gift and posed for the camera, then it was his turn. I set the camera to video so I could record his response when he first saw the Texas Rangers onesie I had secretly bought. His reaction was great! Take a look:

**I apologize if the video is not working. Blogger is having issues; hopefully it will be back up and running soon!

After I showed Eric the pregnancy test he was super excited. He had to leave for work just a few minutes later, but not before telling our dog, Lucy, that she's going to be a big sister. :)

We are very excited to finally be able to share our big news with everyone! Now we just need to think of a nickname for the baby. Any suggestions?

Priceless

What kind of news could possibly elicit these reactions?

my parents

the in-laws

Pants on the Ground

I'm sure everyone and their dog has seen this, but you know you want to watch it again. :)

Haha! Love it! I'm thinking about playing this for one particular student tomorrow.

Taco Bell Diet?

Have you seen this commercial advertising the Taco Bell Drive-Thru Diet? Haha! Who do they think they're kidding?

The Lion King vs. The St. Anthony

My long overdue review of The Lion King:

I'll keep it short. In fact, how's a one word review? Ready? Here it is--disappointing. Eric said he almost fell asleep three times and I have to admit my eyes were getting pretty heavy too. I can't quite decide why I wasn't enthralled. Maybe it's because I'm not a fan of The Lion King movie in the first place. . . or maybe it was the lack of scenery and props. . . perhaps it was the fact that they drew the story out for two and half hours. . . or most likely it's because Wicked was just that awesome and my expectations were set too high.

On the other hand the hotel we stayed in, The St. Anthony, was fabulous. It's a century old historic hotel located downtown within walking distance of the riverwalk.

I suppose my opinion of the hotel wasn't hurt by my low Priceline bid and the room upgrade that Eric and I got. :)