It's a...

GIRL!!!!

We went yesterday for our 20 week appointment, and first and foremost, the baby is wonderful and healthy.  We could not have asked for better results!  And for the fun part, we found out we are expecting a precious baby girl.  Her name, which we already had picked out, is going to be Madison Elizabeth.  Words can't even describe how it felt seeing her yesterday.  She is precious and we fell in love all over again.  Nick knew it was a girl before the ultrasound technician even said it!  I will never forget the huge grin on his face when he said "It's a girl!".  It was priceless!  I joke that I am now officially out of the picture and she is going to rule him and have him wrapped around her little finger.  He fully admits it :)  Take a look at our sweet little girl...

Madison Elizabeth

Madison Elizabeth

We have been busy with the holiday season upon us.  I cannot believe that Christmas is this week!  We had a great Thanksgiving in Port Arthur with family, and since then we have been going, going, going getting ready for Christmas.  This year Nick has to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day so I'm going to head to Port Arthur on Christmas Eve without him, and he's going to meet us there once he is off of work.  I wasn't thrilled about leaving him for Christmas, but like he said, I would be spending most of the time alone so better I go ahead.  Next week we head to New York for our anniversary/babymoon/just for fun vacation!!  We've never been before so we are so excited to do all the fun touristy things you do in New York.  Look out for our next blog post of that. 

Just want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  Be safe on your travels and enjoy this wonderful time of year with family.  I know we will!  Oh, and lastly, here is my first belly pic on the blog!

20 Weeks!

Aggie Game, Harry Potter, and Christmas Tree!

Nick here....

Saturday, the Fightin Texas Aggies took on 8th rank Nebraska. There had been a lot of hype surrounding this game and we knew it would be one of the best environments for football ever at Kyle Field. I found these great seats (2nd deck, alumni side, 40 yard line) for sale on the internet at face value. I called Alex and before I knew it we were on our way to College Station. We arrived there around 5 pm (game was at 7) and met up with the famous Shel Winkley for a few minutes. It was really nice to be back on campus and it brought back a lot of memories from our time there. The game was amazing and the Aggie defense dominated and won the game for us. It was by far the best game we have ever attended. We brought our camera but forgot the memory card and here are a couple of pictures taken with the iphone.



Before the Game!




After the Game!


Sunday we went to see the Harry Potter movie at the local IMAX and it was really good. Tomorrow we leave for Port Arthur for the Thanksgiving holidays and we wanted to at least get the Christmas Tree up and decorated before we left. We just went to Home Depot this year. Next year, we will definetely go back to the Christmas Tree Farm when we have our "nugget" with us! Heres the pic of the tree.....



Our Tree!



Happy Thanksgiving!! Until next time......

Happy Veteran's Day!

First off I would like to say Happy Veteran's Day! Thank you to all the men and women who serve or who have served and sacrificed for our country. I know it's not enough, but Thank You for everything you do to protect our country and our freedoms. No thanks will ever be enough.

Well last week I came down with a horrible cold and had to miss work for a couple of days. I figured out that when you're pregnant you really can't take anything when you're sick so I was at a loss and I kept getting worse.That's when I discovered this strange little contraption called the Netti Pot. Thanks Amy! Turns out this thing helps clear out your sinuses, and though temporary, it was wonderful relief when I couldn't breathe and felt like my head was going to explode. If you have ever used this thing or know what it does, it's not the most attractive thing in the world so you can understand my frustration when Nick felt like he had to sit there and stare at me while I used this thing! Anyways, I am feeling much better now after a trip to the doctor (who was kind enough to tell me I didn't have that pregnant glow about me) and some prescription medicine that is safe for those who are pregnant.

This past Sunday Nick participated in a Mud Run that benefited MS. Since I was feeling better I was able to head out there and take some pictures of the brave warriors. The weather was perfect, and we had a good time (pictures below). Countdown to Thanksgiving begins!

The entire group from Nick's work before the race began.

Nick coming out of one of the obstacles!

Nick and some of the other team members scaling this "stairway to heaven!"

Nick going through another obstacle toward the end of the race!

The group after the race was over. Their time for the 6+ mile run with 31 obstacles was an hour and 27 minutes!

Feeling Good

Well I am officially in my second trimester, whoo hoo!!  I am definitely feeling like it too.  I feel like a normal person again with a little more energy and I feel my hormones have calmed down which I'm sure Nick appreciates :)  I can also feel my pants starting to fit a little tighter.  Let's see how long I can last in them!

We have been busy this past month with traveling and doing things to the house.  Earlier this month we finally replaced most of our flooring by getting rid of the nasty old carpet we had and replacing it with laminate wood flooring downstairs and new carpet on the stairs and the second floor.  It is something we had planned since we moved in and are so happy to finally have done it.  It looks amazing!  I just love it so much.

As far as traveling, I had to go out of town for a work conference in San Diego.  I don't think Nick liked it very much that I left and took his baby with him and he was very relieved to have me back home, lol. It was beautiful there but I didn't get to enjoy it much having to be in a conference room most of the day but I did get to meet up with Greg and Allison one night, friends from high school, and I had a really good time with them.  Thanks guys for taking me out!

We also traveled to The Woodlands for our nephew Beau's second birthday party and again to meet our newest little addition to the family, our little niece Claire.  She is adorable and we were so glad we were able to make it down there to see her! Isn't she cute ->

Most exciting was that we had our second appointment last Friday and we heard our little nugget's heartbeat!  166 and everything is still looking great!  A little less than seven weeks and we can find out the sex, but nobody's counting or anything ;)  We just feel so blessed that everything has gone so well, we have been really lucky.  Now that we are in the second trimester we can breathe a little easier now. 

Baby Hampshire!

Well we've joined the blogging world now that we have a little one on the way!  We figure this will be a great way to keep everyone up to date and chronicle our journey through this whole new chapter in our lives.  We found out we were pregnant at the end of August.  Even though we were planning nothing could of prepared us for that feeling we had when we saw the line on the pregnancy test confirming it.  I had already taken a couple that came out negative.  I guess it was too early to tell because a few days later we took one more.  We were expecting to see a negative again but this time a second line popped up!  We both looked at it at the same time and jumped away as if it was going to bite us!  We couldn't believe it, and then a wave of excitement and happiness came over us. 

Our first doctor's appointment was September 30th.  It was the longest wait of our lives but worth every second.  Seeing our little nugget, and the heart beating on the ultrasound was amazing.  A wave of relief passed over me when I saw that little flickering on the screen and heard the fast little heartbeat.  178 bpm! Fast little one which means everyone who believes in that old wive's tale keeps telling us we're having a girl.  Looking at Nick's side of the family I think the odds are against us for having a girl but we'll find out for sure December 20th.  We don't care either way, as long as we have a healthy baby!

We are so happy but of course it is the first trimester which means I have been feeling sick, tired, and I think Nick would say moody, haha!  I feel tired all the time.  I could fall asleep at any given moment, even right now as I type.  I'm so tired of being tired, I feel like such a lazy bum.  Morning sickness has gotten the better of me a lot of days but I'm hoping, because the past few days haven't been that bad, that it is passing.  Other than that I am looking forward to the end of the first trimester, two more weeks, and then our next appointment at the end of October.  Until next time!