November 2008

Today is a very special day! It is my friend and blog twin, Mrs. Mojito’s, birthday!

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Two days after she and Cody were eliminated, Julianne Hough is leaving Dancing With the Stars to focus on her singing! I just love her and will miss seeing her dance every week. I think, though, that she has become more of a celebrity than her future partners may be. Fans keep Julianne around because they love her and not necessarily because they are voting for her partner. This is, of course, just my opinion.

Maybe she’ll come back to perform on results shows. But I hope she dances.

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I am so sorry that I’m just posting these. I’m also so sorry that I’ve neglected the blog all week. Things are really crazy at work as we’re in the midst of huge budget cuts and I’m still experiencing spontaneous gagging all day long. I have lots of thoughts about things I’d like to write about, but lately there hasn’t been much time to write and when I have time to myself at home I take a nap or do some more gagging. It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it.

I’ll hit the 11 week mark tomorrow! One week and one day until I’m out of the first trimester. Hopefully only one week and one day until the spontaneous gagging goes away. I have a pulled muscle around one of my ribs. This is getting painful in lots of ways.

I promise to post a picture of my belly soon, but there aren’t any signs that I’m showing yet. My pants are a little tighter in the tummy, but they’ve been that way since we returned from our honeymoon! Remember, I was fighting the newlywed happy fat just a few weeks ago? I think that happy fat is stopping me from seeing a bump. But I’ll definitely show all of you how it’s progressing until I think that I’ve gotten too big and my pride is gone.

I want to introduce all of you to Mr. Bean! These were taken on November 11 when we had just started the ninth week. It was my third ultrasound. I had the first ultrasound right after the miscarriage scare, another a week later, then this one. They were able to do the November 11 ultrasound on top of the belly, which was much more fun. If you didn’t know there was another way, it’s okay. Neither did I until it happened.

We go back to the doctor on December 2 and will likely get to see the baby again. They’re not labeling me “high risk” even though I experienced so much bleeding a few weeks ago. They do want to keep an eye on things, though. On November 11, they could still see where I’m bleeding internally even though I haven’t seen any physically signs that I’m bleeding in about three weeks. I know that too many ultrasounds aren’t a great idea, but I’m anxious to watch this internal bleeding that’s healing just fade away. We’re on the right track. So, again, here s/he is! Look closely to see him/her. The pictures were scanned in from the copies they gave me at the doctor’s office.

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Now that I’ve made my big announcement and let the cat out of the bag, I’ve been thinking about alternative names for this blog. These are some of the options that I’ve thought of and some that other bloggers have mentioned.

Blue-Eyed Baby
Blue-Eyed Baby Mama
Blue-Eyed Baby Bump
Blue-Eyed Bride and Bump

I don’t actually plan to change the title of this blog because I will always love to have an excuse to write about weddings. I hope I get excited about gorgeous white dresses on skinny brides when I’m as big as a house.

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A word to the wise: if you announce you’re pregnant, you’re going to get lots of blog awards that day!

The beautiful Nina of Nina Knows Best gave me this Uber Amazing Blog award. I love Nina’s blog. Nina has my dream job and has amazing taste.

Nina also gave me this Bloggy Goodness Award. Bama Belle in the Big City and Muffy Martini also gave me this award yesterday. All of these ladies have great stories to tell and I really love how we’ve all connected from different parts of the country, but we’re still experiencing many of the same things like Junior League, Lipstick Jungle, and SEC football. Thank you, ladies!

I’m passing these awards on to: (I’m trying to give it my favorite bloggers and some that haven’t received this yet)

1. Southern Daze- an almost real life friend! I can’t wait to meet her when I’m in Louisiana for Thanksgiving.

2. Practically Perfect- she has a great blog and she’s one of my best friends from high school.

3. Preppy Nonsense- another great friend from high school days. She has adorable dogs and a to-die-for closet!

4. Chapters- oh my goodness. This girl doesn’t write a post that I can’t relate to. I love her.

5. Magnolias, Marriage, and Manhattan- another pregnant blogger who was so sweet to email me a link to all of her pregnancy-related posts and send me a list of things I need while I’m pregnant. How sweet is that?

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I’ve been feeling so guilty lately for abandoning our so-much-fun Weight Watchers Wednesdays posts. I haven’t been feeling great and I really haven’t been doing any weight watching at all. I’ve also felt guilty for not being able to be honest with all of you about what’s going on, but the time has come and it’s now safe to let the world know that I’m pregnant. What?! Pregnant!

I am 10 weeks along today and the baby (that a friend has affectionately been calling Mr. Bean) is due on June 12. This is probably the most personal post I’ve written aside from the story of my weight loss journey, but I’m so happy to be able to talk about it.

Todd and I are very excited and still feeling some disbelief. The road hasn’t been all that easy so far as I’ve been really sick. And it’s not morning sickness. Morning sickness would be a bowl of cherries– even though I don’t like cherries. This is all day sickness. Stop whatever you’re doing because it’s happening again sick. I’m hanging in there, but just trying to rest and take it easy as much as possible.

I had a pretty bad miscarriage scare a few weeks ago, so I went into the doctor the next morning to have everything checked out. We had an ultrasound and there was a tiny little baby and a really strong heart. I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced such strong emotions all at once, but I was overcome with love, relief, shock, faith, and still a little fear. Since then, we’ve had two more ultrasounds and everything seems to be progressing as it should be. The doctor gave us the “all clear” to go ahead and celebrate this and stop being afraid. We started telling our friends and family yesterday (our parents have known since we found out). So… WE’RE PREGNANT! Let’s celebrate!

So, ladies, I’m not watching my weight the weight watchers way right now. I’m not gaining any weight because I can’t keep anything down, but I’m just listening to my body and eating what it tells me to eat.

I’ll try to scan in the pictures of the baby and post them as soon as I can.

On a side note, I read Mrs. Newlywed’s post this morning about purchasing some pregnancy tests for her friend. She mentioned that she felt out of place in the pregnancy test aisle– like she could get in trouble. When I went to CVS on October 15 to purchase the tests, I kept thinking, “I hope no one sees me. My parents might find out!” When I think about shopping for maternity clothes, I think, “How will I do that without anyone seeing me?” Did anyone else ever feel this way?

I want to thank those of you that have known about this for a while that have been praying for us and for the life growing inside of me. I love you.

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the original Amy Grant Christmas album…

because every Christmas is like a “Tender Tennessee Christmas”

my mom’s broccoli, cheese, and rice casserole that I learned to make last year

the Nutcracker

my mother’s sweet potato casserole that I finally learned to make

the Point of Grace Christmas CD

my family has already agreed to see this with me when they’re here for Christmas

What are your favorite things that remind you of home and the holidays?

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I’m sure you’re all noticing my new look! I have Marina of Penny Lane Designs to thank for it. I love the little sparkle on the word “extra.”

photo courtesy of bakerella

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Southern Weddings Magazine has launched the redesign of their fantastic blog. There are lots and lots of weddings blogs out there, but this one takes the cake for showcasing the most beautiful photographs of real weddings. Each day and each post promise more and more inspiration for brides.

Some of my favorite bride bloggers and I are listed under the “Southern Bride Bloggers” link.

So add this blog to your reader if it’s not already there!

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