We are family!

So, here's the line-up... RRBooties (we need to think of another name for him/her) Dad, are you sure we should go with "spider/man/woman"? Let's keep thinking...




This darling baby will have a wonderful family to look forward to. Not just CPC and myself... although we will be proud parents!! :) I'm talking about the extended bunch: My Mom, My Dad, My Two Brothers, and Sister In Law, My Grandma and Grandpa, CPC's Mom, CPC's Dad, His Two Sister's and Brother In Law and his Grandma... and of course, many dear friends and aunts, uncles,cousins, etc.... today, I am going to showcase the grandparents-to-be and tomorrow... the Aunt and Uncles-to-be (our siblings) and the next day the great-grandparents! wooooooooo that's a lot to type!

How I am feeling: Now, let me pretense by saying I wouldn't trade this miracle for the world...but... I am battling and morning sickness like CRAZY.

Current nausea fix: Jolly ranchers (suggested by my aunt pat), Cheez it crackers (original), and chicken noodle soup

Recent cravings: Rosa's burritos!

My Mom (grandma name is to be determined-any suggestions?)

My mother is an angel and I am here to say it from the mountain tops now that I am bearing my first child. She did this with three (not one, two, but... THREE) and one of the 3 was 11 years after she had me! What a saint! She has dedicated her life to her husband and "us" kids and has done an amazing job at it. She always made sure we had breakfast before school, lunch packed, and was an awesome little "room mother". She will be a great grandmother to our little one... she's a nurturer, shopper :), and has a heart of gold! She taught me about God, fashion, the finer things in life, forgiveness, love, discipline, and "not to talk back".:) She will be the first person to take you to get a manicure, buy you a designer purse, and make you "juevos con chorizo".



My Dad (grandpa name is to be determined, but, it will need to be something with a TOUGH edge to it... )

Let's say this... our baby will be able to say "My grandpa can kick your grandpa's butt!" (bottom -in mommy language) My dad is a special gift from God and has also devoted his life to his children and wife. (I believe that started when he traded in his Porsche upon the arrival of my older brother, Christian!)... He has been an amazing father... he works as an Attorney but never missed a single one of our school plays, soccer games, cheer leading competitions--you name it... he was there.. even if he was shuffling in at the last moment with suit and brief case in hand. He will be great grandfather to our little one... he's wise, cares for all people, believes in being kind to others, has taught us to let God have control, and he's one heck of a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu instructor (his other passion aside from family). Sweet baby, your grandpa "Richie" will be the first person to likely put you in a headlock--it's a term of endearment... we promise!!



Below, CPC wrote about his Mom and Dad

CPC's Mom

Well what do you know, I am writing a blog!!!! No, seriously my wife (the author of this blog) is having a baby. One thing is for sure I have been blessed with the most unbelievable mom in the whole wide world. I know everyone out there believes there mom is the best, and that is how it should be, but my mom means so much to me. She is very laid back and she understands life. My mom has always strived to put other people first, and she decides what she is going to do by simply asking "What Would Jesus Do." Once again, she will be a great grandma, and I can't wait to share these special moments with her.

CPC's Dad

CPC's Dad really should be CPC. CPC, Sr. loves three things: family, the lord, and working hard. My dad knows the meaning of hard work and is not scared to roll up his sleeves and get dirty. He is one of those men who doesn’t say much and you start to wonder what is he thinking. All of the sudden he says what is on his mind and you realize he was listening to everyone while we were talking. My dad has been a great dad to me, but he has always treated everyone's kids like his own. I will never forget the time when a kid on our baseball team did not have money to play little league. I never understood how someone did not have ten dollars. My dad not only gave the kid the ten dollars, but he gave him 10,000 memories. I know if I continue to watch my dad and grow as a person, our little one will have someone special to look to as well.

More family profiling soon!....
 

Ruby Red Booties?!

Well, a lot has changed since I've last written. I say a lot... it's mainly one thing...one BIG thing.. well, it's actually little right now... but it's a change in a BIG way.




We found out we were pregnant at the end of January. We'd been trying off and on (the month we conceived was supposed to be more off than on)... we travelled to Santa Fe with my brother and sister in law and had a great time skiing... I got attacked my an out of control snowboarder while skiing down a slope... not great for my ski confidence and left me a little shaken up the rest of the day--not to mention I was already pregnant/just conceived and did not know it! I am 8 weeks and 4 days today...!

As soon as we found out; I began "journal" and then quit shortly thereafter. I had taken an indefinite "hiatus from blogging" (just like Tiger Woods did from golf--only he is better at golf than I am at blogging!)

Anyway, I have included some excerpts from that time of journal-ing. I will do my best to try much harder to keep this blog up to date!

Here are our first 2 sonograms of Baby RR Booties... aka "spider" as my dad has deemed the baby!

6 weeks, 3 days (ish)

7 weeks, 5 days (ish)

I was in Dallas early yesterday to get another HCG test and the nurse called me in the afternoon with good news. She said that the HCG had risen to 519 from 270 and that everything looked good! she also said that I would be 6 weeks on February 2nd (today). This was their guess and we will know more on Thursday February 4th when we do our first ultra sound to really make sure all is well. :) I am nervous and excited and just keep praying that the good Lord takes care of our Baby RRBooties... We plan to tell Justin's parents on thursday evening and were still sending out the packages to our siblings on thursday, too. :) I am going insane trying to avoid talking to everyone so I can keep my mouth shut!

Patience, my friend!

So, CPC and I went to our 8 AM appointment with the Doctor in Dallas. He wanted to do a blood test and confirm the pregnancy---WE'RE PREGNANT! He said I am doing great at 270 hcg and should be anywhere from 4.5 weeks-5.5 weeks. We will know more on Monday as that is when I am going back for a 2nd blood test to make sure the hcg is doubling. I am so excited, nervous, and faithful all at the same time. God sure has a way of teaching me patience... I am sure we will need it once the baby arrives. With my online due date calculators I have a due date between September 29th and October 8th. I guess we will know more as time goes by. I am so so happy and I want to tell the world... but, we have to get to our parents first. We are going to tell CPC parents on Thursday when we drop off CoCo to stay the weekend with them... then we will drive to Midland and tell my brother and parents. In the mean time, so that all of our immediate family knows at once, we are going to send a little announcement package to our siblings that live in other parts of Texas. I am prayerful that my brother and SIL's procedure goes great this week so that our little Ruby Red Booties can have two cousins when he/she comes into the world (CPC's sister is already preggers!). Did I mention HOW hard it is to keep something like this from my family?! We have been slightly avoiding everyone-we are about to pop! I slept all day today (maybe I can use pregnancy/fatigue as an excuse to nap more!) Just kidding. I hope to research a great nutritional diet that will feed the baby everything it needs AND keep me from gaining a tremendous amount of weight. Thank you Lord for our special blessing. I mean that with all my heart. More tomorrow!

Today I woke up like any other day and began work on No Excuses stuff. I skipped breakfast (like I sometimes do) even though I hate to do that. It got to be lunchtime and my CPC called ahead to say he was coming home and he would bring home lunch. I asked him to bring home EPT pregnancy test since I was about a week late and fresh out of my well stocked pregnancy test collection. I'd taken a test over a week ago (way too soon as usual). I decided not to take one again since Feb 1st marked the 1 year anniversary of us trying to conceive our Ruby Red Boot-ies Baby. So, we had lunch (chicken and dumplings that our good friend made) and a side of steamed brocolli with balsamic vinegarette and olive oil. Yum. So, after a lunch break from work with CPC and a competitive game of Wii Bowling (which I won, by the way)...CPC went back to work and I returned to my home "office" (1 of 3 current bedrooms in our house). After a strong willed 5 minutes of working I began to deliberate on whether to go ahead and take a pregnancy test or wait for the "morning". Curiosity and reasoning got the best of me and I decided this: I will take it now and if it is negative as I assume it will be then I will blame it on the fact that I took it in the middle of the afternoon instead of in the morning as recommended. Alas...pregnancy test procedure (CPC actually is starting to believe I enjoy the tinkle on a stick thing). Not 3 seconds past and to my absolute shock.... a plus sign.... holy smokes.. no way... Many thoughts started going through my head.. had my LASIK surgery worked? Was I going blind? Had I gone mad and began to imagine things? I reached for the EPT directions (English on the Front, Spanish on the back)... thank God I am bilingual because I opened them to the spanish side in complete shock and shake (where your hands shake uncontrollably).... if only I could read upside down this would've worked.... so, I turned right side up and saw the + sign and the word "Embarazara" underneath it. I knew... from my many years of nannies, spanish, and bilingual family members this indeed mean't PREGNANT. BUT, I had to be sure... I turned the instructions around to the english side and yes, + mean't pregnant...I said a loud prayer "THANK YOU LORD!" I made a mad dash for my cell phone, instant messaged CPC to "Come home quick, my shoelace got stuck in the treadmill and I broke my toe".... it's the best I could do for a story that would sound urgent enough to interrupt his afternoon work schedule. NO answer. I called twice. No answer. I called the office and at last.. an answer... in my most calm voice "Uh, Hi B, um is Justin there?" Yes.. hold please.... I made a fake crying sound (where on earth was this coming from!?) and told CPC my toe was definitely broken and I needed him to come home NOW. So, he asked if I was seriouos (of course I am serious, don't I sound serious!?!?!?!?).... he was on his way home.




*In the mean time* I searched for the camera, the two baby hoodies (One Texas Tech and one UNT for our respective almamaters) that I couldn't resist purchasing a couple of months ago at the Junior League Merry Market Place, turned on the video camera and put jeans on (no shoes). I sat in the living room on the couch next to the pillow that was always there that said "FAITH" with my little collegiate baby tabogans and the + pregnancy test which in retrospect might have been a bit repulsive. I sat and waited or CPC to barge into the door. And, he did... he was in the door and headed to save Ruby Red Boots from the murderous treadmil that had broken my toe... I said "Hey!"... from the couch... realizing that the jeans with no shoes was not a believable work out outfit.... "Look!"... pointed to tabogans and test... he was sooo beautifully shocked.



He had an alpha male, George of the Jungle look and a pep in his step and said, "I'm 'DA MAN'!"... well he corrected himself, "I'm the man through God"....



This is our story.. and so it begins...