Merry Christmas! Love, Woody & Lily

Ho! Ho! Ho! A belly like a bowl full of jelly! (21 weeks & 3 days)

I hope Santa was good to you all! I had a great Christmas but it went by way too fast. I loved visiting with family, pigging out & relaxing. It was so much fun while it lasted. Well, mostly fun...except for Woody eating a bunch of chocolate & having to rush him to the vet. Darn pets! He's all better now. =) I was back to work on the Friday after Christmas & I'm stuck at work this week as well. I thought it would be less hectic with everyone gone but the head honcho has been there & giving me lots of headaches. Oh well...At least I get New Year's Day off & I can sleep in an extra hour tomorrow. An extra hour of sleep is a big deal since I'm not sleeping well. Even with the snoogle my hips are killing me! The pain is excruciating at times. I'm getting acupuncture next week & I am actually looking forward to being pricked with needles! I'm crossing my fingers that it helps.

My belly is growing & growing! The baby has been moving a ton. The kicks are very light but I swear this kid never sleeps! Today the baby moved constantly! Probably because I was stressed and moving around like a mad woman myself. I can't wait for the big kicks that Stephen can feel. I changed doctors but I'm really not all that thrilled with this doctor either. At least she's closer & somewhat more convenient. The Ob's I've met seem to have this condescending attitude that makes me feel like I'm talking to my boss or someone way above me. It's quite annoying! She told me to refer to my newsletters because many of my questions can be answered there! WTF! Kaiser gives you these very basic month-by-month newsletters that are pretty lame and written for really stupid women. I get better information & support from TheBump message boards! I'm going to give this doctor the benefit of the doubt & I'm going to try really hard to like her because I want to be excited to go to my appointments.

The next time I write it will be 2009! I can't believe it! 2008 was such a great year for me & Stephen but 2009 will be even better. We can finally meet the little bug who has been swimming in my belly all day. I can't wait!

Skeleton Baby Madrid! 18 weeks and 4 days.

My fur babies!

My belly between 19 and 20 weeks

Charlie Brown Madrid - 18 weeks & 4 days

Sorry I've been M.I.A. Work has been stressful & crazy and the last thing I feel like doing is logging online once I get home. Things have been busy at home as well. Stephen & I have been organizing the house and rearranging furniture. I even did some gardening & replaced our dead potted plants. The nesting instinct has come early! We're also busy preparing for Christmas! Yippeee! I love Christmas! The only bummer is that I'll be working over the holidays. My office is closed but they need two of us to be there to collect & process donations. Grrr...Oh well. It will be the last year of that B.S. At least I can slack off & maybe even bring Woody to work to keep me company. I'm really frustrated with work right now and even though I know that I'll be out of there soon I can't exactly have the attitude of a "short timer". I still have to act as though I care. It's hard to care about anything else when all I can think about is this baby. I'm daydreaming about the baby all day. I can't wait to be a full time mommy!

I had my BIG ultrasound last week. We held strong and did not find out the sex. I didn't even see anything that gave me any idea of what it might be. They did all the measurements & then the tech brought Stephen in to show us both the baby moving around. It was so cool. The baby was moving it's arms & waving at us. At one point the baby turned it's head and grinned at us. It was so funny! The ultrasound photos weren't that detailed but they were still pretty amazing. One of the photos the baby has a Charlie Brown profile and on the other it looks like a little skeleton. We also got a photo of the little legs and feet which is so cute. After the ultrasound Stephen and I went to dinner at the mall & I bought some maternity clothes & belly butter. My belly is growing leaps & bounds and I'm terrified of stretch marks - among other things! I got a glimpse of my naked self in the mirror and I was like Whoa, whose beer belly is that!!!??? My body has changed so much and despite the warm and fuzzy feeling I am having about having this little baby growing in my belly I am feeling a little self conscious. I can't wait to get back on my mountain bike again. I'm hoping to be riding again by July...but we will see how I feel and if I have the time and energy.

The other news in the Madrid house is that our little dachshund Woody was neutered. Poor guy! He really needed it though. He had become quite the little nightmare and was enamored with the cat. He had his surgery on Friday and by Sunday my little man was back! I forgot how sweet and loving the old Woody was! Those hormones made him a terror. He's healing up nicely and hasn't exhibited any of his bad behaviour. The only problem now is that it's raining and he refuses to go outside to pee! We keep puppy pads for him but the little devil peed in his bed this afternoon. I guess it's better there then on the carpet!...My pets are so lovable. I know that they are inevitably going to have to take the backseat when the baby comes but I am going to really try hard to give all my babies love. I've been doing some research about introducing the baby to the animals. Luckily they are angels with my baby nephew. People keep telling me how the animals will be kicked to the curb when the baby comes but I think any loving and dutiful pet owner has the responsibility of making time for their pets as well. The baby will come first but I am adamant about making time for the fur babies as well.

Tomorrow I will be 20 weeks! That means I am officially at the half way point. Boy, does time fly! I am just over the moon with excitement. By the way, I have had 4 baby dreams! Here's what they were about:
1. I had an indian baby girl

2. I had the most beautiful baby girl I've ever seen

3. My belly grew like a pyramid (it was a Boy)

4. I had an adorable baby boy & Stephen grabbed him & ran off. (LOL)..

So far...I'm 2 and 2 with dreaming of the sex of the baby. My mother's intuition stinks!

Happy Belated Turkey Day! I have lots to be thankful for...I have wonderful family & friends, a beautiful baby on the way and the two sweetest fur babies on the planet. Aren't they the cutest little pets you've ever seen? I think so! I have a great life and not to mention I have the best hubby in the world! Yesterday when I got home from work he surprised me with a Snoogle. It is the best invention ever! I slept so good last night & I'm looking forward to getting a good night's sleep tonight. It really helped to alleviate the hip & back pain that I've been suffering from. This pregnancy thing is tougher then I thought! haha...The best thing is that I'm finally feeling the baby. I am feeling really light vibrations - almost like a goldfish swimming around in my belly. Yes, it's strange! I have felt on 3 occasions what felt like kicks. Yesterday it really shocked me & I let out a little scream. LOL...It seems early for kicks so it was quite a shock. I felt them just to the side of my belly button which seems a little high for the location of the baby. OMG, maybe this baby is huge with long legs! haha! If it's not kicks then something else weird is going on. All three times it happened while changing positions. Can someone enlighten me on what this could be?

Our BIG ultrasound for this coming Friday was canceled & is now set for Monday. I'm bummed out but hoping the baby will have a few days extra to grow so we can get a better photo. I'm especially excited that Stephen gets to experience seeing the baby move! We're still holding firm and not finding out the sex. I love keeping you all guessing. ;-) Three of my friends are due in Spring and all having boys! 2009 seems to be the year for boys. It's so exciting to have friends having babies so close in age. I get more excited everyday...