Here comes the belly...

We figured it was time for the first shot of the belly since my pants are all officially a bit uncomfortable, and I bought my first maternity pants last weekend! The elastic waistband is amazing, I may never go back. Here I am at exactly 12 weeks...welcome 2nd trimester! It doesn't look like much in this picture when I look at it now, but it sure does feel huge when I look down at it everyday. I still feel great, honestly I can say that I feel better pregnant than I did before. My energy is coming back more and more everyday-I don't think I've taken a nap in weeks. My appetite is out of control-this baby is hungry all the time. I have to take a whole grocery bag of snacks to work everyday! I'm trying my hardest to keep it healthy so I don't end up putting on 90 pounds :)

My second doctor's appointment is next week, no pictures expected this time, but maybe we'll hear the heartbeat!

The nursery

For those who have been to our house you all have shared a chuckle with us about the luxury master suite complete with jacuzzi tub and zero privacy toilet. We now face our biggest renovation project. In the next 6 months we will revert this 1 super deluxe room back into 3 rooms, creating a nursery, private bathroom, and guest room. This is going to require the big guns of home renovation-plumbing, electrical, flooring, closet building, wall building, and wall destroying. We have a plan drawn out, and are ready to get started-bathroom is up first. Luckily, Johnny works best with time pressure and there's no greater reminder of the pressure than my growing belly! Once the walls are up, I can start on the nursery. A good friend of ours who is an artist, has offered to paint the room for us with a mural. We started planning our "theme" with him yesterday, and I am very excited about the plan! It should be an amazing nursery. Of course, like all things baby, we will be keeping you in suspense until the big reveal!

So here's a picture of the "before", I'll update with the in-progress pictures as we go!

In other home renovation news...we are getting a new deck built this week! We can finally have people over without having to worry that the deck will collapse!!!

The rest of the roost...

I figured I should introduce the rest of our family......



Ruby--The sweetest most loyal kitty you'll ever meet-my best friend :) She is always by my side or purring in my lap

Grady, the gentle giant--the loudest, crankiest, furriest, old man cat around. He always keeps us laughing and has been known to scare a few repair men due to his large size. He has a terrible jealous streak though--this could cause problems with the new baby.

Scarlett--the baby, and spoiled rotten. Not even a year old yet, she is a wild woman and gets away with it all! Loves to pick on the big cats, climb up curtains, and chase her big bushy tail. She prefers to sleep under the covers in the bed nestled up against you.


Keep your fingers crossed that the cats are as excited about the baby's arrival as we are!!

First Pictures

Meet Baby Ritger.....
Currently checking in at 8 weeks 3 days in the oven with an official check out date of November 2nd!

As you can guess, we had our first doctor's appointment today where we saw the bundle of joy for the first time and got to hear the heartbeat. Everything looks perfect--mom and baby are healthy as can be!

I continue to feel good, a little more energy would help make my 10 hour days with the 2 year olds a little easier, but nothing to complain about. The midwife said that if I'm still feeling this good at this point, I should most likely continue to feel good. I've got my fingers crossed! We were given a HUGE stack of reading materials-the "first time parents packet" where we get all the do's and don'ts of baby incubating. Who knew there were so many rules?

Baby is hungry! Time for dinner!

Baby on Board

I'm joining the masses and starting our very own "baby blog". Since our family and friends are scattered all over the world, we want them to be able to keep up with our growing family (and my growing tummy!). At this point, I am about 7 weeks along, and we've only shared the good news with our family, but I want to be able to chronicle the whole experience for those who won't find out for a few more weeks :)

So far I've been feeling pretty good. Other than being exhausted all the time and feeling like I haven't slept in 3 days even though I slept 12 hours last night and still took a 3 hour nap :) I'm starving all the time, but its difficult to figure out just what I want to eat. One day, chicken sounds amazing the next I couldn't get it down if I tried. But overall I feel lucky that I'm feeling so good.

We go for our first doctor's visit March 26th and we will get to hear the heartbeat for the first time and see our little pinto bean!! For those who are wondering, we are not going to find out the sex of the baby. It will be a guessing game for all up until delivery day! Speaking of the delivery day, we don't have an official due date yet, but so far it looks like the first week of November...another Scorpio in our house!! Just like mama!!

Well, I've got a hankering for some mint chocolate chip ice cream, good thing I just got back from Kroger! By the way, it is a bad idea to do the grocery shopping when you're having strange cravings and aversions all the time. I come home with the most random assortment of food :)