33 Weeks

How far along? 33 Weeks.
Symptoms:  Feel very pregnant, sore, huge, clumsy.  Classic 3rd trimester symptoms. 
Total weight gain/loss: +26 lbs.
Maternity clothes? Yup, exclusively at this point.
Sleep:  Well, Nick gave me the cold that I blogged about last time and it beat me up pretty good.  Sleep became nearly impossible for the last week.  Luckily, it seems to be leaving me now!
Best moment this week: Christmas!  Even though I was sick it was great to see Nicholas have fun opening his presents and playing with new toys. 
Movement: She is very active.  Movement is visable from the outside too.  She seems feisty and seems to get cranky if I sit in one position very long.
Food cravings:  Nothing really.  Often hungry but nothing tastes very good. 
Gender: GIRL- Her name is Haley Miranda.
Labor Signs: none.  BH contractions though.
Belly Button in or out?  Out.
What I miss:  Being able to get up out of a chair or get onto the floor without feeling so huge!
What I am looking forward to:  My parents are coming to visit today.  They were supposed to come yesterday but their flight was delayed.  They will be here for new years.  Also looking forward to getting this next week at work over with- its our year end close and will be insane.  Luckily, we close the books in 4 days so its a fast and furious week, but then its over. 

31 Weeks

How far along? 31 Weeks.
Symptoms:  Tired, sore, feeling very pregnant.  Still feeling the braxton hicks contractions.
Total weight gain/loss: +25 lbs.
Maternity clothes? Yup, exclusively at this point.
Sleep:  Waking up at least 2 times most nights to pee.  Finally broke down and bought a Snoogle pillow which has made things a bit more comfortable but I am still waking up kind of sore and achy.
Best moment this week: Not that I like Nick being sick, but he has some kind of cold/chest congestion today and all he wants is Mommy.  Makes me feel good when he wants extra cuddles and love from Mom. 
Movement: She is very active.  Movement is visable from the outside too.  She seems feisty and seems to get cranky if I sit in one position very long.
Food cravings:  Nothing really.  Often hungry but nothing tastes very good. 
Gender: GIRL- Her name is Haley Miranda.
Labor Signs: none.  BH contractions though.
Belly Button in or out?  Out.
What I miss:  Being able to get up out of a chair or get onto the floor without feeling so huge!
What I am looking forward to:  Appt tomorrow- just a regular appt.  This week will be busy at work as we are getting ready for the two weeks of holidays after.  Having a mini Christmas party for my staff at my house next weekend, so we will be busy cleaning and getting ready for that. 

29 Weeks

How far along? 29 Weeks.
Symptoms:  Tired, sore, feeling very pregnant.  Starting to have some braxton hicks contractions.
Total weight gain/loss: +22 lbs.
Maternity clothes? Yup, exclusively at this point.
Sleep:  Waking up at least 2 times most nights to pee.  BH contractions woke me up last night.  Also having crazy weird dreams, so the sleep I am getting is not terribly restful.
Best moment this week:  Have had a really great weekend with my Nicholas.  He has been in a really good mood and a lot of fun.  Very lovable and lots of hugs and kisses for Mommy.
Movement: She is very active.  Movement is visable from the outside too.  She seems feisty and seems to get cranky if I sit in one position very long.
Food cravings:  Nothing really.  Actually most food sounds kind of gross.  Was craving mexican today but we went and got burritos and mine was gross.  I barely ate it.
Gender: GIRL- Her name is Haley Miranda.
Labor Signs: none.  BH contractions though.
Belly Button in or out?  Out.
What I miss:  Being able to get up out of a chair or get onto the floor without feeling so huge!
What I am looking forward to:  Appt tomorrow- just a regular appt.  I did pass my glucose test with flying colors the week of Thanksgiving so was pretty happy about that.  Otherwise just looking forward to Christmas.  We put our tree up after Thanksgiving and Nicholas loves it.  He loves to point at the different colored "balls" and touch the ornaments.

27 Weeks

How far along? 27 Weeks.
Symptoms:  Tired, cranky, feeling very very pregnant this week.
Total weight gain/loss: +17 lbs.
Maternity clothes? Yup, exclusively at this point.
Sleep:  Haven't been sleeping as well this week.
Best moment this week: Have been able to see baby movements from the outside.  She is so very active, especially in the evenings.
Movement: Yup, she moves all the time.
Food cravings:  Pizza.
Gender: GIRL- Her name is Haley Miranda.
Labor Signs: none.
Belly Button in or out?  starting to go out.
What I miss:  Being able to get up out of a chair or get onto the floor without feeling so huge!
What I am looking forward to:  Thanksgiving on Thursday, my family visiting us, Black Friday shopping, and going to see Breaking Dawn part 2!

Nick's big boy room starts with Aura

I was invited to participate in the Bzz campaign for Benjamin Moore Aura.  Happily, they have provided us with a gallon of their Aura paint to review.  Benjamin Moore calls Aura "the finest paint they have ever made."  It has the following qualities:

• Never more than 2 coats in any color
• Mildew resistant
• Color Lock technology for exceptional color
• No color rub-off
• Stains wash off easily
• Easy application
• Paint and primer together
• Seamless touch-ups
• Excellent in high-traffic areas
• Long-lasting, fresh look
• Easy cleanup

Sounds great, right?  We decided that we would use our free gallon to re-do Nicks room since we are transitioning him to a big boy bed and wanted to give his room more of a big boy feel.  We chose Benjamin Moore Lucerne as our color- its a beautiful deep blue somewhere in between royal blue and navy blue.


Because its a little dark, we are also going to do a faux board and batten look using white paint and a chair rail on the bottom part of the wall to keep the room looking light and fresh.  I saw this technique on one of my favorite blogs, here.  So, we need to head back to Benjamin Moore this weekend to pick up a can of white paint as well.  Although we have not started painting yet, we have gotten a sample of Lucerne (and also a lovely lavender color for Haley's room) to test in his room and it went on beautifully.  Josh made the comment that you can really tell the difference between this paint and the stuff we have used in the past (Valspar brand which we typically get at Lowes.)

My parents are coming next week for Thanksgiving and my Dad and Josh plan to get all of the painting done then.  Can't wait to share how it looks with you all!  In the meantime, I did start a Pinterest board with some of the inspiration ideas I have for his room.  Check it out here!

Living For the Weekends!

I had a great weekend.  Sure, my kid is 2.  He has tantrums, what feels like a lot of tantrums.  But he is also a really sweet, lovable boy.  He loves giving hugs and kisses.  And high fives and fist bumps.  Its pretty cute, and kinda makes you forget all about the tantrum part.  Kinda.

Yesterday he was pretty obsessed with his little play tent.  Usually he just plays in there by himself but yesterday he wanted company, so Josh and I took turns sitting in his tent with him.  He was beyond thrilled!  I love watching him at this age.  He is learning something new every minute of the day... and we are learning too.  For example, we are learning that now that the kid understands where the snack foods are, we need to find a new place to keep them or he is going to keep wanting to eat chips for breakfast.  Mommy fail.

I have been making a real effort to try and get him to understand that there is a baby in Mommy's tummy.  So far, he doesn't get it.  He understands what babies are.  Our neighbors have one and he is very gentle with Logan... likes to kneel in front of him, whisper to him, and gently pat him.  Its adorable.  So whenever we see a baby on TV or at a store I say to him, Nick, see the baby?  Mommy has a baby in her tummy.  To which he looks at me and says "babah?"  Its a work in progress.  He has 4 more months to figure it out.

I wish that we had 3 day weekends and 4 day workweeks.  I hate that I only get 2 days a week for real quality time with my kid.  Weekdays are pretty much shot by the time I get home from work, we eat dinner, do bath, etc.  Usually only an hour our so of time for us to spend together by the time we get everything done.  Guess for now I just have to keep making the best of the weekend time I have with him!

Haley's Room

We have been working a bit on Haley's room.  The plan is to re-use the nursery furniture we got for Nicholas since he is using his toddler bed now and should be ready for a big boy bed by the time she is here.  We got him a new dresser from Ikea and moved his dresser (with the changing table) to her room.  We got a new King size bed so he will get our old Queen size bed and then the toddler bed will be converted back to a crib and moved to her room.  Quite the game of musical beds we are playing in this house!

For her decor, I wanted to do something similar to what I did for Nick- Girly but not to babyish and not any character themes.  Found this set from Target and it fit the bill.  Ironically its the same manufacturer as the set we got for Nicholas which we were really happy with.  Also, I was happy that they had this available as a Toddler bed set- comes with the comforter (which we won't use till she is in the toddler bed,) fitted sheet, flat sheet, and pillow case.   No bumpers, diaper stacker, or crib skirt.  My Mom and I are going to use the flat sheet to make a crib skirt and we wouldn't have used the bumpers or diaper stacker anyway, so we were able to save like $60 by just getting the Toddler set over the full crib set.



We are planning to paint the room light purple.... pictures of that to come soon.  We are actually going to paint Nick's room while my parents are here for Thanksgiving and then her room when they are here for Christmas.

Copied an idea I saw on Pinterest to make letters for her room that spell out her name.  I got the letters for $2.99 each at Michael's and then used scrapbook paper and modge podge to decorate them.  Will probably look for a white floating shelf to have these sit on eventually   I was pretty happy with how they turned out.


Thats it for now.  More updates to come!

26 Weeks

How far along? 26 Weeks.  Oops.  Missed a week!
Symptoms:  Feeling mostly good... just definitely feeling very pregnant these days.
Total weight gain/loss: +17 lbs.
Maternity clothes? Pretty much wearing all maternity stuff for work.  Regular yoga pants still fit.  My friend Amanda lent me some of her maternity clothes so have had some new stuff to rotate in, which has been great!
Sleep:  Sleeping very well.  I am lucky!
Best moment this week:  Coming home after a trip to Dallas for work.  Nick was very happy to see me and I have been getting lots of hugs and kisses.
Movement: Yup, she moves all the time.  Saw my stomach jumping around a bit earlier today.
Food cravings:  Nothing specific really.
Gender: GIRL- Her name is Haley Miranda.
Labor Signs: none.
Belly Button in or out?  starting to go out.
What I miss:  Being able to get up out of a chair or get onto the floor without feeling so huge!
What I am looking forward to:  Thanksgiving is the week after next... my parents and brother are coming out to visit us.  So excited!

24 Weeks

How far along? 24 Weeks.
Symptoms:  Feeling good pregnancy wise.  My throat has been sore since yesterday so I think I am getting another cold :(
Total weight gain/loss: +17 lbs.  +5 over the past month.  Pretty much only updating this weight the week after my dr's appt since their scale is my official measure.  Our home scale is off by a few lbs.  
Maternity clothes? Pretty much wearing all maternity stuff for work.  Regular yoga pants still fit.
Sleep:  Slept like crap last night, but I think that was because of the sore throat.  
Best moment this week:  Had a great Dr's appt.  BP is really good-120/68 this week and HB sounded good.  I'm fairly certain that my BP was up by this time last time around, so I'm taking it as a good sign that it is still nice and low.  Also, got two huge tubs of baby clothes from my friend Amanda.  Had so much fun yesterday going through them.  Need to get back up to her room today and get everything put away/hung up.  We are pretty much set for baby clothes for NB-6month sizes!
Movement: Yup, she moves all the time.  Super active baby, but then again, so was her brother!
Food cravings:  Pasta
Gender: GIRL- Her name is Haley Miranda.
Labor Signs: none.
Belly Button in or out?  starting to go out.
What I miss:  Would really like a nice glass of red wine!
What I am looking forward to:  Was looking forward to Halloween this week, but now we have a hurricane heading this way.  They are calling Hurricane Sandy a "Frankenstorm" which could cause major power outages, flooding, etc. so not sure what that means for Halloween this week.  For now, just praying that we don't lose power or have any trees fall on our house!  We are as prepared as we can be!

23 Weeks

How far along? 23 Weeks.
Symptoms:  Feeling mostly good... just definitely feeling very pregnant these days.  Nicholas wants me to play on the floor/ground with him and its getting very difficult to get up and down!
Total weight gain/loss: +12 lbs.  Was off on this the past few weeks, LOL.
Maternity clothes? Pretty much wearing all maternity stuff for work.  Regular yoga pants still fit.
Sleep:  Have been sleeping like a rock this week. 
Best moment this week:  Nick and Josh stopped by my office the other day.  Nick has learned the proper use of the word "Hi" so he was running around saying Hi to absolutely everybody.  It was cute.
Movement: Yup, she moves all the time.  Very very active this weekend actually.  Feels like she is yanking on her cord or something, very strange feeling!
Food cravings:  Pumpkin donuts from Dunkin Donuts thanks to their constant commercials
Gender: GIRL- Her name is Haley Miranda.
Labor Signs: none.
Belly Button in or out?  starting to go out.
What I miss:  Would really like a nice glass of red wine!
What I am looking forward to:  Dr. Appt this week and getting to hear the heartbeat :)

22 Weeks

How far along? 22 Weeks.
Symptoms: Just tired and cranky.
Total weight gain/loss: +12 lbs.  Was off on this the past few weeks, LOL.
Maternity clothes? Pretty much wearing all maternity stuff for work.  Regular yoga pants still fit.
Sleep:  Sleeping great- even with getting up a few times a night to pee.
Best moment this week:  I got lots of nice hugs from Nicholas when I got home from my trip.  Also, he has a new word, a very pronounced "HI!"  Its so cute!
Movement: Yup, she moves all the time.  Love that feeling.
Food cravings:  Nothing specific this week, just hungry alot.
Gender: GIRL- Her name is Haley Miranda.
Labor Signs: none.
Belly Button in or out?  starting to go out.
What I miss:  Would really like a nice glass of red wine!
What I am looking forward to:  Having a more low key week.  The past few weeks have been really busy at work with deadlines and travel so this will be a nice chance to get caught up and catch my breath!

21 Weeks

How far along? 21 Weeks.
Symptoms: Gag reflex has been more pronounced this week... maybe because of the cold I am still trying to get over.
Total weight gain/loss: +12 lbs.  Was off on this the past few weeks, LOL.
Maternity clothes? Pretty much wearing all maternity stuff for work.  Regular yoga pants still fit.
Sleep:  Sleeping pretty well this past week.  Probably because I was exhausted from being busy at work (quarter close week.)
Best moment this week:  Not really a moment, but a day.  Took Nick to the pumpkin patch yesterday and just had an overall great day.
Movement: Yup, she moves all the time.  Love that feeling.
Food cravings:  Carbs.  Made baked mac and cheese for our brunch today b/c it sounded soooo good.  And it was :)
Gender: GIRL- Her name is Haley Miranda.
Labor Signs: none.
Belly Button in or out?  in.
What I miss:  Would really like a nice glass of red wine!
What I am looking forward to:  Thursday.  Today is Sunday and I am leaving in less than an hour for the airport- have to go to Indiana for work this week.  Won't get home until late Wednesday night and won't see Nicholas until Thursday.

Counting My Blessings

I just found this post in my drafts- not sure why I never posted it... actually don't even remember writing it, but it is as true today as it was when I wrote it- even more so now that we have been blessed with a second pregnancy.  Looks like I wrote this when Nicholas was several weeks old.  Enjoy!

We have been pretty lucky with Nicholas in that he started sleeping through the night on a regular basis over Thanksgiving weekend.  He typically has his last bottle around 10 pm and then sleeps usually until 8 or 9 am.  It is wonderful, especially after those sleep deprived first weeks with a newborn!  And, many babies don't sleep this well until they are much much older.  There is a period of time coming up that I have been hearing about called the "4 Month Wakeful" where babies sleep habits go back in the crapper, but hey, maybe we will luck out and miss that developmental stage!

Anyway, last night, or rather, this morning, I woke up at 3 a.m. because he was crying over the baby monitor.  I stumbled around and made my way to the kitchen to get him a bottle and then went in his room.  I popped his nuk back in his mouth and to my surprise (and delight!) he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.  I did a little dance of joy, put the bottle back in the fridge, and then went back to sleep.

Later today, I got to thinking about how blessed we have been.  Don't get me wrong, nothing about being pregnant, dealing with the pre-eclampsia, the delivery (hello, 2 hours of pushing) and then having a newborn is easy, per se, but we have had it so much easier than many others.

I have friends that have had trouble getting pregnant.  Some have (sadly) lost pregnancies and had to deal with that heartache.  Some have had a great deal of trouble getting pregnant and have had to undergo expensive and difficult fertility treatments.  Some have babies that are born premature and have to spend time in the NICU which is just difficult all around.  Most of these stories, although some do have happy endings are heartbreaking at at least some point in the journey.

When I sit down and think about it, we are so very blessed.  It only took us four months to get pregnant which is a pretty short amount of time for trying to conceive.  Once I was pregnant, I really didn't have much morning sickness.  I had a few issues with spotting and then a kidney stone issue early on, but once we got past that, I was really healthy until 34 weeks when the pre-eclampsia hit.  For me, the pre-e never advanced to severe, so the worst thing it did was eat up some of my maternity leave due to the bedrest.  I did have to deal with two inductions because the first one failed, but even that really wasn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things.  I got through the delivery and recovery without any major complications.  Nicholas is healthy and thriving and a happy baby.  We are blessed.

Glade Expressions- Pineapple and Mangosteen

A friend of mine turned me on to this BzzAgent site.  Basically its a social marketing site that allows members to try products for free, asks them to report back on whether they like the products or not, and provides coupons for us to pass out to friends.  The first campaign I was invited to participate in was the Glade Expressions Collection.  I chose to purchase the Pineapple and Mangosteen scent but there are several other scents available.

I am pretty much just using the scent in our bathroom.  It looks nice in there- as you can see from the photo above, they have gone to some care to make sure that the product looks nice in whatever room you put it in.   I think it smells really good- the pineapple scent reminds me of a tropical island- specifically I am getting flashbacks to Hawaii.  It is also long lasting.  I could still smell it the next morning after spraying it the previous evening.  That said, my husband isn't really a fan.  He actually thinks its too strong of a scent-- we are still using it though :)

We recently got invited to try another product and I will be reporting back on that soon!

20 Weeks

How far along? 20 Weeks.
Symptoms: Still feeling mostly good, but a bit beat up this week, haha.  Have managed to catch a cold which of course is no fun while pregnant because cold meds are not allowed.  Starting to feel really, really pregnant now- its getting harder to move around, sit on the floor, etc.
Total weight gain/loss: +5
Maternity clothes? My regular clothes still fit, pants are getting pretty tight-pretty much only wearing regular work pants.  Regular shirts still fit too.
Sleep:  Sleeping pretty well, but regularly getting up at least once, sometimes twice to pee.  Gotta love pregnant bladders!
Best moment this week:  Well technically it was last week, but we found out that this baby is a GIRL!  More importantly we had our anatomy scan and she looks perfect!  She was measuring a few days ahead actually. Due date is still Valentines day though.
Movement: Yup, she moves all the time.  Love that feeling.
Food cravings:  Soup.  I have been kind of obsessed with it.  Tried some Kale soup at lunch yesterday and it was actually really good.  Josh made me Chicken Noodle Soup for dinner for my cold and it was great!
Gender: GIRL- Her name is Haley Miranda.
Labor Signs: none.
Belly Button in or out?  in.
What I miss: Nothing really.
What I am looking forward to:  The weekend.  This cold is kicking my butt and I need some relax time.
Milestones:  Anatomy scan was last week and everything looked good.  Actually have a routine appointment this morning so should get to hear the heartbeat.  Maybe the doc will have some suggestions for this cold too!

Bump Pics

Here are some bump pics.  Forgive the work bathroom in the background... its the only place I have access to the right size mirror to do these :)

13 Week Bump:


15 Week Bump:



17 Week Bump:

17 Weeks

How far along? 17 Weeks.
Symptoms: Hardly any, feeling pretty good.  Certain smells are getting to me though and making me want to hurl.  I still hate my toothbrush too.
Total weight gain/loss: +5
Maternity clothes? My regular clothes still fit, pants are getting pretty tight-pretty much only wearing regular work pants.  Regular shirts still fit too.
Sleep:  I have been going to bed early and sleeping like a rock!
Best moment this week:  Going home for a family wedding.  It was great to see everybody... even if Nick was struck with the flu bug on the way home on the plane.  I'll spare you the details, but lets just say it wasn't pretty.
Movement: Tons!  Felt like the baby was doing flips while I was at work yesterday.
Food cravings:  Nothing really this week.
Gender: We will find out a week from yesterday!
Labor Signs: none.
Belly Button in or out?  in.
What I miss: Nothing really.
What I am looking forward to:  Nicholas's 2nd birthday party this weekend!  My Mom and Grandma are coming to town for it, so very excited to have them here and to celebrate with some of our MA friends as well.
Milestones:  Nothing new to report since last time.  Will have more news next week after the anatomy scan.... and hopefully pictures!

16 Weeks

How far along? 16 Weeks.  Have missed a few weeks of blogging, but that's no surprise given my blogging track record :)
Symptoms: Nausea is basically gone, except I seem to have picked up quite the gag reflex.  Like last time, my toothbrush has become my enemy.  I gag every time I brush my teeth.
Total weight gain/loss: +5
Maternity clothes? My regular clothes still fit, pants are getting pretty tight.
Sleep:  I have been going to bed early and sleeping like a rock!
Best moment this week:  Nicholas started giving me big bear hugs when going in to get him in the morning or after a nap.  Its so cute!  Also, we upgraded to a bigger vehicle so now will have plenty of room for Nicholas, new baby, Daisy, visitors, and anything else we feel like taking in the car!
Movement: Yes, have been feeling movement for the past few weeks.  I think if I was pg for the first time, I would't know what I was feeling, but since I am familiar with the sensation, I can recognize it this time.
Food cravings:  Nachos!
Gender: Our Anatomy scan is scheduled for 9/17, so in just a few weeks!  We do have names picked out but are still noodling on the middle names so I'll hold off on sharing those for now.
Labor Signs: none.
Belly Button in or out?  in.
What I miss: A nice cocktail after a long day of work.
What I am looking forward to:  We are going to WI this weekend for my youngest cousin's wedding!  Will be nice to see the family and catch up.  Hope to get some relaxing done too since there will be lots of other people around to chase after Nick.
Milestones:  Have had 2 OB appts since last time I posted as well as the NT scan which was normal.  Met with the MFM (maternal fetal medecine) folks at the hospital since I have a few issues (previous pre-eclampsia and spina bifida in the family.)  So far, I really like all of the doctors at the hospital and the OB practice.  Well into the second trimester now and amazed at how much more relaxed I am about things this time around.

11 Weeks

How far along? 11 Weeks
Symptoms: Pretty good this week.  Felt queasy one day but that was pretty much it.  Nicholas and Josh were in Pittsburgh this week so I have gotten to do lots of relaxing which has been nice.
Total weight gain/loss: +3
Maternity clothes? My regular clothes still fit, pants are getting pretty tight.
Sleep:  I have been going to bed early and sleeping like a rock!
Best moment this week:  Ventured out into the city by myself today to meet an old friend for lunch.  While I miss my boys, it was nice to have some "me" time.  Oh, and getting to go to Georgetown Cupcake :)
Movement: Nothing yet.
Food cravings:  Pasta.
Gender: Won't know for another 9 weeks or so.
Labor Signs: none.
Belly Button in or out?  in.
What I miss: A nice cocktail after a long day of work.
What I am looking forward to:  My boys coming home on Monday.  I miss them!  I can't wait for a hug and a kiss from my NickNick! 
Milestones:  1st OB appointment is this week.  Need to talk to the doctor about a few things, namely the possibility of getting pre-eclampsia again and finding out if there is anything I can do to prevent that from happening.

10 Weeks

How far along? 10 Weeks
Symptoms: Much better this week- The nausea seems to be gone but I am feeling like I am coming down with some kind of cold.  Always feel like I could use a power nap!
Total weight gain/loss: +2 or 3
Maternity clothes? My regular clothes still fit, pants are getting pretty tight.
Sleep:  Like a baby, but already getting up to pee 1-3 times per night.
Best moment this week:  Nicholas and I had some mommy and me time today- we went shopping and got his haircut.  It was fun to have some 1:1 time with him.
Movement: I know that I can't possibly be feeling the baby yet, but I do feel something from time to time.  Probably just gas, haha.
Food cravings:  Anything cheesy.
Gender: Won't know for another 10 weeks or so.
Labor Signs: none.
Belly Button in or out?  in.
What I miss: A nice cocktail after a long day of work.
What I am looking forward to:  Dr appt next Monday.... hoping to hear the heartbeat on the doppler.
Weekly Wisdom: I'm amazed at how much more relaxed I am about this baby then I was with Nicholas.  I think it is comforting to have an idea of what is coming.
Milestones:  Getting past the 1st tri nausea.  Hopefully it doesn't recur!

Baby makes 4!

On my 34th birthday, June 7, 2012, I found out that I was expecting baby #2!  Talk about a surprise!  I had stopped taking birth control that month and assumed that it would take a few months for us to conceive as it had with Nicholas.  Well, I guess my body and fate had other plans.  This baby is due on Valentines Day, 2013.  I am going to keep this blog private for a few more weeks until we are ready to go totally public, but wanted to get it started so that I can start posting weekly updates.