Halftime

I'm officially over halfway through my pregnancy. It's nice to hit that 20 week milestone. A funny thing happened to me recently - I started to look pregnant. See if you notice the developments :) A stranger asked me this weekend if I was pregnant, so I think the jig is up.

I also felt some movement for the first time this weekend. The doctor had told me because of placement of the baby and the placenta, I would not feel the baby as early as most moms. So when I finally felt something this weekend - I was so excited!!

I am still feeling great, so I know I am really lucky. Still able to workout on my regular schedule, so that has been nice mentally and physically. Doug & I are counting down the weeks (3 & 1/2) till our last kid-free vacation. Some call it a babymoon - I call it laying on the beach in Mexico. Can't wait!

17 Weeks, 4 Days
18 Weeks, 5 Days20 Weeks, 2 days

Happy New Year!

We had so much fun celebrating the New Year with friends in St. Louis - it was our friend James surprise 30th birthday. In addition, my mom came in from Kansas City to visit us for a few days - so it was great to see her and celebrate the New Year. Not to mention, I was sick. Let's face it - when you are sick - you just want your mom. Even if you are 30 years old.

Here are a few pictures from our New Year's Eve. I've got a feeling that 2010 is going to be a great year!

Happy 2010!

The guys - Jon, Doug, Pat & JamesDinner with the family - my mom and Doug's parents

Christmas in St. Louis

For the first time since we moved to North Carolina, Doug had the holidays off! We were so excited to have an extended time to travel back to St. Louis, spend time with his family over the holiday and see some friends.

We made the long drive in order to have our own car and bring Willie McGee. I lucked out and Doug drove every second to and from St. Louis. Willie and I slept most of the way.

We packed a lot into the nine days we were back. Lots of family time and get-togethers with friends. We also took a short side trip to the lake house and Columbia for a basketball game. On the way down and back, we got to see April & Sara - along with their families.

Our plans got a little sidelined thanks to the stomach bug that I got toward the end of vacation - but we were grateful for what we were able to squeeze in! Thanks to everyone who fit us into their holiday schedules.

Willie hanging with his cousins Chubbs & Lucy.

The Burgess brothers with their pups.

The whole family on Christmas Day

Doug & Willie

Christmas dinner. One of our two Turkeys...

Smart dogs, hanging out in the kitchen

Opening my new HD Flip Cam & tripod from Doug :)

Willie is getting really good at opening his own presents.

He is also willing to help others unwrap theirs. At the Mizzou Game - so fun to be back in Columbia for a few hours.Fun day with the girls (and babies)! So great to see so many friends!

It's a...

Or as my brother Aaron said, "It is an Erin or an Aaron?"

Girl!!

We are so excited! The ultrasound was such an amazing experience! I was in a slight shock since I was convinced it was a boy from the beginning. So much for mother's intuition! The whole appointment was fun - seeing our baby girl move on the screen, waving at us, etc. Since I haven't felt any movement yet, seeing her move was even more special. We saw her arms, legs, feet, hands, heart, brain, spine, kidneys - I could go on and on. But is there anything as sweet as seeing your baby's first profile?

She proved to be slightly difficult (Oh, great! Already?) She kept throwing her arm over her face - as if to say - "No pictures, please!" So getting a good 3-D profile was tough. She also kept her legs crossed the entire time - she's a little modest - which made determining the gender a challenge for our technician. She was diligent and we finally got the right angle.

Here are a few more photos - the 3D photos are a little scary at this stage but I thought I would post a few!

Turn off the light! I'm sleeping! Living up to her nickname from my work friends, "Thumbelina". We saw a lot of hand waving and fingers during this visit.

Finally, no hands! I know that babies look a bit like skeletor at this stage, but it's so neat to see them so early! Can't wait to meet her in June.

Happy Holidays

We are back in North Carolina after a fun trip to St. Louis - I'll get some photos from our trip up in the next few days. Hope you and your families had a wonderful holiday season! May 2010 be a great year for everyone!!

Duke Basketball Game

I have to begin this post by saying that Doug & I are - first and foremost - Mizzou fans. But now that we have been in Durham for almost four years, we have slightly warmed to our surroundings. When we had an offer of free tickets to go to a Duke basketball game - we jumped at the chance.

As you can imagine, tickets for the games are almost impossible to get. Cameron Stadium is such an amazing place to see a game - with so much history. Many people name it as one of the top places to see a sporting event. The tiny, old stadium combined with the tradition of Duke Basketball and energy of Cameron Crazy Fans make for an interesting time.

Our tickets were in the student section. Imagine me - 15 Weeks pregnant, standing on bleachers with a bunch of crazy college students. I felt so old - but it was so much fun! Our friends left early and we decided to trade in our standing room for their seats. The #7 Blue Devils beat Gardner Webb 113-68 and we enjoyed our first Duke basketball game.

I'm not zooming in - this is a shot from our seats in the student section. We literally walked out onto the floor to find our seats.

Coach K and crew look serious

View from the rafters and the second half. Cool shot of how intimate the stadium is - 12,000 people tightly squeezed in like sardines. It's similar to your high school gym. Couldn't resist a shot with the National Championship trophies. The photo doesn't show it well, but they have draped the nets from the games over the plaques.

Holiday Party

As we head into the holiday season, once again I am thankful to have a great job and work with such wonderful people. A few weekends ago, my agency had a fun holiday party with great food and lots of laughs. I enjoyed a few non-alcoholic beverages with my co-workers as we toasted to another good year of business.

With a few girls from work