Cat's Outta the Bag

I haven't been blogging lately because it would have been too hard to withhold the news... that we're pregnant! And also because the blog-worthy things of late have been completely pregnancy-related; i.e. which symptoms I am experiencing (here's a hint - all of the unpleasant ones!). We went to our first doctor's appointment in Abilene on the 23rd, and we were both surprised when our nurse told us we'd be getting ready for a sonogram. I at least had no idea sonograms could be done this early, or that we'd be able to distinguish anything! Maybe it was because the blob at which we were oogling was our OWN blob ('blob' is what I've lovingly called the baby since watching her/him wriggling around on our sonogram screen), but I was able to see the arms, legs and even the head and the little butt more clearly than I'd ever seen on an early sonogram before. It was WILD to see the baby's arms and legs moving while I felt nothing physically (don't worry - floored emotionally) and hearing the baby's heartbeat for the first time is something I know Koby and I will never forget as long as we live.



For Christmas, we traveled to Graham to have festivities with Koby's immediate family and then the next day went to Throckmorton to celebrate Christmas Eve with the entire Andrews extended family. It was fun to see everyone including aunts, uncles and cousins, and even better to be able to finally spill the beans. Koby was especially glad for this - he hated keeping the secret! Here's a couple of my favorite pictures - I didn't take many.




Pop and Elizabeth snuggle while everyone admires Gram's awesome heirloom Christmas trees and Calli sings happy birthday to her mom, Lesli.

Koby and I headed back to our abode in Sweetwater to spend Christmas by ourselves and it was a very memorable holiday indeed. We opened presents in the morning (I had to beg him to get out of bed, whining 'PRESEEEENTTSSS' until he agreed) and we played Santa to the dogs, who got into a, er, slight tussel over their Christmas toys and had to have them all taken away. We then proceeded to do absolutely nothing for the rest of the day but enjoy our presents and lay around. We left for Austin the next day and spent a few days with my parents and sister, got even more presents and continued to lay around, although we did venture out a little bit because Koby's recently acquired gift cards were already burning a hole in his pockets (even though his BIRTHDAY is rapidly approaching) and I had a few exchanges to make.





One tragic thing did happen over our happy holidays, however. The night before our doctor's appointment in Abilene, our cat Amelia snuck outside while we were loading presents into our car for traveling the next day. Koby thought she had gone to bed with me a bit later, and I thought she was watching t.v. with him. Unfortunately, our cat had only spent a total of about 30 minutes in her lifetime outside - she wasn't very wild. In this case, curiosity very literally... well, you know. Koby found her the next morning and we've actually taken it pretty badly (as if my pregnant hormones could allow me to take it well), considering neither of us are really cat people. Everyone, even those 'non-cat people' like us, says that their cat is different and special, but Amelia truly was, or at least to us. Koby didn't want me to blog about it but I can't help but think that would be disrespectful to our very lovable first cat.

I can't bear to end on such a depressing note, so I'll end with this happy fact. Tomorrow I'll be 11 weeks along - which means I'm only one week away from being done with my first tri-mester, which for most expectant mothers is the tri-mester marked with the dreaded morning sickness that usually subsides as the next three months begin. Let's all cross our fingers. My baby blob will also be about 2.1 inches long, which is nearly double the measurement at the time of my sonogram! Keep us and our growing baby in your prayers over the next few months!