I Forgot to Mention...... It's a........

A few weeks ago we went to the doctor for my 19th week check up. It was the week he was going to tell us the sex of the baby and we were ecstatic. The morning started off all wrong....as we drove to the doctor's office and waited for them to unlock the door as we were the first appointment of the day. Then, we noticed there was a sign on the door that they had moved--and I'm thinking, excuse me? Thanks for telling me that my doctor has moved elsewhere. I knew that I'd be late to my appointment and this was not the day to be late. So, luckily, they had only moved one street over, but......we could not figure out which building it was because there was no sign. UGH! Finally, we found what we thought was right and Joey ran in and checked. Ding ding ding! I was already in a bad mood being late, since I'm NEVER late to anything. We ended up waiting a good twenty-five minutes before we were called back for the ultrasound. I was soooo nervous laying there, preparing to find out what our baby was going to be. A good thirty minutes of her rubbing that stupid machine on my belly and.....nothing. She said she could not tell because of the position she was in. Then, to my disturbing surprise, she says "well...I have another appointment, but if you have to talk to your doctor, i'll try to bring you back in." UGGGHHH! Can you believe that? Well...I talked to my doctor for a bit and the nurse was sweet enough to offer me my one and only craving- Coca Cola! Baby got super hyper off that caffeine and as we went back into the ultrasound room I prayed for an answer. Pictures were taken and parts were labeled. Finally- and I mean after beating around the bush and never actually coming out and saying "IT's a GIRL!!" she kind of mumbled "i'm thinking it's a girl...." So anywho, not the best experience....or at all what I imagined, but we are super happy. We thought for sure it was a boy, but wow will I never believe anything I read again. Here are some pictures of our little Hartley!!!!

Baby is the size of a Lime!!!

It's been a couple of weeks since my second doctor's appointment where we were able to hear baby's heartbeat and see baby for the first time. I cannot begin to describe how truly amazing it was to see that something was growing inside of me and to hear that it had a heartbeat. It was a wonderful experience and I could never forget it. I am now almost 11 weeks pregnant and the baby is now the size of a lime!!! Here are some pictures from our very first ultrasound, which was done at about 8 weeks. =)

The Start of Something Really Big

So, as most of you already know, I recently found out that I am expecting! Joey and I will have our first child in May 2011. Yesterday, September 15, was my very first doctor's appointment. I'm not going to lie, I was sooooo anxious. I could not wait to actually hear the words "you're pregnant!" because looking at a home pregnancy test and accepting the results just didn't quite make it real to me. Having tests done and hearing those precious words brought the biggest smile to my face. My doctor, Dr. Gerber, says I'm 7 weeks Pregnant and have an expected due date of May 4, 2011. I've dreamed of the day that I would be a mom for practically my whole life. I never thought that both my biggest dreams would come true so soon--getting married and starting a family. I absolutely cannot wait. I also can't begin to say how happy Joey has made me....from his beginning reaction to how he treats me day to day. Joey is the most wonderful husband and man I know. I really wish I could have recorded his reaction because it melted my heart and I will remember it forever. It's amazing how someone's tone of voice and facial expression can either make or break your day. He made my year! So as for how I've been feeling.....I started feeling really, really nauseous this past week, which is horrible for me because I NEVER throw up and I also have a phobia of throwing up. Luckily, I have only felt nauseous and haven't gotten sick- Yet. Other than that, I've just had a few little symptoms....one though, that makes me laugh is the fact I downed a WHOLE jar of pickles the day before I took the test. Although i've always loved pickles, I've never eaten a whole jar before, or even a half of a jar. ;) I am going to start reading "What to Expect When You're Expecting," which I cannot wait for. Until next time...

It's Been A While....But I'm Still Here =)

I know it's been terribly long since I've last written down a few thoughts. I've blamed my lack of doing anything on the busyness of my job, which absolutely exhausts me. I'm not going to lie, I definitely have a new perspective on how much work taking care of kids really is, but that will never stop or change my passion of being a stay-at-home mom. Aside that fact, I've pretty much focused this entire last year on being a newlywed. I've put my friends and even family, on the back burner. I know that when you get married, that of course should become your number one priority, but I have been a mess this year-not myself--all of these changes all at once, and trying to feel comfortable with who I am now that school is over. It's been difficult being in the real world straight out of college and married. However, I wouldn't change anything for the world. Recently, Joey and I finally made it to the church we had been wanting to check out, called 12 Stone. We were absolutely blown away. I had a very heavy heart, as it has been nearly a year since I graduated from a Christian college. There, I was able to go to chapel three times a week, and living on campus definitely made that easy. We definitely will be going back to that church and hopefully it will make a huge difference in our marriage and get us back on track. I suppose this year I've just made too many excuses and I have definitely been selfish. I can't even begin to explain how great it feels to actually set new goals and work on them. I've seen my friends more in these last two weeks than I have in months. Joey and I also decided to start doing P90X which is an extremely intense exercise system. HAH! We'll see how that goes. We are moving out of our apartment next weekend.....the place we have made our home during the first year of our marriage. I am so excited because we are moving into a much bigger apartment. =)) Anywho...I just love this feeling of being so truly happy, wanting to always be selfless and kind, especially in my marriage, keeping friendships that have lasted for years, and of course, feeling very close to God. One of the greatest feelings that I've gotten lately, after we went to that new church, was when I started listening to all my favorite Christian songs again......and when I feel close to God, I get chills all over--like he is speaking to me. It's awesome! So...I better get back to accomplishing those goals: Selfless in my marriage, Making my best effort with friends/family, and Exercising!!!! Wish me luck!

Ups and Downs, but mostly Downs

I'm not going to lie. Life right now is definitely the hardest I have ever experienced. It's sad to me that before being married, before being finished with school, and completely on my own--I never realized how much I had. I mean, I have always considered myself very blessed, and I still do, but being out in the real world has definitely taught me how important even just the simple necessities in life are, especially when you can no longer afford to buy them. I have definitely learned the value of a penny and working for every penny I earn. It's really tough. I know people go to work every day and most people are struggling right now, just like us, but that still doesn't seem to make me feel better. I hate the fact that growing up- teachers make it sound so easy: go to school, graduate from school, get a job--but it is not at all that simple with today's economy. I guess this is more of a belated blog.....that should have been written months ago, but let's just say I've had the stresses of life and the real world taking up all my time before I even thought about writing a little update. It took me months and months to find a job as a college graduate and that made me feel worthless. I didn't even get a big fancy job at first- I got a nannying job. However, I will say that after only two months of that and being switched from full-time to part-time, finding another job in a matter of one week is nothing short of a miracle- especially since I got a teaching job. I suppose I just have a lot of frustration with the way things are right now.....I worked so hard to finish college early. That was of course a personal goal that I set for myself, but apparently I finished college at the worst possible time. There were no jobs, too many people looking for jobs, which meant I needed a masters degree and everything under the sun to be set apart from others. But....I guess in the long run, my prayers were answered. I love being a preschool teacher, especially at such a nice private school. It's absolutely exhausting though, and requires an enormous amount of outside work on top of the back-breaking work I do all day at the school. And of course, I would- I would pick the job that has such an awful pay. How sad is that, anyways? I have never understood nor will I ever understand why the most important job on the planet, the teaching of our future generation, gets the pay of...of practically nothing? It's absolutely disgusting! However, this job will lead me as far as need be until I can do my DREAM job---and if you know me, you also know what that is. I cannot wait to be a mother. I think a mother and of course teacher, are the most important jobs. (I considered them the same job in many ways). As for the other stresses of life, the topic, the word, the object, money- could not be hated more. It always seems to cause a bad mood, an argument, or a night of no sleep and constant worry. I've gotten much too far away from God than ever before and it kills me. I seem to make excuses for every Sunday as to why I cannot go find a new church. Although sickness has consumed my life for a matter of four months, I still know that there were many, many times where I could have gotten off my lazy butt and shown him what was most important to me- but I didn't. I've even gotten out of my daily habit of praying....it was such a huge part of me, naturally. I've dug a hole so deep with this stress and worry, and pushing him away that i've realized that it's made me a whole different person. I absolutely HATE that. Luckily, i've begun to get back into my habit and I'm trying really hard to get back to that place......I need to be there. I'm praying for our marriage to grow in him, for our finances to be stable, and for us to be able to make big things happen for our future, wisely. Before I end up writing something much too long to keep anyone's interest, I will stop here. As for now, I'm praying and trusting that it will all work out. "Don't quit during the hard times; pray all the harder." Romans 12:12

Switchfoot/Blue October Concert

Last night, Joey and I went to the Blue October and Switchfoot concert at Masquerade in Midtown. I had never even heard of Blue October myself, but I was willing to go just to see Switchfoot, whom I LOVE! They sing some of my favorite songs like Dare You To Move, Meant To Live, Only Hope, You, and This Is Your Life. We got there just in time to hear Switchfoot singing as we walked in the small, over-crowded and stinky building. Joey immediately put me on his shoulders to see better and it was as if I was on the stage by myself with tons of people below. I had the perfect view of Switchfoot and then they moved even closer to a smaller stage near us. It was AMAZING! They sang Dare You To Move and I was in heaven. It always reminds me of the wonderful and one of my all-time favorite movies, A Walk To Remember.

After that, however, the evening was beyond weird. Blue October came on and they are (no offense) the strangest band I've ever heard. I did not like their music at all. I decided after seeing the lead singer that he must have experienced something very traumatic as a child and his singing career was merely an outward expression of his personal diary. He acted like a mental patient! I'm sorry, but if you like guys who wear eye liner and scream and complain about how sucky life is, you must have had the worst of everything. Besides that, there was a guy right in front of me who was super strange- one of those guys who probably has never talked to a girl, who wore a black t-shirt that said "Let me into your mind" and put a black bandanna over the bottom half of his face. He danced like someone who seriously needs to get out more....and shook his nasty, long hair back and forth which made me nervous about what I couldn't see going into my drink. It was really frustrating and everyone stared at him.

Then, to my right, we had a couple- guy and girl who were (according to the decision of others around me) clearly on Ecstasy, and dancing all over each other like the people do in one of those really weird plays. The looks on their faces were definitely new to me, and it made me wonder if they would even make it home safely. The band seemed to play on and on forever and I was ready to after I heard the first sentence he sang- or you could even say after Switchfoot was done. The night was really much more eventful than this, but I can't imagine writing about such disturbing details. WOW. I will never ever again go to a concert of a band that I have never even heard of, despite the fact their opening act is one of my faves. Last night also made me realize why I don't hang out with random people I don't know--at least, normally.....you never know what people are going to do. Oh well...now I know better. 'Til next time....

A Sister Day

Today my sister Stephanie came over to my apartment to hang out for the first time. Joey was out working, so we decided to make a day of it and have lunch, watch some movies, and enjoy some of my homemade Sangria. First we ate some yummy Wendy's that definitely hit the spot with that yummy fried chicken sandwhich and then we decided to settled down to start the movies. We watched the Hannah Montana Movie, which is really good, surprisingly...and then watched The Last House on the Left. It was just simply wonderful to be able to spend some time with my sweet Sister! She even got to meet Izzy, our new kitten, whom absolutely loved Stephanie. What a wonderful way to spend the day! Sometimes I get lonely during the day, while I'm in the process of trying to find a job and Joey is at work. There's nothing like a sister's love. What a great day! (The pic above is when we were little...and I just LOVE it!) =D 'Til next time!