Last week, I told my boss, Wendy, that I'm expecting, and she was so excited!  She even told me not to worry if I couldn't come back to work after the baby, she knows (through experience) it's one of the hardest things in the world to do.  After I told my boss, I knew it wouldn't be long until the whole office knew.  Sure enough, within an hour and a half of me telling her, the Program Manager (my boss's boss), saw me and held the door open for me, and said "I guess I'm going to have to be doing this for you from now on, huh?".  I laughed and told him not to worry about the doors, just to worry about keeping the sidewalks and parking lots salted during the winter months!  Funny thing is, I came in to work today, to find a whole bunch of salt in front of my building.  Ha, ha.  At least he took me seriously.  I also told a few more of my works friends - I will say it's nice to no longer have to keep this huge secret. 

Tuesday (11/22/05) I met Amanda Beth for lunch and told her.  She started getting all teary-eyed, and told me how excited she was to become an Aunt!  She also said she as "on to me" b/c I wouldn't normally schedule to have lunch with her at the last minute and in the middle of the work week!  Ha, ha, I was desparate to meet with her face-to-face at that point, and all out of my usual tricks.   Thanks for humoring me, Amanda! 

Wednesday night (11/23/05), we got together with our "high school gang" for dinner at drinks (well drinks for them, of course).  We finally got to share with Faye and Casey, and Holly and Scott.  Sorry it took so long, guys, I really wanted to see your reactions!  And for me, it was certainly worth the wait!!!  Thanks, too, for playing along - especially Holly and Scott, who already had heard the news from another source. 

Other than that, no new baby news, really.  This past weekend I had a few days where I actually felt somewhat normal.  It was a strange feeling, that's for sure!  I had totally forgotten what "normal" feels like!  I officially have not thrown up in 1 week, though today is not yet over.  I had a "talk" with the baby on Thanksgiving basically saying that it was time for us to start enjoying the pregnancy together, and to stop making your mommy so sick!  Baby must have listened!!!!!   YEAHHHHH, what a good baby!!!

My next appointment is Wednesday, December 14th.  Hopefully then we'll be able to hear the heartbeat with the doppler.  Although I can't complain, I've enjoyed seeing the baby on ultrasound the last 2 visits! 

Here's to being almost 14 weeks; my friends, family, and co-workers all now knowing; and starting to feel like a human being again.  God is so great!

I got a call from my brother Mark tonight to inform me that he and my sister-in-law, Bo, are going to have a baby!!!  YEAAHHHHH!!!  Our babies will be about 6 weeks apart - my little one will have a very close cousin.  Wow, I'm so excited!  All I could do on the phone was scream.  Congratulations, Mark and Bo, we are so excited and happy for you.  You continue to be in our prayers!

I also talked to my mom tonight, twice.  The first time I talked to her for about 45 minutes just to catch up and she said nothing about her other grandbaby, not even a hint!  So I got off of the phone with Mark and immediately called her, inquiring if she "had any other news that she thought of to share".  She started laughing, and I could practically hear her smiling through the phone.  She and my dad could not be more excited to be a grandparents now TWICE OVER! 

Today officially marks the 12-week mark, which is very exciting!  I know I'm still not completely out of the "danger zone", but supposedly my chances of miscarriage are much much less now.  Thank you, God!  Please continue to keep us safe!

I go to the doctor for my 12-week appointment today.  My mom is coming with me, as is Tim.  Should be fun for all of us, and hoping the doc is able to find the heartbeat for us to listen to! 

I'm wearing some maternity pants now, as they're much more comfortable than trying to squeeze into my regular pants.  Whoever invented elastic wastebands is a genius!  I have a feeling, however, I will long for zippers and buttons! 

I'm still feeling pretty yucky.  I'm not getting sick daily anymore, seems more like 3-4 times per week.  I guess that's good, but I am seriously getting tired of feeling nauseous 24/7 while not puking!  I guess I have forgotten what it feels like to be "normal" though, so that's on my side at least.  I have switched to Disney Princess Bubble Gum toothpaste, to prevent gagging and getting sick while brushing my teeth.  So far, so good!  Whatever works, right?  Also a fairly regular staple to my diet is Coke Slurpees from 7-11.  Not too carbonated, and mixed with ice to "water down" the sugar and caffiene, right?  Riiiiiiiight.....

I still need to share my pregnancy news with 3 of my girlfriends from high school.  I would much rather tell them in person, so I have been trying so hard to schedule a get-together with all of them.  Holly, Faye, and Amanda, I'm sorry you don't know yet...would you please stop being so darn busy?!  Hopefully by next week we'll have been able to get together!  I also have to call my college roommate Brandee.  I promise, Branz, soon!  :)

All for now, time to eat....

Well, we're continuing to share the news of this baby with friends and family!  Yesterday we told our friends Nick and Nicole (parents of Noah and our Godson Brady), as well as Desiree.  They were all excited for us!  It was nice to be able to talk to someone who can give me advice and recommendations. 

We were on a roll, so we stopped by Tim's brother and sister-in-law's house (Chris and Liz) but no one was home, so we went to his other brother and sister-in-law's house, Jamie and Stephanie's.  We were just chatting with them a little bit, and our "excuse" to come over was to pick up the leafblower they borrowed from us.  Then Steph was talking about ordering pizza, and Tim said "Yeah let's order pizza to celebrate, 'cause Beth's pregnant".  Oh my gosh, it was priceless!   Steph reacted immediately, and started screaming and jumping up and down, and Jamie just got this big grin on his face and hugged us both.  My niece Taylor's reaction was the most touching by far though.  She is 7 and a half, and I have known her since she was born.  Tim is her Godfather, and he and I have always been the "goofy" aunt and uncle who have played with her and our other 3 nieces and their friends.  During all of our excitement with Jamie and Steph, Taylor was very quiet and continued working on her homework.  I asked her what she thought about a new cousin, and she just burst into tears.  At first I couldn't understand what she was telling me, but we eventually understood her saying, "I wanted you to be my only Aunt and Uncle that didn't have any kids!".  Oh, my poor Taylor!  It broke my heart to see her so upset.  I gave her a huge hug, and reassurred her that she would still be one of my special nieces, and we would still be able to spend time together, etc.  Sweetheart!  She warmed up then, and told me she hopes the baby is a boy (she has no boy cousins) and that I will name him Michael.  I told her I'd keep that in mind!  When we left she asked, "Aunt Beth, the next time I see you, are you gonna be fat?"  I laughed and said no, not too much bigger, but maybe by Christmas time, and would she like that?  No, she said.  I laughed.  Kids are great!

I called my grandma who lives in Florida to let her know she's going to be a great-grandma.  She really liked that news, and said "I'll have to get out my knitting needles".  Yeah, thanks Gram!  I love your homemade items!!! 

I've still been battling with nausea and vomiting, and nothing really sounds appealing to eat.  In fact, yesterday I christened the toilet bowl at work.  I walked out of the bathroom after losing my breakfast, and since no one knows I'm pregnant, I felt like everyone was just staring at me and they somehow knew.  Hopefully I'm just paranoid! 

Tonight is no exception in the feeling yucky category ....uggghhh...I'm really looking forward to feeling better in these next few weeks!   I'm off to veg....