excuses, I KNOW!

I know I always have excuses as to why this blog gets neglected. And they are usually very good excuses, that I at least think, make our readers believe that I really did have some more pressing priorities...

With that being said, this time it really is a good one...

We are pregnant!

Most of you have known for months, but as the first (and hardest, I'm told) trimester comes to a close we are now ready to tell our blogging world!

We are due August 24, 2010 and very excited! We had our first appointment (1/4) where we were able to see our little nugget's heartbeat on the ultrasound. The whole appointment is a little muddled because there are sooo many questions and sooo much information exchanged but I distinctly remember the ultrasound tech turning the screen so we could both see it and pointing to the heartbeat. I also distinctly remember looking over at Rick with tears in my eyes. I am actually getting a little choked up thinking about it (but that could be my crazy hormones!)

We had an emergency appointment about 2 weeks ago because I was experiencing some discomfort on one side, but of course I was just being paranoid. The doctor said everything looked great and not to worry. We have our next appointments on Friday (2/12). The first to have an ultrasound and some standard bloodwork to check for chromosonal abnormalities and the second will be our 12 week check-up.

So far, I have had about a 3-week episode of morning sickness. That was pretty hard to get used to because the only thing that helped was eating about every 90 minutes (which is pretty difficult to do when teaching a bunch of 4-year-olds!). I have been having some headaches now and then that are also difficult since I am used to having an Advil liquid gelcap to knock that out and Tylenol just doesn't do the trick! But other than that I am just running extremely low on energy! I am told this should pick back up at about week 14, so I am counting down the days! I really can't complain, the symptoms I have experienced have either been mild or extremely short-lived.

So the next question is always, "Are you going to find out the gender?" And my response is always "Do you know me? You know I can't keep secrets!" So yes, we will be finding out the gender. I have heard some women find out at week 12 so don't think I am not going to ask my OB at my next appointment! The suspense is killing me!

Rick really wants a girl. I go back and forth, almost on a daily basis, mostly because I don't want to be disappointed. We have already picked out a girl name (which I plan to keep a secret, we shall see) but no boy names have really appealed to either of us that haven't already been used by someone we know or that I haven't been turned off by due to a student! (Another reason why I really want to know the gender!)

We have started to look for a bigger apartment. We plan to move into a 2 bedroom this summer so we can make room for Bebo (Baby Rice's in utero name, dubbed in Orlando). We are also planning on getting a new pull-out couch so that our lovely mothers can come take a shift with the baby when he/she comes if they want :) and anyone else that would like some quality time with Bebo!

As for my job, my bosses are very excited! They were both very accepting and planning to hold my classroom for me! I have already secured a spot for Bebo in our infant room (and I found out I get 60% off!!!!) so when I am ready to go back to work, I will just be down the hall. There are 5 other teachers pregnant so they are in for a crazy summer/fall!

Rick has been amazing. Most of you have either seen him with my niece, Delaney or with various other babies we have been around and know that he was sooo ready to be a Dad. He has definitely already begun taking this new role on. He holds my hand while walking on ice and cooks balanced meals for me even when he won't be home for dinner. He has offered to go to whatever parenting classes I would like and has even given some opinions of this or that kind of questions relating to baby products (which is more than I can say about our wedding planning!) The best part (and he would probably kill me for making this public) he has even been reading What to Expect When Expecting that I leave lying around. He is definitely going to be a hands-on dad!

If I said things were going wonderfully... that just doesn't even do it justice. And I haven't even mentioned the church family that we found!

That is right, we have been attending a Methodist church right down the road that we have fallen in love with and I am pretty sure they have fallen in love with us as well. Rick has been playing guitar in the band for the past 3 months and this morning I  committed to helping with the preschool children's choir for Palm Sunday and Easter. I have been contemplating joining the rotation for children's Sunday School as well!

I really can't even begin to try and verbalize how blessed we are. I feel like everything is really falling into place!

I hope this catches everybody up on where we are in our lives. I know I still owe pictures from Christmas and Orlando and cannot promise to post those in a timely manner. But I will do my best to stay updated now that our secret is truly out!

Love,
your over-joyed richmond rices.