6 am...Day after Christmas

Well this amazing Christmas is winding down.  We've just hugged and said our goodbyes to Jonathan, Misty, and Jenna as they departed for Little Rock.  Sad to see them go, but very happy they were here.

We were so blessed this Christmas!  December 17th was the day we've counted down to for so long...Kerry graduated!  It was an amazing feeling watching him receive his awards and diploma--like a weight lifted.  Then the icing on the cake, he passed his national certification on the 23rd!  For him, that means being able to relax and enjoy the next couple of weeks before he starts to work.  In the mean time, we'll be packing boxes and getting ready to make the move up to Dothan into our new house.  How exciting!  I can't wait to decorate the nursery and plant flowers.  :)

Speaking of the nursery,  Justin and I are doing quite well.  We'll be switching doctors in the near future, and that sort of makes me nervous.  I'm growing like crazy (because, I suppose, he is too).  I can feel him kicking pretty regularly now, even if other folks can't quite yet.  Kerry did get to feel it on a particularly active evening, and that's something I'll always cherish.  His face was so funny!  We're both still in awe of the things going on and how much God has blessed us over the past few years, but especially the last few months.  Looking forward to an amazing 2012!

Snips and snails, and puppy dogs tails...that's what little boys are made of!

That's right!

Justin Michael Varner, our SON (!!!), will make his debut in April.  My doctor appointment went well again today.  So far, Justin measures dead on schedule for an April 25 due date.  He has a heart rate in the 140's, and weighs about a half a pound.  So far so good for me, too.

Also, during our Thanksgiving break, our niece, Jenna, was born.  She's a beautiful girl, and I can't wait for Christmas to come so I can squeeze her!  

Less than 2 weeks until graduation!  We're so thrilled!  God is good. :)

Helloooooooo 2nd Trimester!

I haven't had this much energy in...well...at least 3 months!  I'm about a week into the second trimester (over a third of the way there, yayuh) and I feel the fabulousness.  The nauseated gross feeling has left me for the most part, my crazy pregosaurus rex attitude has chilled out a little, and I still take a snooze here and there, but I was actually able to get out and RUN today - not jog, RUN.  And it felt great for a number of reasons.

We're in the process of signing papers, etc, for our house, so hopefully soon we'll be homeowners!  We absolutely love the one we picked out, so hopefully all goes well, and we can move in before Christmas.  I really really want to put up a Christmas tree this year, but I'm afraid I might not be able to.  46 days until graduation, so the time is drawing nearer!

In other updates, the "first" friend I ever had finally walked down the isle this weekend!  I was proud to stand by Jessica on her big day, and even prouder that the bridesmaid dress zipped...whew.  The wedding was absolutely beautiful, and the reception was so much fun!  I never thought I'd see her daddy (my other daddy) dancing to DJ Khaled!  Hysterical!  She married a real sweet guy, too, so that's a huge plus ;)

Next doctor visit is on Monday, so maybe, JUST MAYBE we'll get to see if this little person is a boy or a girl!

11 weeks 5 days - another great checkup!

3D image.  See him/her hiding behind the cord?

Profile Shot!

Another great checkup today!  Things are moving right along as they should according to the doctor and the ultrasound tech.  It's good to "know" people...I knew the tech from work when she was trainging as a student, so she gave me a few extra minutes, and even did a 3d/4d scan just to see.  We didn't get to see a face because the cord and arms were all up in the way, but that's ok...it most likely doesn't look "normal" yet anyway!  I love it when Kerry is along for these appointments.  He's so excited - asking all kinds of questions and pointing to the screen grinning SO big.  They told me that probably not the next visit, but the one after that is when we should know if this is a "JMV" or a "MSV"...tentatively speaking that is.  ;)  And NO, I'm not divulging names until we know...so there!

HGTV?!

Update time! Update time!

So since we've begun looking for houses over the last few weeks, smart little me thought it would be a funny idea to write to HGTV to see if we could get on one of their homebuying shows.  Well, "My First Place" and "Property Virgins" weren't currently looking for anyone, but "House Hunters" had an open invite.  Naturally I filled in the blanks and hit send--all the while not counting on anything coming of it.  3 days later, there was a message from an unknown person in my inbox that simply said "House Hunters" in the subject line.  It was one of the segment producers thanking me for the inquiry...blah blah blah.  I skimmed it thinking it would say "thanks but no thanks"...but wait...what did that say?!?  "We would love to know more about you and Kerry.  Where are you in your homebuying process?  When is the best time to reach you?"  SAY WHAT!?!?  I responded with our phone number, etc., and he wrote me back later the next day to set up a phone interview with us!  AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!  So next Tuesday he's going to run through the process and get to know us a little better.  WOW!   How cool would that be?!  Now--Pessimistic Polly (me) still holds out that they will say "thanks but no thanks"...but to get this far?  That's gotta be something, right?

In other news, baby V and I are doing well.  Nausea is still lingering, but I'm a little more energetic each day (especially if I get a nap!) and I'm happy as I can be!  I may be just looking for an excuse, but I've started having trouble being comfy in my smaller pants I worked so hard to get into this year.  Glad I saved the bigger ones, because I think they'll be necessary sooner than later!

Today is our 4 year/10 year anniversary.  We're kind of bummed we couldn't spend it together since he's in Dothan, but he'll be home tomorrow and that's all right with me.  I can hardly believe it's been a decade since he picked me up in his big, black, LOUD truck and took me to Subway.  :)  How romantic, right?  Hey- we all start somewhere.  Haha!  I've been smitten with him since that day!  We've eaten at a lot of other restaurants since, too.  ;)

Keep your fingers crossed for us!!!

From afraid to blessed

Listen...wait...did you hear that WHOOOSH sound?  That was life passing by!  Call it my hormones, call it an awakening, but I've had such an emotional day --and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

I started out my morning with a bowl of cereal and a movie while petting my dog.  As I looked at Otis, the thoughts started coming to me:  we're less than 3 months from graduation...we're 6 months from becoming parents...life is about to change radically!  So, naturally, Nicole got scared and had a little sniffle/cry spell.  My day got immensely better when we went to church.  I had calmed down significantly by then, and was looking forward to the praise and worship part of the service.  I sang loud as I could, and with tears running all over again, praised God for our immense blessings - instead of being afraid of the changes.  How freeing that was!  God is good :)

Later, we had a surprise visit from my mom and dad!  We ate lunch and cruised around, just visiting, and it did my heart a world of good as well.  I am glad we'll be a touch closer when we move.  (remember I'm a homebody, right?)  After they left, we shopped around for houses online.  Right at sunset, though, we headed to the beach to stroll along at sunset...holding hands...you know, lovey dovey like, which also did my heart a world of good.  It's tough for Kerry to be gone so much of the week, but we know that this situation is for the betterment of our NEXT situation, and that's what's getting us through.

Humor me and check out this link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FUr5vs-AwQ
This is a snippet of the AMAZING music at 9forty.  We will miss Woodlawn UMC when we move.

First Doctor Visit

So today was our first visit to the doctor.  I don't know what I was expecting -- I can say I've had more eventful doctor visits, but hey, she gave us a clean bill of health and said we're doing fine!  She waited for Kerry to get there from class to do the ultrasound.  We got to see the tiny flicker of a heartbeat and our little butterbean/jelly bean/peanut/etc!  We're in love. :)

She confirmed our due date to be April 25 (which Kerry claims to not like for some reason or another).  But we'll take him or her whenever he or she decides to show up...just hopefully not tooooo early.  Next appointment is October 10.