So, I'm counting down the hours until I get to find out whether my baby will be wearing dresses or suspenders (for those of you who don't know my dad -- the suspender thing runs in the family)! I keep playing that soon-to-be-moment over and over again just imagining what its going to be like. Obviously we will be SO thrilled either way, I just want to know!

Kyle has to bring home the envelope tomorrow night since hes off work Thursday and Friday -- how am I going to stay away from it?! Hardest. Two. Days. Ever.

I love feeling the baby kick. Its so relaxing and reassuring. I'll admit, there are times -- when I'm trying to sleep namely -- that I'd like it to cool it, but there really is nothing like it. Its getting to the point now that I can even see my belly giggle when it really gets going. I could stare at my belly for hours.

AND, we bought our first pieces of baby furniture last night. God bless Kyle. I started to get stressed last night when I realized the furniture I had originally picked out was junk. I hadn't really read the reviews I guess because once I did I realized quickly it wasn't the way to go. So, Kyle made me jump in the car at 9:00pm to "just go look" at Babies R Us. We ended finding the crib and a "baby" armoire that was on clearance. With the coupon I had, it was a deal that was meant to be.

Now we have the wainscoting on the wall and two of the four pieces of furniture and I love it. The nursery is starting to come together and I can start to picture my little one all cozy in there. Now, I just have to find out which way I'll be decorating!!

Kyle felt the baby kick! Not the most sentimental moment, but still a milestone.

We were in the $1 movie theatre (which costs $2 now) watching "The Hangover" and the baby was going crazy. He got to feel the "pop, pop" a couple times.

Very fun.

Its been brought to my attention that I haven't given an update in awhile:) My life feels like its been a bit out of control these last couple weeks.

First, we went on a fantastic cruise with Kyle's family. We were supposed to go to Ocho Rios, Jamaica and Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, but due to a sleepy propeller system they changed our itinerary the day before we left to Half Moon Cay and Nassau, Bahamas. Have you ever heard of such a thing?! There was some uproar prior to boarding the ship, but after setting sail, its really hard to be mad at the mall on the blue water and the 80 degree weather. Take me anywhere, I don't care.

So, before I left my mom wasn't feeling great, but due to a recent Chron's Disease flare (or so we thought) I didn't feel bad leaving her because unfortunately this wasn't rare. I spoke with her last Saturday, from Miami, and although she wasn't feeling great told me that she was "better." Well, the next time I was able to call (at $3/min) was last Tuesday. You know its bad when your 17-year old sister answers the phone saying, "Don't freak out." Great.

Turns out mom had a perforated bowel. Scary. They removed two more sections of her bowel leaving her just enough to not need any sort of "waste bag." Thank goodness. So, they had done emergency surgery on Sunday while I was in the middle of the ocean. My sister is quite mature for her age, but I felt an immense amount of guilt that she had to figure this out without me. After all, she is just a kid.

Needless to say, since we got home last Thursday (turkey day with no turkey) I have spent most of my time helping my mom get on the road to recovery. She is better, but still has a long way to go.

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On the baby front, half way tomorrow! Its hard to believe really. Our "big" u/s is next Thursday. Can't remember if I posted our plan or not, but we are going to have the Dr. write down the baby's sex on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope for us to open X-mas eve. Kyle is going to either have to bury the darn thing in the backyard or give it away for 2 weeks because I have zero willpower. What ever made me think I was going to be able to wait another 20 weeks to find out?!

I'm off work for almost 4 weeks around the holidays (I love education) so my plan is to start getting my ducks in a row. Start the nursery, the registry, that sort of thing. I figure I'm feeling pretty good now so I should probably take advantage while the gettin' is good.