22 Weeks

I had my 22 week appointment today and everything is still going very smoothly! The baby girl is perfectly healthy and is growing at the right pace. I was shocked to realize I had gained 5lbs since my last appointment, but I have started to blossom this week and the doctor said I needed to catch up since I hadn't gained very much weight in the beginning of the pregnancy! We'll see how this progresses! I continue to feel pretty good, but I am starting to realize that I can't move around quite as much as I used to. I don't feel the baby move a lot yet, but I am sure that is going to start increasing in the coming weeks. We are still working on the nursery and getting everything ready for the baby to arrive. We are starting to pick out names, although we really don't agree on too many right now. We'll eventually pick one we both love and we will share the name when we make our final decision! I posted a belly shot below since a lot of people have asked to see the progress!

Snow Day!

We finally had snow in Raleigh this week! Brian and I were so excited that we had a snow day, even though we did work from home all day, it was nice to be home and watch the snow fall outside. We got about 4-6 inches of snow and it was definitely a winter wonderland! I am sad to see the snow melting away now, but hopefully we will get another good snow again soon. Here are some pictures we took from inside the house. I didn't make it outside all day, but I enjoyed from a nice warm house!

20 Weeks

Wow, it is hard to believe I am already halfway through this pregnancy! Where has time gone? I continue to feel good and I am starting to pop out a little bit, which is exciting! Brian's parents bought us our crib this weekend. We can't wait for it to arrive. We also got some paint samples this past weekend, so we are going to be painting the nursery very soon! We have already purchased the bedding set, so things are coming together very nicely. We are hoping to pick out the other pieces of furniture for the nursery very soon! Lots of choices!! We'll be sure to post pictures of the finished nursery when it is complete. This weekend has been very relaxing and we have been able to get a lot of things done around the house. If only we could get our christmas tree down! haha We have taken all of the decorations off, but we just can't seem to manage to get motivated to put the tree away. Maybe this week? We are headed to Wrightsville Beach this weekend with my parents and it will be a nice getaway since we haven't been anywhere for a while! I'll be sure to post some pictures soon!

Here is a picture of the crib we picked out.

Merry Christmas!

We just got home from Bristol today and we had a wonderful Christmas this year! We spent Christmas Eve and half of Christmas Day in Raleigh and then drove to Bristol in time for Christmas dinner with my Dad's side of the family. We received very exciting news on Christmas Eve that our baby is going to be a little GIRL!! Although it took her a while to cooperate so we could tell for sure, we were thrilled with the news and couldn't wait to tell our families! We enjoyed spending time with Brian's family and my family on Christmas Eve and everyone seemed very happy with our news about Baby Z! We are trying to get organized and get the house back in order before I go back to work tomorrow, but I wanted to share some pictures from our holiday this year. Next year will be a lot different with a little baby girl around, but we can't wait to start that phase of our lives in a few months!

Christmas Ornament Party at The Perry's

Last night, Brian and I went to a Christmas Party at Kelly and Jonathan's house! The guys stayed downstairs in the "man" room and watched the Panthers game while the girls ate lots of good food and exchanged ornaments. It had been so long since we had all been together and we enjoyed lots of laughs and catching up! I can't believe Christmas is just in a couple of days. It will be nice to have some time off from work this week, find out if Baby Z is a girl or boy, and celebrate the holiday with family and friends! Merry Christmas Y'all!

Shou got the infamous bird ornament!

Julia, Kelly, Jenny and Cher

Me and Kel with her festive Santa Hat

Leslie, Cher, and Julia

Dad's Birthday Celebration

Last night, we celebrated my Dad's birthday at Angus Barn. This has become an annual tradition for us because we love to see all of the Christmas decorations in the restaurant! It really gets you in the holiday spirit. The food is always so good and we really enjoy the family time together. We have several holiday parties coming up this weekend, so we are excited to spend more time with family and friends!

We got some really good news this week about Baby Z! We get to find out if this little one is a girl or a boy on Christmas Eve!!!!! We were so excited to get this news because we can share this with our family and friends over the holiday! We can also rest some bets out there once and for all... haha... you know who you are!!

Brian and I in front of the GIANT tree at Angus Barn!

Mom and Dad

The parents and I after dinner

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday this year! We are so blessed to have such a great family and it was so nice having family all around us last week. Most of my family came in town on Wednesday night and we went to the Carolina Hurricanes hockey game! We just relaxed on thanksgiving day and enjoyed spending time with one another. We had our annual $5 gift exchange on Friday night and this was one of the best years yet. The ladies shopped all day on Friday and Saturday. Luckily, I finished a lot of my christmas shopping! In other news, Baby Z is doing very well and my pregnancy is moving along nicely. I am about 15 weeks right now, but still not showing very much. Hopefully I will start to show a little bit soon! We are hoping to find out the gender in a couple of weeks! We'll keep our fingers crossed that the baby will cooperate and the doctor can tell us if we are having a little girl or boy. I know a lot of family and friends have bets on what the baby is. We'll just have to wait and see! I have been really bad with taking pictures lately. Brian is working around the clock right now trying to get through his busy season. Luckily, he finishes on December 9th and we can start to spend time together again soon! It is rather lonely with him being away at least 2-3 nights a week, but my parents have been very gracious to let me stay with them! We will have a lot more pictures around the holidays to share!