Random Stuff

A few weeks ago Concordia had their annual benefit auction and this is what some sweet friends got for us... a Daddy Diaper Bag Basket. It has so many wonderful things! Here's the contents...

Thank you, Mary and Julie! What a sweet and thoughtful gift! Nathan will look so awesome sporting this masculine daddy diaper bag! (He's kinda rolling his eyes right now but no worries, he'll see that real men DO carry diaper bags!)

Recently we went camping with our friend, Brian, at his family's ranch in Pearsall. Zeta and I just went up for the day but Nathan camped out overnight. Here's Nathan preparing dinner for everyone. Brian sure does have it made on these camp outs! Nathan does all the work. (Sorry, Brian! You know it's true!) He does all the cooking. Kills the rattle snakes. Gathers all the wood and supplies to make the fire. Brian's main role in the outing is to just sit in his chair with a book and repeatedly say, " Gosh, it just feels so good to sit here and relax." Well, duh!

Check out the "grill" Nathan cooked on...
I know what you're thinking......Rednecks, right? Don't think that, rather, think....resourceful! In case you haven't figured out what our grill is, it's an old single bed frame. It worked great! There used to be a normal, more civilized iron grill out there but we don't know what happened to it. Maybe some of the deer hunters took it.

Below is the beautiful sunset.

20 Weeks!

I'm officially half way and I've been feeling pretty darn great! I don't have to get up every night to pee...just every once in a while. I'm not craving anything weird....just my usual grapefruit and fish. Not together, though. I daily have a sonic grape slush although today I switched things up a bit and had cherry. I'm trying to display some self control with my ice cream intake but geez- BlueBell Moolenium is just toooo yummy! I can function if I don't take a late afternoon nap but hey, if I can have one, why not?! Being pregnant is pretty fun.

I had my sonogram this past week and it was so precious. The baby was moving around like a little wiggle worm. We got some cute pictures of baby sucking his/her thumb! The tech and the doctor were very careful not to reveal the baby's sex. Thank goodness! We've been so excited about it being a surprise. So far, so good.

My doctor said that since this was my first pregnancy, I wouldn't probably feel any movement until week 20-22 but as we were getting ready for bed on March 18, I felt it! It felt like a little butterfly flitting around in my belly. I'm guessing that was the baby. I've felt it just about every other day since then. I can't wait until I feel a big 'ole KICK! Nathan keeps saying how it isn't fair. He keeps asking What does it feel like!? What does it feel like??!! I can't wait for the day when he can put his hand on my belly and feel the baby. What a miracle, huh?

As we were watching the sonogram screen I couldn't help but think how amazing and detailed God is. He created us so perfectly. We had a level II sonogram which is a little more detailed, so I'm told. We saw all 4 chambers of baby's heart, saw the kidneys, the stomach, lungs, and so many other things- I can't even remember b/c I was overwhelmed at the wonder of it all. The pictures were great. Baby's heartbeat was 150 and baby weighs about 10 ounces.



Every night Nathan and I take turns and pray for our little miracle. We pray for all the normal things that every expecting mom and dad pray for. We are so thankful for an uneventful pregnancy thus far, for God's protection over us and the baby, for great doctors and great care, for wonderful friends and family and their excitement and support and the list could go on and on! Okay- enough gabbing- here's baby Carmines....

Our Little Gymnast

Ashley, our youngest niece, has the perfect little build for a gymnast. Nathan has been saying for the last few years that she needs to start gymnastics and I guess my sister thought so too! Ashley has been in gymnastics for several months and she really seems to enjoy it! Ashley has always been fearless. As a toddler, she would stand at the edge of the pool and while in mid-air, she would yell, "Catch me, Aunt Nickie!" She knew that I would and she didn't even worry about going under water. When she walks, she barely touches the ground. She kind of floats and skips a few inches above the sidewalk. She loves for her Uncle Nathan to throw her high in the air. She loves for her dad to hoist her up toward the sky in the swimming pool. She's a gutsy little girl! It's no different on the balance beam, uneven bars, vault and floor. I went to her first meet and she did great!

Here's Lacey, me and Ashley right before the meet began...
Here's Ashley on the uneven bars. She got a first place ribbon!
Here she is on the balance beam. She got a 2nd place ribbon!
I couldn't get close enough to take pictures of her floor routine or of her on the vault but she got 1st on floor and 2nd on vault.
Congrats, Ashley! I'm so proud of you!!

"10 Things" Using the Letter G

Here are the rules: If you want to play, leave a comment on this post letting me know and I’ll assign you a letter. You write about ten things you love that begin with your assigned letter, and post it on your blog. When people comment on your list, you give them a letter, and the chain will continue.
Try it! It is fun!
Robyn assigned me the letter “G.”

1. God- This, for sure, is my most favorite of all my "G" items. I am so glad to know God as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I am a child of God and I'm so thankful for all the blessings in my life. Like everyone, I'm a mess inside and a forever work in progress but thanks to our Heavenly Father, I have hope and a future!
2. Girlfriends- Throughout my life I've had some amazing women come into my life like my sweet mom and sister, AOII's from college, friends from Concordia who are like sisters to me and long time friends from childhood. Women need other women. There's no doubt. We're there for each other in good times and bad. We cry with each other when we're facing those valleys and we laugh with each other when we're on top of the world. To all the ladies in my life...thanks for making my life richer.
3. Gordita's- My favorite gordita can be summed up in one "word" (acronym, actually) NIOSA! That's "Night in old San Antonio" for all you non Fiesta folks!
4. Ginger Ale- This is 'da bomb for "morning sickness" which I no longer have, thank God!
5. Garlic- Garlic is a staple ingredient in my cooking. I love it and it's good for you!
6. Google- How did I ever survive before Google?! I Google everything!
7. Gardening- Although our parched yard doesn't look like it now, we love to work in the garden together. We've planted tomatoes and we're going to plant corn, cucumber, strawberries, carrots and peas.
8. Grand Canyon- Seriously, one of the most beautiful places I've even been and I can't wait to go back!
9. Gone with the Wind-GWTW is my all time favorite movie. I love the time period, the way of life, the wardrobe, and most of all- Scarlett's bratty attitude. It's a classic! In fact, we're getting ready for a Gone with the Wind viewing party with Daniel, Sylvia and Larry.
10.Grapes- Especially when they're on sale! The green seedless ones are my favorite. I also like them frozen.

13 week sonogram

Sorry I've been such a delinquent about blogging! Here is a picture of our 13 week sonogram and it's so cute, if I do say so myself.
I'm 16 weeks now and I'm feeling pretty great. The nausea has been gone for about 3 weeks now and I'm so glad. It wasn't so much in the morning but more at night. I haven't had any weird food cravings or diversions except grapefruit. I've been eating them like crazy. And fish. I want it every week. Nathan is appreciating Sea Island more and more as time goes by. I asked my doctor about the whole mercury thing and she said as long as I don't consume more than 12 ounces a week I'd be ok. She's never seen a baby with mercury poisoning but I still don't want to risk it.

It's amazing that even with all of my friends that have babies, I'm so clueless about baby products. Nathan and I went to Babies R Us last week to start a registry and we were so excited to begin. We walked up and down aisle after aisle and became more and more overwhelmed. Pumping systems, bathtubs, car seats, strollers, breast pads, carriers....GEEZ! We registered for a boppy and left.

Since then, we've spent time on the computer researching brands on various products and now we're feeling a little more confident. Just a little.

The car seat issue is the one that is most troubling for me. We're not sure what to do about my car. I love my MINI but it is small! There's room for a car seat, no problem but with 2 doors it's going to be a royal pain and I'm the one that will be dealing with it all the time when I go back to work since the baby will be at Concordia's day care. Safety was an issue that was concerning me but we've researched crash tests on MINI vs. so many other cars that would be possible trade ins for us and the MINI performs so well. I know many of you wouldn't believe it but it's a super safe little car! I just won't be able to lug around a travel system stroller, or at least I don't think I would. The system we like folds up pretty nicely but we didn't take it out to our car to test it out. Maybe we'll do that later today.

When God 'Runs Late'

This was the title of the sermon yesterday and it was awesome. Pastor talked about Jairus' 12 year old daughter who was very sick and was dying and he spoke of the the woman who was bleeding for 12 years and I couldn't help but recall Nicole C Mullen's performance at Women of Faith where she sang "One Touch". The video is posted below and I hope you find it as powerful as I did!

Telling Family and Friends

It feels sooooo good to share our news with our family and friends! Keep in mind that each and every time we shared our news we both were so nervous! I don't know why but we were!!!

Nicole's Side of the Family:
We went to dinner with my mom, Mamo, Aunt Patsy, Kelly, Clint and Lacey&Ashley to Maggiano's. We thought going at 5:30 would be a good time with a minimal wait. WRONG! We still had a 2 hour wait! Thank goodness for the apples they have around near the banquet hall. I could tell this was going to be tough to share our news. It was loud and noisy and the only place to sit was at the bar on bar stools. Mamo couldn't sit up that high so she parked herself over by the door in a big wing back chair with Aunt Patsy while Nathan and I sat at the bar with mom and the rest of the gang. I'm sure my sister thought it was odd that I didn't order a cocktail with her but instead, I ordered a ginger-ale for my nausea.

Our plan was to tell Lacey and Ashley first so that they could announce that they were getting a new cousin. So, our table was called and we all got up and started walking over to it. Thank goodness for the crowded foyer. It allowed me to hold the girls back to bring them in to our little secret. I told them that Uncle Nathan and I were going to have a baby and I thought they were going to come out of their skin. I still smile when I think about their little expressions! Lacey's line was "Attention Everyone! We have an announcement!" and Ashley's part was "We're gonna have a cousin!" Well, being little girls and being so excited and nervous about their role, it took a few times for everyone to grasp what they were saying but once everyone was on the same page we were all so happy and talked about the pregnancy for the rest of the evening. [Saturday night 01-31-09]

My dad and brother were together in Georgetown for Superbowl and due to extreme nausea in the evenings we weren't able to tell them in person but I really wanted to tell them the same weekend as the rest of the family so we called them and told them over the phone. I explained that we didn't come up for their Superbowl party because I was feeling sick due to a baby in my belly. Dad didn't speak for about 30 seconds. He couldn't believe it! He passed the phone to Tommy and he was so happy and excited for us. [Sunday night 02-01-09]

Nathan's Side of the Family:
After church we usually go over to Nathan's mom's for a visit before Daniel has to go to work. Sylvia picked up some BBQ for lunch and we sat down to eat. Well, most of us were eating. Nathan was just pushing his food around on his plate. He was so nervous! It was pretty cute! We got on the topic of health and Nathan was sharing his new daily regiment of waking up early and leaving for work 2 hours early so he can work out before going into the office. He said that it was time for him to focus on being as healthy as he could and his mom asked, "Why?"
Nathan simply replied, "Because, Nicole's gonna have a baby!" [Sunday afternoon 02-01-09]

Next, we went to Nathan's dad's to tell him and Joan. The Superbowl was on and we all sat down for dinner. Nathan had to get through just one more announcement and he did great. I guess this is just such a happy and emotional experience for the both of us. He told them that we had an announcement and then just said it, "We're going to have a baby"! They were both so happy and excited. [Sunday evening 02-01-09]

Here's how I told my work family...
I'll set it up for you- twice a year our staff gets together for a much needed calendar meeting! We all bring our ministry events and go week by week and share what we've got planned so that it can be entered in our Master Calendar. I told Greg and Pastor Tucker my plan which was to wait until we got to the month of August (our due date month) to make my announcement. Here's how it went down....
Thanks to Joy for sitting across from me and being so sneaky with my camera!



My last way to share my news with some great friends that I was able to tell in person was pretty cool too. I recorded the heart beat on my digital recorder and played it back for them and asked them what they heard. I'll never forget their reactions...

Joy-I totally set her up. She was expecting to hear a frantic nurse discover she forgot about us (me and Nathan) in the sonogram room-TRUE STORY- we sat back there for about 30 minutes before she came sprinting down the hall and starting yelling profanities (no joke!). She kept yelling, "I'm so sorry! I totally forgot about you! I'm so sorry!" Well, being forgotten doesn't make you feel too good but hey, we're all human. Not a big deal.
So when I hit play for Joy to listen to this nurse "cussing" she was leaning in to me with a big smile on her face....the heartbeat starts....she's listening intently. I asked her, "What do you hear?" She replied with this look of wonderment on her face, "Footsteps?"- She thought it was the nurse running. "No", I said. "You KNOW this sound!" Right then her face went blank and she literally fell to her knees, put her face in her hands and started crying. Really loud! Sobbing, she said, "I'm just so happy for you!"

Robyn and Darlene were together when I told them. Robyn was having a rough morning so I told her that I had something I wanted her to hear that might make her feel better....
I pushed play and they listened with blank stares. Finally, Robyn gasped and then started to cry. Darlene still was looking confused. (Darlene-you're so cute!!)
Darlene's reason for being confused longer than Robyn is a good one! She reminded us that when she had her daughter they didn't have these fancy sonograms with sound. That's okay, D! It's a great memory for me.