Today's Doctor's Appointment!

Hi All!

As life slowly makes its way back into 'normalcy,' my life has been CRAZY with lots of stuff to keep me busy!

It was hard to go back to work last week after being with family for a few days and trying to get myself together after losing Gram, so when Friday rolled around, I was SPENT!

Wednesday was spent just trying to make up for the time I had missed on Monday and Tuesday...
Thursday, my mind was still spinning from Wednesday... It felt like I'd never get back to being myself.

By this afternoon, I was ready for some good news and a great start to the week...
We had another appointment this afternoon with Dr. Grill!

I am so happy and feel so blessed to have gotten another good report on this little critter! Everything seems to be fine...and I can't explain how much of a relief it is every time they give us good news.

My weight - I've gained my first 1/2 pound! Fabulous...
Blood pressure - still normal and very healthy!
Baby's Heartbeat (my personal favorite) - 150!
Hearing the heartbeat is what I LIVE FOR from appointment to appointment!

I love the look on Zig's face when he hears it and I love the smile on the nurse's face when she watches my reaction! It's simply amazing!

Zig and I informed Dr. Grill of our plans to have the 3D ultrasound done - and he loved the idea! He even wanted us to bring him information from Womb with a View because he has lots of patients who ask him about where to go for that kind of service! He's absolutely fine with - and after hearing the heartbeat today, I'll be on the horn with this place scheduling our first visit very soon!

We ended the appointment by discussing the quad screen test that I was heading down the blood lab to have completed. This is the test that can give a false positive and lots of fear for parents - and unfortunately, Meg and Jason went through this while they were pregnant with Joshua. Thank the Lord that he is as healthy as he is, and they are living proof that a positive doesn't always mean problems.

They told us that "no news is good news," and that if we don't hear anything by Friday, to assume that everything is fine...
Everybody - please say a prayer for us to get through the week with no scary test results to worry about! I'll be updating you all as soon as we are in the clear - fingers are crossed!

Is it really possible to love a little person so much? One that I've never even met??

For this amazing little peanut that we are so patiently waiting for - Grammy Kathy, Zig and I have already started looking for the perfect crib! We made a trip to Target in Carlise yesterday during a visit for Sea Food Night at Kathy and John's! Even though we struck out at Target, we looked at some cribs online and decided that we need to plan a trip to Babies R Us to see some great cribs in person! So - although we have lots of time, we are going to schedule a trip as soon as possible!

Before the unexpected events of last weekend, Zig and I had started working on some family finances - we were looking for a way to cut some serious costs before this baby comes! Knowing that we have a pretty hefty mortgage payment, and two hefty car payments, something HAD to give! After a long conversation filled with advice from my parents, we decided to look into trading my Jeep for something affordable and more gas friendly!

For those that know me, you know how IN LOVE I am with my 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee! This vehicle is my DREAM car, and I bought it specifically with the purpose of having a great car to keep my babies safe! But as our lives begin to change from a young couple who enjoys the simple pleasures of having nice things to show for our hard work - to young parents who want to be able to provide everything this world can offer to our child - we have realized that cars, clothes, and other materialistic items are no longer necessary.

Being great family friends with a car salesman can really come in handy when you're in a pinch! As much as I love my Jeep, I called Tim at Frey's and told him what we were trying to do. As soon as I heard him say, "No problem, I know exactly what you're trying to do...let me see what I can do for you..." I knew we were in good hands. With all of the madness with Gram passing, it was over a week until I could return Tim's phone calls and really be in the right mind frame to talk about new cars.

So, Thursday after school, I finally got a chance to call Tim and see what he had come up with. He informed me that he had found me a brand new Jeep that will save me lots of cash in payment value and in gas dollars! SCORE! He wanted me to come in and see what he had found.

After making sure Zig was OK with it, I headed into Frey's to see the new Jeep.

To be honest, I wasn't sold at first with the new car. It's a 2008 Jeep Patriot. This model of Jeep is basically like a shorter version of the Jeep Commanders (which I love!). It's really not much smaller than my Jeep and it seemed to have just as much room inside as mine.

I don't do anything without Zig being involved, so I brought home some figures to run over with him. Zig was biting at first either, but we decided to take it for a test drive, show my parents, and let my Dad (our ultimate guide in big decisions) give us his opinion - and take it from there.

Friday, as soon as Zig got home from work, we went to Frey's and took the Patriot for it's first spin! It only had 6 miles on it when we got in! There is nothing quite like a brand new car! We drove it to my parents house, had supper with them and my Pap, talked it over with my parents, then drove it back to Frey's. By the time we got back to the car dealership, we had basically decided to go for it!

Zig liked the Patriot much more than he thought he would. He was worried that it was small like the Jeep Compass - which isn't enough of an SUV for us. As we rode in it and got to explore what all it could do, we realized that my Jeep has more than I could ever use and that it is more than we need to be paying for right now.

So, as bummed as I might have been at first about having to get rid of my Jeep, I love this baby more than anything else in the world, and I would sacrifice anything to give it a better life. If that means saving a chunk of money from now on, sign me up!

The paperwork is being finished as we speak, and I'll be driving a brand new car tomorrow afternoon!

Lots of excitement happening in our world...but...
I'm missing Joshua like crazy!! Knowing that he was missing me for days after left each other just broke my heart! LOVE LOVE LOVE my favorite man!

And on that note - I'll leave you with a few pictures...

The latest (and VERY LARGE) belly pictures taken at 17 weeks 1 day... It seems as though I've gained more than 1/2 pound - but with all of the puking that has occured, I think it makes sense that I had some to lose before gaining anything new...
And the last picture of the Jeep in the driveway... I hope it forgives me for leaving it tomorrow...tear...