Merry Christmas

Okay, so this is not a belly shot but I promise if you keep reading you'll get one.

Things are going very well in the Swann household. We have officially moved into our house, made it through Halloween, Thanksgiving, half of a pregnancy and I am now out of school for Christmas break. SO... I thought it was high time to post.

Here are the latest pictures of our home for you to enjoy if you are so inclined:

The kitchen and dining room

The living room

Our bedroom

Just for fun I'm going to show you what it looked like the first day we moved in:

Isn't that horrible! Doesn't it just make you tired to look at it? So maybe now you can really appreciate those first pictures. We have had a great time getting it organized and finished and it is so nice to be IN and settled.

As far as news from the belly goes, I am growing, growing, growing. Seriously, it seems like I have had a huge growth spurt in the last week or two. Or Julia has, I guess. And it still seems like things must be pretty tight in there for her judging by the way she's been beating at the walls. She is moving all the time! Pretty much anytime I sit still I feel her swimming around or whatever she's doing in there. I knew this would happen but it is still so amazing to me.

So, here's me now:

I'm 24 weeks. Only 16 more to go!

It's A GIRL!!!

That's right! Can you believe it? This is the beautiful profile of Ms. Julia Christine Swann. Isn't she so cute?! I know its hard to tell just how cute she is from this one picture but you should see her in action. (We have the dvd if anyone wants to come over) We watched her kick her legs, scratch her head (do babies itch in the womb?) and hiccup. She's just so adorable and Nick and I are so thankful for her.

I do have to say that it's so strange to have all of this going on inside my body and really not be able to feel a thing. As hard as I try. I am so impatient! I know that will come and I know when she is finally here all this will seem like a blur. In the meantime I will just have to be satisfied with my pictures and my dvd.

I don't know how I'm supposed to wait 5 more months, though!

Moving In Soon

Check out our house! There is still quite a bit of exterior painting and landscaping to do but you can definitely tell what it is going to look like. In the picture on the right we are standing in the back yard.

Nick has gotten SO much done, though. The walls are painted (thanks to help from Jeremiah and our future neighbor, Chris), and the light fixtures, faucets, and toilets are in. It seems like we will be moving in soon! SO, I decided it was time to post some pictures.

I tried to post captions under those, but it is a pretty frustrating thing to get it all to line up and I just don't have the patience right now. I think you can figure out what everything is. Anyway, I love the colors of the rooms. It took me forever to pick them and but I finally did (after about 10 sample cans of paint and a lot of good advice from Maureen and Becky). There are more pictures I could post but I think I will wait and show you guys the final product.

In other news, I am now in my second trimester. I'm almost 15 weeks and I feel SO MUCH BETTER. I have so much more energy and I have even found myself enjoying the smell of coffee in the mornings again. Nick and I had another doctor's appointment last week and we heard the little heartbeat and also the good news that everything is going very smoothly. Phew. So, I will leave you with that reassurance and the latest picture of my growing belly.

Relatively Roomy

We've moved! And we're moving again soon. Now, I know many of you have done this before but has anyone out there ever moved twice in two months while pregnant? If you have, I commend you. Please call me. Maybe you can talk me through the next one. I can't take all of the credit (or really any at all) because of all the help we got from our family and friends. You guys know who you are and we are so thankful to you! We (Nick) would surely still be working if you hadn't helped.

We sold our house and are in the process of building a new one. So our temporary housing is a tiny but very nice 2 bedroom apartment. I think it feels tinier than it actually is because we are using the two bedrooms for storage and are sleeping in the relatively roomy kitchen/breakfast nook. So, I am right now in the office and able to see the refrigerator, living room couch, and bed simultaneously from where I sit. I'm not complaining. I'm really not, I'm actually kind of enjoying the challenge. (Surprise, surprise) We'll see how long that lasts.

So here are some pictures that should give you a little taste of our life right now.

Jack adapts pretty easily.

The Bedroom/Kitchen/Office

And, just so I won't leave you without any hope for my future, here are the latest pictures of our new house. Hopefully it's only a month away from being finished. Give or take.

The living room and kitchen

The nursery

I LOVE this house and I can't wait to be in it. It already feels homey to me even without paint or furniture. It also has a great big backyard that is perfect for a garden and a dog. And maybe a swingset.

First Attempt

Well, here it is. We have finally started a blog. My years of watching and reading from the sidelines are at an end. I guess because of everything that has been going on in our lives lately, I decided I actually have something to write about now.

So, we're pregnant. Let's start with that. Here is my first attempt at a belly shot. I'm only 11 weeks, so keep that in mind. But, still, there is definitely a little bit of rounding going on below the belt. Look how happy I am that my pants are getting tighter.

Nick and I also heard the hearbeat the other day at our doctor's appointment. It was so COOL! The doctor was hunting around for the baby and found my heartbeat first. When she finally found the baby's, the contrast was incredible! It is so fast! I can't imagine why it needs to be that fast, but it is a pretty amazing sound. Here, I'll let you hear it for yourself:

You know, it was so exciting, but I don't think it really hit me until I got home that night and started thinking about it. It started to sink in that there really is a person inside me. Even though I feel and look pretty much the same, there's something growing in there. Sorry if I'm grossing anybody out. But you have to admit it is an amazing thing that's going on.