It's a......

BOY!!!! Nate and I are so excited! I had a feeling all along it was a boy too! And I'm so glad that he cooperated with us last week on our first ultrasound. This is how awesome my Dr.'s office is: So we weren't scheduled until 20 weeks (January) but they called me and offered to do an ultrasound just to find out the sex before Christmas. How nice was that? I was only 17 weeks here but they were able to get some pictures and determine that we're having a boy! I will post Christmas pictures later but we were able to wrap up the picture in a frame and surprise both of our parents.
Now I'll be honest, when my friends show me their ultrasound pictures, I generally can't see what the huge deal is because I feel like I'm looking at a blob of some sort really. But now that it's my own it's so different! I think seeing him on the ultrasound screen moving around, doing a few backflips and sucking on his little hands has made it all so much more real! I thought he was just the cutest thing ever! I think Nate is excited that our first is a boy too although he said he was fine with either one, he was pretty happy! I'll have to update later on all our Christmas happenings...I'm still trying to catch up from being out of town!

December get-togethers...

Every December it's been a tradition for us to head to Lexington for the Clem's annual Christmas party/weekend where we get to catch up with our college friends. This year was so much fun just seeing everyone again.
Gina, Becky and Aaron....last year Aaron and Becky were in Guatemala so it was good to have them only a mere 6 hours from Kentucky this year!
Lindsey's worst nightmare may have come true when the guys (accompanied by Becky on the violin and Gina...I was only there to photograph!) went caroling to her neighbors. Most of the girls hid in the house and laughed at them.

Practicing before going out...
Lily provided entertainment just by being there:)
Lily got a present from "Ga-Ga" (aka: Gina)...
And loved her sweater! How cute is she?
Saturday afternoon, some of us went hiking to an overlook of the Kentucky River.
Which was a little sad and muddy in the winter but was still fun!
Lindsey, Becky and me trying not to freeze to death!
We always end with Cracker Barrel for brunch on Sunday morning.
One good picture of all of us some stranger was nice enough to take!

In other Christmas happenings, we celebrate with my family tomorrow and head up to Nate's house Christmas Eve morning. Even though the Christmas season is crazy busy, I'm loving it! Traveling can be kind of tiresome but it's so worth it to see everyone. Just another reason why this is one of my favorite weeks of the year!

Pictures of November

Before I forget the entire month of November...I did take a few pictures so here goes!
Berneheim Forest...it was 75 degrees outside just a few short weeks ago! Today it is 25. So sad.
So we went hiking and enjoyed the last of the warm weather for awhile.

A couple weeks later, we had to bundle up for hiking at Jeff. Memorial Forest. And I had to hold Sadie back from wanting to take a swim. Just a tad bit too cold! Oh how I miss summer!
Thanksgiving we went to Ohio for a long weekend...as always it was so good to be able to spend a lot of time catching up with Nate's family.
This is what the boys did...
And here are the girls...I'll leave that open to interpretation:)
Sitting down to dinner, minus Joe who was the photographer. Nate's mom cooked the best dinner EVER!
Last week, we headed to the waterfront to pick out a Christmas tree. I don't think it's necessary to go into explanations about how much I love Christmas. I did that last year. Let's just say that I do think it is the most wonderful time of the year! Nate finally let me put on the Christmas music and decorate the house last weekend.
He did most of the work setting up the tree...
Sadie did her part...
All finished!
Later that night we headed to "Light up Bardstown Road"...basically where all the shops and restaurants stay open late, they have Christmas carolers, free cider and hot chocolate, and we even saw some bagpipers heading down the road playing Christmas tunes.
A perfect way to end the evening!

In other news, I had my 15 week doctor's appointment yesterday. It is crazy to me how little they do at these check-ups but I did get to hear the heartbeat again which is always fun. Now I am just dying to know the sex but we still have a bit before that. I'm officially into the second trimester though and am definitely feeling less tired and not sick at all. And I'm still waiting for the baby "belly" to pop out so that I can actually feel (or at least look) pregnant already! I'm sure I'll be eating those words weeks from now but this is all still new to me. I am so grateful to all my friends who have gone through pregnancy already and have answered my hundreds of questions:) I'm kind of an over-analyzer about these things!

A little announcement...

So as it turns out...We're pregnant! And definitely couldn't be more excited! Since most of our friends and all of our family knows, I think I'm safe to start a sort of "documentation" of this whole pregnancy process. Most people will likely not care about all these details, but I am afraid if I don't write down some of these things then I will soon forget them!
And sadly I don't have a cute little ultrasound picture to share! I do have one from about 6 weeks ago but let's face it--those first few weeks it just looks like a little blob anyway! A cute blob, but not too much to look at! My doctor said the next time she'll be doing an ultrasound is around December, when I'm about 20 weeks or so and can definitely determine the sex. I really don't want to wait THAT long but at least we DO get to hear the heartbeat at each check-up. Monday was the first time for that and my doctor told me that I'm in the clear for telling people. It was definitely a beautiful sound! Plus, it was so hard to keep a secret for that long! So here's some of the details:

• I'm in my twelfth week
  
• Due date is June 5th
• I have only felt sick during weeks 7 and 8 (Praise God!). I mean, it was pretty rough going those few weeks...I have a new found appreciation for my pregnant friends who deal with that for the entire first trimester and beyond! I can't imagine...I have nothing to complain about compared to them!
  
• The only other symptoms were EXTREME exhaustion during those first few weeks. I think I might have scared Nate with my ability to nap like it was my job! I'd come home from work, take a 2-hour nap on the couch and still head up to bed at 9:00! Thank goodness that's over with because I was worthless to get anything done, which brings me to my next point...
• Nate has been SO great to me during this (and I really can' complain because as I said, I haven't been THAT sick or anything). But he would make sure all the dishes were done, dog fed, laundry, etc. All that stuff that needs to be done, he would just let me rest:) And he'd deal with my weird food turn-offs and cravings...
  
• Cravings so far: well, this is different every day! I would word it this way: I could think of things that I definitely did NOT want to eat but rarely anything I wanted to. A lot of things, just at the mention of the word made me feel sick. But usually I could think of at least ONE thing that I wanted. But it's so unpredictable! This week I'm all about fruit, especially strawberries and apples. I mean, who knows how these things work...The other week, it was pizza, one week ice cream, and the week before anything spicy and Mexican. So one day I'll think I will DIE if I don't get pizza at that moment and then the next day I'm like "Don't even TALK about pizza!" It's very weird really. Luckily I have a husband who is not picky so he just goes with it! And I would like to add that I have only made him run out to the store on ONE occasion to pick up ice cream because I HAD to have a milkshake at that very moment!
  
• Other than the weird food issues/exhaustion, nothing feels too different. I mean, I know people start "showing" at different stages but I've been worried until we heard that heartbeat last week because in this first stage you just don't "feel" pregnant and I'm not showing yet. I'm the kind of person who needs a visual or proof or something...I'm weird like that! But all of my previously pregnant friends have re-assured me that it is normal to feel that way and now that I heard that little heartbeat I feel a lot better.
• So there's the details for this first trimester. I'm ready for this so-called energy surge that accompanies the second trimester! I've been trying to keep up with my running throughout and let's just say that 3 or 4 miles feels like a marathon. In fact, I came back from running the other day and told Nate that I had, indeed, completed one. I think he's ready for the second trimester too so my ridiculousness stops!
  

It's October!

Which of course, means the Fall Meet at Keeneland. I feel like I just posted on this yesterday but I guess that was last year! This year has flown by to say the least. The weather was very "fall-like" this year...I had to continually drink hot apple cider just to stay warm but no complaints there!Lindsey and I playing cornhole...what would Keeneland tailgating be without it?

Nate and I before the races....we always like to hold hands awkwardly like this...

Everyone eating the yummy food!

Pazzo's afterwards....a tradition!
We also had a final cookout before the weather got too cold...the guys, of course, played poker on the porch
Food anyone???
Molly (due any day!), Katie, Gina and me
Last weekend Nate and I hiked in Clark Memorial Forest in Indiana. After the hike we climbed the fire tower...not for the faint of heart!
But the view from the top was great....That's Louisville, over 20 miles away in the distance. The trees are changing here, we've already had a few fires in the fireplace and I think fall has officially arrived!

6 Years!

That's how long Nate and I have been married as of September 13th (I'm a few weeks late posting these pictures). Nate planned a fun weekend for us at Cumberland Falls State Park. The weather was PERFECT so we hiked and fished a lot, pretty much the best way to spend a weekend for us!
One of the waterfalls we hiked to...
Ran into this little guy while hiking...
Gorgeous view!
Angel Falls which we hiked to the next day...Nate stopped to do some fishing in the river
Last weekend we got to spend some time with Nate's family in Ohio for his cousin Aimee's wedding.
Nate, me, his parents and Kelsey at the reception

Joe and Kelsey

Nolin Lake trip!

This awesome cabin was where we spent our weekend...right on Nolin Lake!

We met up with a bunch of our college friends...here's the girls: Lindsey, Casey, Gina and me.
The trip began with a stop at Smitty City, a must-see for anyone traveling in the direction of Nolin Lake.
Lindsey purchased a "grab bag"...the advertisement beside them read: "You never know what you'll get but it's always worth more than you paid." With that in mind, we couldn't resist!
First object in the grab bag: a clock shaped like the number 6! Lindsey could hardly contain her excitement...
...especially when the next object was a cigarette holder with a diamond cross stuck on the front!
...and Jeremy and Nate posed with the "hear-no-evil" monkey that was also included. He later suffered an accident and shattered into a hundred pieces but we enjoyed his presence while it lasted:( There were other treasures in the grab bag that I sadly did not get to photograph including some glittery makeup, a ring with a scary-looking dragon on it, a wristband with a magnifying glass for looking at bugs, and an ultimate-fighting air freshener. The grab-bag experience was clearly all we'd hoped for and more!

Later, Steven grilled some steaks for us...
...which we enjoyed family-style at the picnic table.
We did a lot of this....sitting, listening to music, eating, talking...
And of course the guys spent the majority of their time fishing...
...while the girls read and soaked up the last summer days of sun (don't say it...summer is almost over:(
The canoe took a few trips around the lake too
And Casey built us the perfect campfire
The girls at our fire while the guys were, of course, still fishing. They only came up to eat and sleep.
Such a good weekend! It's always much needed time to spend with friends, away from everything with nothing to do but catch up with each other. Thanks to Gina for getting the cabin worked out! We are definitely doing this again soon!