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Friday, May 14, 2010

Our Dear Sweet Baby...

Boy, am I in love with you already.  How is that we haven't even met and all I can think about is you, and us, and your future together with us & Thor :).

You are just 11 weeks and 4 days old today and the size of a lime (according to thebump.com) and already we are ready to protect you, and love you, and teach you everything about this world that we know. 

We are enrolling in a birthing class so that we can make your entrance into this world as peaceful as possible.  We are reading as many books about taking care of you while you are in mommy's belly as we can get ahold of.  I am trying to eat healthy for the both of us, and focusing on getting the good stuff in my body, and trying so hard to only eating the "bad" stuff once in awhile. 

We bought a big beautiful home because we knew how badly we wanted you in our lives and needed more room for you to grow up in.   We picked out your bedroom the very first time that we even looked at the house.  Your daddy said, "this room will make a great nursery."  And guess what! One week later we found out that you were growing inside of me and going to be able to help fill up our home and our hearts. 

You are all that I think about throughout most of the day and I cannot wait for the chance to get to see you on the ultrasound screen again; June 23 seems so so so far away.  I'm even more impatient for the day that your daddy and I will actually get to hold you and introduce you to the rest of your crazy family.  Trust me, they are super duper crazy, but not in the bad crazy kinda way, more like the very fun crazy kind of way.  They love you just as much as we love you and I know they will take good care of you, too.

I can't wait to see who you look like and if you will have your daddy's beautiful green eyes or not.  And if you will have our dark black hair, or my brown skin (although, your daddy can get tanner than me most summers).

I'm anxious because I want to do everything right to prepare you for life.  We want the absolute best for you, baby, and I'm very glad that we have some great role models in our lives that will help us along the way.   Just know, that even though I can guarantee we will not be perfect, we are trying our best and that we will always be there for you.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Have you ever?

Have you Ever?


Stole this from another blog because I really liked it!

Instructions: Copy the list, bold the ones you've done (with explanations if needed), share with friends.

I have:

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band (concert band)

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland (Disney World, but not Disneyland)

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a thunder and lightning storm

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables (Dave does, and from time to time I water them!)

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping


27. Run a marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset


31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person


39. Gone rock climbing


40. Seen Michelangelo’s David in person


41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant (yes, and he rejected it.  he was a homeless man, kinda cuckoo.)

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted


48. Gone deep sea fishing


49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person


50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain


53. Played in the mud


54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (no, but I've bought tons!)

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy


70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial


71. Eaten caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone (too many to count)

78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle


79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper (wedding announcement :) )

85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve


86. Visited the White House


87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (fishing counts!)

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life (dave's, lol)

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Got a tattoo

94. Had a baby ( SOON!)

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit


98. Owned a cell phone


99. Been stung by a bee

That was fun!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

The post that I have been saving!

Today is March 22, 2010, I am 4 weeks pregnant: 

Dave and I found out this very morning that we are pregnant.  I'm still in disbelief at the magnitude of this news.  We are beyond thrilled.  We made the decision two months ago to add to our little family and I'm shocked at how quickly we were able to make that happen.  It is a very exciting time for us right now, because we also just put an offer on house last night.  So needless to say, it's a very busy Monday so far.  I wanted to jot down some notes about this before I forgot, and I wanted to post this sometime in the new future, once we decide to start sharing the news. 

Our immediate family all knows the good news as well as some of our very closest friends.  The rest of the world will have to just wait for a big dramatic reveal (yea, right).  We are very excited, but this is also VERY VERY new and early. 

Our baby is the size of a poppy seed.  I read that on a website this morning, and I'm in awe of how cool that is.  I feel the need to protect my mid-section right now, even though there is a lot of protection around this little bitty poppy seed already.  I spoke with my mom this morning and she warned me about taking it easy, and I know how hard that's going to be.  I love walking my big monster dog and going to body pump at 5am.  Luckily, I feel that I can still do those things so long as I'm not overexerting myself.

This is all so very cool.

Today is April 14, 2010, I am 7 weeks and 4 days pregnant:

Still pregnant :)  Everyday that I get further along, I get more and more excited.  We are still remaining cautiously optimistic as it's still that early period where we aren't quite in the clear yet.  I read somewhere recently that once you conceive you have an 80% chance of carrying to full term, and once you hear the heartbeat for the first time, you have a 95% chance of carrying to full term.  We have our first appointment April 28, 2010.  I will be about 9 weeks and 4 days then.  Coincidentally, that is also the day that we close on the house!  So again, another busy day of both baby and house stuff.  2010 is shaping up to be one of the busiest years, ever.  Marriage, honeymoon, house, baby, in that order.  We won't know what to do with ourselves once everything settles down. 

At week 7, I'm feeling okay.  I've been getting more and more waves of general nausea and grossness.  I'm having some crazy food aversions.  Some days the thought of eating anything with meat makes me want to vomit, and some days that is all I want.  Consistently I have been craving anything cool and fresh.  Also saucy foods have made me gag, but pizza doesn't.  It's odd.  We have not had any really dinners at home lately because there is no point in Dave cooking for me when I'm being so picky.  I'm also drinking more Sprite in the last couple of days than I have in my entire life.  I'm looking forward to getting my appetite and my energy back as this is rather annoying.  However, every day that I feel pregnant is a good day for me.

I have been working out a little bit, not quite like I was prior to finding out we were pregnant.  It's hard to before work, and I feel absolutely drained by the end of the day.  I have vowed to keep it up though.

Today is April 22, 2010, I am about 8 weeks and 5 days pregnant:

Late last week I started to really worry myself about not having any major symptoms, I had some soreness, so food aversions, and I was tired, but generally, I felt like I felt too good.  Well today I do not.  Other days I started feeling nauseous around 11am, and it will go in peaks and valleys, and will pick up again for dinner time.  Today it started right out of bed.  I felt sick in the shower, I was able to eat, and now I've been sick most of the morning.  Yay for finally really feeling pregnant.  We are less than a week away from our big first appointment. 

The working out has seemed to nosedive.  We are good about getting to the gym on the weekends, but it's so hard on the weekdays for us.  If we go in the morning we have to be out of the house at the gym by about 5:30am.  At nights it's hard because we don't get home till 6pm, and have to take care of the dog first, and then I am so pooped out, I'm ready for bed.  We took a nice walk the other day from home, which I would like to start doing more of, at the very least. 

Oh! I also just realized that we have officially known that I am pregnant for a month!  Wow...it has felt like an eternity.  I actually hope the rest of the pregnancy goes by slowly even though I am impatient, but I hope get a lot done, and to feel prepared. Ha!

Today is May 2, 2010, I am 10 weeks pregnant:

The world knows about our wonderful news!  And by the world, I mean that Dave and I announced that we are having a baby on Facebook.  So it's official :)  Our first "big" appointment went very well!  I had my first ever ultrasound and the baby looked and sounded great.  The baby measured exactly at 9 weeks and 4 days, which was what I had thought.  So the official official due date is November 27, 2010.  No changes there.   I was able to schedule almost every one of my upcoming appointments then too, so that is a relief and something to look forward to each month!  We will find out the sex of our little one on June 23.

It was so surreal to finally get to see and hear our baby.  Dave and I were in awe and a little freaked out by how much the baby was moving.  It was SO cute already.    Now that things are really starting to feel real, I'm beginning to enter a new stage of freak out mode.   As in, I must read and absorb every baby book, nursing book, birthing book, pregnancy book that I can get my hands on. 

We closed on the house so right now the little energy that I have left is trying to help get us packed and ready to get out of our current home.  Hopefully once things so down a little I will have time and the energy to read the books I want too!

Here is our baby's first public appearance!

Two things to note about this adorable picture. 1) It is flipped upside down because our baby was situated "upside down." 2) I know, I know, I'm still listed as Amanda Jimenez. Give me a break, it's only been 4 months! I just did the name change form at my doctor's office, so from now on I will be A. Copeland.  We get a laugh out of this because one day when we show our baby this picture, he/she may actually wonder if he/she was conceived out of wedlock!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Kink in the plans

So our "scheduled" closing day was today.  We found out yesterday that it will now be delayed because of a backup in paperwork.  Not on our end, luckily, but on the lender's end.  So we now sit and wait to hear back from them about when our closing will actually be.  We had to make an amendment to our contract with the sellers that the closing would happen sometime between now and May 7th.  Oh well. 

We were slightly disappointed, but not devastated.  Secretly we were just happy to hear that we are delayed, but not denied.  Recently we have been hearing of some horror stories in this area of families getting denied days before their closing.  So, whew! and boo! all rolled up in one.  We don't mind waiting, because we really have not choice.  Below is the a picture of the house:





This view is the view we will have from the master bedroom.  It's great.  We love the hill county.  I love the thought of being able to see it every morning, and I love that we have no backyard neighbors!  It will make our property feel a little bit larger not living right on top of more families behind our house.  There aren't any projects slated for this undeveloped land, and as far as we know, someone actually owns it.  Let's just hope that it remains this way for years to come! Please keep us in your prayers as we hopefully finalize the process of buying our first home.

The bluebonnets were gorgeous this year!  Gorgeous and abundant!  They are starting to go away now, but it really was nice to have such pretty wild flowers this year.  Last year it was a very dry winter so they weren't like this at all.  This winter it rained and it rained.  So yay! 

Dave, Thor and I went for a walk last week and I took my camera in hopes of finding a patch.  I was so happy when we did!  I've been dying to get a picture of my furbaby in the bluebonnets.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Big Dreams

I'm currently obssesed with looking for furniture for our new home!  I'm looking everywhere, and often.  I know that it won't be months until we actually start really furnishing our home, and it will be a slow and gradual process as the budget allows.  I just can't stop myself from looking though.  I look everywhere, Rooms to Go, Ikea, Ashley, Roomstore, mostly all just online right now. Then I also browse craigslist alot, because my real dream is to find a nice second hand set that just needs to be sanded and refurnished.   I would love to really put some elbow grease towards our home.

I also love browsing websites right now for any color and decorating ideas.  Our hopes are to eventually pull out any carpet that is on the first floor and lay down either tile or wood flooring throughout the entire first floor.  We are sort of torn about what we really want to do: tile, saltillo, or wood (laminate), but I know we will have a better idea once we actually move in.  The nicest thing about the home that we have bought is that it's like a clean slate.  Nothing NEEDS to be done right away.  Everything is in great shape and has been well maintained.  We will have plenty of time to save and plan any home improvement projects we would like to do.   Also being so fresh from looking at so many houses trying to decide on "the one" we both have a good idea of the types of things that are appealing to prospective homebuyers, whenever we go to resale our first home. 

And being addicted to HGTV right now helps to feed my obsession.    I can't wait to actually start working on some of our dreams for our house, but for now I'm just really enjoying the dreaming part.  It's much easier :).

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

So much and so little all at once.

Dave's birthday was last weekend and we had a really good time with friends.  It has been somewhat of a tradition for Dave and Jono to celebrate their birthdays together.  Jono's birthday is on April 9th, and Dave's is April 11th, so this year Saturday fell on a Saturday, and it was perfect to celebrate on.  We had dinner at Texas Roadhouse and then we went bowling. So much fun!  I have a couple of pictues, but none that were that great.  I have been so bad about taking pictures lately.  As a matter of fact, I vow right now to be better about it.  

Before we even went out Saturday night, Dave and I were very productive in the yard and the house.  Dave mowed, weeded, and planted seed.  He also worked on scubbing a lot of the outside of the house where our lovely dog has gotten it muddy.  I did all the weekly household chores and was able to whip the house into good shape. 

On Sunday, Dave's actually birthday, his gift was to spend the day however he wanted.  So he sat on the couch all day and played his video game.  I, on the other hand piddled around the house, worked in the garage, did some organizing about the house, took a bath and a nap.  So it was very nice and enjoyable day for us both.  Oh, I can't forget that Dave actually let me watch Julie&Julia first thing in the morning, that was awfully nice because it was his birthday.  The movie was, eh, okay. 

Other than that, we are keep on' keepin' on.  Lots of exciting things coming up, Texas Round-Up 10K, Sarah's dance recital in the Alamodome, Fiesta in San Antonio, closing on our house, getting the keys, starting our move, packing & unpacking, etc.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Easter fun!

Easter was such a blast this year!  It usually is every year, but this year we had a bbq at a park rather than at a family member's house and the weather was awesome.  It was actually borderline too warm.  My mother's side of the family celebrated Easter on Saturday,and my dad's family did on Sunday.  We were only able to make it to San Antonio for Saturday though.  Here's some of my favorite pictures!

The Easter bunny was kind this year!

My cousins after the hunt.

Dave and I.

The best part of Easter: cascarones!!!

No one is safe from the cascarones!

The food was great and the company was great, too.  There was a little playground at the park area that we were at, and it was great for the kids.  They all stayed so busy and were all a little sunburnt.

I have been absolutely horrible about posting, I know, and my Mom has reminded me!  We are just so busy right now and really settling in to married life, which is wonderful.  We have also been busy with our house hunt, which is finally over.  We close on our first home together on April 28, 2010.  So excited!  I have tons of pictures of the house, but the last time we visited the home, the family still occupied it, so I want to wait to share pictures once the house is vacant.

We will be living in Leander and our home backs up to undeveloped land and from our master bedroom we have a great view of the hill country!  That aspect was one of the big selling points for Dave and I.  We will not have to look into keeping wildlife out of our yard, and keeping Thor safe.  The home is 2,300 sq feet, 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath and is a two story.  It has a fomal dinning room and a dinning area in the kitchen as well.  It has a living room downstairs and a family room/loft upstairs.  We really are excited about it, and feel like we will have lots of room to grow into it as a family.  April 28 can't come soon enough!