Our Christmas

Well, We got back from my parents house today. We had a very nice trip. We got there Christmas eve and just relaxed and hung out with the family.
The next morning, my mom cooked a nice breakfast for us, and we waited for my Dad to get off at 4:30. After he got home, we opened presents and then had a nice turkey dinner, and just hung out.
We got a 32" flat screen TV from my parents, I got a couple outfits, and my grandma made us a king size Double wedding ring quilt. I was so wowed. She hand quilted it! It took her almost a year to make! Here is a picture:

Isn't it gorgeous!

So then Friday, we went out and shopped a bit, spent some Christmas money. We got a DVD player for the bedroom because we are putting our older tv in there, and won't have it hooked up to the satellite. We got the game apples to apples, which if you don't have it, go get it! It is a fun game! We played it like 4 times over the rest of the weekend. I got a nice new purse, and we also got a few Christmas onesies for the baby next year! =)
Saturday, all the cousins and aunts and uncles came over and we had a nice meal and exchanged gifts, and just had a good time catching up. (and holding the 2 new babies!) It was definitely a nice, fun and relaxing weekend. =)
Hope everyone else had a good weekend as well!

Merry Christmas!!!

I pray all of you have a wonderful Christmas today! Don't forget the reason for the Season!

2 more days!

2 more days of work, then we are off to my parents house for a much needed long weekend! =)
Sorry I haven't blogged much lately. I have just been working every day, and exhausted by the time I get home. Luckily my morning sickness has eased up a bit. It is definitely still there, but it is just a little nausea constantly instead of a lot of nausea all the time. =) Hopefully it continues to ebb away until it is gone soon!

Work has been going good lately. No issues. Which is nice. Maybe it's just the christmas spirit, I don't know, But I hope it continues!

Josh and I exchanged out christmas presents last night since we are leaving christmas eve to my parents house... He got me an Ipod Nano! The Green one I wanted! I love it! I spend last night and this morning putting music on it. =) I totally knew what it was, but it was still exciting! Hehe.

I am officially 9 weeks pregnant! yay! Baby Welch is the size of a quarter this week! My next doctor's appointment is the 13th, where I will probably get to hear the heartbeat! yay!

I got some fun presents at work today! I got a pair of earrings, a $25 gift card to Chilis from my secret santa, a $25 gift card to babies r us, a burts bees gift set, and a little lotion/body spray/shower gel set. Josh and I are going to go out to dinner at Chili's tomorrow night. =) I love that place!

Well, I am going to go dry my hair and then go to bed. The pregnancy exhaustion has definitely set in with me! I sleep all night then just want to sleep all day too! Haha. Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!!! (or whatever Holiday you celebrate!)

Baking day!

Today I spent most of the day making goodies for my Christmas goodie boxes. =) On the list was:

Peanut Butter Fudge
Peppermint Bark
Sugar cookies
Peanut butter bon bons
chocolate and white chocolate dipped pretzels
Chex Muddy Buddies

I managed to finish it all, and get the goodie boxes made! And, I didn't get nauseous today at all! =) That is always a good thing! haha.

I think the ultrasound on Tuesday really made me realize that this is real. I am going to have a baby! I'm going to be a mom! It is a little scary to think about. But nonetheless, I am really excited, and can't wait!

Introducing.....

Baby Welch!




I had my first ultrasound today! They measured the baby at 8 weeks, and with a healthy heartbeat! We are so excited to finally see our little peanut! =)

And you know the best part? I found out my insurance pays 100% for prenatal care. That means I don't even have to pay co-pays for my visits. How great is that? I am going to call the insurance and try and get the lab work that was technically prenatal lab work that they applied to my deductible and try and get them to cover it, now knowing they pay for everything. =) That lifts a HUGE weight off of our shoulders financially. Thanks for all your comments and prayers regarding my "Stressed" post!

So, what else did I do today with my mom? Well, We drove 6 hours round trip to Winnemucca, NV to pick up this little cutie of a dog:


Her name is precious, she is a Sheltie, and is my grandma's Christmas present! She was the only one we could find, and is just super adorable. (though totally shy) My grandma recently had to put one of her dogs to sleep, and loves Shelties. =)

Anyways, I am back to work tomorrow. Hope everyone has a happy hump day!

surprise in the mail!

I got home today from shopping with my mom (who bought me an amazingly cute maternity top. I am actually going back to get another one in a different color, because it is so cute. (I will wear it even thought I am not showing yet, because it is that cute, and totally the style right now.) =) I would post a picture, but It will have to wait until I wear it... maybe tomorrow!
But back to the point... I got my swap package today! It was so fun! Full of fun crafty stuff, and chocolate! Here are some pics.




Thanks Leiann!

Oh, and it has been snowing all day! It is so pretty! I love snow! =)

Stressed

I am so stressed right now. We have no money. We make decent money, but it all goes to bills, debt and groceries. We have medical bills from labwork and visits my stupid insurance didn't pay for or applied to my deductible in the amount of $600-700 that I have no clue how we are going to pay. I have to figure out which bills to pay first so that we have enough money to pay them all... and pray they all get paid on time.
Not to mention I am pregnant, and my medical bills are just going to get higher. I really wish I knew what to do. I feel lost. I am stressed, tired, sick and just.... I don't know.
Sorry for the negative mood... I just needed to get that out.

Persimmons, 8 weeks, and Christmas cards!

So, my friend made me take a big bag of persimmons the other day....

I had no clue what to do with them. So, I did a little google search and decided to try making persimmon cookies! I used this recipe. They came out really good! almost taste like pumpkin cookies or something. If you have persimmons you should try them!

In other news, I am 8 weeks today! (from my best calculations.) Baby welch is about 1/2 an inch long! Baby Welch is no longer a mass of cells, but he's looking more and more like a miniature baby-to-be. His face is becoming more defined: eyelids have formed, his nose is beginning to protrude, and his upper lip is taking shape. Where there once were only stubs, fingers and toes are starting to develop from his arms and legs. His heart is beating quickly and strong inside his tiny body.

Oh, and my mom is coming for a couple days next week! she will be here for my first ultrasound appointment too! (that is on tuesday!) I am excited. She will be here on my two days off, so it will be nice to spend some time with her.

Happy friday everyone! I have the day off, and I am going to lunch with a friend, so I hope the morning sickness isn't bad!

I will leave you with our Christmas cards I sent out this year!

Speaking of Christmas cards, we have only gotten one in the mail so far. weird. usually we have a little collection started by now. =) Just a random thought.

Christmas Swap linky!

Some people have started receiving their packages already, so I thought I would put this up! I will post with mine later today after I get off work. =)
All you have to do is enter your name (or blog name) and the url of the blog where you posted about your swap package. Hope you all love your presents!

***this linky will stay at the top of my blog for a few days... For current posts, please scroll down!***

another ugh day... and a nice surprise!

Apparently the sea-bands arent working today.

I am on my lunch break, and have already had to run to the bathroom twice today at work... and once I barely made it in time and almost threw up on the carpet. (luckily one of the girls who was working next to me knows and all I had to say was.. "I gotta.. go... bathroom" as I was running out and she covered for me... since I had a customer waiting. barely got through the guy in front of her. haha.

lets just say I feel pretty crappy today. But hey, I have the next two days off, so I can lay around between stints of cleaning. haha.

Let's just hope I can make it through the rest of the day without another sprint to the bathroom.


Now for the fun surprise! I got home for lunch, and got a package in the mail from my ornament swap partner! I got Two ornaments! Arent they great?!?

This one is hand painted from the inside! through the little hole on top. Isn't it gorgeous?!? I absolutely LOVE it!


This is the legendary pickle. I have been looking for one of these!

Thanks again for the wonderful ornaments!

Back to work I go... bleh...

Lazy day

Today was a lazy day for me. I didn't get out of bed until 11:00! Haha. I woke up several times, but just didn't feel like getting up, so I dozed on and off. I needed it though. I haven't been sleeping too well.
Then I got up, checked me emails, read my blogs, and got some packages together to mail.
Then I went to the Health food store and got some morning ease capsules that help with morning sickness. =) You know what else works? Sea-bands. Those wrist bands for sea-sickness. Yeah, I went for a whole day without being nauseous!
Anyways, then I went to the post office to mail my packages, (Melissa, yours is on its way!) and then took our dog up to the dog park.
Then I came home and started dinner, Turkey stew, using the last of our turkey I made last week. It came out good! I followed the recipe, but used a little extra ingredients, almost doubling it, and using some yellow and orange carrots (have you had yellow carrots? they are really good!) and I added corn as well.
Then I made a sugared cranberry trail mix. It is soooo good! you should definitely try making it. It makes a great holiday gift too, wrap some in some cellophane, and tie with a pretty ribbon! (recipe following)
Then I sat down on the couch and ate, and now I am on here! (Josh is watching Heroes... not my fav. show.)
So anyways, without further ado....

Sugared Cranberry Trail Mix
1 Cup almonds, whole
2 Cups small pretzels
1 Cup dried cranberries
1 egg white
1/2 Cup sugar
1/2 Tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 Tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread almonds evenly on an ungreased
baking sheet. Bake 7 - 8 minutes or until nuts are slightly darker in
color.
Cool completely.
Reduce oven temperature to 225 degrees. In a large bowl, combine
almonds, pretzels, and cranberries. In a small bowl, beat egg white
till foamy.
Pour over pretzel mixture; toss until well coated. In another small
bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Sprinkle over pretzel mixture; toss
until well coated. Spread evenly on a greased baking sheet. Bake 1
hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool completely on pan. Store in an
airtight container. (or eat right off the pan!) =)

Christmas swap package!

I got my package today from Melissa! Very fun! I love swaps! =)
Here are some pictures:

I got some cute ornaments...

A cute snowman figurine...

And some sweets! (minus one I ate... hehe)

ugh

Man, the "morning" sickness has been bad today. I have almost thrown up two or three times. I am really nauseous unless I keep something in my stomach.
I am hoping its true what Raelyn said... Being so sick means the baby's healthy. =)

As far as I can tell I am 7 weeks now. Which mean Baby Welch (someone help me come up with a cute nickname, please!) Is the size of a pencil eraser.
To quote Babyzone.com:
"Your baby-to-be has been busy this week. His brain is continuing to develop. The circulatory system becomes more complex as lungs begin to form. His face is taking shape with his eyes showing some pigmentation, visible ear holes, miniscule nostrils, and an indentation where his mouth will appear. His digestive system and stomach are starting to form. His arms and legs are growing, but his fingers and toes have not yet developed. This week, Baby is about the size of a pencil eraser!"

=) Happy Friday everyone. Unfortunately for me I work all weekend. bleh. I hope I feel better soon! Especially since half the people I work with don't know I am pregnant yet. (last time one of them said she knew I was pregnant at 6 weeks because my boobs got bigger and my hips got wider. huh? really? cause I didn't notice! Let's see how long it takes her to figure it out this time....)

To find out or not to find out...

So, When I was younger I used to say that when I got pregnant I would want to be surprised and not find out the baby's gender. Then as I got older I started to think that maybe I would want to find out, and recently have been like "heck yeah, I'm going to find out..."
But lately I have been re-thinking the whole finding-out thing. several friends and family have said that I should wait and be surprised.
But the problem? I am so impatient! But then I think how neat it would be to wait and be surprised. Josh says it doesn't really matter to him... and I know we have a couple months until we can find out anyways, but I am so torn....
Do I just deal with the impatience, suck it up and be surprised? Or do we find out?
I did find a cute gender neutral bedding set that I really like... Here is a link.

So what do you guys think? Your own personal opinions, not necessarily what you think I should do. I just want to hear your thoughts!

cravings already?

so all of you pregnant bloggers and those who already have kids, I have a question for you...
When did your cravings start?

I really want eggnog and cool ranch Doritos right now. so weird.

Tuesday

Today was a pretty good day. I had to wake up early, which stunk, but I went to the Doctor with Josh for a checkup, then headed over to the hospital lab to get my blood test. Everything looks good, my levels are at 32,000 now, which is right on schedule. I Have my first appointment on the 16th. And I will get an ultrasound! =)
Then I came home and cleaned, because our house was a mess. I had worked 5 days in a row then we left to my parents house for a long holiday weekend, so when we got back it was a huge mess. Then I put the turkey in the oven. It came out good! My first turkey I have ever made! and the gravy was great too! (My mom always makes a milk gravy, not a broth gravy, and I love it!)
I have been pretty nauseous all day. Eating hasn't helped like it normally does. Which stinks. I hope that it doesnt get any worse than this...
But anyways, now we are watching Family matters... I loved this show as a kid! =) And I am thinking about a cup of hot chocolate... hehe.

just another monday...

I had to work today, and I am relieved to say it wasn't that bad. definitely better than last week. =)
Haven't had much nausea today, just a little when I got hungry, and a little tonight.

My doctor's office called me today. I have to go get another blood test tomorrow. Just to make sure my Hcg levels are going up and not down. (I don't know?) Obviously they aren't still high from the m/c, cause they usually go down almost immediately, and I have taken 2 pregnancy tests before I got a positive one. So yeah... Once they get the results back they will schedule me for an ultrasound. Yay! I can't wait for that! =)

I have the next two days off, and I have a house to clean, dishes to do and a turkey to cook. =)

We got our Christmas tree up last night. We got a small one (5ft) and put it on a low table so it looks a little bigger. We couldn't afford a bigger tree. Our budget is extremely tight right now.... It sucks. But at least we have a tree! It smells amazing! And I hat a mug of peppermint hot chocolate tonight. Yum! Complete with mini marshmallows!