Recap of 2009

Well, 2009 was probably one of the best years EVER for Ben and I.

There have been a lot of accomplishments!

I was going through my 2009 picture folder

and thought I would just go back over the highlights of last year!

In January Ben turned 24!

In February Ben and I went to College Station!

I was able to reuinite with my best college buddy Jenny!

We had a freaking blast!

March-April was pretty uneventful.

I did drive with my sister and Dad to Idaho.

We dropped my sister off at school there!

I was also still in school and DYING to be done!

In May I finally graduated from nursing school!

My family threw me a graduation party that weekend!

Fun times! All my favorites came!

Soon after that, I passed the licensing test and started working as an RN in the ICU.

Before I started working though, Ben and I took a trip to San Antonio and Corpus Christi in June.

I was able to meet more of Ben's family.

We had so much fun together!

We visited the malls, beaches, and just had a good time!

After our trip Ben and I pretty much just worked.

It wasn't soon after however (July), that we got the

best news OF OUR LIVES!

I WAS PREGNANT!

(This was the picture I sent to Ben when I found out.)

The rest of this year was pretty much me being pregnant! haha.

Ben and I have been working and getting ready for baby!

In October we found out we were having a boy!

November was my sweet nephews 2nd bday!

And in December, Ben and I took a trip to Dallas/Fort Worth to be there for my best friend Megan's wedding! We had such a good time just hanging out together! The wedding was beautiful!

Man. What a good year.

We feel so blessed in our lives right now.

Hopefully 2010 will bring some more great things to blog about!

He loves it.

Here I am at 28 Weeks!

And yes, we do torture our dogs by

making them wear cute sweaters.

He's happy on the inside.

Our Christmas.

We had a fabulous Christmas this year.

We got to spend the day with both of our families.

We are so lucky that they both live here.

We started out at Ben's families house,

and here are some pics.

This picture cracks me up because it was not meant to be taken like this.

Ben's brother was taking it to check the lighting

and here is what we looked like.

So typical. haha.

Ok, here is our cute one.

Here is Rick (Ben's twin...in case you couldn't tell)

and his girlfriend Lesla. She is also expecting :)

They are going to have a baby girl in May.

Yay for babies!

This one of Ben's younger brothers Eric and his girlfriend Priscilla.

Don't they look great together?

And here are Ben's parents. Ben's Dad is wearing his new jersey.

Love them. :)

After that we went to my families house

....and we didn't really take any pictures.

But here is the one picture I got of me and Roxanne.

We has a great time at my families though.

My Grandparents are in town. It's always nice to see them.

Ben and I also got a camcorder for Christmas.

We decided we needed one now that we were going to have a little boy :)

Speaking of which-- I am ready to have my kid already.

This is starting to drag out.

I still have until MARCH. That seems like forever away.

Everyone says, "Oh it will go by so fast." Well. It's not.

So please don't comment that to me. haha.

I'm just ready already. I feel him all moving around

and look at his little boy clothes, and I want to hold him.

Also, I don't want to work full time anymore.

It's hard being huge and working 12 hour night shifts nursing.

Life is better with doggies.

Charlie likes to hold my yarn while I knit a

baby blanket for little boy :)

Seriously. Cutest dog ever.

(I think this post made me seem like an

80 year old in more than one way....)

26 Weeks

As if I wasn't big enough,

I decided to wear a huge pattern across my belly. Haha.

And yes. I do make grunting noises

whenever I stand up or roll over.

My New Boyfriend Finnaeus.

He smells absolutely delightful. He has a fabulous head of hair. He's great at cuddling. He has a cute tush, AND I'm pretty sure he's in love with me! It is my new boyfriend Finnaeus! I'm a lucky girl, huh? Just look at this hunk of man!

My friend Allison had her baby about 3 weeks ago and is in town to visit, so naturally I had to see this little man! He is wonderful. It makes me anxious to hold my own little boy. There is nothing better than that baby smell! However, there was one moment where he started getting fussy and I was like "Uhhh...I dont know what to do." So I just gave him back to Allison. After that I was nervous, but she assured me when I have my little guy I will know what he needs. Great time to panic about having a baby huh? haha.

I look like a natural huh? haha.

He was happy I was holding him.

"You're picky about everything!"

This is the statement my friend made to me the other day, and while pondering over it I have realized that she is right. She actually said it in a joking way, but when she said it I started trying to disprove her statement....I came up with zero evidence to argue with. When I told Ben she said this he just laughed and said, "Umm, I'm pretty sure I've been trying to tell you this for as long as I've known you. I can't believe she says it once and now you understand." Sadly, I understand now. I realized I am picky about food, music, clothes, colors, books, etc. and the list goes on. IT'S TRUE! I'm not proud of this fact. I wish it was easier for me to eat and read, but that is just the way I am. Well, the point of writing about this problem I have, is that it is now spilling over to baby stuff.

This issue came up the other day while talking with Ben's Mom. She was asking me if I had found material to make the baby a blanket. I told her I went to both fabric stores and found nothing. "Nothing? They have tons of cute baby fabric!" Was her reply. I however, did not think this was true. I went home empty handed. Then I was showing her the shirts and blanket I bought for him, and she said "Natalie, don't buy too much because you are going to get a TON of clothes at the baby shower." "Well, I want him to wear what I like." was my response. Now don't get me wrong, having a baby shower will be great, and I know I will get a lot of good stuff. I just think I might as well dress my kid the way I like!

A few days later I was with my Mom and she pulled out some fabric she wanted to use to make me burp pads. The fabric had monkeys all over it. (now be aware that she didn't go out and buy the fabric for me. She had it already.) I don't like monkeys. I think they are creepy and not cute at all. I politely told her no thanks on that fabric. She did have other fabric that I liked though. (Am I sounding like a brat?) (I hope not.) I'm just wondering if I am the only picky person out there. I doubt I am, however, sometimes it feels like I am. I just really don't like monkeys. There also seems to be a lot of monkey stuff in the stores right now. When I went to find fabric there were tons of monkey fabrics and hardly any cute green or brown stuff. I feel like baby stuff is either baby blue or pink. Does it make my picky to want green, brown, or elephant?

Here is the bedding I want to get our little boy:

Cute huh? Maybe I'm not picky. I'm just particular....

I am also very particular about baby names. I had lists of names before we even talked about getting pregnant. I do have the perfect name though! Maybe I'll blog about it once it gets closer.

Thanksgiving.

This Thanksgiving was kinda weird. Haha. Enough said. We started off eating at my parents house, and then we went to Ben's parent's after that. We ate some good food! We also ended up going to a movie later that night with Ben's brother Rick and his girlfriend Lesla. We saw 2012. Ben said it was dumb haha, but I thought it was ok. It seemed like a really long movie. I also went with Nicole and Jeremy to try and get a family picture of them with Spencer. Christmas card time! Maybe Ben and I will start doing Christmas cards when it's not just me and him!

Here are a few pics I took from Thanksgiving:

Here is us by the table.

When I stand next to Ben I look huge! haha.

I also look super pale...which I am...but oh well.

Spencer is so stinking cute. I sure love that kid!

He cracks me up every time.

He was having way too much fun with the olives!

Olives on toes! haha.

This Thanksgiving Ben and I have really felt SO thankful for our little baby boy that we will be having in March. There are no words for how blessed we feel. When we were discussing things we are thankful for at my parent's house we also talked about what we hope we will have accomplished before next year. Ben was so cute when he said, "Well, something I'm nervous about is being a good dad, so hopefully by next year I will feel more confident as a dad. I just want to be a good one" How cute is that?? He hadn't said anything about being nervous to me, but it made me happy to know it means so much to him.

I figured I would just stick my 24 week picture in this post just for the heck of it!

Bigger and Bigger! It was kinda weird though because I had two different people at the hospital just barely notice I was pregnant this week! I wear bigger scrubs but I thought it was pretty obvious some time ago! These are people I see everyday too! They were surprised that I was, and I was surprised this was the first time they noticed!

My Baby Bump. (23 Weeks)

Well I have been putting off taking a picture lately

for no apparent reason,

but I finally got one at 23 weeks!

I feel much bigger,

and I am certainly

getting more comments about my bump.

Funny thing is,

and please tell me if I am the only one who is like this,

but sometimes I forget I have this belly.

It's funny cause at work I will try to squeeze past things or people like I used to,

and I just end up getting stuck. It always surprises me too.

I have this quick moment where I'm like:

"What the heck?? Why didn't that work?? "

However, I soon remember that there is no way I will fit and try

to inconspicuously get out of the tight spot.

I try to fit places I don't fit anymore!

I also tried to lay on my stomach to get a picture of my nephew

and ended up being stunned when I realized I couldn't do it.

I guess I just forget every now and then that I have this lump.

Anyways, I am excited for this week!

I only work Mon and Tues

and then I have the rest of the week off!

Somehow I was lucky enough to get

Thanksgiving off. :)

Ben and I will both be off work and enjoying it with our families.

Then, this weekend we are going on a little trip which I will explain after the fact!

We are going to have lots of fun though!

I'm excited to just relax and enjoy Thanksgiving

with Ben and the fam.

Happy Birthday Spencer!

Happy 2nd Birthday my sweet nephew!

Tonight we went to Spencer's B-day party.

Poor little guy was sick :(

But that didn't stop him from playing in the

Thomas the Train tent we got him!

YAY! We love him SO much!