Sorry for the interruption . . .

YAY FOR KELLI!!!!!

I can't wait to see your twins!!

That is all.

Was it the best Christmas ever? I have no proof.

Well. After a weekend full of Christmastime activities and then a blizzard to top it off, I am tired!! I hope everyone had as great of a holiday as we did.

Just how great of a holiday did we have?

It was a good one. You'll have to trust me, because I realized I did not take one single picture to capture any of it.

The Joes are going to suck as parents, I think.

There would have been tons of great picture opportunities, too. Like when our parents opened their framed pictures of Baby Joe. Or when Mr. Joe dressed in plus sized women's Christmas themed clothing for a competition with the boys. Oh, why did I not take any pictures????

Maybe because I was too busy barfing and sleeping. And defending the fact that I don't want to eat seafood or deli meats or change the kitty litter BECAUSE THESE ARE REAL PRECAUTIONS, NOT JUST SOMETHING I MADE UP.

People don't seem to understand that I have waited what seems like eons for this child, and that I will do NOTHING to screw it up. If that means walking on my hands for nine months, then so be it. I pity the fool who has something to say about it. So it was only natural when the funsucker (have I mentioned the funsucker on here before?) said something about how I was overreacting by not eating deli meat that I let her know that she was going to be a terrible mother.

The funsucker, if I haven't mentioned her before, is Mr. Joe's cousin's girlfriend. She is horrible and sucks the fun out of everything. EVERYTHING. Even Christmas. I coined the name almost immediately after meeting her and the name has stuck. I don't think Mr. Joe's cousin knows about it, but I'm pretty sure if he did, he would agree. She must have beer flavored nipples, because she is terrible. But I digress.

Anyway, no pictures, but a fabulous holiday. We're going to tell our friends on New Year's eve, and then that's really it. No one else will really know until I start showing. I've been telling people not to say anything on facebook or in public. Seeing announcements or hearing news through the grapevine still stings. Although we have finally made it here, I don't think I will ever forget that feeling. That's why I don't plan on making a huge announcement. I don't want to inflict that kind of feeling on anyone. Know what I mean?

If I don't get on here again this week, I hope everyone has a fantastic and safe New Year's!

Introducing . . .

Baby Joe:

A real, live baby in MY uterus!

I can't even describe to you the feeling I had when I saw that screenshot. Mr. Joe couldn't make it to the appointment, so I took Ronnie with me. We were laughing and joking around the whole time, which was good because I was terrified. . . that is until the lights were dimmed and that picture of my peanut illuminated the room.

Friends, it was a definite moment. A moment I didn't realize I had been waiting all of my life to see, until it was lighting up my world - literally.

Dr. I-don't-have-time-to-listen-to-you said everything was perfect (aside from my bp, which was awful over terrible, since I was so nervous), heartbeat of 145. The beating heart made it look like Baby Joe was clapping :-) Then she handed me the pictures of the ultrasound and started rambling about the testing that needs to be done. I didn't really listen to any of it. I was too busy processing the fact that I wasn't dreaming.

Until the dr advised me that as of January first, she would no longer be doing obstetrics and she was pushing me on to a new dr! I'm sure most people would be sad or annoyed, but I am so happy that I don't have to find a new dr and break up with this one! I was able to meet her, and I'm pretty sure I'm her first real patient ever, but I'll take it. One less thing to worry about :-)

I probably won't get a chance to post anything until after christmas. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!!! You all deserve everything your hearts desire :-)

Sorry for the brief hiatus . . .

This will be a long and boring update on my life since I last spoke to you, don't say I didn't warn you . . .

We took a mini trip to NYC Thursday night into last Friday. Despite being exhausted and barfy, I had a great time. It was about 26 degrees, but felt like 4 degrees, so we popped in and out of places all over the city. We went to the Disney store (not the world of Disney anymore) in Times Square, Rockefeller Center, and this really nice bar that our friend Mike (who we were staying with) frequents. We had dinner at THE GROSSEST TGI Fridays EVER. DO NOT EVER go to the TGI Fridays in Times Square. It was dirty and nasty, and being in the barfy stage of pregnancy I was in the bathroom a lot. The bathroom was beyond disgusting. There was trash all over the place, of the litter and people variety, and it smelled horrible. The minute we arrived at home, I wrote a letter.

Enough about that though, here are some pictures:

James and Mike:

The tree!!

This is me looking super tired. I was having a good time, but I don't think that really is coming through in this photo:-)

Friday, we spent the day walking through the city. Mike lives about 3 blocks from Central Park, so we started the day by walking through the park. It was so nice to have nothing to do but hang out together and relax. As we strolled through the park, we talked about the future and Baby Joe and how excited we were. If Baby Joe sticks, we'll have a baby just months after Mr. & Mrs. B, which we are stoked for. That was the whole reason for the Baby Phone Tree! The whole day felt surreal. I still can't believe that this is happening!

Training for the new job is going really well. I am learning so much about short term disability, which I will just so happen to need in 9 months or so :-) I truly think this was the right move for me.

As far as being knocked up, so far it hasn't been so bad. I've only been sick a few times and I am exhausted beyond belief, but I'm not complaining. In fact, anytime I feel too "normal" and start to panic that this is all going away, I talk to Baby Joe and ask him/her to make me sick and tired. My baby listens to me and she/he doesn't even have ears yet :-)

I am in complete denial that Christmas is in a week. I've done zero shopping. I have my first appointment on 12/21, and that's all I can think about. So my shopping will most likely start on 12/22 . . .better late than never!

Sorry this is long and boring. Hopefully I have a more exciting post on Wednesday for you all!

Yawn

Hi friends.
First things first: you, dear internets, are the best. Thank you for all of your emails and comments! You guys made me feel like a million bucks. :-)
I called Dr. Doesn't Listen to Me ( I know I had another clever name for her, but I'm too tired to look for it now. Its my OB, not the foreign accent RE guy) and they set me up for an appointment on the 21st. No blood test till then. I am only slightly freaking out. So far, I'm pretty sure I'm still pregnant. There was a small, minute spot of blood yesterday but I didn't allow myself to freak out. I'm trying to remember that this is all out of my hands, but I'm terrified of it being taken away.
I've been really really REALLY tired. It is becoming increasingly difficult to drag myself out of bed. I contemplated just peeing my pants yesterday so that I wouldn't have to get up. Lucky for Mr. Joe I decided against just letting go, but I worry that someday soon I will decide that it's totally worth it to pee my pants.
Other than that, and a few moments of nearly barfing, life has been normal. We haven't told many people, just 3 people and the blog, so we pretty much have to pretend that everything is the same. After my appointment on the 21st, we'll tell our parents so until then my lips are sealed. I am praying that we see a heartbeat and everything looks normal.
The new job has been wonderful. We haven't really done anything at all besides learning how to use email and touring the building. Since I am an internal transfer, I don't need any of that mishmosh. My biggest challenge has been staying awake.
Mr. Joe and I are taking a mini 3 day weekend trip to NYC this weekend. I can't wait to go to World Of Disney! Hope everyone has a marvelous weekend!

I have no words for this . . . well, maybe two:

I've had an interesting weekend.

It started on Friday, with my last day at my crap call center job. A chapter closed. I wanted to celebrate by waiting in line at WalMart with my friends to buy Eclipse on DVD at midnight, but I have this awful cold which kept me on the couch instead.

Saturday, I woke up feeling worse. Mr. Joe made me scrambled eggs and cheese in bed, which were marvelous, and I decided that in my gross coughy state, we should not attend our friends' annual Christmas party that night. My celebratory weekend was not turning out the way I had planned at all. Mr. Joe decided around noon that he would take a nap. I wanted to drug myself with Nyquil, but we were fresh out, so out I went to Walgreens.

As I was searching the aisles for my drug of choice, I passed by THE AISLE. You know the one. It occurred to me then that I was late - if I was a normal person. I haven't really been paying attention on our break so I wasn't convinced this meant anything, but I can't resist peeing on things, so on a whim, I bought a FRER. Then I peed on it. Well, first I went home, THEN I peed on it. Then I almost threw up.

At first glance, it looked like a faint positive. Then I realized that the dark line was the test line. It sucked all the ink out of the control line.

Holy shit.

Part of me was fighting this, because it would appear to the outside world that once I just relaxed I ended up pregnant. If you know anything about me, know this: I HATE TO BE TOLD I TOLD YOU SO. Which is precisely what my turd husband said. I would have punched him in the face, but I'm with child, and I thought that would be a bad idea.

Another part of me is extremely cautious. I must only be 10 minutes preggo at this point. We have only told 3 people, and you guys of course. If anything were to go wrong, those are the people I would cry about it to, so it only made sense to say something now.

Still ANOTHER part of me is sad for those of you who haven't made it here yet. I know how it feels to read another BFP post and have the inner war with my emotions. I am still praying every night for you. So far, God has been answering my prayers. It's taken me a little while to trust Him, but He seems to know what He is doing. I understand if you stop reading. I promise not to take it personally. I won't stop reading and praying for you though.

I feel like I am dreaming. I can't believe that tomorrow, I will be training for a job where I won't be talking to angry people who hate me all day long. I can't believe that I will be learning about how to manage some one's case and be growing a human being at the same time. I can't believe that I might be getting everything I've ever wanted.

Holy shit.

O Happy Day!

I thought this day would never come!!! Today is my LAST DAY in the call center!!!!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

I can't even describe my excitement. I think the "EEEEEEE" partially sums it up.

Hope everyone has as marvelous a weekend as I will!