Belly pics

Well, after much nagging from my family (a.k.a. Mom) - here are the latest pictures of my belly and it's new development. Since I have officially "popped", I thought I would share. Of course by doing this I will forever have a dreaded paper trail of what my belly used to look like. Now my poor child can be tortured with "before mommy had you, this is what I used to look like" stories. Not to mention, the intention was to share how my belly was growing, but now that I sit and look closely at these pictures I realize that my ass has grown as well (Oh YEAH! Just what I always wanted- bigger hips and ass than I had before). I will continue to keep you updated on our progress, although I may look for more flattering pants to take pictures in (and no more zooming in).

The first picture was taken on January 8, 2009 - the week of my last doctor's appointment. The second picture I took this morning, so all of this happened in just 11 days!

First outfit

Over the holidays, I finally broke down and bought the baby his/her first outfit. We have a "tradition" at our house (well, it's really more like a superstition) - Mark and I wear the same outfit every week when we watch the Patriots games. Upholding this tradition, I thought it only appropriate that our child have their own outfit too. IT IS SOOOO ADORABLE!!!

Not a grain of rice anymore...

On Tuesday I went for my 2nd doctor's appointment and all went well. The doctor says everything is going great and all my blood test came back perfect. We got our second ultrasound picture and I was absolutely amazed at the difference between the first and the second! I just kept saying "Holy Cow!" over and over when I saw it (I am trying my hardest to cut back on the cursing - which is extremely hard for me to do, for those who know me well). Dr. Newman finally told me he needed me to stop bouncing up and down so much so he could get a good picture (and boy did he ever). I now see why I have been sooooo tired! That baby grew A LOT in just 4 weeks!

Ultasound at 6 weeks and 4 days (December 8, 2008):

(that tiny little thing at the top of the "black hole" is our little peanut!)

Ultrasound at 11 weeks (January 6, 2009):

(It's starting to look like a REAL BABY NOW!!!)

Christmas 2008

We were very lucky this year to find a great deal on flights up North for Christmas! We are also very fortunate to have my wonderful cousin, Ron, living 3 minutes from us and willing to look after our crazy mutts for a week! So off we went to Jersey/Boston, so I could take advantage of this trip and let the family know we are expecting in person!

Before I begin, I have to start with the reason I have no pictures of Mark's family finding out...Mark has a BIG mouth! I dont know how I was the one to show restraint, but Mark had none. He told his side over the phone before we got there. I did however get 3 lists of baby names from Michael, Britt and Alex (my nieces and nephew), which were quiet extensive. I dont think I need to buy any baby name books since I think the kids wrote down most of the names in the English language. Britt also painted a beautiful picture for the baby's room, which is already in the soon-to-be nursery.

As for my side of the family, as soon as we arrived on Christmas Eve, we went straight to Nonni and Papi's to tell them. I must tell you that every single week (since the week I got back from my honeymoon) when I call my Nonni she begins the conversation with "do you have any news for me?" (in her adorable Italian accent). Of course my answer is always, "No, Bella, nothing yet." Over the last few weeks I had to tell a little fib of course because I just had to see her reaction in person!
As soon as we sat down to eat (because that is what you do the second you walk into Nonni's house), I told them I had to show them something. I took out my ultrasound picture and the moment she saw it she screamed..."No, is this true?"...followed by tears. Then almost without skipping a beat, she asked me "where are we at?" (meaning how far along are you?). I told her 9 weeks and she immediately yelled at me..."Nine weeks, I ask you if you have any news and 9 times you lie to me and say NO!" She is the most adorable person I know! Needless to say, my grandparents were both thrilled and I am sure she has already started to knit something as we type (read).
Here are a few pics of the big reveal to them...

Here are a couple of other pictures of the rest of my family finding out on Christmas Day. As my grandparents Christmas gift, I made a calendar online of family pictures. On July 30th (the due date) I wrote "Bianica's Due Date" - we also decorated the entire month of July with baby stickers. Basically, we let the family flip through the calendar until someone noticed - Tat was the winner (with a little encouraging from TJ). Once she saw, the chaos began....

The Big Reveal to Mom, Buddy and TJ

As some of you know, I FINALLY (after 12 very long years and countless different colleges) graduated from Florida Atlantic University on December 12th. My parents and brother flew down for the big event. Little did they know, I had a whole other suprise planned for them. Luckily, Mark was quick to shoot some pictures of the big reveal and we were able to capture the suprise on their faces. I decided to give my parents and brother frames, which included the very 1st ultrasound picture. Even though the ultrasound looks like the littlest grain of rice, they got the idea and were THRILLED!

Here we go...

Well, I am completely new to the world of "blogging", but with a baby on the way I figured this was the best time to start. After seeing Joanna's blog throughout her pregnancy with adorable Baby Will (my godson-in-law), I thought this is the best way to keep everyone who is so far away updated with the latest pregnancy news.
As you all know by now (because I dont think there is a single person out there that my mother didnt tell), we are expecting our first baby in July and couldnt be more excited! I hope you all enjoy the blog and keep checking in from time to time to see what is new with our little peanut!

Love you all!