Baby Brittany or Nathan

So today I looked at some baby pictures of Nathan and I and after long deliberation decided that if this baby is half as cute as we were, we're in trouble! This kid will get whatever it wants! I also started thinking about the fact that this is the first grandchild on both sides. Then I realized that we're starting the next generation of Carter's as in decendents of Estill Lee and Pearl Carter. I was in generation 3 and I am starting generation 4. This child is going to be so loved! Nathan and I are both so blessed to have wonderful, large families. I can't speak for Nathan, but I can only hope that our baby has half the fun growing up that I did.

Just so that you all can see what I'm talking about, below are a few pictures of Nathan and I when we were just kiddies and we had no idea the other existed.

Nathan

Brittany

Thought you all might enjoy. Can't wait to find out whether we'll be having a little Nathan or a little Brittany. I know Nathan is hoping for a miniature version of himself. I am still undecided on what I think the baby is...about 11 weeks until we find out. Names still have not been discussed, hopefully we will sit down this weekend and try to think of one of each....try being the key word. FYI the nausea has subsided some, but now I have learned that simply thinking about a certain kind of food makes me nauseated. Who knew.

Diane Sawyer and Valentine's Day

I suppose it is inevitable that I would comment about the Diane Sawyer special that was on ABC on Friday night. I am upset about the way that eastern Kentucky was portrayed, but I also felt sorry for the children that are living in poverty. I grew up in an average middle class family and growing up I do recall seeing children that were not as fortunate. There was one girl in my kindergarten class that I always noticed that the moms of the class always paid a lot more attention to her and brought her things. As I got older, I realized that she received these things because her parents couldn't or wouldn't do them for her. I was also able to see less fortunate children because my grandfather was a public figure and I would see all walks of life at rallies and other functions. You could tell that some of the children didn't have what I had. On the same note, this is not something that only takes place in Appalachia. There are children all over the Untied States that do not receive the love and attention that they need and deserve. Drugs in this area are an epidemic. But I hate to be the one to tell Diane that it is not only the poor that are being effected. There are normal and even wealthy that are seeing people in their families that have been sucked into using prescription medications illicitly. I'm fairly certain that every person that I know, knows someone that knows someone that has a drug problem. I try and see how Diane was trying to make the rest of the country understand that there are areas where there is poverty but I am still very angry about their portrayal of the area that I love and have called home my entire life. As a soon to be mom, I hope that our child understands that some people do not have the life that they will have, but that there is poverty all around, and not just in our small part of the world. I also want our child to be proud of where they're from, and know that people are always going to have things to say about our area. I hope that Diane understands that by trying to help the people of Eastern Kentucky, she's only really hurt.

On a lighter note : )....Valentine's Day was wonderful and very low key, just the way I like it! I love going out to dinner for certain occasions, but I feel like Valentine's Day should be spent with just your significant other and not 200 strangers in a restaurant : ). I made cozze bianco (mussells in a white wine sauce) with a french bread to dip in the sauce. It was wonderful, I love it. We got the recipe idea from Carrabba's restaurant. We also had ice cream cake from dairy queen...my favorite! We played with Toby and watched W. (the movie about George W. Bush) I know it's not exactly a romantic movie, but we both liked it. Then we watched Love Actually. GREAT MOVIE! It shows all aspects of love and what can happen when people fall out of love. I definitely recommend it! Nathan and I always say that we aren't going to do much and we always do. I got him a Playstation 3 game he wanted and candy and he got me and Playstation 3 game (one that doesn't involve using a semi-automatic weapon, thank you) and flowers. Overall a great, lazy day. Next year we will have a new addition to our family and it will be SO much more special!

Thank god tomorrow is Friday.

So I keep telling myself that I am not the first girl to work while being pregnant, but I am a whiner as most of you should already know and I love to complain about how tired I am. Today was better than yesterday since there was no nausea. I have now shaped my days into good days (no nausea) and bad days (every smell makes me gag). I made the comment about 7:30 that I was ready for bed and Nathan laughed at me. Then he looked at the less than happy look on my face and quit laughing. So needless to say, I'll be lucky to make it through this blog without falling asleep : )

Nathan and I talked about baby names today for about 30 seconds and got nowhere. Here's how the conversation went:

Brittany: So have you thought of any baby names?

Nathan: No, have you?

Brittany: Not really

and then we finished eating dinner haha. I think the real damper on things right now is the fact that we don't know the sex of the baby yet, maybe then it will be easier....hopefully.

I refuse to buy anything yet since it is so early in the pregnancy, but I had to go to Economy Drug today to pick up my prenatal vitamins and they have some of the cutest stuff in there! Randomly, in a drug store they have cute baby stuff, who knew.

And finally I read in one of my books on pregnancy that I swore I wouldn't read that this week the baby is the size of a blueberry or a grape.

Until next time : )

To all of our family and friends:

Nathan and I (probably myself more than Nathan) have decided to start a blog to monitor our changing life. I found out on January 20, 2009 (the day of President Obama's inauguration that we are going to be first time parents! We are very excited and today we had an internal ultrasound done and we heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time! What an amazing feeling knowing that something so magical is taking place inside your own body! Nathan was of course very excited and kept pointing and saying look I think that's the head, and of course my response was that it pretty much just looks like a blob right now, lol. The heart rate was about 141-143 which I understand from googling the hell out of it that this is good.

I'm still scared considering I am only about 7 weeks along. A lot can go wrong, and it is all very frightening. I joined the What to Expect When You're Expecting website and was really frightened by all the women who have had miscarriages. Keep Nathan and I and the baby in your prayers and hopefully we will have a fairly uneventful and happy pregnancy!

We have been given two due dates, September 26, 2009 and October 3, 2009. Through reading and talking to moms of all ages, I have decided that very rarely does the baby actually arrive on the one date that has been decided.

I am fairly certain that everyone that we have told about the pregnancy has asked if we want a boy or a girl. I DON'T CARE! As long as this baby is healthy, we are good!

I also feel the need to address the constant peeing, nausea, and fatigue. It is worse than I could have ever imagined. I am tired ALL the time and I wake up at a minimum 3 times per night to pee. I tried to keep count the other day at work how many times I had to pee and I lost track after 8. RIDICULOUS! lol The fatigue is pretty crazy too, I have never been an early to bed kind of girl and these days I am lucky to make it past 10:00. I have had to TiVo all my shows that come on at 10. The nausea didn't hit until the beginning of this week. IT has been the least annoying of the pregnancy woes thus far. Only certain things make me nauseous and I haven't had uncontrollable upchucking, which is always nice.

Well, hopefully I haven't scared the bejesus out of everyone! I will try to update every few days to keep everyone up to date!

Ohh yes and below is a picture of the baby Carter-Ratliff!