Oh, The Holidays..

It's been a very busy couple weeks for Ray and I. We spent our very first Christmas together, had a lovely week off of work, and had my sweet sister and brother for a visit. We also hosted a BIG New Year's Eve party, and I heard our sweet baby's heartbeat!

I expected Christmas to be a hard day for me, since this year was my very first Christmas away from home. I love Christmas at my parents' house so much, and the thought of a quiet Christmas alone with my love, while sweet, made me so homesick. But it turned out to be really really wonderful. Ray spoiled me with sweet, thoughtful gifts (he's so good), and I really loved waking up and opening gifts together in our PJ's. We spent the day with Ray's family, which was really nice, and I was able to Skype with my family while they opened gifts and celebrated together. In the end I missed them very much, but felt like I was just where I was meant to be. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day:

How thoughtful..

Ray torturing Bagel.

Poor guy.

Ray's favorite gift!

Just kidding, this is his favorite.

Baby's first book, from his sweet Daddy.

My brother Luke and my sister Shea came to stay with us for the New Year's weekend. They are both so much fun and so cute! It made me so happy to have them around for a few days. We somehow ended up hosting the party this year for New Year's Eve. It was a Murder Mystery, set at a Chateau in the Alps, slash dance party that went on well into the morning hours, so Lord knows I was exhausted the rest of the weekend. Thank goodness we had Monday off of work to recover!

On Wednesday I went in for a check-up and got to hear our sweet baby's heart beating for the 2nd time. It's so special and so exciting. The happiest sound I've ever heard.

I hit my second trimester and started feeling A LOT better just in time for Christmas. I have my old energy back, so life is pretty good. It's probably going to take the week for me to recover from New Year's, but that's another story. I am 15 weeks along today, and noticing lots of changes. My belly is growing steadily (finally!), and I'm dying to feel that little one moving in my belly. Any minute now, they say. He's about the size of an apple- about 4 inches long! I can't wait to see him during our sonogram this month and find out if he's a boy or a girl. Then we can choose a name! So so exciting.

Also, on a side note, I came across this on the interwebs recently. Can't wait for this to happen to my stomach! (Notice the missing stomach in the 3rd trimester diagram...)