Since our last post two years ago, quite a bit has happened. In July 2009, Molly joined our family. She is a sweet and precious soft coated Wheaten Terrier, who I almost chucked out a window today because she ate one of my shoes. In the same month, I was able to transfer to the Clarian Arnett system here in Lafayette to a new job. Eliminating my 2 hour plus commute everyday was life changing. In December, Nick graduated from Purdue with his PhD. He's currently doing a one year post-doc, which will end in December. Yes, all of this was exciting news, but our biggest news thus far has been finding out that we are going to be parents! And not just to a dog, but to an actual baby! In early January, we discovered that I was pregnant. Then, on January 21st, we went for our first ultrasound, and found out that we were 6 weeks along. Hearing the baby's heartbeat was an indescribable feeling and it made us realize that "yes this is actually going to happen". I wish there was a better term than excited to describe how we felt. We kept the secret from everyone until my mom's birthday on February 19th. It was great to be able to tell them in person and share in their excitement. So yes, you may very well see my mother at the mall up to her ears in baby clothes :)
On May 13th, we went for our 20 week ultrasound. I had myself worked into such a tizzy prior to this appointment. I was excited, nervous, and scared all at the same time. I cannot describe how relieved I felt to hear and see that everything with our baby looked perfect. The ultrasound technician was also able to get some great 3D pictures of the baby's face. She remarked about how he was an usua
lly cute baby. Nick's response was "of course". Yes, I do believe that we have one very proud dad! We had the technician write the gender of the baby on a piece of paper and put it into an envelope so we could open it up at home together. Nick made me put the envelope in my purse and then he put my purse in the trunk of the car to assure himself that I wouldn't open it up on the way home. Of course I would never do something like that ;) At home, we were able to open the envelope up and learn that we are having a baby boy.
Since learning that we are expecting a boy, nesting mode has kicked into full gear. Nick spent today completely redesigning the nursery closet to make it "baby" friendly. Now it's just waiting for us to fill it with all sorts of cute baby stuff. Although, I must admit that I'm pretty clueless about all of this "stuff" that we're going to need. I have made some big decision though. A couple of weeks ago we ordered our nursery furniture. Let me just say that this was no easy task. It took three trips to Kids Room and hours of scrutinizing websites to finally pick it out. Your can click here to see our
crib,
changing table, and
bookcase. The next biggest decision was definitely the bedding. I have looked at enough crib bedding sets online, that I actually had
dreams about baby bedding last night. However, I talked to my mom today, who made the decision so much easier. Thanks Mom!! So I think we're going with a nautical theme from Pottery Barn.
Click on the Baby Manicke picture link to see pictures of nursery closet, ultrasound pics, and other baby-related things!
I was hoping for a nice, relaxing day off today. Nick and I had worked hard over the weekend painting the living room and hallway, so I had no plans for today. Unfortunately, my day involved waking up with a sick doggie and then taking her to the vet, sitting there for 2 hours, then being told that she needed surgery for a bowel obstruction. I then cried for an hour or so before they called me back saying surgery wasn't necessary, praise the Lord!! Needless to say had been in quite a state of distress. Nick is at a conference, so I was the lone doggie parent today. The surgeons requested that an ultrasound be done just to confirm the obstruction. Thankgoodness that they requested this, because the U/S showed that there was no obstruction! They kept Miss Molly for the afternoon for observation and gave her some IV fluids. I was able to bring her home this evening. She still is one sad puppy, but hopefully she'll be feeling better tomorrow. I think she may get to sleep with Mommy tonight!
