Christmas day with the Easteps

Christmas this year differed from tradition.  We usually spend this holiday with Joe's family in Illinois.  We only get up there once or twice a year, so it's very special for us to visit at Christmas and have that time to catch up and visit with everyone.  This year we couldn't make it.  Joe started a new job a few months ago and I used  all of my vacation time due to illness over the summer.  I know it hurt Joe terribly to miss another holiday with is family.  The only saving grace was that we were able to visit over Labor Day weekend this year.  While that didn't make up for missing my favorite holiday with his family, it took away the sting.

Since we couldn't get to Illinois, I thought it would be nice to visit my sister and her family for the weekend.  We hadn't seen them since summer, and since we never spend Christmas with my family it seemed like an ideal opportunity.  The thought of seeing my 7 year old nephew's face as he unwrapped gifts was all the incentive I needed to hop in the car and make the 5 hour drive.  We drove up Saturday and spent Christmas Eve with them.  We played games, watched movies and caught up.  It was wonderful.  The next day we came over around 11 and stayed until after midnight.  We missed Gavin opening most presents, but I'd had a rough morning and couldn't get there any earlier.  We did get to watch him open ours though and thanks to some great hints from Mom and Dad, he loved everything we got him.  That made us happy of course.  All in all we just had a great time together, which is what it's all about.  My sister is thrilled about becoming an Aunt and Gavin is so excited to finally have a cousin.  We explained that the baby will be small and no fun to play with for a few years but Gavin doesn't care, he loves babies and can't wait.

This is Gavin and I playing Jenga.  He is really good at this game and we had so much fun playing together!

Christmas Eve and The Big Reveal

We were really excited and nervous about telling our families about our big news.  We decided that the best way to tell them was as a Christmas gift.  I went online and found really cute ultrasound photo frames for the grandparents.  At our 12 week scan, we told the tech our plan and she made up two pictures that said "Hi Grandma and Grandpa" on the ultrasound.  Things were a bit rushed from here to get the pictures to the grands in time for our big reveal, but thankfully FedEx is reliable and they arrived with a day to spare.  We told Joe's parents that we would Skype with them on Christmas Eve.  When the time came, we called Larry and Marie and after the usual wait to get things set correctly on the computer, we asked them to open our gifts.  Our connection wasn't good so we went ahead and had them open the u/s picture first even though we originally planned on it being last.   As they opened the box, our nervousness was at it's peak.  We weren't disappointed in their reactions!  Marie said "Are you serious?" about 5 times.  While we laughed and said, "Yes, we're serious".  Then they both told us how thrilled they were and we could feel their love and excitement through the screen.  Having family that loves you that much, well there are no words for it other than we're blessed.   We gave Marie permission to tell the rest of the family for us at dinner that night.  Even though we couldn't be there to share the news ourselves, our call with family made it clear that everyone was excited about the newest Smith.

My family reveal was less eventful but they are no less excited.  My parents laptop wasn't cooperating so Skype wasn't an option, instead we had them open their gift over the phone and I'll never forget my Mom's voice saying "you're pregnant!".  They are thrilled for us and can't wait to meet their newest grandchild.  My sister and family were equally overjoyed.  And Gavin can't wait to finally have a cousin.  Now that it's finally out there we'll begin telling friends over the next few weeks.

12 week scan

Today was our NT (nuchal translucency) scan.  We were able to see our baby on ultrasound again today and it was beyond amazing!  No more gummy bear, this looks like a full fledged miniature baby.  Little head, arms with teeny tiny hands waving, legs kicking with perfect little feet pointing.  We watched in awe as Little Smith stretched one leg and then the other.  Arms and tiny hands to mouth and away again.  It was beautiful!  Our ultrasound technician was wonderful, she let us watch and marvel at our little one as they moved around the screen.  She told us our baby is very photogenic and we got some great pictures of them.  They are very calm, just like Mommy and Daddy.  We're hoping they stay this way :)  She did our measurements and everything looks fantastic.  Growing right on target, and no signs of any problems.  We are going to tell everyone on Christmas Eve when we're officially 12 weeks...we're so excited!!