Our first baby

No, I'm not talking about the growing one inside me.  I'm talking about this guy:

After all, he is our first baby - just look at him!  Have you ever seen another dog (or any animal for that matter) that likes to be held like a baby?  I took this picture at work yesterday as we got in some quality snuggle time.  Not sure how he's going to handle it when there is a human baby in his spot...hopefully he can step up to the plate and be a good big brother :)  If not, we might be investing in obedience classes...

Daddy Skills

Courtesy of  K-Strat (it's a rap video, so I'm using her rapper name), here's a hilarious video about being a dad.  We're also going to start watching "Guys with Kids" this fall - maybe Alex can pick up some pointers :)

Watch "Daddy Skills" here.

Maternity Clothes

Truthfully, the thought of buying maternity clothes kind of bums me out, at least until there's an actual baby-looking belly to put in them.  But I don't have a bump yet.  For now, I just look like I ate too big of a lunch and bought  pants in a size too small.

At some point, I'm going to have to break down and buy those stretchy waisted jeans, but that time hasn't quiiiiite come yet.  However, I did make the most important purchase to fit my soon-to-be baby belly - a bigger Bears jersey!

Alex demonstrated just how well he knows me the other night as we walked by the Reebok outlet.  He said, "hey I'll bet Reebok jerseys are on sale now that they're no longer official.  Want to go buy one that will fit your belly through football season?"  It was an offer I couldn't refuse.  I may not have any pants that fit well, but at least I'm ready for the Bears!  That qualifies as maternity clothes, right?

2 years

Two years ago today, Alex and I got married and forever joined our lives together as one - what a great day :)  Looking back, I thought we had a lot going on in that year leading up to our wedding - we both got new jobs, moved to Chicago, planned a wedding, bought a condo, and got married.  My grandma passed away just two weeks later, I went through my first election on the campaign, and Alex got a different job.  It was a busy time.

When all of that subsided, I remember thinking, now things will settle down for awhile.  Now we'll have some consistency, and we have had that.  We've had time to decorate our place, pick up a new (for us) car, make some great new friends, and make fun memories with old ones.  But just two quick years later, and we're embarking on the biggest adventure yet - Herbie.

I wonder if, two years from now, I'll look back at this time and think, that was the calm before the storm that is raising children.  Or maybe I'll look back and have trouble even remembering what life was like before Herbie.  Or maybe we'll be getting ready to embark on some new unforeseen adventure.

Whatever we're facing, I am so blessed to face it with Alex.  There is nobody I'd rather go through life with.  I guess that's why I married him :)

My first baby purchase

Well, technically it's not my first baby purchase (I bought a onesie and a bib to make our announcement to my parents...more on that another time), and technically it's not just for the baby buuuuut my motivation for buying it now was all about the baby so it counts.

I bought my first DSLR camera.  I wanted a camera that would take great pictures, and not cost a gazillion dollars, so I decided on a refurbished Canon EOS Rebel T3.

I learned a lot about cameras after much online research and some advice from a photographer friend.  Basically they all said, buy a camera body you can afford because unless you are a professional photographer, you'll never use all the bells and whistles, and save your money for good lenses, because that's what will affect the picture quality.

I chose Canon over Nikon because I liked the way the buttons were laid out better.  Really scientific.  Now I just have to learn how to use the darn thing before February so I can capture our little bundle of joy in his/her full glory :)

Meet Herbie

Ladies and gentleman, I am pleased excited ecstatic to formally introduce the newest member of the Heacock household - Herbie :)

Herbie is the little nugget currently taking up residence in my belly.  This picture is a little out of date - I was eight weeks along then and tomorrow marks the end of 13 weeks - but because it's Herbie's first photo, I had to share.

Over the next 27 weeks, or however long it takes for Herbie to join the world, I'm going to chronicle our journey together here, both for posterity's sake and also because I've already found out a lot about being pregnant that no one tells you before it happens, so this is my extended public service announcement.  Some of it is informational, some is miraculous, and some may be a little gross - consider yourself warned :)

To kick things off, I'll start with a miracle.  When that picture was taken, there were also sound effects - we could hear Herbie's very strong and very regular heartbeat - 162 beats/minute to be precise.  After just eight short weeks, our baby had its very own heartbeat, completely separate and and distinct from mine.  I almost can't even fathom it - that there's a new heart beating inside of me - but it's definitely there.  I've heard it twice.  And besides sharing some space in my belly, I haven't done a thing to make it happen.  Absolutely miraculous if you ask me.

Family Fun

So I sort of missed a month of blogging - whoops! But I'm back, and I'll try to be better :)

Last weekend, my parents and I traveled to Indiana to celebrate my aunt's dad's 98th birthday (my cousins' other grandpa)! Alex couldn't make it because of work commitments, so it was just me and the 'rents.

We had such a good time together, even though it was only one night. Here's the birthday boy (Harry) with my mom - we got him beer for his birthday. What else does a 98 year old need?
Baby Harry (named for Grandpa Harry) is getting so big...literally! He is an adorable fat baby who loves to be picked up. He's starting to learn our names, which is just too cute for words.

The twins are already 6 1/2 - Saturday was their half birthday :) They too are getting big - some day soon they will be too cool for monster games and sitting on laps and hugs goodbye, but for now I'm going to enjoy every fun crazy minute I can get with them!

And here's the whole crew - so glad we were able to be with them for the celebration!