Life As We Know It...

Life as we know it slowly began its descent to being over on the afternoon of December 18, 2012. That's the day our lives changed f.o.r.e.v.e.r! We took a pregnancy test, and low and behold if there weren't two pink lines on one, and a blue plus sign on the other. To be honest, we were shocked. Sweet Britt actually looked at the test first {I might have fainted if I saw it first}. After the LONGEST three minutes of our lives {for those of you who have never had the pleasure of peeing on a stick, that's how long you have to wait to see the results!} Britt walked into the bathroom {all while thinking it was going to be negative} and said, "oh my gosh--it's positive". I am not sure what my reaction was. I know I was happy, but also just plain shocked. After all, we were not planning, just pleasantly surprised! So we hugged, jumped up and down, screamed {I'm sure our neighbor could hear us through the walls}, hugged some more, looked at the test again, and then just stood there. We weren't sure what to do. I always wonder why life's biggest events don't come with how-to manuals. Since I had no idea what the proper thing to do was, I called my doctor. I told her we just had a positive test and asked if I needed to come in soon. She laughed at me and said, "No, honey, you will come in at 8 weeks." What?? 8 weeks?? That's FOUR weeks to wait! I set my first appointment for January 11th and then we happily hopped in the car and went to celebrate with Mexican at Chuy's {this baby is bound to love Mexican food}. This was my very first night to experience the "no alcohol while you're expecting, but hubby still gets his drink of choice"! It actually wasn't bad at all. My water was quite refreshing that night. After dinner we stopped at Campus Spirit and made our first baby purchase--a little premature maybe, but we couldn't resist! We bought THE sweetest Auburn newborn cap and booties. And then we could hardly sleep that night!

The proof.

Celebration dinner at Chuy's...the heat lamp was on and made the picture look weird.

 Proud Momma already!

 Proud Daddy...his little Auburn Tiger is on the way!

Fast forward a few days and we headed to Atlanta to leave for New York for Christmas. We generally would have waited a few weeks to share our news with our families, but since we were headed on family vacay we had no other choice but to spill the beans. Let's be real, you know we all enjoy our wine and beer in the Smith family. If I had to go a whole week in New York and not have an adult beverage they would have known something was up. So, when we got to Atlanta, we opened a few gifts so we wouldn't have to take them all to NYC with us. We let Kelsey open "one last gift for the family". She and Debbie were sitting next to each other on the couch and Al was hanging out in his chair. When they opened it there was a ton of screaming and jumping around....all while poor Al had no idea what was going on! After that we went to Twisted Taco to celebrate {I told you the baby is GOING to like Mexican food}. The next day we left for NYC; y'all know all about that trip already! While we were there, I enjoyed a.l.o.t. of ginger ale and decaf Starbucks drinks. Those became my drinks of choice since adult beverages and caffeine were out of the option!

Once we got back from our trip we got to tell my family our exciting news. We exchanged gifts with Daddy, Ashton, and Brooks and that's when we told them. I let Ashton open the "gift". Here's how we told them! I think my Daddy was in shock! He didn't say anything at first, but I saw a tear in his eye and knew he was excited {what a bitter-sweet moment to hear that your baby girl is having a baby!}

On New Year's Day we showed up to my momma's unannounced to share the news with her! She laughed and cried when she opened those sweet Auburn booties and cap.

Then we had to wait, what seemed like forever, to share our news with anyone else. We slowly began spreading the word to close family and friends around 8 weeks all the way to 11 weeks. I would not have been able to keep it from EVERYONE for the entire first trimester!

We went to the doctor for the first time on January 11th. It was the most excited I have ever been to go to a doctor's visit. We got to see our sweet baby and hear it's heartbeat that day--what a miracle from God! I was given a due date of August 26th {right at the start of school, yikes!}.

Our fist ultrasound picture...the sweetest picture I've ever seen! 

I began taking "belly pics" right away. At 6 weeks I started a fun chalkboard to go along with the pictures. It is so fun to change the chalkboard every weekend. I am sure it will eventually get old, but right now I relish taking those "bump" pictures every Sunday after church!

Now on to the star of the show for the next 6 1/2 months, me! I still feel great {knock on wood}. I literally have been waiting to feel something that would give me slightest clue I am pregnant. If I had to rate how pregnant I feel based on "pregnancy symptoms" I would probably not agree that there's a baby inside me. Right now I am the same ol' me. I haven't had morning sickness. I don't really crave anything. I mean, at night I will crave something like a cheeseburger and mashed potatoes, but I can't get that at 10:30 at night, so we're all good! I think I have a mental aversion to healthy food. I don't mind eating it; it just doesn't sound that appealing. I eat it anyway, though! I suppose I can do the fun little "pregnancy questionnaire" I have seen floating around on blogs lately. Here we go!

How far along: 12 weeks

Size of baby: a plum, about 4.5 cm long

Weight gain: According to my scale, 0 pounds. According to the doctor's scale, 1 pound. I weigh myself every morning, seven days a week, so I do trust my scale! Either way, {0 or 1} I'll take it. But I must say I am one proud momma to announce that the weight gain is minimal, if not nonexistent so far! I swear, I am convinced that you won't gain much wait {in the first trimester} if you continue eating and exercising as you were pre-pregnancy. I've continued my running as usual. I was so thankful for the doctor to tell me to "keep running as far as you want, as long as it's not a marathon!" I hope this baby doesn't mind running, because I plan to keep going until it's physically impossible:) That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

Stretch marks: Holy cow, not yet, and hopefully not ever! I have been using cocoa but r.e.l.i.g.i.o.u.s.l.y! My momma didn't get stretch marks with any of us, so I am praying I got her elastic skin. It is said that if your mom didn't get stretch marks, you probably won't either! Here's to hoping {and praying}.

Gender: I hate to tell y'all, but we AREN'T finding out what Baby Smith is! Britt likes the idea of being surprised, so we I'm going along! I really have heard wonderful things about not finding out what you're having! I have already picked out gender-neutral nursery ideas so I think it will be fun to be surprised!

Movement: Not yet...Britt keeps asking when we will feel our sweet baby move. I can't wait for that day, though!

Sleep: Still sleeping great {with the exception of going to the bathroom at least twice a night}.

Food cravings: Like I said before...no serious cravings. Mostly I just think pizza sounds really good every time I see a commercial for it!

What I miss: Mhmmm, well, wine and beer {obviously}, SUSHI, and coffee! I still allow myself one small cup of joe on Saturday and Sunday mornings, but I cut out my morning caffeine during the week. I tried decaf once, and it was disgusting to me. I would rather not drink coffee than drink decaf. {I will drink a decaf latte, though!}

Symptoms: Going to the bathroom A LOT, a  little back pain and a growing chest...nothing else really, though!

Belly button: Still in!

Wedding Rings: They're still on and twirling around my size 4 1/4 finger. I am terrified that they're not going to fit through the entire pregnancy since my fingers are so little. I will cross that bridge when and if that happens, though!

Maternity clothes: Heavens, not yet! I am hoping like crazy to avoid them for a good long while. My pants still have room to spare, thankfully. My momma never really had to wear maternity clothes with me, so I am praying I got her pregnancy genes! My plan is to just wear lots of flow-y dresses come Spring and Summer...and besides, I've been looking at maternity clothes just to see what's out there, and they're so not cute!

Best moment of the week: Seeing our sweet baby on the ultrasound at the doctor. It is so amazing how much "it" has grown since our 8 week appointment. It went from looking like a little kidney bean to looking like a real baby in just 4 short weeks. It's heart rate was 174 this time {according to a family friend, that means it's a girl...we know heart rate doesn't really predict that baby's gender, but it's fun to guess!}. There's no better sound than hearing your unborn baby's heartbeat inside of you.

I assure you I will have many more updates through this journey. We are truly blessed to be chosen as parents to this sweet baby. We are fortunate to have such loving families that are going to love our baby to pieces and spoil it rotten! Sorry this post was so long....I have been keeping all of this bottled up inside for 8 long weeks! There's bound to be something I forgot to tell y'all, so check back soon for more details about Baby Smith!

Much love--jess and britt.