Being sick is no fun...

Not morning sickness though! My appetite and range of things I feel like eating have much improved over the past week or so - something we're both very happy about it (especially me!). But, I have had a run in with strep last week and the flu this week- and I'd been trying so hard to avoid the flu. Luckily, we caught both really early on and I'm doing much better today. As my sister Katie says - my sickness quota should be completely full by now!

We had our monthly visit with the doctor on Monday of this week and everything went great. We got to listen to the heartbeat of the baby again, which is one of the coolest things ever. The doctor says it sounds great and she's of the opinion it's going to be a boy...so we'll see! If she's right, I think she might have a career as a baby predicting doctor. That being said, I do have to mention that my good friend Tracy has also predicted a boy...which will be much more impressive if she's right and she will also have a career as a baby predictor! We're scheduled to head back to the doctor in November for our next monthly check up and are looking forward to getting to listen to the little one again at that time. As of today, we're right at 11 weeks along.

 This week, we also got to check out the State Fair - something we weren't so sure we were going to be able to do, based on our schedules. We ate entirely too much food (our menu's listed below), but it was definitely worth it - after all, the State Fair only comes once a year! We shared a lot of what we ate, but there were some things we enjoyed individually.

Our State Fair menu (accomplished in less than 2 hours):

- Nathan's hot dog (me)

- Nathan's kielbasa sausage (definitely Richard)

- Funnel cake (both)

- Deep fried Snickers bar (both, and it was so yummy!)

- Chili cheese fries (Richard, although I did snag one)

- Corn dog (me)

- Ice cream cone, rolled in sprinkles (me)

.... and I just realized it looks like I at the majority of the food! However, Richard did polish off the majority of the funnel cake and his kielbasa sausage dog was quite a meal, in and of itself. Needless to say, we were both incredibly stuffed by the time we headed home!

Our little surprise

Richard and I got a big (well, tiny right now) surprise a few weeks ago...

And we are getting so excited now! We're still pretty early (about 9 weeks 3 days) and are just hoping for a happy, healthy baby. It's going to be a big change for us, and for the Ozman and Stella Bear, but we're looking forward to tackling it.

So far, it's been a kind of roller coaster of up and down, good and bad stomach days. Richard's been pretty much fending for himself on whatever he can find in the house to eat, as my appetite is all over the place! I've found that more things sound bad than sound good, and while I might like something for 3 or 4 days, pretty soon that changes and I don't want to even hear the name of that food - in particular, cheeseburgers and Mexican food - two of my (usual) favorite things! Sweets, however, especially ice cream, still always sound good - thank goodness! I'm trying to be good about my diet, and eat things that are healthy for me and the little one, but a lot of the time I find that what I should eat, doesn't sound good at all. So, for the time being, I just try and eat what I can, when I can, and make sure to take my vitamins.

The past few weeks have also found me pretty fatigued - my new bedtime is right about 8:30, although on the weekends, I try and make it a little later - maybe 9:30 :o) . I'm ready to get some energy back, but I know all that expended energy is going into making our little person, so for now, I'll sleep as much as possible.

A few more honeymoon pictures...

Our Honeymoon - San Juan, Puerto Rico/St. Lucia

Our honeymoon was absolutely amazing - we enjoyed every minute of it - even our flight delays! We had an unexpected layover in San Juan, Puerto Rico for a night and, what started out as a disappointment (we were missing the first day of our honeymoon in St. Lucia), turned into a fabulous day sight seeing in Old San Juan. We headed out for St. Lucia the next evening and were able to extend our stay there for a day. We had such a great time, enjoying our resort and some of the nicest people we've ever met. Hiking Pigeon Island and seeing the island view from Signal Point was definitely one of the highlights of our trip (something I didn't originally want to do, but Richard talked me into it - he was so right!). It was easily one of the best times of our lives and we can't wait for the chance to go back again, on one of our (a little down the road...) anniversaries.

Married!

Richard and I were married December 6th, 2008 in Asheboro, at my home church. It was an awesome day - we couldn't have asked for a better wedding or better people to share it. It went by amazingly fast, but we really treasure the memories we have from that day.