So in additioan to our big news her is a quick rundown of what we have been up to throughout the year.

 

In Feb/March David and i took a trip to London, we visited my Cousin Wesley and his wife Pern (who by the way are due 2/14!) It was so nice to get back to Europe, i hadn't been back sicne 2000, and it was one of those things i wanted to do b4 we started a family. Hopefully we will go back again soon, as David still needs to see my old stomping grounds in Brussels.

 

We went to Virginia/DC in April to visit David's family and some of our friends, it was a nice trip and fun to take in the city, as we usually are just in Virginia.

 

We had a few weddings in the Spring, Darrel and Trish got married in Austin, on the 5th of May, so that was quite a festive time (that explains David in the sombraro witht he mustache). Olivia and Greg got married the next week in Dallas, and was also a fun wedding.

 

The came June(the month we found out we were pregnant). Dads went to South Africa, Megan got engaged and we hosted a post Wedding Party for Matt and Christina.

 

In July we met up with Bobby and Carrie, Sara and Elizabeth at the Texas coast and enjoyed haning out with our Nieces

 

Megan and Dan got married in August, which was a perfect day. We went to Las Vegas for a quick trip over Labor Day - not something i will do pregnant every again!!!!

 

So that is the year so far in a nutshell, more to come as we get more developments from baby Howarth - did i mention it's a GIRL?

 So I haven't written in quite a while. I have a big update to share. David and I learned in early June that we would be expanding our family (currently just us and our kitty Loki).

It is very exciting, but at the same time we are very nervous.

 

The first trimester was a bit grueling. I had a lot of nausea, it was an all day thing, fortunately I never threw up. On top of that I was exhausted, it was really tough to go to work, and once home it was hard to motivated to do anything. On the weekends, I just wanted to stay home, needless to say we saved a bunch of money since we weren't going out to dinner. I had no appetite. And let me just say, being around friends and co-workers was a challenge, as they know my love for wine - fake drinking was such a brutal task. Glad the cat is out of the bag!

 

Now we are in the second trimester. What a difference that makes! the nausea is pretty much gone, I have energy to do things such as shop (yeah I know it's hard to believe I wasn't up for shopping) and now we go out to dinner again. Meat is still a tough thing to eat at night, but overall things are much better. I am in my 18th week and thus far have gained 3 lbs - I am hoping not to gain more than 25 lbs, but we shall see.

 

Attached are some photos of my progress