Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011!!!

It's that time of year again.  Time to reflect on the past year and look forward to the next.  Since I am convinced that 2011 is going to be fantastic, I will get the bad out of my system first.

It's really only been the last couple of weeks that were really bad.  In the last 2 weeks of December, this is what was happening: 1) Our heat broke and it was very cold in FL.  There were a few days with lows in the 20s and highs in the 40s and 50s.  2)  I had a cold & a fever at the same time of having no heat.  Being sick while pregnant and not being able to take anything is no fun!  3) A very good friend was diagnosed with stage 2-3 cancer on Christmas Eve.  4)  Someone got  my debit card information and ran up $2200 in fraudulent charges at gas stations from 12.20-12.28.  I still had the card in my possession.  Also, on 11.12, we had to put my sweet 14 year old Victoria to sleep.  It was a very hard decision and I still tear up thinking about it, but I know in my heart of hearts it was the right thing to do.

Now on to the good...My photography business did really well in 2010.  I had several weddings and the majority of those were from clients who were "strangers" and not people I knew or referrals from people I knew.  I also began to do newborn and maternity photography and really enjoyed it.  I actually got to do the newborn session for the daughter of the bride and groom from my very first wedding.

In April, I faced an interesting career challenge.  I was working as a medical assistant for a physician and there was a lot of drama in the office.  I very quickly had to learn a lot in a field I was never trained in.  I also had a lot of issues with this physician, including harassment, among other things.  Thankfully in July, I became the office manager for another physician and am much happier in my current position.  It definitely still has its challenges, but hey, I'm the boss!  : )

Chris graduated in June with his B.S. in electrical engineering.  We will find out (hopefully) in February or March if he will be accepted into the Air Force as an officer.  This is something he really wants to do and would be a great thing for our family.  We have had a lot of negative feedback about this, mainly because of moving, but it is not a negative thing to me.  We are young and I have lived here my whole life!  I need a change!!!

We took a couples trip in June to Savannah and had a blast even though it was ungodly hot!  My mom, a friend, and I took a girls trip to Savannah in December and had a great time even though it was ungodly cold!  Perhaps we will get the timing right for great weather one of these times!

The biggest news of 2010 came in late October when we found out I was pregnant!  I am due on June 28th and we are obviously quite excited for what 2011 has in store for us.

2011 will be the year of a lot of firsts for us.  It will be the year we have our first child.  If Chris gets into the AF (which he is pretty confident he will), there is a good chance that we will be moving for the first time out of state.  (Well, first time for me.  I have always lived in my current area.)  I am sure I am leaving out a lot of details from 2010, but I think I covered a good portion of the highlights.

Goodbye 2010, hello 2011!

We have a heartbeat!

My first real midwife appointment was on Wednesday, Dec 1st.  I was quite anxious to hear the heartbeat b/c I had psyched myself out over hearing about chemical pregnancies, blighted ovums, etc.  The only "proof" I had that I was pregnant was the 4 positive HPTs and my morning sickness.  I was only 10 weeks and 1 day and I knew that a lot of times, it is not possible to detect a heartbeat with a doppler until 12 weeks. 

The midwife explained that my heartbeat will be in the 80s and the baby's heartbeat will be between 120 & 170.  She found mine right away and said "well, your heartbeat is in the high 90s, so you must be excited."  No kidding!  10 seconds later she moved the doppler over about an inch and there was the baby's heartbeat.  Talk about a sigh of relief!  She made the comment that she was quite surprised that she found it so fast.  Hopefully the baby will continue to be so cooperative which is only fair considering the amount of morning sickness I have suffered so far!