Happy Holidays!!!

I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday with your families! Michael and I had a great time with my parents in Boston. They survived their first white Christmas!

The Bravars arrived in the afternoon on Christmas Eve and headed back to the heat on Saturday. Michael and I were lucky enough to have little to no work on Wednesday or Friday. We picked them up from the airport and headed to the house. George was SO excited to see his grandma and grandpa! That night we went to dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant. It was freezing! After dinner, we came home and enjoyed a nice warm fire. Michael was definitely the fire master. It was awesome!

Christmas day was great! We started off with our stockings. Somehow, George knew exactly which one belonged to him. He was ready for the treats inside! We all received lotto tickets in our stocking and my mom was the big winner (as usual). She came away with $50! Dad won $15, I won $7 and Michael won $2. It was on to the gifts after that. Michael and I had the smallest tree EVER! It was looking pretty weak before my parents came with all of the gifts. They spoiled us with way too much stuff. We both got a mountain of clothes, a wii fit, some really cute luggage (for me), some splatter screens (for Michael) and more. I think the best gift was the wii fit! Michael and I have been playing with it constantly. It is SO fun! I got Michael the complete works of Mozart and he got me a giant Coach bag. We are definitely spoiled!!! We were way too spoiled by all of you too! We got some awesome gift cards and gifts for Baby Brugal in the mail. We got a super special gift from the baby’s Fairy Godmother (aka Jamie Johnson) sent up with my parents. She already has her first dress and ballet shoes! We got some adorable Christmas decorations, a beautiful statue, an awesome cookbook holder complete with treble clefs and a super cool recipe card box from Michael’s mom and stepdad. We also received a delicious basket of chocolate from Michael’s dad and stepmom. Thank you all for your wonderful gifts. Our thank you notes are on the way!

We had a wonderful Christmas dinner. We ordered a Honey Baked Ham and had everything to go along with it. There were sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, a green bean casserole, cranberries, and yummy roles. My mom and I made a pumpkin and a pecan pie for dessert. We were all so full that none of us had any pie! I think that is the first time that has happened with this group!!

The next day we braved the shopping mall! It was packed! I had a few things to exchange and mom had a Macy’s gift card she was ready to use. I couldn’t believe Michael and my Dad actually went to the mall with us. Shortly after the shopping we headed to a late lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Michael and my Dad found lunch with Coor’s light and Stella much more enjoyable than shopping :) Next, we headed to Faneuil Hall in downtown Boston. There was a huge Christmas tree and lots of lights. We had a really nice time walking around. We headed back to the house to watch more basketball and had ham sandwiches and pie by the fire. It was awesome!

On Saturday morning we headed to our favorite place for breakfast. They actually have cheese grits! Michael and I found this place the morning after St. Patrick’s Day when we were in desperate need of some greasy food :) It hits the spot every time. After breakfast we caught the latest 007 movie. None of us knew what was going on, but we all enjoyed the action and mom and I enjoyed Daniel Craig! Then it was off to the airport to say goodbye. Their visit went by way too fast!

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Please have a safe and happy New Year! We’ll let you know how our next appointment goes!

All of our Christmas pictures are online at http://www.brugalfamily.shutterfly.com/!

Here is the latest picture of my belly:

It's a Girl!!!

Thank heaven for little girls!! Michael and I are very pleased to announce that we are expecting a little princess. We had a wonderful time at our appointment this morning.

Everything on the ultrasound looks great. We got to see two legs, two arms, two eyes, the mouth, the heart (all four ventricles), the brain and that fact that there was no penis :) The doctor was paused on her face and we got to see her open her mouth and drink. It was SO cool!! Her feet looked very nice so I’m sure she will be a prima ballerina. Michael is very excited to buy stuff. I have been making him wait until we found out! Those of you who were thinking pink were correct!!!

Here are a few more pictures from the ultrasound...

We will continue to keep you updated! Our next appointment with the doctor is on our anniversary, January 7th. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!!!

All of the ultrasound pictures are online at http://www.brugalfamily.shutterfly.com/!

December 22!!!

We had our third Dr.’s appointment yesterday afternoon. We got to hear the heartbeat again and the doctor said everything sounded great! We have an ultrasound scheduled for December 22 at 7:30am. We will finally know if we’re having a boy or a girl! Get your votes in now! Michael is still certain that it is a girl, but I think my daddy is hoping for a baseball player :) Not that another little princess wouldn’t be just as exciting!!

We have been able to feel the baby moving around which is really neat. It feels like popcorn popping in my tummy. Speaking of my tummy, I still don’t have one. I found out that I have actually lost 4 pounds when they weighted me yesterday. At least we know the little one is doing well in there. You wouldn’t know I had one cooking by looking at me.

We have our Christmas decorations up and the place looks great! I LOVE Christmas!!! I love the music, the decorations and being with people you love. Michael had no time off from work so my parents are coming up! They have sacrificed their 60 degree weather for snow and ice.

Everything is going well in Boston. The weather has been very weird. We had snow this past weekend and arctic winds with temperatures at 16 degrees on Monday. Today it is 61 degrees and raining. I’m pretty sure this is why people get sick. My parents are hoping for the warm weather to stick around until they arrive for Christmas! However, we are slated to get snow again this weekend. We’ll have to wait and see how that plays out!

We will continue to keep you updated with everything! We’ll let you know if we’re having a boy or a girl on the 22nd!! We love you all!

Check out our family photos at http://www.brugalfamily.shutterfly.com/!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I hope everyone had a great holiday! Michael, George and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We spent the week with his mother and step-father in Front Royal, VA. This tiny town is about an hour outside of Washington, DC. We were also joined by his sister, brother-in-law and little nephew. It was a blast!
We spent our time relaxing and shopping. We made trips to the grocery store, Target, Jo Ann’s, Michael’s, Kohl’s, Pier 1 and Wal-Mart. Very fun for Shelly and me, but not so much for Michael :) George had a wonderful time in the big house and large back yard. He had plenty of room to play inside and asked us to go outside every 5 minutes. He looked so small out there.

Michael’s favorite part about Thanksgiving is the food. Not just the eating part, the cooking part too. Michael made the turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and cranberries. I made green beans, sweet potatoes, 2 pumpkin pies, a pecan pie and a chocolate chip pecan pie. Yummy! There was way too much food, but nobody seemed to mind. It was a great dinner!!

We also had a blast with Michael’s nephew, Ben. You can definitely tell he’s a Brugal! He looks so much like Michael and his brother, Nick. He has got to be the happiest little boy in the world. He is so cute and super smart! We took a trip to Washington on Friday and he really enjoyed himself. We went to the Natural History Museum to see the dinosaurs. We all had a great time. We also visited the Washington Monument and the White House.

The drive from Boston to Front Royal took us about 8 hours. The drive back to Boston took 12!! We decided to leave on Saturday to beat the crazy traffic. However, on Saturday the New Jersey turnpike was closed because of an accident. We thought we would be home by 6:00 and we had just arrived in NYC at 5:45. It was a nightmare!

We are looking forward to our next appointment on Tuesday Dec. 9th. We will be scheduling our next ultrasound that will show is the sex of the baby!!! Michael says he is 90% sure it is a girl, but I can’t seem to make up my mind. We’ll all have to wait and see!

Here are a few more pictures to enjoy! We have more pictures at www.brugalfamily.shutterfly.com!

Remember to check out our family photos at http://www.brugalfamily.shutterfly.com/!

Good to Go!

Michael and I had our first appointment with the doctor yesterday afternoon! All of my blood work came back normal and we got to hear the heartbeat for the first time! It was awesome! The heartbeat was hard to find at first because my heartbeat was too strong and the machine was hearing mine and the baby’s at the same time. It was also hard because Michael and I kept laughing. It sounded like the aliens in the Contact movie starring the great Jodi Foster. It was all I could think about and I was laughing which made Michael laugh and therefore, made it very hard for the doctor to pinpoint the heartbeat. Once we calmed down, we found it! It was very cool and the doctor said it sounded perfect! Our next appointment is in 4 weeks and our next ultrasound is in 6 weeks. Are you thinking pink or blue??? Vote (in the upper right hand corner)!

We can’t believe we are out of the first trimester already. We made it through with flying colors. No morning sickness or too many weird cravings. The only things I want to eat right now are tacos and corn dogs, but not at the same time :) No big tummy yet. I had some “baby bloat” at around 8-10 weeks, but now all of my regular clothes are fitting fine. It is very weird. Michael is very upset by this. He has asked me to cook the baby faster. George is also doing well, but he doesn’t seem to understand us when we tell him he is going to be a big brother. He is also not getting that he is in for quite a rude awakening. He really likes to be the center of attention. We’re sure that he will be a very good big brother. We’ll have to see how he feels when he can’t sit on my tummy anymore.

We will continue to keep you updated as things progress! Remember to vote for a boy or girl!

Baby Brugal is on the way!!

We’re pregnant!!! The little jellybean is due May 26th!!

Michael and I are very excited to welcome you to our Baby Brugal blog page! This will keep everyone updated on all of the little one’s progress. We had our first ultrasound on October 22nd and the baby measured right at 9 weeks. We are both doing well and are looking forward to a new addition to the family. Our next appointment with the doctor is on Monday afternoon. We will continue to keep everyone updated! We love and miss you all!