Updates!

It's been a few weeks since I've updated, so I thought I better get on the ball and do that.

Here's what's been going on in our neck of the woods.

1. We found out Baby P is a.....girl! Our doctor actually told us at 15 weeks that she thought that she was a girl, but our gender and anatomy scan confirmed it.

Above is how I actually announced it on Facebook.

This is my favorite picture of her from our gender/anatomy scan. Our tech remarked how feisty she was because she was constantly kicking and refused to turn over so she could measure her heart. I told her that was pretty par for the course with her, because she's always that way. As soon as I saw her lips I told Sean, "She has my lips!"  She also had her hands up by her face the entire time and even waved her fingers at us once. I think that part really amazed Sean, as he said as much.  We'd decided on a name ages ago and so her full name will be Viviana Valentina, but we'll most likely call her Vivi for short. My grandmother's name is Vivian and I wanted some form of that and Sean compromised with Viviana and wanted an Italian middle name, so he picked out Valentina.

2. After waiting since August, Sean's VA claim and payments have finally kicked in and we'll start receiving regular pay starting March 1st. This is a huge relief to us as we were wondering when it was ever going to start and now the VA payment will take care of our mortgage, which will leave us extra money to start putting in savings.

3. This winter has been crazy! This is the most snow and ice we've had in one winter in a long, long time. Generally we get a huge snow or ice storm every few years, but this year it's been constant small amounts of snow or ice at least two weeks out of every month. I can officially say I'm ready for spring!

4. My job is still going well and I'm hoping there is a chance my job description might change which means a raise for me. I'm crossing my fingers and will share if it actually happens. I'm traveling with some coworkers to Kansas City next week for Folk Alliance, as we will be representing the Woody Guthrie Center there.

5. We're still working on making our house a home. I haven't painted anything yet, but I have the nursery, master bedroom, master bathroom and our guest room on the list before the baby gets here. I've already picked out the nursery theme and pretty much all the elements of what I'll be putting in there. Now I just need to make that a reality.  This coming Monday we're having a storm shelter put in our garage. I refuse to live in this house without a storm shelter. In fact, I think everyone in Oklahoma should have one (I grew up with a storm shelter) and it's just peace of mind for me. Especially now that it's not just Sean and I.