13 Weeks Later...

So I am now 13 weeks pregnant. And feeling a little crazy. I have too many feelings to even keep straight. For starters, I have a "hormonal rash" all over my torso that is driving me bananas. Second, I am still feeling very tired. I cannot believe myself when I just pass out in the most uncomfortable positions right smack dab during the middle of the day. On a positive note my nausea has pretty much gone away! Hopefully I am past the worst of it, and will soon be feeling full of energy!


But there are other things going on in my head. Like what our little angel will look like? Will it be a boy or girl!? I wonder if the baby will be a good sleeper? Will baby like seafood someday? These are all the things I can't wait to find out.


Brance is super fun to be expecting with. He could not be more involved if he was the one actually growing the baby. He reads up on all the symptoms I'm going through, he sits and daydreams with me about what our little Butler will be like and we even take frequent strolls through the baby section of stores, just imagining the day when we will soon be surrounded by all of those baby items!


In some ways it feels like 9 months is an eternity. I know that 10 or 20 years from now I'll look back at this time in my life and cherish the memory. So, I will do my best do enjoy each and every moment I have to spend with the new little love of my life.

My Baby!!!

That's right! My baby! I am officially pregnant. My first child is on the way and Brance and I could not be happier! I'm due in October sometime toward the middle of the month. That makes me about 8 or 9 weeks right now. So I've still got a long way to go. It's been really fun so far. I love to tell people our exciting news.

Brance is excited, too! He already wants to go get baby stuff to put in the babies room just so we feel like it's real! I am not really showing at all yet, so it's hard to believe there is a little person in there!

Here are our first photos of baby Butler:

Family Look Alike Contest

In the last week I have come across two people who resemble members of my family. The first is a Jewish guy named Erik Abramawitz. Brance and I accidentally stumbled upon his local comedy show a couple of weeks ago. In my opinion he was the funniest comedian we saw that night. But every time he walked by and the whole time he was on stage I couldn't help but think, 'That guys looks like Seb'. Seb (or Sebastian, which is his full name) is my brother-in-law and as it turns out, Erik's twin! Check this out:Similarly, my mother-in-law's BF looks just like the guy on the Prime Time TV show, "What Would You Do?" I did a side by side for this one as well:

I personally find this both super amusing and funny. I wish I could find someone who looks just like me or Brance so I could do the side by side for us, too!

There's one more photo that reminds me of someone:

Love you heesk-a-loo

Bella

This is my girl!

I love her so much.

She is only a year old and already a beauty queen.

Barrett-Jackson

I have officially had my first experience with Barrett-Jackson; known as the "World's Greatest Collector Car Event".

The event is held in Scottsdale in a huge tent called West World. There were fancy cars everywhere. I mean like One Million Dollar Fancy! I could buy 5 of my houses for that kind of cash...!

Anyway, so the whole thing turned out to be a pretty good time. Do I ever need to go again? No. Will I? Probably. I'm married to Brance after all, and he likes nothing more than to be out and about looking at "things".

And boy were there lots of things - expensive things. Like a framed collage of the early president's - with real signatures from George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and some others. The cost of that baby was a whopping $75,000! ! ! They also had a collage full of Beatles's memerobelia, including an autographed guitar! Awesome, but $62, 000 is still out of my price range.


The night had its ups and downs...like when this girl came along and tried to talk to my boys: She was hilarious! Definitely an UP! Just look at Brance's face! Priceless!

There were also times when I became a little bored, hence the self portrait of me in the loo.

Overall, I give the whole night an 8. Only because I could see how happy Brance was. But don't worry about me - when we go to NY in February, we're seeing Chicago on Broadway!

That's right, I get mine!

Money!

I honestly and sincerely hate money. And the worse part is that there is literally no way to exist without it! Needing money means we all have to work EVERY SINGLE DAY! No matter what else we could be doing... And I hate it! I mean, don't get me wrong, I love my job. I feel so blessed for all that I have, the people I work with and of course, for all of the money it puts into my pocket. But that's the whole problem...if it wasn't for the money I wouldn't do it.

Here's what really makes me mad though: When a person works a full time schedule, makes enough money to pay the bills, and support his family with some to spare - and he STILL wants more! In my opinion, quality time is the most important thing in the world, not money! The bible warns to not let money become the god you serve. (“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."—Matthew 6:24) Here's what I don't understand: if you have everything you need, where does the desire for more come from? Greed? Wanting more material objects? Just plain being scared of not having enough someday?

The silly thing is, you make a ton of money, so that you can buy nice things and go to fun places, but you're never able use that money because YOU'RE ALWAYS WORKING!

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
—Hebrews 13:5

My Husband

My husband is pretty much the best thing that has ever happened to me. His name is Branson, and he is a Southern boy to the core. He still says yes ma'am and yes sir, and opens all of my doors for me - everywhere we go! Sure is refreshing in 2008! And even though he is almost a full year younger than I, he is more mature and responsible than I can hope to be at 30!!!

Not only is he polite and responsible, but he is by far the funnest person I know. He has a different sense of humor, one that I find hilarious! And he's not afraid to be silly with me in public, which I LOVE!!! Great for making fun memories!

What else...? Well, he's super smart! Like genius smart, even. He's good at math, which is why he works with numbers as a Financial Advisor. It's only a matter of time before you'll be calling him Mr. President...

He likes to eat home cooked food, watching the "Judge Show" and walking around window shopping all day with no intention to actually purchase anything. Similarly, he likes driving and driving for hours just looking for the perfect restaurant to eat at...this is something I don't personally love doing - but ya gotta give and take, right?!

We LOVE to travel, and have been blessed to be able to so far in our relationship. Cruising is our favorite, but Europe is definitly next on our list!

He is my best friend, a wonderful husband and a patient and loving Christian man.

I am excited knowing that we will continue to grow in our love for one another. (I also hope that we can have lots of children! Like 4 of them, or at least 2... Bella needs some cousins for goodness sake!)