Pregnancy Announcement Stories (about 2 months late)

I just realized that I never really blogged about how we found out we were pregnant and how we told some of our friends and family. So here is a little recap...

Bobby and I found out on April 2nd. It was a Thursday night and we had gone out to dinner. During dinner I was just not as hungry as usual and I felt a little nauseous. While we were at dinner, I thought to myself, "hmm maybe I should take a test when I get home." I didn't say anything to Bobby because we took a few tests the months before and had some disappointment, so I didn't want to get his hopes up. So we got home and he decided to take Polo for a walk. As he was walking out the door, I was taking the test. Within a couple of minutes, I saw 2 faint lines and almost fell over. I immediately called Bobby (who was just a couple of houses down) and told him he needed to come back. He was very confused but came back. When he walked in the door I pointed at the table where I had laid the test and he got a huge smile on his face. I questioned him to see if I was seeing things or not. He said the lines were pretty light and wondered whether it was accurate or not. So, told him we needed to go to the store and get some digital tests. So we did and sure enough, the words "pregnant" came up. I was so happy and jumping up and down. He was excited but not 100% convinced. Ha! We still called my parents (well after sending them a picture text of the pregnancy tests) and told them the news. I took another one the next morning and called the Dr. to make an appt. They would not be able to get me in until Monday. Sunday we wanted to tell my Nanny but Bobby was still nervous, so we bought another test on the way to church and I took it at church! LOL! And then I got to whisper in his ear that it was indeed positive. So that afternoon we went over to my Nanny's and told her. Man, was she so excited!! She had always warned us that she would not live to see our child if we did not "hurry up!!" :)

That Monday I went to the doctor and they confirmed everything and FINALLY Bobby believed it! That night we invited his parents and sister over and told them. They were very excited as well. After that we were finally able to tell his brothers, my brothers, and extended family. After a couple of weeks we began to tell friends and co-workers. It was such a fun experience to tell everyone.

Here are a few pics of how we told people...

All positive!

Nanny reading the poem we wrote her (see below)

This truly shows her excitement (I love this pic!)


The poem (enlarge to read)

Ok, so we stole this idea from a couple at our church and decided I would tell his family I needed an updated pic of them. When they all got settled, I said "1, 2, 3, WE'RE PREGNANT!". It was meant to catch their first expressions to the news but in the first pic all of them just continued to smile as normal. I finally said it again...WE'RE PREGNANT and this was the captured response! :)

We told my brother, Chris and his wife, Kara on Easter Sunday. Kara had given me (well really hidden it in our guest closet) one of Cohen's (their youngest) diapers soon after he was born, that read "To Baby Soto - my future cousin". So we wrapped it up and gave it to them for Easter!

I am so thankful that God has blessed us and entrusted us with this child! We are enjoying this pregnancy journey and cannot wait to meet our little baby!

Catch Up

Well I have been neglecting the blog for a bit, but it is time to get back in the groove of things and catch everyone up on the last month or so. Well since my last post I had my birthday, we went to Las Vegas, hung out with family for the 4th and Bobby started his Doctoral program.

Birthday -- this year I turned 28 (on the 20th) and I had a very fun birthday in Vegas with my man! We left on Friday the 19th and came back on Monday the 22nd. We decided on this trip, since we have been before, that we would go to Vegas and RELAX. We did not want to fill all of our time with shopping, shows and sightseeing. We did do some of that, but there were many hours of sleeping in, sunbathing by the pool and EATING! We stayed at the Wynn and it was wonderful! On my actual birthday morning I had an "Expecting Mother" massage and it was A-MAZING! Then we spent the afternoon by the pool and shopping. Later that night we had dinner at the hotel's steak restatraunt and it was so yummy! Then last minute we decided to go and see a magic show. It was a great birthday weekend!!! Oh and then the day after we got back we got some of our friends together to celebrate at Johnny Carinos...mmm!

By the pool - ahhh!

Out and about

Birthday Cheesecake!

Just us


Bobby on the strip

Us at the Wynn

Heather, me and Kristy (and Heather's kids)



The girls!

For the fourth we had a great time with my side of the family (minus my dad - we missed him!) My mom and younger brother drove up on Friday and we hung out with my older brother, Kara and my 4 nephews. Friday night we went to Roanoke to enjoy a $2 Dickey's BBQ dinner, games and fireworks! Saturday was spent with my mom shopping around and then that night we hung out in Cedar Hill and saw fireworks in Duncanville. Unfortunetly I have no pictures of that weekend - my mom took them all. :( It was fun though!!

On Saturday the 4th, yes the actual holiday, Bobby started his first two classes of his Doctoral program! He will be getting his PhD in Leadership from DBU. His first two classes were a week long mini-term, meaning he was in class Saturday the 4th and then Monday through today (8-5). Luckily they got out early today and he is napping on the couch, as I type. He is wiped!!! So here begins his 3 year course work journey, then his dissertation (however long that takes) and then Ican call him Dr. Babe, I mean Dr. Soto. :) I am so proud of him and even though he has some tough years ahead of him, I know he can do it! Pray for him that he will be diligent in his course work and learn how to prioritize his time, especially when the baby comes!!!

Speaking of baby, I need to take another belly pic (hopefully tonight). I am 18 weeks and starting to feel little kicks. So amazing! We find out the gender on the 22nd. YAY!! I hope to get better at posting more about the pregnancy.

All and all, our little family is doing great and hopes yours is too!!

Belly progression #1

Ok, I have had some requests to post some belly pics and I am finally getting around to it. I am 14 weeks at the moment and I would say that I just now have really "popped" where people are starting to notice. So here are some pics that we have taken over the last few weeks. Yes, I am wearing the same shirt and pants in all the pics and hope to do it all the way through. It will be interesting to see how much that shirt can stretch. :)

On another note -- There are some exciting things coming up this coming week...Bobby and I are off to Vegas for a little R & R, Friday - Monday; my 28th B-day is Saturday (I get to spend it in Vegas with my hubby!) and then we will have another Dr. appt next Friday. YAY!

12 Weeks...

Yep, 12 weeks! It seems like it is going pretty fast, but I am sure as I get bigger and it gets hotter, I will not feel that way for much longer. Things are going great and we had another Dr. appt. yesterday. We got to hear the heartbeat again and it was 166 bpm!

I have been feeling pretty good these days. I would say weeks 8-11 were my hardest, but compared to some girls, I think am pretty lucky. I dealt with some "evening" nausea and occasional sickness, and of course exhaustion, but I would say my worst symptom has been a few migranes. I had one a week for about 3 weeks straight. Not fun, but hopefully those are behind me.

Hearing the heartbeat yesterday made it even more real and made Bobby and I excited all over again!! In 6 months we will have a little baby in our house...CRAZY!

What else...oh my clothes are not fitting anymore, but I am not big enough to fit in most maternity. So, this makes the bella band my bff. Umm, I still feel tired a lot at the end of the day, and I am still always hungry! :) -- I think Bobby is tired of hearing the phrases, "I need to go the bathroom (again)" and "I am hungry". His responses are either "What's new!" or "ALREADY?!" HA!

Our next appt. will be at the end of June and then we find out the gender in July -- YAY! I am very excited about the next few months ahead!! Stay tuned...

Drum Roll please...

Bobby and I are so HAPPY to announce that we are EXPECTING a BABY in early DECEMBER!! I am 8 weeks and feeling pretty good. I have had some nausea and fatigue, oh and I am ALWAYS hungry, but I am feeling good for the most part. '

We found out we were pregnant on April 2nd and after 4 pregnancy tests and a confirmation from the Dr., Bobby finally started to believe it. :)

Today we had our ultrasound and got to see and HEAR the heartbeat. It was amazing and so cute to see Bobby's reaction to it. I think his exact words were "oh WOW!!". So needless to say we are thrilled and excited about our journey toward parenthood.

(Oh and for those that are wondering -- we sat Polo down and told her about her new "sibling". She barked about it a little, but I think she will be ok) ;)

A new season...

Just like the earth goes through it's seasons; fall, winter, spring, summer, I think that our lives can go through seasons as well. Circumstances happen, people come and go and God changes your outlook on life and the things in it. Over the past few months, I can say that God has been bringing me into a new season of my life. He is teaching me things, bringing things to light (good and bad) and giving me a desire to know Him more.

This past Sunday I stood before my church family to let them know that I am "re-committing" my life to the Lord and that I am ready to enter this new season He has planned for me. Now, I first committed my life to Him at a younger age and have had my ups and downs like most Christians, but over the past few years I just feel like I have not lived the life that He has wanted for me. Sure, I know He has always been there for me and has loved me through it all, but I want to be the person (wife, friend, daughter, sister, co-worker) that He created me to be and desires for me to be. And that is what this "re-committement" is for me. I am saying to the Lord, "I know you have saved me, but I know that I have turned my back on you so many times and I want to know you more and I want you to know me more." No more games, no more fakeness (is that word? :) )

I found a great illustration on the North American Mission Board website that really explains how our relationship with God is a process and I thought it was really good. This is what they said...

"The thing to keep in mind is that salvation is both event and process. We are saved at a particular point in time, when we realize our need, confess our sin, and turn to Christ. But we are being saved through the process of sanctification. This involves a constant recommitment and renewal of the relationship with Christ on a daily basis.

It is rather like a marriage: a couple are thoroughly married at the point when they say, "I do!" and the minister pronounces them husband and wife and signs the marriage license. But they really have no concept at that point of all that being married means. The newlyweds and the couple celebrating their fiftieth anniversary are equally married in a legal sense, but in a relational sense, what a difference!"

To me this is saying that our relationship with Christ is a process - something that is started at the point of salvation and grows into a relationship as time passes. However, just like any other relationship, it will only grow and deepen if we seek Him, talk to Him and spend time with Him. (Trust me, I am preaching to myself right now.) I know my decision is not an instant change or just a warm, fuzzy feeling, but it is a process and a daily decision to live for Him each day and my desire is to commit to that.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Cor 5:17

My old seasons are gone and my new one has come! Thank you Lord!

[For anyone who may be reading this and has no clue what I am talking about and would like to know more about making a Committment to Jesus, please contact me -- mrs_soto@hotmail.com]

Polo is 1 year old!

Well our little furry baby turned one last Saturday (2/21/09). Time has flown with her and she has been so much fun! Frustrating at times, but still fun! Since we don't have a human child, she has been our "baby" and we definitely treat her that way. (Bobby more than me!) :)

I thought I would put together some of my favorite photos of her over the last year. Enjoy!

(put your cursor over each picture to see her age at that time)

Happy Birthday Polo-girl! We look forward to many more years with you!