Merry Christmas To All!

What a fantastic holiday! Gramma and Grampa Mathews came into town on Wednesday and we met them for dinner. I had to go in to work for a few hours on Christmas Eve to feed the monkeys and make sure they were set up for Santa to come that night. I was a little concerned I wouldn't get out on time because we had an emergency with one of our aye ayes (a nocturnal lemur. Google it). I had to get her in a crate and to the hospital. Luckily, she loves peanut butter and wasn't a problem! She's ok and was back in the building in time to snuggle into her nest box and wait for Christmas. I only had to be at work from 7-10:45 so that's not too bad! We even had time to hit Babies R Us for some preliminary crib shopping. We had a great dinner at the Kray's with Jan and Mike and the boys! Kevin made 2 delicious lasagnas! Jan gave me the cutest Hallmark ornament for a mom-to-be. I love it!!!! By the time we got home, we just relaxed in front of the tree and went to bed. I had to work again Christmas Day but luckily had an easy morning. All of the primates cooperated and I was home by 11! Mom had breakfast cooking and after our blueberry pancakes, bacon and eggs, we opened our presents!! Now here's where it gets good, not only did i get my very own Snuggie for Christmas (in pink!!! I know you're jealous) but dear sweet little Josh got some of the most thoughtful gifts for his son/daughter and Baby Momma (that's what he calls me. We're classy.)I got a pair of maternity jeans because the hair tie trick isn't going to last forever with my non-preggy pants. Baby Fisch got a book called Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed and his/her very own BABY BOOK!!!! Oh how I cried. He's so excited for this kid! How cute is that? Josh made out pretty good with some video games for Wii that he wanted and his very own Penn State diaper bag :) And of course, Gramma Dee Dee and Grampa Jeff were psyched over their personalized beach chairs from Baby Fisch! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!!

Christmas Cards

Some of you may have been eagerly awaiting the annual Fischer Christmas Card. I'm sure you've been diligently checking your mailboxes each day hoping to see that return address from New Castle, DE. Unfortunately, your Christmas wish won't be coming true this year. I have not been able to get my act together in time to get out our cards. They are sitting nicely on my dining room table, waiting to be signed and addressed. I think I hear them giggle each time I say 'I really need to get those finished!'. Yes, they mock me. Anyhow, I just wanted to take a minute to say that i'm sorry that I haven't gotten around to it and at this point never will. Take comfort in the fact that numerous trees have been saved as well as money for postage which can now go to Baby Fischer! Here is the best that we can do...Dexter saying 'Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night. Now can I please take off these stupid antlers?'

Super Fun Fetal Development Study

So we were lucky enough to be able to participate in this AWESOME study that our hospital is participating in. Apparently, the fetal growth model hasn't been updated since the 70's. Over the past 20 years or so, women began having larger babies (diet and processed foods are most likely to blame) but also our population is no longer mostly Caucasian meaning that not all babies SHOULD be the same size. For example, a 5 pound baby from a smaller Asian woman should be completely acceptable but a 10 pound baby for an African woman would also be acceptable. Anyhow, what this means for Josh and Mandy is that we get 5-count 'em FIVE totally cool 3D ultrasounds throughout our pregnancy for zero dollars! Usually, you only get one or 2 ultrasounds during the whole 9 months and they are almost never 3D (you gotta pay extra for that luxury). When I was answering the questions to see if we were eligible, I felt like i was applying for college again. Oh how we hoped we'd get in! Guess what? WE DID! We only had one session so far but got some great looks at the baby! We were only 10 weeks along at this point so there was still a lot of growing to do but you can definitely tell it's a baby! Our next appointment with the research staff is on January 4th so stay tuned for even more awesome pictures of our kid!

Here is a super cool video of our wiggle worm!

Baby Fischer is on his/her way!

So we just can't believe that we're 16 weeks into our pregnancy! This baby was totally planned, but we're still in shock about the whole thing. The first trimester wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. I was only 'i want to kill myself' sick for about 2 weeks. Josh was a total angel through the whole process. He made me whatever I could stomach for dinner-even if it was just chicken noodle soup and Doritos (some crave pickles and ice cream, some don't. get over it). There were a few trips to Chili's Take Out for the best salad and Ranch dressing ever when my body was craving fresh veggies. He kept the refrigerator clean when I couldn't stand to open it and the dishwasher empty of offensive smelling dirty dishes. Seriously, I couldn't have asked for a better partner! Love you baby! The second trimester was a welcome change. As soon as I hit 13 weeks I felt miraculous! The pants don't button anymore (yoga pants are the best invention ever!) but I kinda like the little belly that has popped out! Stay tuned for more updates and pictures! Things are only going to get more exciting!