Here we go again

Baby Friedman #2 at 7 weeks

You may have noticed (by the fact that I just posted about a camping trip in October) that we're a little behind on the blog. There's a reason for that, though. At 12 weeks in, I think it's fairly safe to say that Gabe is going to be a big brother somewhere around June 29. It's been a pretty crazy fall, though - between editing and teaching on my end and teaching a load of new AP classes on Mike's end (and chasing the never ending energy source that is Gabe on both of our ends), we've been pretty exhausted. I've also had a much different pregnancy this time around; things were completely by the book with Gabe, and although everything is on target and progressing normally, the side effects this time around have been a lot more intense. I'm hoping that as the first trimester comes to a close, we can put some of that behind us.

We went in for an appointment today and got to hear the heartbeat for the first time since our seven-week ultrasound (although as you can see, there's not much to see that early); at 159 bpm, it was a wonderful sound to hear, and it brought me back to the first time we heard Gabe's heartbeat. Gabe, by the way, is very excited about becoming a big brother; I'm not sure that he completely understands the ramifications, but he asks me every day about the baby, gives my belly hugs and kisses, and asks when his new baby will be here. It's super sweet.

We're all looking forward to a relaxing Christmas break with the family. Next year brings another round of craziness - I'm going to be teaching the 400-student introductory biology course at UNC, Mike has a pile of AP tests to prepare his students for, and we're hoping that once the market picks back up in the spring months, we can finally sell this house and move somewhere bigger in time for us to be a family of four!