The Unadventures of Tracie

Austin and I recently went in for our twenty-week ultrasound. I was really nervous for several reasons. Like other obsessive, neurotic (or otherwise normal) people, I constantly worry about the health of my baby. Am I getting enough nutrients? Is the baby growing? Does our baby have some weird birth defect? Has our baby stopped growing? Am I going to lose the baby? These fears have been compounded upon due to the fact that I have not yet felt the baby move. :( (Still stressing about this one as I am coming upon 22 weeks here.) I was also nervous because we were finally going to find out the sex. Though I (and many others) have been convinced it's a boy from the beginning, I was a bit anxious to discover for sure. It was SO relieving to see our little baby. There were two arms, two legs, toes, fingers, a belly, head, back, spine, brain, heart, and other organs. I can't begin to relate the relief that it looked like a baby (albeit a very small one) instead of a mutant. Since ...

It is now February. But that doesn't mean I can't make New Year's resolutions anymore. In fact, I hope that we all constantly make and strive to meet goals all year, not just at the beginning. I wanted to briefly give an account of my New Year's Eve. The McNeil family (and some on Cheryl's side) had a lovely party over at Tyler and Cheryl's. There was good food and good company. Austin and I (and by that I mean me) planned some games. They were well-received. It was good to see a group of adults laughing that hard. Highlights include Austin miming giving an elephant a bath and my dad screeching out "Baby, if you love me, won't you please, please smile." At midnight we had the countdown and Austin and I kissed: We then had some brief, but really cool, albeit illegal fireworks courtesy of Tyler. The next day we spent some time with Heidi, Aaron, and Will, and then went out to dinner to Red Robin with Brittnee and Matt. The day after this I started th...

This is going to be a lot of random things in a single post. Because I said so. First of all, here was our Christmas tree. Yes, I know it's the end of January. But here it is anyway. Admire it. Next, look at this gorgeous sunset I was lucky enough to get a picture of: (This was sometime in December.) And now a funny picture of Austin trying to deflate the air mattress in Texas: (it would've been funnier if I could've gotten my camera out sooner) Next, here is pictures of me and my haircut: (Note: I am not photogenic. It looks better in person.) (Thanks again Hay for cutting it. I love it.) Okay, stay tuned. I'm going to post about New Years and my resolutions. (Better late than never as I always say.)

Another year has come and gone. By the raise of hands, how many thought 2008 went by extraordinarily fast? It was definitely an interesting year. It was the year of record high gas prices and oddly low gas prices, rising tensions in the Middle East, proposition 8, housing market crashes, stock market crashes, economic recession, and bailouts. The year Bill Gates stepped down as chairman of Microsoft, Michael Phelps became an American hero, and Barack Obama was elected the first Black president. 2008 saw the death of Presidents Hinckley and Faust, Heath Ledger, Charlton Heston, Arthur C. Clarke, Michael Crichton, George Carlin, and Paul Newman among others. I said goodbye to my Great Grandma McNeil and Austin ’s Great Aunt Mary Ellen. I said hello to new friendships, a new niece, and the summer sensation of Dr. Horrible. Dear friends moved away. Jobs were lost and found. Yes, it seems change was the big theme of 2008. Thinking about all of the many things that happened last year led me ...

Christmas has come and gone but you get to read about it again. This year Austin and I went to Texas to spend Christmas with his family. I was excited to see his family but also felt a bit strange about being away from my family on Christmas for the first time ever. We flew out on the 21st after Austin had finished his finals. (He did pretty well. Way to go baby!) My parents generously drove us to the airport, and we arrived in plenty of time. There were no complications or setbacks. It was actually quite empty for this time of year. We had a relaxing time while we were there. The week consisted of visiting with family, including both sets of grandparents who came and left at different times; playing Shanghai (I won twice.); watching Psych (a funny TV show friends have been trying to get us to see forever); seeing Alice perform in The Messiah (which was much longer than I thought it was. Apparently there’s more to it than the Hallelujah Chorus); visiting Brett and Laurie and their t...

Got this off Jen's blog. :) Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz... You Are a Marilyn! You are a Marilyn -- "I am affectionate and skeptical." Marilyns are responsible, trustworthy, and value loyalty to family, friends, groups, and causes. Their personalities range broadly from reserved and timid to outspoken and confrontative. How to Get Along with Me * Be direct and clear * Listen to me carefully * Don't judge me for my anxiety * Work things through with me * Reassure me that everything is OK between us * Laugh and make jokes with me * Gently push me toward new experiences * Try not to overreact to my overreacting. What I Like About Being a Marilyn * being committed and faithful to family and friends * being responsible and hardworking * being compassionate toward others * having intellect and wit * being a nonconformist * confronting danger bravely * being direct a...

So now that word is out I wanted to share my experiences thus far. If it's TMI for you, just skim. Austin and I had decided last year that August 2008 was when we'd start trying to get pregnant. I went off the pill end of June and we crossed our fingers. I took a test end of August. Negative. End of September I was getting really anxious as I had a few possible signs that I was pregnant but I've had that in the past and I'm pretty neurotic. I was supposed to wait until October 5th to take the test, but I was getting curious. I had to know. We had an early test left over from the month before so I decided to take it, not expecting anything really as it was really early but I just couldn't wait any longer. So on October 2nd (which was a Thursday) I took the test and lo and behold two pink lines. But one was really faint. So then I was uncertain. Was I or wasn't I? I im'ed Austin over gchat and let him know that I might be pregnant and told him what happened. ...