Gatlinburg Vacation

Murray and I had a great week in Gatlinburg. We had some beautiful weather where we got to hike and enjoy the mountains, and we had some rainy weather where we were forced to relax, watch movies in our cute cabin, and be lazy. Pretty much perfect! We took tons of pictures so hopefully you feel like looking!

When we first got there, we headed for the park and went on a 2 1/2 mile hike. We saw pretty streams and stuff along the way and ended up by some awesome waterfalls. Murray ventured off the trail a little bit and climbed out on the waterfall. Baby and I played it a little safer and just took his picture.

The next day was kinda overcast so we decided to spend most of the day at the aquarium. It is said to be the best aquarium in the nation. We don't know if it is the best, but it is definitely cool. Our favorite part was the underwater tunnel that you can go through to see sharks, stingrays, fish, and a giant sea turtle, but we definitely had fun in the rest of the aquarium too! Who says aquariums are just for kids? Haha.

Murray said I looked like this seahorse now. So supportive of my weight gain! Actually he is just really excited because it does seem more like I am pregnant now. No denying it! I thought this was the coolest/freakiest picture of the octopus. I couldn't believe how well it turned out. Murray caught the jellyfish at just the perfect time too! We almost missed this turtle. We finally saw him just as we were getting ready to leave.

The next day was our taking it easy during the rainstorm day. Thursday we had clear skies again so we decided to ride the skylift up the mountain to get a pretty view of the city and the surrounding mountains. After that we headed pack to the national park to visit a section called Cade's Cove. It takes about 40-45 minutes to drive there, but, if you are going to Gatlinburg, we would HIGHLY recommend it! We saw so many deer and apparently when they aren't hibernating, you can see a lot of black bear also! Also there are a bunch of old cabins and churches built in the 1800s that you can tour. It is really crazy to see how people lived back then!

We saw so many deer! I think I may have seen like one buck in my lifetime (other than the ones hanging in Murray's room) so I was really excited to get so close to some. Also Murray and I snuck up to the group of doe in this picture. I couldn't believe how close we got. They never did run away! The center picture above is the old mill that they used to cut lumber and make flour and cornmill. This whole community was so neat! The cabin to the left was one of the earliest houses built in this area. It's amazing what they could do back then and what they lived without!

Murray getting ready to plow some fields... minus the horses/mules! This church was so pretty up on this hill. We definitely were not ready to head back to Chicago when our time was up, but we couldn't have asked for a better trip!

15 Week OB Visit

Murray and I went to the doctor today for our 15 week checkup. Everything looked great! Dr. Tan said that I had gained a good (appropriate) amount of weight so far- 5 pounds. She also found the heartbeat really quickly again. It was between 145-150 a minute. I go back in a month when we will have our ultrasound to check the baby's development and hopefully see what we are having! Right now, Murray and I both feel like it's a boy, but we will see!

As far as cravings go, I guess you could say I am starting to have some. They aren't the urgent like "Murray, I have to have this now!" kinda cravings, but I definitely have wanted strawberry pancakes from IHOP a lot more than normal and eat peanut butter at least once a day if not more... peanut butter toast, peanut butter and jelly, peanut butter and banana...

I am going to add a few more pictures to our picture wheel up top so be sure to check those out. Murray tried to take a picture of my belly button which we are sad to say is already on its way to popping! The top half sticks out just a little now. Haha. Mom always said I kicked hers out so I guess I will have to tell our first baby the same thing.

We leave next Sunday for a late anniversary trip to Gatlinburg. We are really excited to get away (and out of Antartica!) for a few days. I will definitely enjoy my week off of work, and it will be so nice to hang out with Murray. We are looking forward to walking around, eating good, and maybe doing a little shopping. We are mostly just excited about relaxing in the cute cabin we rented. I will definitely be adding pictures from our trip when we get back. By then I will be almost 17 weeks with only a couple more weeks till our big ultrasound day! So many exciting things happening in the next several weeks/months!

What everyone really wants to know...

So I realize that although we probably have more people reading the blog than ever before, most of you don't really care so much what Murray and I are doing. You would definitely much rather know how/what our baby is doing! Which is totally fine. It is already much more interesting, and it's not even born yet. Thought I would fill you in on the last few weeks...

One of the coolest things yet is that at 13 weeks, it was able to suck its thumb. I would love to see it doing that on the ultrasound. It's vocal cords were also fully developed at 13 weeks too, but it can't make any noise since sound doesn't travel through amniotic fluid.

14 weeks- the baby is working on controlling voluntary movements, but it will still be a few more weeks before I can feel anything probably. That's something I cannot wait for! I really can't wait till it is strong enough for Murray to feel too! Also kinda cool, our baby now has its own unique fingerprints. I'm sure we will see those over windows and walls for years to come!

I will be 15 weeks on Tuesday so I'm gonna cheat and tell you what the baby will be doing this week. For one, it actually has a neck now and looks much more like a baby. It also is practicing sucking and swallowing (amniotic fluid) and can even get the hiccups. As far as size goes, the baby is growing and growing. It is now supposed to be 4 inches long and weigh about 2 ounces. Crazy that all its organs and everything can fit into such a tiny little thing!

This is NOT our baby, but since it will be a while before I can post a new ultrasound of ours, I thought I would show you what our baby should be looking like right now.

We have a doctor's appointment on Wednesday so I will let you know if I learn anything else cool! I will try to put up a new belly picture soon too. I feel like I am really starting to show, but most people still can't tell. Won't be much longer though I'm sure. =)

Snowed In!

Murray and I both had this weekend off, and we are SO glad! We had decided to stay in and be lazy anyway, but the weather has given us no other choice! Over a foot in less than 24 hours! It's nice to be snowed in when there's nothing we have to get out to do! We took some pictures for all our family and friends enjoying nice 50-60 degree weather down south!



Us enjoying what will hopefully be one of our last major snows since we this is our last winter here. Makes it a little more fun when you look at it that way!

You can't keep the windshields cleared off. Murray had to move our cars this morning, and, not even 30 minutes later, the cars were completely covered. Mine is the one that's hard to see across the street. I can't even park in the garage because, my car is so low, I get stuck in the alley!

This is looking down our sidewalk. Thankfully several of our neighbors have snowblowers that have cleared a walkway!

Look how deep it is! We wish Neesha were here to play outside with us in it!

Just had to put a picture of my snow boot on here so you could see how deep the snow really is. In the picture above it, you can just barely see the top of my boots which are about a foot tall! Crazy!



The snow is enough to cover over Duke. He hates going out to use the bathroom!

Go Bulls Go!

For Christmas, I got Murray tickets to see the Chicago Bulls. We had a great time (even though they lost- haha)! Murray was really excited to see the Michael Jordan statue, and the United Center was SO cool! The ga me was really close and a lot of fun to watch. But the best part (to me) may have been the hilarious dancing mascot Bennie the Bull or the (I know it sounds corny...) jump-rope girls group that performed at halftime! They were crazy good!!!! Anyways, it was the perfect night and here are some pics!

Just as a sidenote... this is why the $40 at Petsmart is worth it for a puppy haircut... do not try at home or this will be your result.

It's True!!!

For all those wondering "Are you serious?!?!"... Yes, we really are having a baby! Murray and I are so excited! We are 12 weeks pregnant and due July 14, 2009. So far, I have been a little nauseated but never thrown up so I think I am pretty lucky. Murray says I haven't been too emotional yet either so he is also pretty lucky! =)

We just told our families over Christmas. We put our ultrasound picture (proudly displaying our "little peanut") in a frame, wrapped it, and had our parents open it for their Christmas present. They were really surprised and super excited! It was hard to wait so long to tell, but we wanted to tell everyone in person and wanted to wait till after Kelsey's wedding was over. Plus Christmas just made it a fun time to tell.

So far everything is looking great. Heard the heartbeat again today at my doctor's appointment, and it is music to our ears every time! Murray is being super supportive except for today when he passed out through my entire appointment. In his defense he was up at 4am for rounds at the hospital. Haha.

We are really just starting to notice my belly changing, and it is so exciting. Murray asks all the time if I will show him my stomach. I was afraid he might be weirded out as I started getting big, but he is totally the opposite! He loves it. I don't know what he will do when we can start feeling the baby move!

I guess I really will have to start updating this more regularly because I am sure that more pictures will continue to be in demand. Hope this helps you all feel connected and involved in our pregnancy even though we may be many miles away. We feel so blessed and are excited to share this special time with all our friends and family.

A little catching up to do...

Well the Butlers have obviously been too busy for the blogging world. Haha. Things have been going well for the last couple months, but things haven't slowed down any. Maybe it will be our New Year's resolution to chill out some.

Since I posted last, Kelsey has had a bunch of nice showers and a beautiful wedding. I will post a few pictures of her fun lingerie shower and a couple from the wedding, but the majority of the wedding pictures will have to come later because we couldn't get a cd to burn with all the pictures before we had to head back to Chicago. So until I can get a cd of the wedding pics, just know that she was a radiant bride, and Smith is one lucky guy. Now she is officially Mrs. Hopkins. So weird!!! She and Smith graduate tomorrow night and will be leaving on their honeymoon to Mexico Sunday. Needless to say, I am a little jealous!

While she is in the warm sun, Murray and I are experiencing hopefully our last Chicago winter! It has already snowed several times this winter, and the snow is not going anywhere fast. I guess it will make for a nice white Christmas though. One of the last times we will get to have that probably!

Kelsey's wedding was also nice because I was able to see some friends that I haven't seen in forever. I had lunch with Amanda and Audra (and her sweet baby boy, Drew) one day, got to spend a lot of time with Adrienne who helped with Kelsey's wedding SO much, and saw Reena at the wedding. Unfortunately I missed Becca who left for NYC on she and Sam's "babymoon." Hope that once Murray graduates, we will be much closer and able to spend time with friends a lot more often.

Murray is officially finished with all his months away. It has been so nice to have him home! So this is what married life is supposed to be like. =) Seriously though, it was really a good thing for him to spend months away at potential programs because he did a great job, and he has already gotten offers from some places. Really nice to have the reassurance that the next 3 years are taken care of! He is just so smart, hard-working, and personable. Can you tell I am the proud wife?

We also were home for the wedding of one of Murray's best friends from high school. I will put some pictures from that too. It was funny to see him with all his high school buddies. So weird to not have experienced that part of his life with him. I definitely got to see some funny videos that they pulled out though! Never knew Murray could do such a good YMCA dance! Haha.

Murray went home for Thanksgiving with a lot of pushing from me. He felt bad that I couldn't make the trip since I had to work, but I was really glad he gave in and went to be with family. Plus it gave him the chance to spend time with his new love... don't worry- it's not another girl- his bow. He got a hunting bow as an extremely early "Christmas/birthday/anniversary/whatever else I can think of" present from me, and he had been dying to try it out. Unfortunately, not too many deer out that weekend, but he had a good time anyway.

We are going to be celebrating our 2 year anniversary next Tuesday. Crazy to think it's been 2 years and crazy that it hasn't been longer. Seems like we have been together forever, but it's still so weird that we have been married 2 years. Where did the time go?!?! We are going to eat at the Melting Pot that night. It is where he proposed to me and besides that it is SO yummy! I cannot wait! Plus, in January once the holidays are over, we have booked a private cabin in Gatlinburg for 4 nights. It will be so nice to just get away and have time together. I still can't believe I am lucky enough to be married to my best friend. He makes life wonderful!

We decorated for Christmas a few days ago so our apartment is very festive. We have our real Christmas tree up and all our presents wrapped. We will head home the weekend before Christmas to celebrate with our families because we both work all around Christmas. I cannot wait for Christmas this year! This next week cannot fly by fast enough!

I went with some girls from work downtown for the Christmas lights parade. It was pretty crowded so we couldn't see a ton, but it was fun anyways. We had a delicious Italian dinner afterward too. We nurses don't ever forget to eat! I put in a picture of a couple of my best friends from work- Katie and Kelly.

Well, I am sure you are tired of reading. I know there is a lot more that has gone on that I am forgetting to update you on, but hopefully this will hold you over for a while. I promise not to wait another couple months before posting again. Enjoy the pictures below.

It's football time in Tennessee!

Murray and I headed back home again this weekend. Well, not home exactly, but to Knoxville, TN. Both of our families met up for the weekend and stayed in cabins at Cumberland Mountain State Park. It was so nice to have everyone together and just get some time to relax.

All the trees were turning, and the weather was the perfect camping weather- beautiful sunshine and just cool enough to need a sweatshirt. We grilled hamburgers, roasted hotdogs, and made smores. Easton is getting so big and pretending so much now. He fell in love with my dad. Whenever my dad was somewhere else, Easton wouldn't stop asking "Where's Mr. Gon?" He is still working on getting all the letters out correctly. =)

Saturday night we all headed into Knoxville for the UT/MS St. game. Thankfully, UT actually won this week so it was a fun game to watch. We were all decked out in our UT gear- except Logan who surprised me by even coming to the game so I can't complain about his lack of orange!

Sunday, we had a devo and then all headed our different ways. Murray had to take call at the hospital Sunday night so it was back to the real world really quickly for him. Good news though... he isn't going to have to spend any more months away! Our apart time is officially over, and we can be a normal married couple again. This year has really flown by! Before we know it he will be graduating. Neither of us can wait!

Here are a few pictures from our Nickleson/Butler weekend.

Aren't we so cute? Haha.

The Nickleson crew ready for the game!

Enjoying the pregame show!

UT!!!

Mrs. Jennifer had a picture of the boys like this from when they were really little. I don't have the before, but this is the after.

The whole Butler family with one soon to be Butler. We are crossing our fingers!!!