Happy New Year Indeed!

I keep meaning to write about the holidays and post pictures, but then I never get around to it. The short, non-visual version is that we had a really enjoyable Christmas with my parents here, followed by an even more enjoyable (because my brother, Aaron, joined us all) New Year's in Nashville. I loved all the quality time with my family, but the holidays were slightly dampened by the fact that I was rather sick the whole time. But the sickness is, like many things in life, something that seems bad from the outside but is actually a blessing in disguise. You see, they say that the sickness actually indicates a healthy, growing baby because all the necessary hormones and chemicals are doing their job. That's right: we're pregnant! We are happy to announce that we're expecting a little blondie Broweleit to show up on or around July 27th of this year. It's been a difficult first trimester for me (I even had to ruin my 18-year streak of not throwing up, but at least it's for a good cause. And by the way, the term "morning sickness" is a gross understatement for what turns out to be all-day misery), but I'm hopeful that the days of feeling better will come back. Until then, I'm spending a lot of time lying around the house, giving even more attention to our kitty who has no idea that her position as surrogate child is in grave danger. But, if there was ever a time to be home bound, this is it. We've had unbelievably cold weather lately ... it was -12 degrees when I drove Seth to the train this morning with a windchill of -35! Aackk! The upside is the beautiful sunshine, beaming off the white snowdrifts everywhere. They look pretty from out the windows, as long as I warm and cozy here indoors. Anyway, it will definitely be a year full of new things for us, and we look forward to them all ... even the hard and scary things because they often come along with the blessings.