For the second time now, I have experimentally tried to stop taking my Zofran. I didn't take it yesterday afternoon and evening and I felt perfectly fine. But then I didn't take it this morning when I woke up and I felt awful. I kept trying to tough it out to see if it was just a mental thing, but I knew it was time to pop a pill when certain smells in the bathroom were making me gag. Ugh. I just want to feel better. Everyone keeps saying, "Oh, you should be feeling better so soon" and "The second trimester is so great, you feel so energized," but I don't believe it. Yet, anyways.

Also, yesterday Kyle dislocated his shoulder for the fifth time. He's fine. We have such a normal protocol now. Run to the hospital, tell them about his tolerance for drugs, put it back in, come home and get the comfy sling, and Kyle's back to work shortly thereafter. It all seems so normal.

We had a really long run of work the past few weeks. We were down in Chicago for Christmas for five days, which was really fun, but not at all restful- I think the last three nights I never went to bed before midnight and kept having to wake up so early the next morning. And then we went straight into a week of Christmas camp, a weekend retreat, and the North Park ski class. Literally, the day one group left, another one came that evening. It was a very long time with no days off.

The day that North Park left, we hopped in a van with the Frasiers for an eight hour drive down to Manistee for our friends Matt and Beth's wedding. Again, it was a fun weekend, but not so restful. And now, back to work and one of our biggest groups of the year coming this weekend. Last night it was SO WONDERFUL to be done with work at 4:30 and come home and eat dinner and lay on the couch. It wasn't a whole day off, but it felt so good just to sit at home for a few hours and get a decent amount of sleep. I think next Monday or Tuesday we will finally have a full 24 hours to do whatever we want! I can't even believe it!

Yesterday I got to open TWO packages! One was from my sister and it was an amazing winter survival package. And the other was from my sister-in-law, erin, and was a book that I'm really excited to read. Other than that it was a rough day at work- I really hurt my back trying to do too much and then got a super bad headache in the afternoon for the rest of the evening (and I hate that I can only take Tylenol because it does nothing for me). BUT when I came home from work I found a loaf of cardamom bread that our neighbors had dropped off for us, and I went upstairs, put on my new cd from Amy, ate some cardomom bread, and made a delicious dinner (which I seriously love doing!). It was the best part of my day!

I've become completely consumed by Harry Potter books. I have read the first two in two weeks. Yesterday I cozied up with this snack to finish The Chamber of Secrets and then watched the movie with Sara Malecki that evening. Special thanks to Joe and Aunt Marilyn for contributing to this snack.

A little late, but here are pictures of us cutting down our Christmas tree. Yay for free Christmas trees!

Gotta wear your orange in November. Don't want to get shot.

This is the tree we finally settled on.

What happens, of course, when you get a Christmas tree for free, is that you actually have to cut down a really giant tree and then cut the top off for the Christmas tree part.

Pretending to help.

Very manly Kyle, carrying our Christmas tree home.

Obligatory belly picture.

Me and the baby at 14 weeks.

On the eve of 2010, I would just like to say that 2009 has been a fantastic year for me.
December 31st, 2008 I joined Weight Watchers and started an amazing journey of weight loss and health and running goals and did things with my body that I thought were nearly impossible.

I lost 30 lbs.

I trained 10 months for a marathon.

I completed that marathon with a smile on my face (most of the way).

I was brave and took a class that I knew nothing about, with nobody I knew, and tried a brand new job.

I discovered my dream job for the moment and am so happy to be working at camp.

And now I'm going to have a baby and start our little Mecher family.

I'm going to go ahead and say that 2009 has been my best year to date. I hope 2010 brings just as many great things!

It just happened a few days ago.
I was in our kitchen baking cookies and I looked down.
And, all of a sudden, I couldn t see the button on my jeans anymore.
There was this small-ish belly bump in the way.
It happened so suddenly!
And, again, I looked at Kyle and said, "Wow, I really AM pregnant!"
I still don t believe it.
(FYI, the apostrophe key on the Mecher s computer doesn t work for some reason. Try not to be confused.)

Unfortunately this cute little bump means that my cute little jeans do not fit so well anymore. My sister-in-law Brooke told me about a little trick with a hair-tie, which has been working out nicely, but luckily today I am going over to borrow her Bella Band!

Also today, I am having coffee with my Megan, getting a manicure, getting a haircut from Kassi, and going to see the Nutcracker. Yay for Jenny Day!