Let's Hear it for the Boy!

Greetings from baby boy Puckett! He was waving at us during the ultrasound, which of course we thought was the best thing ever! The doctor told us within the first 15 seconds of the ultrasound he already could tell what we were having, so we pretty much figured out that he must have seen a little something. The last 40 minutes were spent watching our son move around and seeing all of his wonderful features. I will be honest when I say I fully thought I was having a girl, so after the initial boy shock, I loved having that 40 minutes to fall completely in love with him. Bruce of course is over the moon at the thought of having a son and is already planning father son trips with some friends and their sons as well as taking a Grandpa, son and grandson trip to Minnesota (a Bussone family tradition)! We also found out what we were having on his birthday, which was a great gift for him! Here is a good pic of his spine!

In a effort to feel closer to our families in Illinois and Indiana, we decided to do a cake cutting party at the same time we were cutting ours here with our NC friends. We ordered cakes made with the inside being blue, but frosting covering the cake, and were able to skype and watch as our families cut the inside of the cake and found out about their grandson/nephew/cousin/great nephew. It was a blast and everyone enjoyed experiencing it together.

I am beginning to show and at 18 weeks can FINALLY wear maternity clothes. I started feeling our little boy at 15 weeks (I know this may be unbelievable to some, but trust me) and can feel him like crazy all of the time now. Bruce has not felt him from the outside yet, but I'm thinking that will be coming soon! All morning sickness is gone, my energy is back and I'm really starting to enjoy the 2nd trimester. We are now looking forward to shopping for our little one and getting the nursery ready. It will be a while before anything gets done, but I will post pictures when it starts looking cute :-). I'll leave you with a pic of our little boys face, I think I can see a little of Bruce already!

love and peace,

Renee

Ohhhhh BABY! (first trimester summary)

What a summer it has been! One week after school let out for the summer, Bruce and I found out we were expecting! I had felt different that Friday night but was busy helping Bruce pack for his trip to Haiti that next morning, so I didn't have time to think about it. However, when I wope up the next morning (at 4:00 am to take him to the airport) I decided to go ahead and take a test before he went. We could not believe the results and Bruce ended up leaving some very important things at home due to the excitement (like his malaria medicine for example).

After I took him to the airport, I made my solo journey back to the mid west and could not wait to share the news with our families. The trip was planned, the news was not! I still cannot believe my enormous family kept it quiet until we were ready to share the news with the world! Great job everyone!

Once Bruce finally came home, we began thinking about what our family will look like as a family of 3. There was obvious excitement, but I had an overall sense of anxiety and worry. Due to our prior losses, it was difficult for me to become excited about something I wasn't sure I would get to keep (I still struggle with these feelings but have come a long way in understanding them). Needless to say, when we saw our little peanut during my 10 week ultrasound, I had a complete joyful meltdown. It was the most beautiful and amazing thing I have ever seen. Because my ultrasound tech remembered me she decided to treat us to a 4D ultrasound which was incredible!

Next stop......morning/afternoon/evening and night sickness! I truly believe I have thrown up in every possible place in public and in our home. I think my favorite was going 70 mph on I40 throwing up in a cup during rush hour ( I got a ton of strange looks that day). It helped to know that the reason for my sickness was for a great cause, but let's be honest, after 10 solid weeks of puking I did not have the greatest attitude. Bruce has been amazing throughout the entire process and is in charge of making sure the freezer is always stocked with popsicles. The great news is that I woke up last Friday and felt like a completely different person and have been feeling great ever since.

Back to current day, I am now 15 weeks pregnant and am loving every minute of it. I'm not showing yet, however the clothes are beginning to get tight. I am finding it slightly difficult to teach 25 kindergarten students for seven hours a day, but going to bed at 8:30 every night has solved many of those problems. We are finding out what we are having on September 21st, Bruce's birthday! The worries tend to arise now and then but I'm learning how to let go and trust, I'm hoping to continue this philosophy when our child is out in this crazy world.

Because of the difficultly we have faced trying to conceive, we are going to put as few updates on facebook as possible. We know our fair share of couples dealing with the same issues we have dealt with and are not looking to cause them anymore hurt at this time. However, because Bruce and I are super excited and want to share all of the big and little updates with our friends and family, we decided a blog was the best place to share all of our baby news. So, feel free to come with us on our baby adventure, we hear its a crazy but amazing ride!

love and peace,

Renee

(here is baby Puckett at 10 weeks and I believe it is sucking it's thumb, even though the nurse said it wasn't likely :-)).

Graduation 2010!

So it seems that I like to graduate in 4 year increments. I graduated jr. high in 1998, high school in 2002, Olivet in 2006 and now graduate school in 2010. Unfortunately since getting a PhD requires more than 4 years, it seems my streak in now over. For the past three years I have really enjoyed being in school and directly applying my new knowledge to my kindergarten classroom. The past semester was the most challenging due to my huge research project, however I managed to make it through with the loving support of Bruce, my family and close friends. The overall purpose of getting this degree is having the opportunity one day of becoming a reading specialist. I now have the tools to detect, diagnose and treat reading disabilities in elementary and middle school children, which will hopefully create successful and independent students. With being tenured at the end of this school year and my new abundance of free time, I have been asked to be the grade level chair of my kindergarten team as well as the student support team K-2 representative for the 2010-2011 school year. I am honored and excited to begin these new leadership roles in my school next year.

Lots has happened since the looooong hiatus of blogging and I will be trying to catch everyone up on the adventures of the Puckett family. Until then, I will leave you with some pics from my graduation weekend!

love and peace,

renee