Happy + Excited to Announce . . .

Mitsy is so excited to announce she's going to be a big sister!!  Ok - I don't think she really has a clue + if she understood what this meant, she probably wouldn't be all that excited about it!

To be honest - it's Nick + I that are so happy + excited to announce that we are expecting a babe on 07.04.12 - YES, 4th of July is the due date - I'm sure it'll be quite the little firecracker!

A little background on the situation:
If you know me, I'm a planner - we had a checklist of things to do before we wanted to start a family:

• move back to IA
• find jobs
• sell our house in MN
• find a new home in IA 

Thankfully, we've been able to do all of the above + after 2 years of being married, we thought it was time to introduce another little Cyclone fan to this world!
We ended up finding out at 4 weeks along + scheduled our first doctor appointment - which was at 9 weeks. It seemed like forever to wait 5 weeks for a little bit more confirmation by seeing the little nugget on the ultrasound, but it was well worth it!  Nick + I definitely couldn't stop staring in awe at the screen + we had huge permanent smiles on our faces!
We did spill the beans the night we found out to our parents, the grandparents, + along the way a few more people found out before this 12 week mark.  It's so hard to keep something this exciting a secret!

Many people have been asking how I've been feeling this entire time or how I kept it a secret from work for so long . . . I've honestly been feeling pretty great during the daytime.  It's nighttime that isn't super friendly - I'm exhausted by the time I get home + the smell of anything cooking makes me a little nauseous.  I have not thrown up though, so that's been nice!  My favorite foods right now are anything cold: fruits + popsicles are amazing!  The only thing that's super annoying + constant is using the restroom frequently.  The babe has also decided to pop out a little bump over the last week . . . can't wait until it's more firm instead of jelly-like!

I guess you can say that the Hitsman's can't wait for 4th of July in 2012!!!

We've never been more thankful or felt so blessed than we have in the last year for all of the above "checklist" items to be completed to help us reach our goal of starting a family!  Thank you for all of the love + support from friends + family over that time period as well!