Busy Year for The Carters: Business, Business, Business and a Baby!!!

This year is going to be the Busiest yet for the Carters! As many of you know we have had TJC Mortgage for 3 years now and it continues to grow and become something that our family is very proud of. If you know Chris, you know that he is a walking, talking Entrepreneur. Always being creative and coming up with new potential businesses... one business is never enough. We sit around at night and brainstorm new business ideas, but it really is loads of fun! Never a dull moment!! This year, we have two new businesses jump starting in the next few months.

The first, which officially "opens" on Friday, is Really.Low.Payment.com. Take a Look!!! Yes, we are jumping into the .com business arena! The website is meant to be used as a tool for Alabamians, or really anyone in the Southeast, to go get LOCAL quotes on Mortgages or Insurance and can even help you find a real estate agent to meet your current needs. It's a really great niche because most Alabamians, when given the choice, would prefer to work with another Alabamian on a major transaction than some stranger in California or Connecticut. After all, when refinancing or making a new home purchase you discuss your credit, your income, your monthly expenditures with someone you barely know. It's nice to know that someone that knows so much about your personally life and finances could potentially have other things in common with you... ex. Alabama Football Fan, Grew up in the same small town you did... and you become more than just another client, you form a solid, yet friendly business relationship and trust that your best interest will be the primary focus. For now we will only be advertising in Alabama, but in time we may expand. We are really excited about ReallyLowPayment.com and hope it takes off!!
The second is a new Title and Appraisal company that is currently being put together. This one is still in the planning stages, but we expect it to be up and running in the next few months. I'll talk more about this later when we are closer to the "Grand Opening";-) We obviously have built in clientele, so it should be a smooth transition.
I just hope that we can get all of this started up and then get settled in and work out all the kinks before the baby gets here. I am just so proud of my husband, and his incredible ambition, and I know that Chris wants to make our little family proud of him!!! (Could we really be more proud??;-)) Goodness knows our priorities will change dramatically once we become Parents, so I'm glad that we are taking a few more leaps before we have a new primary focus.

Telling our Loved Ones...

As I mentioned earlier, we tried to have a baby for a very long time. Months passed by with no success and it had become a very sensitive subject in our life. We are both very open people and we never let our struggle be a secret. When we finally were fortunate enough to get pregnant, we couldn't wait to share with all of our friends and family! However, we were a bit apprehensive about sharing so early in the pregnancy and agreed that once we saw the baby's heartbeat, we would let everyone in on our little secret!


If you know my husband, you know that he is incapable of keeping a secret! Bless his heart... he knows he should keep his mouth shut, but he just cannot. So of course our work family, Chris' TJC office crew found out about the baby before our ultrasound. After we went to the ultrasound I could not wait to share with my family. As luck would have it, my mother was coming to stay with me for a work conference the same night so I had some surprises to plan.

I would have loved to have told everyone our good news in person, but it just wasn't possible. I have been sick and knew that travel was not in the cards for me. I didn't want anyone to hear about it from anyone other than us, so I made it a point to call my Grandparents before I told anyone else. They are so special to me and I wanted them to know first! They were thrilled when I told them and still call me almost every day to check on me and remind me how happy they are! Precious, I tell you!!!

My mother has been wanting to be a Grandmother(aka *GiGi*) since Chris and I were married. I was really looking forward to telling her because I knew she would be thrilled. Mother arrived at my house late in the afternoon and before she got here I put a little present together for her. I have pictures, which I will hopefully post later! When I handed the package to her she asked "Are you Pregnant?? SERIOUSLY?" with huge eyes!! My family just will not let me get a surprise in!!! We gave her a cute little picture frame with baby written on it that held a copy of our ultrasound photo and a bib that said "I (heart) my Grandmother!" Mom got so excited when she saw her gift that she cried! It was so sweet, and I'll never forget her reaction.

Dad is also really excited about becoming a Granddaddy (aka *Pop*) in the Fall! My parents live on several acres with a pond and are really looking forward to providing "the country" for our kids, just like my Grandparents did. My parents have lots of plans for fun things for their someday Grandchildren to do, so I'm sure lots of memories will be made! I'm only 8 weeks pregnant, and bless my Mother's heart she's already purchased baby bedding and picked out a crib for "my room" at my Parents house. I'm sure that I will be even more appreciative of that when the baby gets here and I'm exhausted and just want to go home!=)

My brothers both know that they are going to be Uncle's and they are really happy for us! I miss them a lot these days and I'm so glad that I have such a wonderful family! It's not perfect, but we all really love, appreciate, and respect each other! Knowing that you are adding to your family really makes you consider the family that you have and what you want your children to see. I cannot wait for my Brothers to hang out with their little niece or nephew!!=)

Chris was in charge of telling his family naturally, but he was waiting for the perfect opportunity to tell them. His Grandparents live in Georgia and North Carolina and we had discussed trying to make it over to tell them in person, we knew they would be thrilled, but as I mentioned earlier travel recently has been out of the question for me. We decided that the best option for us would be an email telling them they were going to be Great-Grandparents. The upside of this is that we knew we would get a happy written response to keep forever. The Allen's certainly didn't disappoint!!! The sent back the cutest, sweetest email response that had us grinning from ear to ear!=) You could just tell how excited they are and as I told them later that night when they called for a chat, I cannot wait to show our Child their email one day! Just adorable!!

Since the Allen's message was so precious, we also told my in-laws through an email sent to both of their email addresses. Mr. Carter sent back a really great message telling us that he is just as excited as we are about the baby and that he hopes Chris will indulge my 3:00 AM pregnancy cravings! hehe! We'll see... ;-) It was really great and offered to help if we needed anything, which we really appreciated.

Telling our friends was really special for me. They all know how hard we struggled and how emotional we were about the subject. Telling my girlfriends was GREAT! I had dreams of telling them in person and doing something special for them since they will be "Honorary Aunts" but the sickness squashed my dreams;-) I did tell them over the phone and of course we all quickly became giggly girls! They were thrilled for us which meant the world!

I cannot wait until our little one gets to meet our loved ones! Hopefully they will be just as influential in our Child's life as they have all be in our lives. I'm so glad that our child will have such a solid support system and will come into this world so loved. I feel so fortunate, so blessed. =) Let's hope the happy times keep coming!!! More for all of us to share!

Baby's First Ultrasound

Last Wednesday we went to the Dr. and were able to have an ultrasound to determine #1) that there was only one little Carter in there, since we were on fertility treatments(which there is only one...=)) and #2) get an estimated due date for our little bundle of joy! It was without a doubt the most amazing, miraculous sight I have ever seen!! Our little baby was wiggling around and it's heart was just pounding away! We were even able to hear it's heartbeat and I was surprised by how strong it sounded! It definitely put my fears to rest. The baby measured perfectly for where we assumed it would be, 6w1d, and they were able to determine that baby's estimated due date is November 4th, 2008.



Above is the first picture we have Baby Carter, although there really isn't much to see! Every time Baby's heart took a beat the whole little beans top half moved back and forth into view. When this picture was shot baby's head disappeared except for the top corner, but you can see the heart, it's the brighter white area, and baby's lower half. Look in the bottom area of the sac, that's our little bambino! The ultrasound tech even typed BABY in the little sac where baby lives. There really isn't much to see, but it's still precious to me! It's my baby's first picture!=)


We apparently don't have another ultrasound until the 20 week anatomy ultrasound where they will measure all of baby's organs and make sure everything is right on target. We will also get to find out if it's a boy or a girl at this visit, hopefully! Yes, we are finding out the gender of the baby before it's birth. I'm a big planner and I'm sure knowing what we're expecting will help with the baby preparations! I also think knowing the sex ahead of time will help us bond with our baby. This appointment should be in late May, early June. We cannot wait!!!

BIG NEWS!!!

We are having a BABY!! We are 8 weeks along today and are due on November 4th!! That's right, we will have a little one just in time for the holidays!! We went to the Dr. 2 weeks ago at 6 weeks and saw it's little heart just beating away! It was the most incredible sight I have ever seen!! It's still so amazing to me that the little family that we have dreamed about having for so long is finally becoming a reality! I have been VERY sick and now know that morning sickness is a complete misnomer- it's an around the clock thing, at least for me! If nausea is any sign of health for a baby, this one will come out qualifying for the Olympics!!! Which is fine with me!

As many of you know, getting pregnant wasn't as easy for us as it is for most. I feel so fortunate that we were able to have a little baby on our own without having to undergo more invasive treatments. I took Clomid, an entry level fertility medication, and after 20 months of trying, here we are expecting our first! It wasn't our first try with Clomid, but it was the first try since some other health issues that I had were resolved. It is such a blessing and a relief to know that we can now plan our family as we wish and we are so grateful for that. I think I want 4... but Chris doesn't seem too happy about that.;-) For now, we are living in the moment and dreaming of our future.

Beginnings

A baby to hold and to love,

a creature so tiny, so fresh and so new.

There's nothing more important or special

that two loving people could ever do.

Who will the baby look like

will it be a he or a she?

Part of him, part of her, a creation that is meant to be.

All we could ever want for our baby

is very simple and very plain.

It's to be happy and content in life

and know our love will never wane.

(c) 1998 Nicol Campise All Rights Reserved

We cannot wait to meet you Baby Carter!!!

We Love you already, Mommy and Daddy