The Car Story

With the baby coming Chris and I had been discussing getting a new car. This discussion has been going on for quite a while. The debate of either pay off the Maroon car and drive it till it dies or trade it in and get a new loan on a new car. The main debate was due to the warranty. The warranty on the car was over ... we were riding on the extended warranty that covered very little. We had to get new tires, new brakes, and I was going to have to take it in to have the suspension looked at because it was making funny noises when we hit bumps. So we were going to have to invest a lot of money into a car that we would get absolutely nothing back for it if we traded it in or tried to sell it. I'm starting the nesting phase and wanted to make sure that we had a very safe car for the new guy.

Well on the way home the other night a deer ran into the car and dented it pretty good. The door and the side panel of he hatch back were both pretty damaged and we would have had to file a claim on the insurance. That would have cost us another $500 easy for our deductible on top of all the other money were about to have to outlay onto the car. So that made the decision easy for us. We traded in the car.

We went to Toyota and talked to our guy Jay. We and several of our family have bought cars from him and he cuts us a great deal. We also figured we would get a good deal on a 2008 SUV since the 2009s were coming out and SUVs aren't selling all that well. Jay gave us a great deal and we got 2.9% interest. So as of Wednesday we are the proud owners of a new Highlander. I added the Highlander onto my insurance policy and replaced the HHR. The new policy was actually $50 cheaper for the new car then the Chevy so that was pretty exciting as well. I feel a whole lot better now in the new car!

Happy Thanksgiving from Hondo Texas!

Happy Thanksgiving All!!!

This year I have a lot to be thankful for. I have a wonderful hubby and we are expecting a beautiful baby boy. We are thankful that our pregnancy is going well and also that my best friends Amanda and Brian are having a healthy pregnancy as well!

On Thursday we all celebrated Thanksgiving. This year we stayed in Hondo for the holiday. My grandma informed me that I missed a great party at her house. 23 people traveled to have Thanksgiving at her house this year. What a crowd. Wish it could have been 25 but we have our family here in Hondo that we rotate with every other year. I also heard that I missed a great reunion of some of my old high school buddies. Hopefully they will do it again and I can meet up with them the next time I’m in the Houston area.

At the Braden Thanksgiving we had quite a few family members as well. The normal Braden Crew was there, plus a few special additions. John brought home a new friend Kaleen to meet the family; she is a very big T-sipper. So that made for a very interesting Thanksgiving evening. She was obviously rooting for Texas. She was the odd man out at the major A&M rivalry game at our house. Of course her team won. Which brings me to another item I’m thankful for… the end of this dreadful season! We also had the Mullen’s join us from Austin. We rarely get to see them so we were excited they were able to come and spend a few days with us. This crowd gave us a total of 14 to enjoy the fried turkey and all the fixing’s of a traditional Hondo Thanksgiving dinner. Even though the fried turkey was great like normal… I do really miss my grandma’s baked turkey and her famous dressing. I look forward to Christmas day lunch!

At this point I don’t have any pictures from Thanksgiving to post. I tried to stay away from the camera because I wasn’t feeling 100% and didn’t want pictures to prove it. So I’ll see if I can at least get some of the crew from my mother in law.

The rest of the weekend we just enjoyed relaxing and started decorating for Christmas. I need all the rest I can get. Kase is wearing me out and he’s not even here yet. I hope every one had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that it continues throughout the Holiday season as we head into the Christmas events!

17 Weeks and Counting

Well, We have about 17 or so more weeks to go till we get to see our little guy. We had our Dr. Appointment on Wednesday. Everything is going well. It took a while to find his heart beat like normal but once we did it was good and strong. He's kicking around like crazy, so either he's becoming more active, or he's getting bigger to where I can feel him more now. I'm not really sure the reason but it is kind of strange if I don't feel some sort of jumping jacks every couple of hours.

I have been very sick the last few days. I had to take off Tues-Thurs from work. I'm doing a bit better now. The Dr. said that there wasn't much I could do other then rest, drink OJ and take some Sudafed or Tylenol Sinus. That also makes me think his recent activity is attributed to the OTC drugs. Who knows. I sound horrible though. I have my 1-900 voice happening. I also have a nasty cough that keeps a 3 of us awake at night. The dogs sleep through it though. I know so becuase they SNORE!!!

My next Dr. Appointment is scheduled for my birthday. They really didn't have anything else that worked with my work schedule available that week. I have to do the glucose test that week. Dr. Cerney said that she really wasn't worried about me having a problem but they have to do it to be on the safe side. So I'm going to leave work a bit early on my birthday go to the appointment at 2. Drink the nasty stuff, then make Chris take me out for a nice dinner to make up for it.

Well as for the other news, I think we've decided on Kase Michael Braden as the baby's name. Its been a big debate. It is a very hard decision but I still have Konnor in my back pocket and I'm sure once I see the little guys face in March We'll know for sure! Kase seems to me more of an Athlete's name and since he's been so crazy active I think he's going to be. Only time will tell. Kase also means Brave in Irish which is pretty cool. I really wanted his name to mean something.

Well Thanksgiving is next week! I'll post some pictures then. Until then I hope every one has a safe and fun Thanksgiving. Eat alot of Turkey!

20 Weeks!

We have made it to the half way point last week. This picture was taken on the Sunday which was the start of our 20th week! So on Sunday I had a revelation. I am getting huge. If this is the half way point, I'm going to be 2x as big as I am now. Wow! I wont be able to do anything, see my feet, nothing! So when I went to work on Monday morning, I started talking to my friends about my new revelation. This just made it worse. They told me I would be lucky if I was only 2x as big as I am now. It would probably be more like 3x times. AAAAHHHH! I'm scared!

The good thing about all this is that we have a healthy and energetic baby. So far he's very active in the afternoons. Which is good. He lets me slip at night and I'm hoping that his is a sign for a good sleeper. Only 20 more weeks to go till we get to meet our little guy!