The last Christmas we'll ever have alone....

....that sounds so cryptic, but it's true!

-Our last Christmas alone together.

-Still no baby belly.

Guess who's waving at you?

I had my first ultrasound on December 6th and sure enough, there was a fetus bouncing around in there! It was really bizarre to see something moving around via the ultrasound yet not feel it at all. Our technician was a bit weird, but at least she told us there weren't twins! According the baby's size at this scan, my due date was moved from July 3rd to June 28th. I swear it just has a big Joe-sized head ;)

PA trip

We headed home the weekend after Thanksgiving to visit our families. We first stopped in Pittsburgh and got to celebrate my brother's birthday with him for the first time in a very long time. Joe and I got to cut down my family's Christmas tree for the first time in almost 10 years. We also got to have brunch with my grandma.

-At Hozak's farm with my parents.

-Me & grandma.

-Michael, me and grandma.

From Pittsburgh, we flew to Philadelphia to see Adrian. We ate like kings, eating one of the best roast pork sandwiches EVER! We also got to have dinner with Jason and Rhian while we were in town at a decent BYOB restaurant. I wish Dallas more like Philly! We then left Prof. A-dog and Philly via train for Harrisburg, where we were picked up by Joe's parents and headed up to Milton for Rutkowski and Bendle mania. We also got to hang out with Tyler and enjoy the winter weather. It even flurried!

-The extended Rutkowski clan.

New job!

On November 14, 2011, I, Carolyn, got a new 'real' job! Totally scary and the timing couldn't have been more confusing. Of course, I got my new job offer, quit my old job and then 2 weeks later found out I was pregnant. Splendid! Thankfully, I didn't show whatsoever and so was able to hide it at work for months (I'm now writing this in March). It was a stressful first month at work as I questioned if I had made the right decision. It was really hard going from a position where I was basically in charge of my daily activities to having to train in a position with a bunch of 20 somethings and abide by a supervisors decisions. I knew that I would eventually be in a position where once again I was able to dictate my daily activities once they got to know me and trust my capabilities, but that first month was difficult. Just ask Joe ;)
I was hired to eventually fill a position that wasn't yet created at the company, the Clinical Trial Liaison, and to make sure I could eventually handle the responsibilities of this position, they hired me as a Clinical Trial Specialist for my training phase. I'm working at a consulting firm that works with pharmaceutical companies on their challenging oncology research trials. It's a great step into the world of pharma research and I still get to interact with people on the phone and at site visits, though it has been hard leaving my schizophrenia patients behind.

Who's pregnant? Oh, I'm pregnant. What!?!

Back during Halloween 2011 weekend, I finally convinced Joe that it was time to take the pregnancy test. I'd had a hunch all week (aka pangs in my ovaries) that this wasn't a typical month. After conducting countless pregnancy tests at work to ensure that my female subjects were not pregnant and therefore eligible for an MRI scan in my studies, it was very strange to be hoping for 2 lines and not just 1 line. And sure enough, there were 2 lines!

Easter 2011

We headed to Milton for what turned out to be a very quick weekend trip home, not realizing how long the total travel time would take to get from the big city to wilds of the PA countryside. Got to see our nephew again, who's almost 8 months old... he's getting big! (and thankfully looking more like his mommy!)

-Tyler & Joe

-Joe & me in front of the forsythias

here are the rest of the pics!

St Patty's Day Greenville Block Party 2011

Good times; biggest crowd since moving to Dallas; lots of fun! lots of pics!

P.S. The crazy tall bike from last year lives.......