The Big Announcement

Putting Bethany to bed and drifting off to sleep 30 minutes later while watching tv...

Waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom (and one time breaking my toe!!)....

Seeing a sappy commercial on tv and getting teary eyed....

Smelling stale bread from across the room when no one else can....

Did I mention being soooo sleepy?

Yep, we're pregnant with tiny tot #2 expected around September 22nd/23rd, 2011. Given my history with Bethany we'll be prepared for an August baby but I'm hoping to make it to at least Labor Day, because in any event it would make a good story, right? The Doctors will keep a close eye on things this time because routinely second babies come earlier than firstborns.

We are hoping that the 2nd and 3rd trimesters are less eventful than the first. Remember my appendectomy? Well, that happened when I was about 7 weeks pregnant. In fact, I was worried that the stomach pain was because of the baby and the nurseline confirmed that they were suspicious of a tubal pregnancy. Thankfully it was my appendix, but it was still very stressful knowing that 13% of pregnancies end when having an appendectomy. The surgeon and Dr's were very kind to walk through all the risks with me and in explaining that having a CT scan to confirm it was my appendix would have been too risky with a developing fetus. God was really watching over me and this little one and although I had a tough recovery (which I NEVER want to experience again!) we made it through. Subsequent ultrasounds showed that the baby is still growing right on track and there are no adverse signs related to the surgery and they expect a normal pregnancy from here on out. Right now baby is about the size of a lime and I'm looking forward to when I will start to feel the little twitches and movements for the first time.

We booked a second babymoon for Memorial Day weekend to go to a different resort in the Riviera Maya region in Mexico. Bethany will come along and we're excited for our last family vacation as a family of 3.

This pregnancy is going much faster! Probably because we have a little toddler running around to keep us busy. I haven't taken one picture or written anything down besides this post! It really is true that the second baby has a lot less documented with its life! Well, little one, we are very happy you will be joining our family in a few short months. We welcome you with open arms and Bethany has been practicing with her doll. Don't worry, we won't let her try to wrap you in your blanket or put your hat on as we've only see her do this with her doll in varying degrees of success. We know she'll be a great big sister!

Church Baby Shower!

Last week my wonderful small group at church hosted a baby shower for me! It was so much fun, and great to see so many of the women that mean so much to me. My mom and sister were able to come and Courtney was here from Tucson that week so it worked out well. Dan's mom got back from Japan 2 days later so it was too bad she couldn't make it or Dan's sister who was also here last weekend.

We played a couple cute game including a nursery rhyme game and memory game of various baby items in a basket that Erin and Linnea put together for me. The prizes were wonderful Caldrea items from Christina and they all had yummy food for the snacks. My favorite parts though were when Linnea gave me some words of wisdom for being a mom and when Erin had me sit in the middle of the room and people prayed for me and the baby. It was so neat to think about our little girl being here to meet these special people in a few weeks.

Thank you for the wonderful shower! I am so happy my daughter will be able to grow up with such a great church family!

Here I am at 33.5 weeks at the time of the shower!

Look at all the yummy food!

I don't think Amber was doing very well at the nursery rhyme game :) She still has a few more months to learn before her little boy comes!

Me and my hostesses: Erin, Linnea, Kara and Christina

Baby girl cupcake for my 33.5 week old baby bump

Put crib together. Check.

We finally put together the crib last Thursday night. We spent a few hours working on it and we were quite sore after sitting on the floor that long! It looks great and I just had to iron the bedskirt and get the bedding in it after we put it together. Dan added a couple of things he thought the baby would like too.

Here is what I came home to peaking over the edge of the crib...A very realistic looking monkey (i.e. not "baby-cute" looking) and a football from daddy. I'm sure she'll love them :)

Amber finally announced on her blog that she is pregnant too! It is so much fun that Dan's sister is due a month after us (Dec 27th) and Amber is due 3 months after us (Feb 22nd). Melissa found out she is having a girl, so I'm hoping at Amber's ultrasound next week they have a girl too. Wouldn't it be fun to have a built in playmate no matter which side of the family we are visiting? Yesterday we had family dinner at my parents house and took a couple of belly pictures of me at 31 weeks and Amber at 18 weeks that Amber put on her blog.

Last weekend I went to Trout Lake Camp with 16 other women from church and had so much fun. I went to camp every year as a kid and loved it. Now they have more modern options so our cabin had a bathroom which was nice for me. We had a wonderful speaker, the music/worship was great, and the food was actually delicious! Our group went for a pontoon ride, I took a tour of a new part of the camp, and had a massage. We had a campfire the last night and had fun getting to know everyone better. I love getting to know other women from our church that I may not know otherwise and this weekend was a perfect opportunity to do that. I think God has a plan for the women at Cross of Glory and I'm excited to see what it is.

30 weeks!

Today I had a Dr. apt and everything looks great. I'm measuring on track for my due date anywhere between 11/24 and 11/29. He said if I go until 11/29 (one of the due dates they gave me) it might be an 8 lb baby so she must be gaining more weight now and not as tiny as they said before. I still don't know how they know, and he said its all just a guess when there aren't any upcoming ultrasounds. Either way, I'm guessing she'll be close to her original due date of 11/24 and 7 lbs 12 oz. but who knows :)

He also said that my bike riding experience on Sunday where I started getting a lot of contractions probably means I shouldn't do that as much. He is pretty laid back and just said if I start feeling Braxton-Hicks to stop - kind of what I thought. I can travel until the 2nd week of October, so only a few weeks left!

The crib finally arrived today! I will go pick it up tomorrow and then I'm sure we'll want to put it together right away. I've also been nesting at work cleaning files, etc. I'm sure Dan wishes I will start doing that at home too, but I've been waiting to get the crib so I can finally get everything setup.

This weekend I'm going to Trout Lake with some ladies from church for a fall retreat. It looks like great weather and I signed up for a 10 minute massage during free time that I am looking forward to. It will be great to get away and see what God has in store for us this weekend.

Here are my 30 week baby bump pictures!

Last 2 weeks update

Last weekend we helped Amber and Brent with their bathroom tiling projects. I think they are close on the downstairs one so now they'll be able to shower again soon. The upstairs shower and floor are next on the list. It will look great when its done!

While the guys kept tiling, I took a break to go to Jeremy and Allison's for their kids' 2nd and 3rd birthday party. It was a beautiful day for it!

This week we put together the dresser for the nursery and are waiting on the crib... I called because it should have been here by now so they are checking on the status. It was fun to put a few of the things up in the nursery!

My parents dropped off the rocker that my mom used with me when I was a baby. It still has the teeth marks on the top where I apparently liked to chew while my mom would burp me after feeding. I got teeth at 4 months so I was teething pretty early she said.

Updated baby bump pictures - here I'm 26 weeks

And, today at 27.5 weeks. She is 2 lbs now about the size of a large head of cauliflower. I feel like I'm showing a lot more now and people are commenting about me being pregnant instead of the wondering glances. Its nice to know I'm in the third trimester and less than 3 months to go. Still running most days - but this week with the hills by our house I walked 1/2 the time and ran 1/2. The flat treadmill pace at the gym is a little easier :)

We're heading out to the lake again this weekend and can't believe it will only be in the 60's tomorrow - we can't have fall weather already! I feel like we didn't have a real summer yet! It is pleasant for the State Fair though, and I'm excited to go with my team from work on Tuesday. Cheese curds, Sweet Martha's Cookies and the refill milk stand here I come!

Final railing pics

Dan finished the downstairs railing today and it looks great! He even vacuumed and cleaned the entire hourse after he was done so I came home to a wonderful surprise.

You did a great job Dan, you are the best!

We got a call from Direct Buy saying half of our furniture was in - the crib is still not there. But, we'll go pick up the bedding and dresser this weekend and get that put together next week. Then when the crib comes we'll be done. I didn't get a call from my Dr. so I passed my glucose test, whew!

Finally, I suppose I should post something about the fact that we now have Favre on the Vikings. I'm not that excited because I never really liked the guy, but I suppose he's better than the other two QBs we have so I'll get used to the idea. Dan is excited and thinks we have a shot at the Super Bowl. Friday's game will probably be one of the most watched pre-season game of all time for the Vikings. Should be a fun football season!

Less than 100 days to go!

Today we have 99 days until our little girls due date. That means I'm entering the third trimester later this week or next depending on how you count. I wanted to get a lot of things checked off my list in the 2nd trimester so we've been scheduling our childbirth classes, finding a pediatrition, sending in our pre-term labor admittance form, finalizing all the Dr. apts through December 1st (if she goes that late), and making a list of things we need to buy. I had my glucose test at the Dr. today and I have one word for that drink: YUCK. The lab workers were very nice and sympathetic but commented that some people can't keep it down and have to drink another whole bottle so I made sure I only had to drink one. It is so thick and sugary and you'd think sugar would make it taste good - it definitely does not. I find out tomorrow if I failed and then you have to take a 3 hr. test so I'm keeping my fingers crossed I don't have to do that.

Dan's cousin's family was out at the lake this last weekend and we had a great time. It rained Saturday but we made it out for a boat ride and swam and then tubed on Sunday. Their kids are 5 and 2 and very sweet little boys. We spent a lot of time trying to catch frogs, crickets and even saw a bunny we almost caught. They are definitely boys!

Dan's cousin Justin with his oldest boy Zack who wears his cowboy outfit everyday. They stopped at a casino buffet on the way up to the cabin to eat lunch and a guy in the bathroom joked that he was surprised they let Zack in wearing that. :)

Zack, Nick and Justin enjoying corn on the cob.

Hopefully the furniture comes later this week because I'd love to put it together on Friday before we spend the weekend at Amber and Brents helping them tile their bathrooms. Summer has gone by so fast! I can't belive we're already half-way through August and the State Fair is coming up! That always means the end of summer... and cooler weather (how can that be?)

Fun summer weekend

Dan's friends from Best Buy came out to the lake this weekend and although we had some stormy weather, Saturday afternoon was a beautiful day to be at the lake swimming! Today Dan finished up the railing and I put together an IKEA bookcase for the baby's room. We went swimming at Lifetime with my parents and then relaxed and watched a movie. What a great weekend!
Week 24! Only 107 days to go!

Half-way there!

We had our 20 week ultrasound on Monday and found out we are having a girl! It was so fun to see her moving around and at the end cuddling up into a little ball and crossing her legs at the ankles. I'm so happy she is healthy and its amazing we were able to see all of her organs and fingers and toes developing properly. She is still measuring tiny so Dan was happy it was a girl - apparently tiny girls are better to him than tiny boys. And, for the record she was still within normal ranges, just on the small side which is ok with me since I have to carry her :)

We saw her moving her mouth a lot and swallowing. You can see her mouth is open in this picture.


She had her hands near her face a lot and one time was cuddling them under her chin

The ultrasound machine broke half-way through the appointment so we had to do it again and so the technician was rushed for time to get lots of fun pictures. But, we did get a lot of good profile ones.I think the hardest part of finding out the gender is that now we have to wait to actually hold her! It is fun knowing that it is a girl so we can start picking out names and getting to know her kicks, but it is sad to think we still have a ways to go before we meet her face to face :) This weekend Dan has a basketball tournament so I might be able to get in to order our baby furniture. It may take 4-6 weeks so that would be nice to get soon so we can put everything together and have the baby room ready later this summer.

It was fun hearing everyones gender predictions - most people thought it was a boy, but we are very sure it is a girl!

18 week update

Wow, I can't believe that in 2 weeks we'll be half-way to meeting our baby! Today I had my 18 week apt with my NP and everything looks good. She said the heartbeat is strong and thinks the weird feelings I've been having are definitely kicks. They don't feel like kicks, but just a strange moving sensation so I'll probably be able to identify them in the next few weeks. It is exciting that we are entering this stage though to actually feel the baby! On July 6th we have the ultrasound, so we are counting down the days to that visit.

Last weekend was my cousin Lindsay's wedding. She was beautiful! We took advantage of being dressed up and took a couple pictures too. You can definitely see the baby bump now if I wear tighter clothes. Wearing work jackets still hides it pretty well though!

I still forget all the time that I'm pregnant. I haven't had very many symptoms, and since I'm not huge yet it just slips my mind. I'm sure the 2nd half will remind me more than the 1st!

18 week photo - me and Dan
Sisters!
How cute :)

Lindsay's wedding

18 week profile shot

Hardwood flooring and crib shopping

Last weekend was a perfect weekend to be inside working on home improvement projects. Dan decided to tackle the upstairs at our house and install hickory hardwood flooring in the kitchen, dining room, living room and hallway. Last week we spent our evenings pulling up the old flooring and carpet - it was a lot of work! He borrowed a finishing nail gun from Scott and rented a staple gun from Home Depot early Saturday a.m. and got to work. My dad came over for a few hours and my sisters husband Brent stayed all weekend.

Meanwhile, my mom and sister and I went crib shopping! Babies R Us was definitely the best, and we got a few good ideas. I may end up buying it at Direct Buy because they have the same brands but it is cheaper with their buying club. We also brought my paint sample and picked out bedding! I didn't think I'd get that done this early, but since we were at all those stores anyway we checked them out. The room is peach and I want to stay fairly neutral either way. We found a few cute monkey ones and I'm drawn to the green and brown colors. We stopped at JCPenny's last and found the cutest jungle theme with the right coloring and most importantly it does have monkey's on it.

Saturday afternoon Amber and I helped the guys a little bit and made dinner, took a nap and watched a movie. Sunday we helped a lot more and helped pull up the last of the carpet and sanded the edge pieces Dan cut for the flooring around the stairs. We took Bella to the dog park and then they headed home Sunday evening while Dan and I finished the project with the nail gun. Last night we used the finishing nailer for a few more pieces and trim and I started cleaning the floors and moving the furniture back in place. It looks great!

Tonight once I sand the last few pieces and finish cleaning I'll take some final pictures to post. We are so happy to have this project done! Thank you mom for shopping on Saturday and Dad for helping the guys! And, Amber and Brent we appreciate you giving up your whole weekend to help us, it looks great!

The next project will be the railing and closet doors for the baby room. The carpet should be coming in the next few weeks!

Ripping up the carpet!

lovely original laminate we found in the kitchen

Brent and Dan thinking about the closet

Amber bringing Bella in to see what all the commotion was

Sanding

Final view of the kitchen

16 week belly shot

View of the entryway and edging

Baby Pictures!

So, we're having a baby! We are due on November 24th, Dan's 30th birthday and are very excited. Today we had an ultrasound at 13 weeks and everything looks good. Our next ultrasound is around the 4th of July and by then we should be able to tell if it is a boy or a girl. I say girl, and Dan thinks boy - one of us is probably right!

The baby was really swimming around during the ultrasound and we saw it kicking and raising its arms like it was waving to us. We are so thankful it looks healthy so far!The knees are bent up in this picture - for awhile it was stretching its legs straight up!

Just hanging out with a full belly of food after our wonderful babymoon cruise last week. We ate so much delicious food!

Here is the baby room color - ginger peach. Good painting job Dan and Monica!

Here is my baby bump at 12 weeks. The baby is about the size of a peach this week (13 weeks) so we are making our way through the fruits - it seems like just yesterday it was a blueberry!
We'll post more pictures of our cruise later, but I wanted to get our baby pictures on first! :)