Christmas in St. Louis, part 2

December 29, 2007: We spent most of the day with my dad out in St. Charles. That evening we had dinner at my aunt and uncle's house and were able to catch up with my cousins.

Christmas in St. Louis

December 28, 2007: After driving up from Dallas, we headed to my mom's house to have Christmas with part of my family. This picture was taken by setting the timer on the camera and running to get into place! Amazingly enough, it didn't turn out so bad.

Christmas Morning 2007

Christmas morning was spent with just Aaron, me and his parents. A relaxing and lazy morning...

Christmas Eve 2007

Aaron and I rotate Christmas each year between St. Louis and Dallas. This year landed us in Texas for about 5 days. In his family, the big event is held on Christmas Eve at his mom and dad's house. All families were present this year. Aaron has 1 older brother, Sean, and two older sisters, Tami and Tara. It was a great time for all of us to be able to get together, especially for Aaron who is only able to see all of his family about once or twice a year. We took pictures of that evening after all the presents had been opened. One of all the boys and one of all the girls. As you can tell, the girls are a little outnumbered...

Christmas at Our House

Happy Birthday, Ellyn!

We helped our friend, Ellyn, celebrate her 21st birthday on Saturday. Matt threw her a party with some friends and family. Unfortunately, the snow slowed down the evening a bit but lucky for us, we only had to walk 3 doors down.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

This past weekend we enjoyed our first "official" snow. We had a little snow and ice two weekends ago but this one was enough to make it count. The snow began Saturday night and lasted through Sunday morning. It left us with about 9 inches of snow. It took Aaron a little over 2 hours just to clear off the driveway. I keep reminding him that he enjoys it! When we first moved north he was so excited to see the snow as he had never really been around it before. Now, I don't think it's quite as appealing...

Dinner with the Currin's

Upon moving to Bloomington-Normal 2.5 years ago, a tradition was started with some folks that we now call our very good friends. Jack (Jumbo) and Chris Curin immediately took us in when we moved to town. Huge supporters of ISU Athletics, we had much in common right from the beginning. Jack eventually became the President of the Redbird Club putting in many hours with Aaron. Our first Christmas here, they invited us over to dinner and we haven't stopped since. This past weekend made the tradition our 3rd year in a row. We couldn't believe it had been that long already. Jack always makes fabulous steaks and Chris makes the best-ever twice-baked potatoes. Doug, a friend of ours and co-worker of Aaron, also celebrates with us. Attached is a photo from just this past weekend. Cheers!

Finally! It's a................GIRL!

We went to the doctor's again this morning to make our second attempt at finding out what we're having. She started out measuring different things like the heart, kidneys, lungs and bladder. She said the stomach and bladder were full which showed that the baby could swallow and take in fluids and then dispose of them. While doing this, we were able to see the baby yawn and wave. Finally, the tech moved down to the determining area and the baby quit moving. I told her that I would do whatever needed including standing on my head as long as she could tell us what we were having when we left. She said ok and started shaking my stomach pretty hard. This startled the baby enough so that she was able to see the necessary parts for a...... GIRL! We asked her about five times if she was sure and she said absolutely. So we can now break ourselves from the habit of calling the baby "it" and start using "her". We're proud and very excited to say that we are going to be the parents of a little girl.

Another exciting thing for us right now is being able to feel the baby move. I have been able to feel it off and on very lightly for the past 2 weeks or so but last night was the first time Aaron was able to feel it too. It's still not very strong yet but definitely unmistakable.

These 2 pictures were taken today. The first one is a profile of her head and face on the right. The body cavity is in the middle and down the left. Right above her nose is a small white spot. That's part of her hand. Wave hello! The second picture is also of her face and head but she's turned slightly and facing you so that her features look larger. Her hand is up towards her forward.

Her heartbeat today was 156/bpm. We go back next week for our regular appointment. We should receive our next and final ultrasound picture around 28-30 weeks.

Christmas Work Parties

What a busy week. Thursday night was Aaron's work party and Friday was mine. Saturday was a basketball game and Sunday we had a dinner party. Aaron's party was good. It was held at the Arena with dinner and then Santa for all the kids. Friday night we attended my work party at J Buck's Restaurant. I was able to get some pictures from that night and I've attached one.

It's a.......??????????????

(Here's the ultrasound picture. Can you make it out? The baby is on its stomach. The head is on the right side and the spine runs along the top. You can also make out the body cavity and jaw bones.)

We went to the doctor yesterday for our regular visit and an ultrasound to determine the baby's gender. The baby didn't really agree with those plans and had its own agenda. During the entire ultrasound, the baby was on its stomach with its legs tucked up under it. It never moved and the heartbeat was slightly slower at 146/bpm than in the past. So the baby was sleeping. We were pretty disappointed just because we had our hopes up but we can't really complain because everything else checked out well. She was able to get a good shot of the brain which looked good and the size it should be. She was also able to measure the thigh bone which is the length it should be for this stage of the game. We're able to go back in 2 weeks to try again. We'll keep you posted!

Jeremy Camp concert

On Thursday night, Aaron and I went to the Jeremy Camp concert at our church. Mainstay also performed. We had a great time and thought the concert was really good. It was done in an unplugged format so it was more relaxed than a traditional concert. He took questions from the audience and talked about his songs as he sang them. The picture we have here is taken from our cell phone so it's not very good at all. If you want to check out more about Jeremy and his music go to www.jeremycamp.com.

Doctor's appt: 14 weeks

Today we went to the doctor's for our regular appointment, just moved up a week because of the kidney stone ordeal. I checked out fine and then it was time to listen to the baby's heartbeat. She put the the doppler on my belly and moved it around for a minute or more without finding it. This made us nervous and I told her that she had to find it before we left! She said that she wasn't worried at all and asked if we could hear all of the "swishing" noises. We nodded and she said that those noises were from the baby moving around so much. She said the baby was extremely active and moving so much that she couldn't hardly pin it down long enough to get a reading. So she pushed the doppler down harder in my belly and after a few seconds we heard a thud. She said that was from the baby. It had kicked back at her! Finally, she located the baby's heartbeat and it was at 160/bpm. She said that her guess is that it's a girl. Our next appointment is November 26th and we're scheduled for an ultrasound to find out what we're having. We'll be in our 19th week.

Visit to the ER

If you've never had a kidney stone, I don't recommend starting now. Last night, I woke up with some of the worst pain in my life. We called the doctor and she said it sounded like a kidney stone and to head to the ER if it didn't subside in an hour. The pain did ease quite a bit but we were worried about what, if any, effects it was having on the baby. So we went to the ER just to be sure. They did an ultrasound of my kidney and said that it did appear that it had suffered trauma similar to that of a kidney stone. As a precaution (and a bonus to us), they did an ultrasound of the baby to make sure everything looked ok. Keep in mind we hadn't seen an ultrasound since week 6 when the baby was no bigger than a piece of rice on the screen. This time however, we are in week 14 and what a difference! The baby actually looks like a baby! It was moving and bending its arms and legs. At one point, it even appeared to be sucking its thumb. The heartbeat was at 160/bpm. So after losing several hours of sleep, Aaron and I are now trying to catch up. All is well.

ISU Sesquicentennial Gala Event

Tonight was ISU's Sesquicentennial (or 150th anniversary) Gala Event held at the Bone Student Center. It was a great event that helped to raise money for student scholarships. I wish I had pictures to show of the actual event as it was decorated top notch. (I have several new ideas...) The event wrapped up Homecoming Weekend after watching the football team this afternoon celebrate a win! Although Aaron will never admit it, dressing up like seniors going to prom was a little fun. However as a senior in high school, I didn't have to try and fit a baby bump inside one of those dresses!

Doctor's appt: 11 weeks

Today we went to our first "official" prenatal appointment. We were told we would be able to hear the heartbeat at this visit so we were very excited to go. Only good things to report- we were able to hear the heartbeat for the first time and we got the chance to record it. Our doctor said, "Don't go buying pink yet, but it sounds like a girl." The heartbeat sounded amazing and so surreal at the same time. I think it finally sunk in for both of us- we're having a baby! The heart was beating at 160/minute which is really good. Fast, but still within the limits of what it should be. Yeah! Our next appointment is scheduled for November 1. We'll keep you posted!

Aaron's Surprise 30th Birthday Party!

I've tried several times over the past 2 months to surprise Aaron with either concert tickets or a getaway trip for just the two of us. I failed miserably at both "surprise" concepts. Well, I couldn't let his 30th birthday come and go without any sort of hupla- thus, my final attempt at a surprise. And it worked! I scheduled a surprise birthday party for Aaron 2 weeks after his actual birthday on September 27th at the Loft in Bloomington. About 38 or so of our friends and co-workers were able to join us. With the help of our friends, Matt and Ellyn, the night was a success, everyone had a good time and Aaron was surprised!

Finally!

One of the main reasons for starting this blog page is so that we can share with all of you the most exciting thing that's going on in our life right now- the blessing of expecting our first baby. As most of you know, we had a miscarriage in May of 2006 and were extremely devastated by it. However, through all of that, we learned many things about each other and God's plan. After trying for almost 14 months, God finally blessed us with a second pregnancy. We are currently at the end of 12 weeks and so far, everything seems to be going as planned. We found out on Thursday, August 16th, that we were pregnant. We were so excited but scared to death at the same time. Our doctor wanted me to immediately go in for blood work to check my levels because of the last time. The results came back the same day- the numbers were perfect! In fact, they were extremely high. The nurse warned us that usually when they see numbers that high, it indicates a multiples pregnancy. She said that obviously, she couldn't be sure, but she told us to start preparing ourselves for the possibility of 2 or 3! Wow. That was a shock! I went back twice over the next 5 days for repeated blood work and each time the results came back phenomenal. We went in for our first ultrasound on Wednesday, September 5th. When the technician entered the room, she said, "Ok, I saw your chart and I'm fully expecting to find at least 2 if not 3 babies today based on your numbers." Prior to that appointment, we had discussed such possibilites and thought that twins would be work, but we could manage. One for each of us. But triplets? We were outnumbered! We also knew that God would give to us what we could handle and had a peace about whatever the outcome might be. At the ultrasound, she only found 1 baby and assured us that no one was "hiding". She was also able to see the baby's heartbeat represented as a white, blinking light on the screen. The baby's heart was already beating at 118/min. at only 6.5 weeks old! We were ecstatic!The next few weeks were filled with a whole gammet of emotions for both of us. It's amazing how your whole life changes from foods to eat, conversations had and money spent! Everything is about this baby! Fine by us. Oh, and just a small detail: our due date is April 27th, 2008.

September 12th, 2007: Aaron's 30th Birthday

Aaron's parents were able to be with us from Dallas for Aaron's 30th birthday. They were here for about 9 or 10 days and were a huge help around the house from cleaning to small projects. Aaron's dad helped him to install a ceiling fan in the baby's room and a chair rail. It looks great!

For Aaron's birthday dinner, we went to Lucca Grill, his favorite restaurant in town. They're famous for their a la Baldini pizza.

July 2007: Vacation in Dallas

This past July, we were able to take some vacation and head to Dallas, TX to visit with Aaron's family. We drove the 13 hours so that we could take our dogs with us. It was a great time for all of us. We mostly lounged around, shopped, ate and swam. We were fortunate enough to be able to be there for Luke's (Aaron's nephew) 6th birthday and his baptism. Our dogs had a great time with all of the kids and attention and of course- the swimming pool. Bailey (our female lab) absolutely loves the water and it's hard to keep her out. Gunner (our male lab) on the other hand, is petrified of water. Or I should say, "was". We tried all week to get him in the water by throwing his toy in or pushing him in but he wasn't having it. Finally on the last day we were there, apparently, we had pushed enough and Aaron gently coaxed him in off the step. And that was that. We couldn't keep either one of them out! All in all we had a great trip and plan on heading back in December.

Mother's Day 2007

This picture is from Mother's Day 2007. Aaron and I were able to go to St. Louis for the weekend and see my family. My moma and I are great friends. She is an amazing woman, strong and brave, and someone that I look up to. Love you, Moma!