Christmas 2010 - Part 2

Steve and I got to spend Christmas Eve on our own which was kind of nice. It made us feel like our own little family, which very soon we will be! It was special to spend that time together. We decided to open our presents that morning. Here is Steve with his big gift!


He looks pretty surprised and although I told him what it was weeks ago, I think this is a genuine look of surprise on his face..lol Also Freckles is getting in on sniffing the box here.

Yay! An X box Kinect! Steve was pretty excited. We spent a good part of that day and pretty much every day since playing on that thing. It is actually very fun and you get a good workout on it.

That night we decided to go on a "date night" since it would be our last Christmas as just the two of us. We went to dinner and then to a movie. It was so nice! We haven't done that in forever! I think we should start a Christmas Eve date night tradition!

On Christmas morning we went over to Steve's parents house to spend time with his family. Although his brothers Tim and Matt couldn't be there it was still awesome to see everyone that was there.

Dan and Meghan brought their puppy, Scrappy! She is so cute. Steve wants to steal her.

Willow got pretty excited opening her presents. This reaction was from a Mickey Mouse pez dispenser she got from Jordan and Kim. Priceless. (Notice her dad in the background already trying out Willow's new toys.)

The one picture where she is looking at the camera. So cute! I can't believe she is 2 1/2. She is talking up a storm now and just so adorable.

Steve and I on Christmas Day. The belly was looking pretty big that day!

Steve's mom made us all scarves! They are so awesome! She is very talented.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!! Ours was great and we can't wait for New Years!

Christmas 2010

Steve and I had such a great Christmas this year. We got to see a ton of family and that is always nice. We started off the week before Christmas at my Aunt Jan's house in Chatham, Ill. We got to see my mom's side of the family and it was so fun! Here are Steve and I just hanging out on the couch. (Waiting for the presents to start!)

Me and my cousin, Kris. She's getting married in 2011! So exciting! Gonna be a big year for the 2 of us!

My cousin Mike and his wife Lauren were there with their 3 adorable girls. I cannot believe how big they are getting!! It was so nice to see them.

Meghan was pretty excited about this toy Steve and I got her. I remember loving this thing when I was little, except hers lights up and has glitter! Awesome.

The littlest one, Addison was just so cute trying to open her presents!

When she did get them open though, it was nap time. Check out that 'tude!


The next day we met up with our family to go to the Rams vs Cheifs game. It was very fun (except for the part where the Rams sucked).

Here we are at a tailgate before the game. It was a Cheif's tailgate..I'm so ashamed.

But we went because we wanted to hang out with these lovely people. So it wasn't so bad. My cousins Kris, Cindy and Kris's fiancee, Zach.

At the game, there were quite a few Chiefs fans. And most of them were in my family! Here I am with my Aunt Jan and my mom.

These ladies live in Kansas City so I can forgive them for their bad choices...

But these two! What is the deal?

At least Steve and I were supporting the Rams at the game!

It was so fun to see that side of my family for Christmas! I miss everyone, since we all live so far apart. But its great to come together at Christmas time!

21 Weeks

This was an exciting week because it was Christmas! We had so much fun with our families this past 2 weeks. It was great to see everyone. I just love the holidays! I will do a full post on our Christmas soon. Steve and I were feeling sort of giddy thinking that it was our last Christmas with just the two of us. We can't wait for our little man to get here!

As far as the pregnancy goes, I am doing great! The baby is kicking me like crazy now and I just can't wait until Steve can feel it too. I keep trying to get Steve to feel it when the baby gets to kicking a lot but he hasn't been able to so far. Soon though.

Another exciting thing we did this week was start our registry. Steve and I both had some time off for the holidays so we decided to start registering. (I really just couldn't wait any longer!) We went to Cotton Babies first. This is the store that sells all the cloth diapers and everything else that goes along with them. That store is so neat! Steve and I both knew we wanted to cloth diaper before we even got pregnant. He likes it for the money saving aspect. I like it because of the money savings, the environmental benefits and also the benefits for the baby. I had used cloth diapers with a few of the kids I nannied before so I knew I could do it. So Steve and I went to Cotton Babies with an idea of what kind of cloth diapers we wanted but not totally sure. They people there were so nice. They walked us through the options and explained the pros and cons of each kind. In the end, we decided to go with the Bum Genius 4.0 All in One's with Velcro. We also registered for a bunch of other neat stuff there. It was very fun! I was so proud of how involved Steve got in the diaper selection and registering process. He really seemed to be interested in it and was asking lots of questions. He was so cute!

I finally finished the Baby Bargains book and was able to consolidate all the info for our registry. We started a registry at Target and later my mom and I started one at Babies R Us. It is really difficult to choose between all the options and there is so many things you need! We had fun though.

Steve and I also took a tour at Mo Bap this week. Man we were busy! The tour was good. It was just us and one other couple so that was nice. Steve and I both liked the hospital. It had a lot fo things we liked and some we didn't. We liked that it has a higher level NICU in case there are any problems with the baby. We didn't like that it is much, much bigger than St. Luke's. We also didn't like that you labor in one room and recover in another. Another thing we didn't like was that since it is bigger, the nurse to patient ratio is 4:1, whereas at St. Luke's ist 2:1. So I think we are going to go with St. Luke's. We are excited! We started signing up for classes so that will be fun!

This week the baby is graduating from subtle movements in the womb to full fledged kicks! (That is for sure!) He also has developed his eyebrows and eyelids. The baby is looking something like this now:

Things are going well for us and we are just trying to get as prepared as possible for this baby. Steve worked on the nursery as well this week so I will have to put up some pictures of that too!

Exciting Moment of the Week: Registering was so much fun this week! It was definitely exciting. Its great to pick out stuff for your baby to be! It made me think about how the little guy would like to play in this or how he would look in that. It was stressful trying to compare all the options and pick the right one, but at the end of the day its just shopping!

What I am Missing this Week: I am still missing soda and coffee this week. I don't think its because of the caffeine, I just miss the taste. My mom reminded me they make caffeine free soda so I got some of that. Its pretty good and gives you the soda taste. I also bought some decaf coffee and had a cup of that this weekend. That tasted so good!

Symptoms this Week: Nothing too major going on. Still kind of tired but mostly I am just enjoying a break from all the symptoms. I think I've hit the "easy" part of pregnancy where you feel pretty good. I hope it lasts!!

Obsessions this Week: So many! ha ha! I was totally obsessed with making a registry list this week. I've also been obsessed with the paint color for the nursery for a while. I just couldn't make up my mind. We ended up buying paint and returning it. It is painted now and I'm not sure I like it...of course! I have also been working on some artwork for the babies room so that has been fun.

Message to Our Baby: Baby, I can't believe the next Christmas we have will be with you! We can't wait to meet you and love you so much already!!

20 Weeks..Halfway There!!

I cannot believe that I am already done with 20 weeks of this pregnancy! That's halfway people! That's crazy! Crazy! This week Steve and I went to Missouri Baptist to do an ultrasound on their big machine. It was nuts! They did an anatomy scan of the baby, which basically means they take a picture of all of his body parts. It took an hour and it kind of sucked. I mean at first it was neat to see the baby, but after a while the lady started pushing hard on my stomach and the goo was all sticky and all over the place. I was glad when it was over but it was neat to see all the baby's parts and see how he was in my belly. The sonographer said he looked totally normal and there weren't any causes for concern that she could see. Yay! She did say that he was 85% in his growth at this point and is weighing in at about 13 oz. Big baby! And what did my super sensitive husband say at this news? "Oh boy! That's going to hurt!" Thanks, honey! ha ha


Also this week the baby is kicking like crazy! He is moving around practically all day while I'm at work and in the evenings. Such an active baby! It is really exciting to feel it. I wish Steve could feel it too, but the doctor said that won't be for a few weeks.


We also toured St. Luke's maternity ward this week. I wrote about it here.

We bought some paint for the baby's room! We are going to try to paint this week and work on the nursery while Steve is off school for break. I also bought some canvases and paint to diy some things for the walls. I'm very excited! I hope they turn out well. If not, I'm going to be enlisting some help for sure! :)


As far as development this week, the baby is swallowing more and more which helps the development of his little digestive system. He's also more stretched out than he has been and they say he is about the length of a banana. (Although our baby may be bigger! ha ha). Here's what he's looking like this week:
Exciting Moment of the Week: Touring the maternity ward at St. Luke's, and also getting the anatomy scan done at Mo Bap were both pretty darn exciting. Feeling the baby kick also rocks. Its been an exciting week!

What I am Missing this Week: Coffee! and soda! I am really missing caffeine lately and I have to confess that I did have a soda 2 times last week! I'm so bad. It's fine to have some caffeine as long as its not too much. The doctor said I could have 2 cups of coffee a day if I wanted to. Its hard!

Symptoms this Week: Nothing really to add to the symptoms this week. I am enjoying a little 2nd trimester relief from all the symptoms I had before. I am still super tired if I try to do too much in a day, but other than that I'm doing good.

Obsessions this Week: Still on the nursery kick! I am planning and scheming what we are going to do in the nursery. I can't wait to get started after Christmas!

Message to Our Baby: Baby, it looks and feels like you are really healthy in there and that makes me so happy! We are so excited that everything seems to be going great with you and can't wait to meet you!

St. Luke's Tour

Steve and I took the Maternity Tour at St. Luke's Hospital last night. It was very interesting and informative. It seems like St. Luke's is right on track for the kind of labor, delivery and recovery care that we want. Their focus is on keeping the mom and baby together and that is definitely what we want. Also, the lady giving the tour said that there are many options and that the parents can customize just about any aspect as long as its ok with the doctor. That is definitely a benefit. Also, they only have about 25 rooms for delivery so the ward is super small. I really liked that it was so small. They have 20 or so overflow rooms which are also used for cesarean deliveries but they are just down the hall. So, being the type A personality that I am I need to make a list (thanks mom!) to keep all the info straight.

Things we want from a hospital:

• Relatively close to our house
• Smaller maternity ward, preferably on one floor of the hospital
• Small nurse to patient ratio
• Easy pre-admission procedure
• Private birth room
• Prefer to stay in one room before and after birth
• Want Steve to be able to stay the night (and have somewhere to sleep!)
• Want to be able to post-pone any non necessary procedures right after birth
• Want to be able to take part in baby's first bath and any other important after birth procedures
• Lactation consult/support available including supporting our wishes of no bottle feeding or pacifiers if that's what we decide is best
• Want to be able to labor with or without pain medication and in any positions or using available techniques as myself and my doctor see fit (in other words, minimal restrictions by hospital policy regarding labor positions and walking around while laboring, etc)
• People, video, cameras allowed in delivery room are up to our discretion
• Have the option of minimal monitoring during labor of myself and baby and no internal monitoring of the baby (unless medically required)
• Have baby in the room with us at all times
• Have prenatal classes available at the hospital

So how does St. Luke's stack up? Well, they are pretty much awesome. Their philosophy of mother centered maternity care matches up perfectly with what we want for the labor, delivery and recovery. They believe that the most important place for the baby to be is with the mom and they are very supportive of customizing your experience with your doctor. They are also very supportive of breast feeding which is super important to me. They have private birth suites (with Wi-fi, a TV and DVD player, a pull out couch for dad and a full bathroom). Mothers stay in the same room during labor, delivery and recovery, unless they have a Cesarean but that ward is right across the hall, which is really nice. Baby stays in the room 24 hours a day, unless you request they stay in the nursery. They also offer a ton of prenatal classes including infant care classes, breastfeeding classes and a Happiest Baby on the Block class. They even have infant massage! Crazy. But the one downside is the classes are pretty expensive. Steve and I really want to take a bunch of them, but they range from $40 to $90 each. :(

St. Luke's also has a special nurse's program where a nurse will meet with you midway through your pregnancy to help you write your birth plan and help with any questions you have. They will also help you with pre-registration, breastfeeding information and other things such as car seat info. After the birth they will follow up with you. How awesome is that?

St. Luke's also has lots of other perks for families while they are in the hospital. Like, you can order your meals whenever you want them in case you are sleeping or not hungry at a certain time. They don't have restrictions on visitng hours. They also offer a masseuse that will come in the day after your labor if you want. They have some rooms with birthing tubs. Its just crazy all the things they offer. And as far as our concerns regarding labor and after birth preferences, St. Luke's meets every one.

As far as negatives, there really weren't too many. The only ones I can think of is that St. Luke's is slightly farther from our house and also from the doctor's office. (not really that far though). It is kind of confusing to get to, but its not that bad. Another negative is they don't have a very big NICU unit. So, any babies in serious distress are transferred to another hospital like St. John's because St. Luke's really doesn't have the capability to deal with seriously ill babies. But that's the price you pay for wanting a smaller hospital really. If we were having any complications or any indications of any problems with delivery we wouldn't choose St. Lukes. The only other downer is the cost of the prenatal classes.

So, we were really excited after the tour and are pretty sold on St. Luke's. My OB goes to lots of other hospitals but since we wanted to stay relatively small and close to our house, the only other one we are considering is Missouri Baptist. We have a tour scheduled for their maternity ward next week so we will see how it goes!

Nursery Ideas

Steve and I are planning to work on the nursery over the next few weeks while he is on winter break from school. It has been so fun thinking about what we are going to do for the little guy's nursery.

One problem is that the nursery is a really small room. So we can't do anything too crazy or it will look like a lot in a small room. Also, the furniture we have so far is a natural wood color so whatever we do has to go with that.

The first thing we did is try to pick a paint color for the walls. If you know me you know that I love color! And lots of it! I want to make his nursery bright and inviting and fun. I also didn't want to go with the basic blue. I really wanted to do something different so I came up with the idea of orange with dark blue accents. But Steve wasn't completely sold on the idea and didn't like my back up plan of "Well we'll just paint it again if we don't like it." So I looked around online and I think we found a picture of how we are planning to do the walls. I like the colors of this nursery below, especially with bright green stripe.

Now I know what you are saying, "But that is blue." Yes, (sigh) its blue. Steve really wanted blue for the walls to go with the underwater theme and I guess since its two tone blue with a green accent I don't hate it as much as I thought I would hate blue walls. But I definitely want to do some more bright green accents to show off that color. Something like a bright green curtain in front of the closet door or some green curtains for the windows. Something similar to this:

I like that pop of green curtain but that crazy green chair is a bit much. Hey, did you notice the orange rug in there? I think I will try to stick some orange in that nursery yet!

Steve and I decided on the bedding for the room too. We want to get this one from Babies R Us. I think it will go great with the room colors. Don't you?

One of the details I love about this bedding is the polka dot sheets! Adorable. I also like the oceany, wavy bed skirt. So cute! We won't get the wall border or any of the art work, don't want to be too matchy matchy. I plan to get/make some other art work as well as put up some pictures of us on our honeymoon snorkeling and doing other water activities. I think it will be so cute! I will probably paint the pictures frames (orange maybe? or green).

I am totally into DIY lately, can you tell? It is just so much more fun to make projects. It is also much cheaper! ha ha. I am going to need some help with some of the projects I want to do for the nursery however. I hope Steve's crafty mom and Jordan will help! Here are some of the things I want to do.

This mobile is adorable! I really want to make it but I have no idea how to sew. I would just buy it from Etsy but they want $100 for it! Yes, $100!! That's nutso. You might recognize it from my original Nursery post here.

I also hope Steve's mom and Jordan can help me out with this pillow. I want to make some cute fishy ones like this:

Since that's not really DIY that's more like having someone else DIY, I was thinking about some projects I could do on my own. I found some adorable pictures of fish online and I was thinking of trying my hand at painting. I am 99% sure this will end in disaster but how hard can fish be? So I think I will get a few canvases and try that out. Also, I saw this clock online and I could totally make this:

Especially if I can find some stickers and paint some numbers from the craft store. I would need to find the actual clock though. I think I could do it.

One thing, I think I might actually buy from Etsy is this set of prints:

I really dig this and think it will look great over the crib. Of course, I wouldn't have them put Gavin. Hopefully we would know the baby name by then!

Well those are some of the projects on my short list of things to do for the nursery. It seems like a lot! Didn't I say how small the nursery was? This is going to be a lot of stuff in there! We'll see what ends up turning out!

19 Weeks

I am so excited to announce that this week I am definitely feeling the baby move! It is so weird! At first, I thought I felt the baby but I wasn't sure. Then on Saturday of last week, I definitely felt it. Before I thought it might just be gas or my stomach growling but this time I knew what it was. It felt much different than either of those things. It is like someone literally moving around of you. So weird! But it is kind of a good feeling!! It means my baby boy is ok and moving around in there and that is nice to know. Ever since it started, he must have taken up gymnastics because he is doing somersaults in my stomach all day long! Silly boy!

This week has been going great! I've had more energy lately than I've had in a long time so that is nice. Steve and I have been finishing up our Christmas shopping and having fun spending time with friends and family. I just love this time of year. It makes it so much more special thinking we will have a little man to share Christmas with next year. It is weird to think that this our last Christmas as a family of 2 (well 6 if you count the puppies).


This week the baby's brain is developing his sensory areas. The specialized areas for smell, taste, touch, hearing and vision are being designated this week. They say the baby can hear us now! So exciting. The baby is kicking a lot this week. No wonder if this is how he looks! Baby boy is all squished in there!



This week Steve and I have decided to start working on the nursery. I will update you guys on that progress and what we plan to do soon!


Exciting Moment of the Week: Feeling the baby move was amazing! It was so different than anything else I have ever felt. I couldn't deny it or say it was something else. Its so weird but also so great to feel him moving in there!


What I am Missing this Week: I have been having a terrible soda craving lately! I think it has to do with all the crazy amounts of soda my husband has been consuming. Every time I see him get a soda I just want to grab it from him and suck it down! I know I can have some caffeine but I eat enough chocolate to probably account for that! Especially with all the yummy cookies we have around now.


Symptoms this Week: Nothing too bad is going on this week. Still headaches and itchiness but that's pretty much it. I am getting some energy back so that is awesome!


Obsessions this Week: Definitely the nursery. I think Steve and I have decided on what bedding to get and what we are going to paint the walls. I can't wait to get started!


Message to Our Baby: Baby we are so excited about you developing. Its crazy that now you can kick mommy and she can feel it! It is like a little connection between us and its so special. We love you and we hope you are doing great! Next week will be the halfway point and I can't believe that you will be here in about 5 months!! Can't wait!

It's Beginning to Look A lot like Christmas!

The Christmas spirit is in the air! And in our house! I decorated the house for Christmas this weekend and it looks awesome! We don't have a ton of decorations, but the ones we do have are so pretty. Also, this is the first year we have put up a Christmas tree! My lovely Aunt Jan donated her old Christmas tree to us this year. (Thank you so much!!) It is wonderful to have our own tree. We only had about 3 ornaments so I bought some generic ones from Michael's to fill the space. I figure we will start getting more ornaments as the years go on so no need to buy them all now. But enough talking! Here are the pictures!

First, here is our first Christmas tree! So pretty!

Next, I decorated the rest of the living room. In doing so, I realized in our new house we don't have a mantle! So where are we to hang our stockings??? How about on our gorgeous hutch that my wonderful mother refinished for us? (Thank you so much, you are amazing.) Don't our stockings look nice on the hutch?

Here's a close up. (These gorgeous stockings were handmade by Steve's mom last Christmas! Aren't they beautiful?)

Here's a close up of the decorations on top of the hutch.

Next, I decorated our dining room table. I stole this idea from another blog I read. I think it looks pretty good and it only cost me $2!

Here's a close up of the centerpiece:

Finally, my mom and I attempted to be crafty and make a homemade wreath. I really wanted a festive Christmas wreath for our front door, but I didn't want to pay $30 for it. We saw some at a craft fair last weekend that were gorgeous but I just felt like it was too much to pay for it. Also, I thought, "We can make this!" So we did!

Isn't it pretty? And it really wasn't very hard at all. I estimate it cost about $7, but that's because my mom donated the ribbon. But even if we paid for the ribbon I bet it wouldn't be more than $15. I'm so proud of us! Here are some close ups of the details.

Getting the house decorated for Christmas was so fun! I love this time of year. Merry Christmas everyone!!

18 Weeks

Wrapping up 18 weeks of pregnancy and things are going great! I'm feeling really good, getting some energy back and getting very excited about the baby. We are going to be halfway done in 2 weeks and I cannot believe it! It seems crazy to be almost halfway done with the pregnancy. I'm still getting really itchy skin but that could also be due to the cold and dry winter weather we are having. The Eucerin lotion is still working so that's a huge help! The headaches aren't too bad or too often so that's great too. One weird thing that has started this past week was round ligament pain. The other day, I started having some stomach pains, not like cramping but just like an occasional sharp pain. It was worrying Steve and me so I called the nurses line and they said it was probably round ligament pain and should go away in a few days. Apparently this is a term for the pain you experience from the stretching of your uterus. Gross, right? But it really wasn't that bad and only lasted a few days. I'm glad to know what the heck was going on!

All the books and websites say that about this time, your appetite picks up and boy, are they right! I have to have at least 2 snack times during the day and usually one after dinner to keep the grumbling in my tummy down to a low growl. In the "What to Expect" book they also cite several studies that show that its better to eat frequently throughout the day to keep a steady amount of nutrients available all day for the baby's little brain to develop. I'm more than happy to oblige! ha ha!

The baby is continuing to grow like crazy, he is about 5 1/2 inches long, weighs about 7 oz and is the size of a bell pepper! That's pretty big. He's started really flexing his arms and legs and although I haven't felt it yet, I know I will soon. The baby's nerves are developing a protective cover of myelin around them this week. Our baby boy is looking something like this:


This week Steve and I have been having a lot of fun thinking about the baby. We narrowed our name list down to 5 so that is huge progress! We have been talking a lot about our top names and I think we will decide soon. I am actually turning out to be the indecisive one (although, not too surprising, ha ha). We have also been talking about what we are going to do to the baby's room. I can't wait to get in there and start preparing the little guy's room! It is going to be great! I'll be sure to post lots of pictures!

Exciting Moment of the Week: It was pretty exciting and nerve-wracking when Steve and I were narrowing down our name lists. We both made a list of names we liked, then we switched lists and crossed off the one's we didn't like from each other's list. That left us with a few and from there we narrowed it down to the top 5 we could agree on. It is very exciting to have made some progress in that area and be thinking about what the possible final name could be.

What I am Missing this Week: This week I got out all the Christmas decorations and it was more difficult because I'm not supposed to lift anything heavy. That is getting annoying! Since our storage is downstairs, I have to wait for Steve to come home to get anything done. He is so sweet though and very helpful. Its just annoying not being able to do things for yourself!

Symptoms this Week: Nothing too horrible this week, just the itchiness and round ligament pain but that is mostly gone now.

Obsessions this Week: We are starting to plan the baby's room and it is so fun! We are thinking now about buying/making some artwork for the walls as well as ocean themed bedding and curtains. We were thinking painting sea creatures directly on the walls might be overkill. Plus we couldn't find any affordable decals that we liked. So we'll see!

Message to our Baby: Baby, we are so excited to meet you. We almost have your name picked out and we hope you like it! We are getting your room ready for you and we hope you love it!!

The Dogs are Excited for Christmas!!

I have mentioned a couple times on here the photo shoot I did a while ago with the dogs to make a calendar. I subjected them to all kinds of horrible outfits! Well, since the damage is done, I thought I would share some of the goods with you! The Christmas outfits I put them in are too much. So enjoy...

First of all, that year we got sweaters for all the doggies! OMG. So cute. Too bad everyone hated them except Zeusy. We were able to get one group shot (minus Freckles).

Don't you just love argyle on a puppy??

Don't worry I don't make them wear the sweaters anymore. Most of them have been chewed up anyways! Silly doggies, sweaters are not chew toys!

Zander doing his best reindeer impression.

We got them these chew toys that said "Naughty" and "Nice". Zander is acting naughty here and not looking at the camera! Bad boy! ha ha

He makes up for it here! What a good boy!

Steve and Freckles wanted in on the action...

Zeus got jealous so we let him wear the Christmas tree hat. (Isn't Steve such a good sport? What a nice hubby I have.)

Finally, here is Zander wishing everyone a Happy New Year...it looks like he might have had too much to drink at the party! ha ha!

Happy Holidays Everyone!!