Our BOY!

Yup! It's a BOY! :) We are completely thrilled! If you're wondering like most about his name... it's a secret. Yes, we want to drive you all crazy. :) Also, you'll never guess it.

So far this pregnancy has been pretty easy on me. There are some normal pregnancy things that I have come up (such as heart palpitations and round ligament pain) but I can handle anything that's normal. :) About two weeks ago (at 20 weeks along) I started having what we believe to be Braxton Hicks contractions, which aren't painful just a bit uncomfortable. These are also normal so again, no worries. :)

This Thursday we have TWO more ultrasounds! We get to see our little man and we then get to check out me to be sure my Braxton Hicks is in fact BH and not the real thing.

Here are a few photos from our 20-week ultrasound...

The money shot...
His foot...
His face (right), torso (left) and arm (top)... SO cute! :)

Family Reunion!

This weekend BJ and I headed up to the Bend for a family reunion and to celebrate birthdays (including my Grandpa Jack's 80th)! It was so nice seeing everyone again!! :)


We also learned a valuable lesson about putting Palmolive into the dishwasher! Ross (Julie's fiance) will forever be branded with the nickname 'Suds'! :)

Dogs Playing Outside

Girls Weekend

Check it out! I'm blogging!

Had a fabulous time in Indy with the girls this weekend!

Our preggo progression! 16 weeks 19 weeks and 34 weeks!

Grandma "Lake"

Happy 80th Birthday Grandma "Lake"!!! Grandma is truly amazing woman who has overcome so much in her life. I must say... my favorite thing about Grandma is how spunky she is! Especially during Euchre! :)

We love you!!!

17 Week Update

• I'm 17 weeks along today. Hopefully four weeks from tomorrow we'll find out what we're having!


• BJ's out at camp for the rest of the week. In an effort to save vacation days for da baby, I'm spending the week working... boo!


• BJ got our invisible fence installed last week! Now I'm working on training the pups to avoid flags. :) We're still looking for a good home for our sweet Zoe. She's a really really wonderful puppy... but the two of the wrestle and run around so much in the house we're afraid a baby would get trampled. Independantly the dogs are both pretty calm and lazy... but together they are just a little too hyped up! If you know of anyone looking for a sweetheart dog... let us know!


• I've back in the swing of sewing up a storm! I made 5 birds like this last night!

It's That Time of Year!

Here are a few photos of what's been cropping up lately...

This year we've expanded things a bit... Not including all the new fruit trees (the "orchard" has doubled in size), we are working on: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, cucumbers, cantaloupe, watermelon, sweet corn, 8 types of tomatoes, 8 types of peppers, corn, spaghetti squash, zucchini, and sun flowers! Whew!

15 Weeks Today!

Slowly but surely things are moving along with the baby and preperations for baby. :) I'm reading a lot, peppering my mom friends with questions, and even doing a few things to get the nursery ready (we now have a crib, mattress, and bedding's on it's way). For the most part, I feel really great, and my plan is to do as much as possible now... before I am a house and can't move anymore!


Nursery Details: (for those of you who might find this fun)

Here's a piece of my nursery plan (I'm a nerd, I know). I am going to paint a tree mural (no-voc paint, of course) with a growth chart blended in... and hopefully incorporate a cute bird house like this one somewhere as well. I'm making mobiles... hence the flying birds. Also, the crib in the illustration is our actual crib, but the bedding is different.

Heartbeat!

We heart the heartbeat for the first time this morning (at the ultrasound last month we could see it, but not yet hear it)! I am practically skipping everywhere I am so excited. Everything is going SO well so far!

We are on a doctor rotation during the pregnancy, where we see a different doctor (all women) from the practice every time we go in. I've now met all of them and they're all so great. I'll be happy with any one of them delivering our baby! :)

Happy happy happy day!

Now back to our regularly scheduled blogcast...

So you may be wondering why I've been so bad about updating this thing... The truth is that we've been just a little preoccupied. We are have a BABY!

We found out super early (not even 4 weeks) - which was a blessing but it also made the wait to share the news even longer. At this point, I am 13 weeks along and just starting trimester #2!

Four weeks ago we had our first baby photoshoot... Lil' Murph (I'm told) looks a bit different now (more like a human... less like a gummy bear)...

Happy Birthday BJ

Once again... for one month... we're the SAME AGE! We have such wonderful friends. Thanks for celebrating with us!
Here I am with my FULL rack of ribs. Mmmm Mmmm barbecue!

Siblings...

Bill, Dad (John), Bobbie, & Jean

Vance Reunion

This past weekend, while BJ was helping with the high school Ignite retreat, I headed to Illinois to visit with my family. For the first time in nine years, all of my dad's siblings were in one place. AND we have a new addition to the family with my new cousin (who traveled all the way from Scotland like a champ!) Isla! She's amazing!

iPhone Photos of the Pups

BJ just sent these over to me via the iPhone... they love each other... awwww....

I Could Kiss BJ...

...for wanting to move out to the country. This morning... AH-mazing.

I think we have...

...officially offset our carbon footprint. :) Spring has just sprung and we have already planted 108 trees! Between this year and last year... easily 250 trees planted!

Orchid Show...

This weekend we had such a nice visit with my parents! They got to meet our new pup which was an added bonus. On Saturday we headed out for lunch with Eric and Erin and got to catch (on accident) the orchid show at the Krohn Conservatory!

My Famous Mom!

My mom is so great! :) Check out this video highlighting one of her classes at Saint Mary's College. I am so fortunate to have her help with financial things too. This year she helped me complete our taxes... by myself... using the actual forms! I checked my work with TurboTax and was spot on. :)

http://www.wsbt.com/news/local/41312962.html

why I couldn't resist...

Here's more of our new addition. She's had three names in the past five days... and we've finally settled on Zoe.... my great friend Jess had a beagle named Zoe and so without thinking that's what I kept calling this new one... even though we had changed her shelter name (Chelsea) to Delilah. But then we discovered how close Delilah and Layla sound... so Zoe it was. Hope Jess doesn't mind! :)

New Puppy!

We got Layla a new friend today... we're not quite sure what she is... Here are her Petfinder photos...
She came from (as BJ describes...) the in-sorry-shape Aurora animal shelter. She had been there since February 17th and we don't know much else. The best news is that she is handling Layla's spazziness like a pro. She's independant but so sweet - she curled up in my lap the first second I met her. Now... we just need to figure out a name...