Kid Stuff

A few weeks ago, my work did an Easter basket drive. So, Anna and Livia went shopping with us to help us make 2 baskets for some needy kids in our area. Before we went shopping, I asked April, "If the girls still believe in the Easter Bunny, how do we explain that we are shopping for Easter baskets for needy kids?" She just laughed and I hoped they wouldn't ask any questions. (And if they did, I would've said, "That's a good question for your mom!" Haha!) We took them to the store and they carefully picked out items for each basket. Then, we went back to their house to assemble them and have pizza. There were only a few times that Livia wanted some of the candy for herself! She's our candy queen. :-) They did a great job and I'm sure 2 little girls were very happy this morning.

Arranging Easter baskets requires serious conversation ;)

Goofballs!



The finished products!

Not too long after Easter basket shopping, I made cupcakes and decorated them with Jaime, Veronica and the gang.

I guess Connor missed the memo that it was cupcake "decorating," not eating!

Aunt Ruth helping Sophie

Happy Easter!

We had Easter dinner at our hosue this year with mine and Brook's parents and Hannah. Trent and April and the girls joined us for dessert and a mini-scavenger hunt later in the afternoon. I made a ham, au gratin potatoes, green bean casserole, a salad and rolls and Brook's mom brought the desserts. There was no shortage of food, that's for sure! We worked hard all weekend to get the house and dinner ready and it turned out quite lovely, if I do say so myself. :-) What a great way to celebrate the risen Christ!

He is Risen! He is risen indeed!

Birthday Fun

We celebrated Ria’s 5th birthday at Chuck E Cheese with the fam. I thought the kids would be wild gazoobians, but they were really good. Connor, Julia and Maria seemed to enjoy it a little more than Sophie, though. She wasn’t very fond of Chuck E! Ria absolutely loved it and basked in the attention, as most 5 year-olds would. As I’ve said before, she made me an aunt for the first time and changed my heart forever. I didn’t know I could love kids so much until I became an aunt and just can’t imagine how much I am going to love our baby.

Awesome cake, made by Gma Sherri!

"Oh no, there's Chuck E!"

Keeping her eye on Chuck E

27 Weeks!

Only 1 week away from the 3rd trimester – not that I’m counting or anything. Ha! The baby continues to be extremely active - as the ultrasound tech said, “He’s a wild child!” Over the last few weeks, at least twice a week, he enjoys practicing his kickboxing / tumbling skills every hour from 1am to 5am. I suppose he’s trying to prepare me for when he’s born . . . It does make for 1 tired mama in the morning, though. The positive is that all his movement tells me he’s a healthy little guy.

In the month (geez, blog slacker!) since I’ve posted, I:

- had my first experience buying diapers. Brook was on a men’s retreat that weekend, so Hannah and I took a fun outing to Toys R Us to pick up a few boxes. (Once again, how my idea of “fun” has changed!) After all, they were having a deal on Pampers – buy 2 boxes, get a $20 gift card. ‘Awesome!’ I thought. Yeah, until I got there and realized how much they were. $85 later, I am walking dazed to my vehicle. I actually said to Hannah, “We need to take these back!” LOL. I’m sure all you moms are laughing at me, but it was quite traumatic for this FTM (who’s an accountant)!

- was lucky enough to fail my 1 hour glucose test and get to do the 3 hour screening. My first number was 138. Some OBs/CNMs have a limit of 140; so, I would’ve just made it. Not mine. Hers was 129, so I got to do the other test. That whole week was emotional for me . . . I couldn’t really put words around my emotions, but there’s something about knowing that something YOU are doing could be putting your baby in danger . It’s just hard. Period. And so (drumroll please), here are my results, (with normal ranges in parenthesis):

Fasting: 66 (74-95)

One hour: 89 (65-180)

Two hours: 76 (65-155)

Three hours: 37 (65-140)

A dr actually called me to make sure I was OK, b/c of my last number. How in the world I got 138 on my first test is beyond me! The good news is, I don’t have gestational diabetes.

- started our birth classes. We decided to learn the Bradley Method, which is a partner-based approach. I really like the idea of Brook being an active part of his son’s birth and helping me in whatever way he can. The classes are over 2 hours long – each week for 12 weeks. I actually asked the instructor if we would really go so late (leave it to me, right?! Come on, 9:45 is late for this pregnant woman!) Well, the classes absolutely FLY by! We’ve attended 2 so far and I am loving them. Let’s just hope we can retain some of this info when the time comes for us to use it. ;-)

Here you go, Chass! :-)

22 Weeks

Baby B has really “kicked” up the activity this week. He likes to keep his mom up at night with his wild antics. I’d really love to see what he’s doing in there at 3 in the morning. It sometimes seems like he never sleeps. (He really is going to be like his cousin, Sophie!) Even though I’m short on sleep lately, I am happy to feel him move and know he’s ok. And not to jinx myself or anything, but I have been feeling like a million bucks the last few weeks. I am still nauseous in the afternoon, but it is nothing like it was. I just love that I finally have energy in the PM to clean, work-out, shop . . . you name it!

I forgot to mention that we had our 20 week ultrasound a few weeks ago. I was hoping he’d be measuring 14 days ahead (b/c my mid-wife will only move the due date if he’s showing 14 days off, one way or the other). No such luck. He actually measured 5 days behind. Darn. The ultrasound did go well, though, and he looked healthy after all the measurements were taken and body parts inspected. We even got some video clips of him. I’ll see how technically savvy I am and try to upload them. (Don’t hold your breath!)

This week, we (and when I say “we,” I mean Brook) put together the crib that my parents so generously bought us a few weeks ago. The “nursery” was our office / guest room, so we had to do something with the bed that was in there. We decided to sell it on craigslist and it was sold within 8 hours. I mean picked up and money exchanged in 8 hours! I am loving craigslist right now! Now, we just have to do something with the desk when the basement is finished (see below for that!) Anywho, it’s exciting to watch things slowly come together in his room. The walls are tan and we decided to keep them that way, b/c . . . well, quite frankly, neither of us likes to paint. Tan works. I received the beautiful, handmade baby blanket shown in the picture below from the wife of one of my co-workers earlier this week. (His wife!) Talk about surprised – I definitely was! People are so kind.

We have been throwing around the idea of finishing half of our basement for awhile now and finally pulled the trigger a few weeks ago. Initially, we weren’t going to do it right away, b/c we have plenty of space on our main level. BUT we are going to have a roommate beginning in the fall. Hannah is going to live with us while she attends school. This is a HUGE, awesome benefit for us, since she will also be watching the baby 2 days / week and I get to see my sister a ton! So, we wanted to create a space that was her own. Half of the basement will remain storage / laundry / utility and the other half will have a rec room, bedroom and full bath. Brook’s dad is kindly donating his time to the project and started this week. My vision for the space (rec room, at least) is shown below, but with carpet instead of the wood floors.

Christmas Dinner

We met Brook's partners and their wives over the weekend at Charley's Crab in GR to have a "Christmas" get-together and celebrate the year that was. December was hectic for all of us (and some of us weren't feeling so hot!); so, we delayed the dinner until our schedules cleared a bit. The food was fabulous (I find most food fabulous these days, though. ;-))) - my only regret is that I didn't have room for the brownie sundae. Haha! It was a wonderful, relaxing evening . . . much of it filled with talk of babies, since another wife is pregnant, as well. I love getting together with them, b/c we all have such diverse backgrounds and ideas about life, yet get along so well. One was raised in Suttons Bay and carries on his family's cherry farm business. The other grew up in Utah and married a woman from Montreal. They tell such great stories! But, of course, none top our stories of growing up in Concord and Parma! :-) Here's to another good year!

Birthdays, Birthdays and MORE Birthdays!

We've been busy the last month or so celebrating birthdays of our nieces and nephew. Birthdays were a big deal when we were growing up . . . mom always made us feel really special. And I can see that my siblings are carrying that on with their families. The parties were crazy and loud and . . . so much fun! The kids were spoiled with lots of love, attention and presents from the people who love them most. Happy birthday kiddos!

With her matching "Sophie" doll

Cousins . . .

Pirate Party!!

2 little monkeys, jumpin' on Ria's bed!