Sunbathing

Lola’s favorite thing to do on a summer afternoon.  What a life!

16 Weeks

This week we had our 16 week appointment with Dr. P.  No ultrasound this time (bummer), but we heard the heartbeat…it was a fast 154!  It was also quite obvious that this baby is still very active.  The doctor told us what to listen for – that there was a difference between the heartbeat and the noises of the baby moving – and it was moving like crazy.  Dr. P said he likes to think the baby will tire itself out in the womb and will be very calm.  I told him thanks for saying that but that I didn’t believe him.  We might have our hands full with this one!  But I’m sure we’ll love every minute of it.  Other than that everything seems to be going well.  I’m still feeling good, which is a huge blessing, but I’m enjoying taking lots of time to rest and relax when I can.  I’m looking forward to feeling this baby move in the next few weeks…I’ll let you know when that happens!

The belly at 16 weeks.  I asked the doctor if it was too early to be showing, and he was going on and on about how I wouldn’t be showing this early.  Then I held my dress back and showed him and he was like, “Oh!  Well it’s totally fine if you are!”  Nice one.  Way to make a girl feel good about herself!

A belly pic with Lola in the background…I think she’s starting to know that something is up with all the changes we’ve been making around the house.

Wicked

I love Broadway musicals, and we are so fortunate to have a really fun place in St. Louis to go see them. It’s called the Fox Theater, and it’s amazingly beautiful inside! I hadn’t been to a show there in over a year, so I was super excited to hear that Wicked was coming back. (I saw it a couple years ago with Jonathan, Dustin and Lindsay and LOVED it!) I asked some girls from work if they were interested in going, and we planned a fun girls night out. We met at Kristie's that evening for drinks and some yummy appetizers. Then we went to eat at Vito’s before the show and had a blast catching up. Next it was off to the “Fabulous Fox” to see a wonderful show. I think I loved it even more the second time around!

I truly love my job, but working with such fun people makes it even better! I am so blessed. Here I am with Jackie, Katie, Stacie, Bridget, Abbie, Ashley and Kristie after the show.

Royals vs. Cardinals

Jonathan and his good friend Dustin have a bet going every year about who will win more games – the KC Royals (Jonathan’s favorite) or the St. Louis Cardinals (Dustin’s favorite.) If you know anything about baseball, I’m sure you can figure out who usually wins that one! This year we planned a trip to Kansas City to watch them play, and Jonathan’s parents joined us there. Despite the heat, we had a great time.

We got to Kansas City on Friday and spent some time with Jonathan’s grandparents. Then we met Dustin and Lindsey at Minsky’s for pizza. On Saturday we headed to the game early to tailgate. The craziest thing happened while we were there – first, my cousin Amanda and Uncle Bruce came out of nowhere to say hi. Then about 30 minutes later, Jonathan’s cousins Kevin and Colleen showed up as well. We couldn’t believe out of that huge parking lot that we saw our family members. What a crazy afternoon! The game was fun, even though the Royals lost, but it was terribly hot. We spent a lot of time walking around to try to cool off. That evening we headed to the Power and Light District with Dustin and Lindsey for dinner. Afterwards Jonathan’s cousins met us out, and we had a good time exploring the area. All in all it was a great weekend! Oh, and just so you know…the Royals won the other two games in the series, so Jonathan was a happy camper.

Judy and Mike tailgating before the game

Lindsay and Dustin

Getting ready to go into the game

This picture makes me laugh…what a goofball!

Kauffman Stadium…home of the Royals

I wished I was sitting in the middle of those fountains…

Dinner at the Power and Light District

Having a drink after dinner

Me and my hubby

It’s a good thing these two get along, being arch-rivals and all…

Kevin, Jonathan and Colleen

Britney and Ryan’s Shower

We headed to Rogers, Arkansas on Saturday for Ryan and Britney’s baby shower. It was so much fun to see them and celebrate the upcoming arrival of Baby Fox. We are so excited to meet this sweet baby boy and spoil him rotten! He’s definitely going to be loved by all his “aunts!”

The darling mommy-to-be. Doesn’t she have the cutest baby bump?!?

Britney’s sister-in-laws are so creative. They painted the picture and table for Baby Fox’s nursery…so sweet!

The parents-to-be

Ryan and his nephew, Hudson

Me, Jill and Hollye waiting for the game to begin

Before the game started…don’t they look excited?

Opening gifts

Pierson was his usual sweet self! We are all hoping for kids as great as this one. He loved helping Britney and Ryan open their gifts.

Hudson also joined in to help

Jonathan trying out his favorite pose with Jill

The hostesses: Tara, Lindsay, Megan, Hollye, Britney, me and Jillian

The Bartlesville girls

The PREGNANT Bartlesville girls…yes, we are all pregnant together! It’s so much fun. Jill and I are due in December, Megan is due in October, and Britney is due in September. I feel so blessed to be able to share this experience with my best friends!

This is my favorite picture from the night! Of course poor Hollye has TONS of peer pressure these days to get pregnant, but she takes it like a champ. :)

Aquaport

In the area where we live in St. Louis, there is a water park called Aquaport. I had never been there, but the man who takes our cards when we work out told me that we have 10 guest passes to use there. Since it’s usually pretty expensive, I thought the guest passes were an awesome deal. I invited Sarah and their friends to go check it out, and we were pleasantly surprised. There are waterslides, a lazy river, a big pool, and an entire area for little kids that has it’s own water slide, fountains, water guns and all kinds of fun stuff. The kids had a blast! Plus it was Joseph’s first time to go swimming, so I was glad I could be there to see what he thought about it.

Joseph testing out the water for the first time…he wasn’t too sure about it at first but ended up liking it

Samuel’s bff, Taylor, walked around the pool like this all day

So Samuel tried to do the same thing, only he looked like he was waddling like a little duck

Samuel loved playing in the fountains

Joseph was tuckered out by the end. Sarah says he never sucks his thumb, so he must’ve been really tired

Kevin’s Wedding

My cousin Kevin married his beautiful bride, Bailey, in Kansas City on June 12th. We met my dad and sister there for the weekend and had a great time celebrating with everyone. Congrats, Kev! We’re so happy for you.

Me and my beautiful sister

Sarah and Jonathan

Jonathan’s favorite pose

Dad and Sarah

My Uncle Bruce with his Uncle Harry and Aunt Helen (my great-uncle and aunt). Uncle Harry and Aunt Helen spent their honeymoon at the same resort where Kevin and Bailey got married….over 50 years ago! What an amazing life they’ve had together.

Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt’s first dance

My cousin Amanda with Uncle Bruce

The cousins: Amanda, Kevin, Sarah and me

Samuel

I got to hang out with Sarah, Samuel and Joseph today. It was so much fun to see them! We hung around the house for awhile and then went to lunch. Before we left, Samuel found my purse and had a blast with all my lip gloss. (I have a problem, and I admit it, but I LOVE lip gloss. There are about 8 different kinds in my purse at any given moment.) This picture was after Samuel had tried 4 different ones. If Dave sees this, I’m dead meat…but it’s just too funny…

First comes love, then comes marriage…

Then comes a BABY in the BABY CARRIAGE!  We are overjoyed to announce that we are expecting our first baby around December 21, 2010!  It’s been a very long journey to get to this point, and we couldn’t be happier.  I have so much to tell about our journey, but for now I’m just too happy to go there.  

Last night I found myself bawling in the car listening to a sappy song, but these tears were happy ones.  It felt so good to finally release all my fears, hopes and joys.  It has been a long time since I felt that way.  I guess I just couldn’t believe that we are actually becoming parents.  This has been my life-long dream, ever since I was a little girl.  On my first day of kindergarten, my mom was walking me to the bus stop and I told her, “Mom, I don’t need to go to school because I’m just going to be a mom like you.”  Almost 25 years later, that dream is finally coming true!

We have lots of “pictures” of our little peanut, so be prepared.  I’m not even going to apologize for posting all these; I’m just too happy to care. :)

Peanut at 5 weeks, 6 days – the size of a piece of rice

Peanut at 6 weeks, 6 days – the size of a peanut (and the origin of our nickname for the baby)

Peanut at 7 weeks, 6 days – the size of a gummy bear

Another look at 7 weeks, 6 days

After this, we were released to our regular OBGYN, whom we got to see last week.  We weren’t actually scheduled for another ultrasound, but he did one at the beginning of our appointment.  He’s the best doctor EVER!  (I had to take pictures of these pictures because our scanner is broken, so they’re not the greatest.)

Peanut at 11 weeks, 1 day.  Dr. P said the baby was waving to us in this picture.  Really?!?  Couldn’t tell. 

He said this one was looking down at baby’s head.  Again, I have no idea.  I just hope that my inability to read ultrasounds has no bearing on my ability to be a mom.

There are a couple more pictures, but I don’t even remember what they are supposed to be of - please don’t judge me.  During this ultrasound, the baby was moving around like crazy. Dr. P said its arms and legs were constantly moving, like the baby was swimming.  Peanut wouldn’t sit still long enough to get the heartbeat, but apparently that’s okay because we know for sure its heart was beating the way it was moving around.  I just hope this isn’t a sign of things to come…namely, ADHD!  And Jonathan’s comment was, “I don’t really want our baby to be a swimmer.  Swimmers are weird.”  Really?!?  Cause that’s what I was worried about. 

So we’ve made it to 12 weeks, and everything is looking great, and I feel like I can finally breathe again.  Thanks for sharing in our joy with us!

“The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.” Psalm 126:3