Busy Weekend

This was a BUSY weekend! One of my best girlfirends Terra and her husband from Iowa were in town for their baby shower (she is 30wks!) and I was able to go and see the ever expanding belly! She looks GREAT! Watching her open all her wonderful presents, made me realize yet again, how much stuff we need that we dont have yet....well, we have 115 days to get it done! :)

Today, we went into full fledge, get the house clean and decorated mode so that Terra and Dave could come see the house. It was good to spend some time with them in a more relaxed setting and be able to pig out on junk food (Mmm, mozzarella sticks!) They gave us a really cool hand decorated night light w/his name on it and our 1st CYCLONE baby items....Zach officially owns ISU Booties! Love them!

Today, I discovered the wonderfull-ness of Mint Oreo. OMG those little cookies are going to be dangerous! Zach must have liked them too because as soon as I finished them, he started kicking all over the place! Im going to take that as a hint that I need to continue eating them for Zach's sake!

Here are the latest photos taken @ 22 and 23wks!

Repeat Ultrasound

This past Thursday, we had our repeat ultrasound to see some of the things we werent able to see at the last one. Zach was much more cooperative (...well, kinda) and we were hopefully able to get all the things we needed.

Good news is he is no longer in the breech position. We were able to see his nice steady heart and heartbeat (141 beats/minute) and follow his entire spine. He is starting to look much more "baby-like" vs. skeletal. We arent really sure if we got a good enough shot of his umbillical cord since the lil' monkey had his toes in his mouth almost the entire time. Hopefully, the doctor will call tomorrow with the offical word....part of hope we didnt get a good shot so that I can have another ultrasound! ;)

Here are the newest ultrasound pictures...

Thanksgiving and Our 1st Baby Shower!!

We went down to Missouri to spend the holiday with my family. Ended up @ my Aunts for Turkey Day. It was a good time and everyone left way too stuffed and vowing to never eat again.

The following Saturday, my Mom hosted our 1st baby shower! It was great to see my entire family all together. We decorated cupcakes (they were delicious!) and had sloppy joes and other goodies! Mom found the cutest favors....they were white chocolate babies with a little tag to everyone from Zach.

Zach (and Mom and Dad) got some great stuff, including out stroller/travel system, diaper bag, and lots of other much needed stuff!! Makes me realize how much MORE stuff we need to get before he make the big arrival!

20wks!!

Halfway done!!! Crazy how time flies...I hope it continues so I can hold my lil' man!

It's a BOY!

Hi Everyone-

We had our 20 week ultrasound on Thursday. Our little one was being stubborn and we were afraid he wasnt going to give us a good shot to tell us the sex (he was sitting criss cross). But after about on an hour he gave a good shot to let the world he know it's a BOY! I was in a little bit of shock-- I was sure it was a girl. But have since settled on total excitment! It is an awesome feeling to be able to connect with the baby on a deeper level. He is now Zachary Robert instead of "the baby" or "Poppy".

We spent the rest of the day finishing up our registry @ Babies R Us and Buy Buy Baby! That was fun! I went out yesterday and bought a few outfits--- they are so adorable!

We have to go back on Dec. 3rd for a repeat ultrasound since he was in a bad position to measure the heart, the spine, and the umbillical cord. Of course the nurse told us there are the most important thing! He's stubborn already! During the U/S he was breech and face down so that was a bad position to see much. At least we get to go back and see him again!

Between the legs shot:

Zachary's Foot:

Zachary's Face (looking straight on-- looks like a skelton!)

16 weeks

Not much new this week. Its been really cold lately which is not much fun. Next week, they are forecasting temps in the 60's so that will be much more enjoyable. We have a field trip to a pumpkin patch on Thursday, so hopefully, the rain will stay away.

I am SUPER excited for Halloween. This will be the 1st year with trick or treaters...totally looking forward to seeing all the cute lil kiddos in thier costumes.

I am starting to feel some flutters, but nothing that I can say with 100% certainty that it is the baby....hopefully soon!

Here is the 16wk picture....with new haircut and color!

15 weeks

Today marks 15 weeks of my pregnancy! Time is just starting to move a little faster...I can only hope it continues to move quickly. I am soo anxious to find out the gender (only 5 more weeks!) and to feel the baby kick and move. The books all say it could be anyday now, but it reality, it could be several more weeks.



Crazy dreams have started to kick in....a few nights ago, I dreampt my sister was killed by an alligator, but it was all my fault because I threw a piece of pizza in the water! YIKES! :) Last night, I was hit by an indian restaurant delivery driver and had to go to the hospital to make sure the baby was okay. They are very vivid and detailed and I am amazed that I can remember all the details. John thinks I'm slowly going insane.

We started our registry last weekend after my mom spilled the beans about our 1st shower which will be during Thanksgiving break....so excited...so overwhelming...so much more to do.



John travels to D.C next week and he is not all the thrilled about it. His project has been making him kind-of a crab-- between getting up early, having to go into work everyday (aww!), and 4hr. conference calls, I don't know if I can blame him. At least he has a wonderful, supportive, loving wife @ home! :)

Here is the 15 wk picture!

Finally, the 2nd trimester!

Hi Everyone!



Things are going great! I have finally fit my 2nd trimester and so far everything they say is true. I finally have more energy and easily make it through the day without wanting a nap. Now, nighttime is another story with having to get up at least 3 times to pee! John, of course, just snores away and doesn't even know I'm up! Payback will definelty be when the baby is here and mama needs her sleep!



We had an appointment today and were able to hear the heartbeat again. It was 165bpw. According to wives tales, the would mean it's a girl. One of John's co-workers thinks girl because I am wanting a lot of mexican food.....we will find out on November 12th! I cannot wait!

We have been looking @ various baby items in the stores and trying to narrow down the options so that registering will be a lot quicker. We have discovered that EVERYTHING for baby will cost at least $100...yikes.



In other news, we have taken our Chicago condo off the market. We just weren't going to be able to get the price we needed in this market....plus our realtor was HORRIBLE! Hopefully, in the Spring, we ill be able to try again with another agent. John has been traveling a lot lately. He just got back from a week in Phoneix and will be going to D.C. and Utah in the next month or so.

Here is what the baby has been up to developmentally in the last week (photo is from a website of baby @ 14wks):

Mouth in motion.
If your little one could understand your jokes, you'd see a smile this week (or a frown if you're not the world's most entertaining comedian). Your fetus's mouth can even open and close and is starting to make swallowing and sucking motions (watch out, thumb). Those facial muscles are really getting a workout!



Set for speech.
The esophagus, windpipe, larynx, and vocal cords are all in place. Of course, the vocal cords can't make any sounds yet, since your little one is floating in fluid. But they're already being prepped for that first loud wail after birth.

Face formation.
With each passing week, your fetus is looking more like the little person you'll meet the day you give birth. By now, the eyes have moved to their proper place at the top of the face, and the ears have moved from the neck to the sides of the head. The jaws have been complete for a while, and the palate is now "zipping up," closing from front to back.

Measuring up.
Your little one weighs about 2 ounces and measures 3.2 to 4.3 inches long.

Getting the Wiggles.
The fetus is active from the beginning, exercising those arms and legs as soon as the muscles and nerves are up and running. The movement is random now but will get more regular as time goes on.

....it's been awhile.....

Well....since it been a long time since the last post. I will have to update you on all the has been going on in the last 6 months.

Summer is over and I am back to work. The kiddos have been back for 2 weeks and I am already needing to take a personal day. I have some really challenging kids in my Booster class this year. I have my work cut out for me.

We are all settled and moved into our new home. Some friends from college and John's parents came for a visit. It was nice to be able to have a place for company to sleep. It was great to see everyone and look forward to the next time they come back for a visit.

Our most exciting news is that we are expecting our first baby in early April!!!! We are very excited and are looking forward to everything this new chapter of our lives will bring. I am 11 weeks along and am due April 1st. We got to hear the heartbeat last week and it was very surreal, but made us even more excited. According to the books, the baby is about 2.5 inches long and about the size of a large lime. We go back in a few weeks to hear the heartbeat again. Here are my 5 week and 11 week belly shots. I think I am starting to "pop" a little bit as I can no longer comfertably buttom my jeans!

New House!

So John and I have been talking about buying a house for a long time and we finally did it! We decided to take advantage of the housing market and go for it. We also had a realtor come out and look at our current condo and since the housing market just isn't where it needs to be, we will also be keeping the condo for awhile. We will be tight, but we will manage.



The house is a 4 bdrm, 2.5 bath 2800 sq. foot home. It has never been lived in and was a model home, so it has everyting we could want for an upgrade. My commute will go from 3 hours/day to less than an hour. Unfortunely, John's increases a little bit, but he will be traveling a lot and has the luxury to work from home.



We close on 4/15/09, so the next few weeks are going to fly by.....

March Madness

Well, the last 6 weeks or so have completely been a whirlwind. John got a promotion in late Feb and is much happier with his new boss and position. He is still working with the IRS but will now be traveling quite a bit more-- typically to D.C and Utah.

I have been crazy busy with work. Every March/April, we have to completely re-assess our students and write new educational plans for the following year. Since I changed positions for this year, this is a lot more labor intensive then it has been in the past since I have children moving on to genral edu. Kindergarten. We also implement a new computer program that was supposed to make our lives easier, but it is so full of issues, that it is basically one big headache.

Our other big news is that we will be placing our condo on the market in April. We have decided to take advantage of the crappy housing market and buy our long term house now while the prices are down. However, this also means we need to SELL in the crappy housing market. So cross your fingers for a quick sale. I have been busy trying to figure out what to pack away for the next several months. It is quite the guessing game.

We joined the gym!

Well, today, we bit the bullet and signed up for a gym membership. I am very excited to be back in the gym and working toward getting in better shape and making my clothes fit a little better. Part of my New Year's resolution was to finish what I start and this is definetly something that I have never finished. I am even more excited because the location closest to our house now has ZUMBA classes 2 nights a week. For those of you who havent heard of ZUMBA, it is basically cardio salsa/hip hop...Aka SO MUCH FUN! John seems to be looking forward to it as well, he is going to a doc to get his knee looked at so he can start running again.

Tonight, we are going to Nate and Danielles for games. As always, it should be a great time. Their baby is due in 4 weeks. I am SO excited to meet the baby.

The weather is finally starting to look up. School was cancelled on Thursday and Friday due to the extreme cold temps. That makes for a long 5 day weekend. Good, but bad that we not dont get out of school until June 3rd (3 snow days)...so far.

Winter, winter, where for art thou winter....

Well, winter is upon us and Chicago hasn't let us down. Over the past few days, we have accumulated approx. 12 inches of snow. The weather man is reporting a few more inches tomorrow. It cames at a good time since tomorrow at the preschool is "SNOW DAY" and we are playing in the snow all day, watching a movie, and drinking hot cocoa. Now...if I could only find a pair of snowpants and John some snow boots. :)

Things around our place have been pretty quiet and status quo. John began another grad class this week and he is excited about it and thinks it will be a good class. He is also volunteering on Saturdays for an organization that prepare tax returns for those who fall below the povery line. It should be a great experience.

Happy New Year!!!

Wow, it is finally 2009 and we couldn't be more excited about it. Jenna and I are glad 2008 is over and are looking forward to some exciting changes in the new year. We spent New Year's eve with some friends. We had a wonderfully relaxing evening of great food and games.

Congratulations to Cy. Today he was named the winner of the Capital One mascot challenge. Cy really is the best college mascot.

Finally, we would like to wish everyone a happy and healthy 2009.

- John