Full Term

Yesterday was our 37 week appointment with the doctor. It went well as did our ultrasound in the morning. Baby is looking well; even though it was harder to see everything since he/she is so big at this point. I had a bit of a hard time being on my back for that long so the tech had to finish up quick toward the end and then get me a wet cloth for my face and a glass of water to help me out. But, she did tell us what her calculations were for baby's weight. Now, this is no way even close to being accurate and the doctor explained that these ultrasounds can be off by more than a pound either way. I sure hope if it's off of the guesstimate that is is LESS than what they think! I am not going to say what the guesstimate is but rather wait and see what baby bear really weighs in at! Which, we will have to wait for. The doctor is fine with the size and amount of fluid in there and we are just stuck waiting for this kid to get things started on my own. If I don't go into labor on my own by the week of my due date he will do another ultrsound and then decide if we need to induce. I am glad for one reason not to be induced-inductions are more likely to end in c-sections according to most of what I've read and what my doctor told me. I would like for this part to be over and to be holding my child but I know that I want whats best for both of us. So, for now 'gigantoid' (the new nickname) is staying put and gaining weight steadily...while I actually have lost some in a week. We are looking forward to celebrating this very special Christmas and wish you and yours the best. I can't help this year but think about our blessed Mother all the time to help me through. I am so grateful I don't have to do this on the back of a donkey and give birth in the hay with only a man to help me :) Merry Christmas everyone!

The end is near?

Today was our 36 week appointment; I am going every week at this point. From last week until today I managed to only gain 2 pounds!!! yay me! However, there is some sort of sizing problem with my belly all of a sudden. My doctor is sending me for another ultrasound (I only had the one done at 20 weeks and all was well) before my next appointment on Tuesday. The reason being is that I am measuring a 'bit bigger' than he would like. He measured me three times today to be sure and I of course didn't ask but just sat there and listened and thought of the HUGE baby I might have :) He says he just wants to be sure that we are still on track and on schedule and that all is well and we don't have to expect anything earlier than we thought. I will be on edge until we find SOMETHING, anything out on Tuesday and I think Brad is just overjoyed and gloriously happy. He keeps saying 'but, we get to see the baby'. Remember, he couldn't take off of work to be at the first one and now there is nothing that can stop him with this second chance! But, while I am sittting and waiting I am also being humored. While I think that I am going to have a big child my family (mom and Melissa to be exact) are even more convinced that there is and always have been two babies in there! Abby says there is one baby and out of the blue announced the other day that baby snoopy would be here before Christmas would....they say children have an intuition so we shall see! Other than this new development all is well. I am large and feel like I am carrying around a rock most of the time and am really looking forward to the end. I have been having some major Braxton Hicks lately so I am getting a good idea what to expect-I least I hope so! Both baby and I are (finally) ready to leave for the hospital at a mometns notice and I can't wait. After Tuesday I am sure to have more updates so check back then but in the meantime keep us in thought and prayer.

This time last year

I was a blushing bride and Brad was letting go of his bachelor status. Yes, it really has been a whole year since our wedding! We've made it to our first anniversary and I still can't quite wrap my head around the idea yet. I hope nothing changes too drastically between us now that we aren't quite 'newlyweds' anymore. We enjoyed being together today and celebrated well. We actually went to church with my family-in the church where we were married last year. Brad has been working third shift for a few weeks now and he dropped me off at my folks on Friday and he worked until 3 am and had to be back at 8am for a few hours. So, because we were both so tired we spent another night with my folks and went to church down there. We exchanged our cards this afternoon after getting home. Our 'gifts' to each other should start arriving soon. Brad had done his research a few weeks ago and found out that the traditional gift for a first anniversary is paper. He then suggested we buy each other a year subscription to a magazine-which I thought was a great idea. So, sometime soon I will be getting People magazine (a guilty pleasure) and he will be getting Weird-I mean Popular Science :) We spent some time talking about our wedding and reminiscing and I even played our song for him on the ride home. Then, one of the best things we did to celebrate today was let each other take naps! We each slept for about an hour and felt so good...we must be an old married couple. We also enjoyed an AMAZING dinner at the Melting Pot in Troy which we have never done before. WOW, what a great meal to celebrate with! As soon as I have some room left in my tummy I will go cut into the top layer of our wedding cake that has been defrosting all weekend. We've gotten phone calls and cards all weekend from so many people and we have been thinking of everyone who shared this special time with us last year.

In baby related news ( I can't seem to keep him/her out of any post) I think we are shifting downward! I am pretty sure it dropped a bit. I got out of my seat at the restaurant tonight after feeling the baby move a bit during dinner and then I looked down. I stared for a while and Brad thought maybe I was watching it move. However, I was wondering where my tummy went. I swear that the top of my belly is smaller and there is more space between my chest and the bump. Plus, I feel like I am sticking straight out even more now. So, I am very excited at the prospect that this little butt will not poking me in the ribs as much anymore and the end is truly in sight!

6 more weeks of waiting....

As of yesterday I am at 34 weeks with 6 more to go. I remind myself often that I only have six more weeks left-something has to get me through the day! This is the only time in my life where I am looking forward to a milestone involving the number 40. We had our doctor appointment today and it was a really good one. At my last appointment two weeks ago, the doctor I saw wasn't sure if the baby was head down. But, the doctor today was able to immediately confirm that baby bear has headed south and is in position!!! I was so excited after spending the last two weeks asking the baby to move and praying I wouldn't need a c-section or anything. I also found out that I have a very boney little bottom pressing up against my ribs making me quite uncomfortable most of the time :) Baby bear doesn't have much room left but kicks and moves all the time. His little feet are on the left side of my belly just as I expected from the amount of movement latley. He also gets the hiccups more often and it is easier for me to feel them and it is so cute. I also didn't gain much weight this time much to my surprise and I am very happy with my weight gain thus far for the pregnancy. I get braxton hicks contractions alot and have passed the point where anything can make me comfortable. Sleeping has become a bit of a chore and the baby does NOT like when we spend too much time in the car! That boney little bottom likes to push upward then :) But, we are all ready for the arrival of our little one and it seems it is all I can think about through the day. Brad has had a very tough work schedule lately where he is working nights and sleeping during the day so that makes it tough for both of us and he may have to make a small out of town work trip soon so please keeps us all in thought and prayer as we get closer and closer everyday. We can hardly wait for this ourselves and look forward to sharing our joy with you soon!

Our "Nest"

Well, I think I am nesting...and Brad agrees with me! We spent a lot of time this weekend cleaning and organizing-which is great with the holidays all coming up as well as the baby arriving soon. I actually had a bit of a small meltdown in the kitchen the other day because it was so messy and unorganized and seemed like it would take forever to fix it! Poor Brad didn't know what to do with me. The nursery is all ready; it now has a nice glider and area rug to finish everything off. Everything is put together, if it needs batteries it has them and all clothes and blanket and linens are freshly washed and put away. Baby Bear even has his bag packed for the hospital. Mommy will get to hers in the next couple of weeks when I figure out what the heck I need to have with me! Along with all the cleaning I've been doing I did a lot of organizing and downsizing and throwing stuff away and such which is good. Brad and I are packrats and hold on to everything, even junkmail sometimes and it can get bad. We also both admit that we are guilty of being droppers-we leave things wherever we can drop them and then eventually (like days or weeks later) we put them where they belong. This will never work with a new baby around :) But, since we got the house so clean we began work on Holiday things! Yes, our tree is up and yes you can make fun of me because it is only November 15. But, I have been forbidden from doing any decorating or box lifting on my own this year :( so I have to do it when I have the help and the energy. I will slowly work on getting the rest of it pulled out of the boxes Brad took out in the next two weeks. And, hopefully I will have outdoor decorations too this year as Brad has finally given in to my pouting and pleading and we have an outlet outside! Honestly, who builds a house without electricity outside? Most of our shopping is done as well and whatever has been bought has even been wrapped. Go me! As of Tuesday I will be 32 weeks and 8 months pregnant! I will be asking the Doctor on Wednesday if we can figure out where everything is-head, butt, feet etc. Whenever I sit down I have something snuggled up really close to my rib cage on the right side and it can get uncomfortable :) Baby bear moves alot and my stomach does a whole lot more jumping when he moves. He gets a new schedule all the time and the current one gets his energy up and jumping around 8-9 at night. And, when I go to bed at 10 we are still going strong and kicking away. As you can see we are gaining weight and growing right on schedule. Only a few more weeks now! Pretty soon we will be 'rounding third' as some may say.

Showers of Blessings

We had a jam-packed, fun-filled Halloween weekend and we may need a whole week to recover! When my mom and sister found out Halloween would fall on a Saturday this year they knew it was the perfect time for a shower-I love Halloween as much as Christmas! I really enjoyed my afternoon with our family and friends. I saw some people I hadn't seen in a while and I won't soon be forgetting it. Baby bear has LOTS of new things to look forward to. We are so grateful for the generosity of everyone and have 99% of our baby gear ready and waiting now! We spent today washing all the new things and putting together all of the baby stuff. After putting together so many things we may need to start buying batteries in bulk-almost every baby item needs something! I love all of our new things and was surprised by several touching items that we received that we didn't register for. Baby bear already has his first Green Bay Packers sweatsuit, lots of homemade baby hats, a beautiful afghan that will be perfect for the baptism day and I even got a bit emotional when I opened the gift from my brother and his fiancee. Knowing he is thinking of all of us while so far away really got to me. And, my sister and her family bought a toybox for us and inside was the picture that hung in our nurseries as babies with a note on the back saying mom had given it to her and she was passing it to me and in time she asked I pass it to our brother...yet another tearful moment! We feel more ready and we will spend the next few weeks organizing it all, figuring out how things work and buying any other things we think we need. Hopefully we can get it all done before January!

Under the Sea...

Daddy and I threw ourselves into this project this weekend. Last weekend Brad started the background-sand and sea-and at that point neither one of us wanted to wait very long as we were excited. I probably overdid it a lot since I am very sore today and ready to cry but we have all the paiting done! We still need to put alot in the room but you get the idea. My parents are gifting us a glider with matching ottoman and it should be delivered this week so imagine that in the room as well. We are also planning on putting the toy chest next to the changing table and looking for some area rugs or throw rugs or something to go on the floor.

27 Weeks

I am in the last few days of my second trimester. We will soon be in the homestretch!!! Baby bear is a big mover these days. I can feel him whether I am sitting, standing, walking, or laying down now. We have also moved into another milestone where we can SEE the baby move as well as feel it. My stomach jumps around a bit now and I have been able to get Brad's attention a few times while it was happening. He loves watching it and has felt it more often now too. Our book says that the baby now has distinct waking and sleeping times and boy does mommy notice :) We had a bit of a scare last week and I ended up going to the hospital. I woke up around 4 am with and indescribable pain in my lower back and terrible aches in my legs. I have a muscular disorder so I just told myself it was that. I didn't really sleep anymore after that and when I finally got out of bed a few hours later I was still very much in pain. Nothing I could do would change it :( To top it off I wasn't feeling the baby like I normally do. I know of a few things which will make the baby kick me and tried all of them to no avail. I did finally feel it shortly after noon which is NOT normal and it took well over an hour to feel four kick counts. I called the Doctor's office to talk to the nurse hoping she would tell me that I was worrying for nothing but she told me to head to the hospital. After initially not being able to reach Brad I called my mom and she rushed out the door to get me. Brad called me back finally and he left work and we met my mom at the hospital. I was hooked to a fetal monitor and they found a very strong heartbeat and about ten minutes into the monitoring someone got very upset with everything on my belly and began beating me up! What a relief! The baby is absolutely FINE. I am not in labor, not dilating yet, everything is as it should be and where it should be; I don't have a kidney infection, bladder infection or a UTI nor gall or kidney stones. Yay! What I did hurt is my sacroiliac muscle....have no clue what I did to it though. I don't suggest it as I am still in some pain and discomfort and it will probably flare up and get worse as the pregnancy progresses. JOY of Joys. But I have been resting a lot and Brad took a day off to take care of me last week and doesn't let me do much when he is around. But, other than that and the normal pregnancy pains I am fine and doing well as the picture below shows!
We also began painting the nursery this weekend and as of tonight daddy should have the background colors done so we can start adding the pictures to the murals. Very exciting and I go into the nursery all the time and tell baby bear what a good job his daddy is doing. We'll get our bedding in sometime this week too so we can put the crib all together and have even more done. I have another doctor appointment next week and will hopefully have all good news after that!

Baby News

Yesterday was my monthly appointment with my doctor...we've made it to the 6 month mark! Just saying six months is unbelievable but I know I feel like this is taking forever. I am very impatient. The doctor measured me and I am right on target to where I should be and my weight gain wasn't too bad this time. The baby moves around ALOT now and it started going crazy when the doctor started talking to me. I had been in the same position for a while up to that point and felt nothing until I started talking with the doctor so I am wondering if baby bear can hear and make out new sounds/voices. Its favorite time to start to move around is when mom lays down, gets comfy and closes her eyes. Of course, when it starts it is hard to ignore and I tell baby bear to calm down. I now have to start keeping track of fetal kick counts which they taught me about. The doctor talked to me about getting flu shots. He would like to see me get both the seasonal and H1N1 flu vaccines but I don't know how I feel about that. We'll be praying on that until the next appointment. I have to go in for the standard blood glucose test which thrills me not but hopefully it will all turn out ok.

Baby bear's nursery is all taped off and waiting to be painted....hopefully we will start that in the next two weeks around our busy schedule. I am starting to wash all the clothes and stuff I have been picking up too. I got a baby shower gift in the mail today from someone who can't come to the big event and it was so exciting. So, we are starting to get the real 'tools' that we will need for the baby and it's getting real. We've got a couple crazy weekends ahead of us so we are hoping to get organized sometime soon and at least started before the end of October and my baby shower. I have one more appointment in October before we start going every two weeks. I went to put my appointments on our calendar and it just hit me how fast things are going to start going soon. We'll be there before we know it!

I added a poll to the right side of the blog. Please, just take two seconds because I really want to see what everyone thinks. So far everyone who sees me says the same thing...I am the only one who says different. I don't have a feeling or anything; my thoughts on the matter change everyday really. But, so far most everyone thinks the same thing so I would like to see what more people think!

All grown up!

I have to blog about this because I am SO super excited and giddy. I recieved some great mail today. After reviewing our finances and figuring out what we can afford and what we could cut from our spending before the baby came I decided to take some of my money and pay off my car! I had my old checking and saving accounts from my pre marriage days that I had been too lazy to throw into Brad's accounts. I haven't touched them probably since before the wedding so they were only sitting there anyways. I would never let Brad pay off my car entirely, even though it was OUR money that had been paying it for the last few months anyway-it was my debt and I would feel guilty. I took a large chunk of what was left of my single girl savings and sent a payoff check to Ford Motor two weeks ago. I got the letter of termination on my loan today and wanted to cry! This was my first adult purchase three years ago after getting my first adult job and I was so proud of myself. I even paid it off two years early so we got a tiny bit of a refund too. I own a car!!! Now, if I could just drive it :) I haven't driven it much since getting married either. So technically I own a car that Brad drives and I drive a car that Brad owns! I'm really a big girl now :)

Bonding with Dad

After MANY attempts and weeks of putting up with our silly, stubborn child Daddy has finally felt baby bear. I have been feeling the baby more and more-almost every time I am laying down or sitting and Brad has been waiting patiently. Whenever it would get moving we would place Brad's hand on my belly and wait. Of course, our little stinker would stop moving every time!!! It was almost as if baby knew that daddy was waiting to feel him or her. Even one morning Brad kissed me good bye and left for work and as soon as I heard the door close I felt someone starting to dance. Kind of like, whew he's gone lets get going. But, last night in bed while we watched TV Brad put his hand on my belly since there was quite a bit of action and we waited. All of a sudden he said he felt something and it happened to be the baby! He was so excited and every time he felt it he would ask me to be sure-THREE times in all. Then of course the baby stopped again but Brad and I both were so happy. He is already looking forward to the next time the baby says hello :)

Home Makeover

As of yesterday our 'To-Do list' got a little bit shorter. It took two Saturdays and a few hours on labor day but a big project is finally done. Brad, with the help of my dad and mom, has finished our new banisters around the stairs. The only thing left to do is stain them but they look beautiful already and we are very happy with them. The old ones as you can see were metal, VERY low (I could bend my knees and sit on them) and had spaces too big between the rungs and between the floor and the bottom. The new ones pass current safety regulations as far as spacing and they are higher and we both can lean over them and feel safe and know that the baby will be safe once it is mobile :)

BEFORE:

AFTER: But before staining. We also have to pick out a new handrail too.

The other home makeover was big victory on my part. Way back in May when I first got pregnant Brad painted our room and then made the valances I wanted hung. All I had to do was cover them in fabric so he could hang them. This past week I finally got around to it and they are hanging and our room is now done!

We're halfway there!!!

As of tomorrow I am at 20 weeks which means I have 20 more weeks to go! I have discovered just how impatient I am through this process of growing a human being. I don't think I was as antsy waiting a year until the wedding as I am going to be the nine months of waiting for the baby. Everyday I wish I could hold our baby in my arms. I had my ultrasound on Friday and baby bear is doing great! We are the right size and everything is in the right place and looks normal. Daddy couldn't be with us because of work so my mom actually got to tag along. She was so excited because it would be the first time she went to an ultrasound for one of her grandchildren. I was able to see and make out so much with the help of the tech and the heartbeat is great and it moves alot and even had the hiccups during the ultrasound :) We also found out why I am not feeling kicks yet...which is also the reason why it will be much longer until Brad will feel the baby. The placenta is right at the front of my tummy...it acts as a buffer between me and the baby. Almost as if you put a pillow on your lap then tried to poke yourself through it...you wouldn't feel much. But, this is normal and it isn't a complication and it is perfectly fine where it is. You can kind of see it in this picture...Brad says it looks like it is crushing the baby's head but it's fine. Yes, we are having an alien...the baby is looking straight at you at this angle. ..in this one you can see the eyesockets and the nasal cavity and jawline which makes the baby look a bit off :)

And in this one you can make out a bit of the jaw, some of the spine down at the bottom and a arm and a leg.

Mommy has a good size baby bump now and keeps thinking about how much bigger she is going to get :) I don't sleep through the night anymore and have lost the ability to use the muscles in my abdomen to help me get out of sitting or laying positions very easily already. I am doing great though and Brad takes very good care of me!

Thank you, grandma and grandpa Borek...it came just today and we already have it put together!

A week of celebration :)

This past week has been a fun one for us! We spent last Sunday celebrating our Abby's 3rd birthday with the extended family. I made the cake for this celebration and it was so much fun to watch Abby open gifts especially now that she talks so well.

Then, her actual birthday was a few days later and I spent the afternoon helping my sister with the birthday 'playdate'. She hosted all of Abby's little friends for lunch and swimming; boy, what a looooong day! I now know what to look forward to when hosting little kids for ANYTHING :) That night we joined all the grandparents, Melissa, Dave and the girls celebrating at Chuck E Cheese. How a three year old knows thats where you go for your birthday is beyond me but that is what she wanted. The adults were VERY lucky though and Brad and I kept hitting jackpots and won a TON of tickets so the girls got great prizes to take home.

Abby's birthday also holds something very special to celebrate for us. This marks the 'anniversary' of our first date. :) I can't believe it's only been two years. Neither one of us can think back two years and imagine that this is where we would be today. I was just a young, single, professional going on a date and wondering if he would be Mr. Right. Now, two years later I am married to that date and waiting for our baby.

Chuck E Cheese's wasn't the only place I hit the jackpot this week. I told Brad to take me to the casino or let me buy a lottery ticket I am so lucky! I got a call right before I left for my appointment on Friday that I had won tickets to the Kenny Chesney concert the next night. I had been entering a contest every day all week through Channel 4 news and I won on Friday morning. I love me some Kenny Chesney (or as I like to call him 'my boyfriend') and took my mom since Brad told me he thought 'I would have more fun if someone other than him went'. We had great seats for free tickets and I had a blast.

I do have new pictures of our baby bear and will be uploading those as soon as I have some more free time. The summer started out so slow and it will be ending jam packed full of things to do!

We have movement!

*I think* :) I have had the 'bubbles' and 'rumblings' other moms have told me about for a little over a week now. I wasn't sure at first if that was the baby but I want it to be so bad. I really started to believe it was the baby on our first night of vacation. We arrived to the cottage, settled in, did some exploring, ate dinner and I laid down on the couch to watch some TV. I laid my head in Brad's lap, laying on my left side and all of a sudden I felt two large 'bubbles' popping in a row on the left side of my tummy. It was unmistakingly someone telling me that they were there too! I usually get the feeling when I am laying on my back too much-thus causing me to move-or after I eat dinner. I don't get it everyday and it surely isn't a punch or kick or anything that obvious. I can't wait for that and neither can Brad. He enjoys when I tell him that I feel something but he is as anxious as I am to feel something big...we are both waiting patiently for it.
We also have Godparents! We were able to finally connect with Brad's sister and Aunt Nicole was very excited to accept our inviation to be the Godmother. Uncle David, my brother in law, is also thrilled to finally be a Godparent. He will be an uncle for the first time and now a first time Godfather too. Now, mommy and daddy just need to talk to church about what we need to do for the baptism.
Another thing we have is furniture! We chose and brought home our crib before vacation and that is assembled. We also ordered a dressing table/dresser that came in the day before we left and we picked it up once we were back in town. Much to Brad's enjoyment it actually came assembled and that is in the nursery too. I would take pictures but the room is a wreck! All the boxes and packing material from the furniture take up most of the room with the furniture shoved in a corner. But, as soon as we start organizing the nursery I will take pictures.
One more thing...we have a registry! I actually put it together at Babies 'R Us a while back so we would be ready since I knew the end of the summer would be crazy for us. Now, I can't wait to get it all and feel a little more ready for baby bear!

A little R & R

We are back to everyday life today...or at least we are trying to be! We just got back from our trip up North...we spent 7 whole days renting a cottage in Houghton Lake. It was soooo nice. We spent the first 4 days alone together and then the night of the 4th day my family came to join us for the remainder of the trip. Overall we had great weather and of the two days it rained Brad and I spent one day taking rides all around the area and seeing what we could find and then the other day it rained we all packed in the car and drove to Mackinaw City where it wasn't raining. All in all a fun time was had by all! We BBQ'ed dinner every night...I swear we had enough food to feed five families sometimes! We played on the beach, Brad and I went to Higgins' lake for the day and got a fishing boat, we rented a pontoon one day for everyone to enjoy, fishing, fishing and more fishing :) and we even played a few rounds of mini golf. Don't ask Brad how that went, I think I finally got his head shrunk back down to normal size :) But, I did return the favor by kicking his butt in our card games! For all the fishing we did though we only caught a few but it was fun. Now, we are back to this HOT weather and can't wait for our next vacation!

Hi everybody!

Someone else wanted to stop by and say hello to you all today. I was able to scan some pictures and had my mom take some of me so we would like you to see baby bear from the inside out. As of today I am almost fifteen weeks; two days away. The baby pictures were taken at exactly fourteen weeks in the ER in Indiana and the pictures of my belly were taken just today. In some of them I look a bit bigger than I am but that is probably because I wasn't standing straight with my shoulders back-we are having a bad back day today :( No fun...but we hope you enjoy the pictures anyways!
So, they are a little blurry but that's just how they scanned. In this one if you know how to look at one of these-which I didn't-you can see baby bear raising an arm over his face.This is a close up shot of just the head....so sweet. You should have seen him shaking it all around whenever they pushed the wand down over my belly. :)

All shook up.

If you've seen my facebook status today you know that I've had a horrible day. This morning while driving Brad to the plant here in Indiana we were in a car accident. I had gotten off the freeway and was at a dead stop at a yield sign and we were rear ended. I mean hit hard. I can still here the noise and see everything flying forward in our car. We are ALL ok! We pulled over and the other guy felt horrible and once he found out I was pregnant he was besides himself. The crazy thing is that he is from Detroit and was going to the same plant Brad was. By the time the police got there to make the report I was having different pains and when the cop came to talk to me I basically broke down crying...again. And, Brad and I decided we would both feel better if we had a medic come by and 'check me out'. I was picturing them feeling my back and my stomach and then me driving myself to the ER for a check on the baby. But, NOOOOO. They came with sirens and lights and the fire department and the ambulance took care of me. They talked to me at first and then explained to me what would happen. Before I knew it the back and neck pains I was complaining about were being taken care of by a neck brace and being strapped to one of those back boards and being loaded into the ambulance. Being on that straight board made the pressure in my abdomen worse and I started to cramp a bit so I of course panicked. But, they took care of me especially when Brad wasn't allowed to accompany me :( That didn't stop him though! I thought he would stay and finish up with the accident but it turns out as soon as I got in the ambulance and we headed off he got in the car and left the accident.! The officer came to the hospital later to give me back my license and registration and joked with Brad about leaving the scene; of course he was joking and everyone at the scene completely understood. So, I was now in the ER and they were doing it all. I had an IV and a BP cuff and the heart monitor on my finger-the whole shebang.Plus, they did bloodwork and even did a quick catheder to get a sample of that. The one GOOD thing about all this today was we were able to see our baby! We had our first ultrasound today! They took the baby's heartrate soon after we got there and it was hard to find which of course worried me. But, the nurse said she found it, I didn't hear but Brad did but the baby moved and they couldn't find it again. The ER doc also tried to do an ultrasound with their portable machine but that of course was crap and I couldn't even see anything but Brad saw the beating heart and made me feel better. So, she sent me for the real deal and even though I had a neckbrace on and was hard for me to turn I was able to see some pictures. Absolutely everything was perfect. Nothing seemed out of place and the baby had a heartrate of 132 which is great! (at the doctor two weeks ago it was 152 so they were happy with it today) We of course got a few printouts of our very tiny little one and as soon as I can scan them they will be on display. Then, mommy had to go for a pelvic exam and they were finally able to take the neckbrace off and a nurse helped me to the bathroom. Nothing was leaking, no blood anywhere and my uterus is still closed-all good things. After which they all asked if the walking felt better; they expected it to. But, unfortunately it didn't but made my back feel worse and even the top of my butt. So, the doctor was alarmed again and talked to me about taking back X-Rays. When they took the neck ones I was fine because the machines wouldn't be pointed at my belly and they actually put me in TWO lead aprons. But, for the back there wouldn't be the same precautions. After the ER doc talked to the OB on duty and then talked to me we talked to my doctor's office back home and decided that we would do the X-Rays. We wanted to be sure that nothing was slipped or fractured in my back which is already curving to my growing uterus and therefore a bit more susceptible to damage. The X-rays also came back fine and they FINALLY released me. They told me to take it easy and take Tylenol when I need it and follow up with my doctor next week. Surprisingly Brad feels fine and stayed with me all day today :) He is taking such good care of us. And, everyone from work has called today too. All the guys on the way to work at the factory called because they saw us as they passed. Then, before long Brad's boss and his director called to check on all of us! My mom left work early today to come and be with us and is here now. She will stay with us for a few days until I can get in the car and travel again and take me home this weekend. Just say some prayers and again I will post baby pics as soon as I can but in the meantime here are some other pictures to feast your eyes on...

Yes, my friends you can indeed now see the street THROUGH my bumper/trunk!

Travelin Man

That's my husband! We are back in Lafayette, IN. once again. Go back to the first few posts of my blog...that's where we are. I decided to join Brad for at least a portion of this trip and we hope I can get home at some point before the end of the month :) A good thing (I suppose) about this trip is that I have discovered that 2 hours is the maximum amount of time I can spend in a car before having to get out, stretch, eat, go potty etc. Whew! What a trip...everything is so different now! My poor little piggies were a little puffy by the time we got here. It took us about 7 hours when it used to take us about 5 because of the stops and rest times. But, Brad was a trooper about it and we made it here before dinner even. I made it and was only a little sore, in the lower back, at the end of it all. I am growing quite nicely. I swear we hit twelve weeks and went into a growth spurt. I do look pregnant at least a little now :) Plus, I get lots of little aches, pains and twinges in my abdominal muscles every now and then too...my body just has to figure out what is going on I guess! And, the baby is still eating my brain. You should have seen me packing trying to be sure that I didn't forget anything! Lately I forget words in the middle of sentences, I lose train of thought really easily, I write everything down so I don't forget it and I have almost walked out of the house (like one foot out the door) TWICE now barefoot. Sheesh, I thought I wouldn't lose my mind till after the kids were around for a while! That and I am still very emotional. I cry so easily without being pregnant and I HATE that but now it is just worse. I am going to have to stop listening to the radio while I drive soon. I have been know to cry through many a song lately..the culprits are all country too. Darius Rucker, Tracy Lawrence and even Carrie Underwood have me in hysterics by the end of the first line ;) Then of course there is the lovely display I put on while behind the wheel when a patriotic tune from Toby Ketih came on the other day. Oh, and don't get me started about the morning I watched "Pollyanna" on TV...what a mess! I never thought I could be more emotional than I already was. Other than that things are still going good. And, for now pray for us while we are away from home and that Brad's project is successful and ends on time.

12 Week Appointment

Well, I would say this was the most 'un-fun' appointment but we did get to hear the heartbeat :) The nurse did it before the doctor came in and she told me not to worry if she couldn't find it; we would try again with the doctor. As I laid back I closed my eyes and kept saying to myself: 'God, Please let me hear it' over and over again. She tried on the left side of my belly and got nothing. Then she moved it to the right side and almost immediately said 'there is is!'. It was quiet but we could make it out just fine. Brad stayed in the chair on the other side of the room and I couldn't even see him so when I started crying (of course!) my stomach started to shake and she had to relocate the heartbeat again :) When I sat up Brad was very excited and had a big smile on his face. We were both very happy to have heard it. The doctor came in and talked to me and gave me some advice for the nausea and headaches that I've been having. Then, of course I had some fun female tests done and he checked my pelvis out. I would like to thank my BFF, Amy who once told me in High School to thank God for my 'child bearing hips'. My doctor told me she was right, my pelvis is a great size in terms of delivering the baby. Very good news since these don't really run in my family and C-sections do :) I also found out I lost some weight. Last time I had only gained one pound but this time I was down less than before I got pregnant. I have lost almost four pounds but they told me I'm fine and it's normal. So, for now we are doing excellent and I go back in four weeks for the next round of fun. As for anyone who may want pictures of the baby we have to wait for Labor day...we won't go in for it until at least then. I don't know how I will wait!

12 Weeks today!

I made it! I think I breathed a big sigh of relief today. They say it only gets better from here. I only hope that I start to feel better soon. The last few days, especially yesterday have been tough on me with the nausea popping up again. It also doesn't help that my allergies are killing me and I can't really take good meds to combat them. But, my wonderful hubby thought of some things to help cut down on the allergens in the house and put them in place yesterday :) Nothing much new yet although I do have a dr. appointment this week. It's my first time seeing him since I was confirmed pregnant so I am looking forward to having him check out the progress and hopefully get a good report back! We have made some small changes at the house lately.

This is what our 'office' looks like now:

This is our 'new office'...that's the basement if you can't tell

And, this is the nursery...just waiting for us to get to work!

We've heard from Larry...

Amy, he's doing fine :) I told him all about blogging and and told him to look at mine but don't expect it...he gave me one of those 'guy' looks like blogging is specifically for females. But, I don't blame him...he has only emailed us once because his days are so long and the rest he needs for sleep and such. Everything is becoming more secretive so we don't know much but we expected that. So, if I don't update often it's not because we haven't heard from him it may be because he can't talk about anything. He sounds good and misses home already but his mood still seems upbeat which helps us too. He's asked us at home to get on Skype so we are looking forward to being able to see him every few weeks when he is allowed. Just keep praying for him and soon he will be home. I don't know when exactly when we can expect that but as soon as I do I will start a countdown!

Baby update :)

I had an appointment with our nurse at the office last week and my wonderful husband took an hour out of his workday to be there with me. I could have done it alone as it wasn't anything major but we were both glad he was there. I did some more blood tests, got a bunch of info on optional tests that are offered to us and talked about my current health and family history on both of us. I was also weighed and after initially losing weight (I fixed my scale to match the office scale the day I was confirmed pregnant) the first week or so I gained a pound! I couldn't believe it since I have been so sick lately but it's a good sign. We talked about my nutrition so that I don't keep adding on pound after pound :) but I still need to eat more and drink TONS more water than I do. The nurse actually scolded me when she saw I didn't have water WITH me that day. She told me to get used to it and Brad is ready to buy me a watch with an alarm we can set to remind me that I should have another bottle of water open. Seriously whenever he finds out something that I should or shouldn't do he watches me like a hawk and is always asking me now: 'can you eat that?' 'can we do this?' he is so cute.
When they drew blood they said I may be dehydrated because they couldn't get my big fat old veins to pump blood. They actually did it in one arm that wouldn't flow with blood at all so they took that needle out and tried on the other arm. But, of course they had to try a smaller needle so it took so long to finally give enough blood and I went home with two sore arms :(
Some of my pants, especially anything denim is starting to need a bit of an extra tug these days but I am still in regular clothes for the most part!! Brad and I have a nickname for our little one; who is the size of a green olive this week and is officially able to be called a fetus! We WON'T be finding out if it's a boy or girl and we don't really want to call the baby 'it' for nine months either. So, after thinking about it, it finally came to us. We have our "baby bear" :) but we do still call him or her 'it' too...hard not to. Then there is my two year old niece who calls my belly "baby snoopy".
We have another appointment in three weeks and we won't have an ultrasound for about another 9 or so God willing everyone stays healthy. I don't know how I will wait that long!

The baby doesn't like milkshakes :(

Well, I guess I didn't knock on enough wood last time. We have progressed into a bit more than just feeling sick :( I felt so much better after the fact though so that was nice! Instead of 'morning' sickness I have more evening sickness; it starts getting worse around dinner time and lasts until bed most days.I had made a chicken pot pie for dinner (I make a killer one!) and by the time it was out of the oven and Brad set the table and served it up and I walked into the dining room, I wanted nothing to do with it. So, he insisted I eat something and offered to get fast food even-something I hadn't had in a while. I always want McDonald's when I'm sick so I asked for that plus a milkshake. It was so good and I sat and took my time to eat and even left a bunch of it and actually felt full for the first time in FOREVER. But, it didn't last long sadly. Brad was excellent in my time of need (he came RUNNING) even though I wanted him to be anywhere but watching me ;) He got me ice water and put a cold washcloth on my forehead then on my neck...what a sweetie. I have found two things though that the baby does like and I feel better after eating: rice krispies with milk (surprisingly milk doesn't bother me in this instance) and Lunchables of all things. My stomach settles so much after eating a cheese and meat topped cracker. So, for the next few weeks I think I will stick to eating breakfast and lunch foods whenever I feel like it!

We've killed a rabbit :)

Well, if you haven't heard by now (you must be deaf!) Brad and I are having a baby. I have been putting off posting anything about it on here for weird personal reasons. We've told everyone but putting it in writing just scares me for some reason. Anyways, it's out there now! I am doing fine, Brad is doing fine and based on what everyone tells me about the sicker I feel the better the baby is, the baby is FANTASTIC! I am very queasy all day every day...some days I get a break for a few hours and I am grateful. I am not throwing up and am knocking on every type of wood when I say that. I get tired easier so I sleep alot but I try to stay active too. I get out for walks when I feel up to it and I make myself take care of something at the house everyday. I have already seen the doctor, the day after the home test actually, and everything was right on target then. I am reading all my books and eating good and Brad helps remind me everyday to take the vitamins. As far as we know I am 7 weeks now and due January 14. I never thought we would get it on the first try and was shocked when I saw that little plus sign. I kept telling myself that the second line wouldn't appear; even up to the point of taking the test and the strip turning pink! I was not optimistic! Boy, am I happy I was wrong. So, the pictures below are quite obvious...the one of me I took myself and sucked my fat gut in so you could get an idea of what was or wan't there yet :) that was taken two days after we found out so at four weeks. I have another doctors appointment next week and hopefully all will go well for that too. Please continue to pray that everyone stays healthy and things continue to go well. We are very excited and so excited to share this special time in our lives with everyone.
(Hope the pics don't freak anyone out or seem gross...doing them mainly so Brad's family can stay in the loop too since we won't see them as much during the pregnancy...so I apologize if I offend anyone else!)

Our Hero.

This past weekend was one full of celebrations for our family. We chose Memorial Day weekend as the perfect time to have our going away celebrations for my brother, Larry. You see, on May 31 he will be shipping out for Kuwait. He has been in the Navy reserves for 3 years now and his time is now to serve his country overseas. He will first go to Virginia for training for several weeks but we aren't able to know his exact date of departure from there so we have to say our good byes at the airport next weekend. He also went and got engaged a few weeks ago and is planning to marry when he returns next summer so there is a lot going on with him. Please keep him in your prayers until he returns home safely to all of us sometime next spring. We were able to host a going away party for him and had a special blessing for him at church in which the entire congregation participated over the weekend. I've never been prouder of my baby brother!

We're still here!

So, more than one person has mentioned to me the fact that the blog hasn't been updated. Well, we've been busy and I've let myself be lazy :P So, you probably already know that a LOT has been going on at our home..but give me a while before I post on that. There is more than that going on right now. For instance we have been living in our guest room for almost two weeks now and our house is a bit cluttered. But, for good reason...we've finally changed our bedroom. Now, our bedding matches the rest of the room. We picked out paint and Brad got to work and it looks so much better. Plus, we both love it. The last piece we need is to make our valances and that project will be closed. Next, Brad plans to replace our railings on our stairs to be safer and then we will begin on transforming/updating our 'guest' room ;) I didn't take any pictures before the painting started but this is the best I could do:
The blue on the trim piece is what ALL the walls and trims used to be...the wall is with the first coat of the new color.
And this is what is looks like with the walls and the trim done!!

Maybe it's because I'm Polish?

Or just because I'm anal....hmm. We're having some old friends come over this weekend and they have never seen our house. So, of course I am doing a major clean sweep. It doesn't matter that I just cleaned up for our company last week or that I told myself I woudln't re-do things that still looked good-yeah right. I am in overdrive. Even my everyday weekly chores (when we won't have company) are slightly outrageous. I need my house to be spotless and if it's not I apologize profusely to whomever sees it a mess. Even my mom said to me today that she doesn't know why I worry, I won't have much to do because my house is always clean! YAY!!!! I've succeeded. It's funny she should say this because she is probably the one to blame for my behavior :) We always joke about it being our old "Polish Mom"...we're 100% Polish in case you didn't know! This is a woman who wouldn't let us leave on vacation without a clean sweep of the house. After we were done packing us three kids had to be sure the floors were vacuumed, beds were made, clothes put away and dishes washed and I won't even tell you my parents' reasoning behind this! I have another purebred Polish friend and we lived together in college and I think her and I understand the best where the other is coming from. There is a book, a great piece of fiction for anyone raised in a very Polish household and it's called The Clarinet Polka. While at times it can be grotesque and brash it is also very humorous to a Polish child as myself. The first time I read it I picked one passage out the sticks in my memory today. The narrator, a young man living at home in the 60's talks about HIS Polish mother and her cleaning habits. How she insisted that the house always be clean just in case anyone dropped over. This would be fine he said but no one ever dropped by because they were all too busy at THEIR homes keeping them clean just in case anyone dropped by!! This is so true! And, as I moved furniture around to dust and polish the backside of it I realized that I had finally come to live out this personality trait that I so gleefully used to tease my mother with :) I am hoping that what everyone says is true: that when you grow older and once you have children you won't care if your house is that clean all the time anymore. Gosh I hope so.

If you've got kids you need to see this!

Or, if you are sans kids and are just a big kid yourself like me! I made this cake for a get together this weekend to suprise one of my friends for her birthday that had just passed. It's called Raibow Cake and when I first saw the recipe I couldn't wait to try it. Everyone at the get together thought it was great (even Brad was amazed!) so I promised to post directions and pictures.

Preheat oven according to the directions for the cake mix.

You will need to prepare TWO white cakes mixes according to the box directions. I did one box and divided the batter and then did the other box and divided it. Once you make the batter scoop one cup (or there abouts...just want it to be even) of batter into SIX separate bowls. Next you will color it and I highly suggest GEL food coloring not the liquid kind I grew up with. I wanted to do traditional rainbow ROY G BIV but for some reason my fancy schmancy cake decorating gel set didn't have a traditional orange and I didn't want to make it too weird with the other colors I had to choose from so I went with Pink. This is not something I would do again since it came out almost exactly like the Red color :( Anyway this is what you should now have. Yummy and pretty!
Next you will need two round cake pans sprayed and ready to go. Take your first pan and start with whatever color you want. I chose red to go in the order of the rainbow. Take about half of the dyed batter mixture and plop it right in the center of the pan. You DO NOT need to spread it or shake the pan or anything...just let it be a big blob in the middle! Now take half of your next colored batter and plop that right on top of the middle of the first color. Continue to do this for all of the colors....just keep putting it right on the top of the last color. Repeat for the second pan with the other half of each colored batter BUT go in the opposite order. So whatever was the last color you put into the first pan now is the FIRST color in the second. When you are done you should have two cake pans that look something like this:

Like I said you don't have to spread the batter. The more batter you add and the heavier it gets, the lower batter sections will spread out all on their own!

Now, bake it according to the directions on the box. When they are done and you take them out have a cake board or plate ready. You can use whatever kind of icing you want. I cofess I did actually do the canned route since I wasn't even entirely sure how the cake itself would come out so I put all my creative skill into that! I iced it with vanilla and added a bunch of rainbow sprinkles to the top.

Now, I didn't tell anyone what kind of cake it was so when I cut into it to serve it they were all pretty surprised and excited to see this!

Like I said, this was the hit of the party and it got rave reviews!! I am so excited it worked and I think it is so much fun! You can use whatever colors you want and have fun!!

Spring has sprung!

It's officially spring now...we went fishing and took the boats out this weekend! I was having a bunch of college friends over and having spent most of the week killing myself to get the house ready there wasn't much to do come Saturday morning. So, with the sun shining and the air warming up my hubby couldn't help but want to fish. We were out there for about 30 minutes but we officially kicked off the season; no fish though-I told Brad I thought they were still in hiding. That and the fish in our lake hate me :). He also spent a ton of time cleaning the paddle boat and the canoe up in case anyone wanted a ride that night. Well, they both went out and I can't wait for the warm weather to stay around now!

Four months later...

and I am still working on wedding projects! We've ordered our photo albums and prints!!! Now, I just have to wait four more months to get them back!! It took me/us FOREVER to make the final cuts. I had all 1200 photos spread out on the floor for hours last week going through them all. Plus, we now have our picture CD so if you want prints let us know!

The Easter Bunny came to our house early...

Can't believe I forgot to post this. These are the new treats I am making...yes, it's all edible and the inside is cake! Everyone who bought them came back with rave reviews after Easter!

It's not delivery...

It's not even Digiorno! I am so excited I was able to make this work. This all started out as a ball of frozen pizza dough and I did the rest. I've never tried before but was happy with the result and it was quite delicious. Plus, I only burned myself twice in the process so kudos to me!

Welcome Home Brad!

Brad spent the past week in Indiana, again. But, he is home and I am not even mentioning anything about how long he might be here for fear of the jinx. I stayed home and missed him terribly and couldn't wait for him to get back. This is the longest we have been without the other since our wedding. I made it the whole week and don't want him to leave me again. So, to entice him to never want to leave home I made an AWESOME meal for him on Saturday. He is still talking about how good it is and has had it THREE times since I made it yesterday. For anyone who knows me you can look at the picture and know how much I love my man for the sheer fact that I don't eat much of what is in this meal. No to cooked carrots or anything covered in gravy. But, I did partake in some of it with him and am so proud of myself for making something so great! I even threw in some Red Lobster bisquits that were true to name. I love being the happy homemaker...for now. And, now I give you my fabulous pot roastI can just hear you 'ooohing' :) Now, we just have to wait and see if it worked and Brad will want to stay home always to eat such good food.

Happy Birthday, little April Fool!

Yes, it's a few days late but we celebrated a lot this past week. Our little niece Ania turned one on April Fool's Day! She LOVED her cake; both at her party and on her actual birthday. She really dug in and enjoyed it. She is already turning out to be much different than her big sister who cried her way through all THREE bites she took of her first birthday cake. Plus, Ania is what Brad calls a 'little stinker'...she is so full of drama and mischief! The first picture below is on the day of her party (I made her a Winnie the Pooh cake hence the orange icing)and the second is on her actual birthday...