August?!?

What happened to August?  I have no idea!  I can only guess it flew by as we started one last big push to get ready for baby.  Here is my rewind.  Well, here is what we remembered to take pictures of.

HOME RENOVATION CONTINUES

Toilet install during our hall bath remodel.  We've made more progress but I think it deserves a post of it's own once the shower is complete.

New tile in the entry way!

Steve risking his life on a super high ladder to install our new entry light.  He also saved our house from burning down by discovering and disconnecting a live wire that had been drilled through and has been hanging out in our wall - LIVE every time we turned on our old entry light during the last 4 years.

Steve and his helper hanging our new dining room light.

BABY SHOWER

Our sweet friend, Tana, hosted a baby shower at the Mad Potter (a really fun place where you can paint your own ceramics and they will fire them for you).  It made for a fun shower and everyone had a great time making their own art!

Nana June, Grandma Karen, and Great Grandma all adding their touch to Peanut's gift (a 1st Birthday Plate).

Aunt Cheryl making a tile.

Ryan's assistant and her adorable daughter painting their project.  This lady is a super trooper.  She delivered baby number 2 the very next day.

Hard at work!

Opening gifts :)

Some of the final products!

You may have noticed that my family appeared in these photos.  What a surprise!  I came home from work a little early so that I'd have time to change and get ready for the shower.  When I walked in I noticed that the house seemed ridiculously clean for a Thursday afternoon.  Ryan gave me some excuse about wanting the house to be clean just in case someone came over to help me carry gifts home.  Hmmm, ok.  Then a little while later there was a knock at the door.  Mom, Cheryl, and Grandma were standing on my door step!  IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!

4TH ANNIVERSARY

Technically this was September 1st. 

My pretty flowers.

This is to prove just how much I love my husband.  Apparently my tummy fits best in his t-shirts.  I actually allowed him to document me in a Cubs shirt.  I should have planned ahead and stocked him up on Cards paraphernalia. 

I love you, honey!  I'm excited to be working on year #5!

Smokey's New Kicks

One word: traction.  Ryan found these doggie shoes on sale for $24.  We fully expected Smokes to immediately chew them off/kick them off, but he unexpectedly liked them... sort of.  He liked the idea of not sliding on the floors and he was able to move around with much more confidence.  He even resisted a bit when I went to take them off for the night. 

In full disclosure I wouldn't allow Ryan to take a video of Smokey learning how to walk in these.  It was so funny and ridiculous looking that we had to hide our faces and leave the room to laugh.  We didn't want him to feel self conscious.  We did, however, snap a pic after he had romped around for awhile.  Sorry you missed the hilarity of a 90 lb dog "prancing", but doesn't he look happy in the photo?!?

Obligatory Belly Post

I will admit that I've been hiding.  I haven't been one of those ladies who feel fabulous looking while pregnant.  But I've recently learned that there are many many stages of looking pregnant.  First you just start off feeling fat because your clothes don't fit and nobody can tell that you're actually pregnant.  They think you're just getting fat.  Then you start to look sort of pregnant and the bravest of strangers will make comments.  After a positive confirmation these comments are always followed up with "Oh, I'm so glad.  Sometimes you just don't know for sure." 

I've now reached the stage where nobody is guessing anymore.  In fact I've sailed right through to the everyone automatically touches the tummy stage.  If you know me then you understand that I have serious personal space issues.  I can honestly say that the only pregnant tummy that I've EVER wanted to rub was my friend Amy's.  I find this phenomenon very weird.  Even more weird is that I find myself chuckling whenever someone does this to me.  I thought I'd be super freaked out by all of these extra hands rubbing the old belly without permission.  Instead it amuses me... and it makes me happy that so many people are excited to feel a little kick from our little guy.  Please don't misunderstand me here.  If a total stranger tries this maneuver they will probably get a punch in the face.  That is SUPER CREEPY, but for now it seems like family and friends are welcome.  Go figure.

26 weeks and 5 days

On another note, everyone keeps asking how the nursery is coming along.  Well, here is a glimpse into my torture.  I would say the nursery is NOT coming along at this present time.

Here is where the nursery is currently located. 

(Yes, that is our dining room and everything is still in boxes.)

There is still plenty of time!

Victory!

Smokey vs. Floors Part II

Just in case you were wondering, here's an update on how Smokey is doing with the new flooring.

How did this end?  Ryan had to pull the dog bed across the room to the back door with Smokey along for the ride.  Of course when he came back inside he was walking around like a champ.  Go figure.  I wish Home Depot would hurry up with our area rug shipment!

Animal Abuse According to Smokey

... or more appropriately titled: WE HAVE NEW FLOORS!

What is the easiest way to torture your pet (if your pet is Smoke Dog)?  Why finally install your new flooring of course!  I'm sure you could never ever guess just how EVIL laminate flooring can be.  Well, let Smokey be the one to school you on this delicate topic.

 I apologize for the dark hallway.  I didn't think he'd take off for the bedrooms.

Now please note that this was taken days after the flooring was installed.  On day one it took him over 4 hours to gather the nerve to venture out of the hallway. 

We must be the worst pet parents known to man.  And to think we were going to set up the baby swing over the weekend so that he could begin to get used to the sounds and movement (that is another form of torture entirely).  Maybe the swing will wait until next weekend so we don't have to find a doggie therapist. 

I guess rug shopping is in our near future.

Spring Travels and Other Such Nonsense

June definitely started off with a bang as June 1st brought us the birthdays of two of our most favorite people.

 

 

 We didn't get to celebrate in person with Nick, but we certainly didn't forget about him!

 

We did get to celebrate with Grammy, June.  Here are a few pics of her birthday patio dinner party.  It was a family affair with Mike, June, Phyllis, Keely, Ryan and moi.

 

 Dinner on the patio!

Birthday Girl with her new GPS!

 Of course I had to include Keely's fabulous birthday cake and Ryan's super yummy shrimp cups.  I think these two should team up more often!

 

After the first weekend of birthday celebrations (which we actually celebrated on Memorial Day), I was able to sneak away for a few days to head home to Dallas.  Oh Texas - How I miss thee!  It was nice, toasty warm, and almost like being in a foreign country.  I loved every minute of being there and I have to admit that I had a really hard time boarding the plane to come home.

 

Grandma T and I FINALLY got to do some of the ever-so important gender specific shopping.  Of course I forgot to pack my camera.  The only pic from the entire weekend was one that Randy took with my phone at Amy's baby shower.  Here is a picture of Amy (and Miles) and me (and little G-MAN)... future best buds.  I'm so excited that we have at least one picture of us together with our baby bumps!  Just for posterity I wanted to include a picture of us from waaaaaaaaaay back, but there were just so many to choose from that I couldn't make up my mind.  Maybe I'll have to do a separate issue entry just on that!  Instead, here is a picture from the last time all of us were in the same place.  Where has the time gone?  The memories I share with Amy are ones that I will treasure throughout my entire life.

 

Our wedding:  Dawn, Jodina, me, Amy

  

Baby bumps! 

 

Actually, the whole weekend was filled with friends and their new families.  It warms my heart to see everyone so happy and that was probably why it was so hard for me to leave this time.  I'm so irritated with myself that I didn't get a good picture of Dawn with her 2 precious boys.  They sure are cutie pies!  It only seems right that Dawn, Amy, and I have a a chance to let our little boys be friends.  I'm so excited about this new path that we've all started and I can NOT wait to see where it takes us.

Half Way Day!

Last night as I was painting in the baby room (read: as I was lying on the nursery floor with Smokey and cutting in baseboard trim), I was listening to the birds outside and to my sweet husband cooking in the kitchen and I realized that in 20 short weeks our lives will never again be this simple.  I also realized how truly blessed I am to have such wonderful people in my life.

Case in point, I'm cutting in trim in the baby's room.  It's going to be a lovely beige color.  My sweet friend, Becky, is coming over next weekend to actually paint the room for me while I'm out of town.  Why is this amazing?  Well, did I mention that the current color of the baby's room is a lovely beige color?  It's just not the right beige color, and she's doing it anyway with very few of the obvious sarcastic remarks that are probably warranted (especially when she is also painting my bathroom and basement room). 

AND there's my sweet husband who has not even once complained or even commented about the extra cooking and cleaning that he's had to do when I've come home to do nothing but take a nose dive onto the sofa.

But on to the fun stuff!  This is my half way day - Week 20 - and it is a beautiful day.  The peonies have decided to pop out.

Our garden is finally planted.  It's currently being guarded by not just one but two Iowa Hawkeye garden gnomes.  The Dallas Cowboy gnome will join the brigade shortly.

And we FINALLY have flooring so that this little baby won't have to learn to crawl on subfloors.  Here is the photo evidence if you don't believe me (and I wouldn't blame you if you didn't)!

Oh, that's not want you wanted to read about?  Silly me!  Well at 19.5 weeks we had our screening ultrasound and...

It's a boy!!!

 

It appears that we have what looks to be a very healthy looking baby boy.  According to our technician he looks "fabulous".  We were able to see his little kidneys, heart, bladder, arms, legs, fingers & toes (well, mostly knuckles), boy parts, head circumference, brain, spine, and other adorable and alien looking baby parts.  We were told he probably weighs about 11 ounces (give or take a few).  He was flipping and moving and grooving so much that I'm surprised she could even get all of these shots.  Ryan finally asked me if I had any caffeine that morning and the tech said that it was good that I hadn't because she was having a hard enough time following him around. 

Let's just say that this little guy is NOT shy.  The very first image that popped up on the screen was the pic that you see above, and he was so insistent on showing us this view throughout the ENTIRE ultrasound that the tech said that it was good we wanted to know boy or girl because there was absolutely no way she could have hid it.  It was so clear to both Ryan and me from the first second that we said it before the tech.  I guess he wanted to be very sure that mom didn't paint his room any shade of pink whatsoever. 

We are so in love with this little guy.  He's totally worth the nightly midnight pee breaks and the peek-a-boo ankles!

Spring Time... For Real

Well, the weekend AFTER mom and Bruce came to visit we had the mass emergence of blooming plants.  As much as I complain about Iowa's winters I do have to admit that I love Iowa's springs.  Here are a few of Ryan's favorites.

Ryan's lilac bush

Close up!  Pretty!

The Red Bud tree that Ryan bought me during the first spring after we got married.

This is NOT Ryan's favorite.  This is where Smokey poos all winter long. 

 Smokey poo apparently makes great fertilizer!

I also think Smokey secretly likes to make Ryan do extra work. 

 This is Smokes watching Ryan mow his "restroom".  Bwahahahaha

It looks like the peonies are our last hold out!  We should have flowers soon.



Spring Time... Sort of

This past weekend my Mommy and Brucey came for a visit.  We planned this trip months and months ago as a belated Happy Retirement trip for my mom.  I know they love to visit quaint little towns so we picked a date that was sure to be blooming and colorful for us to all take a little peaceful weekend holiday in the picturesque town of Galena.  We were so sure everything would be in bloom.  Heck, their website even listed it as "Daffodil Weekend".

Alas, the weather has NOT cooperated so far this season.  Instead of flowers and blooming trees we had rolling hills of partially dead grass and leafless dead looking trees.  Oh, AND it was the Boy Scouts weekend.  The town was full of hundreds of rambunctious little boys.  I'll add that they were super cute and relatively well behaved, but EVERYWHERE nonetheless.  The strangest part of the trip was the suicidal robin that continuously threw itself into our condo's windows all weekend long.  The bird would start on our upstairs bedroom windows at around 6 am and then make it's way to the downstairs windows as we descended for breakfast.  That is slightly creepy if you ask me.  I guess Hitchcock was on to something.

Lack of scenery and creepy bird aside, we had a fabulous time.  I wish the folks were around here more often because we never have a dull moment when they are.  I can't wait for the next gathering so I can kick some more rear ends at hearts!  Apparently Peanut was helping me with my game, or else was really annoyed that I was sitting on the floor, because I got my first "flutter" punch/kick.  Either way bring on the rematch!

Odds and Ends

Just a few random thoughts... Well, not so random.  I love to brag that my hubby is the best cook EVER and that I rarely have to complete that chore on my own anymore.  Here is his second attempt at the pork chop stuffed with goat cheese, prunes, almonds, and lemon infused olive oil.

AND here is the super fabulous loaf of banana bread that he made for our breakfasts for the week.  This guy has perfected the art of banana bread.  Don't ask for his recipe though.  My mom did just that and the recipe that he gave her was slightly less than complete.  Oh well, I guess that just means that mom will just have to visit more often to sample that yummy goodness.

On another note, this morning we discovered that there is something loud and noisy that Smokey is actually NOT afraid of.  If you've ever spent time around Smoke Dog for more than 5 minutes then you know that there are 3 things that he is afraid of: (1) anything that is loud, (2) anything that has the potential to fall over and make noise, and (3) anything new (even babies).  This new and apparently un-scary common household item is the hairdryer.  I was sitting on the floor, drying my hair, when I decided to direct the flow of warm air at Smokey's unsuspecting face.  I was fully expecting a freak out moment, however I think I may have created a new bad habit instead.  He jumped up, backed away, and then came back for more.  He actually stuck his head under my arm to nudge me to "dry" his back.  Spoiled brat.  I think he'll expect this pampering treatment in the mornings now.  I guess that's my fault for trying to tease him!

First Family Photo

Ok, I have not forgotten about our blog.  Quite frankly I was having a hard time keeping my mouth shut, but now that the cat's out of the bag I feel like I can get back to posting.  Here is our first family photo with Peanut!

This was taken at 7.5 weeks and we are now starting week 14.  YIKES time is flying - but mom, dad, and Smokey could not be more excited.  I think Smokey has taken on the role as my personal protector as he will only very rarely let me out of his line of site.  It is very cute.  Poor guy doesn't know what's coming his way in the next 6 months...

Onesies are for...

Sofa lounging.

Fireplace fixing.

Cute snuggling.

Face attacking.

Silly making.

Feet warming.

Already Gone...

Now that its almost spring and the weather is nice and soggy I realized that we never shared our snow pics.  I'm not quite sure why we are the last house in the entire neighborhood that still has spots of snow in the yard, but I think it's time to celebrate our friend Snow's retreat.  (For the full effect you can imagine you're listening to Kelly Clarkson's "Already Gone" while you view the montage.)

View from the garage...

More from the garage... because we can't get our cars out.

Neighbors.

Digging out the cars.

Close up.  Looks cold.

Back door.  Like the pile of snow on the deck?  Smokes wasn't really a fan.

Path cleared for the dog.

My sweet snow shoveler. 

I'll leave out the gross pic he took of Smokey trying to take a dump in snow taller than his head. 

Boys... pffft.

This dog has the right idea (minus looking completely annoyed with me). 

Have I mentioned that Snow plus Becky does not equal a fan?