Weekend Trip

Adam and I drove to Kansas City this weekend to visit our friends Rachael and Matt. For those of you who've read this blog awhile, you probably remember Rachael. For you newbies, Rachael is my BFF who unfortunately lives 3 hours away. :( She would be on this blog a lot more often if that wasn't the case.

Anyway...Rachael has been down here to see me many times over the past year, but I don't think I've visited her for quite some time. It was definitely my turn.

A little bit of our history...the powers-that-be apparently think it's funny to send huge snow/ice storms every time Rachael and I try to visit each other. Let's think back:

-January of 2007, Rachael was on her way to Wichita to see me and her car slid on the ice, causing her to run into and OVER a mile marker sign. She didn't make it here since this happened while she was still close to KC.

-January of 2008, Rachael and I'd had a fun weekend and I was on my way back from KC to Wichita. We got a bunch of snow overnight and KC schools were cancelled. I had to get hot water to thaw my car door handle in order for it to open. I'm finally on my way on I-35 and I hit a patch of ice, which makes my Jeep do a 180 in the middle of the highway. Luckily I didn't hit any other cars, but my car was propelled towards the median where it hit the concrete barrier that divides the directions of traffic. Adam had to get a sub for his class and drive up there to get me. Boo.

-Both Rachael and I have, at times other than the above mentioned incidents started the drive to see one another, and had to turn around and cancel our trips due to ice and snow. One time I made it all the way to the McDonald's/gas station in Matfield Green on the turnpike, and I ended up turning around and coming home.

That's at least 4 times this has happened. More than coincidence?

Guess what happened this weekend?

Rach and I'd had this trip planned for 2 months. Early this past week, I started hearing about a winter storm that's supposed to hit. Seriously? It's been 40 degrees here lately. And the ONE weekend I want to go visit her, it's going to be nasty out.

We figured since Adam was driving, the bad luck wouldn't apply to this situation. We were wrong. Luckily there were no accidents, but the 3 hour drive took us 4.5 hours and it was HORRIBLE the entire time. We'd heard the roads were better the further north you got, but someone was lying. We agreed that if we'd known it was going to be that bad, we'd never have gone.

BUT bad weather conditions aside, I'm really glad we went because we had a great time! It was a short trip and I didn't take a ton of photos, but there are a few. We left Friday, Adam had a snow day from school, but I had to work, so we left in the late afternoon. We made it to their house by 8:30 and after Rachael oohed and aahed over my baby bump, we watched The Dark Knight.

Saturday morning we woke up and spent all day shopping. I was determined to find a diaper bag this weekend. I hadn't found any that I remotely liked, so I figured if I made it my mission while in KC, we could accomplish it.

We went to TJ Maxx, Carter's, Old Navy, and Motherhood Maternity before lunch. I found some cute maternity clothes at Old Navy. But no diaper bag. The guys had a good time at Old Navy - they found a coloring table and made friends with some little kids who were also coloring. In efforts to lessen their creepiness factor, we went to lunch. After lunch at Panera, we went to Cabela's to keep the men happy. I'd never been there before, and it was a pretty cool place. We spent a lot of time looking at the fish in the aquarium. There was also this giant life-size set up with a bunch of wild animals. We took pictures there. :)

Here's Rachael with some wildebeests (or something...) that have weird 70's hair-shaped horns.

We were trying to get our picture in front of the elephants, but Adam ruined that one. Side note: this photo makes me think I could maybe pull off short hair? Hmm...

Reenacting the crocodile-chomping-wildebeest scene behind us. I was having the worst hair day of my life, so please ignore the grossness.

Rachael and Matt being hurdled by a monkey. With some elephants.

I tried to get a photo of Adam...

Next was USA Baby since we don't have any of those in Wichita. It was a really cute store with a ton of fun stuff, but I want to wait to buy stuff til I know what we're having (which we will find out in ONE AND A HALF DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!). Matt and Adam made it their goal to try out every rocker in the store. There were probably 25 rockers in there. Matt ended up losing his phone in one of them and had to go back today after church to find it. Poor Matt.
Still no diaper bag. We made one more stop at Target and...I found it! It's not technically a diaper bag, I found it in the purse section, but it has side pockets for bottles and the inside is very spacious and it has leather straps that should be pretty durable. I didn't get a picture, but I'm sure you'll see it on here at some point. It's super cute.

After Target, we headed home. Rachael and I tried to watch Duplicity, but it was too confusing and we both fell asleep and missed huge portions of it, so we turned it off. The boys went out to play frisbee golf, and Adam succeeded in cracking a disc on his first ever game - way to go.

Yesterday evening was the best and most interesting part of the trip. There's this restaurant in Roeland Park called Oklahoma Joe's, and it's located in a gas station. Weird. Rach and Matt went on and on about how great the bbq was, so we tried not to be judgemental. We get there, and there's a GIGANTIC line. The photo below doesn't even show the half of it. There were probably 25 more people between the guy in the red and us, and the line wound itself between all the gas station aisles. We got there around 6:45 or 7 and finally were able to order a little after 8.

But it was worth it. SUCH good bbq. I got a sandwich that had beef brisket, provolone, onion rings, and bbq sauce. It was amazing. They also have really good fries. Yum. Adam had ribs and chicken, and he said they were so good, he didn't even need sauce. We ate so much that I went to bed 3 hours later, still miserably full. While at Oklahoma Joe's, we watched the end of the KU-K-State bball game. It was a great game, but a sad end for the Wildcats. I still love them. Hopefully KU goes on to do great things this season.

After supper, we went back home and tried to watch Duplicity again. This time I paid attention, but I still don't know if I completely understand it. We woke up to cinnamon rolls this morning (yum!) and headed back to Wichita. It was sunny in KC, but once we hit Emporia, it was all cloudy and foggy. Dumb.

I know I'm long-winded, hopefully this didn't bore anyone! :) We look forward to seeing Rach and Matt again next weekend, when they come down here for our little gender reveal get-together. Let's pray for no snow this weekend!

18 Weeks

How far along? 18 weeks
Weight gain: Haven't weighed myself, it's a little too scary
Baby is the size of a(n): Sweet potato
Food cravings/aversions: Cereal in general, those chocolate covered mini Hostess donuts. And my 1st trimester aversion to Dr. Pepper is no longer.
Sleeping: I was woken up in the middle of the night by a kick on Tuesday evening. It was weird and it made me jump! Had a dream about a talking turtle who wore clothes last night...
Milestones: I hadn't felt much movement since that one day I talked about last week. But since Tuesday night, I've been feeling pretty constant fluttering. I had Adam try to feel it tonight, but we couldn't get the little guy (or girl) to kick while his hand was on my belly. I think it's too early to feel from the outside much anyway.
Weird things I read online: Baby will start getting used to familiar sounds like my voice and heartbeat. And in my case, the barking dogs. And the baby is kicking, somersaulting, hiccuping and suck it's thumb in there!
Interesting things that happened this past week/anticdotes: I think the most interesting thing this week is feeling the movement. It still surprises me when it's a sudden, definite poke. I've decided that I look more pregnant when I have clothes on. When I look at my bare belly, it still looks like I could be just a little bloated and pushing it out. But like the photo above with clothes on, I think I look pretty pregnant. Weird. AND I can't believe that at this time next week, we'll know if it's a boy or a girl!!

Keep Your Eye on This One

From 2006-2008, Adam and I were youth group workers at our church. The youth group is called Clayhouse and is an awesome ministry for the kids. Our first year in Clayhouse, we got really close with a lot of the kids. I think it helped that we were close in age - I would've been a senior when they were freshman.

There were a lot of amazing kids who are now doing awesome things with their lives - some are in ministry, some are leading busy lives here in Wichita, and some have moved away to pursue bigger dreams.

One of the latter is a guy by the name of Cameron Ernst. Cameron is an amazingly talented musician. Even as a high schooler, he put together a short album (which we had and I might have memorized almost every word to...). Back then, he played shows at local bookstores and we all knew he was going places.

Cameron lives in California now and is pursuing his music career. He was even in a music video with Sarah Bareilles! I really think he'll be a big name one day. Keep your eye on him!

He sent out a facebook notice to all his fans today and included this link to a video that I think is hilarious. It's a song dedicated to Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift. He has lots of other videos on there, so check them out, he's such a great singer! Here's a link to another favorite - a cover of a Kings of Leon song.

Love Story: Part 4

Over the next few weeks, Adam and I became "official." I don't know that there was ever really a talk (I've recently become familiar with the term DTR - Defining The Relationship), though if there was, it wasn't too important because we just knew. As I told you before, things were different with Adam from the beginning.

I kept having this nagging voice in the back of my head telling me that this was too good to be true, Adam was too good for me. It wouldn't work.

The first time I went to his house, I was in awe. His family lived on a farm in this amazing log cabin home that his dad built, complete with a skywalk across the living room. Adam's basement bedroom was actually two connected rooms, so he basically had his own private living room (and he had an interesting way of decorating it). He had a pool table, two pet doves, a rock-climbing wall in a barn, a silo that you could repel off of, a four-wheeler, two boats, a hot tub, a dog named Leia, and a really sweet green Jimmy with two white racing stripes. He taught me about Star Wars and Froto from Lord of the Rings, he made me watch the movie Tombstone...things I could've cared less about. But when Adam was interested in something, so was I.

Aside from the materialistic, Adam was the most generous, caring, romantic, sweetest, cutest, handsomest, good-looking, God-loving 18-year old I knew.

This was too much for the 16-year-old me. I'd never known anyone like Adam before. I'd never felt like this about anyone before.

That nagging voice kept getting stronger. I just knew that Adam was too good for me, and I started trying to figure out what exactly would be the demise of our relationship. Because I knew there would be one. This was too good to last. Plus, every other relationship I'd had ended in a break-up, so I was sure this one would too. Who finds the love of their life at 16? But I was determined to enjoy it while it lasted. For some reason, he seemed to like me. A lot.

On one of our first dates, we went furniture shopping. I don't really remember what we were thinking. We weren't looking to buy anything (we were teenagers...), but we went to multiple furniture stores in Wichita and walked around, tried out couches, and laughed the whole time. Driving around, I was so impressed by how well Adam knew Wichita. We were both from small towns, and the most exposure I'd had to the big city was when my mom drove me to Towne East mall. We only ever came to Rock Road. That was it. But Adam knew where everything was. I found that extremely attractive. :)

It was at one of these furniture stores, where it finally happened. We'd collapsed on a sofa, one of hundreds that we'd sat on that day, and Adam grabbed my hand. My heart stopped. I hadn't been expecting it like I had the first date night at my house. I was all fluttery. After that, we couldn't stop holding hands. We'd hold hands as we were sitting, standing, talking, not talking, walking, even if one of us was in front of the other and it was super inconvenient, we just couldn't let go. It was wonderful.

Adam took three (long) weeks to kiss me.

I'm glad we took it slow, but man, was I tired of waiting. Apparently, I intimidated him. :)

We'd spent the evening at my house, most likely watching movies or hanging out and talking. I walked him outside to say goodbye. My parents were the loving kind (I can see that now, it just seemed plain inconvenient back then) who enforced curfews on their teenage kids. My curfew on week nights was 10pm. This was a week night. So it was right around 10pm that I walked Adam out. We stood by his car, talking. We hugged. And hugged.

And hugged.

I was standing on his feet facing him because I didn't have any shoes on, and it was early December. My arms were around his neck. Our faces were inches away from each other. And we just talked.

And hugged.

Finally. After 45 minutes. 45 minutes where neither of us were thinking of anything else.

He kissed me.

My heart jumped out of my chest. It just felt right. He could've asked me to marry him right there, and I would've said yes. Holy moly. I finally kissed Adam! Wowowowowow.

Remember how I told you that I wasn't a huge fan of kissing boys? Well, that all went out the window.

I went inside after lots of smiles and more hugging, and my parents were a little peeved that I'd come in 45 minutes after curfew. I didn't care...I was floating. They were both in bed, and I remember talking to them for a couple of minutes before I went to my own room. I thought it was so funny that they had no idea what just happened to me. Because really, what had just happened...had changed my life.

The next kissing story is quite hilarious. Adam probably thinks I'm crazy for telling you all this, but it's good to laugh at yourself, right?

As New Year's Eve came closer, my thoughts of getting to kiss Adam at the stroke of the New Year became more frequent. We still hadn't kissed much more passionately than a goodbye peck, and I was ready for a little more (we'll keep it PG, my mom reads this...so does his).

Here's the kink: I had to have my wisdom teeth taken out on December 27.

You know the swelling that accompanies that surgery? And the not-being-able-to-open-your-mouth? Yeah, so, that wasn't a good thing.

A quick side story: I'd heard a rumor that if you eat pineapple the day before you get your wisdom teeth taken out, you won't have as much swelling. So the night before the surgery, Adam was at my house and we were in the basement, and I was eating pineapple, which I hate. Adam, in one of his sweetest moments, told me (in complete seriousness) that he wished he could eat it for me so I wouldn't have to do something that made me so uncomfortable. It was the most thoughtful thing. AND, when I got home from my surgery the next morning, Adam had come and gone to my house, leaving a teddy bear, a rose, and a card on the pillow of my bed. I just want to hug him right now because of how sweet he was, but he's not home. :)

Back to the story.

I spent the first half of that New Year's Eve with my friends in Newton. I was on edge, waiting for the time I could leave and drive the 20 minutes to Adam's house. I convinced my friend Chelsea to come with me, even though she didn't know Adam very well and hadn't met any of his friends. When we got to Adam's farm, they had a big bonfire going. We stood around it, watching some of the guys with pyromaniac tendencies jump over the fire. Real impressive stuff. Note the sarcasm.

Finally it was nearing midnight.

I didn't want an audience for our sure-to-be-awkward New Year's Eve kiss, so with giggles from the crowd, I drug Adam off behind one of the houses on their farm. We were among the evergreen trees in the moonlight. Distant voices in the background, most likely calling out to us, making fun of us. Gotta love your friends... There was a lot of staring into each other's eyes and nervousness going on. Then we just went for it.

I don't know what he thought, but to me, it was magical.

Mom, stop reading here. :)

I could only open my mouth like half an inch, if that! Stupid wisdom teeth. To this day, I still don't know how that kiss ever worked. But it did. And it was good. Real good.

To be continued...

17 Weeks

How far along? 17 weeks
Weight gain: Approximately 6 or 7 pounds
Baby is the size of a(n): Onion or baked potato
Food cravings/aversions: Still loving the Cocoa Puffs. Also ate a pan of caramel frosted cinnamon rolls almost entirely by myself...
Sleeping: The crazy dreams continue. Started sleeping with my body pillow last night and it's wonderful.
Milestones: I felt the baby moving for the first time yesterday! I'd been having the gas bubble/fluttering feeling throughout the day, but since I was busy at work, I wasn't paying attention. Later on, I put two and two together and then laid down to try to be still and feel it more. I had my hand on my belly and I felt a definite movement from the inside and outside at the same time! Coolest thing ever. I've been feeling the flutterings randomly this morning too.
Weird things I read online: Baby is now over 5 inches long and has fingerprints! Also found this cool website which shows the changes in my body. And there's a link from that page that had a photo of a 3D sonogram of a baby at each week (to the right, called Ultrasound Timeline: Fetal Growth). The 17 week photo baby looks very bony. :)
Interesting things that happened this past week/anticdotes: One of my crazy dreams this week was actually about the baby (they're usually about the most random things). In the dream, I kept having to have surgery on the baby in my tummy because it had extra arms that needed to be removed. But every time they'd put me under and open me up, the baby would be in a bad position or something, so they kept having to stitch me up and cut me open. No fun.

Pretty Boy

The alternate title to this post would've been "I Like Big Butts..." :)

I took the dogs to the studio with me on Monday because I was all alone there. Axl was chewing on a bone and sitting very awkwardly, so I took a photo. Funny boy.

Love Story: Part 3

As a teenager, I was OBSESSED with AOL Instant Messenger. Ask my mom. I think they ended up giving me a time limit of how much I could be on the computer. I couldn't help it...all my friends were always on and we would get in chat rooms and play stupid games, and most importantly, I could flirt with boys without having to do it face to face. :)

Well somehow (most likely I took the reins on this one), Adam and I became Buddies on IM. I'm a fairly outgoing person (Adam would laugh at this...he thinks I talk way too much, especially to people I don't know very well), and so I probably just went for it. Adam's screen name was DdQd. Not sure what that means. I was dutch8984...I used to think I would name my first child Dutch (which is no longer the plan, by the way).

I can't remember if it happened the first time we talked on IM, or if it took a few conversations, but we must credit technology with finally getting us to go on a date.

Adam was typing to me that he was in the process of painting a mural in the cafeteria at his high school. He knew I was an artist, and thought I might be interested in seeing it. So we made plans for me to cook/bring him dinner one evening while he was at the school working on it.

You have to know, we weren't really counting this as a date. It was a friend going to see another friend's art on a fateful Monday evening.

Something I didn't tell Adam til later...I'd had two dates the weekend right before.

They didn't really count. The first was an employee party for Alco, where I worked at the time, and I took a guy who'd used to work there with me and was just a friend. The other date was a play at my high school, and I took another guy who was just a friend, at least on my side.

So Monday night rolled around. I was recovering from my crazy weekend full of dates (just kidding). If you know me at all, you may have not skipped lightly over the previous mention of me cooking him dinner. I don't cook. I made some casserole thing with hamburger in it, I believe. I think I made it up as I went. Poor Adam.

I made the drive out to Adam's school, and it was quite the drive. Probably a good half hour or more from my house. NERVOUS the whole time.

He met me outside and we went into the deserted cafeteria where he showed me what he'd finished so far of the mural. I don't think I was really paying attention. I was alone with ADAM. Wow. He's cute.

We talked and ate and had a good time. We didn't make plans for a date again because after all, this hadn't been a date. We both went home.

It may have been later that same evening, or it may have been a night or two later. We started talking on IM again.

I knew I liked this guy. A lot. I knew I wanted to spend more time with him. I knew he made me feel all fluttery and excited.

So I was bold.

At some point in the conversation, I typed, "So how does a movie, popcorn, and Gina sound for this Friday night?"

I was so dumb.

He said it sounded good.

I worked at Alco from 11am-5pm that Friday, so it musst've been Thanksgiving break from school or something. My whole shift, all I could think about was that I was having a real date with Adam that night. Work went soooo sloooooow.

Adam came over to my house for the movie night. My brother and his girlfriend were there to ease the tension a bit, but I think they made it worse. No offense.

We watched Shrek (my choice) and Planet of the Apes (Adam's choice). And had lots of popcorn.

We sat close on one end of the couch while Michael and his girlfriend were on a different chair. But not crazy close. I couldn't pay much attention to the movies because he was right there.

From that very first date, it was already different than it had been with other guys. I wanted him to hold my hand SO badly. I kept it in the perfect grabbing position all night, and just kept waiting. With other guys, I'd been really afraid of physical affection. Two of my previous boyfriends, I'd broken up with after the first kiss! With Adam though, it was completely different.

He never took my hand.

But the best part of the evening eventually came. At one point, I leaned forward to grab some popcorn and a drink. When I leaned back, his arm was behind me, around me. No mistaking it. I almost died. This meant that he liked me back!

AHHHH!!!!!!!

The movies were over too quickly and it was time for him to go home. We said an awkward goodbye and Michael walked him out.

They were outside awhile. A little too long.

Then they both came back in. Adam's car wouldn't start.

I wonder if he was embarrassed. I didn't care, I thought it was great. My parents offered for Adam to sleepover and get the car going in the morning. He did.

While I was upstairs in my bedroom going over every little detail of the nights events and reading way too much into all our conversations, Adam was just a floor below, dreaming of me too. Hopefully, at least.

That was our first date, November 23, 2001. We've been together ever since and haven't looked back. But the story isn't over. Not by far. :)

To be continued...

More Sono Photos

After the last post, I decided I should show you all our other sonograms too. We had one at 7.5 weeks that I'm not showing because it looked pretty similar to the first one, just a bit bigger.

Here's the one at 8.5 weeks. You can see the little arm and leg nubs that resulted in Adam calling the baby Nubs. This was when Baby was the size of a raspberry.


And this was my last one at 10.5 weeks on December 8. Baby was about the size of a lime. You can see the two arms, and then the little feet are crossed. He/she kept stretching his arms up and jumping up into that empty space above him. Crazy!


Less than two weeks til our next sonogram to find out the sex! And to let you know, we'll be telling family and friends that week, so I won't be able to announce it on here til like the 6th. Sorry, but it'll be worth the wait! :) Unless for some reason they can't tell what it is, which I'm afraid will happen...

Grateful

Side note: Why isn't that word spelled "greatful?" It would make more sense. Right now, it makes me think of grating cheese.

I feel extra thankful today. I know we've been through a lot to get here, but when it comes down to it, all of our fertility issues were relatively easy to take care of, and now we're here, having a baby.

I still can't believe that God has chosen us to be parents, me to be a mom, and that I have a real little life growing inside me.

I just listened to the baby's heartbeat. The fact that it's there, beating strong is a constant reminder of God's grace and faithfulness. I'm so undeserving!

Here's a photo of our very first sonogram, back at 6.5 weeks. What a cute little peanut. My 10 week sonogram showed a much more developed baby with a defined head, arms, legs, feet, and nose! I can't imagine how cute he or she is now! Makes it even harder to wait until Feb. 2!

This is the only sono that I scanned into the computer, that's why it's the one I'm showing you. :) If you're sonogram illiterate, the baby is the white peanut inside the black bean.

Love Story: Part 2

There's a new feature on my blog to the right. ------------------------>
I'll be labeling my posts from now on so, for example, if you want to read all about our love story, just click on the love story category. :)

I saw a lot of Adam over the next couple years. He was at our house fairly often, hanging out with Michael. They spent most of their time outside or in the basement, and my bedroom happened to be on the main floor, so sadly, I didn't have many excuses to interrupt.

There was one unfortunate dinner at our house that Adam was invited to. I honestly don't know what I was thinking. In my defense, I was young. The reason this dinner was so unfortunate was because of what I decided to wear.

Picture this:

blue mesh gym shorts (ehh...okay so far...),

a "wife-beater" tanktop (umm, Gina?), adorned with puff paint (you're kidding right?) over a sports bra (red, I believe),

and to top it all off...a stocking hat.

Are we still friends? :/

Adam and I have since discussed this outfit. He thought I was weird, but maybe interesting, so I guess it wasn't a complete failure, though I'm a little mortified just thinking about it.

Fast forward. It's July 2001 and I'm 16. My crush on Adam hasn't diminished and, by some crazy stroke of luck, my brother invited me to go to Wichita with him and Adam to see a movie. An uncharacteristically cool move on Michael's part (in his defense, he's now much cooler than he was back then). :)

I don't remember what the movie was, but afterwards, we went to eat at Jimmy's Diner. Jimmy's would later be the restaurant we celebrated our engagement at with friends, just minutes after I said "Yes!"

I think Michael was aware of my crush. He must've been. He made Adam and I sit on the same side of the booth.

Oh mylanta.

I could've melted.

You know when your face is all hot and your neck is tingly and you don't know what to do with your hands? I was a big heaping mess of that business.

This was it! I just knew it. After sitting in the same side of the booth at Jimmy's Diner, Adam was sure to fall in love with me and we'd live happily ever after.

Or not. Nothing remotely romantic or flirtatious happened and I rode in the backseat of the car by myself on the way home.

To be continued...

Mornings Are So Hard

At first glance, this photo reveals nothing but a messy bed that was just exited by two people, ready to start their day.

But this photo holds more than meets the eye.

I'll give you a hint.

As is typical at the Dreher house, two of our more canine members were having a rough time starting their day before 9 am.

Look closer...do you see the dog-shaped lumps?


To the untrained eye, our bed was unoccupied. But after living with these two for several years, we have come to know their tendencies...which means we can never flop out our full weight on our bed without possibly crushing a poor unassuming little doggie.

I decided to disturb their beauty sleep, if only for a second to show how cute they are all cuddled under the covers. I first uncovered Diesel. He gave me a look of loathing, but didn't lift his head...and then went back to sleep.

I covered Diesel back up and went to unearth the big guy. As soon as he felt fresh air on his face, he was all "Who!? What?! Where?! Squirrel?!" But his true colors came out when he didn't get up.

For it wasn't 9 am yet.

Love Story: The Beginning

I think I was 14 the first time I met Adam. It was so long ago and I was so young that it's a dim memory.

My brother Michael is two and a half years older than I am. So basically, that equated to me having crushes on ALL his friends. He would bring home friends from school or church, and more often than not, I, being a boy crazy teenager, would melt at their cuteness. I was probably that annoying little sister that always was trying to get in on whatever my brother and his friends were doing.

Michael became friends with this guy named Adam. They met at church through mutual friends. We heard a lot about Adam before we ever met him. I was finally to the point in my life where I realized that my millions of crushes were juvenile and I needed to stop falling in lust with every new boy I met. So I decided, after hearing all about Adam from Michael, that when Adam came to our house, I would NOT start liking him. I was 14, after all, and with my new-found maturity, I was sure I'd be able to control the inevitable crushing.

Michael played in a summer soccer league, and Adam was on his team. So I went with my parents to watch Michael play at one of his games. That's where we finally met the infamous Adam.

I got to the field, and across the way, Michael was stretching with his new teammates. Their team wore gray. There was this REALLY cute boy among the team that I was trying to avoid staring at.

"Hey, guys," said Michael.

Gesturing to the cute guy I'd just noticed, he says, "This is Adam!"

CRAP!!!!!!!!!

To be continued...

Inspiration: Love Story

Today, I was inspired by Pioneer Woman. I just started reading her blog yesterday, and I've spent a couple hours today reading about her love story with her husband.

I thought...wouldn't it be fun to recount my and Adam's love story?

YES!

And I like her installment style, so I'm just going to write part of it in each entry to keep you coming back for more.

Let's get started. :)

16 Weeks

For everyone who's been telling me I don't have a bump...I think you can finally see that I, in fact, DO! We took this photo yesterday, so technically it was 15 weeks 6 days, but the shirt I was wearing made the bump very obvious, so we took the photo a day early.

Michele gave me the great idea of answering the same questions on my blog every week about things with the pregnancy, since I'm sure I'll forget all these little cravings and feelings. If I think of more questions, I'll add to it every so often and feel free to give me question suggestions. Here goes with the first one. Thanks for the idea, Michele!

How far along? 16 weeks
Weight gain: Approximately 5 pounds
Baby is the size of a(n): Avocado
Food cravings/aversions: This week I craved french onion dip and chips as well as Cocoa Puffs. I'm eating super healthfully, as you can see. :)
Sleeping: Has been okay, I'm still able to kinda sleep on my stomach. But I've been having crazy vivid dreams. And I probably have like 6 of them every night!
Milestones: Started wearing maternity clothes this past week, and I'm thinking my bump will be more obvious this week!
Weird things I read online: The baby is now urinating (inside me, weird!), and his/her heart pumps 25 quarts of blood a day! Also, the baby should be able to hear my voice this week because the bones in his/her ears have developed. So fun!
Interesting things that happened this past week/anticdotes: While I'm feeling much more like my old self than I have since early November, I had a random bout of sickness Saturday and threw up a ton. Gross. The feeling normal thing has me more concerned, so I've been checking baby's heartbeat more often. :)

And for all you fellow Twilight fans out there, I really want one of these maternity tees! Adam, pleeeeeeease???

Our Morning Adventure

We've already had an adventure, and it's not even 7:45 in the morning. I'm not usually out of bed by this time!

It all started about 15 minutes ago. Axl was whining to go potty, so I got out of bed to let them both outside. I was in the kitchen grabbing a drink, and all of a sudden, both dogs are barking as if their life depended on it. I'm not fully dressed, so I open the door and yell from the dining room for them to come inside. They completely ignore me and continue the LOUD barking.

I go grab pants and shoes and go outside to find them at the back of the yard, barking at something that looked like a piece of trash caught in our fence. I yell and threaten and get them to come inside. But I wanted to figure out what it was they were barking at, so I after they were in, I went to do a little investigating.

It was an UGLY possum! Hanging upside down on our fence, unmoving, or I guess playing dead since that's what they do. Gross! I didn't get very close.

Since it still hadn't moved, I went inside with the dogs and I watched what it would do through a window.


They were both very concerned and continued barking. I didn't feel as bad about waking the neighbors since we were inside now.


The possum eventually started moving, untangled itself from the upside down position, and started walking along the fence. I decided I needed to get a picture of the crazy thing. But I didn't want to get too close in case it had rabies or something. Once I got out there with my camera, it froze and stared directly at me. Creepy! Can you see it?

Overwhelmed

The Baby Bargains book, the internet, other young moms...

I am suffering from mom-to-be information overload.

And I haven't even stepped foot into Babies R Us yet. That day will most likely end in tears.

It just seems like there's so much to know that I've never even thought about: how many diapers I'll use in a week, how many outfits to have before baby arrives, different towels for baby than what Adam and I use, blankets, bedding, nursery decor, lotions, nursing bras....AHHH!

For those of you who know me well, I've already told you this. But I'm going to put it out there on my blog to keep myself accountable.

I'M NOT BUYING INTO IT.

I'm going to be a simplistic mom. I keep thinking back to 50 years ago when there were no such things as diaper genies or crib bumpers. Babies obviously survived. I don't want to get sucked into the mindset that I need every new gadget, device, or time-saving thing out there.

I want my baby to be happy, healthy, and safe. Bottom line.

So we will get/do what we need to in order to make that happen.

The only exception may have to be the nursery. I have so many cute ideas for decorating it. But even there, I will try to do inexpensive do-it-yourself things to make it fun.

Just my thought for the day. If your philosophy is the opposite, well, have fun with that. :)

February 2

I can't wait for it to be here! I just want to know the gender of our baby SO BADLY. How do people do this? It's life changing...we could be in for years of Saturday morning soccer practice or doomed to buying dolls every Christmas for the next 7 years. AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

:)

Christmas Eve!

I finally got the Christmas Eve photos from Adam. And apparently we didn't take any on Christmas, so this will be my final post about the holidays. :)

Our tradition with my family is to spend Christmas Eve together. So after the awesome service at our church, Adam and I headed through the swirling snow to Newton. We ended up staying the night. We always make lots of fun appetizer food. This year we had 7-layer bean dip (a classic), hot wings, cheese and bacon pinwheels, tortilla pizzas, and chocolate cake. There was more, but my brain is going... After the food, we opened gifts. That's where the photos begin.

Here's the pile of unopened gifts.

This was the joke of the night. I saw this laying in the middle of the living room floor and freaked out. Apparently, it used to be in the shape of a bone, but one of their dogs had chewed off one end to make it into this obscene shape. Lol. :)

Annie waiting to play with said toy.

My parents got us pots and pans! We were in dire need. We've had the same flaking Teflon coated pans since we were married and they were cheap and horrible. My parents were really concerned about the baby getting Teflon poisoning. I mentioned on Thanksgiving that we were going to go look at pots and pans on Black Friday, and my dad was like, "Why don't you not do that." So though I knew what we were getting, it was still really exciting. And I've used them a lot!

Michael and Sara with M's pocket knives. They had a heck of a time driving here from Fort Collins, CO in the ice. Sara has a picture of a perfect ice block imprint of their license plate that formed as they were driving. Crazy.

Mom and Dad.

They might get mad at me for posting this, but it shows how my dad really is, so...

Gifts from Michael and Sara. Sara was dismayed to tell us that Michael accidentally "decorated" the envelopes while eating taco soup.

M wearing the purse I got Sara. He kinda looks like the pope.

Because he's always out in the freaking shop...

Though it's lacking, this is the only photo of Adam and I together, so I'm posting it. :)

The end.

15 Weeks

We hit the 15 week mark yesterday. It was also the last day for regular pants. I officially started wearing maternity pants today. They're very roomy, but that's much more comfortable than too tight. Adam thought the maternity jeans were pretty hilarious this morning. Whatever. Nice chub.

Small Group Christmas

In an effort to chip away at finally posting some photos from Christmas (and to avoid going out in the cold as long as possible...), here are a few from our small group Christmas celebration. Every year, we get together and eat, talk, and do a white elephant gift exchange. There have been a few outrageous gifts, but in efforts to keep this PG, I only took photos of the more...appropriate...ones. :) We also played an interesting game of Would You Rather, which involved questions like which crevices you'd want walnuts stuck in. Seriously? Yes.

Reid was walking around begging for food by using his new trick - he learned how to sign "more." It's the cutest thing EVER. He was also playing drums on that canister of oatmeal in the background.

Tiffany and Melinda.

I got this super cool yard ornament Santa that was inflatable, but I never could get it to inflate.

Risa with her cute brown hair.

Ryan and Adam during the game.

Floppy disks! And firecrackers!

Audra got some baseball figurine. Awesome.

I still have lots more Christmas pictures, but as I told you earlier, they're all on Adam's camera. Adam, if you're reading this, I need them! Thanks, bye.

Now I have to go to work in the cold...

Today's News

-Ed was released from the hospital about an hour or so ago! The hole in his heart hasn't gotten any bigger, so they're just going to be monitoring it to make sure it stays that way. He's really weak right now, which is to be expected, but is hard for him to deal with. We are praying now that he will be able to get into a normal daily routine that isn't too stressful and won't further hurt his heart.

-Adam's SICK! I feel so bad for him, he had me really scared last night. I believe it's the stomach flu, and we've tried just about every medicine out there. He just tried to eat a little, which is good, so hopefully he can keep it down. This was supposed to be his first day back at school with students, so I'm sure he's disappointed to not be able to go to work. We'll see how he feels tomorrow. I took another day off to stay home with him and to try to get a little extra sleep, since last night wasn't too restful for either of us.

-The BIG news. This morning at my doctor's appointment, I scheduled our BIG ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby. The BIG date is February 2! Less than a month. I can't wait! Then we can really start discussing names and colors for the nursery. AND shopping for the baby. Woohoo! I think I've decided to keep the name a secret until the baby's birth. So you'll have to be patient for that one. :)

Thoughts for the Day

*Ed is still doing better. He was moved from his room on the Coronary Care Unit to a regular room. And I was mistaken in my last post - the x-ray today was of his lungs, and it showed that there's fluid there, I'm not real sure what that means. But the sonogram of his heart will be Monday, so we'll know more then.

*The McClenahans had their baby today! A little boy. I'm so happy for them, words can't express. I can't imagine how excited they are, while sad that Cora isn't there to be a part of it all. Praying for them.

*I just finished reading the Twilight series for the second time. So good. SO good. I'm a sucker for a happy ending. I think I'm still going to maintain that Harry Potter is my favorite between the two, but that doesn't diminish my love for Edward at all. Next up: Lord of the Rings.

*My mom, brother and his wife, and I went roller-skating today at the Starlite Skating rink in Newton. How long has it been since I've been there? Probably 10 years or more. Hasn't changed a bit. It was weird. But fun. I'm HORRIBLE at roller skating. Luckily, I didn't fall. I tried to keep it slow for the baby's sake. I also popped a huge blister on my toe tonight. Gross. Afterwards, I went to have a supper of fajitas and blueberry cheesecake at my parents' house. Michael and Sara are headed back to Colorado Monday, so that was our goodbye.

*It's snowing! I only realized this because Axl came in from pottying and his black fur was all sparkly and wet.

*Adam has taken to calling Axl, Diesel, and me "the Team." As in "What's in store for the Team today?" or "The Team is assembled." Because every time Adam comes to find me in a room, the dogs are just inches away. I've heard of dogs becoming clingier when their mama is pregnant, and I don't know if I'm imagining it or if they've always been this way. It's so funny.

*My belly is growing daily. :) I might not smile about this for long...

*And since I haven't posted many pictures lately, here are a few. The first is Michael and Sara working on the 2000 piece puzzle I got my mom for Christmas. It's HUGE! They finished it though!

*And lastly. On Christmas Eve, Adam and I spent the night at my parent's house in Newton because the weather was so bad. They set up an air mattress for us in the living room since the guest room was in use. I got in bed while we were still all up and watching TV. Their dogs, Rory and Annie decided to schnuggle with me.

Better Day

Ed had a better day today. It was a good start to the year.

He definitely looked better when we went to the hospital this evening, and said he'd been able to get out of bed a couple times today. His blood pressure was on the rise, which is good because it'd been really really low last night.

He said the doctors told him that the first five days were the most critical, and the fact that he was doing better and the hole hadn't gotten bigger was a good thing. He seemed very optimistic that he'll be able to go home in the next few days.

They're doing another x-ray of his heart tomorrow to check on the size of the hole. I think that'll be a big determining factor of if he's able to go home soon.

Praise the Lord!