Moving Right Along

I had another doctor's appointment yesterday - everything is still right on track and progressing well. I heard the baby's heartbeat again, although this time the little one was moving around so much, the doctor had to keep hunting for the heartbeat. It's amazing to me that the baby is moving around that much and I can't feel it yet!

Our next appointment is November 6th, and we have an ultrasound scheduled for that day in order to find out if we're having a boy or a girl!

Thank you for your prayers for us - we are so thankful that the Lord has given us a healthy pregnancy so far.

Congratulations, Hills!

Congratulations to our friends Chris and Lauren, who just welcomed baby Austin Christopher into the world last week! We can't wait to meet him...

We're expecting!

You thought I'd given up on the blog, didn't you?!

Far from it - over the next 6 months we will have even more to keep you up to date on! Rob and I are expecting a baby on (or around) March 24th, and we found out we were pregnant the morning of my birthday - July 18th. While our summer has been fun but relatively quiet, I just couldn't bring myself to post 'updates' without sharing our biggest news... and we weren't quite ready to do that until lately. So I avoided blogging altogether!

I shared the news with Rob over my birthday dinner out, and it was quite a surprise. I asked the waitress to put pacifiers (which I had dropped off earlier in the day) on the appetizer plate before she brought it out to us, and it turned out very cute...

After Rob figured out what I was trying to tell him, the waitress brought him a little gift from me to celebrate the news!
I've been feeling pretty good overall - and now I'm in my 2nd trimester, so I have my energy and appetite back for the most part. August and early September saw their fair share of queasiness and I could often be found on our couch in my sweatpants, napping. On September 1st we heard the baby's heartbeat, which was so amazing and exciting. We plan to find out whether we're having a boy or girl, and should know by Thanksgiving if not before. What do you think it's going to be!?

We went to New Jersey to see Rob's family and share the news in person (although at the moment I'm afraid I've lost those digital files... they're on a CD somewhere in the house!). I'll post pictures when I find them. Rob's parents also came to visit us over Labor Day Weekend, to see our new house and help us with a few lingering house projects for which we are so grateful.

We spent one last weekend at the Lake House with my family recently, and again - no pictures to post (sorry). I am either getting lazy with the camera, or I am not as excited anymore about seeing pictures of myself and my growing waistline!

More to come...

At the Lake House with Brad and Christine (July 13-15)

We had another fun weekend at the Lake House 2 weekends ago, this time with Brad and Christine! Our first mini-vacation with them as newly-weds. Here are some pictures from the weekend...

Kelsey had every piece of 'gear' on that we had in the boat before she went skiing!

"Full body wetsuit?"... "CHECK!"

"Wetsuit jacket?"... "CHECK!"

"Gloves?"... "CHECK!"

"Life vest?"... "CHECK!"

"Sunglasses?"... "CHECK! - I mean, shoot, thanks for warning me." - Every time.

We love you kels!

We always leave our flip flops on the pier when we're out on the boat, but today was a very windy day! When we got back from skiing, Mom and Christine's flip flops had been blown off the pier, and we walked down the shore and found them caught in a nasty mess of seaweed, foam and sludge. Brad proved his love for his new bride by trudging into the slime and retrieving her flip flops for her.

Jack loves to swing!

I stopped by Kris' house yesterday after work, and it was a perfect day to take her precious Jack (almost 5 months) to the park. So we settled him into the little baby swing (which is still big on him!) and since I had my camera with me, I took some pictures. If you know Jack, you know that he can be somewhat selective in showing his adorable smile... so these pictures are proof that he LOVES to swing!

This is my favorite picture of him! He is such a handsome little guy.

The head starts to get heavy after a while!...

Check out that drool!

You can't tell from these pictures, but Jack had on his "Swingin single and lovin it!" onesie - and the little girl in the background was fascinated by Jack. I think that onesie is a babe magnet.

Oh, and that little girl happens to be Emma Jack, who is Andy and Kathy Jack's daughter! (Andy used to be Kelsey's Youth Director. Wheaton is such a small world!)

Thanks for a fun day at the park, Jack!!

July 6th - 8th: Lake House Weekend

We spent last weekend at the Lake House with the Larsons and Bellitos, Mom, Dad and Kelsey. We had beautiful weather the entire time, and had so much fun out on the boat.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of our evening playing Cranium - of Matt trying to hum "Love Shack", of Jeff firing the Love Bazooka, of Rob spelling Mississippi, of the girls winning... But here's what I did catch:

A view of the house from the lake.

Getting started...

Rob slaloming like a pro.

Matt tearing up the wake (definitely the most entertaining skier!)

Becky's tattoo, which was beautiful.

Jeff coming in from a great run... on Dad's ski!

He even remembered to tuck his head when he fell.

Kelsey loved hanging out with the girls, and we loved having her there.

Becki's surprising stunt - over the wake and back for the first time, and she stayed up like a champ!

Becki and Matt Bellito

Becky and Jeff Larson

Dad and Rob enjoying the show that either Matt or Jeff are probably putting on at the moment...

The girls (Me and "the Beckies")

Becki and Matt

Unfortunately we had a freak accident during the weekend... When many people slalom, they start out getting up on 2 skis and then they drop one. The risk you run is that when you drop that 2nd ski, you have to leave it floating out in the lake until the skier is done slaloming. When we went back to pick up the ski Rob kicked, this is how we found it. A boat had obviously driven right over it - and probably did a number on their prop too.

The upside: we have 1/2 a ski boot to make a new family trophy out of!

Rob and I with the casualty.

Favorite group picture! (Jeff, Becky, Rob, Me, Matt and Becki - just before we left to go home)

Thanks for the great weekend guys! It was special for so many reasons (...you know why!)

We love you.

4th of July

Rob and I attended the Wheaton Parade (all 2 hours of it!) like good Wheaton citizens. We met up with Cheryl and her brother Steve's family on Main Street (see below).

Noah, Kim, Taite and Steve

Carlson's Float - Cicadas - was very creative...

Taite and Noah had a great time - they really got into collecting the candy people were throwing from the floats, and the fly swatters provided endless entertainment. Parades are always more fun with kids around!