Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

My niece Claire Warner, 10 months

Jackson's Room

Well, I can't believe that Sunday is Christmas already! I honestly don't know how it is possible! Just wanted to share with you a couple pictures of Jackson's room, so you could get a sneak peek! We still need to do some more decorating, but at least the paint is up and the crib/changing table are in place. David did an awesome job and it turned out looking cuter than I imagined. Hope you have a VERY Merry Christmas! Have a safe holiday!

32 Weeks . . .

Less than 8 weeks to go! David took this picture of me on Sunday (12/4) at 32 week marker. Well, we survived the Dinner Theater once again. It is always such a blessing getting to meet and interact with people in the church that you might not have ever met any other way. However, we are always glad for it to be over so our life can slow down a bit!
David is feverishly working on Jackson's room this week and hope to have the crib and changing table assembled and in the room by tonight. We have two infant care preparation classes this week, so that should be interesting! Guess we should learn what we're going to do with him once we get him home from the hospital right? HA : )

New Pictures . . .

Me at 29 Weeks
Taken November 13th at Lincoln Park

A lady from our church took these pictures on November 13th at Lincoln Park in Springfield. I was really excited about how they turned out. She takes the pictures, touches them up and then burns them to a CD. It will be hard to decide which ones I want to have printed.

Not much new with us . . . just dinner theater mania! We have a little break for Thanksgiving and then a week of dress rehearsal and performances. So the end is in sight! Well, hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

28 Weeks . . .

Picture taken November 6th. It is just crazy to think that in less than 3 months we will be bringing home a little living, breathing human being. And that he will be soley our responsibility! Talk about the reality starting to set in : ) I have a giant list of everything I want to get done before he arrives . . . we'll see if that happens! We have been working on Jackson's room and going to Dinner Theater rehearsals. That is pretty much our life for the next few weeks. When we get his room "finished" I'll post a picture . . . take care!

Can I have this one?

Claire Warner--8 Months
At Black Bart's Pumpkin Patch

24 Weeks . . .

Here is the new picture I promised! David took this picture of me on Sunday (10/9). It is amazing what 4 weeks can do . . . .

We are finally back in our bedroom (HOORAY!) and are nearly finished remodeling the master bathroom. Only one more room in our house has wallpaper and that will be the next project . . . the front bathroom. Of course, along with the nursery, which only needs some paint. We have a crib/changing table combo unit coming the first part of November, so hopefully we can get the room painted and the carpets cleaned before it arrives.

David & I registered of the weekend, which was a very fun experience! It is amazing all the things these little guys need (or at least we think they need).

And in other news . . . I have been summoned for jury duty the last week in October. . . . I honestly hope they don't need me. But in the event that I do actually get called onto a jury, I will have some interesting stories to tell!

Growing Belly . . . . 20 weeks

David took this picture of me last Sunday at my 20 week marker in front of our fireplace. Just past half way now : ) I started wearing maternity clothes this past Wednesday. I was slowly weeding out my closet of all the things I couldn't comfortably fit into anymore and when there were only a couple shirts and two pairs of pants, I decided it was time to pull out the maternity clothes.

It's a BOY!

We had our sonogram this afternoon and yes, it is a boy! And we already have a name picked out . . . Jackson Isaiah. So once we get our room put back together we can start working on the nursery! I want to do something neutral as far as bedding and paint because hopefully someday there will be a girl : ) But I'm sure we will be getting lots of baseball and football decorations too . . . . the doctor said he is already about 15 oz. and has long legs and a good size foot! So he maybe a big boy : )

A Few More Pictures

The Money Pit

Check out our bedroom . . . at 3 am on August 16th 1/2 of our bedroom ceiling decided to give way! I can't believe how messy drywall and insulation can be! We have new drywall up, but it is not textured yet. And we haven't finished cleaning up all the dust and insulation yet. I am just so thankful that we didn't get hurt and that we hadn't had the baby yet! Can you imagine! So now I'm paranoid that other rooms in our house are going to cave in . . . can anyone say "Money Pit". : )

Growing Family . . .

As soon as we got back from CO on Sunday (12:30 PM), we headed to the hospital to see our newest nephew . . . isn't he cute?

Nathanael Tate Ritchie . . . born on Sunday, August 7th at 2:42 am. 7 lbs. 6.5 oz and 21 inches.

It was great getting to see all of David's family in CO as well. We got to see our new niece, Anwen Mae born on July 8th. As well as the other kids, Ciara 5, Aidan 3, and Riana 15 months. It was pretty much a zoo : )

Going West . . .

David & I are leaving on Sunday for Colorado. We are going out there this year to see his family, especially our new little niece (born July 8th) and all her siblings! I am looking forward to going to CO at a different time of the year than normal. Usually we only go at Christmas, so we aren't able to do some of the hiking, etc. that we enjoy. We decided a while back to check into going out there and to take the train. I'm not sure how that will go considering my current battle with queasiness, but this is the last week of my first trimester. So hopefully we will be fine. . . we'll find out : )

No new baby news to report. I go to the doctor again the Wednesday after we get back. I am hoping while I am there that they will schedule my sonagram. . . we are planning to find out! Of course if he/she cooperates : ) So hopefully by the end of August/first part of September I will have lots of fun things to share!

David is gone to camp this week . . . Illiana (or however you spell that). Matt Willis is one of the deans and David is doing music. . . and all for over 200 junior highers! I don't know who I should be more worried about rubbing off on each other : ) He gets home tomorrow, which will be wonderful! I don't really like being home all by myself.

Well I better be going . . . . take care!

Heartbeat . . .

Today at my doctor's appointment (David came with), we were able to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time. It was so exciting! I don't know, it just makes the whole thing so much more real . . . like, this is actually happening! There is actually a little human being growing inside of me! The whole concept just boggles my mind really . . . how God made our bodies to work and grow.

I get these emails each week from BabyCenter.com. You put in your due date and it generates this email telling you what kinds of things are happening inside of you each week and what kind of new things to expect. It always has a little drawing or illustration that shows what they think the baby looks like at the point in development. It is actually really interesting and helps you stay in tune with what is happening inside of you that you can't even see.

But the whole things just felt so much more real to actually know the baby's heart is beating and that he/she is doing well. I don't know there is just something so real, calming, exciting and somewhat overwhelming about it all! Though you can't tell I'm pregnant from looking, after today's visit I feel even more assured of everything even thought it was the second appointment!

Thank you God . . . we feel so blessed!

Baby News

So if you haven't already heard . . . . we're having a baby! We are due February 1st and are about 10 weeks along right now.

I have been feeling pretty good, a little queasy, but nothing too bad. Of course I do have terrible mood swings that David is learning to cope with. . . . one minute I'm biting his head off and the next I'm crying about something stupid! Oh the joys of hormones : )

Well I guess that is all the news to share right now. We go back to the dr. on Wednesday to hear the baby's heartbeat, which we are very excited about! David is going to go with me to that appointment!

I'll keep you updated.

We're Moved!

We got all closed and everything moved over to the new house. We left most things in the garage until we finish removing wallpaper and painting. So it has been a little challenging trying to locate things : ) We just feel so blessed to have this house . . . it is overwhelming! I'll have to try to figure out how to post pictures someday : )

Almost There!

We have been in a fury trying to get our house up to code and we still have more to do! The lady that is buying our house had to have a home inspection in order for her financing to go through. Well, she asked a friend from the church who she should have do it . . . and he said Amerispec! Come to find out they are the MOST picky home inspection company that exists in the whole world! So to say the last 2-3 weeks has been awful would be an understatement! We had like 10 things on the list that had to be repaired . . . and we're not talking little things either. An electrician had to come look at our electrical box and he said the entire panel had to be replaced . . . yes that would be $900. We had to reglase our windows (a process that I had never heard of until then). David had to dig a whole in our crawl space while on his hands and knees so there would be a sufficient ditch for it to drain. Etc, etc, etc. . . . you get the picture! Anyway, he came back today to reinspect after all of this work had been completed and he still didn't clear us! So we have MORE work to do . . . at least it is almost over! We close this week no matter what, but it sure would be nice to not have to come back to this house to finish these ridiculous projects! Hopefully we can get something worked out with the Rural Housing board. We need lots of prayers : )

Thanks for letting me vent . . . . that felt good!

Living in Camelot. . .

So we really have a house!!! YEAH!!!!!! We are so excited to announce that we will live (as of June 23rd) at 31 Galahad Drive. I know it sounds funny to say that we will live in Camelot, but that is the name of the subdivision. The streets are Arthur, Merlin, Guineverre. . . . you get the picture! I have only packed a few boxes, so I better get busy!

David & I will celebrate our 4th anniversary on Thursday! Can you believe it? It really does not seem like we have been married that long. It's crazy!

It has been a wierd weekend . . . . getting to see good friends that are moving far away, buying a new house . . . . all these life changes. I still don't feel like I should be the grown up sometimes : )

House Hunting . . . .

Well, David & I sold our house! It will be two weeks on Monday and we are VERY excited! We plan to stay in Rochester, but move to something with a little more space. All of our stuff is crammed into our tiny little house and we are so anxious to let it all spread out a bit. In fact, we had our eye on one in particular, but it was a little out of our price range and they weren't willing to go down. We were still holding on to hope until Wednesday when our realtor told us it finally sold : ( So sad . . . .
We looked a a couple other houses last week, but didn't really get a good feeling about any of them. . . . plus they weren't as spacious as were were hoping for. However, David jokingly made a comment to a friend of ours that we would love to buy their house. We didn't really think they would be interested . . . . but I think they are getting that way! So we went over and looked at it last night and plan to go back on Saturday evening just to be sure. But we are definitely planning on making them an offer!
It is in the "Camelot" subdivision, right next to the Jr High/High School in Rochester on Rt 29. It has all the things we were really hoping for . . . . so we are VERY excited. Our summer will be filled with painting . . . . and wallpaper removal : ) Fun, Fun!

I'M BACK!!

So now that the 15th has come and gone I have no excuses for being a blog slacker!

News to report . . . David is graduating from LCS on the 14th. I have started planning an open house for him at the church. My niece Claire is growing like a weed. I had a chance to see her on Tuesday (19th) and her cheeks are so chubby : ) And we will be having two more additions this year . . . David's sister is due in August (another boy) and David's brother's wife is due in July (yes, this would be number 4). We are going to head out to CO in August for vacation so we can see all of their kids, especially the new baby : )

We spent a long weekend in Chicago, which was absolutely wonderful!! We got tickets to Les Miserables on Saturday night, spent time shopping and took a jet boat ride from Navy Pier. It felt so good to just get away and relax!

Well that's all the excitement I have to report for know . . .

Happy Groundhog Day!

So the crazy groundhog saw his shadow. . . 6 more weeks of winter! I understand it's just some tradition we made up, but seriously how accurate can this little guy be? You should have seen all the freezing enthusiasts who gathered to watch little Phil!

Well, 6 more weeks of winter or not. . . the next 10 or so weeks of my life is pretty planned out! I guess it's ok if its winter for most of that since I will pretty much be here in my lovely office building : ) Yes, "Busy Season" is upon us once again . . . and oh how I grow eager for yet another tax season (this is my 3rd and hopefully last). I do love the paycheck though and that must be what keeps me coming back for more!

I am here also to confess that I will continue to be a deliquent blogger for the next few months! Of course it's not exactly like I have been very good at posting up to this point, but I just want to warn you that this post will remain for quite some time!

Take care and Happy Groundhog Day!