24 Weeks and Spoiled Already

This past week we celebrated Christmas with Chris' parents on Thursday and My parents and the Knepper family on Friday. We had a great time on Thursday cooking dinner, watching movies and opening presents for Baby Vest. Friday morning we got up early to drive to Dyersville and battled horrible roads until we got almost to Waterloo before they got better. Once we got to Dyersville, we helped Mom and Dad set up their new t.v. then went up to New Vienna to Jeff and Diane's house. After a delicious lunch of turkey and dressing sandwiches and soup, and catching up with family, we had our baby shower. We were blessed with many gifts for which we are very thankful!

Saturday morning, we went to the Racing Champions outlet. Chris found himself a couple of model race cars and we were able to pick up some more First Years goodies for the baby. Thank you very much to uncle Don who met us at the store and let us use his wonderful discount!

We decided to take I-80 home since it was supposed to be clearer for driving than I-35. Since the weather was good, we stopped in Williamsburg at the Outlet mall, where we found some more good deals on clothes for the baby.

We hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas as much as we did!

23 Weeks

Yesterday we had our ultrasound. It was fun to see the baby moving around. It yawned and even shifted the gears in its make believe car (or punched the air, but Chris swears it was shifting.) After asking them about every horrible situation possible, the doctor said that everything looked good and that there were no visible complications. We can't wait to see little CoopAddy in a couple months! Enjoy the pictures below! (If you click on them they will show up bigger in another window.) Click on the comment button below and tell us whether you think it will be a boy or a girl!

A Snow Storm at 22 weeks

On December 8th and 9th Iowa experienced a massive snowstorm or blizzard. The Des Moines metro area received over 14 inches of snow in less than a 24 hour period. It was crazy to say the least. They shut down Goodrich (where Chris works) and they suggested that we didn't travel in to work (although I had to use a vacation day) as well. Chris and I spent the day being very productive (trying to make progress in the new Super Mario Wii game). We eventually tried traveling out around 4:30 in the afternoon only to find that a few of the roads by our house were closed due to drifts, but we did make it to Sonic for my slushie craving :) We enjoyed our vacation day and look forward to next week which starts our 7 (for Chris) and 8 (for Lora) days off work. Below are a few pictures of the storm and a 22 week belly picture.
View from my office. They ghosted building in the background is only about 2 blocks away. Taken about 4:00 p.m.

This is what our drive looked like on our way home, about 5:00 p.m.

Chris standing in the snow drift that completely blocked the front door.

The front door drift from the side in day light.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

This Thanksgiving, we made the trek to Uvalde, Texas for my cousin Merrill's wedding. We left Thursday morning at 6 a.m. and landed in San Antonio at 11. We then got in a rental car and started the drive towards Uvalde. We stopped in a little town at a restaurant called Sammie's and had "Thanksgiving Dinner" Mom, Dad and I had the traditional turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, etc. while Chris celebrated with a bacon cheeseburger. After lunch we finished our 2 hour drive to Uvalde and took a nap before going to see family and friends.

Friday, we helped decorate the hall where the reception was held. We also went to a small Mexican restaurant for lunch. It was a neat experience! Later in the day, Joe and Kendra arrived and that night, we went to Concan for the rehearsal dinner.

We started Saturday by going to HEB (the Texas Hy-vee) to stock up on all kinds of South West Texas goodies. The ladies then went to the Bride's luncheon while the guys went to the Groom's luncheon. It was a good time! The wedding took place at 4:00 and it was beautiful. The reception was also beautiful, it's amazing how fast you can transform an empty morton building into a beautiful reception hall! Dinner was delicious, I don't think I've ever had fajitas that amazing!

On Sunday morning we had breakfast with Joe and Kendra, and started our long trek home.

All in all, it was a beautiful weekend full of family and friends. I think Chris had a great time, and fell in love with South West Texas.

This morning Chris had to get back on a plane (about 12 hours after he got off the plane), to go to Jacksonville, Florida for work. I'm sure he will be completely worn out by the time he gets home on Wednesday! The girls and I wish he was able to spend more time at home before having to leave.

Week 17

I meant to upload the blog last weekend, but it was a busy weekend. Mom and Dad had last Friday the 6th off due to conferences and ultimately the Toy Show, so they came down to visit. Friday, Mom and I did a little bit of shopping for clothes for Dad, maternity clothes for me and shoes for Mom.

On Saturday, Mom and I along with Chris' mom Marcia, went to the Ankeny craft shows (at the grade school and high school, we didn't make it to the middle school) we also went to Treasure House in Ankeny, where Mom bought a present for the baby. Its first tackle box. It comes complete with a stuffed fishing pole, bobber, bait bucket, worm, and fish! So cute, I think Grandma Tomas would have even enjoyed it!

When we were finished shopping, we went back to the house to find Chris and Bob cleaning the garage! It's amazing to have a three car garage, that looks like it is a three car garage! Plus now the snow-blower is easily accessible; although, I really hope we don't need it any time soon!

Saturday night, all 6 of us went out for dinner at Bandana's BBQ. After dinner, we took Mom and Dad to Sam's club to get some new luggage for our trip to Texas over Thanksgiving. I still can't believe we are almost to the holidays already!

Sunday after church, we went to Jade Garden for lunch, then Mom and Dad took off for home. It was a very busy weekend with lots of shopping and good company!

Happy Halloween!

Friday night was "Beggars Night". In preparation, Chris and I carved pumpkins. Chris carved the rottweiler and I carved the bullldog.

We also handed out candy to the neighborhood kids. Chris had me stop for candy on my way home from work one night, and I came home with 8 bags (needless to say, don't send the pregnant woman to the store to buy Halloween candy). It was rainy and cold here, so we were worried that we wouldn't have any kids. I think we had about 30 kids, so we have plenty of left over candy.

Chris and I enjoyed looking at all of their kids in their costumes, Mercedes enjoyed watching the kids (and trying to sneak out to play with them) and Lexi thought the kids were exciting until she figured out that they were "dinosaurs and scary monsters".

16 weeks

On Monday, October 26th, we were 16 weeks along, so we figured it was a good time to take our first belly picture. For us it was fun to see that I am actually starting to look a little pregnant and it will be fun to watch the baby grow over the next 24 weeks!

First Big Purchase

Today I broke down and bought the "travel system." We purchased the Bertini model at Babies R Us and it was expensive (well not that bad, but I could have bought one tire for the race car for the same amount). It is Hawkeye colored with these old school European looking squiggly lines on it. The only thing I don't like is Babies R Us only has Eddie Bauer tan bases and as you can clearly see from photos this base is not tan. I will be looking on the internet for Bertini black bases. After all you can't have a black car with gray leather, black baby seat and tan base.

We also found a new store at Jordan Creek called "Creative Kids Stuff," there we found a little puppy dog that has all sorts of tags and crinkly paper on his ears and paws.

Dan and Stacie Wright (I work with Dan) suggested that we look at the "miracle blanket" which is a swaddling blanket that you can hold their little arms down with. Stacie said that this worked wonders and it allowed her to get some extra sleep. This blanket stops them from swinging their arms so they don't wake themselves up quite as much.

Well that is today. Check out the pictures. We will be in touch soon.

The Begining

Not all of you may know, but Chris and I are expecting our first child on April 13,2010. We found out at the end of July when we were 4 weeks along, but due to the circumstances of the previous year, we decided to wait to tell people until we heard the heartbeat. Talk about a hard secret to keep! The first couple of months were pretty hard with morning sickness. It usually hit right away when I woke up, and after every time I ate.

We had our first appointment on September 21, where we were able to hear a heartbeat of 163 bpm. Needless to say we were very relieved and excited after this appointment.

We started our second trimester on October 12, and I have definitely felt better since. We had a second appointment at 15 weeks on Monday October 19. Again we heard the heartbeat right away and it was 150 bpm.

After two successfully appointments Chris and I are finally starting to relax and enjoy our pregnancy. We even went to look at baby furniture last weekend, and were given a reality check when the staff informed us that if we wanted to order furniture through them, it would take about 3 months to get, considering we are almost 16 weeks, we probably need to order this soon! So much for casually looking! We decided we should start researching what products to buy and possibly start a registry soon!

Other than the baby news, not a whole lot is new in our lives. We take each day as it comes and are enjoying the excitement of what the future holds!