tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2550867191709322872024-03-13T23:18:04.509-04:00Sweet Taterslife at our placeJesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334535841270658800noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255086719170932287.post-85777002496439375672012-10-19T22:08:00.001-04:002012-10-19T22:08:21.894-04:00Let's catch up<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Since my last post was in January (oops!), here's a brief rundown of the highlights of our year so far.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><u>February:</u> Kirk went to Mexico for a week to get things prepared for the summer missions trip there. He had a wonderful time. Riley and I did pretty well on our own and had help from family and friends who took care of us. Most importantly that month, we celebrated Riley's 1st Birthday! We had separate family parties and then had a party for our friends. It was so fun to celebrate her first year and to look back on how much she'd grown and changed over the past 12 months. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><u>March:</u> I turned 30 on March 1. Cabin fever from the winter hit and we tried go get outside as much as possible! Thankful spring arrived and we were able to let Riley burn off energy outside. I started doing a weekly playdate with 2 friends, which has been a huge blessing and Riley loves seeing her buddies each week. We had a great visit with my friend Mayme, who was in town to do some recruiting for YouthWorks. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><u>April:</u> We celebrated Easter with my family. </span><br />
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<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><u>May:</u> Kirk's parents came to visit. We took them to all our favorite places, including multiple trips to Portillos. We also went to an indoor water park in Lake Geneva. Riley LOVED it. I think she went down the little water slide about 100 times. She is fearless!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><u>June:</u> In June we celebrated Kirk's birthday. Kirk was gone for about 12 days on a Missions Trip to Mexico. It was a long time for him to be gone and Riley and I did great on our own for about the first 9 days, then it got a little rough after that! :o) We were so glad to have him home! At the end of the month we celebrated my friend Mandy's 30th birthday. We spent a lot of time at the park, pool and zoo. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><u>July:</u> This summer was Hot. Unusually hot. Like too hot to go to the park hot. July was spent mainly in the pool. Kirk was gone for another week on another missions trip (the joys of being married to a youth pastor). At the end of the month, we took at 2 week trip to South Carolina. We spent half that time at Hilton Head with Kirk's parents and the other half visiting his family. We got to see Kirk's brother and sister in law. Riley got to play with her cousins (which was awesome!) and we got to meet our new nephew Hudson. Riley LOVED the beach. She was fearless about being in the waves, loved running around and sitting in the beach chair waving at every single person that went by. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><u>August:</u> After getting back from South Carolina, we enjoyed a relaxed August. We had lots of playdates and spent a lot of time at the zoo and pool. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><u>September:</u> Kirk was busy with the start of a new ministry year. I started working part time at Wheaton College. It was a HUGE adjustment for me to go back to work instead of being with Riley all the time. I only work 3 days a week for 5 hours at a time, but it was a big change to our schedule and routine. Riley handled the changes well, I had a much harder time. It has worked out well though.We have been thankful for cooler weather too!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><u>October:</u> October has been flying by! We are taking advantage of the fall weather and taking trips to Cosley, the Zoo, parks, pumpkin patches and Cantigny. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><u>Riley:</u> Riley is almost 20 months old and is totally out of the baby stage and a full blown toddler. She is very high energy! She runs everywhere. She loves to spin,jump and climb and she is fearless! Her current favorite thing is to climb on the furniture and then fall off (like you'd do a trust fall). She thinks is great fun to watch us scamble to catch her. She is starting to talk a little bit more. She is in the stage where she points to everything and wants to know what it's called. She's also a little string bean still. Since she doesn't like to sit still and eat, she hasn't gained much weight (she has gained 1 pound in the past year!) but keeps growing taller! She still isn't a great sleeper or eater. She does sit still long enough to cuddle or watch Curious George but most of the time she has us chasing after her. </span><br />
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<br />Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334535841270658800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255086719170932287.post-87266751922015356502012-10-16T14:32:00.003-04:002012-10-16T14:32:58.703-04:00Hello Again<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Hi again!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I'm back! I had started the blog when we were living in North Carolina, away from all our friends and family. It was a great way to keep everyone updated. Once we moved back to Illinois, I pretty much stopped. Partially because we were back near a lot of friends and family so it felt less important to update everyone. And partially, because Riley was 6 months old when we moved and started crawling at 6 months and I pretty much haven't sat down since. :o)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But, we are still far away from Kirk's family and my Minnesota family so I've realized that I should probably keep the updates coming. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So start checking this again...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">More to come...</span><br />
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Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334535841270658800noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255086719170932287.post-10399284936229563062012-01-08T15:26:00.004-05:002012-01-08T15:42:03.662-05:00We're back!!!<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Oh wow. It's been almost 5 months since I've updated this blog. Yikes. Since August 23 (my last post) SO much has happened. </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">1) We took a vacation to Hilton Head with Kirk's parents. Riley hated the ocean but loved the pool.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">2) Kirk accepted the job as the Senior High Youth Director at Glen Ellyn Bible Church, so we packed up moved from North Carolina back to Chicagoland.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">3) We moved into a townhouse in Wheaton (about 4 blocks away from my grandma!) and are still getting settled. </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">4) Riley started crawling at about 6 months old. She quickly became a speed demon! She was fast!</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">5) About 2 weeks after she started crawling, she pulled herself up to standing. That same week, she got her two bottom teeth.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">6) Kirk's parents came to visit for Thanksgiving. Riley got spoiled - big time.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">7) At 9 1/2 months old, Riley took her first steps. Within a few days, she was walking everywhere!</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">8) We celebrated Christmas with my family. Riley got spoiled - big time.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">We are still working on getting settled in our new place, but are so thankful to be back in Chicago. It's so nice being near family and friends. Kirk loves his job at GEBC and has been really busy there. He has his winter retreat with the youth this upcoming weekend. </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Riley and I are trying to keep busy and avoid the cabin fever that can set in during winter. Riley loves to sing, dance, blow kisses and pull all of our books and DVDs off the shelves. She is still working on eating solid foods...she gets about 10% of what we give her in her mouth, the rest is on the floor. She recently learned to blow kisses and gets on kicks where she'll go for several minutes doing nothing but blowing kisses. She also loves to sing. If you say "Riley. Sing!" she will (loudly) sing the one note she can hit. She also can't stop herself from dancing whenever she hears music. After just a few notes, she starts to shake her little butt. My favorite is when she'll do it while she's in my lap nursing! </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I have been enjoying being near my good friends again (and closer to Minneapolis!) and am thankful to have my family near by. It's also so great to be back at GEBC (the church I grew up in) although it feels very "full circle" to be back there! </span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">I'm getting back into a good routine so hopefully that will make me be better at updating this blog. And I'll start writing about things other than Riley...maybe. :o)</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334535841270658800noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255086719170932287.post-57197642608429438482011-08-23T20:54:00.001-04:002011-08-23T20:55:57.205-04:00A video for you!
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<br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwYw0dXUKnSzWd12BvD-FUdVkLTJXoGuacpcAfKfPTHp9C-DwdJq12fa_Kh9TL6Ot9dgMkfibdXAEW7dvy_FQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></p>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334535841270658800noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255086719170932287.post-65294439399189710782011-07-31T10:00:00.002-04:002011-07-31T10:11:45.604-04:005 Months!<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Riley is now 5 months old! It's crazy how big she is getting and how quickly she is changing! She can now roll over back to front and front to back. She is SO close to crawling! She can rotate around in a circle when she's on her belly and then rolls to get to where she wants to go. We can't leave her alone for a second! She knows how to use her arms to crawl and what to do with her legs - she just can't seem to coordinate them at the same time. I am totally fine with that! Crawling is great and all - but once she can do that, I think my job becomes harder! :o)</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Riley is such a wonderful and happy baby! She STILL hasn't taken a bottle and still is waking up about 3 times a night. Other than those two things - she is such an easy baby! I'm excited to be able to start her on solids next month! </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I took Riley swimming for the first time and she LOVED it! She was so cute in her little swim suit and loved splashing in the water. She's ready for her trip to the beach at the end of August! She also still loves listening to her daddy play guitar. She loves her bouncing activity center. Her feet now reach the ground so she can bounce away on her own. She lasts for about a half hour in it until she wears herself out from bouncing so much! She also is very into watching our food. Anytime she can see what we are eating she is reaching for it and trying to get her hands on it. She especially wants to drink out of our cups. When we let her try it - she loves it but gets water everywhere! </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">We just got back from a long trip to Chicago. I'll post about that and put up some new pictures soon! </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">As a side note - I'm going to be an Aunt again! Rachael and Barry are expecting their third at the end of March. I'm SO excited for them! Congrats! </span>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334535841270658800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255086719170932287.post-71557957434079523152011-07-06T11:41:00.004-04:002011-07-06T11:53:13.000-04:004 Month Update<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">We went for Riley's 4 month doctors appointment yesterday. She is 4 months 9 days old, 15 pounds 2 ounces and 26 inches long. The doctor said she looks great! Riley now rolls over, grabs onto toys, can sorta laugh (still sounds kinda like a little grunt), squeals and yells, and is teething like crazy! She had discovered her toes and wants nothing more than to get them into her mouth! She also loves listening to her daddy play guitar. </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">We got the go-ahead to start her on rice cereal. She didn't really know what to think of it, but got quite a bit down! She was a MESS! She also gets to start having a little bit of water in a sippy cup. I'm hoping that she can figure out how to use a sippy cup since she still hasn't used a bottle! She was sleeping 6-8 hours a night, but for some reason has gone back to waking up about 2 times a night. We are trying to figure out how to get her back to that 6-8 hour a night because I am exhausted by the 2 night time feedings! </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">In 2 weeks, we head up to Chicago. Kirk's coming for just a few days and then coming back to take the junior highers on their mission trip to Chattanooga. I'll stay up in Chicago the week he is gone. We're excited to see friends and family and I'm thrilled not to have to be home alone with Riley for the week he's gone. </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Here are a couple pictures from Riley's first rice cereal experience!</span><br /><br /><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwMX7Nev7vculOMY9TUdCLjloh8XFo1jxIKrNLskZ4w7ELwRFAlQBINv9tF2HMZFGn7Jm8GlRoE0iPxVTkJG-SnJBLTWxV80uizvwI3NC-svp4t8iqLCwNwPaIBiXVSajEqOYTgkOuUOBW/s1600/IMG_0916.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5626266148556875602" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwMX7Nev7vculOMY9TUdCLjloh8XFo1jxIKrNLskZ4w7ELwRFAlQBINv9tF2HMZFGn7Jm8GlRoE0iPxVTkJG-SnJBLTWxV80uizvwI3NC-svp4t8iqLCwNwPaIBiXVSajEqOYTgkOuUOBW/s320/IMG_0916.JPG" /></a><br /></p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAWqFoCaDZX7pfxv-B9FZVUxl86pwdjVGhGuLG0V7Tmc-Zx1vX3MG6cP6-Z518m5bpdCDw6BInDtiJKNR4sus4E9txgwkJlvha7L77u5YWAby6IM_yLTo26lAMtD4mTnjAkZsbbOEItpmV/s1600/IMG_0938.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5626266140288879426" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAWqFoCaDZX7pfxv-B9FZVUxl86pwdjVGhGuLG0V7Tmc-Zx1vX3MG6cP6-Z518m5bpdCDw6BInDtiJKNR4sus4E9txgwkJlvha7L77u5YWAby6IM_yLTo26lAMtD4mTnjAkZsbbOEItpmV/s320/IMG_0938.JPG" /></a>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334535841270658800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255086719170932287.post-61921066939676821092011-07-06T11:29:00.004-04:002011-07-06T11:37:42.164-04:00Pictures<div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Our friend Lisa Potter took some adorable pictures of Riley this past weekend. There are so many cute pictures! Here are some of our favorites!</span></div><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii_ZCFXZ8SH7HZnd_6VE1eTh6cwH4eXBzo5loQSjjs-8Nb0cTWtBl6cGpmcgzT8K2prhqezXCymvfkvxfDGVyf2vnng2mCamLxgrv5FDfAtIXV1vAK5u_a8F7Jx-NF8DJdCgOGYplY_3ta/s1600/IMG_7258.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5626262793594867250" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii_ZCFXZ8SH7HZnd_6VE1eTh6cwH4eXBzo5loQSjjs-8Nb0cTWtBl6cGpmcgzT8K2prhqezXCymvfkvxfDGVyf2vnng2mCamLxgrv5FDfAtIXV1vAK5u_a8F7Jx-NF8DJdCgOGYplY_3ta/s320/IMG_7258.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFZgu7J8hjuMsQAFV24zNEGEm-6z6k7BR1d6keIiw1y08I9lPplCtM8HbTc-zDaPrcGONX2_BLBzuzCBQ0Nvyr6Z3d09_ljbwIjVs44K1bqaoMBYfTF2f0rS76M1t2xsrsojEoykCC0vkT/s1600/IMG_7372.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5626262817475689010" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFZgu7J8hjuMsQAFV24zNEGEm-6z6k7BR1d6keIiw1y08I9lPplCtM8HbTc-zDaPrcGONX2_BLBzuzCBQ0Nvyr6Z3d09_ljbwIjVs44K1bqaoMBYfTF2f0rS76M1t2xsrsojEoykCC0vkT/s320/IMG_7372.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpR3iiNmh4KXVmEH0P-eutjuXJT-qBBkGmrsYt8H7rJGM87dql9SBEI6Ah5EAPF7W-BBE3fzLINDN_TDSYIyrpgKVlR-y9DXkxfbeFQEod4LAidz9e4SnkAUStdGl63LEeAvP51FvwN64z/s1600/IMG_7387_black_white.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5626262827555889698" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpR3iiNmh4KXVmEH0P-eutjuXJT-qBBkGmrsYt8H7rJGM87dql9SBEI6Ah5EAPF7W-BBE3fzLINDN_TDSYIyrpgKVlR-y9DXkxfbeFQEod4LAidz9e4SnkAUStdGl63LEeAvP51FvwN64z/s320/IMG_7387_black_white.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-zyD6Tw85Vxc4RwFZjewRgSaXACl1xbg4g1u3SI5WFIWBWSwtsT4voQKDxaTSD7MGdFEiPspeFv47CyitVAFAbIL5psm3Y2DrYRZ9kqqsH-F6ds4AhrLhPDyVhYZmcMUIs2t2HUj3OcuH/s1600/IMG_7363_edit.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5626263467299930802" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-zyD6Tw85Vxc4RwFZjewRgSaXACl1xbg4g1u3SI5WFIWBWSwtsT4voQKDxaTSD7MGdFEiPspeFv47CyitVAFAbIL5psm3Y2DrYRZ9kqqsH-F6ds4AhrLhPDyVhYZmcMUIs2t2HUj3OcuH/s320/IMG_7363_edit.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBCyIw-jOnusTAY2aOfmKivw-VyvPOm6v2_9omzRkJI0uiN0t8QItadrqXlvdL3B2OcM2dRuVxhJYnqVb0zonkhlIzKlUh3Jb5Y49ZYonpLXfVRwfCM5kZNgoz9Bz0PbGVjBwxXeb3AZaN/s1600/photo.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5626263459215960642" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBCyIw-jOnusTAY2aOfmKivw-VyvPOm6v2_9omzRkJI0uiN0t8QItadrqXlvdL3B2OcM2dRuVxhJYnqVb0zonkhlIzKlUh3Jb5Y49ZYonpLXfVRwfCM5kZNgoz9Bz0PbGVjBwxXeb3AZaN/s320/photo.JPG" /></a> <br /><div><br /><div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlz4rFJKd8MjJabLeKlVWEv32lrIcB1fc6FTr2LaiGkus8E6kKSzphevpd95aN3WSvjB65u3DuUecSt1PxL35xphocT7-FBhnXNOKjuaAzAzZJrPqDMaeekOJ_BKr2XLI_qWllxRIvjcVv/s1600/IMG_7301.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5626262810047915970" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlz4rFJKd8MjJabLeKlVWEv32lrIcB1fc6FTr2LaiGkus8E6kKSzphevpd95aN3WSvjB65u3DuUecSt1PxL35xphocT7-FBhnXNOKjuaAzAzZJrPqDMaeekOJ_BKr2XLI_qWllxRIvjcVv/s320/IMG_7301.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4xZiRNusMuw3aNrDn7rPhbGP0ZS6MGwUpYXLI-jTzoWthLG2oUEc2n7_mEeTCq_G1FIHPh3z2uQE3Vdtqv0mSL8ng6V1tam99iWmsSmYmCHTWJLt1x-WjtWuhtZVQzGo_BWTC4xVHFLZ-/s1600/IMG_7284.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5626262795720776754" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4xZiRNusMuw3aNrDn7rPhbGP0ZS6MGwUpYXLI-jTzoWthLG2oUEc2n7_mEeTCq_G1FIHPh3z2uQE3Vdtqv0mSL8ng6V1tam99iWmsSmYmCHTWJLt1x-WjtWuhtZVQzGo_BWTC4xVHFLZ-/s320/IMG_7284.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334535841270658800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255086719170932287.post-89622504382395289742011-06-28T08:46:00.002-04:002011-06-28T09:05:28.905-04:00Twin Cities, Teething and Turning Over<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The past few weeks have been busy for all 3 of us!</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Kirk - Kirk took the senior highers on a mission trip to Logan, WV. They had a great week! I was so jealous that they were there, because Logan is one of my favorite places ever! Kirk got to meet most of my friends there and became known as "Mr. Jess." He got to visit our friends in Delbarton as well. I think the students had a great week. He is now getting ready for a week of VBS, a weekend trip with senior high and college students, a quick trip to Chicago and the Jr. High mission trip to Chattanooga, TN. </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Jess - Because Kirk is a great husband, he didn't want me and Riley to be home alone the week he was gone in West Virginia so he surprised me with a trip to Minneapolis! For those of you who don't know, I lived there for 3 1/2 years while I worked for YouthWorks. It was AWESOME to see friends. We got to see almost everyone I wanted to see and Riley was a trooper! I had forgotten how much I loved the cities. </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Riley - Riley has been a busy girl the past few weeks. She has started teething. She chews on everything and drools all over. She isn't really fussy from it yet, which is nice. She also learned how to roll over! She is so proud of herself when she does it, but quickly realizes she doesn't like to be on her stomach so she starts to cry until we flip her back over. She is officially out of her bassinet and sleeping in her crib. We go to the doctor next Tuesday for her 4 month appointment and I think we'll get the go ahead to start her on rice cereal! She still hasn't taken a bottle, so me and her haven't been apart for more than 3 hours (ugh). She is doing better sleeping and will usually have 2 good nights and then a bad one. She loves her new activity center (she stands in it and once she grows another inch, her feet will reach the ground and she can start bouncing!). She also likes her Bumpo chair and when she sits in it, she tries SO hard to get her feet in her mouth! She has also learned how to grab and hold onto things so now I need to be better of keeping things out of her reach! </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">July will be a busy month for Kirk and all 3 of us will be headed back to Chicago to visit. Kirk is going to fly up with me and Riley for a few days and then fly home to take the Jr. Highers on their mission trip. Riley and I will stay for the week so we don't have to be home by ourselves when he is gone and so Riley can be spoiled by grandparents, aunts and uncles, and my friends.</span>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334535841270658800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255086719170932287.post-55560968074495400932011-05-31T14:13:00.004-04:002011-05-31T16:54:39.660-04:00Sweet Home Chicago<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">(<em>Please ignore my spelling errors! Spell check isn't working and I'm a terrible speller! Don't judge...i have other skills!)</em></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">We just got back from almost 2 weeks in Chicagoland. It was an almost perfect visit. The highlight was definitely my sister Stacy's wedding. It was so fun to celebrate her and Brett. I'm so excited to have Brett as my new brother-in-law. He's a perfect addition to our family! Kirk officiated the ceremony which made it extra special. The ceremony was sweet and beautiful and the reception was a great party.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">We got to see so many of our friends and family over the 12 days and it was fun to introduce Riley to everyone. She was such a trooper! She was totally off her schedule and didn't get good naps. It was really sweet to see her meet her Aunts, Great Aunts and Uncles and her Grumme (we call my grandma Umme and since she's Riley's Great Umme - her name is Grumme!) for the first time. </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">While we were there, Riley celebrated her 3 month birthday and also began chewing on everything! We think she's starting to teeth because she's always putting her hands, clothes, blankets, etc in her mouth an drooling all over the place! She slept 7-8 hours every night we were there (<em>unfortunately- that hasn't continued since coming back. The first night home, she slept 5 hours and last night she woke up every 2 and a half hours...punk!). </em></span><br /><em><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></em><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I think our stomachs are still recovering from all the food! Between my mom's cooking, my grandma's cooking and hitting all of our favorite restaurants - it was basically one big food crawl! I think we are both still full! </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">All in all, it was wonderful. It was a little hard to come back here. It was so nice to have so much help with Riley and be able to go out with friends and be close to family. We also have come back to 95-99 degree heat here! Kirk's busy summer of youth events is about to start and I'm trying to be ok with being alone with Riley while he's gone a lot! Especially because he's taking the youth to Logan, WV - one of my favorite places! I want to go so bad, but a 3 month old and a week of YouthWorks don't really mix. </span><br /><em><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></em><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Below are 2 pictures of our trip. More to come - assuming people email me the ones they took! We didn't take any pictures ourselves! oops!</span><br /><em></em><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Brett, Stacy, Me, Kirk<br />Carrie and Christy </span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">@ Stacy and Brett's Rehearsal Dinner</span></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 216px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612945396986972770" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw82ssecC6zpFnwmS6J8Ikre58FSDpJyy8DzMGDJV2cm-gceBEpLhLfG9_aNa1PfsnpBLZjza7fySg-XaWP8XAH6kWyhV8ARiM5mhpr-QfDbTD5xDUODwcOe09iW3Zj2-GQ626NxxJyUwr/s320/255690_1889045782901_1144140204_31956081_5683251_n.jpg" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612945402469078658" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgq-F6k2o-DDcsByTJY9EGaH5j-SQPMYGkQ-AVviC5caekmT9nSZRcYPHnVbumGLRzk3SvaEr4_1-sIERzmQ5hwEdIrLBN65-vctOCtQfDSNIMtkNuYOJeOTRmoEE43lT8R9tHmS8oo1_S/s320/family_may_2011_010.jpg" /><br /><br /><div align="center">4 generations! My mom, me, Umme and Riley!</div>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334535841270658800noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255086719170932287.post-82701158728118688322011-05-04T21:42:00.000-04:002011-05-04T21:49:21.831-04:00just a few of my favorites...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMuDPAgzmFGFKsDlANW7nicQYKk1irTabQGcesSL6KbBk_xXWsls7b8tPIKfE15VpqaTb5WqVEJRhWkoqoShx-7ph2RQNFCxrq9yiMR4uDqJTBw0zXTiKrBGO1BKUluusHOduZqPUjTf08/s1600/IMG_0672.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603043059519206066" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMuDPAgzmFGFKsDlANW7nicQYKk1irTabQGcesSL6KbBk_xXWsls7b8tPIKfE15VpqaTb5WqVEJRhWkoqoShx-7ph2RQNFCxrq9yiMR4uDqJTBw0zXTiKrBGO1BKUluusHOduZqPUjTf08/s320/IMG_0672.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE_bulNitA1tWgLe0PzbSUzPanwVf3D5yJb3ctdAJGYujf7N5DCwYJpndWZsF_mN9_lw_Mw9jhmQ39ZjC-SO883aR-GBeVJQ-GfnAkuyjN0ihopICM-5rGLgoIqJwPvW5ZbiloIpEGrGZ8/s1600/IMG_0750.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603043052551247938" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE_bulNitA1tWgLe0PzbSUzPanwVf3D5yJb3ctdAJGYujf7N5DCwYJpndWZsF_mN9_lw_Mw9jhmQ39ZjC-SO883aR-GBeVJQ-GfnAkuyjN0ihopICM-5rGLgoIqJwPvW5ZbiloIpEGrGZ8/s320/IMG_0750.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxIhpsar97GMBkIk8rCMH3ueM0WWtXUlgvT1OB8zm-VfcPtY_zfyqJEnmIIVCnOxZ0y84IF50DYysvEexvG23PTZ4B1hyphenhyphencLFHXD4bFdM2macgJ2JFx9z0YpMe66tLXrHFz-MMyUdHjCNz6/s1600/IMG_0736.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603043050873473570" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxIhpsar97GMBkIk8rCMH3ueM0WWtXUlgvT1OB8zm-VfcPtY_zfyqJEnmIIVCnOxZ0y84IF50DYysvEexvG23PTZ4B1hyphenhyphencLFHXD4bFdM2macgJ2JFx9z0YpMe66tLXrHFz-MMyUdHjCNz6/s320/IMG_0736.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOoCpJKQrXP6puCLP74eirOQ7Eae1AIHoC8Ig5lhL32D-5uuB1yX7-9tojdkRw_Q7cGdCsrGvbpqbmAussb-UarOwuqEeHdoe28Ss9MglO0ts-oQ3E-NkGj9bKlWiquISLIJO0eCshA7xB/s1600/IMG_0707.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603043044578135698" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOoCpJKQrXP6puCLP74eirOQ7Eae1AIHoC8Ig5lhL32D-5uuB1yX7-9tojdkRw_Q7cGdCsrGvbpqbmAussb-UarOwuqEeHdoe28Ss9MglO0ts-oQ3E-NkGj9bKlWiquISLIJO0eCshA7xB/s320/IMG_0707.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334535841270658800noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255086719170932287.post-49119053942351211882011-05-04T07:35:00.004-04:002011-05-04T07:46:05.551-04:002 Month Update<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">We went to the doctor this week for Riley's 2 month check up. She is 11 pounds 11 ounces and 24 inches long. That puts her in the 68 percentile for weight and the 92% for height. Her head is 38 cm around which puts her in the 34% for that. So she is still a stringbean. She had to get 3 shots and she took them like a champ. I, on the other hand, had to sit down and let Kirk hold her down during them. I never get nervous or dizzy when I get shots, but I couldn't handle her getting them! The doctor said she's doing great!</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">We are less than 2 weeks away from our trip to Chicago. I can't wait! I'm so excited for Riley to meet her aunts and the rest of our family and friends! I also can't wait for my sister's wedding! Yea Stacy and Brett! :o)</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Riley is getting bigger and cuter every day. She's discovered her hands and loves to put them in her mouth. She tries to shove her whole fist in there. She also will stick her hand so far back that she gags herself and then panics a little bit. We're hoping she catches on to the fact that she doesn't have to keep gagging herself. She's had a cold for the past week and a half. Her poor little nose is so stuffed up! Otherwise she loves her bouncy seat and her Sophie Giraffee. She loves walking outside in the sun and taking baths. </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Kirk is busy with all the end of the year stuff with the youth. The trip to Chicago will be a nice break for him before the craziness of summer programming kicks off. I'm just trying to keep up with Riley and am still despertely trying to get her to sleep just a little more at night, so I don't feel like I'm in a constant fog. I'm also still on the quest to try and get her to take a bottle so I can be away for longer than 2 hours at a time! </span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">That's all for now. Chicago friends and family - see you soon!</span>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334535841270658800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255086719170932287.post-40683354888157474482011-04-18T11:03:00.007-04:002011-04-18T11:22:30.199-04:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT_Yx-WOSqP_KUkwPTLoyaYVkr65MBT-pZAmgf0-qOMXYDk_N7r78_WYCBrcN45QdDhGQbXhXreqR-BQS1nqhVMDRXy8KHDIAN_DE01mANMKTpasUcaC-6Uqe1AB4QzsykPs99SuJT_Iqe/s1600/IMG_1554.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596944223690680850" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT_Yx-WOSqP_KUkwPTLoyaYVkr65MBT-pZAmgf0-qOMXYDk_N7r78_WYCBrcN45QdDhGQbXhXreqR-BQS1nqhVMDRXy8KHDIAN_DE01mANMKTpasUcaC-6Uqe1AB4QzsykPs99SuJT_Iqe/s320/IMG_1554.JPG" /></a> <br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYecfG6Z3imWmvTd2OEWVKe_2rFohcRpFJCiNuC9Bkr2ZkF8x6Y55BO00c2jpVAA6BIHOKjJxEU_SPSvBFZzWV-g63rWy_opwTesru7DMlkUPzHB5BTqZhGm0aRrcAT_rRlEPpACFZlgka/s1600/IMG_0004.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596944107037645186" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYecfG6Z3imWmvTd2OEWVKe_2rFohcRpFJCiNuC9Bkr2ZkF8x6Y55BO00c2jpVAA6BIHOKjJxEU_SPSvBFZzWV-g63rWy_opwTesru7DMlkUPzHB5BTqZhGm0aRrcAT_rRlEPpACFZlgka/s320/IMG_0004.JPG" /></a> <br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAxNpfSgejUDUSJItTLeKjoqLr6QAyRZ9NqUUsgIcIxFD8gXkdwsKMXC4j7lie8KgIUzw3cWq22DXY3hlFYIOrdXFo5vMi82Aly38x3nM65hXwGBQZ8dmIP9xEVMPhzZ6waqDlBVgAiqmj/s1600/IMG_0154.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596943637281552738" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAxNpfSgejUDUSJItTLeKjoqLr6QAyRZ9NqUUsgIcIxFD8gXkdwsKMXC4j7lie8KgIUzw3cWq22DXY3hlFYIOrdXFo5vMi82Aly38x3nM65hXwGBQZ8dmIP9xEVMPhzZ6waqDlBVgAiqmj/s320/IMG_0154.JPG" /></a> <br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhgHRpitQ2ngTZRiyJDYjpN0XR2RZPRBrwA4hJNvRuac6gs3E-rFnnaRuNcmvSHpv_9zut4ApVcpKJCI-6ubj8_h-w9CPSNwW9llWX7yPBJoAybTUM-xuJL3d7Ut1mm-loIpnePGYXZfkF/s1600/IMG_0273.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596942281197313138" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhgHRpitQ2ngTZRiyJDYjpN0XR2RZPRBrwA4hJNvRuac6gs3E-rFnnaRuNcmvSHpv_9zut4ApVcpKJCI-6ubj8_h-w9CPSNwW9llWX7yPBJoAybTUM-xuJL3d7Ut1mm-loIpnePGYXZfkF/s320/IMG_0273.JPG" /></a> <br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcRYgy-RMYh1l8cANGuhUJPRQkhyphenhyphenFEZWP7RaZuJK_icJQ1C80E_poIWkgEDEWEJCuQk0xDSM1AS9aY1jxOb5eTxctqZlPuNsO-_gFfgW6Svj-Bh_1sgRtbql5ZaekRx_B9e8FMLSicf5ou/s1600/IMG_0379.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596941822584048098" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcRYgy-RMYh1l8cANGuhUJPRQkhyphenhyphenFEZWP7RaZuJK_icJQ1C80E_poIWkgEDEWEJCuQk0xDSM1AS9aY1jxOb5eTxctqZlPuNsO-_gFfgW6Svj-Bh_1sgRtbql5ZaekRx_B9e8FMLSicf5ou/s320/IMG_0379.JPG" /></a> <br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIBvGJtIGqa8akxDdtadItga2_Jowkgi9WHjMVY9bUtukvMRqLsZiFQi_su4zEWK8FyJAq7DYg9imB3mpFRGjTs4t7B1I9XmjVKZIqUNhhWxeJ53Kj8Bq0oGPSCy1Mcy51RLxoXTPwrwwO/s1600/IMG_0418.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596941341168497682" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIBvGJtIGqa8akxDdtadItga2_Jowkgi9WHjMVY9bUtukvMRqLsZiFQi_su4zEWK8FyJAq7DYg9imB3mpFRGjTs4t7B1I9XmjVKZIqUNhhWxeJ53Kj8Bq0oGPSCy1Mcy51RLxoXTPwrwwO/s320/IMG_0418.JPG" /></a> <br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijas_XGw-Xf-dcID4p8YlnsE3f_6iFCV6Nzq1_jMTFPXSX_wM4l5BjR2TBLsAnDhXiuOQJIoXUdTVIesE4OrVI0o62yJgpqeaUf7cRBuON7-YRm0aOscIkNXQ1e7RM1aHV6PZHHtiN4H3n/s1600/IMG_0636.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596940482818204114" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijas_XGw-Xf-dcID4p8YlnsE3f_6iFCV6Nzq1_jMTFPXSX_wM4l5BjR2TBLsAnDhXiuOQJIoXUdTVIesE4OrVI0o62yJgpqeaUf7cRBuON7-YRm0aOscIkNXQ1e7RM1aHV6PZHHtiN4H3n/s320/IMG_0636.JPG" /></a> <br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0UOLCjKdKNCWyeltlK3hjMiAXWSXgqmO_HJhMz5mGU8imkFjd9C-_T106UNWM1iMTuEtYl6c6W7QTDeQNLqdZd25TkKCzqAO7SXGdG1BEJrW0qRWxleUreK9BrvKz8grUXk6UYALZoPJl/s1600/IMG_0651.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596939997705751682" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0UOLCjKdKNCWyeltlK3hjMiAXWSXgqmO_HJhMz5mGU8imkFjd9C-_T106UNWM1iMTuEtYl6c6W7QTDeQNLqdZd25TkKCzqAO7SXGdG1BEJrW0qRWxleUreK9BrvKz8grUXk6UYALZoPJl/s320/IMG_0651.JPG" /></a> </div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334535841270658800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255086719170932287.post-90990337913234948182011-04-18T08:40:00.004-04:002011-04-18T09:01:59.716-04:00A List<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">1. I know I still haven't put pictures up like I said I would in the last post. I will do it soon. I mean it this time. <br /><br />2. We fly to Chicago in less than a month. I am terrified of flying, even more terrified of flying with a</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> baby but beyond excited to go home and see friends and family and for everyone to meet Riley. <br /><br />3. The reason we are going home that week is for my sister Stacy's wedding. I am so happy for her and I really love Brett and am excited to have him as a brother in law. Kirk is officiating the wedding and I am doing a reading. I suck at reading out loud so I am going to have to memorize the reading and pretend to read while I really say it from memory. <br /><br />4. We left Riley with a baby sitter for the first time last night. It wasn't as stressful as I thought. Maybe that's because our baby sitter also happens to be our pediatrician and the restaurant we went to was about a quarter mile away from their house. <br /><br />5. I have 2 goals this week. This is a big step b/c for the past 6 weeks my goal has been to make it through the day with Riley. This week I want to cook dinner every night (and Lean Pockets and Frozen Pizza don't count) and go through Riley's clothes to see what fits her and what doesn't. <br /><br />6. We went to South Carolina this past weekend. We got to see my Brother and Sister in law and our nieces Hailey and Heidi (who seem to get cuter every time I see them). It was so fun to see them and it makes me want to move to Atlanta so I can be near them, Rachael can help me with Riley and the girls can grow up together. <br /><br />7. Riley is cute all the time, but seems to be especially cute in the mornings. I put her on her little quilt and put her kick and play above her. She makes all these cute little noises and kicks her feet. She also seems to watch the Today Show while doing this. <br /><br />8. On the way home from South Carolina this past weekend, we were almost in the middle of a terrible storm. The only reason we weren't in the middle of it was because Riley kept making us stop to feed her. We drove past where 4 separate tornadoes had touched down. It was terrifying. Especially for the fact that I have been scared to death of tornadoes since the first time I saw Wizard of Oz. <br /><br />9. I feel the need to confess that I really want to see the movie Scream 4. I also now that there is no way in the world that Kirk Tate will EVER agree to go see it with me. <br /><br /><br />10. I hurt my finger yesterday. I was running through our hallway because I was running late and hit my hand on the doorknob of the closest. I think I bruised my knuckle or something, my finger is swollen and I can't really bend it. <br /><br />11. I was very homesick this past week. I missed my sister's bridal shower. I also just need to say that having a newborn is hard enough - but it's really hard when your family and friends are halfway across the country. <br /><br />12. I am so thankful that we get WGN tv. I have been able to watch many Cubs games. <br /><br />13. I got a hair cut this past weekend. I cut about 5 inches off. I knew I'd get sick of growing my hair out sooner or later. <br /><br />14. Riley still won't take a bottle. She absolutely refuses. Punk. <br /><br />15. I want to go to Minneapolis so badly. I miss my friends. I miss the cities. <br /><br />That's it for now. If Riley cooperates, I post pictures later today. She refuses to nap unless she's being held - which is why it is so hard for me to get anything done. That 9 1/2 pound thing really controls every aspect of my life right now...don't worry, I'll get her back someday!</span>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334535841270658800noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255086719170932287.post-31233333286897216932011-03-27T17:46:00.003-04:002011-03-27T18:11:00.651-04:001 Month!Happy One Month Birthday Riley! It has been a crazy, wonderful, challenging, exhausting, exciting month. Riley is up to 8 lbs 14 ounces and doing great! She is getting her days and nights straightened out which has meant more sleep for mom and dad! She is getting bigger and cuter every day! I'm feeling better as I continue to heal from the c-section and a bout of mastitis. There has been a few rough days for me and a couple late night phone calls to the doctor and some extra doctor appointments, but I'm doing better now. Kirk is such a great dad. He is so good with Riley and so helpful. Riley loves him and I think we have a daddy's girl on our hands! This month has gone by in a big blur! Days feel long, nights feel longer, yet the month has gone by so quickly! We've had great visits with family and Riley has loved meeting all her grandparents and looks forward to continuing to be spoiled by them! I will post pictures soon. We have a new camera and a new computer. Between my sleep deprivation and lack of technological skills, I can't figure out how to get the pictures from the camera to the computer, so once I figure that out I'll get them posted on here. I will try and post more often. Until then, Happy One Month B-day Riley! WE LOVE YOU!Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334535841270658800noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255086719170932287.post-22951790155095003062011-03-05T19:02:00.006-05:002011-03-05T19:42:41.662-05:00Riley Grace Tate<div><div><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5580757989511677122" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ-BE7Qp9_9lYsJAYOXu6QPAgnaF6Z_IOQBmww1K-2zLHaSP9e8NCNft23N14A2SOXOKv4aTtGnl5rc1BVzOHZuCASigELA-huOzJMK9ldEwgdv0CS6xWwAU8hsWfsFN3O2BwJuVkqDCfG/s320/Riley+Grace+Tate+3-1-11+063.jpg" /><br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">SHE'S HERE! Riley Grace Tate was born Sunday, February 27 at 9:29 p.m. </span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">She was 22 inches long and weighed 6 lbs 14 ounces. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Last Sunday, I wasn't feeling great when I left church. I felt like I had a fever and had the chills. Around 3:30 in the afternoon I started having some contractions. They got increasingly regular and closer together, yet they were only lasting for about 20-30 seconds. We called the hospital around 6:30 and they told us to keep an eye on things for the next hour and call them back and let them know if they were starting to last longer. As the nurse was about to hang up, she mentioned to keep an eye on how much the baby moved in the next hour. When she said that, I realized that in focusing on timing contractions, I hadn't noticed that I didn't feel her moving at all for most of the afternoon. We decided that because of that, it was worth going to the hospital to just check things out, figuring they'd tell us we were in early labor and send us home. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">We got to the hospital and I was hooked up to all the monitors and they noticed I was running a fever. Things were pretty calm and seemed like it really wasn't going to happen tonight. They checked and I was only a little over 2 cm. dilated. Our doctor (who was wonderful!) was watching the baby's heartbeat on the monitors in another room and came in and told us that because her heart rate was elevated (up in the 170's when it had been consistently in the 150's) that we would be having this baby tonight - either normally or via c-section, but we'd make that decision in the next hour or so once my lab work came back. About 10 minutes later he came back in and told us that we'd need to have a c-section - and quickly. Her heartbeat was dropping down to the 90's during contractions and they were worried about what kind of infection was causing my fever. As soon as he said that, things moved quick. I was immediately prepped for surgery and Kirk had just enough time to call our parents and get scrubs on before we were whisked to the operating room. I was terrified but also felt a sense of peace that the doctor we knew and trusted was on call and that we were doing what needed to be done. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I'll spare you the details of the c-section - but it all happened so fast, it felt a little like an out of body experience. We had gotten into our hospital room at 8:30 p.m. and Riley was born at 9:29 p.m. The cord was wrapped around her torso and she had breathed in a little fluid on the way out. But she was strong and healthy! She had the cutest little raspy cry.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I am so full of emotions that I'm not sure able to describe what it was like to see her for the first time and to get to hold her. She is beautiful and it's slowly sinking in that she's ours. I'm sure I'll have more to say about this - but I'm so overwhelmed by these feelings and emotions I can't get them into words yet. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">We were in the hospital until Tuesday afternoon (which happened to be my b-day). The recovery from the c-section has been slow and painful. I get frustrated that it's so hard to move around and need to remind myself that it was fairly major surgery and I need to take the time to heal. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">One of my favorite things is watching Kirk be a dad. He's so good at it and was meant to be a daddy. I can't get around too easily and he has been taking such good care of both me and Riley. I think I've only changed about 3 diapers so far. He brings me water and holds it for me while I'm nursing and is up in the middle of the night to make sure her feedings are going OK. I'm so impressed with him and so proud to get to parent with him.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">We have enjoyed time with Kirk's parents and my mom and Mike. My dad and Jill are coming in a couple of days. People from church have started stopping by and it's been fun to show her off! </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">It's been an adventure so far! Her days and nights are mixed up, so she sleeps like a champ during the day but that means we have had some long nights! I just try and take night time hour by hour. And she's hungry now ... so I gotta go. More to come! <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5580759993439931522" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7fv2JIPkapNdPBHmQz7E8Iv-9v-EL2SG05Oy4L5SqfCTruzv47WMn6uzu4asNjRMlnGMugQh8f745coB1ZJAfzkH1mqGBRC5XlPCG8FWF6R0YTYUw07fA6rdQsHenL_cNlla_yCx1KS0J/s320/Riley+Grace+Tate+3-6-11+041.jpg" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5580758795010255794" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglVKXS162yYhE4YDGa8Ak0En6Dk7UCkdMEeAWd8HJQ7ca8VQ5y3e7PdC800gk1XCYowlfjVmJPBuRp7VfKsbazehB7eHK5JonJajHpTdmXMRD7YaZ-lP7fgAhY0OwyMmQdyVbzn9uiE-CE/s320/Riley+Grace+Tate+3-3-11+010.jpg" /></span></div></div></div>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334535841270658800noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255086719170932287.post-17834409494635986912011-02-22T09:27:00.002-05:002011-02-22T09:28:06.465-05:00Due Date<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It's our due date today! :o)</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">No baby yet. :o(</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">We'll let you know when something happens...if she ever decides to come out.</span>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334535841270658800noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255086719170932287.post-30211294206518040382011-02-17T13:16:00.002-05:002011-02-17T13:30:49.692-05:0039 Weeks...<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Tuesday was our 39 week mark which means we are less than one week away from our due date! We went to the doctor this morning and he said that it could be tonight, this weekend, next week or two weeks from now. Helpful, huh?! :o) We have another appointment next Thursday if I don't go into labor before then. They said they will probably schedule induction at about 41 and a half weeks, but I'm really hoping that I don't have to be induced. We are still just waiting for her to decide she's ready to come out. I am VERY ready for her to come out...I am uncomfortable and not sleeping at night. I guess the not sleeping at night is helping to prepare me for once she's here - I'm getting good at catching up on sleep during the day. </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The doctor guessed that the baby is a little under 7 pounds right now, so she's not too big - which is nice! Kirk and I were both big babies so hearing that she's on the smaller end was a nice surprise!</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The funny part of the appointment today was when the doctor asked me "Who bit you?" I had NO idea what he was talking about at first but realized that the huge burn I have on my hand kinda looks like a big bite mark. (I burned myself on the oven the other day and have about a 2 inch burn on my hand). I just thought it was funny that he thought that I had been bitten!</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I haven't really had many pregnancy cravings during the pregnancy but they seem to be kicking in. Thankfully - lots of the things I'm craving are from places that we don't have here in Goldsboro so it helps me not become huge! If we had a Chipotle in town - I'd be gigantic by now! In the past few days I've craved mozzarella sticks (i don't even like those!), fruit roll ups, vanilla pudding with whipped cream, buffalo wings and fried chicken (another thing I don't really like). Most of these pass after a day or two. I try not to even watch the food commercials on TV because then I start to crave what I see on TV!</span> <br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">We'll keep you posted if anything happens!</span>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334535841270658800noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255086719170932287.post-48654438880052758272011-02-08T18:35:00.006-05:002011-02-08T20:25:27.113-05:0038 Weeks...<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It's been a busy couple of weeks. Most importantly, we passed the 37 week mark which means the baby is considered full term and now is welcome to come at any time! I'm still 2 weeks away from my actual due date (Feb. 22), so we may still have a little while to wait. Kirk had a huge youth fundraiser last Saturday and that was the last major youth event we were hoping to make it through before the baby comes, so now we are just waiting on her to decide she's ready.<br /></span><br /><div align="left"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">2 Sundays ago, the church threw us a wonderful baby shower. It was fun to celebrate with them and they have been so supportive and excited for us. People were so generous and we were able to get pretty much everything we needed for her. They played a game where we gave them a sentence that contained all the letters of Baby Tate's name and they were supposed to guess what the name was. No one guessed! We wouldn't have told them anyways, but it was funny that no one got it. It's not a weird name either! I promise! :o) It's driving people CRAZY that we aren't telling the name, but I'm so glad we're keeping it a secret. It's fun to keep it between us and not have to hear any opinions about it! :o) </span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Kirk's parents and grandparents came up for that weekend so they could come to the shower. It was fun to have them here and of course we made a trip to the baby store at the outlet mall and stocked up on some more clothes for her. They also helped us finish up the nursery. We assembled a bookshelf, hung shelves and hung up the quilt my friend Katie made us. We still have the final few things to put away (not sure where to put everything!) but her room is ready for her. There's a picture posted below for you to see!</span></div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><div align="left"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I'm feeling very uncomfortable and am pretty much exhausted. I pushed it a little to hard this past weekend helping with the youth event and am still paying the price for it. I have a bad hip already and it's been killing me! I also have heartburn and I get it no matter what I eat. She also hasn't dropped down yet, so my poor ribs are still taking a beating. BUT - it's all good! It's totally worth it and it's much easier to stay positive about it all when the end is in sight. Plus, I still love feeling her move around so it's totally worth the rib pain!</span></div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><div align="left"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">We see the doctor again on Thursday. I'm not having any contractions or anything so it should be just another uneventful check up. The nurses who teach our baby class at the hospital said the next full moon is February 18 and they said that they see a lot of women go into labor on the full moon. We'll see! </span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Here are a few pictures...</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571470545967262258" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKSuoiRPwtND6HswejNtJnIQfloaAIKn-Iv3jONHlNl6MqPJHNI_QeA4Zm3Fvtu8e9jIDpnu6ra2TYoaRuC__ewRh8mPFPr9zG5xUSe7B2LvJj-ExVQVGYsXV1YDPVsQzLN0k4djBYm3Cw/s320/38+weeks+001.jpg" /></span> <p align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Here I am at 38 weeks ... I feel huge! :o)</span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571471142258324626" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpaE08c5MmVRn1NeVvMRgPAQ40LbGwNfqJ5WwxPNWVtkWEFnM8lJj4VcPFceIu-YOz5Xm4Ty-yORPbOXQQheRyv20fxIu3hWLquDBXP9gV6kTSprOfZuyYIZrN5qmRorXhXNtwjRoKdQ-2/s320/38+weeks+005.jpg" /></span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Here is the nursery. Once she comes and we tell her name, I'm going to ask my friend Becky to paint cute letters of her name to go on the wall between the shelves and the quilt.</span></p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 321px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 224px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571471665256265362" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9pLsQFjDIrqZDL6_PunW54W3FOPpjONjY-EtiBWK35hMCQ4hh9l_47bQGXs8pFxosKWwn8V9kNK_F7IbIG146JABhyphenhyphenx2bKQYGqJ1l-BkNiCnpa-8gw0W73lYyp6zUx-jfVfg1YM9S-vQw/s320/38+weeks+006.jpg" /></span> <p align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Here is a new member of our family...our awesome new camera! We have wanted one FOREVER and a bunch of people from church went in together and got us it for our baby shower! I'm excited to learn about all the neat stuff it can do!<br /></span></p>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334535841270658800noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255086719170932287.post-54240713409665696022011-01-26T20:38:00.003-05:002011-01-26T20:52:27.037-05:0036 Weeks...<div><div></div><div>Here's a picture of me at 36 weeks. Notice the nice new shirt Kirk bought me that covers my whole stomach! Since I'm still trying to wear my normal (non-maternity) shirts, most of them are too short and I have to keep tugging them down. This one is nice and long! :o) </div><div><br /> </div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566674415248241282" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNHvLSwXeUYYlY55n-4Q_N5P8v2p9kN2od-nMH2m9sBpAL92glTWXH9Mpb2qzS-eSahTknecAH3F8LWxAD_lRux_cgvzb0jHUdf8BvjLDl3NLDkDWAGvLUeenT8DJfVhXBbZG2O16ZeDfw/s320/36+weeks+003.jpg" /><br /><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>We go back to the doctor tomorrow morning since we have to go every week now. It feels like we are there a lot! It's pretty uneventful when we go, but I like getting to check on her every week. Her head is still facing down and they are guessing she's between 5 1/2 and 6 pounds so hopefully she'll stay in that position and not get too much bigger! :o)</div><div> </div><div>The church is throwing us a baby shower on Sunday and Kirk's parents are grandparents are coming up for the weekend so they can go to it. It's so nice of the church to do that for us and we're looking forward to it. Once that's over, we'll be able to set up the final things and be able just to wait for her to decide to come out!</div><div> </div><div>We've been taking a class at the hospital and it's been really good. I feel smarter and better prepared. The nurses who are teaching it are great and it's only us and another couple so it's easy to ask all of our questions. Some of the videos they have showed us are a little traumatizing, but oh well!</div><div> </div><div>Things are going well! We're so thankful for such an uneventful pregnancy. We're just hoping and praying that she is healthy and for as easy as a delivery as possible!</div></div>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334535841270658800noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255086719170932287.post-50578653927372244852011-01-20T10:52:00.002-05:002011-01-20T11:02:47.607-05:00Moving right along...<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">We went to the doctor this morning and everything looks good! Her heartbeat is in the high 140's and I'm measuring a week ahead (measuring at 36 weeks when I'm actually 35 weeks along). That really doesn't mean all that much and my due date is still the same. The doctor guessed that she's about 5 1/2 - 6 pounds right now. Her head is still down, which is good and hopefully she will stay that way.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I'm still nauseous a lot and I get dizzy really easily. The doctor isn't too concerned about it. I just need to eat smaller meals more often and take it easy. </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Our goal is to get the nursery finished this weekend and we also need to get our hospital bags packed and the car seat in the car. The next couple weekends are really busy so we want and need to get those things crossed off the list. The next weekend, Kirk's parent's and grandparents are coming to town because the church is throwing us a baby shower that Sunday. The first weekend in February is the big youth fundraiser at church. The baby can come any time after that fundraiser! :o)</span>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334535841270658800noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255086719170932287.post-27216678586722768122011-01-13T15:54:00.004-05:002011-01-13T16:04:09.325-05:00Ugh...<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It hasn't been the best week. I don't want to complain too much because, really the whole pregnancy has been pretty easy and uneventful so far. But for the past week the nausea I had during the first trimester is back. I pretty much feel nauseous all the time. The only thing that seems to help is laying down. It makes it hard to eat because nothing sounds good and when I do eat, I feel sicker afterwards. I thought that ended in the first trimester...no one told me that it could come back!</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Last Sunday I had to make an unexpected trip to the doctor just to get some things checked out since I ended up passing out during church. They think my blood pressure just dropped a little too low and that the baby was pushed up against an artery which is what caused me to pass out. Thankfully, I'm fine and Baby Girl is fine. I just had to take it easy for a few days. I also now know the feeling I had before I passed out so now I can be aware if I feel like that again. It's not a big deal or anything to be worried about - more of just an inconvenience.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The good news is that I'm almost 34 weeks along, which means only 3 more weeks till I'm considered full term and 6 weeks till our due date! Not too much longer to go! We still have some things to do (finish the nursery, organize some things here, etc) but we're getting more and more excited to meet her soon! Also, we figure parents are going to be visiting once she gets here so we'll just let them finish up all the stuff we don't finish! :o)</span>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334535841270658800noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255086719170932287.post-38656443906704567362011-01-08T19:26:00.003-05:002011-01-08T19:31:36.398-05:0033 Week Picture<div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Here's a picture...I'm 33 weeks. I'm starting to show enough where people touch my belly. Not so much a fan of that! :o) Her kicks and movements are getting more painful as she gets bigger. She really likes to move at night while I'm trying to sleep. Baby Girl is already keeping me up! </span></div><div> </div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559976376882029490" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHtpLIVETEO4RH-oGJCCzz-dNmnJ9bJX9Btd2Lk1FZn311snljxXEpSzz-Ogs_Wyvia0L3v5ZjrfD3efJORTEn3Huef5dnCXShXbQKEeWn5RZlU3MT6UWDHmqct_zXsY97mej2pZL6Jxpi/s320/33+Weeks+001.jpg" /><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334535841270658800noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255086719170932287.post-65944567942497151952011-01-07T09:41:00.002-05:002011-01-07T09:45:27.903-05:00Motivation<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Kirk was checking facebook this morning and saw that one of the other couples in our childbirth and parenting class who was due <em>a week after us</em> is at the hospital because she's in labor!!!! Needless to say, we'll be working on the nursery today :o) I'm praying that our little one doesn't decide to make an early appearance. If she's anything like Kirk or my dad - she'll be early. Hopefully she'll take after me, who likes to be on time - not early, not late.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">For those of you who are harassing me about it (hi sisters!) I'll get the picture up later today. Hopefully there will be some pictures of the nursery to go a long with it!</span>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334535841270658800noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255086719170932287.post-6814499903742808172011-01-04T08:40:00.003-05:002011-01-04T08:56:24.245-05:00Happy New Year!<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Happy New Year! I hope everyone's Christmas and New Years were wonderful. Kirk and I spent them in South Carolina with his family. We had to stay for the Christmas Eve service at church here, so we didn't get to SC until about midnight on Christmas Eve. After opening presents and having breakfast with his grandparents on Christmas morning, Kirk and I cooked Christmas dinner for his family. It ended up tasting delicious and we even got several of his family members to try brussel sprouts for the first time!</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The 2 days after Christmas were spent in the hospital with Kirk's mom. She was having some chest pains and we took her to the ER and she ended up having to have another stint put in one of her arteries. She's doing better now - but it was a long few days in the hospital.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">We got to see Kirk's brother and sister in law and their girls as well, which is always fun! Hailey said "I'm so excited to meet my baby cousin." I'm glad that our girl will be pretty close in age to them so they can grow up together! </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">We came back to North Carolina on New Year's Day. The 5 hour drive home just about did me in. We are officially confined to a 2 hour radius until the baby comes because that's about all that my body can handle right now. </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">We started a pregnancy and parenting class at the hospital last night. We had gone back and forth about taking a class. Kirk has stuff at church several nights a week so it was hard to add another night of something to his schedule, but we decided that it couldn't hurt to take a class. I'm really glad we did. Last night's class was good and I think the next 5 weeks of it will be really helpful. It's at the hospital we'll be having the baby at and taught by nurses who work there, so it's nice to meet some people and see where it'll all be happening! There are 5 weeks left in the class and we're due in 7 weeks - so we're hoping we make it all the way thru the class before she gets here. </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The goal for this week is to get the nursery finished up. My nesting instinct has not kicked in at all yet so I'm still not finding the motivation, but I know it needs to get done before she gets here! I'll post a new belly picture later today or tomorrow....it's getting bigger!</span>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334535841270658800noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255086719170932287.post-6458207798820333032010-12-15T12:15:00.003-05:002010-12-15T12:35:50.358-05:0030 Weeks<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">As of today, I am 30 weeks and 1 day pregnant! Something about hitting the 30 week mark makes it feel like the baby is coming soon! The past couple days have been a little rough with some major back pain. I've spent a lot of time on the couch with my legs propped up on pillows trying to stay still. Thankfully, it's starting to feel a little better. Here's a picture of my baby belly at 30 weeks...</span><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550959011406987698" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWzU3EpS9ao9_5OADmsRoUN-NYJjelq5X362gq8jOxnseYx0W4ABIGzLJ2f790oo3mUPFCylgeeGqVg_pmHAU5-zuqYdDVIBkmFLpNNKFnNwyatFec37H8qSj1L3i2Nn_vcHzikeol0Ph6/s320/30+weeks+001.jpg" /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">One of my friends does this little survey on the bottom of each of her blog posts. Since I don't have too much to update you on, I figure it'd be an good thing to do this post.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">How far along: 30 weeks, 1 day</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Maternity Clothes: I always have to wear maternity pants, I can still fit into some of my normal shirts. I'm pretty close to not being able to zip up my jackets and fleeces.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Sleep: I am pretty tired all the time. Thanks to finally getting a body pillow (one of those really long pillows) I haven't been having as much hip pain from sleeping. I wake up a lot to flip to my other side, but am sleeping fairly well. I am having some crazy dreams though!</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Best Moment of the Week: When she started to move when she heard Kirk's voice. (Non-pregnancy related best moment of the week...Kirk taking me to see Harry Potter (finally!) and to PF Changs for dinner!)</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Movement: She's starting to be a little forceful with her kicking. There's been a couple that have hurt! I love when she's moving and get nervous when I don't feel her moving around. (I know that she's napping and not supposed to move 24 hours a day - but I still get nervous!)</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Cravings: Not too many. I did go to Target to return something and came home with chips and salsa, so I guess that'd be one. </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Gender: Girl (unless we get a major surprise when she's born)</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Labor Signs: None, thankfully. We are SO not ready and 30 weeks is too early! </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Belly Button: Still an innie</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">What I miss: Diet Coke and regular coffee. </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">What I'm looking forward to: I can't wait to meet her and see what she looks like!</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Weekly Wisdom: Sometimes it's better not to read too much about labor and details of it. Also people like to share horror stories about labor/babies. </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Milestones: I feel like hitting 30 weeks is a big milestone! Only about 2 months left! </span>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334535841270658800noreply@blogger.com5