It's been a while since I've had time to post anything up here, but there's good reason. Jen and I have been working like crazy this summer. We both taught ESY this summer (with a trip to Iowa in the middle), and we both were working on grad-level classes. Jen was taking her LAST class for her Master's degree(I am so proud of her), and I took two classes toward my Autism endorsement. All of our classes finished yesterday, so now we can really get down to the task at hand- making room for baby!
Actually, we have been working hard on the house already. Lots of projects are going at once, but there are a few that are wrapped up. Jen's folks spent about two weeks here working on the house, and I don't know how we would have gotten much accomplished during that time without their help! Jen and I were able to sort out some of the rooms that weren't ready for the deep clean and/or paint while her folks worked on the ones that were closer to being ready. As a result, we have a fresh coat of paint in our living room (which led to freshly painted trim and door, which led to a new lock set, which led to a gaping hole in the door at 11:00 at night, etc. etc.). The lovely mural left for us in the living room is gone. (Just a note- do not use oil pastels on a wall and leave the work unsealed unless you are sure it will live there forever.) I finally had to resort to using a sponge and Dawn to get the mural off the wall. I figure if it will get crude oil off of a pelican, it might just clean our walls!
The most significant accomplishment at the house so far is the relocation of our bedroom. We now have our room in what used to be the lime-ass green (thanks again, Mr. Landlord) home office/library. Jen and I enjoy literacy, let's say, so there were six bookcases full of literacy to be relocated! Some of the books are now living at Goodwill (on their way to new homes, I'm sure), most are boxed up in storage, and a few have new homes right here in our house. It ONLY took two coats of primer and a coat of paint to cover the lime green paint, and now it is a much more soothing blue. Now the room that was our bedroom can be converted into the nugget's nursery.
I know I have been rambling on and on about little things around the house, but these little things are adding up to be big steps in getting ready for the munchkin to arrive! By the way, if you need a ceiling fan replaced, I know a couple of guys. They work cheap, and they are EXTREMELY handsome.
Off to paint in the NURSERY! (Pictures to come later.)
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Third Trimester?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
I am not quite sure how the third trimester has snuck up on us so fast. Nor am I quite sure how I feel about it yet! I am waivering between being super excited and super panicked! Any suggestions?
Overall, I am leaning more to the excited side! The second trimester was really good for me. The morning sickness nearly vanished and my energy level definitely went up. For the most part, I felt great, but the last few weeks I have been growing a little more uncomfortable between the oppressive heat of this summer (one of the hottest on record....aren't I lucky?!) and the fact that I have no torso and Baby is definitely pushing everything up under my ribs! This week I have had my first comments from random people about being pregnant, so I guess I must finally look like I am having a baby and not just pigging out on the donuts!
The nugget has become VERY active as of late...which also means I am up way late! Chris and I have decided that we are officially growing a night owl, which I suppose is not really all that surprising considering his/her parental (and grand-parental) background! I keep telling Chris that we are either raising the next Michael Phelps or the newest Shawn Johnson because Baby really likes to turn flips and move back and forth. The latest game is for Baby to lay horizontally and then move its arms and legs out simultaneously getting me on both sides! What fun! Chris and I are also having fun watching my belly move, as Baby is now big enough that we can sometimes see the big turns and somersaults.
We have also discovered that there is nothing wrong with Baby's hearing, and we are definitely raising a music lover. One afternoon we were watching the Jimmy Buffet Gulf relief concert and the minute Jimmy started singing, Baby started dancing. When he was just talking, Baby was really still. Hooray for Baby being a little Parrothead! Last night, Baby was also jamming out to Paul McCartney, which made Chris extremely happy to know that Baby has good taste and enjoys the Beatles!
I am amazed at how fast the summer is flying by. We survived the trip to Iowa and returned home to finish 3 weeks of summer school, and while I love my students and my summer job, I was definitely not sad to see Wednesday (the LAST day) arrive. We are now onto the next projects. Chris and I are a little over a week away from finishing classes for the summer, which means I am only a week away from becoming a master!!! I have loved my program and learned a lot, but will be extremely happy to finally be finished! In the meanwhile, my mom and dad have been here for the past week and they have been a Godsend! We have sorted, pitched, recycled, painted, and moved nearly everything in the house. Of course this means we have created an even bigger mess than we had to start with (and put the cats into an incredible state of panic and confusion), but I am sure that it will all get finished soon. I'll let Chris post more about the various projects at another time!
23 weeks
24 weeks
25 weeks
26 weeks
27 weeks (still wearing my size 0 capris--under the belly of course!)
Overall, I am leaning more to the excited side! The second trimester was really good for me. The morning sickness nearly vanished and my energy level definitely went up. For the most part, I felt great, but the last few weeks I have been growing a little more uncomfortable between the oppressive heat of this summer (one of the hottest on record....aren't I lucky?!) and the fact that I have no torso and Baby is definitely pushing everything up under my ribs! This week I have had my first comments from random people about being pregnant, so I guess I must finally look like I am having a baby and not just pigging out on the donuts!
The nugget has become VERY active as of late...which also means I am up way late! Chris and I have decided that we are officially growing a night owl, which I suppose is not really all that surprising considering his/her parental (and grand-parental) background! I keep telling Chris that we are either raising the next Michael Phelps or the newest Shawn Johnson because Baby really likes to turn flips and move back and forth. The latest game is for Baby to lay horizontally and then move its arms and legs out simultaneously getting me on both sides! What fun! Chris and I are also having fun watching my belly move, as Baby is now big enough that we can sometimes see the big turns and somersaults.
We have also discovered that there is nothing wrong with Baby's hearing, and we are definitely raising a music lover. One afternoon we were watching the Jimmy Buffet Gulf relief concert and the minute Jimmy started singing, Baby started dancing. When he was just talking, Baby was really still. Hooray for Baby being a little Parrothead! Last night, Baby was also jamming out to Paul McCartney, which made Chris extremely happy to know that Baby has good taste and enjoys the Beatles!
I am amazed at how fast the summer is flying by. We survived the trip to Iowa and returned home to finish 3 weeks of summer school, and while I love my students and my summer job, I was definitely not sad to see Wednesday (the LAST day) arrive. We are now onto the next projects. Chris and I are a little over a week away from finishing classes for the summer, which means I am only a week away from becoming a master!!! I have loved my program and learned a lot, but will be extremely happy to finally be finished! In the meanwhile, my mom and dad have been here for the past week and they have been a Godsend! We have sorted, pitched, recycled, painted, and moved nearly everything in the house. Of course this means we have created an even bigger mess than we had to start with (and put the cats into an incredible state of panic and confusion), but I am sure that it will all get finished soon. I'll let Chris post more about the various projects at another time!
23 weeks
24 weeks
25 weeks
26 weeks
27 weeks (still wearing my size 0 capris--under the belly of course!)
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Baby's First Visit
So, we are rapidly approaching the end of Baby’s first trip to Iowa. Whew…we have been through quite the whirlwind! Baby has become much, much, much MORE active since arriving in Iowa (I think that may be a sign, Baby likes it!). This however has meant much, much, much LESS sleep for me! I will take it though, as it has been very fun to really feel Baby moving around. Chris even got to feel Baby the other night as I got one really strong swift kick in the side. His eyes lit up and were as big as saucers, only to be followed again by comments like, “It’s a real person in there!”
We have survived some brutally hot, humid day time temps (swelter, as my brother calls it), record cool nights (freezing, as I call it) and LOTS of rain (obnoxious, as my mom calls it, all the while yelling at the meteorologist on TV on a daily basis). While all our families have escaped the flooding, I am always sad to think of the families and communities who go through year after year of uncertainty and loss in the face of mother nature. The rain definitely put a damper on all the 4th of July activities, as mother nature put on her own fireworks show throughout much of the weekend. Fortunately, Urbandale was able to squeeze in the fireworks show between rain storms on Monday, and Baby was very interested to know what all the commotion was about!
Other than dodging raindrops, we have spent lots of time visiting parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, and cousins on both sides of the family and many different friends with no obvious signs of injury or too much wear and tear. Although, I am EXHAUSTED, and will need a vacation just to recover!
A trip to the Reece Cottage Garden in New Providence, Iowa. So pretty!
The annual visit with Amber and the boys! (Thank you for all the maternity attire!!!)
The Reece/Heilskov cousins BB (Before Baby)
Uncle Chris and Micah having a little too much fun at the Science Center!
Most importantly, we have collected a disturbing amount of Hawkeye baby gear and given Baby Reece its first taste of Iowa Sweet Corn! While the crop won’t really be ready for a few weeks, it was so good to have a small taste of what is to come! Ironically enough, according to our “What to Expect” app for the two weeks we have been here, Baby has been the size of….AN EAR OF CORN!!!! He/She must have known that we were visiting the homeland. We are growing a true Midwesterner at heart!
Baby's first ear (or 2 or 3) of sweet corn! YUMM-O!
So proud (as Chris says!)
We won’t be bringing the cooler-full back with us this trip, but have no fear Florida friends, my parents are headed down at the end of the month and will supply us well!
We have survived some brutally hot, humid day time temps (swelter, as my brother calls it), record cool nights (freezing, as I call it) and LOTS of rain (obnoxious, as my mom calls it, all the while yelling at the meteorologist on TV on a daily basis). While all our families have escaped the flooding, I am always sad to think of the families and communities who go through year after year of uncertainty and loss in the face of mother nature. The rain definitely put a damper on all the 4th of July activities, as mother nature put on her own fireworks show throughout much of the weekend. Fortunately, Urbandale was able to squeeze in the fireworks show between rain storms on Monday, and Baby was very interested to know what all the commotion was about!
Other than dodging raindrops, we have spent lots of time visiting parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, and cousins on both sides of the family and many different friends with no obvious signs of injury or too much wear and tear. Although, I am EXHAUSTED, and will need a vacation just to recover!
A trip to the Reece Cottage Garden in New Providence, Iowa. So pretty!
The annual visit with Amber and the boys! (Thank you for all the maternity attire!!!)
The Reece/Heilskov cousins BB (Before Baby)
Uncle Chris and Micah having a little too much fun at the Science Center!
Most importantly, we have collected a disturbing amount of Hawkeye baby gear and given Baby Reece its first taste of Iowa Sweet Corn! While the crop won’t really be ready for a few weeks, it was so good to have a small taste of what is to come! Ironically enough, according to our “What to Expect” app for the two weeks we have been here, Baby has been the size of….AN EAR OF CORN!!!! He/She must have known that we were visiting the homeland. We are growing a true Midwesterner at heart!
Baby's first ear (or 2 or 3) of sweet corn! YUMM-O!
So proud (as Chris says!)
We won’t be bringing the cooler-full back with us this trip, but have no fear Florida friends, my parents are headed down at the end of the month and will supply us well!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Off We Go...
It is absolutely amazing to me how fast time flies. When we found out we were pregnant, 20 weeks seemed so far off. Now, 20 weeks have come and gone and we are faced with the realities that we are more than halfway there and October is just around the corner. This is becoming more and more apparent by the clothes I am buying and outgrowing at a rapid-fire pace and pictures below! It is hard to determine what is growing faster at this point, me or the excitement of our upcoming arrival.
Definitely building are the piles of baby stuff around the house. The one room that was repainted during spring break has become the spot for all things baby. Chris and I are so appreciative of all the awesome friends we have who have offered us so many different things already. We have only purchased two items and yet we have a corner of the room overflowing with clothes, bibs, blankets, a car seat, and various other baby things (some of which we know Baby won’t need for a while, but really don’t want to turn down at this point).
So, what are we doing to get ready? We are making Baby Reece’s first pilgrimage to Iowa! We survived the first two weeks of ESY and are headed to Iowa for the two week break. It is odd to think that we have not seen either set of family since we found out we were pregnant, and we are both very excited to be returning to the land where the tall corn grows (well not yet anyway, you know, “knee high by the 4th of July” is how the saying goes)! Don’t worry, though, I am sure we will find some corn while we there and I can help get Baby off to the best corn-fed start! Besides eating, we are going to make the rounds, seeing as many friends and family as time allows, knowing that we are not yet certain when we will be home again. We are hoping for a Christmas visit, but Baby may have other plans.
Once we get back to Florida, the real work begins. Chris and I both have classes to finish up at FSU, ESY will wrap up, and the work to redo the house begins in earnest. This could be a rather interesting venture as I am still not sure what needs to stay, where it will stay, and what needs to go. We have several friends and family who have volunteered to help out when the time comes, so consider yourself warned…you may not want to answer your phone or check your email! For now, off we go!
19 Weeks
20 Weeks
21 Weeks
22 Weeks--Looking good, huh?
Definitely building are the piles of baby stuff around the house. The one room that was repainted during spring break has become the spot for all things baby. Chris and I are so appreciative of all the awesome friends we have who have offered us so many different things already. We have only purchased two items and yet we have a corner of the room overflowing with clothes, bibs, blankets, a car seat, and various other baby things (some of which we know Baby won’t need for a while, but really don’t want to turn down at this point).
So, what are we doing to get ready? We are making Baby Reece’s first pilgrimage to Iowa! We survived the first two weeks of ESY and are headed to Iowa for the two week break. It is odd to think that we have not seen either set of family since we found out we were pregnant, and we are both very excited to be returning to the land where the tall corn grows (well not yet anyway, you know, “knee high by the 4th of July” is how the saying goes)! Don’t worry, though, I am sure we will find some corn while we there and I can help get Baby off to the best corn-fed start! Besides eating, we are going to make the rounds, seeing as many friends and family as time allows, knowing that we are not yet certain when we will be home again. We are hoping for a Christmas visit, but Baby may have other plans.
Once we get back to Florida, the real work begins. Chris and I both have classes to finish up at FSU, ESY will wrap up, and the work to redo the house begins in earnest. This could be a rather interesting venture as I am still not sure what needs to stay, where it will stay, and what needs to go. We have several friends and family who have volunteered to help out when the time comes, so consider yourself warned…you may not want to answer your phone or check your email! For now, off we go!
19 Weeks
20 Weeks
21 Weeks
22 Weeks--Looking good, huh?
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Baby's first real photo shoot
So we had the "big" ultrasound yesterday, and needless to say, it was AWESOME! I know many of you are wondering, so here's the big news: we are having a...
wait for it...
BABY! If you had the "baby keeps its secret" ticket in the pool, you win! The doctor and ultrasound tech were very good at helping baby Reece from spilling the beans (if there are beans), telling us when to look away from the screen. That was the hardest thing of all. I didn't want to miss a single second of seeing our baby. I know that this is all really happening, but watching our baby move around really makes it sink in.
Speaking of moving around, baby Reece has the wiggles. (That trait runs strong on Dad's side.) It took the tech a while to get a good enough shot of baby's profile. Baby kept hiding its face with its arms. We were remarking that there are plenty of pictures on both sides of the family with hidden faces, and now we have a new one!
Baby Reece showed off all sorts of things- fingers, toes, heart, brain, spine, TONGUE, stomach, and more. I was scooping my jaw off the floor, amazed at how intricate our baby's body is already. Not to get too sappy here, but I told Jen that I can't wait to hold baby once it's here (I'm a little jealous of all the time she's getting to spend with baby at this point, but I'm not so jealous of some of the other crazy things that pregnancy has blessed her with- I'll let her post about that if she wants.)
There's those little piggies!
A foot and a hand, I think
A shy Reece? I think not...
There's that beautiful face!
There's another shot of the little kicker (which will bedoing plenty of kicking in the weeks to come)
We feel so blessed to have a baby that is developing well at this point, and we are hopeful that the rest of this pregnancy and delivery will go just as well. If any of you think you can tell from these grainy pictures if baby Reece is a boy or girl, keep it to yourself =). We will have a real baby pool this fall!
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Grow Baby Grow!
So, once again I find myself apologizing for the lack of updates. Although I think I am just setting realistic expectations upon baby's actual arrival! We are still busy as ever, but extremely happy to see the light at the end of the tunnel as another school year draws to a close. Chris was reappointed for next year and even managed to "recruit" new students to fill the vacancies left by their departing 5th graders. He was extremely relieved last week to announce that his LAST IEP of the year was finally finished!!! So now he is on to the next adventure. He was informed earlier this spring that he will have to pack up his entire room because they are re-doing the AC unit in his building. Fun, fun...at least he only has 2 years of things to pack up and not 20+ years like my mom, who will be moving schools yet again this summer!
I have been swamped with end of the year things at Everhart. Two weeks ago, we survived the final chorus concert and the event of the year....Everhart PROM! Last week included the final awards assembly and graduation. Needless to say, I have been begging for a 3 day weekend for about two weeks now. I am feeling fortunate that we are almost finished at this point because I am not sure how much longer I could keep up this pace. Next week is Fun Day and early releases for students, so I am thinking that, at the most, I only have 4 music therapy sessions left for the year, if every class arrives as scheduled. I am teaching summer school this year, although I am not entirely sure which room I will be in. We also haven't quite nailed down how my maternity leave will be covered next year, but at this point, it is looking like I will be full time at Everhart this fall, with Brenda covering all of the district-wide sessions and traveling from school to school. Assuming Baby Reece decides to arrive on-time, the plan is that I will be gone for the 2nd nine weeks and come back to work in January.
We are finalizing plans for day care, for at least 2nd semester next year. We have been so fortunate to have two different individuals agree to take care of our bundle of joy. Both live near Hartsfield and come with EXCELLENT recommendations from Hartsfield teachers and parents alike. We are so excited at the prospect of having our baby in a small home care setting rather than a group day care. I know that day will come, and I firmly believe in the importance of early development of social interaction skills, but love the idea that my child will be receiving individual attention during at least the first year of his/her life!
Otherwise, things seem to be going well. I have broken down and purchased several new, bigger pieces of clothing for my wardrobe. Although I have not moved into maternity wear quite yet, I know that day is coming soon. My morning (all day) sickness seems to have subsided for the time being, which is quite the relief for someone who would rather do anything in the world other than throw up! I am still tired, but I think that has more to do with the schedule this time of year and the 95+ degree heat that we have been blessed with the past few weeks. Go figure that the year I am pregnant, we have entirely skipped spring and moved straight into the dog days of summer. I am not looking forward to July and August at this point! We have been to doctor one more time since the post with the heartbeat and we got to hear that magic sound again. We tried to tape it, but were so busy talking and asking questions that we kind of lost the important "soundtrack". We have our ultrasound Friday and are very excited for what we are sure will be a fabulous end of the school year present to us! Until then...enjoy the new pics (and Dad, I so apologize if you are offended by my belly shots!) =)
Baby Reece's First Prom
15 Weeks
16 Weeks
17 Weeks
18 Weeks--What happened between 17 and 18? Hence the title of the this post! =)
I have been swamped with end of the year things at Everhart. Two weeks ago, we survived the final chorus concert and the event of the year....Everhart PROM! Last week included the final awards assembly and graduation. Needless to say, I have been begging for a 3 day weekend for about two weeks now. I am feeling fortunate that we are almost finished at this point because I am not sure how much longer I could keep up this pace. Next week is Fun Day and early releases for students, so I am thinking that, at the most, I only have 4 music therapy sessions left for the year, if every class arrives as scheduled. I am teaching summer school this year, although I am not entirely sure which room I will be in. We also haven't quite nailed down how my maternity leave will be covered next year, but at this point, it is looking like I will be full time at Everhart this fall, with Brenda covering all of the district-wide sessions and traveling from school to school. Assuming Baby Reece decides to arrive on-time, the plan is that I will be gone for the 2nd nine weeks and come back to work in January.
We are finalizing plans for day care, for at least 2nd semester next year. We have been so fortunate to have two different individuals agree to take care of our bundle of joy. Both live near Hartsfield and come with EXCELLENT recommendations from Hartsfield teachers and parents alike. We are so excited at the prospect of having our baby in a small home care setting rather than a group day care. I know that day will come, and I firmly believe in the importance of early development of social interaction skills, but love the idea that my child will be receiving individual attention during at least the first year of his/her life!
Otherwise, things seem to be going well. I have broken down and purchased several new, bigger pieces of clothing for my wardrobe. Although I have not moved into maternity wear quite yet, I know that day is coming soon. My morning (all day) sickness seems to have subsided for the time being, which is quite the relief for someone who would rather do anything in the world other than throw up! I am still tired, but I think that has more to do with the schedule this time of year and the 95+ degree heat that we have been blessed with the past few weeks. Go figure that the year I am pregnant, we have entirely skipped spring and moved straight into the dog days of summer. I am not looking forward to July and August at this point! We have been to doctor one more time since the post with the heartbeat and we got to hear that magic sound again. We tried to tape it, but were so busy talking and asking questions that we kind of lost the important "soundtrack". We have our ultrasound Friday and are very excited for what we are sure will be a fabulous end of the school year present to us! Until then...enjoy the new pics (and Dad, I so apologize if you are offended by my belly shots!) =)
Baby Reece's First Prom
15 Weeks
16 Weeks
17 Weeks
18 Weeks--What happened between 17 and 18? Hence the title of the this post! =)
Saturday, May 8, 2010
2nd Trimester Update...
So I had every intention of writing another post before now, but you know what they say about the best laid plans. We have been busy as ever. We have all the typical end of the year things that Chris was mentioning in the last post, and I spent the last few weeks finishing up yet another semester of grad work. I survived two classes and completed my final portfolio project. I have one class left this summer and will graduate on August 7! Hooray!!!!
To celebrate, we took a trip to Orlando last weekend. We spent some quality time with the “mouse” and enjoyed walking around the Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot. We have decided to do the baby’s room in an Eric Carle theme (Very Hungry Caterpillar, Very Lonely Firefly, Brown Bear illustrations, etc.). So, I took lots of pictures of real hungry caterpillars and butterflies at the festival. I also discovered that Disney theme parks are a pregnant girl’s paradise…one food stand after another, and another, and another!! We also took stock of the situation and went “stroller shopping” while we waited in lines. We decided which strollers looked the best, had appropriate storage, were a reasonable size, had a good turning radius, etc. It was actually kind of fun to see all the different options in action!
The other half of the weekend we spent really shopping. Although you can’t quite tell from pictures, I have gained a few pounds and discovered that my weight and shape are shifting all over! So, I am in need of some new clothes. Chris typically enjoys shopping, which is a good thing because he definitely won the “Patient Husband of the Year” award on this trip. I made him sit outside all sorts of dressing rooms and give his opinion. In the end, I bought a few new (longer) shirts, a pair or shorts, capris, and jeans, and a few dresses. The goal was to find a dress that would work for prom, graduation, and a wedding at the beginning of June. I bought a really cute wrap dress, and we are going to cross our fingers that it makes it through all 3 events.
Overall, I am feeling better than I was when I wrote the last post. The constant nausea and “morning sickness” has diminished, only to be replaced by a few bouts of throwing up with no warning! I am not quite sure what is worse. While I appreciate that I feel pretty good throughout the day, I do not appreciate having to stop and or drop everything and run for nearest bathroom or trash can! I definitely have more energy, although the end of the year craziness and the summer like temps are wearing on me a bit. (I was in bed and asleep at 8:15 last night!). Although I don't look too different yet, I am readyfor the time when I will actually look pregnant and not like I have just eaten too many donuts! I haven’t been able to feel the baby moving yet, but had a cool experience tonight when, for the first time, I could feel where the baby was in my uterus! I made Chris come feel too and his response was, “Wow! It gets more and more real everyday!” He has no idea…=)
In honor of our nugget---yes I should have covered up the s, because there is only 1!
Baby's 1st Dole Whip at the Magic Kingdom!
15 weeks--Not that you can tell from this angle! We are so proud of our Future Hawkeye!
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