The Butler's Blog

i ♥ faces: Back to School

2011-09-12T15:41:00.001-05:00

This week's challenge at I Heart Faces is Back to School!

This year is Ben's first year of school (more on that later) and this photo was taken before his first day! I love the expression on his face- nervousness and excitement rolled into one. And the sunflare. Love the sunflare. ;)

To see more inspiring Back to School photos, or to enter your own, go to http://www.iheartfaces.com!

Bella turns TWO!

2011-09-09T20:18:00.002-05:00

Dear Bella,

You had a truly wonderful 2nd birthday! The night before Daddy and I stayed up late and wrapped all your presents, assembled your new slide, and got everything ready for you to enjoy the second you woke up in the morning! Daddy even made a midnight trip to Walmart to get princess wrapping paper, a singing Dora card, and a Winnie the Pooh ballon! :) This is what you saw when you woke up:

Gifts for the birthday girl!

Of course, when you FIRST woke up we video-taped us singing the Happy Birthday song when Daddy got you out of bed. It's gloriously off-key and completely terrible, you may want to turn the volume down (or off completely) when you watch it. ;)

The first order on the birthday agenda was present-opening!!! You had a blast (and so did Ben) tearing into all the presents! You loved ALL of your gifts, you were so blessed by your grandparents and aunts and uncles! So many fun new things!!

After presents you had some delicious pancakes and strawberries- your favorite! You even donned your new crown (that Ben picked out and gave you for your birthday) and ate in style. ;)

Your gift from us was your new slide (and some new pajama's), and let me tell you- it was a HIT! You and Ben both had a blast sliding over and over and over again! It made your Dad and I so happy because we were SO stumped as to what we should get you! You already have lots of fun 2 year old toys (from when Ben was 2) and we really pondered it up until the very last minute. I'm so glad we decided on that, and you have been enjoying it ever since you laid eyes on it! :) You had fun sliding on it yourself, as well as sliding your side-kick Winnie the Pooh!

Just like last year you were rockin' a seriously cute birthday ensemble, so naturally we did a little birthday photoshoot! You were such a good sport and smiled like a pro! Before we took you out to lunch (Pluckers of course!!) we got some family shots as well. :)

After lunch we came home and you had a nice, refreshing nap! After your nap you were up and ready for some more birthday fun! You played hard and got lots of phone calls, and even a Skype call, from family members who love you SO much! Then at dinner time you enjoyed your favorite meal- spaghetti, and then it was time for cake!! I made another delicious egg-less creation for you again this year and it was enjoyed by all! :)

You had such a great day, Bella. You went to bed loving your new Winnie the Pooh from Bessa and Papa and your new Bitty Baby from Grandma and Granddad and wearing your new pi's from Dad and I. You look pretty happy I'd say... ;)

We love you so very much. You are such a little spunky ball of joy and it is contagious to everyone who lays eyes on you. We are so thankful that God gave us you. :)

Happy Birthday sweet baby girl!

Love Forever,
Mommy

R&R 2011, Part 1

2011-09-08T13:54:00.001-05:00

We had such an amazing 2 weeks with Albert while he was home on R&R!! We picked him up at the airport on August 4th and had fun, fun, fun until we had to take him back to the airport on August 20th. Ben and Bella were OVER THE MOON excited to have Daddy home! They wanted to do everything with him, and be by his side at all times! They had so much fun wrestling, playing and being silly. It brought so much joy to my heart to see my children so carefree and happy!

First big event of R&R- WE BOUGHT A VAN! Yep, we are the proud owners of a Swagger Wagon. ;) It was definitely a "God thing" and He certainly orchestrated it for all the pieces to come together perfectly so we were able to upgrade to a wonderful new vehicle. I love it!!! At first I was unsure about how it would feel to be 29, and in a "Mom van" (which is just one step away from the "Mom jeans"), but let me tell you- it feels GREAT!!! I love my van! The bells and whistles play a big part, but I can honestly say I love driving it, I am so comfortable and the kids are so comfortable, it's just a joy all around! :)

Our new ride

While Albert was home, we (naturally) had to go to a baseball game! Since we couldn't go see the Cardinals we headed to Round Rock and saw the Round Rock Express! We all wore our Yankees gear since the Yankees had a big game against the Red Sox that night. ;) Despite the extreme heat, we had a blast! We sat in the lawn and the kids ran and played, and rolled down the hill until their heart's content! Ben had the time of his life, and would have been happy to stay until they kicked him out, but Bella was getting a little grouchy with the heat and it being past her bedtime, so we headed home before the game was over... but not before we got a quick family picture. :)

Round Rock Express Game

While we were in Round Rock, before we went to the game, we got to eat at Mighty Fine and then go to the Disney Store where Ben found the Chick Hicks car (from the first Cars movie) that he had been asking for. So a successful trip all around. :)

Speaking of Cars, Ben got to go on a special "date" with Dad to see the Cars 2 movie! He had seen it previously, but had been asking to see it again since we left the movie theatre. ;) Thankfully they had it playing on post, and Albert was able to see it with him! They packed some fruit snacks, and Mater juice boxes and had a wonderful father/son date! :)

On their way to see Cars 2

Another thing the kids LOVE to do is go to Texas Tumblers and play on the gymnastics equipment on the Toddlers Free Play days! Since it's hard to chase after the two of them, going in separate directions, I haven't taken them recently, so we took the opportunity while Albert was home to go! :) The kids loved it!!

Playing in the foam pit, at Texas Tumblers

We were blessed to have Albert home to celebrate our sweet Bella's 2nd birthday!! It meant so much that we were able to have R&R during that time, and we had such a wonderful day! Such a wonderful day, in fact, it's deserving of it's own blog post! ;) Check back soon for Bella's 2nd birthday and more from R&R!

Aaaaand we're back!

2011-09-08T13:15:00.001-05:00

I am very sad to say, our beloved MobileMe blog site will be shut down in the next year. :( I guess that Apple found that the iWeb feature was not one that was used by many, and long story short- they're getting rid of it. So guess what that means? I get to move all of those blog posts over here! Woo hoooooo! That's going to be fun. So I figured I might as well get started with some new posts so I can re-familiarize myself with Blogger! :) Now that my sweet Ben is in school I have a few moments to myself when I can get you guys caught up with the going-ons of our family! Hope you enjoy!

Kelly Moore Bags!

2010-12-30T20:43:00.002-06:00

I wanted to take a moment from chasing after my 2 little ones to tell you all about the AMAZINGLY talented Kelly Moore. She is an incredible photographer and she has designed some of the most stunning camera bags I've ever seen!

Here is a quick glimpse of her bags:

I am in love with the B-Hobo, as well as her newest edition, the Posey (named after her sweet daughter)! The bo-ring from-the-camera-store bag I'm currently sporting cannot even hold a candle to these bags. I'm planning on asking for a B-Hobo for my birthday next month! ;) I love the idea of being fashionable AND functional! You all know my severe obsession with my Coach bags- so to say I'd rather carry a Kelly Moore Bag rather than my Coach & camera bag is saying a lot.

She did video tutorials for each of the bags (which I think is genius!) and if you are interested in one, definitely check out it's tutorial- it gives you a great feel for what to expect!

B-Hobo

Posey

Classic

Kelly Boy

JuJu

You can follow her on Twitter or become her Fan on Facebook for more updates on all of the new bags and things in store for 2011! You need to check her out!!

i ♥ faces: Play

2010-06-08T15:21:00.003-05:00

The challenge this week over at i heart faces is PLAY! How fun!! :) With 2 playful little ones there are soooo many pictures to choose from, but I took some the other night of Albert and Ben playing outside with Ben's new squirt guns and I just loved this picture! :)

To see more fun, PLAYful, photos go to http://www.iheartfaces.com! :)

We've MOVED!

2010-05-17T20:30:00.000-05:00

We have moved into our new home and we are back at our old blog! :)

Check out http://web.me.com/butlerfamily2004 for new posts of Bella crawling, Mother's Day, and Bella's 9 month update! :)

TODAY!

2010-05-06T04:26:00.000-05:00

The movers are coming TODAY!

All our stuff will be here TODAY!

We can move into our house on post TODAY!

Hip Hip HOORAY!!

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The life of Curious George Butler

2010-04-28T13:25:00.001-05:00

This week Ben has been big on including his stuffed Curious George in all his daily activities. On Monday George ate applesauce with Ben then he pooped on the potty and naturally got Nemos (finding Nemo fruit snacks) for his amazing feat. Ben was such a big helper and wiped his bum and everything! Apparently George was feeling a little less than fresh so he took a bath and after his bath Ben snuggled him in his towel (cutest thing ever!!! tried to take a picture but wasn't speedy enough). After he was clean Ben put George in his pj pants, which unfortunately were a bit too big, so he went to bed in his birthday suit. After Ben turned on some David Crowder and shut the door he changed his clothes and went for a run. This is Ben "on his run" in the living room. He has on his Rams hat, tshirt, red gym shorts, orange and blue striped socks on upside down (grippers on top side of his feet), and guitar Robeez. lol!

(his run was not to be interrupted for photo taking purposes, lol)

Unfortunately we've run into some behavior problems with George. He has taken to screaming. It's no good folks, no good. He also growls. Both of which send him to time out, and if he continues, Ben sternly gives him a spankin on his behind. (This is both hilarious and a little upsetting). Today I had to have a talk with George, and I explained to Ben that he wants to be a good monkey and he won't scream anymore. Hopefully that helps. ;)

Besides a few shananigans, he has a great time! This week he also got to take a trip to Target and go to Starbucks and share a juice with Ben!

Ben tried to get him his own juice... but I thought it would be better if they shared. ;)

Oh Curious George Butler, we're so glad to have you in our family.

•Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone•

i ♥ faces: Smiles!

2010-04-26T12:22:00.000-05:00

This week's challenge at i heart faces is Smiles! :) The second I found out what the challenge was this picture came to mind...

Oh my sweet Bella, your joy-filled, cheese-ball, toothy grin MAKES MY DAY! :)

For more sweet smiles head on over to i heart faces!

I ♥ Lightroom

2010-04-23T07:47:00.000-05:00

You may or may not be familiar with the photo editing software, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. It is AH-MAY-ZING. Albert downloaded the free trial on our iMac before we left and I loved it so much I downloaded another free trial (shhhhhh) on our MacBook while we're in transition. I LOVE IT! I just had to share with you. :) Here's an example of why I love it... a popular "mommy-blogger" MckMama posted a tutorial on how she got some of her photos to have a "vintage" look to them. With Lightroom I was able to follow her steps, SAVE the steps as a Preset, and now can give any photo I desire that same look!

Like I said, AH-MAY-ZING!

Here is a photo Albert took of Ben while we were in St. Louis:

Straight Out Of the Camera it is a beautiful shot!

Now here it is with one of Lightroom's ready-made presets (that I toggled with a bit):

And here it is with the preset I copied and saved from MckMama:

So much fun, right?? Ok, maybe that's just me... lol! I could honestly play all day in Lightroom and still have not discovered all the awesome tricks!

So there it is, I just had to share my love of Lightroom. If you are a photo-enthusist like myself, DOWNLOAD THE FREE TRIAL, you will love it! The end. ;)

taking advantage of my neighbor's unprotected wifi...

2010-04-20T14:09:00.000-05:00

We have moved out of the hotel and are in a furnished apartment off post. It is SUCH a blessing to be able to stretch out and we are SO enjoying the 3 bedrooms and 2 baths!! God is so good, and held off the rain until we moved out of the hotel, and believe me, I am soooo thankful for that! I would have been a looney bird if we had been cooped up in that hotel! :) He also provided us with this apartment before Albert had to go back to work, which I am also so thankful for! Again, I would have have lost my mind in that hotel room by myself with the kids. The downfall of this apartment is no internet... so I'm taking advantage of my neighbor's unprotected wifi (that we can only access from one of the bedrooms) to update you all. You're welcome. ;)

We are keeping ourselves busy here in Texas! Last weekend we drove up to Waco and visited University Baptist Church, and saw the David Crowder Band lead worship at their home church- AWESOME! The church is like a big BSU, filled with college students and a very fun and funky vibe, it was so neat! Also, the pastor is a Cardinals fan and mentioned the 20 inning game that took place the night before, so I immediately felt at home. :) After church we checked out the mall and I got some really cute things for Bella at Gymboree with the giftcard I had been saving and the Gymbucks promotion- yey for good deals! ;)

We have been going to Texas Tumblers twice a week and Ben is really loving it! He calls it the "Bounce House" because he jumps on the trampolines... and there is an actual bounce house. ;) This week he did the (low) balance beam all by himself and swung on the rope over the foam pit! He's so brave! We are going to try out Storytime at the library near our apartment tomorrow, so hopefully he will like that one as much as the one we went to on FLW. :)

We got some really cute pictures of the kids in their Big Brother and Little Sister shirts my Mom got for them, and here are a couple of my favorites. :)

Bella KILLS me! She is such a ham!!! :)

Well that's my update! Happy Tuesday! :)

Bella is 8 Months!

2010-04-13T15:30:00.012-05:00

Dearest Isabella,

You are 8 months old!!! You, my dear, are the happiest baby ever on record. I'm sure of it. You smile all the time, and now that you can clap, you clap at everything and for everyone! You hold out your arm and wave "hi" to strangers and just brighten their day! :) You are just joy and encouragement in the form of a baby girl. :) You are getting closer to crawling with every day! As soon as we get our house and you have wide open spaces to practice on, you will be on the move, I'm sure of it! You can now lift your hips off the floor, which scoots you backward, and you can also go into the crawling position from sitting. You babble all the time and mimic all the sounds Ben makes... including his ear piercing screams. This, my dear, is no bueno. We need to stop this ASAP. On the bright side, you have started saying "uh oh" and "ma" when prompted. :)

You love to eat your baby food, and you can now eat Puffs! You had your first Puffs at Grandma and Granddad's house before we moved to Texas and they were a hit!

You still love to grab at everything, and you are quite determined to get ahold of whatever has caught your eye. And in case I haven't mentioned it before, you are freakishly strong. You are also REALLY fast. You keep Daddy and I on our toes, for sure! :)

You now have THREE teeth!!! Tooth #3 just popped through today! It's the top right (my right). You haven't slept through the night in a very long while thanks to these new additions, but I'm hoping maybe one day...soon...we can go back to full nights of slumber. :) You still love to suck your thumb, and by golly it is still so cute!! Your chubby little fist, it just gets me every time. You take your bath at night now in the big tubby with Ben! You guys have the best time in there- it's SO CUTE!

You sure do love your big brother, that's for sure! You often reach out to hold his hand and that is just about the sweetest thing ever. Today in the car he was talking to you and had you just laughing and laughing, your Dad and I just about died it was so cute! :)

Unfortunately, there will be no bear pic this month because your bear was packed with our household goods and is in storage until we get our house... but hopefully we will have it next month for your 9 month picture! :)

Bella you are such a sweet girl and I love you SO MUCH!

Love Forever,

Momma

Life in our hotel

2010-04-11T22:04:00.004-05:00

We are so grateful to be on such a big installation located near such a big town, with lots of things to explore, because our hotel room can get VERY SMALL very fast.

I'm not gonna lie. It's pretty ghetto. Ah, the price we pay to have our beloved dog with us. (See Sallie, we do love you after all!)

It's the hardest on nights like tonight when Bella is fast asleep in her Pack-n-Play, and Ben has a surge of energy and is laughing hysterically and gettin' rowdy. On top of all that, Albert and I would like to watch some of our TV shows together, but that's not gonna happen with Sleeping Beauty and Wild Man McGhee.

Ben has become accustomed to having the MacBook to watch Curious George on every night...

...so that usually leaves Albert and I with the hotel's little 19" TV on mute. Ho hum. :-\

We have some interesting neighbors as well. I went to check to see if the communal washers and dryers were being used before toting our laundry down there and I ran into quite a character. After I explained I was just checking on the status of the washers, and I was on my way to put my children to bed, she decided to share her life's story with me, on top of all her recent woes and medical issues. WOW. I listened politely, and I realize sometimes people just need an ear, but I mean really, the things strangers share with me sometimes just blows my mind.

The kids are making the best of it though. Bella enjoys trying to roll off the bed as fast as she can before one of us dashes across the room to catch her, and Ben enjoys getting into the mini fridge and sneaking sips of his juice and opening up slices of cheese. They have the most fun of all, though, when they are together. Today while Bella was playing in her Pack-n-Play Ben went and got his stool and climbed right in there with her!

They are so sweet!! They do play together nicely for the most part, but inevitably there's always something...

Yeah, I'm pretty sure she's biting him. He's a good sport though. ;)

Well, Ben has finally drifted to sleep (to the sounds of David Crowder Band) so I'm going to wrap this up and hopefully Albert and I can catch up on some TV via hulu.com! :)

Bella Clapping!

2010-04-10T18:42:00.001-05:00

Here is a short video of Bella last night clapping! SHE IS SO CUTE! I just can't take it!! ;) Enjoy our little happy girl!

We made it!!

2010-04-09T11:01:00.000-05:00

We've been here in Texas for 4 days now and we've been having a wonderful time getting to know our new home! :)

I think the thing that we are most surprised about is the fact that the town outside of post is a REAL CITY... with amazing things like Target, Barnes & Noble, A MALL, numerous Starbucks, and every yummy restaurant you could ask for (McAlister's! we have a McAlister's!!!!). Every time we venture off post we marvel at all the new places we find. :)

Yesterday we took Ben to a place called Texas Tumblers where they offer free play for toddlers twice a week. Ben LOVED playing on all of the gymnastics equipment (and so did Albert! ;)). It was so nice for him to be able to run and play and get ALL his wiggles out! Afterwards we went over to Barnes & Noble for some coffee (and juice for Ben) and enjoyed reading and looking at children's books. For lunch we went to Chipotle, and then after lunch headed back to our room for some naps. There's SO MUCH to do here!! :)

Since it is such a big installation, we are truly blessed to have some friends here from FLW. It is so refreshing to see familiar faces in an unfamiliar place. Wednesday night we went over to our friends, the Seholm's, house and Ben had a great time playing with Garrett! They both share a love for Curious George, riding bikes, and drinking juice. Total BFFs. ;) Kristin and I had a great time talking and playing with the kids while Erik showed Albert around post. We enjoyed a delicious dinner in their beautiful home and can't wait until we are their neighbors again!! :)

Speaking of... we are currently in the hotel on post and are still looking at a move-in date at the beginning of May. We are anxiously awaiting getting our house, and we are SO ready to have all our household goods (namely, all of the kids toys!) and we can't wait to have a backyard for Ben (and Sallie) to run and play in! :) I'm sure that after living so cramped together for over a month we will truly appreciate our new home when we get it! :)

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T15:09:00.000-05:00

We would like to wish everyone a very Happy Easter! We have been having so much fun in St. Louis, I haven't been a very good blogger- but soon I will share all our stories and photos- I PROMISE! :) We leave tomorrow morning for Texas, so we would ask that you pray for safe travels for us and over all of us as we leave Missouri (the state I've called "home" for 26 years). We are definitely excited about the new adventures ahead of us. :)

Happy Easter to you all! Jesus is RISEN! He has conquered the grave! Hallelujah!! :)

We have a house! (sort of)

2010-04-01T08:22:00.001-05:00

We got word that there will be a home available on post for us about a month after we get to Texas! Praise God!!! We will live in temporay housing until then, so thankfully we packed all of our necessities (and then some) because all of our household goods will be in storage until we get our house!

We are having a wonderful time in St. Louis and I plan on putting up some posts with some pics very soon! :)

Happy April!

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i ♥ faces: Dramatic B&W

2010-03-29T14:59:00.003-05:00

IMG_3540, originally uploaded by katiebutler04.

We love ourselves some i ♥ faces. We couldn't resist this week's challenge- even in the midst of our vacation- we had to enter!

This week's theme is Dramatic B&W, and what is more dramatic than a 2 year old throwing a temper tantrum? :) Albert captured Ben in the throws of a meltdown during our road trip to SC for Christmas and I LOVE this photo. The creases at the top of his nose. The gap in his teeth. The blur of his flailing hand. Just wonderful. Something we will look back on (and cherish) 20 years from now when he's an adult. ;)

Make sure you check out the rest of the drama at http://www.iheartfaces.com!

We are clear!

2010-03-27T15:53:00.001-05:00

Albert stayed in FLW on Weds, Thurs, and Fri to be there with the movers, to clean the house, and to clear housing. He worked SO HARD and as of yesterday afternoon we are totally moved out and done on FLW! Yey!! It was an amazing duty station, and we made so many happy memories there, but we are excited about our new adventures ahead and we are not looking back! ...

...Ok, so maybe I was a little. ;)

We have an exciting week ahead of fun, family, and friends in St. Louis and then off to Texas we go! :)

•Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone•

Last night in our house

2010-03-24T10:30:00.001-05:00

The movers are here today!! They are busy packing all our stuff, while Albert and I sit around and play on our phones, so I figured I would take this opportunity to blog. :)

My mom came down last night and took us out to dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant EVER, el Jimador (have I mentioned el Jimador before? ;)). Albert and I both got Pollo Bandito, the dish that made us forever fall in love with el Jimador. And here it is, in all it's tastey glory:

And there's a sweet tea there with it. YUM. We had a great time at dinner with my Mom and she was kind enough to take a picture of us outside before we left:

Please disregard the fact that I'm lookin like a hot mess. It had been a long, busy, hard working day. Goodbye el Jimador, we will always love you. ;)

My Mom stayed the night the night with us last night and took Ben up to her house this morning. Which has been AMAZINGLY helpful!! It would have been so hard to keep him occupied and out of the way while the movers are here. So he us having fun with Grandma, going to Starbucks and being spoiled with love, I'm sure. :)

While I am very excited for a new house, this house will always hold a special place in my heart. I prayed fervently that God would open up the perfect house for Ben and I to move into as we prepared for Albert to return from Iraq, and He certainly did! This house holds many special memories: our reunion with Albert, Ben's first steps, many special visits with family and friends, Bella's first home, and so on. So we rejoice in the blessing this house has been and look forward to our new home that God is preparing for us! :)

•Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone•

i ♥ faces: Focusing on Angles

2010-03-22T15:58:00.000-05:00

Hooray! Another fun challenge at i heart faces! This week the challenge is for pictures with unique angles! I took this picture on Friday when my sister-in-law Mary and her boyfriend Seth came into town for their college Spring Break! The weather was gorgeous so we made a day trip to St. Louis and went to the Arch and the Zoo and the Loop! This is Mary and Seth at the bottom of the St. Louis Arch.

For more photos with unique angles head on over to http://www.iheartfaces.com!

Legos

2010-03-13T13:19:00.001-06:00

IMG_6431, originally uploaded by katiebutler04.

Playing Legos with Dad on a Saturday is so much fun. :)

i ♥ faces: Hilarious Outtakes

2010-03-01T16:17:00.002-06:00

It's Hilarious Outtakes week over at http://www.iheartfaces.com! Here are some of the photos that never fail to make me laugh out loud! Enjoy!

Staring into the sun...

Classy Ben, real classy.

Big pimpin'...

I asked Ben to give Bella a hug and a kiss... poor Bella

Mmmm...toes...

For more Hilarious Outtakes head over to i ♥ faces!

Test post

2010-02-24T17:16:00.000-06:00

I'm testing the new app I just got! Posting from my phone, yipee!!

Here's a picture of Bella last week rockin' her Vday barrette. She's excited, can't you tell?? ;)

•Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone•

i ♥ faces: Hands On Fun

2010-02-22T21:23:00.003-06:00

For awhile now I've enjoyed visiting a wonderful photography website: http://www.iheartfaces.com. I love seeing how so many different people, from all walks of life, interpret the weekly challenges. This week's challenge is "Hands On Fun," where the focus is on hands (instead of faces) and immediately this picture came to mind, and I decided to enter a challenge for the first time. :)

I took this picture of baby Ben holding Albert's hand just minutes before Albert left to return to Iraq after his 2 weeks of R&R. Ben had met his Daddy for the first time, at the tender age of 3 and 1/2 months old, and he was not letting him go.

For more amazing photos head over to i ♥ faces!

Cheese

2009-11-17T09:14:00.001-06:00

DSC_2122, originally uploaded by katiebutler04.

This is a test post to see how to use Flickr and Blogger. :) The above photo is of Ben at the park! He's wearing his Take Pride t-shirt- so cute!!

Sweet

2009-07-09T08:00:00.002-05:00

I saw this online at Old Navy yesterday, and I thought it was PERFECT for our little girl. I'm glad to give up all fun sugary things for my sweet baby girl!

Speaking of the gestational diabetes, at my NST on Tuesday my doctor printed off my blood glucose readings over the last week, and made the call to up the dose of my medication from 1/2 a pill twice a day to a full pill twice a day, and see if that will work before doing insulin shots. And as of the last two mornings IT HAS, praise God!!!!!!!! Please pray that it continues to work over the next month (one month from tomorrow is induction day! Holy smokes! :-O) so I can avoid insulin injections. We have our ultrasound tomorrow to check her growth, so hopefully I will have some pictures to post and some stats on how big she is, so check back! :)

4th of July Weekend

2009-07-06T19:11:00.008-05:00

We were lucky enough for Albert to have a 4-day weekend over the 4th of July so we packed up our car and hit the road for our last family road trip to St. Louis as a family of 3!! (It's getting harder and harder to sit in the car for the drive to St. Louis the farther along I get, so this was the last time we were all going together, next weekend just Ben and I will be going up- my Mom is coming down to get us- because Albert is having a Guys Weekend at our house, and then after that our next trip will be a family of 4!!).

We left our house Friday morning and made it to St. Louis just in time for some lunch, and for me to satisfy my craving for a Chick-fil-A Spicy Chicken Wrap... mmmm.... soooooo gooooood! After lunch we went over to Babies 'R Us to check out some double strollers, and then headed over to Target to check out their selection as well. After our shopping trip we went back to my parent's house and Ben and I laid down for a much needed nap.

That evening my parents were kind enough to watch Ben so Albert and I could enjoy a date night!! We had a WONDERFUL evening together! We went to dinner at a restaurant called Bacana Brazil and it was an experience unlike any other! They had a salad and side bar, and you could help yourself to whatever you liked, and then they had servers come around to each table with different cuts of meat! So delicious!! After dinner went went to see the movie Away We Go, oh my gosh, so funny!!! We loved it! I would definitely see it again, there were so many funny/awkward parts, oh man, so good! :) After the movie we went over to Fritz's Frozen Custard to get some tastey treats (they have a No Sugar Added ice cream for diabetics, it's amazing!), and while we were driving back to my parent's house we noticed people out all along the street, and then fireworks started! So we pulled into a parking lot and watched the fireworks while eating our ice cream! Then my dad called and said they could see the fireworks from their back deck and Ben was up watching it with them, so we headed over and enjoyed the majority of the show from my parent's deck. Ben LOVED them! :)

The next morning (the 4th) started with some thunderstorms and dark cloudy skies, which set the tone for a nice, lazy day. Albert wasn't feeling well so Ben and I just hung out around my parent's house and enjoyed spending time with the family. We made a short trip to the mall with my brother Tim, and I got some great deals at the Children's Place for Ben and baby girl, and Ben got to play at the indoor playplace, so it was a successful trip all around! :) That evening we had some yummy BBQ and then my dad, my brother Tim, Ben and I headed over to Schroeder Park for the band and fireworks show! We met up with my friend Steph and her sister Jackie and nephew Jackson and we had a great time! Ben and Jackson did AWESOME, they loved the live band and were enthralled by the fireworks! Ben kept saying "woah..." and when it was over he said "more, more, more!" lol! :) After all that excitement, and staying up late 2 nights in a row, he was one exhausted boy and slept like a rock that night!

The next day Albert was feeling better (yey!) and we had a wonderful morning at church, and then a great lunch with friends at McAlister's Deli. After lunch we went back to Babies 'R Us and decided on a double stroller and a new car seat! I feel so much better to have that done and I'm really happy with the one we decided on. Ben seemed to love riding around in it, so I'm sure his sister will be happy in there as well. :) The rest of the day we took it easy and enjoyed the time with my family!

We came back home today after lunch and we're trying to get back into the swing of things after our fun-filled weekend! :) For some 4th of July pics, check out the Gallery.

My 1st NST and OB appointment #7

2009-07-01T11:25:00.006-05:00

This morning I had my first Non-Stress Test and everything went perfectly! My blood pressures were great, her heart-rate was beautiful, she wiggled and moved around for us, her oxygen levels were exactly where they should be, and I was SO happy! I also got an ultrasound (surprise bonus!!) to check my amniotic fluid levels, and I got to see our pretty girl as well! And I will get to see her EVERY week! Hooray! :) My amniotic fluid levels were perfect as well (they want it to be between 8 and 25cm and mine was 15.6 something), so everything is looking great!! :)

At my appointment my doctor took a look at my glucose readings and has decided to put me on an oral medication to see if that works to keep my morning fasting numbers down. I will go on half a dose until Tuesday, and if it looks like it is helping then he will put me on the full dose for the remainder of the pregnancy, but if it isn't working he will put me on insulin. PLEASE PRAY IT WORKS! He stressed over and over how proud he was of me, and how well I'm sticking to the diet and exercise, and just reassured me that it was a product of the pregnancy, and completely out of my control. That definitely made me feel better and less like I was "failing" when I had high numbers. I lost another pound, so I'm 5 under my starting weight, lol, and he measured my fundus and I'm measuring at 34, so a week ahead. We will hopefully get a better idea of her size at the ultrasound on Friday, but I'm not concerned because Ben starting measuring ahead at this point as well, and he was perfectly normal sized.

I scheduled all my appointments for the rest of the pregnancy, AND an induction day! :-O Unless she comes on her own (please PRAY SHE DOES!) I will be induced the morning of Monday August 10th. :) 40 days, people, 40 days!!!! I can't even believe it!

I am so grateful for a healthy baby and a wonderful appointment today, praise God!! :)

Pregnancy Update + 32 Weeks Belly Pic

2009-06-23T09:02:00.007-05:00

Since our computer was having issues I was never able to blog about my last OB appointment last week, so this is sort of a catch-up on all things going on with the pregnancy!

Gestational Diabetes, my doctor was super proud of me and how serious I am taking this new lifestyle and told me I was a "very good diabetic." ;) I have to take my blood sugar levels 4 times a day, once when I first wake up (my "fasting" number) and one hour after every meal. My fasting numbers have pretty consistently been about 5-10 points above my target, and I have tried EVERYTHING I can think of to get them to stay down- exercising at night, changing up the time of my nighttime snack, changing up what I have for my nighttime snack, changing the time I test in the morning, etc etc. He said he wasn't concerned because they were not that off and I was still learning what foods trigger high numbers, so he said he would give me 2 more weeks and then if they are still consistently high he may put me on an oral medication to take at night. So, so far no insulin, PRAISE GOD! Because of this new diet and exercise regimen I have lost 8 pounds... putting me 4 pounds UNDER my starting weight. Yeah, I am 8 months pregnant and 4 pounds lighter than when I started, lol!
Pregnancy, my doctor mentioned he will want to induce at 39 weeks because of the GD and my high blood pressures when I come in the office. So, please PRAY PRAY PRAY that she will come on her own before the induction day, because I REALLY do not want to be induced again. It is saddening to think of being induced again, but also exciting to know that she will be here in no longer than 7 weeks! Only 6 more Tuesdays until I get to hold my baby girl! That is very exciting. :) So her birthday will be on or before August 11th (you can feel free to change your guess on the baby pool if you would like, lol). I also will start doing Non-Stress Tests twice a week at the hospital starting the 1st of July. A NST is when they monitor the baby's movements and heart-rate for an alloted amount of time, which is another precaution they are taking because of the blood pressures and GD. But I do get to do something fun because of all these issues- I get another ultrasound!!!! :) I will actually have 2 more, because he wants to check her growth every 4 weeks, so I have 1 on the 10th of July, and then after that I will schedule another one for 4 weeks later. So that will be fun, I love getting to see my girl. :) When he measured my fundus I was measuring right on at 30 (I was 30 weeks, 6 days at my appointment), so that gives me hope that she is just the perfect size and not getting too big, please continue to pray for her growth! :)
My Belly, here is the updated slide show with my 32 Week Belly pic, enjoy!

(I was unable to edit it on Photoshop to add 32 Weeks, since our iMac is out of commission, so just know the last pic is 32 Weeks.) :)

Albert's 10K

2009-06-20T13:31:00.006-05:00

This morning Albert and 4 of his friends from class ran the Marine's 10K as a group. It was a hot, muggy day, and I commend everyone who ran today, because oh man I was miserable just standing around! Ben and I met up with our friend Marcy and her son Levi to see the guys off at the starting line.

The guys waiting for their turn to go to the starting line.

Dads with their boys!

And they're off!

After we saw them off Ben told me he was hungry, so rather than go home and deal with the hassle of getting him in and out, and back in, the car again, I just took him to Burger King drive-thru and got him some of their apple slices and myself a water, and then we drove down to the Finish Line. We definitely enjoyed every second in the wonderful air conditioning in the car. :) We met up with Marcy and Levi at the finish line and enjoyed watching the other teams come in while we waited, and the boys just loved playing outside. :)

We were so excited when we saw the guys come down the hill and start crossing the river! (yes, they had to cross the river, TWICE!)

And we were so proud of them when they crossed the Finish Line! Way to go, guys!!! :)

Tom, Ben, Ben, Albert, and Mike

Water Park Fun!

2009-06-19T08:44:00.006-05:00

The little playground by our house (the one that we always go to) has a water park area, and since it was PIPING HOT yesterday, and Albert got out of class at 3:30pm (have I mentioned how much I LOVE the Captain's Career Course?!), we headed over for some fun!

This was the 3rd or 4th time Ben's gone, but every time at the beginning he is hesitant, like "Do I really want to do this?"

This time he had some help from Dad to overcome his hesitancy!

He had SO. MUCH. FUN! There was a Mom there with her two little girls, one a little older than Ben, and then a little while later another Mom came with her son who looked to be about Ben's age, and the 3 of them were sooooo cute playing together! The little girl had a tennis ball and so one of them would throw it, and the others would chase after it, it was adorable! Ben did not want to leave, but we had been there for about 45 min, and I was DYING in the heat, so Albert took him for one last run through all the sprinklers and we headed home. :)

For some more of the pictures head over to the Gallery!

Back to Basics

2009-06-18T14:42:00.003-05:00

Well friends, our iMac is having some hard-drive issues, and until we can take it to the Apple store in St. Louis to get the Geniuses to do their genius-work, I am unable to blog at our website, so we are back to blogspot for the time being. :) We will be making the trip to St. Louis in a week, but who knows how long the Geniuses will need to keep it to get the problem resolved, so keep checking here for all your Butler-family-needs until I tell you otherwise. :)

Updated Address

2009-01-03T18:50:00.003-06:00

The updated address for our website is:

http://web.me.com/butlerfamily2004

Stop by and say Hello! :)

New Website!

2008-02-10T21:13:00.002-06:00

Albert and I got a new toy...an iMac! :) So as a part of the new iMac fun, I have created a new website that has a blog, photo albums, and movies! I would love if you would add it to your favorites and come by it often! :) It is still a work in progress, so excuse some of the "unfinished-ness" about it, but it has some new pictures and a new movie, so hooray for that! hehe :) Also, those of you with video iPods, you can click on the video, and it will take you to our Mac gallery where you can download the video for, you guessed it, your iPod! So if you just need to carry little Ben with you in your pocket, you surely can. ;) Enjoy!

http://web.mac.com/butlerfamily2004

The Happiest Birthday Girl

2008-02-06T20:40:00.000-06:00

I could not ask for a better way to celebrate my 26th birthday than with my two favorite people in the world, my husband and my son! :) I am so thankful for how God has blessed me!! It really was a very happy birthday!

3,000 words

2008-02-05T11:32:00.000-06:00

I have no words to accurately describe the joy in seeing my husband and his son, my son and his daddy, together for the first time. So since a picture says 1000 words, I'll let them do the talking. :)

I have lots more pictures of Ben and Daddy fun that I will add soon!

Change of plans....

2008-02-03T08:14:00.000-06:00

Albert called at around 11:30pm last night and gave me the best news I had heard in a long time...he's not coming home on Weds (wait for it...) he's coming home on Monday!!! That's right- he's coming home TOMORROW!!!! He will have 16 days with us, instead of 14, and won't have to leave until the 20th!!! :dances for joy: Since I had planned on him coming home on Weds afternoon/evening I scheduled the cleaning ladies to come on Tues and my hair appointment for Weds, so the house is a disaster and my hair isn't "did"...but who really cares! :) I'M SO FREAKING EXCITED!!! hehe :) I will certainly post pictures and hopefully some video, so keep checking back!!

Ben is 3 Months Old!

2008-01-31T08:36:00.000-06:00

Happy 3 months Ben! It's hard to believe that he is 3 months old already! (I have a feeling I will be saying that every month, and every year, for the rest of his life, lol) :) He is really developing his motor skills! He is able to use his hands much more effectively with every day. I absolutely adore watching him grasp his chubby hands across his chest and pull them together up to his mouth with such determination! He is grabbing on to things (like my necklace...my glasses...my earrings...lol) as well as some of the toys that he has (on his bouncey seat there are 2 toys that dangle down, and he likes to grab at those). His neck muscles get stronger and stronger every day as he works them out during Tummy Time (and "work out" he does- after he is done he pants like he just ran a marathon and konks out for a good long nap, lol). He is so social and loves to be wherever the people are! He loves to chat and loves, loves, LOVES to be sung to. I make up ridiculous songs about everything and he eats them up like I'm a rock star. He is such a joy, such a good, sweet boy, and I love him so much!

Thank You Third Day!

2008-01-28T08:38:00.000-06:00

Albert and Third Day's lead singer Mac Powell

A little over a week ago the Christian band Third Day came and performed to a packed house in Baghdad. Albert said it was the 2nd best concert he has ever been to (you cannot top David Crowder apparently), and that the place was packed and the soldiers loved it! This was so refreshing to hear because to my knowledge there have been no other Christian artists to perform for the troops in Iraq- and there is such an amazing opportunity for ministry there! So my from heart I say Thank You to Third Day- thank you for bringing a smile to my husband's face, and for ministering to hearts of our brave soldiers!

Another American Idol Fan

2008-01-22T19:48:00.000-06:00

hehe... :) (P.S. My apologies for the poor lighting, I forgot to turn the light on the camera)

Aunt Esther and Aunt Mary Visit!

2008-01-22T08:02:00.000-06:00

Albert's sisters, Esther and Mary, came to visit Ben and I and we had a lot of fun together!

We took them to Albert's favorite Starbucks...

We had a lot of fun playing at the house...

And the girls were nice enough to give me an evening out with my friends so I could celebrate my friend Steph's birthday! :) We took Ben on a couple of outings, to Starbucks (see above) and to the Christian bookstore- where he made his presence known by letting loose the stinkiest of all stinky baby poops (lol). The girls and I went to the movies and saw 27 Dresses (LOVED it!), while Ben played at Grandma's (he watched the football games with Granddad, lol), so it was a really wonderful time! The girls had so much fun with their nephew they wanted to take him home with them...

We are so glad they came and we miss them already!

Laryngomalacia

2008-01-17T07:52:00.000-06:00

You may have noticed the sound that Ben makes when he breathes in- sort of like a wheeze or a whistle, which he has done since he was born- well, my pediatrician referred him to a pediatric Ear Nose Throat doctor to get a 2nd opinion, and make sure it was nothing. So my mom and I took him in for his appointment yesterday and as it turns out he has a very mild case of laryngomalacia. Laryngomalacia is when there is extra cartilage around the larynyx, and when Ben breathes in that extra cartilage wobbles and results in the sound. The doctor said it should only last until he is 12-18 months, and if he continues to make the sound past 18 months, or the sound gets worse, to bring him back in. But to diagnose him they had to put a scope down his nose, and that was truly awful. :( I am so grateful that it is nothing and we (hopefully) will not have to go back for it! He was such a brave boy though, and I am so proud of him!

Happy 27th Birthday Daddy!!

2008-01-08T10:48:00.000-06:00

Ben had some well wishes for his Daddy this morning on his 27th birthday. He has a lot to say because he loves him soooooooo much!!

P.S. The scratch on his face is from his fingernail. :( Dang little things are like razorblades!

Tummy Time!

2008-01-04T09:01:00.000-06:00

Here is just a little clip of Ben's tummy time, nothing exciting, but I love it! :)

Ben's 2 month appointment

2008-01-03T20:00:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was Ben's 2 month doctor's appointment and he blew me away with how much he has grown! Ben weighed in at 14lbs 10oz and measured at 24 and 3/4"! He was in the 97th percentile in both height and weight! And his head circumference of 17" was off the charts, lol! :) He is loving that "liquid gold", that's for sure! hehe. He is meeting all of his developmental milestones, and is a healthy baby! He had to have his shots, and that was horrible. Just horrible. I knew that it would be bad for him when he physically got the shots, but I had no idea how miserable he would be for the rest of the day into the night. To hear him cry and see him in so much pain (even with Infant Tylenol every 4 hours!) was unbearable. I am not looking forward to his next appointment at 4 months. :( But praise God that he is such a happy healthy growing boy!

Ben is 2 months old!!

2007-12-31T08:23:00.000-06:00

Yep, our little boy is the big 2 months! ;) We have gotten into a nice little routine, and he is sleeping 5-6 hours straight every night! It is wonderful! He is so social and loves to smile and coo to everyone! But, of course, as soon as I get out the video camera to capture his sweet baby conversations he stops and looks at me like "not with that thing on!' (um, can we say like Daddy much?!), so I will continue to try and capture them so I can put a video up for you all, I might have to get sneaky and trick him. ;) Now that he is 2 months we did his bear pictures again, and Albert is working on a side-by-side comparison for me, but until then...

One Month:

Two Months:

Ben's First Christmas!

2007-12-28T09:21:00.001-06:00

Merry 1st Christmas Ben!!!

Ben in his "Baby's First Christmas" pj's, with his gifts from Santa

Sorry it has taken me a couple of days to get this posted! :) Ben had a wonderful first Christmas! There is not a more loved baby in all of the world, I am sure of it! We went over to my parent's house first thing in the morning, and everyone was more interested in holding Ben than they were in their Christmas presents! ;) We had a wonderful morning, my mom made pancakes and sausages and my dad made hash, and of course we had some Starbucks coffee, yum! After breakfast we all gathered in the living room and saw this:

As well as this...

I know, right?! But like I said, Ben stole the show...

After the gift-opening-extravaganza we had some lunch (yes, it took us that long!) and took some of these....

Taking his cues from Uncle Dan...

After our naps my parents made an amazing turkey dinner and we had a delicious Christmas feast! After dinner my dad, Danny, Steph, Rafael and I played the game "Sequence" that we got as a gift for the family:

It really was a wonderful Christmas, but Albert's presence was certainly missed by all of us. I know Albert is so appreciative to all of you for the amazing gifts and cards and words of encouragement to him this Christmas, it helps him more than you know! :)

P.S. I would just like to let it be known, that I have the cutest baby in the world. ;)

For my Albert

2007-12-24T00:00:00.000-06:00

The lyrics of this song describe my feelings perfectly...

Merry Christmas Darling, by Karen Carpenter

Greeting cards have all been sent
The Christmas rush is through
But I still have one wish to make
A special one for you

Merry Christmas, darling
We're apart, that's true
But I can dream
And in my dreams
I'm Christmasing with you
Holidays are joyful
There's always something new
But every day's a holiday
When I'm near to you
The lights on my tree
I wish you could see
I wish it every day
The logs on the fire
Fill me with desire
To see you and to say
That I wish you Merry Christmas
Happy New Year too
I've just one wish
On this Christmas Eve
I wish I were with you
I wish I were with you
Merry Christmas, darling

Oh Happy Day!

2007-12-20T09:41:00.000-06:00

Last week, when Ben turned 6 weeks old he slept for 5 and 1/2 hours straight which was incredible since the longest he'd slept was 3 and 1/2 hours, so to get that much sleep was AH-MAZING. Well today he really blew my socks off, he slept for 6 and 1/2 hours straight!! Can you believe it?! Oh my word, I am so proud of that little guy! When I looked at my clock and it said 4:30 I just about smothered him in kisses! It is soooooo nice to have a full night's sleep! Even if it is only every now and again, I LOVE IT!!! :) Ben turned 7 weeks old yesterday, and it's hard to believe that in a little over a week he will be 2 months! Wow! He is so much fun now because he smiles more and more and is becoming so interested in things (his mobile, mirrors, rattles, his bouncy seat, etc). He also is HUGE-MONGOUS, ok, so maybe not huge-mongous, but he is getting really big! Check out the comparison:

1 Week Old

7 Weeks Old

Yes, he is such the good growing boy! :) Well, while he is sleeping sounding in his swing I am going to try to get some stuff done, but I will try to be better about posting more often! I know how badly you all yearn for Ben updates. ;)

Ben's First Snow!

2007-12-17T10:27:00.000-06:00

Ben is One Month!

2007-12-01T13:00:00.000-06:00

This past month has been amazing! I definitely have gone through every emotion imaginable- and back again. :) I have had the amazing support and help from all our family and friends and I couldn't have done it without them!

Ben is growing so much and it is so amazing to see him doing new things that he didn't do before! The past several mornings he has smiled at me, and it fills my heart with a kind of joy I did not know existed!! :) He makes me laugh all the time- like when he makes his funny faces (especially the eyebrows up, eyes closed, and pursed lips one), when he stretches and sticks out his little butt, or when a loud grown-man fart comes out of his little behind lol- I could go on and on! He brings joy to everyone around him!

I took some photos of him next to his bear, and I will take a photo of him every month next to the same bear, so you can see how he is growing. Also, I gave him his first bath in the tub this week, so there are pictures of that as well! Feel free to ooowww and awwwww at his cuteness... ;)

Family Visits/Ben's 1st Thanksgiving!

2007-11-24T11:44:00.001-06:00

Ben and I had the wonderful blessing of a visit with his Grandpa and Grandma Butler and Aunts Mary, Tallie, Michaela, and Hope! The family got into town Saturday night and we visited through Monday morning when Tim and the girls traveled down to Tennessee to visit more family. Ben adored being held by all those loving arms! The girls were so sweet with him, and I know when he gets a little older and is able to respond back they will really have a lot of fun together! The remainder of the week Ben and I were spoiled rotten while his Grandma B stayed with us! :) She was so helpful, and really made my life a breeze the entire time she was here! She got up and did the 5am-9am shift with Ben, which allowed me the luxury of a 4 hour block of sleep!! I honestly felt like an entirely new person with that amount of sleep- it was incredible! She did grocery shopping, made us wonderful meals, changed poopy diapers, cleaned my house, did my laundry, I mean WOW! It was a huge blessing to both of us!

On Thanksgiving morning we relaxed in our pajamas and watched the parade together. Grandma B snuggle with Ben on the couch and he ate up every second of it! Later in the afternoon we got ready and with all possible baby gear and a green bean casserole in tow, we headed over to my parent's house! I was on the phone with Albert during the entire process of heading out the door and driving over there, which really made the whole thing very interesting. :) Once we arrived Albert was able to talk to his Mom and all my family, which was really nice! We had a wondeful meal together and then afterward really enjoyed sitting around visiting with each other and had a lot of laughs. We talked a lot about Albert, how much we all loved him, and told funny stories about him, and it really made it feel like he was right there with us. We all missed him so much, and somehow that made it easier. That evening Tim and the girls traveled back from Tennessee and they got some more lovin'-time in with sweet baby Ben. :) I must say, for a 1st Thanksgiving, this one wasn't too shabby. ;) He got loved on and spoiled by both sides of his family- what a lucky kid! Of course, the only thing that will be able to top it, is next year, when Daddy is home. :)

Ben at 2 Weeks

2007-11-14T20:15:00.000-06:00

Ben's 2 week doctor's appointment was Monday and he is quite the growing boy!! :) He jumped from 8.2 on the scale a week prior to a stunning 9.6!! The doctor said the .2 and .6 don't equal ounces, you have to take that and multiply it by something to get the ounces, and she figured that he went from 8lbs 3 oz to 9lbs 10 oz! WOW! That's some good milk, lol! :) He also grew from 20.5 inches long, to 21.5 inches, and his head circumference went from 14.5 to 15! I took pictures at both appointments, and I put him in the same outfit so the weight would be the same, but look how you can see him filling out the outfit so much better now! Truly amazing!

Ben at 5 days old:

Ben one week later at 12 days old:

He is such the cutie! He is so well behaved at the doctor's office and everyone ow's and aw's over him. :) His next appointment isn't until he is 2 months, and that one will involve shots, yuck! We will have to bring Grandma for moral support so Mommy doesn't cry when Ben cries. ;)

The difference a week makes

2007-11-07T16:52:00.000-06:00

One week ago today an amazing miracle happened, our son, Timothy Benjamin Butler was born into this world! He was 7lbs 15 oz and 20.5 inches long- just like his Daddy the day he was born. :) The emotions and joy felt on that beautiful Halloween night will forever make my heart swell! I am so proud of my son, he is so handsome and sweet and already is full of personality! This last week has been a learning and growing experience for both of us, Ben has the unique task of teaching me how to be a mom. :) Luckily, I have an amazing example in my own mother, without whom I would have been lost this last week. She has been so extremely helpful and supportive, words cannot even describe how grateful I am for her! :)

Albert and I are so in love with our son, he brings us both endless amounts of joy and we can't wait to continue to watch him grow and develop and see the amazing man of God he will become! Thank you Lord for this miracle and beautiful gift!

Psalm 127:3 "Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him."

I'm having a baby tomorrow!!

2007-10-30T17:29:00.001-05:00

I went to my appointment this afternoon and I am still 3cm, but I am 75% effaced and his head is down really low. My doctor said it is time for him to come out because at this point all he is doing is getting bigger, and I agree, and so I am being induced at 1am tomorrow morning! :) It does seem like an odd time, but it is the perfect time, because it will be 9am in Iraq and Albert will be able to be involved throughout this process, which has been my prayer for weeks. So Praise God for His divine timing!! Please just be praying for me and the baby and Albert tomorrow and tonight as you think of us! I would normally elaborate and share my feelings and such, but I have to clean the house! :) So I'll leave it with I am excited and terrified all wrapped up into one! Pray, pray, pray!

Watch Love Grow Vol 4

2007-10-27T12:39:00.000-05:00

This is the final installment of Watch Love Grow, so enjoy. :)

OB Appointment #14

2007-10-23T21:41:00.000-05:00

Today I am 39 weeks, with only 1 week left until my due date, and I have some great news!! I made a lot of progress this week and when I had my exam today we found out I am 3 cm dilated!! :) So I went from a 1 and 1/2 last week, to 3 this week!! I am still about 60% effaced, and as far as she can tell he still hasn't dropped, but at least I am really making progress!! :) Everything else is great, his heartrate is great, and he is growing like he should, so praise God! Hopefully any day now he will come on out and join us!!

Single Digits/OB Appoint #13

2007-10-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

Wow- there are 9 days left until my due date!! I cannot believe it! I remember when I first found out I was pregnant there was like 200+ days, and then I remember vividly the day that I went from 100 to 99 and celebrated being in the double digits, and now today, today I am in single digits!

I'm sorry I never posted about my appointment last Tuesday! It went well, his little heartbeat was in the 130's and then he got all excited and it went up into the 150's and the doctor said "oh yes, he is very happy in there!" He still hadn't dropped, but I was a 1/2cm more dilated. She said I wasn't quite 2cm, but definitely 1 and 1/2, so that's good! I have to admit I was a little bummed though, because I thought for sure she was going to be like "wow- you're going to have this baby this week!" but no such luck. :) I've been doing more walking this week and feeling more cramping and pressure, so hopefully at my appointment this Tuesday she will say those words I've been longing to hear. ;) I'll keep you posted!

The Granny Shuffle

2007-10-13T11:26:00.001-05:00

There is a retirement community right next door to my apartment complex and many mornings when Sallie and I are out walking we see the residents. They are so sweet and get such a kick out of our silly dog and my big belly. Well, this morning Sallie and I were walking and I was going my usual pace- which I lovingly refer to as the Granny shuffle- as I jammed to my iPod(before I was pregnant I was a pretty fast little walker, but now I'm slowed down by this little man, so I go as briskly as I can, which in fact is not briskly at all) and as I am strolling along, to my right I noticed I am being passed by a resident of the retirement community. This little Granny just sashayed right on past and left me in her dust. I can no longer refer to my waddle as the Granny shuffle, for I have in fact been insulting Grannies.

Fun with my video camera!

2007-10-12T16:13:00.000-05:00

So a couple of weeks ago I recorded this saga between our dog Sallie, a chipmunk, and stray cat. Enjoy! :)

One Month

2007-10-10T21:39:00.000-05:00

Today marks the completion of the first month of Albert's deployment, 1 down, 11 to go. :) I am so grateful for how quickly this month has passed by! Everyone says the first month is the hardest, so I am thrilled to have that behind us! I am also thrilled to still be pregnant, lol! When Albert first left I cried so much and felt so sad we were both worried I was going to go into pre-term labor, but praise God He kept this little guy in me and when he does come we can say with joy that he is a full term baby! :) I have received several encouraging cards in the mail yesterday and today from family and friends and I just want to send out a big Thank You to all of you! It means so much and really blesses my heart! I absolutely would be a basket-case without your love and support, God is using each of you in great and mighty ways to get Albert and I through this- each of you is playing a critical role, and we thank you! :)

OB Appointment #12

2007-10-09T08:11:00.000-05:00

Today I am 37 weeks, woooooo hooooooo!!!! I now feel totally confident and at ease that our little guy can arrive at any time! YEY! :)

I had another OB appointment yesterday and it went well! Albert was so sweet and called me and kept me company as I waited for the doctor- is he not the most thoughtful man ever?! He blows me away! When my doctor came in she felt bad for interrupting the phone call, lol! She also was extremely impressed with how sweet that was, and said she could see why I love him so much! :) Everything is going well, the baby's heartbeat is good and strong and I am still 1cm dilated, but I have thinned out some more. So I am still making progress, but at a good pace for how far along I am and for being a first time mom. :) He still has not dropped yet, so hopefully that will happen some time this week and we can get this party started! :) I have created a fun little online baby pool, so give your predictions as to when Baby B is going to make his grand arrival!

I have the best husband ever

2007-10-05T21:56:00.000-05:00

I received a surprise in the mail today! :) It was a box with 2 dozen pink roses and and card that read, "Katie I wanted you to have some pink before your world turns blue! I love you dearly! Albert" :) I am so blessed!! The flowers are amazing and smell soooo good! I was able to make 2 arrangements with them, I have one on the kitchen counter, and the smaller one in the living room by the couches! They are so pretty! I couldn't ask for a better husband!! :)

OB Appointment #11/Childbirth Class #3

2007-10-03T21:39:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was my 36 week appointment and I had my final ultrasound to check the baby's position and growth and it was wonderful! My mom was able to come with me and she was amazed by how detailed the ultrasounds are now, and the technician was so kind and she did some 3D/4D for us! It was amazing how much he has grown in 4 weeks! He is now 6lbs 3oz, exactly what his Daddy predicted he would be, and the little guy is starting to run out of room! :) She said his kidneys, heart, bladder, etc are all functioning perfectly and we got to see him doing some of his "practice breathing"- and he was just going to town! She said that seeing him breathing fast like that is a good sign, and means that he is happy, she said babies that are sick or not feeling well are very slow. His heartbeat was 143 bpm, and he is in the head-down position (yey!). It was also really awesome because she remembered me, and she remembered Albert and told me she had been praying for him. She also said that her boyfriend is away with work during the week and only in town on the weekends, and one weeknight she was just upset and bummed out and missed him, and then she said she thought of me and Albert and she realized her situation was not as bad as it felt like at that moment. It really meant a lot to know that she thought about us and got some encouragement from the way we have chosen to approach our circumstances. She was so sweet and gave me extra pictures from the ultrasound to mail to him, I just love that lady, when Albert comes home for R&R I want to send her a picture of him and the baby. :)

After the appointment I had my first internal exam and I am happy to report that I am 1cm dilated and 50% effaced!! Look at me making progress, woo hoo!! :) She said all he needs to do now is drop, so she said think "drop! drop!", lol. Once I get to the end of my 37th week I definitely be thinking "drop! drop!", but I would like him to bake in there for just a little while longer so when he comes out he will be really good and ready. :) ...And it will give me a week and a half to get good and ready myself, lol! But I know that even if he came tonight it would be the perfect time and everything else that I feel like "needs to be done" wouldn't really matter anymore. :)

Childbirth class last night went well, we watched the last part of the video, so now I have watched all of the stages of labor and delivery...which I am sure is very different from experiencing them. :) hehe. We also watched a video on epidurals and it explained the pros and cons, and as my own personal choice, the pros outweigh the cons. :) The class went by really fast though and we learned some useful information, so all in all it was a good night! Next week is our final class, which I am excited about, but I have really enjoyed going, so I will sort of miss it too.

Here are some of the pictures from the ultrasound yesterday, they are kind of hard to tell what you are looking at because he's pretty squished in there. :)

First picture=side of his face and arm, Second picture=moving his arm in front of his face, Third picture=his face turned more so you can see both eyes, nose, mouth, Fourth picture=foot.

Watch Love Grow, Vol 3

2007-10-02T14:28:00.000-05:00

October is here!!

2007-10-01T12:49:00.001-05:00

This morning I received such a feeling of joy and satisfaction when I turned my calendar to October! I have been waiting so long for this month to get here, the month of my son's birth, and I just LOVE the fact that it has finally arrived! When people ask me when I'm due I can say "this month"! YEY!

Yesterday my dad and my sister and I had a wonderful day together! We went to Quiznos for lunch (sooooo yummy) and then went to Burlington Coat Factory's Baby Depot and I bought myself a wonderful glider to rock the baby in (so comfy, I could just glide in that thing all day!) and we looked for the changing table I wanted, but they didn't have it, so we went over to Babies 'R Us and I found it there and bought it! We brought the purchases back to my apartment and my dad and my sister were such amazing helpers and set up both the glider and the changing table! How fabulous are they?! After everything was assembled my sister and I did some room reconfiguring so everything would fit, and it works perfectly! We also opened up a package of diapers (they are so cute and tiny) and the ointments and such and got the changing table all ready for diaper duty! There are still a few more things I need to get for his room, but it is almost there! :) ...Good thing too, because he is almost here! lol. Hooray, it's October!

OB Appointment #10/Childbirth Class #2

2007-09-26T20:31:00.000-05:00

Welp, I am now officially going to the OB every week- yey!! :) Everything went great at my appointment yesterday, his little heartbeat was a joy to hear as usual, my fundus was at 38...almost 39 because he stuck his little butt right up in the air as she measured, lol. But yeah, still 3 weeks ahead, he's a growin' boy! ;) She did the Group B Strep test, which I was stressing out about because I was not too excited to have someone swab my bottom, but it wasn't as awkward as I thought it would be. Ah, how your modestly slowly gets chipped away throughout a pregnancy, lol. Next week I have an ultrasound, which I am really excited for my mom to get to see, and I can't wait to see how much he's grown! I'll never forget a couple of months ago when my good friend Heather went for her 36 week ultrasound and they said her daughter was already 7lbs I was blown away and certain she would have like 9 to 10lb baby, but she went all the way until her due date and Ruthie was a little over 8 and 1/2lbs, so there is hope. :) Not like there is really that big of a difference between 8 and 1/2 and 9, but ya know. hehe. Then next week she's going to start checking my cervix, so I'm excited to see if there's any progress going on at all yet, I've been having contractions when I'm out walking around and some mild cramping every now and then (which I checked with the doc about and she said that's a good sign, at first I was freaked out!) so we'll see whats going on. I also got her approval to videotape the birth (barring any unforeseen complications), so my sister is officially the camera woman, and no I will not be posting the video, lol! :) That is for Albert and Albert only! hehe.

Childbirth class went really well, we went on a tour of the hospital, which was the 2nd one for my mom and I, but it was really fun to see everything again! I'm tellin' you, I was totally ready to climb up into the bed and get this party started, lol! It is so exciting to be there and know that my son is going to come into the world in one of those rooms! I can't wait! It is such a nice hospital, and I just feel so comfortable there, it's such a blessing. :) After the tour we went back to class and watched the 2nd part of the labor & delivery video, and then talked about peditricians, car seat safety, internal monitoring, pressure points to relieve pain in labor, and supportive positions during labor, and then we practiced our 3 styles of breathing. She introduced the 3rd style, and I did not like it at all! It made my throat hurt and my lips dry, which did not calm me, it irritated me, lol. So needless to say I will not be using that one. But all in all it was very good, and informative class. Next week we are going to talk about my new best friend, epidurals. Can't wait! lol :)

OB Appointment #9/Childbirth Class

2007-09-20T09:01:00.000-05:00

I had my 9th OB appointment on Tuesday and it went great! My mom came with me, and she was able to meet my doctor (and my doctor was able to meet her) and she heard her grandson's heartbeat for the first time! So that was fun. :) He looks great, everything is going along really well! He is growing like crazy- my fundus measured at 37!!! Somehow I only gained 1 pound, but my belly grew 3 inches in 2 weeks, lol! I'm preparing myself for a 9lb-er, lol. :) As I was leaving I stopped at reception and she scheduled me appointments for every week until my due date...YEY! It's getting so close, I can't wait! :) After my appointment my mom and I went to Subway and got dinner for ourselves and the family, and hung out at the house for a little while before we had to go to our first Childbirth class!

Childbirth class was good! The 3 hours went by surprising fast and I feel like it is very informative. Our teacher is really nice, and the other couples seem really nice as well. It was hard to see the husbands with their wives and not feel a little sad inside, but I am SO grateful to have my mom there with me- I would be lost without her! We have 3 more classes to go, and next week we are going on a tour of the OB unit (which my mom and I have already been on- we went in August with Albert), so that should be fun, I am looking forward to seeing everything again. :) I'm hoping in 3 weeks I will graduate Childbirth class and then the next week be able to put all my knowledge into practice and have this baby, lol! But really, as long as he is healthy, he could come 2 weeks late for all I care, healthy is what is important. :)

One Week

2007-09-17T19:31:00.000-05:00

It has been one week since Albert left for Iraq, and in this past week I have been so blessed. :) I know that the hand of God has been on me, Albert, and our son, and I am so grateful to the many prayer warriors out there lifting us up daily. God is so good, and has truly been the Great Comforter during this time of painful transition. I am so lucky and have been able to speak to Albert several times, he has arrived safely at his destination (praise God!) and every time I talk to him he sounds positive and joyful. :) Back here at home I have had the most wonderful friends and family gather around me, support me, and spend time with me- I am so blessed!! I miss Albert so much, so very much, he absolutely is a part of me and I think about him all day long. It is hard not being able to speak with him when I want, and having such a huge time difference, but it definitely makes me appreciate the time that I do have on the phone with him, and the ability to pour out all my days events into an email that he can read the next day, and not have to wait on snail mail. :)

I am so proud of Albert and his selfless heart, he is my hero. I feel so blessed to have such an amazing husband who will fight for such an honorable cause! Again, I am so grateful for all of your prayers and all of your support, I will keep you updated as I can! :)

Watch Love Grow Vol 2

2007-09-06T08:34:00.000-05:00

OB Appointment #8

2007-09-06T08:00:00.000-05:00

For those of you that follow these appointment recaps religiously, you've probably noticed there was no "OB Appointment #7"- well, it was pretty uneventful, and we were in the midst of moving, so no blog. :)

On to appointment #8...two days ago was my first appointment with my new doctor in St. Louis! Albert was able to come, which was wonderful, so he knows the doctor and will be able to put a face with a name when I tell him about my subsequent appointments and delivery. :) Speaking of, my doctor seems really nice, she has 3 kids of her own, so she knows what it's like and I love that! The office is really nice and so are all of the staff. We had a minor drama with TriCare when we first got there, but God is good and worked it all out! After the drama I thought for sure my blood pressure was going to be through the roof- but it was the lowest it has been at the doctor's office yet! 128/80! Praise God! So my doctor said she wasn't concerned about my blood pressure since it has been normal at home, and pretty normal when they checked it there, so yey! She went over some of the policies of the hospital, and how the new few appointments would go, and Albert and I explained our situation and that my mom would be with me for the rest of the appointments and the delivery. She was very understanding and empathetic, which made me feel good. After our little chat we went back into the exam room and she checked me and the baby. The baby's heartrate was good, 150's like normal, my fundus was measuring 34, and everything looked great!

As we were leaving we stopped by the receptionist to make sure the TriCare drama has been taken care of (and it had), and on the counter Albert noticed a pamphlet for 3D Ultrasounds and asked if they did them there and the office, and the receptionist said they did! We had wanted to get one done, and I called to schedule an appointment with a business, but they were booked through mid-Sept with a long waiting list, and we thought that was the only place that did them so we just gave up the hope of doing one before Albert left. Albert asked when would be the next available appointment, and the receptionist called the technician back. He exaplained that he will be leaving on Monday, and the technician kindly offered to see us the following day during her lunch, unfortunately Albert had to go to Fort Leonard Wood for the day so that wouldn't work. So then she says "I have a crazy idea...can you do it now?" and we were like "YES!!!" It just happened to work out that her daughter had soccer practice, so she didn't have to be home until later, and she was done with all her appointments and paperwork. Is God amazing or what?! So a few minutes later she took us back and we got our 3D Ultrasound!! It was incredible, really, truly, incredible! She was so kind and kept saying how cute he was and how he was sure to be a little snuggler because he was so curled up in there, it made me feel good. :) We got some really amazing pictures, and movie on DVD, and she was so amazing and gave Albert lots of extra pictures to take with him, and a CD-Rom with all the pictures and video to take with him as well! What an incredible gift from the hand of God!! We are so blessed! Here are some of pictures, and if I can get the video figured out I will post that as well! :)

My St. Louis Baby Shower

2007-08-22T18:30:00.000-05:00

I had a wonderful baby shower in St. Louis this past weekend! My sister and my mom did an amazing job, and it really was the perfect day! I was blessed with so many amazing gifts, Baby B is such a lucky little guy! :) It was so wonderful to be surrounded by family and friends, it meant so much to have them all there! It was a day I will never forget! :)

Christmas in August

2007-08-20T07:52:00.000-05:00

My family gave Albert the option of celebrating Christmas before he deploys, send him gifts while he's there, or wait until he returns, and he chose to celebrate before he deploys, so this weekend we had Christmas in August! :) My parents cooked a big steak dinner, which we ate on a table decked out in Christmas attire, and then let Albert open his presents! The gifts were all things that will, hopefully, keep him entertained and be useful to him during his time away. Enjoy the photos!

Congratulations Doug & Amelia!

2007-08-12T08:11:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Albert and I had the priveledge to attend our friend Doug's wedding in Jefferson City, and I say privledge because going to a Christian wedding is always so sweet. There is nothing like seeing two people so in love, and so blessed by God, it is such an honor to behold. It was a very beautiful wedding and reception and we had a great time visiting with friends from college that we hadn't seen in awhile! :) In the ceremony there was no flash photography allowed (although, I did take one picture with a flash accidentally, hehe) so the pictures in the church did not turn out that good, but you get the idea. :) Congratulations Doug & Amelia, we love you!

Watch Love Grow

2007-08-07T13:04:00.000-05:00

New Pics of Baby B!

2007-08-06T11:34:00.000-05:00

We went in for our ultrasound today and got to see our son! :) He was sleeping this morning, and all curled up with his hands by his face and his legs crossed and tucked up over his boy parts (it took forever for her to finally get a pic to make sure he is still a boy....and he is! lol). After much proding he finally woke up a little to move and get some pictures. It was so amazing to see him move on the screen and feel him move inside of me! He looks so much bigger than he did 8 weeks ago, it is awesome! The ultrasound machine we got this time was not as advanced as the other one, so the pictures are a little grainy, but hopefully you can tell what you are looking at! Enjoy! :)

Baby B at 27 weeks, 6 days. This picture is of his profile and his chest. Inside his chest you can see his heart, and on the monitor we could see it just beating away!

This second picture is hard to make out, but Albert asked her for it because what was happening was so cool! This is his face straight on, and on the monitor, clear as day, we could see him moving his little mouth, like he was chewing or talking! It was amazing! And his little nose looked so cute. :)

OB Appointment #6

2007-08-03T18:07:00.000-05:00

Today I had my 28 week appointment! It went wonderfully, I ended up seeing my doctor's husband (who is just as funny and personable as she is) because my doctor had been on call on the L&D floor for the whole week and had no sleep. :) It went really great, the baby is wonderful, his heartbeat was nice and loud and strong and was at 150 today, my fundus is measuring at 30, and the results from my glucose screening test were great- I was perfectly in the normal range at 88, praise God! (they send you for a 2nd test called the glucose tolerance test if you register over 130 to check for gestational diabetes) and I got my rhogam (sp?) shot (since my blood is negative and Albert's blood is positive). The shot was, thankfully, not as bad as the nurses were hyping it up to be, they all kept commenting on how large the needle was and I was like "what the heck?! I will pass out if you keep saying that!" :) I also found out that since I have been labeled as having "chronic hypertension" (even though we realized it was just white coat) I am eligible for another ultrasound at 28 weeks, so the doctor said it was up to me, if I wanted to do it, he would order it, so I said "heck yeah!" (cuz I mean really, who is going to pass up more pictures of their baby?!) so we are going to go in on Monday to schedule another ultrasound (the clinic was closed by the time my appointment was over). So all in all it was a lovely appointment! :)

Video Blog

2007-08-02T10:38:00.000-05:00

*See if it will work now...

I hope he looks like his Daddy...

2007-08-01T16:56:00.001-05:00

Today I walked by the frame that has this picture of Albert when he was 21 months and my heart just melted! I mean, really, is he not the cutest thing you have ever seen?! Oh I could just kiss those cheeks!!

Getting things done

2007-07-30T15:37:00.000-05:00

I feel very accomplished today because I have gotten some things done that have been on my to-do list for awhile! :) Albert and I went to Wal-Mart yesterday and did our Baby Registry, which I am very excited about, we had so much fun picking out stuff for our little guy!! :) We had registered at Target a few weeks ago, which was also immensely fun, and we had been meaning to do one at Wal-Mart as well- and now we do!! Yey! :) We haven't registered for any of the big items yet, like a crib, a changing table/dresser, or a glider because I didn't see anything at Target or Wal-Mart that I was really excited about, so I think we're going to check out Babies 'R Us and Burlington Coat Factory (their Baby Depot has a lot of stuff) and see if we can find something at either of those places that we really like. I also think I found my new OB doctor for when I move up to St. Louis! I looked up the list of providers my insurance would cover, and thanks to my dad's suggestion, matched that with the Best St. Louis Doctors 2006 list and brought the list down from 75+ to 17! From that 17 I looked up information on the hospitals, and really fell in love with Missouri Baptist Medical Center. It seems like their Labor & Delivery unit is everything I've been looking for! And then from that I had the choice of 2 male doctors, or a female doctor, and that was easy- I went with the female. :) So today I scheduled a tour of the L&D unit for Albert, my mom and I to go on in mid-August, and then also scheduled my first appointment with my new doctor the first week of September! I feel really good about getting this done because it has been something I have been praying about for awhile now. :)

I am excited for the month of August because I will be in the 3rd trimester, and for my baby showers (can't wait!!!!), and for every day that brings me closer to seeing our son, but I know it will fly by because we have so much planned, and we will be clearing our quarters and moving everything up to St. Louis. I am not excited for August because that means I only have a month left with Albert, and my heart cannot even wrap itself around that right now. Thinking about that is the kind of pain that takes your breath away. A year without him is so unimaginable! Just so ridiculous to think that could even be possible. I don't want to get so caught up in things that need to be done that I forget to savor my time with him, so it makes me glad to have a few less things to think about so I can focus my energy on what really matters. :)

New Super Slide Photos Added

2007-07-29T16:41:00.000-05:00

I just updated the Super Slide slideshow with all the photos- enjoy! :)

Pictures from Chicago

2007-07-24T17:39:00.001-05:00

The Perfect Last Hoorah

2007-07-23T07:53:00.000-05:00

Albert and I drove up to Schaumburg, IL (right outside of Chicago) for a Christian music festival this weekend called Ignite Chicago because the David Crowder Band was performing, and we love them. :) We left St. Louis around 9:30am on Saturday and began our 5+ hour trip. We made a quick potty stop in Collinsville, IL (an hour out), but decided we must stay for lunch because the Qdoba was calling to Albert. ;) So 30 min later with our bellies full of delicious Tex-Mex we headed back on the road. Going on a road trip when you are 6 and 1/2 months pregnant means setting aside time for quite a few potty stops, so we stopped several times on the way up, hehe, and eventually made it to the hotel around 3:30pm. We arrived at the Embassy Suites and it was beautiful! We got settled in our room and then headed out for the festival! We found where it was (just a short drive from the hotel) and then decided to get a quick bite of dinner so we wouldn't have to spend a lot at the ballpark (the concert was held at the minor league baseball park). We found a Burger King and had the most interesting dining experience, ever! The restaurant was quite busy, and except for some scary-looking goth kids, we were the only ones speaking English! Everyone else was speaking Spanish- in Chicago! This would not strike us as odd if we were somewhere south, but in a suburb outside of Chicago? It was very interesting. :)

After dinner we drove back over to the festival and as we arrived Rebecca St. James was setting up for her performance. We walked around the park and looked at the booths for a little bit, but my back was killing me so we went ahead and sat in the bleachers during her performance (they were way far from the stage, so we couldn't see her, but we could hear her! :)). When her performance was coming to a close we took a quick potty break and then made our way to the stage. We got some very good spots, directly in the middle and close to the stage, and waited in eager expectation as the David Crowder Band set up their equipment! As we stood there gleefully, this giant of a man pushes me aside (yes, fully pregnant me!) and stands right in front of me!! I know, right?! So Albert and I were like "what the heck?!" and move to another spot, a little more to the right where we could see again. We could see David Crowder off to the side of the stage on the left, so that was exciting! After waiting for awhile David came out and started interacting with the crowd! He was tossing beach balls back and forth, handed out a case of water bottles, and then began signing stuff for the fans. And it wasn't just average stuff like t-shirts or CD's or posters, people were handing him their water bottles, their beach balls, their shoes, it was hilarious. Then this kid from over where we were standing at first hands the shirt off of his back up to be signed, and David is signing everything but it, so this guy gets on the shoulders of the giant pushy man and starts yelling and trying to get David's attention. Well finally he does, and David starts walking out onto the crowd toward him but that didn't last long before he fell, but the crowd picked him back up and he is crowd-surfing right towards me! I was like "Oh crap, I cannot hold up a grown man- I am 6 and 1/2 months pregnant!" so I duck down and Albert has his arms up over me, but the crowd turns David just in time and plops him down in front of the guy whose shirt he had (right where we would have been standing if not for the giant pushy man!). So there he stands, just feet away, signing things and smiling for pictures! How cool is that?! After a minute or two he had to go back up to the stage to complete the sound check- which it turns out was taking so long back the entire monitor board shut down and they couldn't hear themselves! They decided enough was enough (they were over an hour behind schedule) and they would make do with what they had and it was time to get on with the show (even if they couldn't hear themselves)! Their performance was outstanding!! The crowd was extremely high energy, the best crowd we have seen them with yet, and the Band totally fed off of that and put on the performance of a life time! A couple of times Albert had to envelop me and the baby into a cocoon-type-hug to make sure none of the dancing/jumping people jumped or danced their way onto our son! :) And it was funny because I really thought the baby would move around quite a bit, because he is very responsive to sounds now, but he was totally chill during the performance! He could have been like in shock and frozen like this >:-O the entire time too though I guess, lol! The Band rocked for an hour straight, with no breaking of any sort, and when they were done Albert started the crowd chanting "One more song! One more song!" and it became this loud roar, and then this guy in charge of the festival came out a shushed everyone (...yeah, what was that about?!) He said since they had all the technical problems they had added their encore into the set and now it was time for the message. LOL. Everyone was so mad at that guy, lol! :) David looked a little sad too! After that we got some drinks and sat down in the bleachers and rested our weary legs (and my aching back!) while the speaker spoke and then they began setting up for Casting Crowns. As we sat away from the crowd we noticed how cold it had become without all those moving bodies surrounding us! You could tell the people there from the area, because they had light jackets. :) Once Casting Crowns started we made our way back to the crowd. We did not try to get up close, but we still had very good spots and a perfect view! Casting Crowns did an amazing job, I was very impressed! I would definitely go see them again in concert, it was really good! We did not stay for their entire set because we had to get back to the hotel in order to have our pizza deal (Albert got a room package that included 1 large 1 topping pizza, sodas, and a movie!), but we saw most of their performance before we left.

We got back to our room just in time to order our pizza and ordered the movie Meet the Robinsons to watch with it. The pizza was amazing, sooooooo yummy, and the movie was really cute! I did not stay awake for all of it, I totally crashed, but what I saw was good. :) The next morning Albert woke me up and we went down to the complimentary (very fancy) breakfast buffet! There were a ton of people down there, but we got our food right away and it was delicious!! Once we were finished we went up to our room, packed our stuff, took some pictures, and headed to the mall!

There is this huge mall just a little ways down the road that has all of these really fancy stores, so we knew we had to go. :) Before we went to the mall we stopped at this beautiful outdoor mall and went into Dick's Sporting Goods and then a really beautiful Starbucks. While we were in Starbucks we got their signature Chicago city mugs (we have mugs from all over, we collect them) and some drinks and then headed to the mall! From the outside Woodfield Mall is not all that impressive, but the second you step inside it is amazing! We had so much fun going into Lacoste (Albert loves their stuff, but it is crazy expensive, so I got him some $14 brown and blue socks. :)), Apple, Coach, Nike, Puma, Williams Sonoma, and many more! It was an AWESOME mall! That is the mall little girls dream about, lol! ;) I could have spent at least another 2 more days in that mall alone! But after awhile my legs and back were killing me, so it was time to call it a day, and hit the road back home. :) But not until we got some more Starbucks, of course! hehe.

The trip home was very nice, we talked and listened to music and watched some of The Office, and I napped ;) it was good! We made a ton of potty stops (hehe) and got home around 9:30pm. It was an amazing trip, I have so much fun with Albert, he truly is my best friend and I couldn't have imagined sharing that with anyone else! It was a wonderful last road trip before our son comes, and I know once he is here we will go on many more family road trips, and have many more wonderful memories! :) I will put up the pictures soon!

In Christ,
Katie

There is no sleep for the pregnant

2007-07-20T12:35:00.000-05:00

This 25th week of pregnancy, and last night in particular, I have had trouble sleeping and begun what I can only imagine as boot camp for Mommies. ;) My back has started bothering me if I sit in an uncomfortable chair for too long, and last night we had a Hail & Farewell at the VFW Bingo hall, and needless to say, my back hurt like a buster when we got home. So I had a really hard time finding a comfortable position to lay, and then once I did I only slept for a few hours before I had to get up to go pee. Then once I snuggled back into bed the baby was WIDE awake and extremely active, and I love feeling him move, so I just laid awake enjoying his acrobatics. Once he settled down I was able to fall back asleep for a few more hours until I, again, had to get up and pee. Luckily I was able to get right back into dream land after that, but not for long because a few hours later Sallie was going nuts because she had to go pee and Albert had already left for work. So, I have decided this is all training for 3 months from now, and I am thankful for the fact that at least for the next 3 months I can have uninterrupted naps. ;)

OB Appointment #5

2007-07-13T17:36:00.000-05:00

Today was a great appointment! Praise God, it was soooo much better than the last one! :) I think we've pretty much decided I am a sufferer of "white coat hypertension" (only high when I am at the doc's office). My blood pressure readings at home over the last 4 weeks have been totally normal, so I brought my machine in (as the doctor asked) and the nurse took 2 readings from their machine and I took one reading from mine, and the reading from my machine coorelated exactly with the 2 readings from their machine. So they know I am doing it correctly and my machine is accurate, which makes me SO GLAD! I was so worried they were going to be like "um, your machine is completely wrong, lets put you on some blood pressure medicine." So praise God, my blood pressure is great- I just stress out whenever I go to the hospital! :) My doctor still wants me to take it every day, just to be cautious, and she's having me come in next week to do some more baseline labs to make sure there's no protein in my urine (sign of preelampsia), and my liver and kidneys are functioning properly (complications of preelampsia), which I really appreciate because it is always better to be safe than sorry. The rest of the appointment went great, our boy's heartrate was in the 150's, my fundus (tops of my pubic bone to the top of my uterus) measured at 26 which is right where it should be (your measurement should be equal to the amount of weeks you are pregnant, so since I'm almost 25 weeks I'm right on track), she felt my tummy and said everything was perfect, as was my heart when she listened to it, and she gave me props for my weight! :) That really made me feel good because I've been working so hard at doing my walking and eating all my fruits and veggies and last time when I got that snide comment from the nurse I was so bummed, so it was nice to hear that my hard work is paying off. :) Our next appointment is Aug 3rd, but I have to come in on the 2nd to get my Rh neg shot and my glucose screening. It's so crazy to think that the next time I come in I will only be days away from the 3rd trimester!! How exciting! :)

Our Vacation to North Dakota

2007-07-10T10:31:00.000-05:00

Albert and I had a wonderful trip to North Dakota! It never ceases to amaze me how much fun we have! It seems like nothing can beat the last trip, and then we get up there and somehow it is even more fun! This trip was awesome because Albert's sister Esther was able to stay throughout our entire trip, and Albert's brother Johnny and his wife Monica were able to come! I love seeing Albert with his family, it always cracks me up. Seeing the little things he does (like sabotage my desire to recycle) come out in his family members is hilarious (his dad firmly believes that all recycling ends up in the landfills with everyone else's trash and the only purpose in recycling is to give people warm fuzzies). LOL =) This trip was also special because it was sort of a "last hoorah," the next time we are all together our little guy will be running around causing a ruckus. ;) So it was nice to enjoy the luxury of everyone picking up and going to a movie (we saw Evan Almighty and License to Wed, both great movies!), or staying up until midnight playing Presidents and Jerks (card game), or driving downtown just to see if we like the band that is playing. I can honestly say I savored every moment, and I know with confidence that when our little man is with us next time, the fun will be even more multiplied than I can imagine. =)

The last time I did a vacation post about North Dakota, I mentioned all the things we did each day, but this time I am going to let my pictures tell the stories! =) Of course every wonderful memory was not captured on film, to my dismay, but think of these as some of the highlights. =) Please take some time to watch all the slideshows, because the pictures are great!

One of the first nights there Tallie got me, Albert, Michaela, Hope and Dad into SuperSlide for free, since she works there. I have more pictures than the ones below, but I have to get them onto a CD and put them on the computer, so enjoy the ones of the Water Balloon Fight and I will update the slide show with the rest of the pictures soon! =)

June 29th- On Esther's birthday all of the girls went to JCPenney's to get our nails done! Esther and I got manicures (french tip, ow la la) and everyone else got pedicures. After that the family went out to dinner at a really good Mexican restaurant called Paradiso's.

July 1st- That Sunday after church Albert's mom planned an amazing Promotion Ceremony for Albert! She arranged for the Am Vets to come and do the color guard and invited everyone from church for the ceremony and a cake and punch reception afterwards. It was an incredible ceremony, very meaningful for both Albert and I and something we will always remember and cherish in our hearts! I am so proud of his accomplishment and promotion to Captain!! =)

That same day, after the ceremony we had a wonderful family supper. Everyone was there so we, of course, took lots of pictures! =)

After supper the boys created a "regulation-size" badminton court in the sanctuary and the family had a great time competing against each other. And for those that were not interested in badminton, they also set up Guitar Hero on the projector. =)

July 3rd- Mary works at the Wave Pool and as her gift to everyone she arranged a wonderful picnic dinner and hour of the Wave Pool just for us! She also did some of her Speech performances for us as a pre-dinner show! =)

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On July 4th as our last night there the family gathered outside and set off some incredible fireworks! They put on quite a show for us! =) The baby loved it, he was bouncing around in there like nobody's business! lol. It was a wonderful way to end a fabulous vacation!

Oh Captain, My Captain!

2007-07-09T13:18:00.001-05:00

Congratulations Albert on your promotion to Captain! =) I cannot tell you how extremely proud of you I am. You have worked so hard for this and I can think of no one else who deserves it more than you! Thank you for your sacrificial service and unyielding devotion to a cause greater than yourself. You exemplify everything that is a great soldier! I love you so much!

It's a Boy!!

2007-07-08T20:23:00.001-05:00

Now that we have shared the news with all of our family, it can be made public that we are expecting a boy! =) Yey!! We are so in love with our son already and are so thankful for him and give all the glory and praise to God! =)

OB Appointment #4

2007-06-20T20:18:00.000-05:00

My appointment today did not leave me feeling footloose and fancy free as they usually do. When I got there I did my little weigh-in and I had gained 5 lbs, which was sort of to be expected since every appointment until now I had lost (to make the grand total 10 lbs since my first appointment), my mom had warned me that there might be a jump as the baby gets bigger and that that is ok, so I was just kind of like "ok" until the nurse asked me something like "Did the baby want more snacks this month?" and I just felt like she was judging me, so that peeved me from the get-go. Then we get in the room and she says I am 20 weeks and 6 days, which I am not, I am 21 weeks and 1 day, and I know that may not seem like a big deal, but she is not about to take 3 days from me! (In case you couldn't tell, I am a wee bit hormonal) And then we do my blood pressure and that just shoots it all to heck. It was so high. :( So then I try to go to my "happy place" and she takes it again and its lower, but still high. So my doctor comes it, and naturally she is concerned because now that we are past the 20 week mark preelampsia could occur. So after the check-up she has me go into a room alone and sit for 15 min, totally calm myself, and the nurse takes it again. This time it was better, still not good, but better than before. But the nurse says "Medication might be in your future." Like I didn't already know that! Sheesh! So the appointment just left me feeling a little "blah" and worried about my baby.

But there were some perks to the appointment, I can't totally focus on the negative, Albert came and surprised me at the appointment, which was super sweet. He has been in the field all this week and I didn't think he would make it. So that was a nice surprise. :) And we got to hear the baby's heartbeat, which was 160, and it is so our kid because it made her work to get that number! Such the wiggleworm! :) We also found out that the fluid levels and everything from the ultrasound last week looks perfect, no problems there. And my baseline labs I did last month came back without any problems or red flags. So yey. :)

Since we are going on vacation for 2 weeks my doctor was concerned that I would not be able to come to hospital and do my weekly blood pressure check, so she asked us to buy a cuff and monitor it daily while we were on vacation, and if the numbers get high to call her right away. So this afternoon I went to Wal-Mart and bought a really nice $50 monitor, made especially for women, that has "clinically validated accuracy." So I set it up at home and did everything exactly how they said to (I mean exactly), and my blood pressure was FINE! My right arm was 122/82 and my left was 121/78! So that was very encouraging. :) I think I just freak out when I get to the hospital, and I kind of hate that nurse. Lol, thats mean, I don't mean that. But I kind of do... ;)

Albert comes home from the field tomorrow, which is fabulous, and we leave for St. Louis on Friday, and then North Dakota on Monday, so that is very exciting!! :) I will certainly have some good stories and pictures when we return!

In Christ,
Katie

The Ultrasound

2007-06-13T13:18:00.000-05:00

Well, today was the ultrasound and it was marvelous!!! =) I would like to preface with the fact that yes, we do know the sex, and we are both thrilled, but I have to wait to share it because we want to tell our family in North Dakota in person when we get there in a few weeks. So when we get home I will make the big online announcement, lol. =)

The ultrasound today was the most amazing thing because we got to see our baby and how much it has grown!! It looks like a really baby and is soooo cute!! The first 30 minutes or so I couldn't see the screen because she was taking all the pictures and measurements to make sure everything was developing normally, so that was a little boring, but then when she turned the screen and showed me all of the baby's sweet little parts it was incredible! Such a miracle! It was so cool to see those little toes and think in 4 months or so I will be kissing those little toes! She said based on the baby's development, she put my due date as Oct 23rd! A week earlier than we originally thought! YEEEEEEY!!!! She said the baby was 14 ounces (almost a pound! WOW!) and the heart rate was 150! =) So fabulous, just so fabulous! We are so thankful and just filled with praise to God for this amazing miracle!

Enjoy the photos!

All Done

2007-06-11T15:39:00.000-05:00

Today was my last day of Summer School, and my last day at Pick Elementary. The day went by SO fast, it was over before I could really process that this was my last day. I have had so many funny and fond memories from Pick Elementary, and I will carry them in my heart forever. I have made some amazing friendships and met some incredible people, God has truly blessed my time there. I will miss working, and I will miss my little autistic kids, but I am ready for the next phase in my life. I count myself incredibly blessed that I will be able to stay home with my baby. There are not many parents these days that are in the financial situation to stay at home, and I am so happy God has provided us with the means to be able to do that!

I have a lot to look forward to this summer, in 2 days we have our big ultrasound where we (hopefully) will answer the burning question...is the baby a boy or a girl? Then a week from that I have my next OB appointment. And then 5 days after that we leave for our vacation to North Dakota!! We are so excited for this trip!! After we return we have tickets to a Cardinals game on the 7th of July, and our seats are pretty good, so that is very exciting. And then I have the wonderful task of getting our house together and cleaned up and ready to move in August! Wow!! I have a feeling this summer is going to fly by, but it will be jam-packed with fun! =)

My Boogie Baby

2007-06-06T14:57:00.000-05:00

Well, I am here to confirm that what I felt on Mother's Day was indeed the baby moving! Since that day I have felt more little movements like that sporadically, and within the last few days I have felt it A LOT! During this 19th week our baby is getting quite active! =) Last night Albert was talking to the baby and he/she was just dancing away! It was awesome! =) It feels so funny and is so cool all at the same time! One week from today we find out if we have a son or daughter in there wiggling around! I can't wait!!!

OB Appointment #3

2007-05-31T20:58:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was my 3rd appointment with my OB and it was a wonderful visit! We got the results back from our screening for Downs Syndrome, Edwards Syndrome, and spinal problems and everything came back perfectly normal- praise God! We weren't sure if we wanted to do the tests at first, because we will love our baby no matter what and the results really wouldn't matter, but Albert said that if we knew it was a high risk pregnancy than the situation with his deployment may be altered slightly, depending on the circumstances, so we went ahead and did the tests. I had a peace about them, and praise God, everything is fine. =) We got to hear the baby's heartbeat, and it was so nice and loud, I loved it!! The nurse said it was in the 160's. =) The doctor pushed around on my belly and said my uterus feels just like it should! After we saw the doctor we got to schedule our big ultrasound where we find out the sex of the baby! They like to do that ultrasound at 20 weeks because the baby is big enough to really see whats going on down there, but still small enough that he/she is not crowded and able to show off his/her stuff. So we got an appointment on June 13th, I will be 20 weeks and 1 day! =) Then after that I went to the lab because the doctor ordered some baseline labs, so they can know what is normal for me, and should anything change they will know. They are mostly concerned about preelampsia since I have been having such high blood pressure. So I gave some blood and peed in a cup, and went on my way! =) My next appointment will be a week after the ultrasound, on the 20th, because my doctor wanted to see me before I leave for vacation- and before she leaves for vacation. =) I am counting down the days until we can find out if we are having a son or a daughter!! I can't wait!

Goodbye Mazda 3, Hello Ford Freestyle!

2007-05-28T20:13:00.000-05:00

Albert and I loved and adored our Mazda 3, it was the perfect first car for us, and we would recommend it to anyone, however, the time has come for us to move on up to a "family sized" car, so today we parted with our beloved 3, and stepped up into the Ford Freestyle. =)

We chose this car for several reasons, first it was a Consumer Reports "Best Buy", it has 5 star safety ratings, 3rd row seating, decent gas mileage, and it was a deal we could not pass up- the dealer had the car marked down a total of $8,000 after all the promotions and we will only pay about $80 more a month in our car payment!! It was truly a divine appointment, and we are so blessed with our new car! =)

We did decide to trade in the 3, because we figured it would be ridiculous to pay 2 car payments for a year when Albert would be gone and I would certainly not need 2 cars. But I must say, I am so thrilled and excited with our new car I was not that choked up about saying goodbye to the 3! Plus, if I ever get the hankering to be in a 3 again I can always look to my brother Danny or my friend Steph to provide a "3 fix". =) Here are some photos of our Freestyle!

Just for fun...

2007-05-20T14:29:00.001-05:00

Is the baby a boy, or a girl?
	Boy
	Girl
[View Results]
http://www.profilemix.com/polls/create

My Mother-to-be Day Present

2007-05-13T21:11:00.001-05:00

I'm pretty sure that today, at 15 weeks and 5 days I felt the baby move! I was at church and we were praying and I felt a little bubbly fluttery sensation exactly where the baby is and I was like "Whoa, could it be??" and then a little while later I felt it again, and then again! And then later on when I was at home, I felt the same thing again! Now, of course, I have never felt a baby move inside of me before, so I could be wrong and it could have been some indigestion or something, but I think I'm right! As the baby gets bigger and when I feel movements more often I can tell you for sure, but as for today it was the sweetest Mother-to-be Day present a mother-to-be could ask for! =)

Dreaming of...blue?

2007-05-08T20:34:00.000-05:00

Albert is away on TDY right now, and he and I were talking on the phone this afternoon on my way home from work and I told him about the dream I had last night. I had a dream about the baby, and it was a boy, and it was clear as day! It was crazy because I remember Albert holding him and me looking at him and thinking that he looks like Albert (he had his eyes), but at the same time looked like me (the perfect storm of beauty! LOL, j/k!) and I was like "that is so cool!" And I called him by his name, and it was totally real. After I tell Albert this he explodes with "I had a dream about the baby last night and it was a boy too!!!!!!" He said in his dream we were getting the ultrasound and he shouts out to the technician "It's a penis!!! I see a penis!!!!" lol (which, I could totally see that happening, btw). Now those of you that know, I have really felt since the beginning that this is going to be a girl (as have many others), but could I be...wrong? We shall see, in about a month, we will know. =)

My 2nd OB Appointment

2007-05-02T18:35:00.000-05:00

First off I would like to say a big PRAISE GOD because as of yesterday I am in the 2nd trimester!!!!! =) It feels so good and so reassuring to know that I have made it through the first third of my pregnancy! Woo Hoo!!

Now, on to the doctor's appointment. =) I went in today because my doctor wanted to take a look at my blood pressure readings over the last couple of weeks and make sure everything was good. She said she does not feel the need to intervene with medicine yet because it hasn't been consistently really bad (160/90), but she wants me to keep having it checked and if it does get to be consistently bad to call or come in because she will want to put me on medicine. We finally got to hear the baby's heartbeat on the Doppler! As you may remember before the baby was too small and we had to get an ultrasound to hear it, and today it was still hard to hear, but if you listened closely you could hear it, and nurse said it was in the 150's. All in all it was a very good appointment, I really like my doctor more and more as we get to know her! =) My next appointment will be on May 30th, and it will be my 18 week check-up! I can't wait!