20 Week Update!

Just yesterday, Kristie reached the 20 week mark. She's starting to feel the baby move so it's becoming very real now!

This past weekend, Kristie's Dad came up to visit for a few nights. We took care of a small project around the house...which I always seem to rope Chuck into :) ... and then we went to dinner at Arrabiata's in Bay Village. After dinner we headed over to Avon to catch the Lake Erie Crushers game that night. We had first row seats on the first base side and it was a great night for a ballgame.

The garden is coming along nicely despite noticing we had a security breach as a rabbit somehow made its way through our fence.  We've picked about 10 cucumbers so far as well as some lettuce and cilantro.  Both the corn and broccoli is just about ready.  And once the tomatos start, we are going to have hundreds, if not thousands.

And finally....the news you've all been waiting for!  Kristie had her second ultrasound tonight and they were able to analyze much more this time.  They gave us a slightly updated due date of December 7th.  We also decided to find out the sex of the baby despite having some last minute thoughts about changing our minds.  We found it we are having a baby girl!  We are both thrilled!
We will check back with another blog in a few weeks.

Summer is flying by

So we let everyone know that we are pregnant but I don't think it has really sunk in for me as much as I would have expected at this point. I am 19 1/2 weeks along and we went to the Dr last Thursday morning. She said I'm on track with my weight (up about 4 pounds) and we got to hear the heartbeat again. We go in Thursday the 22nd to hopefully find out the sex of the baby. Jeff is in a race against time to get the living room in order and then we need to get the nursery in order. Keith came over and they moved all the living room furniture to the basement. We have that set up now as a family room or den. It's nice down there and very cool in this heat.

He started painting the living room on Thursday and we will be working on it some more tomorrow. My dad is here this weekend. The two of us went out to El Rodeo last night for dinner. Jeff went to the Indians game with some Cavs folks. Today we hit Costco and Pettiti's. Tonight is dinner and then to the Avon Crushers game. We went a few weeks ago to one of these games with our neighbors Ed and Jenise and had a great time. $9 tickets and we were practically in the bullpen.

It's about 93 degrees today. There is a slight breeze which is helping matters but still very warm and muggy.

I may sneak in a quick nap before we head out to dinner tonight. I'll try to keep things better posted on here and hopefully some pictures soon.

Big News!

It's definitely been a while since we've blogged, so this little tidbit of news should be a great way to jump back in...

Kristie is pregnant!

Let me take you back to the beginning of the story. We've been trying since last fall and we were starting to doubt whether or not it was going to happen or if we were going to need some help. We planned a last minute trip to Niagra on the Lake on Memorial Day weekend to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. Niagra on the Lake has many wineries and just to be on the safe side, Kristie took a pregnancy test and sure enough, it was positive! No wine tasting for Kristie that weekend, but the excitement of this news made up for that many times over.

We were able to get in to see the doctor on Tuesday, June 15th. The doctor asked us how far along we thought she was. We were not quite sure and guessed 4-6 weeks. She started pushing on Kristie's belly and said either there are twins in there or she's further along than we thought. Then she got the Doppler thingy out and was able to hear the heartbeat. This led her to believe that she was 10-12 weeks along which would put the due date as December 27th. With that still as an unknown, she had us schedule an ultrasound appointment for Monday, June 21st.

At this point we were dying to tell our families and our friends, but wanted to hold off until we were sure of the dates, etc. At the ultrasound appointment, the technician called me back once she was ready. I was so surprised to see the baby on the screen moving around, with an occassional hand visible. She told us at that point, she believed Kristie was about 16 weeks along and her due date was December 8th. The baby at this point is 4 ounces, but it was just a few weeks too early to determine the sex.



We could hardly believe our ears! Kristie was all the way through the first trimester and had no symptoms whatsoever! The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of telling our families and friends and starting to plan for this new addition to our family.

We'll be sure to update the blog along the way!

My Nephew, The Dancer

My little nephew Benjamin Scott can really bust a move...check him out at a wedding we went to last weekend.

My Cousin Is Famous!

My cousin Stephanie Durant won the "Love at First Sniff" contest sponsored by Gain and she got to take the stage with Mandy Moore at a private concert in Chicago. Check out the video below!

Lots of Shoveling!

Kristie and I have been talking about putting in a garden for a long time and with the Cavaliers still waiting for their next opponent, I was lucky enough to have this weekend off. So...we ordered up 5 yards of top soil and 5 yards of mulch and it was delivered on Saturday.

Okay...two things. 5 yards of top soil is a LOT of top soil. And 5 yards of mulch is a LOT of mulch. 1 yard of mulch too many, but we found places to put it eventually...plus we put it on a little thicker than normal. We actually used some of the leftover topsoil to build up some of the flower beds in the backyard and we added a River Birch tree and a few other plants.

Once we finished the garden, we added some deer fencing around it to protect our crops and then planted all of our seeds. Hopefully, in a few weeks we will see onions, peppers, broccoli, spinach, lettuce, cantaloupe and more sprouting up. We also have a bunch of tomato plants that have come back from last year.

We are glad we are finished so we can give our feet and backs a nice break! Pictures below.

Time flies

I can't believe it's been so long since we posted anything. Maybe a blog isn't really for us... :)

I have been swamped between work and school. I had my midterm for my Operations class on Saturday and I am sure that I did poorly on it. Oh well, at least there are other items that I will be graded on for that class. I had a group project in there already and that is turning out great - too bad it's not worth more points. I have a big paper due in my Negotiations class the end of April. I know what I will write on but now I just have to do it. I'll be done with classes April 25. I'll have all of May off before I start my summer class. I feel like I am just going through the motions now. I just want to be done with my degree as soon as possible. Don't get me wrong, I am getting a lot of out these classes but I feel like it's been going on forever. In about a year, I'll just about be done. And I cannot wait for that.

Jeff is keeping very busy also. The Cavs are doing so well this year (again) so that takes a lot of his time. He is also really good about helping with everything around here. He makes our lunches for us usually each Sunday for the week. That is so helpful.

I survived my 33rd birthday this week. Doesn't seem possible and I don't feel it. Well, OK, so I am getting some more gray hairs that I keep having to hide. That makes a little more real. We went to The Melting Pot in Fairview Park for my birthday - it was SO good. If you have never been, I highly recommend it. It is on the expensive side but it's nice for a special occasion.

We went to Jeff's parents house today. They had us over for my birthday which was really nice. Great dinner and lots of fun with our nephews Mikey and Dominic. They are so cute.