28 Weeks

I had my 28 week appointment on Tuesday and everything looked great! They did a Glucose Tolerance Test and I passed!! The orange drink wasn't bad at all, my doctor said I must have a sweet tooth!?! (How did she know) I was nervous for the test, but it came back with flying colors!  I was very relieved, I can keep eating my ice cream every night ;) But if it makes a difference Mark has some every night too! I got to hear Easton's heart rate (155) which was music to my ears!  Always brings an instant smile to my face :)
My Dad turned 50 yesterday, so Mom had a party for him last night.  Here is a picture from the party, a couple of his friends wore Depends on their heads!! Talk about Birthday hats!

Preston came and found me and said "Look I have a baby Easton too"! We had to get a picture, he's so cute :)

We're going and growing!

I'm not sure how women "like" being pregnant, but I try not to complain (yet).  I feel great, I'm just having a hard time watching myself get bigger!  I love the feeling when Easton kicks or moves, and knowing he's growing right along with me is awesome!
We went to Boone, IA this past weekend for my cousin's wedding.  We had a great time and I was so glad to share in their special day!  Here are a couple pictures from the celebration, I'm realizing fast I don't like pictures of myself, so enjoy these ones because I don't think I will post many in the months to come!!

Wedding Rehearsal

Congrats to a beautiful couple- Raph & Selena!

Mark enjoying his dance with the bride:)

Fun photo booth!

Our attempt at a family photo!

We are in a bit of heat wave here in NWIA this week.  Heat index is around 110 which is HOT for us!!  I'm also fighting a sinus cold.  I made a visit to my favorite chiropractor yesterday (Cori), and felt a little better today.  We are going camping tomorrow for the weekend with friends so I'm hoping the heat and my cold doesn't keep me down!  Looking forward to a weekend with friends and of course my husband!! Big Sioux Power Sports sees more of him than I do these days, but they are making sales and keeping busy which is good.  Have a great weekend!

Heritage Days, 10 Year Class Reunion, Father's Day & My Birthday!

Rock Rapids just celebrated their biggest event of the year, Heritage Days!  The weather forecast made us nervous with the chances of rain, but thankfully it has stayed away.  My string of events started with the Road Race 1 mile walk on Saturday.  In the past I've ran the 5K, but this year with my baby belly and all, I decided walking seemed like a better idea :)  A couple other pregnant girlfriends and I walked together, and had a nice time.  The weather was great.  Cameron & Cori ran the 1 mile this year.  It was Cameron's first race and he had a blast!  We're pumping him up for next year because Cori wants to run the 5K with me.  So he'll have some training to do before next June, but won't we all ;) 

Next up, the parade!  HickoryTech always participates in this event, and I didn't think the route would kill me, so I decided to walk and throw candy & tshirts again this year.  Right after the parade I had to work for Rock Rapids Business Women in our "walking taco" booth.  As I stood there for 2 hours I started to not feel so well.  It was a feeling like I had to pee, but no relief when I would go. I decided I needed to take a break, drink some water and get my feet up.  I sat in the park with Cori & Cameron, had some lunch and rested before heading home.  Then came my 10 year class reunion.  I was in charge of planning it, but with Facebook it seemed pretty easy.  It worked out well to have it during Heritage Days weekend for many reasons, but the best thing the entertainment was already taken care of :)  The Heritage Days Committee puts together a street dance with a great band!  It was a nice turnout, we had 16 out of 46 classmates attend.  With spouses the meal was around 30.  It was fun, great to see my girlfriends and catch up.

Finally Sunday was here!  Father's Day and my Birthday :) First I want to say Happy Father's Day to my Dad and Gary.  We are very blessed to have such great male role models in our lives!  And of course Happy Father's Day to Mark!  He's already such a great person I know he's going to make a great Dad :) 

I forgot to mention that Mark had to work ALL weekend long.  It was their Grand Opening at work, so he was not around much.  But he did get back just in time to eat dinner at my class reunion and enjoy some beverages I couldn't ;)

I had a pretty low key Birthday which was fine.  I started my morning off with church and then breakfast at James & Cori's house.  A tree in our front yard split a couple weeks ago in a storm, and finally broke off during the night on Saturday.  James is always looking for something to do, so he decided to start working on the clean-up process on Sunday.  James, Cori & Cameron started to work as I entertained Preston.  In the process a couple of friends stopped by and helped which was greatly appreciated!  They had the whole tree cleaned up and hauled away within a couple hours.  It was a nice surprise for Mark when he got home at 6:00 :) - Happy Father's Day honey! Much to my surprise I also had a great BiG Birthday card delivered which made my day! Preston was just as excited, shouting "Happy Birthday"! Thank you Miss Paige for making me feel special!!

We did end the night with dinner at Mom & Dad's celebrating great Father's and my Birthday.  Gifts you ask?!? Yes!  Mark gave me a bead to my bracelet, Gary & Sheri sent a gift of $ which I think I'll put towards our baby stroller, James, Cori, Cam & Preston gave me a blanket & burp cloths for baby Easton, and Mom & Dad surprised me (with the help of James & Mark) with our baby crib!  We are so excited to have one of the many pieces of his room put together :)

Of course what would a Birthday be without an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen! My Mom has those pictures on her camera, but the funny thing is it said Happy Birthday Cassie, but had fish on it for Father's Days :)  Didn't matter to me, same great taste!  And I have to say I felt pretty special because the town of Rock Rapids even had fireworks to celebrate my 28th Birthday!  Not really, they were postponed from Thursday night due to weather, but it was a great ending to a fun weekend!

The Nursery is painted!

Gary worked very diligently on the nursery while he was here.  Once he had the blue done, I started in on the white.  Mark was very busy last week with getting his own projects finished up at work, as they opened Big Sioux Power Sports on Saturday!  But he did help us with some trim work (which I left just for him as I hate that part!)The project was complete as of Sunday morning and we all think it looks great!  I can't wait to see it with the furniture in place, but this gives you an idea.

I still have to work on blinds and curtains.

You can see the bedding we picked out!

We painted the closet too!  As you can see Easton already has a nice start to his wardrobe :)

Mark & I celebrated our 1 year anniversary yesterday!  I can't believe it's been a year already.  The memories still seem so fresh.  My Aunt Julie made us an album that we'll cherish forever.  I'm so excited to show it off.  Mark and I had decided not to do gifts because of all the things we need for baby.  But we both caved, and surprised each other.  He gave me a beautiful bead for my bracelet and I got him tickets to a baseball game.  We went to see the movie "What to Expect When Expecting" and had dinner at Spezia.  It was wonderful :)  When we got home, we even cut into our wedding cake!  It was pretty good considering it was a year old, we shared a piece and then decided to toss it!

Thankfully I'm still feeling great!  I tend to get full fast and then sometimes uncomfortable, but feel like I could eat all day long!  Weird?!?  I plan to start water aerobics this week, and keep up my walking.  Hope that will help me through the next 16 weeks!  I have a golf tournament for work tomorrow afternoon, we'll see how I do being pregnant! I'm hoping it only makes me better, as I can't afford to get any worse :) Have a great week!

Nursery started!

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend.   It was our last 3 day weekend Mark and I will have for awhile, and we made the most of it!  We got in some shopping, pool time, yard work, relaxation, BBQ and family time. 
I feel like we are getting some things accomplished for Easton, little by little.  It only took 3 trips to the baby store to finally decide on a bedroom set, glider, stroller and car seat!  I'm really excited about it and wish it was going to be put to use sooner than later ;)
Mark's parents came to visit us, so while they are here Gary is going to paint the nursery.  I'm really looking forward to seeing that complete.  The furniture will take 6-12 weeks to get here, so it won't be completely finished for awhile, but having the painting done is huge!  
We went shopping with Mark's parents on Saturday and Sheri insisted in taking this picture in Target (for Megan), it's not as bad I thought it would be.  We were trying to compare prices and brands of diapers, and from what I read, you're suppose to start buying some slowly so it doesn't hurt the checkbook as much when the baby arrives ;)  But as you can see I'm growing and so is baby Easton!

21 weeks

It's a BOY!

I still can't believe it! I totally thought it was a girl, but we're thrilled with the news and so happy to hear he looks healthy! This picture below shows he is definetly a boy :)

The Doctor said I have a marginal placenta previa, so if you're like me you're asking yourself, what's that? It's where the placenta is close by, or touching the cervix, but not actually covering it.  It’s a potentially dangerous condition because if the placenta covers the cervix, it blocks baby’s way out, requiring a cesarean section to deliver the baby. I'm really hoping that isn't the case!  She doesn't seem too concerned at this point, but if any spotting should occur I need to contact her immediately.  No changes to my daily routine at this time.  The good news is that for most women who have marginal placenta previa at 20 weeks, as the uterus grows, the placenta gets further from the cervix and you’ll likely be given the all-clear to get back to normal at 28-32 weeks. At this time my doctor will schedule another ultrasound to check the position of the placenta.  Hopefully it continues to move away from the cervix and not closer. 
I'm still feeling great and can feel him move a lot throughout the day :) Makes me giggle sometimes just thinking about what he's up to in there!
Name you ask, why yes we've decided! Easton Thomas :) Mark has always liked Easton, he shoots Easton arrows in his bow, likes baseball, and we also like Easton Corbin.  Thomas is Mark's middle name so it just seemed to fit.  I know some people don't annouce the name with the sex, but I just knew I would spill the beans so why not just let people know from the start!
We tried our best to do a reveal cake, but beings I wanted to do it the day I found it made it hard. So we went to Dairy Queen and went with a good ole' ice cream cake, they can decorate it in minutes :) We invited my family over to share the news, and Cam revelaed the news!  The boys were excited to hear they are getting a boy cousin, but I think really liked the ice cream :)

Here are a couple more snap shots from the ultrasound.  He was being shy so we never got a great picture of his little face, but I'm sure he's adorable :) Thanks for keeping us in your prayers, and please continue! We're so blessed with the news of a healthy happy boy today, I don't know if I'll be able to sleep :)



Cameron's First Holy Communion

Cameron received his First Communion on Sunday, April 29th.  It was a great day and he looked very handsome :) He was able to wear the suit from the wedding which was cool!

 Preston wanted to be included in the picture, but no smile!

My not so little Godchild!