It's Official

Bryan and I are so excited to finally share our secret! We were so happy to make it to the second trimester and were overjoyed to hear that heartbeat going really fast. We have actually been able to see it once and hear it once, thanks to my kidney stones! I had an ultrasound at 6 weeks and saw the little flutter on the screen. At that time it was 163bpm. At my 10 week appointment that was really at about 11 weeks, we were able to hear it with a sonogram. The doctor wasn't able to get a good count of the bpm because I kept laughing. It was just so amazing to hear another heartbeat inside me!

The last few weeks of the first trimester were not comfortable. It was nice to have all the pregnancy related feelings to keep me confident that everything was going well but I think I spent about 6 weeks sick or asleep. Anyhow, I am feeling much better now.

I made some updates to the blog to include all of our new information and I will try to keep you up to date with everything!

Walt Disney World

Visiting a place like this (Cinderella's Castle)

to celebrate the wedding of friends like these (Scott and Heather)

with lots of friends around (Nicole, Carrie, and Shawn)

and fun rides (on Splash Mountain) ,

makes for a great mini vacation!!!

Beautiful wedding sites (Grand Floridian's Wedding Pavilion)

and a new but great officiator (That's Bryan in the middle)

make for a special ceremony!!!!



Awesome Disney cake,

Mickey and Minnie on the dance floor (kisses from Carrie and me)

and at the cake cutting,

a DJ who had everyone up and dancing,

a beautiful, laid-back bride,

and a great group of girls (Carrie, Heather, Me, Jenna, Susan, and Nicole)

make for a FUN reception!!!!!!


Bright blue skies (although quite cold at Hollywood Studios),

wonderful company,

and the last ride of the trip

make it too hard to leave!!!

I'm sure we'll be back in a few years!

Learning

Wow! This has not been an easy post. It's supposed to be fun. You know, pictures of holiday decorations in the new house, but it has been anything but. I have started this post at least four times and each time I have to start all over. Not sure why I am having so many computer issues. So, "Better Late Than Never" is what I should have titled this post. But, I am also learning new ways to make this work. I am determined! Here are some pictures of the decorations in the house.

The first is just a picture of our table before our "Fakesgiving" dinner party. It was a fun night with food and friends. I was especially excited about decorating the table.

Don't tell Bryan, but the railings at our new house were a huge sell for me. He hates it that I was looking for houses based on good Christmas decorating. It is so fun to come home to all the lights INSIDE the house.

This is the tree in our kitchen. It's kinda hard to see in the picture but it has apples and pears on it as well as gingerbread cookies and cookie cutters. It's the perfect size for the corner of the kitchen.

The tree in the family room is a bit too small for this big room. It is really miniture looking in here so we are hoping to get a good deal on a WAY bigger tree after Christmas.

And last but not least is the Mizzou tree. This is in the front room of the house and you can see it from the street. It has all of our black and gold ornaments and it keeps Claire company while she's in her kennel.

We had a great trip to Kansas City for Thanksgiving and enjoying spending time with family. We were really busy but truly enjoyed our trip. It was quite different and I even asked my parents if I had come home to the right house. For one, my WHOLE family did the Parkville Turkey Trot early on Thanksgiving morning. Then, we had family pictures taken for the first time in my life (other than the wedding). The last part that really threw me for a loop was that the car was in the garage. That NEVER happens.

Let Me Introduce To You....

the greatest guy alive!

He works harder than most people I know and never complains. He calls to tell me he is walking to the train and is eager to arrive home. He is efficient with his time and is able to truly enjoy his time off.

He is a source of never ending support. When I'm scared, happy, devastated, or nervous, he's there. And he knows just what to say. Or he knows when he shouldn't say anything.

He loves me no matter what. When I am sick and haven't showered for days he tells me I'm beautiful, and means it. He likes it better when I don't wear make-up because that is the real me that he is in love with. He doesn't care if I wear jeans and t-shirts every day and he doesn't ask too many questions when I come home from the store with lots of shopping bags.

He is calm, strong, honest, loyal, funny, and brilliant.

He lives with all girls and wouldn't have it any other way. He spoils his girls and would do anything for them. He is forgiving of mistakes and behaviors. He can still love the cat even if she pees all over his sports memorabilia. He still loves the dog who has been kicked out of day care...several times.

He is a sucker for traditions. If he does something more than once, it's a tradition. He goes through multiple sports jerzees until he finds the one that makes them win. He changes jerzees several times throughout the day if there is more than one team playing.

He is simply amazing and I am lucky to call him my husband.

Wonderful Weekend

Transportation aside, this has been a wonderful weekend! Friday after school, I met Bryan in the city for dinner at Wildfire. I had three filet medallions with different crusts on top. Bryan had one of my three though. Poor guy got the bad cholesterol genes and is limiting himself to one serving of red meat per week. So, he had mushroom stuffed salmon and roasted vegetables. Good boy!

Saturday morning Claire had a trip to the vet for a vaccination and a consult with the doctor to see if there was some medical reason she was eating poop at day camp. Diagnosis= "She's a dog."

We spent the afternoon looking at Christmas decorations in stores and buying a new laptop!

Saturday night we went to the Chicago Fire soccer playoff game. It might be the most exciting game of soccer I have ever seen. It was actually a little more like a hockey game with all of the fouls. Yikes!

Sunday was wonderfully peaceful. Church, lunch, student soccer game, and Tennis with Kyle and Mere allowed us to spend the whole day out and about enjoying the beautiful weather. We were soaking it up as we now know how brutally cold the next few months will be!

Eeewwwwww YUCK!

I Love...

Do you ever have one of those days where you just feel kinda...blah? That's me today and there is no reason I should. So, to combat my "blahness" I'm going to focus on what I love.

Here goes!

I love

• having my husband at home with me even when we aren't doing anything exciting-Bryan was home all weekend and we just hung out with the animals.
• getting out of the grocery store for under $70.00 dollars-Trader Joes is amazing. So what if all of our dinners this week are packaged or frozen!
• trying a new restaurant and being pleased- We went to Tango, a tapas restaurant, and had a great meal!
• relaxing with Claire- Even if she's been in her kennel all day she still just lies around with us at night.
• having amazing grandparents- My grandma is one of my best friends, Baw Baw turned 80, and Grandma and Grandpa Clark continue to be wonderful examples of love and marraige.
• having a fireplace- I have used it soooo much already.
• the Duggars- I know it's weird, and they're weird, but also strangely normal.
• my new kitchen- There are still empty cabinets!
• Christmas- Bryan and I always talk about how it is near impossible to be in a bad bood when surrounded by Christmas decorations and music. Bring on the holidays!

Ahh, that helped.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BAW BAW!!!

A Trio of Befores and Afters

Whew! This house stuff keeps us busy. We are still loving the house and having fun with making it our own.

The first of our tasks was to remove some small shrubs that were in the front of the house. They weren't very pretty!

Bryan was less than impressed with my removal strategy. While he was mowing, I started digging on the first bush next to the driveway. When I couldn't get a good angle on it, I decided my best option was to cut off the whole top part with our hedge trimmer and then just work on the roots. I later learned that this was not the best approach. Three hours, several blisters, and a broken shovel later it was out! Unfortunately we still had three more to go. We saved the next three for another weekend and found that practice makes perfect. We had the last three out in the same time it took to do the first. You live and learn, right? Here is the empty bed. Ahh....Perfect for planting Tulip bulbs and Mums. I did do this but my procrastinating self didn't get a picture while the Mums were still pretty.

(That reminds me! I saw a sign at The Growing Place, a wonderul nursery by us, the other day that said "My garden was in bloom yesterday. Sorry you missed it.") Funny stuff. I'm a sucker for signs.

Next on the agenda was the dining room. The first two rooms in our house were empty and blah. It was driving me bonkers.

So, a couple Tuesdays ago, I decided to paint. I bought the supplies on Wednesday and painted on Thursday after work. A few days later we had furniture delivered! Ta da!

Our (actually just mine, Bryan couldn't care less) last room was the downstairs bathroom. It was a very bright shade of yellow first.

On Friday night of the same week I painted the bathroom. It still needs a lot of touch up but the overall appearance is better. Just don't look up if you come to visit. I'm still learning :).

Looking at the pictures now, I can see that an investment in a nice trash can for the bathroom might be a good idea. The one there now is a little bit of an eye sore. Sigh.... Ohhh, maybe a nice tissue holder too!

You'll have to come and visit to see for yourself!

Once Uopn A 4:01

Once upon a time there was a girl named Meredith who decided she wanted to run a marathon. In June, she started training and ran A LOT to prepare for it. Come race day she was very, very, very nervous so her friends were there to provide support. They wanted to make sure that she knew how awesome they thought she was. After a long night of T-shirt making, the friends got up at 5:20am and headed to the city. One friend had to return home after noticing the symptoms of a migraine at the train station. Luckily he made it later!

Once the friends arrived in the city, they waited for Meredith at the 13 mile mark. There were 45,000 runners so finding her was hard. This was the view for about an hour. It was about 35 degrees.

Once the friends saw Meredith, they yelled and screamed for her as she passed. She looked like she had all the energy in the world. The man in front of her didn't look so good.

After Meredith ran by, the friends went to the finish line at Grant Park and waited for her. They cheered loudly as they saw her with two other friends who had jumped in to join her for the last 7 miles. Her green shorts made her easy to spot. Four hours and one minute after she started, she crossed the finish line.
After the race, Meredith used the help of a friend and her mom to put on her track pants. Her legs and back were really hurting and lifting her legs to put her pants on was quite a chore.

Luckily she had enough energy to pose for a picture with her friends.

After some food and a little rest, Meredith was all smiles for the train ride home.

Her friends were so proud of her and Meredith went home to sleep....happily ever after.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

It couldn't have been more perfect. Shawn and Carrie were wed on September 26th and it was a beautiful wedding. After decorating Shawn's car......

we walked through a wooded path and found this.
Bryan walked with Carrie's Sister-in-law. All the bridesmaids looked beautiful. Carrie designed the dresses herself.

The ceremony was really personal and I think I cried more than Carrie. It was magical.

The reception was in a white tent next to the ceremony and was catered by Jack Stack Barbeque. It was delicious! A sure sign of our group getting older was the dinner conversation. We talked about having babies and how to lower our cholestol. It was a pleasant conversation so I think that means we really are adults!

Winner

Nadia guessed it first! I guess if you know me it wasn't hard at all. I did throw them over the railing. Who needs a laundry chute? And mom, not ALL the clothes were on my floor. Some had made it to the hamper. So, as I promised, give it up for Nadia.

Nadia- Remember when we met at band our freshman year? We became friends right away. Especially since we had so many education classes together. The best was the time in statistics class when that little worm thingy was crawling on the shirt of the girl in front of us. She may have been studious but she had a BUG on her. We win! You are such an honest person and I know I can always count on you to tell me how you feel. You have a way of making me more content with where I am instead of always waiting for "the next thing". You are my tie to my favorite job of all time. Getting up at 7am on Fridays for work wasn't that bad when you got to hold babies all day. I'm lucky you are a city girl at heart now that I live close (relatively speaking) to Chicago! Thanks for being my friend!

Where the Blacktop Ends...

Saturday night was the Second Annual Steeple Run Farm Festival. The Mitchell family has a wonderful farm in Waterman, Illinois. It's just about an hour from Naperville. After our first block party Saturday afternoon we put on our "country chic" wear and headed to the west. The night was a blast and included lots of food, fire, friends, night hikes, corn stealing, hayrides, horseback rides, potato guns, and camping.

This is Mere and I on the hayride.
Can anyone (who wasn't at the farm) tell me what is wrong with this picture?

This is everyone on the hayride.
After the hayride we arrived back at the farm in the dark. Bryan and I set up our tent and then ran down to the horses for a quick ride. Unfortunately there are no pictures which is probably for the best because I didn't really know what I was doing on Poco. On the way back from the horses, we stopped to shot a potato gun. It's a really safe (actually, not at all) device that you push a potato into, spray one chamber with aerosol hair spray, and then push the trigger that makes a spark that ignites the hair spray and sends the potato flying.

Many people were trying to knock over a pyramid of cans. How many cowboys does it take to do that?

Apparently five is the answer!

When it was waaayyyy past my bedtime, we went on a night hike. Our journey took us through some cornfields where Mere and I stopped to pick some. We didn't think anyone would notice if two ears were missing. Corn is cool for city girls. We were excited.

When the sun was (much) closer to rising than it was to setting we decided to cash in our chips and go to bed. Just one year away from the Third Annual Steeple Run Farm Festival!

Around the House

Remember this photo?

You (but probably more just me) will be happy to know that it no longer looks like that. My husband put all manliness aside on Friday night and went with me to HomeGoods for some decoration shopping. It's an amazing place. This is our new and improved (at least I think) fireplace.

Is anyone up for a guessing game???

Here is the laundry pile that I had to tackle on Sunday. If you have seen my house, either in person or in pictures, can you guess how I got the pile of clothes there? Let me know in the comments. Be the first and I will write a post about why I like you. :) If you are having trouble posting a comment, make sure after you click on the comment link that you click the anonymous circle to post. Then just include your name in your post. I hope to hear from you soon! GO!

A Picture Perfect Weekend

What an awesome weekend we just had! Once we arrived in Cincinnati, the weekend was perfect. I packed up all of our loot including Claire and headed to the city to pick up Bryan. Then the three of us headed to Mom and Dad Clark's. We got in at about 12:30 and Claire was eager to meet Harley. The first night together was rough but after the sleeping arrangements were ironed out, everything was great. Harley and Claire played while the rest of us prepared for Lee and Lea's baby shower. Lea is due on November 18th!!!















I promise we feed her! She's just that skinny. I'm almost certain her grandma was a greyhound.

Saturday afternoon there were about 20 guests for Lea's shower. We had cake and snacks and played a fun game. Lea got lots of great gifts and we spent a lot of time just chatting and enjoying our time together.




















This is the happy couple.


After the shower was a Quad One Braggin' Rights basketball game. The guys were shocked that Lee and Dustin won a game. They usually play the best of three and this weekend was the first time a third game was needed. Bryan and Jeremy have won each of the last eight games and this weekend was no exception.

The Quad all dined with their respective parents and we met up that night for some football watching. On Sunday morning I went to church and Bryan went with all the guys for a Broncos/Bengals football game. A day of outlet shopping with the Quad ladies was in order and proved successful. Check for my purchase in a future post about a farm.

It is always sad to leave family and friends but we were happy to be back home again too!