Congratulations Scott, Sara & Hudson!

Our friends Scott & Sara welcomed their 2nd son on Friday, August 1st. Pierce Matthew arrived weighing in at 8 lbs. 6 oz. and 21 inches long. He joins big brother Hudson who turns 2 in October! Congratulations to all of you on the exciting new addition to the family!

A Baby's Conversation with God

A baby asked God, 'They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?' God said, 'Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you'

The child further inquired, 'But tell me, here in heaven I don't have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy.' God said, 'Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you. And you will feel your angel's love and be very happy.'

Again the child asked, 'And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me if I don' t know the language?' God said, 'Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak.'

'And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?' God said, 'Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray.'

'Who will protect me?' God said, 'Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life.'

'But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore.' God said, 'Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will teach you the way to come back to Me, even though I will always be next to you.'

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, 'God, if I am to leave now, please tell me my angel's name.'

God said, 'You will simply call her, "Mom"

We Made It!

Yeah!! We are officially in our 2nd trimester, we made it past our first! I am 13 weeks today and I'm so excited to be past that very nerve wracking first tri. I can honestly say that I had the absolute easiest first trimester of anyone I know - absolutely no sickness / nauseousness, just a bit tired / not completely exhausted...God must have thought we've been through enough without having a crappy first trimester. I'm very thankful that it was so incredibly easy, although I'm a little sad at how fast the pregnancy seems to be flying by!

Now, onto the fun stuff...cravings so far - definitely Mexican food as I shared before and noodles with butter and parmesan cheese. I haven't eaten noodles with butter and parm since I was a kid but it sure hits the spot now! I definitely look like I've gained about 10-15 lbs - I have that spare tire action happening to my mid section but I'm not really showing yet. Most of my bottoms don't fit very comfortably anymore. I have managed to avoid the rubber band trick that most of my friends have told me about...that truly sounds worse than packing my gut into my "old" pants! Also the not so fun stuff...my face doesn't seem to want to stay clear. It's not mega zitty, not like a pizza face but definitely not as clear as it was before pregnancy. And my back hurts...not sure why it hurts already because like I said earlier, I haven't really gained weight and it's not having to support a big tum tum yet.

My gut feeling has been boy up until about 2 weeks ago and then I wasn't so sure! It was confirmed at this week's appointment - we are having a BOY, a bouncing baby BOY! I wasn't sure we would be able to find out so early, but with a 3D ultrasound it was pretty obvious! See below for u/s pic - if you click on it, I think it enlarges it. As soon as I have an actual belly, I will post pictures for you all to witness the transformation.

So, now that you know all about the good & bad of my pregnancy I am sure you can sleep much better tonight! I am sure you were all dying to find out that my face is breaking out...sorry if that was too much information! :) Have a wonderful weekend!

Very Cute!

This is a great video...just wanted to share, it actually made me tear up! Not sure if it was because it made me think about my idiot dogs and how I love them dearly or due to all the pregnancy hormones running through my body!

The Jersey Shore

We changed up our annual trip a little this year...we stayed at the McGinnis apartment in Brooklyn on Thursday night and did a little tour of Brooklyn on Friday instead of heading straight to the beach. There are amazing views of NYC from the Brooklyn promanade. We headed off to the beach on Friday afternoon. We actually had an extra special trip this time...there is a pod of dolphins in the river which is where we cruise around on the McGinnis fishing boat. On Saturday morning we found ourselves sitting in the middle of the dolphins all around us. See below for pictures and video footage of our day on the river. If you want to read about the dolphins, please click here. We had a great time (as always) with our friends out east. At the beach, on the river, in the thunderstorms on Sunday...fun was had by all! Thank you McGinnis family for opening your home again!

*Pause the playlist at the bottom of the page*

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Our NJ Trip Continues...

So, I haven't had the chance to download our trip pictures yet because we're not home! We were scheduled to arrive last evening (Sunday) at 6:54pm and our flight was cancelled due to storms in NJ. Today, we were confirmed on a 12:48 flight that we found out was cancelled when we arrived at the airport. They confirmed us on a 7pm flight that was cancelled as well. We are currently waiting to fly stand by but all flights to Chicago are delayed - 3pm until 4:45pm, 5pm until 5:30pm...6pm is still listed as on time but we know it won't be. We are confirmed on the 8pm flight, but we were really hoping to get out prior to that. To say it's been SUCKY is an understatement. Anyway, I will post pictures as soon as I get the chance. Here's hoping we get back home tonight!

We're off to Sea Bright, NJ!

We're heading out this afternoon for a long weekend in Sea Bright, NJ! This will be our 3rd year heading out there to visit our friends - Julee, JB & Jacee. We will have lots of pictures to share when we get back. Have a wonderful & safe weekend!

I would also like to clarify something from my previous post...Cameron & I have nothing against Hispanic children, it's just that a Hispanic child is not something that us fair skinned blondes should have created together. My Peruvian aunt had to point out that Hispanic babies are actually adorable and I completely agree! :)

Finally...we relaxed!

First off - thank you for all the positive feedback from my last post. I've said this before and want to assure you all that I am not turning this into an infertility blog, however it's nice to know that our situation might help someone else. Please always feel free to share our story with anyone struggling - even give them our blog address. I hope that we can be an encouragement to other couples somehow. Okay...enough of that!

We had a wonderful, relaxing, vegetative weekend! I am so thankful that we had the opportunity to sleep in (kind of embarrassed to share that Saturday morning we didn't get up until 10:30am). I really don't remember the last time we slept that late! Saturday afternoon we had some of our college friends and their kiddos over for a cookout. It was great to see everyone and catch up. Thank you Schmidts, Wrenchs, Mertens and Eric for stopping by! Cirks family - sorry about the pink eye, hopefully you can make it next time!

I also have to share that Cameron is a bit concerned right now...he's afraid we're having a hispanic child. Major craving: Mexican food!! I could eat it all day, every day.