The Move

It has been a whirlwind kind of month! Nick and I moved into our first home the end of June and then left for vacation right after the move! But it was a great time and now that vacation is over, I'm beginning to think that summer is almost done! I hate thinking that!

The house was a nervous but exciting time for both of us. There were quite a few complications with closing (due to the seller). But it turned out to be ok in the end and we're glad it's over! Nick's parents came down along with Chad's family (his brother). We were so blessed to have them help us out. The guys did all the moving and the girls stayed at the house to unpack and try to get some what organized. We also had some friends come over to help us through out the day. The guys did several home projects for us which kept them busy. The hot temperature made it difficult to want to do any work, but they were great help and we really appreciate the hard work that was done.

We left for vacation 1 week from the day we moved in. Nick's family left the afternoon before we left and so it almost felt unreal that this was our home. Being back home now, I think every day it'll start to feel more like our home. It's still a mess so we have a lot of work to do. It'll keep us busy for sure! I've included a few of the messy pictures that include our new furniture. I'll post some good ones as the house comes in order.

The guys installed blinds throughout the house.

It made a big difference in the look of the house

and also the temperature inside!

The kitchen

Nick and Chad installed a cat door for Snickers!

Our brand new LG washer and dryer! I love them!

The living room in complete disarray. It now looks much better and includes an area rug...again more pictures to come.

Summer Begins

After a week of class for both Nick and I, we finally feel the summer time laziness set in. What a wonderful feeling! However, there is a lot of stress coming up in 10 days that makes the laziness seem like it's not going to last long at all.

We close on our house June 25!! We're moving part of the stuff in that Thursday if all goes as planned. We will finish moving everything else in on Friday the 26! We can't wait! We have our furniture for the living room purchased. We have our fridge, washer and dryer picked out. We're just waiting to get the go from the bank people to buy them. We are so fortunate to have Nick's family coming down to help us out. His parents and his brother's family are coming and we are excited to see them. It may be difficult to work on the house because I'll just want to have fun with them down here. But once the dirty work is over, we can have fun.

We will be heading up to see family in July and we look forward to that as well. It's going to get really crazy soon. It's so good to be able to look forward to things in life. Simple joys as seeing family are a huge deal to us and we treasure every moment!

Nick and I went to the beach today and had a nice relaxing time. We also rode the ferry boat and got to see some dolphins. Here are some pictures from the day.

Three Years of Wedded Bliss

Tomorrow marks our three year wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe because sometimes it seems like just yesterday the chaos of wedding planning consumed my every thought. Other times it seems like Nick and I have really known each other our whole lives and it seems like we've been married longer than that. We've been together for seven years now and we're still never sick of each other. In fact, I can't stand to be away from him!

The story of how we meet is a unique one. We met over the phone through a mutual friend. Nick being in Indiana and myself being in Iowa. Nick was getting ready to start his freshman year at Purdue and I was starting my senior year of high school. We talked on the phone everyday (except when I was grounded for having an extremely high phone bill...oops!) from September through December which was when we first met. We fell in love quickly over the phone and I knew he was "the one" almost immediately after hearing his voice. It was kind of a strange feeling and I didn't really want to believe it, but I just had this feeling about the man I was talking to. It took a lot of talking our parents into letting us meet and they both agreed! Nick drove all the way from Indiana to stay with my family and I for Christmas vacation. What a huge blessing it was to have his family share him with us. It was a total God thing in reality because who would have ever thought of meeting a stranger...that's scary stuff. But it turned out great! Unfortunately, Nick had to go back to Purdue, and of course I finished high school. He came for my senior prom which was during his finals week! He also came for my graduation just a couple of weeks later. He must have really loved me to do all of that traveling!! And I loved him all the more for it.

I started my freshman year of college at UNI and Nick continued to attend Purdue. Still seven hours apart, but phone calls were occurring every day more than once a day. One autumn day, Nick told me over the phone that he wasn't happy what he was majoring in and was thinking about becoming a teacher. I told him he needed to do whatever just as long as he was happy. If we couldn't be together for four years, then that was how it was going to be and we would get through it together. He surprised me a few weeks later telling me that he got accepted to UNI and was transferring in January!!

We spent our college years together, taking several classes together, making friends together, and we even got to work together! We got married right before our senior year of college and the last semester we had at UNI we lived together in our dump of an apartment. We then moved to Council Bluffs (four hours from college, and four hours from my family, 12 hours from Nick's family!) to student teach for the last semester of college. We didn't want to go, but it ended up being a great thing for us. God really lead us during that time and we didn't realize it until we look back now. He prepared us to be apart from our families and also for the big city living when we moved to Houston, TX after college graduation.

We love living in Texas and it's so neat to see how God has molded us and changed us for the better. Since we are so far away from our families, we have learned to depend on each other more. We have really cleaved to one another. I love him more and more every day. We have been through a lot this past year, and I could list all the horrible things that have happened, but I'm not one to sit and dwell on the negative. I know that greater things are yet to come in our lives and in our walk together. We are both standing firm in our belief that Jesus is the only way we can get through these difficult times. It truly has made it so much easier. Nick and I have come to have an even deeper love for one another. We both cannot wait to have our first child, whenever God's timing is right. In the mean time, we know he is preparing our hearts and minds for the future and strengthening us for life. I am enjoying every step of this walk with my loving, supportive husband and I am excited to see how things will turn out in our lives.

The bridesmaids: Left to right: Rebecca-roomie in college; Stacia- cousin; Kristen-cousin; Heather- Sister-in-law and me in the middle. This was while we were getting ready.

The Guys: Left to right: Joel-friend; Ron-friend; Joe-brother-in-law; Isaac-Cirsti's brother; Nick; Jonathon-Cirsti's brother; Jared-Nick's brother; Chad-Nick's brother; Eric-friend

Nick and I kissing after eating some delicious cake!

The rings :)

Nick's Family

Cirsti's Family

My favorite picture of all

Visit to Iowa

I am officially finished with 9 weeks of pregnancy and I am feeling pretty good! I actually found out last week right before I left for Iowa, the results of my blood work. I am not anemic like I initially thought I might be. I did discover that I have to eat a huge load of protein all the time and it's kind of a pain. If I don't eat that much protein, I get super dizzy and feel sick. I never realized how little protein I used to eat before. Anyway, as long as I keep the protein going, I feel great! Of course I'm still a little dizzy, but I guess that doesn't go away just because I am pregnant...but at least I'm not bed ridden.

So that was the good news...the bad news however, is that they discovered that I have hypothyroidism which explains a LOT! It's not really bad news because it can be treated and is getting treated now. I just wonder how long I've had it since I've never had to have much blood work done before. Anyway, I hear some of the symptoms are being really tired (just thought it was because of teaching...but I guess it was extra), limp hair that falls out a lot (this was a big ah ha moment), and not being able to lose weight (no wonder I couldn't lose after working out everyday hardcore for several months this past summer/fall!!!!). So anyway, now that I am on a cynthroid, I will have to take it for the rest of my life, but as long as it keeps my thyroid in check, I can't complain. Also, my jeans that I was wearing all the time were just a little snug before right after I washed them, but once I wore them they would stretch out and be great. Well...I put them on this past Thursday after I had already worn them once (already stretched out) and they were pretty tight and uncomfortable. And so it begins... haha Most of my work pants are stretchy and comfy so that wont be a problem until next year. I have a pair of jeans that are too big to wear, but I think those will probably fit me in the next couple of weeks and probably right now as well. My stomach is getting hard right above my belly button...harder than it used to be, so that is pretty exciting! :)

I flew up to Iowa Friday to visit my family and to see how the house was coming along after the fire. It was so great to see my family and to spend a good relaxing weekend with them. The house is moving along pretty well and it's going to look GREAT after it's all finished! I can't wait to see the finished product. My brothers are HUGE! Jonny is 6'1'' and Isaac is 5'10''!!! Jonny is getting pretty strong to play baseball and Isaac has been lifting weights and he is so stinking skinny. He's the skinniest out of both Jonny and me at that age and now as well. I always thought Jonny would be skinny because he was a stick when he was little, but he filled out. Jonny's not fat, but he's not skinny either, he's definitely got some muscle on him. It's just weird to see my little baby brothers all grown up. Jon is also going to prom and I cannot wait to see him all dressed up in a tux. He's really excited because he gets to take his date to prom in a corvette! Isaac has a girlfriend and he's taking her to a junior high dance this coming weekend. It kinda stinks to be away from it all and to not be able to see those exciting things, but at least they keep me posted and sometimes send me pictures. I also had a good time talking with my parents but it always seems like it's never enough time. Here are some of the pictures of the house:

This is the living room. Still a mess but the walls are painted.

This is the kitchen dining area. They found a pantry in the wall that they knocked down to add more room to the kitchen. Someone had built a wall around and in it. They are planning on putting shelves in there along with some sort of door.

Again the kitchen with the half bath on the far wall. The laundry room is on the right.

This is the kitchen wall. There used to be two windows on this wall, they had to rebuild because of water damage so they took them out because they were useless.

They were wanting to cabinets, but they did not get damaged and it was not covered. They are settling for new countertops. The walls in the kitchen used to be white. Now they're bright red!

This little black marble pattern sample will be the countertops.

Jonny's bedroom, painted but still some work to be done. This is the room where the fire was pretty much contained so now it's looks so much better!

Isaac's bedroom. There used to be a chimney in the left corner by the window the stuck out and you could never put anything over there. They took it out and it's much better now!

The wall on the left in this picture used to be slanted, due to water damage, they had to take that wall down and so they built it up straight. The old wall used to be the outside wall until we built the additional room on (Jon's room) about 15 years ago.

Flooring in the kitchen, 1/2 bath, and foyer area.

Carpet for living room, dining room, and I think the stairway as well.

Lil Peanut

On Thursday we went for our first OB visit and we also had our ultrasound. It was an amazing experience to see our baby is really in there and the little heart was beating SO fast! However, the heart was the biggest part of the baby. My doctor is originally from Hawaii and then she wanted a change, so she moved to Iowa, went to Drake University for her undergrad. After that, she went to the University of Iowa to get her masters and doctorate. It's almost like it was meant to be! :) She said that our baby is so healthy and everything is going great. During the ultrasound, they measured our baby and based on the development, the baby was only 6 weeks and 5 days instead of 7 weeks 4 days. Our new due date is November 21. Our next OB appointment is in four weeks. The next ultrasound is in six weeks when our baby will be 12 weeks along. I keep having dreams about our baby. I usually only have them on the weekends. Last weekend I actually had a dream that I was giving birth to our baby. I had been given some anesthesia and was half asleep half awake. All of a sudden it was just coming out and I was pushing and she came right out. We had a girl and she was so precious. I then had a dream after that dream that we had twin baby girls.

Last night, I had a dream that I gave birth the a baby girl and then we went on vacation the next day to Dinsey World with my entire family and Nick's entire family. I kept getting pulled away from my baby and everyone else had her for most of the day. I was supposed to be nursing her and I kept getting so scared. I finally got her back and she looked so pale and I freaked out. So I grabbed her, we went home, and I was trying to nurse her, but I was so tired and I couldn't stay awake and the baby kept falling asleep too but she needed to eat. I was so scared that I was going to loose her. Then I woke up.

I have dreams that I am having a girl, but anytime I talk about the baby, I refer to it as a boy.

Well, I am anxious to find out what we're going to have and I know Nick is too. That will have to wait until around 20 weeks. :) Until next time...

7 Weeks

I'm 7 weeks along now and the pregnancy symptoms finally hit me a little stronger this week. I've been nauseous and have gagged several times but have never thrown up which I am thankful I have not. We were driving through a parking lot that had fresh mulch in their landscaping. The mulch gave off this hideous odor that smelled like throw up and manuer. I told Nick to drive quickly and we rolled down the windows so at least the smell was not contained in the car. Nick remembered that I had some vanilla body spray in the back and so I grabbed that and sprayed it. That was a bad idea because it just made it worse and then it got in my mouth and I was gagging pretty bad. We got out of there finally and I started to feel better, but I just felt pretty queezy the rest of the night.

Another symptom that has been rough on me is being dizzy. It is pretty scary to be dizzy but I've been reading the book, What To Expect When You're Expecting, and they say it's normal. I've discovered that when I do get dizzy, it's because I'm tired and exhausted. I usually get dizzy at night pretty bad and then I know that I need to get in bed. On Friday night we had small group for our church. I was feeling great when we got there. We started eating after about 30 minutes of being there and all of a sudden the dizzy spell hit hard. Everything was moving and I could not shake it off. Our friends let me go into her sons room to take a nap. I ended up sleeping the entire time which was about 2 hours!! I felt really bad, but everyone understood. I think I am having a hard time letting it go. I have so much to do and not enough time the way it is, but my body just won't let me do it all. It's very frustrating because when I go to take a nap in the afternoon, I end up laying there making a to-do list in my head and end up getting up about 15-30 minutes later because I cannot sleep! It's frustrating because I would rather nap, but I'm just a "get it done" kind of person. For example, today, I need to grade a huge bag full of my students papers and enter them into the grade book because grades are due by Tuesday, vaccum, finish unpacking from spring break, do the laundry, clean the bathroom, cook dinner, get the groceries, call friends and family to talk to them, cut Nick's hair...the list goes on and on I tell you! It's 2:54 pm and I need to be in bed probably by 8. I have no idea how I am going to get all of that done in that amount of time! I need a nap, I tried to do that, and my mind just is on overload! It's very frustrating!

Tomorrow I have to get my blood drawn so they can check hormone levels to make sure everything is still going fine with the pregnancy. I also have a check up for my foot to make sure everything is still healing properly because of the surgery. On Thursday I have to go to the OB and we're going to have our first ultrasound and hopefully get to hear the heartbeat! We are so excited for this appointment! It's going to be a busy but exciting week. With that stated, I should probably get some of this stuff done so I can wear myself out to take a nap! Until next time...

Baby Fever----Yes, Nick and I are going to be parents!!!!

Oh my it has been a while since I last wrote! And so much has happened since the end of January! Since that is the case, I'll just stick to the important stuff.

We just got back from Spring Break in Indiana. We had a wonderful time visiting family and friends. Kelly, Shelly and myself hosted a baby shower for Heather (Nick's sister). She is having a baby boy and is due within the next few weeks. We had a great time at the shower and played some pretty fun games. We played the traditional game of "don't say the word baby or else you'll loose your clothespin." We also played a game where I took some brown paper bags and each bag got one letter. The letters spelled out BABY SHOWER. I purchased a baby item that started with each letter and place them in the bag. Everyone had to guess what they thought could be inside each bag without touching them or looking into them. We also had another guessing game where everyone had to predict how many bibs they thought Heather would get. She ended up getting 20 bibs!! The last game we played, which really isn't a game just something funny, was HILARIOUS! I wrote down all the little comments that Heather made as she opened her gifts. When the presents were finished, I stood up and told everyone that I was going to read some of the things that Heather said to Joe the night that the baby was conceived. She made comments like, "Aww, it's so cute!" And "You don't have to take a picture every time." And the best one was when she got an outfit that had crabs on it and someone asked what it was and she replied, "They're crabs!" Oh man, everyone was laughing and some of the ladies were laughing so hard they were shedding a few tears! And Heather was a good sport about it too. Heather, I know you read this, but you know I love you and it was a good memory!! :) Heather also told me, "what goes around comes around" and I am very aware of this. She got a lot of great presents and we ate some really good food.

Nick and I found out before we left for spring break that we were expecting a baby as well. We didn't want to tell Nick's family until after the shower so Heather could have her day all to herself. So after everyone left and it was pretty much just immediate family, we were all sitting around talking. Nick made the comment that they better save the shower decorations and it took everyone just a few seconds to realize what that really meant, and then they were all excited and happy! :) Everyone congratulated us and were pretty surprised I think. It was so great.

So to talk about how we found out...

First of all, I'm never late,I'm always on time for my period. Well, I was two days late and I just felt different all over and was pretty sore. I decided to go get a home pregnancy test. I was going to wait to take it first thing in the morning. I went to bed at 9:15 and kept waking up and wondering if I was pregnant and how exciting that would be. I also got up to go to the bathroom twice before 2:15. So I was laying in bed just thinking about it and by 2:30 I decided I'd had enough and I had to go to the bathroom again. I woke up Nick and asked him if he thought I should just take the test now and he said sure. So I took the test, and after just a few seconds, it showed positive that I was preganant!!! I couldn't believe it and I ran into the bedroom saying, "I'm preganant!! Nick wake up I'm pregnant!!" He turned over and said, "Are you serious??" I showed him and we both were so happy and excited. I can't even explain the feeling it was just amazing! Well...I thought knowing right away would help me to get to sleep...HA HA HA!!! We both just layed there talking about it and saying, "oh my gosh!" Needless to say, I didn't get back to sleep until about 4:30 and I think Nick was about the same!! What a sleepless but memorable night.

I went to the doctor the next day to confirm it and they did a test and it was positive as well. They told me my due date is November 15. I set up my next appointment for April 2 when I will be over 7 weeks along. At this appointment, we will have our first ultrasound and get to listen to the heartbeat. We are both looking forward to that moment and what a miracle it will be. I will be sure to make more updates in the next 8 months. :) I can't make any promises for after that time... I'm sure you all understand.