Baby Showers

Wow, I have been blessed to have had two baby showers and literally been "showered" with gifts for this precious little bundle. I can't even begin to thank my family and friends enough for their time and hard work put into these wonderful days. Baby Bishop is definitely set with enough things to last him a long time :) We are so thankful for everyone's thoughtfulness. Here are a few pictures from recent baby celebration days.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I have so much to be thankful for this year...
1. My wonderful husband who means the world to me, he is so understanding and patient with me.
2. My amazing family and in-laws (2nd family) whom I love so very much!
3. My mom's recovery from her surgery; her upcoming success with chemo and radiation in IA City and her strength, perserverance and faith in this journey.
4. The gift from God, our baby boy, who will be here before we know it!
5. My Texas family and friends who have been so supportive not only the past few weeks but the years since we have moved there.
5. My job where I get to spend my days making a difference in the lives of 21 little 1st graders.
6. Our sweet little dog, Wrigley, he is a blessing and brings us so much joy.

Baby Braelyn

Wow, it has been quite a week. I am leaving Iowa today to go back to Texas. My mom was diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer and I cannot even believe it. She had surgery to remove the tumor on Monday, November 2nd and is now in rehabilitation to regain her strength back. Radiation and Chemo will follow shortly. It is amazing how quickly your life can change so drastically. Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers. I am going to upload a few new pictures from my visit home and a few other pics. Thanks for reading :)

My Trip Home

YEA for sunshine! It has been out for the past three days and has been BEAUTIFUL here in Texas! I was needing a dose of sunshine, that's for sure! I went back to Iowa last Wednesday through Sunday. It was chilly & dreary there as well but we managed to have a wonderful time. Wrigley went with me and is an all-star flyer. He sleeps in his little carrier under my seat the whole way. He is such a good dog. I'm not sure if he will get to go on many more airplane trips though, lugging a baby and him might not work out :( I had my LAST birthday in my 20s last week, I can't believe it. Here are some recent pics. Have a great week!

Cuddling watching the Iowa game, GO HAWKS!

Mom & Dad Cuddling :)

I am quite a bit larger than my teeny tiny sister!

Sweet girls loving baby Bishop! He is going to be SO spoiled!

Kirbs and Wrigs loving!

Before School one morning-23 weeks!

Dad's getting excited!

It's a BOY!!!

Well, it's official. Baby Bishop is a BOY :) We had our ultrasound on Thursday. We were both very surprised and excited. I have only bought ONE pack of onsies so I am doing good :) I think the rest of the family is going to be providing for this baby more than we can imagine! Baby Bishop is going to be the first baby on my side of the family so will be extremely spoiled! I have been feeling him move all week and Ryan was able to feel him on Thursday night. Ryan went hunting for the weekend so Wrigley and I hung out relaxing at home. He doesn't know what is about to happen to him in 4 months. I am heading home to Iowa on Wednesday evening with Wrigley. We will be there til Sunday. Ryan is going to Hot Springs, Arkansas for work. We are very anxious to spend some quality family time for a few days. I am sure Baby Bishop will get plenty of rub-downs! Here are some recent pics. Have a great week!

Fall

I think fall is finally here! It has rained here for at least a week straight. Wrigley and I are going crazy not being able to go on our regular walks. I think we can squeeze one in this evening as I think the rain has stopped finally! Baby Bishop continues to grow. I can't believe I am almost half-way through this. I am 19 weeks! We will find out TWO weeks from today if it will be a sweet little girl like it's mommy or an ornery little boy like it's daddy. We can't wait. At first we weren't sure if we were going to find out but have definitely decided we want to know! Our furniture is in, we just have to pick it up and I am going to order the bedding after we find out. Then we can begin painting and all that fun stuff! I have not felt the baby move yet but I got to thinking, I wonder if you actually have to sit DOWN for that?! I am still on the go nonstop but keep telling myself I need to slow down. I will be going back to Iowa three weeks from today and I can't wait. I love fall in Iowa and I know there are people ready to rub this growing belly! They are all going to be surprised when they see my rear end is larger than my belly :) HA, no one ever told me that your butt has to grow to balance out the belly! Is it that it HAS to happen or that I enjoy oreos and milk duds too much?! Oh well, it will all be worth it. Here are a few pics of the belly and one of our "baby" (he is going to be in for quite a shock in a few months) Happy Fall Y'all!

Ryan is ALWAYS asking me to take pics of him and Wrigley cuddling. They are pretty cute!

Wrigley LOVES to lay in laundry right after I get it out of the dryer. He tends to roll around in it as well. I came back in the living room after going to dry my hair and this is what I found. I could NOT stop laughing and I think I embarassed him because he would not look at me for a long time afterwards. Hilarious! Um, if you can't tell, those are Ryan's briefs!

Pic before church. I am trying to find a place in the house I can set the timer and take pics of myself. Ryan seems to think it is silly to take so many pictures so I will just have to take some myself :)

This was today at school. I wore leggings for my FIRST time ever.

Back to School!

This baby belly is growing! The first pic I took of myself on my way to workout. The next pic is of me with Emma. You can kind of see my belly there. And the last pic Ryan took in our bathroom. It is a pretty good one of baby Bishop. I am a little over 16 weeks along. Going back to school was tough. I LOVE my kids, they are a really good group but it is awfully tiring. My kids don't realize there is a baby in my belly yet but once it starts growing more, I am sure they will wonder! I was exhausted by the end of the week and so excited for the weekend. Ryan's parents were here all week and left this morning. We had a relaxing time with them. On Friday night, our friends Gene & Susan came over. Their little girl, Emma is hilarious. I have some great footage of her dancing, laughing and checking out baby Bishop. She points to my belly now and says "baby". We enjoy her entertainment. Have a great week!

Emma Dancing!

She is cheering herself on!

Checking out baby Bishop!

Her laughing sounds like a wind-up toy!

End of Summer!

The Girls Shopping!
All of us (minus Ryan taking the pic) after a HUGE meal at Posado's!

My Sweet Mom!

My Amazing Family!

Us Girls!

Well, the summer has oficially come to an end. I started back to school this past Monday and the kids come next Monday. I am every bit anxious to meet my kids and their families but SO sad to be leaving my daily schedule of working out, laying by the pool, napping and relaxing all evening. I have been extremely tired at the end of these long staff development days. I am missing those afternoon naps! My family came to visit a few weeks ago. We had a wonderful time walking, going to the pool, shopping and eating yummy food! I was sad to see them go. Baby Bishop is almost 15 weeks now. The books say that he/she is the size of a lemon :) We are still undecided if we are going to find out if it is a boy or a girl. If we do decide to find out, it will be at the end of September! Back to school I go...

Baby Bishop!!!

We can't be any more excited to announce that Baby Bishop will be born around Valentine's Day. I am about 13 weeks and have been feeling wonderful. I have been SO lucky and not been sick at all. We found out at the beginning of June and get more and more excited each week. We were not able to find out the sex today, she said it was too early. She wouldn't even make a guess. Ryan says he could tell it had male parts though :) We will see at 20 weeks. I go back to school on the 17th. This summer has been a very relaxing summer. My last one like this for a long time :) Thanks for reading!

Summer 2009

I have finally decided to enter the "blogging" world. We have had a fun, relaxing summer this year. I went back home for two weeks to enjoy family and friends. I had my 10 year reunion, crazy how time flies. We have had a hot summer here in Texas. I have one more week of summer break before school starts back up! I am anxious, excited and nervous all at once. Stay tuned for more news to come!