Samuel John is here!

After some small complications, my adorable nephew has made it to the world! I won't go into too much detail since I'm sure Rachel will update you on her blog. She should be the first one to tell how the birth was and post pics! :-)

But, he's here, safe and sound. Mama & baby are doing fine. I can't wait to see more pictures!! Love to the Conklins in Swartz Creek! All three of them!

20.5 weeks...won't be able to see my toes soon...

Ethan & Braden getting ready to blow out birthday candles

Getting ready to go on the haunted hayride, being "bad"

Birthday presents!

Ethan's new sweatshirt - that is his new school (Thanks Jane!)

The boys

The weekend was very nice. We celebrated Ethan's 11th birthday on Friday over at Jane's...we ordered pizza then took the boys (my nephew Braden and Ethan) to a haunted hayride and haunted house. Ummm...probably not going back next year. At least Dave and I aren't. We quickly understood why there were no other adults/parents there. Just a bunch of middle schoolers and high schoolers acting their age. We also stood in line for 1.5 hours for this thing. But, it was Ethan's special birthday event so we sucked it up and the boys had fun even though mom & dad were complaining under their breath. Braden came over to our house to spend the night, which of course they both loved. So I think Ethan had a great birthday.

On Saturday I met Kim & Matt (some friends from Marquette who were in town for a wedding) for lunch, which was very nice. Kim is pregnant with twins so it's really nice to hash over pregnancy stuff with her. Dave was up getting his deer stand ready during the day...so I also met Jane at Babies R Us to get a few things. :) Always fun to get baby stuff.

In other news, we have had a bit of activity on our house. Someone came and looked at it on Friday morning, then scheduled another showing this morning. According to the realtor, they seemed fairly interested. I'm not getting my hopes up yet, but it's still kind of cool that some people were interested. It would be a great time to buy right now if we could sell this place!

I've been feeling good other than of course the allergies, but that's old news so I won't talk about that too much. Physically, I've been feeling great. I think getting to the gym is really helping. My back hasn't been sore yet, so hopefully that continues for a little while at least. We are going to BodyPump (a weightlifting class...yes, I'm taking it fairly easy, and the instructor is even pregnant) three times a week. They target all muscle groups, including back muscles. So I really think that is doing the trick.

OK...I will surely be posting on Wednesday after Sammy Conklin gets here!! I just can't wait to see his little face. I wish I could be there, but we'll see him in only two months. My love goes out to Tony and Rachel this week...we have been thinking about you a lot and are SO SO excited for you!! You will be wonderful parents to that boy.

Love to all!

I've been slacking

Sorry I haven't posted recently! I need to get back on the ball. There won't be any belly pics until at least tomorrow...my hubby is the one who has to take them and he won't be home until 10:30 tonight. He's in his last class for his MBA (I'm so proud!), and it's pretty time demanding. He is graduating on December 13th...he really worked hard to get there! We're glad he will be done before the baby gets here though. :-)

Anyway, I'll get around to doing a better post when we have time to take some pictures.

P.S. Sam Conklin will be here in SEVEN days!!! I can't wait to see my new nephew!!! Prayers are going out to Tony & Rachel regularly for a healthy delivery. :-)

Love,
Carley

Ultrasound

The ultrasound went really well! Our baby is healthy so far. It was so cool to see the babe moving around in there. It's so crazy to think that there is actually a person inside of me!! The baby was all scrunched up in a ball, and I think the technician could tell pretty easily what the gender was, but of course we couldn't.

From here on out, it's monthly appointments until the last trimester (I think?). Eventually, towards the very end it will be weekly. But I won't be there for quite a while. Seeing our little one makes me really anxious for the baby to get here!!

I know the 3D ultrasounds look kind of funny, but it's pretty cool too. Dave says the baby is shaking his/her little fist at us because he/she wants to come out!! The one picture that you probably can't really tell what it is...that is a little foot. :) Pretty cute. That's a foot that will be kicking me harder as time goes on...

Fun Weekend

The beginning of the nursery! And Daddy got me roses!

Baxter liked the Jumparoo...he just sat in there. His face is all wet because we started using a spray bottle for when he's bad. But he likes it and just tries to bite at the water.
And he really likes to swing!
Ethan telling his teammates what to do
And he's off...

My Mom and Dad were down over the weekend helping us with the nursery, it turned out great and it was a lot of fun! I sort of had a vision in my mind about how the baby's room would look but it's actually looking much better than I even thought! I love the color, I think I'll probably just go in there and look around like every day. But it makes me more anxious to have the baby here...and I have a long way to go!

Other than the nursery, on Friday night Ethan was over and we cooked out steaks. They turned out very good, then we just hung out and talked the rest of the night. Saturday morning we went to Ethan's football game...he was the MVP with catching all three of his team's touchdowns!! It was a beautiful day, so it was nice to be outside. Then we came home and the guys fixed our squeaky floors in the house, then went golfing. My mom and I did more nursery stuff. We didn't do a whole lot Saturday night...just ordered pizza and watched TV. Dave was down in Oshkosh with his buddies losing money on Texas Hold 'em. But I spent enough this weekend on maternity clothes and the nursery, so I think we're even. :)

I've been feeling good...the allergies still flare up every now and then but nothing unbearable. I get tired pretty easily of course, but that's to be expected. We have our ultrasound on Tuesday and I can't wait for that!! I'm sure I'll post to let you all know how it went. The baby has been moving almost everyday now, so that's a reassuring sign! I'll post a belly pic next weekend.

That's about all for now...

Love,

Carley

Getting Bigger - 17 weeks

Our little teddy bear (and me looking fabulous in the moring??)

Baxter loves to jump in the bathtub

Well, I think I have officially "popped". Clothes certainly don't fit and I'm in maternity pants. It's kind of fun though...now I finally feel pregnant rather than just like I've been eating pizza every night.

It was a pretty good week, I had a Usborne Book party on Thursday which was a lot of fun. The books are super cute and all of the girls seemed to enjoy themselves. Of course Jane spoiled her grandkids with getting lots of Christmas presents out of the way! :)

On another note, I've been having some asthma problems lately which hasn't been very fun. I went in to see the doc because I had an asthma attack late Thursday night. Apparently when that happens when pregnant, air is taken away from the baby and given to the mother!! That scared me, but the doctor said as long as I stay on the asthma medication the baby should be fine. I'm not too thrilled about being on the meds, but it's better than the alternative.

The weekend was nice...I went out to eat with some girlfriends on Friday then went to see "Nights in Rodanthe". It was good, but be prepared for a tear-jerker. Dave and Ethan went to Hortonville's homecoming game (small town outside of Appleton where Dave grew up) while I was out with the girls. They said it was fun, but cold. Saturday we went to Ethan's football game, Ethan did great so it was fun to watch. The rest of the day was pretty laid back, Dave went to get wood for the fireplace this winter, and I shopped and went to the gym.

Big new in Northeast WI: Time Warner Cable is not going to be broadcasting the Packer games anymore!! There is some debacle with Fox 11 and the local station not being able to come to a money agreement, so the games aren't going to be aired. So the locals have to go to a bar or to somebody's house who has a dish. I'm surprised there haven't been any riots around here yet. :)

I'm super excited to get the nursery together next weekend! I'll post pics next week when we're done with the initial touches. Of course we'll still have to do more with it, but you'll get the idea at least.

OK...off to the grocery store. Love to all!