Baptism

Sam's baptism!

Sammy's parents and Godparents

Dave and his pregger wife.

Baxter laying with Papa after a long trip home.

Baxter, that is not very lady-like...

The long awaited trip to Michigan is over. While I'm sad, it was also nice to get home after a week of being away. It was GREAT to meet Sam, he is so cute and such a good baby. We got to spend a lot of time with my parents and grandparents which was very nice too. I'm hoping to get over to lower MI more often than every other year. It is just too long! Maybe we can go back next summer since we won't be there for Christmas. I want this little one to know his/her Michigan family too! We had a hard time getting home on Friday. We actually ended up staying overnight in a small town about an hour east of Chicago because of the ice storm. The roads and traffic were terrible. But...it was just more quality time for Dave, Ethan and I. We watched movies and ordered pizza. We eventually made it home on Saturday morning safely. So that's what counts. Baxter ran around the house as fast as he could when we got home. I think he was excited to be back on his own turf.

Being with Sam made me very anxious for our little bundle to get here. As the due date gets closer, I'm getting more and more anxious. Some days I'm more relaxed about it than others. I'm just so excited to find out how labor is going to go and if we are having a Lucas or a Lyla! I've heard that not knowing the sex of the baby helps you get through labor because you want to find out what you are having. If I had to guess, I would say we are having a boy. But, I know lots of moms who thought they were having one gender when it turned out to be the opposite. So a mother's intuition is not always right! I'll be thrilled with either, as long as the baby is healthy. I've been feeling pretty good, just more and more uncomfortable. It's sort of hard for me to feel physically restricted because I like doing things for myself. But, at 30 weeks, it's getting hard to even get off of the couch to let Baxter out! I can't believe I still have 10 weeks to go and the baby will at least double in weight. It seems like a lot! But, I will manage of course. I can't do things as easily as I used to, like put on my socks. I have to put them on like a man by putting my ankle up on my knee and slide them on. Putting my pants on is a challenge sometimes too...and kneeling at church is hard. The little things we take for granted! I don't think I'm one of those women who loves being pregnant, but I don't dislike it either. I'm sure I will miss feeling this baby kick me every day reminding me that work isn't as important as it seems sometimes. :-)

We are going to a New Year's Eve party tomorrow night, it should be a good time. I'm not sure if I will even make it until midnight, but I'll try. Dave made these white chocolate covered Ritz cracker things with peanut butter for the party. My cousin Andy made them over Christmas and Dave loved them. So he wanted to give them a try. They turned out pretty good...I think. I haven't tried them yet.

OK, back to making dinner. Happy New Year!!

Big Baby?

I just got back from the doc and he said my tummy is measuring a little big, the baby grew quite a bit since last time. So we might have a big baby on our hands! That's not for sure yet...I'll know more on my next appointment. If it seems like baby grew a lot again, he is going to order an ultrasound. Then we'll know for sure if it's just the way my uterus is growing (it could just be extra amniotic fluid) or if the baby is bigger than normal. If so, we'll be more aware of if a c-section might be needed if the labor is long and difficult. I was a normal sized baby, but Dave was close to 9 pounds. So who knows? I can thank my husband for this one...I think he better buy me an extra present if the baby is a big one.

Dave's Party

Looking spiffy before Dave's graduation party.

Both boys showing off their pearly whites.

Baxter was sleeping like this for some reason??

First snow storm!

Christmas Pic

Dave's party was a lot of fun. We had a great turnout and everyone seemed to have a good time. I ordered way too much food, but oh well...better to have too much that not enough. Lots of laughs and drinks...and Dave had a well-deserved late night with his friends. My parents came down at the last minute because they had a funeral to go to of a very close friend's mother (Diane and Bill). Our prayers are with the Koskis during this time. It was very nice to have Mom & Dad there even though it was a quick trip.

I spoke too soon about working out keeping the back soreness away, because it has definitely kicked in. After standing around visiting last night it was sore...and it's been sore on and off for the past couple of weeks. I bought a heating pad/massage thing that helps. It's mainly just hard at night trying to find a comfortable position to sleep.

I will be 28 weeks on Thursday...officially into my third trimester. Hopefully things continue to go well. Everyone else seems to think the pregnancy is going by quickly...but to me three months still seems like a long time to wait!! :) The baby is still very active. Dave got to feel a very strong kick last week, I think he was surprised at how strong it was. He said "Wow! Lyla's mad!" (he thinks we are having a girl). But it was pretty neat.

I also go back to the doctor on Tuesday...regular check-up and getting my glucose checked. I'm sure it will be uneventful once again...which is a good thing.

OK, that's about all for now...we are off to lower MI on Saturday morning for almost a week, I can't wait! Dave, Ethan and I are all very excited to have a week off of work and just relax with family. And I can't wait to meet my little nephew, Sam. Less than week I'll finally get to see him! :-)

Merry Christmas and safe travels to everyone!

Yay for Dave!

Dave had his final MBA class last night! He did great, they had a big presentation to give and a portfolio to put together that encompassed all of the work he did in each class he has taken. He really worked hard on this last class....lots of hours and meetings with his group. It paid off because he got an A in the class! They had a big presentation to give last night and did a great job. I am a VERY proud wife! We are having a little party for him on the 13th, should be a good time. I'm also excited to have more of my husband's time back. :-) Hopefully Dave doesn't demand I start calling him "master" now...

Thanksgiving

Big belly - 25.5 weeks (and I still have 15 weeks to go...)!

Merry Christmas from Baxter. He's a mean one, and he hates that costume.

Papa and Baxter in his Santa suit

We had a very nice, quiet Thanksgiving. My parents came down because plans with the Jensen family got a little rearranged this year. Jane was out on the east coast helping Kristin...she had her babies early and they are doing just fine. Emma Jane and Noah Michael, we are anxiously waiting for pictures! It was an emergency c-section because Kristin was showing signs of pre-eclampsia. We are very thankful it was caught early and mama and babies are happy and healthy! The babies will have to stay in the NICU for a few weeks until they are a bit stronger, but they are breathing on their own and have had no complications thus far. We are thinking about the Pintos and keeping you all in our prayers! Also very happy everyone is in recovery mode.

So my mom and I put together some appetizers and the turkey. It was our first turkey and it turned out pretty darn good. It was just five of us...Ethan, me, Dave, Mom, and Dad. But it was still nice. They left yesterday...Dave had some school work to do, and I was pretty tired and my allergies were really bad again. So I was kind of down for the count yesterday. But I'm feeling a little better today. Still tired, but I think that's because the allergies have been keeping me up, and it's getting more uncomfortable to sleep. Dave changed the air filter on the furnace so hopefully that helps the allergies at least.

Today I'm getting a few things done around the house, and I have some work to get done before tomorrow. At least I can work from my couch instead of the office on the weekends...that's the only upside to working on the weekends. And I don't feel as behind when I get in on Monday.

OK that's about all for now...only three months and 11 days until this baby gets here!! It seems far away but close at the same time! I'm sure the last two months will creep by, being that January and February are in the dead of winter here in WI...and I'll be so anxious for the third trimester to end. But, that's OK...at least the baby will keep me warm this winter!! Till next time.

Love you all, Car

Doctor & Weekend

I just got back from the doctor's office, everything checked out just fine. The baby is doing well, heart rate of 147...and I'm measuring right around where I should be. I go back in four weeks to do my glucose screening. He asked if I've been feeling movement, so I told him how much the baby kicks and that he/she wakes me up in the middle of the night with the kicking. He laughed and said they must be some strong kicks. :-)

We had a nice weekend...Friday Ethan was over and we just watched some TV and went to bed. Saturday I worked and Dave did some MBA work...then we went to church and met friends out for dinner Saturday night. Sunday morning Dave put on a coffee hour out at the Lutheran Church in Greenville, and I got up early and did some Christmas shopping. Going to Target at 8:30 is great...no one is there! I'm almost done with Christmas shopping already which feels great. I'm so excited to go over to Lower Michigan this year! It seems like it has been forever since I've been there...well, it has been two years. Too long! I need to try to shorten up the time between getting over there. This year will be special because Tony & Rachel asked Dave & I to be the Godparents of little Sam! So we are going to do the baptism while we are there. We are going to be there almost a full week, I'm super excited to see my family!

This weekend Dave is going up for the big hunt, and Alison & Amanda are coming to visit the 'ole pregger. It won't be as crazy as some of the visits have been in the past, but it will still be fun and great to see them!! I can't believe next weekend is Thanksgiving already...crazy!!

On another note, Dave's sister Kristin is pregnant with fraternal twins and having some complications (they are having a girl and a boy :) )...she is 32 weeks along. The little girl isn't growing as much as she should be, so the doctors are keeping a close eye on things. They might have to take the babies early so the little girl can grow in the ICU. Kristin's doctor had her spend the night in the hospital last night due to some test results, but nothing major yet. But we are all trying to think positively and keeping them in our prayers...so we're asking everyone to please do the same! Thanks!!

OK that's about all for now. I should have some pictures after the girls' weekend.

Lots of kicks

Sam's message to us. :)
My big belly...22.5 weeks

Baxter taking a nap.

Three boys so tired after a day out in the woods.


First snow! Very pretty.

Ethan's Halloween costume, he was a gangster.

The baby is kicking me all the time now...Dave even got to feel the first real jab last night. It was very cool! Now, of course the little one kicks me in the bladder when I'm in a meeting and work and I need to pee. But I love it anyway.

As you can see, little Sammy has sent us a message. He is doing great and we are so excited to stay with him over Christmas so we can get to know him. He's doing really well...doesn't fuss much I guess which is great! Hopefully we will be so lucky. :-)

I go to the doctor again next Tuesday. I'm sure it will be fairly uneventful...weigh in and then out the door. But by the next appointment I'll be in my third trimester already. Crazy! Then I think I have to go every other week. These next few months are going to fly by. I've been feeling really good, so I'm thankful for that. The allergies are getting better now that it's cooling down a bit. I've been working super crazy hours, so getting around to the blog is harder to do. But I'll be sure to post at least every other week. I'll be glad when maternity leave rolls around so I can at least have a break from work for a little bit. Of course we'll be very busy at home with the baby, but it's a different kind of work.

That's about all!

Hugs,

Carley

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!