Happy Holidays to You!

Christmas was great this year! We had fun celebrating our first Christmas with Becca, we ate lots and lots of yummy food, took plenty of naps, and “Santa” spoiled both of us absolutely rotten. Even though this year was lots of fun, we are greatly anticipating Christmas 2010 as it will be 100 times better having a baby to celebrate with! =)

As if becoming parents here soon didn’t make us feel all big and in the grown up world enough as it is, we constructed our wills and received them officially in the mail yesterday. Some life decisions are hard to make, but we made it through and got things in order (hopefully) – 9 pages later! It’s crazy to see your “death” right in front of your face……

Doctor appointments have still been going great! Nothing new to report. Noah’s heartbeat has stayed within normal range, Jen’s weight has pretty much stayed the same, and no increases in dilation have been made. Here’s hoping for a 2010 baby!

Jen started her maternity leave yesterday. She’s been trying to relax as much as she can, (like playing the new Super Mario Bros for the Wii) but there always seems to be something that needs to be done around the house. She IS taking time out though to pamper herself this week and get things done to look decent while in the hospital. Today was haircut and pedicure day, and boy did THAT help her to feel better!

Here will be the last of the belly pics – until we have another baby, of course. ;)

Pregnant Jen and her "pregnant" brother - yes, that's his real belly (crazy!).

Pregnant Jen and her "pregnant" husband - he must not be as far along as Brian. ;)

Pregnant Jen and her pregnant friend Erynn! Noah's gonna have a cousin in July! =)

Growing Noah both inside and soon-to-be outside with Chick-Fil-A. =)

We’re SO excited for Noah to come!!! As you can see, only 3 more days to go – or more!!! =)

Still Chillin' In There

38 weeks today!

Actually, as of last week (week 37), Jen was considered full term and could have Noah at any time and he'd be OK - but, the doctor visits seem to indicate that Jen is nowhere near delivering. Whew! Let’s hope the doctor says that next week too. Maybe our prayers of delivering late will be answered!? =)

14 more days to go. Excited? Definitely. Ready? Hope so! Nervous? Absolutely.

Grandma’s Don’t Know Everything……

(By Jen)

I got this hilarious email from my Mom and I just HAD to pass it along. Maybe she’s trying to tell me that something like this is bound to happen at some point or another on the days she watches Noah???? Great….. =)

This is for all you Grandmothers - or Grandmothers in the making!! Learn well - you too will be tested!! Grandma’s don’t know everything…….

Little Tony was 7 years old and was staying with his grandmother for a few days. He'd been playing outside with the other kids for a while when he came into the house and asked her: “Grandma, what's that called when two people sleep in the same room and one is on top of the other?” She was a little taken aback, but she decided to tell him the truth. “It's called sex, darling.” Little Tony said, “Oh, OK,” and went back outside to play with the other kids. A few minutes later he came back in and said angrily, “Grandma, it isn't called sex.

It's called Bunk Beds.

And Jimmy's mom wants to talk to you.”

Maternity Photo Shoot

A good friend of ours blessed us with one of the best baby shower presents ever - a free photo shoot!!! We had the most incredible time and just got the pictures back earlier this week. She did such a fantastic job and we wanted to share just a few of them with you – check it out!!! =)

For those of you who are wondering: yes, we also took some of the “obligatory” naked belly pics and they turned out gorgeous!!! But we feel those are more personal to us, so we’ll keep those at home instead of displaying them all over our blog. ;)

34 Weeks!

(By Jen)

Here is how the pregnancy is going:

Wardrobe:
* Still not completely in maternity clothes. Yay me! However, I do borrow Greg’s shirts once and awhile since they feel so good.
* I am (and have been) done buying maternity clothes – even though the temptation arises at times to “just buy one more thing that will make me feel cute.” ;)
* ALL of my shoes still fit. Fortunately for me, my feet haven’t changed sizes!! =)

Cravings:
* Still crave fruit quite a bit of the time. Jamba Juice and I have become BFF’s. =)
* Still can’t stomach the thoughts of homemade salads and dressings, but LOVE restaurant salads – weird, I know.
* No smell or sight of food has made me get sick thus far. I am fine with everything except homemade salads. ;)
* Crazy thirsty for water, but I’m not ravenous most of the time, nor do I eat everything in sight like they say all prego’s usually do.

Physically:
* Haven’t really gained a whole lot of weight.
* My hair HAS gotten thicker on my head, and has somewhat ceased to grow everywhere else on my body.
* I just don’t bend over anymore if I don’t have to. I tend to kick things around and hope that someone else will pick them up for me. =)
* Pregnancy has been an absolute breeze for me except for that horrible nausea phase at the beginning (no throwing up though, so that was a blessing!), and tiredness when I am used to going, going, going – maybe labor will be an absolute breeze too?
* Still have a bladder the size of an elephant and don’t have to go 8 million times a day
* People are telling me I am FINALLY looking pregnant. Woo hoo! =)
* No emotional mood swings so far. In fact, I have been a lot more laid back. I have to say, I have felt almost 100% normal this whole pregnancy.

Noah:
* His room is about ¾ done now. We just have a few loose ends to tie to make it look all “pretty” for him.
* We met with and established his pediatrician this past week.
* He really loves my right side and likes to wad himself up over there. Lately it’s been fun to see how many different shapes my belly can take on.
* He gets hiccups quite often that last for a long time – kinda like his mama.
* Greg reads to Noah every night out of his “Little Boys Bible Storybook.” He does a good job of paying attention, but then likes his “playtime” with Greg afterwards. =)
* Greg can now hear Noah’s heartbeat without having to use my stethoscope!

Advice:
* I haven’t really had too many people come and give me unsolicited advice or tips like they say people will try to do. Although….. when I ask for prayer that I’ll be a day or two late when delivering Noah, that’s when people feel like they need to step in and say something to the effect of: “that is the silliest thing they’ve ever heard,” or that “I will change my mind.” I’ve even heard other comments criticizing me for praying for lateness. Just keep in mind, most of you don’t know the whole story or the whole reason behind praying for this…..
* I myself have been solicited for pregnancy advice and tips though. It’s fun to finally be on the other side of the fence. =)


Just 6 weeks till d-day!

Baby Shower!

This past weekend was the baby shower for Noah! Jen’s 5 hostesses (one of whom was unable to attend at pretty much the last minute) did such a fabulous job planning one big shower, and made it everything and more that she had ever wanted. It had been scheduled, probably a little earlier than the normal time you give a person a baby shower, but with the holidays coming up, people’s calendars tend to fill up fast! Even though it was still a busy weekend for a lot of people anyways (and a lot of people were sick too – definitely didn’t want to catch their germs!), we still had an awesome turnout, and we sure got blessed with a lot of nice things! We were told on more than one occasion that this shower was the biggest one they had ever attended in their whole life. Yep, we most definitely feel loved. =) But it doesn’t stop there...... the presents STILL keep coming! We went home from church on Sunday with tons of bags of presents, and even to this day, they still keep coming! =) Jen came home from work on Monday with presents, and it has even become fun opening the front door (and the mailbox) and seeing what packages await us that day too. This has been going on for a couple of weeks now, and this is making us VERY excited for Noah’s arrival. =) Our living room looks like a disaster right now too, thanks to a friend of ours who dropped off 2 HUGE garbage sacks, stuffed to capacity, of baby clothes for us . Baby clothes of all sizes, in perfect condition, everywhere. We’re pretty much set for almost the first 2 years. We consider ourselves to be very much blessed and very loved. Have we mentioned that already!? =)

Thank you to everyone who came and for all the wonderful things you brought to help us prepare for Noah. Thank you to everyone else who sent things in your absence. That was so thoughtful and very sweet of you to think of us.

52 more days to go!

4 out of the 5 hostesses

Adorable cupcake cake
Adorable "flower" arrangement (made out of baby socks)

Presents!

Jen’s 28th Birthday!

It was a great birthday weekend, full of extreme relaxation and fun surprises.

It all started last Friday night (a week before her birthday) when Greg surprised Jen with one of the first of her birthday presents. Total surprise. He loves to do that kind of thing. =) This past Friday night, when he called to say he was on his way home, he had another surprise up his sleeve. He said, “start packing – we’re going away for the whole weekend!” So we packed up our stuff and headed up to Denver – one of our favorite places to get away. First stop, dinner at Landry’s. He had researched seafood places in Denver (since Jen has been craving seafood lately) and decided on Landry’s since it had the best ratings, and also because we had been wanting to go there for a long time now. Amazing food. Definitely will go back. After that, we headed to our room, where we had fun staying huddled in our room and shutting out the rest of the world for the next 2 days...... well...... sort of. Greg had yet another surprise up his sleeve for Saturday night. The only thing he would tell Jen is that “we had to be somewhere at 5:00 for dinner.” So, on Saturday, when we got to the restaurant, he had arranged for our friends David and Ali to surprise Jen and have dinner and celebrate with us! It was SO much fun. =) Sunday (yesterday) it was such a bummer to have to go home. However, we made a couple of stops on the way home that made it quite exciting! Jen got some new “fat clothes” (as she likes to call it) from Gap Maternity, and Noah got a HUGE sack-full of clothes from The Children’s Place outlet store in Castle Rock. We hit the mother lode for him that day with all the good sales they were having! We hope that store stays open for a very long time as we plan to hit it up quite a bit! Next week we’ll celebrate the rest of Jen’s birthday with her family. Since Greg hogged her all weekend, they want their turn too. =)

We’re now past the 30 week point! 7.5 months along and both Jen and Noah are getting bigger all the time! Here is the latest belly picture.

A Baby-centered Weekend

It’s been a great, but very busy weekend! Skipping over Friday (since we didn’t do anything for the baby) and moving on to Saturday, we spent a nice/lazy/relaxing morning and early afternoon at home. Later that afternoon, we had an early dinner with Mom and Dad Fulkerson, and after that, they took us to buy the glider rocker we’d been eyeing for the nursery! It was definitely SO exciting and we can’t wait to put it together and start using it. So now, with BIG thanks to both of our parents, we have our two major nursery pieces purchased – our crib and our rocker! Did we mention how exciting this is!?!? Now all’s we need is a baby shower to put the finishing touches on everything, and then a baby. =)

All day today, we had our childbirth prep (a.k.a. Lamaze) class. It was quite the information packed class with a lot of visuals and hands-on activities. As we looked around the room (we were one of 8 couples), we noticed that Jen was the smallest pregnant person in there by far, and there were even people in there that had about the same due date as her and they were ginormous! We kept thinking that people were probably looking at us and wondering, “why are THEY here? She’s probably not due for another 6 months or so!” But at the same time, she also prided herself in the fact that she was the only one who didn’t have to get up and use the bathroom like 10 times an hour. Yes, she has a bladder the size of an elephant, and being pregnant has not changed that either...... yet. ;) Let’s hope it doesn’t. Greg did a great job learning how to be Jen’s coach, and he learned a lot about how to help Jen get through the first stages of labor with relative ease. We did however, get insane giggles at one point during the class and almost had to excuse ourselves. Yes, we were taking things seriously, but how come the giggles always have to come at the most inappropriate of times? Anyhow, it was a great day, and it made us both nervous for delivery day AND more prepared and excited.

Noah is quite the active little guy...... actually, he always has been. Lately, he moves and moves and moves and moves and moves. We wonder if he ever sleeps! They say that babies are developing sleep patterns at this stage in pregnancy, so we’ve been trying to be quiet and calm at certain times, and loud and playful at times, hoping with all hope that that will help him make a pattern and stick to it – we just hope that he doesn’t come out thinking that it’s acceptable to continue to “play” at 3 am! ;) Actually, night time “play time” has become one of our favorite nightly rituals. We like to go to bed early, have Jen lay on her back, and watch him move all around in her belly and make it morph into different shapes. Quite often, we can figure out just where his little head is. =) We also hear that he is learning (and can recognize) our voices at this stage in pregnancy too. So Greg talks to him whenever he can since he hears Jen’s voice all day long.

That’s about it for now. Another belly picture to come soon!

Rocktober

Remember how we were hoping that life would slow down once we got done vacationing and everything? Well, it only seems to have gotten busier and busier. Usually around the holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas), our calendars are chock-full of events and things to do almost every night - but seriously? September and October too?

Here’s just a little bit of what’s been going on:

(By Jen) – My friend Ali made (and sent out) THE cutest baby shower invitations for my shower last week for all my non-affiliated church friends/family. She is so awesomely creative! I hope someday I can be as creative as her when it comes time for HER baby shower. I was going to take pictures of the invites and post them, but she already beat me to it and blogged and posted pictures on her site - and again, she is much better at picture taking than me, so click here to visit the post on her blog and see pictures! I KNOW you will love them! ----- Bunco is back in full swing again. We took a break over the summer, but we commenced to start again last month. It’s a lot of fun and I enjoy my night out with the girls SO much!

(By Greg) - Let the studying begin! I got my CFA books in the mail the last week of September and I have created a schedule to get through the 3100+ pages of reading by December 31st! Halfway through October, I am still on track. It’s nice when days are slow at work, because I can read on the job, which allows me more time to hang out with Jen during the evenings and stay caught up on my reading! ----- As some of you may know, the Rockies made it to the post-season again (Rocktober!) this year! My friend and I got tickets to Game 3 and we were extremely excited! The game was supposed to be on Saturday night, but it was freezing, there was drizzling rain, there was still snow on the ground, and the temperature was in the teens; therefore, they postponed the game until Sunday night at 8:00 PM MST! First pitch temperature was 31 degrees (the 2nd coldest game in Coors Field History) and we’re certain it was in the high-teens by the end of the game. The game didn’t get over until 12:15 AM, which means I didn’t get home and in bed until 1:45 AM! It was an awesome experience, and although it was freezing, I’d do it again in a heartbeat! Also, I got one of those cool looking “Rocktober” towels that you see the fans waving around during the games! =)

It was fun this past week...... we got to go with Brian and Becca to look at a potential first house for them! It’s the cutest little house and it’s even kinda close to us too! It brought back some fun memories of when we went and built our first house. =) ----- We went to a wedding this past weekend. A friend of Brian’s (who has become our friend too) got married on one of the nastiest days we’ve had this fall. It was a beautiful wedding though and we had a lot of fun. The weather didn’t seem to bother anyone. ----- Coming up next week, we have our first “Childbirth prep,” (a.k.a. “Lamaze class”) to attend. We’ve been told it’s both worth our time and not worth our time. But knowing how we like to be prepared for everything, we’re going. ;) Should be interesting! ----- In our spare time we keep buying things here and there for Noah. Some necessities, some fun things. His room is full of all kinds of fun stuff! This is all just too exciting!

SOLD!

Yay! We finally sold the Trailblazer! This was something we’ve been wanting to do since last summer, but for some reason never got around to doing it. So this summer, back in July, we posted an ad on Auto Trader and hadn’t had one single call on it...... until the week before last. It’s not like we were in any huge hurry to get it sold, but once you know you are ready for a new car and start looking at new ones to replace it, you kinda get excited and just want to get it off your hands, ya know? So we said our goodbyes last Tuesday morning – we are officially now back to being a 2-car family again. We don’t plan to get our next vehicle until spring/summer of 2010 because with winter raring its ugly head at us, we’d rather buy a car AFTER all the snow and ice has melted off the roads. ;)

It was a great car and we LOVED having it, but we’re sure we’ll love our NEW car even better! Gotta love that new car smell. =)

Now...... off to do our research on some of the vehicles we already have picked out...... can’t wait to reveal our final choice!!!!!

Name That Baby!

Well.... we have to admit, this was one of THE most difficult things we have ever had to do in our life. We really thought that since we had officially picked out a girl's name, that that was kinda a sign that that's what we were having. Plus, there were really NO boy names out there that we even remotely liked at all. We even said to ourselves, "well, if it turns out to be a boy, we'll just have to get ready for one of the biggest challenges ever!" Challenge extended - challenge accepted - challenge overcome. After having read many books, looked on many websites, consulting with friends and family, and staying awake many hours and agonizing over what to call our son, we finally came up with a name that we both love.

Meet Noah Alexander!

We chose this name for many reasons. The meaning of the name doesn’t really mean anything significant to us, but we figured that he DID need a short first name since his last name was so long. We also figured that he needed a "normal" first name since his last name isn't something you commonly hear every day. The only name we kept running back to was Noah - we had dreams about him being called that, jokingly called him that while picking out names, and even prayed for clear guidance for a name. Noah it is! We chose the middle name because that's Jen's Grandpa's middle name. We desperately wanted any name we picked out (for boy or girl, first or middle name) to have someone from the family's name in it. So after writing down both sides of the family (and definitely vetoing a few), Alexander seemed to be a perfect fit and flowed the best. Hopefully he will make his great-grandpa very proud! So...... in the future, when/if we get pregnant again, we hope it’s a girl only because we already have the name picked out and we won’t have to go through all this again. If not...... we get to go through this all over again! ;)

What a wonderful gift we have been given! We feel so blessed and really are in awe with the plan God has for our life together and the life of our son. Our lives have truly been enriched and blessed beyond measure lately, and we just can't put in to words all the emotion and excitement we are going through.

6.5 months along! Getting a little bit bigger now!

Random Pictures

So it snowed yesterday AND today here in Colorado, and yesterday wasn’t even Fall yet!!!! We sure weren’t very excited about it, but we know there are quite a few of you crazy people out there who “just absolutely love it!”

We haven’t really had anything TOO exciting to blog about lately, so we’ll just show you some of the random pictures we’ve taken within the month or so.

Referring back to our old post here about how badly our last name can be butchered, here is another example..... Greg’s birthday cake. This was written on the side of the box. Ha ha! NOW, can we change our last name to something else?


Jen bought these for Casey and Kobe because they were just TOO cute to pass up. She figures if humans can eat animal crackers, animals can eat people crackers! =)

What do you think of Greg’s new look?

Here friends, is what we like to call “The Ugliest Car in the World.” People ought to be ashamed to be seen in one of these. =) Can we get an amen?

Just can’t get enough of each other..... =)

Which of us is pregnant? Definitely more of these types of pics to come...... =)

Here we’re at Biaggi’s “rehearsal luncheon-ing.” So cute. =) All 3 of us. =)

Our Babymoon in California

We’re sure most of you already know what a babymoon is, but for those of you who don’t, here is the gist of it: it’s a pre-baby vacation for expecting parents – for the couple to have one last hurrah. Even though this technically won’t be our last vacation (seeing as how we’ve already planned a couple of vacations for next year), we still enjoyed every minute together without worrying/wondering one last time about what was happening back at home with the baby.

Without boring you with all the little details, here is a very quick rundown of our vacation. We had such a blast and didn’t want to come home. In fact, we even lightly approached the subject of finding jobs in the L.A. area! But we digress..... we flew in late last Friday afternoon. By the time we got there, we didn’t have time to do much except get our rental car, eat a bite of dinner, play a quick game, and head to bed. Saturday, we got up early, decided to skip having a posh breakfast in Beverly Hills so we could quickly get on the Pacific Coast Highway in our convertible to see as many of the sights as we could. We drove way up past Malibu, but wound up coming back and spending most of our time in Malibu. We had lunch at the famous Paradise Cove Café, and later that night, had dinner at our favorite (and also famous) In-N-Out! =) Sunday morning, we headed out to an orchard and went raspberry and apple picking. We picked so many raspberries that Grandpa made us some homemade jam to take home. It was divine! We also had some mini apple cider donuts that they make fresh right there. We felt like we were in heaven! After all that hard work, we picnicked later that afternoon out at a different orchard. We were having a grand old time until fire trucks started racing by, and as we looked up, we realized another fire was starting just over the hill from where we were. As we were packing up, it was getting bigger, and as we left the parking lot, ash rained down on the car. Obviously we made it out in time. ;) Monday was our day at Disneyland. We had THE best time at “the happiest place on earth” even though that day was a record high in the heat wave that they were having. We felt very blessed because it was apparently a slow day for Disney, so we got on pretty much every ride right away. We got there as the park opened and stayed for the fireworks show at the end of the night. Such a fun and magical day. Tuesday we spent the day in San Diego. We had never been there before, so we thought it would be fun to tour the city and see what it was all about. We definitely could see ourselves going back there again someday. Wednesday was our last day there. We slept in and then raced to Seal Beach for a couple of hours so we could one last time feel the sand between our toes and to see/hear/smell the ocean. It was definitely no fun to have to go home. =( As we like to say, “If you’re lucky enough to be at the beach, you’re lucky enough!”

Here are a few pics from our vaca. We won’t bore you with all 200+ of them!








As a fun side note..... we went on our first double date with Brian and Becca as married couples to a Sky Sox game (and dessert afterwards) the Wednesday before we left for California! It was an awful lot of fun in general, but what made it even MORE fun was that Greg got picked to go out onto the field in between innings and participate in those cheesy games they played - he had to catch water balloons in a bucket strapped to his head. LOL. He beat the person he was competing against, so he won our whole section free food. Needless to say, he ended up being everyone’s best friend that night! =)

Right now, we find ourselves in Estes Park Colorado, enjoying this 3-day weekend in a cozy cabin along the river. Beach last weekend, mountains this weekend. We live such a fun life, don’t you think? =)

And last but not least..... here is the latest picture of Jen at 22 weeks. Getting a little bigger each month! =) Almost 6 months along now – can you believe it?

It's A......

BOY!!!

It feels like we are on cloud nine right now, and we’re loving the fact that we can now refer to our baby as a “him” and “our son.” This is all so exciting!!!!! It’s also fun because we’ve been starting to buy some baby clothes and get the nursery prepared. Lots and lots of fun things happening around our house lately!

Now for names….. we already knew the name if it was a girl. It was a done deal. We had pretty much NO boy names that we liked. So for days now, we’ve been reading baby name books, writing down names, saying them out loud, and going over all the ways that he could possibly be made fun of by other kids his own age because of what he was named. We’ve come up with about 3 different names and we hope to have it narrowed down soon. It would be nice to start calling our sweet baby boy by his name. =)

Here’s some recent ultrasound pics… isn’t he SO CUTE??? =)



Here’s how we made the announcement of the sex:

CFA Level 2 Results

(By Greg)

Well, August 18th has come and gone, D-Day for the CFA Level 2 test results!

I was very anxious to open up my envelope last night to reveal my results; however, it wasn't what I was hoping for and my heart sank--I did not pass!

I am pretty bummed about the results, but I am trusting in God's plan and knowing that this is what He has planned for me. Hindsight is 20/20, but looking back someday, we'll see the reason why it wasn't in His plans for me to pass Level 2 this year… It's just frustrating knowing how much time/effort was dedicated in the 5+ months leading up to the exam and 300+ hours of study time.

Unless God changes my course, I will sit again for Level 2 next June! I am having some doubts about continuing, but just because I didn't pass Level 2 of the most difficult exams in the world, God doesn't expect me to just give up and quit because of that--so I must press on!

MY PLAN was to get a pass on Level 2 yesterday, study the 6 months for Level 3 starting in January (due date January 1st) and be done with the CFA by June, when the baby is 6 months old. But, maybe a "review" of Level 2 and retaking it would be easier than starting fresh on Level 3 and I can spend more time with the baby! Only God knows the reasoning right now...

Even though I did not pass, thank you to everyone for your support and prayers these last 8+ months as I was preparing, taking the test, and awaiting the results.

"But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue a single day!" (Habakkuk 2:3)

5 Years Ago Today……

...... we were married! And it has been 5 years of wedded bliss ever since – loving each other more and more than the day before. =)

“When as a child, I had daydreamed of a lifelong mate, my young heart was filled with love – toward whom? When I read love stories and imagined myself married, who was the object of my budding adoration? When I dated and learned to interact with the opposite sex and thought about a future with someone to love, about whom was I thinking? It was you. I didn’t even know you, but it had been you all along.”

Most of you already know “our story” – how we met, fell in love, got engaged, got married, and have now begun to start our family. For those of you who don’t, you can get a small glimpse of it from one of our older blog posts, here. But way back when, never in a million years, did we ever think that our lives would merge in such a way that we’d forever be together. In our almost 7-year relationship, 5 of those being married, we have been so overwhelmingly blessed. We consider ourselves so lucky and thank God every day for those blessings - especially since we can look around at many other couples our age and see how things COULD be for us. The Lord’s provision over our marriage and over our individual lives has been amazing – and what a gift for us to be having a baby soon! =)

So everyone keeps asking, “what kind of fun plans do you have for your 5th?” Well...... we originally hadn’t planned on doing anything on the actual day itself - we HAD planned on celebrating a couple of months late. We WERE supposed to be sailing on a cruise trip to Tahiti in October with Mom and Dad Kelly. But, since we got ourselves pregnant, the cruise lines don’t let women on that are more than 5 months pregnant, so Mom and Dad decided to just go without us! (no fair!) So plan B. Since we have to keep things a little more low-key and more hospital accessible because of the pregnancy, we’ll be going to California for a few days at the end of August. We plan on going to Disneyland, renting a convertible to head up the PCH to Malibu, head back down the PCH the other way to visit San Diego, do some fun sightseeing in the Los Angeles area, and definitely spend some much needed time on the beach.

Now, you are also probably wondering what gifts we got each other for this big milestone. Well...... we have some friends that get all caught up in the craziness of getting each other the “traditional” gift each year that coincides with the year they’ve been married, or even a gift in general. Basically, we don’t do gifts. Our “gift” to each other is to go somewhere nice on vacation. That’s a pretty nice gift, right? We like the memories, not the “stuff.” And besides, who wants wood on their 5-year anniversary? ;)

“With this ring, I thee wed, and I will keep you only unto me for as long as we both shall live.”

........ I have found the one whom my heart loves....... Song of Solomon 3:4

Greg’s 30th Birthday!

Friday, Greg turned the big 3-0!

The day started off just like any other day – or so Greg had originally thought. But little did he know that Jen had arranged other plans for his day (with his boss’ approval of course!) to swoop in, surprise him at his desk (boy was he sure surprised to look up and see Jen standing there!), kidnap him from work at lunchtime and take him away for the rest of the afternoon! We picnicked out at Garden of the Gods, took a leisurely drive around the park, and then headed home for a little nap before dinner. We went out for a fairly late dinner, and then came home to finish celebrating with dessert, presents, and a movie. His actual birthday was more private – it was just the two of us......

...... but last night, we celebrated with about 30 of our friends and family. Jen threw him a party that was a huge success - music, appetizers, cake, and a lot of fun to go with it! He made out with quite the loot, too! We partied fairly late into the evening and then went out for our “after party” to go do some midnight bowling with some friends and family. We had never done that before and it seemed like the perfect ending to the most perfect evening!

Check out the slideshow below for a few of the photos from Greg’s birthday weekend:

Cars, Weddings, Festivals, and Baby Updates

The days have been flying by lately, and sometimes we wish that time would just stand still for awhile. So much has been going on at once that we decided to cram it all into one blog post. This could take awhile, so grab a cup of coffee...... =)

Cars:
The time has come friends...... we have decided to put our vehicle up for sale. It’s something Jen has been contemplating doing since last summer, but finally got the initiative to do THIS summer. We’ve been a 3-car family for as long as we can remember, so being without that extra car for awhile will be a bit of a change for us - IF we can get it sold. (Jen is also going to miss that XM radio!) Our other cars are a bit older than this car, but as well as we’ve maintained them, they should be good to go for another 10 years or so! Anyways, we digress...... Why are we selling a perfectly good car, you ask? The reason is simple. Jen just gets the urge to get a new car every 3 years or so - she gets bored and wants something new. It’s a great car in excellent condition, and anyone would be lucky to own it. We’re praying it sells quickly so we can save up and put a nice sized down-payment on our next car! We have a few vehicles in mind, one that stands out more above the others, but we’ll let you know what we end up with. ;) We have it listed on Auto Trader. If you are interested in the information for yourself or for a friend, click here for the website.

Weddings:
As most of you know, Brian got married on July 26th. It was a beautiful day and a gorgeous wedding. We’ve never been to a more perfect/elegant wedding in all of our lives. It was so exquisite! Brian looked just as handsome as ever, and Becca looked absolutely stunning. The whole morning we spent choking back tears, and when we all saw Brian lose it when Becca walked down the aisle, none of us could hold them back any longer. (Yes, even the groomsmen all had tears in their eyes.) Becca did great though, she held it together the whole day! All of the pictures will eventually be ready and we hope to get a copy of them on a CD so we can post some of them later. For now, we’ll leave you in suspense. =)

Festivals:
This past Sunday, we went to the Renaissance Festival! We had a great time milling around, visiting the various booths and eating our much anticipated turkey legs for lunch. It was a fun experience that Jen and her family had never done before. Greg had been in the past, but he had more fun experiencing it with Jen. ;)

Baby Updates:
The monthly checkup went great today. Baby and Jen got a clean bill of health. (Jen is now almost 19 weeks along!) The heartbeat is still going strong too! At Jen’s doctor’s appointment today, her doctor said it was 150 beats per min. Wow! Go baby go! =) We get to find out the baby’s sex in a couple of weeks too. Exciting, huh? It will be nice to start calling the baby a “he” or a “she.” It will also be nice to settle a bet that’s been going on between Mom Kelly and Greg. ;)

Jen’s cravings thus far: Fruit (lots of it!), Bean Burrito’s from Taco Bell, and Starbucks Mocha’s on the rocks.

Jen’s aversions thus far: Homemade green salads (homemade being the key here)

Jen’s physical condition: Tired? Yes. Exhausted actually. Mostly in the early to late evenings. She also still isn’t very big and people ask her all the time if she’s sure she’s pregnant