18 1/2 weeks!

Well, we went to the doctor the other day to find out if we were having a boy or a girl... We got a lot of great pictures of the baby, but he/she was moving around so much the ultrasound tech couldn't get a good shot of you-know-what... so, we still don't know! We'll give the baby a few more weeks to get a little bigger, then we'll try again! Can't wait to know for sure!

Baby Stuff!

So, for Christmas this year, we decided to just get baby furniture. We found a great Black Friday deal at BabiesRus on a very nice set of nursery furniture! We got there at 4:00am, got right up to the desk to make our order, ended up only 6th in line for the big 5:00 sale and got the only set they had in stock! Our friends helped us get it the next day and we got it all set up! We are very pleased with our purchase! Now I just wish we knew if we are having a boy or a girl so we could finish decorating!!!!

Crib

Dresser

Changer Combo

I also found this really cute Pack and Play with a bassinet and changer on it that I really liked! I had to call all over for it and drive nearly 45 minutes to get it.... but I'm very happy that I found that too!!! Things are coming together very nicely! We are having so much fun getting ready for this baby! We can't wait for him/her to get here!!!

Pack & Play

Mobile

Bassinet/Changer

Once Upon A Time....

Once upon a time, there was this boy and this girl who fell madly in love and were married for time and all eternity! From the very beginning they wanted to start their family so badly! After 3 years of medications and treatments and surgeries and... ok course, lots and lots of tears and prayers and fasting and prayers... their dreams have finally come true! They found a GREAT doctor who helped them with In-Vitro. It wasn't the "walk in a park" that they hoped it would be, but all those months of trials and pains were all worth it.
We are about 12 1/2 weeks a long... due around May 12th! We could not be happier! This is such a miracle for us! Thank you for all your prayers for us!

6 1/2 weeks!

8 1/2 weeks!

10 1/2 weeks!

11 1/2 weeks! Looks like a smile on the baby's face!

12 1/2 weeks! Tom said, "Looks like it's Daddy! Big head and skinny legs!"

Birthday and Crafts!

My birthday was on September 11th. We went to dinner and saw "The Help"! It was a fun weekend. And, after all these years of "hinting" things that's I'd like to have... Tom pulled it off! For a very long time I have been looking for the "perfect" big picture of Christ to hang in my house. I looked and looked and finally found the perfect picture from Simon Dewey, called "I Am". And Tom surprised me with it! I was so excited!

And, to be honest.... I don't really like Halloween. But, I wanted some kind of cute decoration to hang in the house. So, I made this over Conference Weekend! I think they turned out cute and I had fun making them!

Weekend Project!

So, for a while now we've been talking about fixing our basement stairs and Tom had a few days off, and we had great weather, so we thought we'd try it out! We thought we'd only have to replace the step part of the stairs, but as we were removing them, the stair frames fell apart. The wood was pretty rotted, so we knew we'd have to redo the whole thing! We took one of the frames to Lowes, hoping to buy a couple of pre-made frames.... but just our luck, they didn't have the right size. So, we ended up tracing the good frame and cutting some out of wood. We cut them out, sanded them, stained them, and installed them! For beginners, I think we did a pretty good job! It was actually really fun to learn how to do this together!

Tom tearing out the old stairs in the basement!

The old stairs.

Tom cutting out the stair frames! He did a great job and really enjoyed it!

Modeling for the camera!

Tom staining the frames and the steps!

The stairs installed! We saved the carpet scraps from the old stairs and put them back on, so the stairs won't we slippery when wet!

Makes the rest of the basement look even worse! lol! Maybe we'll find a new project to do down there!

Celebrating 3 Years Together!

Last Saturday, Aug. 20th, Tom and I celebrated our 3rd Anniversary! We didn't really get a chance to do anything really fun because Tom had to work that weekend, but we did go out to breakfast on Friday morning! And, Tom was able to take Sunday off so we could go to church together!!!
These last 3 years have flown right by! We've been through and experience A LOT together, and we are much stronger today because of everything! I sure do love this crazy Man of mine!!!

And... Tom found out a few weeks ago that... HE GOT THE NEW JOB! We are so excited! He will be working a Med/Surge Position at Case Western (University Hospital)!!! I'm so proud of him!

New Family Cookbook Blog!

So, I got this crazy idea to create another blog, where all of Tom's family and mine, could share their favorite yummy recipes!!! I didn't know how it would be accepted, but I've already gotten a lot of positive feedback... so hopefully it turns out the way I'm imagining!

Check it out!!!
www.crazyfamilycookbook.blogspot.com

Hope you enjoy!

Blast From the Past!

Ok, so the other day, we went to our friend's house and somehow the conversation turned to old games... which lead to old game shows... which made me think of an old Concentration memory game that I use to play when I was a kid. Grandpa and Grandma Carter had an old computer and it was in their computer room in their old house and all the grandkids loved to go there and play the Concentration game on the computer! Well, I found it online and I played it last night! It was so fun and brought back a lot of fun, fond memories of spending time at Grandpa and Grandma's!!!

Here's the link... especially for all my family that remember playing it too! http://dosdose.com/game/594/classic_concentration/

Quilting!

This summer, I made a couple of quilts and I wanted to tie them. I have some little frames, but they don't work great, so I had to finish the quilt first, and then tie it. I told Tom that he was going to help me and he didn't think that was a great idea! (All growing up, living in a home where my mom sewed A LOT, we tied a lot of quilts, and my dad and my grandpa always helped!) I told Tom that my dad use to help us and I said, "And, you think my dad is a pretty cool guy!" and Tom says, "Well, I use to!" HaHaHa! My dad got a pretty good laugh out of that! Well, I did convince Tom to help me and he actually did a really good job! And, I think he really enjoyed it! =)

Laundry Mishap!

Ok, so on Monday, I decided that I was going to do the laundry and I thought I'd wash sheets and pillows too. Tom has this favorite pillow and he has had it for quite a while. I put it in the wash, and I was looking for some clean sneakers or something to throw in the dryer with it, because I thought it was a feather pillow. Well, I was very grateful that it wasn't feather, just a normal stuffed pillow, because when I opened the washer, this is what I saw...





The pillow came all to pieces! What a mess! Thank goodness that it wasn't feathers! Can you imagine cleaning wet feathers out of the washer?!?!? Oh, that would not have been fun!
Tom misses his favorite pillow, but we did get a great laugh out of it!

Summer Fun!

We've tried to have a little bit of fun this summer, to try and make up for the fact that we weren't able to go home to Utah this summer. We went to a Cleveland Indians game and fireworks with some good friends of ours, and we spent a day at Cedar Point! We had a fun time!


Indian's Game

Tom & Me at the Game

Our friends, Bracken & Brittany

The Fireworks were AWESOME! This was really the best picture we got of them, but they were awesome!

Cedar Point was fun. It was a very hot day and I've been getting really bad migraines, so with the sun, the heat, and all the rough rides, it got pretty bad. We stayed for a few hours, but we didn't get to go on a lot of the really big roller coasters that Tom really wanted to because of my headaches. I felt really bad, but we really did have a fun time! It was good to get out of the house and not have to think about some of the hard/stressful stuff going on in our life! Cedar Point was a very similar, but much bigger version of Lagoon in Utah. They had a lot of the same rides, just with a lot more roller coaster, as well as other rides too. For those of you that haven't been or don't know much about Cedar Point, you should look at the pictures and ride descriptions! www.cedarpoint.com
Tom being Tom!


This is the Windseeker! It is a REALLY tall version of the swings! So fun!


This is the Mean Streak, and boy did it live up to it's name! We didn't really enjoy it at all! Too jerky and it shook up your insides! (I never really liked the old roller coaster at Lagoon, but after riding this, I think the old rickity white Lagoon ride was way better!)

This is the SkyHawk! This was Tom's favorite, and after the second time, I was really starting to like it too! It has two seperate arms what hold 20 people each and they swing opposite each other. You don't have shoulder straps, just over your lap, so when you get really high and are facing the ground, you feel like you are going to fall out! It was really fun!

All in all, considering everything, it's been a good summer! Don't know if we'll ever get use to this heat/humidity though! I think I'll go spend every summer, all summer, in Utah from now on!!!

April and May, comings and goings!

April and May have both come and almost gone and I don't know where they went! It's been a great few months. Tom celebrated his 32nd Birthday on Easter Sunday and it was a good day! I had my surgery that weekend, as well, so I wasn't much fun and I forgot to take pictures of any of it! AHHH! I feel so bad! But, it was a good day! I love Tom so much and I'm so grateful for him in my life!



We have spent the last couple of months, fixing up the yard and planting! We've had a lot of fun doing it! We haven't been able to do a lot, because of all the roots in the backyard, but we've been doing what we can!



We started by clearing out a lot of the trees and shrubs that were in the backyard and between our yard and the neighbor's. I wish we had taken more pictures while we were doing it! We cut down some big trees that were far out of our comfort zone and know-how! But, we had a great time and lots of laughs! We still have a long way to go, but it looks a lot better than it did!




We planted a bunch of little bushes around the porch and they've really started to take off this year! We decided to put a little stone wall/border around them and I really like it so far! We may add more, eventually, but it's a great start!




I potted some more hanging pots again this year and I'm really happy with them! I definitely don't have a green thumb, but I'm sure trying!




We don't have anywhere that we can plant a garden in the ground, so we decided to do some pots and they all seem to be doing well! We have a raspberry plant, peas, green beans, strawberries and a tomatoe plant! We'll see if we actually get some food from them!


I also had my piano recital a few days ago and they all did so well! I had all 23 of them play in the same recital and it went really well! I made the mistake of telling them there was a little treat for each of them BEFORE I tried to get them together for a picture... so, needless to say, we didn't get one. OOOPs! But they all did so well! I'm very proud of all of them!

He Did It!!!

Tom finally finished what he needed to receive his Bachelors of Nursing degree! It took a lot longer than we'd planned and we really struggled to get it done here in Ohio, but we got very lucky to find a great doctor in Fairlawn that let him do his clinical hours with her! She is so nice and we are very grateful for her! I'm so proud of Tom! He is such a good, honest, hardworking man! Way to go Tom!