Saturday, November 26, 2011 - 12 Weeks and beyond

It does look as though I have grown slightly :)  I have a small bump, however, I don't think it is the baby 'showing' quite yet.  I think the baby is just pushing rather unflattering sections of my tummy outwards more!!!

I honestly don't mind.  This little miracle growing inside of me is worth every stretch mark, fat roll, headache, bout of nausea/heartburn/vomiting, and body change that has/will happen. 

About a week after this picture was taken, I could feel the

great effects of the 2nd trimester being so near.

Goodbye nausea, goodbye severe exhaustion. 

 Hello to eating dinner again and being a productive member of society!!!!

2 days ago was my most recent doctor's appointment and it was one that Cory and I have been waiting what seems like forever for!  We got to both meet our wonderful doctor (Dr. Hemphill) and got to hear the most beautiful, miraculous sound either one of us has ever heard.... Baby Cooper's heartbeat! 

Who knew this one sound would change our lives forever?!  Who knew this one sound would bring us both to tears and absolutely solidify how excited we are to meet our little angel? 

It is truly life's most incredible and miraculous gift.  We simply can't wait to meet him/her! 

Only 26 weeks to go!!!!

Saturday, October 29, 2011: 8 Weeks

'Parts' of me have grown... but, I am not 'showing' yet :) 

I am so excited to travel on this journey towards motherhood.

I also wanted to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU to my friends Tiffany, Andrea, and Nikki.  They have been an invaluable support to me throughout this journey so far.  The advice, friendship, and love have been SO appreciated.  They are amazing friends and I am lucky to have them!!!!! 



Carving Pumpkins

 Cory's 'Jolly Roger' pumpkin...

...M.J.'s witch is stirring her cauldron...

 ...and of course we had to carve one for Baby Cooper...

We sent this out to family and friends after our first dr. appointment.  

Cory finds out he is going to be a daddy!

I couldn't bring myself to tell Cory this monumental news over the telephone...

SO, with MUCH restraint I waited 4 days to tell him the news once he got home from his training.  I set up a video camera (nanny cam hidden style) and wrapped up a gift that included a positive pregnancy test and the onesie*** below.

I wish I could post the video, but frankly it turned out blurry and I have no clue how to get it from the video camera to the computer.  It basically includes some hugging, crying, and yelling... Why yelling you ask?  Because as soon as he got home he was running towards the TV to turn on the NLDS game in which the Brewers were about to clinch a spot in the NLCS game.  After I basically forced him to open his present, the Brewers game no longer mattered :) 

We are SO excited!!!!

***Side-note: Cory thought the onesie was some kind of 'outfit' for the dog. 

He sure has a lot to learn in the next few months :)



We're Expecting!!!!

Tuesday October 4, 2011... The day I found out our lives would change forever!!!!

I took a test before and after school, just to make sure. :)

 Cory was in Illinois to complete a training course for his new job the day that I found out we were expecting.  So, I had to take this picture of myself... Yes, I am aware that I am a GIANT dork!



Outdoor Fall Decorations :)

Fall is our favorite time of year!  Cooler weather, FOOTBALL, pumpkin spice lattes, changing leaves, and carving pumpkins!  Here is how our decorations look this year!

MJ took an old fake pumpkin, spray painted it bronze, and used silver upholstery nails to make our monogram on it.  Turned out great... Thanks Pinterest for the idea :)

Love how it turned out this year!

Pearce's Pumpkin Farm

We went on our 3rd annual trip to Pearce's Farm Stand on Saturday.  The Pearce's Farm is across the street from my Great Grandma and Grandpa Kammes' old farm. 

The Kammes' and Pearce's were great friends waaaaay back in the day!

Growing old, but not up!

Clearly Cory forgot the fact that the point of these is to NOT show the rest of your body :) 

He cracks me up!!!!



Dinner and Farkle with Nicole and Ben

This is a picture of M.J.'s best friend Nicole and her boyfriend Ben.  Nicole, Ben, and M.J. all went to middle and high school together. Nicole and M.J. have been friends for 20 years!!! Nicole and Ben purchased a cabin in the Northwoods about a year ago and we finally got a chance to see their new digs while we were up north this weekend.  We had a delicious dinner and they introduced us to the dice game 'Farkle'.  We can't wait until the next time we are with our amazing friends!!!

My Frampa!

This is me and my Frampa.  We spent a lot of time with him while we were up north this weekend.  My Frampa is one of my favorite people on the planet and I cherish EVERY SINGLE minute I spend with him.  He is DA BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Swimming at Grandma and Grandpa's House

 Buffett's Grandma and Grandpa live on Plum Lake in Sayner, WI.  They live on a hill.  About half way down to the lake, there is a landing were we stood to throw him the ball.  The lake is REALLY shallow and Buffett can run for about 400 yards out. 

He played in the water for 30 mins. on Saturday and Sunday.

It is SO beautiful in the Northwoods!

Our new niece - Faith Robin Reid

We FINALLY got to meet our beautiful new niece Faith this weekend.  M.J.'s friends Nikki and Tiffany graciously allowed us to use some of their photo props and gave M.J. some wonderful advice on how to take newborn photos.  They turned out pretty good....though we think it had more to do with how beautiful the subject of the photos was and not M.J.'s talent :)

 Her daddy loves her lots and lots!

 So does her mommy!

 Daddy's hand holding one of her tiny feet!

 Grandma and Grandpa LOVE their first grandbaby!

 She is the sweetest, most beautiful girl I have ever seen!

Uncle Cory loved her too!



Final Summer Project

I told Cory yesterday that I was REALLY bored....He told me to get a hobby..... HEHEHE 

SO...I was searching Pinterest for an idea on how to organize my jewelry.  I found an idea that used an old type set drawer.  These were used to house the type set letters for the printing presses.  I remembered that I had one in my basement from my Great Uncle Bob's old newspaper that he used to own.  It was in REALLY good shape for how old it was and it even had a few letters in it too! 

 This is how it looked before I started.  There were a few pieces that were broken, so I used Gorilla Glue and also sanded a lot of areas down to make the surface easier to paint.

This is after I painted it and added hardware to it.  I didn't have to buy ANY of the hardware.  I had it all laying around the house.  The 4 circular knobs include two drawer pulls, one cabinet pull, and one lamp harp decorative piece.  They were silver, black, and red and I spray painted those along with all of the hardware with a brownish-bronze color.

The three pieces above are old earrings that were my great-grandmas.  I added them as a permanent decoration to the jewelry holder.  I also spray painted photo frame holders and added them as an alternative earring holder.

I had enough old type set letters to spell out Cory's name and...

....my name.  (The letters are obviously backwards when you look at them, but when put into the printing presses were the right way).

The finished product!  I LOVE how it turned out and because it is from someone that I admired SO very much, it means that much more to me!! :)

Next stop on Buffett's Dog Park Tour of 2011 - Elkhorn's Industrial Park

My friend Tina told us about another dog park WITH a lake!  It was hot and humid today, so we decided it was the perfect day to check it out!  Buffett had a blast and he is now practically in a coma from exhaustion! :)

 He is such a typical lab!  Loves, loves, loves to swim!

 He takes breaks from swimming to catch his breath!

 The only other person there was in a sailboat. We had the whole park practically to ourselves!

 When we are at home playing fetch, Buffett goes to his kiddie pool and lays down. 

After getting tired and hot he attempted to lay down in the lake too!

 Flock of geese on the other side of the park.

Isn't he just the best?!?!?!