Congrats to Heather and Jon!

I just want to shout out congratulations to my best friend, Heather and her husband, Jon for becoming 1st time homeowners today! They have been blessed with a beautiful home (w/ room for lots of kids!) I am soo happy for you guys and excited for you as you move onto this new stage in your lives! I can't wait to come and visit! Love you!

24 Week Baby Update...

Today, I had my 24 week check-up (I will be officially 24 weeks on Friday). We also had an ultrasound to check to see if my placenta has moved. The tech that did the ultrasound said it looked like it did move, and by the time I met with my doctor, she didn't have the official report from the ultrasound...so unofficially, I should be good to go with a natural delivery! Which is an answer to a prayer!

This tech that did the ultrasound was so much better than the last one. She really spent a lot of time with us and let us see Emma do all sorts of things! Below are some pictures of baby Emma!

A side profile of Emma.
The v shaped looking thing above her head is her hand.

The bigger blob on the left is Emma's foot and the small blob on the right is her hand.
She was grabbing and playing with her feet.

Here is a picture of Emma looking at us!

About halfway thru the ultrasound, Emma got the hiccups, so that was cool to see her body react, she began to get upset and started kicking me after awhile! We also verified that she is still a girl! And she was still laying breach, but has time yet to flip around!

My prenatal check-up went well, I gained 3 pounds since last time, I am still not caught up to what I was from the start of my pregnancy, but am slowing gaining!

Well, that is all the news!

Today's Project...Diaper Stacker!

Well, today I tackled the first of many sewing projects for Baby Emma and her room!
I give all the glory to God for helping me achieve this beautiful diaper stacker! Patterns can be very confusing (which is why I usually just create as I go on most things I sew!)
The fabric I used is the fabric I am making pretty much all of the bedding and accessories in!

I hung the diaper stacker next to the curtain so you can see how it coordinates with the wall color and new curtains. While we were at Target this weekend, I was able to find these beautiful pink silk panels! I will take a picture of the room with the curtains after I fix them. The curtains are tab tops (which I hate), so I am going to cut off the tabs and sew a new hem. I also found some great pink and green, large and small bins to use in the closet! I will post pics later of those as things continue to progress!
I also ordered Emma's crib, it should be here next week! And once we see it and if we are satisfied with it, I will order the matching changing/dresser combo!

Baby Registry

While we were in Omaha, Shane and I registered at the Kids Stuff Super Store and Target.
Shane was quite accommodating and suffered thru quite well! Especially, since I had a hard time making up my mind where I wanted to register at and which places had what I wanted.
Here are the links to our registries, if you want to check them out!

Kids Stuff Super Store
www.kidsstuffsuperstore.com
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Target
www.target.com

Weekend in Omaha...

This weekend Shane and I (and of course, Bella too) headed to Omaha to meet Shane's family there. His little sister, Lindsey, graduated from UNK on Friday and moved to Omaha along with her fiance, Jared, who also graduated. They both got jobs in Omaha. We went down to help them celebrate. It was a fun weekend!

Lindsey and Shane

We also stopped by to see my cousin, Tracy and her husband, Ethan. We took another belly shot, and I have to say, I think they are getting bigger, compared to our last one back in March!

While we were at Target, I couldn't pass up this cute little sleeper that has whales on it that was on clearance!

Lindsey got us this little onesie...which was quite fitting since she just graduated with her Accounting degree!

This was taken on my first Mother's Day!
Yes, Shane remember me on this day and even got me a card (he planned ahead and picked it up 3 weeks ago!) He also said I could buy some patio furniture!

Happy Birthday Bella!!!

Today is Bella's 2nd Birthday! Hard to believe she is 2 and she is still all puppy!
I tease Shane that 2 years ago on his birthday he wished for a puppy, then Bella was born the next day...he begs to differ! ha ha!

And the baby's name is...

Shane and I have already picked out a name for our baby girl, and have been telling people, so I thought I better officially announce her name on here, so from now on when I blog, you all know who I am talking about!

Emma Eloise Struckman

That's her name! It has been written on my heart for quite some time! I loved it before we were even pregnant, and its pretty much the only girl's name Shane even likes.
Emma is a family name on both my dad and mom's side of the family from a few generations back. I saw it when I was going thru my mom's family tree a while back, and when I had told my gramma Joyce the name we had picked out, she said that her mom's sister I believe was named Emma, and even born in September!
We picked Eloise because that is my middle name, and it has been passed down thru generations, so Emma will be carrying that on.
I never thought I would be one that would name my baby before he/she was born, but I already feel such a strong connection to Emma, and I love being able to call her by her name. And there was not a single other name we even contemplated, so it was a given that it would be Emma if it was a girl!
Moving on, here are the before and after pictures of Emma's closet and freshly painted room!
Let me know what you think!

Closet Before

Bedroom Before

Bedroom Before

Bedroom Before

Closet Shelving in and done! I have 2 rows of shelves that I can also hang stuff on, and then a shoe shelf at the bottom. And a 5 basket drawer system.

Another view of the finished closet

Emma's letters we bought for her room

The new green paint color!

Its a pretty bold color!

Bedroom After

I will post a picture of the fabric I picked out to make Emma's bedding and accessories out of, so that you can get an idea of the color scheme I am going for. I will use pink, brown and white accents and accessories to decorate. The recliner we bought is chocolate brown and we will probably go with a white crib and changing/dresser combo.

Here is all of Emma's stuff in her closet!
It was so much fun putting her things in her closet and they look soooo cute in there!

I have loads of shelving and basket space for lots more baby stuff!

Happy 26th Birthday Shane!!!

Happy 26th Birthday Shane!!!

Me, Baby Em and Bella all wish you a wonderful birthday!
We love you, Honey!

Quick Update...

Friday was the start of my 22nd week! Time seems to really be going by fast, hard to believe we are over halfway thru this pregnancy!
This past week I have just been catching up on laundry, mail and putting things away. It was a little tough getting back in the groove of things after being gone for a week!
On Thursday, May 1st, Shane got to feel the baby move for the first time! It was early in the morning while we were still in bed, I think it made Shane happy! It was exciting! She moves all the time now (in fact she is moving around right now)! I can definitely tell my uterus is moving higher above my belly button, cuz the kicks keep getting higher! I had to admit, it is a lot of fun, and will probably miss it after she is born!
I was doing really good for about 2 weeks with headaches and keeping food down, but Wednesday broke that record when I woke up with a migraine and throwing up, and was out pretty much the entire day!
Friday I enjoyed a relaxing massage, and it was the first time I couldn't lay on my stomach, so that was a little weird! But with plenty of pillows, I was very comfortable!
This weekend, Shane and I spent working in the baby's room closet. I got it painted. I just did an off white. And then we (mostly Shane) installed the shelving! We also bought a 5 basket unit to put in there and I put that together, and prepped the baby's room for paint. Its amazing how long it takes just to prep to paint! I finally decided on a paint color (I hope I picked the right one)! The plan is to get the room painted tomorrow! Then I can move all the baby's stuff into her closet! I took before pictures and I will post those and after pictures in the next few days!
We also ordered the rocker/recliner for the baby's room. Its gonna take at least 8 weeks to come in, so I am glad we took care of it now. We got a super comfortable LazyBoy in a microfiber fabric called driftwood (its like a chocolate brown)! I can't wait to see it in the room!
Well, that pretty much updates us for now! Hope everyone had a good weekend!
God Bless!!!