April 24th...Celebrating 9 Years Together!

April 24th, 1999 Shane & I met on a blind date for his junior prom! I was a freshman at the time. We find it very hard to believe that that was 9 years ago!

This is our very first picture taken together, its from the first night we met...we maybe had known each other an hour when this was taken!

This picture is out of order...this was my senior year during a weekend Shane came home to see me.

Us at Shane's senior prom.

Another picture from Shane's senior prom.

Another picture out of order, this was taken my senior year, when I had gone down to spend the weekend with Shane in Lincoln.

Us at my junior prom.

I think I am 17 and Shane 19 in this picture.

Us at my sister's wedding reception in 2002.

One of my senior pictures.

One of our engagement pictures.

Yes, I really got Shane to wear a matching shirt (obviously this was taken early in our relationship, I don't think I could get him to do it again, nor do I think it would be that cool anymore...what can I say, I was young and in love at the time). Now, I can't guarantee I won't dress Shane and our sons alike at some point in time!

Shane at his high school graduation in May 2000.
(I didn't get a single picture of us together that day, or at least I can't find one that I took).

Us at at my high school graduation in May 2002.

Us at Shane's college graduation Dec. 2004. The next day we loaded our stuff up and headed to Muscatine, IA.
I do not have a picture from my college graduation, because I opted out of the ceremony because it was the weekend before our wedding, and I was already headed back to Ogallala with lots of wedding stuff to do!

This was taken the night we got engaged on March 28th, 2003!

Our wedding day, June 12th, 2004!

The kiss that sealed the deal!

Us dancing at our wedding reception.

I think this picture is self-explanatory.

Me getting car sick (big surprise!) on our way out to our wedding reception.

Us standing outside the reception place.

Also, taken outside our reception place as the sun was setting!

On our honeymoon at the bed & breakfast we stayed at!

Our first Christmas as a married couple.

At a friends wedding.

At the Omaha Zoo.

In the middle of working on our house.

This pic is from Dec. 2007.

20 Week Check-Up...

Today was my 20 week check up. I actually won't be 20 weeks until Friday, but we had to reschedule our Friday appt. to today, b/c Shane will be busy at work on Friday. I was anxious anyway to hear the results of our ultrasound.

My doctor said the baby looked good on the ultrasound and is growing like she should be. Which is great to hear, because when I weighed in today, I had lost more weight. My doctor said by this time in the pregnancy, I should be gaining 1 pound a week. She suggested I start drinking Ensure or Boost a few times a day. Yuck, is the first thing that comes to mind, but I will give it a try.

The doctor said the only problem with the ultrasound was that I have a low lying placenta. The good news is we get to see the baby again in 4 weeks at another ultrasound! The doctor feels hopeful that the placenta will move. It is not harmful for the baby, it just means that if it doesn't move, I will have to have a c-section (which I would really rather avoid! It scares me more than labor!)

It will be nice to have another ultrasound to confirm that this baby is a girl...especially, since I bought some more girl stuff yesterday at the Carter's outlet. I went to see my chiropractor in Oxford, so I couldn't resist going a little further to the outlet mall. I went to Carter's and to Motherhood. I found some cute stuff at Motherhood too! It really is nice to only have to shop at one store!

Well, that is about all the news I have for now!

My Latest Project...

Here are some pics of my latest project. My sister, Britni, is about to pop baby girl # 2 out, and she graciously said she would carry a diaper bag of mine if I made one for her. I made my very first diaper bag for her when she had her daughter, Zoe...needless to say, I am sure she could tell a huge difference in quality and workmanship from the first to this one! I think of somehow to improve them every time I make one! Britni wanted this diaper bag to be a complete surprise, so I had to pick out all the fabric myself...which was a little hard to do! I couldn't find anything that really looked like Britni to me, but I did find this 'oh so cute' purple paisley & flower print that for sure looked like a little Haley!
(And this post is not spoiling the surprise for her, I mailed her everything and she got it on Friday. I had it sent to her store, addressed only to her, so she would get it during the day with specific instructions written on the box - "for Britni only to open" - come to find out, it only increased the curiosity of her husband and he opened it instead...thankfully Britni was there too!

Front View w/ one large pocket

Back View with 2 big pockets & 2 small pockets

Top View
(the zipper is a newer improvement, I tried it out on my sister-in-law, Missy's diaper bag I made for her in December, I used to do a snap closure).

Side View w/ 1 pocket on each side

Inside View w/ 1 large pocket & 2 smaller side pockets all with snap closures and 4 elastic slots to hold bottles, etc.

Matching Quilt

Back View of quilt

3 coordinating burp rags
(its hard to see from the pic, but the 2 purple ones have 'Haley Mae' stitched on them)

The Matching Set

All of the goodies that made up Britni's surprise box.

I decided the new big sister, Zoe, needed a little mini-replica of her own, so she feels special too!

Front

Side View w/ small pockets on each side
(for the yummy, bubble gum flavored chapstick Auntie K sent her and a play cell phone)

Inside View w/ pocket

The Results are In!

Today was our ultrasound! And I was in for a big surprise!!!
It's a GIRL!
So Shane and 23 out 33 people that voted on our blog guessed right!

The baby was breach, so it made it difficult to get pictures of her. But below are a few, I didn't take the time to scan them, I just took pictures of them with my camera, so I hope they are clear enough for you to get an idea. When the tech was checking for gender, she couldn't tell us what it was until the ultrasound was done and I had signed a piece of paper. But seeing it on the screen, I knew it was a girl...because there was nothing to 'see' between the legs (or he did a very good job at hiding it). The tech also would not give us a picture of that area...apparently, they are not allowed to. So, I will plan for a girl, and if for some reason the tech was wrong (cuz it does happen), we will have a really good story to tell this baby someday!
The tech also did not go over the findings of the ultrasound, our doctor will do that with us at our next appointment...we are praying everything looked good!

This is the baby's hand, she had it laying on her cheek.
(This was the other give-away when I saw this on the screen that it was a girl...she has my long skinny, fingers)

This is a face shot.

A side view.

A front view with her arm too.

And another front view.

Me at 19 weeks, taken today.

Me & Miss Bella!

I didn't think I was getting much bigger yet, but after seeing these pics, I guess I am!

Missy bought me this last summer while she was out here visiting me, after I told her we were trying to conceive, I don't know if she remembers or not.
This will be the outfit we bring the baby home from the hospital in!
Thanks, Aunt Missy!

I told Shane the first thing I was doing after the ultrasound (of course, after all the phone calls) was that I was going to Farm & Fleet (where they have some of the cutest baby clothes) and buying some stuff! He was totally ok that! Aren't these lil' pink polka dot booties adorable?

I love whales, so had to have this!
Shane actual asked what it was! ha ha! I had to explain it was a baby bath towel, and you put their little head under the flap and wrap them up! He isn't convinced they are necessities, but I told him "it's cute, it's pink and has a whale on it, and thats enough reason to buy it!"

This is one of my favs! And I think Shane's too!

This is a onesie I picked up shortly after we found out we were pregnant.

This cute, pink & brown mixture of onesies I bought today!

This was a new outfit I hadn't seen yet at Farm & Fleet, so I thought I had to get it!

My mom sent me this pink blankie!

I got this cute 2 pc on clearance a while back, I couldn't pass up the great deal!

I love, LOVE this fleece sleeper...just look at those cute little flowers on the footies!

I had to get some purple too!

It was a total God thing that all the Carter and Oshkosh B'Gosh items were on sale! They usually come on sale every several weeks, so perfect timing for finding out what the baby is...I have been itching to buy some stuff! I did resist buying the cutest, pink mesh Adidas jacket and pant set cuz it wasn't on sale...I will have to go back for it when it goes on sale!
Well, thank you all for your prayers and support during this pregnancy so far! They are greatly appreciated! And thanks to all who voted in the poll! We will continue to update you!
May God pour out all of His blessings on all of you as He has done for us!
Love you!

Last Day to Vote!

So tomorrow is the big day...we have our ultrasound! I am excited and don't know how I am gonna sleep tonight! Actually, I am going to sleep quite well with my husband next to me...he has been gone to Boston since Monday, and I am soooo ready to have him back! Even though we have been together almost 9 years and married almost 4 years...I still can't stand to spend one night away from him! I have been sitting here, praying he makes it home safely. Unfortunately, Shane's flight out of Boston to Chicago was canceled...it was one of those American Airlines that was grounded. So he was able to get another flight out, but had to get up and head to the airport in Boston at 3:30 am this morning, to get on a flight on 6 am. Of course, that flight took longer than suppose to. Once he was in Chicago, he waited around hours for his flight from Chicago to Moline at 1:50 pm, only to have it be delayed, delayed again and delayed yet again....then finally canceled! So around 4:30, he rented a car and headed out of Chicago (during rush hour) to drive to Moline, and leave the car at that airport and then get into his car and drive home! And all this is going on while we are under a tornado watch and severe thunderstorm warning! Right now, I am waiting for a phone call, saying he has made it to Moline! And to make Shane's day a little more stressful...he is MISSING the new Office tonight! Poor guy! But at least he has me to come home to, and Bella ;)
Hopefully, I will have pictures from the ultrasound to post tomorrow!

I was going thru some old pics, and thought I would share some so you can imagine what our baby might look like!

Me

Shane

Me

Shane

Me

Shane

Me w/ my daddy!

Shane w/ his dad (i think he looks alot like Tanner in this picture)

Shane

Shane leaning on a tree (location unknown)

I thought this was funny, cuz we took this picture in South Dakota, and I didn't even know about the other picture. I guess Shane has grown up some!

Oh my, what is that? A hairless cat? Or a giant white rat?

Nope, its just Bella...after a haircut! She had been way overdue for a haircut, and was beginning to get pretty matted, so I had her completely shaved. Needless to say, she looks kinda funny and definitely not like herself! But we still love her just the same!