Normal Living?

Shots, shots, shots and shots

2010-02-02T14:33:00.003-06:00

Tomorrow our little girl turns 15 months old! It seems like just yesterday that I was wishing she would grow up so I could talk to her and play with her! And now, here she is....very independent and opinionated! :)

Here are her measurements from the 15 month checkup today!

30 inches tall - 35th percentile
20lbs 4oz - 15th percentile
I can't remember head circumference but she is in the 65th percentile. No huge surprise there.

Reagan had 4 vaccinations today which included the regular flu shot and the H1N1 vaccine. She did about as well as you would expect a 15 month old to react. I've never cried during her shots....until today. But after a snack and a little love from "Tuh-ck", she was fine!

Here is an adorable picture from last week. She was playing around with her St. Patrick's Day headband. Her face says so many things to me in this picture!

Monday Monday......

2010-02-01T12:19:00.003-06:00

Here's my first attempt at joining Not Me! Monday! A way to be honest about all the things I would absolutely never do and being rip-roaring hilarious to others!

And here we go.....

I absolutely did not realize a one point last week that I was playing "fetch" with my child. I certainly did not tell her to "fetch!" after I realized that just to make myself laugh! Nope, not me!

I did not spend 25 minutes counting and listing all 83 articles of clothing that we are donating, and then WASH the stupid list. Nope, not me!

I definitely did not put on Little Einsteins so that my kid would be captured for 20 minutes while I ran to the other room, did my make-up, dried my hair and frantically got dressed before she came back in. Nope, not me!

And I don't know who it was that taught Reagan to say tampon this morning. Must have been some other mom named Sarah that stopped by our house. Because nope, it wasn't me!

Fresh Start

2010-01-18T08:04:00.008-06:00

Well, hello there! Been a while, eh? Sorry. I'm not Canadian. Or Canadien. However it's spelled.

It's a new year and a fresh start to the blog! In case you didn't know, I have become a stay at home mom! Big thanks are in order. Most of all, to our God. For providing for us and giving us the opportunity to be the parents we want to be. And a huge thanks to my husband, Jeff. He's a beautiful human being and he works hard to make this new situation possible.

We must also thank our parents for supporting us and encouraging us in this decision. We love you!

Now, on to the fun stuff. Since I will be home more often, I'm going to blog more! I mean, Facebook is a fun outlet to write silly or slightly boring statements, but I can really let loose here. So here we go! I will try to update as often as possible, with pictures of course!

Christmas Morning on Rocket!

Christmas Day with Grandma Margie! Reagan wasn't feeling so hot.

Done posting pics today. I realized that I should post pics first and then do the typing or else everything gets totally jacked up. Until next time....

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2009-12-08T20:54:00.004-06:00

It seems like it's been forever since we posted but we wanted to get something out there. We have been very busy with Thanksgiving in Rockford and really enjoyed the long weekend with Grandma Margie coming to town to watch Reagan while we decorated. We'll get right to the pics:
The tree is up and the garland is on the railings!

Self portrait:

More tree (I don't have any shots of the outside yet)

Here are a couple shots of Reagan's 1st Birthday in Rockford. Shortly after we left for the Bahamas and we didn't get a chance to post. It was a great time!

Reagan kept everyone laughing by playing and GIGGLING HYSTERICALLY on the couch.

Lastly, a shot from Navy Pier this week when my brother and I actually saw the Bears win a game this year!

Bahama Mamas (and grandpa, mimi and daddy)

2009-11-22T16:54:00.012-06:00

What do the Bahamas and a baby add up to? One excellent vacation. The last week was spent in the Exuma islands of the Bahamas. We made the trek (including 3 flights and a few moving walkways in the ATL airport) to the sand and surf without problems! Grandpa and Mimi met us in Nassau and were thrilled to see Reagan!

I won't go into too many details because the pictures are worth thousands of words. Let's just say that it was absolutely precious to see Reagan adapt to the island life. The week was filled with trips to Whales Tail beach, workouts in the morning with Mimi & Juana, trips to the 'club', a few Kalik beers, Reagan's adventurous spirit and new words; 'bay-bee', 'mi-mi', 'pa-pa', 'tuh-ck' and our favorite, 'book-ah book-ah'. It doesn't mean anything other than "I'm having the time of my life!"

My first shell!

Grandpa & Mimi

I love sand!

Seclusion at its finest.

Hi daddy!

Our diggs. Shabby little view....

Sunrise.

Sweet Bahama Baby.

Birthday and Halloween?!?!

2009-11-02T18:20:00.009-06:00

Wow - what do you get when you combine Halloween, Daylight Savings Time, a 1st Birthday Party and a teething 1 year old into 48 hours? A great weekend best highlighted in pictures.

Reagan as Minnie Mouse (rare shot to get her with the ears on)

Trick or Treating at Grandma Candy and Poppa Bob's (note the Goldfish in her pumpkin)

In her chair as we started presents

Are all of these for me?

Reagan's cupcake that Sarah made

Digging in...

FROSTING!

All done...

It's a fog to me.....

2009-10-25T20:42:00.005-05:00

I've been given the task, once again, to blog about the last week. And every time that Jeff asks me to do so, I can never remember what we did! And as I sit here trying to remember, it's still rather foggy. So here goes...

We had a rather uneventful last week (good way to start eh?). What I can tell you is that last Wednesday, Reagan and I went over to Joe and Lindsey's house to let our girls play together. It's really cute to see Audrey and Reagan together. You can tell they like each other but are still learning the concept of sharing. But they are only 1 right? It's a little early for that.

On Saturday we had a photo shoot up at the lake to get Christmas card pictures! Oh, and since our little cherub will be turning 1 in just 8 days, we wanted to capture this adorable age. Funny thing though. While she LOOKED adorable, she certainly didn't ACT adorable. She just wanted to run around on the dock unsupervised and that certainly was NOT going to happen. She sure does know what she wants and when she wants it.

We spent Sunday out at my dad's house. He cooked us a spectacular lunch and we watched the Bears game. (...through teary eyes. What the frick, Bears?)

I stayed home today to be extra cautious that our little one does not get the flu. Shirley's grandson has had it recently and we are just too darned nervous to take her back quite yet. But, that is F-I-N-E by me! I love being with her and it makes me so anxious to be a full time stay at home mommy! We have so much fun together!

Cute little update on Reagan: Her newest words are 'off' and 'shoes'. She actually says 'aw' for off but she truly says 'shoes'. It's amazing. She's amazing. Anyhoo, off to the pictures we go!

Cheesing for daddy....

Having a good time with mommy....

Playing around at Grandpa & Mimi's (we missed mimi!)

Cuddle bug.

Little towhead and her handsome daddy!

We were tagged!

2009-10-18T17:10:00.007-05:00

I'll start this post out with the reason behind the title! We were tagged by our friends in North Carolina, Todd & Jen. Well, mostly Jen since she maintains their blog site. We were tagged to share the story behind how we chose our child's name. What perfect timing since we are soon celebrating our daughter's first birthday!

After months of trying to think up both boy and girl names for our gender-unknown baby, Jeff one day just said "How about Reagan?". And I fell in love with that name. It just fit us for so many reasons. Ronald Reagan was a great president, he was in the same fraternity as Jeff and it's just an all around cool name. Not to mention that our baby was due (and born) right around election day! Since we still didn't know the gender, I didn't get too attached to one name. But the moment the doctor said it was a girl, I remember (through operating room drug induced foggyness) saying to Jeff "Reagan right?". He said "yes!". And there she was. Our beautiful Reagan. I now tag Lindsey, Tami & Emily!

This last week was a busy fun filled week! On Wednesday, I had a very deserving night out with 6 other mommies at Biaggi's. We are all the parents of kids under 2. And between the 7 of us, there are 10 kids under 2. Good conversation, good food and good wine. It's nice to chat with other ladies about things only mommies can understand!

Reagan had her own excitement this week with a trip to the Children's Museum. We met up with our friends Lindsey and Audrey for a baby class! Reagan showed me that she has no fear by climbing on anything possible in the classroom. She was not afraid of the other parents and sometimes would just stand and smile at them. The most hilarious part of the evening was when she was the ONLY child standing in the middle of the circle and just stared at the class leader who was singing fun songs. So there I was, all by myself, patting, clapping and singing, while my kid just stared at the leader. She was cracking everyone up!

We tried to keep Reagan super busy this weekend so we took her to the ISU Homecoming parade on Saturday. She was slightly interested. She didn't really pay attention to the people in the parade, but was quick to say "Fffff, Fffff." when we tried to show her doggies. The Labor Day parade was much more fun! Anyway, on to the pics!

Mommy & Reagan at the parade.

Her pet "drag". She just needs a rope.....

Yeah, I'm cute.....

Grandma Margie bought me this cheerleader outfit!

Foggy Daze

2009-10-13T21:24:00.004-05:00

Many apologies for the late post, it seems the weather change has hit this household and caused a couple campers to come down with a sore throats. Never the less, the show must go on, it will be a shorter show and there are no refunds, but here is the rundown. Friday afternoon Grandma Margie came down while we had a fun night out at dinner with some friends of ours. From there, Saturday had a lot of preparation as Sarah and I got ready for a Murder Mystery party hosted by one of our friends. Sarah was trying for a"young Hamptons" look and I was an 60 something business man who was well to do. The night was a blast with everyone playing their parts and staying in character for the night as we partied and solved some crimes...good times.

Sarah and I on the way to the party.

Group photo before we found out "who done it"

Reagan back at the pumpkin patch

Entertaining herself with Kleenex

Fascinating!

2nd Anniversary!

2009-10-03T18:56:00.008-05:00

Another week where the sunlight gets shorter, the wind gets a little more brisk and we dig out our sweatshirts. We really do love fall - one of the best parts is our Anniversary. We celebrated in Chicago last week but the date was actually this past Tuesday, those pictures are below. It has been an amazing 2 years and we cannot wait to see what the future holds for us.

This week was pretty low key until the weekend - on Saturday Sarah headed up to Chicago with some friends to do some shopping while Reagan and I headed to the Children's Discovery Museum with some friends. We had a great time and Grandma Candy helped out in the afternoon by watching Reagan while I worked around the house to surprise Sarah.

Sunday we went to a cheese farm and pumpkin patch with our friends and Grandpa Bruce and Mimi. We had a great time seeing animals and looking at all of the pumpkins. It was a great day that really zapped everyone's energy.

Have a great week!

At the punkin patch!

Taking off her socks after a long day:

Here is us 2 years ago:

1 year ago:

Tuesday:

Sweet Home Chicago!

2009-09-27T11:56:00.008-05:00

Even though it's not really home, it could be our home away from home. Since Sarah and I are celebrating our 2 year anniversary this weekend, we decided to head up to Chicago on Friday night. Mimi and Grandpa watched Reagan on Friday night and Grandma Candy and Poppa Bob had her on Saturday.

Friday night we had a great dinner at Ruth's Chris with Andy and Bridget and enjoyed a couple of drinks after dinner as well. We called it a night pretty early and got on the road mid day Saturday for a relaxing day at home After a quick trip to visit Grandma Candy to get our Reagan fix, we headed home to catch up on some movies and spend some good time together.

Sunday we headed to Great Uncle Ken and Great Aunt Vickie's house to celebrate lots of Birthdays - Great Grandma, Mimi, Mikayla, Jeff, Jenny and Kent(it was a big cake). Now, we are settling in for a nice night at home and hopfully watching the Bears win!

Our reflection in the Bean:

Before dinner with 106 ounces of beer at our table:

In their Bears outfits:

More Sunday best!

Reagan and Grandpa:

That's all!

Toes in the water

2009-09-21T21:43:00.005-05:00

In order to get pictures on lines, I'll cover this past busy week in bullet form:

Kenny Chesney concert with our friends Joe and Lindsey. Row 2, eventually Row 1 and Kenny signs Sarah's hat.
Sarah's picture in front of the Tour bus makes the local paper
Our Blog turned 1 year old! Our first post was Sept 17th, 2008
Great weekend in Rockford with Grandma Margie
Birthday celebration on Sunday for Poppa Bob
Sunday night - Bears win!

Bubbles!

Kenny and Zac Brown

Bear Down!

2009-09-13T09:10:00.010-05:00

We're trying to post a little earlier today since tonight is the season opener for the Chicago Bears and they are playing Green Bay. Football rules are in effect, so we don't answer the phone or the door while the game is on and discussions around non football topics are limited to commercial breaks only. I know it sounds crazy, but Sarah gets kinda crazy during football season. In all seriousness, we are very loyal to the Bears but understand that life goes on (but we are kind of happy the Packer game starts after Reagan is in bed).

This week was very exciting for us, Reagan continues to walk around the house and has started using more words. The oven, stove and coffee are "HOT", flowers and breakable items are "PRETTY" and anything that falls warrants an "UH OH"!

This week Mimi came home and watched Reagan for a couple days along with Great Mimi, Great Grandpa, Great Great Mimi and Great Aunt Carol. We also went to the Labor Day Parade on Monday with our friends Joe and Lindsey and their daughter and then visited their house on Friday for a fantastic dinner. It is so cute to watch the girls play together and share their love of Mickey Mouse.

A little before nap time:

With her friend Audrey at the Labor Day Parade

The were passing out Favor Ice to the kids, so I decided to make them look like Light Sabres. The key here is I use my nerd powers for good and not evil.

Her best Captain Morgan impression

A long walk around the house

Life is TOO fun!

2009-09-06T17:30:00.016-05:00

This week sure did fly by. We finally moved back into our home on Tuesday evening after having our floors finished (see previous post). We were so happy to get home, especially since Reagan started having problems sleeping at night. Our poor little girl is growing so much and is developing so many skills, that she doesn't want to sleep. She gets too excited about all the fun things that life now has to offer her; laughing with mommy and daddy, trying to climb stairs, blowing kisses and the best yet....walking! We promise, she actually is walking, although catching video of her doing so is like trying to get proof of Big Foot. In fact, we have pictures of Big Foot below. Just joking. But I bet you looked.

Our weekend has been packed full of fun stuff. Jeff spent Saturday golfing with Bob and our friend Joe, while Reagan and I hung out with my mom. Today we had lunch at "the club" with Joe, Lindsey and Audrey. Audrey is Reagan's new BFF, she just doesn't know it yet. It is really cute to see the two of them together. We are meeting up with them again tomorrow morning for the Labor Day parade. I'm sure we'll get some great pics of them for our post next week!

For now, check out our newest pics below!

Reagan 'helping' mommy reorganize her clothes:

Yes, those are matching outfits:

With Grandma Margie:

Playing on her mat:

A few steps:

Home, Sweet Home

2009-08-30T18:55:00.005-05:00

We're ready to get back to our home. For those of you that didn't know, we have been spending this past week at the lake since our floors were getting re-done. We originally hadn't planned on having them re-stained, but the floors were worn down to the bare wood in parts so it became a necessity. After the stain and 2 coats of seal, we could not be happier. The floors are as smooth and shiny as brand new floors, with all of the character of 100 year old hardwood. We are very excited but have not been able to hook up the big computer yet so our blog is light on pictures this week.

Before:

After:

On Sunday, we had a family outing to the zoo for the first time. The first animals we visited were the goats - to which Reagan quickly made a "Baa, Baa" noise. We thought we mis-heard her but then she did it again. We were very impressed with our baby. The next animals we saw were chickens, to which Reagan said "Baa, Baa" - but she was right, there were more goats behind the chickens. So we moved on, rather impressed with our little Einstein. The next exhibit featured Sea Otters, to which Reagan vocalized "Baa, Baa" - she did this at every stop including the Leopards. We should have just called it a day after the goats and went home and enrolled her in Harvard. Her favorite was the Leopard, mostly because it was closest to the front of the cage and moving. It's hard to point out a giant turtle that doesn't move, to her it probably just looked like a rock (it actually looked like a rock to me too).

In other late breaking news, she now walks while holding one of our fingers and can manage a couple wobbly steps on her own before sitting down. A couple times I caught her grunting as she sat down, as if it were a huge task. I guess I am going to stop making noises like that when get up/down from the floor to play with her.

That's all for tonight, we should have some more pictures and videos later this week.

All mixed up

2009-08-23T16:56:00.005-05:00

This week was much supposed to be quieter and more relaxed. We plan, God laughs. Our new fridge was finally delivered late in the day and it took quiet a bit to get the old one to the garage and to get the new one into the house. Everything was eventually connected and put back together by Friday night, just in time for Grandma Margie to arrive Saturday morning. We then had an appointment to get some new pictures for Reagan, but our generally smiley baby wanted nothing to do with the studio on Saturday. After 15 minutes of every stuffed animal failing to stop the tears, we headed home picture less.

Sunday was a little more normal, heading to the Great Grandparents house for a brunch to celebrate Grandma Candy's Birthday! Happy Birthday Grandma Candy!

Tonight, in addition to our Sunday night HBO shows, I will be removing all of the furniture from the living room, dining room and foyer since our hardwood floors are getting redone this week. That should make for some interesting photos.

So without professional pictures, we present the best we could muster in the backyard.

The Best of What's Around

2009-08-17T18:01:00.010-05:00

Sorry for the late Monday post, it has been one of those weeks following a vacation where we were just as busy as we were when we were out of state.

On Monday night, we celebrated Great Grandma's birthday at Grandma Candy and Poppa Bob's house. We had a great time, got some fun pictures but hated to leave early in order to get Reagan to bed. On Tuesday, Sarah and Reagan went for a walk and Grandpa Bruce surprised me by stopping by the house (we thought he was going to be out of the country!). He missed us so much that he made a quick trip home to spend some good family time with everyone, so we jumped into his truck and went to find them, really surprising them both while on their walk.

Reagan and Grandma Candy:

Reagan with Poppa Bob:

Sarah, Reagan and Great Grandpa:

Wednesday night, Reagan surprised Grandma Candy with her own new trick. Grandma was snapping her fingers to Reagan's delight, and without missing a beat, Reagan mimicked the motion with her hand and was 'clicking' with her mouth as if to say "I can do that too".

Thursday we had dinner with Grandpa at the Great Grandparents house where Reagan kept us all entertained by crawling, talking and almost walking.

For the weekend's events, I attended an alumni sponsored cookout for the returning students at my Fraternity house, we went to a spectacular 1st birthday party for our friends Joe and Lindsey's daughter and then Sunday, our friends Tiffany and Justin had their son's 6th birthday. Reagan was a big fan of icing and especially Lindsey's layered jello salad.

More Goodies:

Cruising with the Pampers box:

Reagan and I at the Airport:

Reagan enjoying the pool:

One last update - we quickly decided that to match our new oven, we should get a new refrigerator. So now Sarah is excited for a new stainless steel fridge for the house, I am excited because I get a beer fridge and meat freezer for the garage - everyone wins!

Leaving on a jet plane...

2009-08-09T19:03:00.005-05:00

Tomorrow starts the beginning of a very normal week (get it, normal in Normal?). Unfortunately we mourned the loss of Jeff's uncle Jimmy last Sunday & Monday. Jimmy was Margie's brother and was such a beloved part of the family. We are so sorry that Reagan will not know him but we will be happy to share memories of him with her. We love you Uncle Jimmy!

After arriving home from Rockford, I took a much needed day off to get organized for our first trip as a trio to PA. We drove to O'Hare on Wednesday morning and realized right away what a fantastic traveler Reagan was going to be! After many trials and tribulations with United Airlines (ugh, they have NO customer service and we actually got pulled out of line because they had to load their "premier" customers first. No, seriously. We clearly had an infant in our arms and they pulled us OUT of line. Can you tell I'm disgusted?). Anyhoo, Reagan was a peach on the flight. She was SO excited to see Grandpa and Mimi! This was also her first time meeting Thomas, Marianne and Kyle! And I'm pretty sure they fell in love with her right away!

On Thursday, Jeff and I got some time alone and were able to visit Gettysburg. It was chilling to stand where Lincoln stood when he gave the Gettysburg address. Did you know that 51,000 men fell at Gettysburg, and the Civil War claimed 500,000?

On Friday we had a very laid back day. Of course we went to the Farmer's Market where Kelly and I indulged in hot ham & cheese pretzel logs. Mmmmm...one of my favorite foods. We spent a little time at the "Great" Baker's house and got Reagan into the pool for a bit. It was a tad chilly but we got some great pics of her!

Saturday was THE event that we had flown out to PA for! The Baker family reunion! Good times were had by all.....good conversation, ladder golf and of course, our little star, Reagan. This was her first time meeting the family. I think they liked her a little. :)

Sadly, we had to fly back today. Our little traveler was a little fussy but never cried on the plane. Many people complimented us on what a smiley & happy baby we have. I couldn't agree more! Next, on to the pics!

Grandpa & Mimi met us at the airport!

At the reunion!

Reagan and Great Aunt Marianne!

Nom nom nom nom......

Five generations....

Baby Brunches and home improvement

2009-08-01T20:50:00.004-05:00

Another week, another update! Sometimes we get to the end of the week and I wonder how Jeff can think of anything to blog about. It seems as though we are pretty boring and have nothing going on, but we always have something to talk about and always have pictures to share! Not as boring as one might think!

There is one thing that we don't have a picture of, and that is my (our) new oven! After 3 years of having to hit "bake" 3 times before the oven would actually preheat, our old oven finally quit. I was disappointed that I couldn't bake but the thought of a brand new oven was exciting. I told Jeff one day that if he would buy me a new oven and have it hooked up within the next week, I would be so happy that I would cry. Needless to say, I now have a new oven. No tears were shed, but just thinking about the goodies I will make in the future gets me all misty!

On Saturday my mom hosted a Baby Brunch for the women on her side of the family. My mom's cousin has a daughter and daughter in law that have also had babies recently. Marin is 7 months old and Simeon is 3 months. Reagan was the "old broad" of the bunch. When the other babies would cry, she just looks at them like "what's YOUR deal?". All of them are adorable and it was really great to see family that we don't see often! Family picture below! As you can see, Reagan was in her ladybug dress and looked like a doll!

Family photo:

Reagan in a contemplative mood:

Our new umbrella stroller (total stroller count is at 3)

This one is a "create your own caption"...

Baby gates installed and work!

Random updates

2009-07-26T19:12:00.003-05:00

So this update will play out a little like a Seinfeld episode. It won't be about anything necessarily, but all of your friends at work will be talking about it so it's best you keep reading.

This week was quiet, we had nothing to do and nowhere to go. The biggest items for us were ordering a new oven on Saturday, which is much to Sarah's delight. Saturday afternoon we also headed out to the pool for the first time. The kiddie pool was of very little interest to Reagan, she much preferred the big pool and watching the kids run and jump and swim. I have to mention that my amazing wife did a great job cleaning the house on Sunday, while Grandma Candy watched Reagan. Sarah was able to take care of all the nooks and crannies that babies can find their way into...now I just have to get the baby gates up tomorrow during my lunch break.

That was much shorter than Seinfeld, and no commercial breaks. Now, onto the pics...

Reagan cheesing for the camera (not sure where she gets this from)

At the pool

In the pool

With Mommy...

Drying off and warming up

That's all for now, we should have a good mid week update with some more pictures.

Busy, busy busy

2009-07-19T20:58:00.011-05:00

This weekend had us off to another party, this one was up at the Lake on Saturday afternoon. After spending some great time with Grandpa and Mimi on Friday night, we headed up to Grandpa's family reunion. It was great to see everyone we knew and meet the ones we didn't. There were some people that made the trip from as far away as Arizona and some people that Bruce had not seen in 40+ years. It was really great to see everyone come together after all of those years and reminisce about the times they spent growing up.

Grandpa and some of the other men sharing stories...

Mimi, Reagan and Sarah

Sarah and Jeff

Reagan taking a break

Sunday we had planned to spend at the pool getting Reagan acclimated to the water, but for some reason, the high in July was only 70 today. Instead we opted for her first trip to the park. We found a nice little toddler park that had no one else there, so we made ourselves at home and tried just about everything. Reagan was not too keen on the slides or the horses, but loved the swing and the little clubhouse area. She was able to stand and bang on the little table that was set up inside.

Reagan on the swing

In the clubhouse

On Sunday afternoon, in an effort to put off yard work (which I eventually got around to), I decided to head out with the camera and tripod and work on getting some impressive shots. I thought this was one of them.

Eye Doctor

2009-07-15T19:36:00.005-05:00

OK, this week's mid week update is an interactive one. About 96 times per week, I ask Sarah which photo she prefers between 2 (or 3 or 4). There is usually a very subtle difference as a result of some type of Photoshop tweaking. The more I experiment, the more I realize that it is like cooking, you can spend all day adding a few extra grains of salt. It is very subjective but everyone can agree when there is too much.

So, I have been working on some newer tweaks and instead of asking my very patient wife "Number 1...or Number 2", "This one...or this one", "Which one is clearer"?, I am hoping to get your feedback (since everyone who visits us appreciates the pictures).

So please us the comment section and let us know which picture you prefer. I know we get a few regular commenter's (and we really appreciate it), but I am hoping to see more comments on this one. Sarah really needs your help otherwise I will keep bothering her. You can find the comment section at the end of the post. You can also click on the photo to make it larger if it helps you make up your mind.

A.
1. or 2?

B.
1. or 2?

1. or 2?

Don't blink, you'll miss us...

2009-07-12T19:44:00.005-05:00

Whoosh...that is the term that best describes us lately. After a very busy week, we attended Reagan's first Hawaiian themed party on Friday night at our friends Bill and Vaneetha's house. we had a great time and Reagan had a blast. We especially appreciated Vaneetha for hosting and carrying Reagan around and entertaining her. It really allowed Sarah and I to relax and actually eat at the same time.

On Saturday, we headed up to my Fraternity's 1st annual family picnic outside of De Kalb. Last year when Sarah was about 10 days away from Reagan's due date, we had our formal 20 year reunion since we were (re)founded on campus. She was excited to meet the same people all over again, this time looking more like herself and showing off Reagan. As with the 20 year, it was great to see everyone and how they have matured. It was still the same group of guys, yet they all had lives, wives and families of their own. This is a tradition that I really hope continues over the years.

Saturday night we drove to Grandma Margie's and spent some quality time catching up visiting, with Grandma Margie playing with Reagan until they both were very tired. Sunday morning was more of the same, with a trip to brunch where Reagan sat quietly eating her Baby Mum Mum's and sipping water through a straw! It was then onto the mall and back home for more playing with Grandma until we left for home.

On a separate note, I think I have figured out the new camera settings, so here are a mix of shots with the small camera and the big camera - hopefully you won't be able to tell the difference.

Have a great week!

Reagan's first Hawaiian party

At the picnic:

Enjoying the lawn:

Cute:

In her daddy's first chair:

Reagan and Grandma Margie:

Happy Birthday to me!

2009-07-08T20:10:00.003-05:00

Thank you all for a wonderful Birthday!

As has been our tradition lately, I am going to keep this post short and let the pictures do the talking. But first, I would like to say "Thank you" to everyone for their birthday wishes and to the greatest wife and family ever for their wonderful gift, a new Canon point and shoot camera. You may ask yourself why we need another camera - it's a fair question. This one is water proof, shock proof and freeze proof and has many options, just like our larger SLR. It seemed like the perfect gift since I truly enjoy capturing all of the moments with our family. This week we will take a slight departure from the veggie updates and include a few more pictures of me!

Bring on the pics (all shot with the new camera)

Me and Reagan:

Trying out the flash:

Reagan and her new musical table from Grandma Candy and Poppa Bob:

Sarah, Reagan and me

Reagan shortly after she learned she could crawl at Mimi and Grandpa's house:

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-05T18:46:00.005-05:00

Jeff asked me to write the post tonight so others could read what I have to say. He thinks I'm interesting but I think he asked me more so he could lay down and watch tv!

I tried to think of what we've done over the last week and I am at an utter loss! I can barely keep track of what today is. I'm sure that has something to do with the holiday weekend and the fact that I haven't been at work since Wednesday....and I don't go back until Tuesday!

Since I can't think of anything to say about us (the adults), I will give a few exciting bullets about Reagan:

She pulled herself up to standing position and leaned over her crib which quickly helped mommy and daddy realize that we better lower the mattress before we are awakened with a thud and a scream in the middle of the night.
She is working on tooth number six. I know this because a) I can see the white in her gums b) she is chewing on her thumb like it's coated in sugar and c) her "OMGmygumsarekillingmehelpmeoutwiththiswillyou" attitude.
She is eating Gerber Puffs, little snacks that dissolve quickly. She can't quite feed them to herself but she's close!

Ok, now to the good stuff...

Miss 4th of July

Her disposition when she ISN'T teething...

Taken in between her continuous banging on Grandma Margie's coffee table!

With Grandma Margie...who's that blondie?

Happy Birthdays!

2009-06-28T19:36:00.011-05:00

I'm on a boat!

After 2 long days in the sun, I am going to keep this short and hope that a picture really is worth 1,000 words. Sunday we had an amazing day up at the lake celebrating Grandpa Bruce's birthday, relaxing, laughing and taking Reagan for her first boat ride. We had originally planned to get in the water with her little life jacket, but Mimi thought better of that since Reagan's toes probably look pretty appetizing to little snapping turtles. Instead, we opted for a leisurely ride on the pontoon boat, gently cruising and enjoying the day.

Reagan and Grandpa:

Reagan in her new playhouse:

More playhouse:

Reagan loves steering wheels:

Later in the day, Reagan's Great Aunt and Uncle came over along with the Great grandparents and we had a tasty dinner on the deck as the day wound down. Truly a perfect birthday and day at the lake!

In other big Reagan related news, she is officially mobile. Late in the week she figured out how to put all of the pieces together and move under her own power. Now that she knows this, there is no stopping her. She is crawling everywhere and trying to get into everything! While it is very exciting, I am trying to resist the urge to coat everything in the house in bubble wrap!

Shake n' Bake

On Saturday, we celebrated Grandma Margie's birthday by surprising her with an Indy Car experience. She was able to drive an Indy Car at an actual racetrack after receiving some basic instructions. Since she normally cruises a little fast on the interstate, we figured this was a safe way for her to speed on an open track. Since the forecast was really hot at the track, Sarah and Reagan stayed in town visiting some friends and spending some great time with Grandma Candy and Poppa Bob.

Grandma Margie with our cousin Kirt:

Ready to go!

The selection of cars:

Kirt taking off:

We had a great time, even though she was off to a bit of a rough start (oddly enough, Indy cars must be made for taller people since it was tough to reach the pedals). After a few laps, just as she was getting comfortable and up to speed it was time for her to head to back to the pits. Kirt had a much easier time adapting to the car and was in the car and off the starting line like a shot. I think his top speed was somewhere around 140 MPH, very impressive for the first time in an Indy Car!

Soak up the Sun

2009-06-24T20:11:00.005-05:00

If we are not soaking up the sun in central Illinois, then we are soaking because of the sun, or soaking from the rain. Anyway you slice it, summer is here and it is HOT. The forecast is for more HOT and mostly sweaty. Have I mentioned the temperature (it's hot). Okay, I'm done now.

We will keep this update short and get right to the pictures. Sunday we had a great first Father's Day and Monday night my volleyball team won! Tuesday we headed up the lake for dinner with Mimi and Wednesday night we had dinner with the Great's and Mimi. Tonight Reagan tried butterscotch and demonstrated how really, really close she is to crawling. She gets up on her feet more than she does anything else, scootches around for a bit, then just sits back down. It looks she is getting in a sprinting position and might surprise us all by just taking off in a flat sprint one of these days.

Here is our veggie list from this week's CSA (sorry, no pictures of veggies tonight- we will have some still life shots next week):

1 bunch of red radishes
4-5 zucchini – this well be a reoccurring theme for a while.
2 yellow summer squash
5 standard cucumbers
1 burp less cucumber
1 bunch of arugula
1 head of Napa cabbage.

Now for pics from Tuesday night:

She's not sad, just thoughtful:

Reagan with the giant Tootie Bug:

Giving the Tootie Bug a kiss:

Diggin' the Bug:

That's all for tonight! Hopefully, I can work on some videos to upload for this Sunday's post.

No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem

2009-06-21T21:28:00.004-05:00

First off, Happy Father's Day to all of the fathers who follow/read about our goings on.

Next, I have been putting this post off all day, mostly to celebrate Fathers Day with my family and mostly because it is nearly impossible to summarize this past week. Here goes my best effort.

Monday I headed towards the Bahamas with my father in law for a little "Man - cation". Our plan was to boat from Florida down to the Exuma's to do some fishing and relaxing. More on the trip in a moment...

Sarah was headed out of town for work on Monday night, so Mimi had Reagan all night by herself for the first time! Big thanks go to her for all of her help last week especially watching her all night and then most of Tuesday as well! Reagan has such fun with all of our family Sarah and I are truly blessed to have such a great support system all around us.

Wednesday Sarah and Reagan headed to Great Grandma and Grandpa's house for a nice visit where Reagan had tapioca for the first time. That may be her favorite food so far.

Friday Sarah had to have an emergency dental procedure that required her to be put under, so our amazing family came to our rescue again with Great Grandma/Grandpa Kitty, Grandma Candy and Poppa Bob helping us out by driving Sarah to and from surgery while watching Reagan.

So while all of this was going on, I was in the middle of the ocean, spending most of the week on a boat. We left Florida at first light on Tuesday headed for Bimini to clear customs and then on to Highborne Cay (pronounced "Key"). We made amazing time in the crossing - while some parts of the trip normally see 6-8 foot seas, it was incredibly calm - so calm and clear we could count starfish on the ocean floor. The total trip took a little more than 12 hours and found us at Highborne by sundown.

Not all sharks are bad (I'm not sure how to type the Jaws theme)

Smooth as glass (our captain and friend Big Dog is on the right)

Sunset on the ocean:

We spent the night catching up with some friends that Sharky (Bruce) and SeaBean (Kelly) have known for a while. Dock Diva and her husband Flyrod were very hospitable to us and gave us a nice cool place to relax and let us rest up for fishing the next day. I am not sure if I was over served or over tired, but I slept great that night.

The next day we fished for a while in the morning with Flyrod and Big Dog, mostly to kill some time until the tide came in until we could get to the next island. Dock Diva prepared a great lunch for us and we headed down to the next island when the tide was right.

We arrived safely, met up with some more friends and had a great dinner (my first Kalik and conch fritters of the trip). That night we got a good night's sleep and headed back to Highborne the next day to pick up FlyRod for some more fishing. After a few hours and mostly barracuda bites, there was some discussion about heading up to Harbour Island to eat dinner and spend the night. We didn't really have any where to be, so we changed course and headed about 2 hours to Harbour Island. Highlights here included a tiny store to buy deodorant, toothbrushes and a couple new shirts since we smelled like we had been fishing all day. That night we had a great dinner at a local spot and even had Brooke Shields sitting at the table next to us.

The next day we tried to head out early since we had essentially kidnapped FlyRod (he went out thinking he was going fishing for a few hours and got caught up in this overnight adventure), however, there was some bad weather and no gas on the island so we had to make our way to Spanish Wells for gas. Spanish Wells supplies most of the worlds lobster - if it doesn't come from Maine, it probably comes from this little island.

After a few hours on the water and running into some more bad weather, we finally delivered FlyRod back home about 30 minutes before he had company due to arrive. The next day Big Dog and I were headed out, so we called it an early Friday after having dinner with some great friends on the island.

I had an amazing time (the pictures and the stories just can't do an experience like this justice) and I can't wait to get back down there with Sarah and Reagan.

A few more pics:

That's all for now, we will have some more pictures and videos of Reagan during the midweek post.

-GunShy back to 1-6, Out.

Reflections

2009-06-17T19:46:00.007-05:00

I (Sarah) have the honor of creating our mid-week blog update! Apparently I have free reign, but I was told not to forget to announce the produce that we received in our weekly CSA pick-up! I was excited this week to find out that we had such a variety of items!

1 bunch of onions
1 head of lettuce either red sails or green oak leaf
1 bunch of arugula
1 bunch of red radishes
1 bunch of spring turnips
2 yellow straight neck summer squash
5 zucchini summer squash
1 pint of strawberries

I am very excited to try the strawberries! And when I was picking up the produce, I ran into our friend Tami who suggested that we shredd the zucchini and freeze it if we can't eat it all. Great thinking! Zucchini bread in the fall and winter sounds delish!

So on to why this update is titled "Reflections". I was thinking about all the current pictures we post, so I went and looked at all the pictures we have taken of Reagan since her birth. We have close to 1,000 pictures. This only includes the one that we have kept and categorized as "Reagan". It was so fun to look through them and see how much she has changed in the last 7.5 months, so I thought I would post a few of my favorites.

This is Reagan and I still in the hospital.

Daddy & Baby Girl

I also have a few developmental type announcements for Reagan! She now has 5 teeth! Five! And she isn't even crawling yet! Although she is close and I think it will happen within the next week or so! She has also started bouncing to music. I was watching a movie last night and a song by Gloria Estefan came on and I look over to see Reagan watching tv and moving to the music. At least she has good taste in Latin music!

That's all for now. It's been a blast updating this week!

We went out last night!

2009-06-14T16:08:00.008-05:00

Not only is that the name of a Kenny Chesney song, but we actually went out to see Kenny at Soldier Field last night. We had a really great time - we will try to summarize the high lights of the day.

We arrived in Chicago around 11AM and hung out at my brothers place until the weather got a little nicer. We then started heading south to the field, killing a little time at a country bar and then heading to charity event at a bar that one of Andy's friends was hosting. A quick phone call got us on the list and we were able to drink on the roof of a bar and support a good cause for a few hours.

We then continued our way south to the field, stopping at a couple of other establishments and noticing more and more cowboy hats as we got close to the field. By the time we got to the stadium, there was not much of a line, so we made our way right in. As I was going to get a couple cokes, we ran into one of our friends from work that we had been tyring to catch up with all day. She had 2 extra seats next to her so we moved to their section for the show.

This is Sugarland opening for Kenny:

The show was AWESOME. He played just about all of his biggest hits, and then after about 90 minutes they started covering songs by Bob Marley (the drummer from the Wailers was on stage all night), Steve Miller, Tom Petty, The Eagles - it was a blast!

More cowboy hats:

The most embarrassing part of the day was when I was talking to one of my brother's friends at the roof party. At one point in my story, he raised his hand in the air so I gave him a "high 5". I then realized that he was actually waving at 2 of their friends that just walked in. We all had a good laugh and he thought it was great since his friends showed up and he got a "bonus 5" out of the deal.

Grandma Candy and Poppa Bob watched Reagan while we were out on the town. We really appreciated this and it looks like they had a great time too!

That's all for now!

Veggies, Info and Toes

2009-06-10T18:35:00.007-05:00

Happy mid week!

Why the mid week post you ask? Well, today was the first day that we participated in our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). What is a CSA you ask? Well, for a flat rate, we get 15-16 weeks of locally grown fruits, vegetables and spices from a farm near town. We are looking forward to all kinds of exciting vegetables and fruits this year that we can eat, cook with and freeze for use in the winter. The first week had the following items:

1 bunch of French breakfast radishes
1 bunch of green onions
1 bunch of garlic scapes
1 head of “Truckee” – dark green oak-Leaf
1 head of red oak Leaf
1 bag of mixed greens
1 bunch of spring turnips.

We also get weekly e mails about how the farm is doing, what was just planted, what is growing, what is being harvested and what we should see in the coming weeks.

How 'bout that? We live on the edge when it comes to veggies, right? As the kids say "That's how we roll".

So before we show off some new pictures of our daughter, we thought we would not talk about us, but talk about you. We present the following stats about our blog and it's visitors that we think you may find super amazing or maybe interesting or maybe amusing. It's also possible you will claim you don't really care, but I think deep down - you do. I'm an optimist.

Since April 1st we have had:

1,220 visits
1,724 page views
Visitors from 5 countries (full disclosure - 2 of them were my brother in Europe)
Visitors from 18 states - Illinois leads the way, Pennsylvania is in second with 111. From there Virginia and North Carolina battle it out. Other states worth mentioning are Arizona, Texas, Washington DC, Missouri and Florida.

Most people find our site by bookmarking us or coming via e mails, but we have several friends who list us on their blogs. Most of our referrals come from either our family in Pennsylvania "Boo and Bee", our friends in North Carolina over at the Daily Craziness , or from our friends Joe and Lindsey's site.

It's not really as scary as it seems...I don't know specifically who you are, your address, where else on the Internet you visit or how often you vacuum (yet).

Now, Reagan's pictures:

That's all for now, I have to go since Grandma Candy brought over fixin's for strawberry shortcake with fresh strawberries courtesy of Poppa Bob's parents!

If you enjoyed this post, leave us a comment - and let us know how often you vacuum!

Rainy Day Ramblings

2009-06-07T17:41:00.006-05:00

It has been a rain filled central Illinois week for sure. Most of the week found Jeff pacing in the basement begging it to stop raining. Luckily, the basement only took on a little bit of water and the dehumidifier was able to knock it out in a few hours.

Aside from that, we had a very nice weekend. Without much on the schedule (something that it becoming more and more rare), we hosted a casual dinner on Friday night for Grandma Candy and Poppa Bob (after Grandma Candy watched Reagan Friday afternoon). Reagan was very happy to see them over at our house - she just lights up when she sees any of the grandparents - it just never gets old! They came over for pizza followed by grilled pineapple with French vanilla ice cream with cinnamon - a perfect summer treat. We were able to laugh and visit on the deck after she went to bed - a welcome benefit of the 7:30 bedtime.

Saturday morning we packed up the van and headed to the Farmers Market with Grandma Candy. We found a few great items that included locally raised ground pork, creamed honey and a Jamaican rum infused syrup! After that it was was pretty lazy, with Sarah spending time with Mimi while Grandpa Bruce watched Reagan. They had such a great time they watched her until the evening, leaving Sarah and I to do some much needed housework and generally wonder what we did before we had Reagan.

Sunday was rainy again, so we packed up and headed up to the lake to spend a little time with Grandpa and Mimi. After a couple hours up there, we headed back to town to wind down for the evening. Sarah is now baking a few kinds of fudge, I am sampling fudge and working on photos!

One more note, this week we joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) group. We essentially bought a share in a local farm, so we get a TON of fresh fruits and veggies weekly. We will have more on this midweek as well as more pictures in the weather holds out!

Enough stories - on to the pictures! As a note, you can always click on the picture to enlarge it.

Check out the new tooth! Tooth Count 2009 sits at 4!

One more from last weekend with a little artistic treatment.

Splended smiles and gorgeous grins

2009-05-31T19:53:00.012-05:00

Wow, I can hardly believe it is the start of June. It seems like May first was just a couple days ago. Anyway, our plate for the longest short week of the year was totally filled. Tuesday found everybody back to work, trying to catch up from being out on Monday. Wednesday night, Sarah hosted a jewelry party for several friends. This left me in charge of entertaining, feeding and putting Reagan down for the night. It was pretty successful, with only some minor panic attacks by your truly. Reagan has also had one more tooth poke through on top - our tooth count sits at a very official "3"!

Friday night we hosted our annual deck opening party while Reagan spent the night with Grandma Candy. We had a great time entertaining our friends and some of their little ones, but missed our own baby too. On Saturday, we were off to the mall for a big shopping trip. Reagan spent time with Mimi at the lake while we ran all of our errands.

Sunday was mostly recovering from the weekend and more time at the lake with Grandpa and Mimi - they had been out of town for a while so it was great to see them and to spend some time with them.

If you are still reading this, I am guessing you fall into the 20% that read our updates, rather than skipping down to the pictures - thank you!

For everyone else, here are some pictures of Reagan right around her 7 month birthday!

Late post!

2009-05-27T20:01:00.004-05:00

Howdy! Sorry for the late post, the long weekend just seemed to keep going. Not really...I was sick for a couple days, I think driving almost 1,000 miles in a week finally caught up with me. It's farther than it seems when you only cover 2 states, and I was only about 30 miles into Missouri for the second state.

Anyway, my golf trip with my brother was a great time! We partied on Sunday and then golfed 36 holes on Monday and 18 on Tuesday of last week. Here is us living it up:

Then, over the holiday weekend we headed up north to spend time with family and friends. Here is Reagan with our good friends baby, Gabriella. There are just a couple weeks apart and will spend lots of time playing and vacationing together over the next several years. They hit it off pretty well - and by that, I mean there was not a lot of crying or hitting.

Reagan also had her first "owie" this week when she was sitting and playing with some toy cups. She leaned a little too far forward and gravity won, sending her headfirst into the cup. For her efforts, she received a tiny cut over her eye, but it never swelled up or looked bad. She still plays with the cups, so I don't think there is any emotional damage.

The other highlight was getting Reagan on my cousins trampoline. I would sit with her between my legs for support with Sarah jumping near us to cause us to bounce into the air. Reagan laughed and laughed, she was having a great time at her first Memorial Day cookout.

Here is a quick video of Reagan laughing from playing on the couch with Sarah - I don't think I will ever get tired of her laugh.

Are those......teeth?

2009-05-17T18:01:00.006-05:00

With all the hubub around the baptism we forgot to include a major milestone in Sugar Pie's life! Two little "teefers" have popped through on the bottom! Unfortunately, trying to get a picture of them would be nearly impossible. It's hard enough trying to wipe her runny little nose from the teething. And let me tell you.....Reagan makes it K-N-O-W-N that she is not feeling great. Constant entertainment is really the only thing to keep her from squealing from the gum pain. Oh yes, I did try motrin and it seems to help, but I have to check up on her after she falls asleep just to make sure the motrin doesn't have an adverse affect. What can I say? I'm a mom!

Just a few more side notes and then you can move on to pictures! Jeff and I went to Alexander's Steakhouse for dinner on Thursday night while Grandma Candy watched Baby Girl. It was fun to drink beer, cook steaks and just chat. Love date night!

On Saturday, Baby Girl got her first ride in her new super-fantastic athletic stroller! Jeff is convinced that someday I will rollerblade behind it. Keep dreaming buddy. We walked on the trail all the way to Uptown. Grabbed ourselves a couple of coffee drinks and headed back. We are really looking forward to more of that this summer!

Ahhh...as I drink my glass of wine, I find myself wanting to type more, just because I know that it's the pictures that you seek. Oh alright. Here you go!

Reagan asleep in her new stroller.

"The Thinker"

Huh? What? Did someone say my name?

More photos

2009-05-14T20:43:00.004-05:00

As promised, here are a few more shots from this weekend. Happy Friday!

Reagan with her Mom, Grandmas, Great Grandmas, Mimi and Great Mimi

Reagan with Dad, Grandfathers and Great Grandfathers

This is Terri, our great friend who made Reagan's beautiful dress.

More from the 6 month shoot

Baptism and Mothers Day!

2009-05-11T22:22:00.006-05:00

I apologize for the late post, but it has been a crazy few days around here. Not only were we celebrating Sarah's first Mothers Day and Uncle Andy's 30th birthday, but our Baby Girl was Baptised on Sunday and the whole family came back to our house to celebrate. It was a perfect, beautiful day! I will be sure to write more later, but I wanted to get some pictures up for everyone to see. I will upload more in the next few days, including some great family shots, but we wanted to get a few up in honor of Mother's Day.

Thanks to everyone for your kind thoughts, prayers and being a part of our lives. We are truly blessed.

Our close friend Terri made Reagan's gown from Grandma Margie's wedding dress. It was so beautiful, she looked like a little angel.

Someone out there has a great picture of Grandma Candy and Reagan looking right at the camera. I think Sarah looked my way just to be nice. In her defense, it was like a red carpet with all of the camera flashes!

Reagan with Mimi, Grandma Margie, Sarah and Grandma Candy

Reagan gets a kiss from Great Mimi!

Reagan in her party dress!

Reagan with Great Grandma!

I should have some more pictures and videos posted by Thursday morning!

6 months old!

2009-05-03T17:19:00.004-05:00

Wow, here we are, already at Reagan's 6 month birthday. It seems like forever ago that we were in the hospital for 9 nights (not that we dwell on that) wondering when we would get home. Then we got home and wondered what to do with this little miracle. How time flies.

Reagan gave us a half birthday present this week by sleeping from 8PM until 5AM 3 times! We could hardly believe it happened once, let alone 3 times. Sarah loves it, while I have a harder time sleeping she has been up at least once - for some reason I can't seem to sleep unless I know she has been up for a bottle.

This weekend we spent most of our time preparing for the Baptism next Sunday and the Baptism party/Mothers Day get together we are hosting. Jeff was in full "house/yard maintenance mode" and Sarah had the test kitchen in full swing. She has quite a spread of scrumptious sweets in store for next weekend! We are also very excited to see Grandpa Bruce and Mimi this week! They will be back this week and can't wait to see Reagan!

Starbucks people - please contact us for where to send the endorsement check

Aveeno people - please contact us for where to send the endorsement check.

Adorable

Dancing Machine - watch her get down.

Spring Cleaning, Grandma, and Grilling

2009-04-26T19:04:00.008-05:00

This week we finally had a sustained period of nice weather. We were able to mow the yard, grill out a few times and spend some time on the deck and in the backyard - a change of pace Reagan really welcomed. Sarah had a jewelry show on Thursday night, so Reagan and I got to spend some good bonding time together.

On Saturday, Grandma Margie drove down to play with Reagan, which allowed Sarah and I a chance to get caught up on Spring cleaning and preparing to host the Baptism party/Mother's Day get together. We still have a ton of work to do - there is nothing like a large get together to put some pressure on the "honey do" list.

Four generations!

Five and half months in less than 2 minutes...

Sunday, Rainy Sunday

2009-04-19T16:54:00.007-05:00

This week a good friend of ours from Atlanta was in town for work and had dinner with us on Thursday night. We had planned to cook for him, but he pulled a "Take Home Chef"and showed up with groceries, steaks and side dishes. He went to work in the kitchen and visited with us, while Sarah and I really did not "do" much of anything. He also brought a lot of cute clothes for Reagan that we can't wait to put her in - many thanks to Ron and his family for their gifts!

Other than that, is was pretty quiet on the home front. Sunday afternoon, we had a family birthday party for Sarah's cousin Curt, who just turned 18. We had steaks on the grill in honor of Curt. Wow - 2 grilled steaks in one week -not too shabby.

I had hoped to have some more googly eyed pics up this week - I should have some new shots by mid week. Also, I retouched the Easter Egg shot from the prior post, cleaning up some things that I did not like. It was all minor stuff, but I had to give in to the perfectionist side this one time.

Reagan's new bouncy chair...

Resting in the chair

Just hangin' out

Pictures and Videos!

2009-04-14T19:46:00.004-05:00

What's the best a part about Holiday Feasts? Leftovers of course! As it turns out, we have some leftover pictures to share. It just took a little longer than expected to get them "Web ready". We will save everyone from long stories tonight and get right to the fun stuff.

First Easter Egg!

Reagan Eating

Easter Dress!

Jump! No really, jump and keep jumping

Uncle Andy - who leaves for a "European Tour" in the next few days!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T20:21:00.009-05:00

What a weekend! Anticipating a very busy weekend, Sarah and I took Friday off to spend some time together. Reagan went to the sitters to keep her on schedule and Sarah and I headed down to an outlet mall about 60 miles away. We had a great time reconnecting and just being together.

On Saturday morning, we headed up to Rockford for Easter. Reagan and Grandma Margie had a great time, Uncle Andy saw her for the first time since Christmas and Reagan saw the rest of the Rockford family on Sunday. She was a doll, smiling and giggling for everyone.

Sunday night, Grandma Candy and Poppa Bob came over to drop off another Easter Basket, this one filled with all kinds of organic baby foods - including Apple/Sweet Potatoes! Yum!

So we will get right to the Easter pictures, but check back by Thursday and we should have some more pictures and videos posted!

Getting ready for Easter!

Not sure about Easter grass

What in the world?

2009-04-05T16:01:00.006-05:00

Wow, this week had so many big things happen, where do I start? First, my day care provider was sick on Monday and Tuesday, so I stayed at home with mommy for 2 days, we had a great time. Then on Wednesday, Mommy stayed home again and Grandma Candy and Great Grandma came over to visit. Late in the day, Mommy went someplace called "Dallas", not sure what all of that was about but it meant that I could spend some time with Daddy on Wednesday night. So, I decided I would show him how excited I was by developing a runny nose and fussing a lot. Then I decided to sleep really well, after he called Grandma Candy to help out.

Thursday night I slept over at Grandma's house and then on Friday Mommy came home. I loved seeing her again and taking a nap on her. Then on Saturday, Grandma Margie came down. It had been a month since I saw her. We laughed and played and then went to see the Easter Bunny with Grandma Candy. Man, that thing was big, furry and kind of weird. I am not sure how often that happens, but I don't think I have ever seen it at the mall before.

Oh yeah, this week I also tried "Sweet Potatoes". At first, I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do, since Mommy and Daddy normally don't let me put things in my mouth, but this time Mommy was helping me? I thought it was weird at first, but if you open your mouth and use your tongue, you can get all of these crazy tastes in your mouth!! I could not wait for more, and then more, and then more! This week, I think I am supposed to try "Bananas". This is awesome!

Then on Sunday we went to the Greats to celebrate Great Grandpa's birthday! It was lots of fun seeing everyone and I even got to eat more "Sweet Potatoes" in front of them. They seemed to enjoy it a lot.

That's all for now - have a great week!

Signs, signs, everywhere signs...

2009-04-02T17:59:00.006-05:00

Well, Reagan and I made it through last night just fine. We had a brief moment where she was totally inconsolable so we had to call Grandma Candy to come over and help out, but after a good 30 minutes of tears, she was all smiles and giggles. After grandma left she went right to sleep and the night time bottle went off without a hitch, even though 5 AM arrived early, we both survived and had a great time.

So, Reagan is at Grandma's tonight, Sarah is still out of town...so what are my plans for the night? Let's run through them: Porterhouse steak on the grill; check, sauteed mushrooms; check, baked potato with cheese and bacon bits; check, digital camera and googly eyes, check. That's right, to keep myself from going crazy, I decided to head out for a walk with my camera and googly eyes (note: all googly eyes have been removed so as to keep the law happy).

Enjoy:

Sad googly eyes

MY Favorite...

Indeed I am...

Be Careful!

Last items for the night: waiting for the whole family to be back under the same roof; check, missing them; check.

Good night.

Weekly review

2009-03-29T10:21:00.006-05:00

I figured we would start on the post a little earlier than normal today, since it is 32 degrees outside and a little over an inch of snow on the ground. I hope it warms up soon, because I have an absolute rule about not shoveling after March 15th.

Our friends came down for the weekend so they could see Reagan and we could see their son. The last time we saw them was right about the time we found out we were pregnant, so it was over a year ago! We had a great time and checked out the Children's Museum. It was a blast, there were tons of things for kids of all ages to do. We will be spending a lot of time there as Reagan gets older.

The first smoke of the year went very well! We all gorged ourselves on pulled pork, green beans and mac and cheese. Great comfort food for a chilly evening. Unfortunately, they had to head back early Sunday because of the snow - but we still had a great time visiting.

Sleepy girl...

That's all for now, I will probably post a little later in the week about my first night with Reagan by myself while Sarah is out of town. For now, we will leave you with a short video of Reagan giggling in her crib.

Giggles

More Fun!

2009-03-25T17:31:00.004-05:00

Happy mid week everyone!

We have some friends from Elgin coming down this weekend, so we should have some fun pics this weekend of the Children's Museum and some other weekend outings. In the meantime, we wanted to put up a quick little video of Reagan mimicking our mouths - it's funny, but very quiet.

Also, we are trying out a friends very nice camera lens, so we have been shooting around the house this afternoon.

Also, the prior post only had one comment, and that was ours. While we know that we are not that interesting, we would still appreciate this being sent to far reaching places - just for fun. So please take a moment and send the address on to a close friend in a remote location or a remote friend in a close location. We're not picky.

The girls...

A rare photo of Jeff in his natural habitat...

Cute Video...

Spring has Sprung

2009-03-22T09:22:00.010-05:00

Happy Spring everybody!

Spring has already been very busy for this family! We have had great weather in Central Illinois this week so we were able to take Reagan out for a couple of strolls on the Trail - which she loves as long as she is not getting the sun in her eyes.

Reagan made her first trip to the mall with mommy and Grandma Candy. Later in the day, the three of us went to a cookout at our friend's house. She was all smiles all day - several of our friends are convinced she never cries. Sarah and I just smile when they make comments like this. We appreciate it, but know the real truth.

On Sunday we ventured to the Greats for lunch, where Reagan was able to make the family smile by trying to put her feet in her mouth. For a while she has been doing leg lifts (core strengthening), for fun Dad put his hands over her legs while doing this and she lifted her torso off the changing table - 'sit up' style. That was pretty fun!

We also think teething has officially begun. She is seems to be extra drooly and is currently preoccupied with a teething toy that Sarah is showing her.

This week we would like to challenge everyone to send this to at least 2 other people, 1 in the same city that you are in and one in another city - the further and more unique - the better. Feel free to leave a comment with the city you are in. We don't have any give aways, but bragging rights are always a good thing, right?

First St. Patrick's Day!

The 'eyes' have it! (Jeff's favorite)

Too cute.

2009-03-15T20:25:00.003-05:00

Another weekend passes and here I sit. Happy, content and very tired. This last week seems like such a blur! Tuesday was our big 4 month check-up as you can see from a previous post. Wednesday night I went to a friend's house to meet other mommy's my age with little ones! It was great to meet other mommy's but very hard to make conversation with them when there are 6 children under the age of 2 in the same house!

Our wonderful friend Tiffany gave us an excer-saucer this week that belonged to her little boy Drew. Reagan really likes it! Here is an adorable pic of her playing in it!

Then Friday came and I took the morning off work since our sitter was off that day. I had a great time hanging out with my baby girl. I am constantly amazed at how big she is getting. A few months ago I felt like time was never going to pass because I was so exhausted. Now here we are with a thriving (and incredibly awesome) little girl.

My mom came over Friday night and watched Reagan while we went to Lucca Grill with our friends Matt & Sarah. I told them that we would not be "those parents" and talk about our child all night, but it's inevitable. That's what our life is all about right now and I'm not sorry! :) By the way, we realized how old we all were when we went to Fat Jack's (one of my fave hangouts when I was twenty-something) and we chose to leave because the band was too loud and we couldn't talk! Oh, the good ole' days.

Reagan and I went to the Great Grandparents on Saturday and had some fun time with them. She loves to watch the fan in their kitchen go round and round and round. She must have been mad that we left because she was a PILL for the rest of the day. She did not want to be put down, laid down or looked at the wrong way, or else she would screech like a friggin owl. I mean, put-in-your-earplugs screeching. Jeff and I somehow managed to keep it together.

Today (Sunday) was such a blast! We went out to breakfast with the Greats, Grandpa, Mimi and U. Ken & A. Vicki. Reagan was NOT happy at the restaurant, so Mimi found a nice little coat closet to bounce Reagan in and she eventually fell into sleepy-land. We were also able to take an awesome walk with Grandpa and Mimi at the Lake! We tried to put sunglasses on the poor kid, but she was not having it. Luckily, Jeff snapped some quick pics and got this adorable pic of Granda and Reagan!

This was Reagan's first time in her stroller! She wasn't happy at first, but Grandpa did a couple of fast circles with the stroller and she was O-U-T! Warm sun, cool breeze...can't blame the kid for sleeping in that weather! Luckily, we did have some good awake time at their house and got this cute little picture!

We had a bit more screeching tonight but nothing compares to her talking. And talking. And talking. And talking. And talking. I actually had to turn the TV up to a volume of 68 to hear anything. Now, I love my child, but I also enjoy Rock of Love (tv show) and I think it's ok from time to time to try to drown out the chatter. Especially for a show that classy. :)

P.S. We have failed to continue our quote of the week over the last few weeks. However, I'd like to try and keep that tradition going by adding in a quote from Jeff on Valentine's Day. I'd like to do something fun on this post. I'd like you to read the quote below and then post a comment saying why you think Jeff would have said this quote. Should be fun. Please remember to leave out last names. We like for everyone to see the blog but don't want to get THAT personal with people we don't know.

Quote of the week: "They are clearly not Mormon."

Happy Friday!

2009-03-12T23:13:00.002-05:00

Well almost, it's late Thursday so I assume everyone will see this Friday morning. Here is a cute video we shot last week with Reagan's dolly. It's pretty much just her being cute. Sarah and I are finally getting full fledged giggles out of her, so hopefully we can catch that on camera soon.

4 Month Check-Up

2009-03-10T14:34:00.003-05:00

Reagan had her 4 month check-up today with her pediatrician. I know you are all interested in the measurements so I'll get straight to it.

Weight = 13lbs 12oz, 50th percentile
Length = 24 in, 45th percentile
Head = 16 1/4in, 55th percentile

The percentile only represents what she is among other babies her age. For example, 50th percentile is average. Less means a little under the average and higher percentile means above average. Reagan is right where she should be!

She also had three vaccinations today. One oral and the other two in her thighs. She only cried about 10 seconds total and was in my arms before I allowed any more crying. She calmed quickly and fell asleep in the car. She slept through our trip to Target but woke up when we got home. She is now sitting in her new chair, looking at me and doing a bit of whining to get my attention when I start typing. Off to play with baby girl! Have a great day!

Daylight savings time

2009-03-08T22:54:00.007-05:00

It will be a short post tonight, because of daylight savings time I need to go to bed before I am tired, otherwise my internal clock will be off all week. This weekend we actually got to spend time outside on the deck! It was Reagan's first extended period outside without being all bundled up - she seemed to dig it. On Saturday Grandma Margie came down and spent the night and got a nice "Reagan fix". Then Grandma Candy came over on Sunday and spent some good time and we took some nice pictures for a project she is working on (we don't know what surprise she has planned, but offered to help by snapping some pics). On Sunday afternoon we went over to the Greats to celebrate Sarah's birthday, since they just returned from a month in Florida and could not be with her on the actual day. It was a great, fun filled, day light savings weekend!

We should have another video up later this week, be sure to check back throughout the week.

Reagan's new and colorful chair...

Diaper time!

Not sure what I think of this one, tried some new techniques, seems artsy - but nice. What do you think?

Happy Thoughts

2009-03-07T12:21:00.002-06:00

Here are just a few quick thoughts that I had this week that made me feel just a little bit giddy.
1. Spring poked its head out a bit and gave us the chance for our daughter to experience life on the back deck!
2. I got to wear shoes with no socks this week because of the warm weather!
3. I had a work meeting on Friday that my husband attended. It was fun to see him across the conference table and feel those sparks. The "down to business" Jeff is very attractive. :)

That's really it. I am keeping it short since I know that no one really wants to read a blog that doesn't have a video or picture of Reagan embedded in it. If you are reading this, then I'm impressed you didn't give up after #1.

Have a great Saturday!

Busy Weekend

2009-03-01T20:24:00.007-06:00

We will have a short post today and a longer one later this week. We spent Saturday night in Chicago with some friends celebrating a birthday. Everyone had a a blast, Sarah and I even were able to dance a little bit together! Reagan spent the night with Grandma Candy and Poppa Bob and was an angel. She even slept until 6:30 this morning, which is 90 minutes later than she does at home. We will have to find out their secret.

We will have more posts out this week, but just wanted to create a small one and share this video. Reagan has been VERY talkative lately, usually right before bedtime. We captured about a minute and a half on video to share.

Just life

2009-02-25T20:36:00.011-06:00

So, what have we been up to so far this week? Pretty mundane stuff that most people won't find interesting. For Jeff, most of his off hours have been spent on the phone with Panasonic, trying to get them to repair our 22 month old TV. If they don't cover it, I feel bad for them. You will soon see a very anti Panasonic blog. Hopefully, they will do what is right and will be less expensive for them in the future.

Sarah has been doing a little shopping to prepare for our trip to Chicago this weekend. We are heading up with some friends for a nice dinner and then a night out on the town. We will have a camera with us, so we might have some funny pictures on Sunday night.

On to the photos and videos:

Sarah and Reagan (check out the new doo)

All of us on Sarah's B Day

Reagan with Grandma Candy and Poppa Bob

Reagan and Mimi

Hey - I have hands!

Happy Birthday Sarah!

2009-02-19T21:11:00.016-06:00

Sarah,

Just think, it was just under 3 years ago when I asked you to be my wife. I am so grateful that you took me up on the offer, happy that we are on this journey together and blessed with the happy and fulfilled family that we have started. I cannot wait to see where the rest of our lives takes us, the challenges and joys that it will bring and the strength and love that we will continue to find in each other. You are an amazing wife and mother who I respect, love and cherish every day.

Happy Birthday!

And now for something completely different:

To keep Reagan entertained on her changing table, Sarah often makes a cute noise by pursing her lips together. Today, we saw Reagan start to imitate by pursing her lips together and making the same noise while blowing bubbles.

My Valentine, My Mini-Van

2009-02-16T08:38:00.005-06:00

Well, the family trio had quite an exciting week last week. Let's review, shall we?

It all started with a call on Monday evening (the 11th) when we almost walked away from the mini-van deal over $23/month. Yes, that's right, we drive a hard bargain. Once we ensured that we got the payment we wanted, we found out that our van would be ready for pick-up on Tuesday instead of Thursday! I (Sarah) think it is the best car I've ever owned! I am now officially a mini-van mom and I love it. Jeff and I feel it's luxury at it's finest (in the mini-van category) but Jeff can't understand why younger kids don't stare at it when we drive down the road. :)

Moving on, Reagan had her first Valentine's party at Ms. Shirley's house last week! Mommy made cookies for her to take. I decided that the best way to make it look like she signed the valentines was for me to sign her name with my left hand. Remarkably, I was pretty good at it after 21 valentines. Needless to say, Jeff and I raided her valentine stash that evening while she was napping. I can't wait for Halloween...

To celebrate our own personal Valentine's Day, Jeff and I spent a night away from home at the Chateau! Grandma Margie watched Reagan overnight so mommy and daddy could spend quality time together. We had dinner at the hotel and then went downtown to a local hotspot. We quickly realized that it's not quite our scene anymore and decided to go back to the hotel. Luckily my dad was in the area and gave us a ride back to the hotel! What a lifesaver! In the end, Jeff and I had a great time reconnecting and rekindling the spark that got us married in the first place! :)

Oh, but the weekend wasn't over, no it wasn't. We got home around 7:30am and found that Grandma Margie and Reagan had a pretty decent night! Reagan can be unpredictable at night but it seemed as though all was well! We went to church with Grandma and then headed out to the lake to see Grandpa and Mimi! After the lake we came home and spent time with Grandma Candy and Poppa Bob. You could tell by the way that Reagan just stared without any expression on her face, that she was people'd out for the weekend.

And to round out the week (although it happened today), Reagan received her SSN card in the mail! Hooray! Mommy and daddy can now file taxes!

Reagan and Grandma Margie...

The new ride...

Indescribable moments

2009-02-13T16:15:00.005-06:00

Around 6am this morning, I realized that I needed to wake Reagan up so that we could get our day started. There were so many more things to do: change diaper, put new clothes on, play a bit, get coffee, get in van, etc. When I walked into her room, she still had her eyes closed but I had a feeling she was not really in a deep sleep. I leaned into her crib and said "wake up baby girl, I love you" in a soft mommy-like voice. What happened next melted my heart. With her eyes still closed, she smiled and kicked her legs in excitement. She then opened her eyes slowly and gave me the most beautiful toothless grin I've ever seen! That is one of those moments that I will remember for the rest of my life. Even when she is married with her own family, I will remember that precious moment. It was so special that I had to share! Have a great weekend everyone!

Another beautiful smile

About food.....

2009-02-12T20:56:00.005-06:00

As you may have read on our twitter, Jeff was extremely excited about a new dish that I tried this week. It's called Biscuit Pizza and let me tell you it was indeed spectacular. That is, if you enjoy pizza as much as we do. It was simple to make and extremely easy on the budget. Here is the recipe for your eating pleasure:

2 cans Pillsbury biscuits (I used golden layers or something like that)
- 8 in a can
1 can pizza sauce (or more if you prefer)
Pizza toppings of your choice (we like sausage and pepperoni).
One bag pizza cheese.

Cut biscuits into quarters and layer in bottom of greased 9X13 pan.
Pour pizza sauce evenly over biscuits.
Add toppings and cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes.
Enjoy the party in your mouth!

As a side note, I'd like to add that the pizza was so good that it made up for the two other crappy meals I made this week. Cheesy Hamburger Macaroni which tasted exactly like it sounds, without the cheesy. And Turkey cheeseburgers. Jeff said they tasted alright, but he had to coat it with ketchup before he said that. No feelings hurt here....I couldn't stand them myself! For those of you that know me well, you know that I prefer to bake cookies, cakes, cupcakes, etc. If Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory was real, I'd be painting my face orange and dying my hair green just to get in....

Big week for the Fam!

2009-02-07T18:41:00.011-06:00

Short month but a lot going on in February. We spent some time with the Great Grandparents on Wednesday night having a great dinner. They also surprised Reagan with her very own high chair that she loved and a new toy that she played with the entire time, and by "played with", we mean "kept putting in her mouth".

Then Reagan seemed to be a little off during the week. Nothing major, just changing as most babies probably do. She wasn't sleeping as much as she normally would so on Friday Sarah went to the doc for a quick check up. Turned our she was a little stuffed up (which we already knew), but that seemed to be the biggest issue. So what else did we get for our co-pay? Well, we found out Reagan now weighs in at 12 pounds 9 ounces.

On Saturday morning, Reagan spent time with Grandma Candy and Poppa Bob while Jeff cleaned house and Sarah shopped. We then went to test drive a mini van...just test drive, no intent on buying. Not planning that for a while, why rush into it, we need to save money. Well, after a while with the 2009 models, Jeff mentions that we should shop around for a pre owned car since there was a little sticker shock. After that, they asked where we needed the numbers to be, the came back right on the number and offered a great deal that would have been foolish to pass up. So, we signed the paperwork on a new Honda mini van. We should pick it up this week just in time for our big Valentines day plans (Grandma Margie is coming down so we can head out to dinner and then a night out at a nice hotel in town).

This weeks quote of the week goes to Grandma Margie who stated "Now that I have a granddaughter, I am no longer obsessed with getting a monkey". It's a long story and has to do with my brother spending time in India.

And now on to the pictures and videos:

Weeee...

Tiny Smiles

Saturday mornings with mommy...

Super Bowl

2009-02-01T20:33:00.004-06:00

Happy Super Bowl everyone! With any luck, your favorite team (of the 2 playing) has played well. Worst case, you have enjoyed some decent commercials and look forward to the mindless summer blockbusters (Fast and Furious and Transformers).

We have had quite a weekend. On Saturday morning, we ventured up to Grandma Margie's since it had been almost 3 weeks since she saw Reagan. Sarah hit the brand new Babies R Us and Jeff hit some of the larger camera stores in town. From there, we ventured over to Manuel and Marci's to see their new daughter and spent time with Kerry and Shannon and their girls. It was so great to see everyone and spend time catching up, although Reagan spent the whole time asleep. It was 15 years ago we were all in high school talking about college, 10 years ago we were wondering what post college life held, 5 years ago talking about mortgage rates and now we all have beautiful families of our own. Life has a way of sneaking up on you. I should also mention we spent time on Skype with Todd and Jen in North Carolina discussing our yearly vacation. Jon and Devon, we were thinking about you guys and the upcoming addition to your family.

We had a pretty lazy Sunday morning, heading out to brunch around 1. I was a little nervous, since the last time we all headed out to brunch, I had a minor fender bender (once everyone was out of the car). Luckily, on this trip I lowered my brunch accident percentage to 50% for 2009. Reagan slept through the entire meal, and gained plenty of stares and smiles from the staff and diners.

I almost forgot, this week we are going to start adding a "Quote of the Week" - just a little quote, when taken in or out of context should make you smile, nod your head or at least scratch it inquisitively. The first weeks honor goes to Sarah for:

"This pizza is not sitting right, I need a brownie"

And now for the pics...

Almost the whole gang:

Sarah and Reagan...

Reagan in her new chair...

Home with Reagan

2009-01-26T08:17:00.002-06:00

I decided to stay home with Reagan today because she seemed to be particularly fussy this weekend. She has been spitting up quite a bit so in an effort to stop this before any weight loss, I stayed home to monitor her. Luckily she seems to be in a very content mood today. She has been talking up a storm which makes me think that she isn't sick..just needs to be "reset", as Jeff would say.

We had a very busy weekend starting with a Friday celebration of Aunt Cass' birthday. Reagan spent Saturday morning with Grandma Candy while Jeff and I went to our annual Afni kickoff meeting. Saturday night was spent with Mimi and Grandpa Griffin (Bruce & Kelly for those of you that don't know what the grandparents are called). I'll address this topic in a bit. What we didn't expect was to see Reagan take her next step in childhood....holding her head up like a big girl! (see pic in Jeff's post below). I was so thrilled to see her do this and shrieked in excitement! It's sad to see her get big but so exciting at the same time! We are PROUD parents!

Yesterday we spent the morning being a family and wiping up spit-up. We spent a few hours in the afternoon with Mimi and Grandpa since they are back from the Bahamas! Reagan seemed to be a little, wait......a lot fussy. We finally got her to sleep around 7:30 and then we crashed on the couch until midnight!

Back to grandparents names. My mom and Bob are now Grandma Candy and Poppa Bob. My dad and Kelly are Mimi and Grandpa Griffin. Jeff's mom is now Grandma Margie. And last but not least, my Griffin and Anderson grandparents are now "the Greats".

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Long week, short weekend

2009-01-26T00:55:00.008-06:00

Hello everyone. It has been a crazy weekend, running all over town and trying to figure out how to upload higher resolution videos to the site. While I work through those technical details, we figured everyone still wanted to see some more pictures. Sarah will probably be writing something a little more formal in the next day or so.

Good tummy time!

By popular demand, more of the frog!

Sweet Smiles

2009-01-19T19:47:00.012-06:00

Here is our first try at uploading a video to the Blog. This is Reagan laughing at one of her favorite toys, it's a tiny little frog that makes her smile and talk every time she sees it.

Enjoy!!

Reagan Laughing from Jeff on Vimeo.

I'm sorry, the temperature was WHAT?

2009-01-17T21:04:00.004-06:00

On Thursday, the temperature here was a bone chilling -14, with windchill it was -38 degrees. That's right, we owed someone 38 degrees. I don't know how you overdraw on degrees, but apparently we did. Sarah and Reagan decided not to leave the house, stayed inside and played all day. I had some meetings that I had to go to, but before you feel too bad for me, I was in San Diego Wednesday through Friday...at Torrey Pines golf course. Needless to say, when I called home all of my questions focused on Sarah, Reagan and the weather at home. When you travel to warm and exotic locations, it is best to not mention the 85 degree weather, the lush golf courses and the warmth of the hotel pool. This way, I am sure all of my stuff will not be waiting for me in the yard when I get home. Despite the warm weather, I missed them both and could not wait to get home to be near my girls.

What is Twitter?
In an effort to keep this blog more interesting, we signed up for a twitter account. Twitter allows you to share what you are up to with friends, family, coworkers or anyone who is interested. The updates are only a few words long and allow you to quickly update the smaller things that happen throughout the day. We are able to update it through our desktop at home, as well as from remote locations, so it should be interesting. Our recent "tweets" can be found on the right hand side of this page.

Here is a recent snapshot of Reagan:

Doctor visits, shots and tears

2009-01-09T20:37:00.004-06:00

Well, we passed the latest doctors tests, Reagan has grown to 22 inches and 11.1 pounds. We also found out she increased to the 40th percentile in height, 50th percentile in weight and 60th percentile in head size. Unfortunately, this visit also came with three shots to the leg and an oral immunization. Reagan cried and cried, but as soon as she was in Sarah's arms she relaxed and went right to sleep.

This week has been pretty crazy and there are not a lot of new photos, however, our new computer (the old one was about to give out) has much more processing power, which lets me do cooler things than before. So, I am revisiting some older photos and trying some new things, but Sarah and I have committed to taking more pictures over the next few days - so stay tuned!

New toys...

Us at the Bears/Packers game - one of the coldest on record...

Back to Work

2009-01-07T12:23:00.002-06:00

Well...the day I've been dreading finally came. The day I headed back to work. I will admit that it was the hardest day of my life and the hardest thing I've ever had to do was walk out the baby-sitter's door. Reagan is always asleep when I leave her at Shirley's house, which makes it easier on me. I know that she is going to be just fine, but I just can't bring myself to look into those beautiful blue eyes and say good-bye. I'd probably have to take her back home if I did!

When I leave work to pick Reagan up, it's the longest drive of my life. The biggest thrill is scooping her up in my arms when I see her! My life just seems SO complete when I have my baby and my husband around me! I absolutely LOVE my life! I couldn't be a luckier girl! My family is so loving and supportive, my husband is my best friend and awesome provider and my daughter is the light of my life! Thanks to everyone that has had to deal with my emotional roller coaster the last 9 weeks! I've found my groove and am loving it! :)

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T23:02:00.005-06:00

Well, here we are at the beginning of 2009, saying good bye to what was arguably the busiest year of our lives and preparing for an even busier one. New Years has always been a good time to take stock of the past year, this list is far from all inclusive, but here we go.

We started the year joking when Sarah's dad had a stocking for both a little boy and a little girl last Christmas, then as we planned a trip to Las Vegas for Sarah's 30th birthday we found out we were pregnant. Not long after we found out we were expecting, we found out our closest and best friends were also expecting, just a few days from us. February also had a quick trip down to sunny Florida for some R&R to escape the grey Illinois weather. The spring passed very quickly with mostly doctor visits, baby showers, nursery preparation and a little remodeling. June started with Jeff heading to the Philippines for a week while Sarah and her mom finished some remodeling and decorating around the house. The summer was quiet but wound down with a weekend trip near Wisconsin Dells with the groomsmen from the wedding and all of their families - a great start to a nice tradition.

Then on November 3rd, we were blessed with Reagan Elizabeth, a little princess who has already changed and completed our lives in many ways. It is nearly impossible to quantify the hours Sarah and I look at her and share smiles at her little mannerisms, all the while giggling that we created this wonderful person. Thanksgiving and Christmas were filled with family gatherings, where our arrival was preceded by lots of questions about when Sarah and Jeff would arrive...as it turns out, everyone was way more excited to see Reagan than either of us - we were simply the method of transportation.

So, as we close out 2008, we realize how blessed we are with an amazing new baby, an incredible family and close friends. We hope you and your families find 2009 to be safe, prosperous and joyous.

Love,
Sarah and Jeff

Merry Christmas to All...

2008-12-26T22:51:00.010-06:00

We successfully made it through our first Christmas. We started off with one Christmas last Friday night, then moved the party to Grandma Margie's in Rockford for Christmas Eve and then back down to Bloomington for Christmas Day! It was quite exciting and I think everyone hung in there and had plenty of Christmas spirit left over for our little Christmas on Christmas night.

Reagan was thrilled to meet the family in Rockford, and I think they liked her as well. At one point, I think people were taking numbers to be able to hold her. As of Friday, we were trying to make our way through the piles of presents such as rattles, toys, books and outfits. Reagan got a lot of really cute stuff that she will be wearing throughout the year. Here are a couple photos, some of which can also be found at http://justreagan.blogspot.com/.

We will be posting some more updates and photos tomorrow, especially about the brutally cold Bear game from Monday night.

...and to all a Good Night.

Seriously adorable

Our First Christmas

Christmas at the Greats!

Back to "Normal"

2008-12-14T18:54:00.003-06:00

I will admit it's been too long since we've posted! As you can imagine, it gets pretty busy around here with a new baby! We had a very busy weekend! On Saturday we visited with Grandma and Grandpa Griffin and Anderson! They were so happy to spend time with Reagan! She slept most of the time of course. Then my mom and Bob had Reagan over to their house Saturday evening for some more bonding time. Jeff and I loved having lunch alone together and even took a short nap at home before we picked up the kid! It's amazing how a little nap can make a huge difference! Today the three of us decided to be adventurous and head to church! Reagan was quiet the entire time. Hooray! Then we headed out to Dad and Kelly's for some munchies and football! We had a great weekend and are sad to see Monday come around (Reagan and I wish Daddy could stay home with us all the time!)

Luckily, we are starting to get in a groove with Reagan. We wouldn't call it a routine, but it's as close to one as you can get with a little one! Tomorrow will mark Reagan's 6th week in our lives. I can't believe it has been 6 weeks already! So much has happened in such a short amount of time! It still feels so surreal to be a parent. It's the hardest job I've ever had, but the most rewarding one! My favorite time of day is early in the morning when Reagan decides to be up for the day (around 6-6:30am). I put her on her changing table and unswaddle her. She springs out of the swaddle so quickly you can almost hear a "ping!". She loves to kick and punch and squirm. She smiles at my ponytail when I shake my head and make it swing above her face. So adorable to see her focus on things and start to interact with us!

I am also happy to say that I am feeling more and more like my old self. The nights are getting much better which helps me make it through the day. I am now feeling more confident about being a mommy and no longer fear it. I hate that it took me this long to get to this point, but am so happy that I've reached the point where I now feel like a functioning person again. I am happy to be able to be a mother AND a wife. I'm sure Jeff is glad to have the old Sarah back...or at least on her way!

First Thanksgiving

2008-12-02T13:25:00.011-06:00

Wow, it has been a very busy last couple of weeks. The first thing we are thankful for is that we don't have to go back to the doctor until Reagan is 6 weeks old. After weekly weight checks, Reagan was up to 7 pounds 15 ounces last Tuesday. It was great to hear the doctor tell us that whatever we were doing was working!

The second thing we are thankful for is family! We had a great time seeing everyone over the Thanksgiving weekend. Thursday we spent the day at the Grandparents in town and then on Friday my mom and brother came down to see Reagan. My mom spent a lot of time with her while I drafted my brother to help with the Christmas tree and outdoor lights. Be sure to check out Reagan's site for more pictures of her and the family.

We are also thankful for friends. On Saturday, our friends from North Carolina stopped by with their kids. It was great seeing them and spending some time catching up. We also did some advanced planning for our trip to see them in June at the beach. Then on Sunday, our friend Tiffany stopped by to spend some time with Sarah and Reagan. It was so nice to everyone to make the trip out since we had a bunch of snow on Saturday night.

We are also thankful that her bellybutton thing finally fell off. Now we can do that silly thing parents do when they blow on the baby's stomach (not sure what that is called).

Challenges

2008-11-21T16:17:00.002-06:00

Here I am, with a bursting heart and enjoying our baby girl. Jeff and I are so blessed to have Reagan in our lives. But I didn't realize how difficult the adjustment would be. Jeff thought I could use this blog to write about what I've been feeling the last few weeks, but I'm not sure that I could be that completely honest without sounding like a total nut case. I always heard that having a baby meant that you have little sleep and would be frustrating, but holy cow....no one told me that it would be THAT hard. I know that it's like labor; it's eventually over and you forget the pain, but when you are in the thick of it, it's intense. I consider myself a very strong and in-control kind of person, but motherhood has made me feel so vulnerable. Something that I didn't allow myself to feel very often. Luckily, every day gets better and better!

Much of the emotion that I've been dealing with has come from the issues we've had to deal with. Reagan dropped more than 1 pound of weight since she was born and didn't start gaining again until this week. We had an exciting doctor appointment on Wednesday and found out she is now 7 pounds 7 ounces and gaining every day! What a relief! We had made the decision to feed her mostly formula (with some breastmilk throughout the day). I think between Reagan not being a very good nurser and my body not keeping up, we had to move on to what was best for Reagan's health. This was a hard decision because it did make me feel like a failure. But I know that this is not uncommon and she will be just fine!

We've also got somewhat of a routine established....well, if you can call it a routine with a newborn! We give her the last bottle of the day around 10pm in her room with very little light and the sound machine, to signal nighttime. She usually sleeps around 4 hours and then wakes up screaming for food! After about an hour or so she slips back into another 2-3 hours of sleep. If I'm getting 5 hours of sleep a night, I'm doing ok! I'm not a daytime napper so it makes things more difficult for myself, but I usually take some type of nap in the evening. Even if it's just 45 minutes. It makes a world of difference.

I've been able to start getting out every now and then now that I'm healing well. It's hard to be cooped up in the house, but this too shall pass. Jeff is taking me out to dinner tomorrow night for a date, so I'm very excited about that! I love being a mother, but I also need to get back to being a wife. Building our marriage will only make Jeff and I better parents. That's it for now as my time is limited these days! :)

There's no place like home...

2008-11-11T19:31:00.008-06:00

We made it!! After 9 nights in the hospital, we were officially released this afternoon. After a quick drive home, we started to get settled in and adapting to life outside of a hospital room. Everyone at the hospital was fantastic, with many of the nurses coming to wish us well and say goodbye to Reagan. It was time to leave though, since Reagan was the oldest baby on the floor, we were beginning to worry she would start shaking down other babies for their lunch money.

We have been relaxing this afternoon, sharing some laughs, watching Reagan, but mostly just enjoying being a family in our own home.

Getting ready for the long trip home

At home with mom

At home with dad

Still at the hospital

2008-11-09T16:45:00.012-06:00

Well, it has been almost a week since little Reagan was born, but we are still at the hospital. We thought she had kicked whatever infection she had picked up, but the night before we were to check out, her temperature spiked and her respiratory picked up so the doctor decided more tests were needed. That night they drew blood, urine and closely monitored her throughout the night. Just when we though we were going to be able to take our baby home it seemed like we were back to square one. It was a very scary time for all three of us, but we put our faith in God and asked him for strength and to guide the doctors and nurses as they did their job.

By morning, her breathing had stabilized and she was a little warm, but the early blood tests looked good. They wanted to watch the blood and urine cultures over the next few days, but in the interest of safety, the decided that little Reagan needed a full 7 days of antibiotics. Luckily, the first two days she was on the antibiotics would count towards the seven. The bad part for Reagan is they had just taken out her IV, now they had to put in back in. That poor girl, she has had an IV in her more than she hasn't (and I think longer than her dad ever has too).

We found out Sunday morning that we would be able to take Reagan home on Tuesday, which was great news since the hospital room was getting a little small for the 3 of us. We all have been spending every night there, and Reagan has us on quite a routine. She seems to sleep like an angel during the day and then insist that everyone on our floor be awake all night. Luckily, each night has gotten successively better, and we hope this trend continues. I think Sarah managed a whole 4 hours of sleep last night, but that was way better than the 2 the night before. I help out when I can, but it did not take Reagan long to figure out that I was a distraction while mommy got situated for the feeding. My job is to settle her down so that she can focus on her meal - and I am working on doing this to the best of my ability.

We also want to thank everyone for their well wishes, thoughts and prayers over the last week. The farthest reaching "Congrats" came from one of our friends currently stationed in the Middle East - it's amazing how news travels so fast!

That is all for now, I am heading back to the hospital. There are some pics below - we cannot believe how much different she looks after just a week!!

Mom and Reagan

Smile pretty - her first real outfit!

Maybe confused - but still cute

Adorable!

Reagan's Story

2008-11-04T18:42:00.012-06:00

After watching the Bears hold onto a late lead over the Lions on Sunday, Sarah and I went for a walk around our neighborhood to see if that would relieve some of her pressure. After thinking the walk did not do much good, we settled in for our usual Sunday night TV shows. Right before the shows started, Sarah began getting intense contractions that she could not talk through and was having a difficult time breathing through. After a few more of these contractions, we decided to head to the emergency room.

During the entire check in and assessment, we were not sure if this was the real thing or we would be sent home. At a little after 8:30, our nurse told us that this was the real thing, we were not going anywhere and that Sarah was already dialated to 2.5. We frantically began making calls to family and prepping ourselves for the hours to follow.

Sarah progressed quickly to a 4 by 11 PM and was offered the epidural, which she wanted to think about for a while. Two contractions later, she took the doctors up on their offer. Sarah was great during this entire process and with the epidural in place, she would have a good night of rest.

Sarah was awake by 7 AM (I was up about 5 – the time change was really messing with me) and the contractions started to increase. At this time, she was dialed to a 6 and it looked like we would have a baby by noon. Unfortunately, the contractions started getting more and more intense (internal monitoring confirmed this). Her medication was not working as well as before and Sarah hit a plateau of 7 centimeters. The nurses were closely watching her for progress, but unfortunately, she was not moving past a 7, the contractions continued to be intense and the baby was not dropping into the birth canal. There was some speculation that the baby may be too big to move into position. By 11:15, Sarah had talked to her doctor and a C Section had been scheduled for 1:15 PM.

After another round of frantic calls to family and changing into scrubs (not as easy as you would think), we were ready to go. All of the grandparents were there to wish Sarah and I luck as we went into the operating room. Yes, you read that right, I was in the OR during the procedure. They had special chair set up where I could hold Sarah’s hand and look at her face the whole time. Special note here – our good friend and nurse Sheri met us in the OR and gave us (a deserved amount) of static about not calling her when we checked in. It was so great to see a familair face!

At 1:35 PM, our baby was free – our doctor held her up so that I could be the one to announce to Sarah that we had a daughter!! They took her back to the table to clean her up. Sheri made sure that I could hold her for a second (and took some photos) and then let me show her to Sarah. We had a beautiful daughter, Reagan Elizabeth, who weighed in at 8 pounds 2 ounces, 19 inches long.

They very quickly had me set her down and told me that we would not have time to pause for family pictures, but that we had to go into a nursery for babies that required a little more attention. As we raced paced the anxiously awaiting family where I can to announce the baby, I kind of froze and quickly stated "This is her - this is our daughter!" – I would have been more eloquent, but there was a lot going on and I just wanted to get into the nursery quickly. Apparently, Reagan was working a little too hard to breathe and still had not turned "baby pink" (I just made that term up – try using it and see if it catches on). To help her breathe, her head was placed under an oxygen dome that regulated the percentage of oxygen that she was getting. Most people breather a 21% oxygen mixture, Reagan required a much higher percentage of oxygen (we think between 50 or 60) to help her breathe. The doctors were unsure of how long she would need to stay in the dome, sometimes it is a matter of hours or it can be days (don’t skip ahead – I can assure you it’s not days). She also had possibly swallowed some meconium (body waste) while inside of Sarah, so she needed to be put on antibiotics to prevent infection.

The entire family stood huddled at the nursery window, watching the nurses get the hood fitted on her and the IV’s set. Even once all of the medical stuff was in place, this would be the scene for the next several hours, the family patiently waiting for their chance to catch a good glimpse of the newest addition to the family. After about an hour, Sarah was out of the recovery room and Sheri made sure that Sarah was able to spend time with the baby, even if it was just touching her fingers.

Reagan’s breathing continued to improve very steadily over the next few hours, by 7 PM her mixture was down to 39% and all of her little fingers and little toes were "baby pink" (have you tried saying this yet – go ahead, it’s catchy). Sarah and I decided to try and get some sleep, so after a few more calls and text messages, we called it a night.

When the nurse woke us up at 6:30, we asked about the oxygen mix and were thrilled to find out that as of 4 AM, she no longer required help breathing. We made arrangements to head right down so that the three of us could be together and Sarah could finally hold our daughter. While we were in there taking pictures and staring at Reagan, the pediatrician made his rounds so we able to talk to him and watch her get checked up. He explained everything was progressing nicely and we were thrilled.

By about 9 AM, Reagan was able to join us in our room! This was so great, Sarah was able to start practicing breast feeding. The only problem was Reagan felt so at home in Sarah’s arms, she would relax so much she would drift off to sleep. This after the night before where she would scream at top of her lungs – apparently she just needed her mom! The family was also able to see her up close – so many people, so much love, all for such a beautiful baby!

The first time Sarah and I are with our Baby

The next morning when she is out of the dome

Therapy Session

2008-10-26T21:42:00.004-05:00

Well, here we are...one night away from being 40 weeks pregnant! However we have yet to hold our baby. We spend most of our time trying to think of something to do to make the time go by until we meet little Baby Hobbs. There is not much that I can do at a full 9 months pregnant and Jeff is such a patient husband! I feel for him for than I feel for myself! I wonder how he stays sane when he is such an active person!

The psychology of the due date is such a haunting thing. You build this date up in your mind for 40 solid weeks...anticipating and waiting. Knowing full well that most first time births are late. But it doesn't matter. October 27 was THE date that we were given! Why, oh why, haven't we met the baby yet!!!!????

Even the slightest stomach tightness builds up excitement, only to identify it as false labor. It's like a cruel trick! If I didn't know better, I'd swear that I'd be pregnant for the rest of my life. You really don't realize how much you miss things like bending over or getting out of bed until you are truly ready to have a baby. I have my ups and downs emotionally. One day I think that I can't do this any longer and the next I feel like I could skip down the street. It is such a roller coaster. One that I'm 100% positive that I'll want to ride again. But right now is such a hard time.....

I know that God built my body to do this and He knows I can do it. But I can't imagine doing this without my wonderful loving husband. His patience and strong words when I'm feeling low have been what I need! I am so excited to see him as a father! Do you hear me baby? It's time to come meet us!

I'm sorry if this seems like more of a rant than anything, but Jeff thought this would be therapeutic for me. And he was right....

What a weekend!

2008-10-19T21:45:00.004-05:00

Wow! What a weekend! For those of you that don't know, one of my best friends, Tiffany, tied the knot on Saturday, October 18th. I was lucky enough to be able to take part in her wedding as one of her bridesmaids! It all started on Friday night with the traditional rehearsal and rehearsal dinner at Ozark House (yum)! The next morning it was off to hair/makeup, photos at Miller Park and then the ceremony. It was beautiful and Tiffany looked gorgeous! She and Justin seemed very happy and had a great wedding! Yes, for those of you wondering, I did sit down during some of the ceremony. I am only 8 days away from our due date, so my feet required some sitting! Here's a pic of Tiffany and I at the rehearsal and then a pic of Jeff and I at the weddding (don't mind the second chin that I hope to get rid of during birth)!

Not only did Jeff and I have the wedding, but Andy, Jeff's brother came to stay with us for about 3 days! Andy is still involved with the College of Business at ISU and came to participate in some activities and receive an award. I still can't tell you exactly what Andy does at his job. :) We didn't get to spend as much time with him as we would have liked to, but we know with the baby on the way, we'll be seeing more of Uncle Andy! Overall, it was a very fun weekend, but I'm exhausted.

Only 8 days, more or less, to go! We're very excited!

Random Updates

2008-10-12T18:52:00.003-05:00

The last two weekends have been quite exciting. Last weekend we attended the TKE 20 year reunion at ISU. There were about 90 people in attendance and everyone had a great time seeing each other and catching up. Every time Sarah sat down 3-4 guys would swoop in and see if she needed anything or was OK. It was a late night for both of us, dancing away until 11:30 Saturday night.

This weekend we focused on spending time together, since we know the next few weeks are going to be very crazy. We ran errands together, picked up some stuff for the house, the baby and for us. I am very excited about one of the items for us/baby - a new Canon 50D camera. As of Friday, no one in town was carrying them, and it seemed as if November was the earliest they would arrive. as it turned out, Best Buy had three arrive Friday night, so we picked one up. This way, we can ensure clear pictures of the baby with all of the people that love him/her.

That's all for now, we will have a lot to talk about next Sunday since Sarah is standing up in a wedding Saturday afternoon. We will have a lot of pictures next week.

Baby's New Home

2008-09-30T07:40:00.003-05:00

Just thought we'd post a couple pics of the nursery now that it's somewhat finished! Thanks to my mom (Candace) we were able to get the nursery in order and take away the anxiety of last minute to-do's! We are going to order our rocker/glider tonight which will make the nursery complete!

1 Year Anniversary

2008-09-29T20:59:00.010-05:00

WAHOOO!!!

One year ago today we became husband and wife. It was really the happiest day of our lives. We look back and can't believe how fast this year has flown by and how much things have changed. We are still each others best friends and feel blessed that we found each other and that we have an amazing group of family and friends to help us along our journey.

Here we are celebrating our first milestone. Thanks to all of you who have made our lives a happier place.

-Jeff and Sarah

31 Days to go!!

2008-09-26T16:28:00.006-05:00

Happy Friday,

We are getting down to the wire. Sarah continues to hang in there, but I feel so bad because there is only so much I can do to try and make her comfortable. We have two friends that have given birth in the past 2 days, so I think Sarah is feeling like she is ready to join the new mom club as well.

Here is a recent picture of her:

Happy Friday!

Baby Showers!

2008-09-23T20:37:00.006-05:00

We are so blessed to have so many friends and family that love us! We have had 4 baby showers so far and one more to go once the baby is born!

Shower #1

We had an awesome shower at Dad & Kelly's house in August! So many friends and family came to help us celebrate little Baby Hobbs! We received a ton of wonderful gifts and played some fun games, like guess the poo! Chocolate candy had been melted in diapers and you had to guess which candy it was! Here are some pics from that shower!

Shower #2

Amy & Tiffany hosted a elegant baby shower in August as well! This consisted mostly of my work friends and the wives of guys that Jeff and I work with...although they are considered friends, not just "the wives". It was a lot of fun because it was more intimate and we got some great gifts!

Shower #3

We had our third shower hosted by friends at work! I was so surprised at the turnout! We had two cakes, lots of presents and Jeff stopped by for a bit! All of the women in the room gave a collective "awwwwww!" when he walked in the room! Very cute!

Shower #4

Our last baby shower before the baby was in Rockford and was hosted by Jeff's cousins and aunts! It was beautiful and we received some gorgeous homemade gifts! Great keepsakes to pass on to our kids! Pictures to be posted at a later date....

Childbirth 101 = Sweaty palms for Jeff

2008-09-18T18:49:00.002-05:00

We knew it was coming. The day that would make this all seem so much more real! And then, it finally arrived. No, not the baby! We attended our first childbirth class!! Neither of us really new what to expect! All we knew was that we had to show up with two pillows and a blanket. Being 8.5 months along, I was not looking forward to sitting on the ground for 3 hours! Luckily, we had chairs and tables...oh, and rice krispy treats! Much of the class was just about the basics: what happens to a woman's body during pregnancy, when to go to the hospital, what to expect upon check-in, and (Sarah's personal favorite) making sure the men knew what NOT to say. For example, we were told that it's probably not a good idea for the husband to talk about how uncomfortable the "daddy chair" is in the delivery room.

Anyway, we also practiced our breathing. It was a little weird breathing along with 40 other people, but we made it through. Bonus for the evening was getting to watch a video about labor & delivery! Needless to say, Jeff only watched the non-graphic parts. But considering how woozy he felt just thinking about CENTIMETERS, he did a great job and I think he got over most of his fears about delivery! We left feeling better informed and more comfortable with the upcoming delivery overall. We still have 2 more classes to go and we are both looking forward to being as prepared as possible!

For those of you just joining us...

2008-09-17T15:30:00.006-05:00

Hello World!!

For those of you just tuning in, we are Sarah and Jeff - a newly married couple a few days away from our first Wedding anniversary. This is us about a year ago.

So we were happily married, heading to Las Vegas for Sarah's birthday to shake off the Illinois winter. Two days before we leave, we discovered we were expecting a baby!! We still went on the trip, but the trip took on a different tone to say the least.

Here is a 4D sonogram of our bundle of joy enjoying it's thumb:

Stay tuned for more updates from my wife about our first birthing class last night.