Rose Garden

Two weekends ago we finally got to working on our front yard. We hated the sago palms that hid the house and grew in the walkway, so we were finally ready to do away with them. With the help of a family friend, Bryan was able to make some changes to the gardens. Evan was in the middle of it all too. We chose to plant a rose garden for more color and lay some wood bark down to help with the weed problem. Here's a few photos of it in the middle of the transformation and the finished product.
We have switched computers lately so I can't easily pull up photos of "before", but if you look back in December of 2007, you can probably catch a glimpse in the blog from when we purchased the home. I'm not so savvy with the links. LOL.

My Hobby

Many of you know that I love to scrapbook. I have more stuff than any one person probably needs, but it's such a fun thing for me to do. I think preserving memories is a great hobby. Recently a few friends asked to see some of my work so I'm including just a few pages from Evan's 1st year album and my wedding album. Enjoy!

Please excuse some of the bad cropping. I was trying to avoid getting a glare on the pages.

Compliments For Mommy

I had to share some of the sweet things Evan said to me today while he sat beside me and watched me check email, etc. online...

"Mommy, you're cute."

"You're sweet, Mommy."

And my all-time favorite that caught me by surprise...

"Mommy, you're perfect".

Aren't children just the best? I'm know I'm a bit partial, but I think Evan could brighten anyone's day. He is the sweetest, most loving child I have ever known. I love hearing him say "I love you" about 30 times a day. His kisses on my nose, his cuddles, all the help he gives me around the house. He's one of a kind! He loves to play with my wet hair after I shower, telling me "I love your hair". And the other day he told me "Mommy, you're soft" as he rubbed my arm. I just love my little guy to pieces!

With that said, a funny from last night... as I said, "Ouch" over a sudden pain in my chest, Evan perked up and said, "Oh, did Kaylee kick you in the face?" LOL. Bryan and I about lost it and had to explain that Kaylee had nothing to do with it. Funny boy!

25 Weeks

I had another check-up today with the doctor. I'll be 25 weeks tomorrow and I'm progressing well.

I was certain that I had done some damage with my weight this past month, but actually I had only gained a pound and a half. Not too shabby! I continue to be down about 16 pounds or more since I first got pregnant so that is pleasing :)

My glucose test results were fine and I do not have gestational diabetes. She did say I am just slightly anemic and could take extra iron if I want, but it's not a must.

Little Kaylee's heartbeat was strong today and she made sure to give Dr. Singleton a few kicks as she felt around on my tummy. She definitely likes to make her presence known these days.

So, that's all for now I think. I have a few little projects I've picked up to work on for the nursery. I have some wooden shelves and some wooden letters that spell her name to paint. I did that with Evan's room before he came and it was fun to put my personal touch on things. Not related to baby, I'm busy scrapbooking our 4-day family vacation to Disneyland too. I'm just keeping busy to pass the time!

The Munchies

Yes, I have had a serious case of the munchies lately. I want everything from chips and queso to rainbow sherbet. Hmm... wonder if those would be good together? LOL. I've done so well with holding myself back from snacking too much, but this week has been a struggle! Where's a personal chef when you need one?

Prayers

Often times we reach out to others for prayers for our family and friends. The prayers of many around the world can mean so much in times of need. Today, I ask that you lift up little Eli Ryan Wedehase. He was born Wednesday, the 18th, at 4:01 pm to a sweet young family that attends church with my mom. Jason and Tanya also have a young daughter, Paige, that you can include in your prayers.

At a regular scheduled ultrasound part-way through Tanya's pregnancy, it was discovered that little Eli had some issues with his heart and would require surgery shortly after birth and again multiple times as a small child. Eli was born Wednesday and yesterday went through a 12-hour surgery to repair his tiny heart. This battle is not yet over as he now faces recovering in the weeks and months to come. I'm including the link to their blog so you can read their story and share it with others as we join together in lifting the entire Wedehase family up in our prayers.

http://wedehase.blogspot.com

Thank you for taking the time to read this and more importantly, for blessing them by praying for them.

Snowboarding

I mentioned that we got Bryan all new snowboarding equipment so I thought that I would show it off for him. We got such a steal with all of the end-of-winter and President's Day sales. Bryan complained about his old boots especially, so it was nice to find some that worked well.

And of course, he was itching to try it all out. Luckily we've been having random storms for the last week or two that keep producing a little rain and plenty of snow in our nearby mountains. Yesterday Bryan and a friend left early and headed to Sierra Summit for a day of snowboarding. He had a blast and raved about how wonderful all of his new stuff felt and worked on the runs.

Bryan told Evan a few days ago that when he gets bigger (7 or 8 years old to be specific) that he would teach him to snowboard. So Evan has gone on and on about how when he gets to be "7 or 8 or 9 or 10" that he can go. Yesterday morning, he came to my bedroom and I told him to crawl in bed with me. "But where's Daddy?", he asked. I told him that he'd gone snowboarding. "But I'm not 7 or 8 yet and I can't go!". I had to convince him that there would be other chances for him to tag along. All day he proceeded to talk about snowboarding and even listed all of the gear he was going to have to get. Later, at my sister's house, my nephew (Noah is three months older than Evan and potty-trained) mentioned that he wore underwear and Evan wore diapers because he was still too little. Evan's quick response was, "Well maybe when you get bigger you can go snowboarding too." I thought it was hilarious. And I guarantee you that when Evan turns 7, he will indeed be on a snowboard because he will not forget.

My Sweet Valentines

We did something a bit different this Valentine's Day. Bryan and I already went out about a week early so we got to spend our whole Valentine's Day as a family.

First, we gave each other our special cards and treats. Evan was very excited about his and continued to tell us "Happy Valentine's Day" all day. He especially loved his chocolates :)

After we shared gifts, we headed to Fresno for the day. We did tons of shopping and took advantage of the President's Day sales. Our main goal was finding new snowboarding equipment to replace Bryan's old and uncomfortable stuff. We managed to eat Chick-fil-A for lunch (thank you to whomever built the one in Fresno, this pregnant lady is forever grateful!), and I got to check out some scrapbooking stuff at Joann's. Evan and I loved looking through the fish store and pets store, where I fell in love with the tiny aquatic turtles. We made a few more stops before heading home.

Once home, we ordered a heart-shaped pizza and enjoyed a tasty meal together. While we had planned to make and decorate sugar cookies too, our day was just too long and busy. We did get to those the next evening though.

Name Calling

Many of you have begun to ask what name we have in mind for the little one on the way. Well, I will start by saying that I like many names and Bryan is the much pickier one regarding this subject. He came up with Evan's name and I agreed. This time, this name was on a long list of about 25 girls names I liked, and one of only four that Bryan liked on my list. Others eventually got pushed to the bottom for one reason or another and this was the one Bryan liked most and we decided to go with it. So her name will be...

Kaylee Marie Reich.

For those into name meanings, I will admit that it's taken some time to find a meaning worth sharing. LOL. My middle name is Marie and I never knew that one of the most common meanings is "bitter" or "sea of bitterness". Well, with Kaylee being a form of Katherine, meaning "pure", I dreaded a name meaning "pure bitterness" :)

BUT... in searching more, I have found that Marie can also mean "wished-for child".

So her name means "pure wished-for child"

The closest runner-ups: Elliana, Paige, and Avielle (pronounced awe-vee-el)

Disclaimer: In case our little one has tricked us and somehow comes out a boy, lol, his name will be Brady Christian Reich.

Movin' And A Groovin'

This little one inside of me has decided to finally kick and squirm in such a way that I actually know she exists. Since about Wednesday evening she has been very active, almost always kicking in the exact same spot on my left side or just below my belly button. She's not such a charmer with the constant squirms between 5am-7am every morning though :)

And another exciting note, Bryan finally got to feel a kick last night. Seems the timing had never been quite right before and he always missed them. But last night in the car, in the parking lot at church, he finally caught one! It was very exciting. I think the Applebee's and Chocolate Malted Krunch ice cream for dessert helped it along. I just love feeling her move. It's one of my favorite parts of pregnancy.

Just Another Day At The Doctor

Today I had my 21-week check-up. I am pleased to announce that all looks well. I was down another half pound and I'm feeling good. The results of the ultrasound a week ago were all normal, so the official due date is still June 18th. The doctor mentioned today that we will probably schedule me for a c-section on either June 12th or June 10th, depending on her busy schedule and how things progress for me, etc.

With Evan I had an emergency c-section, after laboring 16 hours and having a contraction that would not stop, and the hospital here as a No VBAC policy (vaginal birth after cesarean) so my doctor is required to schedule a repeat c-section. BUT... if I go into labor on my own before that, she said she doesn't believe in stopping me unless there is a medical safety reason. So I am hoping to go in labor before my c-section date!

Anyhoo, just some background information :) I feel great and heard the sweet music of her little heartbeat today. It's always such a relief and such a joy to hear.

Thanks for your continued prayers and encourage. We all appreciate it.

Halfway There

Today I am 20 weeks pregnant!

And I really can't complain. I am still down 19 pounds and feeling much better these days. Very little sickness remaining and my sleep is getting better again too. It's nice to know that I'm on the downhill side of things now, working towards June when we can meet our little girl.

We're all excited to have another girl in the family after a 6-year stretch without one on my side and a 4-year stretch on Bryan's side. Something tells me she's going to have way more clothes than she can ever wear :)

We found out...

We went back this morning for another ultrasound, and again the baby's legs were crossed. But finally she decided to let us know who she is :) We're excited to finally know and be able to start planning. We'll probably go in a few weeks again to be sure since ultrasounds aren't always 100% accurate.

Please continue to pray that this little girl continues to grow and be healthy.

Mystery

Yes, it's a mystery still as to what this little one inside of me is. After 45 minutes of a very patient ultrasound tech trying to coerce our child to open it's legs, the baby refused. I walked, I used the restroom, I turned on my sides, we shook the tummy, did everything we thought of... and yet no response. We walked away wondering if this baby is stubborn, lazy, or just modest.

Nice thing is, our ultrasound tech was super friendly and said that she'd be working again tomorrow at the hospital and we are welcome to come by and she'd try again between her appointments. So pray that we get to know tomorrow. I am so anxious to know :)

We'll keep you updated!

18 Weeks

It's hard to believe that I am 18 weeks pregnant today. I'm almost halfway there!

I went to my check-up yesterday and all looked well. I only gained 1 pound in the last 4 weeks. So since I'd lost 20 already, I'm still down 19 :) Not too shabby in my opinion.

I got to see the little one on a quick ultrasound to check the heartbeat and movement, but we go to the hospital next Friday, the 23rd for the in-depth ultrasound where we should hopefully find out the sex of the baby. We're getting anxious to know. I love being able to call a baby by it's name and shop, decorate, and plan in advance. So far, almost everybody seems to think this baby is a girl... but I'm not sold on it. I think a boy. (Or maybe it's my way of not getting my hopes up for a girl).

I keep going back and forth on the idea of a boy and the idea of a girl. I have so much stuff from Evan and my other nephews that we wouldn't have much to buy. Whereas, we haven't had a girl on my side of the family in almost 6 years and the last girl on Bryan's side will be 4 at the end of March... so I kind of think this family is due for another girl. Especially my side that's had 5 boys in the last 4 years.

So we'll see :) Anybody have any guesses???

Family Pictures

We took family pictures with Bryan's family since it was the first time in 3 years that we had all been together. It is nice to have a special momento of our times together this December.

Christmas

Christmas morning we woke up, opened stockings, and ate a delicious breakfast as a family. We then headed upstairs to open gifts. Some of the big hits were Evan's new Leapster and a very special scrapbook that Nana made for Papa. The book highlighted Papa's years as a track star in high school and college. It was a touching gift.






After we shared the first part of the day with the Reichs, we drove back to Kingsburg to make some stuffing and cheesy potatoes to take to my sister's house for our family's Christmas dinner. We shared a delicious turkey/ham dinner before again opening gifts with the Ransom clan.

It was a very busy day, but so wonderful to share it with our WHOLE family.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a bit busy this year. We returned from Disneyland on the 23rd, staying in Bakersfield at David and Ginger's house with the rest of the gang (14 in all). The 24th was filled with kid crafts, some relaxation, meal prep, and then Christmas Eve service at church. We returned for dinner and then the kids all opened their new pajamas and ornaments, a tradition in the Reich family.

Disneyland

We spent 4 whole days at Disneyland with Bryan's family, and it was a blast. Evan loved everything about Disneyland from the Matterhorn to the characters. He wasn't afraid of anything and kept saying, "I want to ride rides". He still talks about the things he saw and did there. I think one of the cutest things he came home doing was singing "Yo ho, Yo ho, a pirate's life for me". I have hundreds of pictures but I'll spare you all of that boredom and just showcase a few :)

The Best Surprise

My wonderful hubby surprised me yesterday with tickets to see Celtic Thunder in concert last night. I've really enjoyed their music since last year and didn't think much about going last night until Bryan called in the afternoon to make sure my schedule was cleared. We had fabulous floor seats and it was just amazing. For those of you who are unsure of who they are, here's a video link. They are five of the most talented Irish/Scottish men ranging in age from 16-40. It was the most relaxing and beautiful concert I have ever been too. Thanks Baby!