September

So Justin and I finally have interesting news with Photos!

This past month we have been working our tails off to make room for the baby in our very small apartment! We have packed up at least half of our stuff and placed it in storage, had the University remove  A LOT of extra furniture, painted, and received a new storage bed! We are both glad it is done but it was a lot of work.

Here I am talking (to my mom, who is taking the picture) and painting.

Rochon (who is amazing and came to help us) and I painting! Justin and I choose a pale yellow and green to spruce up the white bedroom walls.

Here is Justin painting away! He and Rochon did most of the work!

This is an after photo...if you were ever at our place this is where our bed use to be and where the baby's crib will be once it comes in. We ordered the crib and it should be here soon!

Here is a photo of our new storage bed. You can see the green and yellow walls. This is the window in our bedroom which use to have a filing cabinet, desk, chair and dresser!

We love the bed! You can see the storage drawers on the bottom here. It has drawers on three sides. It is a little higher off the floor than a normal frame, but it is awesome. The bed came in 10 boxes, was assembled by 2 men who work at the University as carpenters, and it took them 3 working days to complete it! 

We were asked by my department if we wanted to put the bed together...I said that would not be a good idea! I was right...it was a bit complicated for the "professionals"!

Here another photo of our bedroom. You can see the green and yellow here too. This use to be the spot where our tall wardrobe and tv were. This will be the new location of the baby's dresser and hutch unit! No more TV in our bedroom! We are both getting a lot more reading done.

Here is a photo of our living room from our kitchen. You can see how much furniture we removed and how we re-arranged for a more open and "baby walking friendly" layout! Justin is watching Football! This use to be the place where our two chairs were.

Here is a photo looking from the door. We moved the needed office stuff here. We just bought a new printer (happy anniversary to us!) that is wireless and great for printing pictures!

Here is another shot of the living room. We love the new layout! 

I didn't include a shot of the living room closet but know that it is 90% empty! Which if you remember how packed it was should come as a surprise.

Work has been very supportive of us and are making a lot of things we need happen! We are going to be getting a washer and dryer which will be located in the front closet. We are also getting closet organizer systems in the front closet as well as the bedroom closet to assist with utilizing all the space we do have! They have also thrown in a new microwave that will also be our stove hood which means a little more counter space in our kitchen!

We are very lucky to have supportive friends, family, and employers!

So, like I said, Justin and I have been VERY BUSY getting ready for the baby! We are excited to share our progress with you.

Baby Bump Pictures

I know that some of you desire to see the progress of the baby bump. So, today I put on a brave face and smiled for the camera. 

Here I am at 23 Weeks

Here I am at 25 Weeks

Here I am on our Anniversary Weekend Getaway at 26 weeks

Still smiling at 28 weeks!

Angie Heise this one is for you! Continuing to grow at 35 Weeks and feeling like a large beach ball.

I had a UW-Stout Student take some BabyBump Pictures with an artistic flare! Here I am at 37 Weeks.

Here I am at 40 Weeks! Baby has grown a ton in the past few weeks.

Here is a close up of me 1 day over due. I got my hair, nails, and toes done! I'm ready to have this baby! Please send thoughts and prayers our way.

20 Week Ultra Sound

We got the chance to see the baby again! Justin and I went to our 20 Week Ultra Sound on August 28. The baby was right on schedule, with a heart rate of 157 bpm and weighed about 1 lb. Baby is healthy, growing, and kicking me like crazy!

Another Alien Shot! The technician promised the baby would not come out looking like this!

The baby was napping while we were watching it. Here is a good body shot with little legs tucked under.

Another body shot. The baby is head down (for now)!

A cute foot shot!

Smiling face! I think it looks like Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

August in Student Affairs

As most of you know Justin and I both work on a college campus. I'm a Residence Hall Director and Justin is a University Police Officer. August through Homecoming (October) is our busiest time of the year! This year was no exception. Work becomes a priority which means long hours and little time off.

Once we were back from La Crosse the summer was officially over and I was preparing for training, prepping for staff and students to return. Training was filled with long days, lots of presenting, an overnight at Camp, Team-building, a day doing service in Eau Claire, and building a solid staff team. Everyone survived training, and on Sunday September 4th, we moved 300 students into the building. We are all settled in and doing well. It is still busy but all worth it! I absolutely love working with college students!

Justin worked a lot preparing campus for opening day! He worked long hours, many overnights and assisted in making move-in day successful. Campus brings in about 7,000 vehicles and close to 10,000 people. CRAZY! He is also starting to shadow the campus conduct process through the Dean of Students Office! Never a dull moment on a college campus.

Justin did get a chance to head to MN to visit friends. He drafted his Fantasy Football team as well as attended the Minnesota State Fair (the social event of the year in Minnesota).

Justin's Birthday

Justin's birthday was August 6th. We decided to take off and get out of town! We headed down to La Crosse, WI. At the end of the school year I won a La Crosse package off a raffle. The package included tickets to the La Crosse Loggers (summer baseball league), overnight stay at Stoney Creek Inn and Suites as well as a gift certificate to a local restaurant. We cashed them all in and had a wonderful time. The Loggers won (although we did get a little wet from some rain that came through), our hotel was awesome and the local restaurant had great food! We also saw Harry Potter 7 and ate at Red Lobster (Justin's favorite!). All in all the weekend was fun, relaxing, and much needed. No pictures...sorry I'm getting bad at taking pictures even though I bring the camera.

The Latest

Justin and I are doing great. I'm feeling much better lately, so glad I'm getting into the second trimester and I'm so lucky to have Justin because he has been nothing but supportive.

We are both working a lot and once August gets here I will be super crazy with work until mid September! 

This month has been busy spending time with friends and family, in fact that probably describes our whole summer. It has been great!

We recently saw the Dr. again. I still don't really have much of a baby bump but I promise that once I start to show I will post pictures. We heard the heart beat (153 bpm) and everything is going smoothly.

No pictures this post.

Ultra Sound

We were so excited when we finally got to see the baby! At our first Dr.'s appointment we asked when we would have our first Ultra Sound and be able to hear the heart beat....the Dr. surprised us with "right now".

Here is the ultra sound from the Dr.'s Office and our very first look at our little one.

About a week later we had our scheduled ultra sound. It was determined that our due date is January 16th, there is only one baby, and everything looks great!

The baby was moving like crazy...it was so fun to watch!

 I think the baby looks like an alien here

 The baby was only the size of a peach at this point

The baby looks like a peanut..with an arm!

So that is our little one so far!