Grover Awaits the Arrival of Auntie Kristy and Uncle Brian!

Grover just keeps on getting bigger. Now, according to babycenter.com, he/she is now the size of a spaghetti squash (pictured above; we had to look it up) at 11 inches and one whole pound! It's fun to marvel about that while looking at Karen's ever-growing bump. Does it look any bigger than in last week's photo? It doesn't seem so to me but, then again, I see her every day.



So, the big news in our lives is that Brian and Kristy Rolig are finished with their stint in the Peace Corps and are arriving in the States on Wednesday. We get to see them in November but, now that we know they're home, we are dying to be in Minnesota with them.

Oh, and I finally got my LMU Masters degree framed (thanks Mom and Dad!). Picture below.


Well, time to sleep. Karen and I have more busy days at school ahead. Plus, the next two days will be in the high 90's! I'm ready for Fall.

Forging ahead!

So, we're both back in school now and feeling pretty exhausted after our first few days with the kids. Tomorrow starts our first full week back. Will we make it? Who knows how we'll survive once Grover's in the picture?

This week we ordered our chair and ottoman and did some more research into the purchase of our new Highlander (apparently, they're hard to find). Karen continues to feel great and looks exactly the same as she did one week ago.

We are starting to accumulate some stuff for the baby room and, as you can see from the pictures below, we have a lot of work to do to have the room ready for Grover's arrival. It's like a blank canvass...

Halfway!!!

So, we just had our 20 week appointment with Dr. Bliss (one of those people who definitely fits her name), and we got another ultrasound and fought the urge to find out "Grover's" sex, though it was tempting. Below you'll find Karen's 20-week "bump watch" photo and two quick Flip videos from our appointment. Everything is in full swing right now; we even spent a good portion of our Labor Day weekend registering for baby gifts. It's just non-stop fun. By the way, according to babycenter.com, Grover is about the size of banana now!

"Grow"ver just keeps getting bigger!

Here is Karen posing in her usual area, this time at 19 weeks:

 

We continue to check tasks off of our list in anticipation of the new Dean...last weekend Karen went shopping for fabric for the baby rocker and ottoman (is that how you spell it?) and this weekend we will continue to haggle for the best price for the Toyota Highlander that we want. On Friday, we go in for our next doctor's appointment and ultrasound. A few of our friends have recently found out the sex of their babies, but we are holding firm and will not know until D-Day. 

In other news, Karen and Jay are both in the middle of their final faculty week at school and await the kids' arrival next Tuesday. Then, time will really fly before Grover joins us.

Summer 2009

Well, our summer is drawing to a close and we're soon headed back to work, but we definitely filled the last few months with tons of relaxation, travel, and excitement. The highlights...

Maui: June 24th - July 2nd
We spent 8 nights at the Fairmont Kea Lani in Wailea on the west coast of Maui. The all-inclusive resort was exactly what we needed to decompress from a very busy school year. Time moves like molasses in Hawaii, and no one wears a watch. We pretty much shut ourselves off from e-mail and the internet, and the only TV we watched was news about Michael Jackson's death. As these pictures show you, we spent our days taking in the beach views, lounging by the pool, eating, reading, walking around the island, and napping.

Karen in Minnesota: July 25th - August 1st
Maybe the best part of the trip was waking up to pitch black clouds and rain on the first morning I woke up in Minnesota.  My parents and I stayed snuggled up in the morning just lounging and sipping on coffee.  Of course, ranked right up there with best moments were: playing with Max, Annika, and Emerson and seeing their first soccer games of the season (Max even scored the first goal), shopping for maternity clothes, visiting with cousins, aunts, and my grandpa, hosting my college friends for a dinner where none of us stopped talking, and seeing the new Gopher football stadium and Target Field.  It was a great week and a little sad to leave all my peeps in the midwest.  I do love it there!

Here are some pictures from Karen's visit. Top to bottom- Karen and Max; Karen and Annika;Karen with Annika and Emerson; Karen with Max at his soccer game :

 

 

 

Massachusetts: August 7th - August 17th
Two family weddings, visits to see Jay's old college and high school friends, a day in Hyannis, cooking clam chowder and "stuffies" with Dad, Dunkin Donuts coffee, and Nick's pizza were among the many highlights of our trip back to Boston and Mattapoisett. 

Check out the pictures below from my cousin Patrick's wedding. In order, from top to bottom, because I haven't figured out how to place captions yet...
Patrick and Melissa, the bride and groom; Jay and Karen; Jay and Sharon Dean at the cocktail hour; Jack and Sharon Dean at the cocktail hour; Jay and Karen pretending to be yacht owners; Patrick dancing with his mom, my Aunt Marge, to Margaritaville.

Pictures from my cousin Lynne's wedding below. Top to bottom: Lynne getting her hair done; Beth getting her hair done (Jay had a blast drinking champagne and hanging out with all the bridesmaids that afternoon); Uncle Paul walking Lynne down the aisle; Lynne and Justin during the ceremony; Lynne with her sister Beth, brother Mike, and sister-in-law Bethany after the ceremony; Bethany, Mike, and Jay at the reception; All the cousins with Nana and Bumpa.

 

  

 

 

 

 

The Bump at 18 Weeks

Karen is certainly showing now! Here is what she looked like the night before school started again:

 

  

Grover, what are you? A boy or a girl?

The Ultrasound

This video documents our second ultrasound (at 12 weeks). You can tell from our reactions just how excited we were. Absolutely amazing. More commentary later...