The Big Reveal

This has been a much anticipated announcement! Bryan and I are not good at surprises and waiting 21 1/2 weeks to find out what we are having was torture, seriously it was torturous!  But, the day has finally come, we can now stop calling the baby 'it' and we can finally say "our baby BOY"! Now the registering, shopping, and nursery accessory colors can all be picked out. We cannot wait for April to come so we can finally meet our little baby BOY.  He was very cooperative for the first couple shots of the sonogram, but after that he was not liking the experience and would not flip over so we could get a good picture of his face or his heart, so in order to get all the measurements we get to have another sonogram in January.  The measurements we were able to get show he is healthy, his heartbeat is 144, he weighs 1 pound, I have gained 6 pounds,  and I am within 1 day of my original due date.

This photo is not the best quality since it is a picture with my cell phone, but it is very clear this is no doubt a boy! :)

Master Time

Saturday was the endpoint of my education and thankfully for being a week before Christmas the weather was perfect for the graduation ceremony that took place at Baker University's main campus in Baldwin City, KS. The graduates were led into the auditorium by bag pipers who even were wearing kilts.  They were the highlight of the graduation and by far made this the best one I have been involved in yet.  Although, the speakers were a little boring they did not talk for long. The graduation was the end point to my education, I have finished my graduate degree and now have a Masters in Conflict Management and Dispute Resolution through Baker University. I have walked the stage, received my diploma, and have pictures to prove it.  Now, what is next?  Well, baby Morris will make a grand appearance in late April, I will take 12-16 weeks off of work, and then join the working world again full-time.  Hopefully, I can see the value of this education payoff after I return from maternity leave.  We shall see! Thanks to my family and most of all my wonderful husband who supported me through these tough 18 months of school work!

Tis the season at 20 Weeks

Today marks our baby's 20th week!  As mentioned in earlier posts the baby has been on the move all day long every day, so much so that Bryan was able to feel the movement at the beginning of week 19. The only bad side effect that bothers me on a daily basis is the heartburn, cured by milk, which I do not like but I have managed to choke it down.  I started drinking coffee in the mornings again, at the advice of my doctor since I was starting to have throbbing headaches, and the small amount of coffee has so far taken care of that problem.  On a daily basis, I am getting told "I can't even tell you are pregnant!"I enjoy hearing that, I figure I will only hear that for a couple more weeks so enjoy it while I can. I'm still fitting into normal clothing and have not needed maternity clothing yet. So far so good at 5 months!
Today we also met with our daycare provider. We only need part-time and she is willing to do it for part-time pricing.  So, that is a big check off our baby check-list and one less thing to worry about!
And, tis the season for Holiday Parties. All of ours were in one weekend, so at least we got them all out of he way in one weekend.  Friday after work, the unit I work in at the District Attorney's Office went to Houlihans for dinner and a gift exchange.  Then, Saturday I had my office Christmas Party, which this year I decided to go since four of the ladies in our office are retiring and this was going to be the last Party with some wonderful ladies.  Jack Stack Catered the party so there was good food and at least 50 people, which was a pretty good turn out.  I was of course the designated driver and got to enjoy water while everyone else was drinking it up.  After the office party two of my coworkers and myself went to The Other Place to go to Bryan's 24 hour Fitness Party.  It was a long night, by the time I got home after driving everyone home it was 2:30am. Needless to say, I feel hungover today although I had only water to drink all night!
Only a little while longer and we finally will know if we have a Boy or a Girl!

Kung Fu Baby

Baby Morris has been on the move for a couple weeks now, it seems like now it is moving around all day long. It is the strangest feeling.   I cannot really pin point a specific time of day that it becomes active, because literally it is all the time....more often when I am sitting or right after I have eaten.  Since I am not really showing yet, Bryan was not convinced that I was really feeling the baby move.  However, tonight Baby Morris proved him wrong.  When I had just gotten to bed, the baby was moving all around and I was able to feel one of the kicks/punches on the outside.  Bryan came into the room and after about five minutes he was finally able to feel our baby for the very first time!

19 weeks and counting

Today I am 19 weeks pregnant.  This pregnancy so far has been pretty uneventful/easy.  I have had no  morning sickness or any other bad symptoms.  Really all that has bothered me is my sometimes dry eyes, heartburn, occasional headaches,  and I have had no cravings yet.  So far, at our four month check-up I had only gained two pounds and I am still fitting into pre-pregnancy clothing.  The good news is that around week sixteen I started feeling the baby move and this week it is constantly on the move.  I think I can almost feel it from the outside moving, so it should not long for Bryan to start feeling the movements too.  I have been having very weird dreams and an article that I just read said that the gender of your kid/baby in your dreams is usually what the baby's gender really is.  We will see if that assumption is correct in a couple weeks! At Thanksgiving we were offered a crib from Kay and Bryan which we of course accepted.  The crib was my godson's and his sisters, now it is being passed down to our baby, which seems now has become a pattern/tradition since Ashley and I used the crib that Kay and Bryan's children used as well.

Baby Loot

Bryan and I had so far refrained from buying baby stuff....that is until this weekend.  Since I am in the second trimester I feel a little more comfortable starting to stock up on baby items.  Sunday morning I woke up at 7:00 a.m. which is way too early for the weekend, but I was awake, so what else is there to do than look for stuff for the baby.  I started looking on Craigslist and found some activity items and emailed the seller.  Since, all were still available I made an offer and picked them up at 1:30.  But, before picking them up I made myself even more useful and cleaned out the garage....It was in pretty bad shape, but now it actually is functional!
Hopefully our baby likes all the items and will use it all! We ended up getting a Graco swing with nature sounds and soothing vibration functions, an evenflo exersaucer, and a Fisher Price Luv U Zoo Deluxe Musical Mobile Gym.  

Sammy trying it out...

And the beat goes on...

Yesterday Bryan and I had another Doctors appointment, this time to hear the heartbeat.  I have to admit, being pregnant finally seems real now that we have heard it's little heart beating.  It was pretty amazing!  Sure, we saw it last month with the ultrasound, but it still had not hit me yet.  Dr. Estrada said it's heartbeat sounded perfect.  As for me, my blood and urine samples all are perfect and my weight gain is zero. Our next appointment is November 21st, to check the heartbeat again and to check my progress.  She said I will have to wait until 20 weeks to find out the gender, which will put that around December 12th.  My prediction, it is a Boy and Bryan thinks it will be a Girl! It seems like such a long wait, but we will have to try to be patient to see who has the correct instinct. And, to end our day we bought a new car!  So, after a long wait we bought a Toyota Camry.  A very baby safe and reliable car. :)

The Great Outdoors

  This weekend Bryan and I spent some quality time with the Morris/DeSilva/Barnhart/Snavely clan at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park in California. This was my first true camping experience because in the past we either stay in cabins or campers when we go to the lake....the easy and comfortable way! Bryan's mother bought us a nice air mattress, since she does not want her pregnant daughter-in-law sleeping on the ground, and I definitely did not want to sleep on the ground either.  After some campground location drama on Thursday we finally arrived at our site around 7:00pm and Bryan started drinking with the family and I of course started eating.  I was the only non-drinking person there, so this was both depressing and entertaining since this family are drinkers and are rather entertaining while doing so! When you start hearing British accents, you know the party has begun.  During the trip the group spent time playing some softball, I was the score-keeper to prevent getting hit with the ball, which turned out to be a good decision since two pitchers got nailed and a couple people almost got hit in the head by the ball being thrown...who knew slow-pitch softball could be so dangerous.  After softball we went to the gorge.  I was not aware of how tretourous of a hike this was going to be, but I prevailed and made it to the gorge, but there was no way I was jumping in the water. I think my body would have gone in shock and hyperthermia due to the frigid mountain water. But, some of the group took the challenge and enjoyed it, until they got out of the water! The nights were spent around the campfire, playing games, and drinking (water for me).  The last full day we were there we spent at Monterrery at the Wishermans Wharf, Cannery Row, and the Monterrery Bay Aquarium.  The Aquarium is a little pricey but worth it. Then it was back to camp for another round of dinner, drinks, and games.  This night most of the family decided to go all out to celebrate one last night, and they did go all out! We did take a group photo, but it was with Amanda's camera, so I will have to wait for her to post that photo and then I'll copy it!  Thank you all for a weekend of great memories: Matthew, Rick, Marina, Joey, Amanda, Jason, Rainbow, Kathy, Ian, Uncle Joe, Aunt Susie, Breanna, Joey, Eric, Andrew, Solome, Elaine, Luta, Jewell, Marie, Frank, Kyle, Garrett, Giuseppe, Claire, Ravi, Raj, and of course Bryan....I think that is everyone!

To the Gorge we go



Flauna at the Aquarium

Penguins living it up



I have a fasination with Jelly Fish, since the attack in Belize.




Sunfish...prehistoric!



  

Photos from the 'mans retreat', no women allowed.


  


The Morris Brothers



Good thing he has Health Insurance!

 



Happy 60th Birthdays to: Susie, Elaine, and Marie!



Baby makes three!

Actually, baby makes five since it will be joining our furry children, Sammy and Zoey! After five or so pregnancy tests on August 24th and then another one a week later, Bryan and I finally came to the conclusion that I was indeed pregnant. I know they say there cannot be a false-positive pregnancy test, but I was not convinced that I was actually pregnant.  I mean I did not feel pregnant at all. So far this has been a pretty easy pregnancy, I felt sick for only one short week and other than that the only symptoms that have been bothering me is that I have been extremely tired and my face is breaking out like crazy.  Today Bryan and I had our first Doctors appointment so that we could see and hear our Baby...and thankfully there was only one!  We are about 9 1/2 weeks along with only 214 more days to go! 

And our Baby's first photo!

7th Annual Dinkel Days

It's that time of year again for our annual Dinkel Days celebration at Wilson Lake, which was combined this year with the celebration of my Grandfather's 79th Birthday.  Bryan and I were only able to make it for the Saturday night events, which consisted of Brad's legendary fish fry.  This year, I believe there were about 30-40 people there, ranging from ages one month to 80 years old!  It was great to see everyone and of course show Bryan my amazing football throwing skills, he couldn't believe that I could throw a spiral better than him....I do not think he will ever come to the realization that I can do most things better...I am a Dinkel/Siler woman after all! :) After dinner we all sat around the camp fire and talked about everything.  I even saw my first scorpion and four inch millipede! They were both equally disturbing, and I would rather never see either one again!

A trip down Memory Lane

Labor Day weekend Mom and I took a long awaited trip to Montana. We flew into Bozeman Friday morning, rented a car and headed to Glacier National Park.  On the way we stopped in Missoula and Florence to see where we use to live when we lived there in the early 1980's and then we were on the journey to Glacier National Park.  We stayed the first night at the Outlook Bed and Breakfast overlooking Flathead Lake.   The next day we decided to go to the Big Mountain Ski Resort to take the ski lift up the mountain and then we hiked down the mountain. I'd have to say this trip was definitely a healthy trip considering all the hiking we did.  Saturday night we stayed at another bed and breakfast, that seemed like a dude ranch full of horses.  Unfortunately we did not take advantage of riding the horses because we did not have time and for other reasons...

The next day we got up bright and early and drove to Glacier National Park. We decided to take our time and stop as many times as we felt like to try to get the perfect scenery pictures.  We took a short 1 mile hike through the woods. Luckily did not encounter any grizzlies since we had no protection with us.  And, then we drove onto Logan Pass which is by the Continental Divide. Mom has been there a couple times and each time no one was willing to hike with her down to the Hidden Lake, so for the first time she has been able to see the Hidden Lake.  Although we were not able to hike all the way down due to it being closed for Grizzly sitings, we were able to go 1.5 miles up to overlook the lake and had a snack (3 miles total).  A snack that consisted of bread and homemade cherry jam and entertainment from some kind of rodent that stalked me and wouldn't leave us alone. It seems I am always getting stalked by some kind of creature, be it a Grouper or a Squirrel type thing. We had an interesting night at the Many Glacier Inn....The walls there are very thin and you can hear everything from the adjoining rooms....and by everything, I mean everything! Last but not least, we went to the Lewis and Clark Caverns, this was my first cave and it was pretty spectacular.  Below are just some of the photos from this trip. 

Salute to the Farmers

Family Members have been in the farming industry, in one way or another, for the last century or more.  So, last Saturday Bryan, Emily, Josh, and I went to Farm Aid 2011 in honor of all those that help provide us with the fruits, vegetables, grains, poultry, and beef that we so greatly love to eat.  The artists started playing at 1:00pm, however we did not make it until sixish, but just in time to hear Jason Mraz do his thing.  Next up was Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, and finally Willie Nelson. I would have to say, that although Jason and Dave were fantastic, I think John Cougar Mellencamp rocked Farm Aid 2011. He was full of energy and also had an awesome violinist.  Willie was a let down, so we left shortly after he began.  Regardless of Willie being a bust, the weather and food were great, as was the company, The Perkins!

The Morris'

The Perkins'

John Cougar Mellencamp

Emily and Kinley 

Two women and their husbands were sitting in front of us at the show.  Of course, Bryan started chatting in up with them and found out that the women have been friends since six grade, now they are 46.  Emily and I met when we were in seventh grade, I think, and we have remained friends and now live less than five minutes away from each other....Emily we only have 17 more years to go and we can be like those women! We can do it! 

Willie Nelson 

The Boys 

Dave Matthews 

Jason Mraz