Four years ago...

Today marks 4 years since we took the plunge, walked down the aisle, started a new chapter or whatever you'd like to call it. Four years ago, Gary and I spent the day nervous, excited and ready to spend the rest of our lives together. It was a beautiful, somewhat warm June weekend back in SoHo. Family came in from out of town, vowing never to return to Chicago b/c that day just had to be the worst day for traffic and accidents in all the years I can remember. Either way, they were happy to arrive and start the festivities. Flowers were being delivered, hair and makeup being done, getting into our monkey suits as Gary called this morning and everyone trying to get to the church on time!

Gary and I did pictures before the ceremony, so we had our special moment together (mostly alone) right after lunch. It was the only time during the day that we would be alone and ourselves. It was amazing and a moment I'll never forget. From there we proceeded to get all the pictures in, gave hugs to family and friends and got in our positions.

I'd say the rest of the day was a blur, but it wasn't. It just went by really fast. We had amazing ceremony with all the sentimental meaning necessary needed for such a day, my mom's quilt representing her presence, flowers to honor those who've passed on. Friends and family filled the sanctuary witnessing our nuptuals and participating where their talents deemed fit. It was beautiful. On our way to the reception, we stopped by the cemetary to say hi to mom. I knew she was proud that day, I knew she was happy for Gary & I, I just wish she was able to know what an amazing man, husband and soon to be dad Gary is. Someday she will.

Our reception was so much fun! Good food, great company, delicious cake and lots of dancing! Our DJ was awesome, everyone was out there dancing all night long having a blast. We were able to catch up with friends that moved away, family we haven't seen in a long time and everyone in between.

I wouldn't change that day for anything.

So much has changed since that day, but so much has remained the same. I couldn't ask for a better marriage and never imagined it to be as amazing as it is.

It's been awhile, sorry!

Sorry it's taking me so long to update this thing. We've been busy getting the house and yard ready for our big shindig this weekend so we've spent minimal time on the computer in recent weeks.

I just had another doctor's appointment on Tuesday. She said that everything looked good from my Ultrasound (she doesn't know what it is either, so you can't call her and find out, hehe), everything is growing properly, heart rate was good then and it was good at the appointment. I think it was in the 160's. At the next appointment is when they will check my blood sugar levels to make sure I don't have gestational diabetes. If I did, then I would have to change my diet which isn't horrible, but not something that would be fun. So let's pray all goes well there.

The last few weeks the baby has really become active. At first it was just little butterfly pokes here and there. Last week Gary was able to feel it move for the first time and this week he was able to feel it actually kick and move his hand up and down. It's been kicking a lot and rolling around quite a bit. It's really cool and amazes me everyday what I'm actually doing. It seems to have a bit of a schedule. Usually on my way to work, around 10, around 1-2, on my way home and 9-10 is when it's most active. I guess it's when I'm finished eating or when I'm about ready to eat. I like schedules. I hope that it'll have one when it's born too. :) Fat chance, but I can wish can't I?

After the party, we're going to start focusing on the baby's room and registering for the showers. I have a book what what I'm going to do in the room, keeping it gender neutral with nature colors and a pond theme (light yellows, greens, blues, purples, pinks, browns). That'll be a process throughout the summer as I'm doing the whole room. On top of that, we're doing the 2nd bathroom upstairs in frogs, but more bolder, fun colors. I'm excited to get started on that, not only b/c it's for the baby, but because we can finally put our touch on the house. Don't get me wrong, the colors in the house are great and not just beige, but putting your own spin on things always makes it that much more, yours.

I haven't posted many pictures and for that I'm sorry. I will, tonight, take pictures of our clean house with stuff in it, my gardening bench in the garage, tomorrow's festivities and post those soon. I would post my prego pictures, but I'm about 90% there. I'm showing in terms of what I see each day, but to others I may not. But I will document that as well so you can see our beautiful faces. :) What it all comes down to is that I'll post a lot more pictures this summer, promise!

Gary and I are doing well in our jobs. Family is doing good and we're excited to hang out with a lot of them this weekend!

Stay posted for pics and have a great weekend!

Love to you all!
Gary & Christie

Half way there!

We're over half way done already! Yesterday marked 21 weeks. Everything is going well as fas as we can tell. We didn't hear anything back from the doctor in regards to the Ultrasound last week, so consider no news is good news. The baby has become very active this week. Every few hours I get 15-20 minutes of what I can only describe to those who haven't had kids or men, as bubble pokes. They aren't like a finger poke on the arm, just little bubbles (like gas I suppose) in my stomach. After awhile of all these little pokes, I say, ok I know your there now. Hehe. It's really neat to feel and can't wait for Gary to be able to feel the baby move. I'm almost ready to look pregnant. I'm guessing in the next few weeks there will be a big difference. I'm hoping to fill out the maternity dress I bought for Ryan & Angela's wedding.

Most guys won't care about this, but I orginally bought this dress at Old Navy for $40, brought it back for reimbursment from the internet price of $25, found out it went down in 2 days to $7! Talk about an amazing deal. I told Gary I can get expensive shoes now. :) Hehe. Just about ready to buy some new clothes, but still not quite there.

We're doing well otherwise. Bought blinds to do all of the 2nd floor and the basement last night. That should be a great time putting them up. Work is slow right now. Yay! Gary's work is going well. The house is coming along nicely. We're just preparing for the grad party in a few weeks right now.

Next doctor's appointment is Tuesday, June 19. Until then, I'll update with any other new things going on. Have a great weekend everyone!

Love,
Gary & Christie

It's a......

not sure because we didn't find out what we're having. After going back and forth for months now, we decided to wait to find out. We wanted the element of surprise. We had our Ultrasound on Tuesday at Zeeland Hospital. After drinking way more fluids than my body should have had, we had an amazing time watching the Ultrasound. Gary was able to come with me, so he got to see it all with me. We saw it's legs and arms, it's spine, it's little belly, it's heart beating at a strong 164 (which I'm told and have read, that it means it's a boy, hehe), and it's face and skull. You could see the areas where the eyes are, it's mouth was open for a bit, and it's little arm were crossing over it's chest and face while she was trying to get a good picture of the face for us. So cool. It measured at 19 weeks, 4 days, which is right on the mark. It's also 11 ounces at this point, about 7.5" long. She took measurements of the head, brain tissue, spine, bones in it's legs and arms. From there, the radiologist will go over all the images she took and report back to my doctor with any concerns. All in all, it was a great experience and we're looking forward to seeing it grow more and finally come into this world!

Otherwise, we're getting settled more so in the house. Just about everything is put away, gone through, put up or stowed away for a later clean sweep. It's great having our own home, but a lot of work at the same time with all those little things you need to run and get that you never needed before. Oh well, I'll take it. :) Work is slowing down a bit for me right now which is very much welcomed. Gary is still going strong at GFS and enjoying it. The summer always brings on a lot of things going on, but we're looking forward to all the festivities (at least I am for the most part).

Next appointment is June 19. I don't look very pregnant yet, but I am 20 weeks now. The baby has found my bladder as of this week and I definitely feel it moving around more so each day.

We hope this finds everyone well rest after the long weekend and looking forward to another one. :) Enjoy the pictures!

Love,

Gary & Christie

Ready for the long weekend!

I had my follow up appointment on Tuesday for my blood pressure. After an up and down weekend with getting rid of my anxiety and with some extra help of talking to someone, my blood pressure looked fine. Whew. My weight is good, the baby's heartbeat is at 140, which is perfect, and we're all set up for my ultrasound on Tuesday. I feel much better now. I couldn't ask for a better staff at my doctor's office. They are so caring and easy to talk to.

I'm now working on slowing things down a bit, stop and smell the roses if you will. I have a built in go go go machine and I have to take the batteries out once in awhile.

We are still getting settled in at the house. Most of the boxes are unpacked, the stuff now resides in my "organized piles" as some dear family members like to tease me about. With the long weekend ahead, we can get some more of it put away. We're about 80% done with the garage. We have shelves put up, hooks in the wall holding up our tools and other lawn equipment and we also made a garden center for me to plant up pots and keep all the gardening stuff together. It turned out pretty nice! I'll post pictures this weekend. This summer's projects will be a little gardening, coming up with a mural for the upstairs bathroom aka kids bathroom full of frogs and water like things, getting stuff ready for the baby and if we feel up to it, the downstairs bathroom. We have to look somewhat put together as we are hosting Gary and Sheila's graduation party in June.

Gary's work is going well. Learning new things all the time and is getting to know his co-workers pretty well. He's also finding out about the perks of working for a big company, as we are going to a Whitecaps game Monday night and next Saturday night, get %10 at any GFS and other little perks for him at work. Pretty cool, we'll take it. :) Work is really busy for me right now as it is trade show time. We have bout 3 more days of busyness and we'll have a repreve for a few weeks. But it's going well.

That's about all for right now. The baby is as long as a small zucchini now and is about 8.5 ounces. It's getting a lot bigger and I think I felt those little butterfly flutters everyone is taking about. :) I'm feeling good and looking forward to the summer!

Have a great Memorial Day weekend!
Gary & Christie

Moving right along

Well, we're all moved in, not unpacked completely, but we're in. We're taking it slow, not over doing it for my sake and for Gary's sanity. Hehe. The basement is set up very nicely (thanks Dad for the carpet!) and feels like another room we can live in, instead of a drabby basement. The living room, kitchen and our room are pretty close to being done. We got our mailbox in the other day, so hopefully the mailman will start bringing our mail! The rest of the house is still somewhat in boxes and disarray, but we're getting there. It's quite surreal sometimes, that we own a home, a yard, a garage to park both our vehicles. We love it!

We're also figuring out a new routine now that Gary's working full time (sharing bathroom, showers, breakfast, making lunches, etc.). It's coming along pretty well I think. Gary's job is going well so far. He's learning a new programming language, learning the routine, meeting new people and is finally up when I get up in the morning! Love that.

I had another doctor's appointment on Tuesday. Because the week before I had anxiety due to moving, getting into the busy time at work and everything else, the first time the nurse took my blood pressure, it was up. This was only because I was talking fast explaining the week before's anxiety garbage. So that boosted it up. She had me lay on my side for a few minutes to calm down, the doctor took it and it was fine. Then at the end of the appointment, the nurse took it again and it was fine as well. Ugh. They still want to see me again in 2 weeks to make sure I'm alright. So now I'm concentrating on not letting my anxiety get the best of me so I don't have to worry about high blood pressure. Otherwise, she found the baby's heartbeat right away and sounded good. I'm not really showing too much yet. I can tell and can feel where the large onion size baby's hanging out, but as for a little basketball stomach... not yet. :)

The next appointment is the big one, the first real Ultrasound! That's in 3 weeks on Tuesday, May 29. Gary's able to go with me too. We saw the baby when it was just a little alien looking thing. Now it'll be quite a bit bigger. And we get a picture (get ready to fill the brag books with a new picture, family.)! So that's exciting.

Otherwise, we're doing well. Getting settled, getting into a new routine, working, etc. We'll be heading to Chicago this weekend for Mother's Day (and a bit more exciting time for Dad, clean out the garage of Christie's stuff she's had there for years weekend). Hehe.

Have a wonderful Mother's Day to the new mothers and all mothers!

Love to you all,
Gary & Christie

If you didn't my email about our new information, email us at: gctidd@charter.net and we'll get that right out to you!

The Big Move

Well, we're in the midst of the big move. Good thing Gary has this week off. You sure do accumulate a lot of things in 4 years! The lovely folks at Comcast shut off our internet/TV a day early. We are no longer going to have the same email address as we did before and will send out an email for that as soon as we get set up at the house. In the meantime, I can check email at work during the day so email us at christie@paperandinkdesigns.com. Also, because we have Vonage, our home phone number will ring if you call, but we can't answer. Our number will still be the same at the house, but until Internet is set up there, please call our cell phones (sparingly or at night :))

Otherwise, we're doing well. Gary turned 30 on Friday, graduated on Saturday and we closed on the house on Monday. Gary's getting tired, he's doing a lot of the moving one because I have to work and 2 because I can't lift much. But our family and friends have been helping us out this week and will this weekend as well. It's been greatly appreciated!

My next appointment is Tuesday. I'm not sure what's going on during this appointment, but we'll see what happens! I think in another month I get my official ultrasound. And no, we still don't know if we're goingto find out what we're having. :) Shots are going fine, feeling pretty good other than a little bit of stress from moving. I can really feel where the baby is now when I'm laying down. I'm not really showing yet, but I can feel that I'm getting bigger.

The baby is now the size of an avocado, for those who are keeping track. :)

Well back to work!

Love to you all,
Gary & Christie