It's a GIRL! :)

Ryan & I got to see our little one yesterday during our 18 week ultrasound. The technician felt very confident in telling us that it's a little girl (who is measuring well in every important aspect). It was neat to see how they check and measure her heart, head, facial structure, neck, hands/feet, spine, chest, etc. They can check for many birth defects just through this ultrasound and we were happy to hear that everything looks good.She is about 8 oz now and between 5-5.5 inches! Ryan & I had a fun night out on the town celebrating our news and dreaming about this big news! We're planning on sharing the name only AFTER she joins us in December BUT you're welcome to give us your best and favorite options. No-we don't want to use "Candy". Thank you for the many folks who have ALREADY thought of that. DO BETTER! ;)

Most recent additions to the name pool include: Sweet, Indian, and Field. Oh-and an early contender Bjorn. :) SO CLEVER YOU ALL!

Our very own!

SO I have been a bit preoccupied with this new adventure of pregnancy and have neglected my blog. :)
Ryan & I found out April 11th that we were pregnant, catching us both by suprise, but we are 100% excited for this blessing to arrive on Dec. 11(ish). Ryan is a very proud father-to-be and is quick to help me and is very sympathetic to my moods and symptoms.
The morning sickness is pretty bad (like daily) and so they finally gave me some FANTASTIC drug that keeps me from puking all the time. Happy for that. We find out tomorrow (hopefully) if it's a boy or a girl. I think it'll feel a lot more "real" when I can start thinking of baby names and planning a nursery. Ryan said that as soon as he knew we were pregnant, he knew it was a girl. To contrast him, I'm saying BOY! :)
The last ultrasound was at 12 weeks and our baby was doing flips and sucking it's thumb. It's the craziest thing for me to realize there is a little person living inside of me.
No weird cravings (everyone asks). I'm just happy to eat and keep it down!
I made the move into maternity clothes a few weeks back and life is much more comfy. I may never return to pants with zippers! ;)
Think that'll do it for now. I'll write tomorrow with the update and maybe some pictures!

Easter

We had fun at Easter visiting with friends and family!
I had fun decorating Easter eggs, making a bunny cake and hanging out with my neice, Sophie, who was visiting from Colorado!

Ryan LOVES the babies!

Ms. Ashlyn Riddle is almost 1 year old (note the same hair cut is shared by the pair)

Ms. Hailey Bockstruck is just 3 months old! (She's a Cubs fan and not sure what to think of this guy's Cardinals shirt) :0

Birthday Fun

Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate my birthday with me! I had a blast learning to duck pin bowl and sharing a great meal with friends. Kudos to Ryan for baking his first two-tiered birthday cake (the 34 candles were a bit much however)! I am blessed!

Feb-March

Hey friends,

This is us on our 1 year anniversary trip (2/18) to Brown County, IN. We were at Butler winery for a bit right after a big snow/ice storm. All the trees and vines were covered in a thick wrapping of ice that caused the sunlight to reflect off of them like my gorgeous diamond ring. It was amazing and I don't think I can do it justice with words. Even though the calendar says we've been husband and wife a year now, it still doesn't feel like it since we've only been able to LIVE together since late last May. I'm so blessed to have been chosen by such an intelligent, loving and joyful man to be my partner in life! I'm thankful too for the love our our family and friends (old and new)!

We began our new couples study last month and have enjoyed a chance to focus on God and our marriage together. The studies "require" us to have dates where we discuss the lesson and make plans on how to apply what we learned. I think we've all agreed that those times have really been a great encouragement!

I'm forever looking for new ways for Ryan & I to "bond" over shared loves. To that end, we went to a cat show that came to Indy a few weeks back. It was on the smaller side, but still there were plenty of cats to entertain us. We fell in love with the ultra-playful short haired cats called Devon Rex. Our three cats keep us busy enough that we won't look into adding another feline any time soon, but it was fun to see the different creatures! Our three spoiled kitties got a new piece of cat furniture which they LOVE! It's about 6 feet tall and has surfaces to scratch, but most importantly to sleep on. Oscar cracks me up on the top of it as he chases his tail in circles. :0 He's an odd one!

My co-worker Janie brought in a Rally's take-out bag designed as a costume for any cats wanting to be a "Rap Cat". Emmy immediately wanted to sport the jersey and gold chain, so after cutting MUCH larger openings for her plus-sized body...she mugged for me in her rap attire! GOOD KITTY!

That's all I got for now...thanks for reading. I'll share more with y'all later!

Blizzard of 07

Official reports say we got 8.5 inches in one day and we got at least 1 inch of sleet on top of it! :0 My office was closed for 2.5 days due to "weather emergency"! This is the second time this year I've been snowed in! Crazy! The plow pushes all the snow into our yard, so the neighbor kids like to play in/on the huge pile of snow. Here are some pics!

COLTS BABY! Superbowl Champions XLI!

My parents came down from Chicago to root on the Bears with Ryan last weekend. We had fun together at the Ram, but only one of us left there on cloud 9. ME!!! I took off work early on Monday to welcome back the World Champion Indianapolis Colts to Indy at the Rally...here are the pics!