January

I will definitely include some pics on this post as promised, but wanted to share a few thoughts first.  Today has been quite frustrating, so bear with me here.  It actually started out great. I got up in time, showered (always a plus), got Coop up and ready,
headed to drop him off at daycare on time (with possibly even extra time to get myself an egg mcmuffin.....double plus!). Coop and I were singing along to K-love as we drove, hitting every green light, and both in great moods. I was noticing there were hardly any cars on the road, but thought nothing of it at the time. Then I drove into the daycare parking lot, hmmm.....no cars either. Strange. Then it hit me. Yep, today is MLK, and that meant daycare was closed. CLOSED! I had to be at work in 15 minutes and had nowhere to take my precious lovebug. Don't panic I thought, I have plenty of great friends to call. I started through my mental list of friends, cousins, neighbors, etc. A few minutes later, it was evident people have lives and plans, and it just wasn't going to happen. So I called work to tell them I had to come in late, and burst into tears. Probably the hormones, or the frustration of being so organized but also so unorganized at the same time, but it just hit me and I started bawling to the charge nurse. She assured me it was fine, I told her I could come in at 12:00pm. I got off the phone and turned around, Coop was crying too. Guess he hasn't truly experienced a mom meltdown yet.

Long story short I ended up calling in sick for the whole day (while crying again.....in the middle of the milk aisle at Hyvee). Andy tried to help, but overall I was just frustrated at the whole situation (and myself). I knew it was MLK day, and that daycare was closed on MLK day, but just never really put two and two together. Blame it on the pregnancy I guess. Andy reassured me he should have remembered this as well and will help me more next time, but let's be honest, we all know remembering times and dates is not one of my husband's strong points!

So instead of at work today, I find myself blogging (still in my scrubs), and trying to make the most of my "sick day". I did end up getting my egg mcmuffin after all (with little man in tow), did some marching to the Presidental Inaguaration beats with Coop, and organized his toy closet.

Here are some lighter January moments for you......


A quick Wednesday afternoon trip to the zoo

Another ear infection....poor baby.

Andy playing with one of his new Christmas gifts..... .come on over for some fresh popped popcorn!

And here is a sneak preview of the beginning of our potty training experiences!  I know, I know, his pants aren't even down, but I will say he gets the concept of sitting on the toilet, "pushing", and "wiping".  The quotes are around these words because he kind of gets it.........

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Putting on a little concert with Dad.  Check out my new boom box I got for Christmas!

You know your're pregnant when......

A few classic Julie pregnancy moments that remind me that I am, indeed, pregnant.....

1. I decide to bake chocolate chip cookies at 9pm at night...while eating a chocolate bar.

2. I bring donuts to work (pink ones to announce I am having a girl!), and eat one on the way to work... and one on the way home.

3. I have my usual pregnancy cravings (as identifed from being pregnant with Coop).....sushi and beer.  Not the most ideal while pregnant.

4. When we are getting ready for work in the morning and Andy asks me what I want to do that night, all I can think of to say is sleep.

5.  At work while everyone is talking about the weight loss challenge they are doing, I am eating two chocolate chip cookies  (that I baked the night before at 9pm).

I could go on........but after re-reading this post I decided I better stop because it makes me sound a bit crazy.  But that's pregnancy for you, happy baby cooking to me!

(I promise extra pics on the next post since there are none here)

A Big Anouncement

After much deliberating back and forth, we decided to go ahead and find out the gender of our little beano.  We didnt' find out with Cooper, and we although we loved being surprised when he came out, we thought it could be nice to try it this way this time around. We had our 20 week ultrasound on Friday and had the Ultrasound tech put the pictures in an envelope.  That night we had a nice little gender reveal "party" with just Andy and I.   The party consisted of Andy and I eating dinner, having one pink cupcake and one blue cupcake, and opening the envelope together.  There are so many cute ways to announce it these days, and I was feeling a lot of pressure to do something awesome and totally creative, however just being the two of us made it so special.  Even if we didn't have cakes, balloons, mustaches, lips, and whatever else people are doing these days, it was special nonetheless.

And yes even though I am wearing a pink shirt in the picture above, I seriously had no idea and was shocked when we opened the envelope.  So without further ado (and if you haven't already scrolled ahead to see).........


IT'S a GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As you can tell from the exclamations, I am ecstatic!  Although I was secretly hoping for a girl, for some reason Andy and I were both thinking it was going to be a boy.  But we are both thrilled and it is fun to now picture the little one inside me as a sweet baby girl ;)


We could not be happier.  Coop on the other hand might need some time to warm up to the idea.  When we showed him the picture the next day and said he was going to have a baby sister, he looked long and hard at the ultrasound picture and said....."eww".

So now we can say a sweet baby GIRL is due to join the family on May 18th.  Praise be to God!

The Post-Holiday Blues

After the excitement and flurry of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's all packed into 6 weeks, it is normal to feel a little let down after it's all over.  The traveling, family, gifts, food, celebrating, Holiday church services, etc. can be exhausting though.  This was the first year in 6 years that I have not had to work one of the holidays, so we took full advantage.  And by that I mean several trips back and forth from Chicago to see family.  It was great to be able to be with family and not miss out on anything this year.  Cooper even got to stay in Chicago a few days on his own with the grandparents while mom and dad flew home to work a few days in between two weekend trips.  We cannot thank our parents enough for the generosity and love they show to us this time of year.  They took extra time and care this year (as they do always), to uphold family traditions and create new ones. 

But with all this being said, we are exhausted and happy to just be home.  We are looking forward to a month of not going anywhere, snuggling in while the snow and wind whip outside, and hanging out as a family.  We just need to be home and relax. So although usually this time of year I DO have the Post-Holiday Blues, I think I can honestly say I feel a sense of relief that is over this year.  Might want to check back with me in a few weeks though and I will probably feel differently ;)

SOOO many fun pictures were taken over the last few weeks, so I will just share a few (with captions of course!)

"Group" charades at the Zeltwanger family Christmas

2nd Cousin Love. 

Cooper going in for a kiss, and Josie just loving it!

And now a little hug.

Family Pic on Grandpa and Grandma Z's fireplace.  We have had so many family pictures taken here over the years.

The Whole Group.  Even though my mom was very sick over Christmas, she was amazing and rallied for all the events.  I know she was so happy to have us all here this year.  (Last year I think no one was able to be at the Z family Christmas ;(  )

Another family picture + Grandpa and Grandma.

I love how Coop is sitting on his lap ;)

Blowing out candles has become his new obsession.  So when Andy and I had to leave to go back to Chicago, Aunt Heather had the great idea to distract him by lighting all these candles.  She said it worked like a charm!  He didn't even know (or care) that we had left.  Oh our little pyro.

Papa

Grandpa Wayne

Making Christmas cookies with Cousin Grif and Cousin Saywer.  Grandpa Wayne and Gigi were brave to take on this task with these 3......

Once the kids were all asleep, we had some funny adult moments as well.  Andy needed a little help trying to get his feet into his new cowboy boots.....

Family Picture at our Bible Study's Holiday Brunch.

 

The Whole Gang.  There are 4 grandkids right now, next year it will be 5 when Baby Richard joins the group!

And when it's all done and over, it's always hard to say goodbye.  Coop even tried to catch a ride home with Aunt Heather!

 

And finally a little Happy New Year from Coop and his gal pal Jayla. 

Here's to a great 2013 for you and your families!

 (This picture was taken right before Coop pulled the elastic on his hat string and snapped his face, which resulted in a meltdown.  You can see him reaching for it here.....)