Busy Past Few Weeks

Phew....these last few weeks have been a bit crazy!  On July 14th TJ and our friend, Scott, ran the Warrior Dash near Des Moines.  Although it was really hot, TJ said he enjoyed the race.  There were several obstacles over the course of the 3.4 miles, and the race ended by the runners jumping over a small fire and swimming through mud.  The heat definitely made the race more challenging as they ran at noon in 90+ degree weather.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to watch any part of the race except the ending due to the layout of the course.  Scott and TJ would like to run another Warrior Dash.  Jenny (Scott's wife) and I said we should consider running Living History Farms sometime as well as possibly Dam to Dam.  We'll see if that works out.....

During the last few weeks we (mostly TJ) spent several hours packing up our apartment to prepare for our move.  We knew we had a lot of stuff, but didn't realize just HOW much we did have.  It took several boxes and the largest U-Haul available, but we fit all of our stuff in and last Wednesday we officially moved to our new place--a 3 bedroom and 1.5 bathroom duplex just a few miles from work.  It's in a great neighborhood and near the trails, which will be great for the dog.  I will try to get more pictures up too, but only after we get everything put away...which is going to take some time!  TJ and Scott painted two of the bedrooms on Monday before the move.  Last Wednesday, which was the hottest day of the week, was moving day.  The guys were troopers in the nearly 100-degree heat.  We are soooo fortunate to have amazing friends and family who were willing to help us out.  A BIG shout-out to Scott, Jordan, Andy, Alan, Ralph, Kathy, TJ, Terry, and my mom for their willingness to take time out of their busy schedules in the horrific heat to help us out!  We couldn't have done it without you!!  So far, we are loving our new place.  I think Oreo does too.  He has done extremely well adjusting to the new place.  He is enjoying being able to roam freely and is mastering the stairs, which he was afraid of just two weeks ago.

Pregnancy update: We are now officially 31 weeks as of today.  It is crazy to think that on Wednesday we will be at the 2 month date.  I really feel like the second trimester has flown and I know these final two months are going to come and go before we know it.  At my 28 week appointment, I had to do the glucose test.  So, at the start of my appointment I drank the orange juice, met with the doctor, and then had my levels tested.  The appointment went well; however, I received a call a few days later that I failed my glucose test.  So, on Friday the 13th I went back to the hospital to do 4 hours worth of testing.  More juice and four blood drawls.  I found out late in the afternoon that I again failed my test (meaning gestational diabetes).  As a result, I would have to meet with the nutritionist to discuss necessary diet changes (had this appointment today).  I had my 30 week appointment last Wednesday the 25th.  This visit was really good as I gained 3 pounds in 2 weeks!  Also, the doctor ordered an ultrasound just to check baby's measurements due to my lack of weight gain for most of the pregnancy.  It was exciting to see our baby girl again!!  We were given a CD with the files, but as I am trying to open them now to upload to the blog, I cannot find them on the CD....if we are able to open them, we will certainly post later.  Her measurements were good and she is still right on target with the due date. 

We got a call that the baby furniture is all in, with the exception of the chair, but hopefully we should have everything within the next few weeks so we can start getting the nursery set up.  The room will be pink, green, and white with espresso furniture.  A good family friend is making our bedding, curtains, etc. for us, which will make the nursery extra special. 

TJ and I had lamaze last weekend.  There are two options: four weekly meetings or one weekend.  We chose the weekend so we spent from 9-5 on Saturday and 12-5 on Sunday learning about delivery, etc.  We got some great information, although it was a bit overwhelming.  It definitely made us think a little more about the delivery process.

Since I do not know where the camera is off hand right now, we have no new pictures to add to the blog.  Perhaps by my next entry I can get some more up. :-)  This weekend is my first baby shower so I will hopefully get some pictures up after that.

That's all for now!

We Made it to Trimester #3!!

As of today we are officially into the 3rd trimester.  I know in the beginning I never thought we'd get to this point, but now that we are here and I look back, the pregnancy really has gone pretty quickly.  I know this last trimester is going to go even faster, especially now that doctor's appointments will now be every two weeks instead of just once a month.

I had my 28 week visit today.  Baby's heartbeat was going strong at 156 BPM.  I measured within a week of where I am, which the doctor said is good.  I am, however, going to have another ultrasound at the next appointment, just to make sure the baby is still measuring where she should be.  I am certainly ok with this. It will be nice to see more pictures of our baby girl!

My mom has been telling me on a daily basis now that I need to be taking more belly pictures, since I haven't been very good about doing that lately.  Tonight after supper she picked up the camera and said "we are going outside to take your pictures" so you can thank her for the updated photos, because she made sure we had some to post.

We also included a few more family pictures with Oreo.  I just cannot get over how smart he is and how much he has learned over the course of the past week--thanks to TJ!  TJ has been doing AWESOME with Oreo.  He has taught Oreo to sit, shake, lay down, dance, and stay.  He also pretty much goes to the bathroom on command and is getting better at walking.  Last week TJ and Kathy picked up some special goodies for Oreo--homemade dog treats from a doggy bakery.  He absolutely loves them!!

Enjoy the pics below and hopefully we will try to post again within the next week or two. 

25 weeks, 4 days

This day also marked our 4th wedding anniversary, so we took a family picture to capture the day! 

28 weeks today--hello trimester 3! :-)

It took several attempts to get Oreo to look at the camera

He doesn't really like the front yard for some reason, but we did get him to spend a few minutes out here--long enough so we could get some pictures.

Oreo is definitely a "Daddy's Boy"

Oreo loves giving kisses!

Meet Our Newest Addition!

Weighing in at 5 lbs 4 ozs, our newest addition has lots of curly hair and loves to cuddle.  He is adorable and we fell in love with him instantly!  We are excited to welcome Oreo to our family!  Yesterday we officially brought him home.

Our puppy was born on March 3, which makes him almost 4 months old. He came from a good friend of ours who's dog had four puppies.  Our friend's dog is a schnauzer-poodle mix and the dad is a toy poodle.  This combination means no smelling and no shedding!  We expressed a strong interest in taking one of the puppies shortly after it was born.  Because we didn't know where we'd be living, our friend kindly agreed to hang onto him until we got housing lined up.  TJ and I spent 3 hours playing with him last Sunday--that was the first time TJ had seen him in person, and it was only my second time (the first time was at about 2 weeks old).  We knew after our afternoon visit that he would be the perfect addition to our growing family!  This week seemed to pass so slowly as we were full of anticipation to bring him home.

So...where exactly is home right now?  Well, since TJ's last day of work was Friday, we decided that we'd take my mom up on her offer to let us move in with her temporarily for about a month until we move to our new location (more info to come on this soon...it's getting late so I will have to blog about this later in the week).  Commuting from my mom's house would save me about 10-15 minutes one way.  She also VERY KINDLY agreed to let us bring our puppy.  I know she was very hesitant, but I don't think she realized how quickly she would fall in love with this super cute puppy of ours!!

More blog posts to come later in the week.  I will try to get up a few belly pictures, too!  We are very excited that as of today, we are officially 3 months away from Baby Warren's due date. 

Enjoy the pics below of Oreo!  :-)

 She loves her new grandpuppy!

Oreo loves to play tug-of-war with his toys

 TJ has been working with him on tricks.  He already knows how to sit and TJ is in the process of teaching him "down" and "shake." We are impressed that Oreo learned "sit" within one day (see two pictures below)!  He is SO smart! 

 See--he knows how to sit!

 The Warren Family: Brittany, Baby Warren, Oreo, and TJ

 Trying to keep cool on the kitchen floor since it is so hot outside.  He does a good job of staying where he is told--carpet is off limits.

 

Two of his favorite toys: ball and squeaky monkey.

We love our new puppy!