Gabe's got some sweet moves!

Happy Birthday Zach!

No, this is not my baby. I can only wish this pregnancy was over! This is the adorable Zachary Thomas Arens who was born via c-section this morning. Congratulations Josh and Dana! We are so excited for you guys and thrilled to have baby Zach finally here!

The Last Ultrasound!

When we went in for our 20 week ultrasound everything went well, but they found a two vessel umbilical cord, instead of the normal three vessel cord.  So we initially had a fetal EKG done to make sure the baby's heart was okay, which it was, and since then we been doing "growth" ultrasounds every four weeks to make sure our little guy is growing properly. 

Today we discovered that our "little guy" isn't so little anymore!  Already weighing in at 6 lbs. they told me to expect at least an 8 lb. baby.  The ultrasound tech also commented on the fact that our baby has huge feet, in fact she called them Flinstone feet!  Does that sound familiar to anyone else?  (We were told the same thing when Gabe was a baby.  And yes, he had huge feet!)

Oh, and he has hair too!  We could see hair on the ultrasound today.  How cool is that?

Anyway, it's great to know that the baby is growing well and as far as we can tell he is healthy.  I've actually been very grateful for these ultrasounds.  They've been a pain in one sense since I can't take Gabe, so I always have to find a sitter, and it's just a lot more time I have to spend in the doctor's office.  But, it's really helped ease my mind during this pregnancy.  There are still other issues we could run into with the two vessel cord, but we won't know until he is born.  However, the odds are more in our favor of everything being normal since the EKG and his growth are both normal.
As I get closer to delivering I've been thinking a lot about how calm and at peace I've been throughout this pregnancy.  Which is out of character for me.  I tend to stew and worry about things.  So the fact that I've been calm and relatively worry free about what could "potentially" be wrong with our baby is amazing to me.  I really think I have to thank my Heavenly Father for giving me the peace of mind I needed to get through this pregnancy.  It's nice to be anxious and excited for this little guy to join our family, opposed to worrying incessantly about him - and for that I am feeling truly grateful!  
Here are some pictures, so you can see how fun it's been for us to watch this little guy grow!

Domestic Show and Tell

Sorry, but this is another bread post. I wanted to post a picture of the bread I made today, because I think it turned out especially well. Isn't it beautiful? I love it when I can make something and it turns out awesome! I posted a "before" picture too, so you can see the progress I've made on my wicked awesome bread making skills. Shoot, I think dinner is burning on the stove while I type this!

Week in Review

Last Wednesday Gabe and I drove to the airport to pickup Uncle Taylor. All Gabe has talked about lately is the fact that Taylor is coming to see us on a big airplane. It was so great to have him here with us!

On Thursday I hosted a baby shower for my cute friend Dana. Gabe helped me do some baking for the baby shower . . . everything tastes better when it's made with two year old LOVE!


On Friday John had the day off work, so we all ventured to the aquarium in Cincinnati. Taylor even got a great picture of the "touchdown Jesus" while we were driving on the freeway!

Riddle me this: What is John more afraid of? A shark or his pregnant and "slightly" irritable wife?
Answer: Both! Either one could bite his head off! (This is where you give a courteous laugh at my bad joke.)

Happy Valentine's Day! What could be more romantic than a visit to the Air Force Museum? Love was definitely in the air . . . or was that jet fuel?

On Monday we went downtown to the Packard Car Museum. If you live in Dayton and haven't seen this, it is really cool and definitely worth checking out! Taylor and John take turns playing "gangster" in the last car owned by Al Capone.

Does anyone know if Pinkie ever owned a 1956 pink Packard? We couldn't resist taking a picture next to this car in her honor!

I loved the history behind this next car, it was owned by William Proctor of Proctor and Gamble. Notice how there is nothing shiny, flashy or fancy on this car. He purchased this car right after the Lindbergh baby was kidnapped because he did not want to draw any attention to his wealth. I love cool history like that!
Taylor sitting in the Packard that set the 1904 land speed record of 77mph! The car is valued at $1 Million dollars. Careful Tay, you break it . . . you bought it!

Cool, a real woody! And of course Gabe wasn't happy until he'd had his turn at the wheel!

On Tuesday, after a fantastic week with Taylor we dropped him off at the airport and all Gabe could talk about was the fact that Taylor was leaving on a spaceship, not an airplane!
Taylor, thanks for coming to visit us! We had a great time and sure love ya! You'll have to let us know how that spaceship ride was . . .

Everyday Gabe

I was downloading video from my camera the other day and I realized it's been a while since I posted any video of Gabe.  So here's a couple minutes of cute, everyday, GABE.
 

Cereal Box Trivia

The other day I was reading the back of a cereal box and I got stumped on a trivia question.  I thought about it for two days before finally giving up and peeking at the answer.  It was making me crazy!  So here's the trivia question, let's see how smart all of you are!  

Name 10 body parts that have only 3 letters.  

It's harder than you think!  (I was only able to come up with 7 body parts.)  Let me know when you've gone crazy thinking about this and I'll send you the answers!

Master of the Potty?

It's been 4 days, let me repeat that . . . 4 days, since I've changed a poopy diaper or cleaned up an accident!!!   I think we are finally on our way to being autonomous of diapers forever!   Granted, Gabe is still sleeping in a diaper at night, but he has even started waking up from his naps dry now.  When we got home from Utah this summer we started potty training him and it just wasn't working.  He was asking for his diaper and having a lot of accidents, so we completely backed off and gave him some more diaper time.   Then just before Christmas we started trying to master the potty again, and it seems to have just clicked for him this time around.  After just over a month he's finally telling me when he has to go, opposed to me always having to ask him if he needs to go, and he's doing the frightful #2 on the potty all by himself!  I'm truly loving this and loving the fact that he is so proud of himself every time he goes!  I keep telling him what a big boy he is and he just replies, "No, I'm Gabe."    Well, Gabe, I'm proud of you and I think you've mastered something very big!

Third Time's a Charm!

For Christmas John's parents gave us a KitchenAid Mixer because we really wanted to make our own bread. We've now made several attempts at making homemade bread since we got the mixer. The first loaves we ended up throwing away, the second was good (but not pretty to look at), and finally our third attempt we consider a SUCCESS! It was easy to make, yummy, and didn't look like a science project!
"Hello homemade bread!"

Love you the most!

John and I have this on going game where we try to prove to each other who loves who the most. So we are always doing things and saying, "See, I love you the most!"
So I got this email from my him today and I thought WOW maybe he really does love me the most! Two things you have to understand about the email: 1) This is a DREAM COME TRUE for him! 2) My due date is April 2.
Here's the email.

Rach,

I just had to write and let you know what happened to me about 10 minutes ago and just how much I love you.
One of the high up scientists came to me and asked if I’d like to accompany him on a trip to Moscow and St. Petersburg for a week. Was just about to jump at it when he told me that I’d be coming back on Apr. 3. So, I had to turn it down. Thus, I can now say, I love you more!

Have a good day,
me


Isn't he the best husband?! I sure love him and appreciate all that he does for me!

When he got home from work I told him that he should go! Don't get me wrong, I want him to be here for the birth of our baby, but I really want him to have this experience too! And no, I don't feel this way just so I can say that I love him the most. Although, it really does prove that I love him the most! Ha, ha, ha . . . (my evil villan laugh). Anyway, we'll keep you posted on who wins the gold for "Love You The Most Olympics" at our house! (And no he hasn't made a decision yet.)

Dayton Bombers Hockey Game

Saturday the weather was kind of icky, we didn't have anything to go do, so John, Gabe and myself just hung around the house in our jammies all day. Our neighbor called me around 6PM to remind us that it was military appreciation night at the Dayton Bombers Hockey game if we wanted to go. I decided we were NOT going to go to the game, but John (NOT used to being at home ALL day long) was stir crazy and decided we needed to get out of the house. So we quickly got ready, grabbed a bite to eat for dinner and went to a hockey game! We had a fun time and it was nice to get out of the house! Gabe was super tired since he was up past his bedtime, but he enjoyed watching the game and was happy once we got him some popcorn. There was a lady sitting next to us who was really sweet to Gabe during the game. Her son was one of the camera guys at the game, so she had him come over and he put Gabe's picture up on the jumbotron. It was fun for Gabe to see himself and mommy waving on the BIG screen!


As for the hockey game itself . . . well, I didn't think the Bombers were very good, but I don't watch a lot of hockey so I'm not a very good judge of that. There was one fight, it was very funny because it looked choreographed and almost planned, but it added a little excitement none the less!

Getting ready for baby . . .

Now that the holidays are over I've decided it's time to start getting ready for the baby to come. Gabe is potty training and doing awesome! Hopefully he'll keep it up and be out of diapers by the time the baby gets here. He rarely has pee-pee accidents anymore, except for at night. We are still struggling with going #2 on the potty, but I'm just so happy he's doing well with the pee that I'm sure he'll catch on soon!
Another thing we've done is switch Gabe to a "big boy" bed. We decided to do this now so that hopefully we'll avoid any territorial issues he might have when the baby starts sleeping in his crib. I'm actually glad we decided to do this now, because it's been a lot harder than I expected. I don't know if I could deal with a newborn waking up at night as well as a toddler getting out of bed all night long! We've had a few really long nights with Gabe this past week!!!
It's been fun for me to get all of our baby stuff out of storage, organize it and put it away in the kid's room. It's really getting me excited for this baby to get here!

Bulletin Board

At church I'm in charge of updating the Relief Society bulletin board. It's part of my calling that I really like. I enjoy being creative, so this is usually fun for me! I think my latest design turned out pretty cute, so I wanted to show it off! What do you think?

The Mighty Cavers

On Saturday while the girls were shopping, the boys (John, Josh, Johnny and about 20 other guys from our ward) went caving. Yes, caving is the correct term. I was informed that cavers are the people who rescue spelunkers . . .
Anyway, the guys had a great time! Here are some pictures from their trip.

Clearance Shopping!

Today I went shopping with my friends Dana and Shelby. We drove to Kentucky (just south of Cincinnati) and hit the Gap Clearance Center. It's a big warehouse full of Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic clearance items. Check out the awesome deals I got.

5 rolls of wrapping paper
1 set of baby pajamas
1 toddler t-shirt
2 kids winter hats
4 pairs of socks
5 maternity shirts
3 pairs of pants for John
2 short sleeved t-shirts

All for $76!

Thanks Dana and Shelby for making this a fun trip! We'll have to plan another trip for after the babies come (without the kids)!

Merry Christmas

Quiet Book

As part of our attempt to get Gabe to be reverent in church I decided to make him a quiet book. So I took on the task of designing and creating my own quiet book from scratch. I don't think I would have ever started this project if I'd known how hard it was going to be, but it's finally done just in time for Christmas! Here are pictures of the finished project.