Here's a fun little question......

This is a game Marcie likes to play with me every time she gets dressed to go somewhere. Here's how it goes....

Marcie - "Chris do I look pregnant or just fat"

Chris - "You look lovely"

This game has been played almost every single day for the past 21 weeks. So far I feel as though I have done well. Marcie is starting to roll her eyes now with the lovely comment. So any advice? Feel free to make some comments. The comments will be judged. The winner.......hold your breath....gets to help put up wall decals in nudger's bedroom that Marcie has recently purchased. Before purchasing Marcie showed me a website in which the wall decals were shown proudly on a nursery wall. They looked nice and easy enough. However, when they came in the mail I found that there were 125 pieces to place on the wall individually....awesome. So the winner of my little contest will win one trip to our house to help place delicious little decals on nudger's walls. In all honesty the wall decals are awesome and Marcie does look lovely, but this is a serious contest.

21 Weeks

Baby is 21 weeks old today, which means we are past the half way point of 20 weeks! So far so good. We went for an ultrasound at 18 weeks which was so amazing. The heart rate was skipping along at 143 beats per minute. We got to see the arms,legs,feet, face, kidneys, and heart. And no, we didn't find out the sex. Everyone keeps asking, but we like the suspense people. Actually the baby had its legs crossed in a very polite fashion, so I don't think we would have been able to tell even if we wanted too. Chris is still hanging on to his vote of girl (especially since the legs were crossed, he thinks it was a sign :) and I still think boy. But according to our poll on here I'm beating Chris with 19 boy votes, and only 17 girl votes! Holler.
Here's a pic of little nudger, seriously, could he/she be any cuter? I don't think so.

I've been feeling great and loving the second trimester. I finally have an appetite back and could eat Mexican food every day if I was given the opportunity. I don't know for sure if this is a pregnancy craving, because I crave chips and salsa when I'm not pregnant so who knows. Otherwise then that I haven't really had any cravings. I did finally break in and switch to maternity pants. Holy smokes are they ever comfortable! I don't think I'll ever go back to regular jeans, seriously, its like wearing sweat pants that look like regular pants. Love it. The belly is slowly growing. Most people still can't tell I'm pregnant...which is weird because its so obvious to me of course. Maybe they just think I'm carrying around a bunch of holiday weight?! Here I am at 20 Weeks, the belly is here to stay, and I definitely cannot suck it in anymore :)
Chris and I have been working on the nursery. Last week we threw some paint up, that I think is just "ok". One accent wall is orange, and the other three are white. I love the orange, but the white is not doing it for me. So I think I'm going to have to whip out the ole brush again this week and make it a whiter, white. Hopefully we will get more done this week and then I can put up some pics of how its looking. Our next purchase is going to be the crib and I just can't wait. I've picked out the one I want, now just have to order it and put it together.

Merry Christmas

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

Merry Christmas everyone (a day late). It was my goal to make a post yesterday but with all the cooking, gaming, and present opening there just wasn't enough time in the day. Chris and I hosted Christmas at our house yesterday and it was quite the experience. My family came up on Wednesday night and stayed until Friday evening. It was such a good time. Thursday (Christmas Eve day) we made waffles for breakfast, and then started prepping some food for the next day. We had planned to spend most of the day playing games. However, at about 11 am my mom was whipping up some cookie bars with my hand held mixer and next thing we know the mixer is on the floor and my mom is crying. She got in a fight with the mixer. She had been putting the beaters in when all of a sudden it just turned on and sucked her whole hand into it! I didn't know how bad it was at first until I looked at the misshapen beaters, then I realized her hand had bent the beaters. I don't know for sure what is going on in this picture, mom was crying bloody murder, but still smiled for the camera, dad looks like he's sleeping, and I'm still trying to figure out the beaters. It was pretty dramatic.

Well, she was laughing and crying all at the same time so I really didn't know how bad it was. We put some ice on it, but it just kept swelling. We didn't know for sure if there was a fracture or not, so Chris and my dad packed her up and took her to urgent care for some x-rays just to be safe. Thank goodness for no fractures, just a bad bruise. When they returned mom was feeling much better and we still got in a good game of phase ten and also went to Christmas Eve Service at our Church which was lovely.




Friday started off with some coffee cake, and present opening! And, wonder of all wonder Thaddeus finally got his xbox360. I don't think we will be seeing him anytime soon. Then came the cooking, cooking, and more cooking. We only had ten people, but that was just enough to fit around our table. Poor Chris was stuck on dish duty, but did an excellent job at keeping the mess under control. Around 2 it started snowing, so after pie and icecream almost everyone took off, needless to say the house seemed so quiet. And of course the dogs were just exhausted from all the excitement :)

18 Weeks

Oh, hello blizzard.

This week I am 18 weeks! This is crazy because we are almost half way done already! I was so looking forward to doing a post today because we were supposed to have our first ultrasound to see little nudger. Sadly, we woke up this morning to an all out blizzard in our front yard. We knew this was coming and last night I told Chris, I want to go to that ultrasound no matter what! He agreed. Well, this AM the imaging center called and told me I was the only one who hadn't canceled yet... I really didn't want to give in, but I figured one more day won't hurt. So I told the nice people there to just go home and I'll come in tomorrow :)

So hopefully tomorrow will be better, and I will have some awesome ultrasound photos to post. I am thankful now that we didn't go out. It really is pretty terrible. We have about a foot of snow in the driveway. However, even though Chris shoveled yesterday you can't even tell today and he's out there right now shoveling away. I really wish that I could go help. I actually like to shovel, but I have been severely vetoed by Chris. Which I suppose is good. However, I am a little bit stir crazy in here (so are the dogs). But I've been trying to keep busy making soup and cookie bars for my growing belly (and some for Chris too).

Here is my poor hubby out battling the blizzard to clear over a foot of snow off our driveway. I don't say it enough how thankful I am for him. Clearly, I would not be able to clear my own driveway from this catastrophe we call snow. Thank goodness for strong husbands.

Mitzy was keeping a close eye on him to be sure he was doing it right.

Every year one of my favorite parts of the snow is that I get to pull out my snow boots. Shalee and I got these probably 5 years ago in college and I could not live without them. I wear them everywhere!

I'm Thankful...

It is not good for the man to be alone. Genesis 2:18


You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. Psalm 139:13


Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. Psalm 136:1


He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for the man to cultivate-bringing forth food from the earth. Psalm 104:14


God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches. Philippians 4:19


In you shall all families of the earth be blessed. Genesis 12:3


It is of the Lord's mercies...They are new every morning: great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3: 22-23


You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Psalm 23:5


I know this Thanksgiving post is a tad late, but we were in Omaha last week celebrating the holiday with the Ward's and I didn't have access to a computer. However, I still wanted to get my thankful post in. There are so many things I am so grateful for. I was going to make a list, but then figured I would just show you in photos. Chris and I are truly blessed from above and I always love that Thanksgiving reminds me of those blessings. Okay now for some fun Thanksgiving facts:

-Americans feast on 535 million pounds of turkey on Thanksgiving. (Seriously? Holy Cow)
-Cranberries of the highest quality will always bounce.
-Congress did not declare Thanksgiving a national holiday until 1941.
-Turkeys can drown if they look up when it's raining. (Baha!)

Well, thats all I have for now! I promise to get more posts in this month.

trick or treat

A couple weeks ago Chris and I were talking about Halloween and I mentioned the fact that I had never carved a pumpkin before. Actually, I've never been trick or treating either. When I was growing up we usually went to church on Halloween night for a "fall party". He was quite shocked about this fact and decided that this year we were going to carve some pumpkins up. We talked to our friends Missy and Kevin and of course they wanted in on the carving action. We had originally planned to go to Bloomsberry Farm and pick out our own pumpkins. However, it was two days before Halloween and that plan fell through. So we decided to try Hyvee instead. Well, needless to say Hyvee had quite a dismal supply of picked over rotten pumpkins left. We then tried Wally world and hit a jackpot of glorious pumpkins, and they were cheap too :)

Here's Missy and Kev washing their pumpkins. Even though Walmart is cheap, the pumps were a little dirty.


Miss and I carving our Hawkeye pumpkins, it took some time and patience, but it was worth it for the hawks!



This is a Chris and Kevin photoshoot. #1 They carved their pumpkins in no time flat so they started making faces imitating the pumpkin skowls.


#2 They decided it would be a good idea to act like the pumpkins were their faces. Both deep in thought :)


#3 Chris is scolding Kevin for his lack of expression when we told him about Nudger!




The final product!

They turned out good and it was pretty fun to get your hands down in all that pumpkin goop. I think I'm a little addicted actually, and will be repeating this event again next year.

the one where nudger is no longer a secret

Well Marcie and I have finally told just about everyone that she is with child. It wasn't always easy telling people and for some reason both Marcie and I would get really nervous before telling people. It was also difficult to tell everyone with our t-shirt idea. Some or our friends and family live too far away so we had to do it over the phone. So without further ado here are some highlights, and lowlights - Kevin just look at the shirt, of Marcie and I telling people about nudger.




Also a nudger yearbook.

Christy and Marcie (Both Prego might I add)


Marcie and her Grandma Ruth (As well as the Yoder Parents)


Marcie and Chris's Grandma Kangior


The Soon to be Parents


Uncle Thaddeus and Aunt Karissa


Uncle Travis


Yoder Grandparents


Ward Grandparents

growing babies is hard work...

Well Hello everyone. I have not posted in a long time and I have heard about it. This blog is exactly like a journal I have decided. When I started it I had all sorts of grand ideas of how I would update it every couple of days......well that hasn't happened. Life has gotten in the way of blogging. Since my last blog so much has happened. Where to Start ???
Marcie continues to say her belly is getting bigger and continues to be sick almost every night at 6 pm. When we go to the store poor Marcie looks at food and gets sick. When we drive past fast food restaurants the smell and sight of them make her sick. Marcie also doesn't have very much energy right now. Little nudger is wearing her out with all the growing inside of her. Some evidence below:

All this makes the pregnancy very real to her. Don't get me wrong the pregnancy is very real to me also but it also seems like a dream. You wanna know what makes the pregnancy real to me and other guys? Hearing little nudger's heart beat. There aren't many words that describe how exciting it is to hear that little heart beat. To me it sounded like a crazy little helicopter in Marcie's belly. During that whole doctor's visit I tried staying out of the Doctor and Nurse's way while they examined Marcie. It was very awkward. I wasn't sure where to stand or where to look when they examined certain places on Marcie. Thank God for the show Friends. When Ross gets Rachel pregnant and they go see the Doctor, all Rachel keeps saying to Ross is stand next to my head, and that my friends is exactly where I stood, next to Marcie's head.
Also a new development for me, at least, as been buying stuff for nudger. I'm not sure if you have seen all the cool stuff out there for babies and parents but there is a bunch of it. One current item that we have just purchased (thank you Nebraska Furniture Mart) is a glider. Now at mere mention of a glider you might think of one of those chairs with the ottomans you might buy at walmart. Nothing but the best for my little nudger. Our glider friends could pown one of those gliders (Pown - is a word I have picked up from Brylee Miller. It means to own something. Video game nerds use it a lot. Word of the day). Anyways, our glider rocks, reclines, turns 360 degrees, and of course glides. It brings a tear to my eyes just talking about the awesomeness of it.

Well in other news I would just like to report my fantasy football league team has just taken the lead in my division. We are off to a 7-1 start. Also almost all of our family and friends know about nudger. Next post, which I will make no promises but hopefully will be up soon, will contain pictures and videos of Marcie and I telling everyone. In the meantime I leave you all with this...

That is the daddy to nudger.....hopefully nudger looks like his mother.
Thanks everyone for reading and please continue doing so.

O Town

Last week we made a quick little trip out to Omaha to visit Chris's family and tell them about nudger. We ended up staying two nights. The drive really goes pretty quick and its kind of like a miniature road trip. We left on Wednesday and got there in time to watch Travis's soccer game that was in town. It was at Creighton University's stadium which was really nice, except it was a little rainy. So we bucked up and got out the umbrellas and long johns.

The stadium was super nice!

Here we are walking to the game, Chris mom Kim, his aunt Patty, and Cousin Mallory

One more of Mallory, she was cracking me up with her umbrella!

This is the only one I got of Travis playing, it was hard to get pics because of the rain. But he played awesome!

The next day we stopped by Chris's Grandmas house to tell her about the baby. She is very excited to be a "Greatest Grandma".


And finally no stop to Omaha is complete without a visit to Runza! I've decided I've officially become a Runzanatic.

The Best Sound in the World!

Yesterday was our 12 week appointment and it was great! I was a little nervous at first because we actually hadn't met the Dr. yet, just his nurse at our last visit. I obviously knew who he was though because I've met him in the hospital before, and he was super nice, which is why I decided to go with him in the first place. Sure enough, he did not disappoint. Dr. Fox is now Chris and my favorite person. 1. Because he is super nice and talkative. 2. Because he is the amazing person who doppled Nudger's heartbeat. 3. Chris likes him because he is a huskers fan (Even though I wouldn't be admitting that to anyone right now).

Anyway, when we first went in the nurse tried to find the heartbeat. She was not having much luck because my stomach was growling and rumbling, and it kept picking up my own heartbeat. Finally, after trying for a couple minutes, she was like I'll just let the Dr. try. I thought that I would be nervous if that happened and they couldn't find it right away. However, I really wasn't because I've been so queasy lately that I know that something is going on in there. So then a couple minutes later Dr. Fox came in and tried and got it right away. 173 beats/min :) It was glorious! It was so fast like a little helicopter. I didn't start crying when I heard it, but when the nurse first brought the doppler into the room and I saw her holding it I teared up then, just seeing the doppler, haha :)

So that was pretty much the extent of the visit. I now get to visit Dr. Fox and his crew every month. The Dr. said everything looked fine and was happy with the heartbeat. So that is good enough for me. Now if this darn evening sicking would let up a little bit. However, the Dr. said that he liked it if I was "a little sick" :) So I guess I'll take it for awhile. I really do fine all day, then bam, 6pm and I definitely can not eat any supper. Poor Chris keeps trying to make me food and I reject it every time. Its good food too! Last night he made me chicken noodle. It was about 8pm, I had one spoonful. Sorry babe, its not you, its me.

what the heck is a kumquat?

Apparently, according to babycenter.com the baby is the size of a kumquat this week. I have no idea what that is, so I looked it up. It is a citrus type of fruit that is grown in China. Okay the question of the day is, why can't they just compare the baby to regular old fruits? Not this crazy exotic fruit. Anyway fruit or not, the point is that I'm 10 weeks! We get to see the MD in 2 more weeks and I can hardly wait!

Currently Craving:

Thank goodness for Fairway Grocery. They supply these delicious Kalona Bakery rolls that I am loving!

Also, I decided to throw a few other photos in this post from last weeks happenings. We were able to get together with our good friends Brylee and Ramona for supper (and to surprise them with our news). We ate at the Brown Bottle and then had coffee at the Java House. It was a wonderful evening.

Ramona and I

Bry and Mo

My hubby and I

My amazing hot chocolate


Sigh, I could go for one of those hot chocolates right now...