Cole's First Toy

I don't know of many things in life that are more fun than getting ready for a baby! Today when we got home from work there was a package waiting for us - delivered with love from 2 good friends. We were so excited to open it and find Cole's very first toy...and activity gym! We had our first experience at putting something together for our little guy and then admiring our work. Even Mason tried to jump in and help. Actually he tried to eat all of the tags on the gift but he is learning that some things are for him and some are for Nicholas. Once we put the gym together we had so much fun talking about what we think it will be like to see Nicholas playing with it and laughing and learning. I know we cannot even imagine how awesome having him with us will be. He is such an important and amazing part of our lives already. Watching Rhonald put this toy together with so much love and joy made me really see (once again) what a great father he will be to Cole. He is already so in love with our son and I know that love will only grow more and more with each day. We are both so lucky to have Rhonald in our lives. I know Nicholas will learn so much from his daddy - I cannot wait to see them together!

A Day of Thanks

Here we are on Thanksgiving day - 32 weeks pregnant

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving a little bit differently. Normally we head up north to spend the holiday with my extended family but we decided to stay closer to home this year because of Nicholas. We were blessed to have a family that was very open to that. We rented a beautiful home on Table Rock Lake and spent the weekend with my parents, Rhonald's parents and Rhonald's Grandma. We were able to reflect on all of the blessings in our lives and spend a lot of time relaxing and enjoying each others' company. Each of "the Grandparents" were able to feel Cole move at some point which they loved and Rhonald and I were able to nap, watch movies and simply hang out which was so much fun! On Friday all of the girls braved shopping at the outlet malls and the guys went fishing (even though it was about 30 degrees outside). We are truly blessed to have one another and such loving friends and family. We hope that you all had an excellent day as well and enjoyed some quiet time to reflect on all that you have been blessed with.

A New Kind of Fun!!!

For the past several months people have been telling us that our lives will change (for the better) once we have a baby. We always smiled but secretly thought that they were crazy. Well, last night we learned that all of those people are right. We spent our Friday night out with friends in a way we never have before. We had an early dinner with 2 other couples who are both expecting babies....conversations were filled with nursery decoration ideas, maternity clothes and information learned at doctor's appointments. After dinner we all met over at the clinic where Rhonald and Jim work and all of the girls had ultrasounds. We also listened to all of the babies heartbeats - all at the same time! It sounded like our own little drum line!!!! We are so blessed to have friends to share this time with. It is going to be so much fun to tell Cole, Audrie and "baby Burrow" about how we saw them all before they were born. Above is a picture of Rhonald and I looking at Nicholas. There is also a picture of Rachel and her baby Audrie (26 weeks), Emily and her baby (10 weeks) and myself with Cole (30 weeks).

A Beautiful Fall Day

Well today is Rhonald's birthday and we decided to spend the day relaxing and enjoying our new truck. We drove to Devil's Den State Park and then to Roaring River State Park to look at the beautiful fall colors and enjoy a day outside. It was a beautiful day!!! As you can see, we were able to see many amazing colors. The best part of the day, however, was being together. So often we get busy with other things and forget to enjoy the simple things. I want to wish Rhonald a very special happy birthday! Rhonald is an amazing husband and friend and I love him dearly. It is such an honor to be his wife and to live this life with him. I am so thankful for the day that we had together and will cherish the memories of today forever. Happy Birthday Rhonald!!!

Ah...The Baby Registry!

Today was a very fun day for me! As I have gone out to buy baby gifts for other people over the past few years I have thought about how fun it would be to have a baby registry for my own baby...and now I have one! I ventured to Target today and registered for baby gifts. It was both a fun and overwhelming experience! Of course as soon as I got home I jumped online and looked at all of the things that I had picked out and shared them with Rhonald. Picking out things for our baby registry makes the delivery of this baby seem even more real (I know, you would think by now everything about having a baby would seem real to us but it doesn't). As I was driving home from Target today I smiled to myself and thought about how much fun it will be when Cole is here with us. Time seems to be flying by. Part of me thinks I will miss having him in my tummy - I feel like we have gotten to know Cole so well already - but I know everything will be so great once he is born and we can share our life with him!

Oh the Life of a Dog...

Sometimes I look at Mason and think..."wouldn't it be nice to have his life?" For those of you who do not know Mason he is probably the most spoiled dog in America! As I was looking over our blog today I realized I had not even mentioned Mason so I thought I would share one of his best pictures with all of you! Mason has been a member of our family for about 1 1/2 years and we love him dearly! We talk all of the time about how much fun it will be to watch Nicholas and Mason playing in the backyard one day. He is so much company when Rhonald is at work and he is so much fun to play with after a long day. So, basically, this is a shout out to Mason, the best dog we could have asked for!

Rhonald's Amazing Birthday Gift

As you can see from the photos above...Rhonald has had a great birthday!!!! Well, his birthday is actually next weekend but we bought him his gift a little bit early. After a few stressful hours of negotiating we are now the proud owners of a Nissan Titan Pro 4X! It was so much fun to see the look of excitement on Rhonald's face when we drove off in his new truck. I think this has served as a wonderful reward for all of the hard work he has put in during medical school and residency. Of course, after driving around quite a bit and learning about his new truck he is now looking forward to taking it fishing! Another nice thing about this weekend was that Rhonald's parents were here and were able to share in this excitement with us. It was so nice to spend time with them and to show off our new truck!