5 years

Reposted from last year:

a brief photo essay in honor of the

5 years

we have been boyfriend & girlfriend:




























I said it was brief.

I didnt lie.

I woke up this morning to breakfast & flowers.

Im so glad he is my baby daddy.

*sorry I turned off my comments ...

Freeland's 28th Birthday

As you know it was Freeland's 28th Birthday on January 10th.

As you also know I was out of town for the first time on his birthday & he also had a test the next day so his actual birthday was pretty lame.

But we made up for it the next day when I got home from Texas.

After traveling all day and then a series of delayed flights I finally made it back to Erie about 15 minutes before we had dinner plans with all of our friends.

In keeping with tradition we went to Aoyama's. And lots of people came with us to celebrate. It was so sweet since I know everyone is just as busy & also on the same kind of budgets we are - but they were willing to sacrifice their time during the week and come celebrate.








oh lots of yummy sushi that I watched everyone eat.

and you cant go to Aoyama (or any Hibachi grill) without them tossing food at you to catch







after we all cheered on the cooks and then stuffed ourselves silly they pulled out the dessert. Sarah & Drew were kind enough to pick up a Coconut Cream Pie for Freeland (his favorite).



And to top it off - they decorated it too!! (those are candy rats and its an inside joke but we all almost peed our pants laughing so hard when they pulled out the pie!)



seriously soo funny!

We had such a great time at dinner & I know Freeland felt really loved by everyone who came and celebrated with us.

Then when we got home I finally got to give him my gifts. The best surprise was when I pulled out Lone Star Beer that I brought for him from Texas! Then he opened the other gifts & another gift from my Mom & Mark that I brought with me too.

And then this weekend we continued the celebrations while my dad was here. Even though it was gift enough that he came to visit - he also spoiled us rotten with lots of yummy food! (note: we went to 1201 for the first time - AMAZINGLY GOOD!)

And he also stopped and picked Freeland up a special gift just for him:





powers & maddie helped him open the gift



a baby bjorn!!! Just for him and little tumkin



along with a borders gift card for books on residency.

It was a great weekend & I love that the birthday celebrations got to last so long for Freeland. He deserves it for all that he does daily for me and everyone around him. And now he is officially 28 the year he becomes a dad.

pictures of the ever growing tummy

well as Ive been told it has been a while since I posted any pictures of the "tumkin" or "applejack" whichever you want to call him is fine.

Because no, we still have ZERO ideas for names.

And I promise we aren't just saying that because we dont want to share what his name is. I know we still have time. But I would feel better if we at least had 1 or 2 that we liked! Eventually.

We have another appointment tomorrow. Im at the point where they have started making my appointments every 2 weeks!! I didn't even realize it until someone else asked me! Crazy how close we are getting to the end.

Im in week 31 now. I will upload some more pictures this week. These are just the ones I already had so they are older. Meaning, Im larger now!


during week 25 - that crib is now white


the end of week 27 - Oliver listening to the baby


end of week 27


during week 28 - new years eve

Like I said Im at the end of week 31 now so I will post more pictures soon.

My weight jumped a lot during the 6th & 7th month! (even though I really wasnt eating any different) The doctor said she wasnt worried and thought I was still on track. At our first appointment the doctor told me he thought I would gain about 50 pounds! Yes, you read that right. I could understand that if I was underweight to begin with. But I wasnt. For my height (5'2") I was actually at the top of where my weight should be. So Im still not sure why he guessed I would gain that much. (thankfully Im not there yet. Im still on track. But we arent over yet so we'll see) I'll keep you posted.

I did read this in one of the emails I received - "Shorter women, and those who have short torsos, tend to show pregnancy more because there's less vertical room for their baby to fill." That definitely made me feel better because I feel HUGE and very wide!

Other than feeling HUGE & knowing Im only going to double - I feel great though. So I really cant complain. I do see where I am tired all the time and I definitely feel more fatigue than before but Im not in pain and Im still able to sleep well (falling asleep is another story) so Im thankful for those things!

I don't really have any cravings for anything. (bummer - I wish I did) I feel like the baby is sitting on my lungs at all times because Im always short of breath! Even when Im just sitting still. Thats taking some getting used to. And as of a few weeks ago - I can finally take my prenatal vitamins without getting nauseous! (at bedtime) so thats exciting!

Oh and I passed my gestational diabetes test! I kept telling Freeland how thankful I was because I REALLY didn't want to have to do the second 3 hour test. He reminded me I should be thankful because I don't have to change my diet & worry about diabetes - and I am. But Im also really thankful I didn't have to sit for the 3 hour test still!

Phew - that was a lot. If I left anything out let me know! :)

Thanks for all your excitement & prayers for us. We definitely feel blessed.

OH -- I thought of something I missed. So far my belly button is still "in its place" but last night while Freeland was watching my stomach move all around (craziest thing ever) we noticed that my belly button is about to pop out! I promise if the baby kicks hard enough he could pop it right out!

Big Chiz visits the north

Big Chiz is what my dad request he is called instead of "grandpa" but everyone else insist that he will be called "grandpa" - mostly because they know he doesnt want to be.

(Chisum is my maiden name in case there is confusion where that comes from)

Right now my dad is currently on his way to Erie, PA.

You may remember that I saw him just 2 weeks ago - so really this trip is all about Freeland, not me. My dad hasnt seen Freeland since last MAY! (even though Freeland was in Tx in Sept for 24 hours we didnt have a chance to see my dad then) So he decided last month to make a quick trip up here before the baby arrives to make sure he got in some quality time.

We're excited that he is coming. We have all of nothing planned for the entire weekend but it should still be fun.

We will also be celebrating Freeland's birthday again since there is family here to celebrate now! Dont you love when birthdays get to last this long??! I do

PS - remind me to tell you the joke we are playing on my dad. (camille - it was your idea if you remember)

the start of a baby room

the room is actually pretty much finished the only other things we need to get are some pictures for the wall. (and probably some other things but I cant think of anything else so I cant imagine a baby will either)

but this was the start of the room.

thanks to my husband for being a cheap-o like me & honestly for the Lord providing - we have been able to put together this baby room for less than what we originally thought we would spend on the crib alone.

this was the first purchase we made:



note: sam is hiding underneath the dresser. she is camera shy



it was originally a "vintage" yellow. but the perfect size. a little girly? maybe. but it works in the room & it was only $35.00

can I get an amen.

then freeland fixed it up & painted it



now it looks so fresh & so clean clean



I actually loved it in the yellow & hated to paint it kind of.

But white works much better for his room & I still love it just as much.

We rearranged the room so once I take some more pictures I will post those too.

PS - as of yesterday I am officially in my 31st week. Almost 8 months!

sleeping, dreaming, and possibly snoring

well I have reached that point where I either sleep forever and cannot seem to get out of bed or I lay in bed for hours without being able to fall asleep.

Thankfully Im still somewhat comfortable in bed. (unless there is a HUGE cat trying to sleep on top of me) so I cant complain too much.

Dont get me wrong I feel like I could fall asleep at any point during the day if someone would let me. Unfortunately its not okay to actually sleep 24 hours a day.

I forgot to mention that I had a dream about our son a while ago. First let me say my dreams have always been strange & Ive always been able to remember most of them even before I was prego. But holy cow the second I started this whole thing my dreams stepped it up a notch. Seriously. I could write an entire blog on just my dreams but then you would realize how strange I am so I wont. Just know that apparently when you are prego anything goes in the dreams department.

Back to the dream about our son. I was in labor. And for some reason I was in labor at Lecom. (Freeland's school - which is not a hospital btw) The room I was in had windows all along the wall. Not windows that were looking outside with a beautiful view - nope.. these windows faced the hallway so everyone could see in (wouldn't that be lovely if labor & delivery rooms really were that way) So in my dream I knew everyone walking by the room. Note: I was IN labor - and I was also sitting with my legs up (ie: giving them a show) ready to push & everyone was walking by as if this was normal!

The only people in the room with me were Camille & Sarah Allen. (her husband is now in his ER residency in Texas) Sarah was going to deliver the baby. I asked if she was sure she wanted to & she said "yes, trust me, Josh has told me how to do this 100 times Im a pro" and that was enough. I trusted her. She told me to push.

And literally 5 seconds later I was holding our son.

I remember thinking "gosh why does everyone say this is hard - I dont even know what I just did & its over" .. everyone was still walking by outside just watching. I was waving to a few of them that I knew.

And I kept looking at our son waiting for Freeland to get out of class so he could come meet him.

Then I woke up. The worst part is I cant remember what he looked like.

But it was fun to have a dream about him. If only labor really was that easy.

And I always heard that it would be possible that I might start to snore. I was determined that I wouldn't be that person. Until the other morning. I literally woke myself up snoring. I jumped & Freeland was just staring at me... I apparently also woke him up with my snoring too.

lovely.

New Years Eve 2009

New Years Eve was celebrated once again at the Lee's house

(same house different floor)

the night included -
friends:


note some people are missing from this picture

girls yelling at Freeland because he takes pictures before we are ready:



sushi:



and lots of other yummy food

boys playing cards



of course - Rock Band (all night long):







Sierra, the dog, playing with balloons:



Champagne:



The Lee's Famous Balloon Drop:





Ringing in the new year:



Dancing:



More Wii

and some serious golf swings on Wii golf until late in the night



at least thats all I took pictures of.

Note: what was not photographed - midnight kisses, babies sleeping, christie's decorations, chowing down on food, disco balls, lots of snow, & staying until 2:00 in the morning.

Sweaters & Spirits Christmas Party

a month later. Here are some pictures from our party


I wore the typical sweater & sweater vest. But Freeland went as Cousin Eddie from Christmas Vacation (fast forward to about 5 minutes in the video to see)

fake turtle neck, green tight pants, see through sweater & white leather shoes included! It was perfect.

Here are some more pictures from the party:





little munchkin came ready to party too


everyone brought yummy food with them. I didnt make all that! :)



after everyone snacked on all the yummy food we did a wine tasting



then we had some live entertainment


sarah & camille singing and playing the piano

and then Drew (who is the best person in the world at coming up with games & being in charge of them) put together some friendly games for us to play.

And by friendly I mean seriously intense competition between the girls & guys ..



First there was the candy cane pass:





Then the one where you had to wrap a gift with one hand behind your back:







then a word scramble:





then another one where you had to unwrap a gift with stockings on your hands:





and at that point it was a tie between the girls & guys (mostly because the guys were cheating .. Im just saying)

so the only option we had left was to have

A DANCE OFF.

Here are just a few of the pictures:












the tiger woods









in the end - the girls won!

and the boys STILL werent satisfied so we did one more game. We made snowmen





and after the judges took a few minutes to discuss .. the girls won AGAIN

so we carried around Nataliya as our trophy to celebrate during the closing ceremonies:





It was seriously so much fun. I love when all of us get together and just get to hang out. Its such a fun group of friends! And at the time it was a nice break before exams started.



obviously there are SO many more pictures. (ie: the more umm embarrassing pictures) If you want to see more click here