Baby BBQ vs. Hurricane Hannah!

So after a month or two of my parents planning this party with the goal of having a big outside BBQ with lots of games.. we get these reports of Hurricane Hannah arriving at the same exact time as the party..

However, after many discussions with my parents about changing the date we determined we had to go ahead with the original plan.. Of course the morning of the party the news is reporting people should not venture outside unless necessary and there will be lots of rain and huge wind gusts up to 50 MPH.. so the option was give it a go or cancel..

I am so happy to say we gave it a go.. and what a party it was. At times, I am almost overwhelmed at the good friends Danny and I have. We had over 50 people show up including Katie flying in from Chicago, Jen coming down from the Big Apple and both Kirsty and Melissa making the drive in from Jersey... And as a bonus the weather cleared up enough to allow us to go outside and even get a competitive game of Cornhole or "Bags" going.. Some of the highlights were definitely the six pack of Miller lite with bottle nipples, a "cake" made of diapers and an embroidered outfit for Junior with Dan's nickname "D-Unit" on the hat and sweatshirt. Some of the more practical were a bag full of J&J products plus all the fun Pooh stuff for the nursery - hope "Junior" likes Pooh :)

Thanks again to all of you for a day we won't forget! love you all! I will try and get a few more pics from my parents.. as I realize we just did not take very many!

Seattle and Portland Adventure

Click on the photo for the full album

Another 2 states down, 20 more to go! Steph and I just arrived back from a great trip to the Northwest. We were led out to the furthest corner of the continental US for a wedding in Portland for Stephanie Trautman, a good friend and roomate of Steph's from Notre Dame. Since we had to go out for the wedding on Saturday we said, hey, why not just take 3 more days and head to Seattle as well? Sounded good to me so off to Seattle we went. We arrive Wednesday at around 11:00am just in time to catch the mighty Seattle Mariners (that's a joke for anyone who doesn't know baseball) battle the Twins. We got to see a great game and another cool stadium.

We spent the next 2 days touring the city. We visited the famous Pike Place Fish Market, the original Starbucks, checked out the Seattle Music Experience, and took a boat tour around the bay which offered awesome views of the city. Of course we hit a few local Brew Pubs (Steph is a trooper) and sampled the local cuisine. (Click on the photo above for all the pics!)

From there we headed to Portland where we found one of the coolest resorts on the planet! McMenamins Edgefield had a beer garden, brewery, winery, concert pavilion, and 20 hole golf course all within walking distance of each other. Talk about all of life's basic necessities!!! If you are ever in Portland, this is one place you gotta check out. (we found out later that this was one of 60 bars, resorts, breweries that 2 brothers own throughout Oregon and Washington - probably not stuggling to get by).

The wedding ceremony was beautiful (held at an outside Grotto - check out the pics) and the reception was a blast. Free drinks, lots of food, and lots of woman... what more could you want, life is good! :)

-Danny

Another Doc Appt (and my last international Trip..)

Thought I would let you all know that I had another docs appt today and all is well.. except the baby is BIG!! Based on today's sonogram they reconfirmed what Luci said - that this baby is the size of a baby at 30 weeks and 4 days (or due date of Oct. 26th) and not the 28 weeks that I am currently supposed to be at... After much discussion, the doc agreed to move up my first established due date of Nov 12 to Nov. 8th.. but thinks it will just be a big baby (especially based on the fact I was more than 9 lbs when I was born and we know the Spahrs have slightly larger heads :) I will have another sonogram at 35 or 36 weeks just to check on his size at that point. But nothing to worry about :) He did kick all last night which was quite a fun night sleeping..

I am off to Germany tomorrow.. wish me luck on the flights..

WE LOVE IOWA!!

Danny and I just returned from a great weekend in Iowa for our family reunion. From canoeing down the river, to wine night (Danny seemed to enjoy it more than me), to an exciting trap shoot (Congrats Jeff!!), to a great potluck and winding it all up with a firework show that would rival some small towns on the 4th (thanks again Matt).. we again realized how lucky we are to have such an amazing family.
But this year Pam threw a little baby shower for me and I was again amazed at the generosity of all the gifts.. but almost even more fun were the advice cards I got and thought I would put down a few highlights

1) Give them whatever they want
2) Start saving now for college (ouch!)
3) “Kids can be wild and weird sometime so be aware” from a 9 year old cousin
4) Work and cleaning can wait until tomorrow – hugs and kisses can’t ( a personal fave)
5) Dad can learn to change Diapers but Grandpas can’t

There are so many more that I will post a few more next time..

Here are few of my fave pics from the reunion!!!

Lessons Learned….

Danny and I had the fun this weekend of spending time with two couples who both recently had a child. Charlotte is between 3 and 4 months while Annabel is almost 14 months..

Top 5 lessons
5. There is no such thing as a perfect baby product
4. Teaching a baby to sleep through the night requires letting them cry...
3. Breastfeeding is not completely natural and can be quite painful…
2. Learn to take naps whenever you can the first 6 weeks...
1. Our life as we know it is over but it’s all worth it! (Just check out the pictures below!)























Isn't Charlotte the cutest!! Great job - Dave and Jenna!!




Cutest One Year old ever.. our favorite was the Baby Signs...



Please mommy can I stay up just a little bit longer??

















Hopefully we are as good of parents as both of you!! We love ya!

Just checking in..

Just thought I would drop a quick line.. all is well at this point in my world.. Feel good, eat like a horse and besides getting really tired at 8pm and the no alcohol thing.. am starting to enjoy the pregnancy.. Still hard to believe that in about 3 months I will be responsible for baby..

I had the fun of hanging out with Aimee and her little boy, Jake, last night and can't get over how quickly he is growing up.. here are a few of my favorite pics of Jake as he turned one last month..

So nice and clean..

and then the fun begins!!

I WON!!! I BEAT THE CAKE!!

Quick Update: Doc Appt

We had a doctor's appt this morning as a follow up to last week's "fun" visit to the hospital and the doctor said all seems well to her.. the heartbeat is fast and strong at 150 beats per minute (which they say is normal) and she could tell the baby has grown quite a bit since the last appt two weeks ago..
I thought I would include a picture two from our trip to the lakehouse for those few of you who have been asking how big am I - as you can tell from the picture below I am not too big yet but somehow already feel huge :) and here is one of my favorite pictures from the water relay..