Our Christmas Tree

I thought I better post a picture of our tree in case you don't get over to see it. We picked it out on Saturday and finally got to decorating it Tuesday night. We were hoping to get a smaller one this year....how come they always look smaller when they are outside? Nothing beats a real tree though!

Can you find the kitty? She feels one with nature. ha, ha. Either that or she is sick of us and wants to get wrapped up and given away this year! I hope not. I think she was actually trying to hide from me b/c I had to keep yelling at her b/c she likes to play with the bows on the presents.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my dad's birthday...don't worry dad I won't say how old you are! :o) We celebrated last night with none other than my dad's favorite...chocolate cake and ice cream! It was yummy and it was fun to get together for a late night snack! :o) One of my cravings (which I probably can't totally blame on pregnancy) has been chocolate so our baby will probably take after soon-to-be grandpa (and me)! My grandma brought some pictures of my dad when he was a just a little guy in case our baby looks like him. They were so cute.

Our little miracle

Yesterday we had our 20 week ultrasound...what an amazing thing to witness! It was so neat to see the arms, legs, hands, face, etc., etc. We hear that little heartbeat every month which is awesome but to see our baby was truely amazing! It seemed as if the baby was sucking its thumb...that would be thanks to Brian! Hopefully the baby doesn't have the stubborn Meeuwsen blood too! :o) And we stayed strong and didn't find out what the baby was. The tech did a great job of not showing us those parts! She said we have a VERY wiggly baby that wouldn't quit moving around.

Driving home yesterday I read Borculo CRC's sign and it said, "Thank God today for the gift of life." It brought tears to my eyes. It really sunk in to think that I am carrying a human being inside of me...God is awesome!

Project # 1....complete!

One of the things I wanted to finish up while Brian is gone was to sand and paint the rocking chair that his parents gave us. Here is the before picture with Rylee modeling it. She even helped me sand it down! :o)

And the after picture. If I do say so myself I think it turned out great! I will probably have Jen make me a seat cushion to match the curtains she is making me. She is definitely a BEST friend!

Now on to the next project. I have a couple more things I want to get done this weekend so hopefully I do!

Backyard Wildlife

So this morning I am getting ready and this is what I see out in our backyard!!! I counted about 30 turkeys and there was a deer right in the middle of the mix. Brian is off to hunting camp today so maybe if he doesn't get a deer I just might have to do the deed myself and "provide for the family." Ha, ha...yeah right!

Must be a comfort thing...

In the last couple of weeks we noticed that Lucky likes to lay by our clothes. Not sure if it is our scent that she enjoys or if she feels protected laying next to something. Last night I was folding laundry and she fell asleep right next to the piles. Then Brian came home from basketball so she came in the bedroom and laid on his pants. I know, cats ARE strange creatures but she is so darn cute, how can you resist her?

Little background on our cat--Lucky is probably about a year old. The day after Thanksgiving last year my mom "rescued" her so she thought we should have her. She was probably only about 5-6 weeks old. I was game for having her; on the other hand Brian came home and was NOT happy with me. We always thought we would be the couple that had deprived kids b/c we wouldn't have any animals. For one, I am very allergic to dogs and cats don't bother me near as much so I have always liked them. If you saw how Brian acted with Lucky today you would die of laughter. It's pretty pathetic but he looks for her when he comes home before me! She is very low maintenance. She goes in and out as she wants so no litter box to deal with and she is very good with our neighbor kids. She's not one of those typical cats that you never see around the house. Okay, enough on our cat! Next spring the cat will probably be obsolete and all you will hear about is the baby! :o)

Baby Update

I forgot to post about the most important thing! Yesterday I had my 18 week appt. and all looked good. The heartbeat was 150 (no guessing what this baby is) and all else looked good. I gained back the 2 lbs. I lost so I am still at a net gain of zero which was fine by me and was fine with the Dr. as well. On the 19th I get to go in for my 20 week ultrasound so we are really excited for that!

Oh and congrats to Mark and Vicki on the birth of their new baby girl, Alyssa Joy! Hopefully there are some pics up on their blog soon. We are excited to see her!