FAMILY: Ethan Goeken
I am putting this under family because I don’t consider this to be work.
A while ago, I was approached by Ky’s brother, Troy, to take pictures of their family. I was very excited at the prospect and grabbed at the chance. He said they wanted to have pictures done outside, somewhere in the mountains. I thought that was fine. He just needed to let me know when and where, and I’d try to work it out. We decided to go to Rocky Mountain National State Park on a Saturday morning.
That was a lot of fun, and the pictures turned out pretty well. So when he called me to have me take some of their three-week-old Ethan, I knew I couldn’t turn him down. I went to the fabric store and got some black fabric and headed over to their house.
Troy wanted a specific type of picture done, so we began there. We worked inside with little light, so it was very difficult to get a good picture. My shutter speed was quite slow, the highest being 1/20 without being TOO dark (although they will all have to be lightened up), and since they’re portraits, I didn’t want my ISO to be anything but 100.
I’m working on getting a photography website up for myself, so I will update with a link as soon as I do. And, if Troy and Suzanne let me, I will have a few of Ethan’s pictures up to showcase what I captured.
FAMILY: Profile Photos
Here are some profile shots of my belly getting progressively bigger. I will post more as the pregnancy goes along.
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- October
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- November
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- December
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- January
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- February
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- March
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- April
FAMILY: Build-A-Bear
Ky and I spent a very long two days at the mall. Well, it seemed like we were there for two days straight, but we really only spent about six to eight hours there.
Yesterday, we took Bella to the Build-A-Bear workshop as promised from Christmas. We must have spent about two and a half hours just trying to decide what she wanted and what was in our budget. She did really well. And although she wanted more than we could afford or allotted for her, she didn’t complain when she couldn’t get them. We told her we just couldn’t afford a lot of things at that point and said we might go back later, and she was very understanding. That was very cool.
She ended up getting a brown bunny with a Hannah Montana shirt and jeans, some white bows for the ears, and a life-like beating heart, which is actually kind of creepy. But she loves it, and we really enjoyed the day together.
Today we went with Jaina. She is so precious. She sang a song, not sure of what the actual title is, but it goes “Deep and wide, deep and wide, there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide” the whole way there. That’s all she knew of the song, and she just kept repeating it over and over again. Very cute, especially in her high-pitched, three-year-old voice.
She didn’t have that much trouble picking her stuffed animal. After seeing her big sister’s bunny, she knew she had to get the same thing. And that was okay with us. We did talk her into a different outfit than Bella’s, though. We knew it would cause problems, and we didn’t want any confusion between them. She instead got a pink Hello Kitty shirt and a little pink mini skirt with pink bows on the ears, a pink collar, and the same life-like heart.
We took each of them to dinner as well, so we got more time with them than just shopping. It was nice to sit down and talk and interact with each other. Bella is such a great storyteller. She loves to tell stories. And Jaina is such a goofball, she just likes to have a good time.
We really enjoyed the days with the girls, and although they were long and somewhat tiresome, I wouldn’t mind doing it again someday.
FAMILY: Christmas!
Christmas was such a blast! We had such a great day. It was rather long, as it always is, and I didn’t get near enough sleep, but it was totally worth it.
We got to my mom and dad’s house around 9:30am (only to discover that Ky left my gift at home and had to go back to get it). As soon as he got back, we did our traditional walk down the stairs, although it wasn’t in age order like it should have been, but I’m just knit-picking.
We opened our stockings next. I love stockings because my mom (aka Mrs. Claus) usually gets pretty creative and personalized stuff for us. This year was no different. And we have a lot more people than we used to have, too. In age order: Dad, Mom, Dave, Colleen, Kevin, Kris, Ky, me, Bear, Bella, and Jaina. It used to be just five or six of us. Next year, we’ll have our own little baby to add to the mix!
After stockings, I kind of rested (cooking a baby is tiring!) while my dad and brother cooked breakfast. Bacon, eggs, and sausage. Yum! I actually ate this year! I’m almost never hungry at breakfast on Christmas, but this year was different since I’ve got another mouth to feed. After breakfast, we all ambled into the family room where all the presents were while restlessly waiting for my mom to finish the dishes, as she always does. OCD, what can I say?
We spent a few hours opening gifts, although not as long because everybody was just slightly short on money this year. Either way, I was able to get something for everybody, and I’ve never been able to say that before. I got Ky an XBOX 360, my dad and brother got a train poster, my mom got a puzzle, Kris and Dave got a voucher from us for tickets to see a show at the Heritage Square Music Hall, Bella and Jaina each got vouchers for a Build-A-Bear stuffed animal, and Karen, Kev and Colleen all get something later (can’t say what it is in case they’re reading this…it’s still a surprise).
I got some wonderful things too, including a beautiful necklace (two actually) from Ky, a scanner from my dad, several maternity shirts from my mom and sister, and other things. Can’t really remember right now what all I got and from whom. Don’t really care, actually. I know I got some great stuff, but mostly I had a great day spending time with everybody.
After presents, we had some delicious turkey, played some Trivial Pursuit, and then we came home. All in all, it was a really terrific day.
FAMILY: Ultrasound Picture #2
Here’s the second ultrasound. Luckily, they used the gel on the belly this time. No more alternate route for me!
Hello baby!
FAMILY: New Ultrasound Picture!
So we went to the doctor today, and we had our very first ultrasound done! It was so exciting! And although it wasn’t exactly comfortable (didn’t do the gel on the belly thing, had to go a different route…), as soon as I saw the little bean in my belly, I forgot all about the awkwardness of it. Amazing what a little miracle does to you.
November Ultrasound
FAMILY: 7 Weeks!
I’m not sure how many people read this blog, so I hope that nobody that we haven’t told personally reads this. If so, I’m really sorry and I hope to let you know about it all in person anyway!
I had a doctor’s appointment scheduled for today about two weeks ago just to get a general physical and pap done. I hadn’t started at all this month and was going to ask the doctor about it. I had taken, count them, FOUR pregnancy tests and ALL of them turned up negative. So I was sure that I was just missing this month because of stress. I’ve got a lot going on.
So I go in to see the doctor. I get my pap done. She tells me that we should do a pregnancy test again just in case. I didn’t think it would be any different but thought it a good idea anyway.
While the pap wasn’t very comfortable to do, it was completely erased from my mind when she came back in and said that this test was positive! According to the first day of my last period, I’m about 7 weeks pregnant right now.
FAMILY: Fourth of July
Wow. What a day! Okay, I got to my parents’ house around 1:30 in the afternoon. I didn’t expect anybody but my mom and dad to be there and, sure enough, nobody was. I was actually surprised that my brother showed up only about an hour or an hour and a half later. But that’s beside the point.
There was a lot that happened that day, but I’m not going to get into it. There’s no point, and everything is all better now. Let’s just say that the day was quite a roller coaster.
But I was really happy and excited most of the day. I love it when I get to see Dan and Nancy and Erin and Milton and Sophia. We only get to see them on the Fourth and Easter, usually. Sometimes more, but not usually. So I’m always excited to get to see them. And even though I hadn’t seen them since April and was totally excited to see them, I was at least as excited, if not more excited, to see Ky’s parents come over for dinner! That was awesome. The only downside was that Ky couldn’t be there. He had to work. I really missed him, too.
Let’s see here, here’s a list of all the people that were there: me, Karen, Kris, Megan, Grandma Betty, Mom, Dad, Kev, Colleen, Bella, Jaina, Dan, Nancy, Erin, Milton, Sophia, Mark, Margie, and Bethany. That’s nineteen people! It’s been a long time since we’ve had that many people at our house. It was a really great day, though, overall. The fireworks were awesome. The best I’ve seen them in years! We usually go to Loveland, to Dan and Nancy’s, for the Fourth and they come to our house for Easter. But this year we switched it up. And although I love Loveland and I love going to Dan and Nancy’s anytime, I’m kind of glad that we saw the fireworks here. Loveland’s just couldn’t compare to Arvada’s fireworks!
