The Big 2-7!

Today was such a great birthday! Thank you so much for all the text messages, phone calls, Facebook messages, and cards!! There is nothing like a birthday to remind you of how lucky you are to have so many wonderful friends and family!

Keith and I went to Bonefish for dinner, which was delicious! We had to run to the mall real quick, which was a realization that it was my birthday for Keith to agree to go to the mall with me! :) Then we came home and had a delicious Cold Stone birthday cake, Cookie Don't You Want Some flavor, opened presents, and watched some basketball! It was wonderful :)

Hello Connor Francis Johnson!

I must apologize for the delayed update, our computer was on the fritz with some type of "virus" that thankfully the IT guys at Keith's office were able to help him fix. :) I have been lost without my computer, we're talking I stayed at school until almost 6:00 tonight just to write a couple emails!!! Not to mention, Keith has class on Monday and Tuesday, so the laptop is with him...needless to say I am glad to have the computer back in action!

On Thursday night I left for Colorado to see the Johnson Clan! I was so excited to see Elle, BJ, Sedona, and Scout, but I was obviously VERY excited to meet Connor. He was sleeping very soundly when we got back from the airport, but Aunt Steph just had to hold him for a little while. He is so precious! He showed me around his beautiful house and then his adorable nursery. I did have a slight heart attack when his eyes started twitching as I was holding him and his breathing felt a little heavier, but thankfully his Momma was right there to tell me everything was fine!

We hung out a lot with the Connor man and he is so sweet. He would be the happiest guy on the planet if someone just held him all the time! Obviously that wasn't too much of a problem considering BJ's sister was there and me...not to mention Momma and Daddy! He had plenty of hold time :)

Of course Elle and I were able to sneak out for a little bit to shop for the little guy and our little peanut! It was so fun! We got a LOT of great deals for the kiddos and also just happened to find a few bargains for ourself at the Ann Taylor Factory Store! :) (surprise!! surprise!!)

It was a great trip and it was so wonderful to meet Connor. I kept telling him that his future best friend or best friend/future wife is in my tummy and can't wait to meet him. Is it bad that Ellen and I already have a photo shoot planned for this summer when they visit? The babies will of course be wearing a white outfit with their monogram on it...we can't wait!! :)

We Have a Kicker!

I guess when you reach 22 weeks, you are at the point where you are feeling the baby move A LOT!! I just LOVE it :) This baby is VERY active at night, LORD HELP US!! haha! The little peanut just likes to let Mommy know that he or she is okay and saying hello!

When I was on the plane on Sunday, coming back from Colorado, (see next post!) the baby was kicking up a storm! It was so funny...I thought, okay child, we are 20 some THOUSAND feet up in the air, keep kicking all you want, but nothing else!!

Anyway...the tummy is growing daily and I love it! It is hard to believe it is almost February, which means the months are passing very quickly and May will be here before we know it!!

I Just Realized...

As Keith and I were cleaning up after dinner tonight I realized something...our baby is due on May 31, 2009, which happens to be the FOURTH anniversary of the night we met! I know the chances of the baby being born on that actual day are slim, but I thought that was pretty cool! Also, those of you that know me, know how I am with the number 4! It is by far my favorite number, even my Kiddos this year and in the past would be able to justify that one!! Anyway, just thought that was an interesting little tid bit! :)

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Today we woke up to a wonderful snowy covering on the ground! In the NC state, this is not a common occurance! It was so pretty and so nice to be able to sit and watch it all day...school was closed and Keith's office was closed as well :) Bailey had lots of fun in the snow too! School is already closed for tomorrow. I guess with Keith and I being from "the north" it makes us laugh that a couple inches causes the state to close down! Raleigh seriously has about two snow plows total, so any flakes that fall causes mass panic! I'm not complaining though, I'll take a snow day or two anytime! :)

Bailey was VERY excited to go outside this morning! Once he got on the porch he didn't know what to do, he just kind of sniffed at the snow on the steps until he felt comfortable enough to go down. He hasn't seen snow like this before, but he loved every second of it!!

Look at this little guy! Bailey was just staring out the window watching it snow!! It was hilarious...he even started barking at the snow as if he was protecting us from it.

Here is the little guy playing in the snow today! We took Bailey for a walk to an open field where some birds were trying to find something to munch on...Bailey proceeded to make a game out of chasing the birds away. Needless to say it wore him out, but he loved running in the snow!

Stork Parking!

Let me say that being pregnant has plenty of wonderful perks! Your husband gets you water when you are out, a popsicle when you need one, dinner cooked on nights when you don't feel like it, being the first to feel your baby kick, AND SPECIAL PARKING at Babies R Us!! :)

I was at Babies R Us the other day and saw a close parking spot and zipped right in only to see the "expectant mothers only" sign. It was my immediate initial reaction to say choice words and put the car in reverse. HOWEVER, as I was backing out I realized that in fact I could park there!! What a beautiful thing! I went ahead and pulled back into that spot and very proudly walked myself into the store. I tell you, sometimes it is just the little things that make you smile! :)

Hello Sweet Baby!!!

This is our little snuggley baby! This was our favorite one :)

Today was the big ultrasound day and it was so fun!! I got all gooped up and within seconds we saw the baby! It is amazing how clear you can see the baby and all their fingers and toes. The first thing the ultrasound tech said to us was "are we going to find out what you're having today?" Keith very quickly said, "no" and I agreed, although a little more hesitantly! I really don't want to know, but at the same time it would be fun to find out!

Heather, the ultrasound tech, was taking all kinds of measurements and looking at so many things that were undistinguishable to Keith and I. I just kept asking "and is that normal?" Everything was great and the 4-D ultrasound was the coolest...it actually looked like our baby! In fact, we can already see that the baby has Keith's nose, pre being broken 5 times! haha :)

As Heather was taking all the measurements she had to go "down there" and told us not to look, not that we would be able to tell what anything was anyway! Well she kept calling the baby "she" and then "he", finally she came up with "herm." So all of the pictures that she named on the CD for us were named "herm." We thought that was pretty inventive...although I'm sure not the first person to hear that from her.

Oh the funniest part was that our little peanut weighs a whopping 15 ounces, as opposed to the 10 ounces that is "normal" for 21 weeks!!! I guess I am porking this baby right up...I weighed 10lbs. 5oz. and Keith weighed 8lbs. 2oz., so it looks like this is going to be a big baby!!

21 Weeks!

Well here we are...just over the half way point!!! WOW! This is so hard to believe :) In the past week I have really been feeling the baby move more and more, which is an amazing feeling. It is now just feeling like little taps on my stomach, I love every second of it. Keith hasn't been able to feel it yet...he's trying, but no luck!

After reading my email yesterday about what "21 weeks means" the baby is now the size of a banana weighing 3/4 of a pound and measuring about 10 1/2 inches!! This week their little eyebrows are growing in and eyelids are now present.

I have to say that I am feeling really great right now! I am getting more and more excited, especially as my tummy is getting bigger and bigger. We are making final touches on the nursery plan and hope to get to that in the next few weeks! So many changes are about to come and we are excited, but I think I get a little more nervous about them as Keith is getting more relaxed.

Today is a big day!! It's the ULTRASOUND day!! FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to post some pictures of our little peanut :)

Fly Eagles Fly...Kinda!

Sadly today we watched the Eagles CHOKE at the end of the game after a comeback! SOOO FRUSTRATING! Bailey was even excited for the game with his green and white bandana from Petsmart. :) This little peanut in my belly was kicking and I think just as excited about the game as Mommy and Daddy were!! Good thing Grandpa (my dad) got an Eagles onsie for next years football season...he or she will be set. We'll hold out hope for next year...

Little Fluttering!

The past few nights, as I have been laying on the sofa, I have felt some "flutters" in my tummy. I am going to go ahead and say it is the little peanut squirming around in there and trying to get comfy. If in fact what I am feeling is the baby moving, it is the strangest, but most wonderful feeling! It literally feels like there is a little butterfly in your stomach and it is just flying around!

I am getting so anxious to start feeling this baby moving all over the place! Here's hoping it knows to move during the day and not at night time...haha!! Just kidding, I won't complain! The ultrasound is just over a week away and we can hardly wait!

Some Bloggy Changes!

All I can say is HALLELUIAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been trying for WEEKS to change this blog background (thank you Ellen for the wonderful website!) and it has been the death of me! In the process the formatting of the blog was lost, so was the "poll" of what Baby Kepplinger is going to be! I hate that I lost that, but it just means that you will have to vote again...the first time was a trial run! :)

After falling asleep to Keith and Michael playing poker until who knows when last night, getting up this morning to work on the blog seemed like the right thing to do! I know both boys will be THRILLED to wake up and find out that I have successfully updated the blog to my likings!!

The Kiddos Know!

Today was the official day of back to the grind! What a sad morning it was to have to be up and at 'em and off to school. It was a fun day though because I got to tell the kiddos that their teacher is having a baby!

We did all of our "routine" stuff this morning and then I asked them if they ever played Hangman before. Several had, so I put the blanks for "I am having a baby!" up on the board and they had to guess the missing letters. It didn't take them too long to figure it out and they were pretty excited. I had told them they were either going to ask me if I ate too many Christmas cookies or if I was pregnant sooner or later! :) They were sweet at first and said, "what?!? we can't even tell!" (By my outfit today I guess you couldn't!) Then they were talking about how I have a NAKED baby in my tummy and how funny that was...oh gotta love 8 year olds! haha!

They told me they are going to give me some name suggestions, so that should be interesting as the year progresses. I'm sure they'll come up with some cute ones!

As the day continued the class had a lot of fun telling everyone that "Mrs. K is having a baby!" It was cute and I know they are excited. One girl even said, "we'll have to be really good now so we don't stress you out and the baby." I told her that sounded PERFECT to me and then five minutes later she was calling another boy in the class names, so that didn't last too long, but it's the thought that counts! :)

Marley and Me...

Bailey

Well yesterday Keith and I made the mistake of going to see Marley and Me...well maybe I wouldn't call it a mistake, because it was an adorable movie, but we BOTH left the theater balling our eyes out!!

As many of you know our little dog, Bailey, is technically our first child. He is just over 2 years old and we think the sweetest little man in the world! Watching that movie just made us think about how special he is to our family and how great he will be when the little baby arrives. (We're hoping he is good...he is certainly going to be jealous!)

One part inparticular that got me was when Marley was waiting at the bus stop for the boys to get home from school and they just knew he would be there everyday...that's how we know Bailey will be too! He will just wait for his brother or sister to get home and be so excited! I know he is also going to be the doggie that trys to eat the birthday cake off the highchair tray and that our baby will feed their vegetables to him too! It is just amazing what a huge part of your life your dog becomes. This movie helped us to feel "normal" considering we also treat our dog like he is a human!

I know, I know, Bailey is a dog! However, he is our first little dog and the sweetest one there is! We love him to pieces and just a word to the wise, if you haven't seen Marley and Me yet...be sure to take a pack of tissues with you! :)

Happy New Year!

Happy 2009! It is so hard to believe that this is the start of a brand new year, a brand new BIG year! I am already thinking how quickly these next few months are going to go by! It is so hard to believe that in just 5 months Keith will have graduated from State, YEAH!!!!, and we will have a baby!

Last night we had friends over (Jeff, Steph, Hill, Jeff, John, Andrea, Heather, and Bret). It was so fun! We had a nice dinner at our dining room table, first time that's been used and even used the china! :) Then we just hung out and chatted until that clock struck midnight...to be honest, I just wasn't sure if I was going to make it, but did with flying colors! Steph Davis and I had a special "Pregnant Girls Cocktail," which was water on the rocks!!

Of course this morning we had our annual Catchphrase Tournament with Hill and Jeff. After seven rounds and re-devising our rules, Hill and I won! So now the boys have to plan a one night getaway for us around Valentine's Day!! Keep in mind Hill and I have won 3 out of 4 years now...sorry boys! :)

It was a sad day to take down all of the Christmas decorations, but what was so strange was not putting them back in the closet they came from. That will soon be a little peanut's closet, so the clearing out of Mommy's holiday decor must begin! Poor Daddy just doesn't know what we're going to do with all of it, but we will find a home for it all! :)

We wish you a HAPPY and HEALTHY 2009!!