Jury Duty

Please allow me to fill you in on my week last week....also, please don't be too jealous!! :)

I was "summoned" for jury duty last Monday.  I was REALLY hoping to be dismissed since I am pregnant (legitimate reason right?), but if anything knew I would be there on Monday and that was it.  WELL I couldn't have been more off...

After sitting in the "juror lounge" at the courthouse for about 2 hours on Monday there was a group of 40 people called to report to a courtroom for a criminal case...as in a MURDER case.  (Those of you in the area, the Brad Cooper trial was adjacent to the courtroom we were in...)  So 12 random names were selected out of the 40, they were questioned by the lawyers, some stayed, some were dismissed, more were called to replace those that were dismissed, again they were questioned, some stayed, some left...this process continued on and on...I just KNEW my name would be called.  Just after lunch, I was asked to report as "juror #7."  I sat in the seat, answered my questions, and clearly had "sucker" written across my forehead because they kept me.  Once all 12 of us were chosen, along with 2 alternates, we were told a little more about the case.  I couldn't believe it!  At that time we were told to plan on being there for 3 or 4 days!  Just my luck!!

I won't go into all of the details of the case because I would be typing here forever.  It was a very interesting experience though and one that maybe I am thankful I had.  The deliberation is the hardest part.  The defendant was guilty of murder, we had to convict him of first degree, second degree, or voluntary manslaughter, plus he was charged with two accounts of child abuse for shooting a gun in his home where his children were.  In the end, manslaughter was the verdict and he was found guilty on two counts of child abuse.

Click here to read about The sentencing

I have to say what I was most upset about was that Friday was to be a day off of school, a random vacation day and where did I spend my day off?  In the courthouse!!!!  Ughh!  I am thankful it is over!  I do feel as though I gave my civic duty though and I had some very nice people on the jury with me as well...so it was certainly not as bad as it could have been!

Catch Up!

With jury duty last week, I am feeling behind on my blogging!  I wasn't getting home until later than usual and felt like the evenings were nothing but a blur.  Here is Reags on Thursday morning, I believe, reading books to Dora while I was getting ready.



Poor Bailey, he doesn't get a lot of peace and quiet these days! :)

On Saturday I went to Burlington to celebrate my friend, Erin, who is getting married in a couple weeks!  It was SOO fun to see a lot of the girls I used to work with, as they are such special friends of mine!  We had so much fun and the food was delicious...let's just say BBK (baby boy Kepplinger) wasn't deprived at all!!

Stef (Swies) and Sandy

Stef, Sandy, Kelly, me, and the Bride-to-Be

Erin, the bride, and I!

Heinz, Keith's dad, and Liz were here this past weekend visiting again on their way back from a trip in Georgia.  It was great to have them and Reagan couldn't get enough of Opa!  Liz and I hit up a great consignment sale on Saturday morning and again on Sunday, when it was 50% off day!  We had lots of fun scoping out the deals!!

Mermaid Dora just HAD to be in the picture!  RMK is also obsessed with purple socks...I don't know why, but she loves purple socks :)

Look at those eyes! 

Reags was also having fun putting on my sneakers and walking around the house in them...it was cracking us all up!

Overall, we had a great weekend!  The weather felt like winter, which wasn't fun, but other than that it was great.  We had a yummy dinner and delicious dessert last night and then today I am home with Reags, which I'm not complaining about at all, other than the fact that I wish she wasn't stuffy and coughing!

We are getting ready for my mom and John to come down on Wednesday night...Keith and I are leaving on Friday morning for our little "babymoon" and I am getting pretty excited!! :)  The forecast is 80's and sunny now, hopefully it stays that way...we are staying here...



Little Man

My sweet little man has been a movin' and a shakin' quite a bit lately and I LOVE EVERY second of it!!  I happened to catch a glimpse of my unmake-up ed, sweatshirt, sweatpant wearin' self today and noticed that my belly is getting huge!!  I can hardly believe I am already 5 1/2 months pregnant and haven't really done anything at all to prepare for this little guy.  I have decided on bedding though and it will match the already blue nursery perfectly.  I can't wait to pull it all together!! 

One MINOR problem...little man is getting Reagan's furniture, which means we need to transition RMK to a big girl bed!!!  OH MOMS!!  HELP ME WITH THIS!!  I am a nervous wreck, but we will probably wait until school gets out so that still gives us 6ish weeks until the baby arrives to transition...she will be 2 then, so hopefully it's not too soon!?!?

The other day a Kohl's box arrived and I had ordered some sweet little boy outfits and one outfit for Reagan.  I showed Reagan her outfit and she thought it was "ohhh cute Mommy!"  haha...then she pulled out one of the many blue items and said "blue dress Reaggie."  I told her that was an outfit for our baby brother and she said "no baby, Reaggie blue dress."  Oh gracious!  The girl is used to whatever is in the box being hers...time for that mind set to stop!  haha!! :)

I will be 23 weeks on Tuesday!  It is crazy to me how quickly this pregnancy is flying by...and no, we don't have a name yet!!  Still tossing a couple around, but also trying to think of anything new and exciting as well.  As for now, he is just our little man :)

Reading

Reagan LOVES to read...LOVES it!  Well yesterday I was emptying the dishwasher and cleaning up downstairs while Reagan was upstairs entertaining herself (which by the way is so sweet!  I can't believe she is getting to the age where she CAN be left alone for a couple minutes and keep herself occupied!).  I came up to check on her and she was laying on her changing pad, reading to her new Dora doll (that I found at a yard sale on Saturday for FIFTY CENTS!  Best money I've ever spent!!) covered in her "geen bankie" (green blankie).  It was so sweet!!  She was showing her the pictures and talking to her...I just loved it!

Happy Spring!

It's officially spring today!!  Yahoo!!  Yesterday was warmer and sunnier than today, but the trees are blooming, the grass is growing, and it is only a matter of time before the yellow pollen cloud arrives!

Reags wore one of her new spring outfit on Friday and I just had to snap a couple pics...she is such a ham!!



Happy St. Patrick's Day...

...a bit belated I know!  I just didn't have the energy on Thursday night to blog :)

We had a great St. Patrick's Day...nothing too exciting, but the weather was beautiful!!  I was racking my brain for a "green" dinner all day, but when Keith called and told me he had to work late, I was somewhat relieved.  Reags and I settled with some delicious Bagel Bites...very Irish of us right?

Enjoying our afternoon snack outside on the porch!

I just thought Reags was too cute in her special shirt and overall it was just a good day!

What a Weekend!

I think we just had the most beautiful weekend ever...it was SO nice out!  I feel like it was a pretty productive weekend too, which is always a good thing!  We were able to spend so much time outside, which was a lot of fun for all of us.

I don't remember what morning this was, but we had a minute to snap a couple pictures, which is pretty much unheard of for us in the morning!  Reags looked so cute in her little shirt with an alligator on it from Aunt Ellen!!

Friday night Keith met up with some friends to watch the Syracuse game, so Reags and I had a "girls night."  We went to Wal-mart (don't be too jealous) to get a Dora big girl helmet and then went out for pizza.  We had so much fun together!  They had the game on at the restaurant and Reagan said "go pack" when she saw the basketball game on...I called Keith and he was proud :)  On our way home we were talking about our special girls night and Reagan loved getting "pita" (pizza) and "wawa ice big gurl cup."  It's the little things!  Of course it wouldn't be a Friday night if the Mill's didn't stop over.  The girls played for a little bit before Reagan's bedtime and then we rented The Social Network...pretty interesting, what I saw, but I fell asleep after about 30 minutes!  ha!  No surprise there!

Reags was all about "Daddy D" on Friday night...he was reading some books to the girls!

Saturday Morgan came over, we played, ran to the post office, stopped by McDonald's for lunch, ate at the park, played, napped, and played outside.  Nothing too exciting, but still a great day!

Check out that awesome Dora helmet!

Looking TOO cute in her shamrock shirt from Aunt Ellen!!

Today was SOOO pretty!  I was so nervous about the time change, as I have gotten the past 3 we have had with Reagan and she has adjusted just fine!!  She woke up normal time, well 7:30 new time, 6:30 what we were used to.  Keith made us breakfast, did a little laundry, and it was pretty much outside time from then on until lunch, nap, then outside again!  I ran a couple errands during RMK's nap and got home just in time for her to wake up.  We had a delish dinner with the Mills tonight and even ate outside! 

Raggle Muffin, Orphan Annie...take your pick at nick name for this girl!  Daddy picked out the outfit and she just loves her Kai-Lan shirt from Aunt Jamie!  This face is SO Reagan right now and she was parading around in Keith's shoes...she's a mess!! :)

I am exhausted, so I am heading to bed, but I hope you all had a great weekend!!  I kept thinking all weekend how awesome it is to be a mom, seriously, I love it!  Reagan drives me crazy sometimes and her little tantrums, hitting, not listening, jumping on the bed...list goes one and on...requires a LOT of extra patience, but it is all so worth it.  We just are so blessed to have a beautiful little girl (who now likes to eat in her chair at the big girl table and NOT with her tray) and a sweet little man on the way!!

It's A...

BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We really couldn't be more excited about a HEALTHY boy!!!!  I just can't believe it!!  I had a HORRIBLE dream last night and woke up VERY nervous for today, but thankfully that was just my mind playing nasty tricks on me!  What a blessing it is to hear your baby's heartbeat and to hear the ultrasound tech say everything looks WONDERFUL!!  I couldn't stop crying!  The little man is measuring more at 22 weeks and I will be 20 weeks tomorrow, so I am growing another good sized baby...just the way I like them! :)

Sweet little man!

So those of you that know me, will find this very "Steph."  This morning we were running late, shocking I know, and I didn't want to wear blue because if the baby was a girl I would feel bad and I didn't want to wear pink because if the baby were a boy I wouldn't have felt like I had the right color on...crazy, I know!  So I opted for black and white today...well Keith wound up wearing a BLUE tie!!  That was the deciding factor in that it was a boy ;)

Giving us the thumbs up!  Glad he approves of his parents...for now ;)

I just can't describe to you the feeling of knowing I have a beautiful, healthy, baby BOY growing in my belly!!  I remember a few months ago watching Friday Night Lights with Keith and one of the main characters, Vince, just loved his Momma SO much and would do anything for her, I said to Keith that I needed a little boy someday to love on his mommy like that....

I LOVE this one!  His little hand is by his face, just like Reaggie did at this ultrasound!

Reaggie was convinced that mommy had a baby "gurl" in her belly, but she is coming around to calling the baby a baby boy! :)

I'm a BOY!!

I didn't get a CD of pictures this time, like I did with Reagan, so my pictures of the pictures will have to do! :)  Thank you for sharing in the excitement with us, we are just beyond excited!  Keith was sure to have the tech check for 10 fingers and 10 toes too...he is already dreaming of this child's soccer career!! :) 

Happy Birthday to Jamie!

This past weekend my dad and Jamie came down for a visit!  Bless J's heart, all she wanted for her birthday was to come visit Reagan!  Basically, it left my dad with no choice but to bring her down.  The poor thing had a terrible cold, she and Reags made good company with each other!  We still had a great weekend though and were able to take it easy and celebrate Jamie's 27th birthday!!

Reaggie and Grandpa reading her "choo choo" book!

This was too cute...Reaggie was all concerned about Jamie's "boogies" so she was helping her clean her nose.  We were amazed at how compassionate Reagan was with Jamie...she wanted to help her with everything!

Oh Reaggie LOVED her Grandpa!!!

Happy Birthday to Jamie!!

Blow those candles out...it took 3 of us!

Reags thought the cake was "ummy!"

Hope you had a great weekend!!

21 Months!

I am a couple days late, but we had a busy weekend!!  On Saturday, Reagan turned 21 months old!  Time to start thinking about birthday party number 2!!  I recently read a quote that said, "the days may be long, but the years go by quickly."  Isn't that the truth??

This past month Reagan continues to get funnier and funnier...seriously, she cracks us up!  I wish I wrote down all of the funny things that she does, but I just can't keep up with all of that.  Her personality is hilarious though!

A new phrase is "hear it."  If she's watching Dora and they ask where an animal is she will say, "hear it pig."  Last week we had some thunder, that we called "boom boom" and she said she would "hear it boom boom."  It just cracks me up!  She hears the birds, daddy, Bailey, Dora, songs, she hears it all!

Reags has gotten really good at recognizing some letters this month too.  She knows "M" is mommy, "D" is daddy, "B" is Bailey and baby belly (yes, they are combined words), "R" Reaggie, and "P" Pop-Pop.  We were on our way to church a couple weekends ago and we were stopped at a red light next to a Mobile gas station, Reagan kept saying "M Mommy, M Mommy!"  I turned around and said "what Reags," then saw her pointing at the "M" in the Mobile sign...to say we were impressed is an understatement :)  She did the same thing driving by a Rite Aid last week on our way to the doctor, "R Reaggie."

She is also a good counter!  The steps are our favorite thing to count and she really knows that "eight, nine, ten!"  haha...I just love hearing her talk and seeing what all she is picking up on!

Now I realize I have made it sound like we live in never never land with her...NOT so much!  She is a typical almost two year old with her tantrums, getting to be a pickier eater, hitting, you know, all that fun stuff...I try to forget about that and pray that it's only a phase and she'll stay sweet forever!?!  ;)

We are just so proud of Reagan and she just amazes us everyday!  She is going to be such a wonderful BIG sister!!

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY!!

We are SO exited for tomorrow morning!!  My ultrasound appointment is at 8:45 and we can hardly wait :)  Obviously I just want to hear that everything looks great and that the baby is growing as he or she should be, but then hearing if it's a boy or girl will be SO fun!!

I will be sure to update tomorrow with the news!  Keith is already stressing about the nursery, painting...yada yada, such a male right?! 

Also, moms...where do you have the best luck with maternity clothes?!  I am in a funk with what I have and just want to get a couple new things...I ordered a couple things from Target the other day, got a really cute dress from Kohl's today, but just can't seem to find anything that says BUY ME!

Oh Reags...

Well, the sickness continues...all weekend, I kept telling Gran I had a feeling Reagan's ear infection was back.  She seemed fine though and wasn't acting like anything was wrong.  On Monday night I took her temperature and it was 99.6*ish.  Hmmm...she was acting totally fine, so I didn't give her anything for it.  Tuesday morning she woke up warm, took her temperature 100.7* and then I just knew it was an ear infection.  I called school, called the doctor and got us an appointment that morning.  The doctor walked in and said, no joke, "we need to have a frequent visitors program for you guys!"  haha...so sad, but so true here lately.  I feel like they just know when it is me calling...oh well. 

Thankfully she seems to be feeling fine...this is what I got when I asked her to say cheese!

Again, "say cheese!"

Lo and behold that right ear wasn't looking so pretty again...in my "expert" opinion, it makes sense that the previous ear infection never totally went away because Reagan was only on the antibiotic for 4 days, due to the development of a rash.  We got a different prescription, dropped it off, shopped around Walgreens, found a LOVELY Cinderella doll for a special treat that happened to be 75% off, and went home.  (Have I mentioned that Reagan is loving some "cinder-elelelela."  Seriously, she knows when the cat is going to scratch Bruno at the beginning and says "no touch puppy."  She knows when Cinderella starts to cry because of those mean step sisters ripping her pretty dress to shreds...it's pretty precious!)

Notice she LOVES her purple hat!  She was also "rocking" her baby in this picture.

On top of the ear infection she has a very runny nose and a cough now too...poor thing.  I took her to Wendy's to nap today, so I could go to school for a 1/2 day and balled my whole way there.  It is the WORST to have a baby not feeling good and also feeing like you have to go to work...it took me about an hour to finally calm down, I'm a mess.  Poor Ellen got quite the voicemail from me today...could you just picture the ugly crying associated with that??

"Baby mulk"...love this one!

Last night was a rough night of sleep, so I am going to go ahead and anticipate that again...it is a little after 8 and I will be going to bed very shortly, most likely fall asleep while listening to the girls take over American Idol tonight! :) 

19 Weeks!

Yesterday I hit 19 weeks along in this pregnancy and I can hardly believe it!  I think I have opened my "What to Expect When You're Expecting" book once!!  SO unlike when I was pregnant with Reagan, but you are more relaxed the second time around.  I just pray everyday for a healthy baby!!

Speaking of that...I have been baffled how many people have asked me "what are you hoping for?"  I am not trying to offend anyone at all, but I just can't imagine saying I am hoping for a girl vs. a boy or a boy vs. a girl.  My response is, "I am hoping for a healthy baby!" 

I am feeling good at this point!  My belly has really popped in the last week or so and the kiddos at school are starting to look at me like something is going on.  One student's mom actually said to me last night at a meeting, "the kids are telling me that they think you are either getting fat or you're pregnant, so are you pregnant?"  YES!  She said that!!  I think it took me 5 minutes to get my mouth off the floor and then I responded.  Seriously, add that to the list of things you just don't say! 

I think I am starting to feel the baby give me some kicks here and there, mostly at night when we are watching TV is when I feel it the most!  I love every second of it :)

I am in maternity clothes full time now, especially pants.  I could still get by with some of my shirts, but the pants are a must!  Who doesn't love maternity pants?  They really are a wonderful invention and I wish I could wear them all the time! (not really, but it's nice not to feel a roll or two over your pants! ;) )

We can't wait to find out on Monday the sex of this little one...I really don't know how we didn't find out with Reagan.  I am SO glad we didn't and I LOVED being surprised, I highly recommend doing it!, but I am also really looking forward to knowing!  I have my girl nursery ideas and boy nursery ideas flowing and can't wait to get to work!  The debate continues though, to move Reagan into a big girl bed or to leave her in her crib?!  Thoughts?!?!  She will be just about 26 months when the baby is born...