Happy birthday Gina!!!!

Jillian - Birthday Reminiscing!


Happy birthday Gina!!! I wanted to post a little throwback of memories today! :)
The following video is a snippet from June 4, 2000.  Gina was 18 years old and I was 17 for another 5 days... ;)

LOL.  It was our senior all-night party and we had just had our hair done by the hair-braider! 
My parents actually still have a VHS player that I was able to record that off of! 13 years later, Gina is finally getting that jump-start on the 5 kids she was hoping to have by our 10 year reunion!!!!

Here are a few other photos I dug up... The upper right was when we were 16 and we spent the night dressed up in my mom's old clothes singing kareoke and eating pickles... the pic on the left is how we passed our free-time in 11th grade and the bottom right is my 21st birthday at Champps downtown. :)

 

 

 September 20th is also an anniversary of friendship.  Today we celebrate 13 years of memories with our best buddies from the college dorm days.  Although Andy is no longer with us, I know Gina, Chris and I hold him close in our hearts today and always.  XO

Happiest of birthdays GG!  This year is going to be a big one!!! Heading off to celebrate at Benihana with all of our favorite foods.  Mmmmmm.

Just Because

Gina- Too True

I had to share this one, because it is totally happening to me right now. Damn leg cramps!

Mover and a shaker!

Jillian - 22 weeks

In the past two weeks I have finally been able to feel the baby move!  He is very active in the evenings when I am propped up in bed reading one of the 15 pregnancy books I have piled next to me. :) I like to hold my breath and try to focus in on his flutters.  It is a pretty cool sensation!  

I have started in on my 9th season of singing at the Basilica of St. Mary in downtown Minneapolis as a 1st soprano in the Cathedral choir.  We have rehearsal every Wednesday night and last week when the whole choir started to sing a piece together for the first time, I almost started crying because it was the strongest movement (felt like crazy somersaults) I had felt from this little guy to date.  And the beautiful music that comes from all the talented singers in my choir is so overwhelming.  I always feel so humbled to be a part of such an amazing group of singers and individuals.  Of course at that moment I start envisioning that my son will grow up to be the next Chris Martin from Coldplay, since he obviously already has a deep-found love of music like his mom... :)

I am officially in maternity clothes all the time now and almost feel like they make me look bigger and more pregnant than I look in just a sweatshirt and sweatpants.  I keep getting asked when my due date is and I suddenly feel like January is a ways away....

I have taken a photo in the same outfit, standing by the same wall since I was 10 weeks along.  It is pretty crazy to see the changes along the way!  Here I am in my 21 week photo with my hair all done up for a banquet Eric and I were attending later in the evening!

 

Happy Hump Day!

 

The Dress

Gina - Tying the Knot

My wedding is just 4 weeks away! The best thing happened the other day. My original dress (the really fitted one) was supposed to be in by mid-August. I had to order extra fabric after I found out I was pregnant, so I was really hoping it would arrive on time to make sure it was going to fit. Well, it didn't come in and I was getting very nervous. The lady from the shop finally called me back to tell me that the maker wouldn't be shipping it for another 2 weeks...that's 3 weeks before my wedding! What if I hated it? What if we didn't have enough fabric? I was so upset! So, I told her I wanted to come in to see if they had anything off the rack I could get just in case my dress didn't come in. She agreed and we set up a time for the next day.

When my mom and I arrived to the shop, we were greeted by the new owner of the store. She told us she was very sorry, but she didn't think my dress would be in in time. Now, if I hadn't gotten pregnant I would have been furious! I ordered that dress over 7 months ago and was assured it would be in by August. But, since I have a new body and a baby inside of me, part of me was relieved to no longer have to worry about looking like a whale in that tight-fitting dress. The only issue was finding a dress I loved off the rack. After trying on about 5 dresses, she brought in a dress that I loved on the hanger. Of course, it's not my dream idea of my wedding dress, but it was certainly the best I could find for my circumstance. It was flowy, had an empire waist and just fit me nice. It was a huge relief!! The best part is that is was $600 less than my original dress. The ladies at the store were so nice and felt so bad about the situation, that they even gave me more off the dress! It was a great ending to a very stressful week. I can't wait to be married and I certainly can't wait to meet my little baby. Life is good.

THE BIG REVEAL (Part 2)

Jillian - Boy oh BOY!

 

Sorry about the delay in this post.  The last several days have been eventful, to say the least.

 

This video sums up the big reveal.  I am so happy we caught this on film!



BEFORE

AFTER

 

So fun! Everyone at the party wore their guess!

Right after we cut the cake

Mom and her girls.  Love these reactions. :)

The preggos!

Such a FUN, FUN party!  We are so thankful for everyone that could be there!

On a side note, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my mom yesterday!

 

AND, Happy BIRTHday to my cousin Jess and Jimbo's sweet baby boy (born 4 weeks early)

 

William James Dreischmeier born 9/4/13

6lbs 13oz



16-Week Check Up

Gina - 4 months already?!

Today I had my 4-month check-up. Nothing really significant happened at my appointment, but I did get to hear the heartbeat again! It took a while for the doc to find it, which made me a bit nervous. Once she found it (which seemed like forever) it was about 159 BPM. It once again made my heart melt. I love that sound! It confirms that everything is ok and it is a relief!

Charlie and I signed up for birthing classes today. We start in Decemeber! I also decided to take a breastfeeding class too. What are those like? In my head I picture all of us in the class being topless, practicing with dolls. That is all I can picture! Of course I know that's not what happens, but it still makes me uncomfortable for some reason.

On Oct. 4 we find out the gender of our baby. Most of this time, I have felt like we were going to have a boy, but after my appointment today and hearing the fast heartbeat, I am second guessing myself. Only 5 more weeks and we'll know! Either way, we will be blessed.

Jillian and Eric's party was so much fun! I am so happy that they are having a little boy. You should have seen some of the reactions, especially Jillian's and Eric's parents. They were HILARIOUS, but it made that moment extra special to be able to see how everyone reacted to the awesome news. It would be nice for me to have a boy for him to play with, but maybe a girl would be better. That way they can get married and our daughter's in-laws would also be our best friends. How cool would that be?

I am feeling a thousand times better now. It's crazy how that happens. I have more energy, more of an appetite (I really do crave pickles) and am more pleasant to be around! Let's hope that continues.

Today, I felt the baby move quite a bit! It's the weirdest feeling in the world. Don't get me wrong, I think it is amazing, but to actually feel it moving is quite strange. I hear I'll be able to see a foot or an elbow stick out of my belly eventually. That makes me queasy just thinking about it. This whole growing a human inside of me thing really a lot to get used to. I try and take it one day at a time, because I know in the end, I will have the most amazing, sweet and beautiful baby with the most amazing, sweet and beautiful man. I really am lucky!