Hungry?

A conversation between John and me over the weekend. I know it's true, but just was cute how it sounded.

Me: Why am I always so hungry?

John: It's because BIB is eating all your food!

In Everything, Give Thanks

I know it's several days past the holiday, but wanted to take a moment to share some pictures from the Lewis family Thanksgiving celebration as well as a few Thanksgiving thoughts.

Here's a picture of John holding our now one month-old niece, Alexa.


The Lewis "kids". It was such a gorgeous day out!


Mama & Papa Lewis (after all, we couldn't let them get a picture of the kids without having to get a picture of their own!)


To view the rest of our Thanksgiving photos, click here.

This year in particular, we have so many things to be thankful for. Even though Thanksgiving has come and gone, it's not too late to stop and say "Thanks":

• We are thankful for our loving families and the many friends that are in our lives.
• We are thankful that we and our families still have our jobs while people all around us are suffering from unemployment.
• We are thankful that we are being given the chance to become parents. In just a few short months baby Lewis will be here. We're so glad that everything seems to be going well so far. I am also glad that I am have the privilege of receiving prenatal care throughout my pregnancy.
• We are thankful for our new, healthy, baby niece, Alexa, and are excited to watch her learn and grow.
• We are thankful that my Grandpa Gennrich successfully made it through all his operations and treatments this summer. He is still recovering steadily but surely. We are thankful for the knowledgeable doctors and staff who were able to care for him during his many weeks in the hospital. We are also thankful for the doctors who will be working on my Grandma Gennrich during the next couple weeks when she undergoes surgery on her arm.
• We are thankful that, while there are U.S. soldiers fighting overseas, we may live in peace in our country. Also, that we live in a country where there are so many freedoms, including religion.

If you didn't on Thanksgiving, try to take a few moments this week to think of the things you are thankful for.

Not Me Monday #36

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was wonderful. Next stop, Christmas! Here's the Not Me's from last week.

I am not still waiting to hear the results of my blood tests from the 19th. I am assuming that no news is good news.

John (and me too but mostly John) did not overeat at the first meal on Thanksgiving meaning we weren't hungry for the second meal. However, we aren't ones to complain about good food and we definitely had plenty of it on Thanksgiving.

I did not give up Black Friday shopping to sleep in and relax all weekend long. We did make a few purchases like a camcorder and digital SLR camera from Best Buy, however - our Christmas presents to "us". We actually originally ordered a new point and shoot but then decided to upgrade to an SLR. Hopefully I'll have fun playing around with it.

John's departments' schedules did not get rewritten several times throughout the previous couple weeks. This meant that he did not lose his opener for Black Friday morning and have to cover his three departments (appliances, kitchen & bath) all by himself. He did not double his weekly sales plan. He was supposed to sell $90k but ended up with $180k for last week. Way to go!

I did not get lots of extra sleep over my 4-day weekend. Why is it though I was still super tired today at work?

We did not put up our Christmas decorations tonight. It's amazing what we can accomplish when there's no new shows to watch on TV!

Pregnancy Update - 26 weeks on the 26th

Thought it was about time for another update on the pregnancy.

On Thanksgiving I hit the 26 week mark - only 14 more weeks to go. And, if you've been paying any attention to the ticker to the right you also will have noticed that I'm into the double digits of remaining days! I know I can make it!

On Thursday, the 19th, I had my blood doctor appointment. He told me that I seemed to be really healthy and he never would have picked me out of the crowd for someone having this antibody problem. But I guess he enjoys a challenge so he had me give 7 viles of blood for sampling. Basically, he wants to figure out which proteins the antibodies are attracted to. I still haven't heard the results of the tests but I will be sure to post once I get the call.

Then, on Friday, the 20th, I had my latest doctor's appointment. The baby's heartbeat was normal and I am also measuring where I should be for this stage in the game. I guess the best news was that so far I have only gained 18 pounds! (Of course, now that we just celebrated Thanksgiving who knows where I'm at!) It was kinda funny because I didn't gain any weight since the appointment before, but I know the baby's growing because I definitely got bigger and the baby's kicking stronger and stronger each day. They say that average weight women should gain 25-35 pounds throughout their pregnancy. I know plenty of people who went over that and it just takes longer to get the weight back off.

My sister stopped by last Wednesday night and she was finally able to feel BIB kicking!

Last Sunday John and I did some major grocery shopping and I think I over did it a little because ever since that trip I have been moving a lot slower and am a lot more tired. It might be time for another chiropractor appointment or maybe it's just because I'm getting bigger!

I have been doing a lot more work in the office, soon to be nursery. We picked out a light olive-greeny paint color that goes really well with the bedding set we're currently thinking of. John was also finally able to run the vacuum across the office floor. Progress is finally able to be seen with my decluttering work.

Here is a picture of me at 25 1/2 weeks for those of you who I haven't over Thanksgiving.

Not Me Monday #35

John did not dress up withthe table decorations at Angie & Jim's wedding Saturday night...


This did not remind me of when he dressed up in the table decorations at his friend Sarah's wedding! Good times!


We did not sleep in on Sunday morning (skipping church) only to run into our pastor at the grocery store around lunch time... whoops!

I did not have to get my car fixed last week. I got two new tires - definitely needed for the upcoming winter - exhaust fixed and new spark plugs. My car starts right up now and no weird noises when driving!

John did not have to work overnights Tuesday and Wednesday of last week which meant that I did not have to spend my birthday night by myself. At least we were able to have lunch together.

I did not barely feel BIB moving all last week. I think it's because I was so on-the-go from Tuesday morning until Thursday late evening. When John and I finally got home from the groom's dinner and I laid down on the couch BIB started kicking again. I think the baby could sense all the stress of the week and was glad I was relaxing.

John and I did not start cleaning out the office to get it ready for the nursery. We worked for a couple hours last night throwing out old paperwork and taking down John's desk. Pretty soon we'll have to pick out a new paint color! Any suggestions?

Angie & Jim's wedding...and John in a suit!

This past Saturday John and I were able to attend my good friend Angie's wedding. Much planning had gone into this wonderful celebration and the big day was finally here. To view all of our pictures from the wedding, click here.


Angie and Jim saying their vows.


Angie asked me to play piano for the ceremony.


John got a new suit for the occasion. He looked so nice!


Family picture... (You might see this again on your Christmas cards...)


"The girls"

Not Me Monday #34

About time again for another one of these Not Me posts to update everyone how the past weeks have been going. So much has happened. Here goes...

When John wrote his schedule for work last week, he did not forget to schedule himself for 5 days and only schedule 3. Whoops! Luckily that was easily corrected.

John and I did not become aunt and uncle last week when his sister Kristin gave birth to our first niece, Alexa Laraine. John was able to go the hospital with his family while she was in labor on Tuesday and visit for awhile. Too bad the baby was born at just after 8:00 when visitation hours ended so all he saw as she was wisked away was her forehead. Alexa is such a cutie and we're thankful that everything seems to be going well so far. We were able to stop in and visit on Friday night with the rest of the Lewis clan. Congrats, Kristin & Patrick!

I was not sick with a bad cold last week. You know it's bad when I had to cancel my piano lessons on Tuesday. Unfortunately, I still had to work because one of my co-workers was out with the flu and it was one of the busiest weeks I've had in a long while. I have Gennrich blood and am tough so I was able to pull through ok.

BIB is not letting me know that he/she is healthy by giving me stronger and stronger kicks every day. I still have 4 months to go...I can only imagine! I really enjoy feeling them, though. It's a nice reminder that there's new life inside me. Also, one of my new pastimes at work is watching my belly move. John is still enjoying feeling the baby kick and has seen my tummy jiggle a few times, too.

Sunday was not our official welcome as new church members of Trinity. They recognized us during the service by having us stand up where we were sitting and then had a luncheon afterwards.

My belly is not growing expotentially...In fact, at Angie's B-party on Saturday night, someone did not ask me when I'm due. When I said I was due in 4 months they confessed they thought I was due next month... :( ouch!

While printing Angie's wedding programs yesterday, I did not have to send John out to Target for ink twice. I guess the last free ink refills we got at Walgreens aren't registering in our printer anymore. It's time to break down and get new cartridges.

We did not put together a really nice and thoughtful Christmas list because we were told they were "due" only to find out that no one else had turned theirs in! Christmas will be here before we know it and I would love to get as much shopping done before I get to the 3rd trimester as I can.

I Feel Great...Too Bad I'm Sick!

I don't know if it was my chiropractor adjustment on Saturday or my new found way of sleeping with a little pillow under my belly, but my body is feeling great lately! I just feel like I have so much energy and nothing hurts!

This weekend had me going between playing in the orchestra at church, going shopping and out to eat with the Lewis's. I was tired at the end of every night and maybe it was the lack of resting that contributed to this lousy cold I have. It started on Friday and seemed to be better on Saturday but came back strong yesterday. The runny/stuffy nose was pretty much gone this morning but left me with a nasty cough and sore throat. You know it's bad when I cancel my piano lessons and can't go to the hospital to see my sister-in-law deliver my first little niece. :( Hence the title for this post. My body feels great and I want to keep moving, but I know the best thing for my cold/cough is just to rest and take it easy.

John has been such a trooper and has made many trips to the drug store to pick up cough drops and approved OTC drugs for me to take (as well following up with me to make sure I take them!) I don't know what I'd do without him! John is at the hospital right now awaiting the arrival of our little niece and we both can't wait to meet her. Yay! (My mom is filling in for John tonight and bringing me homemade chicken noodle soup and Mucinex to try and get me better!)