Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas 2009!

We hope this Christmas letter finds you well. A lot happens and changes each year and we wanted to share some 2009 highlights with you.

This past April 5th we celebrated our first wedding anniversary! In early March we took a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate the occasion. John had been there several times prior but this was Karen’s first visit. During our five day vacation we stayed at the beautiful Bellagio hotel with the magnificent fountains, saw several shows including the Blue Man Group and “V” Variety Show, walked through many amazing casinos, and went up the Stratosphere.

This summer we found out that Karen was expecting. Baby Lewis is due March 5th, 2010 and we couldn’t be happier. Oh, and our families are pretty excited too! It’s been a pretty good pregnancy so far, once getting over the 1st trimester nausea and tiredness, of course! Baby moves a lot and is already a strong kicker. We’ve just started cleaning out our office which will become the nursery sometime soon after the new year.

John is still working as a Department Supervisor of the Kitchen & Bath and Appliances departments at the Eden Prairie Home Depot. His schedule bounces around quite a bit forcing him to work crazy “retail” hours, but he enjoys his job. This summer John got the opportunity to play softball on a community league for a team called the “Hoppers”. Their team was the league champs and John had many good plays and hits! While John’s not playing he’s usually cheering on the Minnesota team of whatever sport is in season.

Karen is still working in the Account Management department at the Young America Corporation (Chanhassen office) by day and is currently teaching piano lessons on Tuesday nights at the Chaska Music Studio. Karen had several opportunities to perform musically this past year. She played bassoon in the pit orchestra for Chaska Valley Family Theater’s The Sound of Music in February and in our new church’s orchestra in November. She also played piano for several church services and a couple weddings throughout the year.

Wishing you lots of love this Christmas season and throughout 2010,
John, Karen & “Baby” Lewis

29 Week Pregnancy Update

Last Tuesday I had another doctor's appointment and now I start going every 2 weeks instead of every 4. At the last appointment I had the glucose screening test and then just the regular checkup. The Truol that I had to drink for the glucose test actually didn't taste that bad, kinda like a thick orange pop. I just got the call today that the results of the test look normal and there are no signs of gestational diabetes! This is good news especially with all the hassel we're having with my abnormal antibody screens. My hemoglobin is just under where it should be. (The nurse said it should be reading at a 12 and mine is an 11.8. They'll keep monitoring it and I may need an iron supplement but nothing out of the ordinary for late in the pregnancy.)

Everything else read as normal at my exam and my doctor did a pelvis exam just to make sure I wasn't having contractions and that the baby was still where it should be. I was a bit bummed, however, because in the last 3 weeks I gained 6 pounds. I'm up to about 24 pounds gained total. A lot of my maternity clothes are starting to get a little tight but I know this is when the baby is going to start growing pretty rapidly. I think others notice too because almost every day I'll get someone asking me how much longer. When I say "March" I get the reaction of "Ohhh...." Really though, it should go pretty fast after the Holidays.

Friday night I experienced BIB's hiccups for the first time and then again last night. I first thought I was feeling my own pulse but then remembered reading that if I felt steady, rhythmic pulses in my tummy it's probably the baby's hiccups. Last night they lasted a little longer than Friday night and then BIB started moving around so the pulses didn't just stay in one spot but kept switching spots in my tummy. That was pretty fun to experience.

The baby's kicks continue to get stronger and stronger and I think that if BIB could talk to me right now I'd hear, "Hey Mom, I'm running out of room in here!"

Not Me Monday #37

At John's dentist appointment he did not get told that he has a cavity, has to get another filling redone and has a bone chip remaining from when he got his wisdom teeth removed. Looks like three more appointments for him in the near future.

It snowed big-time last Tuesday. I still had to go in to the studio to give my piano lessons and I did have one family call in that they didn't want to go out in the conditions. My drive from Chanhassen to Chaska was a piece of cake - hardly anyone on 212 and the streets in Chaska were nicely plowed. John, however, stopped to make a return at Best Buy after work (right before I was making my commute) and as he was driving home he did not get stuck in a "parking lot" on 212. There must have been an accident somewhere between EP and Dell and that's why I hardly had any traffic to deal with. It did not take John about an hour to get home from Eden Prairie.

I did not get told last Monday that my company has to do more "cost-saving" initiatives for the new year. We still haven't heard yet if it's going to be cut hours, cut pay or head-count reductions. Please be thinking of us.

John just finished up inventory last week. His department did not end up with a .64% swell in inventory for the year. His loss prevention person told him, "John, you've got to start giving the merchandise to the customers after they purchase!"

When I went to my chiropractor appointment on Saturday, my chiropractor did not give me the look like Oh boy, where do I start?! Needless to say, I needed the adjustment, five cracks in all. I still do not feel 100% but I do feel better. There are just a lot of body parts shifting around right now.

Saturday afternoon/evening I was not determined to finish up the bulk of our Christmas shopping and I think we were successful. Just a few odds & ends to get still but for the most part "we're done"!

Sunday we had a mini-cookie baking day at my parents' house with my mom and sister. Rachel was making treats for her college friends. John came over right after work with the intention of eating and running but did not end up staying the entire day!

My grandparents were over at my parents' house on Sunday too and it was so nice to see them. My grandpa had another scare the other week but it was nice to see him with his spunk back. He was sampling all the treats that we made and joking around with the best of 'em. Grandma looked really good too. She still has pain in her arm but thankfully does not have to have surgery, just has to go to physical therapy and get acupuncture for the pain.

Cookie Baking, Recitals, and Lewis Bowling Fashion

Every weekend (especially now that Christmas is getting closer) seems to be packed full of family activities and fun. Last weekend was no exception. John's aunt Kathy hosted a cookie baking party (girls only) for the Lewis women. Everyone brought something already made and something to make that day. We actually ended up with more cookies than that since some people brought more than 2 kinds of cookies! After everything was baked and decorated we put everything on the dining room table and divied up the goodies. It was a wonderful day and I brought home lots of tasty treats for John to enjoy. I put a few pictures below but you can view all pictures from the day by clicking here.

Sunday afternoon was piano recital day for the Chaska Music Studio students. I only had 4 out of my 5 students play but enjoyed listening to students of all the piano teachers. What talented kids!

After the recitals were over I quickly headed over to Eden Prairie where the Lewis clan was bowling for John's sister Dawn's birthday. (Don't worry...I didn't bowl, just watched). A lady a couple lanes over was sporting quite the fashion statement so everyone had to try out the look and see if it improved their game. I think a few more strikes were produced after rolling up the pants. Again, I put a collage below, but you can view all the individual pictures here.

Third Trimester Here I Come!

Within the last couple days I made it to another big milestone in my pregnancy. I just entered into my third trimester. That means I am now 28 weeks pregnant and have about 12 more weeks to go. I cannot believe how fast time is flying. My sister and I were just talking about how these last few months are going to go even faster. Here is our reasoning: December is full of the Christmas bustle and always comes and goes before you know it. January we will be painting, arranging, & decorating the baby's room and going to birthing classes. February is just plain a short month anyways with only 28 days this year! So the baby will be here before we know it! I know with all this going on time will probably start to slow down for me as I get more uncomfortable in walking, sleeping and doing just about everything I do daily.

But for right now I still feel great. The only things I have to complain about right now is that I must have pulled something last weekend in my hips/pelvis because I've had a pain in my right hip for the last week and have literally been painfully limping around. I have a chiropractor appointment today so I am counting on that to get me back in line. What they've told me in the past is that one leg gets longer than the other which makes complete sense as to why it hurts to walk.

I think I still look pretty good for being 28 weeks along. I can tell by looking at my ankles that I am retaining a little fluid but otherwise I have mostly just grown in size in my belly. While I can still squeaze into my pre-pregnancy winter coat I think it's about time to move the steering wheel back a bit since it's rubbing against my tummy, especially when I'm all bundled up. I've been asked quite a bit if I'm having crazings and I am not having any more than before I became pregnant. Breakfast foods like French toast and pancakes are probably the one thing I ask for the most and that's because I like the carbs and putting syrup on them is a treat.

BIB is continuing to get stronger and stronger. The latest thing we've noticed is my stomach getting hard bulges while the other areas are still pretty loose. I guess that means BIB is moving from one area to another. I also had it the other night where I put my hand on my belly and I could feel this lump kind of moving in circles beneath my hand. It just is so cool to know that our little son or daughter is in there!

Oh, and I actually heard back from Dr. Rousy, my blood doctor twice within the last couple weeks. He said that he still doesn't know the underlying cause of the abnormal test results and since I am so healthy he doesn't think we need to be alarmed at this time. I might have to have frequent hemoglobin tests as we near the end of the pregnancy and also send my blood in for type and cross match as we get near the end. I shouldn't need a blood transfusion when I'm delivering, but should have the tests done so they have blood on hand just in case. I also have to go get another antibody test done in 4 weeks just to make sure the antibody levels haven't gone up.

I think that about covers the last couple weeks. Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions on how things are going and I'll be sure to cover them next time.