It's Been Awhile!

It has been a very long time since I have blogged! We have been sooo busy around here! We have not had a free weekend since the beginning of November ... I asked Erik the other day if he thought that we would have at least one free weekend before Baby Baratie is born ... he said that he wasn't sure! We are getting ready for Christmas ... the trees and the decorations have been up for weeks ... but there still aren't any gifts wrapped ... actually there aren't many gifts bought yet! I have a busy weekend ahead of me! Although we have been really busy lately, we have had the chance to spend lots of time with our family and friends (which has included LOTS of trips back to the Valley) ... which has been wonderful!

This week has been a pretty big week for Erik at work. National Geographic is at the prison filming for a special that they will be airing ... and today and tomorrow they are filming Erik! Unfortunately, he won't make his "HD TV debut" until 2011 or 2012 ~ they said that they won't be finished with the program until then ... so we will keep you all updated on the air date!

Just wanted to write a little update while I had a free second ... I will post more later!

An Eventful Week!

Jenna in her new glasses :)

Erik's scary pumpkin!

Erik's pumpkin is the first one, Jenna's is

in the middle and mine is the "It's A Boy" pumpkin!

22 weeks and 1 day

As most of you already know, we had an eventful week at our house! Probably the biggest thing that happened is that I was in a minor car accident. Somebody hit me while I was stopped at a stop sign. Not very much damage to the car, and I was feeling fine until the next day. The next day my OB sent me to Labor and Delivery at Riverside because I was having cramping and hadn't felt any fetal movement. All turned out to be fine ... and we got to see our little guy flipping around on the ultrasound ... that's right ... we accidentally found out that "IT'S A BOY"! We are very excited ... and Jenna cannot wait for her little brother to arrive. He is moving around a lot ... or should I say, I can finally feel all of the moving around that he is doing! Erik and Jenna have also been able to feel some kicks!

Also, Jenna found out this week that she needed glasses. She was sooooo excited and said that "this was the day she had waited for her whole life"! Her glasses came in on Friday and so far she is loving them ... and she looks super cute wearing them. :)

On Saturday night we listened to Halloween music and carved pumpkins. We each picked out our own design ... and Jenna did a great job! This was the first year that she carved her's almost completely by herself! We are looking forward to Trick-Or-Treat on Thursday evening. Our neighborhood has tons of kids and Trick-Or-Treat is a big event here ... so we are very excited! Jenna is going to be a candy corn witch this year, so we will post pics later in the week.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Monster Mash!

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/6obYKBiY1YcPRFf4

You have to check this out ... it is hilarious!

The Nursery Is Painted!

We have had quite a busy week! Erik painted the nursery this week ... but it took him two tries! I didn't like the first color, so we traveled back to Lowe's and got new paint. The walls are finally painted and I must say that it looks really good! We put the furniture in the room last night ... but the changing tower has to be sent back because there is a nick on one of the corners and the cabinet does not shut right. So frustrating! Other than that, the nursery is on it's way to being "just right" for our little bundle of joy! I will post pictures of the nursery later.

Jenna and I are both home today from school ... it is a professional development day for staff, so the kids are out of school and I took a personal day. We are going to enjoy a lazy Friday ... which will hopefully include a nap! Erik and I are going to meet a lady tonight who will hopefully end up being our sitter for Baby Baratie. I'll keep you posted :)

19 Week Ultrasound Pics

I thought that I would post our 19 week ultrasound pics ... they aren't great, but you can still see a little bit :) The first one is a head shot ... he/she was looking right at us! If you look closely, you can see both eye sockets and where the nose is ... his/her hand is up by the head. You can't see the body because of the way that the baby was positioned. Hope that you enjoy the pics :)

One Week Closer ...

Well, it is the end of another work week ... and one week closer to meeting Baby Baratie :) We had our 5 month ultrasound on Wednesday ... and everything looked good. The baby weighs about 13 ounces now ... but trust me when I say that I have definitely gained more than 13 ounces :) Unfortunately, we didn't get very good pictures :( I was a little disappointed, but we saw some great pics on the moniter. We are considering doing a 3D ultrasound in about a month ... just because I want a better picture :) As for the answer to the obvious question ... no, we don't know what we are having ... when people ask, I say "a baby" :) Our baby furniture is in, and will hopefully be at our house tomorrow. We have the paint for the walls, just waiting for Erik to get in the painting mood :) I know that we have lots of time, but I just really want to get the room set up!

Unfortunately, Jenna was sick this week. She missed 2 days of school with a fever and a cold ... but she is back to herself now. We found out tonight that one of her gymnastics team members has a confirmed case of the H1N1 virus. We are being extra cautious and praying that we all stay healthy here. Jenna was around her teammate on Monday, so we are keeping a close eye on her and are stressing the importance of hand washing and not sharing food or drinks. It is just so scary. We are keeping her teammate in our prayers and we are hoping that she feels better really soon.

We are looking forward to a quiet weekend ... which is much needed!

A GREAT Fall Weekend!

We had a GREAT weekend at the Baratie house! On Saturday, my sister, Lance, and the kids came up to visit. Nikki and I (and Leila too) went to register at Babies R Us ... lots of fun ... but also overwhelming! Erik and Lance stayed at home with Niko and Jenna and watched football all day. On Sunday, we all went to Circle S Farms and picked the perfect pumpkins. The selection was awesome! Niko loved the hay slides and we all loved the pumpkin donuts :) It's so fun having little ones in the house. Niko absolutely loves Jenna and they played all weekend! It was lots of fun ... but I think that we are all exhausted! ... I think that I need another weekend!

This week should be pretty eventful for us. We have our 5 month ultrasound on Wednesday afternoon ... we could find out whether we will have a boy or a girl ... but we are going to wait :) Also on Wednesday ... our baby furniture should be here :) I can't wait!

Can you help?

I have a question for anybody out there who might be able to help ... do you know anybody that does in-home child care ... who lives somewhere near where we are?! We had two "potential" sitters that both looked promising, but it turns out that neither one of them are going to work out :( We are so sad ... and now I am getting really nervous! If you know of anybody, please pass on some info!

On a more positive note, we just ordered our baby furniture and bedding collection :) I cannot wait until it comes in so that we can set up the room! It looks like Erik might be re-painting pretty soon :)

Welcome to our blog!

Well, I am going to make another attempt at "blogging"! I pretty much failed miserably at my last attempt, but this time ... I promise to update! We have been super busy here at the Baratie house, as usual! Jenna is off to a great start as a 4th grader, she loves school and everyday we say that we cannot believe how grown up she is! School and gymnastics keeps her pretty busy. She is practicing 12 hours a week ... and still comes home and wants to jump on the trampoline or do gymnastics off of the furniture! She truly loves it!

Baby Baratie is growing away ... and mommy is starting to be able to feel him/her moving around! I am 18 weeks and 3 days ... and am feeling great! The only thing is that by 8:30 at night, I am ready for bed! Baby Baratie went to his/her first Buckeye game this weekend and got to see the Buckeyes "shut out" Illinois! It was a rainy game, but luckily our seats were in "B deck" so we were nice and dry. :)

Well, it's after 8 pm ... time for a shower and then I'm off to bed!