Pregnancy pics...

Baby fairy strikes again......

Its been awhile since we've heard from the baby fairy, but tonight he/she struck again. We came home to a package with a return address of the Al McGuire center and containing a note that read:

I bet you "can't help falling in love" with our little girl! She can hear your voice and even music now...I bet she'll like to hear one of daddy's favorites through mama's belly with these headphones. Love, Prayers, and "Best" Wishes, The Baby Fairy

It included some headphones and an Elvis lullabye CD! Too cute! Our wedding song was "I Can't Help Falling in Love with You" and whoever this baby fairy is certailnly has a good memory!!

The Beckers were nice enough to come over tonight and take some pregnancy shots of us. Ben and Corie make a great team & we can't wait to see the final product. It was a lot of fun and I'll be sure to post pics soon!!

I've got a big weekend coming up - I'm heading up to Little Chute for my baby shower! I can't wait to catch up with my girlfriends & show off my chubby preggo belly;)

29 weeks

28 weeks

Getting bigger every day!!

Me & Rachel with my singleton 28 week belly & her triplet 17 week belly. I don't think it will be long before her belly is bigger than mine!! Rachel is a dear friend of mine that I met at my infertilty support group a little over a year ago - she too was in the early stages of embryo adoption when we met and its been so awesome to have someone to go through this with! God is so good at bringing the right people into our lives at exactly the right time - she is such an answer to prayer!! Despite a rocky start to her pregnancy, all 3 babies (one boy & twin girls) are doing great.

The crib!

The room is starting to come together very nicely!! Tomorrow Grandma and Papa Janssen are coming to visit us - I'm excited for them to see the room in person and to utilize Grandma's skills to make some curtains and a blankie!

My thoughts for the day.....

Ok, I’m not much for writing on this blog – but it is a blog and I think you are supposed to write on a blog from time to time vs. just posting cute baby pics:) Today I have something on my heart so I thought I’d give writing a shot. I’m not sure how many of you reading this have ever struggled with infertility or know someone who has – but it seems all of us know someone who, after trying for years and years either a) decided to adopt or b) decided to move on without having a child and subsequently became pregnant. Just today I got an email from a good friend of mine that had decided to move on after trying for years to add to her family. A few months later - she’s pregnant! I’m thrilled for her! The best part of it is – it’s a total miracle baby.

However, I know that this will just fuel the fire for the common reaction we infertiles hear too often. There is nothing worse to hear this news and have someone say to us– see you just need to relax & you will get pregnant, too. First of all, telling an infertile woman (or couple) they need to relax is placing #1 – more pressure on them and #2 – blame. Most infertile couples have a medical issue surrounding their infertility – there is a reason they are having difficulty getting pregnant and most likely, it isn’t because they can’t seem to relax. By telling them they need to just relax – you really are telling them it is their fault they aren’t getting pregnant in the first place.

Even more importantly, crediting these pregnancies to “relaxation” totally takes the credit away from God. All babies are miracles, no doubt – especially after actually experiencing pregnancy – I am amazed by the entire process. How could anyone but God come up with something like this? Its amazing. Couple that with a medical issue that makes it more difficult, if not nearly impossible to have children and wow – an even more amazing miracle! I think that in giving the parents any credit for just “relaxing” is taking credit away from God – the true giver of this gift and the one that should be thanked and praised in this all.

So next time you meet someone that opens their heart and shares their desire to have a child, please think twice about telling them the story of someone you knew that “just” adopted or “just” relaxed or “just” went on vacation and got pregnant. You may think that you are giving them hope, but trust me, you are likely doing more harm than good. The best thing you can do is pray for them – that God would be using their situation to draw them closer to Him and that, if it is His plan for them, that He would knock everyone’s socks off with the gift of a miracle baby!!

27 weeks

Late Night.....

I don't know where he found the energy, but after getting up this morning at 5am to get into work early, coming home and painting all day, Brad decided to put the shelf together tonight too:

Doesn't it look nice??

And now, its 11:35pm - time for BED!!!

The finished paint job!

Stripe #1 - a success! Time to start taping......

And taping......

And measuring....

And more taping.....

Looks like a prison in there!! I think the boys are starting to think it feels like one, too!

Bugsey supervising the finishing touches....

Tada!!! The proud (and tired) daddy!!!


8 hours later, they finish!! Thanks daddy & Papa Best!

Time to start putting furniture together!!! Sounds like a project for tomorrow:)

A video of Kenna in 3D!!

Introducing.......

Baby Makenna in 3D:

She looks so sweet and innocent in this one!! She kept putting her hands over her face - she's apparently pretty bashful:)
Isn't this technology AMAZING?

At one point, it almost looked like she was chomping away on her umbilical cord.

Trying to hide from us again....

She's sticking out her tongue in this one - we could actually see it in motion when they took the picture, so it was fun to see her playing with her tongue and "drinking" the amniotic fluid.

Her spine & ribcage - this one was really cool - they could zoom in and rotate it around to see everything from any angle.

So sweet!

Her little feet are already 2 inches long!

This one is my favorite - she's smiling! She's totally smiling!!

Time to paint!!

Priming - check, coat #1 - check, coat #2 - check..... Time to start taping for the stripes & then on to the last round of paint!! Brad and his dad have been working hard getting the room ready. We picked out 2 shades of pink & are planning on doing vertical stripes on 3 of the walls and keeping the wall shown here solid pink. This is the wall Makenna's crib will go on and Brad has a little something up his sleeve for what he's going to paint on this wall. Any guesses??? Here's a hint - Makenna's initials are__ __.

Somehow we've managed in the business of tax season to finish picking out & now buying nursery furniture now we can't wait until the room is all painted so we can start setting up the crib & bookshelf and move everything in here. I think Brad and I both could use just a few more hours in each day!

I'll post more pics as we progress - hopefully not too much longer!!

26 weeks

Big week this week!! Yesterday marked 100 days left until my due date - we're down to double digits!! Thursday we have our big 3D/4D ultrasound - we're SO excited to see our little girl!! I'm also done with the 2nd trimester and moving on to the third - this pregnancy is flying by - part of me just wants to enjoy this pregnancy as long as I can and part of me can't wait to meet my little girl.

25 weeks

25 weeks already! My how time is flying by. Today Kenna and I enjoyed a snow day - well, kind of. Daddy was nice to get up early and snowblow the driveway - apparently the driveway was pretty slippery because he slipped and fell on his butt. That was enough for him to make sure we didn't leave the house all day. Luckily, I brought some work home just in case and got lots of stuff done around the house. We ordered her crib on Friday and now just need to paint and start moving stuff into the room. Derek was nice enough to come over and help Brad move everything out of her room on Saturday morning - it's so exciting to see everything start to come together. I'll be sure and post pictures once we get things in process.

24 weeks!

24 weeks!! I am starting to feel Makenna move around like CRAZY! I am LOVING being pregnant:) Brad has been reading to her every night and the sound of his voice makes her wiggle around in there - she already recognizes her daddy! I think working together helps that - when I go into his office and he starts talking, she does the same thing. Brad is starting to feel her move more and more and we're just starting to be able to see her move just by looking at my belly. Its pretty cool to see. I am still so in awe and so amazed by this gift of life we have been given - it was SO worth the wait!

Makenna's first ruffles

Ok, so I've been trying to fit into this shirt for sometime now & today Makenna was finally big enough to (almost) fill it out. The shirt has a ruffle down the front - Kenna's first of many ruffles to come!! I found the CUTEST tights the other day with butt ruffles on them. I can't wait to see her in her very own ruffles!

Overall, I'm feeling great! She is starting to wiggle around like crazy & I absolutely love it. Sunday night Brad felt her wiggle around for the first time, too.

Tonight we have our first baby class - this one is on how to help Bugsey get ready for the baby. He still thinks he's king dog, so we figured it couldn't hurt to learn how to slowly ease him into the fact that he'll have to share our affections very soon.

Kenna in 3D??

That's right, I just got the email confirmation from GE Medical. They are testing customers on how to use their new 3D/4D ultrasound machines & are looking for volunteers to come in to get a free ultrasound. We signed up a while back, but they wanted you between 20-30 weeks pregnant so they put me on the waiting list. I got the email today & we're scheduled to go in on February 18th for the fun! I can't wait to meet my little girl in 3D!

Kenna's new ride

Kenna's first big gift - a jogging stroller from Grandma Mary & Great Auntie Sharon! She's gonna LOVE this! I know Mommy already does! Thanks!!

23 weeks

Reading materials...

Our day to day guide to what's happening with Lil' Makenna - we started reading it shortly after our transfer and each night I read to Brad what we can expect for the next day.

We got this book from a friend, shortly after finding out we were pregnant - it has a weekly devotional that Brad and I read every Sunday night together, praying for the baby's development. I love it!

Mondays Rock!

A thank you goes out to dear Great Auntie Sharon for making Mondays rock! She likes to leave little presents for Makenna on my desk at work on Monday mornings - so sweet!! She's been in Florida the past few weeks, but Great Uncle John came back on Sunday night and left a little surprise on my desk on Monday morning - a picture frame with Makenna's ultrasound picture on it. Too cute! I'll have to take pictures of all the cute things she's made for us to post on here - some cute pink booties, a little knit hat, a pink scarf.... Man, we are spoiled!! Thanks Sharon!!

22 weeks

Happy Birthday Daddy!

I saw this shirt at the outlet mall & couldn't pass it up! The picture of it didn't turn out the best from my cell phone - a weird shadow I guess, but its just a cute little pink shirt with matching pink pants with ruffles at the bottom and a little monkey at the ankle. Makenna got it for daddy for his birthday. She already takes after me - buying him presents so she can use them! Ha! Happy Happy Birthday, Bradley!! We love you!

21 weeks

My twin....

Rachel and I celebrating 10 weeks of pregancy for her (with TRIPLETS) and 20 weeks of pregnancy for me! We didn't try to dress alike, but couldn't resist the photo op! Rachel and Clint also did embryo adoption and its been such a blessing to have her and Clint in our lives!!

20 weeks