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

The baby fairy strikes again.....

This one had a return address of Miller Park & postage from Las Vegas.... Who is this baby fairy?? Thank you, whoever you are!!! This is FUN!

Time to share the news.......

We were planning on surprising our families at our Christmas gatherings, but I’m not so good at patience, so we let our immediate family know on the 23rd. Jeff and Kate were sweet enough to be our little “elves” and share the news for us. We called them right after the ultrasound and had them go buy pink flowers and pink balloons and deliver them to Great-Grandma, Grandma & Grandpa & Aunt Amy & Uncle Eric’s house. They surprised Great-Grandma by leaving them on her doorstep, and then I called her and told her to tell her to go look on her doorstep to find out if it was a boy or a girl. She came back on the phone crying tears of joy, so excited to welcome another great-granddaughter into the world. Unfortunately Auntie Amy and Uncle Eric were at work, so they had to wait until they got home to find out the news – but were surprised to find lots of pink on their kitchen table. Jeff & Kate were able to surprise Grandma & Grandpa by getting home before them, putting the flowers & balloons on the table & then taping Grandma & Grandpa’s response for us when they walked in the door! I can’t wait to show baby the tape!!

Brad’s family couldn’t wait to find out the news either, so that night we went over to their house with balloons & flowers in tow. After raising two boys, I think Grandma is excited that her first grandchild is a girl! Brad’s grandparents were in town for Christmas, so we were able to watch the ultrasound with the whole family that night. We were going to wait until Christmas Eve and Christmas day to share the news with our families, but I couldn't wait that long!!

Almond Joy's got nuts, Mounds don't;)

We wrapped up these for Brad's family Christmas party to let them know it was a girl. Good thing we put the pink ribbons on them, because I'm not sure anyone would have gotten it.

Great Auntie Sharon surprised us with lots of cute blue and pink hand-knit hats, booties & stockings hung all over the house. It was so cute and so thoughtful!

If you look close, her little hand is resting underneath her chin.

Kenna's feet:)

It's a GIRL!!

It's a GIRL!!

Yay! Pink brewer outfits!!! I actually accidentally tied the pink ribbon on the boy present - the first one Brad opened had a Ryan Braun t-shirt in it. Oops! Good thing it wasn't a boy - he would have really been surprised to open the two little pink outfits for a boy! Good thing she can wear both the pink ones and the Ryan Braun jersey!!

It feels like Christmas Eve......

Tomorrow's the big day and I totally feel like I'm 7 years old all over again and its Christmas Eve. Will it be a boy or a girl?? I bought Brad a gift for a boy and a gift for a girl & will give him one of them tomorrow after our ultrasound. I can't wait!!!!

The baby fairy??

We received a package in the mail today from the baby fairy....The return address was Kenosha and postage was from Greendale....Hmmmm.. who could it be??
Such a cute ornament!!!

18 weeks

15 weeks

14 weeks

12 weeks

10 weeks

I couldn't resist.....

I no longer curse at this sign when I see it - its MY turn!!!

Is that a lima bean?

Nope - its a baby!

Friday, Brad and I were blessed to see something we've waited over 4 years to see - our baby's heartbeat on an ultrasound. It brought a tear to both of our eyes. While we were hoping God would keep both of the babies we had transferred a few weeks ago safe in my belly, He has called one of them home. It is kind of a weird feeling to be so very excited about one, but have some grief that the other didn't make it. We both know in our hearts that God is in control and that He had a plan for each of them. We are so thankful to the genetic family for giving us this opportunity to become parents. Brad and I still marvel at the wonder of it all - embryo adoption truly is a gift and has been an amazing and perfect road for us as we (finally!) start our road to parenthood.

If any of you ever have questions on embryo adoption, please don't hesitate to ask us - it is still very new, even to us and of all the people we have shared our journey with, only one or two had even ever heard of this option. We are both very passionate about embryo adoption and would love to answer any questions you may have. Embryo adoption received government funding a few years ago under President Bush and much of this funding was aimed towards awareness campaigns for embryo adoption. We would be more than willing to increase awareness in any way we can by answering your questions, too.

Some great websites you can go to for more information:
www.snowflakes.org (this is the agency we used for our adoption)
www.embryodonation.org
www.cedaeducation.org/embryo-adoption.html

Daddy's getting ready....

I bought Brad a what to expect for daddy's book when we found out we were pregnant and he dove right in! He's here reading, complete with his highlighter making sure he's ready for baby and learning how to take good care of mommy for the next 9 months.

Time to celebrate!

Since we don't know if its a boy or girl or one or two, Brad made sure to cover all his bases with pink and yellow (the flower shop was out of blue) flower and Its a boy and Its a girl cards!

Time for a date night to celebrate the good news!!!

Lake Park has always been one of our favorite restaurants, saved especially for special occasions. Ever since Brad and I started trying to get pregnant, we always said we'd go to Lake Park to celebrate - 4 years later, here we finally are!!!

Drum roll please......

We waited ALL morning for the call from the doctor's office. Finally we got sick of waiting & jumped in the car, headed down to our favorite place - the lakefront. As we were passing Miller Park (of course) the nurse called to let us know the good news - WE'RE PREGNANT!!!

There's a baby in there!!!!

I've waited SO long for this day to come - there are tears in my eyes

Brad and I brought an "In the Womb" book down to the lake with us - this is what the baby looked like the day we got the good news!

And finally...... a positive pregnancy test! Since we found out we were pregnant through the bloodwork at the doctor's office instead of the old-fashioned peeing on a stick, I didn't want to rob myself of the joy of seeing a positive line on a pregnancy test so I went out and bought one just so I could take this picture. I was too cheap to buy a good one, so I bought this one at the dollar store - there is definitely a "pregnancy" line there, but it is pretty faint. That's what I get for getting it at the dollar store, I guess.

And the two week wait begins.....

Enjoying a few days of bedrest with Bugsey:) We're watching "In The Womb" to get ready for what we hope is in store for the next 9 months!
Flowers from daddy - what a perfect card! It looks like there are embryos all over the front.

Pretty flowers from Elizabeth, too!