I'm going to have a niece!

I posted a while back the my sister is pregnant.  She is due on April 24, and I couldn't be more excited!!  She is officially 20 weeks today, and yesterday was her big ultrasound.  She and her husband decided to find out if they are having a boy or girl, and the ultrasound technician told them that there's a "90% chance it's a girl."

The baby was being uncooperative, so the tech was hesitant to say one way or the other at first.  As she went through all of the measurements, she became more confident that they are having a girl.  Of course, we were all excited to find out the gender, but the really good news is that everything is measuring right on schedule, and she looks like she'll be a healthy baby! 

When my sister told me that they were finding out the sex, I was actually a little disappointed.  M and I didn't find out.  Hearing him say "we have a daughter" when Evie was born will be forever burned in my memory.  It is the coolest moment of my life.  My sister has been teasing me for the past few weeks that she just wouldn't tell me.  That would have driven me insane, and there was no way she could keep it from me anyway.  (My family is funny though: My dad really didn't want to know.  He actually wouldn't let my sister or my mom tell him, and he's going to try to keep from finding out for the next 4 and a half months.) 

 So, we (except for my dad) are planning on another little girl in the family.  I can't wait to meet her!!!  :)

P.S. I've been on Top Baby Blogs for a while now, and I swore I was never going to ask for votes, but if you are so inclined, a couple of clicks for my blog would make me extra-happy.  :)

The cat's out of the bag...

My sister has a bun in the oven!!!!  I'm so excited to be an aunt!!!!!!!  Well, I'm already an aunt on my in-law's side, M's brother and his wife have two sons and a daughter, but this will be the first on my side.  Evie is currently my parent's only grandchild.   That's all going to change in April of 2012!   Today was their first ultrasound, and everything looked good.  She will be 10 weeks along tomorrow.

My sister and her husband recently moved to the area from Des Moines.  I am so excited to have her nearby for her pregnancy.  She is actually seeing the same doctor that I saw when I was pregnant with Evie.

I've known that she was pregnant for a couple of weeks because she almost vomited all over me while helping me move our new treadmill into the house.  (I obviously wouldn't have asked her to help me if I'd known she was pregnant!  I still don't understand why she tried to help me anyway...)  She swore me to secrecy, which pretty much killed me.  They FINALLY told my parents and the rest of the family over the weekend. 

I hope and pray for happy and healthy 9 months for my sister, her husband, and their new addition!!

Busy, Busy Weekend

It's been a crazy week at our house!!  First there was Evie's surgery.  She has pretty much completely recovered, and her eye looks great!  I think that the blockage has been cleared up, and hopefully there won't be any more eye goop problems. 

Thursday morning, Evie and I made the couple hour trip to my parent's house.  Both of my sisters were there too, which was really nice.  My parent's house is fairly big, but when my sisters are both there with their husbands, and M and I are there with Evie, it seems like you can't find an empty corner.  To make matters worse, one of my sisters has two LARGE black labs, plus Keeka thrown into the mix, and the house seems more like a zoo.  M, Evie, and I have been sleeping at my grandparent's house across the street when we visit to alleviate some of the commotion.  It's nice to spend a little more time with my grandparents too.  They are only in their early 70s, and I hope that Evie will be able to really get to know them.

Saturday morning M and I had to leave early to come back home.  We had tickets to The Great Taste of the Midwest, which is a craft beer festival.  M works for a beer distributor and he received some leftover tickets through work.  I am not the beer snob that he is, but I still thought it was pretty neat.  Imbibing to intoxication is not really the point of the festival, but it's pretty much unavoidable.  We tried A LOT of good beers, and had fun hanging out just the two of us. 

Yesterday was spent recovering and playing with Evie.  I have to begin going to school this week to prepare my classroom.  I can't believe that I only have two more weeks before school starts!!  I know it's cliche, but time sure does fly when you are having fun.  I'm looking forward to a new school year.  I'm not coaching this year, and I finished my master's degree in May, and there are so many cool things I want to try out this year.  I feel like I'll have more time to focus on implementing and perfecting some of the things that I learned in my master's program. 

Before all of that, I need to clean my house.  I better get to it before Evie wakes up!!  

Cheeseheads in the Flatlands

Last weekend, Evie and I visited my youngest sister 4 hours away in central Illinois.  Her husband is going to school there to earn his Ph.D. in nutrition.  They have been living there for about a year now, but I know that she really misses Wisconsin.  My middle sister drove from central Iowa to meet us there as well.

All three of us at my youngest sister's college graduation (2009)

Evie did pretty well in the car

My youngest sis and bro-in-law with 1 week old Evie

My middle sis with Evie at Thanksgiving

We don't have the opportunity to get together very often like this, and we really try to enjoy it when we can.  They don't get to see Evie very often either, so they really enjoy their time with her too.  I am very close to both of my sisters.  My middle sister is two years younger than me, and my youngest sister is less than 18 months younger than the middle one.  Growing up so close in age, we've always had a lot in common.  Our extended family is also very female dominant.  Our mom has three sisters with whom she is very close, so we've always had a strong female influence in our lives. 

First time in the big pool

We had a laid back weekend together.  Friday night, we went out for dinner and had a couple of drinks.  Saturday morning we went shopping, and then Saturday afternoon we took Evie into the big pool for the first time ever!  She LOVED it!!  We out for dinner and for a walk around my brother-in-law's campus on Saturday evening.  Before we knew it, it was Sunday morning and time to head back home. 

General sister goofiness

I talk to both of my sisters pretty much every day, and living as far away from each other as we have over the past couple of years has been difficult.  I hope that one day Evie can roll her eyes at her mom and aunts the way we used to at my mom and her sisters.  We get pretty goofy when we're together, so I don't think that will be a problem.  ;)
 

This weekend with the giant cupcake