10 weeks!

Bellyot: Our baby reaches a developmental milestone at the end of this week--it has achieved its basic structural form. Because the baby is still curled up in a snug position in the uterus, it's hard to measure an exact length including the legs. Our baby's crown-to-rump length is now about 1 1/4 inches, and he/she weighs less than half an ounce. Tiny toes have formed. The eyes are largely open, but the eyelids are beginning to fuse, and will stay that way until 25-27 weeks. External genitalia is beginning to differentiate. External ears are completely formed, as well as the upper lip. The biggest accomplishment this week is the disappearance of the tail!

Mommy: Still feeling really sick ... not sure this will ever go away. Will I ever feel normal again? I can't believe it's almost 2010 and by this time next year I will be holding a 5-6 month old!!!

I had another ultrasound this week. I should have been measuring at 10 weeks 6 days but Bellyot is measuring 4-5 days ahead with a due date of July 4th or 5th with a heart beat of 176 - Healthy and Strong!! It was hard to get a good picture because he/she was moving ALL around!!

Daddy: Chris is already thinking of all the stuff that needs to be done before the baby comes, more importantly before February when we plan to start the nursery. We've decided where we will put the furniture and decided which pieces to get. Now the comes the fun part ... looking for the nursery furniture!

8 weeks - Thanksgiving

Bellyot: The baby is growing at an amazing rate — about a millimeter every day — and now is the size of a large raspberry. Our little berry is looking a lot less reptilian (even though she has webbed fingers and toes, her tail is just about gone) and a lot more baby-like these days, as his/her lips, nose, eyelids, legs, and back continue to take shape. The heart is beating at the incredible rate of 150 times per minute — about twice as fast as mine! And even though I can't yet feel it, he/she is now making spontaneous movements as he/she twitches his/her tiny trunk and limb buds.

As you can see from the picture above, I had another ultrasound this week. I love how our little berry looks like a gingerbread man, how perfect as the holidays are quickly approaching! Bellyot's heartbeat is measuring in at 179 beats per minute. This baby has a strong heartbeat - thank you God!

Mommy: I'm feeling so relieved and love seeing our little bean (berry) on the big screen!! There is NOTHING more awesome than seeing your baby's heart beating. What a miracle!! I know we will have many amazing moments like these but this is the beginning of our exciting journey to parenthood! It makes my ALL DAY sickness more than worth it! Only 32 more weeks until we meet our little bundle of joy!! I also took an "illegal" bootleg video of the ultrasound that was left on the screen when the tech left the room. (hehe) Click on the link to view. It's AWESOME!

We had such a great time telling our families!! Since our family did not know we were trying for a baby, it came as quite a surprise. lol Here's how we did it:

Telling my family: The night before Thanksgiving we told my parents that we got them a little something from Louisville. We had a Christmas ornament made that said: "We're expecting, Due July 2010" along with a grandparents Thanksgiving Day card filled with a few ultrasound pictures. They opened it and my Mom started to cry and my Dad had the most classic face of SHOCK. Needless to say they are very very excited to be grandparents! My uncle Jack was also in town and staying with my parents so he also found out that night. He's exited to be a Great Uncle for the 10th time, lol. We told the rest of my family at Thanksgiving dinner the next day. We had given my parents buttons that said "Proud Grandmother" and "Proud Grandpa" that they wore to dinner, it took about 5 minutes for someone to actually read it and they said, "What does your pin say, Scarlett? Proud grand -whaaaaaaatttt??!!!" LOL I said "Yup, we're having a baby!" It was really funny!

Here's a picture of what we gave them:

close up:

Telling his Family: We told his family at Thanksgiving dinner, pretty much the same way, we said we had gotten his mom a little present in Louisville. We gave her a book called "Grandma and Me" and a grandma Thanksgiving day card full of ultrasound pictures. This book is special because it was one of Chris' favorite books as a child. What a perfect way to tell her being that it's about going to visit Grandma! She unwrapped it, read the title and started jumping up and down in excitement and started to cry. She asked, "are you really" and I said "yup" and she's exclaimed, "Im going to be a grandma!". It was super fun to see her reaction. Since his sister, Megan, stayed in California for Thanksgiving we told her by sending 3 text messages. The first one an ant farm, the second the Ants in Your Pants game, a picture of her actual Aunts and then she asked if I was pregnant and I said Yes! and sent a picture of the ultrasound to her. It was such an exciting day!

Here's a picture of what we got his Mom:

Daddy: He's getting so excited! Seeing the ultrasound really makes it real!! We've started talking about names ... so far we've got a boy's name: Elliott Kurt. Still working on the girl's name.

7 weeks

Bellyot: I am growing fast!! The head, heart, spinal cord, and some of the larger blood vessels begin to form. As these blood vessels form, the heart begins to pump fluid through them, and our baby's first red blood cells are created. Our baby is about 7 - 9 mm or 0.27 - 0.35 inches in length, (approximately the size of a grain of rice), and weighs about 1/30 of an ounce - less than a breath mint

Our baby's brain, bladder, tongue and esophagus are all developing and transforming, while the eyes are moving to the front of the face and his tiny eyelids are forming. The bones of his tiny limbs have started to form and all of your baby's major organs - heart, intestines, kidneys, liver, lungs and pancreas -- are forming and growing. In fact, our baby actually goes through 3 sets of kidneys during development with this week's development, being the second set.

Both the hand plates and the genital tubercle are present this week, but you can't tell whether it's a boy or a girl by sight at this point. Nasal pits are also forming. In my womb, our baby has already become active swimming around inside the amniotic sac and kicking.

Mommy: I'm feeling pretty sick and trying to keep food down. I feel SEASICK! Doctor has suggested that I start off my mornings with a Whey protein shake to ensure Im getting enough nutrients and protein to the baby. He did say not to worry too much because the baby only needs approx. 6 ounces of food. BUT eating frequently should alleviate some of the nausea... let's hope! Right now I can't even think about eating something. I'm sure that will change once the 2nd trimester rolls around. haha

Daddy: Chris and I are both very anxious to tell our families next week at Thanksgiving ... we can't wait to see how excited they will be for their very first grandbaby!!

6 weeks down ... 34 to go (or maybe only 31)

Bellyot: The first heartbeats have begun! The baby is now an embryo and is about 1/17 of an inch long. Growth is very rapid this week. The umbilical cord develops. The eyes and ears begin to form as well as an opening for the mouth. The heart has begun to pump blood and most of the other organs are well under construction. Buds form on the body that will become the arms and legs. Exciting week!

Mommy: I'm in my second month of pregnancy!! I've been feeling OK, still feeling a lot of nausea but thankful when I do as I feel like our lil bean is letting me know he/she is doing just fine! Unfortunately, I'm spotting (something I've had since the day I found out I was pregnant) but the Dr, nurses, "What to Expect", and WebMD assure me this is "normal" and I'm one of the 25% of women who experience this. I personally believe that I am being cheated ... I mean isn't one of the perks of pregnancy that you don't get your "friend" for 9 months or more. Oh well, all that matters is that our baby is doing well and the spotting isn't hurting anything. Please God let our baby bean be strong and healthy!!

Exciting event of the week: Our first ultrasound on Thursday 11/19!! I will be 6 weeks, 6 days. YAY!!! We can't wait!

Daddy: Chris is SO excited to be a Daddy! He was ready to register for baby things the day we confirmed our pregnancy. As I mentioned in the first post, Chris has added the "What to Expect" application onto his iPhone. I love how he looks up random questions I have within seconds of asking them and he tells me when it updates him for the week about what the baby will be doing/growing and how I might be feeling. Its so sweet! He has also been reading up on his new camera... oh yes, the camera I said he couldn't have until we were pregnant ... well, open mouth insert foot ... within days of my positive blood pregnancy tests he had already selected his new camera. Since many of you knew about my rule regarding him getting his new camera, we couldn't tell anyone that he got it because it would give it away, lol. I can't complain, this just means we will have amazing pictures of our lil Prince or Princess annnnd it works out that we found out just in time for it to be a joint birthday/Christmas present too. hehe Chris is an amazing husband and I know he will be an awesome Dad! This week he has done so many of the chores and catered to my every need!! Thanks to my spotting I have to spend most of my days with my feet up, drinking lots of water, and just waiting for June or July to come! He also bought me a beautiful arrangement of flowers with a very sweet card. I thought it was hilarious that the card was addressed to "Baby Mama" ... haha!

We're having a BABY!!!

Yup - you read the title correctly!! We're Pregnant!!!! Chris and I are going to be parents!! Our due date is July 9, 2010! You might all be thinking, "what ... that is YOUR birthday month?!" While that is true, I can't think of a better person to share it with than my own son or daughter!! This just means really good summer vacation / birthday trips! Not to mention that both of my grandmothers are/were born in July as well as some of my best friends. Its a GREAT month and now it will be even better!

Chris has already nicknamed our baby bean "Bellyot" and keeps chanting "Boy Boy Boy, big tall boy!" ... We've had names picked out for a while now and the boy name is Elliot Kurt, which is where he gets the "Bellyot" nickname from... While he says he wants a boy, we are both praying for a healthy and strong baby no matter if it's a boy or a girl!!

We found out on October 27, 2009 while on a work trip that I went on with Chris to Louisville ... yes, this is my new favorite city!! To honor the city we found out in, being the home of the Kentucky Derby, I bought a stuffed animal horse that we named "Winnie" (the sound a horse makes)... although "Bellyot" won't be able to play with it for a long time because it has beady eyes, lol.

Things we've done the past few weeks:
1. Tried to keep a secret - its hard!!
2. Chris put the "What to Expect" app on his iPhone (awww he so cute and BEYOND excited!)
3. We bought the "What to Expect" book for me
4. Bought a pregnancy cook book
5. I've been unsuccessfully trying to keep food in my stomach.
6. Briana and Allison let me borrow pretty much every pregnancy book ever written (thanks girlies).
7. We told our families on Thanksgiving!!

While I love my dear dear dear husband, he says to me on Saturday (11/7) after a rough brunch experience: "I wish people knew already, I want to make fun of you on Facebook for running out of restaurants!" Gotta love him!

Thank you in advance for your prayers and good wishes as we start our journey to parenthood ... please pray for our baby bean, Bellyot!

With love,
Connie and "Bellyot"

Prayers for Bella

Hello all,

As you might or might not know, our friend’s daughter was recently diagnosed with Cancer - Stage IV, high risk Neuroblastoma which has spread to her abdomen, vertebrae, bone marrow, and right leg. Isabella “Bella” is 2 and will be 3 in November but she is one tough little girl!

Unfortunately, a lot of her treatment is not covered by insurance. Please take a moment to pray for her and if possible, donate to her cause. They have also created a website for Bella: http://www.battleforbella.com/

Thank you so much for your prayers!!

With love,
Connie and Chris

Happy Birthday to Me - 27 years old!

Happy Birthday to Me!!! I can't even believe that I'm 27. The age "Twenty-seven" seems so mature to me ... not really "old" ... more mature, is that true? haha probably not since I continue to be one of the biggest procrastinators around! So, I'm not in my "early twenties" anymore and it also makes me jump into the next classification on surveys ... I'm no longer in the "18-26" range ... oh no no, I'm in the "27-35"!!

Here's hoping for a great year ahead and many, many more to come!!

Four Years

Yesterday Chris and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary! All I can say is WOW - I can't believe how fast the time has gone by!! I am so proud of everything we have accomplished in our four years of marriage and I can't wait to see what the future holds for us...

To celebrate our anniversary we went to dinner at a local steakhouse in Lakeland and spent the weekend in St. Augustine at their historic Case Monica resort. We had a wonderful time and plan to visit again in the future!!

Happy 4 years, Honey - thanks for the best years of my life! I can't wait to celebrate many, many more!! Love you!

From Bull to Spartan

Chris has been accepted to the University of Tampa's Master of Accountancy program starting this Fall!

Woohooo! He sent in his application June 1st (deadline) and received admission status online by June 3rd and received the official letter of acceptance, a bunch of paperwork, a UT sticker for the car, and a welcome letter from the Dean about a week later. (I'm just a slacker at updating).

I'm so very proud of him! Luckily his program is fairly short considering he has already completed all of the pre-requisite classes only leaving the 30 core credits! Since he will be working full-time and going to Grad School full-time (6 credits), it will take around 2 years to complete. Either way, he is well on his way to completing the requirements for the Florida CPA exam! Yay!!

Happy Mother's Day to Me!

Who has the best "kids"?? I do, I do! Thanks to their Daddy - Peyton, Persephone, and Phoebe have given me a day at the Spa for a "Tranquility Experience" for Mother's Day.


How cute is this certificate?! ------ (click on the picture to enlarge it)

Chris confessed that he helped them ... but only because they don't have thumbs. haha


Here is a picture of the beautiful flowers that Chris and the girls gave me for Mother's Day ... a dozen BEAUTIFUL yellow, pink tipped roses...




Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there ... even if your kids aren't humans. lol

Whirlwind weekend

What an awesome weekend... We spent the night in Tampa on Friday with Chris' mom, sister, aunt and uncle. What a fun night! We went to Outback for dinner then came back to the hotel to play a few card games. Such a great time!

Thennnnnnnnnnnn on Saturday morning Chris graduated with his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of South Florida!! Graduation was at 9 AM followed by lunch at the Columbia Restaurant with Chris' family and my parents and grandparents who joined us for his big day! I can not even begin to explain how proud of him that I am ... he has worked so hard over the past 4 years by working full-time, taking 12 credits every semester and of course by being the most amazing husband that a girl could ever wish for ... I'm so very lucky!

On Sunday morning I woke up early to work on a paper. Then we decided to check out the local animal shelter for a kitten. Lakeland SPCA didn't have any kitties (well they did but they were already adopted) sooooo, we decided to make a drive over to the Tampa Humane Society. This is where we found our newest Rohde baby! We adopted an adorable kitten who is only 9 weeks old (DOB: 2/28/09). She is very cute and super lovable! We decided to name her Phoebe (read: Fee-bee). Peyton and Persephone are very excited to meet and play with their new baby sister, Phoebe! Lets just hope that the girls get along!

Below are a few pictures of Phoebe coming home ... notice her baby blanket that was given to us by the shelter. How ADORABLE is she?! More pictures coming soon ...

Sleepy Phoebe laying on her baby blanket on the way home



Phoebe in her box on the car ride home


So not only 1 time but TWO times did Phoebe climb up behind the CLOSED dresser all the way up to the TOP drawer where she was then trapped ... no worries, we have blocked all entry. haha



Aww, this picture melts my heart - so sweet!


Our little escape artist...




Baby Phoebe and I ... love her!


We will hold off on the integration process for a couple of weeks (just to be sure she didn't bring anything home from the shelter. We don't want to infect Persephone). She is 100% healthy and is up to date with shots but it is general procedure for Humane Society to suggest that when mixing shelter cats with home cats. This also gives time for Phoebe to get a little bit bigger ... she is TINY ... probably only weighs around 2 pounds, if that.

For those of you who are wondering or who might ask ... No, we do not plan to name our future kids with "P" names ... or even the same letter for both/all of them. This is just something we are doing for our pets, our Princesses.

We ended the weekend by going to Cirque du Soleil: Saltimbanco at the Lakeland Center. It was an AMAZING show ... I can't wait to see another Cirque du Soleil show in the future.

I plan to post a few pictures from Graduation and more kitty pictures by the end of the week ... check back for updates.

With love,
Connie

An afternoon at the Lake

We decided to take a walk around Lake Hollingsworth since it was such a beautiful day! We picked a great day to walk the lake as they were having a speed boat competition. It was fun to watch as we walked. However 3 miles in flip flops was not a good idea! Thanks to Chris he switched shoes with me half way through and saved my poor little toes!

After the walk, we went to dinner downtown and checked out some of the shops around town. It has taken me a while to appreciate the little city we live in and it is days like this that remind me of why I love living here. I know, I know Lakeland isn't that small but it is smaller than any other city I have ever lived in before.

I will try to post pictures from our walk and the boat races sometime soon.

My pink surprise

Today I got a surprise delivery of a PINK external hard drive!!

In case you don't know what this is, it is a tiny portable hard drive for my new [pink] laptop. It saves documents such as music files, pictures, and important school papers. It's so cute and small. This little thing will come in handy since I save a lot of important school documents and pictures. Here is a picture of what it looks like...

iLove it!

It seems there always has to be excitement in my life. Well, this past Friday night I was working on a paper that was due Sunday. Already in a time crunch, I pretty much needed the stars to be perfectly aligned to pull this off in time for the Sunday due date. Wouldn't you know ... my computer crashed!! Well sorta ... the monitor plug decided to break ... literally it just broke. One minute I was looking at the screen and the next it couldn't find a connection. LOVELY.

Luckily I called in my personal IT guy, aka my awesome husband!! After trouble shooting with the spare (read: very old computers/monitors) he determined that it is the monitor port on the back of my computer tower. If you know me well enough, you will know that when I say "Friday night" that literally means early Saturday morning (after midnight). By this time, it was close to 2:00 AM. Chris tried to set me up on his old desktop however he was in the middle of a windows/Linux crossover which was not complete. Basically it isn't able to function yet and would take a lot more time to configure. By the end of the night, he started a full re-install and we would see the results (if it took) in the morning.

The next morning: the re-install didn't take and would need take a lot more time to configure so he suggested that I get a new computer since 1. my computer was over 5 years old and 2. his old computer is even older than that (probably 6 or 7). Unfortunately, time was not on my side as we had a wedding to attend in St. Petersburg Beach at 1:30.

Long story short .... we went to the wedding, had a blast, spent the night at the Bilmar Beach Resort, woke up Sunday morning, went to the Apple Store at the International Plaza, and bought a MacBook!!! I have officially entered the "Mac World" ... and, iLove it!

I got a 2.4 MacBook which has the new silver casing shell however I got a "protective" cover which just so happens to be PINK. So, it looks like I have a Pink MacBook which makes me love it even more! hehe Here is a picture:


This computer is amazing and I'm not sure how I lived without one before this. Oh, and I finished both papers that were due tonight! Woohooo!!

Valentine's Day 2009

Happy Valentine's Day 2009! I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful day with your special Valentine. I sure did!!


Earlier in the week Chris mentioned that he had my Valentine's present and I could have it "whenever" during the week or I could wait until Saturday. Of course, knowing that it was here, I just had to have it. hehe What a great present - he bought me a "Dream Escape" package to my favorite Day Spa here in Lakeland, DayDreams. I love it and I can't wait to use it!

Later in the week he surprised me by having pink and white tulips delivered. Tulips are my all-time favorite flower next to roses. I love both but tulips can only be found a couple months out of the year which makes them that much more special when I get them. I posted a picture so you all can see how pretty they were.

We went to the Melting Pot for dinner which was very yummy! Apparently reservations at the Melting Pot on Valentine's Day are very popular and hard to come by. Luckily we made our reservations back in January because we are Fondue Club members. Dinner was amazing and so romantic ~ I love my hubby!

We enjoyed the "Cupid Special" which featured a quattro formaggio fondue (cheese), a salad course with a choice of traditional caprese salad with balsamic glaze or strawberry almond salad with basil infused white balsamic vinaigrette. Our entrée course included cold water lobster tail, tuscan sirloin florentine, filet mignon, honey orange duck, shrimp diablo, citrus fennel pork tenderloin, and lobster ravioli served with seasoned vegetables and assorted dipping sauces. Our favorite course was dessert where we had dark chocolate fondue infused with orange cognac liquor for that perfect orange zest flavor.

After dinner Chris suggested that we go to a movie and that I could pick any movie that I wanted to see. (Translation: I will go to one of the girly movies that you've been wanting to go to). So, we ended the night by going to the movie "Confessions of a Shopaholic" at the Lakeside Village. (Thanks honey, I love you!!)

I couldn't have asked for a better Valentine's Day (week) or a more special person to share it with. I forgot our camera but Chris took a few on his new iPhone (his Valentine's Day present). Here are a few pictures from our Valentine's night out.

Chris and I at the table.
Cheers to another Happy Valentine's Day together!

Thought this was cute even though part of our heads didn't make it in there, lol.


With love,

The Rohdes

Update on Miss Peyton Marie

Peyton's results have come in. It is in fact Melanoma. The pathologist said that there is a low degree of atypical cells with some neoplastic cells but overall it appears to have benign characteristics however not clean borders (one area real close to site where taken) which means there is a slight chance of spreading if in fact there is some beyond the area they took from... The Pathologist recommends to "keep close eye on it" but the Doctor is concerned because it grew so quickly so we have elected to have XRays, Bloodwork, and a Urinalysis completed. We are taking her in tomorrow morning at 8 AM. Depending on the results from tomorrow's tests, we will be referred to Florida Veterinary Services for further treatment. (http://www.f-v-s.com/)

Please keep praying for our baby!!

Sorry its been so long

Sorry it has been so long since our last post. We have been keeping extremely busy. We hope you all had a safe and Happy New Year! We had a fabulous time and I will be posting pictures soon!

As you've read in earlier posts, 2008 was a very hard year for us and we were anxiously awaiting the start of 2009. Unfortunately, 2009 hasn't had the best start. We are sad to announce that our precious Peyton (3yr old Lab) has been diagnosed with Melanoma. Yes, the very same disease as her Grandpa Rohde. As you know, Peyton is far more than "just a dog" or "just a pet" to us ... she is our sunshine and we both simply adore her. Please pray for her and for a speedy recovery. The doctors believe that we caught it early and we are hoping (PRAYING) that we did and for a full recovery. We received the test results yesterday (1/14/09) and she went in for surgery this morning (1/15). The doctor called and said that the surgery went very well and that she is recovery just fine. We are sending the entire tumor for pathology to get a full diagnosis so we will better be able to come up with a treatment plan. There is also a possibility that we will be referred to an Oncologist in Tampa. Peyton is only 3 (well, 4 on Feb 3rd) but she has so much more life in her and I can't imagine our family without her there. Words can not even begin to explain how much we love her! Again, thank you for your continued prayers and well wishes!

In more sad news, my Godmother, Connie Fielder in Atlanta is suffering from COPD and Hospice has been brought in ... I am far too familiar with this stage as we recently went through this with Chris' father. It doesn't get any easier but it is good to know what an amazing organization they are and that they are doing all they can to make her comfortable during this time.

On a positive note: we had new floors installed last week and they look absoletely amazing! We chose a light cherry wood for the dining room, living room, hall and all bedrooms. We tiled the foyer, kitchen, and bathrooms. The color combo looks great and both Persephone and Peyton enjoy sprawling out on the floor since it's a bit cooler than the carpet was. Also, we purchased a new hutch for our dining room from craislist (only $75) and it is beautiful! Once things settle down, I will post a few pictures.

Again, we thank you for all of your prayers and well wishes. Please continue to keep our family in your prayers as we are praying for comfort for my Godmother and for Peyton that the cancer has not spread and that she will be just fine for many years to come!!

With love,
The Rohdes