the beating of a little, little, little heart...

Today we went to the doctor and heard the baby's heartbeat.  It was just about the coolest thing I have ever heard.  No, it was the coolest thing ever.  Steve and I were very excited.  At first she couldn't find it, but then, out of nowhere, there it was.  thudthudthudthudthud... so fast... a perfect 160 beats.  That's even what the doctor said, perfect! :)  We also got our Christmas tree today... so all in all... a REALLY good day!!! :) :) :)

Long time and good news...

So, it has been awhile since I've posted anything... Sometimes there is nothing to say, and sometimes everything but not enough time to do it in... 

November was full of thanks, obviously... It was great to spend so much time with family and friends.  My mom came to visit for a few shopping filled days.  We took a road trip to Penn State for the MSU vs Penn State game.  The game was a total bust, but we had a great time. The pictures I have yet to post can almost prove it.  Everyone I was with almost remembers it too! Thanksgiving was also a great time with family!!!  :)  My parents and grandma came with Steve and I to his cousin Kim's house in Fenton.  The house was bursting with family and a great day to be thankful for.  We all shared things we were thankful for... Steve and I were able to double up our answer with our amazing announcement... we were thankful for the baby growing in my tummy!  It's true.  I'm pregnant!  It has been so hard keeping the secret, but now that I am 12 weeks along we have decided to really start sharing our news.  The baby is due June 23 and tomorrow we go to the doctor to hear the baby's heartbeat.  I am positive it is going to be an incredible experience!  We are SO excited and really enjoying this time.  It's been weird- especially now that my clothes are getting tighter. :)  Our families are also very excited- I think we really shocked Steve's family.  It's the first and only grand and great grand child on my side and the first Boss baby to come along in QUITE awhile.  We are still kind of getting used to the idea, but now that I need to get new clothes... it's sinking in! :)  And Steve REALLY loves that buying new clothes part! :) 

Halloween Festivities

Our Halloween festivities started last weekend.  Steve's friend Roben has a Halloween party every year and we've never been able to go because of other parties.  It worked out we were able to make it this year, so we recycled last year's costumes... Big Boy and Wendy!  My favorite part about these costumes was they were essentially home made.  I had so much fun putting Steve's costume, especially, together last year.  We also had so much fun carving our pumpkins and passing out candy to trick or treaters.  It was a good thing I had so much, we had WAY more trick or treaters than last year- we almost ran out of candy!  There were only a few dum-dums left :(  Thanks to Katie for coming over and helping us pass it out!  The highlight of Halloween was the Leitch Halloween party.  The best part about it is that it is only a few houses away- although we do get some weird looks walking down the street... I think I scared a few neighbors! :)

Big Boy and Wendy

Our pumpkins turned out really well this year, and thanks to some clear spray paint, the squirrels didn't eat them!
Anna and I were SO happy with the way our "yummy" mummy costumes turned out!  We had so much fun making them, just wish we'd known how long it would take to put them on.  Anna was an hour late to her own party! 

Steve and Jeff- aka Wayne and Garth

The Boss' and the Leitch's :)

Promotion..

Just a quick note, as I was making my last post Steve called.  He just got word from his boss that he was approved for a promotion.  He is going to be an APSM of his office.  Which means he'll be a manager in his office.  Super exciting for him!!!  We have been waiting for this promotion for awhile, and I am so happy and proud of him that it is here!  He'll now be going to New Jersey for training in November and December.  Yay, Steve!!!

Chicago Marathon 2008

On October 12 Katie ran her first marathon and we made the trip to Chicago to cheer her on.  It was so much fun.  We made signs, and jumped trains, and ran ourselves all over the city to try and catch her running in as many spots as we could.  It was SO cool to watch 45,000 puching themselves to their limits.  I was so proud of Katie for accomplishing one of her lifetime goals!  It was awesome!  Oh, Steve and I also do not have any pictures of Katie actually running the marathon, because we were too busy jumping up and down and screaming with our signs.  I hope her dad got some! :)

Here's Steve holding up a sign for Katie's running partners, Jamie and Jelanie... aka Jelamie!
After the marathon- all the runners and spectators.
A very tired and happy Katie!
Katie and HER Steve enjoying the free beers the runners get after crossing the finish line.
Me and my BFF! :)  After the marathon was over we then walked ANOTHER 2 MILES to 

The Cheesecake Factory for dinner... only the Boss Family!

Jason and Michelle Kelly...

Recently I lost the cord to transfer pictures from my camera, so I haven't been adding anything to my blog.  In the next few days/weeks I will hopefully be blogging on what has been happening recently in our lives.  On October 4, 2008, our friends Jason and Michelle got married in Chicago.  It was such a fun weekend and a BEAUTIFUL wedding.  Thanks so much to them for hosting such an awesome evening.  We were so happy to see Jason marry Michelle.  We had all been telling him from first meeting her he wasn't going to find anyone better!

Michelle and Jason with all the Sig Tau's at the wedding (after Olesky fell off the chair!) :)

All the Sig Tau wives and fiances!

Seriously, best ever...

I have a serious, serious, serious addiction to Sex and the City.  I have come to terms with my problem recently... as recently as today when I watched the movie twice through, back to back, and some parts with the director commentary because I was so interested in certain things Michael Patrick King had done.  Hmmm... obsess much!?  I have not always been die hard, but as soon as I started regularly watching, my love affair began.  I have seen every single episode at least two or three times.  And, I definitely did not understand the critics who gave the movie such bad reviews... it may not be the world's best cinematic masterpiece, but seriously... is that really what you were expecting?!  No, what should have been expected was a GREAT GIRL MOVIE!  Kudos to any straight men who went to see it... Steve never would.  Every once in awhile he will watch part of an episode with me, until he realizes that he's actually watching SATC and enjoying it!  Anyway... I just wanted to share my thoughts on my obsession and addiction.  Cosmos and Manolos for all!!! :)

Teeny bopper again...

So this was the first year I actually watched most of the episodes of American Idol... at least enough to know who all the people were and become semi-invested in their lives.  At least as invested as I could become by fast forwarding through most of their backgrounds until they started singing... 

Anyway, ended with some friends with free tix to American Idol tour concert at Van Andel a couple weeks ago.  It was so much fun!  We had such a great time yelling like the fan-crazed teenage girls surrounding us...  Here were just a couple of fun shots of a couple of my favorites, Jason Castro and of course, David Cook.  Enjoy!

Congratulations...

My dear friend Abby got engaged on Friday night.  I just wanted to share my congratulations for her and with the world.  I love Kevin, her fiance and am VERY happy for the two of them!  Welcome to marriage guys!  Well, almost... She will be getting married April 25.  YAY!  Oh yeah, and Kevin did a REALLY good job- her ring IS GORGEOUS!!! :)  So, Congrats... LOVE YOU!

Puppy chow...

Puppy chow... I really love puppy chow.  One of the girls I work with brought in some she made today... my hand barely left the bag all day.  It reminded me of care packages my mom used to send me during college... there would always be LOTS of puppy chow!  It made me quite popular a few times. :)  It is so easy to make... it only takes 4 ingredients!  I even bought a box of Crispix on the way home to make some tonight.  So for anyone else who LOVES it as much as I do, I have included the world's simplest recipe. :)  ENJOY!!!  I will be!

6oz or 1 cup semi-sweet morsels

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup peanuts (they are optional, but I DO NOT use them)

6 cups Crispix (or a small box)

1 cup powdered sugar

Melt the chocolate chips in a bowl, takes about a minute or so.  Stir until melty and then add peanut butter.  Gently stir in Crispix, but some will break.  Put the powdered sugar in a plastic bag and add the Crispix mixture and shake.  It works best if you do this step in smaller quantities, the Crispix gets more evenly coated.  

Super easy! :)

End of Summer...

The end of summer has arrived, and what a GREAT summer it was!  After FINALLY finishing our house projects late spring, early summerish we were really able to enjoy the outdoors.  We did so many fun things this summer I thought I would post some pics with a few of the highlights.  Too bad I don't have any of us sitting and watching the Olympics, it became an obsession for the two of us... Steve even got into the gymnastics! :)

The Betka family and Boss family caught a Tigers game for Father's Day.  Steve even caught something else, a ball hit by Pudge (back when he was still a Tiger) during batting practice.

A very fun day spent on the Thornapple River with Abby, Carrie, and Elizabeth in June.

Our very patriotic Fourth of July block party.

ROTHBURY!  We only went for Saturday and Sunday (because of our awesome FREE tix!) but I don't think I would have made it the whole weekend.  By the time we got home, we were "Rothed OUT!"

A trip to Fremont took Carley, Katie, and I to the Gerber Baby Food Festival, a Lonestar concert, and Steve's 10 year high school reunion!

Here we are in Grant Park in Chicago for Lollapalooza.  Had such a great time with Jason and Michelle, our Lolla buddies, and also ran into old friends to listen to a little Rage Against the Machine!  It really brought back all those days during Pull practice- really glad I had one of my Pull coaches with me at the concert! :)

Also in Chicago that weekend we went to a Cubs game.  It was awesome for Steve and I because neither of us had ever been to the very classic Wrigley Field.

After all the travels and hot, lazy days fall may be welcomed.  At least I really like to wear sweaters!!!

Starting up

Well, after purchasing our new Mac for our anniversary present to ourselves, I have been loving owning a laptop.  So, I decided to jump on the blogging band wagon... so here it is, hopefully I can keep it going! :)

Labor Day 2008

Labor Day 2008 came and went with lots of fun.  In my opinion not QUITE as much as Labor Day 2007 (when we got married and then honeymooned in Jamaica) but fun all the same.  We spent the weekend on Steve's parents boat which was docked in Muskegon.  We even took the boat to Grand Haven on September 1, one year later we were back in Grand Haven.  We had such a fun time with Steve's parents, Carley, Ed, Claudia, and Jacob, and Katie.  Only wish the mini-vaca could have been longer, and extended into Jamaica like last year's.  

This is Laura the Elephant swimming in Lake Michigan.  She happened to be in Muskegon at the State Park, and we happened to be beached there!