4 weeks

I'm sorry everyone. I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since one of us posted something. Things have been so hectic lately that we don't seem to be able to do anything but take care of Karissa!! I guess that's the way it is when you have a baby (girl especially). LOL Anyway, please keep lifting up prayers for her. She is only gaining very small bits of weight each time we go to the Dr. It is very frustrating because she seems to be nursing well. We have another Dr's visit on Monday and it is her 1 month wellness checkup. According to our scale she has lost a half ounce since the last visit and that puts her at 5 lbs, 1 1/2 oz; still about 6 oz short of her birth weight. We, of course, are hoping our scale is wrong. Please continue to pray for her and us. Thank you in advance. Have a very merry Christmas everyone!!!

2 weeks old!

Hey everyone! Can you believe Karissa is already 2 weeks old? It is all such a blur with everything that has been going on. I figured, I finally have a few minutes so I should do a new post. Just a warning for everyone in the Sussex County area - all the bad stuff people say about Beebe Medical Center is true. I didn't think it would be that hard with a baby, but the second time we had to go in, it was a stressful mess. We were admitted on the Friday after Thanksgiving as Dave said. We got there around 11am. It was after 7pm until they had the incubator working and if it weren't for Dave checking and realizing it wasn't warm and saying something to a nurse, who knows how much longer Karissa would have been laying there cold because the thing wasn't warm. Then on Saturday, all of the sudden she had a really low temperature reading. The nurse ended up borrowing one of the new thermometers from the labor/delivery floor because it turns out, the one they were using was replaced on the LD floor because it was inaccurate! Then on Sunday a nurse took her temperature using the wrong thermometer and argued with me about it when I pointed it out, called the doctor, made a big deal about it, and made me stress out even more when it wasn't right!!!! So on Monday we thought we would get discharged because the doctor said on Sunday morning we could go home when Karissa maintains her temperature for 24 hours. Monday rolls around and all of the sudden they make a big deal about the color of her dirty diapers. We found out this weekend after feeding Karissa milk that I pumped while in the hospital, that whatever I ate that caused her diapers to be like that, was fed to me at the hospital. I'm glad they didn't keep us longer when it was something at the hospital that was causing it!!! Not to mention, everytime they weighed her they did it differently and got way different numbers so there was really no way to tell if she was gaining or losing weight. Talk about stressful! I've never been so happy to be home! Since being home, it has been a roller coaster of emotions. Thankfully we have more people than we even know praying for us and for Karissa. For the past 24 hours, she has been eating better than ever! She's on a good schedule of every 2 hours and is eating longer so I'm hopeful when we go back to the doctor that she has gained enough weight and the doctor doesn't want us to go back to the hospital. But, in the event that Karissa has lost weight and we need to go back to the hospital, we are refusing to go to Beebe! lol Anyway, sorry for all my venting. Next time I post maybe all of the weight/temperature issues will be in the past!

Update

Well, a lot has happened since Karissa was born. As I said in the last post, we were taking her to the Dr every day since coming home. Well, it all hit a peak on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when her temperature was less than 96 rectally and her Bilirubin level was up to 20. Her Dr said she needed to go to the hospital and be put in an incubator to keep warm while she put on some weight and got her Bilirubin level down by being under a Billie light. So as much as we didn't want her back in the hospital we agreed with the Dr and took her to the hospital. We were there until this past Monday (3 long days). It did help and she was able to stay warm and start regulating her own temperature and her Bilirubin level came down. She actually lost weight while she was there but has been feeding better and has gained weight since she came home. She is definitely a trooper and fighter. We thank God for all He has done and for getting her through these tough days. Here are a few pictures of her on her first Thanksgiving and in the incubator at the hospital. Please continue to pray for her and we appreciate all your prayers already.

BABY!!!!!

I am writing this a couple days late because I was waiting for Megan to be able to post this but she doesn't have the time so I will update everyone. Our darling baby girl was born Saturday evening at 9:47 PM!!! Her name is Karissa Gabrielle Thorp. She weighed 5 lbs, 8 oz. and was 19 inches long. A tiny little girl!! Megan had a very quick and smooth delivery so we are very thankful for that. Since her birth, Karissa struggled to breastfeed and then got jaundice. We have been going to the dr every day to get the level checked. To compound the problem, her temperature won't stay up where it needs to be. Because of these things, we are having to go to the hospital to get the jaundice level checked and then to the dr to check weight and temp so being out all the time isn't helping things to get better. Karissa has started to feed much better since Megan's milk came in so hopefully that will help get everything where it needs to be. Please pray for her and us. Here are a few pictures of her and I have to say, she is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen!!!

Update

Hello everyone. Well, this morning Megan woke me up saying she thought her water had broke. She had called the DR and he said for her to wait an hour and see if it was still going heavy and if so, go to the hospital. It still was heavy so we left for the hospital around 11:30AM. After we got there and into an exam room they tested the fluid and said it was not amniotic fluid. They decided to check and see if she was dilated and she was 2 cm. She started having mild contractions shortly after we got there but the nurse said they weren't labor contractions. They said for Megan to walk around the hospital for an hour and drink lots of water and come back. We did that and nothing had changed so they called our DR and he said to send us home. There are still conflicting dates because they were saying Megan was 36 1/2 weeks (because of the ultrasound) but our original date says we are 38 weeks tomorrow. Because of that, they say she is not quite term so they wouldn't do anything to bring labor. We have now been home for a little more than an hour and she is having very painful contractions only a few minutes apart. I have a feeling we will be calling the DR shortly and heading back to the hospital possibly. Please pray!!

Not Long Now!!!!

Well, Megan is 37 weeks today!! It seems like time is creeping by but when I think back it seems like only a few days ago that we saw the + sign on the pregnancy test. Our dr. appt. this past week went well. Except for the fact that when we got there, they said we didn't have an appt. scheduled so Megan gave them her appt. card and they called us back a few minutes later. It was the quickest we have ever gotten in. I said hopefully they will forget every time. Our dr. said Ally's head is down and everything is good. After our appt. we were able to tour the hospital and see the rooms and the uncomfortable chair that will be my bed for a night or two. We are now on a weekly schedule of seeing the dr. so our next appt. is Wednesday. Now that the pregnancy is considered full term Megan is hoping Ally comes NOW. Lol, she has had a lot of back pain so she's ready for the pregnancy to be over. Also, yesterday she was having Braxton Hicks contractions all day. (At least I hope that's what they were.) She has all the bags packed and everything ready for the trip to the hospital. Now if it can just happen when I'm home we will be in business. I'll try to get a new picture of Megan on here in the next day or so. C-ya

Getting closer!

Well, we had a doctor's appointment last week and he said Ally's head is down so she's on her way! Only 5 more weeks to go! (Maybe we'll be lucky and it will only be 3 more weeks....lol). I go back next week and after that, I'll be going weekly. We also had our class last week. It wasn't what we were expecting and I'm glad we didn't pay for it, but we at least learned a little. They told me their next class on newborn care will be Dec. 11th and I told them that hopefully, I wouldn't be there. :) Our shower was pretty successful. We had many friends that couldn't make it, but we definitely got some things we needed and gift cards to help us buy the things we still need so we're hoping we should be okay. Dylan (our nephew) was so cute because he saw all the presents and knew his birthday was coming up. My sister had to keep telling him those gifts were for the baby. So then he'd say, "Where is the baby?" And someone would tell him the baby was in my belly. He'd come over to me, give me this sweet look, and say, "Where is the baby?" I'd tell him that she is in my belly and he'd say, "Well...I wanna see it." It was so funny and cute at the same time. Of course, I was thinking "ME TOO!!!" He did the same thing this past Saturday when we went up to celebrate his birthday. One of the things we did at my shower was get predictions about the baby to put in a little book and see who guesses the closest. For those of you that couldn't make it, you can tell us your predictions if you want. We took guesses for the baby's first and middle names, weight, length, and the day and time of birth. On our way up to PA on Saturday, we stopped at the Babies 'R Us in Newark because it is the only one around with a Kiddie Kandids studio in it. When we registered, we were given a coupon for a free maternity picture. You can see one of the pictures, but they all came out pretty good. There's a really cute one of Dave kissing my belly and one where they had us put our hands in a heart on my belly. I was impressed with how good the pics came out because I usually don't have good pictures. So, the agenda this week is to make an appointment to get the car seat inspected, continue shopping for anymore needed items, and of course celebrate Dave's birthday on Thursday!!!! Have a good week!

We're ready!!!!

Well, Ally's room is finished. Technically, not quite....somehow we ended up a little short on the border so we have one small piece that we need to add border to, but other than that, we are ready for Ally. Her room is all set. Dave had decided he wanted to paint the trim. I hate painting so I said it didn't need to be done, but if he wanted to do it, he could. He decided to and I'm glad because it looks really good. I'm also glad he decided to do the border because it is really cute too. So, now all that's left is getting our car seat inspected which we'll do next month, take a class which is next week, tour the hospital hopefully next week, and get any last minute items that we still need. Here are some pics of Dave working hard and the room. My body is also getting ready because I don't think I've had a good night's sleep since August. I'm the type that needs at least 8 hours and right now I'm usually getting 5 or 6 and I'm excited when I get 7 hours! So, I have less than 2 months to get used to even less, but it's already been 2 months and I'm not used to it yet! Lol. By the way, where's everybody at? We're down to only 1 or 2 people still leaving us comments!

Dr Update

I haven't updated lately so I figured it was my turn. Plus our internet at home is pretty much non existent. We had a Dr's appt yesterday and everything is good. Megan has gained a couple more pounds which she isn't happy about and she is now above the weight she wanted to stay below. She stood backwards on the scale so she wouldn't have to see her weight but the nurse pretty much told her anyway. We did find out that the one Dr who is still at our office will be the only one there and that he will be on call and said he would definately be delivering our baby which is good because we both like him. He said our regular due date is Dec 5 but the ultrasound date is the 17th so he said the longest they would let Megan go over would be one week after the 17th so she was thankful about that. He said that 85% of women don't go past their due date which was surprising to me and Megan liked hearing that. So we found out Ally will arrive sometime in December, we don't know much more than that, lol. Megan and I painted Ally's room and Megan loves it. It doesn't matter that I don't like it because since she does, that's all that matters. Hopefully Ally likes it because I'm not painting it again. We will take pictures after the touch ups are done and the wall border is up. As I type this, my sister Leah is in labor and has been for the past 40+ hours. Poor thing is having a rough time. She didn't want to take any pain medication but finally gave in and things have been going better since then. Hopefully I will be an uncle again sometime tonight and we will get to go see him or her this morning. I will be sure and get pictures also. Well, that's all for now. Til next time, peace!! By the way, our first teen Bible Study went great!! Praise the Lord, He is good!!

The Room is getting there!!!!

Well, we have only 2 more things to do to Ally's room. We got our paint so we will be getting that done hopefully this week. We also got wall border that matches our bedding set. Once we have the walls ready, I found a different room arrangement that I think I want to try and the room will be ready!!!! I am posting some pictures so that you can see it. The room hopefully won't be staying in this arrangement because I don't really like the crib where it is, but we'll have to see. I'm keeping my dad busy with projects like converting a desk to a changing table and fixing our mobile (I love our sleigh crib and wouldn't trade it for anything else, but the mobile doesn't fit so my dad's trying to rig it up so that we can still use it). Also, here is a picture of us at my friend's wedding over the weekend. You can somewhat tell I am pregnant when I'm sitting now. lol Everybody has been commenting over the last week that they can finally tell I'm pregnant. However, I actually need to watch my weight because at the rate I'm going, I'll end up gaining more weight than I need to!!! We'll update after our next appointment, which is Wednesday.

Update

Hey everyone. Well, I had another doctor's appointment today. Everything is still looking good. My glucose test came back fine (yea!!! no more blood taken!!!!). I found out as I was leaving that the other female doctor will be leaving the practice in November. This isn't horrible, because I do really like the other doctor that will still be there and so does Dave. But, I'll have to ask at my next appointment if they are planning on getting another doctor or how that will work. One of the things I liked about our doctors was that there were 3 of them so I was pretty much guaranteed that no matter when I went into labor, it would be one of my 3 doctors. Now that we're down to only 1, I don't know what will happen because I'm sure he isn't going to be on call 24/7. I guess I'll find out in 2 weeks when I go back for my next appointment. Also, I thought I'd put up a picture of Dave's hard work. The first picture is of the dresser before, the second is after. We should be getting our bedding set soon so I'll wait to put up pictures of the whole room until we get that. Remember to RSVP to my mom (or you can leave a comment on here) if you are planning on attending my shower and haven't yet. Oh and thanks Kate for sticking up for me after Dave's last blog! lol

Working

Not a whole lot has happened so I just thought I would give a little update on the room situation. I told Megan today that I think we should wait until after Ally arrives to do all this work so she can help. I think she is coming up with excuses because she doesn't want to do any work. Lol Now her reason for not helping is that she says she isn't supposed to be around paint fumes. Hmmm, so let's let Dave die in there breathing all the paint fumes and doing all the work. I sure hope Ally appreciates all the work her daddy did for her room. For some reason, I don't think she will. Oh, I'm painting a dresser that Megan wanted painted. Why does she want a dresser painted? Who knows, it's one of those women things. It does look pretty good though if I have to say so myself. I guess my next project is painting the room but that won't be for awhile. Hopefully we can sell our house before December (let's all pray hard) and then we could paint sooner or somewhere else. Anyway, I agree with what Megan wanted done in the room and I was just teasing with what I said so please don't kill me with your comments. It was all in fun. Well, there isn't much else to say so til next time, c-ya.

"The House That Ruth Built" Will Be Missed

So yesterday was the last baseball game at Yankee Stadium. We had tickets to Saturday's game (we wished we could have gone yesterday, but oh well). I grew up a Phillies fan and was sad to see the Vet go, but the new Citizens Bank Park is really nice too. However, there is nothing like being at Yankee Stadium. I'm not a history person, but there is just so much history that took place there. The stadium is always packed and there's nothing like the energy of being there; no other ball park is the same. We are looking forward to the new stadium next year, but it is kind of sad to see the old one go. There are several traditions that I'm sure will carry over to the new stadium: the "bleacher creatures" yelling out each players' name until the player acknowledges them at the start of each game, the ground crew doing the "YMCA" as they grate the field, Kate Smith singing "God Bless America" during the 7th inning, and as much as I hate Metallica, there is nothing like when their "Sandman" song starts and the place goes even more crazy because Mariano Rivera is coming in the game. As Derek Jeter said last night, it is up to the fans to keep the memories alive. I'm sure everybody will. Dave and I have many memories there already and not just the games. The first game he took me to at Yankee Stadium, we went up early and went in to Manhattan.....we ended up walking the whole length of Central Park (not the width, the length). The look on Dave's face when he opened the ticket package I got for him 2 years ago. The nightmare weekend with the curse of the Red Sox, which many of you already heard about and I don't need to relive because that wasn't a good memory. How last year, just about every game we went to we ended up driving through horrible downpours on the NJ Turnpike to get to the stadium and see the sun shining as bright as ever. Sitting in the dugout and seeing the Clubhouse during our stadium tour last winter. The game we went to this past spring when we had just found out that morning that we were pregnant with Ally. Watching Josh Hamilton break a record at the home run derby. Seeing all of the Hall of Fame players and future Hall of Fame players at the All-Star Parade. And of course attending our last game at the stadium, knowing Ally will never get to go to the old one and she will only know the new Yankee Stadium, "The House That Jeter Built," as some are calling it. Here are some pics from Saturday's game and the souvenirs we bought for Ally because we stopped at Modell's and Babies 'R Us since ours don't sell baby girl Yankee stuff. We decided to use some of our flea market money to buy a cute 3 pack of Nike onsies, a onsie with a bib, and we got a little All-star game t-shirt that was on clearance.

Miracle

A miracle happened today so I just thought I would share it with you. Megan had to get blood taken to check for gestational diabetes. The nurse who took the blood only had to insert the needle one time, yup I said ONE time and she got blood. Megan said she doesn't think that has ever happened so we told the nurse that she was a hero and should get a round of applause. I think we find out the results at our next dr's appt. which I think is October 2nd. Today I volunteered to help Megan rearrange Ally's room. MISTAKE!!!!! lol Of course that meant all the furniture had to be moved around and since Megan can't do a lot of lifting that meant I had to do most of it. I have to admit though, the room looks nice and I think Ally will like it and appreciate all of our hard work. Yeah right!! Now I guess I have to paint a dresser and eventually paint the room. (Women and their insisting that everything has to match) I love you honey!!! Now I am changing the subject but we are beginning a Bible Study with our teens in October. Please pray for Megan and I because we have never led a Bible Study so we are both nervous but also excited to see God use us to minister to the teens.

My new favorite song

Even though this song sounds more "folk" like and not my normal type, I love it. I think sometimes I am too immune to others and what they are going through.
Brandon Heath - Give Me Your Eyes from Brandon Heath on Vimeo.

New Pictures

Here are the newest pictures of Megan (and Ally). This is at 27 weeks and 5 days. Enjoy!!

Mark your calendars!

I just wanted to let everyone (well all of the ladies) know that you should be getting baby shower invitations soon. In case we missed anybody when making our guest list, if you are reading this, you are welcome to come! It will be held Saturday, October 25 at 2pm at our church (Sussex County Bible Church). If you need directions or the address, let me know (I believe my mom is putting the address in the invitations for people to Mapquest it or use GPS). Also, if you were accidentally missed and don't get an invitation, please leave a comment or let me know if you plan on coming so that I can RSVP for you. Hope to see everybody there!

Getting ready for Ally!

Well, I have had a busy couple of weeks. I've been clearing out the house to get ready for a flea market day to make money and room in our house. I've been spending a lot of time especially in what will be Ally's room. We are not going to paint the walls until it gets closer (just in case, by some slim chance, we would sell our house), but we're getting everything else ready. My parents got us a crib over the weekend. Our stroller and car seat came on Monday. It turned out to be a different color than it looked online and I love it!!! It's a pretty light and dark teal color combination. And tonight friends of ours brought us a glider and ottoman that they were getting rid of. We are very fortunate to have such great people helping us out! So, I thought I'd send a picture of how her room is looking. Hope you enjoy!

Appt

Hello everyone, Megan is busy getting the house ready for Ally so she hasn't updated our blog with any news so I will do it. We went to the dr. yesterday and were there for about 2 minutes. The dr. said everything is great and he would see us in 4 weeks. Seems like a waste of a drive down there to me but hey, what do I know? There is one thing Megan is not looking forward to and that is she has to have blood work done in a couple weeks to check for gestational diabetes. She hates having blood taken so she is dreading this already. Other than that everything is going well except how much of a mess my house is right now. Lol Megan is getting a bunch of stuff ready to attempt to sell at a flea market to make room for our addition coming in about 3 months. Hopefully she does well because we need the room and we need the money. Well, there isn't much else to say so I'll see ya later. Please leave comments as you all have been slacking lately!!!!!

Pics from Atlanta and Boca Raton

HOME SWEET HOME

Well, we are home again and this time it's for awhile. After a trip to Florida and seeing my brother Nathan in Atlanta, we are home and back to the real world. YUCK!!!!! Lol, anyway, we have a dr's appt on Wednesday so we will update the baby situation after that. Everything is going well with the baby so far and Megan is 26 weeks along today. Megan will probably put pictures up from the trip in the next day or so. We didn't take many so don't be expecting too much. Well, hope to hear from you all.

Home...for now

Well, we finally got home last night. We get to enjoy 2 days of sleeping in our own beds before it is back off on another trip tomorrow. I always have fun on our NYC trips, but I have to say, I think this was the best one yet. We got to our hotel in New Jersey around lunch time on Wednesday. After checking in to our room, we headed into the city and straight to the Bronx Zoo. On Wednesdays their admission is by donation instead of a set price (perfect for those of us on a budget!). Well, we got our tickets online because we thought everybody would still have to have a ticket. We were wrong; everybody just went right in and it was packed because people were getting in for free. Anyway, it was still great. I had no idea how big it would be. My favorite was the Madagascar exhibit. I love that movie and that is the reason I wanted to visit this zoo. It had everything from the movie: the lemurs, the foosa, etc. We had a lot of fun.

After the zoo, we went to Union Square (the best shopping place). We checked out the sales at Filene's Basement and DSW, got dinner at Chipotle Mexican Grill (a mistake for me...too spicy even though I like Mexican food!), and walked around. We went to Murray's Bagels to get some bagels for our breakfasts. Rachael Ray recommended this place because of the good bagels and they make them right there. Finally, we got to Babies 'R Us to set up our registry. That was a lot of fun. 3 floors of baby stuff!!!!! I was a little disappointed at the lack of purple and we had to put more pink than I wanted, but the stuff was still cute. They had a whole section of cute baby girl Yankees outfits (which are probably only available at that store so you probably won't be able to get those). We decided to skip Trader Joe's because we already had a lot to carry and knew we wouldn't really be needing any grocery items anyway. After a long day, we went back to the hotel where I crashed from all of the walking. On Thursday, we woke up early and went right in to the city to ride the Staten Island Ferry. There are 4 waterfalls around South Street Seaport that some artist did, plus the views from the ferry are nice to begin with. It was a very relaxing start to our day. We got to see all of the falls, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and even the Hyatt where we normally stay. We then thought we'd walk to South Street Seaport, not realizing it was quite a walk and really hot. After changing our minds, we went back to the subway to go to Little Italy. It was time for lunch at Lombardi's. I've been wanting to try good New York pizza for a long time and what a better place than Rachael Ray's recommended place that happens to be the first pizzeria in America? Dave got a calzone because he hates pizza and said it was really good. As far as the pizza, probably the best I've ever had!!!!! I loved it! I'm not usually a thin crust person, but the homemade sauce, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, and crunchy pepperonis cooked in a coal oven just made it perfect. How do you finish off a good Italian lunch? With a good Italian dessert. We went to Ferrara's bakery and got cannolis, well I got a chocolate cannoli...yum! And after eating a delicious lunch, you have to follow up with shopping. Chelsea Market was pretty neat and we were wishing we had a place like that near us to buy all of the fresh produce at such good prices! We settled for a fresh, homemade strawberry lemonade and blueberry lemonade. Next, we went to Modell's (hoping to find the maternity shirt for me that says "Future Yankee Fan" with an arrow pointing down), but had no luck and we guess it is only available online. We looked at the Baby Depot right nearby and saw a lot of cute things there also. Then we went to the Manhattan Mall. We were a little disappointed as there wasn't much there, but I definitely will be visiting Steve and Barry's after the baby for a shopping spree. Everything in the store was $8.98! In case you haven't heard, that's the store that carries Sarah Jessica Parker's line of clothing, but I still wasn't expecting everything to be so cheap: shoes, dress pants, bags, accessories, EVERYTHING! It was finally time to go back to the hotel where we relaxed and enjoyed the pool for a bit.

Friday we slept in a little bit and went into the city around lunch. We ate at Big Nick's Burger and Pizza Joint (Food Network recommended). Dave tried their burgers and I tried their pizza (hey, I love pizza and Dave hates it, I have to enjoy it when I can). I was able to get my pizza on a whole wheat crust which I liked more than regular crust. The prices were reasonable too (my slice of pizza was about the price of Grotto's and my slice was about 3 times the size of theirs). The food was really good and we were not disappointed, but it just couldn't compare to Lombardi's. Since we usually aren't in the city over the summer, we went to do the rowboats in Central Park. That was fun and relaxing (for me, Dave did all the work). Central Park isn't far from 2nd Avenue, so we had to go put our name in for Serendipity3. It was only a 45-60 minute wait (by far the shortest wait we'd ever heard of...usually its 2-5 hours). During our 45 minutes we walked to Bloomingdale's and did some window shopping and got back to Serendipity 45 minutes later and our table was ready. Nothing beats their frrrrozen hot chocolate. This time Dave tried their strawberry (he usually gets their peanut butter) and said it was good too. Now, I have a special purse that I use when we go to the city because it is big enough to hold our camera and everything we need. This trip it was also holding a bottle of water and snacks for me. The problem is, it has round straps and after 3 days, I was developing a permanent bruise on my shoulder. Dave had gotten sneakers our first day, so I decided I wanted a new purse (now I was risking my life mentioning this to Dave because I am always saying I am in need of a new purse and he just doesn't understand...all you ladies that love shoes can relate, I'm just like that with purses instead of shoes), but I think he really knew it was hurting and didn't argue (he may have rolled his eyes lol). So we stop at a few guys selling purses on the street. One guy wanted $45 for a clearly fake Coach bag so we walked away. A few other guys had some that looked real, but wanted too much money. A Century 21 visit was in order. Outside of Century 21, we found a guy that went down to $35 for a real Coach bag (at least looked very real). Century 21 had a Nine West that was okay for $20, but I figured why pay that much and settle for something I wasn't crazy about. Back outside, in the rain, we got the one I wanted. I was finally happy so we could leave the city and enjoy the pool at our hotel again. Saturday was our lazy day. We slept in and relaxed until after lunch time. We then explored Secaucus, NJ, got lunch, went to their Baby Depot and set up a registry, then had an early dinner at Olive Garden. We went back to the hotel to change and get ready for the highlight of the trip: Grease on Broadway! It was a little different than the movie, which I was expecting because it was a musical before the movie, but it was AWESOME!!!! I think I looked like a dork with a big smile on my face the whole time. The actors were great singers and seeing Taylor Hicks was really cool too, especially when he pulled out his harmonica and played it at the end of a song. Even Dave said he had fun. The only bad thing is, now I'm going to want to go see shows like that all the time, but it's out of the budget lol.

Sunday meant the end of our vacation :( , but not before we went to Mo's New York Grill for lunch. If you aren't familiar with the Yankees, he is their star closing pitcher with an awesome restaurant. We were supposed to come home that evening, but had to go to upstate New York for a funeral, which explains why we didn't get home until last night. Tomorrow evening it's off to Atlanta to see Dave's brother and then to Florida until the end of the month so today is an unpacking, laundry, straightening up, errands, and re-packing day lol. Wow this is exhausting, but it's worth it!

NYC!!!!

Well, it is time to get ready for another trip. :) We leave tomorrow for NYC. I think this will be the first I've gone over the summer (except to Yankee Stadium for a game). We got engaged on a New York City trip and have gone every year since then. We usually go on Dave's days off between Christmas and New Year's. This year, Dave has Christmas off so we'd lose a day in New York, plus we'll have a newborn baby. So, we're going now. This will also be our longest trip. Usually, we are just there for 2-3 days. This trip is 5 days. We've got it full of things to do. I'm excited to see the Madagascar exhibit at the Bronx Zoo tomorrow. Plus, we'll be setting up our baby registry at Babies 'R Us and possibly Baby Depot. I have a lot of fun walking around those stores to begin with so I'm sure with the huge NYC stores it will be even more fun. Of course, we'll be making a stop at Trader Joe's, Serendipity 3, and Filene's Basement and other's that are a must in New York. We also always check out a few of Rachael Ray's picks to eat. This time we're going to get some bagels at Murray's Bagels and some good, New York style pizza at Lombardi's, which is the first pizzeria in America. We haven't been disappointed by her picks yet so I'm sure we won't be this time either. We'll also be doing the Staten Island Ferry and South Street Seaport. Of course, Saturday night will be spent enjoying a Broadway musical. :) As far as how our last doctor's appointment went, everything looked good. Surprisingly, my blood pressure was good. I've never had problems with it, but all the stress I had been under with finances and the doctor's office trying to over-charge us, etc. had me worried that it would be high. The doctor I saw at this last appointment will no longer be seeing the pregnancy patients so I'll have one of the other two doctors. That's fine with me because I've only seen the other two so far anyway. I was still able to look at the scale and not get too scared of the number I saw lol. Ally's kicks are getting harder too. She's been kicking pretty hard for the past couple of weeks. So hard that if my arm is resting on my stomach, it makes my whole arm flinch. So I was thinking that we should be able to see it, but every time I looked, I was too late. Last week I was laying on the couch reading a book so my eyes were looking towards my stomach. All of the sudden I felt a hard kick and could see a little bulge kick out of my stomach. It was really cool to see. A few seconds later Dave was watching and he could see it too. Well, I guess that's it. We'll have pics after we get back of another adventure with Ally and maybe you can look for our registry in the next couple of days! Have a great week everybody!

None

Well, I just thought I would write a little bit before our Dr's appt today and I'll let Megan write later how it went. I am able to feel Ally kicking more consistently now. I never get to feel the big kicks but I feel small kicks when I am patient. If you know me then you know patience doesn't come naturally for me (3 letters, ADD). LOL Anyway, it is really cool to feel Ally moving around in there. Ok, I have a question for you all. Can someone tell me how we are supposed to keep Megan's stress level down when she is dealing with rude billing people at the dr's office and insurance companies that make billions of dollars yet don't want to pay a few dollars of our bill? RIDICULOUS I tell you!!!!! Anyway, since I haven't said much about softball I will update that since the season is now over. We didn't have the best first season but we had a lot of fun. We played 19 regular season games and only won 4. We ended up in the bottom of 3 divisions for our end of the season tournament. In the tournament we came up one win short of getting a trophy. We had a pretty good season considering it was only our first year and pretty much my whole team had never played softball before. Hopefully next year will be better. Well, I don't have much else to say so we will update after the appt. C-ya

Dave's winning again

Hello! So, Dave is beating me at posts again so I figured I'd try to get another post in. Not really much to say, but I can't let him beat me! :) I keep forgetting to update after our first ultrasound. I posted that they had changed my due date. I was kind of upset about that and when I was talking to my mom she mentioned they probably said that just because Ally is so small because I was so sick. I decided that was going to be what I thought and kept thinking of my due date as December 8th. Anyway, at our July appointment Dave asked about the due date being changed and the doctor said that they usually just give extra time in case they are wrong, but that if I am pretty sure of my dates that it would probably be closer to the 8th than the 17th. That made me feel better. So, July has been busy and our August is going to be just as busy. This is the first year that we did not go away for our anniversary. We are doing a little mini vacation to NYC mid-August. We chose NYC instead of our usual Mexico trip because it will be cheaper and we won't be able to get to NYC between Christmas and New Year's (another tradition). So, we've been picking out a lot of things we'd like to do that we don't have time for when we only go for two days. I also looked up the addresses for the Baby Depot and Babies 'R Us (they'll be so much bigger in New York!!). Dave had to have one surprise for me. I knew it was to go see a show (I've always wanted to see a Broadway show), but didn't know what it was. For our anniversary, he filled me in.....we're going to see Grease on Broadway!!!!! That's the one show I really, really, really wanted to see. I can't wait. It's funny because I think my scrapbook has been full even more this year than in the past. Ally will have so many adventures from before she was even born! Talk to you later!

New Pic

Nothing new to tell but I am posting a new picture of Megan at 21 weeks. This was just taken a
few minutes ago. C-ya

Anniversary

Ok, I want to take this space to tell my wife, Megan, how much I love her and how thankful I am to God for allowing me to be married to her for 3 years now. Today is our anniversary and it just keeps getting sweeter and sweeter as time goes by. Thank you Megan for being the best wife ever and for loving me unconditionally for the past 3+ years. I love you soooooooooo much and am so happy to be spending my life on this earth with you. Sorry to change the subject but we had our second ultrasound on Monday. Dawn (the ultrasound woman) said everything looks very good and Ally is still moving around a lot in there. She likes to stretch out her legs when we are looking at her. I think she is doing exercises so she's ready to play on my softball team when she's old enough. By the way, we have been getting NO comments so get back to commenting and we will update again soon. Take care

Home Run Derby and Parade pics

Cardboard Testimonies

Our pastor posted this on his blog and I thought it was really cool.

Home Run Derby

WOW!!!! What an awesome time we had at the Home Run Derby. If any of you watched it on tv, you know we saw a record broken. It was soooo cool to see so many great players, young and old, all together warming up in one place. I wish a Yankee (Giambi or A-Rod) had participated in the Derby but it was still fun even though there wasn't a Yankee in it. Watching Josh Hamilton smash home run after home run way out in the bleachers and upper deck was so awesome and the crowd went nuts chanting his name and the whole place felt like it was shaking. It was definitely the perfect event to close out the last year at Yankee Stadium. On Tuesday, we went back into the city and watched the Red Carpet Parade down 6th Ave. We were able to get a front row standing spot so everyone went within a few feet of us. We saw most of the All Stars plus Hall of Fame greats such as Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, Reggie Jackson, Joe Morgan, Ozzie Smith, Rollie Fingers, Cal Ripken, Mike Schmidt, and the list goes on and on. I got pictures of most all of them except the Red Sox players because I refused to take pictures of them. I may put a slide show on here or maybe a link to one somewhere else. Anyway, we had such a great time and thank the Lord for allowing us to be able to go and experience it.

King's Fest

Hey everyone! Well, we just got back from King's Fest in Virginia. It was great as always. Well, kind of lonely for me as I sat watching and envying everybody on the roller coasters, but the concerts were fun. I had to keep telling myself that we are going to try to go back to Cedar Point next year to get me through the times I missed out on coasters. For those of you that don't know us to well, ever since we have been married, it has been tradition for us to go to King's Fest. We leave for Paramount's King's Dominion on Wednesday, set up our campsite, and then enjoy 3 days at the amusement park and the evenings are spent with concerts. It's a great value really considering we pay less than what you would pay to get into an amusement park for 2 days, we get 3 days and concerts. We saw Barlow Girl, Casting Crowns, Stellar Kart, Hawk Nelson, David Crowder Band, TobyMac, Kutless, and Newsboys. Many of these bands we have seen at least 2 or 3 times already, but they are so much fun to watch, that we still love it. David Crowder and TobyMac I think are the best to watch. There were several other bands, but we pick and choose who we want to see and ride the rides during the shows we don't really care for. Anyway, it was good that we were able to have friends (Rob and Kate) go with us because otherwise, poor Dave would have had to stand in lines by himself to ride anything. The camping part was really good. I didn't have any problems, in fact, I was a little chilly at night. The only problem was walking around the park. By the end of the night, my back was usually killing me so much that I was walking really pokey (and if you know me, I'm usually dragging people along and walking fast). By Saturday night, Dave had to carry me piggy-back across part of the parking lot to the shuttle because my back hurt so bad. But, after sleeping last night and just a day of travel today, my back is much better. So now, I'm doing laundry to get ready to go to the Home Run Derby tomorrow. I can't wait!!!! So, to change the subject, we are going back to get another ultrasound next week. They need better pictures of the umbilical cord. It didn't sound like anything to be concerned about, they just didn't get good pictures, so I'm excited to get to see Ally again. :) We'll update later this week after NYC!!!! P.S. For some reason, the slide show only shows the captions if you scroll the mouse over the picture.

Trip

Hey everyone, we are leaving today for King's Fest so that means there won't be any posts on here for a few days. We have a dr's appt. this morning before we leave so we will update you on how that goes when we get back. I may take the computer just in case but I don't think there will be anywhere to use it where we are going. So off we go to ride a bunch of rides, well I will, Megan can't (sorry honey), camp and eat good food, and watch and listen to a lot of great Christian music. Talk to you all in a few days.

Don't Know

I hate having to put something in the title. I don't ever know what to put, that's why I put don't know this time because I don't. Anyway, I am posting a picture of the pregnant girl at the beach. Technically the first time the baby made it to the beach!!! Ok, also some news. The name of the baby will be Ally for now until we reveal the real name when she is born. Ally is not her name but the name we chose to call her for now. So we would appreciate her being called Ally and not Gertrude or any of the other names we have heard. Lol

More News!

Well, Dave got to post the exciting news about our ultrasound because I had posted it on our facebook. It was only fair that he got to post it here. Again, he's beating me at posts though so I thought I'd post today and hopefully he doesn't get too upset that I'm sharing his exciting news. I've been feeling the baby for several weeks now, but most of the time it was just a little here and there so I knew until I told Dave, he wouldn't get to me in time to feel it. She definitely has Dave's energy and can't stay still...she's moving all the time. :) So, today, we were both working around the house and I just sat down to rest after doing some cleaning when she started moving all around. I called to Dave who was working in another room and he came out. Of course since she kept moving it took a few minutes of me making him move his hands all around and all the sudden he looked up with a big grin on his face and said something like "That's cool!" He was able to feel her moving!! The bad news is that the ultrasound tech changed my due date. She said I am only 16 weeks and moved our due date back more than a week to December 17th. Some ladies from our church told me they do that all the time and that it might even get moved back and forth, so that helped me feel better, but oh well. On another note, we hope everyone has a happy 4th tomorrow! So many exciting things happening with the baby and then next week is King's Fest followed by the Home Run Derby/NYC. I can't wait!

We are having.......

Hello, we had our ultrasound yesterday morning and all went very well. Our baby is very active in there and moving all around. The woman performing the ultrasound was very helpful and didn't seem to mind answering all my dumb questions. I know it seems hard to believe that I would ask dumb questions but trust me, I was loaded with them. LOL Anyway, we were in there a lot longer than I expected to be and the ultrasound was very thorough. After a lot of pictures were taken and a lot of pressing on Megan's tummy, the dr said we were having a GIRL!!!!! I asked if she based that on not seeing anything or if she was able to know and she said she knows it's a girl and pointed out the girl parts. Of course we know it could end up being wrong but we trust the woman and could tell she is very knowledged at what she does. Sooo, I know you are wondering if I am disappointed at having a girl. Not at all!!!! I know I can still play sports with a daughter and there are plenty of cute Yankees outfits to keep her supporting our team. I am, however, not looking forward to that first guy who asks her on a date. (Hmmm, maybe I can keep that from happening) lol Megan was very happy to be able to find out the sex and is excited to start planning ahead now that she knows. I am posting 1 ultrasound picture but we have a few more for anyone who would like to see them.

Talk to you again soon.

Update

Hello peoples. There isn't really much to say but there is something I really want to tell. I got tickets to the Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium in a couple weeks. I am soooo pumped up and can't wait. Megan is really excited about it too. Trust me, she is; you can ask her. I won't tell you how she's been feeling because every time I do, it goes downhill. Let's just say we are really looking forward to our first ultrasound on Tuesday. I sure hope we are able to see if we are having a boy or girl but I'm expecting we won't be able to so I won't be too disappointed. Megan has been able to feel the baby moving lately but of course every time I try to feel I can't feel anything. Soon I will be able to hopefully. That's what everybody says anyway. Well, not much else is going on. Megan is doing a lot of looking for cribs and all that baby stuff. I hope we are able to get some used things because I will go broke for her expensive and ritzy taste. LOL I love you honey!!!!! Ok, I'm done, C-YA!!!!!!!!

Long Awaited Picture

Hello everyone!! I am posting the most recent picture of Megan. This is from Monday night so at this time she was 16 weeks and 1 day. Sorry it took so long.

I agree

Megan is right, it is going to be one busy summer!!! I just hope it is not too much stress on Megan or the baby. At least she isn't working so she can relax the rest of the time. She didn't even include the weekend Nate and Melinda (my siblings from out of state) are coming to visit and see the preggo girls!!! Or our trip to FL in August with my parents. Hmmm, maybe we should cut some things out. LOL Nah, I'll make sure she gets plenty of rest in between and during. I know I keep promising new pictures and they don't show up. I'm sorry about that but I promise there will be pics by Sunday. On a good note, Megan and I have taken walks each of the last two days. It's been really nice out and it's felt good to take walks together. That's also a good sign that she has felt good enough to get out and do that. Now hopefully she will start feeling good enough soon so we can go to the beach. Haven't made it there yet and this is late in the season for us not to have gotten to the beach yet. Well, I'm out of positive things to say so I'm outta here!!!!

Busy, Busy, Busy

It's a good thing I am not going back to work in the fall because when I look at our calendar for this summer, it is packed!!! I definitely won't be getting much rest over the summer! We have two weddings to go to this weekend, next weekend we might be taking a day trip and my sister will possibly be coming to visit, the weekend after that is July 4th and we have another teen event, the weekend after that is King's Fest. I'm out of breath just thinking about it! And we got tickets to the All-Star Sunday events at Yankee Stadium for the Sunday after King's Fest ends so we'll be going straight to NYC from Virginia. We were hoping to get home run derby tickets, but the password they sent Dave for the pre-sale was messed up and didn't work and of course they were sold out by afternoon. Oh well, at least we get to go to Sunday's events. I think it's a game with up and coming players and then the celebrity/old timer's softball game. It should be a lot of fun and I'm excited. Hoping it won't be scorching hot sitting in the sun all day, but excited. In any free time I have, I have a whole list of projects to work on: continuing to organize the house/extra room, getting scrapbooking caught up so I'm ready to start when the baby gets here, getting yard sale stuff together, etc. Oh and in case you haven't heard, our ultrasound is scheduled for July 1st. Only a couple more weeks!!! However, since I want to know so badly so I can start preparing the room, I'm trying to prepare myself in case the baby doesn't cooperate and we can't tell. :) Talk to you later!

Dr Appt.

What's up friends and family? It's your good buddy Dave checking in again. We had another dr's appt yesterday and heard the heartbeat again. It was just as cool as the first time. I mentioned it sounded like a galloping horse since it is beating so fast. Lol Then I said "or maybe he's running to first after hitting a line drive." The dr laughed and said "oh, so it's already a boy" and we told her that everyone else is telling us it's a boy so we are talking like it's a boy. I hope to have a new pic of Megan on here by later today. I keep forgetting to take one and she sure isn't going to remind me since she hates her picture being taken. For those who don't know we have decided Megan will be staying home and not working so we are trusting God to meet our needs financially. This means me working more overtime and it hasn't been available much. I'm also helping my dad cut trees for some extra money. Anyone out there who needs some trees taken off your property or limbs cut out, let me know. Also, Megan is available for tutoring so please talk to her if you would like her to tutor your child or if you know someone who is looking for a tutor. Please keep us in your prayers and pray that we will trust God to supply our needs. We believe it but sometimes it's hard to live it. Well, I'm done for now. Oh, one more thing, if you leave a comment anonymously, could you please put your name at the end? Thanks, we like to know who is leaving the comments and we thank you for them all!!!

Finished!!!!!!

Hello! Sorry that I haven't posted in a long time. We've just been really busy like Dave said. Again, there hasn't been much new to say. I've logged on here several times in the past week thinking I needed to post something, but then I couldn't think of what to say. Today is the second day in a row that I have not been sick at all and all this week I've been feeling a little better. I am definitely starting to get a tummy. A few of the girls at church and I were talking last night and they could tell. Today, a grandparent of one of my students asked if I was expecting. I told her yes and she asked when. When I told her our due date she said I still had a long way to go. I was thinking, "Is she saying I'm big for how far along I am???" lol Oh well. I know the comments are just beginning so I know to just smile and ignore. :) Plus, everything is wonderful when I am finished with school!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, we have a half day tomorrow and then of course, I need to empty out/clean my room if I am not going to be going back. But, the main thing is, I am done!!!! I'll miss my kids. I always miss the ones that cause the most trouble too. This year, that one student was done today and he was so upset about something at the end of the day. I know it's because he's done for the summer. He has panic attacks/doesn't adjust well to change. His parents are separated and he hates going to his dad's, his mom owns her own business and I think is a workaholic and contributes to his hating his dad's, etc. So I'm definitely worried about him and how he'll do over the summer and next school year. But, oh well, they all have to move on. And I get a summer off!!!! Well, summer and fall. Well, that's all for now. Just to let everyone know, our next doctor appointment is Tuesday morning. I don't think there will be any new news, just a routine exam.

Update

Hello!! Sorry we haven't been updating as often. It's been pretty busy around here. Between Megan finishing up school, me working overtime, softball, church, and leading the teens at church, we have had quite a bit going on. We are thanking God because Megan has been feeling much better lately. The past few days have been pretty good for her (hopefully she doesn't get sick today because of me posting this lol). We are praying and hoping the sick part of the pregnancy is behind her since she is in the 2nd trimester now. She is really starting to show a tummy now. I will probably start taking a picture each week or every other week to show the progress. I hope if we have a girl she isn't mad at us when she is born because we are always talking to the baby calling it by a boy's name lol. That name will go unmentioned at this point. Now that Megan is feeling better, I need to get her back to posting since she hasn't in awhile. Well, that's all I have for now. C-ya

Picture

I took this picture of Megan a couple of nights ago. See if you can see a little tummy. I think I can see a baby Thorp!!!! She wasn't feeling very good when I took the picture so that's why she doesn't look happy. This would be at 12 wks, 3 days.