It's a.....BOY!

Okay, folks, so here is the story...Nathan and I were planning on waiting to find out whether we were having a boy or girl until the very end! Well, we recently have become aware of a few blood disorders that are dominant on my side of the family. Therefore, I have to now get tested to see if I have a blood disorder. Even if I don't have a blood disorder, the baby still has a chance of getting one because I can be a carrier...

SO, the doctors that are doing all of this testing for me have to know the gender of the baby in order to predict the probability of the baby having a blood disorder. (Most of the blood disorders on my side of the family are male dominant). Basically, the higher the probability of a blood disorder, the higher the likelihood that it was going to be boy. So instead of accidentally finding out when someone slipped and said something, we just decided to find out!

I am still adjusting to the fact that this little one is a boy :) Since we already have a girl, it was hard to envision a boy in there! Nathan and I are so excited to meet this little man in January! We already have a name picked out but you are going to have to wait until January to find out! Bailey doesn't completely understand just how much this will change her life but she is going to be a wonderful big sister!

COMING SOON: Baby Girl Fries

Well, the arrival of our daughter is fast approaching! We had a doctor check up on Wednesday, August 10th and our Dr. said she isn't sure if I will make it to my September 1st due date! The news was both exciting and a little nerve racking! :) We are so excited to meet our baby girl! We got the three bedrooms painted and as soon as I get my wall decor hung, I will post some updated pictures! We have our car seat, diaper bag, stroller and bassinet so we are as "ready" as we can be. We missed our birthing class in June so we are currently registered to take an express, all day class on August 20th...we will see if we make it!



Last week our stroller came in the mail and Nathan was thrilled that I captured each step of him putting it together on camera :)











We have had a VERY busy summer! Nathan played on our church softball team, a men's softball team as well as a town baseball team. He finishes up this weekend with a tournament on the baseball team. I have a feeling he probably won't be playing on ALL three of those teams next summer but I am glad he gets to continue to play the sport he really enjoys.

I have been informed by my mother that I'm not allowed to go into labor until after next Wednesday, August 17th because she and my dad will be visiting my sister and her husband to celebrate my nephews' birthdays until then. It will be interesting to see what happens...we will keep you all posted!

MOVED IN :)

Sidney Patten
October 2, 1923-June 15, 2011



My Grandpa Patten went to be with the Lord last week. He was a man of integrity and humility. I have so many sweet memories such as homemade waffles & raspberry jam, his passion for gardening, his quiet spirit, his laugh, the fact that he never forgot to send a birthday card and eventually anniversary cards. He is rejoicing with His Savior as you read this post as well as reunited with my Grandma Patten who preceded him in 2008. He certainly left a legacy behind him, along with 9 children, 32 grandchildren and 20 great grandchildren. It saddens me that our little girl will not have the chance to meet him on this side of heaven, but Nathan and I will be able to share with her what a wonderful man he was!



Baby Girl Fries



Our baby girl is right on track for her expected arrival date of September 5th which ironically happens to be Labor Day... She is close to 3 pounds and never stops moving, kicking and elbowing! I am fairly certain that I have internal bruising, especially on my diaphragm. It is such a blessing to feel her leaping within my womb and we just imagine what she will look like when she finally joins us! Nathan and I are thoroughly entertained by watching her movement cause my stomach to roll. She very much favors laying on the right side which often times causes my stomach to be a bit lopsided!



NEW HOUSE





We moved in our first home on Sunday, June 12th! We had lots of help from faithful friends and family! The unpacking process is slow but it is fun to find a place for everything. Thankfully, the kitchen was the first room completed and other than not being able to find the alarm clock, we are as settled as we can be. Here are pictures of the house empty before we moved in...

LIVING ROOM

KITCHEN

Bedroom #1: NURSERY

Bedroom #2: GUESTROOM/OFFICE

Bedroom #3: MASTER BEDROOM

BATHROOM

MUDROOM/ARTS & CRAFTS CLOSET FOR AMANDA

BASEMENT

1/2 BATH in BASEMENT-eventually full bathroom with shower hopefully!

BASEMENT

BASEMENT-Laundry Room

CLUBHOUSE IN BACKYARD

BACKYARD

BACKYARD PATIO


There is one more room in the basement that I didn't get a picture of before we filled it with stuff...it will eventually be a family room. We are very excited to get the walls painted upstairs so we can officially be moved in! We currently have our bed set up in what will be the nursery so that we can paint the office/guestroom and master bedroom first. We are so excited to own our first home and look forward to getting settled and making it our own!

More blogs to come with updates as we paint and unpack!

The result is in....

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!



Nathan and I are so excited to announce that we will be having a baby girl in September! WE ARE SO EXCITED! More pictures to come...

Ever Been to a Gender Party?

weheartit.com

Nathan and I got to hear our baby's heart beat last week at our check up! It was so amazing! What a blessing our child is going to be in our lives and we CANNOT WAIT!

Guess what??? Our Dr. is going to check whether we are expecting a boy or a girl next month!!!! We are so excited! Instead of allowing our Dr. to just tell us and then heading over to Facebook to announce to the world BOY or GIRL, we are going to have the Dr. write the gender down and put it in a sealed envelope without telling Nathan or I whether it's a boy or girl. We will then head over to Target or Old Navy and pick out both a boy and girl outfit. I am talking a full outfit which means I will get to pick out either:

THESE

OldNavy.com

or THESE

Also found at OldNavy.com

After purchasing both outfits (& shoes), we will deliver the outfits (along with receipt) and the sealed envelope to a friend. This friend will be sworn to secrecy since she will open the sealed envelope and wrap the appropriate outfit in a neutral gift wrap and return the outfit we won't need!

THEN....a few days later we will gather with whoever wants to join us and Nathan and I will open the present to reveal either a pink or blue outfit. So, we will find out the gender at the same time as anyone else who wants to join us! I guess some people call it a GENDER PARTY! I am pretty excited about it! We are tentatively planning it for either Saturday, April 16th or Sunday, April 17th since our ultrasound is scheduled for Wednesday, April 13th!


weheartit.com
Other news: please pray for us as we are possibly making an offer on a HOUSE here in Kearney soon! We will keep you posted on our progress!

QUESTION: Have any of you been to a gender party before?

Baby Fries

That's right, during week 8 Baby Fries was the size of a raspberry!!! Baby Fries was probably jumping around like crazy and trying to get my attention by waving his/her little arms and legs. It will be awhile before I will be able to feel Baby's movements but I am so excited for that day!!!!



Last week, Baby Fries grew to be more the size of an olive!!! Baby's fingerprints are already formed and his/her little fingers can grasp an object placed in the palm of his/her hand....mostly other fingers and toes!



It is officially week 10! The most critical part of Baby Fries' development is complete. Baby's body length will almost double during the next 3 weeks! WOW! While a bit strange to envision, Baby's head is now about half its length - Soon the rest of the body's growth will catch up but for now this allows for rapid brain development! Baby's eyelids will fuse shut and irises will begin to develop - his/her eye color is also determined by this point.

Nathan and I have our first OB doctor's appointment on Monday and will probably get another ultrasound :) My next blog will include all the ultrasound pictures we have gotten so far!

We are still house hunting but waiting on the Lord to reveal to us the right time and the right house. We trust in His timing!

We had an awesome weekend skiing with our youth group in Laramie, WY at Snowy Range (I didn't get to ski but still had a great weekend). We enjoyed temperatures in the 50's today compared to -2 earlier this week!! What a blessing!

Blueberry!

Fun Facts about Baby Fries: Week 7

Our baby is currently 10,000 times bigger now then it was at conception! It's now about the size of a BLUEBERRY...



Baby Fries' biggest fetal growth this week is his/her head, with new brain cells being generated at the rate of 100 cells per minute.

Arm and leg buds are beginning to sprout and grow longer (and stronger), dividing into hand, arm, and shoulder segments — and leg, knee, and foot segments (can't WAIT to see these during our ultrasound this upcoming Thursday!!!)

The mouth and tongue are developing!!! Can't wait to hear our child's coo's and see his/her little smile!

So far, I, Amanda, have felt pretty good during these first few weeks. Week 6 was when I first started noticing how much more tired I am as well as experiencing some nausea but so far have not thrown up! (fingers crossed) We have an ultrasound scheduled on Thursday and will hopefully post some pics in our next post!

Our Top 10 for 2010

-Nathan & Amanda's 2010 TOP TEN LIST-



10. Amanda had the opportunity to spend a week serving at Royal Family Kids Camp

9. Being able to live about an hour from both of our parents (not to close and not too far)

8. Amanda upgrading to a new Camry after driving her '92 Camry for 7 years

7. Nathan shot his first antelope & his first wall-hanger buck



6. Finding a great group of new friends we meet with weekly for fellowship

5. Celebrating our first year of marriage in Estes Park, Colorado


4. Road Trip out to NC & VA for Thanksgiving


3. God provided Nathan his engineering job at Orthman Manufacturing

2. God also provided Amanda her job at Collage Center

1. Finding out on Christmas Day that we will become PARENTS in September 2011!!!!!!!


THE STORY:
Well, it was Christmas morning and we were all at Dad & Mom's house (Holden & Rachel & the boys as well as Eric & Carley). Dad had gotten a fire call that morning so we didn't open presents until late. After opening presents, Holden and Rachel were getting ready to drive to Holden's family in Hastings.

So while everyone else was having a late breakfast, I went upstairs to take a shower in order to get ready to go to Nathan's extended family Christmas for lunch.

Since it was the last day that I would see Rachel, I decided to take the pregnancy test I had with me just in case it was positive (I had a strong feeling it would be). So I took it and proceeded to take THE shortest shower ever because I was so anxious to see the result. As soon as I saw the word PREGNANT, my heart started racing.

I went downstairs to get Nathan and brought him up to show him the test. We hugged and I was very emotional (as was he)! After he went downstairs, I called Rachel upstairs and she and I hugged and cried. We've never been able to celebrate in person over a pregnancy since she has been out of state both times....so it was very special.

I then went downstairs where everyone was still sitting a the dining room table. I picked up Riah and asked him if he was excited to come back from Christmas next year. He said YES! Then I said, "I'm excited for you to come back to because that means that you will get to meet your new cousin!"

Mom looked SHOCKED and was like, "Whaaaaa what did you just say?" Everyone was very excited and I started crying all over again. It was a very special moment. Since we were celebrating Christmas with Nathan's extended family, we decided to wait to tell his parents until later that week. They were equally excited for us!

We had an ultrasound on Thursday, January 13th and everything looks great! We even got to see a fast little heartbeat!!! Our due date is estimated as September 9, 2011! We appreciate your prayers as we prepare for parenthood! I will do my best to keep you all updated on the pregnancy progress here on our blog! We will be finding out whether we are having a boy or a girl which is very exciting!

Very Thankful: NC & VA Road Trip

Greetings! I can't believe that the Christmas season is already upon us! Here is a quick overview of what we have been up to since our last post!

November 6-7
-Trip to Vedauwoo, WY with some high schoolers and middle schoolers from our youth group! We were able to enjoy God's beautiful creation by exploring some boulder formations! It was awesome!



Do you see the whale?

November 13th-14th

One of my best friends, Dani, flew in from California for the Husker game! Although she is a USC fan at heart, I believe that the Huskers are a very close second!! :)


November 19th

Nathan and I left Grand Island, NE bright and early to begin the longest road trip we had ever attempted during our 1 1/2 years of marriage.... :) We made it all the way to Clarksville, TN in time to grab a hotel room so we could watch the Husker game! We got on our way the next morning and made it to Nathan's aunt and uncle's house in Huntersville, NC by 3:30PM! We were able to spend Sunday night, Monday and Tuesday afternoon with Brian, Jen, Dylan & Brooke! On Monday, Nathan and I went to the NASCAR Hall of Fame with Jen in Charlotte, NC! It was pretty cool!





Nathan's UNL internship was where the foam SAFER barriers for all NASCAR tracks originated! He was very excited to see the display!



After spending a few days with the Carey family, we drove just about 3 hours to Holden and Rachel's house in Radford, VA which is near Roanoke, VA! We spent Tuesday night, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning with them! We had not yet met little Cliff Hudson so it was so wonderful to finally hold and kiss him! Riah is now 2 years old, so he was talking a mile a minute! Dad and Mom drove in from Nebraska on Wednesday night and Eric and Carley came on Thursday afternoon! We enjoyed our first Thanksgiving ever OUTSIDE! Thanksgiving afternoon was sunny and gorgeous!









We had a VERY good time just hanging out as a family and look forward to Holden, Rachel, Riah & Cliff as well as Eric & Carley travelling home for Christmas in a few weeks! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!