So Thankful

Nathan and I have so much to be thankful for this year! Our first home, the blessing of our first born daughter and soaking up every moment we can with her! I can't believe that one year ago I was pregnant with Bailey and didn't know it yet! Christmas morning was the day we found out we were pregnant and here we are a whole year later and we have a beautiful 3 month old daughter!

Parenthood has been quite an adventure! I work part time 2 days a week at Collage Center. While I am working, my mom stays with Bailey. She loves her Grandma time (and Grandma loves her Bailey time)! Bailey started sleeping through the night at 7 weeks and now goes down about 9pm and sleeps until 8am! This is very nice for both Nathan and I to have a full night's sleep! Bailey and I enjoy our days at home when I don't work! Being a stay at home mom has always been something that I have looked forward to and I am so thankful that I can still spend the majority of my week at home with her while still being able to be in the office doing something I am passionate about at Collage Center!

Bailey has grown so much in the last 3 months! She has almost doubled her weight! She is a whopping 15.2 pounds as of December 3rd! She started giggling, blowing bubbles, holding some of her toys and sitting up with help from us! We love making her laugh and smile!

On November 20th, we made a public dedication with our church family to bring up Bailey in a household that serves the Lord. We were blessed to have lots of friends and family come to her dedication to support us as we endeavor into the realm of parenthood.

Bailey & I

Our Family at Bailey's Dedication 11-20-11

Daddy & Bailey

We were able to spend Thanksgiving with Nathan's family since my parents traveled to VA to see Holden, Rachel, Eric & Carley. It was great to just relax the whole weekend! I even got in on some Black Friday shopping with one of my friends. Stood in line at Kohls for an hour and my friend and I decided that we need a better strategy next year and we are already making plans! Here was Bailey's Thanksgiving outfit...

Everyone is thankful for ME!

Chillin in her bumbo seat...

Cousin Fletcher catching some snuggles with Bailey and Uncle Nate!

We are looking forward to spending Christmas with both of our families! Bailey will get lots of lovin, I'm sure!

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!

Weekend Update!

Nathan & I got to go tubing with friends this weekend! It was a blast! It's nice to be able to relax with friends and enjoy the sunny days before they are long gone. My mom & dad are still in VA enjoying their last few days with Holden, Rachel, Riah & Cliff before returning to NE! Nathan has been hard at work fixing up his 1999 Toyota Tacoma which he hopes to sell soon. I just finished up doing some coupon-ing online and we are now headed to Walmart for groceries! Next Monday I am hosting a Thirty-One purse party! Check out their online catalog and if you would like to order something, let me know!

This and That

Wow! Nathan & I have had quite a summer....check it out!

4th OF JULY WEEKEND

After our Estes Park Adventure at the end of June, we headed home for the 4th of July! Since my parents met up with Eric & Carley in St. Louis, Nathan and I spent time with his family. His brother Jeremy came home from Lincoln for the weekend and brought his boat. So we headed out to the lake with Jeremy, Nathan's parents Bill & Shelly, and Nathan's older brother Scott & his family! We spent the day tubing, water skiing, and wakeboarding! After grilling some burgers, we took the boat out on the water for fireworks. The local fire department put on a great show!

Amanda & Fletcher (1 1/2)

Nathan & Barrett (3)

JULY10th WEEKEND

We traveled to Lansing, Michigan for Nathan's Uncle Doug's wedding to a wonderful woman named Kara! They had an awesome wedding in a chapel on Michigan State campus. After the ceremony, the reception was held AT the Michigan State Stadium! It was awesome! Doug even surprised Kara (HUGE Michigan State fan & alumni) by inviting Sparty the Spartan to the party (Michigan State's mascot)! All of Nathan's aunts from Nebraska drove up for the wedding as well as his aunt from North Carolina so all the immediate cousins were together for the event!

The Bride with Sparty the Spartan

Aunt Jen (from NC), Kara, & most of Girl Cousins

JULY OREGON TRAIL DAYS: Scottsbluff, NE

Nathan & I travelled to Gering, NE (about 4 hours from Kearney) to visit our good friends Levi & Ashlee! Levi is one of Nathan's best friends who stood as one of his best men in our wedding. Two months after we got married, Nathan was able to stand up as one of Levi's best men when he and Ashlee got married in August 2009! Levi and Ashlee recently had an adorable baby girl name Jovee (honeymoon baby)! By the end of the weekend I am afraid to say that I had caught a bad case of baby fever...

How can you say no to that adorable little angel?

WEEKEND of JULY 24th

Since most of the Nathan's family & friends in Nebraska did not get the attend Uncle Doug's wedding in Michigan, we had a Nebraska reception in St. Paul, NE! It was so much fun! We did alot of polka-dancing!

LAST WEEKEND of JULY

Nathan & I have the privilege to help with our church's high school youth group on Wednesday nights! This last weekend we were able to meet up with all of the other youth group leaders for food & fellowship. On Saturday morning we had a planning/brainstorming meeting about the upcoming school year and how we can be the most relevant to our teens! Our mission statement is:

Helping students and their families MEET, LOVE, & FOLLOW Jesus

We are really excited about the upcoming school year and the opportunity the Lord has given us to speak TRUTH into the lives of the next generation!

WHAT'S NEXT???

This next weekend (August 6-8) we have TWO family reunions. Thankfully one is in Boelus, NE and the other is in Cairo, NE (about 10 miles away from Boelus). So we will flip flop back and forth and be able to see both sides of the family! Hope all of you are enjoying your summer :)

Labor Day weekend!

Nathan and I enjoyed a fun weekend at home for Labor Day! Labor Day also is the day Nathan asked me to marry him last year! :) We traveled home so that we could go to the Bow Shoot at Nathan's uncle's house back in Dannebrog! This is an annual event in which almost all of the Fries men participate as well as family friends. The guys set up targets as well as a string of water balloons and have contests. It was a very relaxing day hanging out with family and friends.

The guys all lined up...

Jeremy Fries, Nathan, Bill Fries, Scott Fries, Jim Fries (Bill's brother), Luke Fries (Nathan's cousin)

Wedding weekend!

Last weekend one of our best men Levi got married in Scottsbluff, NE. Levi and Nathan met while attending Western Nebraska Community College. We really enjoyed the weekend since we had a chance to visit with our other best man Zane and friends that we did not have time to visit with at our own wedding! Here are some pictures from the weekend!

Nathan, Levi, and Zane (Levi & Zane were our Best Men in our wedding)

Nathan and I before the wedding

A very good looking wedding party before the reception

You will notice that Levi literally has a ball and chain around his ankle...it is a Keener family tradition to actually chain a bowling ball around the leg of the groom at the reception. Nathan and Zane, being the best Best Men ever, thought ahead and purchased a saw to auction off. So after funds were attained...

Nathan worked so hard sawing that he actually cut his finger a little bit. It was intense but Levi was very relieved to have it off. His cousin, who was behind the plot, watched the whole saw process and after the chain was free, presented Levi with the key. It was pretty funny.

We had a wonderful time in western Nebraska. While driving home we were able to drive past Nebraska's most famous landmark: Chimney Rock! Here it is...

After returning from the wedding weekend, we both started classes at UNL! Nathan has classes primarily on Mon/Wed/Fri and I am soley on Tues/Thurs but we still get to spend most evenings together whenever I am not working a late shift. I have some very interesting Psychology classes and I am really enjoying my internship with the Lincoln Crisis Pregnancy Center! We are both looking forward to spending the weekend camping with two other couples at a state park south of Lincoln on Saturday and Sunday! I am sure that is what our next blog will be about! Hope everyone is doing well!