The Big Sister!!!

Several people have wanted to know how Phoebe is handling all of the excitement. Let me tell you, Phoebe is still as spoiled as she ever was!!! She knows that she will always be our baby! I don't think she even senses that we are expecting. She is still as protective of us as she always has been! She is going to LOVE the baby because she absolutely LOVES kids!!! Here is a picture of Phoebe with her BIG bone!!! She loves it......

Posted: 7/31/2007

I am 30!!!!

Well, it had to happen sooner or later, and it finally did. I said goodbye to my 20's and hello to the 30's on Saturday! I think what helped was knowing that I would at least be having a baby while I am 30. We had a great weekend. Of course, we also celebrated the weekend before in Chicago! On Friday night, Tim and I went to Keystone to birthday shop and we had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory!!! Saturday the family headed to Dayton, OH for dinner at The Chop House, which is a family favorite. Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Tim, Aunt Sharon, and Hannah joined Tim and I for dinner. As usual, it was wonderful. You can see the pictures of all of us outside of the restaurant. Baby wasn't making mommy feel the greatest when we got home Saturday night and Tim and I were up most of the night. In fact, I got up at 4:30 AM and was absolutely starving, so I ate a Granny Smith apple. Of course, Tim had to eat too. What a trooper!!! Needless to say, we didn't sleep all night and we missed church on Sunday morning.














After we slept for awhile, Mom and Dad had us over for a late lunch and had a few people over for birthday gifts and cake. It was a BEAUTIFUL day out and we had a great time. Thanks to everyone for all of the wonderful gifts and well wishes. I received wonderful gifts from everyone and I love everything. Also, baby Stover received a lot of nice things and I am sure baby will love all of them when he/she arrives! Thanks to Mom, Dad and Tim for the wonderful time in Chicago and for everything you did to make my birthday special! So far, I have handled being 30! Tim is just glad that now we can say that we are both in our 30's!









Posted: 7/31/2007

Baby Stover is 8 weeks old!

I can't believe it, but the baby is already 8 weeks old! According to the MANY books that we are reading, this week the baby will be 2-4 cm, roughly the size of a raspberry. The baby weighs approximately 5g. This week ends the embryonic stage and enters the fetal stage. The baby will develop his/her eyes and have eyelids. Isn't that amazing!!! The hands and feet also further develop. Check out the picture at the side. This is an example of what the baby looks like!

I have still been feeling great, as long as I eat, eat, eat!!! My family doesn't want to be around me any more because when I eat, they eat. I think we will all gain weight. I think Tim has.... or at least I hope! My food cravings have been interesting. I have not had one bite of pork in 1o years, since I dissected the pig in college, but of course, I HAD to have bacon. It was YUMMY! I also don't typically eat fast food, especially NOT McDonald's or Burger King, but I HAD to have a whopper junior. I thought my Mom was going to crack up. I think I swallowed the entire thing in about a minute and a half! Oh well, that is the joy of being pregnant right, you can eat anything fattening you want!!!

Posted: 7/26/2007

Fun in Chicago!

Our trip to Chicago was a blast! We went up Friday night and stayed in Oak brook. Oak brook has a fabulous mall and we were able to get there about an hour before closing! Just enough time to go to The Land of Nod, a baby furnishings store owned by Crate and Barrel. We got a lot of neat ideas and can't wait to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl so we can start purchasing!


Saturday morning we headed to the big city and spent the entire day shopping. I think Dad and Tim shopped until they nearly dropped. They are such great troopers and I think they enjoyed looking at baby items. They found a stroller at Nordstrom that is unbelievable. It is called a Bugaboo. It is awesome. I did narrow down my diaper bag choices, although I did not purchase it. So far it is between the Gucci, Prada, and Kate Spade, although I do need to check out a few actual makers of diaper bags. I have found that some of the higher end ones, such as Burberry, are not at all functional! Decisions... Decisions!!! We did get a lot of wonderful ideas and I can't wait to go back when we find out the sex.

Saturday night the four of us went out for my birthday dinner at Bandera's. It is a WONDERFUL restaurant overlooking Michigan Ave. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it and our food was spectacular. Tim and I had been there several times, but it was a first for Mom and Dad. I am sure we will all return. The steak is the best steak any of us ever tasted - it can be cut with a fork!!! YUM YUM! Can you tell I am pregnant!!!! All I think about is eating!

We did MORE shopping on Sunday before heading home. We did stop by for a visit to Millennium Park. It is a very nice park and it was a beautiful day to walk around the city.

We had a great time and it was a nice way to celebrate the weekend before my dreaded 30th!!!!







posted: 7/24/2007

7 weeks...

Well, today we found out officially the baby is 7 weeks! We had a few alarming weeks. I was having a few complications and found out my progesterone was low. They are supplementing my progesterone now and scheduled an ultrasound for today. (check out the ultrasound pictures on the side - click on the image to view it larger) We found out the baby is absolutely amazing and things are progressing along, just as they should be. God truly answers prayer!!! The heartbeat was very strong... 138. Dawn, the NP, said a normal heartbeat ranges from 120-180, so we are in good shape. Based on all of this, the due date is March 6th. She said it could fluctuate +/- 10 days, but March 6th should be close. Our next appointment is in August. Our next ultrasound is at 20 weeks - in mid October. We will find out the sex of the baby at that time! We don't necessarily care either way, just as long as the baby is happy and healthy!

As for me.... I have been starting to have a little nausea! YUCK! It seems I was feeling great until I started the progesterone supplements, but if that is what it takes to have a happy, healthy baby, it is worth it! Tim has had a few sympathy symptoms. The first couple of days he was tired, had no appetite, and didn't feel the best. Now he feels tired and I think he is gaining weight too!!! Oh well, if I have to go through labor and delivery the least he can do is share my symptoms!

We are off to Chicago this weekend with my parents to celebrate my BIG Birthday!!! Not looking forward to the birthday so much, but can't wait for Chicago. I plan on shopping, shopping, shopping for baby and mommy. I am going to hunt my diaper bag! Will it be Gucci, Burberry, Kate, etc.? I am sure everyone will be exhausted by the end of a long shopping day!!! We will keep you posted!

7/19/2007

A gift from Dad to Mom...

Tim surprised me with a gift from Tiffany. He knows how much I love their things. He bought the double ring teething rattle. It is ADORABLE!!! Here is a picture. The awesome thing about it is he purchased it on the Saturday before we found out we were pregnant. I was shopping at the fashion mall in Banana Republic when he bought it. What an awesome guy....

6/28/2007

Telling Our Parents.....

We told our parents on June 28th. We all went out to dinner and we asked them to come over to "help us move some furniture". When they got to our house, we put the picture of the pregnancy tests on the plasma. Brooke's Dad was the first to see it... he wasn't sure if it was real. I think Tim's Dad was the next one to figure it out. Tim's Mom kept praising the Lord and Brooke's Mom cried and cried - she was in total shock! I think she still is! We had gifts for everyone. The new grandma's-to-be got the book, "I love you, Grandma", and the grandpa's-to-be got bibs that say, "I love my Grandpa"! You can see all of this in the picture. I got Tim a shirt for the baby that says, "tax deduction". If you know anything about us, every year we have to pay A TON in taxes, so I knew he would LOVE it! Too bad we won't make it for this year, but we will for 2008!!! I also bought Tim a #1 Dad hat! Everyone was and IS SO excited!!! My Dad said this was the first time he was looking forward to go to work. He couldn't wait to spread the word...

6/28/07

"Pregnant"

We found out we were expecting on June 26th. We took 4 pregnancy tests! We just HAD to be sure! Here is the picture to prove......

6/26/2007

Where the journey began...

Finally, the time has arrived for Tim and Brooke to be parents!!!! It is hard for many to believe, since everyone had given up on us. After 8 years of marriage, God began to show us that it was time for us to start a family. So, the journey begins!!!

This is a picture from our June trip to Scottsdale, AZ. We were celebrating our 8th Anniversary at one of our favorite restaurants, Tommy Bahamas. This is the first photo of the three of us. (Baby Stover is actually in this picture, we just didn't know it yet!)

God has truly blessed us!!!

June 2007