jess made the press!

My sister, Jessica, is a personal trainer and owns Valeo Personal Training, LLC. She was nominated to be featured in an article that the GR Press publishes every Tuesday about people who make living a healthy lifestyle a priority. She was picked and featured in yesterday's paper!! Congrats Jess and thanks for all that you do to inspire the rest of us!

home stretch!

We are officially entering the 3rd and final trimester of the pregnancy! One of the things we've enjoyed most during this journey is reading our weekly updates from babycenter.com regarding the development of our little one and all of the things I can expect to feel etc. during that week. We've been feeling and "seeing" her move for quite a while, however, the past few days we've been able to feel more pronounced features like her head or feet bulging out. Tim especially enjoys "playing with her" as she's been starting to kick back when he taps on my belly.
Here's a little blurp and picture about this week (28 weeks)!


"By this week, your baby weighs a little over 2 pounds and measures almost 15 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world." (www.babycenter.com)

preggo update!

We finally got our camera/computer connection figured out and can now update the blog with some pictures of Brooke's expanding waistline (or "big-o-belly" as Tim likes to call it). Enjoy!


Finding out it's a girl!


20 weeks!


25 weeks (this week)!

It's amazing how quickly I "popped!" I woke up one morning about 2 weeks ago and all of a sudden none of my pants fit me anymore! Time for the gauchos and elastic panels! :) Other than some minor aches and soreness (and I guess some "minor" changes in my mood when I wait too long to eat) :) I've been feeling a lot better now that I'm in the 2nd trimester and feel like I'm able to cherish it more because of that.
"Baby girl Keeler" is active and likes to show off her soccer kicking skills. It's still a little surreal but watching my belly move and seeing it pop whenever she kicks has been an awesome reminder of the miracle of life growing inside of me! We love dreaming about her, talking to her (she can hear now!) and preparing for her to join us!

more updates!

OUR GARDEN!
We planted our 1st garden last Spring with carrots, cherry tomatoes, peppers, corn, beans, watermelon and pumpkin. Tim did a great job of tending to it even though I misplaced the "map" I created after planting the seeds and we had to guess what each plant was when they started to sprout. Unfortunately, some of the vegtables didn't make it. :( Here are some pics of the ones that did! :)

Picking our 1st corn


Tomato plant


A piece of corn for Tim, Brooke and baby girl Keeler! :)


A baby carrot. Isn't it cute?! :)




THANKSGIVING DINNER?
We woke up one recent morning to find a flock of about 30 wild turkeys lounging in our backyard! We let Bailey out on the deck and he actually barked at them which is good to see he has some outdoor instinct since he's usually oblivious to squirrels and other wild animals that scurry past him.



PORTAGE NORTHERN HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI GAME:
Tim enjoyed re-living the good 'ole days on the soccer field of his alma mater, Portage Northern, last month. He's still one of the best soccer players I know!

Tim with his friends Jon and Scott

CRANE'S U-PICK:
We enjoyed a beautiful, Fall afternoon of apple and raspberry picking at Cranes in Fennville today!

Where Is It?!

Tim, Bailey and I enjoyed a long breath of fresh air today as we ventured out to Hemlock Crossings Park in West Olive for an afternoon of letterboxing.
According to the website, letterboxing.org, letterboxing is "an intriguing mix of treasure hunting, art, navigation and exploring interesting, scenic and sometimes remote places." Basically, you can go the website, type in your zip code and look at various sites around your area that people have hidden a "letterbox" - a small or large box (can be a film canister, a Tupperware container...) with a stamp and a log book in it. When you click on the letterbox location that you want to find, a list or story of clues appears which lead you to your letterbox. Some are pretty easy and some are really hard! Once you find it, you can stamp your log book with the stamp in the letterbox and then stamp the log book in the letterbox with your stamp (and team name)! Tim and I didn't have an actual stamp or our own log book but we still signed the log book in the letterbox. It's really fun and a great activity to do to get exercise, be out in God's beautiful creation and put your mind to work! We spent a few hours at the park today and did two letterboxes...one we found easily and one we got to the last clue but after a valiant search, couldn't find the letterbox!! :( Despite the frustration that this can bring, we know that our efforts still make us winners...right Tim? :)

For those of you who have a GPS system, check out geocaching!! It's another fun, free activity similar to letterboxing!

Disconnected

We've been planning on posting some more info and pictures of various happenings around here...including Brooke's growing belly, however, our camera doesn't seem to be connecting like it should to our computer. Hopefully we'll get it fixed soon.

Until then, be blessed!

Introducing....

our baby GIRL!!!!!


We had our ultrasound yesterday and found out that God has blessed us with a daughter! ...well...90% sure anyway! :)

The ultrasound was one of the most amazing things we've ever seen! Our little girl was so active...we almost had to leave without finding out the gender because she wouldn't sit still long enough and open her legs! :) Everything looked healthy and she is already so precious and beautiful to us!

We had the ultrasound technician write the gender down on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope. Tim and I then went to Hope College's Chapel (where we met, got engaged and got married)and opened up our special envelope! To be honest, we were quite shocked as we both thought the baby was going to be a boy! We are still processing the news in our minds and we are becoming more and more excited for the daughter God has created for us! We are so blessed!

PS. You all get to find out her name in January. :)