Thursday, December 16, 2010

Christmas Fun!

Last weekend we had a whole lot of Christmas fun!  I absolutely love Christmastime.  I am the one who turns on Christmas music BEFORE Thanksgiving.  I am the one who decorates the day after Thanksgiving. I'm the one who skips like a big kid in the snow...yeah, I know, I'm a huge nerd...but hey, are you surprised?  I didn't think so.

On Saturday (December 11), we started the day with a doctor visit.  We got to hear the wonderful sound of Dominick's heartbeat.  His heart rate was at 145.  I scheduled my next appointment for January 8 where I get to take the beloved glucose test.  Oh, I can not wait!  (Please catch the sarcasm)  I think it may be time to lay off the blue kool-aid...well, let's not get too crazy...at least until after the test.  ; )  After the appointment, Matt and Kathy came over to help us chop down our Christmas tree.  There was only one problem...it was raining!  But, we were troopers and went anyway!  We still made it fun!


  Rob and I running around like kids!

 I thought this one was perfect...but no one else did.  : (

The final pick!  We brought this baby home!

Lumberjack Rob

Cold and wet...but still beautiful!  ; )

I tried to chop this one...it was just a TAD too big...maybe next year???

We brought our chosen tree to the entrance where they put it in the shaky machine to shake off all of the needles.  While the boys did that, Kathy helped me pick out a handmade wreath.  It's awesome because it's in the shape of a candy cane!  Good choice!  We then went home for lunch and to dry off and warm up!  

I decided to take a 23 week photo...and then had Kathy jump in.  : )  These pictures will definitely make it into the baby book!

 23 Weeks

 Auntie Kaffy and Me  : )

That night, we all went to Mike and Janet's house.  The guys (Matt, Rob, and Mike) went out for beer and wings.  The girls (Kathy, Janet, Jonelle, and I) made gingerbread houses!  Last year it was a hot mess - we tried to make them with graham crackers and frosting.  It was a huge mess but a lot of fun!  However, none of our houses stood standing.  This year we decided on using kits.  We all had houses, except Jonelle got an adorable train kit.  I was super unhappy because both of my roof pieces came completely broken in half!  Boo Hiss!

 See my face?!  I was MAD!  

Broken pieces or not, we still had fun!  I "glued" my pieces back together and put a nice reinforcement beam of cardboard in the house.  I'm such a carpenter!  

 My finished abode!

 Janet, Me, Kathy, and Jonelle with our "town" in the background!

 I just HAD to get me some Natalie time!  I just love her snuggles!

 Isn't my little mostaccioli adorable?!  Check out those cheeks!

We had such a fun day!  We love spending time with our best friends - it makes life totally perfect.  
On Sunday, Rob and I decorated the tree.  We got a fir tree so it would be strong for heavy ornaments.  Firs are sharp!  I cut my finger trying to put on an ornament!  At one point, I leaned forward and got stabbed in my hideous belly button!  Ouch!  Either way, it turned out great!

 Our tree!

 My little tree in the living room.

When we took our picture for our Christmas cards, we had a little mini family photo shoot.  : )  Here are two of the best ones:



 Our happy family!

Now it's time to finish wrapping the gifts and attend a few more holiday parties.  This year we'll be having dinner on Christmas Eve with the Healy side and dessert at the DalCorobbo side.  On Christmas day, BOTH sides will all be at our house!  I can't wait!  It's weird to think that next year we'll have an 8 month old baby to spoil!

Happy Holidays!
XOXO

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Baby-moon

Over the weekend of December 3-5, Rob and I decided to take a little weekend getaway, a babymoon, before Dominick arrives.  We wanted to go somewhere, just the two of us, before I get too big and uncomfortable.  So, we decided on Lake Geneva.  My family has been going to Lake Geneva for years, since before I was born.  Many of my fondest childhood memories are from there.  Many of my fun memories of my early twenties are from there.  Most importantly, Rob and I got engaged there in 2007, just a few days short of exactly three years ago.

We decided to try a new place to stay so we booked a suite at The Mill Creek Lodge.  We absolutely loved it there.  It is right in downtown Lake Geneva and you could see the lake from our windows.  It worked out perfectly for those times that I just couldn't walk around any longer and needed a quick rest - we were never too far away!  The room was awesome.  It had a kitchen, dining area, family room, balcony, bedroom, and a huge bathroom with a jacuzzi.

 Kitchen and Dining Area

 Family Room

 Bedroom

Balcony

On Friday, I picked Rob up from work around 2:00 and we headed out to Wisconsin.  We got there rather quickly and were ready to enjoy the weekend.  We walked around some and then went to an early dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Popeye's (and NO, it's not Popeye's chicken!).  Rob had 'all you can eat' fish and potato pancakes and I had the BEST ribs I have ever had in my life!  MMM!  They cook their ribs, pulled pork, and chicken outside over fires.  It's awesome!

At Popeye's with our lakeside view!

That night, Rob and I decided to try out the indoor pool.  I was a huge baby and was too cold, so needless to say, it didn't last long!  We then made a Wal-Mart run to get snacks and also bought Home Alone to watch back at the hotel.  Of course when we were back in the room I made a "drink".....blue kool-aid in a wine glass!  :)

Hanging out in the room!

The next morning we woke up to a winter wonderland!  It was beautiful!  It was perfect for the weekend because it was Lake Geneva's Festival of Lights.  The town had a big tree lighting on Friday night with a local author reading The Polar Express.  On Saturday, there was a huge list of activities and carolers throughout the town.  The snow made everything perfect!


The view from our balcony!

We started the snowy day with a delicious breakfast at Egg Harbor.  YUM!  We then spent the day shopping and walking around (and trying our best not to fall on our butts!).  We even got to take a picture with Santa and his reindeer Cupid!  This was fun because we took our picture with Cupid three years ago when we were there last.  

 Forgot her name, but she was just a baby and refused to cooperate with the elves.  She was very cute!

 Cupid, having a snack

 Santa and Cupid

Our photo with Santa!

We got the cutest little donkey for Dominick while we were there (I just couldn't help myself!).  And we walked around and got some Christmas shopping until my body just couldn't go anymore.

 Rob being a good husband and holding the packages

Dominick's bashful donkey

Later that afternoon, Rob and I decided to relax for a bit at the Grand Geneva.  The whole place was decorated so beautifully.  I loved sitting there around all the decorations!

 Posin' by one of the many trees


Hanging out on the comfy leather sofa with a beer for Rob and a lame-o iced tea for me!

That night was the Electric Light Christmas parade which was a lot of fun to watch - but very cold!  We got dinner at Hogs & Kisses and then headed back to the hotel for a swim.  I did much better swimming this time!  :)  

Sunday morning we woke up and headed to Gurnee Mills to finish up our Christmas shopping.  It was such a fantastic weekend.  AND! Rob got to SEE Dominick kicking for the first time.  He didn't believe it at first, he thought I was making my belly jump, but then Dominick just kept kicking and proved Daddy wrong!  :)  We really enjoyed our "babymoon" and had a nice relaxing weekend.  But as always, it was good to get back home...especially to see our FIRST baby, Francis.  We miss her when we're gone.  A lot!

Next time we head to Lake Geneva, we'll have a car seat in the back with our son along for the ride!
XOXO

Thursday, November 25, 2010

It's A ....... !!!!!

BOY!!!  That's right!  Rob and I are VERY excited to announce that in just about 4 months, we will be welcoming our precious baby boy into the world!  We are still in shock!  We found out last week on November 20.  It has been very difficult to keep our mouths shut, but we wanted to tell the family on Thanksgiving...and boy, do we have a lot to be thankful for this year!

At our appointment, I was nervous because baby seemed to be sleeping - which is rare...this baby is flipping and kicking NON-STOP!  In fact, he kept me up last night from 3:30am-5am, just kicking away!  Luckily, I chugged some apple juice right before the appointment and that woke him up!  Every time I eat apples or drink apple juice, this little guy goes nuts!  The ultrasound tech actually had a hard time keeping up with him.  Every time she went to measure something or get his heart rate, he'd flip!  Everything looked great though!  And then, about 7 minutes into the ultrasound, she pointed something out...and there it was (Rob sure was proud!) and she said, "It's a boy!"  We were overjoyed!

Throughout my pregnancy I had been having quite a few baby girl dreams, but the last two were boy dreams, so I was totally thrown off.  I originally thought girl...and my friend Billie, from work, even did the voodoo pencil/needle test and it said girl.  THEN, the night before our appointment, I had a dream that I was lying in the ultrasound room and she said, "It's a boy!" so I was beyond confused when I woke up!

We are so thrilled, we can't even put it into words!  Our friends Kyle and Amanda are expecting a baby boy in January so our boys will be three months apart!  It will be so much fun!  And this baby will have a few cuties to chase after with Ally and Natalie in the mix (Ally is the new daughter of my best friend Katie and Paul and Natalie is the new daughter of my other bestie Janet and Mike)!

Originally, we were going to keep the name a secret until after he was born...but to be honest, I was tired of referring to the baby as, "the baby," "it," "he," and "baby Healy."  SO, we are also excited to announce that our little boy will be named, Dominick Robert Healy.  :)  My greatgrandfather's name was Dominick and I have ALWAYS loved the name....and well, you know where Robert comes from.  :)  I figured, let's give this boy a nice Italian name to go with his Irish last name!

Everything seems to be going very well so far!  Apart from the back/tailbone pain and being tired, I really don't have anything to complain about!  I've been so lucky!  Dominick's heart rate was at 143, right on track, and I have gained a total of 9 pounds so far.  Not too shabby!


Here are my 20 week photos:



We're getting there!  Once our family room is remodeled, it will be time to start working on Dominick's room...and it will be a big job since all of Rob's junk is in that room.  ; )

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  We are so thankful to have you all in our lives!
xoxo

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Halloween and 16 Week Photos!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!  We sure did!  Actually, we had a great Halloween weekend!  At school on Friday, we had our Halloween parade and party.  The kids were so cute!  I don't normally post photos of my students but they are just too stinkin' cute in their costumes not to!
My Halloween "costume"  :c )  Even baby dressed up! 

 My class!


On Friday night, our good friends Matt and Kathy came over.  We had dinner and carved pumpkins!  It was so much fun!  Kathy even brought over Halloween music - but Rob did not approve.  :c )  I carved my pumpkin into Count von Count from Sesame Street.  The "half-attempted" Batman was courtesy of Matt.  Kathy did an awesome job with Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter.  Rob was a "rebel" and went his own way to make his vampire pumpkin.  Don't they look great?! 

 SO Cool!
 
 

 The girls' awesome pumpkins!

 Me and Kathy posing with our MASTERPIECES!

MMMM...pumpkin seeds!!!!

Of course, once the seeds were cleaned I HAD to cook those delicious little things!  One batch was super buttery and salty!!! MMMM!!!  The other batch was hot and spicy - Rob's favorite!  They were so yummy!  We sat on the couch and munched on them the rest of the night!
 The rest of the weekend was just as fantastic.  On Saturday night, Kyle and Becca came over for pizza, taco salad, and funny movies!  We always have the best time with them!!!  On Sunday, we spent the day putting our "new" dining room and living room together (pictures to come soon!) and then had chili and laughs at Rob's parents' house!  We had such a nice time there.  We got to see Natalia and Teagan, Sam, Daphne, and Delilah, Brian, and Debbie and John.  And the chili was DELICIOUS! 

We also have to document WEEK 16!  We went to the doctor for our 16 week appointment on October 23.  We heard baby's heartbeat at a solid 150!  It's such a magical sound!  

 Unfortunately the dark shirt makes it hard to see the belly!

A RARE bare belly shot!  

I've been feeling little Baby Healy kick and swim around since EARLY week 16.  It's so crazy to feel!  Another exciting part to our Halloween weekend: Rob felt baby kick for the first time on Saturday night!  He was speechless!  I was so happy that he finally got to feel a kick!  :c )
I am now 18 weeks and have definitely "popped!"  I woke up last Tuesday and was like, "oh my gosh!" My belly got bigger out of nowhere!  I was teaching on Wednesday night and my students were shocked!  One student even said, "wow, you got pregnant, like over night!"  I agree!  We saw our closest friends Mike and Janet last night and Janet's jaw dropped when she saw this belly!  Don't worry though - updated pictures will be on our blog for 20 Weeks!  We go to the doctor for our big 20 Week appointment on November 20.  We are super excited to see our baby again and we will hopefully find out if we're having a boy or girl!  We are waiting to tell our families on Thanksgiving, so once they know, we will share the news with you all!
xoxo

Thursday, October 7, 2010

We're having a baby!

So the secret is out!  We're expecting our first child in April!  I am due April 9, 2011!  Rob and I are super excited and we still can't believe we are going to be parents!

I found out we were having a baby on July 28.  I felt completely different and knew something was up.  I took a test and could NOT believe it when it came up positive!  I really tried to wait until Rob came home to tell him because I really wanted to see the look on his face but I just could not wait.  I found out at like 8:30 in the morning and only made it until like 9:30 before I called him!  He immediately ran to a vacant floor in his building so he could celebrate over the phone out loud (he works with mostly ladies and he knew that they'd figure it out way too quick!).  From that point on, all of the emotions started coming - excitement, fear, nervousness, anxiety, happiness, gratefulness....you name it, we felt it.  I couldn't concentrate while I was tutoring that entire day!  And that is when the anxious waiting game started...

We couldn't wait for the first doctor appointment because it still felt so unreal.  We couldn't wait for the second doctor appointment because we that was the first ultrasound.  We couldn't wait to tell our family and friends the news.

When the day of our first ultrasound came, we sat in silence as we watched our little one wiggle around in my belly.  Baby Healy wiggled his/her arms and kicked his/her legs high up!  Rob said, "Oh my gosh, it looks like a human!"  Yup...that's what we were going for!  I just laid there and cried.  It was such a relief to see that everything looked so good.  Our baby's heart rate was at a solid 160 which is right on track for 12 weeks.  Our next ultrasound will be the big 20 week appointment and we can NOT wait!  That should be right around November 20.

Now, I apologize, but we are not going to be posting ultrasound pictures or anything like that...that is too personal to us, but those closest to us, I am sure you will see them as soon as we get them!  I will post an occasional "belly" photo and give updates on how everything is going though.

I've been very lucky so far and have felt pretty well the first 14 weeks.  I never got sick (thank goodness!) but of course felt nauseous most of the day....every day.  My energy has definitely come back - which is a good thing because the first few weeks of the school year were SO difficult!  I was so tired I could barely speak by the end of the day!

I just told my students yesterday that I was going to have a baby.  They were so excited - it was absolutely adorable!  They can't stop talking about it!  One little girl keeps saying, "There's a girl in your stomach."  Let's see if she's right! One of my boys has been talking to my belly all day long.  For instance, coming back into the room, "Hello, my baby, we're back from gym now."  How cute.  Another boy asked if he could be an uncle.  :)  And the decided on names!  These are great.  For a girl: Princess Kai-lan (the Japanese cartoon on Nick Jr.) and if it's a boy: Harry S. Truman.  Oh, I just love my students!

We are absolutely blessed by God to be starting a family of our own and to have amazing family and friends like all of you to share it with.  We could not be happier with our lives!

12 Weeks!


Thank you to everyone who has sent us congratulations and well wishes.  We love you all so much and we are so thankful to have you in our lives to be able to share our joy with you!

xoxo

Monday, October 4, 2010

Summer 2010

This summer has been an amazing!  We had such a great time and a lot of wonderful memories were made.  We started off our summer with our trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.  The rest of the summer was a little less eventful, but just as fantastic.  In the middle of July, between Rob's birthday and mine, we had our 2nd annual Summer BBQ!  We grilled chicken with my homemade BBQ sauce and had the entire family over!  It was hot but fun!

 Dad workin' his magic on the grill!

 Rob, John, Diddy, Brian

 Mom, Gram, June

Janet, Me, and Baby Woods

The BBQ was a success....that is, until a water main broke in our neighbor's driveway!  We had a river flowing down the street and I had to fill the bathtub with water to make sure we had enough!  Only at the Healy Household!  The kids, and Cathy and Debbie, surely had a good time playing in the cool water on such a hot day!  

The day after the BBQ I turned 27!  Yikes!  Rob and I spent the day together and later on, our good friends Kathy and Matt came over.  Kathy made me the most amazing (gluten free!) glowworm cake!!!  It was the best cake I have ever had!!!

 Glowworm cake!!!

 mmmmmm!!!!!

Francis got to meet her cousin, Finley, this summer also!  Finley is Brian and Deanna's puppy!  They got along pretty well (except the second time they were together was a disaster!).  We stayed out in the yard so the pups could run around together.

 Runnin' around!

 Checkin' things out together!

What else happened this summer??  OH!  Marco and Nicole got married on July 30th!  Marco is a college friend of Rob's.  They are great people and make a fantastic couple.  They had such a beautiful wedding down in Champaign -  and it was a lot of fun, too!  I got to meet another one of Rob's college friends, Paul - who is a total riot.  He's such a goof!  Rob and I had a great time that weekend.

 The gorgeous bride and handsome groom! 
Congratulations!!!

So, we definitely had some wonderful moments this summer.  But our favorite thing to do is hang out in the backyard.  We even had a little visitor this summer!
 This little guy decided that my parsley plant was a wonderful hangout.  
He even invited his twin - there were two of these guys!

Now, I KNOW this next thing happened in the FALL (October 2nd) but it was a big part of the summer, too!  Mike and Janet welcomed Natalie Marie Woods into the world on October 2nd at 12:39 pm!  She is the most precious peanut I have ever seen!  I was lucky enough to visit the hospital on Saturday night and wish Natalie a happy birthday and congratulate the happiest new parents ever!  Natalie weighed 6 lbs. 14 oz. and measured 18 in. long.  She is AMAZING!

 SO in love!

 One HAPPY family!
 Chris holding Natalie for the first time.

I just can't express how happy I am for Mike and Janet.  She is a perfect little baby and Natalie is SO lucky the have the parents she has!  Only good things are to come!  Congrats!!!

Didn't we have a great summer?!?!  And these photos are only a small slice of our summer pie!  We had so many great days!  

Now.....one more thing was super exciting this summer...in fact, Rob and I think it was the best part of the summer....but THAT IS FOR THE NEXT ENTRY!  

STAY TUNED!
xoxo