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

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 

Weekend in Galena

Last weekend, Rob and I drove to Galena, IL to spend a nice relaxing weekend together. Lucky for us, my best friend Katie's grandparents own a gorgeous log cabin in the rolling hills of the Galena Territories (about a 15 minute drive to downtown Galena).  

 There it is!  All nestled in the trees!

Katie and her husband, Paul, were planning on going to Galena Saturday through Monday, but since it was Rob's birthday on Wednesday, I asked if it would be okay for us to go a night ahead and enjoy some time to ourselves.  Lucky for us, we were able to!  We left Friday evening after I picked Rob up from work and drove the 3.5 hours to Galena.  Unfortunately, I was feeling carsick so I slept most of the way while Rob drove (poor guy!).  Eventually, we made it and we still had enough sunlight to find the hidden key.  We brought our stuff in, turned on the water and air, and left for dinner (we were starving by then!).

 We made it!

We went to dinner at this placed called Benjamin's in town.  It was very yummy!  By then, it was late so we decided to head back to the cabin.  It was so beautiful at night because there weren't any clouds.  We saw thousands of stars!  We laid on the hammock on the deck just looking at the stars.  We even saw a satellite float by....AND a shooting star!!!  We both made wishes.  :c )

  Total relaxation!

The next morning, we slept in until around 9.  It's so easy to get a good night sleep there because it is SO quiet!  

 Our morning view from the deck.  It was so peaceful!

We then headed into town where we had breakfast and did a little shopping.  I just love the downtown area - it's so darn cute!  There are a ton of cute little shops, restaurants and bars.  After a little shopping, Rob and I decided to stop in our favorite bar there, The Grape Escape.  It's owned by this awesome lady who dresses totally 50's with lots of tattoos.  They have free games to play, including Golden Tee.  During the afternoon on Saturday, there was an "all you can garnish" bloody mary bar and live music.  

 A view of downtown

The Grape Escape!

Eventually, Katie and Paul made it to Galena and met us.  It was SO good to see them.  I hadn't seen Katie since the last time we went to Galena in the winter.  I was so excited to love on her adorable pregnant belly!  This was the first time I got to see Katie since she has been pregnant so I was so anxious to love on her belly!  After all, that is my "niece" in there!

 All THREE of us girls.  :)

Later in the evening, we went to dinner at The Log Cabin where the food is delicious!  

 Katie and Paul, proud parents to be!

On our way to dinner - how cute are they?!

After dinner, we headed back to the cabin to relax.  Rob, Paul and I had some "cigar time" out on the porch.  We saw another shooting star!!!!  What a lucky weekend!  I only had half of one and then I slipped inside to have girl time with my Katie.  Katie laid on the couch while I sat on the floor next to her with my hand on her belly for quite awhile.  It was so awesome.  I got a kick and some other little movement from their precious baby girl!  I even saw Katie's belly move while we were chatting.  A lot of our conversation definitely focused on birth, babies, and the future.  I feel so lucky to be able to be a little part of Paul and Katie's journey.  I love that baby so much and she isn't even here yet!  Come on, October!  :c )

The next morning, we all got up (Paul went on a 42 mile bike ride) and spent a little time together.  Then Rob and I had to pack up head back home.  It is very tough to leave such a calm and peaceful place, but we had to!  The next few pictures are some of the scenery heading out of the Territories and then a little bit on our way out of Galena.

 Driving through The Territories

 There are lots of horse stables in The Territories.  These are some cool jumps...or whatever you call them!  :c )

 More "horse jumps"  haha!

 Out of The Territories, on our way out of Galena

 Bye bye Galena!  We hope to see you again soon!

What can I say, what a fantastic weekend!  If you've never been to Galena, I highly recommend it.  It's peaceful and beautiful and there's a lot to do!  Thanks again to Katie and Paul for inviting us!!!  And a big thank you to her grandparents, The Peressini's for letting us go a night early on our own!!!!   xoxo  

Sea Grapes and Fish Eyes

We're back!  We were so lucky to have spent the last week in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.  We had such a great time - but we are glad to be home!  We arrived on Saturday, June 19 (after a two hour delay at O'Hare!) and were ready to sit in the sun!  But, oh, wait....it was cloudy.  In fact, it was cloudy most of the trip but we actually preferred that because we got sun without the burn; we got dark without the crispy burnt lobster feel.

On the plane, heading to our gate

Our room!

The view from our room

On Sunday, we celebrated our one year anniversary with a private dinner on the beach at sunset.  The hotel also gave us a plate of fresh fruit and champagne in our room! 

At dinner

Our waiter had fun posing us and taking pictures with my camera.  I was laughing in this picture because it felt like our wedding day all over again with all the posing!

We spent Monday and Tuesday relaxing in the pool and on the beach.  It was really nice to just unwind with a good book!  On Wednesday, after a day in the pool, we treated ourselves to deep tissue massages at the amazing spa.  We spent an hour in the hydrotherapy room beforehand.  SO NICE!

On Thursday, we got up and went horseback riding!  It was really nice because it was just us and a guide.  We got to ride our horses down the beach and also through the countryside of the Dominican Republic.  My horse's name was Casita (Little House in Spanish) and Rob's horse's name was Cubalibre (Rum and Coke in Spanish - how fitting!).  We had a great time with those horses!  

Urban cowboys....I look like a police officer with that helmet and my sunglasses!

After horseback riding, we went right back to the beach (OF COURSE!).  On Friday, we spent the day relaxing and ended it with more fabulous spa treatments: a hot stone massage for Rob and an after-sun facial for me.  That night, at dinner, our waiter surprised us with champagne and steak and lobster dinners since it was our last night there.  So YUMMY!  We didn't have to leave for the airport until 4:00 on Saturday, so we spent the morning swimming in the pool.  We were able to take showers in the spa since we had to check out earlier.  The flight was good, but long, and we were so excited to get home to see our baby, Francis.  I'm not sure who was more excited: her or me!

You're probably wondering why I titled this entry, "Sea Grapes and Fish Eyes."  On Friday, Rob and I spent some time being goofy (go figure!) and hunting on the beach for those clear watery balls that wash ashore.  Along with those, I found some amber colored disks that had a sort of membrane around them...they looked like eyes!  And you KNOW I took some pictures!

One of the sea grapes!  Rob enjoyed splattering them on the sand.

Rob holding up a fish eye

My prized "fish eye!"

Hanging out under a palapa with margaritas!

Playing on the beach

That same day, I came across a lonely puppy dog hanging out on the beach.  I lovingly named him Jim.  He was so cute but he only made me miss Francis more!

Me and Jim

Yes, we didn't have the most sun (Thursday and Saturday were the best days) but like I said, we preferred it that way.  We were able to sit out all day without being uncomfortable and we weren't in pain from the sun either.  It rained everyday, but we were lucky because it was mostly at night when it didn't matter.  In fact, it rained so hard on Wednesday night, the entire hotel lost power!  It was kind of creepy!  Power in the Dominican is hard to come by, so needless to say, there wasn't any backup power!  

We also met a few people and had fun with them, just about every night, mostly hanging out at our favorite bar "Rendezvous," watching the nightly shows, and even ended up in the disco one night.  The night we arrived, we met a fantastic couple, Jacynthe and Greg, from Halifax.  We really enjoyed their company.  We had dinner with them the first night and spent just about every evening with them!  They were there to plan their wedding for next June!  How exciting!

Rob, Me, Jacynthe, and Greg

Champagne and a cigar - so classy

Bye-bye pool  :c (

About to board the plane - you enter/exit the plane outside in the Dominican because the airport doesn't even have walls!

All in all, we had a amazing trip to Punta Cana.  It was a great way to spend our first anniversary.  The Dominican people are unbelievably friendly and it is absolutely gorgeous there.  If you were ever thinking about going there, we highly recommend it!

Glad to be back!  xoxo

Adjusting to summer vacation

So as of June 4, I have been officially done with school.  Last year, I was frantically running around with the last minute details for the wedding.  But this year, well...this year has been a total different story.  I'm SO BORED!  And the garbage weather has not been helpful - at all!  So I decided to start painting again.  It's been almost three years since I've painted last.  I've been wanting to paint but I just haven't had the time.

watercolor

watercolor 

acrylic

If you couldn't already tell, I love to paint flowers.  I just like the different colors that run through a single petal.  I also really love to paint landscapes with lots of trees.  I am still learning how to use watercolors and how to work with them.  I took a course in college and focused primarily on acrylic so that is what I am most comfortable with...and I think it shows.  I tend to like my acrylic paintings better.  I like how you can layer the paints.  The yellow flower is actually the first painting I have ever kept for myself.  I usually give my paintings away, but I kept this one for our family room.

My easel!  I love this easel...it folds up into a carrying case and has a nice big drawer to keep some of my paint.  My parents got it for me a few years ago.

Totally off subject, but I thought I'd add in a picture of my new haircut!  I was nervous about cutting it, but it my hair is so thick that it is TOO hot for the summer heat!  

Courtesy of the handsome photographer, Rob

Saturday, we are leaving for Punta Cana, Dominican Repulic!!!  We are going to celebrate our one year anniversary - Caribbean Style!  The next post will be all about it!  We can't wait to share it with you!  We still can't believe it's already been a year!  And what a phenomenal year it was!  xoxo