Halloween Festivities

This weekend Drew celebrated his first holiday. Halloween. This is a big holiday in my house, because I am a Halloween junkie. The house has been decorated all month... yes I found time to do this while taking care of a newborn. Both the outside and the inside are very festive. I think I like this holiday so much because I love being scared. I have a vast scary movie collection. So all last week, I watched scary movies on tv and dressed my child up in various Halloween garb. He's been a skeleton, a pumpkin, and also wore an "I love my mummy" onesie last week. So on Halloween, we traveled to Brazil, IN to celebrate with my in-laws. It was also Troy's cousin Kaylee's birthday. There was cake and hot dogs cooked on the open flame. Most of us were dressed up. Troy came as a Colt's fan... how original. We had a great time. Then it was home to hand out candy and scare our own trick-or-treaters... had we had any. We had, maybe, 15 kids. We now have a huge bag of candy left, which I don't need to be eating. I believe I will be making goodie bags for my niece and nephew who could not trick-or-treat due to having the flu. They are better now. Here are a few pictures of our fun Halloween time!

Oh! The exhaustion!

Sorry for the long delay. Many of you probably realize how busy... or exhausted I've been. Well, Drew is now 8 weeks old tomorrow. Hard to believe, huh? And he even weighs what a newborn would weigh now! He's 7 lbs, 7 ounces. He's still pretty skinny, but boy is he long! I praying this is a sign that he will be taller than mommy. :) He's an amazing little guy. I'm sure every mother feels that way about her child. In premie world, Drew is only 1 month old, and he's already doing things in the books that a 2 month old is doing. He flipped from tummy to back on October 11. Unfortunately, daddy and mommy were a little slow with the video camera and never caught it on tape. I'm still trying! But what made me the most excited happened last Sunday. He smiled at me. An official smile looking right at mommy. He had done the little smiles when he was sleeping (the "gas" smiles), but this was the real thing. My heart melted. The love of a mother for a child really sunk in at that moment. It also made me realize how God must really feel about all of us. It made me want to cry. So I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of how cute Drew is. Enjoy!



Oh! I forgot to mention our first outing! We went to the covered bridge festival in Bridgeton, IN. Drew rode in a baby carrier on me the whole time. I think he woke up only once to eat. He was a trooper. We had a good time, and we didn't spend too much money on him. :) Once I get the pics off the camera, I'll post a few. Later!

Oh my goodness, what a week!

Troy and I would like to welcome our first child into the world, Drew Michael Stiffler.

Now I'm sure some of you are going, "Wasn't he due at the end of September?" Yes, he was. We had a little detour to our plans. So the story goes...

August 25, 2009: I went for my routine ultrasound and non-stress test for my gestational diabetes. So I had my ultrasound first and the tech said nothing about anything being wrong. In fact, she said he did everything he was suppose to do. Okay. Next test. This test went great as well. In fact, I didn't even have a contraction like I had the previous time. So far, so good! I called Troy to let him know things were going well and I was waiting to see the doctor for my checkup. I was sitting on the table, the doctor walked in and said, "He hasn't grown in 2 weeks. In fact, he's lost some weight. We need to take him out today." HUH?! Yeah. I freaked. And due to Drew still being breech, she said I needed to have a c-section. Normally with GD, you worry about having BIG babies. Not me. I have the opposite problem. I immediately called Troy crying on the phone. He ditched work and headed straight to the office where we talked to the doctor and figured out what we needed to do. So we spent the rest of the day preparing to become parents a month early... Drew was only 35 weeks.

Here's where things got even goofier. I work for St. Francis Hospital and had been planning on delivering there the whole time. Come to find out, there was no room for me to fit in their schedule. I wasn't an "emergency", but the doctor wanted to take him out quickly. We ended up having to have him at a nearby hospital instead. So August 26, 2009, I had a c-section. Drew was born at 10:51am. The c-section went fine. Loved the epidural. Also, kind of liked not having to actually feel labor. But then more fun ensues. Drew was 4lbs, 11ounces and was what we commonly refer to in the neonatal world as a "wimpy, white boy." What that means is he came out not breathing well. They worked on him for most of the day, but mommy was insistant about having him sent to St. Francis' NICU. Even the nurse helping Drew wanted to get him out of there. They were not equiped to take care of Drew's needs. (I was told the nurse was yelling at people over the phone.) So I spent all of Thursday at Community South, while my baby was at St. Francis. It was very difficult. My family was great. Troy was wonderful. I don't know how he managed to handle bouncing between me and Drew. Luckily, I got released on Friday morning and went straight to St. Francis. My poor boy was placed on a ventilator for about 24 hours, then placed on vapotherm (a kind of nasal cannula with humidity). Drew amazed everyone in the NICU, even the doctor. Most premies spend at least 2 weeks in the NICU, but Drew only needed one. We came home on Wed. evening. We've been doing great since. He needs fed every 3-4 hours, but he sleeps like a trooper between. Probably all the growing he still needs to do. I'm very thankful to God and all the wonderful people who have prayed for us. Here are some pics of my little pumpkin... who weighs a whole lot less than a pumpkin!

Pre-surgery

at Community South

at St. Francis on a ventilator

On our way home from St. Francis!

So much going on!

Drew's room is finally done. It looks AWESOME! Better than I had ever imagined. I hope he likes it. I'm sure in a few years I'll be changing it to something like transformers or Cars, but at least I can enjoy my hard work for a little while. :)



On other news, Grace has arrived home to America. She officially became a US citizen on August 14, 2009. We are SOOOOO happy to have her here. She is as beautiful as her pictures from China. I was amazed at how well she took our family in. I figured she'd be shy and want to stay in her parent's arms, but she let us all hold her. Grant just plugged kisses away on Grace. So far so good. :) I haven't heard anything else from the happy, growing family since they got home. I'm looking forward to some interesting blogs from brother here shortly. Enjoy the photos!

So what is nutritious?

If anyone keeps up on my facebook account, about 3 weeks ago I was complaining of having to take the glucola challenge again. For those who don't know, it's a test for gestation diabetes. Well, I am one of the few who did develope gestational diabetes late in my pregnancy. The good news is that I'm very mild, so all I have to do is watch my diet and keep an eye on my blood sugar. Well, this is all fine and dandy. I've been doing great. But what I've found very entertaining is trying to go out to eat. Usually, if I have a little warning ahead of time of where I'm going, I can pull up any number of webpages to look up the nutrition guides to check out the carbs. But once in a while, I get stuck in a situation that I have no idea. So what do I do? I ask the clerk behind the counter if they have a nutrition guide. I had a VERY interesting encounter with the girl behind the Culver's counter. They had numerous different brochures for their food, but none of them told me anything about the nutritional content. Now, I may be wrong, and I can't find anywhere that says it's a law, but I thought restaurants were required to provide that information. So I asked the girl if they had a nutrition guide. She looked at me blankly, and said, "I don't know. Let me ask." So she goes to ask someone whom I assumed would be the manager, and he says, "I don't know." She then comes back to tell me... wait for it... "Well, Culver's isn't really nutritious." And she was dead serious. I had to bite my lips to keep from breaking out in laughter as I returned to tell Troy the whole incident. Troy thinks I should email Culver's and tell them what their employees say about the food. Makes you wonder a bit, doesn't it?

Welcome to our family!

No, I have not had Drew yet. But I want to congratulate my brother and his wife on their recent adoption of Grace Min Wei from China. It's been a long 4 years for my brother and his family, but she is the most beautiful, little girl I have ever seen. I'm sure Grant will love her, and I can't wait for Drew to meet her too!

4D Ultrasound

Last Saturday, Troy and I took the grandmas to see their unborn grandson. For $200, it was worth every penny. It was AMAZING. Drew did wonderfully. He showed off better than we expected. Even the tech was pleasantly surprised. She said that at 26 weeks and still breech, usually you don't get very many pictures, but we got 42! Plus a 25 minute DVD of the whole thing. I tried to edit the movie a bit so I could post it on here, but I haven't yet mastered those skills. I'll have to call Erin. But here are a few of the pics we got. Drew is going to be the cutest baby on the planet!


And to add some more excitement to our family, my brother and sister-in-law FINALLY got the news about their little girl from China. Welcome Grace Min Wei Hawkins to our family. They should get to go get her sometime at the beginning of August. Yea!!! I am SO happy for you two! What a great big family God has blessed us with.

Odd things people say.

In the past week, Troy and I have heard some things said that we're not sure why people say them. Aside from the fat/twins jokes I've been getting this week. For example, Troy at his work has to make forms for the callers to fill out when they call people. One form is for children and the other is for adults. On the adult form, there is a spot to mark that the person needs an alcohol referral. One of his coworkers actually asked why they don't have this on the children's form? I suppose there are some early drinkers out there, but seriously? Although, I have had patients tell me they started smoking when they were 4. And my other example was even at church. The worship leader, who I'm sure is a nice guys... he's just not Adam, was praying and actually said, "Bless God." Huh? I thought God did all the blessing. I was glad it wasn't just me when we left that thought that was odd. I mentioned it to Troy that afternoon and he was so glad it wasn't just him that thought that. What a week.

New baby pictures!

Sorry for the delay. We've known for a while, but I haven't gotten around to blogging it yet. We are officially proud to introduce our little boy, Drew Michael. Yes, it is a boy! It is so amazing what they can show you with an ultrasound. Although, we also decided to go ahead and do a 4D ultrasound at Castleton Ultrasound. I know what 3D means, but 4D? I'm still pondering this. All I can figure is that the extra dimension must mean time since you can watch the baby moving. For mother's day, we invited the 2 grandmas to go with us. I'm sure there will be tears aplenty!



So how am I doing? I'm doing great! We are 22 weeks along. I can feel the little guy moving a lot now. He is particularly good at bouncing on my bladder. The ultrasound tech said he was sitting right on it. I am really starting to show too. It's all maternity clothes for me! Now, I've never been a small girl, but it is starting to freak me out a bit that I can't see my feet. So that means NO JOKES my dear husband... and also you too Bret. :-P Because I WILL cry.

It's almost summer!

So last weekend, Troy and I headed to Brazil, IN to see our nephew, Brian, play T-ball. How exciting! And a very cool way to test our new camcorder, so here's a little video attempt by me to see if I can put video on our blog.




Sorry! I haven't figured out the editing on this. It may be a bit long.

On another note, I had my second doctor visit today. Everything is going perfect, she said. Baby's heart is still beating strong and I'm growing just the right amount. She did say that I am measuring out a bit more, but that's because I'm so little and the baby has no where else to grow. Did you hear that? She called me little! We scheduled our ultrasound for May 5. I can't wait!

Counting Down the Weeks

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. For those of you who were interested, I did not do as well this year in our NCAA pool. In fact, I was next to last. Troy was quite proud of that moment. It let him gloat that he does know more about basketball than I do.

As for what else is going on, we spent last Sunday in Brazil, IN seeing Troy's family. I ate way too much food. I had to sleep that night with my head propped up b/c I could still feel the food moving down my throat. OR, it was indigestion that has added to the joy of being pregnant.


I am currently in my 16th week. According to babycenter.com, our baby is the size of an avocado. I thought that was a weird choice of fruit to describe our child.




Anyway, I feel great. Although my belly has grown beyond my normal jeans. I had to break out the maternity wear this weekend. although, it was kind of a bonus since I ate so much, even at my normal size my jeans would've been tight. My biggest issue right now, is that people are starting to notice I'm pregnant. But that doesn't bother me. What bothers me is when total strangers who I've been apparently working with for years, comes up and tries to rub my belly telling me, "Ooooooo! You're pregnant!" KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF MY BELLY! I am okay with Troy touching it. I'm okay with most family members. But a random person at work touching my belly better be prepared to lose the hand. One I find out the sex of this kid, I'm ordering a t-shirt from cafe press. So stayed tuned to some growing belly pictures!

Sign up for our NCAA Pool

Only a few more hours to sign up for our NCAA pool. It's on ESPN this year (again). Go to the following link:

http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/group?groupID=43434

Group: Indy Brackets
Password: purdue

Creating space

You are all probably wondering how I'm doing. As of yesterday, I am 10 weeks along. Almost through my first trimester! Woo hoo! I am feeling great! Still tired, but not like I was. The only thing I'm feeling is my body creating space for the new baby.

Speaking of creating space... I began the task of cleaning out the closet in the baby's room. Quite a task. I've added some pictures... sort of half way through the process. There's stuff everywhere! But thanks to this task, I've cleaned out most of the closets in the house! Gotta find room for all this stuff. I am extremely glad we have a shed.



I also have to post the pic of the baby bag. Troy has told everyone about the bag. We were wondering around Babies R Us, just looking really. And of course, I find the clearance aisle. And behold, I find THE bag for me. I'm sure later down the road, I'll curse this purchase, but it's going to be so cool to carry at the beginning!

Morning sickness is NOT morning sickness....

because it lasts all day!!!!!!!

Good news! We're pregnant! Troy and I will be expecting a little bun in the oven in September. September is a GREAT month for babies! I should know, I'm born in it... and my brother, and my father, and my grandfather... and the list actually does go on in my family. So that puts me at about 9 weeks. We actually have known for a while, but we were keeping quiet to not jinx the whole thing. We have now had 2 ultrasounds, and we've even heard the heartbeat, so I'm feeling a bit more confident. In fact, I'll even post pictures! I know you all want to see the inside of my uterus! (I can hear Bret groaning even before he reads this.) Most people are asking me how am I feeling. As the title bares, I'm a little nauseous most of the day. The last 2 days I have actually gotten sick. But I think the worst part are the growing pains and bloating. I will not elaborate. I have no preference for whether it will be a boy or girl. Although, the little kiddo was moving around during the ultrasound, makes me think boy.

Prayers are greatly appreciated at this time! Keep us in your thoughts!

Snow melting?

...not in our yard. For some reason, our house is the only house in the subdivision that still has the front yard covered. This is not making it easy for Troy to remove the Christmas lights that are still hanging. I still have Christmas decorations that I have not been able to put away in the shed due to the foot of snow that has encompassed it. And for those of you that know me, it's driving me nuts. I am unable to have the perfectly clean house. There are things scattered about, and I'm about ready to add them to the trash. And most people enjoy snow. They get to play outside and watch children make snowmen... me no. I get a lousy cold. A cold that also knocks me out for my wonderful 3 day weekend. I get well enough to go back to work on the following Monday. Great. Now I get to catch something from all the sick people coming to the hospital. Sorry for the rant. I really hate snow. I'm also sorry for the lack of posts. There really hasn't been whole lot going on... that I can talk openly about. Now, my brother would post anything. His poor wife has to endure all the sarcasm and joking that my brother can come up with... AND post on the internet. I'm so thankful blogging wasn't around in high school.

We have been visiting some new churches here on the south side. Both Troy and I had been praying about if we should continue to commute to Common Ground every Sunday since our house church pretty much dissolved. So the first church we visited was a LARGE church that most of our house church had started going to anyway. Indian Creek is a nice church, but WAY too big for us. When you outgrow your sanctuary that was built to hold 3000 after adding additional services, you know you are just going to blend in. Well, Troy and I wanted something more quaint. Something that feels a bit more personal. Plus, the "baptismal cam" did me in. I always thought the whole point of baptism is to confess Christ before your fellow Christians and be baptized with lots of hoopin' and hollerin' afterwards. Not at The Creek. During the invitation, you see this video pop up of a guy in the corner getting dunked. Yeah, real personal. This led us to a small church called New Hope. TOTAL opposite. I think there were 15 people there besides us. We just didn't feel that that was for us. So for the past 2 Sundays (with a break inbetween for Troy to go to the Purdue Women's National Championship anniversary) we've been attending Grace Evangelical Church. Today we heard the actual pastor. Nice sermon, but halfway through, both of us couldn't keep our eyes opened. As we were walking out, I broke out into tears declaring, "I miss Common Ground!" So I think, after some prayerful considerations, we will be back to CG next Sunday. I don't know what we are going to do about a house church since there aren't any on the south side, but I don't think God will hold that against us.

Have a good week everyone!

What did we get ourselves into?

This weekend, Troy and I did something I NEVER thought I'd be a part of. We went to a Monster Truck Jam. We went with the Andy, Amanda, Brian, and Cindy. We thought it would be a fun roadtrip to Columbus, OH. Mostly, though, to get to see Brian have fun. All I really knew of Monster Jam was that it was going to be LOUD. And they weren't joking. I'm glad we brought earplugs. This was worse than any of the concerts Bret and I had ever been to. It was also very dirty. The whole floor was dirt. The first ten rows of the arena were blocked off and covered with yellow plastic. We were in row M. Think about it... the first 10 rows... M is letter 12. We were THAT close. It was also an asthmatics worst nightmare. Exhaust fumes, dust, smoke... it was an RT's assurance that I would continue to have a job. Anyway, it wasn't a bad experience. I probably wouldn't drive to Columbus again to see it. But it was a lot of fun watching Brian. He had a blast. He got a Monster Mutt t-shirt and a Monster Jam blanket. He got to see Monster Mutt in person. We took lots of pictures for your perusing enjoyment.

A little side note. Please pray for my nephew, Grant. He's having a some tummy troubles right now and spent most of the weekend at Riley Hospital. He's home now, but they aren't entirely sure of what's going on. We love you little guy!!!



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