Chase is here!

Well after a crazy week of welcoming a new nephew, battling a horrendous sinus infection, and dealing with a computer whose hard drive has apparently crashed, I'm back. Obviously, the big news is that Chase Myran Mathistad was born last Wednesday, May 18th! He weighed 6lbs 9oz and was 20 inches long! After 9 long months of secrecy surrounding the name, it's Chase! I absolutely love it, and couldn't have guessed it in a million years!

(Since our computer isn't being nice, I haven't downloaded any picture from my camera, so we will have to do with photos I've received & taken with my phone...sorry they aren't the best quality).

Here's the little guy all tuckered out after a big day of entering the crazy world!

This was my first look at his open eyes! They are a deep blue right now, we'll see what they end up being...it's a toss-up!

So far I think he is built like his mommy...long and lanky! He has a long neck like her and long limbs, fingers, and toes. However, in his face he looks like his daddy! A perfect combo!

He's all dressed up for his venture home! Too cute!

I drug myself out of bed finally on Saturday, so Delaney and I made a quick trip up to visit! (Craig had the unfortunate task of working on Saturday!) We were there for about 24 hours, and got in lots of Chase time! Delaney is still a little unsure of her little cousin. We definitely need to work on being gentle, and she gets quite jealous when I hold him! (Good thing we have no immediate plans for any siblings!)

Delaney's baby cousin is going to be a baby...

We couldn't be more excited! We are completely thrilled to have a new nephew and cousin! We can't wait to meet the little guy!

Delaney's getting a baby cousin

Well, the cat's out of the bag now...Delaney is getting a little cousin this spring! Auntie Jess & Uncle Nick are expecting their first bundle of joy June 1st (Nick's birthday). We are all beyond excited for them! They have wanted a baby so much, we couldn't be happier for them! I'm so excited that our babies will be so close in age and be able to grow up together! D loves her other cousins, so I know she will love this one too!

In other news, we're gearing up for our first Halloween! We are planning to go to Boo at the Zoo tonight on a date with Parker, so we're looking forward to that. Delaney has a bit of a cold, so please think good thoughts for her that it doesn't evolve into the horrible pneumonia her cousins have been battling. So far, it appears to be just a cold!

I'm sure the camera will be on overdrive this weekend, so check back soon for pictures!

Another baby joins the world...

My cousin Scott and his wife Sara just welcomed their second son into the world this morning. Leo Marshall made his appearance weighing in at 10lbs 8oz. These two sure have big babies! From what I hear, "little" Leo came out with a full head of curly black hair! Congratulations Scott & Sara! I can't wait to meet the little guy!

Up next, the Aerni family! I'm predicting sometime late next week, but we shall see! I know they are ready for their little guy to enter the world, and we are so excited to finally meet him!

We hit the 30 week mark yesterday. This seems like a pretty big milestone in this pregnancy journey! I can't believe we're down to 10 years. So far time has flown by, I sure it doesn't start to drag here at the end! Yet another reminder to keep cracking on the to-do list!

Happy Friday!

Babies, Babies, & More Babies

Well, I mentioned in my last post that two of my very best friends (Amanda & Jill) are also expecting their first babies! They are both due in early February. I also have a cousin and his wife (Scott & Sara) who are expecting their second the same week! The first week of February is going to be crazy! I'm just guessing they will all deliver very close to each other (time wise)whenever a February snow storm blows through Lincoln & Omaha! The hardest part for me will be deciding who to visit & spoil first! I may just have to flip a coin!

We also just found out this week that Craig's cousin and her husband are expecting their first baby a couple weeks before us! We are soooo excited for them! They have been trying for quite some time and dealing with various issues, so this is a true blessing! I'm not sure what "method" finally worked for the, but I am so glad it did! Congrats Amie & Jeff!

The best part about all of this of course is our little one already has a handful of friends his/her age! I can't wait to see all of them together...it's going to be a fun spring!

Oh, my husband is becoming obsessed with baby names. I think it's totally adorable, of course, but our lists just keep getting longer & longer. At what point do we stop, and start narrowing the lists down? Oh, and he asked when we can start painting the nursery the other night...I think Daddy's starting to get excited! I couldn't be happier! Now, figuring out how we're going to pay for all this...

I'm still feeling the same...TTTTIIIIIRRRREEEDDD! All the time! But, I don't feel any more queasy, so I'm thankful for that. I had a pretty bad headache on Saturday. Luckily, I didn't have anything planned, so Izzy & I hung out on the coach and watched the horrible Husker game! I also feel like my belly is huge, and I really don't think it should be at this point. I know I wasn't stick-skinny at all before all this, but seriously it's kinda out there! I feel like I'm "bigger" than my friends who are 2 months further along than me...WTF? They could tell from hearing the heartbeat if there were two in there, couldn't they?!? Yikes!

Oh, and Craig's other cousin Mark will be back to the US from Iraq in 2 weeks! He's been over there since April, so everybody is excited for him to come home safely! He graduated with my sister and grew up across the street from us, so I've known him for a long time! I wonder if he knows his family has expanded by 2 little ones while he was gone!

Nick's (my sister's fiance) brother, Brandon, will be back in December. He's been in Afganistan since May. He'll make it home just in time for their wedding...everybody is anxiously waiting for that! Oh, and the wedding is only about 3 months away! Yay!

Birthdays, Burgers, & Babies

Well, it's been a while! It's be a crazy couple of weeks. I'll try to hit the high points! We celebrated Izzy's first birthday last Friday! She has survived a whole year in this great big world, and 10 months with us! I can't believe how much she's changed!
Here she is on the day we got her, she was 10 weeks old!

















Here are a few pictures from Friday, her birthday! We spoiled her with her own burger, Cheetos, & chips! It was all gone in a matter of seconds! I think this is a good tradition we started!

Going!













Going!














Gone!













She really enjoyed her treat!

Saturday, Brent, Buffye, & the kids came to spend the night at our place on their way back home to Colorado Springs! We had a full house, but it was a lot of fun! We went to the Morrill Hall museum on Saturday afternoon. Considering I have lived in Lincoln for seven years and never been, it was good to go and see it! The kids had a pretty good time too! We came home, the kids napped, and then we grilled out. We ended the evening with s'mores from our fire pit! It was a great time!

They left Sunday morning, and we were spent! We decided to see the new Harry Potter flick on Sunday afternoon. I thought it was really good! I love all those books and the movies are just as good!

Monday night we went out with all our friends for and early birthday celebration for Craig. He chose Shogun's. It was a great time, and our chef got a kick out of picking on Craig! His really birthday is the 28th, so we'll be celebrating in Okoboji! YAY!

It the midst of dinner, a couple of friends had a big announcement...they're having a baby! They are due Febuary 8th and our other really good friends are due Febuary 1st. This means I am now throwing a double baby shower! I'm super excited for all of them!

Our Okoboji vacation is next week, less than 3 days and we'll be there! I'm beyond excited! I can't wait for some R&R and fun in the sun! It's been a while...like since our honeymoon!

It's official...

I have the ever-so-popular "baby itch" that inevitably hits most women at some point in their lives. My itch has been growing for months now (pretty much since the wedding), but the last few weeks have gotten pretty serious. Craig's not "there" yet, but I'm working on him!

It's probably not helping that yesterday I got to hold a newborn for the first time in a couple years. I also spend a lot of time reading other blogs about people with their new babies or the tales of pregnant women. It seems like there's a baby boom going on these days!

My thing is we're married, we have a house, we both have good jobs...why wait? Are we financially ready, probably not, but then again will we ever be? I doubt it! Do we have a good support system, I would like to think so? Are we ready to be parents...I think so! (OK maybe not so much yet for Craig, but I know he would be when the time came! I can't wait to see him as a Dad!)

In other news, not much going on! We're headed back home for the weekend. We're going to catch one of Chip's baseball games and hopefully get a tour of Jessica & Nick's new house. They should be closing hopefully tomorrow! We'll also visit the grandparents and hang with the 'rents! Should be a fun weekend!