Birthdays!

This past weekend we got to go up to Chicago to see family and celebrate our niece's birthday! We left Friday noon and got to eat dinner with Kevin, Melissa, and kids before we took them to their school fun fair for the evening. We had fun playing games and winning prizes! On Saturday we got to go with Melissa and the kids to Home Depot to do the free kid's project they do on the first Saturday of each month. This time it was a bird house rain gauge. Here is Andrew working with Rebecca.

Me helping Christina.
And Melissa and Luke with his final project.

We had so much fun and they all did a great job:)

Thanks Kevin and Melissa for letting us stay with you! We enjoyed spending time with you:)

On Saturday afternoon we went to Zach and Annika's for lunch and to see their remodeled basement. It looked great! Then we were off to Kathryn's 1st birthday party at Monkey Joe's. It was neat because we got our own party room and the kids could just go out and play. Here is Andrew in the birthday seat.
The ladies frosting cupcakes.
Uncle Andrew with the birthday girl!
After the kids played a while we had pizza, cupcakes, and opened gifts. Here is Kathryn digging in:)

It was a fun birthday party and we were so happy we could make it! We love you Kathryn!

A couple weekends ago we got to celebrate another niece's birthday. Kate turned 2! We all went over to Aaron and Nichole's to eat dinner and celebrate. Here is a picture of Mackenzie and I before the party.

The Musselman family... so beautiful!
Singing to Kate with her Elmo cake... she love it!
Opening gifts. It was so adorable because she would get so excited about each gift even if it wasn't a toy:)
Here she is with Uncle Brock in her new clothes (they are layered... she wanted it that way:)
Thanks for the fun birthday party Kate and your cute personality! We love you!

Valentine's Day Weekend

My husband is pretty amazing. He decided that we needed a weekend to get a way before the baby came because this spring is going to be pretty busy. So, Friday after work we headed up to Dubuque to spend some enjoyable, quality, relaxing time together. That is exactly what we did! On Saturday night some friends met up with us for dinner and Avatar in 3-D. We had a blast!

On Sunday we headed down to Davenport to do some shopping and spend the night with Dad and Mom Wiese to celebrate Dad's birthday. We enjoyed chatting, a delicious dinner, and a movie. Today we hung out and then went out to eat to celebrate!

We had a great weekend with one of the highlights being Andrew getting to feel our baby move a couple of times! So exciting! Thanks for a wonderful weekend Babe... I love you!

Great Day!

I am 22 weeks and 2 days along now! Over half way and feeling great! I haven't been having leg cramps any more and no heartburn lately! As long as I eat often in the morning I am feeling fine. The most exciting thing I am feeling is the baby kick. I love it! Andrew hasn't really been able to feel it yet but I'm sure he will soon. Here I am at 22 weeks and 1 day:)

Yesterday was a super day because we got to see our baby again! This time we could actually see stuff and watch it moving around. We told her that we didn't want to know the sex. She said because of its position that she might not be able to tell anyways:) That was good because we didn't want her to slip and tell us by accident! We found out that every thing is growing and looking good with the baby and with me! We are so thankful and are so amazed at how God is forming this little one in me. Welp, here are some pictures of our adorable little baby...

Baby Wiese Update

So today I am 18 weeks and 2 days. I had an appointment yesterday and everything is looking good! For the most part I am feeling pretty good. I need to eat right away in the morning and pretty often or I don't feel very well. During the day I usually feel super and then sometimes in the evening I start feeling not so hot (probably because I am tired). The thing that no one ever told me about is also happening, LEG CRAMPS! It has happened a couple mornings when I stretch before I get out of bed. Not fun! Now that I know it is a normal thing during pregnancy I am being very careful about it. My stomach is starting to feel a little pregnant and not just "fat". I am starting to feel what I think is the baby moving which is SUPER exciting! I will try to get a good pic of my belly and put it up soon. We are getting so excited and starting to look at furniture for the baby room! We are praying for our little one so much and can't wait to meet him/her!

Christmas Break: Part 1

The first couple days of our Christmas break were spent at home getting things done and relaxing. We also attended Mackenzie's 5th birthday party. We went to Pizza Ranch and then back to Aaron and Nichole's for cake, ice cream, and gifts.

The next couple of days were spent at my dad and mom's house hanging out with family. On Christmas Eve we all went to the church service, had an amazing dinner, and played games. Christmas morning we woke up early because Andrew and I had to leave early to catch our flight to San Francisco for Andrew's sisters wedding. Of course we took our annual picture on the stairs before opening gifts.

We had a very wonderful morning and are so thankful for God's blessings and especially the gift of His Son coming to Earth to save us!

Christmas Break: Part 2

Our trip out to San Francisco for Abby (Andrew's sister) and AJ's wedding went well. We weren't for sure if we would be able to fly out of Des Moines because they were in the middle of getting snow. Everything went smoothly for the most part and we made it there a little before midnight on Christmas Eve. AJ's sister Mandy picked us up and we headed to San Rafael, to where we would be staying close to the wedding festivities.

On our first day there we had a wedding shower for Abby in the morning and then went on a hike to the ocean. It was so beautiful and I was so sad that I didn't have my camera! After lunch it was raining but we decide to go to Muir Woods to see the Redwoods anyways. That evening we went over to AJ's apartment for a Christmas party and wonderful food. So bummed I didn't have my camera with me all day:(

Sunday was wedding day. I woke up early to help Abby with her hair. Anna did her make-up while I curled and then we styled it together. It turned out beautiful! Anna had made the headband and it looked perfect with the 50's style Abby was going with.

The wedding was so beautiful! AJ sang to Abby twice and they wrote their own vows to say to each other. I think there were quite a few tears shed, happy ones of course. It was so cool to see their devotion to God and each other. We are so excited to have a new brother in the family! Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Van Cannon! Andrew and I before the wedding...

Abby and AJ...
The sisters...

The men...
The Wiese family with AJ's dad and brother...
The next morning we went disc golfing at a really awesome course. It was out in the country, on the side of a hill, with wild turkeys running around. Afterwards we packed up and headed into San Francisco by Fisherman's Wharf where we would be staying the rest of the time. As we headed down to Pier 39 we had to stop and get a picture on a trolley (we didn't actually ride it.)
And of course we had to stop and eat and IN-N-OUT.
Andrew's family had never had it and we all enjoyed it very much! Anna and I...
Ben and Sherry...
And Dad and Mom Wiese...
After our stomach's were full we finished our walk to Pier 39 to see the sea lions. We were disappointed to only see 4 when there are usually 600:( The whole time we only saw less than four... they said that they had left to find more fish? Not sure?
Next, Dan and Anna, Ben and Sherry, and Andrew and I walked up to China town. This is what we saw a lot of and smelled a lot of... not too appetizing.
The streets were so crowded! It was quite the experience and we enjoyed stopping at all the little shops.

Next we walked back to Pier 39 and ate dinner at Bubba Gumps with the Wiese and Van Cannon families together. It was a great post wedding celebration and of course it had to end with ice cream from Ghirardelli Square.
We enjoyed it very much:)
On Tuesday we went disc golfing again. This time we went to Golden Gate Park. It was a really fun course too but there were a lot of people there. In the evening Ben, Sherry, Andrew and I took the city bus to Union Square to do a little shopping. We did get rained on but it was worth the trip. We topped it off with a little Cheesecake Factory after walking around in the rain trying to find a restaurant with a shorter wait. Cheesecake Factory is always worth the wait!
On our last day in San Francisco we were going to take a tour out to Alcatraz Island. We didn't realize that we should have booked way ahead of time because they were booked until Sunday. We walked to Pier 39 to see if there were more sea lions... nope...
and then decided that we would take a boat ride with some of the rest of the family. It went under the Golden Gate Bridge...
and around Alcatraz.
We did end up learning a lot of history and fun information about each one and also the city itself. On our way back to the hotel for a rest, we walked up what they say is the twistiest road. It was crazy how many people were in line to drive down it!
To top of the trip on our last evening together, all the Wiese family (except Dan and Anna because they had already left and AJ and Abby) went out for pizza. We came back and chatted and then went to bed.

Ben, Sherry, Andrew, and I left at 4:00 am for our flights back and we made it safely! We had so much fun but were so tired and glad to be home, kind of. We didn't actually go home but instead drove up to Ames to hang out with friends for NYE! We all met at Joel and Tori's to watch football, eat good food, and play games. Us with Tori and Joel...
and the rest of the gang... Pat, Liz, Marcus, Joel, Zac, and Cathy.
We had so much fun and were so excited to see everyone and catch up! Thanks Tori and Joel for a wonderful time and letting us all crash at your house.

The rest of our Christmas break (the weekend) was spent getting ready to go back to work!

We are so thankful for safe travels and wonderful family and friends!