Christmas in Dubuque

After Christmas Brunch in Oconomowoc, Jason and I hit the road again and headed to my Grandma's in Dubuque, IA. We really lucked out on the weather. The 2 days we traveled over Christmas were the 2 days that had great traveling weather. Although we did not make it in time for the big Danner Family Dinner, we reached grandma's before all my aunts, uncles and cousins left. It was great seeing everyone.

On Friday Tricia and Jeremy got to Dubuque and we were able to celebrate our immediate family Christmas. The evening was spent playing Battleship, Euchre and Mexican Train Dominoes. We had a blast!

Christmas at Gigi & Opa's!

Christmas morning started our holiday trek. We drove down to Oconomowoc to celebrate Christmas with Jason's extended Starke Family. Once again the day began with an outstanding brunch. All aunts, uncles and cousins were able to be there! The best part of the day was surprising Jason's grandparents with a special gift. Recently they moved their master bedroom downstairs which had been the den. The den had been filled with pictures of family members. When the den was changed into the bedroom the wall of pictures had to be taken down. This was very difficult for Gigi and Opa. So for Christmas their 3 children surprised them with a 15" digital frame. In addition to the frame everyone bought a flash drive and downloaded pictures of their family that they would want to share with Gigi and Opa. When it came to opening presents on Christmas Day, they received 9 individually wrapped flash drives. They were very confused and were wondering what the big joke was. After all the flash drives were opened, they were given the final gift, the digital frame. The reaction brought tears to everyone's eyes.

Merry Christmas!

I wish I could claim this as our own Christmas Tree, but it is actually Jason's parents tree. A week ago we got together with Mark & Chris, Angie, Dave & Collin to celebrate Christmas. It was a wonderful relaxing day. The day started with an awesome brunch...french toast, egg casserole, sausage, etc. The rest day was spent snacking, chatting, laughing, and opening gifts. Even though Baby Starke is not here yet, the baby sure got spoiled already from all of them!

28 Weeks

I knew the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas would go fast, but I had no idea that it would go THIS fast! It is a good thing I've been wrapping presents as I go, because there is no way I would be able to wrap everything at once at this point! I'm officially starting to "slow down". Students are constantly passing me in the hallway. I don't realize how slow I am moving until they zoom past me. And I have up to 12 more weeks to go! Basketball ends this week so I'll be able to come home right after work.

The baby has been moving a ton lately. Not only is the baby moving, but I'm able to feel distinct body parts as oppose to just movements. I went to Trans Siberian Orchestra last week with Jason's family. The baby was dancing the whole time! I'd hadn't felt so much continuous strong movement before. It was entertaining to say the least. The 2 1/2 hour show with out intermission did get a little long and I had to get up and move around a few times. It was the second time I had seen the show and I HIGHLY recommend it for everyone to try and go see at some point.

My last doctor's appointment (last wed) went well. The two interesting points of the appointment were: 1) The doctor told me I'm going to start going in for check ups every 2-3 weeks 2) The doctor told me to keep an eye out for pre-term labor symptoms. Although this was routine for the doctor to tell me, it kind of was a reality check for me that the time is drawing near!

**Next Dr.'s appointment on Monday (Glucose Test)

2nd Annual Day of baking w/ Sarah & Heather :)

This is the second year that Heather, Sarah and I have planned a weekend in December to bake different types of holiday goodies. Once again we had a wonderful time and impressed ourselves with what we did!

Thanksgiving Weekend Pictures Cont.

***Make sure to read the blog entry below for picture explanations :)

Thanksgiving Weekend in Minocqua

Here are some pictures that were taken over Thanksgiving. Most of them are my mom, sister's and I baking. Others are of family bonding over video games. The 3 days of cooking ended up being a "Comedy of Errors" for the following reasons:

• forgetting a cup of sugar
• forgetting if baking soda was added or not
• the taco sauce lid not on all the way
• peanut butter cookie dough rolling off the pan onto the bottom of the oven
• Oven is turned off to get all the cookie dough out, not turned back on (unknowingly) and us wondering why the cookies aren't baking completely?? :)
• These are only a few!

The picture with Melissa with her hands on my belly and the two of us laughing hysterically is because the picture was suppose to have Tricia on the other side, but as my mom was taking the picture Baby Starke kicked Tricia and she freaked out and ran away!

For those of you who do not know, my dad cooks Thanksgiving dinner at the local church. The rest of us help out during the days before and day of making sure everything is ready. Thanksgiving Day we all sign up for specific jobs (i.e. pouring coffee, clearing tables, serving line, dishes) and help out. We make sure that at a certain time all of us stop "working" and sit down for Thanksgiving Dinner together. This year my dad served 350 at the church and there were 100 deliveries for home bound people. The 450 people include hunters, widows/widowers, those who cannot afford a meal, those who want Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving & family members are coming until Saturday, those who do not want to do the work a Thanksgiving meal takes, those who are alone and do not want to spend Thanksgiving alone, etc. It is a real mix of people. It was neat to have all 7 of us there helping this year :).

New Trick

Well, baby Starke has learned a new trick today. The baby has learned how to kick me under my ribs! Not the most comfortable feeling. All day long the baby has been working on perfecting this skill :)


HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

24 Weeks

My belly has really "filled out" in the past month. The book states that the baby grows the most weight/week during these past few weeks. It feels like I just put up week 20 picture, but yet I compare it to what I look like now and I can't believe the amount I've grown in 1 month. I continue to feel pretty good, just tired. As long as I keep going throughout the day I am fine, but the moment I slow down or stop, I am done for the day.

I have actually added a two new activities to my weekly schedule. Three weeks ago I started a pre-natal swimming class which meets once a week for 45-50 minutes. During the class it doesn't feel like I'm doing a whole lot, but the next day my entire body is extremely fatigued. My muscles don't ache but are VERY tired. At least this means I am getting my money's worth! :). The other activity I've added is I am the newest addition to my school's 5th and 6th grade girl's basketball coaching staff. 4 times a week for an hour after school myself and 2 other coaches work with the girls on the basics of basketball. I figured I could handle an hour when with volleyball it was 2 hours. So far so good and I only have a few weeks left...it is about a 6 week program.

Pre-Nesting???

I know that I am not far enough along yet to be "nesting", but I think today could be considered pretty close to "nesting". Jason was hunting all afternoon/evening with his dad and I had planned on spending the afternoon doing school work. Well it is now 6:45pm and I am just NOW about to start my schoolwork!

It all started with my urge to get the crib and changing table out of our living room. This is something of course I probably shouldn't have done myself, but I cleared out the corner in our spare room and transported the crib and changing table into the bedroom. As of right now everything is fitting! Let's just hope Jason approves of how I set it up when he gets home from hunting. After that was completed I decided to make Chocolate Chip Cookies from scratch. Midway through that I started making apple struesel muffins and half way through that I started making apple cake! I didn't realize how much time I was doing this until the Season 9, disc 2 of FRIENDS was over! That's like 8-10 episodes! Needless today I was Suzy Homemaker. Now it is time to get started on schoolwork :) Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Clarification

Some people have told me they have had a difficult time figuring out what the ultrasound picture is of...It is not a picture of the entire baby, it is a zoomed in picture of the baby's face. It might help to click on the picture to make the image even bigger. Let me know if you are still having a hard time. The common reaction so far of people who have had a difficult time, is once I've explained it they are like, "OH! Wow! Now I see it!" :) It is kind of like the optical illusion picture where you can either see an old woman or a young lady depending on what your brain fixates on and once some one shows you the other you can't believe you couldn't see it before. :)

Baby Starke's 1st Photo Shoot

Dr.'s Appointment

Jason and I saw our baby for the first time last night. The ultrasound was a very interesting experience. When we were first looking at the baby, it was sleeping, however it was very clear that the baby had the hiccups. What was weird was seeing the baby move with the hiccups up on the screen, I could not feel any movement. The ultrasound tech kept raving about how cooperative the baby was being and that she was able to get such beautiful pictures. At one point you could see the baby's spine perfectly and the baby was arching its back like a cat. Eventually to get the baby to move positions, the ultrasound tech poked at my belly to wake the baby up. Once the baby was awake it was on the move! It was so neat to see the movement on the screen simultaneously with the movement I was feeling. The kicks were so strong that the ultrasound tech was able to feel the kicks through the instrument.

We got some very good pictures that I will try to scan into the computer when I have more time. The overall results of the ultrasound is that we have a physically healthy baby (as far as we can tell at this point) that has 10 fingers and 10 toes :). Size-wise, the due date has remained the same, March 7.

***Check back by the end of the week, I hope to have some pictures up by then! :)

Long Weekend of Traveling the Midwest

It is Sunday night and boy am I tired! Jason and I have been gone since Wednesday night and have slept somewhere different each night (Jason wants me to add that no, we are not homeless just travelers)! Last Thursday and Friday I did not have school so I went with Jason down to Chicago. While he worked those two days I was able to spend time with my cousins Kari, Matt, Zach and Jake. I had a great time going to Jake's preschool for his Halloween Costume group picture, waiting for Zach's kindergarten school bus, and shopping at Gurnee Mills!

Friday afternoon, Jason and I said farewell to the Kunkle's and headed to Grandma Jean's house in Moline, IL. My parents, Tricia & Jeremy, and Melissa met us in Moline to celebrate Grandma Jean's 84th birthday. Biorn family members will appreciate the fact that in the 24 hours we had Frank's Pizza, Adolf's Tacos and Whitey's ice cream! Baby Starke seemed to enjoy all of the new foods that are necessity to get when we travel to Moline!

Saturday late afternoon the "Danner" clan headed to Dubuque, IA to celebrate Grandma Mary's 85th birthday! Yes, both of my grandma's have the same birthday, November 1. It makes it very easy to remember! :) We celebrated Grandma Mary's birthday with Happy Joe's Pizza. What was great was that all family members, except for 2, were able to come to Dubuque this weekend. Chrissy and Sarah you were greatly missed:(. It doesn't happen very often that everyone is able to get together, so this impromptu family reunion was very nice.

Since I have given you the food play by play so far, I might as well continue.... :). This morning most of the clan from last night made there way to Grandma's house where my dad had prepared a wonderful brunch.

We had a wonderful time seeing everyone this weekend. Although we are tired tonight, it was well worth the trip around the Midwest! And of course I can't forget the cool milestone that was met this weekend. Baby Starke has made a "visual" appearance. I saw my belly move at the same time I felt the baby kick! It was so cool! ALSO....Baby Starke's kicks have now been felt by my parents, Grandma Jean, my sister's and my cousin Katie. Very exciting!

Baby Crib and Changing Table

We bought a crib and changing table! We found a local online advertisement for what appeared to be a great price for the quality of the crib. Yesterday we contacted the people, went to their house, and bought both pieces! I had been looking online for about a week or so, and think we made out really well with what we got. Although we do not have the space cleared out quite yet, we don't have to stress anymore about finding a crib and changing table. Currently the changing table is in the hall and the crib is in the living room. I've started tackling the mess of our extra bedroom, but we have a lot of work to go. The goal is to be able to rearrange the room to fit the crib, changing table, desk, full size bed and all of our other odds and ends. Needless to say we are anxiously awaiting word from Jason's job as to when/WHERE we can buy a home. Our hope is to be able to stick around Green Bay...we'll see.

20 weeks

Well we have officialy hit the half way point. Yesterday I was 20 weeks along. My belly continues to grow :). The baby has been kicking quite a bit more in the last several days. Jason told me that when I was still sleeping this morning he put his hand on my belly and thinks he felt the baby kick for the first time. Pretty soon he'll be able to feel the baby kick with no question. :)

Baby Kicks

I have been feeling the baby kick quite a bit more in the last couple of days. They are not super strong, but strong enough that it is no question that it is a kick. Sometimes it is just one kick and others it is SEVERAL kicks in a row in the same spot. It is so cool and weird at the same time. Jason still hasn't been able to feel the baby kick yet, but with the strength of the kicks increasing each day, he should be able to soon.

The baby must know I am writing about it write now...I just felt several kicks! I will be 20 weeks on Saturday and plan on taking another "belly pic" this weekend. It is my hope to have it up by Sunday evening.

Busy Weekend!

It is 8:45 on Monday night and I am about ready to crash! This past weekend was very exhausting, but also exciting. First of all on Friday I felt the baby kick for the first time. I was in my classroom during study hall at the end of the day talking to one of my students. Midway through the conversation, I said "Ooo, I think I just felt the baby kick!". The student was so cute, he started clapping and cheering, and got the rest of the class to follow suit. Then that night Jason and I went to a movie and during the movie I felt the baby kick 2 more times. It was really cool!

Saturday I spent the day watching/coach volleyball at our home varsity invite. It was a very long day!

Sunday we met my parents in Appleton. They drove down for the day to help us get started with a baby registry. We went non-stop from 10:30a to 5:00p! The boys lasted with us through the morning, but then went and watched the Packer Game a restaurant near by. After a morning of "looking around" my mom and I went back to Babies R Us and spent almost 2 hours registering. Then went and spent more time at Target doing the same thing! To top the day off...although exhausted...we went shopping for more maternity clothes. Needless to say the day was very overwhelming but successful! The registry is not complete but we have a GREAT start. THANKS MOM AND DAD!!!!!! :)

***P.S. Our friends Dustin and Tara Zeal welcomed a baby girl to the world on Sunday October 5 :) Ashlyn Kelly Zeal. Congrats to the Zeal Family!

9/29/08 Dr.'s Appointment

The doctor's appointment today was pretty short. The doctor asked us if we had any questions for him. The one question Jason had, the doctor couldn't answer. Jason tried to get the doctor to give us his opinion of if he thinks it is a boy or girl. Of course the doctor doesn't have a thought either way since we haven't had the ultra sound yet. Jason tried to get him to tell us his thoughts based on the heartrate, but the doctor said that the heartrate is not a very accurate way to determine if the baby is a boy or girl.

The heartbeat registered in the high 150's again. When looking for the heartbeat the doctor pointed out that he could hear "strong kicks". Although I'm not sure if I've felt any kicks yet, it is good to know that you can hear the kicks! The strong sudden sounds that we heard were the kicks.

**Next appointment November 3

16 Weeks

My belly is definitely starting to take shape! Our next Dr. appointment is Monday, September 29.

Maternity Clothes

Over the past 3 weeks or so I've had this fear that I am going to wake up one morning and my clothes won't fit any more. A while back when shopping with my friend Heather I said, "Let's just look at the maternity section". Well....as we got closer to the section I decided that I wasn't ready to look yet. This past weekend Heather and I were at the mall shopping again. At the first store I made it into the maternity section, but Heather was the only one looking through the clothes. At the next store, Heather picked out a couple of things and told me to go try them on...which I did. It was so strange to look at myself where clothes that at the time look really big and baggy and think that in a matter of time they will probably fit me! :) At the final store we went to that day, I was finally at the point were I was asking the clerk questions, picking out clothes myself, and spending 3o minutes in the dressing room trying on tons of stuff. I only ended up with a couple of things that day, but it was a huge step for me :). At least now I will survive the morning when I wake up and nothing fits! haha

Actually, this morning I put on a pair of pants and decided that even though they were a little snug that I could still where them. Well about 30 minutes after I got to work I had to undo the snaps because I couldn't handle how tight they were! haha. My maternity clothes days are coming soon I believe..... :)

Mommy & Baby's First Packer Game

Jason and I went to the Packer Game the Thursday before Labor Day weekend. Believe it or not...after 2 years of living in Green Bay, it was my FIRST Packer Game. One of my good friends Kurt has season tickets in his family. He and his girlfriend Adara invited us to go with them to the game. It was so much fun. It is definitely something I'd like to do again! About 1/2 way through the game we realized not only was it my first Packer Game, but it was also the baby's first game! After the game, Adara insisted on buy our baby's first packer apparel. Thanks Adara and Kurt! We had a wonderful time :).

Practicing

Jason and I got a little baby holding practicing this past weekend Up North. Our nephew Collin is 2 1/2 months old. Jason held Collin several times throughout the day and each time got more and more comfortable. It was nice to spend the day with Jason's family. His parents have a permanent campsite in Lake Tomahawk. Conveniently, it is only about 15 minutes from my parents home in Minocqua. It was a great weekend!

First Official Craving

I had always heard that pregnant women get uncontrollable cravings. Well...driving home from Minocqua yesterday I got the sudden craving for my Mom's Chili. Why I got this desire I am not sure...guess that is why they call it a craving. So needless to say, before we even got home to De Pere I called home and asked my parents to email the recipe. Everyone's chili is different but here is my favorite...my Mom's!

2 Pounds of Hamburger - cooked and drained
1 - 2 cans of Whole tomatoes - peeled (they come that way)
2 cans of dark red kidney beans
I rinse all the cans and throw that water in as well (not full cans, just some extra liquid)
1 teaspoon each of Garlic powder, onion powder, & salt
1/2 Teaspoon of black pepper
2 -3 teaspoons of Chili powder

Put it all in a slow cooker and cook all day on about medium. It really isn't "cooking" so you can eat it any time, but the tastes mix if it simmers all day.

You can increase or decrease any of the ingredients depending on what you really like

Heartbeat

On Thursday we had our first appointment with our Doctor. I had met him a few times before, but it was Jason's first time. Jason liked him, so that's good! Our doctor was able to find the baby's heartbeat right away. It registered between 150-160. According to some...that means a girl and according to other's (Jason) that means a boy. Who knows!?! What is important is that everything seems good so far and we heard a strong heartbeat. In order to show us the difference between the baby's heartbeat and mine he had us listen to mine as well. When I asked the doctor to hear the baby's again, while he was searching he says "oops...I got both at the same time". All of a sudden Jason goes "WHAT?! What do you mean BOTH?!?" Both the doctor and I start laughing. Jason thought "both" meant 2 babies, when in fact "both" meant the baby's and mine. It was very funny. Although nothing is confirmed until the ultrasound, the doctor is pretty positive it is just one baby. So all of you that thought twins are most likely incorrect...I just popped really early. :)

As my sister-in-law would say..."I've popped!"

Well, what I used to blame on bloating and would come and go, now is not going away. I think I am officially showing :). It is definitely kind of weird!

My summer vacation ended today. I know those of you who are not in education show no sympathy, but those that are know how it feels. As many of you know I am the Varsity Assistant Volleyball Coach at Bay Port High School. Try-outs started this morning bright and early with 8:00 am conditioning practice. With as tired as I have been, I had been averaging 10+ hours of sleep a night, so to me, this WAS an early morning. Oh well...it will get me ready for work which starts next week Tuesday.

With the doctor's appointment a week from Thursday, we should have another post up by the end of next week.

My Sister Tricia Got Married!

Last weekend Tricia and Jeremy got married. It was a beautiful day with perfect weather...75 and Sunny. Who would have thought they would have the same weather that Jason and I had on October 7, 2006 for our wedding. Here are a few pictures of the wonderful day :).

First Appointment, August 1, 2008

We had our first appointment on Friday August 1, 2008 at 3:00. It felt really weird that they didn't want to see me until about 4 weeks after we had found out, but that is how they do it I guess. I was a little nervous to go, because Jason wasn't sure if he was going to be able to make it to the hour long appointment. Jason had a phone conference at 3:00, but being the wonderful husband that he is, he rushed to the hospital after the conference and made it there by 3:30. The appointment was with the nurse practitioner and consisted mostly of recording family history. It was determined that I was 8 weeks and 6 days along, putting the estimated due date March 7, 2009. After examining me, the nurse made a comment that I was "Clinically Boring!" because everything looked great! :) My next appointment is scheduled for August 28.

We are having a Baby! Ready or Not! (pictures of about 5 weeks prego)

Although we had been trying for a few months to get pregnant and knew that is what we wanted...Jason and I weren't sure how to react when the at home pregnancy test turned postive before even being put back on the counter! (July 7, 2008) Over the next several days, Jason and I felt every single emotion possible. Excited, overwhelmed, scared, thrilled, etc. I think I called the doctor's office about 4 different times those next couple of times with questions. "Is such and such normal?" "Is this ok?"

We decided we wanted to keep the pregnacy quiet for a little while so we could tell both sets of parents in person. Although it was only 2 weeks that we kept it quiet from our parents, it was very difficult. After the 2 weeks we went over to Jason's parents house for dinner. After dinner I told Chris that I was out and about and found a really cute book that they would like. I gave it to her (Grandparents Should Always Have Popsicles). She opened it up to the middle and paged through the book, thinking it was because of her new grandson Collin. After a minute she opened the book to the front cover and started reading the inscription, "Grandma and Grandpa, See you in Marrrrrrrrrr". She didn't finish reading it because at that point she figured out what the book was for. The message stated "Grandma and Grandpa, See you in March! Love, Baby Starke". Both Mark and Chris were estatic!

The next day we traveled to Minocqua. I had rode up early with my sister Tricia, who had been living with us, and Jason came up later. Jason didn't come till 9:30 that night. It was very, very hard to wait for him to get there because I was so anxious to tell my parents. So at 10:00 that Friday night I told my mom that I had found 2 copies of the same book in my classroom. I said that I knew it was one of her favorites so I thought I'd give her the extra copy. I handed my mom the book "I Will Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch and within seconds she knew why I gave it to her. She opened up the front cover and read the message, ""Grandma and Grandpa, See you in March! Love, Baby Starke". She instantly started crying and told my dad to come over and see the message. Again, they were both very excited.

Over the course of the next several weeks we started telling family and friends. The secret is out! :)